Features
If I were the President…
There are several pertinent issues that must be prioritised if we are to move forward as a nation and therefore if I were the President of the Republic of Ghana…
I would prioritise Town Planning and ensure that, an effective monitoring system of town planning officials are in place. Most of the problems associated with disasters in our country are linked to the haphazard manner structures are sited in the towns and cities across the country.
Flooding in some areas are attributed to the structures that are built on water ways so that when it rains, the flow of water is impeded and it builds up and start entering peoples’ homes, destroying property worth thousands of cedis. Roads also get flooded and occasionally lives are lost.
Stretches of highways get flooded and economic activities are affected due to long queues of vehicles that are generated because the roads becomes impassable for a long time till the level of the flood goes down.
In other instances, the vehicles are restricted to only one lane. The major cause of these floods along the highways are due to filling of wetlands along the highways that are supposed to trap the excess water from the communities, but have been sold to developers and have been filled up and structures built, something that could have been prevented if town planning officials had done their job.
The reported incidents of fire tenders not being able to quench fires, due to lack of access to the place where the fire occurred are countless. This is something that should not happen if efficient town planning is in place and the responsibility falls squarely at the doorsteps of the Town and Country Planning Department.
If I were the President, I would ensure that there would not be anything called ‘kayaye’ in this country. Why should young girls be deprived of the opportunity of pursuing their dreams by obtaining adequate education, in order to unleash their God given talents for their own benefit and the benefit of society at large?
When you go to places where these young girls and women sleep, they are basically condemned to a life of misery. There are numerous cases of attempted rape and teenage pregnancy and a whole lot that happen to these ‘kayaye’ which is clearly a blot on our drive as a country to promote the rights of the girl child.
A deliberate policy should be adopted to address this issue by enforcing the law that makes it compulsory for every child to be in school and also create the enabling environment up north, to motivate people to stay in their communities instead of moving down south for non-existent opportunities.
I would relocate the residents of Old Fadama and Agbogbloshie Market to enable work on the Odaw river beautification project to go on. The Accra Beautification Project which was to have happened by end of 2008 is still in limbo due to lack of political will.
Relocating residents and the market to Adjen Kotoku area, would help in decongesting the central business district of Accra and more importantly be a source of income generation for Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
The perennial challenge of how to resolve the budget deficit would be tackled by initiating an entrepreneurial drive through a closer collaboration between industry and the universities.
There are numerous research projects that have the potential to greatly impact our industrialisation drive but are gathering dust on the shelves in our universities.
The setting up of a system of collaboration between industry and academia, that will sieve through these projects, to identify those with potential for implementation, must be prioritised.
The need for regulating activities of religious leaders, to curtail a lot of anti-social behaviour that has characterised the activities of some so called Men of God, would be prioritised. An acceptable way of licensing must be introduced by a regulatory body, made up of the leaders of the established Orthodox Churches and the Charismatic Churches.
They would determine the promotion and therefore who qualifies to be called a Pastor,Bishop etc. instead of the current situation where people in what is known as one-man churches, ascribe titles to themselves. Such a regulatory body should be clothed with the powers to sanction pastors, whose behaviour goes contrary to sound doctrine.
A system that would reduce the discretionary power of the judiciary as much as possible, would be put in place. Legislation would be crafted such that sentencing of say drug offenders, would be made based on the amount of drugs in terms of weight found on the offender.
I would also ensure that there are undercover auditors who would attend court hearings to monitor the rulings of the judiciary to ensure that justice is served.
The cry for affirmative action would be prioritised and implemented. Legislation would be enacted to compel political parties to reserve most of their safe seats for women as the first step in ensuring enough representation of constituencies by women in parliament.
The positive impact of this on both the social and economic life of the country, cannot be quantified. Shelters for abused children and women would also be prioritised to help protect our women and children.
The funding of the NHIS must be prioritised to ensure a healthy nation to prevent the issue of service providers always threatening to withhold their services due to government defaulting on payment for services rendered. Infrastructure to enable implementation of Telemedicine would also be prioritised to ensure an effective health delivery system and also facilitate the acquisition of cutting-edge knowledge by our health practitioners.
The issue of accidents caused by vehicles left on the roads, would be a thing of the past. Furthermore, heavy trucks that are usually parked on the shoulders of highways, with mechanics working on them, spilling fuel and oil that gradually causes the roads to deteriorate, would also not be tolerated.
In fact, such negligence would be criminalised and offenders would be severely punished. I would ensure provision of rest areas so that such trucks can park off the road for the drivers to rest and also to fix mechanical problems they have so they would not have any excuse to use the main road for such activities.
Laud Kissi-Mensah
Features
A call to prayer for Ghana
When you hear of a call to prayer, the people you will least expect to find on the list will be pastors. Surprisingly, these are the group which currently need prayers the most due to recent actions and behaviours associated with them.
I keep saying that when a cart pusher or a carpenter or the ordinary guy on the street, goes to ‘Ashawo’ line at say Circle and is noticed, coming out of that ghetto, it is no news. In fact no reporter worth his sort, will write about it.
However, if one of these known men of God was to be noticed coming out of such ghettos, it is certainly news worthy because he is not supposed to be associated with such behaviour.
In similar manner, the lens through which the actions of a carpenter’s son and I am not demeaning the profession, will be viewed, will not be the same as the lens through which a son of a member parliament, or a son of a public figure will be viewed.
There is a saying that, to whom much is given, much is required and so people in leadership positions must understand this and therefore should take steps to protect their hard won reputation.
Recently, an incident involving the crashing of an over speeding car resulting in the death of two people has become the topic for discussion across the media landscape.
People have expressed diverse opinions, some harsh criticisms, some condemnations and some sympathetic ones. Those who have condemned the pastor for the wrongs of his son has to do with a certain video showing him make certain declarations.
It is alleged that he declared that He drives without any policeman stopping him in Ghana due to his fame or the influence he has.
When such declarations are attributed to you then you can be sure that heavy criticism will come your way, when your son acts in a manner that seems to reflect this re-emphasise this reckless living perception that people have of you.
Then to add salt into injury, church members of the pastor attacks some journalists and the criticisms flies through the roof. The manner, videos apparently showing a pattern of reckless driving by his son started surfacing also infuriated people.
Parenting has become a serious business and people should really consider it as such and seek all the assistance they need to make it a success. The children of this dispensation are exposed to a lot of crazy ideas through television and easy access to the internet.
What they watch is difficult to regulate and that is the danger confronting parents now. There is an urgent need for prayers for the youth of Ghana, so their behaviour will reflect the culture and values of this dear country.
When pastors who should be examples of good parents are woefully failing, then it is time indeed for a call to prayer.
Lessons learnt for all of us has to do with being a bit more curious about the activities of our children when we are not around. We should maintain a certain cordial relations with our neighbours such that they can report to us certain actions or behaviours of our children they feel must be brought to our attention.
A lady shared a story on social media as to why she was being sympathetic to wards the pastor whose son has created this whole buzz. She said she was at her shop, when she had from one of her tenants that her son has taken her vehicle out of the house.
She informed her to quickly organise a taxi and chase after them to stop them. When they were stopped and she asked her son as to why he took the vehicle, he confessed that his friend was going to teach him how to drive.
She said something quite remarkable that, if something terrible had happened, guess what people would have said, given her pedigree in society.
Features
The Dawn Preachers
The dawn of each day marks the transition of darkness into daylight. And according to my friend Weddeye, it is a period when good (light) gradually overcomes bad (darkness).
He adds that this transcient period is of much significance to many people either as a time of sorrow or a time of joy.
Normally, the dawn of every day is the period when most people enjoy their sleep best and snore like thunder. The cool morning air that caresses the body has a soothing effect on the mind and the soul is transported, the nose becomes charged and snoring becomes rather rhythmical but hazardous.
To some, the dawn is the most romantic period of the night when they are inseparably close to their lovers. When daylight sets in they must mandatorily separate. That is a law nature. The dawn is also a period when most people think clearly and rationally except when one is experiencing a hangover. Thinking at dawn normally centres on the payment of school fees, rent, and perhaps, how best to advise Saddam Hussein to stop being a “problem child.”
The social significance of the dawn is well known to most people, especially those who owe sums of money. If you are one of such people, creditors are most likely to attack you at dawn, unless you are clever enough to anticipate the commando-type movement, to escape well before dawn sets in.
But assuming you were sleeping cozy when the creditor arrived and knocked your door. “Who are you,” you are likely to bark. “I am coming to collect my money with interest. No need to mention my name. Immediately I mention it you will develop hernia because the pressure will be too much to bear.”
At this point of time, your first instincts will be to hide under the bed and start reciting the Lord’s Prayer, or to silently open the window and stylishly fly through it and show a very clean pair of heels.
But that would not be politic enough. The creditor may shout after you “thief! thief!” and that is not a very good compliment. I should think that it is always better to confront your creditor and explain matters with all the hope that he’ll give you some breathing space.
Parents are more inclined to rebuke or advise their wards at dawn and it is also a time when wives are likely to confront their husbands over extra-marital improprieties. And lest I forget, convicted criminals are most often executed at dawn. Is it because most criminals are allergic to daylight? They operate under the cover of darkness and must face the bullet under the cover of darkness, armed robbers, especially.
Born again Christians also make good use of the dawn for reasons best known to themselves. They preach the GOOD NEWS at this time of the night and some people consider it a nuisance. A Muslim for instance would not enjoy being disturbed by a doctrine quite alien to his circumstances.
And others who are not Christians and do not intend to be one in the foreseeable future will naturally be angered. And naturally most Christians would enjoy this dawn session tremendously and pray that it becomes a regular feature.
It was at Legon that I realised how these Christian enterprises were both loved and hated. The dawn preachers came mostly on Saturday mornings and the preacher was usually a baritone-voiced apostle who preached the gospel with vim and fervour.
And he was supposed to be a man capable of speaking in at least thirteen foreign languages without error in grammar, usage, vocabulary and phonetics. The preacher was also not supposed to have learnt any of these languages. They are special gifts by the Holy Spirit and he becomes more or less a multi-lingual secretary.
Anyhow, his preaching always touched many hearts and also annoyed many hearts as the message reverberated across the silent hall. And the message was specifically directed to fornicators.
Quite fortunately or unfortunately, Fridays were days when “external” girlfriends came to spend the night on campus. And the dawn of Saturday dangerously coincided with gospel time, a time when lovers were supposed to be inseparable. It was so very untimely and very undemocratic on the part or the preachers.
An aggrieved student often expressed his disaffection by hurling the following across like a projectile: “Hey born again, go and preach to your parents at home. They need Jesus more than we do. Don’t waste our ears”.
I quite remember that in response to a similar remark one dawn, the deep-throated preacher shouted back “Be gone, Satan!”
Today, preachers of the good news minister the word in mummy trucks, buses, lorry parks and residential areas where the dawn is the most suitable period.
Their message is almost always the same. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16”
You have to confess your sins, repent, accept Jesus Christ, fellowship with the assembly of saints and the way to heaven is opened to you. If you do not, you go to hell. The choice is yours.
I realise that barring any prejudices that might be harboured against the Christian doctrine, the apostles of Christ are doing a good job because they do not preach anything bad. To me, the Christian religion is credible and worth following since it is a sure way of reforming bad morals and keeping righteous.
But I also realise that the dawn preachers only focus on the spiritual side of man and ignore the numerous social problems afflicting him. It is not enough to pave the golden way to heaven. For the time being, man must also see to his earthly problems, alongside.
I have, always expected the dawn preachers for example to talk a little on advisıng people to steer clear of drug abuse and sloth, respect for one another, prevention of AIDS and teenage pregnancies.
The preachers must realise that preaching against fornication alone will not help stop the spread of AIDS for instance because people are always going to mate, anyway. So after preaching against fornication, the preachers could go on to educate their hearers on the deadliness of AIDS, how it is spread, and what pre-cautionary measures to take, e.g. the use of condoms. There is nothing sacrilegious in preaching practical ways of preventing the spread of the disease.
This information will not be useful to Christians alone but to everyone. When Christ came, he ministered, not only to the spiritual needs of the people but to their physical needs as well. The fact that he fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes means that he perfectly understood the physical needs of man as well.
Let our dawn preachers do more than merely telling us to repent and go to heaven. Repent we shall.
But do we need to die of AIDS for instance before we repent?
This article was first published on Saturday, December 15, 1990.
MerariAlomele’s
Merari Alomele’s
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I realise that barring any prejudices that might be harboured against the Christian doctrine, the apostles of Christ are doing a good job because they do not preach anything bad. To me, the Christian religion is credible and worth following since it is a sure way of reforming bad morals and keeping righteous.
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