How I wish we have a professional SECURITY architecture in Ghana so that our CORRUPT Police Service will be turned into a Professional outfit. My first encounter with the Ghana Police was in 1969 at Sekyedomase, we had lost our grandmother so my eldest brother, Sgt Boakye R.O. an army non commissioned officer attended from Kumasi. There was a minor altercation between the families that got out of hand. My brother who just played the role of a peacemaker, ended up in cell because the aggrieved faction had paid Police to arrest him. It would take a great deal of negotiations before the Police would listen to our side of the upheaval by then he had been kept overnight at the station. Apart from the intransigence of the Police, we incurred a lot of unnecessary expenses. These are our supposedly peacemakers, protectors of citizens, their rights and their property.

The Ghana Police Service was a professional force prior to independence and even throughout the reign of our first President, Kwame Nkrumah. and gone are the days we could walk into any Police Station, make a report and the Police would offer us protection and investigate whatever complaint one had brought to the station. When Ghana was a one party dictatorship under Kwame Nkrumah, you could not influence the Police on any criminal issue and they worked as a team for the welfare and well being of all meaning Ghanaians. Was it not the same Ghana Police Service that we reported those who spoke ill of Kwame Nkrumah during the young pioneer days? Did we not report those who failed to stand attention when our national anthem was played?

Immediately after the 1966 Coup, the Ghana Police Service changed. They put self above the STATE. They complained of poor employment benefits, accommodation, resources and tools to work with. All over the world, the Police Service face the same challenges. Take the public sector pay in any nation and you would realize that the public sector is never well paid but why do people want to work in those service? God the creator gave us skills and drive and in the developed world, nobody is forced into the POLICE SERVICE as it is in Ghana. United, France, Canada, USA, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and even close by South Africa, All these NATIONS Policemen and women are enlisted by the PASSION,DESIRE AND DRIVE in the prospective interested person desiring to die for our homeland. You do not go to be a Policeman or woman just because you cannot get any job to do.

In Ghana, sensitive and strategic positions all over the public sector is treated anyhow. What scrutiny is in place when recruiting a Policeman or woman? What phycological tests and assessments are there? What background checks are made and who makes them? How are they enlisted? You are recruiting dedicated men and women who should be suited to the profession of a Policeman or woman and it is WHOM YOU KNOW. How much money changes hand from the time the process is initiated until training begin? We sit in Ghana and all we do is talk, talk and talk and you come to realise that 24hours is too small or short for the Ghanaian. I am not a psychological scientist but I can reckon that the actual productivity of every public sector employee in Ghana, cannot be more than 2hours a day or in any given week, the workforce in the Public sector is about 10hours from Monday to Friday. The average in Europe and the developed world is between 35 to 40hours a week.

We fail to be productive so how do we raise the required resources to grow the GDP and thus create wealth enough for the public sector pay to rise and thus raise standards of living. The Ghana Police service by the virtue of the arms they wield, have assumed they would rather work against the national interests as opposed to own self interests and their superiors interest. They wake up in the morning and the plan is not going after criminals but rather working with the criminals for kickbacks. They mount road blocks and even the child in the womb knows what they do. We have all known this but have we as a nation said: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? What is happening now to the Police where criminals are attacking them may be the results of their own clandestine operations with these Galamsayers and criminals.

Nobody in Ghana is well paid. The Policemen and women made a choice to serve Ghana and they must live up to that expectation and serve. They must stop extorting money from the citizens and criminals They were not enlisted to become a law unto themselves but SERVE Ghana with devotion and dedication. The time has come for Ghana to change the recruitment into the various Security service. You charge them money to get them into the Army ,Police, Immigration where do you expect them to raise the money to pay back? We have joined the civilized world so Ghana must behave alike. We need to change the training and recruitment regime. Let all those agencies be open to those born with PASSION,DESIRE and DRIVE to be recruited or enlisted.

How the Ghana Police Service treated me in 1973. I was academically brilliant during my elementary school days. From 1967 to 1970, I was successful for those FOUR consecutive years in the Common Entrance examination but I did have anyone to take me to Secondary school, I ended up working at Kusi Oil Palm Research Institute. In 1973,I wanted to be enlisted into the Police service so was offered the chance to go to Akim Oda to write the recruitment examination and out of the FORTY CANDIDATES that wrote the test, I was number two. They gave me a letter to go to the Police Depot in Accra and I went to Accra alright ,reported to those I had asked to report to and only God knows when they are going to write to me to report for training.

The Ghanaian! Where are they from, where are they going and when do they wish to get there?

The Ghanaian is one of the most complex personalities this world has been graced with. The average Ghanaian is a cross breed of non sophistication and sophistication because they have this unassuming laid back exterior and that endear them to the outsider. They are always smiling and very welcoming which is innately ingrained in them. You can never be around the Ghanaian and ever be sad. They have this compassionate,loving,kind and sympathetic exposure strongly built on empathy and these traits show up easily. It means therefore that, if we were lucky to have had leaders with the foresight to develop our tourism market, the whole world would love visiting Ghana.

That paradox of the Ghanaian is what I have expressed there above. All that I have described above is the garment we wear when we are dealing with anybody who is not a Ghanaian. Our love for anything FOREIGN is our weakest link in our development as a people born to one mother called “Amma Ghanaian” as coined by a renowned Ghanaian musician, Kofi Sammy of Blessed memory and his great Okukuseku Band. The Ghanaian and their love for foreigners is legendry and very worrisome. It is worrisome because if you have 31 million people in a country and any part of the country you go, the citizens care and love a foreigner who in all probability, has not contributed much to the nations independence struggle and their development, then you have a problem.

The problems in Ghana, I am not saying is mainly caused by foreigners but the fact of the matter is that, the Ghanaian would do whatever it takes to shield and protect a “Foreigner” than to expose them when they go against our laws as against their fellow Ghanaian..

At the moment, about 80% of all the crimes committed in Ghana are by foreigners most of them from neighbouring African countries. These 80% use the Ghanaian, who in most cases lead them to the spots they the foreigners had planned to commit a crime. You would think I am twisted in my thinking to say all that I am writing here but they are the facts. Recently the Ghana Police said, the head of all Car Hijacking, the “Car Hijacking lord” is from Cameroun. The Chinese are controlling our LAND. They have seized our land and to the extent that, our forest reserves, reserved over 400 years now are all being turned into desert. God graced us with RIVERS, spread all across the nation but today, the rivers in the Ashanti Region, Eastern Regions and the Western Regions of our land, have been turned into washing basins to feed the Galamsey(Galamsey is the illegal mining go on in all parts of Ghana) that these foreigners are spearheading in Ghana.

You ask yourself, foreigners in your Forest Reserves? Destroying your God given rivers and streams? Cutting down the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy our COCOA CROP. Chopping down our timbers and the land protectors, our Rosewood and anything standing between these parasites and their hunger, thirst and greed for the Ghanaian GOLD deposits. I am not talking of Ghana in the 15th Century when we did not have educated people in Ghana that the Europeans came and took us as slaves. The emancipated Ghanaian and Ghana, where today we have about 60% of educated men and women and about 90% of all these educated people have had training in almost all the parts of the developed world

Oh, I forgot to tell of the hospitable nature of the Ghanaian. Once you are a foreigner and we can satisfy our conscience that whatever you take out from Ghana would not stay in Ghana to satisfy a Ghanaian but would be taken abroad to Europe, Asia and other parts of Africa, we are ready to help you ship it out to benefit your country as against our country. I have a white friend and I told her that if she were to go to Ghana now and show interest in our Jubilee House, the residence of our President with negotiation, she would get us selling it to her. sarcastically, once you are a foreigner not matter your standing in your own country of birth, greasing few palms ,you will get whatever you like and we don’t mind you becoming a master over us.

Gold, the most valuable mineral in the world has been given to us free of charge by God. The foreigner comes in, we lead them to those we pay with our tax moneys to protect our Gold, the Mineral Commission. What do they do? They stay in their offices, look at the map of Ghana and where the charts points that there are mineral deposits, these new visitors who are equally led by a fellow Ghanaian, they exchange pleasantries and Lo and behold, they are granted concessions. These are human beings educated in our finest universities and they know the importance of our land and its minerals but, their masters have called so what do they do? Handover to them whatever our land contains. We have a President, we have all the big people we the SMALL people of Ghana, about 30.9% of our 31million people have elected the President, entrusted with all our LAND and the WEALTH contained therein, with a solemn instruction to hold in trust for us, his appointees who come in all shades and forms, do things behind his back. Even where the President and those wielding power are aware of what is happening, they pretend not to know.

The Ghanaian exterior is what I have described in the introduction and that is for the SHOWPIECE, the drama side of the Ghanaian. You will acclaim the Ghanaian as God fearing and honest on first encounter and as I have enunciated already, if you were to put the true Ghanaian on a scale to weigh against his relationship with his fellow Ghanaian, it is there you see how we co-exist as Ghanaians in our land. This is where you see the true Ghanaian. We call it Ghanaian versus Ghanaian. You dare not CROSS HIM because he is never willing to show you the land he readily showed and led the Chinese to go and get his gold. He will never help you when you are in need fearing that you will one day be better than him financial wise. They are willing to destroy you and take away from you and this is demonstrated in family matters, when one dies without a will. As soon as the funeral is over the so called “HEAD of the family comes and dispossess the widow whatever property her husband left behind. Millions of widows are now destitute because of this. They bring children in this world and they have no responsibility to cater for the child. You never trust anybody and tell them your secrets

The question is where does the Ghanaian come from?

Did God amongst his creation, create the Ghanaian?

Balancing their love for the CHURCH, where 70.7 are Christian as compared to their love for leadership of political parties.

They hold personalities created in the image of God in High esteem than God.

Where is the Ghanaian and their penchant or wickedness, selfishness, personality (idol) worshipping going to?

And When will they get there?

Twene Jonas is a young gentleman and I suppose once upon a time he sat down and in his quietness,saw that many things that could have been done and done properly in his homeland Ghana was not done. And even if anything was done at all you could not read any professionalism about it. He is fortunate for the moment to be in the States(USA) and he looks at how things are flowing, like an uninterrupted RIVER flowing from the North all the way to the sea in the South, which he could not find in his homeland, he wondered, but what is wrong?. He seems to be a passionate young man who I suppose knows in his heart that Ghana cannot be far from the USA in terms of development if the citizens of his homeland, Ghana, choose to do so. Psychologically, it is NOT easy to guage the extent of his frustration because it is not something scientific that we can put figures to but the most dishurting,discomforting and painful thing that goes on in the BRAIN is to see able bodied men and women in a country, called Ghana, with all the faculty of reasoning based on wisdom but who have refused to think or reason. This young gentleman’s sister said recently that. “My younger brother would lock himself in his room, listening to what goes on Ghana and most especially, when Honourable Kennedy Agyapong attacked the systems in Ghana on their inept and below the par performances”. “She went on if you have any problems with my younger brother, then ask, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong”

There are those who are cursing Twene Jonas under the pretext that he is disrespectful. That he is too young to be insulting or using unpalatable unprintable language against those in authority and the elderly. I am not happy he uses the type of language he uses because in Ghana, we have been brought up based on our traditions and customs that you never use those type of words and language against the elderly. I am a writer and it will be very difficult for me to have used those type of language against anybody in authority especially in the Ghanaian setting. As much as I wish the language used need not have been used, the question is, do we say Twene Jonas has said something, apart from his insulting language that is not true? Let us take out all INSULTS which can never and would never be acceptable by me or by majority of well mannered citizens of Ghana, majority of us are well behaved and respectful.

Ghana is an independent sovereign nation. When our FOREBEARS were fighting the imperialists for us to be independent, did we get any nation that came to our aid? When they entered our coast in 1471 and started treating us as animals did we get any help? When they built the Elimina Castle and saw us as nothing better than SLAVES and started selling us as slaves did we get any nation to come to our aid to stop it? We are going to be sold as slaves for the next 300 years. In 1752, when almighty Britain formed the Royal Trading Company to intensify their drive to gain access to our land, did anybody come to our aid? How about 1821,when the British started to seize private lands in the Coast to make it their property, did anybody come to our aid. Our forebears, who were not fortunate to be educated never relented, they fought and resisted and we all know when they the imperialist colonialist Britain extended their control to the NORTHERN part of the land, what they did to the Ashantis. We are aware of the powers that subjected us to total domination,abuseboth physical and psychological and they are the same people who have ECONOMIC control of our country.

We have GOLD deposits everywhere in the land, the question is who benefits from the Gold deposits? Is it not the same powers that traded us in as slaves only yesterday? We have been independent for the past 64 years, what have we done to the Gold Deposits. All the GALAMSEY gains , which destroys everything in its wake goes to the same FOREIGNERS. For every ONE CEDI they pay to the boys doing their GALAMSEY bidding, the MILLIONS go to these powers. We have become a nation that has refused to grow and one will never be wrong to say we are like RETARDED people. We see the destruction. We see the damage. We see the EXPLOITATION and we stand and watch as they LOAD THE PLANE AND SHIPS, taking the GOODIES FROM Ghana to their land. Don’t look far, Nigeria businessmen and women built Maryland,Ikoyi,Victoria through the Diamond minerals from Ghana. They had known even then that they could build DIAMOND MARKETING BOARD in Lagos and anyone who had DIAMOND to sell, you took it there to sell. What did we do at Akwatia? Those of you who have not been to Akwatia, it is in the Eastern Region and Britain built one of the biggest Diamond Mining Companies called, CAST (CONSOLIDATED AFRICAN STATE TRUST) hundred percent owned by the British and they took all the Diamonds to UK to develop their country. What did they do for the people of Akwatia? They built a hospital and bungallows for the “EUROPEANS” only use. Akwatia citizens could not attend the CAST hospital it was for the Whites and Europeans only. It was after 1966 before they allowed the Senior Staff of University of Ghana, ARS, Kumaning and Oil Palm Research Centre (Now Oil Palm Institute) Kusi to seek medical attention at CAST.

We say the same about Bauxite. We can say the same about Manganese,Iron,Timber and almost any mineral the EUROPEAN say they wanted to have in their land, we shall sheepishly take all to them in their homeland.

Twene Jonas cannot disguise his frustration because we should be countered among the DEVELOPED world based on what NATURE has given us but are we doing that? What do we get? We have since independence in 1957, allowed our animalistic instict determine our destinies. We have always stood on the side of the EXPLOITERS because they promise us MANSIONS and CARS. In most cases we TURNED the blind eye and help them to get away with whatever they want to take away. In MOST instances our own systems are helping whoever wants to CHEAT Ghana.

WHY and HOW do you find foreigners like the Chinese,Pakistani,Indian, Burkinabe,Nigerian,Ivorians and many others in our forests? What business have they got to be there? Our FORESTS? In most instance they have even gone as far destroying our FOREST RESERVES? Our forest reserves are like the CLOTHES we wear and for anybody to get all that close to the FABRIC of our existence, then I am not sure we are allowing Twene Jonas and some of the patriotic boys and girls any alternative but to speak a language that the perpetrators of all our problems would take note and listen. History has shown that in Ghana, nobody listens to anybody but when this young man stirred the hornet nest,people are agitated and instead of embracing whatever message this youngman is carrying, the concentration is about the LANGUAGE. Politeness and respect are not forced but earned and depends on how the adults in our society conducts carry themselves, he who demands respect must give in equal measure in the society and how they conduct and carry themselves. The truth of the matter is that those of us who WISH GHANA WELL are frustrated because everywhere you turn: THEY SYSTEMS ARE NOT WORKING. No system works in Ghana. The only system we are FORTUNATE to work so far in Ghana is our respect for :MALE AND FEMALE PUBLIC TOILETS. If we have leaders who think we should respect them just because they have titles and qualifications but they in turn do not accord the larger population the respect due to them, how can they turn around and be angry just because a frustrated young man is speaking his mind? Let s see seriousness in the Ghanaian given authority to perform a duty in any sphere of our lives to uplift us.

We live in a country that nobody cares to pay their TAXES. Those who pay Taxes are those on Government Payroll and have no choice because their taxes are taken at source. The Politician would not make any laws to make it compulsory for everybody to pay their TAXES because their business enterprises would lose part of their profits. The Police Service has refused to perform their professional function of PROTECTING LIFE and Property. They have become the MONSTEROUS institution that has perfected the art of CORRUPTION in the form of BRIBERY.At times one shudders to ask, Are the Police Depots meant to teach bribery and corruption? How about the Ghanaian Immigration Service? What do they do in Ghana? These are the people recruited and trained to make sure that No FOREIGNER should enter Ghana without the requisite VISA but today’s Ghana we have FOREIGNERS contolling Crime. For the first time in our history, we have Camerouns controlling the Vehicle Hijacking in Ghana. How did they get here? A fee of FIVE CEDIS would be enough for the Ghanaian Immigration Service.

What about the so called LAND Commission? What do they do? The only institution that sits down in their offices and grant LICENCES to all including FOREIGNERS. They work hand in hand with our TRADITIONAL RULERS, the so called custodians of our land. Ghana is a laughing stock because ALMIGHTY GOVERNMENT has no control of land. It is sad that in some communities you see the person controlling LAND does not know the ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL implications of their actions. A Chinese arrives from China, he is met at the Airport by a Ghanaian agent, who has facilitated his arrival as business associate, they get TWO bottles of Schnapps and a few Cedis.The are taken to the chief who controls that parcel of the Chinese wants to acquire, Nana calls the “AHENKWAA, they take the Chinese to the choicest land. It is done deal. Why? They have somebody at land commission who would do the rest. The SOUL of Ghana, just a few bottles of Schnapps. Are we serious?

Every discerning and patriotic person in Ghana, who is not a politician, who does work in the Civil and Public Service, and not working for a state institution or the traditional council is bitter because OUR LEADERS have let us down big time. The average Ghanaian, the unhibited, the unfortunate to be educated beyond graduate level are all crying for leadership in Ghana. The down trodden masses of our people are all bitter because we feel let down by our systems because none of them is working for the interests of the Ghanaian. They are all working for the INTERESTS of the perpetrators and their FOREIGN masters. We are locked in without any hope of any future. Making it worse is our winner take all political system. If you are in opposition, your surest way of coming to power is to destroy the GAINS made so far by the one in government. As we train the BRIGADE of destruction and sabotage, we are never going to march forward. We shall always remain at a standstill.

Ghanaians tell me what LANGUAGE can we use to address all those given the opportunity to SERVE us but who have refused to do but use our resources for themselves and their paymasters, the FOREIGNERS? What type of languange would you use for them to pay attention? We are all ONLY constained by our determination NOT to open our mouth.The anger and pain is over bearing and it is not easy being silent anymore. The fear is that we are bleeding determined young boys and girls who would not toll the line which has been set for society by the the corrupt induced traditions and our culture. These young boys and girls would call spade a spade and remove all the so called respects reserved for the aged. If society is going to be plunder,plunder and plunder to satisfy the insatiable apetites of the FOREIGNERS as Ghana bleeds to death, we shall all be very soon be using intemplate language as this young has resorted and remove all courtesies to those who wield authhority in Ghana because they have all failed our society.

Will our Lord God almighty father ever cry? Why will the Lord God almighty, the Creator of the heavens and earth be so sad that in human terms, we would say our LORD was on the verge of shedding tears. Since creation man has willingly and intentionally decided never to listen to our God let alone OBEY him. Obedience his Prophet Samuel told Saul that our God takes greater delight in obedience more than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22 which means if humanity had chosen to obey God, it will please him more than our offerings which today has become the number one criterion for being a Christain.

We have always said but why did Adam and Eve disobey God? But we are equally as guilty as they were. The Bible says the Israelites, having been rescued by the STRONG arm of the Lord from 430 years of slavery in Egypt, have settled in the land God promised his servant Abraham, Isaac and especially, Jacob. When they settled, that is taking occupation of Canaan, they forgot all the commandments God gave them through Moses and as it is summed up in Dueteronomy 28. Here God tells them the Blessings and Curses that would befall them if they disobeyed his Commandments,instructions and statutes. Like we are doing in Ghana today where nobody listens to anybody and we have taken upon ourselves as gods and semi gods doing whatever comes into our minds. Our God was disappointed with the Israelites as he is equally with us today.

As the heading of this write up suggests, the behavour of the Israelites has frustrated the Lord so much that on this day, he did not have any more words than to lament on the very people he had scacrificed a lot to bring back to the promised land. In Isaiah 1:2-3, let us listen to the LORD’s frustration:

Isaiah 1: 2-3 (NIV)” Hear me you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken.: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. Vs3 The Ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger but Israel (Ghana) does not know, my people do not understand.

How can we treat our God this way?

What wrong has God done to us in Ghana that we have grown so stubborn,selfish,self seeking,disobedient,haters of God and lovers of money? In 1 Timothy 6:10 Paul warns of the extent of EVIL that the LOVE of money brings unto a NATION,Society,Community and the individuals. vs 10:” For the love of money is the root of all KINDS of evil. By craving it,some have wandered from the FAITH and PEIRCED themselves with many griefs” How truthful this is for my beloved Ghana, we are all running after money and it is no longer LEGITIMATE means anymore. The unfortunate part of it all is the fact that, the so called CHRISTIAN country that we claim Ghana to be, most of the pepertrators are CHRISTIANS. The mantra : “As for God when he takes his stone, he delays in throwing it” In effect, we have identified God to be slow to anger but he is very swift in exacting justice. Let us make conscious effort to change our attitude and behaviour towards each other.

Dear Chief Justice,

Whenever I write, as I like to write to comment on public issues so dear to my heart as they apply to Ghana, how I wish I am writing to government and public servants in the developed world, The UK, USA, Canada,Germany,Australia…..to mention but a few. In those countries, it is the citizen’s right to be heard by public figures but in Ghana, I am yet to know or get receipt or acknowledgement when I have specifically, written to one them.

Ghana’s motto is :Freedom and Justice and I sit and wonder if that applies to all of us as citizens at all. When I follow the British and the USA judiciary system, any matter registered for trial has a time limit when it should be concluded. In murder cases, except in circumstances where it is circumstantial where the probability of conviction would be zero if proper and thorough investigations and evidence are not gathered. But in the case of premeditated crimes, I am not sure they would drag on for more than 21days.

Mr Chief Justice, why is Ghana different? If our motto is freedom and Justice and only the rich gets Justice, what is the judiciary telling the citizens? I want to know if our Judges are not interested in giving us Justice or the Judiciary is just there in name only. We were all in Ghana when the leaked tape of the NDC chairman went to Court, I think it was in Febraury but as I am speaking, there is no movement on the matter. I want to know if the high profile cases are kept under wraps or what. We often hear we are all equal before the law but it looks as if: The Equality before the law applies to people like me and the disadvantage in our society: The poor,the deprived,the uneducated and petty criminals. These people have no standing in our society and often times they have no one to defend them and it is easy to deal with them because whatever happens to them, they are OUTSIDE the nations motto of Freedom and Justice.

I fear for Ghana because the way our Justice system is skewed towards the rich and powerful in our society, a time would come that, they would be so powerful to even think of selling Ghana to the highest bidder to render the unfortunate 31million people of Ghana becoming their slaves. There are so many murders that hardly find their way into the courts. Arsonists are getting away with destruction of public property and assets. Society is becoming bolder and bolder to commit crime and we do not know why are our courts always silent.

Kindly do something about the lukewarm attitute of the prosecutorial arm of the Judiciary.

Thank You.

Ghanamindset

Ghana birthed nicely and beautifully on that fateful 6th March,1957 by one visionary leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, never lived up to its reputation because we have lost our way and anytime we sleep and wake up in the morning, we as citizens of Ghana are wide apart. We have academics,we have professionals in every field, we have the clergy, the supposed compass of any nation, we have traditional rulers as the custodians of our lands and we have a dynamic stock of youths any nation in the developed world would be proud to nurture for national development but we lack NATIONAL cohesiveness.
One category of people called the “Ghanaian Politician”has never embraced the ideals of nation building so they hardly foster any patriotism but rather their parochial selfish interests which hovers around partisanship towards their political party is sadly the norm in Ghana. In Ghana today the long held Rawlings Ghana which he murdered innocent former heads of state and others to form has grown to become Mahamas Ghana. When they speak of Ghana, it is not the one our founding fathers fought for but the Ghana they call the NDC.What about the NPP? Had they unshackled President Akufo Addo? He would have concentrated on the Ghana he had always visioned to bring about but in between, there are those called “ORDER from above” and anything that needs to be done to move our nation forward, they too scuttle it. How on earth that almost four years now we are still waiting for the prosecution of all those who have caused financial mess to our economy. As we play the NPP GHANA game versus the NDC GHANA game, the real Ghana,the SOVEREIGN suffers.

This is captured nicely by a caption I once saw on the social media and the the SONS of Ghana who developed it hit the nail right on the head. ” There was this loaded tipper truck delivering gravel for road building and since this truck could not tip the load, there were two men off loading the gravel to the road, and as they did, there were two others on the ground, making sure the gravel never stayed on the ground. As they off load, these two too loaded”, that is Ghana for you.
Our politicians find it very difficult to accept that they are in power to do the following:
A. To serve. The joy of seeing a destitute person smiling,the lame being helped to walk,the malnourished finding food to eat and the unsheltered placed under shelter.
B. The help in the equitable distribution of our resources,no matter your standing in society and where you come from or lives.
C. To play a role in our national development irrespective of the party they belong to
D. To help provide us with our socio-economic development, thus creating jobs,providing us with social amenities,roads,railways,ports,hospitals,schools…..etc.
What amuses me the most is that these group of people, less than 0.01% of our population, take all the important decisions of our land. These are not the best that the country can offer but they wield power because of who their parents were during our struggle for our eventual political independence. They are a members only club and no one outside of it can ever get entry into that ruling class. In a country where there is equitable distribution of resources such as :Everybody had the same opportunity to go to primary school,elementary school,secondary School,Colleges and university, then these group should have been proud to be where they are but in a corrupt society like ours where “WHOM YOU KNOW” determines a person’s future well-being, it makes me angry that our ruling class exhibits arrogance,bullying,disrespect,total disregard for any human decency, arbitrary abuse of power and authority. 63 years we are still fighting a war of harmony and mutual co-existence.
Enough of the ruling class but the group, that worries me a lot is called “The Experts”. In the developed countries EXPERT OPINION on any national issue attracts much respect and attention but in Ghana, all the following debase the so called opinion.
Let us take a real national catastrophe like the recent COVID 19 Pandemic and let us assume as it is done always by the TV and Radio Stations, they invite TWO medical experts from the two political parties to appear on TV to discuss the pandemic. I did not say, two commentators, I say TWO medical experts. In the Universities lecture rooms or halls, you would expect that these two medical experts would articulate lessons which when harmonised, would draw the same conclusion. However when these same experts are put on a TV stations, strangely, before they appear, their party would give them a briefing which is outside the scope of their expertise. We have lost touch with shame in Ghana so these experts would tackle the Pandemic not as it is done in the rest of the world but it would be NPP vs NDC way. At times I look at these so called experts and I ask, what is in the Ghanaian education system? Expert? A bundle of highest intellectual standing, astute,impeccable beyond doubt but Ghana, the lost cause, the experts opinion is shrouded in shame.

How can we rediscover the attributes that bind nations inhabitants together for them to believe they are the sovereign and that sovereignty vested in the nation Ghana, make them Ghanaians first and foremost. The political parties are not sovereign, they are VEHICLES and their usefulness is just to make it possible for the citizens to belong to anyone of them if any,for elections of leaders to take place.

If Ghana is about NPP and NDC instead of the Republic of Ghana, then we have lost our way. Then the over 30 million people of Ghana have failed all those who fought for us to be independent.

Open Letter To The Inspector General Of Police
Dear Inspector General,
I am confident that you have now settled into your new position and I congratulate you on the feat because to rise through the ranks to this position required a lot of hard work, sacrifices, dedication, determination and the desire to help lift high the flag of Ghana and for your own personal development. I am not in any way to question how you got enlisted because the Ghana Police Service has never shown any openness when it comes to recruitment into the service back then in 1973 but I suppose that has changed now.
In 1973, I was invited to take part in the recruitment exercise for the Akim Oda zone and out of the forty candidates that took part in the entrance examination, I was number two and was sent a letter to report at the Police Depot in Accra sometime later of which I willingly obliged. I duly reported and went through all the necessary exercises and was told my date for training would be communicated to me in due course. I am still waiting for the said letter. Inspector General, it would interest you to note that one Agyapong, who failed the entrance examination at Akyem Oda, became a policeman and up till today, the Ghana Police Service has yet to write to tell me why, an intelligent person like me should drop out.
I know you know very well even before you were recruited that Ghana Police Service has a penchant for corruption. The institutionalised corruption that has become endemic in the Ghanaian society started with the Ghana Police and in the Ghana Police service. You know and I know that ever since the Gold Coast colonial police transferred power to the newly formed Ghana Police service, your outfit hasA always dabbled in corruption and I think it is a long time since you were a corporal and did the “beat”. These are but a few:
1. Road blocks. Where the police would mount an unnecessary police road block to extort money from drivers.
2. They have road checks and all they do is to stop vehicles, corner the driver and take money
3. The police refusal to attend public calls under the pretext that they have no vehicles
4. Wanton arrest of law abiding citizens in most cases ordered by so called powerful people in the society
5. Disregard for the lives and properties of the citizens of Ghana
6. Abuse of power, going over board for the policeman and women to take the law into their own hands to decide to determine to do what they choose to do at any point in time, depending on the time and circumstance.
7. Unnecessary harassment and beatings
Mr Inspector General, may I remind you that the Ghana Police Service determines the type of lives the people of Ghana will enjoy at any period. If there will be peace or otherwise in Ghana, it is prescribed and enforced by the police service. Your outfit has a responsibility to the people of Ghana by safeguarding their lives, property and even the little spaces they have been allotted by the selfish Ghanaian politician. You perform your duties hand in hand with the society at large in the sense that, you allow society to have trust and confidence in you and once that is assured, there is no way there will not be respect for the rule of law and harmony in Ghana.
There are so many laws in Ghana and so far, there is one law which we all respect: Women and Men Toilet. You will appreciate that this law is enforced because it does not call for the police to enforce it to work. Citizens on their own appreciate that opposite sexes should not congregate on that type of facility. The point I am making is that anytime the Police has been expected to show leadership by enforcing the laws of the land, they have failed. Whatever should have been a free service worthy of execution by the police, there should be under the table transaction. I am yet to note where the Ghana Police service had performed their core function without being indulged one way or the other.
Parliament will pass all the laws they like but with the type of the unprofessional police service we have in Ghana, we shall never make any in roads in respect of the rule of law, the execution and enforcement of laws in Ghana. Ghana is tired of men placed in position of trust in public service who always fail to administer their core functions.
The time has come and it is now and you have to make a name for yourself. Your outfit is corrupt to the core, they face the same challenges we all face as citizens of Ghana and when they were recruited, nobody told them they were being employed to go on holidays. I supposed they were told the true facts of their calling. They were made aware during training that they are to protect lives and property of Ghanaians. I am sure they were told that during their duty they will encounter the rich, wealthy, people of influence, powerful in society, chiefs, kings, politicians …all on one side and all those who have no voice in society but equally citizens of Ghana. They all need to be treated equally and fairly.
Can the Inspector General of Police look into the eyes of the Ghanaian and tell them our police service have lived up to their core mandate? How do the policemen and women feel when through their drive for bribes they allowed a non-road worthy vehicle to operate on our roads thus causing accidents and murdering innocent Ghanaian? Do these men and women in uniform have conscience to each day reflect on their lack of professional discharge of their duty and consequences on lives and property in Ghana?
Ghana needs a professional police service and it is your turn and we shall never sleep until we see a Ghanaian Police Service that is making sure the developmental agenda is not slowed down by all forms of corruption which to a greater extent, is helped by the unprofessional Ghanaian Policeman and woman. I am watching.
Source: Kofi Owusu-Ansah
www.ghanamindset.com /ww8.discussghana.com

We at Ghanamindset have a policy of educating the Ghanaian to come out of ignorance and be part of the day to day running of our country. Many of our people do not know what government is all about even though we have Extra Parliamentary institutions like the NCCE and the Human Rights Commission to educate our people, the farthest they ever go is Accra.  To talk of anything Ghana, one will be refering to Accra so woe betides those in the country side or the over 60% of the rural population. What does the rural  land owners know about the land they occupy  in terms of tenure or  how about those who farm on land that does not belong to them   what right in terms of  access  and usage as they continue to occupy those lands for the duration of their farming exploits? They know nothing about how  government  protects them in terms of laid out laws as required in a democratic nation like ours.

With this in mind the Ghanaian politician capitalises on the ignorance  prevailing in our system so  when they get into power to govern,they lord it upon us. Instead of them seeing themselves as a call to serve,in Ghana, it is rather we the electorate, the power brokers who end up serving them. What stops us  as the fore bearers of freedom on the continent of Africa from asserting ourselves by demanding  pertinent answers from those in power make me wonder. As for the whys, except one decides not to keep repeating, in everything Ghana, there is a “why” boldly and clearly labelled on it.

In this exposure, we aim at addressing one important issue confronting the average Ghanaian. What I mean by the  average Ghanaian is  everybody born in the land of Ghana and would require the use of land either to build a house,start a business, to farm or for whatever purpose they will require the use of land. How feasible will it be? We learn always of a parcel of land being sold to two to three persons at the sametime and in cases, people who have bought a parcel of land and had erected a building  or a structure on it would be forced to pull them down because  somebody had staked   claim that the land belongs to them. We hear of cases where land disputes have ended in bloodshed but in the end, getting to the bottom of the issue,which is not the Ghanaian way, you realise that these land hawks, who have protection from the powers that be in high places or echelons,would go unpunished. These are issues that need to be addressed by us all.

We decided to search on the internet if Ghana had any Laws on land and it is sad. As  I searched, the closest I came was Dr. Kwame Asumadu’s (MAICD), Director of Asumadu and Associates Publication on  Reform of Ghana Land Tenure  System,(11/5/2003) and if we  call ourselves an independent democratic nation where we have had well over 140 to 275 parliamentarians in  our law making chambers since 1992 and they cannot enact any laws to protect a natioinal asset like land,then it is better to say we have failed as a nation. Where then is our pride as a nation? Can we continue to pretend all is well and that this generation can do without any land tenure let alone reforms.

Nigerians have always been ahead of us when it comes to protecting  valuable and important national assets. In 1978 the military in that country issued a decree to regulate land tenure but come to Ghana, we have had well learned personalities but nobody cares about  how natural resource like land should be regulated.  Is it a matter of stupidity or lack of concern that we always relegate important issues to the background? Otherwise how on earth could foreigners hold us to ransom by  seizing priceless and worthy land and carry out unathorised mining? How about the destruction of the environment  and pollution of our rivers? All we do as a nation is to mount platforms and INSULT innocent and decent hardworking people who mind their business by carrying out decent businesses.

Since 1957, we have had all the following governments: Kwame Nrumah’s CPP parliament dating back from 1952 under the transational arrangement until from 1957 to 1966. What did Kwame Nkrumah do with land?  His communist ideology transferred all land to the state with the exception of the peasant farming lands in the rural areas. Even then, the Workers Brigade owned the lands in the towns. Ankrah-Afrifa,1966-69 did not  do much to the damage done under Kwame Nkrumah, instead, the military too took greater part of the state lands and appropraited to themselves and their cronies.

Dr Busiah was the first leader to realise the danger of Lebanese,Egyptians,Nigerians and other entities from abroad controlling almost everything Ghana. Almost all the Diamond mining areas of our land were under the control of foreigners who built houses and rented them to Ghanaians. The Aliens Compliance Order of 1969 went in some ways to transfer land ownership to the traditional rulers and their communities. However, Kutu Acheampong’s NRC/SMC1  was not interested in Ghana making any headway in development so his government of 1972 to 1978 failed miserably to intiate any laws or degrees to protect land ownership. Under him, it was free for the rich and it became  a field day for corruption and thus many unscrupulous people “Scramble for land” at no cost. Could we fault the SMC2? What could they do from July 1978 until their  demise in June 1979?

What did Rawlings do? How many decrees  did he find expedient to issue to regulate this valuable and all important national asset? We expected that with his so called revolution to change Ghanians from the “zombies” he felt we were at the inception of his brutality,he and his band of  irresponsible junior officers could have addressed the situation but the status quo was followed. Land continued to be the preserve of the rich and the vulnurable,the  very people that the insurrection of 1979/1981 was to protect became the loser.

We in Ghana have been rendered visionless by the brutality of the so called Revolution of  1979/81 to 2000. It was the period we lost count of common sense and all we all did was to dance to the music of one actor, Flt. Lt .J.J. Rawlings.The most gulible people you can ever have on plant earth are Ghanaians. Almost about 80% of our national set-up are jokers and all you need give them is the stage or platform, and they will perform theartics you may need to stop them to have any breath. Fancy Ghanaians calling Rawlings: Junior Jesus when he was destroying hard earned businesses built on Ghanaian lands?

As expected, John Agyekum Kufuor had  eight years as the president of Ghana from the New Patriotic Party, though under him many Acts of Parliament were enacted, he too failed to do anything about land tenure in Ghana. As a market oriented government, land should have played an important role  to his government but the same Ghanaian syndrome of lack of vision did not warrant anything spectacular. Instead we read  stories of land having been appropriated to the party functionaries at no cost at all and the believe was that the NDC were right and were going to retrieve all those lands, we are yet to see anything concrete being done.

What shall we say about Atta Mills -Mahama administration? We never saw  any law passed despite the fact that it was part of the NDC manifesto to retrieve so called government lands. Within short space of time in government,their land acquisition and control far outway any other government in our nations history.

The reason all these things continue to go unchecked is the fact we do not have any institutions in Ghana that are credible and independent to take anybody on. What we have is a nation full of sychophants and propadanists who do not think of anybody else but themselves and their cronies. As Ghana is being paralysed by the wanton destruction of  our  land all some of us can do is just  to write and think somebody will care to take notice. One day we  shall be suprised to wake to learn that, the LAND called Ghana has been sold and the real owners from China or Cuba or Russia have come with the Title deed and would like all of us to look for a new nation or become their slaves.

Proverbs 13: 22  States as follows : ” A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinners wealth is stored up for the righteous.

The dialogue, it is this week’s letter from Europe and involved in this dialogue are three distinguished Commonwealth citizens from India,Ghana and Nigeria but for economic reasons, are now living in the United Kingdom.

Indian:  I am Jose Sahesi from India, happy to meet you, it is a long time that someone has sat by me and exchanged pleasantries, it is very kind of you. Don’t worry, I am Kobby Tenkorang from Ghana. I think there are so many Ghanaians in the United Kingdom, am I right? Quipped the Indian.

Ghanaian: Yes, there are a lot but I am afraid they are not as many as compared to you Indians.

Nigeria: I am Chuks Odumegu, Why do you ask that question?

Indian: I wonder why I do not see most of them as I see you Nigerians in the offices. I am an IT Expert and in the office of about  50 workers, majority  outside the English are from India and Nigeria but the only Ghanaian I see comes around 5pm to do his cleaning.

Ghanaian: I suppose you are looking at just one industry, however, we Ghanaians  do not like trouble so when we travel away from home, we do jobs that will not bring us into competition with the local people. Though we have some Ghanaian experts in other industries they are not many, most of the people I know are comfortable in the  cleaning service.

Indian and Nigerian: They burst into long laughter … so are you saying that we like trouble? Are you saying that it is wrong for us to practice our talents even in foreign land?

Ghanaian: I do not mean that you two nations like to cause trouble but I mean, working in the offices I think is reserved for the English and the other Europeans.

Indian: May I please ask you a personal question, will you be offended?

Ghanaian: Why  would I? You are free to ask, go ahead.

Indian: Could you tell me your academic  standing?

Ghanaian:  Why would I? Anyway for the sake of this dialogue, i would say, I completed senior secondary school only..

Indian: … But you sound academically astute as compared to what you have just told me about your academic background or qualification. Why have you not gone on to complete third level education? Does it mean you lack the necessary facilities to complete university in Ghana?

Ghanaian: That is not the case but what is the point of completing university when you cannot get a job to do? I could have gone to university but I felt coming here, it will be easier to work and save and within few years, I go back home as a millionaire.

Nigerian: You see how backward you Ghanaians have become? You people brought education to us in Nigeria, in the 70s and 80s every higher institution in Nigeria had Ghanaian teachers and lecturers but listening to you make me  think, there is really something wrong with Ghana’s education. You see, with good education and the job I am doing now as an Attorney, it will take you about 50 years to earn the money I will earn in just five years.

Ghanaian: He is disturbed by the little dialogue which has now descended into total humiliation.

Indian: I am really sorry that this friendly encounter is leading to something embarrassing to you, anyway, I am getting off in the next stop.

Nigeria: May I give you little advice, kindly enrol in Part Time institution and complete a specialist degree course at the University and you will never forget this encounter. I am not boasting, but I can tell you that in Nigeria today, almost everybody has completed university. Even those who have not, as soon as they get the chance, they enrol because in that way, you will not do all the donkey work you do  for peanuts. You need to re-evaluate your outlook and think of getting educated so that you could do jobs that pay good wages.

Lessons: Why do we often think it is waste of time to spend time getting education? Most of us when we come to the UK or overseas say “I am going to work for two years and save and go back to Ghana to complete my project … many have been here for well over forty years doing the same job and earning the same income. Even our children who have had the opportunity to do better than us have followed in our footsteps, they  complete secondary school and that is it. They do not want any college education. Our duty as  ghanamindset.com  is the fact that: Today is education, Tomorrow Should be education and in the new scientific and technological world, we should see to it that our children are not left behind.