"POLITICAL KIDNAPPERS"

We find ourselves in a ‘cocktail of blistering infernos and a jiggle of treachery, irreproachable stances and a cacophony of inconsiderate recklessness. At a time where our dear nation is barely waking up from a perennial political slumber, a compound of budget deficit, seeming insoluble water and electricity crises, our revered GNAT(Ghana National Association of Teachers), NAGRAT (National Association of Graduate Teachers) and presently TEWU (Teachers and Education Workers Union), find it prudent to call a nationwide strike. Such is the elevated repugnance and repulsive nature of our country.

Ghana is in a state of poignance and dilapidated wretch, a mess not fashioned by the present government particularly but practically, perpetuated (forgive my pun) by Ghanaians themselves. We curse and rant at our governments and make a mockery of our institutions. We’ve turned our institutions into mercenaries and bandwagons of corruption, ineptitude, indifference, and a solitary breeding ground for premeditated evil, despotic wielding of power and a habour of political chicaneries.

How could we deal with all these Machiavellian surrogates and stupendous mafia without changing our attitude and support the Government to achieve its goal. It’s interesting how cynical and sarcastic people get when the government is facing glaring and seemingly insurmountable challenges. They talk as if the success of Leadership wouldn’t trickle down and invariably inure to the benefit of all and sundry.  It’s about time we got serious and allowed the President some space to work. This business about various groups incessantly calling at the Jubilee Flagstaff House (Apologies to Ayariga), well the Flagstaff house to inform the President about a naming ceremony, a funeral or perhaps just a courtesy call is extremely irrelevant and juvenile, it smacks of how bogus certain(emphasis on certain) aspects of our culture is…Please allow the president to work!

The substantive issue on review here is about the ubiquitous strikes that have engulfed our country.  The President said he has been having sleepless nights with regard to the Energy and Water crises (Some people have propounded erroneous conspiracy theories to explain that there could be more to it than meets the eye, but I think that lacks merit and should be sidelined), maybe this time, the “Dumsor people have taken their Dumsology to the doorstep of the President, well, how terrifying that could be, a President sleeping in darkness.

So we all woke up on a bright promising Monday morning to an incredulous (well at least at this time of the year) news about teachers declaring a nationwide wide strike. Their(NAGRAT) concerns being; the non-negotiation of category 2 and 3 allowances, delays in the promotion of teachers, refusal of fair wages and salary commission(FWSC) to negotiate retention premium for teachers among others. Meanwhile the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT) have followed suit with similar reasons as the basis of declaring what people regard as a shameful and nauseating strike. Efforts by the government to settle these issues have scuttled and had been on the rocks. Furthermore, the Fair wages and Salaries commission had been a spectacular failure and ameliorative with regard to addressing the plight of our “dear” teachers or so it seem.

NAGRAT AND GNAT, did point our quite passionately that their agitation had started for quite some time now, prompting the government to assure them that they were going to use  six weeks to address their concerns and within that period form a working group in pursuance of government’s intention to instinctively deal with this canker once and for all . According to them, six weeks had come and gone but the so called working group has not been inaugurated to even start work”. (I mean, seriously, why should the government treat our teachers this way? this to all intents and purposes is overtly uncalled for and reprehensible. The government should be pragmatic and show a sense of tact, diplomacy and maturity in solving these problems).

The teachers went further to say that “the fair wages and salaries commission have not done too well; what they have done is to try to frustrate the system with legalities which do not hold water, and at the end of it all what they are trying to do is to slow down the process and then make that teachers do not get what they want”.

These indeed are the litany of issues the Teachers have catalogued, prompting their nationwide strike at these “trying times”. Literally, the plethora of reasons given by the teachers are quite genuine, but alas, one sided…… it may not be as bad as they say; well no worker is satisfied with their salaries are they? I mean MPs, are u satisfied? I don’t think so. I also understand how frustrating these government agencies could be, they go like, “come today, come tomorrow” etc. maybe this kind of “Mary go round” nonsense really pissed the teachers off. Sometimes, a simple signature to be appended to authenticate or certify a document by Directors of Government agencies could be such a tumultuous, relentless waste of time. I’m sure this ridiculous back and forth is the theory that justifies the teachers’ philosophy to embark on an industrial action. I really empathize with them, to the extent that our public servants are so apathetic towards work; they behave as though you’re bothering them (why weren’t they able to sought the teachers out with all the urgency that it deserves). In that sense, I empathize with them (Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, step up your game). Having said that, maybe they are just deserving of each other, with reference to how insolent and impudent some (emphasis on some) teachers could be (lots of people are).

So after defying calls from the president and the National Labour Commission (NLC) to call off their (NAGRAT and GNAT) strike, TEWU (Teachers and Education Workers Union) decided to join them since they feel prejudiced and seem not to be getting any attention from the government, perhaps taking a cue from the NDC, who decided to join the infamous 2012 election court case.

Hence from all indications, I’m all out for the teachers and TEWU but my problem stems from their opulent display of intimidation and smacks of what I call a classical case of “Political kidnap”. Particularly in this year that two batches of students are writing their exams, I find it highly immoral, unethical and mischievous for them to declare these pervasive strikes. This issue evinces the fact that students are being held to ransom to coax the government to giving into their outrageous demands and until then, the students remain in abduction, waiting for the President to pay the ransom of their “kidnappers”. I don’t think it’s fair for the students to be treated this way, neither is it fair for the teachers to be neglected, but have they really been neglected? An executive member of GNAT postulates that though salary levels have been increased as per the single spine salary structure, (which may be on the verge of an acute fracture) his problem is that, it is relatively not good enough, that is, if compared with salaries of other workers. Does that smack of sheer avarice and envy? Well probably not, I hope so. To this end, why should students be made to bear the brunt of the ineptitude of the Government and the FWSC (Fair Wages and Salaries Commission) as suggested by the GNAT/NAGRAT/TEWU?

Perusing the litany of issues raised by the strikers and juxtaposing them with the FWSC’s elucidation on what the actual situation (at least that’s what they say) further highlights the turmoil of this whole situation. The head of public affairs at the FWSC, Earl Ankrah says GNAT/NAGRAT are playing double standards, he also pointed out that what the leaderships of GNAT and NAGRAT say at the negotiation table is radically and fundamentally different from what they tell their members when they come out. He further opines that apart from Friday March, 15, 2013, the Commission had met with the teachers on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, and there was little indication that the teachers were going to embark on strike.

These are some of the reasons why some of us have resolved to repudiate the stance of our ‘beloved’ teachers whose calamitous actions are detrimental to an unprecedented two batched Final year students(SHS 3 & SHS 4), who have actually started writing their exams. Even more inconsiderate is the decision of TEWU to aggravate students’ plight by joining in this avalanche of strikes. This means that even if the Teachers had decided to call off their strike, the distressed student’s already living in tattered penury would invariably have their situation aggravated, i.e., hunger etc.

I don’t think our teachers are morally justified in this wanton flex of opportune bravado, at the expense of students. Their action reiterates my earlier conviction that students are being taken as a captives by the teachers, to demand a ransom from the government, clearly evincing the worst forms of illicit “Kidnap”. It’s also instructive to point out that their issues should be resolved, not to say all their demands should be met (some of them are just ridiculous).

Ghana would only be a better place if we all strive hard to make it so and eschew the patent hypocrisy, apathy and crass indiscipline which we’ve so gloriously conferred on ourselves.

NB: One of the reasons why people shy away from politics and refer to it as a dirty game is as a result of reckless and loose tongued mavericks like Sir John, he doesn’t even know what he says…..sir John paaa, such a bad, bad, bad example of political stalwarts. (No further comments pls, he’s an elderly man and needs to be respected, irrespective of how rudimentary one might perceive him)

Read more »

"DEMOCRATIC COMEDY" Part II

The paradox of our situation however is that the opposition NPP and its candidate is not any better. I mean, come on.... the allegations of  Nana being snobbish, arrogant etc never seem to go away. Upon some interrogations, i chanced upon an interesting evidence, which further prevents me from diminishing my idea of him having an aura of arrogance and insolence around him. This is a journalists' ordeal with him

 "I first came into close proximity with Nana Addo when I was reporting from parliament for Joy FM in 2001. He was Attorney General and his elegant suits made him look the part. He spoke so eloquently and carried himself like he was already president. He had certain airs around him and I felt he was snobbish. One day, he gave me a taste of his snobbery, proving me right. It was the day the National Reconciliation Bill was passed. The acrimony in The House was palpable, NDC MPs staged a walk out and the NPP majority, as they say, had its way. As I was filing a live report on Joy FM from the corridors, I saw Nana Addo walk out of the chamber so I ran after him to essentially ambush him for an interview but he went into the washroom. I rumbled on with my live report until Nana Addo finally came out of the washroom. I signaled for him to stand still, in a “stay where you are” manner.

The Attorney General stopped in his tracks for me. 

All this while, I was still talking on the phone and I’m pretty certain he knew what I was about. Then I introduced him and posed a question with a rather regrettable lengthy preamble. He patiently listened to it all but instead of answering the question, he just turned and walked away – into the chamber. I felt dazed. I almost collapsed. Granted that my question was probably a daft one but that was classic Nana Akufo-Addo, as he has helped his opponents to cast him in the eyes of the public – elitist, snobbish and arrogant. In my embarrassment, I took consolation in the fact that he had confirmed what I had always thought about him! But that incident, my embarrassment notwithstanding, didn’t take away the distinct impression Nana Addo sowed in my head much earlier that he was a man who could also be president someday"

Human Beings are not perfect so i don't expect our politicians to be perfect. In any case, we as a people do not necessarily help ourselves. We find a lot of people, who want to live outside this country to seek greener pastures elsewhere abroad. The irony of this situation is the apparent fact that if all these people will work as hard or develop the right attitudes as the people of the countries they're so passionate about, wouldn't Ghana be a better place than this?

We go to the polls tomorrow, i just pray the Lord guides us to make the right choices, even though i honestly do not think our Politicians deserve all our efforts, Let's just give them another chance and hope the real economic, political and social revolution, positive though, that we all hope for would be guaranteed. Let Peace Reign.........Let's give JM the chance and see if he will sack the evil blokes and twits, maybe that will give chance to the "Better Ghana" they are so obsessed about. Let's vote for Nana Addo, to see if the free SHS will come into fruition....Let's vote for Paa Kwesi Ndoum, maybe his penchant of chanting jobs, jobs, jobs will catalyze the development of Ghana.... JM, don't disappoint us if voted, Nana, stop the all die be die and your snobbish behavior if voted, it might help you to implement your free SHS, Finally, Ndoum, when you are voted, please shave your mustache (lol), it will get you to attract more investors and jobs...........

Let us remember that “The true democrat is he who with purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and, therefore, his country's and ultimately that of the whole of mankind”

About elections, Lily Tomlin recounts, “Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.” Let's stop perpetuating this pessimism and consolidate our democracy, at least much more.

I hope and pray our peace is not compromised for any opportunistic political dinosaur. I sincerely hope our next president would be decisive, development oriented, a critical thinker, sensible, honest, incorruptible and a man, who encourages and promotes our local industries and one who rapidly eradicates the annoying raw material exportation to an industrial country......

For the potential losers of this elections, remember that “Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”

May God Bless us All!!!

 

Read more »

"DEMOCRATIC COMEDY" Part 1

On a light side, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch, Liberty is a well armed lamb, contesting the vote"...Some also say, "Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike best"

The political terrain is gradually charging up. Tension is rife, coupled with allegations and counter allegations of political impropriety, vitriolic attacks, evil machinations, plots, maneuverings, inordinate statements,secret tapes nebulous promises and quite interesting policies.

There are a plethora of secret tapes, with voices that clearly sounds like people who are purported to have been plotting a series of treasonable attacks on the security services as well as indicting their opponents with unreasonable and erroneous allegations. The veracity or otherwise of these tapes is difficult to ascertain.

The Late Pres. Mills during his state of the Nation address met a rather juvenile attitude by the minority in parliament, who exhibited their delinquency by cladding in funeral attires (red and black). The President was herculed, jeered at and bombarded with the immature mannerism of the NPP Parliamentarians, who were virtually a microcosm of kindergarten pupils. In the midst of all such irresponsibility and psychopathic mannerism, He was composed and delivered his speech with clarity and a sense of purpose.

The so called "All Die be die" mantra, which was perpetrated by the NPP Presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has been accordingly pursued by a chicanery of supporters, who advance this rather shameful and disgraceful attitude with notable political liabilities like Kennedy virtually calling for the Akans to kill Ewes and Gas. He stated, "today i declare war in Ghana". Anthony Abeyifa Karbo, the former youth organizer of the NPP declared explicitly......."if the NPP is not declared the winners of the 2012 elections, Afghanistan", Sammy Awuku says people should use pestles as weapons etc. These irresponsible, childish but ethnically sensitive and provocative comments are disheartening to say the least and could fan the seeming quenching flames of inter-ethnic violence which would invariably spell dire consequences for the nation.

Early on in the year, a grand scheme, allegedly purveyed and meticulously articulated by Alfred Woyome gave birth to the now pervasive word Gargantuan, supposedly birthed by the famous or rather infamous Martin Amidu, who was sacked as the attorney general(He described the money paid to Woyome as gargantuan). A whopping sum of over 51 millions Ghana cedis was paid to him based on what we now know as an erroneous fact. He claimed that his contract had been terminated by the erstwhile NPP administration. When this "Demonic" and fraudulent scheme was ingeniously uncovered by the NPP, the government conceded that it erred in the payment of such a gargantuan sum and thus takes Woyome to court to reclaim the money. Such a pervasive ineptitude! Were they sleeping when these monies were paid or was it probably just a grand scheme to rob the country? This development created lightening cracks within the NDC party, to the detriment of their electoral fortunes.

The formation of committees is an interesting feature in our democracy. During crises, the President forms knee jerk committees, who are basically people who individually can do nothing but agree that together, nothing can be done.

The "sudden saddening" death of The Late President Atta-Mills was an unpleasant surprise. For sometime, I could almost imagine myself in a trance of pangs....The summary of it is that on the 24th of July, at approximately 2:15 GMT, the nation was thrown into a charade of confusion when the President was pronounced dead......a lot happened.....I'm trying to shy away from this awkward part of our history. What is startling however is that parliament that day as far as some of the hypocrites of democracy, the minority were concerned wore red and black(any difference between this and what they wore during the late president's state of the nation address?).

The NDC continued to suffer under the uncharitable rhetoric of President Rawlings, who in an unfettered manner chastised, chided and incessantly made cynical jokes about certain members of the party. He refers to some of them as "Babies with sharp teeth" and consequently christened some as "the evil dwarfs". He might be right after all. The fact being that the NDC hasn't impressed me as much as i expected...They are virtually stirring the soup all leaders of the fourth republic had been trying so much to prepare. No salt, no pepper, nothing, just raw like that. In other words, the NDC hasn't been quite innovative. The pathetic incompetence, apathy and an apparent lack of seriousness towards eradicating the plight of Ghanaians is evident in how abysmal they've performed. It's nothing to write home about. No wonder it is said that “Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”

The problem i however have with the NPP is that they didn't do any better so they do not have any moral high ground to be politically prudish about issues of competence and performance. In effect, the two parties haven't really done much...But for the emergence of John Mahama, the defeat of the NDC in tomorrow's polls would have been an outright massacre. John Mahama in the words of Flt Lft. Jerry Rawlings has brought a spark to their party.

I believe Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is really passionate about his Free SHS. I salute him for such a bold step. This indeed is a bold step. He would surely be remembered in the annuls of our history as the one man, who introduced a politics of issues, issues and issues. If not for His impulsive and repulsive "all die be die"and his snobbish character, Ghanaians wouldn't find it difficult to vote for him.

The NDC have messed up big time under the auspices of the chicanery of wicked dwarfs, who manipulated and invariably called the shots. These belligerent and evil old dwarfs palpably diminished the chances of the NDC in pursuing it's boring and monotonous "better Ghana agenda". I mean, give me a break.....This stale and incoherent mantra, coupled with the obvious perception that Mills (Bless His Soul) had no control over the Presidency gives the NDC in as a party without clear and decisive prospects for the future.

The alienation of the Rawlingses by the so called "greedy bastards", "evil dwarfs", and "babies with sharp teeth" further plunges the NDC's victory into an abyss that smacks of defeat, in the words of Rawlings. With such a record of palpable schisms, incompetence, apathy and such an enduring ordeal with the NDC, their defeat wouldn't come as a surprise. For me, on the basis of the lack of a clear, forceful and cogent campaign message by the National Democratic Congress, you needn't a rocket scientist or a diviner to tell you that their victory would be a miracle.

Prices are still high, contracts are characterized with deep seated allegations of corruptions, perpetuated by crask criminals, who are shamelessly siphoning and stifling money from our already perforated pockets (allegedly). The sheer incompetence by the NDC is unmatched ( The NPP is not any better). I mean, they've just been a total failure. Nothing has changed, well not much. It's really annoying that these people will come back to us with their funny faces to seek our mandate for another 4 years( Unless the ancient wicked dwarfs are sacked by John Mahama, His Excellency, in the event that he becomes President, my humble conjecture is that this country will be more useless than it is now).

The persona and aura of J.M presents the NDC an opportunity to redeem its sinking and pungent image. Most of us found it quite reprehensible, the posture of Jerry Rawlings towards the NDC, but alas, most of the things he says are true. On a matter of principle, i found faults with him not necessarily because of his incessant outbursts against the ruling government. My beef was his modus operandi. However, having reflected and taken stock of events, the shrouding of issues in secrecy and lies, the compulsive arrogance of some government officials and the sheer indiscipline that has transmogrified a seemingly humane party gives credence to Rawlings' assertions.

Ghanaians have to put up with the sweltering heat, persistent blackouts and laser penetrating cracks that have consistently developed deep loopholes in peoples' businesses. When you complain about this , they reply with the cheeky answer that during the NPP era, there were blackouts....such arrant balderdash!!!!!!!!!! why the hell did we vote for a change then?......These guys are pathetic jokers, aren't they? "The situation of incessant light offs in Ghana would give an aspirin a headache.''


It doesn't mean The late President (God Bless His Soul) meant bad for the the country. This was a man of Peace, so passionate about improving the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian. He was a man of integrity, a man of humilty etc....Indeed he epitomizes a man of honour. Can the same however be said about the so called evil dwarfs around him? If you ask me about evidence of their corruption, this is it........they performed so abysmally, just as good as JHS students would have done.. That's what you get when you put "bellyfool", I mean bellyful, despotic, mediocre and highly incompetent materials in office( not all of them are, some are very competent). This is a lesson for all political parties seeking for power. Don't put people who lack the basic requisite skills in office just because they are members of your party. It's just like a matter of shooting yourself in the leg..It would surely haunt you. These government officials who prowl all over the place instead of being modest actually want more pay. Sometimes, i just feel that some of these guys should be arrested for their gross incompetence. Politics has created more comedians than we could ever envisage.

Ghanaians have not been any helpful either. We are too indisciplined......Rubbish here, Rubbish there, Rubbish everywhere. The question is who throws these trashes around? it's us....Unless we change our attitude, it would be quite difficult for us to stop some of the wicked politicians from purveying their whimsical and parochial interests to our ultimate detriment. Let us resolve to do the right things.........

In the "Part 2" of this series I would be touching on other sensitive issues....

 

Read more »

POLITICAL CONSTIPATION

 I'm pretty sure most of you would agree with me that the bliss, joy and aura that heralds Christmas and the new year seems to be dwindling at an alarming rate. I remember the times we used to build Christmas tents with palm fronds, decorating them with lights, flowers and anything that comes into our youthful minds. We create bombs with bamboos, which had car-bite as the bullets, guns made from carved wood with rubber stacked on that miniature gun, using scraped matches ends as its bullet. We, through our ingenuity devised a lot of strategies, namely paraphernalia, toys, guns and other aesthetic designs to grace the occasion, but that is not what we see these day. That for me is what takes the "Glory" from what used to be a blissful Christmas.

No wonder most of us find solace in selling finished products than producing them. We sell so much that even the countries producing these products have a hard time meeting our gluttonous demands. In Ghana, there isn’t any house without a seller. Evidently, you would see at least one seller in each house, mostly selling “provisions” namely biscuits, toffees, milk, sardine, and of course the “panyin de panyin akpeteshie”, which is hot served on the counter.

I’m finding the proliferation of container kiosks more interesting. Everybody is trying to put up these structures to sell. Hitherto, we’ve had stalls, kiosks, stores etc built for the purpose of selling but the emergence of these container kiosks buttresses, my assertion of Ghana as a shop owning country.

I’m sure we all are privy to the fact that every corner has a kiosk or stall situated on its borders. This is quite advantageous because you do not have to travel very far to the market to access those products.

The bane however is how this phenomenon is gradually turning our dear nation into a “borla” a worthless rubbish dump for other countries.

Here is a country where we import basically everything. Toothpick, plantain, maize, rice, beans, groundnut and even cassava or maybe pretty soon kokontey. I simply can’t fathom our mentality or better put the authority of the presidency to institute strict jurisdiction, preventing the import of these produce and products into our country, which could have easily been produced here and even sold at a cheaper price.

That for me evinces how handicapped our governments are in dealing with the problems that confront us.

I thought the NDC had always talked about value for money when they were in opposition. Now they are in power and I think they are not any better.

Korlebu Teaching hospital has been in dire crises and needs urgent attention. The facilities there are archaic and deplorable and show nothing of a modern 21^st century hospital. Sometimes, visiting such a hospital even makes you sicker. A patient who goes in there with malaria will end up coming back home with more diseases at his back. The incessant dying of pregnant women, due to the malfunctioning nature of the lifts is no exception of the crises that we have at hand.

In the order of nature and biological precedence, when one eats, it surely must be passed out after digestion, the same scenario is the case in our political arena, when we pay taxes, the money which goes into the government coffers(the stomach) is supposed to be passed out in the form of developmental projects but that ironically is not the case, it stays there!!!!!!!!!

Instead of stuffing the hospital with the equipments and valuable necessities, the government decides to buy a jet, for what???????? How possible, or I mean since when did the buying of those ostentatious and luxurious jets become more important and relevant than human lives.

Do our politicians really care about the sick? Do they empathize with the dying pregnant women? Couldn’t we have improvised without this imprudent and profligate expenditure on Jets? And couldn’t we have used the money to improve our obviously collapsed health facilities?

The answers to these questions are obvious. Our politicians lack the basic capabilities of addressing the problems that confront us. This is a classical case of possessing “multiple tongues”. The NDC criticizes the NPP for building the “Jubilee house” which they thought was a waste of the tax payers’ money, was unnecessary ad a white elephant. They argue the money could have been used to improve our suffocating health and education sectors. Now they’ve come to power and they are doing the same things, if not worse.

They promised to reduce taxes, reduce the price of petrol drastically, provide jobs, single spine, free access to health-care (one time payment for the NHIL) etc. all these fallacies and fantasies of promises are yet to be impeccably fulfilled. Any attempts to fulfill these promises leave much to be desired, so much so that leaving the situation in its sullied state would have been better of.

No wonder there isn’t any spec of civility in our political discourse these days.  Everybody gets up to say any arrant balderdash without recourse to morality. Politicians have become so desperate and vulgar that, the least chance they get is seen as an opportunity to hurl invective expletives at each other. “Greedy bastards” twits, stupid fool, nincompoop etc with other unsavory euphemisms and innuendos are all we hear these days.

This makes our politics very stinky and stale, pungent and repulsive.

Sometimes, I think because our politicians have failed us, they leave aside issues, dabbling in political expediency and despicable insults.

Tuning to these ‘mushroom’ Akan based radio stations is a headache. The only thing you hear is NPP and NDC fighting each other.  These insults are sometimes very nauseating.

For me our politicians have failed us absolutely and they apparently have no clue to the solution of our problems. Our so called technocrats are just so “unpractical” they don’t even know how to formulate policies…….hahahahaha, intellectual illiterates.

I definitely do not want to say our politicians are gifted thieves and slanderers, burglars and ferocious criminals but it’s curious to note how they fight so aggressively to climb to the corridors of power.  Is it just because they want to solve our problem that it should be an “all die be die” affair? Obviously not!!!

There is something in there that they’re all fighting for and we all know what it is; the tax payers money.

What’s more annoying is the avalanche of arrogance exhibited by these people we elect to power.  Their attitude transmogrifies the moment we elect them. When they are begging, literally sleeping on the floor for the electorate, they do so with humility, diligence and dumbfounding reverence. The moment they are given the nod, they forget about all the spurious promises they made, resorting only to the satisfaction of their whims and caprices.

The fact that everything in Ghana is politicized doesn’t in the least puzzle me. Facts being that the two main political parties are always at each others throat talking and talking and talking with no clear foresight on what developmental agenda they have for Ghana.

Every political party has its own manifesto and policy that it expects to achieve. That’s an unfortunate precedence, since it’s evidently clear that most of the parties do not necessarily project the national interest in their manifesto, but spew a creed and litany of outrageous promises( in the interest of their own parties), which are so fallacious and illusive, that they are never able to fulfill. For me, I think a national policy agenda should be looked at more seriously and in essence a national manifesto. We are tired of the empty political talks, which do not even inure to the benefit of the masses.

Sometimes, I’m tempted to think that we’ve for so long being under the authority of some few old men, who do not even know what internet or email addresses are, in effect, people who do not know anything about information technology and the modern 21^st century order are the ones who impose their crude medieval Stone Age policies on us.

For us to treat (because we can never eradicate these problems) our protracted political constipation, it’s imperative on us as a people to start using our brains and eschew this political nonsense that we’ve engulfed our dear nation into.

Our political leaders should at least be taught that we do not appreciate the kind of ancient analysis they do when it comes to formulating our policies.

For me, I think the most ostensible and prudent means of self actualization at the state level is calling the bluff of the so called whites (which I think is erroneous because a human being can’t be white) in relation to our natural resources, from which we benefit nothing. Pragmatic policies and directives should be issued to wipe out the increasing menace of lawlessness and disregard to the rights of other people. Indeed unless our leaders relent in massaging wrong doing without fear or favor, we will still be in the mess in which we are and even worse.

Finally, I think the long boring speeches are enough; we’re tired of the lengthy monotonous talks. Today the president says I will do this I will do that- we’ve had enough of this, and we’re tired of the radio social commentators, who do nothing but teach us how best to insult. What we need now is action, action, uncle Attah, crack the whip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year

Read more »

IN THE NAME OF LOVE,(EN NOMBRE DEL AMOR)

 The journey so far in the classic epic tellenovela in the "IN THE NAME OF LOVE" has been a captivating one. Courtesy Wikepedia, the story which you've waited for, for so long is narrated as follows.

"En Nombre Del Amor" is the story of Macarena (Victoria Ruffo) and Carlota (Leticia Calderón), who are sisters and who have went through a lot of pain, loneliness and shame, because they fell in love with one and the same man - Cristobal Gamboa (Arturo Peniche). This unhappy love triangle has had an enormous influence on the mature stages of their lives. An interesting fact is that they are both still virgins, which isn't typical for their age. Carlota has deceived both Macarena and Cristobal by having both of them believe the other had died. As a result, Cristobal fell in love with Natalia (a friend of Paloma's adoptive mother Sagrario) and soon became haunted by his past, which resulted in him leaving Natalia standing at the altar on their wedding day.

At the same time we follow two other characters - Paloma (Allisson Lozz) and Romina (Altair Jarabo), who are best friends and know each other since they were children. Their relationship goes through many of the typical difficulties of youth and at some point they even become rivals because of their first love.
After losing her parents Javier (Eduardo Capetillo) and Sagrario (Bibi Gaytán) in a tragic car crash (during which they were returning from Cristobal and Natalia's short-lived wedding), Paloma is forced to move in with her two maiden aunts - Macarena and Carlota. Macarena is loving and kind, and she establishes a very close and warm relationship with her niece. Carlota, on the other hand, has an authoritarian temper and cruel intentions. It seems that she enjoys making Paloma's life miserable. But both aunts keep a family secret that could change Paloma's life forever.

When Paloma meets Inaki (Luis Hacha), she believes he is her first and only true love. Inaki is the son of divorced parents Alonso and Carmen. He is also the stepson of Natalia (the same Natalia that Cristobal refused to marry years ago), who had married Alonso and had a daughter with him that Natalia named Sagrario in memory of her friend. Soon, Paloma makes plans for marrying him, but her aunt Carlota does whatever she can to break up their relationship. Paloma and Inaki at first plan to run away to Spain, but after Paloma has a nightmare about Macarena dying, she convinces Inaki to take her back to Real del Monte, but the two suffer a car accident, and Paloma's life is saved when Emiliano (Sebastian Zurita), a friend of Inaki's donates his blood to Paloma. Macarena thanks Emiliano for doing that and says he's like a guardian angel. Although Paloma believes that Carlota does not want her to marry Inaki, Carlota tells Paloma that she has her permission to marry him.

However, after Paloma and Inaki are released from the hospital, they have a party to celebrate their upcoming wedding. Carlota has bought belladonna and she poisons Inaki with the belladonna in his cup during the champagne party, and he becomes increasingly sick the next day when the wedding is supposed to take place. Once Emiliano informs Paloma about this, she is hysterical and Emiliano takes Paloma to Inaki's house, where Inaki dies with Paloma at his side. After this tragedy Paloma thinks she will never find love again. But then Emiliano appears in her life to change it for the better. Emiliano and Paloma fall in love, but the problem is he is Romina's boyfriend and also the object of Carlota's hatred, which makes their love impossible.

Later on, Arcadia (the maid of Inaki's family) calls Carlota and tells her she suspects her of killing Inaki, and blackmails her into bringing her money. One night, Carlota and Arcadia meet on a road where Carlota gives Arcadia the money, and then she kills Arcadia by hitting her with her car, throwing her now-lifeless body off the road afterwards. Some time later, Cristobal (now a priest) comes to Real del Monte and after having a conversation with Paloma one day, he discovers Macarena is alive, and meets her in the hospital. After a tearful reunion, this causes relations to sour between Carlota and Macarena where during one argument it is revealed that Paloma is in fact Macarena's real-daughter. Paloma learns about this revelation and gets mad at Macarena and initially leaves home, but later returns and accepts the truth.

Macarena and Cristobal continue to spend time together, until eventually one night Cristobal proposes to Macarena. Macarena accepts his proposal and Cristobal then plans to leave the priesthood. However, during a phone conversation between the two one day, Carlota learns of their plans and ends up getting very angry with her. An enraged Carlota pushes Macarena through a window-like glass on the second floor and Macarena falls to her death, but not right away. At the hospital, Doctors attempt to save Macarena's life, but she eventually succumbs to her injuries from Carlota pushing her and dies with Paloma and Cristobal at her side. Paloma later wants to know who her real father is, but Carlota hires an actor to pretend to be her real dad, and when Paloma falls for Carlota's lie, she starts to become very doubtful.

Romina in the meantime, has been cheating on Emiliano with her enemy Lilliana's boyfriend German Altamirano, and even becomes his lover. She begins to deceive Paloma after catching her kiss Emiliano one day on a street. When Romina becomes pregnant with German's child, she deceives everyone by saying that Emiliano is the father. Romina gets a DNA test taken to see who her unborn baby's father is, and allies with Carlota to alter the results, so she can marry Emiliano. It is successful, and yet Paloma is torn away from Emiliano because of this and believes she will never find love again. Emiliano in the meantime is forced to marry Romina, and on the day of the wedding Romina almost suffers a miscarriage, but is saved in time by doctors. The nuptials are done on the bed Romina is laying on, and Emiliano concidentally agress to be Romina's wife although he wishes he hadn't.

In the meantime, Paloma meets a man named Gabriel Lizarde, who saves her life after jumping off a church balcony. He introduces her to art, and soon becomes her paint teacher. Paloma also meets Gabriel's father Eugenio, who is a lawyer. Soon the two develop a sudden attraction for each other, much to Emiliano's jealousy as he tries constantly through the novela to win her heart back again. Gabriel has a serious heart condition and might die anytime soon, but hides his illness from everyone, especially Paloma. Later on when Inaki's father Alonso receives a letter from Arcadia's niece, he reads it and it is from the late Arcadia herself and she suspected Carlota of murdering Inaki, and an angered Alonso kidnaps Carlota in an attempt to poison her to death with his own belladonna, but when he is almost successful, Carlota escapes from her hostage place, and despite her dazed state she hits Alonso in the head with a stick and then pushes him towards the path of an oncoming truck, and it runs over Alonso, yet killing him.

Carlota frames Cristobal and Natalia for the crime, and they are jailed in a prison in Pachuca and Cristobal is expelled from the priesthood, and during Cristobal's stay his long-lost mother Madeline Marcell Gamboa visits and Cristobal is not too happy about seeing her, since she abandoned him as a kid. After Cristobal and Natalia are proven to be innocent of murder, they are released from prison, where Cristobal returns to the priesthood eventually. Cristobal and Madeline have a tearful reconciliation after Cristobal learns the real reason why Madeline abandoned him as a kid, and the two develop a mother and son bond.

Emiliano's mother Diana had an affair with Orlando Ferrer in the past. Orlando is Emiliano's boss and although Rafael was believed to Emiliano's real father, Orlando later reveals to Emiliano that he is his real father which sends Emiliano into a state of disbelief, but soon he accepts the truth. Romina's mother Camila has dated Rafael Saenz for some time, but soon leaves him for Orlando Ferrer and marries him. However, after Camila discovers that Orlando cheated on her with his former girlfriend Angelica, she threatens for divorce but Orlando says it will take a year for the divorce to be finalized.

Romina gives birth to a baby son, but soon Emiliano begins to doubt that Romina's child is his and he wants a divorce, but Romina will not have any of it, and Emiliano eventually leaves Romina and finds his own place to live, and soon tells a doctor he wants another DNA test. Paloma and Rufi (the house servant) eventually plan to leave Real del Monte with Dr. Bermudez, but Carlota shoots him before they can leave and thus they are forced to stay at Real del Monte once more. In the meantime, Samuel (Romina's father) attempts to rob Camila but is stopped by Rafael who saves her from him. Then Samuel is arrested and is then sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Madeline soon meets Paloma, and becomes convinced that she looks almost like she did when she was young and asks Cristobal to find out if he is Paloma's real father, and after finding out that the man Carlota had hired to pretend to be Paloma's father is not her real father, the two of them confront Carlota, and Cristobal finally confirms to her that the actor she hired is not Paloma's real father and that he is her real father. One day while in church, Cristobal and Paloma meet and he tells her he is her real father, and the two tearfully embrace. Paloma soon learns from Cristobal about how Carlota deceived him and Macarena when she was alive, and Paloma finally decides she has had enough of Carlota's domineering-self and her lies, and eventually leaves home with Cristobal and Rufi.

Paloma and Gabriel have fallen in love, but yet Paloma can't forget her feelings for Emiliano. They plan to get married soon. Soon, Carlota tells Eugenio, she wants Paloma to come over to her house for a little "meeting", and Paloma reluctantly agrees to go to Carlota's house. There things go out of control and Carlota tries to kill Paloma and while doing so, she confesses every crime she ever did, and after finding out Carlota killed Inaki and Macarena especially, Paloma is shocked and scared and begins calling Carlota a murderer, and she tries to save herself from Carlota, and just at that same time Cristobal, Rufi, Eugenio, and Gabriel break in through the back door, Carlota tries to push Paloma over the stairwell, but Paloma ducks and Carlota ends up going over the stairwell herself, and is knocked out unconscious. A shocked and saddened Paloma tells everyone about the killings Carlota confessed to and tells them she killed Inaki, Arcadia, Alonso, Macarena, and Dr. Bermudez, but Eugenio reveals Dr. Bermudez is alive and in witness protection.

Carlota is taken to a hospital, where she pretends to be paralyzed. There are officers outside her hospital room ready to take her to prison the minute she gets out of the hospital. Romina in the meantime becomes depressed and leaves her baby with Camila, and leaves Real del Monte and while car racing with another guy, she ends up getting into a car accident and is almost killed, but luckily saved in time by the Fire Department. After this traumatic experience, Romina decides to be a full-time mom, and eventually signs Emiliano's divorce papers and gives him his freedom.

A few days before the wedding between Paloma and Gabriel is to take place, Gabriel learns that due to his heart condition, he has only one month to live. On the wedding day, in front of the wedding guests Gabriel tells Paloma he can't marry her due to his illness, and Emiliano steps in Gabriel's place as the groom. Gabriel approves of this, as he has known that Paloma has still loved Emiliano for some time. Cristobal is the reverend at Paloma and Emiliano's wedding, and Paloma and Emiliano are finally married. In the aftermath of the wedding, Carlota arrives having escaped from the hospital, and pulls out a gun and attempts to kill Paloma, but Gabriel gets in front of Paloma and is shot in the chest two times and dies in the arms of Eugenio, Paloma, and Emiliano. Cristobal and the other priests chase Carlota, and when Carlota tries to shoot Paloma again, Cristobal stops her, and Carlota slips and falls from the church to the ground, seemingly dead.

Various days later, Cristobal becomes a bishop and Carlota has ended up in a women's prison for all her crimes, having survived the fall but ending up in a wheelchair half-paralyzed. Romina and German end up together as one happy family with their baby, and Camila and Rafael are together happy as ever, and so is Orlando and Angelica. The novela ends with Emiliano and Paloma by the Real del Monte fountain, re-enacting the time they said they loved each other, before finally sharing a kiss.

Wow, what an intriguing piece, i hope u enjoyed every bit of this sultry telenovela: DEScy


COURTESY: WIKIPEDIA

Read more »