Ghana: A ship in troubled waters...but it is all we have

Over the past few months, you have literally felt the economy sink its teeth into your flesh—biting so hard. The situation may not be much better the world over, but the Ghanaian situation points to a state of hopelessness that our leaders are driving us into.

I don’t know whether ours is a leadership which is incompetent or which is bereft of ideas. Either way, we are at a crossroads that could determine the country’s destiny—that is, if you believe in destinies.

There are no jobs for university graduates, not to talk about the high number of people who are not able to make it to the tertiary level. Research has shown that at least 80 percent of people who start basic school are not able to make it to the tertiary level—very alarming figures, if you ask me.

Right behind our backyard we are breeding monsters that will soon turn on us. A few days ago, a friend who graduated nearly four years ago told me of her difficulties in securing a decent job. It is easier to find water on the Sahara desert, she said, than to find a job in this country.

So how has she been able to manage all these troubling years? Indeed, everybody does have a limit to which they can withstand temptations. Yes, we all do. Surely, three years of not being employed can dislocate a person’s conscience. In such a situation, anything goes, more or less. Our basic survival instinct sets in.

Sadly, many people have gone beyond that tipping point; the result is their indulgence in all sorts of vices. Illegal mining has become so rampant that if not checked it could drive this country into a serious famine as farms and river bodies are destroyed in search of gold.

No one seems to care. Away from that, I remember hearing President Mahama at the World Economic Forum saying mine workers risk being laid-off should government go ahead to implement the windfall tax in the sector. Is that how worse our situation has become?

It is particularly sad that we have not even done a diagnosis of the ailment we are suffering from as a country. Our attempts at fixing the unemployment conundrum have always ended in a mess.

The old adage says: “more haste, less speed”. Some efforts to solve the problem such as the infamous Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA), formerly National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), have been fraught with allegations of financial malfeasance by officials.

The woes of GYEEDA are an endemic problem and show the systemic rot we have in our society. Rather than benefiting from the success of the system, some people choose to benefit at the expense of it.

Definitely we can’t build a country like this. People cannot continue to reap where they have not sown, particularly in the form of kickbacks. How do we expect contractors to execute projects using the appropriate materials when huge monies have been used in bribing officials?

Sometimes I believe the various political leaders we have had have no sense of shame. Comparing the level of our infrastructure development to that of the countries they visit, how do they feel? Even among their peers, how do they feel about the developments here?

Indeed, the country must work again. If we continue on this path we are doomed. We need to work on the mindset of the people—and the surest way we can do this is to work on the educational system.

Each year the literacy level keeps rising, yet the filth and indiscipline multiply in equal measure. In Japan for instance, in pre-tertiary schools, there are no janitors and students are made to work in lavatories just to instil in them a sense of responsibility.

Try this in Ghana and you will be dragged before the Human Rights Court. I am not calling for the same approach, but we should also be creative in dealing with our problems. This brings me back to the problem I mentioned earlier.

Our greatest bane is democracy or partisan politics. Unfortunately, we have no other alternative to this. Until we figure a way around it, our lot in life may remain unchanged for a long time to come.

Last time I had a chat with UT Bank boss Prince Kofi Amoabeng and he put it succinctly, “one man, one vote won’t lead us anywhere.” And he’s right. We can’t thrust such a key decision of who manages the fortunes of our country into the hands of someone who doesn’t value what’s at stake.

Going back to the drawing board, we should analyse all our options for making our democracy fully participatory, functional and all-inclusive. No group of people should be sitting on the fence waiting or praying for a fault. We can’t toy with this country.

I believe in Ghana and I expect it to work again. The last time I checked, it is the only place I could call home. When all is said and done, a big part of the responsibility rests on me, as well as you who is reading this.

Whether the cedi is taking a nosedive or gone scuba diving, it is the only currency we have. And as citizens who are always at the receiving end, it is not in our best interest to always tow the line of politicians who predict doom for their opponents.

In a way we are all captains of the ship Ghana, and we cannot afford to abandon it in these troubled times.

God bless our homeland Ghana!

I’m out.

What will you die for?

What will you die for?

By Richard Annerquaye Abbey

It was about 1:30pm at Opera Square in the Central Business District. Traders and pedestrians were jostling for space on the pedestrian walkway. As it were, the petty traders would have none of the so-called “right-of-way” talk of pedestrians. It was a lawless, chaotic scene. 

Not that I expected anything different -- because so long as our city authorities do not stamp their authority, traders will always battle with hawkers for space on sidewalks. Previous efforts to “decongest” the streets have always hit a snag, especially when the authorities start to consider the political implications.

Decongestion is even harder in election years as these traders threaten to blackmail the government if they are forced out of their “offices”. The traders have always won, hands down, on such occasions.

Anyway, I don’t intend talking about this messy situation. As I was saying, it was business as usual at the Opera Square until disaster struck. It was quiet a nasty one. I was particularly disturbed to witness such a scene.

It started out as a mere quarrel, but what followed were not mere blows. It was a mini-WBC middleweight bout. Little surprise the venue, Opera Square, is located a skip, a hop and a jump from Bukom, home to many boxing legends of the country.

Two young men among the traders, previously seen in a hearty chat, were now literally demanding each other’s head. The argument centred on how these two breadwinners would share an amount of GH¢100 they had just made on a sale.

After colleagues tried in vain to break up the fight, the two remained resolute in settling their scores the old way. The amount at stake was not that much, but as the scuffle degenerated, it was no longer the money that was at stake but life, too. Yes, you read right. 

Soon, an uncharacteristic hefty blow landed on the face of the guy demanding his share of the profit. 
It was so fatal that it sent him crashing his head on a rock and knocked him unconscious. There was sudden alarm and a spontaneous break-up of the brawl. The man on the floor had to be hurried to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Sadly, he did not survive. Such a youthful soul wasted. It was such a sad scene as the news later broke at Opera Square.

This is not the first and would likely not be the last time someone loses his or her life over such trivialities. Last year a man lost his life fighting a driver’s mate over change. He left behind a very young family whose upkeep fell on their mother, a petty trader.

In the two instances, it was a case of people fighting for what they thought belonged to them. Most of us are fond of this. At times when we just have to let go and lick our wounds, we hold on to fight a little longer because we don’t want to be seen as being “foolish” or giving up easily. No matter how severely the other protagonist in the Opera Square incident may be punished, it would not bring his victim back to life. 

As my old mother in the village puts it, we don’t lose a hair on our head when we are insulted or cheated. Hers was the typical “fama Nyame” or “leave it to God” attitude. Much as I have qualms with her stance at times, I believe it’s a general rule that must apply in the face of severe confrontation.

About four years ago, a friend acquired a brand new laptop after months of saving. Just two weeks after acquiring the laptop, he was pounced on by two hoodlums who demanded he hand over the laptop to them. He would not budge -- not when he had toiled his life to acquire it.

A scuffle ensued and one of the robbers slashed his shoulder with a machete, and his priceless possession fell to the ground. He could not but throw himself to the ground in great pain. At this point, the whereabouts of the laptop mattered little to him.

The robbers grabbed the blood-drenched laptop bag and sped-off. My friend spent four months in the hospital with the affected hand amputated. He wondered whether it was worth fighting for his laptop, which he lost anyway. His inability to let go of the priceless possession marred his life forever.

Every time he looks at his scar, he wishes he had just handed the laptop to them without second thoughts. But the harm has already been done. Once there’s life, there’s always hope. It’s a message we have to live by.

It is always difficult to let go, but in most cases we stand vindicated in the long run. Let’s not endanger our lives over things that will have no value tomorrow. Life is more precious than anything; that’s a fact.
Like I said, once you have life, you have everything.

Happy weekend people.

I’m out.

Death must not end it all…

Death’s sting has always stunned people. The Bible says it is appointed unto man to die, but the death of a relation or a friend is always bound to leave us crushed. Wailing, a pensive mood, and a feeling of one’s life crushing abruptly among others are immediate reactions to the loss of a loved one.

Even some have been driven to commit suicide at the loss of a relation -- which can be very unfortunate. Apart from love, sex and life, death is one of the most popular themes in songs, movies and other arts. This shows that it is at the very heart of everything we do—it is part of life.

Yet the element of surprise in death remains. I once knew a beautiful lady who was also very brainy. She virtually topped every class at school since she was in crèche. She had a wonderful personality and was cut for success. But before she could even finish SHS, death manifested itself. It was not a pleasant piece of news. A budding, healthy tree gone…forever. Her family was devastated and they wondered why it had to be her. Her life had not even begun…but there she lay breathless, cold, a bubbly girl snuffed out never to smile again.

Indeed, death has always had a way of getting at us like none other. The sister of the deceased, who was my friend and schoolmate, found life meaningless soon after -- you know, when it happens like that, at least for the first two or so weeks, we wish it were all just a bad dream.

That this is a person you will never see again in life breaks the soul. For months, my friend went through hell. No amount of tears could revive her sister; she could not come to terms with the fact that her intelligent, innocent sister was no more.

So with Komla Dumor’s death. It seems the news has not even sunk; many people are still in denial. “He’s gone? Just like that?” you ask? Yes, just like that. But don’t be surprised there are those who still hang on to a glimmer of hope that Komla would come out and clear the air and describe his death as an expensive joke.

But you know, in times like this we have two options: to resign ourselves to fate or pick ourselves up from the dust and forge ahead with our lives. Of the two, the latter seems the more difficult to do.

Komla lived a very fulfilling life, and I am sure he would not want us to beat ourselves up for something we did not do. Of course he would cherish the love we have all shown him, but at the same time he would also appreciate that we continued with the remainder of our tasks here assigned on earth.

Taking care of ourselves

While we work so hard, we must pause and share some time with our family and friends, for they are the ones that do cherish us most. Personally, I believe hard work should not be detrimental to one’s health. That is not to say you must not give your utmost, but what you must also know is that the body has limited capacity just like a machine, and overworking it and not taking it through regular maintenance will lead to an eventual shutdown—a system overload.

The Bible says that God created the universe and all that’s in it within six days, and he rested on the seventh day. Even the Almighty rested. This underscores the need for rest; it must not be taken for granted at all.

You can decide to adjust your body to work for 10, 12 or even 14 hours daily. That’s cool, but you should know that rest must also be taken in similar proportion to ensure a well-balanced body.

Prof. Frimpong Boateng, former CEO of the Cardiothoracic Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has bemoaned how a lot of young professionals are working themselves to their graves. You can’t cheat nature. The sad aspect is that mostly, the people we work so hard to impress, our families, are rather left miserable because we died trying to provide for them. Sad as it is, you can be replaced at your work place but your family will never be able to replace you with somebody else.

But this should not to be an excuse for people who are outright lazy. Not at all; lazy people must not seek refuge in this. While giving your 101% best is ideal, you must also know it is because of the need for rest that we have five working days, the weekend off, and an annual leave.

I am saying all this because I believe beyond work, we must also make time and enjoy with the ones we so cherish. It should be as simple as ABCD. No? We all have got to get the balance right.

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the family of Komla, especially his wife Kwansema and those three lovely angels of theirs, Elinam, Elorm and Emefa.