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

The Supreme Court

If anybody had predicted that a black person would become the leader of the free world (the United States of America) in my lifetime, I would have labeled that person a dreamer. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he never believed that he would be vanquished because Birnamwood to high Dunsinan (trees and land) could not possibly move against him. Although, it seemed impossible it did happened. What is strange under the sun; where are historical figures like Saddam Hussein and Muhammad Gaddafi in our lives today? We know in our biblical history where Lazarus was restored to life having died for four days which reinforces our belief that with God everything is possible. This ‘Trial of the Century’ should not shock any one because it is only an attempt to ensure sanity in our democracy, guarantee fundamental fairness and a promise of better life for generations to come. It is not about NDC or NPP but the restoration and preservation of our sovereignty to elect our leaders.

It is our right and we demand it.  The revolution to emancipate this nation from corruption; ensure sanity and accountability is still ongoing because we cannot as a country allow few disgruntled people at the Electoral Commission to manipulate our electoral process and decide the fate of over 25 million people. This is ridiculous and unacceptable, and I thank everybody who is in the mill to fight this monstrous canker.

My brothers and sisters, injustice in any form is a threat to justice, our peace and harmony, something that we have enjoyed and cherished for some time. This trial at the Supreme Court does not favor the best of lawyers because it has no room for courtroom gimmicks, conjectures, speculations but the law and figures. This is not a murder trial and not even the Tsikatas, the Quarshie-Iduns nor the Tony Lithurs can survive the evidence deduced, so people like Nana Ato Dadzie should stop the propaganda. This is serious business; what is the price in attempting to discredit the witness because this trial is not about Dr. Bawumia but Ghana and our Democracy. Nobody or institution can change our current laws as enshrined in our Constitution ( LI78) or stop the audit of the pink sheets as presented. We all understand what over-voting connotes, the meaning of no verification no vote and other breaches of electoral laws as earlier explained by Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the EC during the elections.

Ghanaians have been taken for ride for far too long by certain disgruntled people who I classify as idiots having assumed the responsibility of deciding the fate of Ghanaians by circumventing the will of the masses. I personally saw this grand scheme emerging with the delay of data on the population census which during its conduct witnessed the change of the Government Statistician of the day. As to be expected all the regions increased with the exception of Ashanti and I questioned myself as to the kind of economic activities going on in the Volta and Northern Regions to guarantee population growth. We all know that people in the Volta Region are moving consistently to Accra and those in the North are moving to the Ashanti Region, meanwhile the numbers in the North and Volta Regions have increased while Ashanti has reduced. This to me was just ridiculous and despicable, to say the least.

Ghana is sitting on thorns. Some intelligent political tricksters have emerged realizing that most of our people are economic entities and are able to manipulate them with cars, motorbikes, sewing machines, cloth, cell phones and microwaves etc which constitute smart politics in an Africa country like ours. Why should we as a nation succumb to the manipulation by certain few disgruntled and greedy people who want to toy with the destiny of the whole country?  This is what the Court petition is all about; our sovereignty and the realignment of our democracy which is managed by the EC. Unlike some people, I am not dumb and want to know the price of my vote having spent over 60 million cedis to fly down to exercise my sovereignty. What satisfaction is derived by those who woke up as earlier as 3am to go and vote? It is time that all well meaning people who believe in fundamental fairness and equity stood up.

This court case spectacle is a serious adventure where lawyers have no room to twist or change the law. In the same vein, our eminent judges at the Supreme Court, as custodians of our laws can only interpret them based on the ideals of the framers of our Constitution. LI 78 is explicit on the rules of engagement in the electoral process in reference to verification before voting, over voting etc. It is on record that certain areas like Nyayeri, Kulgona and Bomni have had their votes cancelled for over voting and the law is the law. There are incidents of Electoral Officers conniving to coerce other subordinates to sign pinks sheets and affidavits i.e. Salamatu Osman in Savelugu and Idrrisu Evans of Upper East. Countrymen and women, we are living in strange and dangerous times that call for cool heads because no amount of propaganda or manipulation can change events.

To My Follow Ghanaians

The issue at stake has nothing to do with NDC or NPP. It is about the ineptness of the staff of the Electoral Commission and whether the verdict they gave in reference to our Presidential elections represent the true aspirations of Ghanaians or not? As citizens of the Republic, it is our right and responsibility to ensure that our sovereignty is not compromised or violated. The Presidency must go to the person who has the largest genuine votes and not votes by errors.  If there were mistakes, let us correct them and re-collate the figures (data). If there were irregularities and Constitutional breaches, let us attend to them. After all, that is why we have the judiciary. Ghana is not a jungle but a society of laws and it is incumbent on all of us to ensure that our laws and statutes function well. We should not allow lies, aggression, propaganda, power, tribalism and politics to subvert the truth because injustice in any form is a treat to our peace. Let us be objective and avoid hatred, which venom will destroy us and distort our personalities.

On Dr. Bawumia

– Why are decent people attempting to discredit him? Why are honest citizens conspiring to attack the messenger instead of his message? Dr. Bawumia is the only soul in the ‘witness box’ representing our constitutional rights and sovereignty. He is carrying the load to ensure sanity in our democracy and protect our nation, the new generation and the unborn. This is a very serious burden that very few people can handle, excluding me. Our laws on the electoral process are known to most Ghanaians and they remain the same unless otherwise amended in the near future. Our society must also remember that the judges of the Supreme Court also have their responsibilities to defend the Constitution.

Nevertheless, our sovereignty should not be determined by errors but by our valid votes. This dangerous behavior of “GYAE MA NO NKA’ (let forgive and forget, let bygones be bygone) syndrome, is unacceptable and preposterous, and must not be allowed to stand because we demand legitimacy in our voting process to ensure trust in our democratic dispensation.

To Our Eminent Judges

My Lords, as interpreters of our Constitution and Laws of the land, it behooves you to adjudicate the case before you without fear or favor. You hold the keys to unearthing the truth in the matter before you. I wish you well and pray that the good Lord equip you with the power of bravery and the wisdom of the law to adjudicate faithfully without fear or favor. Errors in any form should not determine our sovereignty because injustice in any form is a treat to our peace. Let us pursue the truth, hunt for it and find it. This will help us to realign, redefine and deepen our democracy with a hope of better Ghana for generations to come.

Hope is a good thing; let us pursue it with a promise for our new generation.

Eric Edusei writes from Virginia, USA

By Eric Edusei

What a difference it would make if Ghana had leaders who embarked on industrialization. History shows us clearly what will happen in the future.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

1. How Venice and Holland became rich through creative activities

Spain was one of the great seafaring nations of Europe. You will realize that most of South America and Latin America speaks Spanish. This is because they were invaded by the Spaniards who came there in search of gold.

But it became clear to observers in the mid-1500s that the enormous wealth, made up of gold and silver flowing into Spain, through their ships returning from South America, just flowed out again and ended up in two places – Venice and Holland.

Why did this flow of gold and silver finally end up in these two places?

What distinguished Venice and Holland where so much of the Spanish gold ended up?

The answer was simple. Venice and Holland had hardly any agriculture. Both of these places are well known for their swamps and waterlogged lands. But they had an extensive and diversified industry. The realization spread through Europe that the real gold mines of the world were not the physical gold mines in South America but in the manufacturing industry.

Anders Berch (1747), the first economics professor in Sweden, stated that, ‘The real gold mines are the manufacturing industries’.

Italy is a country in which there is no important gold or silver mine and so is France: yet both countries are rich in money and treasure; thanks to industry!

In various forms, the statement that “manufacturing is the real gold mine” is proven all over Europe.

2. How Spain became poor by specialising in non-creative diminishing

returns activities

The discovery of the Americas led to immense quantities of gold and silver flowing into Spain. These huge fortunes were not invested in productive systems but actually led to the de-industrialization of Spain.

In 1558, Spain’s Minister of Finance, Luis Ortiz describes the situation in a memorandum to King Philip II: From the raw materials from Spain and the West Indies – particularly silk, iron and cochinilla (a red dye) which cost them only 1 florin, the foreigners produce finished goods which they sell back to Spain for between 10 and 100 florins.

Spain is in this way subject to greater humiliations from the rest of Europe than those they themselves impose on the Indians. In exchange for gold and silver the Spaniards offer trinkets of greater or lesser value; but by buying back their own raw materials at an exorbitant price, the Spaniards are made the laughing stock of all Europe.

3. How King Henry VII made England wealthy by ensuring creativity through industrialization

King Henry VII of England, who came to power in 1485, had spent his childhood and youth with an aunt in Burgundy in Europe. There he observed great affluence in an area with woolen textile production. Both the wool and the material used to clean it were imported from England.

When Henry later took over his destitute realm of England, he remembered his adolescence on the Continent. In Burgundy, not only were the textile producers rich, but also the bakers and the other craftsmen were well off. England was in the wrong business of farming. The king decided on a policy to make England a textile-producing nation, and not an exporter of raw materials.

Henry VII created extensive policies to ensure that England would shift from diminishing returns activities to industrial activities.

1. He introduced export duties to discourage the export of raw materials from England. He wanted to force the people of England to manufacture wool instead of just exporting raw materials.

2. He gave tax exemptions to anyone who would manufacture wool from the raw materials.

3. He attracted craftsmen from Holland and Italy who would do manufacturing in England.

A hundred years later Elizabeth I placed an embargo on all raw wool exports from England.

In the eighteenth century Daniel Defoe and other historians saw the wisdom in this strategy which they labelled the ‘Tudor Plan’ after the kings and queens from that family. Like Venice and Holland, and by the same methods, England prospered from the triple incomes of their industries, raw materials and overseas trade.

4. How creativity, industrialization and increasing returns activities drove malaria out of Europe

Malaria was endemic in Europe for centuries, and the fight against this disease is already documented from the times of the Roman Empire. Historically, malaria was present in areas no one today would associate with the disease.

The Swiss Alpine valleys as high as 1400 metres above sea level were infested with malaria in the Middle Ages, and the disease had been found as far as the Kola Peninsula in north-western Russia, beyond the Polar Circle.

Europe got rid of its malaria through industrialization and development.

More advanced and intensive agriculture caused swamps to be drained, and irrigation canals – even hydro-electric power plants – meant that the type of stagnating water where malaria thrived was incompatible with economic development. Huge public health works and eradication systems also freed Europe of malaria.

In the place of this economic development that made Europe rich and malaria-free, Africa gets to keep a colonial economic structure that mainly exports raw materials.

Instead of the development and industrialization that eradicated malaria in Europe, Africa gets free mosquito nets. The core problem that is the foundation of all the poverty is not addressed by these gifts from the west.

Indeed, what a difference it would make if Ghana had leaders who embarked on industrialization as the mainstay of the country!

theaol@ymail.com

By Dag Heward-Mills

Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

Any of my compatriots who have ever had the opportunity to occupy transient leadership positions, out of which they have lived to see the one or those who succeeded them perform in the position vacated, would empathize with His Excellency Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor in his outburst over the Bui electricity inauguration non-invitation.

Gripe, no! No, because I heard that when Agya Atta went to turn on the tap for the first flow of oil, they dumped my Senior who discovered the oil off somewhere, stranded far away from the actual tap-turning.

Yet, all know the man’s achievement as president is monumental. He nursed the motherland from a Heavily Indebted Poor Country cradle to Low Middle Income young adulthood in eight short years. The impact of his social intervention programmes are still unrivalled post-Nkrumah. But by far, his star physical achievements were the commercial oil find, Highway N1 and Bui.

Take note that the Nsawam and Nkawkaw bypasses are still being fiddled with and the ‘gang of four’ major road projects, along with the affordable housing units, are still uncompleted almost five good years after Mr. J. Agyekum Kufour constitutionally left that legacy.

It is not uncommon for what the succeeded considers provocative acts by the successor to trigger spontaneous outburst from the succeeded. Its global spread shows a ‘statespersons have emotions too’ human trait.

Over the seas outside the motherland, Bill Clinton occasionally took swipes at George Walker Bush while George Herbert Walker Bush openly criticized Bill. Thatcher the Milk Snatcher, feeling let down, had her beef with successor John Major. In her view, Major didn’t appear to be majoring in anything. Sour grapes; some charged.

Down Under, a certain Paul Keating, in exasperation, told one John Howard he would never be a prime minister. So far, that never-would-be is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Aussie land.

Sitting his somewhere watching the NDC use vulgar interpretation to our winner takes all democracy by ignoring others’ achievements while stealthily coveting same achievements must, indeed, be painful for Ɔman Panin dada Kufuor.

There have been hardly any recent booms from compatriot the flight-lieutenant. I think he has given up; because daily, he witnesses his accountability and probity vision in a nightmare legacy of an assembly of the most corrupt running a hydra-headed corruption machine. It is corruption awash; nkɔnfℇm ne nnua wuiℇ nkoaa.

From the Geese/Asomdwee Park, I sense even he, who hardly milled much, thinking uncomplimentary thoughts about current happenings.

If any of my compatriots were alive to listen to Kwame Nkrumah’s broadcasts from Guinea Conakry, they would not be surprised about the Ɔsono Kokroko incident. Call it lamentations; but Kwame lashed out at the ignorance of Ghanaians in those days, mincing no words in condemning their betrayal, short of cursing.

Today, in a true manifestation of the ‘Nkrumah never dies’ (to some a blasphemy in the days we the Young Pioneers used to sing it), the Kwame Nkrumah name is everywhere. It is used by the CPP to extol. NDC uses it in vain, though. Perhaps it took too long for the realization of an unparalleled visualizing. Definitely, posterity will always judge and judge fairly.

To my Senior, I will say statesmanship exacts the very unfair price of living as if you never lived to do all the good and wonderful things you have done. It is most painful. Perhaps, all you can do is to say to yourself ‘I played my part well.’

Let others do even if their doing is destruction. Wo ayℇ bi a ℇyℇ. If in your eyes people are blinded by their own lack of vision and underachievement and thus unable to appreciate and separate what is progress from retrogress; it is their problem. Please, don’t make it your problem.

You may want to ask yourself where all the water you gave to Oguaaman which they so much showed little or no appreciation for, went. Those compatriots must be yearning for another Kufuor.

Don’t forget, people continue to talk a ‘Fathia fata Nkrumah’ kente design. Sooner than later, ‘KufuorApagya Ghana’ could be the craze in town. Apagyadehyeℇ, me srℇ me ka sℇgyae ma ℇnka. I plead you leave your legacy with my good compatriots to judge.

Vintage Nigerian politician Obafemi Awolowo said one must blow one’s own horn because no one else would. But whoever blows the horn, it is for those for whom the horn is blown to determine how pleasant or not the sound from the horn is.

If I were to write a verse in a holy book, I would inscribe blessed are those with can-do attitudes who do things but whose works are ignored by selfish attitudes of the can’t-do no-action ever doing for others. For, it is the doers who shall reap the benefits of a history of achievers.

Agya Kwaku Ogboro

A desperate situation, they say, demands a desperate action. The ‘dumso-dumso’ situation is indeed a desperate one. Perhaps, that is why the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Hon. Emmanuel Buah, is desperately considering the nuclear option.

What started as a minister musing has suddenly become a serious option. Before one could say Kofi, the minister was seen on television in a serious discussion with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in-charge of Africa Region, Dr. Dahzu Yang, about Asomdwekrom going nuclear. Our fears were heightened when the head of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Prof. Ben Nyarko, confirmed that a nuclear energy plant bill was already in Parliament. Puei! A nuclear plant in Asomdwekrom? We are in deep trouble!

One argument being espoused by proponents of nuclear energy is the fact that it is a cheaper source of energy. Yes, it is cheaper in terms of how much is used to generate power; but very expensive when there is a nuclear disaster.

For a country which is faced with perennial flooding and fire disasters, it would be foolhardy to add a possible nuclear disaster to our woes. Certainly, we cannot afford to put the life of this generation and that of those unborn in danger.

Another argument for the establishment of a nuclear plant in the country is that we have the ability to maintain such a facility. They buttress the argument with the point that Dr. Kwame Okro established the GAEC because he believed in his own saying that the Blackman was capable of managing his own affairs.
True, very true! Dr. Okro did establish the GAEC. If he was alive, and with the benefit of hindsight, I doubt if he would still stand by his saying that the Blackman was capable of managing his own affairs.

In a country where officials grant building permits without caring about the consequences of their actions, I wonder if such a people could be said to be managing their affairs well. In a country where officials deliberately plant trees in the dry season and turnaround to tell the world that some of the trees are dead, I wonder if such a people could be said to be managing their affairs well. At best, we can say they are mismanaging their own affairs. And are these not the same persons that Dr. Okro referred to as people capable of managing their own affairs? I shudder to imagine such persons managing a nuclear plant.

At least 99 nuclear accidents have occurred worldwide to date. I wish to draw your attention to only two of them:

I hope you’ve ever heard about the Chernobyl disaster. It was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on April 26, 1986 in Ukraine, then under the control of the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire released quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the Western USSR and Europe.

The Chernobyl disaster is widely considered to be the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. There have been controversies over the exact number of casualties but according to some estimates, over 500,000 died directly or indirectly as a result of the explosion; close to 8 million suffered from radiation worldwide by 2001; and close to 1 million evacuated and resettled from most severely contaminated areas of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

Following a major earthquake in Japan, a tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling systems of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, causing a nuclear accident on March 11, 2011. The nuclear accident is regarded as the second worst nuclear power plant accident in history. It is also regarded as the worst in the last 25 years.

There were no certified deaths as in the case of the Chernobyl disaster. Reports say people living very close to the plant were evacuated within 36 hours of the accident. But many more living up to 25 miles away, were not moved out until six weeks after the accident.

Two years on and over 40% of 130,000 children who lived around Fukushima are exhibiting signs of thyroid cancer, while other diseases may only become apparent decades later. Plants and marine life have been contaminated and it is feared the effects of the accident will be with Japan for decades.

Dr. Rianne Teule, a radiation expert with Greenpeace, is reported to have said the potential effects of radiation from Fukushima have been shamefully downplayed. He said it could be decades before the real impact would be seen by the world. “The likelihood is that thousands of people are at risk of cancer and other diseases from Fukushima disaster,” he added.

Abusuapanin, can you imagine a nuclear disaster in Kwabenya and the country desperately trying to evacuate people in Kwabenya and surrounding areas like Madina? Can you imagine this country grappling with the effects of a radioactive material for three decades or more? These are the questions I expect our Members of Parliament to find honest answers to before even attempting to debate the nuclear energy bill.

I would liken Asomdwekrom’s attempt at developing a nuclear plant to a person who deliberately puts his fingers in a blazing fire. We do know that this country does not have the capacity to evacuate persons within a 25-mile radius of a nuclear disaster scene. We also do know that the country does not have what it takes to ensure the safety of its citizens in case of a nuclear disaster. Why then are we in a haste to engage in such a risky venture when there are other safer ways of producing energy?

Solar energy, for instance, is far safer than nuclear. Even though it is only 2 mega watts (MW) of power, I applaud the government for investing in the solar plant inaugurated in Navrongo last week. We need more of those.

I believe I’m speaking for most of my compatriots when I say we do not need the kind of energy that would make us sleep with one eye closed and the other opened. Yes, we do need power; but, certainly, not the kind that would put our lives and those of generations unborn at risk. Come again, Hon. Buah!

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa!