Killing a fly with a Hammah!

The former Deputy Minister of Communications Victoria Hammah has for a while been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Little wonder the latest news of her pledging to make US$1 million--according to a secretly recorded audio--before quitting politics culminated in her being given the sack.

Since Ms. Hammah has not publicly denied the tape nor its content but rather caused the attempt of her driver, it will be logical to conclude that the voice on the tape is hers. Whoever did the recording really did her in.

Nevertheless once the content of the tape became public, we have no other option than to interrogate it and see whether issues raised merit our consideration. Personally I think we have exaggerated almost the issues Ms. Hammah raised on the leaked tape.

Of course US$1 million is no small money. It could build thousands of boreholes or provide dozens of classroom blocks for many deprived communities. Indeed many were those who raised issues with Ms. Hammah’s appointment as a Deputy Minister.

Frankly, she didn’t have many sympathisers and being embroiled in one scandal or the other did not help much in winning over public sympathy. What did the President see in her to employ her? It indeed sad that she could not justify the faith Mr. Mahama had in her considering her “appointment was solid way back.”
But come to think of it I don’t understand why an “innocent” person could be used to pacify the sins of many a corrupt government official. Yes, she declared her intent of making a certain amount of money in politics.

Unlike her, many people who have masterminded many corrupt deals are still walking free with some still at post as government appointees. What didn’t we hear about GYEEDA, ISOFOTON, Subah, as well as millions of dollars paid as judgement debts?

While I hold the view that corruption in any form must never be countenanced, I still believe government’s swift reaction to hammer Victoria is a clear case of double standards. Despite the several reports of financial malfeasance reported at Public Account Committee, Judgement Debt Committee, among many other committees set up to review the infamous GYEEDA rot, nothing really had come out of it.

Of course the likes of Victoria and co are touchable; you can do away with them. She is just a small fly in the mix—no wonder her target was a paltry US$1 million while the likes of GYEEDA and Subah, SADA alone are reported to have blown over US$1billion.

Aunty Vick is a product of the system—one which promotes and institutionalised corruption. Unless we have a system that allows political parties to be financed with public money, we ain’t doing away with corruption anytime soon.

Party financiers are no philanthropists. The juiciest of contracts are awarded to them as a way of rewarding them for their loyalty. However, public financing of political parties allows the parties to streamline their spending.

It does not create a platform where one party will be attempting to outshine the other. In this case, money does not become a key factor as for instance, expensive advertisement among other things can be dealt with.

As far as the funding of political parties is left to private and “hidden” businessmen, we will always breed a crop of people who are into public service to make returns on their “investment”. There are so many Victoria Hammahs in the system.

The big fishes in the soup are the relatively unknown, wrecking more havoc to us than the Vic Hammahs. Sadly, these are the untouchables and no leader of a party will dare touch a hair on their body. Like Vic said on the leaked tape, she has no roots in the party so her sacking was easier and swift.

These recent events point to our ineptitude in tackling corruption. So why is it that some alleged corrupt practices are left to committees and review committees and others acted on swiftly. Why must we be quick to punish intents but slow to punish the actual action?

The golden rule to stealing, as someone will say, is not to get caught--if you are clever, you will continue to cheat the system. No wonder the “father” of modern judgement debts is a financial engineer by profession—Alfred Agbesi Woyome.

Apart from the two salient points in the leaked tape that relates to her low ambition and the part relating to the justices of the Supreme Court, the rest is idle gossip. Almost everybody is guilty of that one way or the other.

Of course we have not been caught on tape. With the advancement of technology, Vicky Leaks indeed points out that we are all vulnerable. Those who are fond of badmouthing in particular must take a cue from this.

Not only has she lost her job, but her “friends” and potential ones who would be wary of falling victim to her acidic tongue. To some extent I pity her and I know she will be traumatised for a long time to come.

Victoria Hammah, please take a cold shower and come back to show some maturity. Apologise to all those you who were hurt by the incident. And please don’t try justifying some of the things you said. Build bridges and extend the olive branch to particularly Rachel Appoh, yeah?

It’s never easy but the world has not come to an end; move on.

I’m out.

Will Christmas ever be the same again?

It was December 25 and I had just arrived from church in the company of my siblings. It was one of those moments the whole family had been waiting for -- a rare opportunity to have a taste of sumptuous food and an excuse to demand newly sown clothes from my parents.

In those days, Christmas brought the family together. It was not Irish cream or any exotic drink that brought us together, just a bottle of squash with plenty water to serve the entire family. Everyone was content with it, except on a few occasions when the accompanying Piccadilly biscuits had run out.

There can never be a Christmas without firecrackers, popularly known as “knockouts”. Much as the little explosions caused by the crackers were a nuisance at times, we loved it all the same. The eve of Christmas and December 31 were always special times to light these firecrackers.

Of course, this was in the late 80s and 90s. Getting the family together was always an inexpensive venture. Indeed, Christmas provided yet another opportunity to meet the family once more. Nowadays, everyone seems busy minding their own business.

With the passing of time, the mechanical solidarity of society -- the term sociologists use 
to describe community bonding based on shared beliefs and activities -- has waned. The little things that connected the family now mean nothing. The surge in technology -- if not the cause of this rift -- can be said to have further compounded it.

If you leave two or more people in a room, don’t be surprised to come back and find them busy on their phones, either “tweeting”, “facebooking” or “whatsapping”; it tells you of the times we are in. In fact, this practice is pervasive.

The family’s (extended) segregation into smaller (nuclear) units is something sociologists have expressed worry about. Inasmuch as the mobile phones, the social media networks, video games and satellite TVs have become a crucial part of our lives, I believe the opportunity still exists for us to bring the family together again.

It’s never too late for us to go back to the little things that knitted the family together in the past. Being the basis of every society, the family system must be made to work once more. I believe we can improve the mechanical solidarity.

Of course the era of the squash and Piccadilly biscuits may not come back, but we can still recreate those special moments. We can still organise those little parties on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc.

The society is a collection of families; without it the society will cease to exist. If we all contribute to the demise of the family, knowingly or not, we will all suffer from the consequences.

Even as we challenge ourselves to improve our families, let’s not also ignore the disadvantaged in the society. Christmas is a time to show love to those who need it most, not those who can return the love shown.

No gift is too small as long as it gets to needy hands. We should not make these orphans or needy persons feel left out of this years’ holiday celebrations. Not many can hold parties or make huge donations to orphanages or needy homes, but at least there would be someone in our community or in some other place who would appreciate a little kind gesture this Christmas.

For me, my Christmas will be spent with my family. I will try reliving those moments. It is not going to be easy but I will make an attempt, and I will urge you to do same. Let’s build bridges and not burn them. Life’s very short; make friends, enjoy with your family—they are all you have.

Being my last write-up for the year, I want to use it to wish all who have been reading my column the best of the season. I trust the good Lord will keep all of us safe as we approach the New Year. I pray the New Year brings us unprecedented favours and blessings.

I’m out!

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).                        

Kitchen politics: Who wants out?

Verily, verily I say unto you: Ghanaians are living in difficult times. Not to say we have had it easier in the past, but these times are indeed troubled with more problems than solutions – that is, if the few solutions will work at all.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is holding its own against organised labour, led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), over the recent tariff increases. Kofi Asamoah’s TUC has also not had easy with the Federation of Labour also accusing it of holding the country to ransom over their partisan interest.

Before one could whisper “pink sheets”, a new episode in the Corruption Series was released. Subah InfoSolutions, an IT company, has allegedly been paid about GHȼ144 million for apparently no job done. Interesting times.

Corruption, we are told, has been with us since Adam and doesn’t seem like leaving us soon. According to a Gallup Poll released recently, Ghana is ranked the third most perceived as corrupt in 129 countries with a free press.

The poll itself has received much flak from government appointees who, among other things, have sought to question the poll’s integrity. While it may be true that Gallup’s methodology could be faulted – which I strongly doubt – we still need a retrospection to deal with this canker.

To think that Ghana could beat her bitter rivals Nigeria in that corruption index calls for a paradigm shift in our approach to the issue.

Of course, this “fire service” approach to issues is not helping. The efforts of government to pooh pooh Gallup’s poll could have done a lot if they had been channelled into ensuring due diligence in the freebies given away as judgement debts, contracts signed at GYEEDA, Subah among others.

According to a government official, the poll was long conducted before the outbreak of GYEEDA and the like; hence it could not have reflected modern trends. I don’t think that’s what he intended saying: that corruption has now filed for asylum here? Ewuradzi!!

And while we were at it, as if by coincidence, veteran MP Alban K. Bagbin delivered a jibe to the presidency. Just like you, I was not too surprised; he has towed that line before. But this time round he met a different opposition: those Mr. Rawlings would term as “babies with sharp teeth”.

They say the last time he complained about tough times, he was silenced with an appointment; that was in the late Mills’ era. Now we are in a different era and he is now part of the three “wise” men tasked to oversee the realisation of government priority projects, same level of a cabinet minister or so I think.

And while he joined others to complain about what they thought were difficult times, some are suggesting he heeds to the advice offered by Brigadier Nunoo Mensah that one can always get his/her passport and “gerrout” if the kitchen is too hot.

It is becoming increasingly visible that something is not right somewhere. Some will deny whereas others will be accused of indulging in partisan politics for saying the obvious. Our elders say, when the frog comes from the river and reports the death of the crocodile, we have no cause to doubt the frog.

Of course, those not in support of the Mahama government should wait; 2016 is just a few months away. That’s the advice I will give to those who are getting jittery. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that my President would be thinking same.

Methinks that his remark that “for those who disagree with me and are anxious to see my back, 2016 is not too far away”, goes a long way to prove that something is amiss. It is quite obvious President Mahama is feeling the heat.

His remark was supposed to end the media warfare between Mr. Bagbin and some presidential staffers. Sadly, that remark seems to have ignited a new public debate. Is he showing signs of frustration?

Only time will tell. Meanwhile the media, widely regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, is also busy indulged in its own politics, controversies, scandals or whatever you would describe it. The Ghana Journalists Association’s annual awards event is by far the most recgonised event for Ghanaian journos.

This year’s event as usual had its own fair share of controversies. Apart from the organisation, which has seen little improvement over the previous year, everything else was the same—monotonous and boring.

It is no secret that some of the awards or categories are sponsor-driven, which is not ethical. The result is new categories being created as and when there is sponsorship. The desire to reward excellence must be genuine and not done to appease sponsors.

Some of the awards too have become redundant, if you ask me. When you have a category such as Radio Programme of the Year (Ga), which other station will win it apart from Obonu FM? As far as broadcasting in the Ga language is concerned, Obunu FM has little or no competition at all.

For someone who has been practicing journalism for more than a decade to be given the Young and Most Promising Journalist of the Year is very scandalous. Hannah Acheampong and David Adadevor are two persons who have years of experience in journalism.

What is promising about these two when they are already on top of their game? Well, that’s the GJA for you -- always courting controversy.

As journalists, if we are not able to criticise our parent body, we have no moral right to be criticising others. GJA has taken journalists for granted for too long a time. Each year, they do what amounts to an electoral charade and the same people get to the helm of affairs.

Come next year, there must be innovation. The media landscape has gone beyond the traditional radio, print and TV. New media is fully developed and the GJA awards must reflect the modern trend. The awards night is not a time for boring and uninspiring speeches. The day belongs to journalists; let them enjoy to the max.

The role of a journalist is to keep the society on the right path, and GJA is not above that!

Congrats to Kingsley Obeng Kyereh, the Journalist of the Year!

I’m out!

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Shameless display of greed and theft; are we fighting a lost cause?

Once upon a time, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan were countries Ghana could stand head to head with. Indeed, we had a resilient economy which was the brightest in the sub-Saharan region. That was just a little over four decades ago.

While these countries worked on their deficiencies, we stood still to watch. Few years down the line, their fortunes have seen a complete turnaround. They possess economies that have become models for most developing countries.

Of course the parameters for these countries were not exactly the same despite some striking similarities. For every two step we take, we take three backwards. Over the years, our leaders have become “visionless, clueless, directionless and purposeless.”

Since the time Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa into this country, the crop’s fate has not changed. We still export the beans in its raw state. The nature of our economy, indeed, has not changed since the Guggisberg era.

The only thing which seems to have changed, however for the worst, is the way our leaders plunder public monies. In recent times, corruption has become part of our daily news bulletin. The news is never complete without report of financial malfeasance.

Watching proceedings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and the Sole Commissioner’s Judgement Debt will make your heart cringe. Some of our leaders, mostly well-educated have proven to be the worst culprits of such nation wrecks.

Of course I can’t readily mention names of such culprits but a cursory look will at least give you a clue. We have had the era of kickbacks, judgement debts and now let’s welcome the era of institutionalized corruption. Under this category, we have had the likes of GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA and many more.

We have never as a country demonstrated a political will to fight corruption. In fact most cases, it is an open secret that those supposed to protect the public purse themselves are usually neck deep in corruption. It is really a worrying trend.

The recent trend of corruption point to a grand collusion scheme between those in government and some private individuals who are mostly party financiers. Normally you listen to the monies involved in such enterprises and you wonder whether it is worth dying for this country.

We have reduced Parliament to the approval of loans and grants agreements; which they do on almost daily basis. Without any iota of shame, we append our signatures to some meagre loan amounts which we could have easily raised domestically.

As if that’s not in enough, when these leaders travel, they go cup in hand begging like a primary school pupil who has lost his pocket money. Really shameful. I am not against lobbying for foreign direct investment; every country needs more of that.

What I don’t get is when we beg for funds to complete infrastructural developments. Almost all of our major infrastructure developments in this country have come by way or was assisted by some donor support. The list is endless; now you have the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange which is being assisted by the Brazilians.

There’s no free lunch anywhere. The support we get from donors are taxes paid by their citizens which are meant to be invested properly. So if you think the Brazilian support, which just like any other, is a dash, you certainly belong to Mars.

Hidden in most of these agreements is a clause or two that always inure to the benefit of the donor. When I heard that the Circle Interchange will cost a little over 78 million euros, I nearly wept. So is it that money that we can’t afford or what?

We have never had monies for developments but we are willing to spend over Ghs1billion on GYEEDA, close to US$500million on judgement debts, Ghs144million on SubahInfosolutions etc for particular no returns.

The crass corruption in this country is what has plummeted our economy to this abyss; the levels that saw us go HIPC. Those in charge of our purse are busily finding creative means to “create, loot and share” without thinking about the health of this economy.

No country will ever take us serious if we continue to squander public funds in that manner. Most of the monies we generate locally, apart from being used as wages for public sector workers, goes down the drain; lost forever.

How much did the George Walker Bush N1 Highway cost? Less than US$75 million but I tell you if it had been a Government of Ghana (GoG) funded project, it would have cost not more than US$150 million to the tax payer.

Some people treat this country with no jot of conscience. The kayayo, shoeshine, waakye seller, pure water seller, those selling “burkina” in traffic intersections; all they have wanted from a decent government is to be able to access basic healthcare, decent roads and at least reliable utilities.

The National Health Insurance Scheme is on its knees begging to be saved. Our roads a dogged with heavy traffic because where interchanges were supposed to have been constructed, we have put traffic lights or roundabouts in their stead all because our “no money” syndrome.

As for the utilities, in some areas water is scarcer than gold and with our electricity, it comes and goes off at will. Sometimes I hate it when I am asked that dreaded question. “Are we becoming a failed state?” I hate to think that way but I don’t think we are on the trajectory to economic revolution either.

As long as every month, monies –no matter how small, are deducted from my salary under the guise of “income tax” I owe nobody an apology for demanding the right thing. These shameless theft of the poor people’s monies must stop, someday.

No country ever develops on the back of donor support. We need to untie ourselves from the strings of the donor countries’ aprons.

Our elders say, when an adult watches unconcerned as children savour the meat of the serpent; he will surely be considered as one of them.

Enough of the review committees, government must sit-up, now!

I’m out.

Richard Annerquaye ABBEY

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Kwesi Nyantakyi and the Highlander!

The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, definitely seems to be a very hard nut to crack. That his leadership has achieved a lot for Ghana football is never in doubt. However, the man has been overtaken by recent events. With each passing day, it becomes clearer that the man has definitely run short of ideas.

Let’s take the issue of Richard Kingson’s (aka Olele) recent call-up into the Black Stars for the World Cup qualifier against Egypt as an example. Of course, Mr. Nyantakyi is not the head coach, but he seemed to have led the campaign for Olele’s return to the Black Stars.

For me, I will never lambast Olele for anything. What is his crime? That he has accepted to represent his country? Many people have called the age of the veteran goalkeeper into question. That’s not surprising. Granted their allegations are true, age-cheating is a worldwide football canker.

Over the years most of the best goalkeepers we have had plied their trade in the domestic league; seldom did we have goalkeepers plying their trade abroad. So as the Nyantakyi-led FA began to forsake the league, some of these things were bound to happen.

It’s true we have a goalkeeping crisis in the Black Stars, and with Brazil 2014 within arm’s length we needed a solution as soon as possible. Richard Kingson definitely has long seen his glory days. But characteristic of leadership in this country, they always attempt solving short-term problems without thinking about long-term repercussions.

In this regard, I think the GFA and the coach of the Black Stars erred in recalling the veteran goalkeeper. No one should attempt convincing us that Olele is the best thing to have happened to the Black Stars. It may be true that in the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is made king. However, there are more able one-eyed men than the ex-Great Olympics goalkeeper.

There’s no need crying over spilt milk; the harm has been done already. What is important now is for us to rally together and not let this cause disunity in the camp of the Stars. But I must confess I really admire Olele’s commitment to the national team. At 35 – at least according to the official record – his desire to represent his national team is remarkable and exceptional.

Inasmuch as I disagree with Olele’s call-up, I think the character assassination the man has suffered will needlessly deter other older players who would still want to contribute to the national team’s cause. What’s the problem if he indeed is playing with his grandchildren? How’s that a crime?

And now to the Kevin Prince Boateng issue. After unceremoniously resigning from national team duties, he is back again with another World Cup opportunity on the horizon. I don’t subscribe to the arguments of those calling him an opportunist. Far from that.

What really I don’t get is why the GFA is sending distress signals that we can’t do without him. For Christ’s sake there have been many teams that have won major trophies without obviously their best stars playing. 
The absence of Cantona et al at France 98 is one example.

Let’s reward hard work. Those who have brought the team this far must be given a shot to further prove themselves. If we need to genuinely improve our team we are at liberty to do so, but not with players whose commitment is always in question.

Every member of the Black Stars must definitely earn his call-up by hard work and unwavering commitment. The fate of Laryea Kingson and Sammy Adjei in the run up to the World Cup 2006 was very painful. Which two players were more committed than these two? But we all know how the story ended: as “monkeys”, they worked hard only for the “baboons” to come and “chop”.

As we head into next week’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Egypt in Kumasi, it is likely that KPB will not feature due to a knock he suffered while playing for his club, Schalke 04. Of course, the coincidence of his injuries with Black Stars matches is causing a lot of people to raise eyebrows.

I’m not God to determine when next he will get injured, and neither am I a physio to determine the extent of his injuries, so we all must exercise restraint in our judgments. There’s a Ghanaian proverb which translates as, “If you pretend you are dead, you will be buried under pretence”.  If the GFA truly want the best for Ghanaians, they should employ such a strategy. But of course they are not going to.

Kwasi Appiah’s failure to search hard for the talents out there and Nyatakyi’s failure to build a league that will grow home-based talents are what have brought us to a situation where we are scrambling for players to play for the Black Stars. 

Meanwhile, if you wish for some fun, check out #Olelefacts, and good luck to the Black Stars!
I’m out.

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com
The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

al Mahama and the Shabab syndrome

You can choose to be in self-denial, but the sad reality is that terrorism has come to stay. It doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon despite the world’s superpowers claiming that the battle is being won.

What happened at Kenya’s Westgate Mall may not be the worst terrorist attack on African soil, but it remains the freshest on our minds. The events of the Kenya embassy bombings in 1998 that claimed 212 lives will forever linger on in our memories.

Not a single day passes that one does not hear about the news of a suicide bombing or bomb detonation killing dozens especially in the Middle East. For those of us who listen to international news, we have almost become accustomed to such reports.

As a country, we have not really shown any concern about the global anti-terrorism combat. We have always seen it as being far from us despite the fact that we live in a global village. We can’t be bothered, right?

It was only when news of the death of the renowned poet Kofi Awoonor during the Kenyan Westgate attack trickled in that we realised that acts of terrorism are indeed closer than we think. We can’t always play ostrich. As usual, as the news came in, you could actually feel a lot of kneejerk reactions from our leaders. Quite typical of us.

President Mahama’s speech at the UN was definitely on point. Indeed, those “senseless and cowardly” acts of violence should never be countenanced. But what I don’t seem to get is our haste to condemn these terrorist acts without getting our house in order.

For years, we have had nomadic herdsmen terrorise and treat with disdain our citizens in the countryside. Before we could even figure a way around it, the market fires set in, leaving us a lot more confused than ever. Before one could say “Gyan”, the American forensic experts were here to unravel the mystery of the market fires.

Not to forget the unfortunate collapse of the Melcom shopping mall that claimed dozens of lives. Even with that, we couldn’t handle the situation on our own as the Israelis flew in to help with the rescue efforts. It’s never been easy.

Of course, in times like this, it’s good for the ordinary citizen to feel that the government is up to the task and is ready to counter acts such as what happened at Westgate. Such assurances, much as we need them, must not be a provocative invitation to these hoodlums, especially when we have done little or nothing at all to counter these acts.

Terrorism is a very sophisticated act requiring loads of high-level intelligence and much more to counter. Terrorist organisations are not far from us. Within our sub-region there has been a consistent rise of organisations such as the Boko Haram, Ansar Dine and many militant groups.

The death of Prof. Awoonor at the hands of such hoodlums, however sad it was, must not push us into any state of panic. We don’t counter terrorism with kneejerk reactions, like deploying forces to the Accra Mall immediately it was discovered Westgate was under siege.

What were we seeking to achieve with such reactions? Let’s not try to seek political points with such measures. The Westgate incident claimed the life of Kenya’s Uhurru Kenyatta’s nephew, with his son escaping by the skin of the teeth. Same can’t be said of others who perished in the siege.

The United Kingdom’s warning that Ghana could be a target of terrorist attacks due to our involvement in peace-keeping efforts in Mali is one that should be taken seriously. Though I disagree with the mode by which they communicated this, I think we have no time to take chances.

Very soon Kenya’s Parliament will be querying their security chiefs for failing to act on intelligence on the Westgate attacks. By putting our acts together, we may not get to that stage. Terrorism is a global menace that we cannot fight alone. We need to seek more collaboration with countries that have experience in dealing with such a menace.

We don’t want needless talk from government. We need to see action. We could actually start by chasing the illegal galamsey operators who have succeeded in destroying our green vegetation. So long as these gun- wielding riffraffs are able to keep our security at bay while they go about their activities, no one should attempt convincing us we are ready for the Boko Harams, Shababs and the dreaded al-Qaedas.

Enough of the “Ghana is a peaceful country” and let us set our minds to work. Though I pray that day never comes, we must not allow ourselves to be caught off-guard.  We have had more than enough reasons to hit the ground running.

Those who are being paid to work must proceed to work and stop the numerous talk shops. Prof. Awoonor and all those lives that have been lost to terrorism will not forgive us if we fail to prevent an attack on our home soil.

Even as we embark on this war, let us pray to God that he should forever let Al-kayida in Ghana remain a dance craze. Nothing more, nothing less.


I’m out.

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com
The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Nyantakyi’s FA has lost it!

Football may just be a game but it has on countless of occasions united us more than anything else could divide us. Even before the Black Stars’ meteoric rise to global recognition on the account of an impressive back-to-back World Cup appearances, we still enjoyed our football as we would of an ice-cold palm wine.

Ghana’s two glamorous clubs, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko have one of the world’s bitterest rivalry. It’s always more of a bragging right at stake than a trophy or three points. In recent years however, the rivalry somehow has waned a little partly due to the loss of interest in the Ghanaian league.

Although Kwesi Nyantakyi may be credited as the GFA President who succeeded in taking the Black Stars to its first ever World Cup, I must say his record as far as developing the game domestically is absolutely pathetic, to be charitable.

I have always heard the chorus of people calling for his head over the way he has superintendent the decay of the Ghanaian Premier League. I didn’t think I will join that cause till I found myself watching Ghana’s version of the El-Classico, Hearts playing Kotoko at the Accra Sports Stadium.

About three days to the game, I bought an advanced ticket to the game with the hope of avoiding long queues at the stadium come the match day. Hell wrong I was. Having arrived at the venue with my VIP ticket about an hour to the game, I had to fight my way into the stadium.

Eventually, I entered the precincts of the stadium 20 or so minutes into the game. I am not really sure because the scoreboard at the Accra Sports Stadium has for obvious reason of neglect become a white elephant. I know there’s a lot of buck passing between the GFA and the National Sports Authority when it comes to this issue.

Those two bodies should get their acts together, what is really important now is fixing the scoreboard. At the gates, there were thousands of people who couldn’t enter and hence had to leave or sell their ticket to those willing to bulldoze their way through.

Imagine struggling to sweat your way through and being told at the turnstiles that the ticket you bought was a fake one. Yeah. It happened to countless of people who according to them purchased their tickets at some designated spots.

Even with my Upper VIP ticket, I couldn’t get a seat so I had to do “popular stand” at the lower VIP area. So who were those seated? Did they have tickets at all, or is it the case that the tickets were overprinted? There are too many questions than answers.

The last thing I want the FA to be doing now to all the litany of issues I have raised is to pass the buck that is to tell me what and what is within their domain and what is not. Anything good that comes to Ghana football we are told to sing the praise of a certain man over there. And what about the bad, we must swallow that abi?

I know I am ranting because this is the first time I have witnessed the “super clash” and frankly those who have done that over the years may be familiar with some of these so-called standards. Well I have news for those who think what happened to me was normal.

The Ghana Premier League, as shambolic as it is, is still shown on TV unlike the past where you need to be at the stadium to watch your favorite team. I could have watched it from the comfort of my home but I decided to patronise it because that’s the only way I could contribute to the club I have idolised.

But happenings like these are not good advertisement for our local league. Everything was in shambles, from where I stood. Inasmuch some of the security personnel detailed on the day went about their duties professionally, it is worth noting that some of them became more spectators than some of us.

The National Sports Authority together with football administrators must get serious about the game development. Football in Ghana is not synonymous to Black Stars. Due to neglect, our clubs performance in the continental competition has slump quite badly.

Despite all the mishaps that happened on the day of the match, the stadium was full to capacity. One interesting thing was that the match coincided with the Manchester derby. Yet those thousands of soccer lovers defied what could have genuinely provided a great football entertainment to be at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Kwesi Nyantakyi and his team must wake up and smell the coffee. The local league is all we have. We don’t need to draw plans. We have more than enough of them. Let’s implement the ones we have. The development of grassroots football is essential to the overall development of the game.

Perhaps my expectations were too high but I don’t think I was impressed with the quality of play in the Heart-Kotoko game. Having seen some previous great Kotoko sides and that of Hearts, I don’t know whether our game is growing or retrogressing.

The GFA won’t lose anything developing colts’ or juvenile football. It may be an expensive venture but it will be worth our while. As it stands now, our clubs don’t have the wherewithal to import quality players from other neighbouring countries. Our only option is therefore to develop these players. As we strengthen our league with quality players, the Black Stars and the other national teams stand to benefit.

The GFA should have rode on the back of a successful hosting of the 2008 African Cup of Nations to greater heights. But it seems everyone went to sleep after that. The training pitches constructed for the tourney have all wasted into oblivion. The stadia themselves, particularly the Accra Sports Stadium, is an eyesore and must be closed down with immediate effect.

Its structural defects are too visible. To think that someone sanctioned that football be played there is a decision of the highest incompetence order. Every aspect of the stadium is not fit for such huge gathering of people. I hate to think that we are expecting a disaster to occur before we come to our senses.

There are too many things wrong with Ghana football. Kwesi Nyantaky and his FA must not hide behind the moderate success of the Black Stars to deceive us into thinking that all is well. We are tired and we need a revolution.

Our elders say water stored in bottle for a long time will eventually develop a foul smell. Kwesi Nyantakyi over to you!
I’m out!


Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com
The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Drivers licensed to kill!

The act of driving is one which is difficult to master on Accra’s roads. The typical driver here has no regard for the road regulations that is if they know them at all. The worst culprits among these drivers are usually the commercial or “Trotro” drivers who drive with their set of customised regulations.

Certainly shouldn’t it arouse our curiosity that all of these commercial drivers act almost in a like manner? It has always been a source of worry to me because most of these drivers act in a way that put the lives of their passengers in danger as well as other road users.

The fundamental problem we all know is that most of these drivers were not properly trained hence they experiment with people lives to master their trade. This raises a lot of doubts about the professional competence of the licensing body, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA).

It is sad that almost everything here is Ghana can be bought. From passports, birth certificates, Voters-IDs, the list is just endless. Some of these issuing institutions have become gold mines where people rake a lot of monies for tilting the laws to their favour.

Even without any driving experience, one can literally walk into the offices of the DVLA, and buy a driving license. All you require is to know the people who matter and you will be sorted. It is really a huge problem.

The DVLA over the years has gone through reforms to ensure that only people who have the requisite training are licensed to drive. But in all of these reforms, many people trusted to implement the reforms have stabbed it in the back by navigating around them to suit their selfish needs.

The reason why many drivers’ mate continue to graduate to drivers without proper training is that they can still be assured of their license however through dubious means. What most of these corrupt officials at the DVLA don’t think about is the other road users.

By licensing an unqualified driver, these officials actually put the lives of other road users in danger. Reckless driving is the order of the day. During rush hours, most of these drivers throw caution to the wind and drive according to their own rules.

Some of these drivers don’t mind stopping in the middle of the road to pick passengers. It appears to them the road marks and signs are just decorations not to be observed. That’s not to say the private drivers are above reproach. Some of them also make the worst culprits.

When you live in a country when the amber traffic light means “time to accelerate”, then you should know all is not well. This is just one of the traffic regulations that we have corrupted. And here, all drivers, whether private or commercial are guilty at a point in time.

On daily basis, there are countless infractions on our road and traffic regulations. The people we expect to enforce these laws are rather benefiting from them to society’s detriment. I have always admired ACP Awuni Angwubutoge, Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police.

Sadly, I can’t say same for most of his boys. It’s an open secret that one can buy his/her freedom no matter the offence committed. All it requires is some “few” cedis if you’re lucky. What these law enforcers do not realise is that anytime an offender is left off the hook, it puts all of us in danger.

I was saddened when I heard that the Chief Justice of the Russian Federation, Vyachesla Mikhailovic Lebedev, was involved in a motor accident early this week. After listening to accounts of how the incident happened, I became more convinced that driver of the tipper truck that run into the Chief Justice’s convoy was certainly going bunkers or something.

This reminds me of a similar incident involving then President Kufuor whose convoy was hit by an unknown vehicle. Luckily the President escaped without any major injuries. The issue about road traffic crashes mostly has nothing to do with the roads rather the people behind the steering wheels.

Sometimes people who drive such heavy duty vehicles tend to use the sheer size of the vehicle to bully other road users. About four years ago, a vehicle I was aboard, wrongly overtook an articulated truck. As if that was not enough, the articulated truck driver openly stated, when he caught up with our driver, that but for the passengers, he would have crushed our driver to death. Such mentality!

There are countless of such drivers in town who don’t take it lightly when you infringe on their right of way. I am very sure that’s what happened last Monday. The DVLA must step up its game and ensure that all drivers who apply for drivers’ license pass through a strict training regimen. We shouldn’t compromise on quality lest we pay heavily.

About six years ago when Accra’s first specialised Motor Court was established to prosecute motor traffic offenders as well as enhance traffic discipline on the roads, a section of the public managed to gag it to death.

It was such a noble effort at sanitizing our roads but I guess its timing was wrong coinciding with an election year. As pressure mounted on the government that move didn’t materialize and the plan fizzled into thin air.

It’s never too late for us to have a rethink of the Motor Court; we need it running full capacity and not some half capacity!

I’m out!

Miracle for sale; Buy one, get one free!

Some 2000 or so years ago, Jesus accompanied his mother, Mary to a wedding in a village, Cana in Galilee. At the said wedding, there was a shortage of wine, and Jesus is recorded in the Bible to have performed his first miracle by turning six jars of water into fine wine.

Fast forward to 2013, quiet a sizeable number of pastors in this present age will definitely be smiling to the bank having performed such a miracle.  First of all, I am sure this wine would have the ability to solve marital problems, cure impotency, drive away evil spirits, grant visas, employment among others.

As a Christian, we are admonished to be Christ-like but you look at some pastors of today, you wonder whether that same admonition applies to them.  Anytime the actions of some of these pastors come under scrutiny, we are told to “touch not my anointed ones”. 

Yet, under the cloak of Christianity, many people have gone ahead to amass wealth at the expense of their congregation. Is it not surprising that some pastors now offer consultancy services for a fee? Meanwhile the same Bible teaches us that Jesus walked and offered advice to many without taking a dime, yet when people chastise the actions of these pastors, they are told “touch not my anointed”.

Sometimes you don’t need any magical eyes to read between the lines as to how cunning some of these pastors are.  They devise crude means to fleece their congregation, promising mouth-watery miracles to entice their congregants. Nowadays, there are pastors who now demand huge sums of monies just to prayers or even fast on behalf of their congregation.

I used to listen to sermons on radio usually at dawn, but I had to put a stop to it because I felt all what some of these pastors did was to advertise their churches and the so-called miracles they have done.

It’s a pity how some people are so gullible to fall for the wits of some of these masqueraders.  Many stories have been told of women who have been coerced into sleeping with pastors for the sake of having children.

Many are the stories which have equally gone unnoticed.  About seven months ago, there was a story told of a pastor who had an affair with a married woman for over six years. I can imagine throughout the six years, the pastor, supposed to be giving guidance to the flock, could go about his duties as if all was well.

That’s why sometimes I puke when some people are quick to say “touch not my anointed’.  There’s no denying the fact that there are genuine men of God around as well as those who hide under the pulpit to perpetuate all sorts of vices. No wonder the Bible cautions that in the end times, there will be false prophets who will even go to the extent of performing miracles just to deceive Christians.

The good old scripture also says that, “For lack of knowledge my people perish.” This goes a greater extent to explain that sometimes we need to probe further.  Our attitude of trying to blame every misfortune on that gray-haired old lady in the village has really been our undoing. Sometimes when there’s no old-lady, we still comb the village to find another old lady whose neck the blame would be hanged on. Goodness!

Even in the light of modernity, some people are quick to blame deaths resulting from diseases such as malaria and cholera as coming from evil spirits even when the environment of the deceased is completely engulfed in filth.

The crave for miracles is getting bigger by the day and as it grows, so does the bank accounts of these pastors who have offered the miracles for sale like they sell tomatoes in Makola. Some of the common items sold are (holy) water, honey, mustard seed, canes, salt and anything that these pastors can lay hands on.

There was a certain rich man in the Bible who went to Jesus and asked what he could do attain “eternal life”, Jesus told him to go sell his possessions and give it to the poor.  How I wish these pastors extremely rich pastors could follow this instruction.

Some of these churches are now being  run  like business entities and I think it’s about time we look at taxing them according. After all it wouldn’t a bad idea to have 10 percent of offerings or the income of the pastoral team.

I’m out!