Month: December 2016

Soon the new year will be here. Many are those writing and coming up with resolutions. Many are those who will swear to carry them out. Even as you begin to plan how to go on about your resolutions, let me remind you: Valentine’s Day, April fool’s day and Christmas will soon be here again. 

What you failed to do this year, please do next year. Share love with somebody. Be of good cheer. Set attainable goals. Encourage and motivate yourself. Be a positive Change. A change that will be a beacon in the gloom surrounding you. A change  that is based on well meaning and makes sense. A change that has an impact on society and will encourage someone to also do likewise for posterity.

You need to be the change through a healthy lifestyle. Be what you preach. Love life. I love change. I am an agent of change. Be one too.!

I simply love it when at the end of November people begin to take stock of their lives. They are able to identify the areas where they lacked and then on 31st night, pray asking God to assist them overcome those burdensome areas.
The women who are unmarried will pray for men to walk into their lives. They will ask for well to do men who can afford to give them a Range Rover Evogue. They will ask for men who would not mind keeping them as concubine or 2nd and 3rd wives. They will ask to be housewives to these men. Men who will take them Shopping in Dubai and attend Samini or Shattawale concerts with them. They will dance to the tunes “where my baby dey” and “megye wo boy”. They forget there is something about them that drives the men away. Either it is personal hygiene or they simply cannot cook jollof.
The second set of women will ask for fruit of the womb. Babies. They will ask that whoever impregnates them does not matter. Even if they do not accept the pregnancy, on their own they are willing to take care of that child. Some of these women forget that The children in their wombs have been dropped like coconuts. Now they Cry at the beginning of each new year bothering The Creator.
The third category of women pray asking to be successful in their endeavors especially academically. They rely on God or their faith to guide them.
Now the men. Men will always be like he goats. Sleeping with anything curvaceous. They will not pray for a suitable woman to marry. Neither will they pray for anything. They will be in church stealing looks at heaped boobs and inflated hips. They will make eye contact and pray (then) that she falls for them. It is called ‘natural mystic’ or ‘chemistry’.
Some of the men will also pray against the spirit of womanizing. They are no longer able to combine feeding their wives and kids with feeding, clothing and providing for their concubines and families too. They pray asking for help to get rid of the excess baggage.
Others will pray seeking help in their chilling sprees. They simply enjoy life too much to the detriment of their families. If you sit by them in church on 31st night, their breathe can cause you to be in a charismatic stupor throughout the night (alcoholic fumes).
It is a market.
The auctioneer is the pastor. He resolved last year and has been praying through out this year to make enough to buy that SUV so that under the guise of the holy spirit he can give his old car to his girlfriend. (Holy spirit told him to do so.)
This year the prayer contention will be between the politicians and armed robbers. Both would be praying for protection as they loot. They would pray they are not caught. They would pray that if and if they are caught, may the Holy Spirit blind their captors and assuage the heart of the judges (with goats, guinea fowls, yam, sweet damsels) for them to be set free.
I am not making any resolution. I am only praying to God to continue to send people my way as I travel on this weight loss journey. But I will Speak Out against anything not good for humanity.
You need to be pragmatic. Look at yourself in the mirror. Resolution or not will you raise your leg or SPEAK OUT?

Mary Christmas and a Joseph New Year

http://www.kntemmensah.wordpress.com.

I am back on this topic of lifestyles. Growing up is a story full of stories. A festive occasion such as Christmas meant the kitchen and dining table being full of goodies. Since we reared goats at our backyard, we were assured of huge chunks of goat meat that displaced each other for space in the soup pot and stew. Those were the days of the Jollof. Not today’s emaciated jollof. Chicken adorned the table in either fried form or in the soup. The pestle wailed as fufu was pounded on a daily by the minute basis. The oil of the stew on white rice was enough to assuage the desertification of the throat. Coca-Cola and Fanta fought for a place on the table before descending into the bottomless pit of your stomach. Let me inhale the imaginary aroma from those days and lick my fingers one last time in memory of those days.

Now, on a daily basis, it was either rice, kenkey, banku, porridge, rice water, “eko3gb3mi” and the occassional fufu. Notice these foods are heavy in carbohydrates. The Fanta and Coca-Cola heavily rich in sugar.
Fast forward to our days in the university or high school. Note we went there as boarders. Notable in our diet was Gari, another Ghanaian staple. Now since you were striving to make ends meet, how often did you eat fruits? How often would you eat a gargantuan portion of leaves aka salad like a goat? You ate to survive. Even the shy girls, smuggled the food into their dorms or cubicles to eat in peace faraway from the questioning looks of hungry passers-by.
Enough. Now consuming all this unhealthy food without enough exercise (what about the walking?) would sure lead to some health problems sooner or later.
More often when someone dies, the cause of death is shrouded in secrecy. There is the fear that if the cause of death is known, somebody might awaken the corpse.
If and I repeat if we do not know the cause of death and you gag us from asking, are you doing us good or harming us? I strongly believe if we know our family history and know what is hereditary and know certain causes of death, we can begin to live a healthy lifestyle early. Then again we are all not the same. Some will be short and others will be tall. Some will smoke out their lungs like an African second hand locomotive and still live long with no problems while others will attempt and come up with a host of problems. Others will drink with the tenacity of a Humvee but live long while you who consume like a Corolla Hybrid will depart early. It is because our genes are different. Our DNA is different. Our metabolism is different. Even we have different names. Therefore we need to know who we are and what is good/bad for us.   We need to know so we do the right thing. We need to know so we can educate our children.  We can educate ourselves and together with our General Physicians find a way to at least live healthy and prolong our lives.
Today, we are losing a lot of young ones
I dare to ask. What is the cause?
I don’t have the answer but i can assure you of one thing : live a healthy lifestyle!
Eat right and Exercise.
I love you.

Seasons Greetings!
If you love me too, please share after reading.

Nana is our shepherd, We will not go hungry again,
He has given us hope, he has promised us one district-one factory,
He will collect our money from Woyome: he will lead us out of corruption and lawlessness,
Yea, though we walk through Mahama’s Dumsor,
We will wait patiently for the swearing in in January,
Awww Nana and Bawumia, they comfort  us,
Nana, you have given us hope for change in the midst of absolute corruption.
Nana you have brought and secured change, I am overjoyed.
Surely the rule of law and anti-corruption will be our keywords, and we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

The battle is still The Lord’s

#SILENTNOISES
(C)121516

I thank the Supreme One for making it possible for me to write this article.
I wish to thank Ras Poku of Rude Awakening (Atlanta, Georgia) Guy Foxx, Fifi Falconer, Efo, Mannasseh Azure, Egbert Faibille, Le Grand and a host of others who joined in the call on Ghanaians to rewire their attitudinal thinking. They heard us.
Please, let me disabuse your minds before I continue. I am not NPP and I am not in any faction whatsoever!
I would also want to thank the various watchdog groups that kept Ghanaians informed about certain on goings that would otherwise have been lost in a hail of paperwork and brouhaha.
Now I congratulate the President-elect. Kind sir, please you have not been voted into office to flaunt power. You have not been voted into office to ridicule the rule of law. You have not been voted into office to continue as your predecessor.
You have been voted into office because of Change. The people cried for change. The people want a change in their lives for a better today and a best tomorrow. They have been patriotic. They have identified with you as being capable of drying their tears and restoring hope. They want to live their dreams. They need reality.
Mr. President-Elect, I will be watching you with keen eyes. I will be soaring like an eagle and with sharp vision see all. I will applaud if it is good but I will bark and draw attention if it is not in the interest of the people. Your predecessor allowed the young in his party to talk with reckless abandon. He allowed them to misbehave on a scale never seen before. He allowed lawlessness to prevail. He encouraged threatening acts on the Judiciary. I pray you kind sir, to advice party faithfuls and the young not to do same. Let your people face the rule of law if their acquire through their office, any properties beyond their means. Please let none come into office with the sole aim of acquiring wealth. Some are in it to become millionaires and enjoy the ladies in a large scale. I pray let modesty and humility be your hallmark and that of your party.
To my fellow Ghanaians, I ask that you continue to demand accountability from the people you elect to office. They are there because of you but then it is only with a rewired frame of attitudinal thinking can you do this. You can and must first abide by the rule of law. Lawlessness is a recipe for disaster. Though there is a new President, we must all do our best and ensure the country is back on a sound footing.
This is the best birthday gift for an elderly lady called Ghana.
In 2017, she will be 60. I can see her smile again. You have made her smile. Let us do right that she might bless us as a mother would bless her children.

We at #SILENTNOISES will continue our role as a Watchdog.
To God be the Glory.

I have decided to write to you despite all odds. I know some people will bash me for doing this but sir I lay more claim to you than them. No fears though, I will be very circumspect in my diction. That is because you have not ascended to the high office of the land yet. I believe climbing mountain Everest would have been easier. Nana, I am short of words in describing you. Your qualities and virtues; I have the privilege of knowing you first hand so I can vouch for you. Let your humility guide you. Always. Many do not know this aspect of you. Earlier reports of you in the media in the PNDC/NDC era denoted you as an arrogant human being. Apuuuuuuu!!! Few saw when you volunteered to walk to enable the lawyers in the Attorney General’s department to use your official vehicle. Kw3333!! I was there. I saw it.
Nana, I read about a few uncouth people calling you Grandpa. It is a privilege. You have earned it. We look to you. Sir, permit me to address you as Dad; after all you are my daddy’s age mate and Legon mate. Don’t mind them!! They wish they could be called Grandpa but alas nothing for them. I dare call you Grandpa because I have three kids and in the Ghanaian tradition, if I see you as my daddy’s friend, then I call you “Uncle”. My kids will call you Grandpa. I told them about “Dumsor” in Ghana.
They laughed and asked “ daddy, what is Dumsor?” I replied “ it is the act of turning the light on and off at the whims of nobody.” They laughed and asked “ daddy, who is the president of Ghana?” I answered, “Drop that yam”. Actually I meant drop “Mahama”. Nana, I believe if you have the interest of Ghanaians at heart (which you do), you will tackle “Dumsor “ with all the seriousness it deserves.
The economy runs on power (not superficial power or that thing that makes some humans go crazy); electricity. It is the major concern of the citizens of Ghana, to be able to enjoy electricity not only for business but also for pleasure. I pray and plead do not make promises like your predecessor. Do you read the newspapers? So so promises. He even promised not to promise again. Then immediately he promised. Ghanaians are very hardworking people. Don’t joke with that unless the EC comes into play. They can visit you with the Israelis and vehemently deny. You did a good job in court. The court processes. Alhaji Bawumia. I digress. Please focus on true governance. Streamline politics. Call your corner to order when applicable. Please do not allow for any nonsensical behavior especially from the young. You have strived to be called a Statesman. I want to add Luminary. Nana, I know what you can do. Please do not allow for corruption. Unfortunately, a man named. Gentle K allowed for some members of his government to buy state properties at prices unimaginable. Do not allow same. Any member linked anyway somehow to you, involved in corruption should face the court in a fair and just trial. No vindictive politics. I am begging off you. No chaskele court ooo.
Education. Education. Education. You have already stated what you want to do. I will not visit it. Improve the educational system of the country. I am counting on you. You can do it. FREE EDUCATION!!!
Nana, please rewrite Ghana’s blueprint for development. Please set us on a fast track to development. The whole system must be revamped. For the betterment. I am counting on you. Please!!
Don’t fail us, sir. We are counting on you. If and if you fail, then it only goes to prove what some posited all along: that you are equally “sikadicious”. If you intend to fail too, then please note, you will equally have the blood of innocent citizens of Ghana on your hands.
Nana, no kpa kpa kpa!!

Please, do well to put to rest the abounding and sailing rumors concerning you and Ex-Prez K4 and the current chairman and Gen-secretary.
Nana, I wish you well.

I am only a messenger.
I have come to deliver

Note: this piece was first published in December of 2015. Thank you.

Do you remember that game of musical chairs? We used to dance and go round in front of a few chairs hoping to glue our fianga buttocks unto one when it stopped. If you had a crush on a girl, you hoped in the dying embers of the song she would mistakenly sit on your lap. I love that game. Do you love it too?
It is the Christmas season and also time to start getting ready for announcements. Who are Campaign Team members and chairpersons? Who are Vice-Presidential hopefuls?
As if i care who is what. Will it put food on the table? Will it end DumDumSor? Will it turn the economy around? Will they listen to the masses? Will they engage in intellectual and factual and truthful debates to allow us to make informed choices come 2016? Aggravated Nonsense! Play your game of musical chairs. I will applaud whoever wins. I do expect another incompetent stooge though.
I am in love with some of the candidates though. I just wish ….
But then as we wait to go to the polls, please entertain us with your Musical Chairs!
Wo onane no (raise your leg) or SPEAK OUT!

First published 12/2/15

Addendum: Please make a wise choice for a President and equally same for Members of Parliament