Ghana's Supreme Court ought to have been guided by the conventions surrounding the Deputy Speakers of the UK Parliament's House of Commons, not those of the House of Lords

It would definitely have served the longterm interests of Mother Ghana, best, had Ghana's Supreme Court been guided (in its latest ruling on Deputy Speakers' voting rights), not by the conventions surrounding the Deputy Speakers of the House of Lords, of the British Parliament, who can vote on issues, but by the conventions that ensure that like the Speaker of the House of Commons, the UK Parliament's Deputy Speakers, remain politically neutral at all material times, and don't vote on issues before the House. 

To quote an old fogey I know: "Kofi, this Supreme Court has mastered the art and science of giving judgements that give ordinary folk the unfortunate impression that they serve the the people now in power, not the Ghanaian nation-state." Hmmm, ey3nsem piiiii, ooooo...

My response: Now that darkies in the UK can suddenly be deprived of their citizenship, without any recourse to the law, simply because serving Home Secretaries demand that, on behalf of friendly criticism-averse foreign kleptocrats, whom their ruling parties are in bed with, as fellow travellers,  I will not bother myself any longer, responding to such issues, when they crop up.

Suddenly jumping on a plane to fly back to the UK has lost its attraction for cantankerous Grandpa Kofi Thompson. So, let the judges of Ghana's Supreme Court, do their worst. The sods. After all, none of them will be there forever, ooooo, will they, Massa? Yabr3 wormu nyinaaa, aafe. Eeiiii, Oman Ghana - enti y3wieye paaaa enei? Asem kesie, bi, ebeba debi ankasa, oooo. Yooooooo. Cool.

Kevin Taylor: A military coup in Ghana will only worsen matters

Yewura Kevin Taylor, nothing can justify a coup in Ghana, wai - because no matter what  those in power today, do, Ghanaians will still vote the New Patriotic Party  (NPP) out of power in December 2024. Who will hold soldiers with unfettered power to account? Haaba.

Simple question: Which institution in Ghana is free from 'protocol-admissions', I ask? Massa, easy, wai. Some crimes have no statute of limitations protection,  koraaa, wai. Cool.

What we need is consensus that Ghana must become a meritocracy - and, like India, take active steps to get rid of the Chieftaincy institution (the mother-serpant of corruption), to rid Ghana of inherited privilege: which is the greatest enemy of meritocracy. Simple.

It is instructive that India,which set out after independence, to rid itself of the baleful influence of its incredibly powerful Maharajahs,  is a global power today - while resource-rich Ghana, enthralled to Chiefs, because they apparently embody our traditions, has now ended up as  a mismanaged financial basket case: deliberately mismanaged through an orgy-of-borrowing that a powerful few profited mightily  from (in commissions and professional fees). Hmmm, ey3nsem piiiiii, oooo, Ghanafuo. A military coup will not resolve any of our hydra-headed challenges. It will only worsen matters.

Ghana's ruling-elites must clean up their act fast

Ghana's ruling-elites need to clean up their act fast, to save Ghanaian democracy from being destroyed. One's  prayer, is that God Almighty intervemes in our nation's affairs swiftly, to make that happen.  A nation whose leadership face constant accusations (admittedly mostly unproven) of routinely harassing females, and, incredibly, even face bush-telegraph-sourced accusations  of the serial rape of women, too,  has become a decadent society, in need of change.  

 

(The rumours of egregious-victimisation swirling around Hon. Adwoa Sarfo, encapsulates this nation-wrecking amoral-phenomenon, perfectly, sadly.) 

If one adds the many rumours of sudden unexplained wealth acquired by Ghana's big-thieves-in-high-places, to the toxicity of the mix of serial-philandering and misogyny, and caps it with the destruction of the national economy, by greed for cash, from earned fat-commissions and juicy professional  fees, being made from the orgy of borrowing,  then only God Almighty can save our democracy from entering the realms of the possibility of enforced-regime-change (God forbid!), ooooo, Ghanafuo.

 

That is why it is vital that those amongst our  ruling-elites, who are still principled, and have kept their integrity intact, begin to stand up to their colleagues who engage in  constant-skirt-chasing, ditto compete with each other, in the egregious-pillaging-race to send their personal net worth to stratospheric heights, at society's expense. In light of all the above, Ghana's ruling-elites must clean up their act, fast, if Ghanaian democracy is to survive, ooooo. Yoooooooo....

 

 

 

 

Eeiiiii Abinom Ekaasa Ooooo

Old cynic to me: "Kofi, just how many private jets fly in and out of Ghana, in a typical year? Secondly, are you aware that the international airport in Ghana's capital city, Accra, is recognised,  rightly, as a world-class airport, security wise? Is it not egregious that  nepotistic-elements within the regime now in power, are prepared to risk that world-class status of Accra's international airport  being reclassified,  and downgraded - so as to accommodate a regime-bankroller's slapdash third-rate private jet terminal?"

My response: Yewura,  bush-telegraph sources  allege that the sacking of the asimasi in charge of the outfit overseeing standards etc., etc., in airports across Sikakrom, is yet another example of unelected-arrogant-sods in the Anansekrom presidency, usurping the powers of the Sikakrom Omanpanin, to get rid of a patriotic public servant, who won't kow-tow to the big-thieves-in-high-places, who now dominate Sikakrom. Hmmm, ey3nsem piiiiii, oooo, Ghanafuo. 

Yet still, perhaps glass-half-full types will opine cheerily that Sikakrom's high-and-mighty, do need a staging-post to enable them send gold, diamonds, foreign currencies and slay-queen-consorts, out of Ogyakrom, in a hurry, whenever the need arises - ditto bring in weapons and munitions by stealth, as and when needed, wai. Eiiiiii, ebinom 3kaasa, oooo. Ebeiiiii. Hmmm...

Ken Ofori-Atta: Why not outsource infrastructure projects to the private sector and incentivise whistleblowing?

As egregious high-level corruption worsens, perhaps the question that Ghanaians ought to ponder over is: Why do our ruling-elites not incentivise whistleblowing? It could be done by simply passing new laws to indemnify whistleblowers who help recover stolen public funds, from prosecution, and rewarding them with 25 percent of such recovered stolen  funds. Will that not help us retrieve trillions of old cedis regularly siphoned off by big-thieves-in-high-places? Haaba.

It is also worth pointing out the fact that Ghana's finance minister, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, made his fortune, mostly from commissions and fees earned from investment products, sold by Databank.

As it happens, some of his critics have accused him of focusing on policies that earn fees and commissions for regime-cronies in Ghana's financial services sector - to the longterm detriment of Mother Ghana. That is a moot point, in my humble view. However, that he is not suited, to be in charge of our country's finances, is now obvious to many independent-minded and discerning-folk, across Ghana.

Some of us made that point, early on,  during the first term of President Akufo-Addo's government - when it became clear that far from not borrowing, as they had promised Ghanaians, while campaigning for power, in 2016, he and his colleagues were rather going to saddle Ghana with yet more debt, which would end up crippling our nation: for which reason we thought the president was better off without him, strategically.

In light of their debilitating-penchant for borrowing, for the umpteenth time, Ken Ofori-Atta and his colleagues, need to be told to the face that they must stop borrowing for infrastructure projects. It doesn't make sense.

Ghanafuo, the provision and expansion of our infrastructure, ought to be outsourced to private sector companies - which should bid competitively, in transparent public tenders: to self-finance, build, own and operate roads, markets, railway lines, airports, etc., etc., and then hand them over to the state, after say 35 years, during which their profits should not be taxed. Simple. Case closed. Haaba.

If that becomes government policy, will we not still get all the roads, bridges, modern railway network, airports, markets, etc., etc., that we need, that way - without incuring yet more debt: and saddlingt future generations of our people with crippling interest payments that never end? Haaba.

The trouble about the arrogant sods now in power in Ghana, is that they are full of themselves - yet haven't a clue about creating empowering-opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive, and drive growth, create wealth and generate meaningful jobs: all in sustainable fashion.

Instead of relying on the e-levy, funding for innovative start-ups, creating wealth and meaningful jobs, at any given point in time, ought to be from the annual U.S.$200 million gold royalties cash, oooo, Ghanafuo. Yoooooooo...

One challenges those twits to tell us why the nation shouldn't give U.S. $50 million from the annual U.S.$200 million gold royalties cash, to the Forest Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), for example, to develop green leather from mushrooms - to create a new green industrial sector export-niche, producing and  selling high-end luxury-class shoes, bags, apparel, and other luxury leather goods, globally, to create wealth that stays locally, and meaningful bootstrapping-jobs, nationwide, for our younger generations. Haaba.

And, if innovative road construction companies, such as TerraFusion International, were invited to self-finance the reconstruction of Ghana's entire rural road network, into a tolled-network of world-class roads, and operate them for 35 years without their being taxed, won't that ensure food security and create prosperity for smallholder farmers nationwide, without burdening hapless taxpayers in the process? Haaba.

Finally, why do our ruling-elites  not incentivise whistleblowing, to stop the siphoning off of trillions of old cedis of public funds, into private pockets, to enrich Ghana's big-thieves-in-high-places, who are ruthlessly milking Mother Ghana dry, with their endless-greed?

Can that not be done by the simple measure of granting whistleblowers, who enable stolen public funds to be successfully recovered, indemnity from prosecution - and offered 25 percent of such recovered-sums, as the reward for their patriotism? Will that not end corruption in our country? The time has now come for the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his colleagues, to start outsourcing infrastructure projects to the private sector and incentivising whistleblowing with cash rewards, to save Mother Ghana from ruination, oooo, Ghanafuo. Yooooooo..

When the people become fed up and rebel en masse no army in the world can save the government in power

Our hard-of-hearing ruling-elites need to be very, very careful, oooo. They must stop thinking they are invincible. The e-levy issue can ruin this country  if those currently in power aren't sensitive to the sufferong of ordinary folk across Ghana, oooo. Yoooooooo...

The fact of the matter is that precious few industry watchers,  foresaw that mobile telecommunications companies, would one day become fintech platforms enabling tens of millions of the unbanked, to send, recieve and save cash in digital-wallets, in daily transactions dwarfing tranactions carried out by traditional brick-and-mortar banks, when MTN first came to Ghana.

Thus, in a sense, what are unprecedented windfall profits, which telcos offering mobile money services are making today, ought to be taxed. That is why the e-levy is a good idea - but only if it is levied on the mobile money  transaction-charges fixed by the telcos themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. Yoooooo...

In light of the controversy the e-levy has stirred up, and the arrogant response of the sly finance minister, those now in power ought to remember (in case they forget), that all our post-independence enforced-regime-change events, occurred,  because those in power had become politically  complacent, and impervious to the cries of ordinary folk, struggling to make ends meet, daily, nationwide.

Finally, for the information of those now in power,  when ordinary people are forced to the point where they feel that rebelling en masse (against selfish-kleptocrats governing them),  is the only way to end their suffering,  no army on earth can stop them,  in order to keep tone-deaf and power-drunk politicians (completely lacking wisdom), in power, oooo. Yoooooo...

From a global branding perspective why do we not focus on Ghana's female soccer national teams instead of the Black Stars?

As aspirational Africans, instead of continuing to spend zillions on the Black Stars, why do we not rather invest a fraction of the expended-sums lavished on the Black Stars, thus far, on Ghana's brilliant female national soccer teams, who have won so many tournament-trophies over the years? Cool.

We must put misogyny aside now, in a nation dominated by ruling elites, full of philandering-males who don't value women  -  and stop focusing on the Black Stars to the detriment of our hardworking female soccer players, whom we refuse to honour, even when they win trophies. 

That is daft in the extreme.  Our female soccer players will put Ghana on the global stage again in stellar-fashion and make us proud once again as a soccer-loving African  society. Speaking personally, my passion is cricket  -  so  I don't particularly care much about soccer:  but even I find Ghana's female teams exciting to watch. That is telling, from a global branding perspective, is it not, Ghanafuo? Yooooooo...

Should Ghana's traditional rulers start reforming their archaic-straightjacket institutional-frameworks?

For their own good, it is vital that all our nation's traditional rulers, understand  clearly, that this is a 2022 modern-day African nation, sitting on a ticking social-time-bomb. Past pre-colonial-glories count for nothing,  to today's young people, fed up to the backteeth,  with a mostly incompetent,  greedy and selfish political class, completely out of touch with realities-on-the-ground: a tension-filled national mood bedrocked on anger and hunger.

 

Furthermore,  for the information  of Nananom, many Ghanaians now feel that inherited-privilege,   is preventing Ghana from becoming a meritocracy,  in which effort and achievement, not nepotism,  determine one's success. It is fueling the rebellious-streak we see right across urban Ghana amongst base-of-the-pyramid demographics. Yoooooo...

And, worst of all, for Nananom, many young people have now started pointing out the fact that India, which had Maharajah's whose magnificence and power, far outstripped those of all Ghana's traditional rulers without exception,  clipped their wings and stripped them of all their powers, and is  consequently  now a world power, precisely because its  nationalist leaders had the wisdom and foresight,  to turn India into a meritocracy free from the debilitating-downsides of inherited privilege.

Finally, dear reader,  with the greatest respect, in case they can't see it, the writing is on the wall for traditional rulers in Ghana, ooooo. They had better start reforming their archaic-straightjacket institutional-frameworks,  pronto, ooooo -  or change might be forced on them, willy-nilly: when  the ticking social-time-bomb eventually explodes, oooo (God forbid). Yoooooooo...

Ghana must avoid Dubai-based stoney-hearted Shylock-Sheikhs in the fight against COVID-19

The production of a COVID-19 vaccine locally, is a matter that Ghana's national security apparatus must make a priority, and get the private-sector team that built the private sector COVID-19 specialist isolation-centre to plan, lead and execute. It was led by Senyo Hosi, the Managing Trustee of the Fund set up by the private sector to deliver it.

 

It must be private-sector driven, and led, because Ghanaians deserve serious world-class leadership, when it comes to ensuring that we have local production capacity, for COVID-19 vaccines, ooooo. Yoooooooo...

This is a quotation from a U.S. vaccine researcher, Dr. Maria Botazzi, whose team at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine, has developed an effective patent-free COVID-19 vaccine, whom our leaders must invite to Ghana, as soon as practicable:

“We want to do good in the world. This was the right thing to do and this is what we morally had to do. We didn’t even blink. We didn’t think, ‘how can we take advantage of this?’ You see now that if more like us would have been more attuned to how the world is so inequitable and how we could have helped from the beginning so many places around the world without thinking ‘what’s going to be in it for me?’, we could have basically not even seen these variants arise.” 

The quotation is from an article, in the online version of the UK newspaper, The Observer (which the link below leads to). It ought to be read by every educated Ghanaian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/15/corbevax-covid-vaccine-texas-scientists.

In the fight against COVID-19, these are the kinds of humanitarians Ghana ought to collaborate with - not ruthless greed-filled Shylock-Sheikhs with stony-hearts, from Dubai. Yooooooo...

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.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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?

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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...

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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..

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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...

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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.

Is Mother Ghana Being Robbed Blind In Plainsight In Broad Daylight?

Can a corruption-riddled  emerging nation, dominated by super-ruthless élites beholden to powerful cabals of greed-filled big-thieves-in-high-places, who bankroll its biggest two political parties, ever cease being a global-power  in begging-bowl-diplomacy, and be transformed into a prosperous and inclusive African democracy, which no longer requires foreign-aid, one wonders? Hmmmm, eyeasem, oooooo...

Furtheremore, if the most effective and patriotic Auditor General that our country has ever had, since it gained its independence, in 1957, Mr. Yao Domelovo, can be shanghaied to go on leave, merely for a path to be  cleared, to enable him to be eventually driven out of office, instead of being given prosecutorial powers; because he is regarded as public-nuisance-numero-uno,  who cannot be bribed, by powerful individuals hell-bent on "Chopping Ghana small" (to use a Ghanaian pidgin English phrase of infamy), how possibly can rampant public-sector-thievery, ever be curbed, I ask, in all humility? Hmmmm, Oman Ghana - eyeasem oooo...

And, finally, if even Ghana's boldest anti-corruption crusader (our fearless-paragon), the plainspeaking Citizen-Vigilante, Hon. Martin Amidu, Ghana's first Special Prosecutor, eventually came to the conclusion that those who came to power, after January 2017, and established the Office of Special Prosecutor, to purportedly end egregious-high-level corruption, were not actually serious about ending that dangerous canker slowly strangulating  Mother Ghana to death, and thus threw in the proverbial white-towel, and resigned from his position, then has the time not now come to expose the hubristic-notion, of a Ghana beyond aid, for what it really is: a phantasmagorical-chimera, designed, and  tailor-made, to cloak the most determined stealth-effort, ever made, to rob Mother Ghana blind, in plainsight, in broad daylight,  since the 1992 Constitution was promulgated, and the 4th Republic came into being?

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A Quick Note To Nana Adwoa Akom-Mensah And Kojo Derban

Nana Adwoa and Kojo,

Thanks for sharing (https://www.facebook.com/100001502750256/posts/4551858374874209/?app=fbl.) For those interested  in profiting mightily from selling those classic Ghanaian clay  earthenware casserole bowls, globally, at those astonishing prices, the following U.S.-based social-impact ecommerce websites could be useful: www.thelittlemarket.com, www.novica.com, www.etsy.com, www.noondaycollection.com. Cool.

A little anecdotal story about trying to empower our base-of-the-pyramid demographics: 

Saw some for sale at Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia refugee settlement area market, a couple of years ago, and made a beeline for the sellers.  Told them about the fortunes awaiting them selling them through social-impact ecommerce websites. 

Long story short: It was obvious to me that they thought I was a  Sakawah-person, somehow  trying to dupe them. Now seldom go out of my way to help to try to empower them, as a result of that soul-destroying attitude. 

Yet, these are some of the simple ways we can empower our base-of-the-pyramid demographics to bootstrap their way out of the poverty-trap with dignity, ooooo. The more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media ought to highlight such alternative income-streams, to their audiences. 

Would our country not enjoy a positive trade balance, dramatically, in a short space of time,  and would prosperity amongst our younger generations, not become widespread, too, were  that to happen to improve and expand our national economy?

Who in rural Ghana, in their right minds, would endanger their lives, playing Russian roulette, messing with carcinogenic toxic heavy metals, on galamsey sites, just to enable a powerful few, to grow super-rich, at the expense of their longterm well-being, if they knew about such profitable alternative online income-streams, I ask? 

Alas, our curse, as a wise and aspirational people, is that our hidebound  ruling-élites, of today, unlike those in the era of the selfless and farsighted Nkrumah, are guided by short-term thinking, and fixated with ripping-off Mother Ghana - not lifting millions out of poverty creatively: to transform our country into an equitable and inclusive African democracy,  when elected to power. Pity.

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We Aren't All Fools In Nkrumah's Ghana Of Today

We aren't all fools in Nkrumah's Ghana, of today, koraaaa, ooooo. Yooooooo. That is why some of us are now so thoroughly fed up, to the backteeth, with the insufferable arrogance, of a number of those who now lead our country. Who do these people think they are, koraaa  -  God Almighty's gift to Ghanaians,  anaaa? Haaba. Yoooooooo...

That is why, dear reader, some of us simply can't bear hearing Hon. Godfrey Dame (who is, by far, the most unsuitable politician, ever, to be appointed as Ghana's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, thus far,  since we gained our independence in 1957), for example, pontificating endlessly, about regime-critics undermining the judiciary. Pure humbug. Who does he think he is kidding, I ask? Haaba. Tweaaaaaa...

What do  the Godfrey Dames expect,  when our judiciary  includes judges - at the highest reaches of the justice delivery system - who are so blatantly partisan: such as that sodden biased judge currently  hearing the case involving the former CEO, of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Opuni?

Furthermore,  in a secret memo to his Cabinet colleagues, once upon a time, did that Bible-quoting hypocrite, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta (our super-sly finance minister, who is addicted to endless-borrowing that keeps on adding to our already sky-high  debt-mountain - and from which entities in his arms-length financial services sector empire,  benefit, so mightily, from, each time he borrows for Ghana), not predict, correctly, that Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom,  a potential rival to the ruling party's candidate presidential candidates, would fight the withdrawal of his GN Bank's license, by going to court - but that the government would prevail there, too, because they were in power? Haaba. 

The question is: What could be more undermining, of the judiciary, than such a damming statement, from a key regime-member, of what is easily the greediest bunch of self-seekers, ever to govern our homeland Ghana? Furthermore, what sane, discerning, patriotic and independent-minded patriot, in today's Ghana, can trust a judiciary, of which our secretly-arrogant finance minister, can say such a contemptible thing, and, also be so cocksure, will, somehow, also do his government's bidding, in the case filed by Dr. Nduom, in his attempt to have the license of his GN Bank restored? We aren't all fools in Nkrumah's Ghana, of today, koraaaa, oooooo. Yoooooooo...

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Why Has A Simple Idiomatic English Phrase "Do-Or-Die" Caused Such A Storm-In-A-Calabash In Ghana?

• Hmmm, brofuyi,  ooooo, brofuyi, Oman Ghanafuo: eyeasem, oooo. The question is: Why, one wonders, is Nkrumah's Ghana now, filled, today, with so much crap-fare: such as the controversy, over a simple English-phrase, "do or die", deployed by former President Mahama  -  which, if truth be told, in a  more serious nation, would be considered  by most people,as  nothing more than fatous-nonsense: and a mere storm-in-a-calabash? It isn't a blood-curdling war-cry-phrase asking party footsoldiers to prepare for war, in December 2024, is it? Haaba. 

  
  

  
  

  No wonder some of Ghana's  current cohort of uneducated and ignorant old-media-folk (such as the cantankerous  Kofi Thompsons!) have been wondering,  why on earth, an uncalled-for-request, to former President Mahama,  by the ignorant host of an FM radio station (where he was being interviewed), to withdraw part of  his emphatic and forthright plainspeaking, about  how his party's approach to the 2024 presidential and  elections, would differ radically, from that of its approach to the 2020 general elections, has caused such controversy across our homeland Ghana. Hmmmm, eyeasem, ooooo...

  
  

  
  

  Touching on  the shocking-laxity, at polling stations, nationwide, shown by many of his National Democratic Congress (NDC) party's agents, which cost them the closely-fought December 2020 presidential, and parliamentary elections, the former President made it absolutely clear, that that laxity, would not be repeated in the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections - because the level of the on-the-ground watchfulness, by the NDC's party-polling agents, during the 2024 general elections,  would be of a do-or-die-nature.  What's wrong with such forthrightneas, koraaaa, one wonders, Ghanafuo? Haaba.

  
  

  
  

  The question is: Why are well-educated, and highly-intelligent politicians, suddenly justifying a totally uncalled-for-request, to former President  Mahama, by a semi-literate journalist (who for all we know, probably even has a doctorate degree, this being Ghana), who has so obviously failed to master the basic tool of his profession, the English language  -  judging by his cluelessness in making such an odd request with such arrogant-aplomb?

  
  

  
  

  The plain truth, is that nothing can justify his daft-request, in asking former President Mahama to withdraw his forthright statement - that the lapses that lost his NDC party, the closely-fought 2020 elections, would not occur in 2024: because that general election would be a 'do-or-die-affair', for the NDC. Was the former President not simply making it clear that eternal vigilance would the  bedrock-ethos-underpinnings of  the NDC's polling-station strategy for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections?  Haaba.

  
  

  
  

  In light of all the above, perhaps the question we all ought to ponder over is: Are those  in today's Ghana, making such a meal out of this storm-in-a-calabash, now making out that they are such terrible speakers of the English language  -  and that they also apparently don't  understand the meaning  of the simple English-phrase, "do or die": or are they being intellectually dishonest and  partisan-politicians, as usual, and merely seek to shamelessly exploit that gaffe of a request, by a semi-literate journalist, for below-the-belt political-advantage, anaaaaa? Hmmmm, eyeasem ooooo: Eeiiiii, Oman Ghana - enti yewieye paaa enei? Amanfuo, asem, kesie bi, ebeba debi, ankasa, ooooo. Yooooooo...

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To OTHALO™

 

Greetings, 

OTHALO™  must come to Ghana,  as soon as practicable. There is huge potential here for your circular-economy building technology.  I am a writer and retired journalist - who lives near the Camp Liberia Liberian refugee settlement area, in Ghana's Central Region. The conditions there are not the best.  Dreadful. Unsanitary. And, totally unfit for human habitation,  in the 21st century digital-age.

One gathers that land at Gomoa Fetteh, not too far from here, has been made available by the government of Ghana, to build a new green city, to house all refugees in Ghana, including the Liberian refugees who opted to be reintegrated into Ghanaian society, after the invocation of the UNHCR's cessation-clause, formally ended its involvement in the care of the Camp Liberia refugees. 

Nelplast Ghana Limited, a green economy plastic blocks manufacturing company,  is owned by a brilliant young Ghanaian entrepreneur, Mr. Nelson Boateng, and produces plastic building blocks and  pavement blocks, at his Ashiamen factory, in Ghana's Greater Accra Region.

 

I would be happy to introduce you to him (and to other potential partners across Ghana), so that you can form a joint-venture here that includes him, to build the new refugee city at Gomoa Fetteh - and to build more new green towns and cities at other greenfield sites across Ghana. Cool.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

Kofi Thompson.

Blog. wwwghanapolitics.blogspot.com.

WhatsApp number: +233576564600.

Tel: +233558852619 & +233277453109.

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Let Us Get Serious About Fighting Crime Nationwide - By Putting It On A War-Footing

Our leaders need to take the vital-task of fighting crime more seriously. It ought to be put on a war-footing. Full stop. Case closed. Sadly, we still don't get it. What we now need to fight the criminal-types terrorising Ghanaians, is the creation of a fourth armed service, to add to the existing three armed services of the Ghana Armed Forces  (GAF), to be known as the Ghana Homeland Force.

The Ghana Homeland Force ought to be created by merging the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Prison Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, as well as all  former and present-day NYE  Community Police Assistants (who in fairness deserve to gain automatic entrance  regardless of age), who must be retrained, to gain entry into the Ghana Homeland Force.

The money saved by such a merger, will make more resources available to the GHF - and enable it to make use of the latest cutting-edge technologies: to underpin its operations nationwide, with a national Command Centre, Regional and District Command Centres.

Their personnel will have the same pay and conditions of service currently enjoyed by their counterparts in the GAF. Making extensive use of drones is a must. Ditto troop-carrying helicopters to enable the quick  deployment of units to trouble spots and locations where reported ongoing crimes have come from, 24/7.

 

Above all, since many criminals now routinely  execute those they attack, by shooting them dead, with the powerful weapons most now carry,  because they are often high on drugs, the time has now come for Parliament to do the right thing, if Ghana is to remain a mostly peaceful and safe country,  for the law-abiding.

 

We must now ensure that the right to life, of law-abiding-folk, nationwide, is put  ahead of all the rights of criminals, who carry guns, by the passage of new laws that will indemnify all GHF personnel, when formed, who kill criminals, who threaten their lives, while carrying out their operational duties.

We must end the molly-coddling of hardened criminals that is resulting in the callous murder of ordinary people, across our homeland Ghana, and endangering the lives of personnel of today's Ghana Police Service, on a daily basis. Enough is enough. We must take the fight against crime more seriously  -  by putting it on a war-footing. Full stop. Haaba.

 

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An Open Letter To Sam Hanson And His Fellow Liberian Refugees Who Opted For Integration Into Ghanaian Society

My dear Sam,

I am aghast at the insouciance still being shown by some of those in the Camp Liberia  Liberian refugee community, who opted for integration into Ghanaian society, as the UNHCR formally ends the role it has played in protecting and promoting their welfare, since they first set foot on Ghanaian soil.  

Sam, what is the role of Noble Symbols Welfare Council, in averting the looming disaster, which the category of individuals amongst the Liberian refugee community, who opted for integration into Ghanaian society,  face,  as we speak  - and why should Kofi Thompson be the one to reach out to their chairperson, at what is the eleventh-hour, for your community that faces the threat of having its refugee settlement area demolished?

With the greatest respect, I no longer chase disadvantaged-people who need help - so I can  help them, ooooo. That was then. 

 

I am now fed up to the backteeth, with  people in trouble, who insult one in their being  suspicious of one's motives, and doubting one's integrity - simply because one happens to enjoy helping those with resolvable-challenges. Sadly,  such people invariably think one seeks to exploit their situation,  somehow, for personal advantage, I have now come to realise. I don't need their wahala, and egregious-negativity, at this stage of my life, koraaaaa. I turn 70 next year, Sam. 

Yes, I am still willing to play a part in making available, the ideas and resource-persons,  needed, to empower that base-of-the-pyramid demographic to bootstrap their own success - but it is they who should reach out to Kofi Thompson: not the other way round, wai, Massa. To use a popular Ghanaian pidgin English phrase: Make you people do something, quick, oooo - otherwise it go be too late.  Yooooooo...

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Entrepreneurship: Are Our Leaders Abandoning Micro And Small Businesspeople?

On the subject of  entrepreneurship, perhaps the question we ought to ponder over is: Eeiiii, Oman Ghana - enti yewieye paaaa enei, anaaaa - and,  why, pray, are our leaders abandoning micro and small entrepreneurs in droves? (By the way,  lovely photograph. Thanks for sharing, Ohemaa Paaapabi Mary). Cool.

Ohemaa Paaapabi Mary, it is dedicated private-sector players, such as you, in the garment industry, who need to be resourced to provide our younger generations with the skills-training, needed to empower them, to successfully bootstrap their way out of the poverty-trap, themselves, ooooo, not sodden governments of the day, which are always dominated by greed-filled and super-ruthless ace-hypocrites, whose respectable miens,  belie their amoral-thieving-natures. 

Ohemaa, in my humble opinion, and, with the greatest respect, it is nonsensical for  sane-folk to think that any government-of-the-day, can provide fulfilling jobs for young people across Ghana. 

You and your dear husband,  gave up a good life in Holland, to come and help help build the Ghana you both love so much. I am so ashamed  that the two of you, are obviously frustrated, by the calcified-system, which the big-thieves-in-high-places, amongst our current ruling-élites, are exploiting so ruthlessly, to enrich themselves, at the expense of Mother Ghana, and the masses of the Ghanaian people. 

The question we must all ponder over is: Are we sitting on a densely-packed keg-of-high-explosives, anaaa  - and is it the case that a ruinous  social explosion cannot be ruled out, koraaaa, anaaaa?  Eeiiii, Oman Ghana  - enti yewieye paaaaa, enei, anaaaa? Hmmmm, eyeasem, oooooo...

Will Nkrumah's Ghana Survive The Myraid Of Challenges It Currently Faces?

• As a committed Nkrumahist and pan-Africanist, I am firm in my belief that no matter what is thrown, at it,  Nkrumah's Ghana will survive and thrive - regardless of the myraid of challenges it faces currently. No question. Ghana is the Black race's  best hope for restoring our true place in the world - as an example of  a peace-loving and welcoming melting-pot society: full of happy and aspirational people blessed with endless creative-energy. Cool.
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• Do we not have some of the world's best green entrepreneurs, such as the Eugene Kofi Boakye-Yiadoms of Legon Botanical Gardens fame,  I  ask - and is it not the case that virtually all of them have been creating wealth, which remains locally, as well as generating fulfilling and sustainable jobs, over the years (and still are, incidentally, even as we speak), without any creative-interventionist-support, from governments-of-the-day,  for decades?

  
  

  
  

  As someone who is never dispirited - and constantly seeks opportunities, from what others regard as disasters, one is fed up to the backteeth, with the confidence-destroying  negativity, of those who think that our still-beautiful country, is doomed. That negative-belief is utter rubbish. Ghana has a very bright future ahead of it, indeed.

  
  

  
  

  With the greatest respect, we must discourage the gloom-riddled discouragers-in-our-midst, at home and abroad, from infecting Mother Ghana's beautiful African-soul, with their endless-negativity.  Such clever folk must be told to the face that Ghana is not an African nation jam-packed with lazy, corrupt and dishonest lying-thieves.

  
  
  Furthermore, despite its many challenges,  our nation is neither a basket-case, nor is it a banana republic. Haaba. In any case, speaking personally, knowing what I know, for example, I am 100 percent certain that Ghana will be eventually successfully transformed. That dramatic societal-sea-change, will occur, within the next decade. For sure. Full stop.
  
  And, wonder of wonders, it will turn our homeland Ghana, into a wealthy African global-economic-superpower - in which the citizenry live extremely well - by all global quality-of-life metrics. It will all be fully-funded from the  unimaginable  wealth generated by the clean power invention, of a Ghanaian engineering genius, I happen to be friends with. 

  
  

  
  

  Finally,  as a patriot who passionately loves his still-very-beautiful nation, I shall end this piece,  by saying this:  May God Almighty bless, protect and guide Mother Ghana: and may all the doom-mongers, amongst us,  at home and abroad, be shamed  -  for wallowing in  their never-ending dispiriting-negativity. Some of us refuse to join them in their constant-mud-bathing. Enough is enough. Nkrumah's famed-Ghana will survive and thrive. Full stop. Haaba.