Ahead of Ghana’s Official Oil Outdooring Ceremony

Tomorrow will see Ghana’s oil officially outdoored to the merry of Ghanaians and the vigilance of the outside world.

Ghana found its oil in commercial quantities in 2007 by the help of the UK firm Tullow Oil after several attempts by the Ghana National Petroleum Commission to discover the ‘black gold’proved unsuccessful though the commission was able to collect relevant data that helped Tullow Oil in its discovery

This oil find has raised the expectations of many Ghanaians including the then President John Agyekum Kuffuor whom with joy said “with oil as a shot on the arm, we’re going to fly”.

As President Mills goes to officially outdoor the oil tomorrow, I want to say a big AYEKOO to Ghanaians and I pray that we come together as good citizens to protect this resource in order that it becomes benefitial to us.

Controversies have already stirred up with the collateralization clause in the petroleum law. The minority in parliament want the revenues from the oil to be banked for future use while the majority want part of the revenue to be used as collaterals in procuring loans in order to hasten infrastructural developments of the country.

As it stands now, the collateralization clause has been approved by parliament and all we can do as a country is to rally behind the petroleum law, safeguard it and ensure the oil revenue is used judiciously so that in the future will be able too tell our own unique positive  oil story.

Congratulations to Ghanaians and may God bless our homeland Ghana.

Newspaper Reviews: A Factor to Ghana’s Irresponsible Media

With the incessant call on responsible journalism and a positively functioning media in the country, I want to put to the fore the bane of all these media fallacies.

The too many newspaper review shows both on the televisions and the numerous radios stations across the country have put us in this state.

It is a surety that one will wake up each morning to the shout and outbursts on the various especially radio stations in the country and the unfortunate thing is that only the political news items take center stage of these discussions.

I must hereby commend such FM stations as X fm, Citi fm and Joy fm for keeping true to the course of national development in the country. I think so far they are yet to have partisan political newspaper review shows throughout the week.

It is a fact that the print media has shaped the kind and nature of discourse in the country through the help of the radio stations. It is also true that the political parties been aware of this are using their favourite newspapers to champion their political agendas.

What the political parties do is to contact these newspaper editors to put out stories that will be strategic and advantageous to their motives and most often than not these stories are very untrue. The radio stations then pick these stories up and go the extra mile contacting controversial persons who will add more flavor to the stories.

And our media is in this state because we have decided to reduce our national attention to who wins the 2012 general elections and in an attempt to outwit each other these political parties through their newspapers end up churning out falsehood. I ask myself, after 2012 do we again concentrate on who wins 2016?

While all these political stories are been debated, majority of us do not have access to pipe-borne water, the lights come and go anyhow, foreign investors are taking all the money away

It is my suggestion therefore that we restrict if not ban the partisan political discussions we have on the airwaves by taking out the representatives of the political parties from participating in these discussions for it is them who make the reviews unimportant and rather bring competent and non-aligned citizens to talk about national development.

As I write this article, I am listening to speeches of our founder Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and he is categorically confronting the challenges of his time.

God bless our Homeland Ghana.

The Irish: Copy Cats of Prez. Mills’ Austerity Measures

Ireland’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan is planning an initial $8billion of cost cuts in the toughest budget in the country’s history as reported by BBC on the 7^th of December this year.

This brings to memory, the path our president John Mills chose in order to save the economy as claimed by him; the path of austerity.

Since the coming into office of Prez. Mills, his government has always maintained that the 2009 and 2010 budgets that was approved by parliament were austerity budgets necessitated by the fact that the government needed to bring home the economy that was experiencing increasing inflation, destabilization of the cedi, high debt rates among others.

Another budget that is the 2011 budget has been read and approved by parliament. Though the finance minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor claims this year’s budget is one that will foster economic growth and create more jobs, some tax components have been revised with the opposition alarming that the budget will rather make the citizens poorer.

Comparing what we have been through and hopefully coming out of to that of current happenings in Ireland, I think the Irish government has taken a cue from Prez. Mills’ policies.

The Irish finance minister is slashing down on child benefit and social welfare spending by 5%. Also thousands of public sector jobs will go, civil service pay freeze will be imposed and a reformation of the tax system that will bring more Irish people in the tax net.

These measures are not too different from those undertook by our government; freeze on public sector employment, introduction of new taxes, just to mention a few.

Even statements made by government officials from both sides concur. An Irish independent member of parliament  Mr. Michael Lowry said “ This budget is going to be harsh, it’s going to be extremely difficult”. He also said “People will be angry but if we are to survive into the future and if we want to restore our economy, these difficult and harsh decisions have to be made.”

Putting the MP’s statements side by side to that made by Prez. Mills and his vice that Ghanaians should fasten their belts for the tough times to come and after that economic growth.

Some people in Ghana are very comfortable comparing everything we do in our country to that done in the west. These people criticized strongly Mills’ measures and added that the president lacked initiatives because he did not go the path the westerners went in order to save the country such as bailing out the economy.

With these same policies coming from the west adding to that of Greece and the UK, I want to know if these people think that our president is vindicated or still lacks initiatives.

God bless our homeland Ghana.

A Service I Rendered to Mother Ghana

I have always seen myself as a patriotic and a dedicated child of our dear country. For this reason I have tried hard in contributing positively to the success of the country in Africa that will one day lead the world. I take inspiration from the selflessness of our founder and first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

In pursuit of this agenda I have never shut the door to volunteerism. At the close of last semester of last academic year I fought hard to get my department t the University where I study to issue me with an introductory letter for an attachment (you can call it internship). This was supposed to make it easy for me to render my services freely to one of the institutions in my locality.

Unfortunately my desire to work for a rural bank because of my area of study in Mathematics and Statistics was shattered when three to four attempts to get myself attached to the institution failed. I just could not believe I was refused to work freely for that institution even when I bore an introductory letter from a reputable university in the country. But for the fact that it is a private bank I was not so bothered.

Back on campus that semester, I had lobbied my student association (Mathematics Students’ Association of Ghana) to put me on the list of students there were sending out to the National Health Insurance Scheme for attachment.

Luckily this one worked out. I was offered a temporary job as a registration officer at the Adenta Mutual Health Insurance Scheme. I think it worked out  because it was a public institution and also that  I may have impressed the manager at the short interview conducted to test my competence.

I started work immediately, and before I could blink an eye I fell so much in love with the task assigned me. I was seeing to the new registrations, renewals and replacement of Insurance cards for all manner of persons in the society. I was particularly happy attending to pregnant women who came to register for the free maternal care cards.

But this was not to last forever, my time of three months was up and I was supposed to leave back to school. I learnt a lot and gathered enough  experience as I look forward to joining the world of work one day. Among the things I learnt are:

First , it is true what they say that we should for once as Ghanaians move away our eyes of scrutiny from the politicians and put them on civil servants. I believe  they come ,if not top of the list, second to the politicians when it comes to wastage of the country’s resources. Truancy, late arrival to work are some of the bad habits these people have.

Second, the Health Insurance Scheme should be given more attention. After one pays to be hooked onto the scheme it lasts a period of not less than five months for the applicant to receive his/her card and during this period, all the applicant can do is to pray he/she does not fall sick.

I also suggest all district schemes be networked to the main scheme. This will ensure all applications are processed in time. This will also make it easy for transfers from one scheme to another be easily monitored and done.

Aside these challenges, I really enjoyed my service to the nation. I was not offered any remunerations but I got satisfied from the fact that somehow someway my country is moving on.

God bless our homeland Ghana.

A Message to President Mills

I salute our humble President John Evans Atta-Mills and urge him on to continue with bravery the running of our beloved homeland Ghana.

Recently, the power struggle within the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which has left the party divided amongst itself, should not be a distraction to our already focused President. I say the President is focused because he has shown publicly that he seems undisturbed by whatever confusion is in his party.

Mr. President, the success of your party in the 2012 general elections as you are already aware depends on how well you perform i.e. to what positive level you have uplifted our dear nation. How well you manage our country is also directly proportional to how well you will be celebrated after your tenure of office.

I am aware of how difficult it is to satisfy all your fellow citizens. One great philosopher said “if you try to please every follower as a leader, you are planning to fail”. Definitely and undoubtedly, there will always be a group, a section or a party of people who will always where necessary and even unnecessary not agree with your policies, initiatives and strategies but this should not for once lead you to doubt your managerial capabilities.

You came into office alongside the coming into office of the US President Barack Obama. And let me say whatever strong resistance of policies you receive, Obama also receives. In the Democratic Party (Obama’s Party) there are forces trying to sideline his executive authority as I know your special intelligence may have told you about. The Tea Party Movement is at his (Obama) throat as AFAG, FONKAR among others are on yours but please do not back down on your promises to us. These resistances are not peculiar to both of you but also to many leaders worldwide. We are in difficult times and this has grown the canker of destructive opposition.

Coming back to the power struggle within your party, it is out there and this seems to be gaining grounds that you may not seek a second term. I want to say that if you have considered this as a solution to the problems in the NDC, please Mr. President reconsider this because instead of solving the problems, it would rather put the party divided and in opposition for a long time since your failure to run in 2012 will cost the NDC and if the party loses in 2012, God knows when it will come back. And the interesting thing is, the coming generations of NDC supporters, followers and sympathizers will always blame you for sending their party into opposition because of your maybe right decision.

It is worth noting also that some sections of us (citizens) are using your patriotism, nationalism, selflessness and humbleness as your weakness. To them you look ‘dull’ and too humble but Mr. President remind them of what our National Anthem says ‘… and fill our hearts with true humility..’. For now, they will not see the essence of these qualities in you but as we move on as a nation, you will one day be celebrated.

Mr. President I want to assure you that you have so many discerning followers who are not looking at what is happening in your party or how much noise your critiques make but are interested in your motives which no one doubts and how you put them into action.

Let me end by saying that even the visionary leader Dr. Kwame Nkrumah encountered serious opposition so Mr. President, one step at a time.

Obrafour and Tic Tac Shake U C C

Obrafour and Tic Tac last Saturday stormed and shook the University of Cape Coast campus as part of the 48th annual SRC week celebration of the Students Representative Council.

This event was a massive one with students abandoning their academic work and standing and shouting at the forecourt of Valco Hall (where the event took place) from about 9pm deep into the night.

Obrafour 'the executioner' who was the first to perform after scores of student underground rappers and singers had done their thing, arrived in a black saloon waving amidst cheers from the roof of his car.

Anxious students at the grounds that evening couldn't help but to shout on top of their voices when the self acclaimed 'rap sofour' got onto the stage. He was dressed in a white t-shirt, a black jeans and a towel on his shoulder.

He started off with one of his prayer songs and then moved straight to his old time hits.I can undoubtedly state that from this time to the end of his performance
was real excitement.

The 'rap sofour' gave out a copy of his newest album to a student who helped him perform the part of Guru in his new 'kasiebo' track after he had done several of his songs.

He left the stage taking off his t-shirt and throwing it to the joyous crowd.

Tic Tac followed next and by this time the tempo of the crowd had gone wild. He was on stage with one of his new artistes Jay-ho.

Tic Tac also dressed in a coloured shirt with a pair of jeans danced off the crowd with some of his favourite hits; philomena, kangaroo among others. Occasionally, the crowd will tell him what hit song to do next and he willingly listened.

For more than thirty minutes he was on stage as students enjoyed with their hands in the air.Before he will leave he performed his newest single with a line of the song being 'show me your shoe and let me show you your character'.This particular performance was done with shoes raised in the air.

He signed off assuring the crowd of his return to perform at Nkrumah and Valco halls' week celebartion.
written by: abdul-rahim munaga for mycampuspal.com

My First Experience With The Ghanaian Police

All along I have always thought of the Ghanaian police as an incompetent, powerless and a bark for nothing institution.

 

My thoughts where informed by the daily criticism the police service receive from the Ghanaian public. They are bribe receivers, politically bias, unprofessional among others are the kind of accusations levelled against them.

But my narrow thoughts have since ended when I came face to face with them on an issue of assault against another citizen (a woman). Ghana has for some time now been advocating for gender equality and due to this the Ghanaian woman has been grossly empowered. You no longer can go away scot free when you do something contrary to the laws of Ghana against a woman no matter how menial it is.

My story begins when on one bad day (a day before my brother’s birthday) my brother engaged himself in a quarrel with a tenant (a woman) who had paid to stay in my father’s house. The quarrel arose due to the common compound house problems every compound house experiences.

He (my brother) due to bad temper threatened to beat this woman. Although he did not succeed in touching her, she reported the case to the district police and wrote down at the police station that she had been beaten badly and had sort medical attention.

This is the straw that broke the camels back. The police hastily went to arrest my brother from the house and sent him to the station. As a concerned sibling I went to the station together with another brother to try any possible means to see to his release.

Unfortunately, our first thoughts that it was going to be easy to see to the release of our brother were crashed and we had to call for reinforcement. We had to call in two uncles of ours to assist.

Fortunately, one of our uncles had the financial standing and negotiating skills to bail out our ‘arrested’ brother. Though he (my uncle) paid the police ‘something’ for whatever reason I do not know it was not until all due processes were followed and we wrote down our witness statements that my brother was released. Even when he was released, the case was prepared to be sent to a court. I never believed the case will go to this extent after paying ‘something’.

It took the intervention of the woman to remove the case from the police grips and to prevent it from moving further to the court.

I want to hereby applaud the police for vindicating themselves and then take the opportunity to make some suggestions and also ask a question.

My question is why the accuser is seen as the law-loving one even when the person may be the originator of these problems? I need answers.

My first suggestion is that the police should make all legal options available to the accused. For instance, the accused can be told he/she could report to the police station at a later time and not necessarily follow or dragged to the police station.

My second suggestion is that the accuser should be made to prove reasonably before he/she is seen as the law-abiding citizen.

The Ghanaian police indeed are doing their job and because they form a human institution ‘negative actions’ are expected but this should not be used to tarnish their hard won international reputation.

The Ghanaian Politics; The Story of Ato Kwamena Dadzie And The Ghanaian Times Editor

The Ghanaian public has never ceased to amaze me when it comes to matters of urgency, need and importance. All that we have wasted our years after Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is on trivial issues. We are quick at making politics out of any issue even if it will go against our development process. For selfish personal interests we will rather watch the country go down into the pit than come together to build a better place for generations yet to come.

Two such cases that have been unduly politicized are the Ato Kwamena Dadzie and the editor of Ghanaian Times’ unprofessional and unethical conduct. To me, we have unnecessarily tried to make political capital out of these ‘stupid’ cases.

Ato Kwamena Dadzie an acting news editor at Joy FM a reputable radio station in the country is called by the police to answer some questions about the news they put out that executives of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) suffered death threats from the government that is why they withdrew their earlier resentment about the STX Housing deal.

In Ghana we have all accepted death threats to be a crime so what is wrong in the police trying to find the substance behind the allegations Joy Fm put out. In fact the government drew the attention of the radio station to the flaws in the news and asked them to withdraw it and apologize because executives of GREDA had come out to publicly deny such threats.

Is it not normal and sensible to do a humble thing by withdrawing your story for the least even if you cannot apologize yet they continued to broadcast the story the whole day and even putting it online on their website? For the sake of common judgement I thought people will understand the police but for political interests some people and groups in the name of freedom of expression (without responsibility) have gone to the defense of this editor even to the extent of saying that the government (not the police) wants to prosecute Ato because he has refused to reveal his sources. Now we all know this is not true.

Ato’s source may have been right but immediately the GREDA (those whom he claimed were been threatened) denied the story he had no authority again to broadcast the story. And when he was called to defend his story he could not even when he was asked to specifically give the names of those who were been threatened for protection.

The other case is about the Ghanaian Times editor who reported that armed robbers had taken siege of five police stations in the central region. Over here we are talking about the responsibilities of the police been in question and when they called the editor to seek more insight into the matter some sections of the Ghanaian public are claiming that the government is undermining freedom of speech and expression as if the editor reported about the president or his ministers.

If we really want to strengthen institutions this is not the way to go. We should allow the police to carry out their duties because for the least I know about the law the police has the right to question or seek more information into a story of a journalist. We should not always be blaming the government (though it is sometimes necessary) for the troubles of our institutions.

Let us rather jointly reach a consensus for the sake of Ghana, the country our forefathers fought to free instead of deeply polarizing our economically challenged communities.

An Advice to the NDC

Following the recent brouhaha in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), I am forced as a patriotic citizen who does not want the current government to fail because if it does it means we have wasted another four years of our development process to give a little layman advice to the party’s members and well wishers.

I will begin first with the President. Mr. President John Evans Atta-Mills the leader of the party please as an acclaimed peaceful and honest man; do try your best by putting your feet on the ground to resolve this unwanted impasse. Call the former president J.J. Rawlings to a one-on-one meeting and try to explain to him why you cannot meet some of his demands and how you will soon meet those that you can accomplish.

To the former president who is the founder of the party I will say as a statesman and the grandfather of this party of yours have some level of tolerance for your own people. When they go wrong instead of going public to the whole world to voice your feelings, remember that whatever you say will be used to send the NDC back to opposition. Bear in mind also that no matter how uncomfortable you are now, it will not be different under another party. Even if it becomes different, it will rather become worse.

To the ministers of the various sectors please avoid passing or granting interviews to journalist on party issues. The best you can do for your party is to ceasefire for a while and never try to go by an eye for an eye.

To the member of parliaments, can you be a little bit loyal to your party and stop the unnecessary comments you pass about the governance style of the president who is the leader of your party. For the better of your party and the government why don’t you put together your so called ‘best option’ and present it privately to the government instead of going public to make yourself look like a reincarnated Nkrumah with all the best ideas.

To the foot soldiers can you be a little patient and patriotic and stop demanding heaven because you think you are in power. Politics cannot be jobs for you because the jobs politics offers are temporary. Instead go get something else to do. Join the National Youth Employment Program NYEP and leave the ‘big man’ to get his way into power.

To the well wishers, please pray hard because the country now seems to be focused for development and the president I think is trying hard to steer the economy of the country to achieve this. At least he always reiterates the fact that Ghanaians will judge him after his first term in office.

Lastly, to the serial callers take a holiday and cool your temper. You people seem to be adding more firewood to the fire that wants to be cooled off.

How Beautiful Is Cape Coast?

Cape Coast is a noble town and the capital of the central region of Ghana. It used to be the capital city of the then Gold Coast now Ghana during the colonial era. It is the home of the Fantes a branch of the Akan ethnic group.

Although this city is relatively less developed it remains undoubtedly a beautiful place for so many reasons.

Cape Coast is widely accepted to be a town for readily accessibility of good education. Many of Ghana’s best academic institutions are found here. Talk about the Wesley Girls Senior High School which remains the best senior high school in the country, the Adisadel College, Mfantsipim School, St. Augustine’s College, Holy Child College and so on. Arguably, one can conclude that the best senior high schools in the country are found in this town.

Cape Coast also boasts of the nation’s only university of choice that is the University of Cape Coast which is highly acclaimed for its serene environment for academic work and its beautiful landscape due to its closeness to the Atlantic Ocean.

When it comes to history, it all started here. It is said that the first whites to come to Gold Coast settled at Cape Coast. It is no surprise therefore that it used to be the capital of the then Gold Coast.

Cape Coast used to be a transit point for the slaves brought from all over Africa to be shipped to the white man’s land. Castles and forts are spread over this town to prove this point. These castles are part of the world’s heritage sites and every year many tourists and the diasporians come back to learn about the Transatlantic slave trade. President Barack Obama of the U.S, his wife and two daughters are eminent people to have visited one of these sites the Cape Coast castle.

This town can also boast of other wonderful tourist sites and beautiful landscape. Much of Cape Coast is made up of beaches with long coconut trees. Fishermen can be seen on the waters which tells you of the main occupation of the people of this town. There are many resorts, guest houses and hotels to compliment these natural attractions.

Interestingly, a good number of the elite in the country before and after independence originated from this town. Mention is made of Rev. Philip Quarcoe the first African to become a minister in the Anglican Church, John Mensah Sarbah a lawyer and a political leader in the Gold Coast.

The President of Ghana today John Evans Atta-Mills traces his origin from this town. Even more interesting is Michel Obama whose forefathers are believed to have come from cape coast.

Things To Consider When Buying A land In Ghana

Following the recent floods in Ghana which have killed at least thirty-five people, I am motivated to share with you experiences I have learnt from my father in his ‘land buying stories’.

The recent floods in the country which meteorologists say is as a result of global warming is been referred to as the most disastrous in the past few years.

Ghana is one country that experiences rainfall mostly in June and July every year. The intensity of this rainfall fluctuates between the years with some years experiencing very heavy downpours than others.

But for last year and this year, the downpour has been so intense that it has resulted in floods in most parts of the country. These floods have brought up the destruction of illegal structures mostly houses in water ways. Government is doing so in order to create a runway for the water to minimize the havoc the floods come along with.

This means you have to be careful what land you purchase and where it is situated. The points that follow will serve as an advice for you to follow when you go to purchase a land in any part of the country.

First, I will share with you what my father says will prevent you from acquiring a land that has so many court cases on it or a land that has the potential to generate disputes. When you go to purchase a land especially in the Greater Accra Region, apart from the legal documents, persuade the traditional authorities to pour libation on this particular land. The serious belief in libation by the Ga’s (the owners of land in this region) will prevent them from deceiving their gods by selling this land to a second party.

One thing that is worth noting is from which chief you purchase a land. Due to the many chieftaincy disputes and court injunctions on who sells out lands in many of these areas, you have to ask and know the right chief who can sell to you a land. There have been instances where ‘illegal’ chiefs have sold out lands to individuals and these lands get confiscated later.

Secondly, when deciding to buy a land, do that in a rainy season. So that when you go to the site and the depth of pool of water on the land is at your knee, it implies one day that is how much water will be collected in your house. If on the other hand the land quickly dries up after rainfall, you have a good land you can buy.

Thirdly, you have to look out for a type of shrub that is locally called ‘sre3’ in the Akan language. This shrub grows easily on lands that are prone to flooding. When you go to purchase a land and you see this kind of plant, you may want to consider coming back in the rainy season to confirm your suspicion.

Also very important is your financial standing. This way you can risk buying a flood prone land because you can afford to erect a foundation that will prevent water from running into your house when it rains.

You also have to consider the area or locality in which you are buying the land. When many of the buildings in this area are on water ways it means when there is a heavy downpour there will not be a passage way for the water to escape hence the whole place will get flooded.

Lastly and importantly, after doing all these background checks contact the Lands Commission or any Government Agency in the locality that is responsible for lands to seek more official advice on the land you want to purchase,

Thank you for reading and have a nice land buying experience.

Are you renting an apartment in Accra? See How to Rent an Apartment in Accra for tips.

GHANA MARKS 50TH REPUBLIC DAY

Today the 1st of July 2010 marks the day when Ghana became a republic. This was the day some fifty years ago when the British representatives in Ghana packed bag and baggage and left the Ghanaian affairs in its own people.

All across sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana sparked the flame of independence as its leader Dr Kwame Nkrumah was able to relieve his people from the colonial lazy people as I like to call them some fifty-three years ago.

Ghana by this is a pioneer in a sense in Africa as still today it leads the continent in projecting the good of Africa.

Tomorrow will see the country once again try to set another record by becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals of a world cup. This time it is on an Africa soil and as many people have said it is a world cup for the whole of Africa and they will attempt to capture the ultimate trophy.

Ghana is a shining example of Africa and on this day I want to wish the people of Ghana a HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY. May God the almighty and the spirits of our forefathers be with the Black stars tomorrow as they attempt to make history.

Long Live Our Motherland.

THE PRIDE OF AFRICA ARE IN THE QUARTER FINALS

Ghana, the pride of Africa in this world cup have qualified into the quarter finals after beating the swift and energetic USA team by two goals to one. This came after they emerged out of a tough group in which everybody had the chance of qualification to the next stage.

Ghana has therefore joined two other countries Cameroon and Senegal to become the only African teams to have reached this stage. But for Ghana they are doing it in style on an African soil.

The Ghana-USA game indeed was an interesting and keenly fought for one. Prior to the match, discussions on international media BBC included made Ghana the underdog with such statements as “the Ghanaian team can only play for eighty minutes”, “Ghana cannot score but for penalties”, “Ghana’s striker i.e. Asamoah Gyan is only good at scoring penalty kicks” among others.

Well it turned out that the Black stars proved their critics wrong when they beat the Yankees who were in for a revenge of the defeat they suffered at the hands of the Ghanaian team at Germany 2006.

Interestingly, none of the goals the Black stars scored were penalty kicks, the Black stars played for as long as a hundred and twenty minutes and the second goal of the Stars was by Asamoah Gyan. This goal was splendid and many strikers will like to have goals of a kind.

Not only patriotic citizens were present at the stadium to support both teams but the President of Ghana John E. Atta-Mills and ex-president of USA Bill Clinton were also at the stadium to motivate their players.

The Black stars are poised for their next match against Uruguay which will see them into the semi-final if they win though they will be missing such key players as Dede Ayew who is on suspension for taking two yellow cards and probably Kevin Prince Boateng who suffered an injury in their last match.

THE QUESTION OF HIJAB: SUPPRESSION OR LIBERATION??

I read this article at an islamic website www.sultan.org and I will like to share it with you readers.

"Why do Muslim women have to cover their heads?" This question is one which is asked by Muslim and non-Muslim alike. For many women it is the truest test of being a Muslim.

The answer to the question is very simple - Muslim women observe HIJAB (covering the head and the body) because Allah has told them to do so.

"O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed..." [Noble Quran 33:59]

Other secondary reasons include the requirement for modesty in both men and women. Both will then be evaluated for intelligence and skills instead of looks and sexuality. An Iranian school girl is quoted as saying, "We want to stop men from treating us like sex objects, as they have always done. We want them to ignore our appearance and to be attentive to our personalities and mind. We want them to take us seriously and treat us as equals and not just chase us around for our bodies and physical looks."

A Muslim woman who covers her head is making a statement about her identity. Anyone who sees her will know that she is a Muslim and has a good moral character. Many Muslim women who cover are filled with dignity and self esteem; they are pleased to be identified as a Muslim woman. As a chaste, modest, pure woman, she does not want her sexuality to enter into interactions with men in the smallest degree. A woman who covers herself is concealing her sexuality but allowing her femininity to be brought out.

The question of Hijab for Muslim women has been a controversy for centuries and will probably continue for many more. Some learned people do not consider the subject open to discussion and consider that covering the face is required, while a majority are of the opinion that it is not required. A middle line position is taken by some who claim that the instructions are vague and open to individual discretion depending on the situation.

The wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were required to cover their faces so that men would not think of them in sexual terms since they were the "Mothers of the Believers," but this requirement was not extended to other women. The word "Hijab" comes from the Arabic word "hajaba" meaning to hide from view or conceal. In the present time, the context of Hijab is the modest covering of a Muslim woman.

The question now is what is the extent of the covering? The Quran says: "Say to the believing man that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." [Noble Quran 24:30-31] These verses from the

Quran contain two main injunctions: A woman should not show her beauty or adornments except what appears by uncontrolled factors such as the wind blowing her clothes, and the head covers should be drawn so as to cover the hair, the neck and the bosom. Islam has no fixed standard as to the style of dress or type of clothing that Muslims must wear. However, some requirements must be met. The first of these requirements is the parts of the body which must be covered. Islam has two sources for guidance and rulings: first, the Quran, the revealed word of Allah and secondly, the Hadith or the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) who was chosen by Allah to be the role model for mankind.

The following is a Tradition of the Prophet: "Ayshah reported that Asma' the daughter of Abu Bakr came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while wearing thin clothing. He approached her and said: 'O Asma'! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this. He pointed to the face and hands." [Abu Dawud] The second requirement is looseness. The clothing must be loose enough so as not to describe the shape of the woman's body. One desirable way to hide the shape of the body is to wear a cloak over other clothes. However, if the clothing is loose enough, an outer garment is not necessary. Thickness is the third requirement. The clothing must be thick enough so as not to show the color of the skin it covers or the shape of the body.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) stated that in later generations of his Ummah there would be "women who would be dressed but naked and on top of their heads (what looks like) camel humps. Curse them for they are truly cursed." [Muslim] Another requirement is an over-all dignified appearance. The clothing should not attract men's attention to the woman. It should not be shiny and flashy so that everyone notices the dress and the woman. In addition there are other requirements: Women must not dress so as to appear as men.

"Ibn Abbas narrated: 'The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the men who appear like women and the women who appear like men.'" [Bukhari] Women should not dress in a way similar to the unbelievers. The clothing should be modest, not excessively fancy and also not excessively ragged to gain others admiration or sympathy.

Often forgotten is the fact that modern Western dress is a new invention. Looking at the clothing of women as recently as seventy years ago, we see clothing similar to Hijab. These active and hard-working women of the West were not inhibited by their clothing which consisted of long, full dresses and various types of head covering. Muslim women who wear Hijab do not find it impractical or interfering with their activities in all levels and walks of life.

Hijab is not merely a covering dress but more importantly, it is behavior, manners, speech and appearance in public. Dress is only one facet of the total being. The basic requirement of the Muslim woman's dress apply to the Muslim man's clothing with the difference being mainly in degree. Modesty requires that the area between the navel and the knee be covered in front of all people except the wife.

The clothing of men should not be like the dress of women, nor should it be tight or provocative. A Muslim should dress to show his identity as a Muslim. Men are not allowed to wear gold or silk. However, both are allowed for women. For both men and women, clothing requirements are not meant to be a restriction but rather a way in which society will function in a proper, Islamic manner.

III&E Brochure Series (Published by The Institute of Islamic Information and Education (III&E) and reproduced in electronic form by Islamic Academy for Scientific Research with permission)

PRESIDENT ATTA-MILLS IS UNLUCKY

To me and I am sure to many other Ghanaians, President John Evans Atta-Mills is an unlucky person. I think this way because of the many incidents that have befallen his administration since he took office. Whether some of these incidents are really accidents or not is another matter for discussion.

Right from the day he was been sworn into office, his unluckiness started. He mixed up words been recited to him by the chief justice which were supposed to be an oath. Afterwards the opposition party NPP members proposed that he retook the oath giving example of Barack Obama’s case where he had to retake the oath.

Talking of jumbling up words, Mr. President again in a state of the nation address to parliament pronounced “ecomini” instead of economy. This voice clip became the ringtone of many Ghanaians and a file on numerous storage devices in the country.

Just few months in office, the first of the many to come fire outbreaks started. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building caught fire rendering the whole premise useless and forcing the ministry to operate from the Jubilee house which is supposed to be a presidential palace. Then came the Kumasi market, some parts of the 37 military hospital, the electoral commission, the former president J.J Rawlings’ house and some other places.

The disturbing of incidents is the resurface of the many chieftaincy disputes in the country. The Ga Mantse chieftaincy saga, the Tuobodom case and some other low case ones.

Under President Mills’ administration foot soldiers a term used to describe common people who fight for their respective political parties to come to power has been tarnished as these soldiers from the NDC side have become agents of confusion and mayhem. Instead of their main responsibilities of seeking support for the party they have rather become judges and king makers telling the president which one of his appointees that ought to be sacked. This has led to the dismissal of at least five of Mills’ appointees including the upper west regional minister, Mr. Carl Wilson a national security operative and two MCE’s.

President Mills has had to bear with people calling him a chimpanzee though in our society it is not correct to call an elderly person by such names.

The most current of incidents is that which is happening in his party where there is a power struggle. There is an uncertainty as to whether the former first lady and the wife to the founder of his party Nana Konadu has the intention of competing against the president for the flagbearership position for the 2012 elections something which has not happened in the political history of the fourth republic of this country where people compete against a sitting president for the position of a flagbearer.

I call Prez Mills unlucky because if I can remember very well these circumstances did not happen under former presidents Kuffuor and Rawlings at least in substantial degrees that everyone talked about. Why then are these happening under his administration? Tell me about it.

LEAVE OUR PROPHET ALONE

The noble prophet Mohammed (pbuh) is our beloved and the last prophet of the world. We adore him and are very passionate about him and his teachings. He like other prophets came to preach the message of God the almighty. This means to muslims he is not so different from the son of Mary Jesus.

Muslims believe in holy books such as the book of Moses and the book of Jesus implying that we believe strongly in Jesus and all other prophets. Any muslim who does not believe in any one of such prophets ceases to be a muslim. It is these obligations and the fact that muslims do not make pictures of their prophets that tend to inflame passions among us when arrogant and notorious people under the disguise of freedom of speech and expression make portraits of the holy prophet.

First, it was a Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaad who decides to paint the holy prophet of Islam as a terrorist. What is the motif behind such an act muslims all over the world will ask themselves in drawing a cherished person of a particular religious minority. It is not good for us to do so that is why muslims by themselves do not make pictures or cartoons of these prophets.

However there are several pictures of Jesus and other prophets in circulation and this is because other religions which share these prophets with Islam have decided to make pictures of these people of God.

Quite recently Kurt Westergaad again decided to welcome an initiative to organize an online competition for other cartoons of the prophet. ’The initiative should be seen as a manifestation of freedom of speech, where Mohammed and my cartoon have become icons for this cultural struggle’ this cartoonist told the Danish journalist federation’s union newspaper journalisten.’ I always think that debate is great. Of course, there is a risk that it can provoke some of the dark forces that are inspired to (cause) terror’ he added.

Another Swedish artist who has angered muslims is Lars Vilk. He depicted the prophet Mohammed as a dog in a university lecture by drawing him with a dog’s body.

In South Africa as reported on VOA news some days ago tension flared in this African country as another artist decided to make pictures of the prophet. The muslims in this country have petitioned the courts of the land to intervene to stop this disgraceful attitude.

Sahih Muslim vol.3 no. 5271 page 1161 ‘this hadith has been reported on the authority of Abu Mu’awiya though another chain of transmitters (and the words are): ‘verily the most grievously tormented people amongst the denizens (inhabitants) of hell on the day of resurrection would be the painters of pictures.

This verse from the hadith and other verses caution muslims not to draw pictures and this we have all abide by.

ARE WE THERE YET?

Are we there yet is the question I seem to ask myself whenever I watch any movie adverts on TV which contains a lot of nudity without rating and also has a poor story line. Where is our sense of African culture if we decide to copy blindly some other peoples culture by exposing "private" parts.

It is indeed saddening when movies with wack story line want to use sex scenes to sell out their movies. Movies like Shakira, Kiss Me If You Can, mention them are gradually becoming associated with some particular producers who want to use sex scenes rather than hardwork to get rich.

I will be ungrateful to myself if I do not make mention of such wonderful producers like Shirley Frimpong Manso whom although have some sex scenes in their award winning movies, are able to balance this with qualities of a good movie. Ghana is very proud of them and we support them as they look forward to a Grammies.

More than once I will be watching TV with my siblings and these adverts will pop up then I have to switch channels in other that I protect them from this immorality virus. What will be of me if I do not have a remote control and want to switch channels on a TV at a far corner of the room.

If our Ghanaian movie directors and producers want to make movies of such kind, they should please rate these movies and then they should find a way of advertising them without using the sex scenes to sell these movies. Otherwise they should tell us these movies are porn so that when we are buying them we know where to hide them after purchase.

If the producers want to outsmart Ghanaians thinking we like or should I say love these scenes and sell to us these sometimes cantatalike stories then I will advice that the Ghana Review Board should be up and doing. Some actresses and actors have out openly to declare that there is nothing wrong with such movies and they will at any time accept roles of this kind. To them I will say I in particular hate movies who have no interesting story lines but rather very immoral acts.

It is time we stood up as a country to uphold our culture. What is wrong in making movies on how to be patriotic as the Hollywood regularly does? What about movies on the life of the many legends we have in the country; Azumah nelson, Abedi Pele, Kofi Annan just to mention a few.Long Live Ghana.

EXAMINATIONS ARE FOOLISH

Four days ago, I started intensive preparations for an impending exams (PHY 202 Electricity and Magnetism). Today I am seated behind the PC with a lot of doubt as to how well I will perform. I will describe this course's exams as by far the most difficult by all standards. Weird and silly questions were what my PhD lecturers put down on the question paper for me to answer.

I must exaggerate, for the first one and half hours out of a total of two hours, I was reading and reading and reading over and over again the same questions I know I will not be able to answer. When eventually I got the guts to do something, I realised my guts were not guts enough.

Who brought and which people accepted examinations as a way of testing the understanding of a student. Must an examinee pay for forgetting what he/she has learnt in the exams room because he/she will surely forget it after some days.

 At the beginning of the semester we were handed out photocopies of textbooks(because we could not afford the original textbooks) as a student bible for the four months course. I never paused a while to consider how much work I was supposed to put into chewing and pouring informations from a book of about 1000 pages (not really but close).

For my friends who bothered the least about this paper they will by now have forgotten of it and me , I need God's intervention. So who is intelligent or studious when the results come out and we all perform the same. Or even when I perform worse than they did.

 Examinations are foolish. It is not the case that probably I do not know how to learn because I have aquired the skill of passing exams and I have adequately prepared for this paper so why could I not answer those damn 'stupid' questions.

I have no other place to find solace than to blame my lecturers ( yes three of them) for bringing up questions that Master students will need tutorials for and expect a poor undergraduate like me with a relatively weaker brain to solve. If the examiners cannot set questions to the standards of the examinees, then whats the essence of the exams if you will teach me one thing and bring question from planet Mars.

Truly and indeed examinations are foolish.

IS OTUMFUO THE KING OF GHANA?

I used to ponder a lot about this very question when I was quite young but today though I am relatively older I still need answers to this interesting question. Some group of people in the country will prefer to call Otumfuo the king of Ghana or even the Vice president of our motherland but they should ask themselves this one question, what about the other kings like king of Ga state, paramount chiefs of the northern states? Are these kings rather ministers?

To anybody who wants to refer to the Otumfuo as the king of Ghana I will agree to some extent. Firstly because among the numerous chiefs and kings Otumfuo carries himself as a respectable and a very prominent one probably because of history. He has an education fund which supports brilliant but needy students within and without the Ashanti state to study abroad. He mediates chieftaincy conflicts in other kingdoms though he has his own fair share of these conflicts etc.

Secondly, due to the population size of Ashantis in Ghana, it appears the whole of the country is under him. One scenario that can illustrate this is when one bad nut spoils a soup, it appears all the other nuts in the soup are spoilt too even if it is not so. It is a fact that not only chiefs in the ashanti regions owe allegiance to this king but other chiefs in areas like the brong ahafo, the volta etc. If this is so, then it means he has his tentacles spread all over than any other king or chief.

Thirdly, the Ashanti state is fortunate to have mineral resources in its land and if the saying that money is power is right then this is another factor that makes the Otumfuo appear as the king of Ghana. Also, during the preindependence days this state had a lot to do with the colonial people and so had the benefit of putting its people into schools whilst people elsewhere like the north worked on cocoa farms. This has resulted in its people getting education and becoming the political elite of this country. Make mention of former president Kuffuor, and other heads of states before the fourth republic, former general secretary of the UN Kofi Annan and a whole lot of other prominent citizens. It is no surprise then when Otumfuo is called to help in the resolution of conflicts, mediate talks between Mr Rawlings and Mr Kuffuor.

Fourthly, this king has so much influence no one criticises him openly. We all remember the threats on the life of Ato Kwamena Dadzie a morning show host at Joy Fm who openly criticised Otumfuo over the Tuobodom chieftaincy saga and also how swift Prez. Atta-Mills acted when the Otumfuo insinuated he was going to take the laws of the land into his hands on this same Tuobodom issue.

But in Ghana and by our constitution no one chief exceeds his kingdom to other kingdoms to rule the people overthere. That is why if Otumfuo visits Ya-na one day he will sit on a skin rather than a golden stool. This is not to say Otumfuo has no lordship over the people in the volta region who owe allegiance to him. Otumfuo is not the only king with all the tactics in resolving conflicts that is why these problems persist in his state. He is also not the only king receiving royalties from mining companies because some other chiefs in the western region also receive same that is why Otumfuo the king of the Asante state should not be seen as the king of even Akans let alone talk about Ghana.

ANOTHER ARTISTE IN A NAKED PHOTO SAGA

Celebrities of this modern times never seem to amaze the general public by their immoral way of life. Some few months after Nadia Buari and other two female actors' incident another music artiste has decided to show off her great body by sending out a naked picture of herself out to an alleged lover. Though Nadia came out publicly to deny the sex tape, those who watched the tape have a fair idea of the particular persons in the clip.

For now, I will decide to call this music artiste Beyonce and go ahead to tell you how it happened. For those of you who are addicted to Facebook, probably you are tthe next victim to my articles. Beyonce is a regular user of facebook and through this she meets a friend online. After some time of sharing thoughts and ideas, one thing led to the other and these lovebirds got intimate. To Beyonce she has found a new lover abroad and so decided to show how splendid her body is by sending out a completely naked photo to this lover. Unfortunately for her, her lover was married and so when the pic arrived the man's wife intercepted it.

Very shocked at what this woman had seen and surprised at how far a lady can go, she decided to play rough in order that she does not lose her husband and also to teach Beyonce a lesson. The wife of this lover posted this photo on facebook and as fast as things of this nature moves on facebook, mutual friends got to see this person and the personality behind it.

For those witnesses, they describe this artiste as one with a new song in circulation, a person with medium sized body, neither tall nor short and in between the colours of fair and dark. I can give you a clue but not an assurance to the identity of the person. For me I guess it may be the one on your mind. Who do you think is the face behind this photo. Send me a comment.

WHO IS MUSTAPHA ABDUL HAMID?

To some people who will be reading this, you will be wondering why I have decided to bother you with someone you do not know or might not have heard of at all. If you are Ghanaian then I will advice you take some time to know this man because he might one day be a presidential aspirant on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mustapha Hamid is a lecturer at the Department of Religion and Human Values of the University of Cape Coast. He has been there since he helped Nana Akuffo Addo, the NPP flagbearer for the 2008 elections to lose the presidential bid. He had his O' and A' level education at Bawku Senior High and Tamale Senior High schools respectively. Mustapha then furthered his education to the University of Cape Coast where he had his first degree and second degree respectively. He also holds a Masters in Communication from the University of Ghana.

During his university years, Mustapha swam into the waters of politics because of an incident he witnessed in his childhood. He says he was at home one day when some soldiers whom he claims were sent by former president J.J.Rawlings came to arrest his daddy. To him, he never understood the reason for this as a child but this incident forced his father into exile who later returned home only after the former president had left office. This made him vow to get as much education as possible to one day help in seeing Mr. Rawlings out of office.

In his years at Cape Vars, Mustapha Hamid joined an equivalence of today's TESCON NPP to see to the fruitation of his dream. This helped him take advantage of whatever opportunity that came his way.

He became the general secretary to the local NUGS and later an SRC President of UCC even when he was a graduate student competing with opponents who were undergraduate students in a university where 80% are undergrads.

Mustapha Hamid loves to describe himself as a bold, assertive person rather than a humble person because he thinks leaders must be bold and courageous. Probably from his words one might infer that President Atta-Mills is not the best of leaders.

As a Muslim, he does not repudiate polygamy implying he does not totally rule out the possibility of one day getting married in addition to his current wife whom he has four kids with.

He is not be blamed for his high sense of appeal and one could easily fall in love with this man meeting him for the first time. He is indeed a great philosopher for the NPP and a potential leader of this party and maybe Ghana.

Mr. Hamid comes from the northern part of Ghana with his father a Busanga and mother a Mamprusi. His parents got divorced when he was only six years old and he lived with his father afterwards.

He believes Northeners are not violent people but rather a group of individuals who stand for what they believe in and that is why greedy politicians tend to use them for their selfish gains. He shares the thought that because colonial lazy people wanted to continuously use the Northeners on their farms, they deprived them for so many years as about 80 years and this has left his people and my brothers and sisters behind other ethnic groups in Ghana. Education to him is the solution to the problems of the north and the growing grievances of political 'foot soldiers'.

He is currently a member of the Nana Addo campaign team. We all can learn a lot from this man, he loved school, he is a leader and is bold to defend his believes.

This was how Mr. Hamid chose to describe himself on a radio program 'crossroad' on ATL Fm.

Update: Mustapha Hamid is currently serving as the Minister of Information for the AKufo-Addo led NPP government.

ARE THE FULANI HERDSMEN A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY?

Fulani herdsmen are found in countries where there is enough pasture for their livestock to feed on. Ghana has been no exception to these livestock rearers because our country is blessed with mineral resources, oil, human resource mention them and even good green grass.As hospitable as Ghanaians are we tend to accommodate every person or group of people from any walk of life. To many Ghanaians I think they will rather extend a warm hand of reception to the most wicked person on earth rather than give him/her a cup of poison tea.

But, this good characteristic cannot be extended to Fulani herdsmen because of some vices some of them engage in like armed robbery, rape etc. So Mr. Justice Bayor a head of operations at West Africa Network for Peace (WANEP) says a research conducted indicates the fulani are a threat to national security. Well this idea has met an opposing view from Dr. Kwesi Anning of Kofi Annan Center for Peace and International Relatins. He says a small sample size of incidents cannot be concluded upon as evidence to say these people are a threat but rather in general these people commit rather fewer vices than the indigens of the places where they live.

Today's news item on Joy Fm captured a story that some people of the northern region are hunting for fulani herdsmen to retaliate for the murder of two butchers. Are these the only murder cases in Ghana, what about the daily incidents of death we here in bawku, yendi and the other places of the northern part of Ghana. The central region alone recorded about 13 murder cases so why are these people apart from the fulani not a threat to natonal security. Is Ghana becoming a place where some ethnic groups are sidelined because they virtually have no voice?

Let us not forget the fact that we are Africans and as Africans, we are brothers and sisters to one other no matter the ethnic group, tongue or whatsoever. Let us not victimize our own because we are not so sure of their nationality and give them a warm place where they can grow to go outside to preach good about our motherland.

To Mr. Anning the Fulani herdsmen are not a threat to national security. The fulani people have the right to better standards of survival.

KOKU ANYIDOHO SHOULD BE ADVISED

Some people say his attitude is in resemblance to that of the former minister of information under the kuffuor administration Mr. Asamoah Boateng. Yes, to some extent because they are all in charge of disseminating information.Mr. Asabee's arrogance has placed him in the position he and his wife find themselves and I bet Koku Anyidoho does not want to go that lane.

President Atta-Mills as we are all aware of is a soft-spoken person and the people around him should reflect this character. As a Communications Director at the castle I expected Mr. Anyidoho to be very accommodating and tolerating when he comes out to talk on issues concerning the President and the country at large no matter how passionate he is about the topic of concern or irrespective of the provocation he gets from the main opposition party. These provocations are meant to trap certain people and I advice he should be smart to realise this.

I recently read on the blog of Ato Kwamena Dadzie a morning show host at Joy fm,that Mr. Anyidoho told him he had cobwebs in his head when he Ato spoke his mind about the information structures at the castle some months ago. Ato was concerned as to the need of a presidential spokesperson, a communications director and three ministers of information all performing very related roles.The response he got from Mr. Anyidoho was “When Ato Kwamena Dadzie decides to move the ignorance-filled discourse to absurd levels, it is only proper that I do my utmost best to clear some of the cobwebs in [his] head,”. I think this was a sad statement to be heard from someone close to a humble and calm President.

Not too long ago, Mr. Anyidoho was called to respond to the minority's call that the President was acting only when he was pressured to do so and even as a young person, I thought the reply Koku gave was not supposed to be a debunk statement. What he said was that Presidents now and forever will continue to take decisions and that the minority should come to terms with that.He even made reference to the decisions being taken in the UK concerning their just ended elections and I thought it was very unnecessary. Maybe he should have followed the philosophy of some people that all that is happening is a mere coincidence. That would have been better to understand.


Mr. Anyidoho is also captured to have said he disliked the former president J.A. Kuffuor on a foreign media with the reason that Mr. Kuffuor did very little for his people but rather made himself rich together with the people around him.


Again, if some of you can remember there was a time when Koku was supposed to appear
before the privileges committee of parliament for insulting members of parliament on the minority side. I listened to him on radio on that day on Citi Fm where he made that statement and the specific words he used were too harsh though I think the minority deserved every bit of those words. The issue was about Kwame Mpianim who vouged openly for the President that he was a President to be trusted with the
revenue from oil sales. Mr. Mpianim went on further to say he saw President Atta-Mills return some brown envelopes. So it became a big defense rod for the NPP who demanded the President reports the bribers to the police or else apologise to Ghanaians. This was completely "irresponsible" as said by Mr. Anyidoho on the part of minority NPP.

Till today Mr. Anyidoho has not appeared before any committee because some known people like Mr. Kwesi Pratt and other NDC sympathesizers solidarized with him and got pissed with the members of parliament for having too many privileges. These actions do not make people like me to like Mr. Anyidoho and even the President for choosing him. Some other people need these actions to get their political business going on. So Mr. Koku Anyidoho please be very careful about what you say especially on air or during interviews.

IS RAWLINGS REALLY HELPING THE NDC?

I am inspired as a young person by the courage and vim Mr. Rawlings has in freely speaking his mind to try to evaluate whether JJ is really helping the NDC. I used to be a great admirer of Mr. Rawlings and his family because of two main reasons. One, I share the same birth date with him and secondly because under his administration my family was living well but currently I am beginning to develop a dislike for him because of his utterances towards his own chosen person H.E. President John Evans Atta-Mills and his continuous degrade of the former President John Agyekum Kuffuor.

Mr. Rawlings is a person who came to power by the barrel of the gun though in 1992 he moved on further to become a democratically elected president. Some say he is the father of democracy in Ghana but the most important fact is that he remains a military person because of the saying once a soldier always a soldier and sometimes Ghanaians will forgive him for some of his actions. For the past 15 months I have come to disagree with our former president because of the following;

Few months in office, Mr. Rawlings begun criticizing his party-led government for being slow though he is aware it takes sometime for a new person in office to get acquainted with the huge task of running the country. In Ghana, this man is very revered and whatever he says is news to the media yet he does not seem to realize this fact and come to terms with it. Some social commentators even say the current president has performed much better in his first year in office than JJ did. He goes on to describe some current ministers appointed by Atta-Mills as Team B and generally say the DCE’s and MCE’s should be relieved of their positions because they are under performing even though I am sure any suggestions he makes are taken strongly. This, a former president should not come out to say openly and more especially because he is the founder of the political party in power.

Again, Mr. Rawlings does not bother to take a swipe at Mr. Kuffuor whenever an opportunity presented itself. Three days ago, Mr. Rawlings and Mr. Kuffuor found themselves under the same roof of a church taking communion when the Asantehene invited both of them to his 60th birthday anniversary. After this he granted interview to Joy Fm and was asked the question of whether their meeting meant they had both smoked the peace pipe. Mr. Rawlings’ response was that until the injustices and massive corruption under Mr. Kuffuor’s administration were resolved he could not be at peace with a fellow ex-president. It really hit me hard when JJ mentioned injustice and corruption since there is an on-going, very popular Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal which took place under his administration and what we are all aware of during the revolution era. When this happens, he gives way to the opposition to open wounds that may have healed or are healing and in a sense make the NDC look violent.

I agree that some grave and intentional actions were taken against him and his family during the 2001-2008 part of Ghana’s democracy. For instance, he was called before the BNI and his wife sent to court over the Nsawam Cannery issue but this should not make him so sore as to tarnish his party’s better Ghana agenda. Mr. Rawlings is not a saint and not even the best President the country has seen so far bearing in mind the legacies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah so he should be mindful and careful of whatever he says and should always make use of his spokesperson Mr. Kofi Adams.

THE DEATH OF NIGERIA’S YAR’ADUA AND THE LEGACY HE LEFT BEHIND.

It never came to me as a surprise when it was announced on radio and TV about the untimely death of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This was because of the condition he was in before he met his Lord. President Umar Yar’dua suffered a combination of illness including cancer of the kidney. This he has been battling with for some couple of years and it was this same sickness that caused him to lie on a sick bed in Saudi Arabia a few months ago. He wished he could recover whilst in Jeddah to come back to his people speaking to the BBC but destiny once written cannot be compromised.

As a muslim, he was buried the same day he died but whatever good or bad he did will persist till the end of time. It is therefore my reason for wanting to look into or try to come up with the legacy of this servant.

It is simpler to say the late President was a very decent man and President Obama of US even attested to this fact. From his style of dressing which is very typical of Nigerian muslims, his manner of conveying messages to his people and the general conduct of his administration proves this fact. As human as he was he may have faulted in one way or another but since I am looking at him in the human lens he was decent.

Secondly, and probably the best of his legacies, he was a man of peace. Prior to his assumption into office, there were some confusion and disturbances in the oil rich Niger Delta caused by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). This mayhem will have led to a major destabilization of the country but the emergence of Yar’dua saw an agreement reached between the MEND and the government. This move really helped in maintaining the peace in Nigeria.

However, there were some other things he did that people might have not concurred with. Amongst these is the genocide style shooting of the members of the religious group Boko Haram. In this incident more than hundreds of members of this group lost their lives for claiming that formal education was not good. This action brought about mixed feelings among the people of Nigerians. Some thought a better alternative should have been employed whilst others thought it was the right action. Whether it was for a good purpose or not, this action was against Human Rights.

Mr. Yar’dua came into office with a tall list of reformations and whether he was able to achieve it or not lies with Nigerians. An African leader is dead and all the people of mother Africa must come together to mourn an illustrious son. RIP Yar’dua and may you be able to account for all your deeds when you finally meet the Almighty.

THE GHANA POLICY FAIR; A BETTER GHANA AGENDA

The just ended Ghana Policy Fair is the first of its kind to be staged in the country. This was an initiative by the Professor Mills led government that commenced on the 27th of April and ended on the 1st of May 2010 at the Accra International Conference Center (AICC). This event was well patronized as people from all walks of life such as the youth, religious leaders, policy makers, public servants, labour unions just mention them were all present to take part in governance procedure.

This fair can be described as part of government’s better Ghana agenda because it was to involve the general public in its policies aimed at achieving its goal as said by the deputy minister of information Hon. James Agyenim Boateng though it is obvious many under privileged could not partake.

Secondly, the fair aimed at demystifying governance and to give Ghanaians the opportunity to evaluate policies being implemented to determine their relevance.

And thirdly, it was also aimed at creating an avenue for brainstorming on critical national development issues such as education, health, trade etc as well as challenges facing organized labour.

Mr. James Agyenim Boateng said at the early days of the fair “as part of good governance and accountability process and President Mill’s commitment to run an open transparent government, it is not only important that we let the people know what the projects and policies are so that we can feedback and carry the people with us.” These words really manifested in the fair as department and agencies, ministries, corporations all had exhibition stalls where they put on exhibition some of their works, policies and projects.

There were also photo exhibitions of some the projects.
Apart from the stalls, lectures were held to a sitting audience and after that questions, suggestions and comments followed. It was at one of these lecture sessions that the boss of the health insurance scheme reiterated the fact that, the one time premium payment was feasible and will soon be operationalized. It is the plan of the organizers of this fair to replicate similar events in all the regions and districts of the country in order to get people in these areas to participate.

If this event were not a good one, the opposition parties will have criticized it vehemently but rather complimentary messages and talks have been heard from the minority in parliament as if to say the government has gotten this one right. A policy fair is not enough for Ghanaians and policy makers must ensure that all good ideas that came up during this period be put to good use.