Month: October 2018

Reduced to toddlers
To facilitate our thinking
Not to assume we are who we think we are
But rather to remind
Not only ourselves, but all
No matter our status
We, once, all were
Babies, crawlers, toddlers
Incapable of making sound judgments
This is not a choice
It is by destiny
And it is a must
All will go through
To be babies and toddlers only once.
Sound decisions today
Will grow the children
Tomorrow

©2617kntemmensah

I dare to say it all started with Rwanda. The country under able leadership in tandem with a people who are bent on developing their lot has undergone tremendous transformation. I am yet to visit that country but as one of African descent I find it gratifying to hear of an African country making such strides. I will not ask how or where or what. I will simply applaud those at the helm of affairs.
Then I hear this other country that is also recovering from a savage civil war, has also began putting measures in place for its citizenry to enjoy. The success of a country in my opinion depends on its educational system and provision of healthcare. When you recognize that it is the teacher who makes the doctor or lawyer, you have solved half of the educational problems. (Still my opinion) I read somewhere that the Liberian president had made university education free in his country. Awesome. Once again I applaud.
Then I just read on the internet about this country appointing its very first female President. What a wow! they have done well. it speaks volumes of the directions this country called Ethiopia wants to go. They even have half of the cabinet ministers being women.

Now let me applaud also that country that prides itself in being the Gateway to what (?). The country that calls itself the Black (why) Star of Africa; That country that blazed the trail for independence in Africa from the colonialists; The country of my birth.
Education system are in shambles. every government in power does their own thing to the detriment of the people.; to the detriment of the country. Schools are built and not used. Schools are without the necessary tools to enable them provide basic skills to students. Schools lack…….
Provision of healthcare is a joke. Those in office tend to visit the developed countries for medical check ups and treatments simply because they do not trust what they have back home. WHY? Hospitals are built and left to rot because the whims and caprices of someone has not been met. ENOUGH!!
Much noise is made about prosecuting those that have been found to be culpable of the law yet ……
Charlie make i shut up but then if i no talk, who else go talk?
Please change the star to a Golden One. No more Black stars. How will a Black star shine?

We need

#SILENTNOISES

A few weeks ago, he assured alumni of the hall resident in the USA and based in and around Maryland that issues affecting the hall would be resolved immediately.
In fact one main issue is the conversion of this iconic all male resident hall into a mixed one. It was simply mind boggling and unacceptable. How dare the VC in a singular act of (I am at a loss for the right word), sign off on this?
Male halls are a tradition. They are a way of life. Just as religions are a way of life. How on earth do you ban Hall week celebration because as part of the songs sung will be some laced with profanity?
In one of my religious studies courses at UG, we had to discuss these songs that spoke about the sexual organs of humans making the CVC songs that I am used to pale in comparison.
The uprising as we are viewing on campus today is not surprising. Are these students babies or are they adults? Are they above 18 years and 21 years age wise? Are they legible to vote? Can they drink legally? Can they marry if they want to?
You want to tell them when to s*** and when to bathe? You want to tell them when to sleep?
When you chase a dog and finally it has nowhere to go, it turns on you. With devastating results.
I do not condone violence. Neither do I support what the students have done and are doing and might do again. Circumstances have turned even timid ones into predators.
Do not be judgemental. Listen to them. Let us guide them. That is why alumni play a big and vital role in the halls ( I hold my b**** to V-Mates worldwide).

#SILENTNOISES
#GAJREPORT

It is the same everywhere.
Some Blacks hate their own.
Africans/Ghanaians love foreign material. We have Universities that are expanding their courses by the minute. We have Polytechnics that are being upgraded. What the heck then is wrong with us not appreciating our own? Are our own not capable of redesigning the city or any other works for that matter? Then you might as well shutdown all the schools and import, yes import foreigners to come and do the work.
Are we ready for our own or is it mere clamor for change?
We quote foreign. We quote Western. We quote anything that is not Black.
We are quick to refer to foreign material to buttress our point.
Let our own write something and we dismiss it because we know so and so.
We hardly even patronize our indigenous writers all because they are not good enough, they are not matured enough or there is no meat on the bones ( do you remember when you mentioned same?)

Even our very indigenous food has been substituted for pizza and burgers. How the heck did our ancestors live that long without the need for nursing homes and medications? Why are we throwing away the very foundations of our existence? Do we forget that is our identity? Come on! some things i accept we can and must change but others make us who we are.

A few years ago, I touched on the craze of indecency especially in dressing that has hit the youth. Sagging pants; obscene exposures; I will do a different article altogether. Until then, in as much as the truth hurts, it must stand. Let us say it as it is.

Let us appreciate our own and prop them up.
That way we would also build a strong and formidable base.
Hate me or Love me, I have said it. I will continue to say it.

The Change starts with You!
#SILENTNOISES

We live so close to one another now. Phone calls are virtually secondary. There is a Ghanaian saying that though you sleep in your room, your legs are outside. Today it is true. Our legs are outside because we choose it to be so.
The world is really a global village. Village? Is it a digital village? I guess so. The fastest way to disseminate information today is through social media. I appreciate those that use it to educate, inform and create humor for all. People are able to express their concerns and hardships and others from afar offer suggestions or assist in solutions. People are educated on policies that otherwise would remain gibberish to them. People far from home enjoy the achievements of their roots and equally share even in the pain as they are not present. Social media has created this unbelievable platform that allows us to live our very lives outdoors.
Social media has fueled the quest for material gain at all cost in order to be able to show off as the achievers do. Then again it allows people to fake it before they make it. It allows people to believe in the very lies they perpetuate till it becomes truth to them. Social media is power.
Collectively, the concerns of a people are laid bare on social media thereby generating support or backlash. If majority offer backlash does it then mean that the concerns are without merit ? It is the collective concerns that inspire this article. For some do not have the ability to command a following nor do they have a chance of having their voices heard but thanks to the digital platforms, we hear them and share whatever they have to offer. Where pictures lack, we imagine but these days there are live videos and real time pictures. It is as though we are on site!
Social media has come to stay. Today we video conference. Tomorrow we will create babies at the push of a button.

1. Why do we need  110 (1) ministers as a country?

2. Why do we need to use Four wheel drives with V12  engines on a daily basis at the taxpayers expense?

3. Why do we need to travel with a large entourage always?

4. Is there the need for  an official photographer and a camera man in an entourage? At whose expense? Is it a modeling photo-shoot?

5. Why the need to defend anything that defies common sense?

6. So will the Cathedral really be built to the detriment of education and healthcare delivery?

7. Why can we not make use of our local talent rather than import foreigners to do our work?

8. Can we not invest heavily in the educational sector?

9. Can we not invest heavily by way of new buildings and remodeling of old structure to look like new in the health sector?

10. When will politicians stop taking vacations in foreign lands?

11. When will politicians stop seeking medical treatment outside of Ghana?

12. When will our leaders listen to us?

13. When will they stop mortgaging Ghana for petty loans?