IN this job, there are certain areas I dread to go, but when compelled by uncontrollable circumstances, I do so with a lot of caution and great circumspection. This is because whether we like it or not, certain issues are realities of life that must be confronted, no matter the dangers inherent in the attempt.
Take religion, for example. For years we have watched in silent submission while many questionable churches and numerous pseudo-religious bodies have mushroomed all around us.
Any person who can recite a few biblical quotes from his lips could hold thousands or even millions captive, bestowing on himself/herself every title imaginable — bishop, prophet/prophetess, general overseer, chairman, president, etc — short of the ultimate, God, the Father Himself. In fact, some have come close to making that declaration, except that they have toned it down to God’s Representative on earth.
Indeed, some have claimed to be the Messiah himself. Remember Jesus Christ of Dzorwulu?
We have all, in our desperation to satisfy our divine and spiritual needs, one way or another, fallen victim to these Men of God whose activities defy any control or state intervention, and any attempt to bring some kind of order and decency into matters of religion is likely to draw severe rebukes from so-called believers. That is forbidden territory and no one should question those who put themselves between us sinners and God.
In other words, anyone discussing religion risks being labelled the devil incarnate if there is any attempt to question the status quo. The state itself has been forced into impotence, while persons claiming to be men and women of God exploit innocent people and amass wealth they are not under any obligation to account for or pay tax on.
While these saviours stuff their pockets with millions from their adherents for their personal aggrandisement, they expect the state to use the taxpayer’s money to build schools, hospitals and roads and provide cheap power and water systems for their comfort.
Today, so infectious is the salvation message that most of our productive hours are spent clapping, shouting and singing in search of the ever-elusive redemption.
Try talking about polygamy and you will come under an avalanche of verbal attacks, especially from those married women who value monopoly, even though a good number of them would prefer perching to remaining single if they were to find themselves on the other side of the river. We never want to take a closer look at the option to see whether there are any advantages.
We never want to accept the fact that considering the female/male ratio, many of our women, through no fault of theirs, will forever remain unmarried. But since everybody is entitled to the good things of life and it is the right of everyone to get attached, there will naturally be stampede and gatecrashing into some marital homes.
Our various traditional systems recognise this fact and abhor adultery, fornication and all other illicit sexual escapades and, therefore, encourage men to do things in the open and responsibly so that relationships are legitimised and recognised by society, instead of being operated in the shadows. In some religions, polygamy is recognised but with an injunction that the man must be fair to all and give equal respect and treatment to his wives. What more can there be in a good marriage, apart from security, mutual love and respect?
That brings us to the main subject for this discussion — prostitution — another forbidden territory. A few months ago, the subject came up for public discussion to determine how best to address the phenomenon of prostitution.
Some were of the opinion that it was time we confronted prostitution frontally and accepted it as part of human behaviour that could not be done away with, whether through religious pontification or legal restriction. Already, it has been described by many as the oldest profession, lending credence to those who argue that having stayed with mankind for as long as human beings have been on this earth, it is time prostitution was accorded its proper place and given the necessary legislation.
To these people, legalising it will bring about some amount of checks and balances and inject some kind of sanity to protect the interest of both the client and the service provider. They argue further that sex is an integral part of our lives as human beings and that whether married or not, man will always find an avenue to satisfy this important biological demand through fair or foul means. That is why we have crimes like rape, defilement and even incest. So why pretend that a serious thing like prostitution, which provides an avenue for tension release, can be outlawed to make society better of?
As is expected, there were those in the other camp who were shouting themselves hoarse condemning this view and quoting some religious verses or moral codes. How could you make commercial sex a legitimate business? they questioned. It would destroy the moral fibre of our daughters and sisters and bring total damnation to our society, they chorused. HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases would have a field day and transport a big chunk of the population to their premature deaths, the voices of dissent continued to vibrate all over. Those loudest in that crusade were the men in collar and cassock.
But how many of them can stand out as role models when it comes to such matters of morality?
Those against the legislation have valid points because legalising a bad thing does not make it good. But the truth is that the more we condemn it and shy away from its legislation, the more prostitution flourishes and engulfs more and more of the population, especially the younger generation. This is because apart from satisfying a biological function, prostitution also has something to do with our socio-economic environment.
Prostitution is simply defined as exchanging sex for money. Going by that, there are many people, both men and women, who are engaged in prostitution of a sort. We may go to Soldier Bar at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle or any other cheap brothel and raid the place and parade some poor girls as prostitutes. But are we telling all the full story?
Are we oblivious to the fact that many men, high and low and cutting across all professions and vocations, engage women in sex and in return pay them or offer them some kind of gifts, services or favours? Most of these women look quite respectable in the eyes of the public as working professionals, students, traders and what have you but they are always at the beck and call of men of all types for a good day’s business. Unfortunately, both married men and women cannot be counted out of the business.
Are we blind to see the so-called respectable men in government and business who drive those expensive vehicles stopping to pick the women who stand sentry around the Togo Embassy every evening? Do we know that some young women stand at strategic locations in Accra and other big towns pretending to be looking for lifts but are actually looking for a sexual business partner?
The business has become even more brisk and more convenient with the entry of the cellular phone into our lives. As long as it is agreed that these women and their male counterparts are not couples, whatever they do in the form of intimacy is illicit and cannot be distanced from those poor souls we occasionally arrest, harass and describe as prostitutes.
The difference is that one group has declared its position — demonstrating their services openly for those who are ready to pay — while the other is living behind a facade of respectability, decency, chastity, celibacy, name them, but doing the same thing, maybe in its most serious and crudest form. So whom are we deceiving?
Are we ready to call a spade a spade and not just a digging tool? Are we going to pretend that we can stop a vocation which was initiated by our great, great, great, grandfathers and grandmothers? Are we ready to face the issue squarely and come to terms with its reality and inevitability so that, somehow, there can be a control and regulatory mechanism to protect and safeguard all those involved in it?
I know this is forbidden territory, but what needs to be told must be told. At the end of the day, we cannot claim to be better off than those who have taken the lead to stare the truth in the face.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
FIXING SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES (NOV 18)
While delivering a lecture to mark the 10th anniversary of the Central University College in Accra on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, Mr Kwame Pianim, a very respected economist, made an observation which cannot be glossed over.
The eminent economic consultant, while talking on the topic, “Training transformational leaders; Paradigm shift in tertiary education; developments in the national economy; implications for tertiary education”, called on the government to ensure that persons appointed to chair the boards of state enterprises were competent and had the requisite expertise for such positions.
He did not mince words when he acknowledged that “until the government learns to put round pegs in round holes, state enterprises will continue to perform below expectation”.
Closely linked to Mr Pianim’s observation is that of Professor James Hawkings Emphraim, the Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic University at Fiapre in the Brong Ahafo Region.
While addressing the 48th annual conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Prof. Emphraim also raised issue with the mode of appointment to very important positions in the public service.
Very often, he said, those appointments were based on loyalty to the appointing authority, not ability and competence. What that means is that while the loyalists who are deficient get the job, qualified and competent people remain on the sidelines.
We all know the story of state enterprises. They are all associated with inefficiency, mismanagement, losses, low profit returns and, in extreme cases, total bankruptcy. In all cases, the prescriptions have been the same — bring foreign management consultants, download government shares or do an outright sale of the enterprise.
While we all seem to know the problems and are ready to offer solutions, we pretend not to know their causes, and even if we know, we are not bold enough to confront them in a pragmatic manner.
Over the years, the fate of most state enterprises had hung perilously on the shoulders of men and women in political power. Going by what may be described as Mr Pianim’s lamentations, most members of boards are appointed without consideration for expertise, dedication and commitment.
It is not only questionable, the membership of the boards ; sometimes the management staff may not be the best, but somehow they find their way into top management positions via routes other than qualification, competence and expertise.
Most of the state enterprises which have collapsed or have found their way into the waiting hands of foreign companies could have been money-spinning enterprises offering employment to our professionals but for interference from the powers that be. This is the naked truth we have been shying away from.
Ghana Airways, the Ghana Film Industry Corporation, Tema Food Complex and many others that have been divested of and Ghana Telecom in which Vodafone International recently acquired a 70 per cent share are just a few of the state enterprises that could have been making it big if only they had been left in competent hands without governmental interference which made them operate more or less like extensions of the ministries or as appendages of somebody’s private business empire.
There are many Ghanaians whose competencies are not under question but who never come near certain public positions because they are achievers who will not compromise their principles and objectives for charitable favours. The few who get certain positions on merit realise, sooner than later, that the appointing authorities are not going to leave them alone to perform according to the demands of the office.
There are many foreign companies operating here that are being managed by Ghanaians creditably. Mr Ishmael Yamson, for many years the Chairman of Unilever; Mr Kobina Richardson of the then Pioneer Tobacco Company, now British-American Tobacco, and the largely known Sir Dr Sam Jonah of Anglogold Ashanti fame, are some of the personalities in industry who have made this country proud.
They derived their appointment purely on merit and they remained in office because of their performance and not because of bootlicking. They were given set targets and all the necessary support to achieve those targets. There was no excuse for failure and they did not offer any. So who says our state enterprises cannot perform in the same way if the right things are done?
There are many young men and women with the requisite qualifications and expertise who can do wonders for this country if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, because they do not respond to certain names or wear particular party badges, they may never get the chance to put their talents to the test. Unfortunately, we think the remedy for such a self-inflicted damage to our national development lies in foreign consultants who come to fleece us without responding to our needs.
It is one thing expecting our state enterprises to perform profitably and efficiently and another saddling these enterprises with the wrong leadership. In many ways, we have sacrificed the progress of our state enterprises and that of the nation on the altar of cronyism, favouritism, blind loyalty and nepotism.
Both Mr Pianim and Prof. Emphraim cannot be wrong on the same matter. Our abiding faith in foreign consultancy firms stems from the fact that we do not want to use the local expertise that is available in abundance. Most often, we are torn between the national interest and individual and parochial interests and whenever we have our own way, we go for the latter.
We will be on the way to progress if we utilise the human resource at our disposal to the fullest in the national interest, against all interests.
The eminent economic consultant, while talking on the topic, “Training transformational leaders; Paradigm shift in tertiary education; developments in the national economy; implications for tertiary education”, called on the government to ensure that persons appointed to chair the boards of state enterprises were competent and had the requisite expertise for such positions.
He did not mince words when he acknowledged that “until the government learns to put round pegs in round holes, state enterprises will continue to perform below expectation”.
Closely linked to Mr Pianim’s observation is that of Professor James Hawkings Emphraim, the Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic University at Fiapre in the Brong Ahafo Region.
While addressing the 48th annual conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Prof. Emphraim also raised issue with the mode of appointment to very important positions in the public service.
Very often, he said, those appointments were based on loyalty to the appointing authority, not ability and competence. What that means is that while the loyalists who are deficient get the job, qualified and competent people remain on the sidelines.
We all know the story of state enterprises. They are all associated with inefficiency, mismanagement, losses, low profit returns and, in extreme cases, total bankruptcy. In all cases, the prescriptions have been the same — bring foreign management consultants, download government shares or do an outright sale of the enterprise.
While we all seem to know the problems and are ready to offer solutions, we pretend not to know their causes, and even if we know, we are not bold enough to confront them in a pragmatic manner.
Over the years, the fate of most state enterprises had hung perilously on the shoulders of men and women in political power. Going by what may be described as Mr Pianim’s lamentations, most members of boards are appointed without consideration for expertise, dedication and commitment.
It is not only questionable, the membership of the boards ; sometimes the management staff may not be the best, but somehow they find their way into top management positions via routes other than qualification, competence and expertise.
Most of the state enterprises which have collapsed or have found their way into the waiting hands of foreign companies could have been money-spinning enterprises offering employment to our professionals but for interference from the powers that be. This is the naked truth we have been shying away from.
Ghana Airways, the Ghana Film Industry Corporation, Tema Food Complex and many others that have been divested of and Ghana Telecom in which Vodafone International recently acquired a 70 per cent share are just a few of the state enterprises that could have been making it big if only they had been left in competent hands without governmental interference which made them operate more or less like extensions of the ministries or as appendages of somebody’s private business empire.
There are many Ghanaians whose competencies are not under question but who never come near certain public positions because they are achievers who will not compromise their principles and objectives for charitable favours. The few who get certain positions on merit realise, sooner than later, that the appointing authorities are not going to leave them alone to perform according to the demands of the office.
There are many foreign companies operating here that are being managed by Ghanaians creditably. Mr Ishmael Yamson, for many years the Chairman of Unilever; Mr Kobina Richardson of the then Pioneer Tobacco Company, now British-American Tobacco, and the largely known Sir Dr Sam Jonah of Anglogold Ashanti fame, are some of the personalities in industry who have made this country proud.
They derived their appointment purely on merit and they remained in office because of their performance and not because of bootlicking. They were given set targets and all the necessary support to achieve those targets. There was no excuse for failure and they did not offer any. So who says our state enterprises cannot perform in the same way if the right things are done?
There are many young men and women with the requisite qualifications and expertise who can do wonders for this country if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, because they do not respond to certain names or wear particular party badges, they may never get the chance to put their talents to the test. Unfortunately, we think the remedy for such a self-inflicted damage to our national development lies in foreign consultants who come to fleece us without responding to our needs.
It is one thing expecting our state enterprises to perform profitably and efficiently and another saddling these enterprises with the wrong leadership. In many ways, we have sacrificed the progress of our state enterprises and that of the nation on the altar of cronyism, favouritism, blind loyalty and nepotism.
Both Mr Pianim and Prof. Emphraim cannot be wrong on the same matter. Our abiding faith in foreign consultancy firms stems from the fact that we do not want to use the local expertise that is available in abundance. Most often, we are torn between the national interest and individual and parochial interests and whenever we have our own way, we go for the latter.
We will be on the way to progress if we utilise the human resource at our disposal to the fullest in the national interest, against all interests.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
WHAT OBAMA VICTORY MEANS TO AFRICA (NOV 11, 2008)
THE atrocities and hardships in Darfur, the killings and despair that have gripped DR Congo as a result of renewed fighting in that country and other conflict areas on the continent briefly lost space on our memory chips.
It was as if Africans were going to the polls to elect a continental leader. Everybody who cares about politics and appreciates the racial equations in American politics was on edge.
The question being asked at the turn of every corner was: Will it happen in our time? Even though the polls which are conducted scientifically, not like the guess work we do here, were pointing to victory, there was that lingering uncertainty that something will happen in the last minute to turn the tables and bring the African dream to a sad end.
When the results came out on Wednesday morning, the reaction was explosive, infectious and spontaneous. A whole continent, the whole Black race, heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
The Black man has finally crossed a formidable psychological barrier and can now move forward without any inhibitions or complexes. That was what the Barrack Obama victory for him to become the 44th President of the United States of America (USA) has done to a people still struggling for recognition and self-esteem.
The Obama story started about four years ago, when he delivered a fiery and thought-provoking speech at his party’s convention. The party chiefs sensed immediately that in Obama, there was a potential leader. But even then, probably apart from Obama himself, I do not think there was any remote dream that four years later he would be the President of the US.
When he launched himself onto the campaign for the party’s nomination for the presidency, it was like one of those things to spice the racial menu and affirm that declaration that every American has equal opportunities to aspire to any height, no matter how quixotic some of the ambitions may sound. The odds were heavily against him. He was too young — 47. And, above all, had a Black man’s blood flowing through his veins.
Typical of us, and drawing on our inferiority complex, we Africans were the first to dismiss Obama’s ambitions. He is a day-dreamer. How can White America vote for an African-American as President to sit in the Oval Office in the White House? Most people kept asking. Others said the Whites would only tolerate him to a point to give some faint hope to the Blacks and other minorities before tossing him somewhere to return no more.
Even as the gruelling Democratic primaries between Obama and Hillary Clinton gathered steam and everything was pointing to an Obama victory, most Africans were still not ready to come to terms with reality.
We were not prepared to accept the fact that there is a big determination and yearning on the part of Americans to move away from their past and build a new national image. We did not want to believe that the present generation of Americans are not entangled in the racial prejudices of the past and that their quest for change cannot be sacrificed on the altar of racism. We did not want to believe that Obama is not a descendant of freed African slaves, but the son of a Kenyan and a White American and, therefore, he cannot be seen as a servant trying to rule over his master.
When the endorsements started to pour in from all corners, it should have given us the clue that something is taking place in America and Obama is the vehicle driving that force — a force of change.
The Obama/Hillary Clinton primaries had been described as one of the fiercest and longest and when it ended with Mrs Clinton conceding defeat, it became obvious that change was on its way. How ironical that that change should fall on the shoulders of a relatively young African-American!
The truth is that the US misused its sole superpower status to bully the whole world. It went to war against Iraq without justification or UN mandate. It went to Afghanistan under a flimsy excuse and realised rather too late that that mountainous, rugged country hastened the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The US has become like Cyclopes, a wounded, blind giant destroying everything on its path in search of solutions to its imaginary problems.
The only remedy is for the US to break from its past and chart a new path. That was how Obama came into existence and took the US by storm. It is good for mankind that when the world came to the cross-roads, it took a Black/White man to redirect its course.
The greatest benefit of the Obama phenomenon is to Africa. Ever since Africa and its people and natural resources were ‘discovered’ by White adventurers, ever since Africans were shipped into slavery and ever since some Europeans met in Berlin in 1844 and shared Africa among themselves, the continent and its people have been struggling for a psychological valve to redeem their image.
Apart from its rich natural resources, nothing good comes from Africa. So intense was the brainwashing and the psychological bombardment that Africans themselves gave up and accepted their fate as third-class citizens. Their leaders are always on the move, seeking solutions to local problems from foreigners.
They are excited the more if they receive glowing praises from foreign leaders, even though they will be the first to admit that they least deserve those titles bestowed on them. Our professionals lack self-confidence, unless they attach some qualification from a foreign university to their name.
Our intellectuals cannot lead the people to self-discovery because they have become slaves to foreign cultures and values. The three-piece suit is a mark of civilisation, affluence and influence. The Africanness is gone and the search for self-identity has become the order of the day.
The Obama victory, it is hoped, has restored the confidence of the African. If great America can see something good in the African, to the extent that it is ready to entrust its destiny into his care, what about the African? How does he see himself? A miserable being who cannot survive without foreign assistance?
If Obama has been elected to govern America, why can’t Africa get leaders who can shepherd it into glory? That is one big challenge for the political leadership of the continent. We need selfless leaders who have vision.
We need leaders who can nurture dreams into reality. We need leaders who can bring a change to a continent bogged down by conflicts, hunger and starvation, disease, poverty, squalor, ignorance and other deprivations.
We have a lot of Obamas on this continent, only if in choosing our leaders we will put things in their right perspective and choose leaders based on quality and no other considerations.
Some may argue that Obama is a hybrid of White and Black. That is true. But we have many of such hybrids on the continent who are yet to make their mark. That means we have a lot of capable men and women on the continent who can move Africa from its current sordid state.
To our African-American brothers and sisters in the US and other places, they have no excuse to remain where they are now. Obama has shown that they can go beyond the boxing ring, the tracks and the musical stages just entertaining others. They can also reach the top.
That barrier of inferiority complex, that barrier of inadequacy, that barrier of self-pity and dependency has been broken. Shall we begin to see ourselves in a different world, a world of hope, prosperity and progress after Obama’s achievement?
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
It was as if Africans were going to the polls to elect a continental leader. Everybody who cares about politics and appreciates the racial equations in American politics was on edge.
The question being asked at the turn of every corner was: Will it happen in our time? Even though the polls which are conducted scientifically, not like the guess work we do here, were pointing to victory, there was that lingering uncertainty that something will happen in the last minute to turn the tables and bring the African dream to a sad end.
When the results came out on Wednesday morning, the reaction was explosive, infectious and spontaneous. A whole continent, the whole Black race, heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
The Black man has finally crossed a formidable psychological barrier and can now move forward without any inhibitions or complexes. That was what the Barrack Obama victory for him to become the 44th President of the United States of America (USA) has done to a people still struggling for recognition and self-esteem.
The Obama story started about four years ago, when he delivered a fiery and thought-provoking speech at his party’s convention. The party chiefs sensed immediately that in Obama, there was a potential leader. But even then, probably apart from Obama himself, I do not think there was any remote dream that four years later he would be the President of the US.
When he launched himself onto the campaign for the party’s nomination for the presidency, it was like one of those things to spice the racial menu and affirm that declaration that every American has equal opportunities to aspire to any height, no matter how quixotic some of the ambitions may sound. The odds were heavily against him. He was too young — 47. And, above all, had a Black man’s blood flowing through his veins.
Typical of us, and drawing on our inferiority complex, we Africans were the first to dismiss Obama’s ambitions. He is a day-dreamer. How can White America vote for an African-American as President to sit in the Oval Office in the White House? Most people kept asking. Others said the Whites would only tolerate him to a point to give some faint hope to the Blacks and other minorities before tossing him somewhere to return no more.
Even as the gruelling Democratic primaries between Obama and Hillary Clinton gathered steam and everything was pointing to an Obama victory, most Africans were still not ready to come to terms with reality.
We were not prepared to accept the fact that there is a big determination and yearning on the part of Americans to move away from their past and build a new national image. We did not want to believe that the present generation of Americans are not entangled in the racial prejudices of the past and that their quest for change cannot be sacrificed on the altar of racism. We did not want to believe that Obama is not a descendant of freed African slaves, but the son of a Kenyan and a White American and, therefore, he cannot be seen as a servant trying to rule over his master.
When the endorsements started to pour in from all corners, it should have given us the clue that something is taking place in America and Obama is the vehicle driving that force — a force of change.
The Obama/Hillary Clinton primaries had been described as one of the fiercest and longest and when it ended with Mrs Clinton conceding defeat, it became obvious that change was on its way. How ironical that that change should fall on the shoulders of a relatively young African-American!
The truth is that the US misused its sole superpower status to bully the whole world. It went to war against Iraq without justification or UN mandate. It went to Afghanistan under a flimsy excuse and realised rather too late that that mountainous, rugged country hastened the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The US has become like Cyclopes, a wounded, blind giant destroying everything on its path in search of solutions to its imaginary problems.
The only remedy is for the US to break from its past and chart a new path. That was how Obama came into existence and took the US by storm. It is good for mankind that when the world came to the cross-roads, it took a Black/White man to redirect its course.
The greatest benefit of the Obama phenomenon is to Africa. Ever since Africa and its people and natural resources were ‘discovered’ by White adventurers, ever since Africans were shipped into slavery and ever since some Europeans met in Berlin in 1844 and shared Africa among themselves, the continent and its people have been struggling for a psychological valve to redeem their image.
Apart from its rich natural resources, nothing good comes from Africa. So intense was the brainwashing and the psychological bombardment that Africans themselves gave up and accepted their fate as third-class citizens. Their leaders are always on the move, seeking solutions to local problems from foreigners.
They are excited the more if they receive glowing praises from foreign leaders, even though they will be the first to admit that they least deserve those titles bestowed on them. Our professionals lack self-confidence, unless they attach some qualification from a foreign university to their name.
Our intellectuals cannot lead the people to self-discovery because they have become slaves to foreign cultures and values. The three-piece suit is a mark of civilisation, affluence and influence. The Africanness is gone and the search for self-identity has become the order of the day.
The Obama victory, it is hoped, has restored the confidence of the African. If great America can see something good in the African, to the extent that it is ready to entrust its destiny into his care, what about the African? How does he see himself? A miserable being who cannot survive without foreign assistance?
If Obama has been elected to govern America, why can’t Africa get leaders who can shepherd it into glory? That is one big challenge for the political leadership of the continent. We need selfless leaders who have vision.
We need leaders who can nurture dreams into reality. We need leaders who can bring a change to a continent bogged down by conflicts, hunger and starvation, disease, poverty, squalor, ignorance and other deprivations.
We have a lot of Obamas on this continent, only if in choosing our leaders we will put things in their right perspective and choose leaders based on quality and no other considerations.
Some may argue that Obama is a hybrid of White and Black. That is true. But we have many of such hybrids on the continent who are yet to make their mark. That means we have a lot of capable men and women on the continent who can move Africa from its current sordid state.
To our African-American brothers and sisters in the US and other places, they have no excuse to remain where they are now. Obama has shown that they can go beyond the boxing ring, the tracks and the musical stages just entertaining others. They can also reach the top.
That barrier of inferiority complex, that barrier of inadequacy, that barrier of self-pity and dependency has been broken. Shall we begin to see ourselves in a different world, a world of hope, prosperity and progress after Obama’s achievement?
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
RIPPLES OF THE GREAT DEBATE (NOV 4, 2008)
IT was a novelty that kept everybody — the flag bearers of four political parties, the moderators, the audience in the auditorium and the rest of us privileged to listen to our radio sets and view on the television screens — in suspense.
When the zero-hour approached, supporters of the main actors — Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Convention People’s Party (CPP); Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Dr Edward Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC) — were on edge wondering how their idols, sitting before a select audience of distinguished personalities, were going to perform before live cameras that will beam proceedings on television channels.
You know talking on campaign platforms at rallies is very easy. Most members of the crowd are actually not listening. They are only cheering or screaming because that is what they are really there (or is it paid?) to do. That is why it is easy for the principal characters to spew out anything that crosses their mind and which can spill out through their mouths — insults, threats, vain promises, a few plain truths — to their charged listeners. After that the jamma, borborbor and kpanlogo groups will lead what is commonly described as teeming supporters who are now drenched in sweat and alcohol, all the way home. A job has been accomplished and the politicians, satisfied with the attendance, will begin to count their chickens even before they are hatched.
As for the masses, their sweat-soaked T-shirts and if lucky, a few wads for the evening’s kenkey plus heavy doses of promises and comforting words assuring them of a better future are all that they gained. But that is even enough to incite some of them into violent confrontation with supporters of rival parties.
This time the setting was quite different and there was no room for vituperative language. There were no teeming crowds to cheer or jeer at the least opportunity and the main actors on stage cannot take things for granted and make loose talks. The whole nation was watching and they had to make every conscious effort to score as much points as possible.
Ours could not match those we are used to seeing on Cable News Network (CNN) or the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), judging from its formal setting and selected and restricted audience. All the same, it came out well and the next one will surely be better.
Seriously, I am not interested very much in what the gentlemen on stage said and I believe many voters may not switch allegiance because of what somebody said or did not say. They all said the same things differently.
My interest, therefore, lies in the spirit behind the exercise. So if those noble men could face millions of Ghanaians in that subdued manner and dole out their promises in civil language, how come that when they mount campaign platforms and stare at the crowd, they turn into a different breed of people?
Why do they take us many, many years back, when the majority of today’s generation were not born? Why do they try to take credit for policies and projects that they condemned in the past? And why do they promise us what, deep down in their hearts, they know they cannot deliver? Why do they have to insult and attack others when the focus should be their own capabilities? We can continue asking more questions whose answers we may never get.
I also see the hands of money rakers who parade as journalists and social commentators in the tension and violence that show up in our political campaigns. The presidential debate has proved that our future leaders can still carry their message across in a language devoid of rancour and acrimony, and it is possible for them to comport themselves on platforms so that they can articulate their vision and mission objectives clearer and better.
As stated earlier, our version of the presidential debate may not come near what we see between say, Barack Obama and John MacCain on international networks, given our deficiencies in technology and funding. But the stage has been set for more of such debates in future.
It is also the wish of many Ghanaians that the candour and civility which prevailed at the presidential debate last Wednesday, will be extended to the final stages of the campaign so as to bring some relief to a tensed nation ready to explode.
Apart from the flag bearers who showed a lot of respect to each other, members of the audience could also be seen after the presentations mixing freely and sharing the conviviality the Ghanaian way. Surely, they all came out of their artificial or imaginary trenches to be what they actually are — Ghanaians.
Our democracy has also taken another giant step forward. What more can we wish for ourselves, if we are assured by Dr Nduom, that his administration will ensure that we receive our pension, the very day we drop dead? That is what makes us an interesting people and we cannot afford to wipe away the humour from our faces.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
When the zero-hour approached, supporters of the main actors — Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Convention People’s Party (CPP); Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Dr Edward Mahama of the People’s National Convention (PNC) — were on edge wondering how their idols, sitting before a select audience of distinguished personalities, were going to perform before live cameras that will beam proceedings on television channels.
You know talking on campaign platforms at rallies is very easy. Most members of the crowd are actually not listening. They are only cheering or screaming because that is what they are really there (or is it paid?) to do. That is why it is easy for the principal characters to spew out anything that crosses their mind and which can spill out through their mouths — insults, threats, vain promises, a few plain truths — to their charged listeners. After that the jamma, borborbor and kpanlogo groups will lead what is commonly described as teeming supporters who are now drenched in sweat and alcohol, all the way home. A job has been accomplished and the politicians, satisfied with the attendance, will begin to count their chickens even before they are hatched.
As for the masses, their sweat-soaked T-shirts and if lucky, a few wads for the evening’s kenkey plus heavy doses of promises and comforting words assuring them of a better future are all that they gained. But that is even enough to incite some of them into violent confrontation with supporters of rival parties.
This time the setting was quite different and there was no room for vituperative language. There were no teeming crowds to cheer or jeer at the least opportunity and the main actors on stage cannot take things for granted and make loose talks. The whole nation was watching and they had to make every conscious effort to score as much points as possible.
Ours could not match those we are used to seeing on Cable News Network (CNN) or the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), judging from its formal setting and selected and restricted audience. All the same, it came out well and the next one will surely be better.
Seriously, I am not interested very much in what the gentlemen on stage said and I believe many voters may not switch allegiance because of what somebody said or did not say. They all said the same things differently.
My interest, therefore, lies in the spirit behind the exercise. So if those noble men could face millions of Ghanaians in that subdued manner and dole out their promises in civil language, how come that when they mount campaign platforms and stare at the crowd, they turn into a different breed of people?
Why do they take us many, many years back, when the majority of today’s generation were not born? Why do they try to take credit for policies and projects that they condemned in the past? And why do they promise us what, deep down in their hearts, they know they cannot deliver? Why do they have to insult and attack others when the focus should be their own capabilities? We can continue asking more questions whose answers we may never get.
I also see the hands of money rakers who parade as journalists and social commentators in the tension and violence that show up in our political campaigns. The presidential debate has proved that our future leaders can still carry their message across in a language devoid of rancour and acrimony, and it is possible for them to comport themselves on platforms so that they can articulate their vision and mission objectives clearer and better.
As stated earlier, our version of the presidential debate may not come near what we see between say, Barack Obama and John MacCain on international networks, given our deficiencies in technology and funding. But the stage has been set for more of such debates in future.
It is also the wish of many Ghanaians that the candour and civility which prevailed at the presidential debate last Wednesday, will be extended to the final stages of the campaign so as to bring some relief to a tensed nation ready to explode.
Apart from the flag bearers who showed a lot of respect to each other, members of the audience could also be seen after the presentations mixing freely and sharing the conviviality the Ghanaian way. Surely, they all came out of their artificial or imaginary trenches to be what they actually are — Ghanaians.
Our democracy has also taken another giant step forward. What more can we wish for ourselves, if we are assured by Dr Nduom, that his administration will ensure that we receive our pension, the very day we drop dead? That is what makes us an interesting people and we cannot afford to wipe away the humour from our faces.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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