Ghana should stop threading and lead…

President John Kuffour contributed a little to the development of Ghana. His most obvious achievements are the introduction of a respectable Ghanaian currency and National Health Insurance Scheme as well as the building of KATH Accident and Emergency Unit. He was described by the West as a decent guy whom they could engage with (which is also translated as a Muppet to ride on). However, credit to him for not clinging to power and also for allowing a smooth transition of power to the current NDC government. Nonetheless, despite all his achievements though debatable, President Kuffour and his government lacked enormous vision for the country and the bizarre thing is that they stayed in power for eight good years but during all those time they still did not develop a credible vision for mother Ghana let alone attaining their campaign objectives.

Unfortunately, so far the Mills government has also fallen into the traps of lack of vision and corruption name calling of the previous government. Many Africans especially Ghanaians adore and appreciate the beauty of Dubai but what they fail to do is to put pressure on their Government to create a Dubai in Ghana. Dubai did not just drop from heaven and fell on the desert. But rather, it was created out of a vision. The Governments of United Emirate and these Middle East rich states had a vision based on developing the lives of their people. They realised that the only way to gain respect of the developed nations is to build a well crafted and developed country where the people who live within it are economically and educationally capable to compete in the globalised world. Kwame Nkrumah had that vision over fifty years ago and Ghana is yet to understand his vision. Our Government can do more with our own money if they aim just a little bit higher with a precise vision. Begging for money will only lead Ghana to hell.

Michael Jackson Tribute…

It is sad to announce that the King of Pop Michael Jackson was pronounced dead at UCLA hospital in Los Angeles yesterday 25th June 2009. I like Michael and I’m yet to find any body that did not know any of his songs and did not like him. As the seventh child of the Jackson family, Michael has been singing since a child and he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson Five. His love, loyalty and mental resilient made him formidable in the music industry. He was an artist, entertainer, a humanitarian, a family man and a genius to say the least. Michael loved all people no matter what race, religion or creed. He was a true gentleman and a good human being. Michael Jackson is indeed the King of Pop simply undisputed. Thriller, Earth song, Bad, Billie Jean, Beat It, Scream, Black and White are my best songs by the King of Pop. God bless his soul….

Ghana the toxic dumping site of electronics…

It is hard to comprehend why Ghana ended up being a dumping ground for electronic wastes. A town called Agbobgloshie in the capital of Ghana is used as the dumping site for computer wastes of countries such as Britain, Germany, Korea, Switzerland and the Netherlands. There is no doubt that the toxic chemicals found in electronic waste are dangerous and harmful to the people and the environment. Yet these toxic materials are some how allowed in the country. Last year, a Greenpeace investigation into the matter found phthalates in the soil samples collected from the ground in Agbobgloshie dumping site. According to the Scientists who were part of the investigation, Phthalates causes birth defects and cancer.

Ghana Environmental Protection Agency duty is to protect and improve the environment but it has failed their duty to react to such a pollution incident. The agency proclaims that “It's our job to make sure that air, land and water are looked after by everyone in today's society, so that tomorrow's generations inherit a cleaner, healthier world”. However, their failure to prevent the toxic chemicals of electronic waste into Ghana amounts to a betrayal and an act of treason to the nation.

The worst act of treason was committed by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority for allowing the Toxic items into Ghana. Unfortunately, no one has been held accountable for such a dangerous act and it is scary to even contemplate that these toxics chemicals are still making their way to Ghana. I hope more people will be aware of these atrocities which are being committed against the next generations and fight to put an end to it. The insane part of all these is that it took an outside organisation such as the Greenpeace to alert us all whiles our leaders sleep and snore themselves out to the detriment of the Ghanaian people. God Bless Ghana.

President Mills is a dreadful leader…

The excuse that I hear is that it is too early to judge President Mills because he has only been in office for six months but I reject such excuse. So far he has not shown any leadership qualities and all he keeps doing is ranting around preaching about values, responsibility, unity and nation building. And in between all these, petrol prices are on the rise, he allows his party to spend ridiculous amount of Ghanaians money on lavish party whiles a member of his government had his first taste of the corruption syrup, not forgetting the recent approval of US$ 50,000 on car “loan” for members of Parliament. President Mill has not done anything that suggests that he has regards for the pain and suffering of the Ghanaian people. Worst of all, it appears that he is leading the nation based on some guideline from a book which depicts his lack of vision for the nation. However, Mills has been too good and very active on making life difficult for the previous government particularly the former President John Kuffour which also epitomizes his lack of intellect.

In contrast, under Kwame Nkrumah’s six years leadership, Ghana became a republic and created a new constitution as well as achieving a remarkable project of building the nation which we see today. He built roads, bridges, schools, railways, hospitals and among other things he did for mother Ghana in such a short space of time. Unfortunately, Ghana is yet to find another true leader who has vision just like the Great Osagyefor Kwame Nkrumah. My hope is that, this current generation of Ghanaians who have had the opportunity to witness the election of the first African American President would be inspired to take up the cross of leading Ghana in to the dream land of Nkrumah, where the new Africa is strong economically and industrialized to compete in this 21st century globalised world. I believe Nkrumah set the stage for Africa to be successful but the baton is yet to be pass on to the right generation.

Ghana President Preaches Godly Values…

President Mills once again stressed the need for Godly values in building a better Ghana on Tuesday. He seems to suggest that only Christian values would help unite the nation for the benefit of all. I find it very absurd to hear him constantly referring to God in such manner whiles he fills his government with bunch of corrupt people not forgetting his best buddy the murderer former President JJ Rawlings who massacred Acheampong, together with two other former Heads of State Gen. Afrifa and Gen. Akuffo among others. As they say “If Parents want their children to change they have to change themselves”. I think President Mills should start having the Godly values conversations with his corrupt and ungodly Politicians and the rest of as will definitely follow.

Obama’s agenda…

I hear of this so called historical visit to Ghana by the President of United State Barack Hussein Obama but the last time I checked he has already been to Africa that is Egypt and this nonsense of the first visit to sub-Saharan African has to stop. Sub-Saharan, North Africa, Southern Africa is all Africa as far as I’m concern. All these terms are used to further divide the Africans and funny enough we seem to promote such division even further. This has to stop and we Africans should start to think bigger and not shrink our imaginations. By the way, my real concern is to know Obama’s agenda behind this visit to Ghana. His visit to Egypt was clearly enough and yet I’m left wondering about his main purpose behind the visit to Ghana which is clearly publicized as historic visit but it does not make sense because he is not the first American president to make it to the shore of Gold coast (Ghana).

My hope is that, President Mills will think bigger and deal with Obama not as the son of Africa which mother nature as made it obvious but as the President of United State of America and the leader of the so called “Free world”. I so hope that he has not come to persuade President Mills with his undeniable Charisma and Articulation to have a Military base in Ghana or for the USA to extract Ghana’s oil. But I fear that Atta Mills will simply smile and sign the deal for a military base and beg the USA to extract Ghana’s oil and if that happens, Ghana is doomed. My fears are further exacerbated by the incompetent nature of governance in Africa and President Prof. Atta Mills is yet to do anything that will make him stand out of such bad documentation of governance in Africa. Dr. Osagyefor Kwame Nkrumah had vision and he fulfilled some of his hopes and laid down a foundation for Ghana and Africa. President Mills has enough time to create a vision for Ghana and when he finds himself with Obama only, I urge him to think of that vision and if he does that he will not send Ghana to its destruction. I wish him all the best for Ghana’s sake and I hope President Mills takes Ghana Forward. As Dr. Osagyefor Kwame Nkrumah said, "We face neither East nor west; we face forward".

The Oil Curse goes round…..

The discovery of oil is customarily seen as a symbol of hope for poorer nations to experience wealth and economic growth. One can not deny the obvious development in the oil rich nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Libya. There is no doubt that the rapid development and wealth of these nations are purely based on oil. However, African countries such as Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and Angola have only experience the curse of oil rather than the blessings of oil discovery. The presence of oil in these developing countries has made life worse and unbearable for most of the people who live there mostly the poorest people are the obvious victims and unemployment and financial hardship increases not decreases. Somehow it looks as if the discovery of oil is designed to be a blessing to a few and the rest are rewarded with the curse of oil.

The devastating harm that oil has caused the developing nations is so great to amount to a conspiracy to keep the poorer nations poor and the rich nations richer. Chad has a source of oil wealth but also the oil has fuelled fighting in Chad and not surprisingly the living standards are some of the lowest in the world. The Niger Delta is home to about 27 million Nigerians who have experience one of the worst injustice and environmental distraction in the history of man kind, their livelihood as fishing and farming community has been almost eradicated. Oil has been extracted from the Niger delta region since 1975 and it has made Nigeria Africa’s biggest producer of petroleum. Foreign oil companies have extracted hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and have pocketed hundreds of trillions of dollars at the expense of the people of Nigel delta whom so far have not benefited from the oil exploration in their community. When desperation forces them to result to violence in an attempt to gain a reasonable standard of living, their corrupt government seeks help from Britain in “Clamping them down” what ever that means. The curse of oil among other resources such as diamond contributed significantly to a long civil war in Angola. The painful stories of people all over African who continue to suffer the curse of oil should not be ignored and my hope is that Ghana listens to their stories and learns from it. The finance minister of Ghana Mr. Kwabena Duffuor seems to think that Ghana’s “oil will be a blessing and not a curse.” I so hope he is proven right.

Stop in the name of God…

Why is it that in all Ghanaian movies the police are always seen to be beating up mere suspects just for the so called “confession?” The most annoying aspect of it all is that they beat up men and women with authority and behave as if it is the only way they know how to investigate a crime. Such behaviour is not fictional it is the reality. The Ghanaian society is such that the police serve the rich and the poor are always left at the mercy of God Almighty. What the rich man says is the truth and a rich man can take a policeman in his BMW X3 model to arrest a man and beat him up for absolute no reason or at times some bizarre accusation such as he is going out with my daughter or I think he stole my money, this is such a disgrace. The Ghanaian society is such that good personality is based on how much money a person has or how often a person attends church services and such people are more often the worst creatures of the devil himself. Such notion of depicting the rich and the so called pastors and church goes to good personality or purity is damaging the society in the sense that it is further dividing the society in the have( Good ones) and the Have not’s ( bad ones). The only time a poor person is considered to posses a good character is when he has the “humble character” thus a Muppet and the worshipper to the “Good ones”. No one dares to challenge such structure.

Unfortunately, the political system is seriously affected by our divisive way of thinking in the sense that an Ashanti man is likely to see an NPP candidate as possessing a good character. Such description is not purely base on policies but merely for the fact that he trusts an Ashanti man to lead the country rather than a Fante or ewe or Hausa man whom are also likely to join the NDC. The social system is based on stereotype. People tend to fear those who are not like us and label them in a box which they are likely never going to break out off such box. I watch the 2008 general election with disgust with Nana Akuffo Addo and his gang trying their best to divide the country even further and thank GOD they did not succeed. But not to single out a sector of the society, the truth is that all Ghanaian are guilty in such divide, We all have contributed to the various division based on wealth, tribes, language, religion, skin colour and the list goes on and on. This has to stop because stereotyping is nothing but a detriment to the society. That is why we have pastors, rich people and all the political blood suckers so freely chopping bodies apart for their own evil mission and the sad aspect of it all is that we the society as a whole have contributed to the success of their mission by going along with the stereotype as we place ourselves in such divisive boxes consciously or unconsciously.

I hope that ordinary people will stand up against the injustice of the police arresting people and beating them up anyhow. It is my hope for a Ghanaian society where the people do have humility enough not to beat up thieves and burn them with petrol and tyres and brag about it. Thieves are human beings and every life is precious therefore should be treated with dignity by allowing them to have their day in court. Thou shall not kill and Love you neighbours as yourself, this quote are well known in our Ghanaian society yet it is sad that our conducts are so opposite to these principles. The Article 5(12) of Ghanaian constitution gives Fundamental human rights and Freedom and state that, (2) a person who is arrested, restricted or detained shall be informed immediately, in a language that he understands, of the reasons for his arrest, restriction or detention and of his right to a lawyer of his choice. The constitution clearly protect individual human rights and our motto freedom and justice could not have express such rights clearly enough. Every Ghanaian owns a duty to respect and implement all rights established under the constitution but my question is that is the government doing enough to educate people of their fundamental rights? Well my view is that if they did so their mission to corrupt the nation will not succeed, God Bless Ghana…

Ghana did not learn…..

15th century ago, the British established a colony, Gold Coast in 1874 and what followed is simply too unbearably to explained. The activities of the slave trade and colonization saw most or all our prominent chiefs exported to the unknown, well the rest is history. God was never asleep and so he sent our Mosses Dr. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and his buddies who liberated the Gold Coast and achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first Sub-Saharan African nation to do so. The name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the ancient Empire of Ghana which once extended throughout much of Western Africa.

Now, I would like to think that Ghana is a sovereign nation still having in mind the experience and the knowledge of our unbearable over 200 years old history. And if I am not getting too ahead of myself, I would still like to hope that our leaders are not too damn, selfish and short sighted to once again act too kind and give a piece of land for the USA to settle on along with all the nuclear bomb, missiles, aids virus and God only knows what, and all in the name of military base. For goodness sake, why is a country such as Ghana who pride itself of being neutral, peaceful and God fearing give thought or even contemplate such a suicidal attempt? I can give a million reasons why the idea of setting a military base in Ghana by USA is simply disastrous and simply putting the unborn generation into neo-colonial rule.

If America goes to war with China or Russian and strikes any one of this country from their base in Ghana, where does President Mills in his professorial mind thinks that China or Russia would retaliate to? New York or Ghana? There are so many scenarios that a person who have not got a master degree or be a scientist or be glibly facile to create in order to draw the clever conclusion that the idea of a military base is stupid. The people of Ghana must not let such thing happen and no amount of money can be acceptable in selling our land and the unborn generation into another clearly foreseeable future of terror under the powerful weapons and missiles of the USA army not forgetting the environmental pollution it would create. Please, in the name of God and for our ancestors who fought and laid down their life to give our land back to us, don’t allow USA military base, China, Russia UK, Aliens from another planet we are yet to discover military base in Ghana. God bless our souls.

Corruption name calling…

Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang again criticised the NPP government for being corrupt and also for abusing power. This game of corruption name calling has to stop. As far as I’m concern the whole system of government is corrupt therefore anybody who occupiers or operate within such system of government is corrupt including those who believe in it. This western adopted style of system which is base on western traditional values is 360° opposite from our true ‘n’ true core traditional African values which are based on serving the community we live in and where Kings lead by example.

Our kings went to war to die for us and the fact of they being born as royals, their life style and entire being had to depict true leadership based on care for the people whom they serve. The African traditional way of government was so democratic that a king can easily be overthrown just by the removal of his shoes, and mostly their removal are based on an immoral way of ruling or simply unfair , unjust and unconscionable method of ruling.

Now, I am by no means suggesting we should go back in time to assume all our traditional way of life. But, the logic is that our modern system of government should be base on our true ‘n’ true traditional values and within it should we develop ourselves to meet the modern world. The fatal mistake we have done so far is to adopt the system of government which was used to suppress and oppress us. Yet, we have no shame but simply talk about such system as if we have a clue of what that system actually was created for and we brag about the so called "2008 democratic election" seemingly begging to receive a reward from the west for a job well done in applying their democratic system of rule. I believe that sooner than later, a new generation of Africans will go back and claim the best bit of our culture, change our way of thinking and shape a better future of governance which is base on fair, just and consciousness traditional values.