Bishop Dag Heward-Mills

It is clear that our nation needs leaders who can know some of the things they must avoid by becoming students of history.

Europe Decided Not To Follow The Example Of Spain

Spain, at the time, came to be seen as an example of the type of economic policy a nation should avoid at all costs.

Spain protected her agricultural production, like oil and wine, against foreign competition. But by the end of the sixteenth century, Spain was severely deindustrialized.

It became clear that the riches from the colonies had, in fact, impoverished rather than enriched Spain’s own capacity to produce goods and services.

In contrast, England’s Henry VII who came to power in 1485, actively protected and encouraged England’s industry.

European Countries Protected Their Creativity From

Free Trade With The Outside World

For several hundred years, Europe’s trade policy was based on the principle of maximising the creative industrial sectors of their own country and protecting these creative activities from external competition.

For example, England’s economic policy was based on a simple rule: import of raw materials and export of industrial products.

In Europe, they also discovered that countries that were already wealthy could afford a very different policy from countries that were still poor. In fact, once a country had been solidly industrialized the very same factors that required initial protection now required bigger and more international markets in order to develop and prosper.

European creative industries discovered that once they were successful, the protection that was initially required became counterproductive.

They believed that tariffs were as useful for introducing manufacturing in a country as they are damaging once these are established. This is why free trade (exposing your fledgling creative activities to external competition) must be timed properly.

Mongolia Reduced Its Nation To Primitivization By Wiping Out

‘Creative Increasing Returns Activities’

Primitivization is the return to backwardness, poverty and the dark ages by wiping out creative industries and creative manufacturing activities. Under a policy of primitivization, the majority of the people are forced back into noncreative diminishing returns activities. As manufacturing industries die out, many of the poverty-causing non-creative activities take over and dominate the nation.

Before 1991, Mongolia had slowly but successfully built a diversified industrial sector. The share of agriculture in the national product had declined steadily from 60 per cent in 1940 to about 16 per cent in the mid-1980s. However, their policies proved exceedingly successful in de-industrializing Mongolia.

Half a century of creative industry-building in Mongolia was virtually

annihilated over a period of only four years, from 1991 to 1995. In most

industrial sectors, production was down by more than 90 per cent because the country had opened up to the rest of the world in 1991.

By March 2000, the country’s previously considerable industrial sector had been virtually eradicated.

Statistics showed that, one by one, all of the country’s various industries had disappeared, beginning with the most advanced. Statistics showed that the production of bread was down by 71 per cent and the production of books and newspapers by 79 per cent. Mongolians, in other words, probably ate and read less than before.

In only a few years, real wages had been almost halved and unemployment was rampant.

The only sectors that, according to the national industrial statistics,

were expanding, were the production of alcohol which showed minimal growth and the collection and preparation of ‘combed down’ from birds (to the extent this can be defined as an industry).

Closing down the country’s steel mills and newspapers and sending its

population out to collect bird down cannot be considered anything but aprimitivisation of the economy.

The combination of deindustrialization and deconstruction of the state had created large-scale unemployment in Mongolia. Many people had been forced to return to their ancestral way of living: nomadic pastoralism and herding.

In 1990, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mongolians shared their lands with21 million herding animals – sheep, cows, goats and camels.

As a consequence of this, the number of grazing animals had risen from 21million to 33 million in 10 years.

Mongolia opened its economy entirely almost overnight and faithfully followed the advice given by the Washington institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to let the market take control. Mongolia was supposed to find its place in the global economy by specializing where its comparative advantage lay.

The result was that the Mongolian economy was driven back from the age of industry to that of pastoralism. The nomadic economy, however, was unable to sustain the population and the industrial system, and the result was an economic catastrophe.

New Zealand Became Rich By Refusing Anything That Would Prevent Their

Country From Developing In Creativity And Industrialization

A book called “A New Zealand Colonist” reveals the mindset of settlers in New Zealand in 1897:

1. The New Zealand settler refuses to accept cheap imports, because

accepting them would prevent his country from becoming industrialized.

2. The New Zealand settler discards all theories of free trade with the

outer world and levies high import duties on every product, which his

colony is capable of supplying. The New Zealanders believe that only in

this way can their new land be made a prosperous field.

3. The New Zealander believes that prosperity would not be attainable

while subject to unrestricted competition from outsiders. They refused

to have the surplus stocks which others dumped on their markets.

4. The New Zealander colonist desires that children growing up around him

should have opportunities of acquiring mechanical skill, and so be saved

from becoming mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for richer

nations. He regards mechanical skill and the great products of that skill

as the buttress of a people’s strength and safety.

5. The New Zealand colonist does not regard immediate results. His eye is

on the future and on the children growing up around him.

Is it not ironical that today we find rich countries dumping their surplus

products in the poor countries, which see this as a bonus? In the hierarchy of nations a country that did not protect its industry would have all its creativity doomed to the biblical curse of being branded as ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ (Joshua 9:23). The Bible thus recognizes a hierarchy of skills where hewers of wood and drawers of water are located at the bottom. Finally, it is clear that our nation will be blessed with leaders who can know

what they must avoid by studying history.

By Dag Heward-Mills

In Ghana today much of our political discourse has been reduced to a shouting match and who can make the most ridiculous pronouncements to an ever ready media overly absorbed by sensationalism. Amidst all the noise, however, certain truths or better still facts cannot be ignored.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) tables, as part of its contention, the notion that Ghana’s Electoral Commission has bloated the voter register to give itself the room to throw in illegal votes in favor of its preferred candidates.

It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will rule on the petition. But a quick look at some of our neighbors who recently concluded elections offer some insights that can hardly be ignored.

First Stop – Kenya

After suffering a grueling civil conflict in the aftermath of her 2007 presidential election, the East African nation regrouped to pay attention to the basics in electioneering. Some would say their recent court petition challenging the 2013 election suggests that they may not have left some loopholes unclosed. But one thing they may have gotten right was the voters’ register – or did they?

For a country of 41.6 million people, the number of registered voters heading into the 2013 election was 14.4 million, representing 34.1%.

Ghana with just over half of the Kenyan population (25 million) has almost the same number of registered voters at 14.1 million, representing 56.2%. With such a wide disparity, the obvious thing to do was to determine if ours is too high or the Kenyans’ number is too low. So we looked elsewhere.

Senegal with a population of 12.8 million registered 5.3 million voters or 41.5%. Nigeria came next with 162.5 million in population, 67.8 million registered voters or 41.7%.

Finally Tanzania with 46.2 million registered 19.7 million voters, representing 42.5%. So if four of our neighbors are averaging 39.95 as the percentage of their population that is registered to vote, what explains the more than 16 point differential between Kenya and Ghana?

There are four possible explanations. One, Ghana’s Electoral Commission is more efficient than its peers and is thus better at the registration exercise. Two, Ghanaians are more politically astute and are more interested in exercising their civic responsibilities so they register to vote more than their peers in the four other countries. Three, Ghana’s population is older so the voting age population is larger. And four, the voter register was indeed overly bloated. Much as our research team tried, it could not come up with evidence to support the first three possible explanations. That leaves explanation number four.

It is not clear if the NPP was aware of this voter register disparity between Ghana and other African countries prior to filing its petition and calling for the annulment of about 4 million illegal votes. But we hypothetically subtracted the 4 million votes from the current 14.1 million registered voters and arrived at 10,031,763. This number represents 40.2% of the population at large – squarely on the average of the four countries mentioned.

Will this study put an end to the shouting and the hurling of insults? May be not.

But it is our fervent hope that at least some would look at these numbers, verify them and may be arrive at a renewed impression about the current Supreme Court petition.

After all, are we all not looking for the truth? Based on the findings of our research team, NPP-USA is of the opinion that Ghana’s voter’s register appears bloated, this enables the electoral commission to rig elections in favor of its preferred candidate, if it so desires.

The article is by NPP-USA, Public Relations Committee

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

What will happen when the Supreme Court rules in the election dispute? Will there be peace or violence?

That we were a divided country before December 7^th is clear to all—after all, this is the second election in a row that the winner has failed to win 51% of the votes. Unfortunately, the court case following the election has only worsened the divisions and tension. Of course, it can be argued that if the petitioners had chosen the streets instead of the courts, our plight would be worse.

This case, regardless of the outcome, has already undermined quite a few reputations and national assumptions:

— It has shown that our Electioneering process needs improvement and that our Electoral Commission’s reputation for excellence may be a bit overblown.

— It has shown that the NPP has lost quite a bit of the grassroots activism and vigilance that gave us victory in 2000. Of course, judging by the performance of its agents, the NDC is no better.

— It has shown that our election dispute process is archaic, too slow and too disorganized. This point has been made repeatedly by earlier election disputes.

— It has shown that our legislative process, as displayed in the CI-74 process and exposed by the Mornah case, leaves much to be desired.

All these defects can be fixed, provided that we have peace and can work together.

I write today, not in pursuit of partisan advantage but to trigger a search for a path for our nation to move forward.

Now, if the Supreme Court rules that President Mahama lost the elections and should hand over, will NDC activists accept the ruling?

If the court rules that Nana Addo and the NPP in fact lost the election, will NPP activists accept it?

If the court decides that there should be a revote, will President Mahama continue in office until the revote occurs?

What if one side chooses to ask for a review as granted by the Mornah ruling? Can President Mahama stay as President during the appeal?

If the NPP prevails, what happens to the Ministers appointed by President Mahama in the light of the “no-prejudice” clause that governs our election disputes?

I make all these statements with the awareness that both the President and Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo have pledged to abide by the courts decision. While we trust their words, we must verify that they can bind their followers to these pledges.  By the way, do the pledges to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling apply to the first ruling or the final ruling?

Obviously, as a layperson, I concede that I may be misinformed. In that case, I ask for the forgiveness of Ghanaians.

Given these concerns, how can we proceed in the national interest?

First, we need President Mahama and Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo to begin direct communication on how they can lead us peacefully forward. If they cannot or will not do this on their own, the Peace Council and or the former Presidents must step in to facilitate this. During their discussions they should discuss a series of mutually agreed steps that will calm tempers and encourage their supporters to be peaceful, regardless of the verdict. The first thing they should do is to mutually renounce their right of appeal as granted per the Mornah case. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a suggestion for anyone to circumvent the legal process. It is a suggestion to help us survive the legal process. I am confident that since both of these gentlemen are patriots who wish the best for Ghana, they would do what is best for our country.

Second, we must commit to a reform in our court system, via constitutional or legislative means that will ensure that if such a dispute were to arise in the future, it would be settled before inauguration day, whatever it takes.

Third, we should commit to the streamlining of our legislative process so that our lawmakers will do their work and spare us the embarrassment of constitutional instruments, like CI-74, prepared by our best and brightest being found to be unconstitutional in whole or in part.

Fourth, our party leaders must work with the Electoral Commission to ensure that the accountability systems in our election work on Election Day so that we can avoid expensive court cases in the future.

Next, we must lower the level of noise and increase the level of sense in our public discourse. Kwesi Pratt is right that the “Northern-Northern, Southern-Southern, Eastern-Eastern talk must be condemned in no uncertain terms.”

Unfortunately, too often, most of the media has been recklessly pouring petrol on the flames of our divisions. We are misusing our hard-won freedom of expression to undermine our national cohesion. Freedom of expression should not mean the right to insult our opponents recklessly.

Finally, we must accept that those of different political persuasions can be patriots—just like us.

May Allah keep us together.

By Arthur Kobina Kennedy

Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

It is a Swahili road sign, which etched somewhere in my brain system when I saw it in Mwalimu Nyerere’s Dar-es-Salaam in the early 1970s. Pole, pole, kabisa, I am told means slow, slow, completely slow or slow down completely; slow to a stop.

At the time, little could I have conjectured that my motherland, our motherland, would someday be dragged slowly, slowly through a judicial process in search of election justice.

It’s been drama, mainly a tale of two. One is thick-lipping, perhaps lisping haggardly looking and lawyerly struggling like to nowhere. Haggardness and desperados are kin. The other is lip-thin smart, brilliantly answering his way into history as an enviable well-composed witness before the highest adjudicating assembly of the motherland.

They are asking, that is, my compatriots of the motherland and I too. We are asking whether a law lord (bench) can stop his learned colleague (bar) to stop talking a talk that looks like talk, an ordinary talk. We are wondering about a pole, pole talk that is clearly kabisa leading.

Our world has many twists and turns. Our world is such that humility and modesty seem to have lasting positive impressions than boastful braggadocio attitude by which egos are bloated and therefore easily crash below expectation.

It is now a drama of pink-sheeting. Thank God it is a double ‘e’ that is not replaced with an ‘i.’ It is boredom. It is dourly and of dourness.

Long rope, long, long rope is what I hear the masters and mistresses of peace give to parties to put it to witnesses and themselves. They say the appeal trick is now so apparently tricky that any tricks to trick my compatriots would turn out to be too overtly tricky. And so the rope must be even longer. No shortness for any appeal plans to easily succeed.

But my compatriots, I wish you knew the repercussions of the long, long rope for a fledgling economy, an ecomini.

The Kufuor boom years seem to have masked what is now, by all indications, a bust. Not much, maybe even nothing seems to be coming in from anywhere.

Even the ‘galamsey’ trade-off for the three and a something billion loan does not seem to see the Sino billions materializing anytime soon. So everywhere you go, it is a failing economy. From what I hear, the longer rope is given for he puts boringly to continue to put, the more whatever is left of the economy also suffers.

They, on whose behalf the putting is being put, care less. They have stuffed their cheeks and lined their pockets to the chagrin of my compatriots. Bones are what they have left for my compatriot Lazaruses.

Going by the Joshua hosanna during which my compatriots were trampling over each other, overwhelming numbers seem most willing and perhaps even able to play the Lazarus suffer-to-gain game.

These numbers probably care less about whether putting it to witnesses thick-liply ends today, tomorrow or never.

They could, possibly, be interested in the cross-examination life-span if someone would promise them good time in the life hereafter.

It is so because they have given up any kind of hope. He who is in charge of distributing the meat says it is left with bones. And a compatriot observed they recently found axes to smash the bones for the marrow.

Pole, pole we can march with cross-examination. Pole, pole, kabisa we can crawl towards election petition judgment. It is still well, maybe even very well for some of my compatriots who care more about life hereafter than claiming a piece of the marrow which is the only thing close to meat left in the bones.

Someone, once, used to sing: ‘Fish head, fish head; bony, bony, fish head; fish head fish head, eat them up yumm.’ Boiled, not fried tilapia head, maybe yum for some of my compatriots; though not for all. A deep fried or grilled head may not be that yummy.

Fish head smoked could be worse for an appetite. Whether some want, and may or may not have part of the leftover bones or would want none of it, cross-examination continues.

It may be hard to guess the direction. But one day one day my compatriots and I would get to know if the point being made that the errors pointed out by the petitioners were not the only ones; that they the petitioners selectively chose what pleased them or would help their course.

None will dare say by the petitioners committing errors in their evidence, massive election errors cannot be a big deal; that such errors always occur and cannot be used to annul results. Of course, minor errors may be forgiven; massive errors mean cheating, naked robbery and therefore election results that deserve annulment.

Bible

THE HUSBAND’S LOVE

“Love…. is not proud”(1 Corinthians 13:4-6) is one of the great precepts preached by St. Paul concerning husband-wife relationship in the Christian Home. This applies to the husband’s emotional attitude as well as to that of the wife. But for the meantime, we shall look at that which pertains to the husband.

A proud husband is full of self-esteem. That is to say, he regards himself so much that he always looks down upon the wife and considers her as an inferior person from a poor home or clan. Usually, a proud husband is the no-nonsense type.  For instance, he would go out and come back home late, rather suspiciously; but he is not a person to brook any whys-and-wheres questions from the wife. To any such questions, either he would be annoyed and fall into fierce tantrums, banging on the tables or threatening the wife with beatings or he may arrogantly throw an irate glance at her, and like a dumb person, silently dash down to bed; damn the wife’s serious concerns!

Do you know there are homes where some husbands are so proud; they will not talk in a friendly way to their wives? Those husbands squeeze their faces or always frighteningly scowl at their wives, and won’t talk, but merely shout orders.

That is really bad! Husbands should always open up to their wives. However busy they are, they should find time to chat with their wives, joke with them, laugh together and sometimes play happily together like brother and sister, such games as ludo, snakes and ladders, cards, etc.

Really, social scientists are of the view that nowadays, owing to the influence of television, husbands and wives scarcely have time to play together. Instead, they love to sit by the television watching films. But TV entertainment should not in anyway be made to take the place of husband-wife fun or friendly games; for these have the more positive psychological effects of bringing them together or ever uniting their hearts much more firmly. Definitely, such indoor games have the capabilities of freezing or completely dissolving any pride in either of the couple.

Next is –“love…is not rude”. The word rude comes from the Latin ‘rudis’ which means ‘rough’. In other words, St. Paul’s statement, “love is not rude” means love is not rough or ungentle. That, in turn, means husbands should not treat their wives rudely or roughly, but speak to them or behave to them in a gentle way.

By the way, this word ‘rude’ is different from what is obtained in St. Paul’s remark in Second Corinthian’s 11:6 –“though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge”. That doesn’t mean St. Paul was rude, so we should imitate him. No, never! The phrase “rude in speech” in this context means: frank in the art of speaking.

Now to the seventh of the Pauline precept: “love….is not self-seeking”. Have you heard of a husband who always seeks the best of everything for himself the best of meals, –the best of clothing, food, etc. –whilst disregarding the best of what the wife is to get?

The husband takes rich, nourishing diet: rice water with milk and sugar; with margarine, jam, fried eggs and salad to boot, whilst the wife is consigned to the hard banku ke shito ke kenam meals (a type of kenkey plus ground pepper and hard fried fish).

Look at a self-seeking man who doesn’t mind buying much beer for his friends, or who doesn’t care giving plenty of money away as funeral donations, all to court cheap popularity and fame for himself, whilst his wife and children languish in poverty and hunger! A husband in real love thinks about his wife first, for the best of things in life.

Come to St. Paul’s next assertion: “love is not easily angered”. A husband who has genuine love for his wife is never easily provoked into anger. On the contrary, he ignores any provocative action or statement of the wife, and forgives her. In fact, it is suggested that if a husband always easily reacts angrily to a wife’s kind statement, it means his love for the wife is either at a low ebb or has fallen to zero degree.

And such husbands lay themselves open to suspicion –suspicion that they have got some other women somewhere, that they are playing a double game, which makes them disregard the ‘old’ wives and adore the ‘new’ women. But this should not happen in Christian Home. Of course, disagreements are bound to occur in Christian marriages; but when they degenerate into angry exchanges, then the devil, with his destructive devices, has jumped into the couple’s relationship, intending to snap it asunder.

“Love…..keeps no record” is our next consideration. Do you know there are some husbands who strangely keep secret dairies about their wives so-called misbehavior? At any explosive moment such offended husbands begin to read out all such wrongs to their mothers or father-in-law, for the purpose of seeking justification for whatever action they intend taking. Other men keep dairies in their hearts, and would not easily forget even the minor mistakes these wives commit. This is most unfortunate. After all, which person does not commit mistakes in this world? No one is an angel. So if the wife offends, it is for the husband to forgive.

Our discussions on husband’s love towards the wife shall be continued later.

THE WIFE’S LOVE

Having dealt with some aspects of the husband’s love towards the wife in the Christian home (according to St. Paul’s talks on love), I shall now deem it expedient to turn to the wife’s love and discuss it in terms of the same Paulian scriptures.

First of all, it is to be borne in mind that St. Paul’s admonition, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, so should man love their wives as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:25-28) does not imply that it is the husband who alone should love or show love, thus ruling out the manifestation of the wife’s love towards the husband. No!

Love in marriage is a two-way affair, and this is re-echoed in St. Paul’s assertion: “for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other” (1 Thessalonians 4:9) which contextually implies ‘mutual love’, what in Greek is known as ‘philadelphia’.

Thus the kind of love also expected from a wife should operate on four planes –spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. The spiritual love of the wife towards the husband can be expressed variously: through intercession or praying for the husband’s well-being; for success in his business, good health, promotion in his job, and protection; or through her joining the husband in worshipping the Lord in private devotions at home and in church.

In some Christian homes, there unfortunately exists that sort of spiritual or religious disagreement in which the wife is seen to be a member of a different denomination, say Methodist or Presbyterian or Lutheran or Pentecost, whilst the husband is a Catholic or vice versa. When for instance, a Pentecostal wife refuses to join her Catholic husband in the Catholic Church, both of them find it difficult to come together to pray or worship at home, because of certain doctrinal differences.

There is a spiritual disunity here. If care is not taken, this disunity may often work itself up into sharp dissensions over some Bible doctrines, in which for example, the Pentecost wife may frivolously or impiously deride the Catholic husband’s use of the rosary, or may ignorantly denounce the husband’s use of a statue on the prayer altar as amounting to idol worshipping; and this may explode in serious quarrels that might land the marriage into troubles.

The solution to this often lies in the wife’s consent to attend the husband’s church; and that compromise is in fact the highest expression of her spiritual love for the husband. But where, both have agreed to let each other go to his or her church then there must be such mutual tolerance as may sometimes impel them to pray together.

In fact, spiritual unity between husband and wife is a point stressed more cogently by Prophet Amos who rhetorically asks: “Can two walk together, except they have agreed to do so”? (Amos 3:3). The key word here is ‘agreed’, which means a spiritual fusion. Love in this respect, means: readiness to agree with one’s partner. So if the wife really loves her husband, she quickly agrees to the husband’s loving suggestion to attend the same church or to pray together.

Where there is such agreement, spiritual love is richly intensified or heightened to lofty heights, and this may express itself also in the wife’s act of inviting the husband to pray together or fast or sing or learn the Scriptures together. It is to be noted that singing religious songs is either a form of praying or praising God, and it conduces to a great spiritual growth, if the couple often sing together. Fasting can also be done by the wife alone (or plus the husband) if she needs something very urgent from the lord on behalf of her husband. And such an initiative, of course, show great love.

Next is ‘mental’ love from the wife which expresses itself in the act of studying the Word of God with the husband. Oftentimes, the wife plays second fiddle in this exercise, but where the husband is deficient in Bible Knowledge and the wife is more proficient, then it is incumbent on her to lead in Bible studies and discussions in a brother-sister mood. This should be devoid of derision or unnecessary rebuke when either wife or husband goes wrong.

Studying the Word of God may take the form of reading a passage of the Bible and discussing its context or meaning, and general relevance to various aspects of life. Notes can be taken where necessary. Thus armed with very good knowledge of the Bible, the couple can teach the children some Scriptures or give them simple Bible quizzes. At least the weekends can be allotted for husband-wife Bible studies and Bible teachings.

In all these Bible studies and teachings, the wife is expected to play a pivotal role. She may have to prepare the Bible studies table and chairs, assists in the teaching of the Bible to the children, etc. Her interest or enthusiasm in Bible studies and religious discussions in the Christian home is always very essential.

By Apostle Kwamena Ahinful

Ghana Flag

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

-  Mathew 27:46

“A crisis that reoccurs a second time is a crisis that must not occur again. A well-managed plant, I soon learned is a quiet place. A well-managed factory is boring. Nothing exciting happens in it because the crises have been anticipated and have been converted into routine”.

-  Peter Drucker

I wonder what comments Peter Drucker would make of the Ghanaian situation if he were around.

This is a country where crisis keeps on occurring and we move from one crisis to another without any solutions.

We create problems rather than finding solutions.

I wonder what comments Lee Kuan Yew would make if he were to visit Ghana for the second time and assess the Ghana he saw over 40 years ago when he first visited the country.

Corruption is destroying this country. This is a country born into corruption, baptized in corruption, nurtured in corruption, brought up in corruption, educated in corruption and spent all its adult working days in corruption and made to believe that the only way to salvation is to die in corruption. Today, the corruption which had engulfed our leaders during the Kwame Nkrumah era has assumed an unprecedented gargantuan proportion moving from Kalabule and Gyinabu of Acheampong NRC administration to Woyomegate and Akomfemgate under the Mills and Mahama NDC administration. Contracts are packaged and awarded to only those who are prepared to pay bribes.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption are heavily involved in shady deals robbing the country of needed limited resources for development and growth. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, are not just involved in outright theft of state resources but are also selling the country to pale faced crooked foreign businessmen.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption personally move from one office to another of crooked foreign businessmen, many of them without entry permits, resident permits and working permits, collecting envelopes stuffed with $10,000 as a price for selling the country.

It is a fact that our greedy leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, no longer wait in their offices to receive the bribes consisting of $10,000 stacked in envelopes.

Expensive vehicles and houses in foreign countries are very often thrown into the bargain as the purchase price for selling off the country to these crooked foreign businessmen.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, virtually beg for admission and scholarship for their children in foreign universities from crooked foreign businessmen as prices for selling the country’s resources cheaply. Our greedy leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, offer themselves at very cheap prices for their treachery and the crooked foreign businessmen in turn offer cheap prizes. Our leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, nowadays take the short route to the offices of these crooked foreign businessmen to collect these bribes themselves. They then sell the nation so cheaply to these foreign crooks. The foreign crooks come into the country without the requisite entry and resident permits as well as working permits and establish businesses such as ICT schools and centres, vehicle distribution companies,  retail businesses, enter into the oil and gas industry, involve themselves in galamsey, evade taxes and custom duties, carry out illegal electricity and water connections, involve themselves in businesses reserved for the locals, take over prime areas for massive residential building projects, establish churches where massive collections are made weekly which eventually find the way out of the country.

These crooked foreign businessmen claim dual nationality while they siphon all the cedis they earn out of the country in the form of United States dollars by beating the foreign exchange legal regime. Very often, these crooked foreign businessmen come with little or no working capital to their names. However, the local banks open their doors to them offering them mouthwatering credit facilities and within a short time they become dollar millionaires. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption fly out on holidays arranged for them free of charge paid for by these crooked foreigners. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, compromise their entrusted positions and sell the nation’s birthright to these crooked foreigners mostly made up of Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Syrians, Lebanese, Malaysians and some western businessmen.

The largesse appears massive for the greedy and unpatriotic leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption. However, they are chicken feed to these crooked foreign bribe payers. However, they come at a big cost to the nation.

The illegal Chinese galamsey operators can gun down locals with impunity without the law dealing with them. Taxes and custom duties which could be used for development and growth are lost to the state and channeled into private pockets, the collection of government revenue can be compromised and taxes meant for the consolidated fund swept under the carpet.

The additional  price the nation pays for these heinous crimes is that our environment is degraded and  destroyed, our forest reserves are  depleted, our water bodies are polluted, Ghanaians workers employed by these pale faced foreigners are paid peanuts as starvation wages which amount to hand to chin wages and as part of the bargain treated as dirt with no rights to form unions or access to SSNIT contribution,  our telephone system can be operated at the lowest level of inefficiency to the discomfort of the suffering consumer illegal electricity and water connections suddenly become legal without any punishment to the offenders.

Illegal and unaccustomed goods like textiles, counterfeit products including fake drugs and expired consumer products can be allowed through our borders and onto the market. Cocoa and coffee, minerals like gold and diamond can be smuggled across the border with impunity.  I can still recollect the day Anas Arimiyaw Anas famous exposure on customs broke out. All what our late President Mills could do was to explode with righteous indignation and threaten the men and women of the custom institution on TV that the next time such callous atrocities are allowed to occur, there would be massive transfer of staff. In this country transfer is seen as punishment. The worst which happens to corrupt people is just to name them when the right thing to do is to name, shame and jail them. Who can doubt that fact that the impunity at the lower levels keep on occurring with persistent accuracy and timing because those at the top benefit from it and are worse offenders.

It took the courage of a late IGP Bawa Yakubu to admit there could hardly be any police officer who had not taken bribe before, (perhaps with the exception of the fine police officer of blessed memory famously called “Abban”). Can anybody show me a virgin in maternity hospital?

In all these criminal endeavours, these crooked foreigners are very often aided by locals who find themselves in leadership positions like chiefs, assembly men and women and opinion leaders. These locals are paid pittance either for acting as front men or conduit pipe for these crooked foreign businessmen

There is so much corruption in this country presently because right from the dawn of independence, the epicentre of the corruption industry has always been at the seat of Government. Subsequent governments we have had have all polished up and oiled the corruption machinery they met, researched into it, perfected the way the loot stolen can be hidden while covering their tracks. We have reached a state in the corruption industry where an alleged criminal standing trial for illegal collection and receipt of state funds can hold a press conference, exuding self-confidence and clothed in moral fibre, threatening to name names of his alleged accomplices and everybody who matters in the society keeps quiet instead of daring him to a duel of conscience to name names. We have reached a stage in the corruption industry where the highest officer entrusted with the affairs of the state can announce loudly and clear that the entire flesh belonging to the nation has been eaten away leaving a bone which is even useless to the dog with the toughest teeth and strongest jaws to munch and yet it takes only a lonely Man of God from Obuasi, the Soweto of Ghana, to challenge him to come out with names of the people who ate away the entire flesh.

Indeed, just as any idiot can go to court and such idiot is already  in court, any idiot can ascend to the highest office of the land with so much sycophancy, bootlicking, hen-pecked husband attitude towards affairs of the state and dog in the manger attitude and give it to God syndrome on the part of the citizens.

The sad situation and the reality facing this country today is that we have criminals in government who came to power through criminal ways, we have criminals managing our state institutions and who are all looting the state coffers with impunity. As if that is not enough these greedy bustards are also selling the nation’s birthright to crooked foreigners and are diligently and with impunity introducing tribalism into our national life, a canker Dr. Kwame Nkrumah fought to a standstill and won.

Suddenly persons with certain tribal names or deemed to be coming from certain parts of the country or are known not to belong to the ruling party are treated as second class citizens. Certain particular region in the country has been declared no go area by criminal gangs in full glare of the security services. Ghana, forget, we can never make it. Every morning when I hear the song birds singing telling me it is time to wake up, I look at my black skin and look up to the heavens and I exclaim, Oh Allah, why did you bring me here.

E-mail: makgyasi@ug.edu.gh

By Kwame Gyasi

Kwesi Biney

To Be Honest, As This World Goes, Is To Be

One Man Picked Out Of Ten Thousand

(Hamlet, Shakespeare)

Sometimes my diminishing hope for the future of this country under John Mahama and his team of corrupt incompetent fortune grabbers of no comparison in the history of the leadership of this country is stalled, when a glimmer of hope from an unknown quarter shines out there. One of the major reasons why this country is taken for granted by politicians is the fact that many organized groups and leaders of very influential bodies prefer remaining silent, at least publicly over actions and inactions of governments which affect their lives and the nation as a whole.

I remember that in the Gen. Acheampong era when the fortunes of this country were moving slowly but unstoppable into an abyss, a number of bodies and individuals rose up in defence of this country at the peril of their lives. I remember the late Mr. Amarteifio, who became known as Mr. No because of his public opposition to the UNIGOV referendum introduced by the regime. I remember the Professional Bodies Association of Ghana which stood up and spoke publicly against the government’s governance style and in the interest of the nation.

I also remember the Movement for Freedom and Justice (MFJ) which brought together all people from various political divides to challenge the state of affairs and call for a return to a constitutional democratic means of governing this country. The now moribund or toothless National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) which in the years of yore was the intellectual lamp for this country where opaqueness and non-accountability in governance were exposed while the ‘Legon Observer’ brought to the nation the intellectual angle of what was going on. The Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church contributed immensely to the struggle to correct the aberration in governance in those times.

Indeed, it was the collective non-violent actions of the above groups and individuals like Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt and others who have passed on to glory, which led to the Palace Coup of Gen. Akwasi Akufo and finally the June 4^th Revolution. Over the years, many such organizations have either been dissolved or the individuals have taken a different position in life because of changing circumstances. It must be stated, however, that the underlining principles which led to the actions of the above groups and individuals still stand. Some progress has been achieved but the mismanagement of our collective resources still prevails and the magnitude is dependent on which group of people are in power.

My rekindled hope for this country under John Mahama stems from the most profound question from Rev. Stephen R. Bosumtwi-Ayensu of the Obuasi Methodist Synod to John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana. The simple question from the man of God is: ‘Where is the meat, who ate them and left the bones to the rest of us?’ President Mahama in his State of the Nation’s Address to us said that the flesh on the thigh of whether the cow or the guinea fowl is left with a bone. The question which has been asked on behalf of the people by Rev. Stephen Bosumtwi-Ayensu in Obuasi is who and who ate the juicy meat and left the bone for the rest of us. This question to President Mahama is very important because at the time the meat was being chewed ‘yafuyafu’ by who ever, John Mahama was in charge of this country.

As the Vice President of this country and later the President of this country, John Mahama was in charge of the financial management among other things in this country. Indeed, his own former Attorney General, Hon. Martin Amidu says that as a result of certain financial malpractices in the procurement of certain things which were led by then Vice President Mahama, the late President Atta-Mills set up a committee to investigate that act of suspected impropriety. Then Vice President Mahama never allowed the committee to do its work, according Martin Amidu. Is it when the ‘yafuyafu’ consumption of the meat began?

What about the numerous judgement debt payments made without any work done by the claimants at the time when he was the Vice President of this country? Did the consumption of the meat not begin from that point even when as we were told later, the late President had ordered the arrest of the payments?  President Mahama, your own Minister for Finance and Economic Planning had told this nation and the world that during the last three months of your leadership as the President of this country, you spent over GH¢8billion of our monies which were not approved by Parliament. Where did these funds go to and who and who ate the meat leaving only the bones?

Today, the NADMO Boss is complaining about the lack of relief items for his organization, yet we all know that NADMO is one of the organizations which overspent its budget during the last quarter of the year 2012. In the last quarter of the year 2012, there is no record of disasters which warranted the over expenditure of the organization aimed at bringing reliefs to the affected people. The monies spent and over spent in that organization were used for political gains other than investments in their core activities. Having chewed the meat and left only the bones, Kofi Porthurphy is complaining of lack of this and lack of that. NADMO needs to be seriously audited to prove where its portion of the meat went to.

Yes, you and your cohorts dissipated this huge sum of money without solving a single social problem confronting this nation. Students on Government Scholarships overseas were being thrown out because their fees had not been paid. The meat had been chewed under your leadership.  You bought cars for young ladies and men when you had legitimate bills to pay to your employees which you did not. You spent millions of our resources mounting giant bill boards which were virtually changed every day when electricity generating bodies had no money to import crude oil to provide us with electricity energy. A question of misplaced priorities by a President who comes back to tell its citizens that all the meat is gone and that we are left only with the bones. Who ate the meat, President Mahama needs to tell this nation.

NEW PINK SHEETS BEING PRINTED?

Hmmmm, this country is always full of rumours particularly when issues of national interests rear their heads. Some of them may look absurd if they are not scientifically and biometrically verified, one’s decision on such rumours may either lead to under voting or over voting on the face of the information available to you. In fact, the colour of the sheet on which one finds the information may either authenticate the information or be categorized as human error, clerical error or administrative error. One is even likely to find error of declaration of a winner in an election in the face of massive clerical, human, administrative and trans –positional errors. Well it seems that as a nation, we will reward our staff whose outputs in the organizations in which they have been employed are based on clerical, human, and administrative errors and at the end of the year we declare results based on those errors.

A bird rumoured into my ears just a few days back that some people ooo, are printing new Pink Sheets and others to refill and present to the court as what they have. I told myself that oooo, this cannot be possible. But you see, in this country, anything can happen ooo.  Ooo, my source said that until they finish printing the documents and get them filled and signed by some faceless people, Uncle Tees’ cross-exams would continue. Well, I still have my doubts but the Petitioners should shine their eyes and remove the cobwebs in their ears because some people are dangerous in this country, the Printing House which is also doing that must know the implications of what they are doing if indeed it is true and they are found out.

Well, two shots of very well verified mahogany bitters, but please make sure that they are not in any form of error, clerically or administratively. Daavi, please do not trans-pose alomo bitters for mahogany bitters.

Kwesibiney2009gh@yahoo.com.

By Kwesi Biney

Baaba Eshun-Wilson

(This article is based on the shooting incident between some illegal Chinese miners and locals in the Obuasi area on Wednesday the 8th of May, 2013 in which two Ghanaians were killed. It goes to show how Ghanaians, as a people have sat back, watched and done pretty much nothing about the invasion of foreigners in our land.)

Ghana has morphed into a land where foreigners come to try their luck and if they succeed at any business, they hit the jackpot. This country is a land of vast opportunity waiting to be explored by her own people. Nevertheless, the people have neglected their own land, only finding employment when the White man takes advantage of those opportunities. We worship foreigners, revere and respect them more than we do our own fellow Ghanaians.
I can quite recall an incident that shocked me to the marrow in this regard. With the intention of conducting a transaction in a well-known bank, I was in a very long queue waiting to be served. Customers making deposits and withdrawals from various bank accounts were all crammed up into the same queue; making it very long indeed.

Those sending money to other countries and receiving money in foreign currency formed a different queue within the bank.

However, because of the length of the queue, I found myself standing beside the foreign transactions lane, where I heard the most disgraceful conversation ever. A woman, probably in her 40s, who was next in line to the customer being served, was being coerced by a white man to let him stand in front of her to be served quickly because he said, “he was obviously more in a hurry than her as he had a flight to catch.” I looked at her with a stern look, a look I hoped relayed the message instructing her not to give this disrespectful foreigner the chance. How dare he? If he was in his own country and this lady approached him with such a request would it have been granted? She ignored my look and allowed him to take her place. I shook my head in utter despair.

Ghanaians, as a people, have not put any price on the dignity and worth of this country and that is why foreigners come here and dictate to us how to run our affairs.

We seem to have the capacity to endure unnecessary suffering and have a timid subservience to oppression. That is why when foreigners are engaging in illegal practices on our own soil and we get killed in the process of trying to protect what our forefathers left for us. That is why most of Ghanaians who work under foreigners endure all kinds of unfair treatment on our own soil, to the extent that they are even denied their salary when payday is due!  How pathetic! How sad! It almost seems as if we are being colonized all over again by foreigners.

Regarding the case of the illegal Chinese miners attempting to mine on land that was not legally given to them, one should have in mind that these foreigners would not have attempted to take any land without the help of some local collaborators. Some of our very own people, knowing the illegality of this act, allowed these foreigners to mine on Ghanaian land, of course, for a fee. If our own people can go that far to betray Ghana in such a manner, then are we patriotic at all? Reports say the Mayor of Accra instructed the traders not rebuild their shops after the recent fire outbreak at Kantamanto because of plans to sell the land to a group of interested Chinese businessmen.

Even though the mayor insists that there are plans to build an ultra modern market for these traders, these people suspect a case of arson.

Ghana is in a very sad and sorry state. The mere fact that these Chinese men even brought guns with them on their mission to takeover land for their illegal mining practice speaks volumes about the way foreigners view our motherland.

Yes, indeed, WE ARE SLAVES IN OUR OWN LAND.

-       baaba.lou@gmail.com

By Baaba Eshun-Wilson

Sydney Casely-Hayford

I posted a very historical “Lest We Forget” piece on my Blog this week, written by a very good friend Kwasi Gyan Appenteng.  Down memory lane to 1983, he strolls through time with palpitating nostalgia that hit hard and made me reminisce about times gone by, when revolution meant violence and student agitation shut down the University for two years.  When I first saw the email subject matter, I thought, great, Kwasi has not forgotten Kume Preko and the murder of Ahonga and Ahulu, when we marched against economic hardship and VAT on 11 May 1995, but alas his hike was different.  I found this recount of the crimes by ACDR’s (revolutionary guards as then called) a not-to-be-forgotten history of what happened that day.  It is a painful Marxist memory of Ghana, after the nebulous Nkrumaism, which masked cult worship as an Africanus paradigm but really meant constitutional dictatorship.

This publication from Modern Ghana.com is short enough to repeat verbatim and carries the key mixes then and today.

The article was headed “KUME PREKO” On CNN, BBC”

“The mass show of abhorrence for the mismanagement of Ghana’s economy gained international recognition with extensive coverage by CNN and the BBC. CNN transmitted the march live, while BBC devoted considerable airtime to the event.

According to our US and other foreign sources, the CNN coverage gave the international community real, first hand information about the level of discontent against the NDC government. The much-vaunted economic success and strongman image of Jerry Rawlings has suffered a big jolt as a result.

The organisers estimate the number of marchers at 100,000, certainly the biggest single demonstration in the nation’s history. The milling crowd included people of all ages and their resolve proved that the so-called peace in the country has, all along, been the peace of the graveyards.

The extensive coverage accorded the march by the BBC served to expose the lies and disinformation put up by GBC. It was an opportunity for the organisers to state their side of the story, as opposed to the government monologue of lies served by GBC.

Describing the event as the “largest in recent years” and the “first major show of opposition to the Rawlings regime in thirteen years,” BBC put participation in the march at “tens of thousands.”

Responding to questions, Nana Akufo Addo, spokesman for the Alliance for Change, put the responsibility for the violence that erupted squarely on the government, which he said, hired and armed thugs to disrupt the march. Asked whether his group accepted responsibility for the violence he replied emphatically, “Absolutely none, none whatsoever.”

Nana Akufo Addo said that “Kume Preko” “provided a forum for people to express their dissatisfaction with what is going on.” He described charges that the organisers had whipped up emotions as “blatant lies.”

Nana Akufo Addo said that the only regrets the Alliance for Change has is that Ghana is “still in the grip of people who have a very, very warped idea of a democratic system of government.”

The other problem, he said, is of people in power who feel that they should hold on to power without question, at all costs”.

The deaths of two protestors, others who were beaten and mauled for even watching the march have never been investigated.  The statute of limitation does not apply to murder and when the day of proper justice from an Ag’s department does arrive, we should expect some restitution for the families who gave up their sons to achieve even the imperfection in justice we have today.

Then as now, the opposition NPP has asked the courts to deliberate on what could be a major upheaval in the course of our history.  We are in a full-blown democracy, sailing the waves of justice but fearing with each suggestion to the witness box that we could be sunk by a reticent group whose politically strung fortunes will fritter away under a gavel of the Supreme Court.

So when the National Security Agency popped up on Thursday at the Court Registry to “protect” the Pink Sheets, the Registrar showed revolutionary timidity.

The whole NPP-Ghana, PPP-Ghana, NDP-Ghana and maybe some NDC-Ghana as well, sucked in some “Odaw-naa” aroma and let it out with great gusto when the “unsolicited” goodwill was rebuffed.  Let’s say it.  I don’t know anyone who believes that move was sincere.  I listened to Security Coordinator Gbevlo Lartey’s reaction on Joyfm Newsfile on Saturday and I had an insecure palpitation after I heard it rationalised as a pre-emptive approach.

What Gbevlo Lartey forgets, but what Ghanaians have not forgotten are the many attempts by Government agencies to “protect” them.  Nkrumah preemptively jailed people to protect Ghana under PDA, and we have still not forgotten how Kutu Acheampong was going to institute UNIGOV to ensure that he could preempt military coups and that was before half the ballot boxes fell into rivers.  Traders at Kantamanto are up in arms because they do no trust the AMA, doctors do not trust the MOFEP to honor its word on payments and Ghanaians generally do not trust this Government with managing our economy, and the election process is in doubt.  All this is translating into not so timid Ghanaians and we are no longer as hesitant to voice out.

Even Tsatsu Tsikata does not trust that the NPP can add a set of numbers and count to 11,842, but his call for a count is a good one.  I say the Court would have had to get to that point anyway.  On the mayhap that the Court decides the NPP Petitioners have enough credible evidence, it will have to ask for a count and calculation of the votes in play in order to determine whether this becomes a run-off or an outright overturn.  This decision hastens the end game.  We will do now what we need done at the end point.  NPP counsel Phillip Addison agreed to this without fuss.  Timidly?  Or does he see something beyond Tsatsu’s pompousness?  My lawyer friends tell me court trial 101.  Never ask a critical question of a witness if you do not know the answer.  The opponent’s acquiescence might not be as timid as you think.

So far Tsatsu has failed to break the seemingly timid manner belying Bawumia’s calmness.  He lost his cool many times during cross, going as far as calling the NPP witness dishonest.  As much as I feel his frustration, I think his tact is misdirected.  Bawumia led a team, he did not fashion the documents.  The evidence should be his target.  Enough said, big-up to the witness.

I disagree with the alleged KPMG count and audit fee of $100,000.  It is a ridiculous figure if it is true and my small advice to the Court is, save some money and use some pupils from Akoto Lante JHS.  They can count to 1,000 even with the poor standards we give them. All we need is twelve of them for an hour and we will be finished with the count.  Give them a set of pens and pencils each and award them a plaque for a job well done.  KPMG can supervise for GHC1,000.

I hear the petitioners delivered all the said count of 11,842 to the Registry, who had the responsibility to serve the Respondents.  Surely, layman parlance can fathom logically, that the Court Registrar is responsible for the receipt and onward distribution of the documents. And they gave a receipt to the Petitioners.  So whither this mega issue?  Paragraphs “44 to 67” became a crystallizing point on Thursday.

And Gabby Asare Otchere Darko pitched his vociferous revolution with a “timidity” charge at the Supreme Court.  Calling the Justices out, he mistrusted the basis of the ruling in favor of Bernard Mornah to exclude sitting on holidays and weekends contrary to Constitutional Instrument 74 determining the rules of engagement for the Election Petition.  Court went ballistic, Gabby apologized but Kwaku Baako too called them out, but then he also made a slight detour, apologizing for being over-passionate.  Mr Documents?  Too much zest?

There was a revenge murder in Kumasi, fall out from election-related killing in Manhyia South.  Tensions heightened, follow-up reprisals expected, Kumasi is always volatile with election violence.  The CPP/NLM fighting was also murder related, Twumasi Ankrah stabbing EY Baffoe to death and triggering the unstoppable progress of our independence from Britain amid calls for secession.  Some Chinese dudes shot and killed a couple of Ghanaians for gold and President Mahama wants us to pay more for electricity.  Pay more?  Mr. President, we should be looking at where the electricity is leaking.  Illegal connections, weak transmission, stolen cables and such.  Had we finished building the planned dams on time and completed the gas processing plant in December 2012 as promised, we would be glad to pay more, because it would be stable and consistent.  Don’t give me a poor service and then ask me to shed more cash.  That is wholesome insincerity.

My new Chinese meter runs twice as fast as the previous one.  I haven’t added any new appliances, I haven’t increased my consumption pattern in any way, but my prepaid units are already gone, halfway through the month.  I complained timidly at Bortianor and they are timidly investigating.  Meanwhile I am a bleeding unit.

Ghana, Aha a ye de papa.  Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come!

Sydney Casely-Hayford, sydney@bizghana.com

 By Sydney Casely-Hayford

Armed robber

“London is burning, London is burning. Look yonder, look yonder.  Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire. Pour water, pour water” – A day-nursery song.

Times are not good and only the Lord God of Israel can deliver us from the bottomless pit that we have found ourselves in.  Nothing, absolutely nothing seems to work well in God’s own country.  Unlike King Midas touch, whatever John Dramani Mahama touches becomes mere brass instead of gold.  Armed robbery is on the increase and gangsters have taken over the security of the nation, shooting and axing people in broad daylight.    Corruption has reached all-time high and drug trade is booming. Fatal road traffic accidents happen on daily basis while spousal killings and contract killings have all become fashionable.  Water, electricity, food and gas and other essential commodities are far from the reach of the poor man in a Better Ghana regime.

We really need the services of an exorcist to help uncoil us from the grips of evil forces. T.B Joshua alone cannot do it and neither can sending hundreds of pastors to Israel to pray for the country solve the mega problems facing this country.  It looks as if God has refused to smile on us as we trudge along in pain, disunity, desperation, fear, hunger, thirst and above all, suspicion of each other. Our forefathers did not fight for independence for us to be slaves in our own country.  We have done something which has incurred the displeasure of the Lord God of Host.

From the days of Sodom and Gomorrah to the days of Moses and Elijah, fires do not burn for nothing.  When Moses saw fire burning in green bush with the bush not burning he suspected something.  When he went closer to observe for himself, he heard a voice which was later identified as the voice of God (I am that I am).  The message that was delivered by God to Moses led to the liberation of the Israelis who were in bondage in Egypt.  The Almighty God of fire tasked Moses to go out there to bring the people of Israel to the Promised Land with only his rod as a weapon.  Moses obeyed and succeeded in accomplishing that sacred duty.  Anytime you happen to see a fire burning in a green bush, remove your sandals and move closer to the place.  I am that I am may have a message for you.

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked and practiced what has come to be called sodomy or gay and lesbianism.  Apart from old man Lot and his family, all those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah were evil doers and their behaviour did not please God.  To punish them, the Lord God of Israel rained fire and brimstone from above and destroyed the city and its inhabitants. Can you imagine a whole city and its inhabitants being burnt into ashes?  People and animals did run but had nowhere to hide.  The anger of the Almighty God was so furious that not even the animals that were not practicing sodomy were spared.  Sometimes I try to ask why God should vent His anger at animals who obeyed His commandments by not practicing sodomy like human beings who were supposed to know better.  But how dare you question the wisdom of the All-knowing God of host? And so whether dogs, goats, cows etc practiced sodomy or not, they joined their owners in the fire.

Here in Ghana, we named a community Sodom and Gomorrah where evil practices like prostitution, armed robbery, wee smoking and cocaine sniffing are the orders of the day.  There, sodomy is also practiced and lawlessness is defined to mean lawfulness.  Almost every year the place is burnt down only for the people there to reconstruct and continue with their evil deeds.  The last time I viewed Sodom and Gomorrah from a distance I concluded that we as a people living in a country called Ghana should be marched to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to face charges of committing crime against humanity.  The question is:  why do we allow them to dwell there in the first place?  If Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah could turn a fishing village into a big city called Tema and build a harbour there, I see no reason why we cannot build low cost houses for these poor folks who live in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Want to know why there have been fire outbreaks across the length and breadth of this country for the past four years?  The answer is very simple: God is angry with us.  Even though fire outbreaks used to occur in this country it has not been as serious as we have witnessed for the past four years. We need some soul searching and confess our sins.  Thou shall not steal is one of the Ten Commandments which should not be toyed with.  That is why in countries where Sharia Law is practiced the hands of thieves are amputated. When Jacob stole the blessings that belonged to Esau, he (Jacob) never saw peace.  At a point in time hunger stalked the land that he and his family were dwelling. His firstborn son, Reuben had sex with one of the wives of Jacob on the bed of Jacob.  In other words Reuben “stole the thing” of his father.  When Jacob was old and dying he gathered all his children in attempt to tell them what will befall them in the last days.  Hear what he said about Reuben:  “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and excellency of power:  Unstable as water, thou shall not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it; he went up to my couch”.  So you see the pain in the chest of grandpa Jacob?  In fact, it was through the thievery of Jacob that his descendants eventually found themselves as slaves in Egypt.  Anytime you plan to steal, think about the plight of Jacob.

In 2008, Afari-Gyan and his EC worked with the NDC to steal the election for the late Professor Mills.  For peace to prevail, the leadership of the NPP put the theft behind them and moved forward.  But God did not. For the nearly three years that Professor Mills ruled this country, several fire outbreaks were recorded and the country was at the brink of chaos from all angles.  Things went so bad for Mills that the man told the world that his name was so worthless that if even you tried to sell it for one Ghana Cedi no one would buy.  When the same theft was repeated in 2012, God did not like that too and He started what He knows what to do best in Ghana.  That was why the Kumasi Central Market, Asafo Market, Kokompe, Tema Market, Foreign Affairs office, Sodom and Gomorrah, Kantamanto etc. all went up in flames.  God is angry because the EC stole a verdict to an undeserved person.

Remember I am your irrepressible Angel Gabriel who dwells in the firmament so believe in me.  Anytime my father in heaven is angry, He rolls out his anger in the form of fire and brimstone.

 By Eric Bawah