Features
When will the enforcement of laws be prioritised in Ghana?
It is said that Ghana as a country has one of the best laws in the world but enforcement has always been the problem.
I am yet to hear of one person who has been prosecuted for not wearing a face mask even though there is a law to that effect.
The lack of adherence to the COVID-19 protocol as one goes through the city and towns of the country is a clear indication of the inertia towards being law abiding.
In commercial buses, you find some people not wearing the face masks and when you ask them, they have excuse for it. A pregnant woman was advised to put on her face mask and she calmly stated that she has one but putting it on makes it difficult for her to breathe. She added that in crowded areas she puts it on.
The funny thing was that she was on a bus and if that environment was not a crowded area, I wonder what her sense of a crowded area is.
When I was a child, I heard statements like: “The French people do not joke with their laws.” “When you go to Ivory Coast or Togo, when the police blow their whistle for you to stop and you do not stop, you are arrested and fined on the spot.”
Being someone who was brought up in a Christian home, respect for rules was part of my training, I loved the French people as a result of what I heard about their being firm with rules and regulations. It has been observed that, countries that have developed, have a characteristic of observance of rules and regulations.
There is a general belief that laws are not enforced in Ghana and this has been indelibly inked into the psyche of the populace. It has led to the situation where there is a certain inherent inertia towards doing the right thing and simply obeying the laws of the land.
This places a burden on those few people who would like to see the right thing being done at all times. Such people are seen to be too strict and in a lot of instances are seen as being odd. It has the tendency of demotivating people who want to be law abiding and, therefore, there is an urgent need for a different approach to doing things, otherwise we are going nowhere as a nation.
One of the main causes has to do with a lack of understanding of the harmful impact of this unwillingness to be law abiding.
The Bible puts it in Galatians 6:7 as, “We reap what we sow”. Sir Isaac Newton puts it as, “Action and reaction are equal and opposite”. In computer circles it is known as, “garbage in, garbage out”. In other words, whatever you obtain is as a result of a certain action or decision you previously took. Most things do not happen by chance in this world. When you go to the streets of say London and they are clean, it is as aresult of conscious effort to keep it that way by the citizens. Rubbish does not sweep itself off the streets; people take steps to keep the streets free from trash.
Even if God is the President of this country and people deliberately drop polythene on our streets after drinking sachet water, the streets would be dirty until God by his awesome power works a miracle to sweep the trash off the streets. Unfortunately for us, God does not do what he has given us the ability to execute, and would not come down to make our cities and towns clean when he has given us the wisdom and strength to do it ourselves.
We then turn around and begin to blame those in authority when it rains and floods invade our homes and destroy our property, forgetting that we poured rubbish under cover of darkness into our gutters thereby preventing free flow of water into the sea. There is a price to pay for any wrong decision we make.
There was news reportage on the arrest of some Nigerians at Kasoa, and it was detected after the arrest that they had entered the country illegally.
They had no passport yet had been able to enter the country and I was deeply worried. The conclusion the average rational human being would arrive at is that, they bribed their way into the country and were assisted by immigration officers or local residents along our borders.
What is worrying is the fact that we are in a period of alertness due to intelligence that suggests that terrorists have targeted our country.
Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram for quite a long time now, especially in the northern part of that country.
If these people who had gained access to our nation’s capital were terrorists, only God knows the havoc they would have caused.
Some people had not considered the threat their action poses to the peace and security of our country and have assisted these foreigners to gain entry into Ghana.
Law enforcement is not the work of only the law enforcement agencies. It is a collective responsibility; for instance for effective policing, the general public must provide them with credible Intel for them to be able to arrest criminals. Most arrests the police have successfully carried out have been the result of information provided to them by ordinary citizens.
The problem is the trust issues that sometimes arises when informants after providing information gets exposed by some unscrupulous police personnel.
This cause people to become afraid in providing credible information to the police and their work in enforcing the law then becomes difficult.
There is, therefore, the need to put in place an effective whistleblowing system that will provide safety for any whistleblower, so that people would feel confident that their lives would not be in danger should they volunteer information.
There must be a review of our criminal laws so that people would be motivated to do the right thing and be law abiding.
The focus should be on removing the discretionary powers of our judiciary as much as possible so that influence peddling would be eliminated to the barest minimum. When there is a perception that the rich and powerful can get away with crime, we would never strive as a people for a law abiding culture.
It is only when people realise that we are indeed equal before the law, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, big or small, that a law abiding culture would become prevalent and law enforcement would become easy and effective.
A national consciousness awakening programme must be initiated to tune the national psyche towards adoption of right attitudes, and this would go a long way in changing attitudes in both young and old.
The surest way of ensuring the growth of our nation and rubbing shoulders with the developed nations is to develop a nation of law abiding citizens.
Features
Old folks and human suffering
The aged
Grey hair is an honour from God, says my uncle, Kofi Jogolo, whose moustache the world admires. Unfortunately, his moustache is not grey. However, my dear, uncle who is a petty bourgeoisie is greying at the temples, which according to him is a sign of wisdom, reverence and honour. To me, it is also an indication that he is gradually nearing ‘home’ to render a comprehensive account of his life to his Creator.
Indeed, the principles of accountability and probity transcend grey hairs and moustache, and wind up in St Peter’s Heaven.
Anyone who is getting close to the age of 60 can rightly claim the grey hair status. But in Sikaman for instance, to be a living member of the grey hair fraternity is a privilege and not a right. This is because the average life span of humans today is 49 years, and the average in Third World countries is much lower. Poverty alone can kill you at 27.
It is also of interest to note that journalists have the lowest average lifespan vis- a-vis other professional groups, according to a proven research.
In any case, the human species are better off than insects and animals. A mosquito lives for only six days and decides to call it quits. Most birds live for five years; and when a dog lives up to 10 years, it automatically becomes a liberal democrat. Why? Because it becomes so weak that it can no longer be a leftist watchdog of its master’s home. The poor dog becomes rather liberal to thieves and burglars.
So is it with human beings who clock 65 and above, especially when they have not eaten good for over six decades. According to the Bible, the human limit which has been divinely decreed is three score and 10, that is, 70. This appears discriminatory when we consider that Methuselah for instance lived for 969 years before agreeing to die.
CURSE
Back to Sikaman, anyone who flies past the age of 65 is considered an old- man (woman) whether he is well- nourished or takes ‘quarter’ on a regular basis.
To many, however, to be called an old person is rather a curse than a blessing. And of course nobody wants to be a pensioner for obvious reasons. So you see workers who are clearly over 70 years claiming to be 50 just to avoid retirement and its associated money palaver. But somehow, they are justified.
Fact is that, these days, nobody cares for the aged, and so they have to care for themselves. It was the quest to avoid this unfortunate situation that the HelpAge Ghana was formed last year as a voluntary organisation aimed at promoting the well-being of the aged and ageing in Sikaman.
When the second HelpAge Week was launched last weekend, I felt so sad to see on television, old men and women, some of whom could hardly work their rickety heels to help themselves about. Some really had to be assisted to walk.
HelpAge has come so timely, at a time when no one respects or cares for the aged. In times’ past, old folks were regarded as useful members of the society, imparting knowledge and wisdom to the younger generation, telling Ananse stories to enliven the evenings of little children.
But today, old people are regarded as nuisance. They are accused of being talkatives, always complaining of kooko, waist-pains, constipation, diarrhea, chronic catarrh and lack of good diet.
Their physical and mental infirmities associated with senescence, coupled with the high cost of fending for them, makes them unwanted in a rat-race society where man must live by sweet.
Some people really want their aged relatives to die quickly to relieve them of the burden of caring for them. They can’t afford to be feeding them every day like that! So unfortunate.
PROBLEMS
In the developed countries, however, because of problems that go with caring for the elderly in society, homes for the elderly are established in many communities, where the aged can live comfortably to enjoy their last days on earth. They are cared for, nourished and entertained.
In fact, there is a branch of medicine called GERONTOLOGY which is concerned with the processes of growing old, and there is what we call (GERIATRICS) which is the medical care of old people. Scholars are specialise in these fields because their society cares for the welfare of the aged.
HelpAge Ghana is a laudable idea and Sikaman natives must be awakened to their responsibility to the elderly. Those who also handle their pension claims must avoid the unnecessary delays. I remember, my old man had to go up and down for months before he was put on his rightful scale.
Now, instead of wishing our aged mothers, fathers and grand-parents to die so that we can get enough money to drink beer, let us contribute to HelpAge Ghana to get it firmly instituted.
That way when we are lucky to reach the three score and ten mark, we could also benefit from it. No one knows what the future has in store.
Sometime last year, I was privileged to attend a get-together of pensioners of UAC and management staff at the Ambassador Hotel. I am not a pensioner though. It was quite an interesting scene to see old men and women all over chatting animatedly, and reminiscing their good old days.
I was also quite impressed with how some of them attended to the gin, brandy and beer at the reception.
In contrast to this, it is so pathetic to see many old people in the capital of Sikaman begging for money to buy kenkey. They look dirty and unkempt carrying aloft their grey hairs. Let us find a means of helping out these elderly folks so that when our turn comes the good old Lord will have mercy upon us.
This article was first written was on Saturday October 6, 1990
Features
The anxiety of parents
I had a call from my daughter and addressing me in her rather unusual but affectionate way, by my official name as usual, she greeted me and asked about how I was doing and I responded and we exchanged the usual pleasantries.
Then her next statement caused my heart to start pounding. She said “Daddy, I am going out on a date.” This is one of the moments every parent becomes filled with anxiety. It is just like when your adult child comes to tell you that “I have met someone I would like to marry”.
I then started asking about when she met him, how long she had known him etc. Then she said “Daddy, I am just pulling a prank on you” and I heaved a sigh of relief. Every parent will tell you that one of their fears is who their children will marry in future.
Fear of the unknown, is the issue that brings the anxiety. Will this man be a good husband to my daughter? Is there a terrible hereditary disease in his family? What are his parents like and would they be caring in-laws to my daughter etc. etc.
Most parents do not worry too much when their child is a man as opposed to a female child. Furthermore, boys do not bring pregnancy home so if they go out and come home late, parents do not worry too much compared to when Maggie or Agatha or Lucy goes out and comes home late.
Our culture makes it easier for men to opt out of relationships so parents do not worry too much when a male children come to introduce their would-be spouses to them and there is no need to add that spouse here refers to a female, since our culture does not tolerate the insane antisocial behaviour affecting some societies including African ones.
Marriage must be between a male and a female, a man and a woman, as God who instituted and ordained it. The girls fall in love easily compared to the boys who mostly walk into love. I have not conducted a survey but I strongly believe that females suffer from heartbreaks more than males because of their emotional nature.
Another dimension to this anxiety of parents is the issue of mental problems which in some instances can lead to suicidal tendencies. Mental cases resulting from mental breakdowns abound in our communities and the victims are mostly female.
A woman I met while walking with a friend was a victim of a mental breakdown. The friend I was walking with, exchanged pleasantries with the said lady and it was apparent that they knew each other very well.
My friend, after we had parted company with the woman, narrated how her husband was engaged in womanising which compelled the woman to take a revenge on him.
She decided that the best way to also hurt her husband’s feelings was to have an affair with the husband’s driver. The affair became known to the husband and she was divorced. The dress she was wearing and her general appearance when we met her on the street showed clearly that all was not well mentally with her.
It was so sad and as a parent I started praying into the future of my children that they would get the right partners, God-fearing people to marry.
Another anxiety of parents is the character of their children’s life partners. Would they be kind people? Will they be people with bad tempers? Will they be wife beaters?
Domestic abuse is common in our society and you will be surprised at the calibre of the perpetrators. Some are well educated people, nicely dressed, when you meet them in public places you will never suspect that they are wife beaters.
Some are even pastors and yet they ignore the teachings of the Bible and maltreat their spouses. It is not only men who abuse their spouses but some women are abusers as well.
May God grant us and our children the gift of spirit of discernment so our children will make the right choices for us to also endorse.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
