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.

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.

Toying with unemployment …a ticking time bomb

In this 21st century, one would wonder why formal education is still regarded a luxury in our part of the globe. You’re lucky if your parents or any relative or Good Samaritan puts you in a school to begin this sometimes difficult journey.

Going through our educational system is indeed a tough struggle, with quite a good number of students dropping out before senior high school. From here, too, the attrition is quite high as there are only few openings at the tertiary level.

After all this“wahala” one may pass through to complete at least tertiary education, the graduate is confronted with the fiercest of battles yet. Getting a job, much more a decent one, is a thing that literally requires fasting and prayers for many graduates.

Sometimes those in authority are quick to proffer solutions to the aggravating issue of unemployment. The last time, I heard a Deputy Minister admonishing graduates to create their own jobs. Sometimes, I wonder why people were put in authority at all.

It is sad enough that as a country we have zero data on unemployment. In fact, we can’t even trace the number of people who secure jobs right after tertiary education.

Many academicians as well as technocrats continue to fault the educational system. accusing it of not preparing graduates for industry. Well, their criticism may be true, but the question is: what then is the fate of those who have begun the journey or are still in the school pipeline?

You know, there’s no “abort” function in our educational system for us to use in aborting all the half-baked graduates who are about to be birthed by our “deformed” educational system. So the earlier we come to this realisation the better.

Ghana must make a conscious effort at providing at least the right environment for people to create their own jobs, that is, if this is the direction the government wants to go. It is public knowledge that previous attempts by government have failed miserably.

The likes of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency or the erstwhile National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have all suffered the same fate. Nobody can really pinpoint to the transformational effect these policies have had in the country.

What this calls for is a rethink of government’s approach to resolving unemployment. I believe government has no business trying to be the major provider of employment. We should use the GYEEDA brouhaha as a cardinal example of our failure.

The private sector offers a more realistic chance at providing sustainable or stable employment. To start with, the government can give tax breaksor other incentives to organisations that generate employment.

In so doing, government would not put its limited resources into paying wages. Whatever revenue government may relinquish in the form of these tax breaks or incentives it stands to recoup through the payment of income taxes.

We can use those incentives to attract foreign companies to come establish their presence here. We need to reduce our dire unemployment situation. Doing that would mean that crime will not be an option for people who have been frustrated because they lack jobs.

Agriculture is also an area where government can promote employment opportunities. It is a cliché that Ghana has vast arable lands and agriculture, which already employs quite a huge number of Ghanaians, still offers a decent chance of taking a lot of people off the streets.

The lack of investment or a clear-cut policy for the agricultural sector has led to the decline in productivity. Indeed, it is no surprise that many farms are being turned into illegal mining fields. It is really a shame.

It is common knowledge that our farmers are all aging and the youth can prove to be the game-changer if we are to salvage our agriculture output. Pushing the youth into agriculture must go beyond lip-service.

Then again, we don’t need government to own these initiatives. Government must be creative about these solutions to boost agriculture.We obviously need to relook at unemployment.

I’m out.

By Richard Annerquaye Abbey