Demystifying Law 101 – The Role of Facebook Bar Association by Qouphy Appiah Obirikorang

Law and legal issues always has been an interesting subject due to the excessive use of Latin and other foreign words. It’s always fascinating when those words are thrown about extensively, making the general public nod their heads in agreement and won’t understand the whole drift after the proceedings are over.

The Facebook Bar Association, an advocacy group of pocket and arm-chair “lawyers, met this week to throw more light on some legal terms and make clear the current election petition at the Supreme Court between the two giant political parties. This advocacy is supposed to give you first hand information of what some legal words mean, when they are used:

1. Administrative fiat: the fiat cars which are used by the Lordships for the running of their day to day administrative work. It used to be an Opel and was changed due to the highly volatile nature of Opel
2. Habeascorpus: Normally refers to corpse from Habea, a village near Amasaman. It’s a widely used term in morgues where mortuary men can be heard yelling “who took the Habeas corpus from fridge 1?”
3. Pro Bono: A bono or Brong Ahafo man who is a professor
4. corpusjuris gentium: A gentleman’s corpse
5. Caveat: formula in toothpaste that strengthens cavity
6. Certiorari: “Certificate aa eni ahutor” or missing certificate
7. Bonafide: The larger version of Bona biscuit
8. Affidavit: also known as Afi Davies
9. adjournmentsine die: Ajoss Fashion won’t die (Ajoos is the cast in Akan Drama)
10. Ad hoc: AMA’s ad against hawkers (No Hawking here)
11. A mensaet thoro: Kofi Mensah and his pal Toro
12. Animus revertendi: a reverend father who likes to rear animals
13. Et cetera: the last track on Pete Cetera’s current album
14. Ex gratia: an ungrateful ex
15. Ex postfacto: see Koku Anyidoho’s post
16. Factum:a woman with enough body
17. I putit to you: don’t make me come there and slap you
18. Gravamen:a new hiplife duo
19. in locoparentis: parents working on a locomotive
20. In toto : self explanatory (in Ga)
21. ipsissimaverba: an obaasima who likes to go to Verbs Pub at Madina Estate
22. iudexnon calculat: a non performing Makola calculator
23. jusnaturale: a rastaman in his natural elements (Just Natural)
24. Linguafranca: mixing the Ghana frankaa and China frankaa together. (Frankaa meansFlag in Twi)
25. nemojudex in sua causa: inflammation of the testicles caused by tight jeans
26. percapita: RLG’s new project, one laptop per carpenter
27. Personanon grata: an ungrateful person
28. Prima facie: the natural face before a womanapplies makeup
29. Pro rata: a professional way of rationing water
30. Sinedie: Sine died because Cosine killed it. It’s a mathematical philosophy
31. Suo moto:a broken down okada motor
32. Uno flatu:I didn’t “flatulate”
33. ViceVersa: the names of some Ewe twins

Qouphy
~2013~

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Chop Time for MPs – My Turn in Saturday Mirror – 13 April 2013

I was featured in the My Turn column of Ghana’s leading weekly, The Mirror.

The full, original script can be found here: http://nanadamoah.com/goodtablemanners/

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I Speak of Ghana – Good Table Manners

Kwame Emerepabeba was a political activist in the Brahabebome constituency. He was always on the case of the serving Member of Parliament (MP), questioning most of his actions and highlighting what he should really be doing for the constituents. He was the voice of the voiceless. The people impressed on him to stand against the MP. He told them he wasn’t interested in parliament, only in their welfare, to ensure they got their due. The delegation of the chiefs and opinion leaders finally made him relent and reluctantly accept their nomination. He won in a landslide and entered parliament.

Months passed and Kwame wasn’t seen in the constituency. When he finally visited, he spent a couple of days, explaining that he had to rush back to attend to some urgent issues of national importance.

The opinion leaders sent a delegation to Accra and managed to corner him for a quick meeting. They minced no words in expressing their surprise that he wasn’t making time to engage with them and hadn’t also heard him advocating their cause. His response was succinct too: good table manners, he explained; when you are chopping, you don’t talk.

Our politicians fight to serve us, but seem rather to be asking us to pay them back for that privilege. The best example is the issue of ex-gratia. But first, even in deciding their salaries, there is a deviation from norm, in my humble view.

In most public sector departments and even in private companies where workers are unionised, three parties decide on salary increments: the employer, the employee and the union/facilitator. I was privileged to serve on such a committee on behalf of the employer. Negotiations are tough and go back and forth. Factors such as inflation, performance of the company, health of the company’s finances, productivity and industry benchmarks are considered. The asking rate is high, and the starting offer is low, and the two parties ‘dance’ (as it said) around the issues gingerly, helped along by the facilitator, until a middle ground is reached, which is usually a compromise position. Such is the practice as I know it.

Except when parliament and the executive are fixing their salaries and allowances in Ghana. The executive approves on behalf of the legislature and the legislature does the same for the executive. No third party is involved. And, oh, they can chose to backdate and pay promptly.

What irks me most about the emoluments of MPs is the 4-year cycle of paying themselves end of service benefits (ESB). Take note that ESBs have been abolished for a greater percentage of public servants. According to information from the public affairs directorate of Ghana’s parliament, some of the MPs received amount ranging from GHC211,000 to 275,000 each.

Apart from the fact that most workers in Ghana do not enjoy ESBs and our MPs gleefully do, when there are supposed to be serving us and not lording over us, I have two fundamental questions on my mind: how is are the ESBs calculated and why should we pay even continuing MPs every four years?

The retrenchment packages used in most private companies I know are worked on the basis of a number of months’ salary per year for each year worked. In one of the companies I worked for, it is 2 months of every year worked. Some do 3 or 4 months. At GHC200,000 per MP as ESB, that translates into GHC50,000 per year. So how were the ESB calculated? Was it done on basis of amount per month, meaning GHC 4,167 per each month works or if we go with the current salary of GHC 7,200, they were paid 7 months’ salary for each year worked?

Who are the Article 71 office holders?

Article 71 of the constitution of Ghana lists the following officers of the state whose salaries, allowances, facilities and privileges are to be determined by the President on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State:

(a) the Speaker and Deputy Speakers and members of Parliament;

(b) the Chief Justice and the other Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature;

(c) the Auditor-General, the Chairman and Deputy Chairmen of the Electoral Commission, the commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his Deputies and the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator;

(d) the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the other members of

(i) a National Council for Higher Education howsoever described;

(ii) the Public Services Commission;

(iii) the National Media Commission;

(iv) the Lands Commission; and

(v) the National Commission for civic Education;

The same Article also states that “the salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities available, to the President, the Vice-President, the chairman and the other members of the Council of State; Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers, being expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund, shall be determined by Parliament on the recommendations of the committee referred to in clause (1) of this article.”

Section 3 concludes: ‘For the purposes of this article, and except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, “salaries” includes allowances, facilities and privileges and retiring benefits or awards.’

What is the definition of ‘service’ especially the period? If an MP serves for 12 years, shouldn’t the entire period constitute one service for which we pay him/her end of service benefits at the end of that period? Why should we have 3 service periods? Does this conundrum ala MPs apply similarly to other Article 71 office holders like the Justices and Chairpersons of the various commissions? I doubt it, very much. For instance, is a two-term President paid twice, after the first four years and again at the end of his tenure?

Former MP PC Appiah-Ofori was quoted as saying “MPs pay the school fees, hospital bills, funeral bills among others for their constituents but if you refuse to foot these bills, they will vote massively against you.”

According to a report on Joyonline, Rashid Pelpuo, MP for Wa Central, disclosed on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana that most MPs are in “serious debt and find themselves under intense pressure to satisfy numerous demands on them from their constituents.” Hear him: “MPs pay their drivers, maids, rent, buy their own fuel and manage their constituencies. Ask them how many did not have to borrow money to manage their constituencies. Before the end of the month they are broke.”

So are we paying MPs to be philanthropists and to help them pay their debts, which include loans they took to fight to serve us? Or, are they serving us?

Who says what the cap of these increases and burden on the public purse will be?

Meanwhile, a few people are at the table. Dinner is served – no talking please.

Chop time.

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2012 Sikaman Awards

The eagerly anticipated awards is here! Below the initial set. You can add more categories and nominees! Happy reading

Contributors: Yvonne Amenuvor, Kofi Yankey, Linda Narh, Richard Billy Hanyabui, Maximus Ametorgoh, Ama Vanderpuye, Albert Ocran, Winfred Ofori, Francis Afoani, Charles MacCarthy, Kwame Gyan

1. Most publicized job: #TeamAyariga, aka Ayarigites, FOHAites and Ayarigated Squad. According to Qouphy Appiah-Obirinkorang, all opponents of this team are called Ayarifour. The close second position is occupied by Citizen Vigilantes.
2. The most Seetay Waa (aka False hope) Project of the Year: Nana Konadu’s inability to run for President. Closely followed by the much anticipated list of schools under trees which had been eliminated in the past four years.
3. The most anti-climax moment of the year: The inability of the NDP and Nana Konadu to contest the 2012 Presidential Elections.
4. The most consistent company: Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). You could always count on them to disappoint. (They maintained it for the last 2 years). Jointly nominated: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and MTN.
5. The most popular new word: This award is too competitive. But most of them have been provided by the man-of-the-moment, His Excellency Hassan Ayariga. Some of the words are Ayarisa, Ayarigate, Ayarified, Ayarigaism. My favourite is Ayarigaism, which is defined by my friend Felix Afeti as follows: “Using money to obtain a position that one cannot use performance to maintain.” Two words get the nod: Ayarigate and Gargantuan (introduced by Martin Amidu). Ayarigate is defined by the man himself as ‘when one man is able to make a whole nation laugh and smile in joy.’ Now, that is ‘whomor’!
6. The Most Difficult Item to Maintain: Streetlight
7. The Open Secret of the Year: Two joint winner, all linked to NDP and Nana Konadu: the formation of a new party, and the fact that Nana Konadu was going to contest (or attempt to contest) the 2012 Presidential Elections.
8. Political Multi-task Master of the Year: J J Rawlings. In 1992, he was the Flagbearer and ‘Founder’ of more than 2 political parties. 20 years later, he was the official ‘Founder’ of 2 political parties.
9. Dangerous Wish of the Year: “We can have many many Hassan Ayarigas.” ~ Hassan Ayariga in interview with Bola Ray on Joy FM. My response was “Please, one is enough, thank you very much.”
10. Wordsmith of the Year: Now up till third quarter of the year, it was Papa J, who gave us such exotic phrases like ‘Greedy bastards’, ‘Babies with Sharp Teeth’ and ‘Evil Dwarfs’. However, the Paul-a-w’aba-nt3m, HE Uncle Aya has been finished the year strongly with such additions as ‘Encouraging Salaries’, ‘Absorbable verses Avoidable Graduates’ and the now-famous ‘Yes, We Can’t’. It is a tie between Papa J and Ayariga, but worth of mention is one of the parliamentary candidates in Ablekuma (got to get the right constituency) who gave us the phrase ‘…in the governancy’.
11. The Most Fire-prone spots: Markets
12. Manure Mouth of the Year: This is a very close one between Kennedy Agyapong and Dr Tony Aidoo but Tony wins due to his ability to affect a broader spectrum: both politicians and non-politicians.
13. The Most Energy-Efficient Sportsman: Asamoah Gyan. He worked less to score more, and earned even more!
14. The Most Popular Foreign Service posting: Prof Atta Mills’ appointment as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Heaven. RIP, Prof, we still miss you.
15. NGO of the Year: PNC (maintained from last year, with even greater confusion!).
16. Critic of the Year: Michael Teye Nyaunu beat JJR to it this time.
17. Most listened-to politician: JJ Rawlings. Everyone listens to his speeches, even when some know they may not like what he says (maintained for 2 years). Ayariga is second.
18. Most Active Facebook MP: This is undoubtedly the self-acclaimed MP for Facebook South, Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng.
19. Most Active Facebook Page: This is subject to discussion, but in my estimation, it is the page of lawyer (Ace) Kojo Anan-Ankomah. Most of us got educated, entertained and tickled on his page.
20. Most Improved Politician: Dr Mahamadu Bawumia. I found him more confident on stage and in debates compared to last 4 years.
21. Most Consistent Government MP/Minister: Hon Haruna Iddrisu
22. The most silent politician: Dr. Edward Mahama (maintained the position over 2 years).
23. Product of the Year: Ayaricough
24. Head-master of the Year: Koku Anyidoho. Especially when he has a meeting with Senior Persons earlier in the day. Heads roll, s3 asa!
25. Most Misunderstood Acronym: IMANI. You don’t know whether they are NPP or NDC! Keep up the work, folks; we can’t all be in parties J
26. The most talked about commodity: Education. Should it be free, what does basic education mean, will Oxford accept the certificate from our educational system? Education everywhere. And it appeared that some public figures needed a top-up of it. Yes, you got it right. Education.
27. Political Divorce of the Year: Two joints winners – PPP from CPP and NDP from NDC. Interestingly in both cases, just one alphabet changed in their setups.
28. Most Generous Governmental Agency (also CSR Organization of the Year): GIPC. Donated to Peace Walks, Birthdays and other allied activities. Just ask. GIPC – Gradually Incinerating Public Cedis
29. Most Important Person: Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.
30. Media Faux Pax of the Year: Citi FM, Joy FM and GhanaWeb announcing the death of the late former Vice President of Ghana, HE Alhaji Aliu Mahama, before he died.
31. Tourist of the Year: President John Mahama, on his ‘Thank You’ Tours after the death and burial of President Atta Mills.
32. Electronic Item of the Year: Tapes (Secretly Recorded versions were the hottest).
33. Religious Leader of the Year: Pastor Mensa Otabil
34. Paradox of the Year: Using the words of a man who allegedly has no integrity to give integrity to your cause. This gave birth to the phenomenon of Otabilism, which is defined as being at loggerheads with the earth yet eating in an earthen pot aka apotoyiwa. Example, “After chasing the bird for three days and failing to shoot it, the hunter said he didn’t care, afterall the bird was thin and ugly. What an otabilic statement!”
35. Tragedy of the Year: Achimota Melcom Shopping Mall Collapse. May the souls of the departed rest in peace and may their families find comfort.
36. Arrest of the Year: The arrest of Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) building inspector Christian Ababio on the orders of AMA boss and Accra Mayor Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuje. The arrest took place at a news conference to launch a disaster fund for the victims of the Melcom disaster.
37. Look-Alike of the Year: Rick Ross’s twin in Ghana – Dr Oko Vanderpuje, aka Slangus Beardmus.
38. The most debated phrase: Free SHS (for those in the school of mosquitoes, it is free eich eitch ess for you).
39. Mathematical/Econometric Topic of the Year: Woyometrics
40. Most Popular Abbreviation of the Year: JM. Close contenders are SHS, GIPC and MTN (both the brand and the MP). According to Cyrus DeGraft-Johnson, GIPC also stands for Gifts Intended for Political Campaigns.
41. Sacking of the Year: The dismissal of the former Attorney-General Martin Amidu by President Mills in January 2012.
42. Campaigner of the Year: The one and only chief Citizen Vigilante, Martin Amidu, Esquire. He has been on a one-man campaign to get Woyome to return judgement debt he obtained.
43. Writer of the Year: Martin Amidu for his now famous epistles. You can find his epistles here: http://www.martinamidu.com/
44. Biggest Prank of the Year: Going to the court to obtain a ruling on Woyome judgement debt, then go ahead to pay ignoring the court’s three step approach, and then returning to court to get the payment returned, and then prosecuting the main actor for receiving the money you gave him J
45. Phrase of the Year: Judgement Debts. Nana Addo’s ‘All Die Be Die’ still remains fresh (won last year).
46. Phantom Elimination of the Year: Schools Under Trees
47. Quickest Makeover of the Year: Status change of ‘Schools Under Trees’. It works this way: there is a school building under a tree, so it is a ‘School Under a Tree’. Cut down the tree and the status of the school changes!
48. Quote of the Year: “It is not when you squeeze your face and look so strange and don’t smile that makes you a President.” – Hassan Ayariga
49. Renaming of the Year: Nana Osei Tuffour (formerly known as Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu)
50. Comedian of the Year: Ayariga finally overtakes Funny Face!
51. Development Strategy of the Year: “I will develop Ghana from the circumference to the radius.” ~ Akwasi Addai (aka Odike), Presidential Candidate of the United Front Party (UFP)
52. Car Model of the Year: Hyundai i-10
53. Inspirer of the Year: Jointly won by a couple – Albert and Comfort Ocran. In 2012, Springboard became even bigger and more programs to teens, writers, entrepreneurs were rolled out by this amazing couple.
54. Political loss of the year: Dr Edward Mahama lost his bid for PNC flagbearership to little known Hassan Ayariga in February 2012. Ghanaweb’s report was captioned appropriately – “PNC Congress: Ayariga guns down Edward Mahama”. Aptly called the Mugabe of PNC, it was Dr Mahama’s fifth bid for the flagbearership. Little known Ayariga kept on shooting, having shot himself up to become one of the best-known names in Ghana!
55. Local Team of the year: Berekum Chelsea for their exploits in the CAF Champions League.
56. Bribery “Scandal” of the Year: Prophet Nkansah vrs. Electoral Commission (EC) Officials.
57. The most scarce product: LP gas (still reigning for three straight years).
58. Most rewarding career of the year: Being a member of any of the FMs (For Mahama Groups).
59. Most forgotten Prophet of the Year: Osofo Apraku, God’s beloved daughter (still missing in action).
60. “S3 Asa” Moment of the year: Final launching of GLO in Ghana, in April 2012
61. Most Absurd Group of the Year: Unemployed Graduates of Ghana (UGAG). What happens when their executives get employed? (They won last year). Closely in second position is the group supplied by my friend Kofi Larbi (Kola Nut): Pregnant Women For Mahama (PWFM). Kola asks, ‘What if they deliver before 7 December?’
62. Most Awkward and Embarrassing moment of the Year: The Chairman of GIPC saying he returned the GHC20,000 cheque to the organisation only for the former CEO to say it was actually GHC11,000 which was returned.
63. Most Romantic Laughter of the Year: [Editor’s Note: This is a honorary award this year, so lasty year’s winner was maintained in honor of the recipient.] President Mills’ laughter on Asempa FM, in response to the allegation that he had budgeted 90million GH cedis for his flagbearership campaign.
64. Toll Collectors of the Year: The Ghana Police Service (maintained from last year).
65. Synonym of the Year: Efforts to Get Mahama Elected = Peace March
66. Surprise of the Year: The death of President Atta Mills.
67. Cloth Design of the Year: S3 Asa (worn during the funeral of President Atta Mills)
68. The Most Dormant Group of the Year: CJA (too silent for an election year)
69. Stopped Cheque of the Year: GHC4000 GIPC cheque for VFM.
70. Health Policy Idea of the Year: AYARISA, to be introduced by HE Hassan Ayariga.
71. Political gaffe of the year: Elvis Afriyie Ankrah’s statement “NPP’s free SHS will collapse like the Melcom building” (at a time survivors and victims were still under the rubble).

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The Power of Education – by Yaw Nsarkoh

Three years ago today, on a bright London morning in spring, I returned a call to my brother, Eric, only to be greeted by the words: “Ol man die”. It was the end of an era for us – J.K. Nsarkoh, in life and death a man never constrained by anyone’s convention was gone. Four days before this, he had – in a phone conversation – convinced me in a very strong voice, that he was very well and that I should focus on my work and my family and not be disturbed by any reports of his being unwell. Those with him in Ghana at the time, I was later told with much hilarity, had been excoriated with any strength that remained in his weakened body for bothering me with reports that he was unwell. He had done his bit and would go when he would go.

It was not sorrow I felt at his death for he was not really a man who wanted to be mourned. If I did not mourn him then, I cannot really mourn him now. But on days like this, I remember again, that I am the grandson of peasants. Only one life-time, that of my parents, separates me from extreme poverty.

Of the 4 generations that make up the genealogy I came into contact with – my grandmothers to my children – I remain fixated on the vision of my grandparents. How it came to be that peasants, living in mud houses, laboured and laboured to take their kids to the best secondary schools in Ghana. And then gave those kids sufficient training and values to make it to the best Universities in the world remains a profound mystery to me. Yet, my story is quite typical – this happened so often in our land. And social mobility that made it possible for the very poor to make it out of poverty, through access to good education, coarsed through our nation.

Today, as our fractious debates on education take place within a partisan claw, may those of us who make up the middle class remember where we have come from. I wonder anew, whether a boy born to a woman who sells kenkey leaves in Akrokerri, Adansi, like my father was, will ever make have access to the opportunities that my father did. Would he end up with the children of the rich in a school like Mfantsipim through sheer industry and then end up in work life just like them or better? My mother’s story, from Bechem and Effiduase to Achimota School is no different. In both cases, I have visited the mud houses they were born into. And I know for many who read this, similar stories can be told.

In what remains of my productive life, may God help me to realise, that a society which condemns people to poverty because their parents are poor is a society with no future. A society in which the children of peasants are likely to forever remain peasants, is a society that will rapture when it will rapture. And with explosive social consequences.

Realising this, may I stand firmly on the side of any who are determined to make education a reality for the poor and disadvantaged. The promises and pretenses of policians in Ghana seldom impress me. But I regret that a matter as important as education, is now also trounced by partisanship! It makes no sense, none at all, for tax payers resources to be spent to educate the children of the rich. The rich can and must pay. Yet, for those who will otherwise be left out of the coach of social progress, our society and us all, must stand up and be counted. It is through quality education, more than most, that a society moves forward.

I fit no ideological strait-jacket. But I have not yet come across a persuasion that denies education and job creation are the twin blades of development. Ideas are important but they must then deliver increased prosperity or wither. Was it Amilcar Cabral, in a book my father handed to me, who said that people do not simply follow ideas – they follow ideas that yield material gain?!

May the generation of our parents and grandparents – fast disappearing from this earth, whatever their shortcomings were as a collective, be remembered with some honour. They did their bit.

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WHAM! – An Ode to An Oman That Mourned

August 10, 2012; 5:00 am, Eko Local Time

The cock just crowed
The dew just slowed
Time just mellowed
The sun just woke
Realisation just stroke
Thoughts in my mind just rolled
Reality rudely woke
Put my mind in thinking mode
Ei, it is so true
Can’t deny again no more
The Omanhene goes home
To his ancestors join
From Odomankoma his passage procured
Ten days, and then seven
Processing took
Time just became due

The King goes home
We can do no more
His place not here
His abound so far

Asomdwehene
Nantie yie
Damirifa due
Due due ni amanihunu

For Sikaman that mourned
Our sensibility found
In sadness we gathered
Our senses hitherto shattered
Vituperations evaporated
Tintinnabulations abated
Punches airborne pulsated
Yet collectively we moderated
Found us our heart
Found us our soul
Found us our Sikamanness
Found us our true Bibininess
Found that though we speak
As are fruits from different trees
We share one root
We shared one y3funu
We all exited the womb
Of Ama Ghana!

WHAM!
Say it in Mugabeman
Say it not in Mugabeman
Trepidation ensues
Confusion emanates
WHAM!
Said it in Sikaman
Happened in Attakrom
Diawuoman rose up
Jerrykope united
Limanntanga acted
Acheampongmanso decided
Busiachi enacted
Kotokaman consolidated
Osagyefokrom shone the way
Yet again
Showed that the spirit
That made
The land of
Danquah
Akuffo
Akuffo-Addo
Afrifa
Ako-Adjei
Ofori-Atta
Obetsebi-Lamptey
The shining star of Abibiman
The land of
Yaa Asantewaa
Kwegyir-Aggrey
Prempeh
Preman-Ntow
Anokye
Adu-Boahene
Paa Grant
Annan
Ansah
Baako
Ankomah
Dumor
Atongo
Ahortovie
Tetteh
Mensah
Kofi
Effe
Nunekpeku
This land
Your land
My land
This immortal spirit
Of our ancestors
That lives and
Breathes in us
This collective
Together
Came
Up
Permeated
Every
Cloak
That divided us
And we found
It
A
Permeable
Screen

Mpanyinfuo bu b3 bi s3
Y3 su mpo a
Y3 gyae 3him
Though we cry
We pause to blow
Our nose
You cannot cry
And think

So permit me
To pause and think
To put my crying
On abeyance
Albeit for a second
And ask you
To consider

WHAM!

What Happened After Mills!

We showed that we
Can be one
In thought
In speech
In deed
In action

The King goes home today

And on Monday
Though we mourn on
We lift up the pieces
And we move on

Shall we move on
As we did before
The Black Tuesday?

Shall we move on
As though nothing touched us?

Opanyin Obama
Kasa

“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism;
Of service and responsibility
where each of us resolves to pitch in
And work harder and
Look after not only ourselves,
But each other.
Let us remember that
We rise or fall as one nation;
As one people.
Let us resist the temptation
To fall back on the same
Partisanship and pettiness
And immaturity
that has poisoned our politics for so long.
As Lincoln said
‘We are not enemies but friends
Though passion may have strained
It must not break our bonds of affection.’”

Mo ne kasa Barack Obama

Nante yie
Asomdwehene
Nante yie Obenefuo Fiifi

You taught many in the classroom
Whilst you lived
In dying, you gave your ultimate lecture

Tweredeapon Kwame
Fa wo nsie yie

Damirifa due
Due
Due ni amanihunu

Fare thee well
President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills

© Nana A Damoah, August 2012, Lagos, Nigeria

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An epitaph for President Atta Mills by Chief Dele Momodu

Some historical info there. Also, Dele seems to be drawing comparisons to leaders elsewhere…

28-Jul-2012

Fellow Africans, please permit me to pay this special tribute to our departed hero, a great son of Africa, world scholar, seasoned administrator, experienced politician, humble and transparently honest leader, eloquent and articulate speaker, decent manager of men and resources, respectable and respected statesman, father of the nation and above all a God-fearing soul, Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills who died on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

At a time it seems Africa is overwhelmingly polluted by reckless and careless, insensate and insane, corrupt and corruptible, incompetent and unproductive, disgraceful and shameless leaders, it was re-assuring and definitely rewarding that President Atta-Mills stood out and sparkled like a million stars amid the gloom that had enveloped our notorious continent for so long. His was a veritable example that it was still possible to have African leaders with the pre-requisite intellectual grounding and clear-headed vision needed to propel our countries forward. Prof, as we loved to call him, was a simple administrator who did not see power as an end in itself but as a means to a positive end.

He was a man who saw himself as a mere servant of the people given the privilege to steer the wheel of state and not the authority to grind the nation to a halt. He was a careful driver who appeared too cautious to take foolish risks.His critics could call him Mr Slow but could never call him a pen robber like most of his infamous colleagues that litter many countries of Africa. He lived a simple life that was difficult to imagine for one of the most influential countries in West Africa and the new gateway to Africa. Prof was very conscious of the fact that Man brought nothing to this world and that he shall take nothing with him when the appointed time comes to re-join his creator.

He was a philosopher king who knew the treasures imbedded in a good name and a worthy legacy. He did not suffer the inferiority complex of many leaders who saw power as only the means to making up for deprived youths. His country was kind to him, gave him so much and he knew much was expected of him. He did not misappropriate the nation’s wealth for personal aggrandizement. Even if there were disciples who messed up under his nose and did not share his vision of humility and selflessness in power, he did not condone them and everyone attested to his visible integrity.

Had he not been a scholar and administrator, perhaps, President Atta-Mills would have been a priest or preacher or both. He was never tired about preaching the virtues of honest leadership. He was ready to open up his private life and accomplishments to public scrutiny. His booming voice resonated with the common man every time he spoke with a passion and deep conviction about the responsibilities of a good leader. He would always be fondly remembered as one serious-minded leader who refused to waste public funds on frivolous projects. He would be loved eternally as a man who was ready to sacrifice personal comfort for the common good of all.

Prof did not carry himself with the arrogance of a monarchical President. He did not intimidate nor harass his fellow citizens with the appurtenances of power. No member of his family was unnecessarily loud or irritating. They kept an enviable low-profile and allowed the man to concentrate on the job he alone was employed to do. We did not read of his wife thundering down the streets like a raging caterpillar. Prof did not disturb the peace of his neighbours in the housing estate where he lived in his private home even as the President of the Republic of Ghana. There was nothing extra-ordinary about the cars he drove. His convoy did not shut down the city. He did not buy up properties all over the place to flaunt his awesome powers and freshly-acquired wealth.

His mien and composure often reminded one of the late Tanzanian leader, Nwalimu Julius Nyerere. His intellectual capacity brought back memories of those days when Africa was governed by true intellectuals and not academic pretenders who could never articulate their vision in life.

A cursory peep at Professor Atta Mills resume would reveal a man of impeccable pedigree, well-educated and well-exposed to international standards. Here was a man who was born on July 21, 1944 and attended the famous Achimota School where he completed his A-level in 1963. He studied Law at the University of Ghana and graduated in 1967. He proceeded to the prestigious London School of Economics & Political Science for his post-graduate studies.

He bagged his PhD in Law at the School of Oriental & African Studies at the University of London. He wrote his doctoral thesis in taxation and economic development. He later returned home to take up teaching appointment at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, and other institutions, where he spent about 25 years cumulatively.

Professor Atta Mills was so brilliant that in 1971 he became a Fulbright scholar at the Stanford University Law School in the United States of America. He was also a visiting Professor at Temple Law School, in Philadelphia, USA, between 1978 and 1979 and again at Leiden University in Holland from 1985 to 1986. He authored many publications and he was a respected authority on taxation. For several years, he was Acting Commissioner of Ghana’s Internal Revenue Service and became the substantive Commissioner from 1993-96 when he became Vice President to President Jerry John Rawlings.

He was the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress at the December 7, 2000 elections but lost to the candidate of NPP, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor. Professor Atta Mills contested and lost again in 2004 to the then President Kufuor who ran away with victory a second time. His third and final battle came in 2008 when he faced and defeated the NPP candidate, the effervescent Nana Akufo-Addo who was widely tipped to win after a hell of a fight.

I had little but powerful contact with Professor Atta Mills before his last election which saw him become President. He was clearly a man of destiny. I really don’t know how else I can describe him. Months before that controversial election, not many people gave him a chance to win. First his party had been out of power for eight years. Two he was not a rich man by any standards and he did not seem to know how to cultivate the friendship of Africa’s rich and famous.

This was what led to our little interaction. I had received a call from Pastor Temitope B. Joshua one beautiful morning. It was not unusual to receive occasional calls from the man in The Synagogue, Church of All Nations. After exchanging our usual pleasantries, the man of God asked what I thought about the forthcoming presidential election in Ghana. I was surprised because I didn’t understand what his interest was in the matter. Innocently, I responded that it would be a straight fight between Nana Akufo-Addo and Professor Atta Mills but it seemed the great Nana had the upper hand.

To the best of my knowledge, Nana was getting some amazing support from his powerful contacts all over the world and money was not likely to be an obstacle to his dream.

Pastor Joshua must have chuckled at my temporal analysis but he operated at a different wave-length, perhaps. As cool as a cucumber, he told me Prof was going to win. He did not hesitate to give me his unequivocal prophesy at a time the prediction looked most unlikely. I said it was possible but money was going to be a major handicap to Prof Mills.

Pastor Joshua then said everything was being done to introduce Prof to those who can help him and it was the reason he contacted me. At that moment he gave me the shock of my life. “Please, hold on for Prof,” Pastor Joshua told me without warning, and Prof joined us. I had no inkling the man whose chances we had analysed was with him.

I greeted Prof and his humility struck me from the very first sentence. “Chief, please, I need help to execute this election.” I told him he had gone to the right man who knew everyone who could be of assistance to him. He said the Pastor had been a great pillar and he had faith in God to perform a miracle. He picked his words carefully and I was deeply touched.

Prof was really determined to win that 2008 election against all odds and he reached out to as many contacts as he could possibly do. I got a call from the then Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu who wanted my analysis of the coming Presidential election in Ghana. I repeated the same analysis I had given to Pastor Joshua and he said Prof was coming to see him and he needed an expert opinion on it before he arrived. Prof later told me that he was pleasantly surprised my name always cropped wherever he went and he was sure my opinion on Ghana was much sought after and clearly highly respected. I felt flattered but humbled at the same time.

The last man to seek my opinion on the 2008 election in Ghana was Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, Chairman of Global Fleet and Energy Group. He asked the same question again about who I thought was going to win the Presidential race in Ghana and I responded it was going to be a close-call. He went further by asking specifically if Prof had any chance of winning and I said ‘yes’ but it would depend on various factors and funding in particular. He confirmed the reason he was asking and said he wanted to back Prof heavily but wanted to weigh the risk. I encouraged him to go ahead. He asked if I could put it in writing and I said ‘yes’ again.

I joked that you can never win the big jackpot if you can’t take the bigger risks. I am aware Jimoh Ibrahim provided significant support and resources to Prof for the election. The election held and, after several runs and hiccups, Prof was declared winner. What impressed me about Prof was that he remained his humble self.

He returned to The Synagogue to give thanks to God. I was happy Pastor Joshua remembered to invite me to meet privately with Prof. I was surprised the President of Ghana could fly all the way to a seedy side of Lagos to visit his spiritual mentor at a time he had gotten what he wanted. I was used to seeing leaders who instantly abandoned their friends on attainment of power only to return like penitent school kids when it is all over. Prof’s attitude was a breath of fresh air.

I asked why he believed so much in the efficacy of Pastor Joshua’s spirituality when most Nigerians had serious doubts and regularly cast aspersions on him. He responded like the teacher that he was by lecturing on the bare facts of his encounter with the Pastor.

He said the man had told him too many specific things that came to pass and I should know that as Professor of Law he dealt with only facts. He the final prediction that stunned him was how the man of God mentioned the specific date his victory would be declared after going three rounds, which was against conventional wisdom and protocol in Ghana. I could not argue further with him.

A lot of Ghanaians frowned at Prof’s decision to fly regularly to Nigeria to worship. The issue became headline news. But spiritual considerations are never straight-forward. Prof believed he could not jettison those who supported him in his hour of need. An example I will never forget was the night before his inauguration. Jimoh Ibrahim was to fly into Accra and I had received a message from my best friend Prince Adedamola Aderemi to make his former student comfortable in Ghana.

I complied and met Jimoh at Kotoka International Airport with several cars for him and his entourage. Jimoh was humbled when he saw an aide of the President-elect on the tarmac and Prof even sent his personal car and outrider to meet Jimoh. I was deeply touched that an African leader did not suffer from the usual amnesia that comes upon them from the euphoria of victory.

Prof waited patiently for us to arrive at his campaign office in Osu and welcomed us with open arms like a true father. He thanked Jimoh profusely for his huge support. I excused them and they went into a very private meeting. Several months later, the President encouraged Jimoh to invest in Ghana and this culminated in the setting up of Energy Bank.

The President personally declared the Bank open last year. I was proud to know such a man of honour. It is difficult to find many such leaders in Africa. Most break their promises even before they make it. They often forget that all is dust and will return to dust.

Now a good man has died. He has completed his mission on earth. The world is applauding the 68 years he lived on earth. According to Barack Obama, Prof was a man who made Ghana a “good news story.” We thank you Prof for your service to your nation and to Africa. You will never be forgotten because of the giant footprints you left behind.

You have done your best to make the world a better place. And you deserve to rest in peace. Adieu, Prof. Rest in Perfect Peace .

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Long Live The Farce Called JSS/SSS!

The JSS/SSS is a complete failure, and the earlier we admitted that as a nation and stopped this farce, the better it will be for salvaging the education of the future generation. One of the cornerstones of the educational reform was to vocational training in addition to mainstream theoretical courses.

 

At the beginning of the journey downhill, some workshops were built in some schools. 20 or so years later, ask if any of these workshops that were supposed to teach the students vocational skills exist or are still being built.

 

How could one ever think that LA Middle School ‘B’ which later became Bassanyin III Model JSS could train students the same way thatAggreyMemorialSecondary schooltaught students in Form 1 to 3? 20 years later, nothing has changed. Sorry, there has been change – for the worse. Universities realised the watering down of secondary education and extended 3 year course to 4 years to compensate.

 

With the JSS system, young boys and girls come out of JSS at around 14 years, neither young or old, and with no skills, and with low grades so can’t continue. Enter the phenomenon of streetism. And selling of dog chains. And PK chewing gum. Middle-income parents who can afford it are taking their children through the O and A Levels still.

 

Who are we kidding? Sadly, the Emperor is naked and the little boy who is to shout to bring us all to reality is naked himself. Long live the farce!

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Rejoinder: Why Sweat Elsewhere? – by Kobby Parker

My friend Kobby Parker shares his thoughts in response to my earlier article. Kobby is a banker and a writer.

 

Ghana Today
Recently, I was on a flight from Takoradi toAccra. The plane was full. I was the only chocolate-coloured man (I am not black) on the plane. The plane was full with cream-coloured (they are not white) people.
As the plane taxied and took off, I asked myself: What are they doing here? What do they want here? What have they seen that I haven’t seen?

 

I reasoned further: They are not here to work in factories. There is risk of malaria and robbery. They are safer in their country and yet they come in droves. In my own country, my own people cannot afford to use planes that fly within the country.
From the America’s, Europe and Asia they have come to harvest what God gave us and we only watch and wonder whilst they plunder.
Today, it is estimated by the Ghana Immigration Service and other government agencies that there are more than 300,000 Chinese inGhana. They have gone to the bushes in the hinterlands. They are digging out sacred rivers and forests, in search of gold. Three Chinese men I know make an average of $1million in gold sales DAILY! They attack local villagers for coming close to their illegal mining sites and the police do nothing.
The politician and the police do not blink. What can an individual do then?

Deut 28:33 – A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labour and you shall be only oppressed continually.

Ghana Today
I have taken note of a curious development in Ghanaian banking circles. A Ghanaian businessman cannot obtain financing from banks inGhana without collateral. If you want a loan for a factory, the bank would ask you to deposit the requested amount in cash as collateral or submit your house documents. If your house is not worth the amount you have requested, forget it. It then amazes me why Ghanaians are surprised there aren’t enough factories inGhana to employ our able bodied youth. But the story gets interesting.

Most foreigners doing business inGhanado not need collateral to obtain bank loans. Most banks, be they Ghanaian or foreign-owned, are more likely to avail a loan to a foreigner than a local.
Recently, a foreign-owned company has commissioned a $51 million flour processing factory inGhana. Many banks were over themselves to have a piece of the ‘financing pie’. only three banks won the race to give the company money – $17 million each. The only collateral is the factory itself and a piece of paper from the company’s head office inSingapore that is called a corporate guarantee.
If this is a workable model, then why don’t Banks inGhana finance factories to be owned by Ghanaians? Won’t those factories create more jobs for unemployed youth? And won’t the profit earned stay in the country to develop other sectors of the economy?

Deut. 28:43 – The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
Ghana Today
Accra used to be safe, but not that safe anymore. Maybe it’s still relatively safer than elsewhere. But I would drive the shortest distance than walk and I would never carry anything resembling a laptop bag whilst walking. Lest I be struck with sudden fear. In spite of my fear of sudden fear, I have been mugged twice by my own country people at knife point. Twice!

Deut 28:66 – Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.

Ghana Tomorrow
There is hope for the future says the Lord.
Is there anything more comforting than hope?

 

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Eko Encounters: Why Sweat Elsewhere?

27 June 2012

Pro Patria!

As I made my way to work this morning, my thoughts turned, as usual for this week in particular, toAfrica. I have been musing this week aboutGhanaand today I added the country I consider my second home –Nigeria.

I have been working here in Eko permanently for almost three months now. I am not new to Amalaman. Since I started working with Unilever after school in 2000, I have been visiting here for about fourteen times before moving here permanently. My first visit to Amalaman was in January 2001, and it was for a conference in Ogere. Interestingly, my first trip out ofLagosin April this year was toIbadanand we went by Ogere and right by the conference centre – nostalgic. In 2009, I stayed here for a full month.

I have been telling my colleagues at work, Mr O and Mrs B especially that when I read the papers, especially The Punch which is what I subscribe to at work, I find too many negative words being used, to much pessimism.

Just as an example, I have now picked, randomly, the Thursday June 14 2012 edition of The Punch. The words and phrases that jump at me: scandals, bribe, suspicion, rot, stinks, emergency, warns, recession. This is just the front page, I have not opened it yet. There is, however, one positive story – Man, 80, bags B.Sc in Sociology (that was so inspiring).

I ask my colleagues why.

When I come to work during the week and also move about during the weekend, I never regret being inNigeriaor working here. I love it. Challenges nevertheless.

Another argument I always have with my Nigerian friends – I tell them they have a romantic view ofGhana. Usually when I hear such statements as ‘Oh, it is not like this or that inGhana’, I challenge the speaker and ask ‘Have you ever been toGhana?’ Three times out of four, the person hasn’t been. It is not all that rosy in my homeland, we are all on this road to development, and have our challenges.

After my first degree and my statutory (second) National Service, I worked for five years in Ghanabefore going to the UKfor a year’s masters program. This was between September 2005 and September 2006. I submitted my dissertation on the 15 September, stayed for two weeks to help with the Welcome program for International Students and to tidy up a few issues and I was back in Ghana on the 2^nd October 2006. I had resigned from Unilever before going for my studies and as at the time I returned, there was no firm offer from Unilever to take me back. A Ghanaian friend based in theUK asked me why I was returning toGhana, and why I didn’t like it in theUK. As a typical Ghanaian, I answered him with a question, querying him in return why he was in theUK and why he didn’t like it inGhana. I will state my reasons for returning home so soon, later in this piece but before that, allow me to share a statement a senior colleague made to me.

I had got a Chevening scholarship to study atNottinghamUniversity. As I considered my options, I went to consult with Adlai Opoku-Boamah, a senior manager at Unilever who had just recently returned from theUKon a similar scholarship. His advice was simple: “Nana, if you want to be a big man, come back home.”

I saw the development in theUK, I have seen the development inSouth Africaand since returning from my studies, I have been to other countries where the level of advancement is far above what transpires inGhanaand other African countries. I saw how hard people, including many Africans, are working in theUKto make that country prosper and become what it is. And I asked myself, Why sweat somewhere else?

Why sweat my youthful years away building someone’s village and not mine? Why put my shoulders to a wheel that turns another economy whilst the one that has my umbilical cord tied to it travels south? And in returning toGhana, I was returning toAfrica, to the continent that needs the resources to grow.

We berate the whites for slavery and argue that the slave trade took away all our energetic and productive young men and women. Are we not practising a voluntary trade today?

One of the issues that tickle in the wrong places is when my brothers and sisters living abroad visit home for a week and lament about everything and see nothing worthwhile to commend. Who should stay behind and build?

I was in school with a number of Nigerians, who stayed back. Try telling them to come back home to help, and it will be like selling amala to a Chinese man. How else canNigeriagrow if all the top brains are going out for studies and not returning? How canAfricaimprove if we don’t want to stay, sweat and swim against the tide of under-development and turn our economies around?

 

Who is to give the hope back? Who is to change the language we use? Who is to enervate us, inspire us, bring us the va-va-voom? It will not be the politicians, I can guarantee you. It will be us, the ordinary citizens.

Why sweat elsewhere when I can sweat on the continent, and stay in a betterGhana, a betterNigeria, a betterAfrica?

Why sweat elsewhere?

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