The missing jet, death of an umpire and matters arising!

By Richard Annerquaye Abbey

Whew! It has really been an eventful week. Come to think of it, how on earth can an aeroplane weighing 500,000 pounds or so just vanish “in thin air?” Strange, right? Who would have thought the massive search party involving 13 countries would have a tough time locating the whereabouts of the Beijing-bound jet?

I quite remember as kids we heard so many creepy tales about the Bermuda Triangle, where it is believed that several paranormal activities have caused the sudden disappearance of vessels and aeroplanes alike.

Well, I say tales because these paranormal activities were never confirmed and the whole issue of the Bermuda Triangle has since being made nonsense by the fact that the region happens to be one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

But in times like these when hopes are fast fading and virtually nothing concrete is coming from officials of the missing airline, conspiracy theories like that of the Bermuda Triangle will flourish. To add to these weird tales are reports that the cellphones of some passengers on MH370 are still ringing but with no response.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the passengers aboard the flight. There can never be a more traumatic experience than this. Surely, many of them would rather wish the inevitable had happened to save them from this tormenting misery.

Prior to this unfortunate event, it was Putin’s stubbornness over Russia’s invasion of Crimea that dominated international news; but thanks to flight MH370 it appears Moscow has been given a breather as world focus shifted to the rescue mission.

Well, there’s not much we can do than to pray for the people of Crimea and the families of the MH370 victims. 

Let me shift to news on our local scene. Did I hear that a certain referee Andoh died from injuries sustained having presided over a football game in the lower tiers of the league? 

Do we learn at all? The May 9^th et al have not really thought us any lesson after all.

I heard an official of Gold Stars, whose supporters are alleged to have assaulted the young referee, saying Referee Andoh could not possibly have died from the assault as he recovered only to die a week or so later.

He sounded as if subjecting match officials to assault by spectators is not a crime. Sad to say, assault of match officials in the lower divisions of football are quite common and many a time people get away with it. I doubt whether this would have been news if the young chap had not died.

I have maintained a zillion times that Kwesi Nyantakyi-led Ghana Football Association’s bias towards the Black Stars is hurting the domestic game. I don’t know what’s in there for them, but they seem to have put the domestic game on the backburner -- under complete neglect.

He’s one person I admire a lot; however, his treatment of the domestic game is one that makes my heart cringe.  I am still waiting to see how the GFA will handle this whole incident. The family must not allow the FA any breathing space; they must seek justice.

The Sports Ministry has promised to investigate the sad incident. I only pray that the investigation does not become tea-party committee.  I urge the family to sue the FA if they don’t get anything meaningful out of the investigation.

This madness must stop. The referees association must also make their voice heard; they have been too quiet for my liking. I think they should be at the forefront in pushing for the unravelling of the incident. 

We need to enforce the rules that forbid football games to be played when there are not enough security personnel to protect players and match officials. We are not doing our football brand any good if we continue recording such premedieval occurrences.

The local league has a lot of potential. We have a long way to go if we are to retain talent, not to talk of attracting some of the best talents in the sub-region.  Our footballers are moving to DR Congo, South Sudan and so on. These are countries that aren’t any better than us.

May the soul of the young referee rest in peace.

Have a lovely weekend.

I’m out.

What does it take to fix an economy?

 

Seth Terkper

Why on earth will a pupil teacher pose the above question to his class? Eh? Sure it was a difficult one which they were always bound to get wrong. As it turned out, none of the over-exuberant students attempted an answer immediately. Dead silence.

Wait a minute. A hand just went up somewhere in the corner of the room. Rising warily from his seat, all the young chap could mutter was “super glue” – a popular adhesive. Suddenly, there was burst of laughter and applause.

The teacher looked on rather stunned. “How is that an answer?” he seemed to ask himself. Well, who would fault the courageous boy? Of course it doesn’t take superglue to fix a broken economy, but that’s the sort of answers you get when you ask the wrong people the right questions.

What it takes to fix an economy? Definitely not empty promises. No. Not judgement debts, not corruption which we seem to have had an overdose of. Let me be charitable here. The economy is too broad. Let’s look at various sectors and issues: sanitation, transport, energy, health, education and, lest I forget, corruption. I got you, right?

Honestly, which of these sectors are we proud of as Ghanaians? “Everything make ‘basaa’ and ‘nyamaa,’” one trader lamented while hawking her wares near Agbogbloshie in the Central Business District. You don’t expect me to translate “nyamaa” and “basaa”, do you?

It is not uncommon every morning to find people muscling out each other to join a rickety “trotro”. In most cases it’s a fierce battle. No consideration is given to the elderly, pregnant women or even children. Most people, clever enough, do not struggle to enter through the door, they use the window. No wahala!

After the fierce battle is the long-winding and tiring vehicular jam. It’s really stressful. You see, if you are not fortunate, you could be delayed by a scuffle between a passenger and a “trotro mate” over a few pesewas worth of change in the heat of the jam. 

Who condemned us to this life and what did we do wrong to suffer such condemnation? The modern means of transport, the subways, the Rapid Bus Transits, trams, etc: are they really above us, eh?

A fortnight ago we celebrated our 57^th independence and my oh my! It was a reality check for us. The rains or showers, whichever you prefer, exposed our 57 years of celebrating mediocrity. I agree we have made some achievements, but are they worth celebrating?

While Ghanaians consider electricity as a privilege, somewhere outside Ghana one politician is busy convincing investors to come put up businesses here. Ghana, they say, is the gateway to Africa and best place to do business in the sub-region. 

Who are they deceiving? Recently, Abraaj Group, owners of Fan Milk, said they will cut investment in the country due to our unstable electricity supply. I am sure many companies may have taken a similar stance, albeit quietly.

How long has this “dum-sor, dum-sor” being with us? We elect people, pay them and what they do is explain what the problem is or blame others for causing the problems. A year or two to elections, money exchanges hands with the electorate and the cycle is revisited.

Our current political leadership has failed us bitterly. I don’t care what any bootlicker thinks or what the heck the previous administration did wrong. In any case, it is for the other side’s wrongs that this government was elected to give better leadership.

There’s no clear leadership, yet government officials would not let us have any of that. Need I blame them? No, that’s where they have their bread buttered. I think as media men we have also played a part in creating this mess. We always indulge in generalisation of problems. A spade is not a big spoon. We should be bold and hold politicians accountable when they go wrong.

After 57 years, you can see people openly defecating in gutters and streams -- in fact any pool of water, whether stagnant or flowing. Sachet water bags are flying everywhere, buildings collapsing at will yet the government has the effrontery to blame previous regimes for these problems, oh yeah?

Running a country is not like managing a tabletop shop. That’s why people like me did not put ourselves up for election. We left it for people who are supposed to be competent and able to solve problems. It’s high time people put partisanship aside and be firm.

Every time my car bumps into a pothole just after driving past a toll booth, or my taps go dry for no reason, or my power is taken unannounced, I begin to curse this government. What do they get paid for? To sit on radio or go holidaying in Dubai and tell us to patronise locally manufactured goods? Tweeaa!

You see, one way we can make the system work is to make the leadership part of it. Ironic, right?  Why should they have access to generators when the whole country is plunged into darkness? Hell no! Wards and kids of government officials must be enrolled in government-run schools, not private ones.

Also, they should be made to sign up onto the National Health Insurance Scheme. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. We don’t need charlatans who would profit from the malfunctioning of the system.

And oh, despite all these, I think the call for a citizen uprising is clearly misplaced. If the current leadership is not good, we have to wait till 2016 to show them the exit. However, if in 2016 the electorate are compromised or they feel otherwise and go in for a government that turns out to be a scam, then we may have to wait till 2020. That’s democracy; forget about what’s happening in Ukraine: pure lawlessness.

While we wait to go to the polls, we can only demand from government what is rightfully ours: electricity, water, good roads, a better transport and health system. I am not asking for too much, am I?

If the economy is broke, fix it; of course, not with super glue!

I’m out!

Open letter to Mahama: The solution lies not with free SHS!

Good day Your Excellency,

Well, we have all heard that you have gone back on your word, having initially distanced yourself from the viability of the Free Senior High School policy of your main political opponent, Nana Akufo-Addo, in the run-up to the 2012 elections.

As it appears, your backtracking suggests there’s some good in the policy preached by the New Patriotic Party. Ideally, any country that seeks to build its foundation on education must be commended.

Together with health, I find education as one of the most critical aspects of our economy -- hence assiduousness must be the keyword in our dealings with those sectors.
I must say, however, that I am not particularly enthused about your announcement of free SHS for day students beginning 2015.

Mr. President, must we always reduce important sectors like education to this political ping-pong? While we even struggle to get the basics right, why are we are still committing ourselves to more complicated decisions which have the potential of nudging us further into the path of despondency?

Sad to say, after we fumbled through the introduction of the four-year SHS system, we are now being treated to another meal of a decision borne from a lack of foresight. Mr. President, what is wrong with our educational system? We need to answer this fundamental question first before moving on to proffer solutions.

I believe the problem of our educational system is not about the quantity of products churned out every year, but rather their quality. This is where I find myself miles apart from you over your recent pronouncement.

When people questioned the NPP’s Free SHS policy, it was not plain antagonism. The national debate over this policy was one of the most intellectual debates in our political discourse.

Industry has always complained that the quality of products churned by universities and polytechnics are short of standard. This is not a failure of the universities; rather it is a failure of the entire educational system.

The quality of our educational system has deteriorated and what I would rather have you and your government do is to fix these problems rather than a move that will only reinforce a mass production of low-quality SHS graduates.

In 2012, you argued that education must be progressively free, which sounded the more prudent suggestion around that time. Definitely, if you live in a country where teaching aids are always delayed and standard of teaching is unconvincing, you don’t compound your problems by granting wider access, especially when you have not dealt with the small numbers you have.

In 2007, when the duration of SHS was increased from three years (though technically it was two-and-half) to four years without proper infrastructural provision, all of us witnessed the chaos it brought. Every available space in schools was converted to classrooms regardless -- from canteens, chapels, dining halls and libraries.

Here we are again about to make a mistake that will eventually send us back to the drawing board. When it comes to education, we are all stakeholders and must not allow politicians to toy with it. Sometimes we must be vociferous in showing our displeasure at attempts by politicians to mess it up.

With all due respect, I think this move by your government smacks of populism. At a time when you say the meat is down to the bones, where are we expecting to raise those huge monies to fund these extravagant promises? Already, the rapid fall of the cedi is threatening to override all targets set by your government.

Mr. President, what we need now is assurance that the current difficulties are being managed properly and not promises.

I remember also that even when the National Health Insurance Scheme was on its knees, we were promised a one-off premium.

Thankfully, the one-off premium never came because it would have sent us back to the cash-and-carry days. Please, Mr. President and your NDC government, we have enough problems already facing our small country. Let’s tackle these problems first before we start inflicting more harm on ourselves.

Sir, you know what the famous American theologian James Freeman Clack said about politicians? He said: "The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation.”

Mr. President, don’t give us the impression you are thinking about the 2016 elections. I know you would like to be remembered as a statesman – and a fine one at that. If that’s the case just watch before you leap.

I’ll stop here because I know you don’t have much time.

Best regards.