How Protecting Traitors is killing Ghana
Most of the time when I speak to people about African development and why the continent appears so far behind, the blame is quickly turned inward. Many argue that Africans are the cause of our own problems. I have heard this repeatedly, even from people close to me. They say Africans do not love their countries, that we lack discipline, that corruption is simply “who we are.”
To some extent, I agree. But it is dishonest—borderline insulting—for the Western world to help create these conditions, benefit from them, and then turn around to tell us, “Look at how corrupt your leaders are.” You do not manufacture the disease and later lecture the patient about poor health.
Africa has no shortage of good, well-intentioned people. The problem is that a very small number of individuals consistently sabotage the collective interest, making the rest of us look complicit. This continues largely because Africans do not tell their own stories or analyze betrayal from our own perspective. More importantly, we do not treat traitors as traitors. We treat them as politicians, elites, or unfortunate mistakes.
Before addressing that failure directly, it is important to establish one fact clearly: traitors exist everywhere. Betrayal is not unique to Africa. What differs is how societies respond to it. When betrayal is punished decisively, it becomes rare. When it is tolerated, excused, or rewarded, it multiplies. And this tolerance is exactly what colonial and imperial powers rely on. Once someone betrays their people, they do not become neutral; they become loyal to the enemy, because their survival and benefit now depend on that alliance.
Kwame Tua and the Betrayal of the Ashanti Kingdom
When analyzing African history, one of the sharpest voices remains Lawyer Yaw Anokye Frimpong. He has consistently exposed uncomfortable truths that many prefer to avoid.
The Ashanti Kingdom fought fiercely to protect its land, culture, sovereignty, and freedom. They sacrificed everything, including the lives of their kings, in resistance against an enemy they did not invite. Yet, despite this collective courage, it only took one man—Kwame Tua—and a small group of collaborators to betray the cause from within.
Does that mean the Ashanti people were their own enemies? Of course not. The Ashanti were noble, patriotic, and committed to their freedom. But history reminds us of an uncomfortable truth: one traitor can do more damage than a thousand enemies.
Rahab and the Betrayal of the Canaanites
History, as we know, is written by victors. That is why the biblical account of the Canaanites deserves scrutiny. According to the Hebrew Bible, after escaping slavery in Egypt, the Israelites approached Canaan—a land occupied by an organized, civilized people with their own culture, leadership, and religion.
The biblical narrative claims God commanded the Israelites to annihilate and murder all the Canaanites—men, women, and even children—to seize the land as a “promise.” This conquest was aided by Rahab and her family, who betrayed their people and were later absorbed into Israelite society after the destruction of Jericho.
From my perspective, this was not an act of God. It was invasion, massacre, and land theft—justified through religion. And, as has happened repeatedly throughout history, it succeeded because someone from within assisted the invaders and was later sanctified as righteous in the conqueror’s holy book.
Does this mean the Canaanites did not love themselves or their land? No. It simply reinforces a recurring pattern: there is always a traitor within.
Traitors During the U.S. War of Independence
These stories are rarely emphasized because nations do not celebrate their traitors. But during the American struggle for independence from Britain, betrayal existed as well.
Benedict Arnold, once a respected Continental Army general, secretly negotiated with the British to hand over West Point. William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, remained loyal to the British Crown. Joseph Galloway fled to Britain. Thomas Hutchinson and several lawyers, militia members, and informants also betrayed the cause.
The response was swift and unforgiving. Many faced execution, imprisonment, exile, property confiscation, and public disgrace. Does this mean Americans were not committed to the fight for independence? Obviously not. The presence of traitors did not define the nation; the punishment of traitors protected it.
The Problem of Treating Traitors Lightly in Ghana
Every country has individuals willing to betray national development for personal gain. They align themselves with imperial powers, sell out millions of citizens, and mortgage future generations for short-term profit. They present themselves as patriots while secretly signing exploitative agreements that benefit foreign interests.
After looting the state, they flee to the very countries that enabled them, invest stolen wealth in foreign banks, and live comfortably abroad. Meanwhile, the citizens they betrayed are told to be patient, to trust democracy, to wait for due process.
In Ghana, traitors exist everywhere—in the executive, legislature, judiciary, security agencies, civil society organizations, and the media. And when they are exposed, the consequences are laughable. Punishments are so weak they do not deter corruption; they incentivize it.
A friend who works in a government institution once told me something disturbing. He said that honesty in public service feels abnormal. Being ethical makes you isolated, disliked, and stagnant. Corruption, on the other hand, appears normalized—even admired. Over time, you begin to question yourself for remaining honest.
This is the opposite of how functional states behave. Countries like the United States treated traitors and collaborators harshly, not out of cruelty, but out of necessity. Africa did the opposite. Leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Muammar Gaddafi, and Nnamdi Azikiwe were betrayed from within. Yet today, some of those traitors are honored. State institutions bear their names. Some even continue to rule.
In Ghana, countless corruption scandals have been exposed. Yet successive governments hide behind democracy and procedure while cases drag on endlessly. Public funds are wasted, citizens are exhausted, and the accused walk free or receive symbolic punishments. Political alliances shield them. Files are shelved. Justice is delayed until it disappears.
This sends a dangerous message: betraying the nation pays. And as long as betrayal is profitable, Africa will keep bleeding from within.