An Open Letter To All Those Threatened By The Planned Demolition Of Gomoa Buduburam's Camp Liberia

 Dear Friends,

Your future is not nearly as bleak as many of you now understandably feel, it is,  as a result of the impending planned-demolition of  Camp Liberia. A far better future is possible for all of you - regardless of whichever part of Ghana and Africa your origins lie - if you take your collective-destiny into your own hands. Now. Not tomorrow.

Your unique, dynamic and very special melting-pot-soceity, so full of creative energy, and blessed with ambitious younger generations (the vast majority born and bred in Camp Liberia), gifted with the most amazing talents, can be replicated, and recreated again, in Ashalajah, in a  new purpose built, climate-resilient green gated-community. Yes. Halelujah. Insha Allah.

The question that ought to excersise the minds of all those of you  currently residing in Gomoa Buduburam's Camp Liberia refugee settlement area, is: Who will lead us to this new African-Nirvana? The answer is simple and uncomplicated.

To begin with you must ditch all the so-called leadership of the Liberian refugees whose criminal egregious-insouciance, has led you into the dead-end-situation, which  you now face, and are grappling with, amidst such dread-filled-uncertainty.

You must then have a Town hall meeting, to select a transition team, and give them the mandate to request a  meeting (arranged by the CEO of the Legon Botanical Gardens, Mr. Eugene Kofi Boakye-Yiadom), with the stakeholders, to discuss a private-sector plan, to build a new green climate-resilient gated community, for you, at Ashalaja.

The transition team's task, will be  to sound out, through discussions,  the following key individuals, whom they  can collaborate with, on your  behalf, to have the new Ashalajah  climate-resilient green gated-community, built, for those now living in the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Camp Liberia refugee settlement area, who so desire, to occupy it:


1) The Ashalaja Prince, popularly known as  Mushey, his business partner, baby-Mama, and my beloved granddaughter, Helena Otoo-Ofori, the green economy fixer; Mr. Nelson Boateng, the founder of Nelplast Ghana Limited; the brilliant Ghanaian architect, Mr. Kojo Derban; and last, but not  the least, Ghana's foremost green entrepreneur, and CEO, of Legon Botanical Gardens, the master-planner Mr.  Eugene Kofi Boakye-Yiadom.


At that meeting, the transition team members, must assure the named key individuals above, that they (the transition team members representing all those now currently resident in the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Camp Liberia refugee settlement area),  would welcome, on your behalf, the opportunity to live in the new climate-resilient green gated-community, at Ashalaja, made up of plastic houses, for renting out (at very low rental rates starting from GHc100 to GHc400 per month), and outright purchase, at amazingly affordable prices.

With that given-assurance, duly delivered, all the above-mentioned individuals, will work  together, as a project team that will be led by Mr. Eugene Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, which will endeavour  to get that Ashalaja climate-resilient green gated-community, built, all things being equal, within the next six months, before Camp Liberia is  finally demolished. Take heart, dear friends - the future for your great and unrivalled creative-energy-filled melting-pot-soceity, is very, very bright: at Ashalajah.

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An Open Letter To Father Joop Visser

 Father Joop Visser, the frightening thing, in all this, is that our greed-filled ruling-élites still don't get it - that our homeland Ghana sits atop a ticking social time bomb. You'd be amazed at the numbers of ordinary people whose hearts also feel  the same deep sadness and pain you feel.

The insouciance of our leaders, in the midst of what is a leadership crisis, is beyond belief. In being harsh, when criticising our ruling-élites, we are trying hard to avert  our journey on the democratic-path, from being brought to a jolting halt. Simple.

 

Father,  our society has become a case-study, in social injustices, of the most egregious kind. Songhor Lagoon is but one of many troubling examples, wai.

 

Go and see how land belonging to smallholder farming families, which have been legally owned by some of them for generations, with registered titles (dating back to the British colonial-era in some instances), are being taken over forcefully,  by brutish sandwinners prepared to murder those who cross them,  across Akyem Abuakwa - because they aren't Akyems: an abomination in a unitary state in which no tribe is superior or inferior to another, and all Ghanaians can own property, anywhere in the territorial landmass of the Republic of Ghana. Incredible.


Incidentally, such tribal-supremacist monstrosities, would never occur anywhere in the Ashanti Region - where the Asantehene regards all the Ghanaians living there, as his own grandchildren, whom he protects: and thus  expects every Chief under him to protect too, at all material times: under pain of instant destoolment if they fail to do so. That is exemplary leadership. Full stop.

Father Joop Visser, I  am a Ghanaian with Osiem Royal-heritage, from my maternal Grandma's branch of my family tree, who feels ashamed by what is happening across Akyem Abuakwa, and elsewhere in Ghana,  even as we speak. Sadly, and surprisingly, some amongst our smug and arrogant ruling-élites seem to forget that the judgment of history, can neither be procured by intimidation nor by bribery. Hmmm, Oman Ghana - eyeasem ooooo.  Enti yewieye paaa enei?

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The Few Crooks In The Ghana Police Service: The IGP Must Root Them Out Swiftly

I will begin by freely acknowledging that I might have been deliberately misled about the true facts concerning the matter below that I am about to express my own views on.  However, so commonplace is misconduct in police caution-statement taking from illiterate-folk, by investigators nationwide,  that as a human rights advocate,  I must nonetheless risk writing publicly, about what I was told was a clearcut-case of injustice, involving an injured construction foreman.   

One was quite shocked by the story narrated to one yesterday - about how a police investigator attached to the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia police station, had allegedly succeeded in making a case against a building construction foreman, who while midstream executing a contract to build a fencewall, for a client, had allegedly collapsed in full view of independent witnesses. 

(Incidentally,  although one is yet to verify all the details of the story for want of time, so alarming is the story that for common-good reasons, one simply has to make it public,  and thus ensure that it is investigated by the new transformational leadership, of the Ghana Police Service, for the truth to be established. But I digress.)

After allegedly collapsing,  the said construction foreman was apparently then rushed to the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia St. Gregory Catholic Hospital  -  where he is said to have received treatment for a period: a verifiable-fact apparently known to the client he was building the fencewall for, who apparently never had the decency  (and humanity) to even visit the poor man whiles on admission at the St Gregory Catholic Hospital.  Such is life in the Ghana of today - where the impression one gets is that the  rich and powerful are a law onto themselves.  Hmmm, eyeasem, ooooo...

The question is: Did that poor foreman, who it is said, neither speaks, comprehends, nor writes English,  have a lawyer, or independent  witness (who understands and writes English perfectly),  present when the police investigator was writing his caution-statement, which one presumes formed the basis for his being charged with stealing (i.e. the agreed contract sum advanced to him to enable him mobilise and begin the building of the fencewall, which he is said to have also been apparently forced to repay that  cruel Shylock), from that sodden client? 

The question for those of us who are now totally fed up to the backteeth, with the few  dishonest police officers still busy ruining the good name of the Ghana Police Service is:  How possibly  can the foreman have been charged with theft, if that police investigator had been professional and honest in handling the matter: such that it now appears that the man has more or been found guilty of the charge of stealing and now awaits sentencing, if one understands the issues narrated to one correctly, that is? 

The Director General of the CID, must call for the docket (at what is the eleventh-hour before an innocent man is probably  bundled off to serve a longish custodial sentence), and ask that the court adjourns the matter, and  defers judgment - while the matter is reassigned to honest  crack-investigators from CID HQ: to reinvestigate and report back to the CID Director General to avert a possible miscarriage of Justice outcome. Yooooooo...

The Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia Police Commander must also refer the investigator in question to the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS), as soon as practicable - so that they deal with him for professional misconduct if it turns out that that is what actually happened: to serve as a warning to other Police investigators inclined to also take bribes to send impecunious and  victimised innocent-people, whose only crime is that somehow they  irritated the rich and powerful,  in Ghanaian society, to prison. 

Law-abiding  and discerning-Ghanaians  are now totally fed up, with the continued impunity and chicanery, still being exhibited by a relatively small number  of  ruthless and greed-filled crooks, in its rank and file,  whose unprofessionalism is ruining the image and reputation of the Ghana Police Service. Enough is enough. The new IGP must root all of them out of the Ghana Police Service swiftly. Full stop. Case closed. Yooooooo...

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How Can We Rid The Ghana Police Service Of A Particularly Nasty Group Of Corrupt Rogue-Officers?

It is vital that all Ghanaians give their full support to the new leadership of the Ghana Police Service - to enable them carry out the needed reforms that will make it a truly world-class law enforcement agency fit for the digital age - and the new world of serial-pandemics caused by the widespread deforestation that is bringing zoonotic viruses into  human populations,  globally. 

A vital piece of digital kit that the Ghana Police Service ought to issue to all its officers, as soon as practicable, is the wireless earbud invented by the brilliant British-Ghanaian inventor, Danny Manu, which does not require an Internet connection and live-translates as much as forty languages: (https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/How-a-Ghanaian-entreprenuer-developed-wireless-earbuds-that-can-translate-40-languages-1381420).

If the Ghana Police Service collaborates with the Kofi Annan India Centre of Excellence for Technology,  and the Ghana Institute of Languages, all the  languages spoken by every ethnic-group, across the entire landmass of the territory of the Republic of Ghana, can be included in the software underpinning the wireless earbud invented by Danny  Manu.  It will enable all police personnel in our country to overcome language-barriers,  wherever in our multi-ethnic homeland, Ghana, they are posted to. 

From what one gathers from bush-telegraph sources (which may,  or may not be, complete nonsense), one humbly suggests that the Police Intelligence and Professional Standard Bureau  (Pips), demands that all police officers assigned to trouble spots, nationwide, where land disputes arise from rival Chieftaincy claimants' land sales, declare their assets to Pips  -  which ought to investigate all cases of unexplained sudden wealth accumulated by such police officers. 

That will finally help rid the Ghana Police Service of a particularly nasty group of super-ruthless and corrupt rogue police officers, within its ranks, today, even as we speak. Every good  law-abiding citizen, in our country, today,  instinctively understands the danger posed by such criminal-elements, within the Ghana Police Service. Case closed. Let's rid the Ghana Police Service of such miscreants, once and for all. Now.  Not tomorrow. Full stop. Case closed. Yooooooo..

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The Kevin Taylors Must End Their Negativity - And Contribute Innovative Ideas Instead: For Transformative-Nation-Building

To criticise our ruling-élites for unimaginative-leadership (and the egregious self-seeking by big-thieves-in-high-places, which is responsible for the high-level corruption  now slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy),  and not proffer better nation-building alternatives, to government  policies  being implemented, by regimes-of-the-day, in power, at any given point in time, in our history, is not very helpful, either for our nation, or its wise and aspirational people, at all. No. No. No.

The question is: Why, instead of proffering creative ideas (such as the need for Ghana to focus on becoming the world's leading producer of certified organic cocoa beans, processed locally - for example - into cocoa products such as: own-brand chocolates; cocoa powder; cocoa liquer; etc.; etc., for the world's biggest supermarket chains), do Ghanaian social media regime-critics, such as the sodden Kevin Taylors, rather choose to constantly make incidiary-statements, which are likely to cause instability in our country? Hmmm, eyeasem, ooooo...

Do the Kevin Taylors not realise that their endless-negativity, drives away potential investors, both Ghanaian and foreign? For their information, it is only when that crucial factor for economic growth, the great-intangible, confidence, is present in any society, that its green economy, a stellar-growth-pillar at a time of transition (when the impact of climate change is being felt in nations like Ghana),  attracts patient-investors: which is the sure-fire way, today, for the private-sector to create wealth that remains locally,   and jobs galore, in all national economies,  worldwide. 

Enough is enough. The Kevin Taylors must end their negativity - and contribute innovative ideas, of the kind needed to help transform our homeland Ghana, into a prosperous and inclusive society. Kevin Taylor, yabre mu, oooooo, tooom. Haaba. Hmmmm, Oman Ghana - enti yewieye paaa enei? Asem kesie bi ebeba debi ankasa, ooooo. Yooooooo...

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MTN Must End Subscription-Fraud On Its Platform Immediately

Previously, it was eyebrow-raising for me, hearing the caller tunes of some of the staid-folk I call by mobile phone, until l received a text message from phone number 200 on my MTN mobile number, informing me that I had subscribed to their caller tune service, for which reason they would be deducting a relatively minute-sum, from my account.

Yet, I had not subscribed to their caller-tune service by opting for it in deliberate-fashion. Neither had I subscribed to "the product Selfie-Star", as phone number 1998 informed me, on 21/09/2021 at 12:47, nor to  Health Tips for 0.22, as  the text message from phone number 947 informed me I had done, on 03/10/2021, at 20:10. Ditto phone number 295's Story Portal subscription alert, sent on 01/10, 2021 at 12:13. The list goes on and on and on. Endless. Monstrous. Abominable. Unpardonable. Unspeakable.

No wonder our MTN recharge top-up units disappear so quickly. Because of such messages my MTN sim's text message inbox is full - and only heaven knows what other text messages from cyber-fraudsters is still flooding it. 

The question is: Why should that be happening in our country in the digital age? What is going on? It is an abominable situation to find one's self in, if one counts the pesewas, as many now do, in today's harsh COVID-19-induced economic climate.

Surely, the digital sleight-of-hand enabling such daylight robbery (with millions of unaware-innocent-victims), to occur, ought to be outlawed if it isn't - and vigorously enforced, if it is: by permanently banning the perpetrators of this gigantic cyberfraud from the platforms of all the telcos in Ghana? 

Added up, those relatively minuscule sums come to vast sums. The regulatory bodies must ensure that all added third-party services provided by telcos in Ghana, can be delivered by providers, only if subscribers opt in with their eyes fully open - not in the surreptitious manner it now happens in cases such as the 200 caller tune service and the 947 health tips. Are the telcos not obliged to protect their subscribers from such outrageous cyberfraud? MTN must take immediate steps to end this abominable digital-era subscription-fraud on its platform. Haaba.

Sent from Samsung tablet.