GHANA COMMENTARIES, by Anna Esi Hanson

It is an undeniable fact that in Ghana today, all sorts of crimes go unpunished. Culprits go scot-free each day. On the other hand, and rather unfortunately, a group of people get punished for these same crimes. Yes, the corporate thieves get a pat in the back for the very crimes for which the ordinary thief gets a slap in the face! That is how unfair life can be. A bodyguard has recently been sentenced to 20years for attempted forgery and theft. He has gotten the full sentence. What baffles me is how quickly he was prosecuted! Indeed, it was fast-tracked! And for what? 800 Ghana cedis. 20years in prison. But what happens to a minister or an MP, accused or arrested of the same crime? Did I say the same crime? My apologies; let me re-phrase it. What happens to a minister or an MP, accused or arrested for gross misappropriations or diversion of funds? He is asked to proceed on leave! Only that? Yes, just that! Proceed on leave, and the crime goes away. And what happens to our ...

For those who have no appreciation for Pidgin English or the colloquial English, this heading, would be difficult to interpret, but indeed, “Careless talk, make monkey fall down”. Literally, “Careless talk made the monkey fall”. Yes, the monkey did not fall from climbing any tree. He fell because, he made a careless remark; the loss of concentration led to the fall perhaps. Indeed, it is fast becoming my favourite adage, courtesy, Ebenezer Nyamekye, a steel bending foreman at my work place, who never ceases to share this each day; as a constant reminder. We should be mindful of what we say, bottom line. If there should be an award for the most popular personality currently in Ghana, one person would not escape this award. And if indeed, we would want to categorize this gender wise, again, this personality would be the ultimate winner. Not even our favourite Hon. Alfred Agbesie Wayome, would even contend. All, due to a simple conversation; of self appraisal, and over-cooked h...

Has the Volta River Authority, now turned from a power generation authority, into a power revenue authority? From Volta River Authority, into Volta Revenue Authority? Clearly in Ghana, a mere name change can be so expensive. When ordinary “Koobi” changes its name to Tilapia, it becomes very expensive. Yes, our beloved Volta River Authority seems to have assumed a new status; a revenue authority status because each day, the only news I hear from them is how much more they want to extract from this nation, in the name of power generation. They claim to be generating power, and yet, each day in our various cities, the reality hits us; there is no power! We keep paying, but receive no power. In Ghana today, it is one talk of a thermal plant after another. Each day, new thermal plants are being planned and cited. Various plants have been commissioned in the past year, and yet till date, no improvements have been noted. The situation is rather getting worse. Huge revenues are being ...

Only in Ghana! Imagine a whole parliamentarian, screaming foul on national media. And I asked myself, what is his beef? Apparently, his supposed HIPC fund had gone missing from the account. How was that possible, and why was the money sitting there in the first place. Apparently, as was his response, he was only saving the money for the next four or eight years, until it had substantiated enough for it to be used. A cock and bull story! It was more interesting, when a couple of days later, other parliamentarians joined in the pandemonium, all threatening to boycott parliament. Indeed, it is quite remarkable, how these parliamentarians find a common ground on monetary issues. Why the noise when we all know that the money would have been idle in the bank anyway? If it can idle for four years or even eight, as I heard that morning, I bet government can equally wait till four or eight years before disbursing it. What then would be the rationale for the funding anyway? Only in Gh...

I had a good laugh the first time I heard this phrase. It had been written behind a vehicle. Position is not property; what could it really mean? But by and by, each day, this word keeps getting meaning. Whenever I consider several issues affecting our society, I cannot help but side with the originator of this phrase. Position is not property! Let us take a critical look at our noble continent Africa, and the world at large. We keep encountering all sorts of leadership, better called, dictators, and each time, we cannot help but ask ourselves if it is worth it at all. Why should people go through all kinds of abuse, attacks, or oppressions, just to hold on to power? Is it really worth it? Is it in any case by force, as most of us would bluntly put it? Is it by force? After all, position is not property! For some people however, position is by all standards, a property! Position in this case represents a social status; a leadership position. It can be a leadership positi...

Ever since my English literature class in my third year at the university, the poem “Look on His Works” by A.A Amoako has never left my memory. This splendid piece of literature was about Saddam Hussein. A.A Amoako started this poem, with the words; “The world loved to hate this Dictator and knew him more by his first name. A son of Adam, Adamant in his policies… He built adamantine walls around his foes……” Yes, our world surely loves to hate its dictators. We only have to label someone as a dictator whether deserving or undeserving, and sooner or later, everyone learns to hate. In a nation like Ghana, which cannot seem to find a leader who possesses the willpower to lead this nation higher, could a dictator not perhaps solve our problems? In all truth and fairness, who is a dictator? Can this word be defined solely based on terror or tyranny? Indeed, our society and livelihood, somewhat depends on fear because fear sometimes keeps people in check. It is the fear of a con...

I am a bit concerned about Ghana. It is the reign of double standards! People are always making comparisons and justifications! People are always making excuses! Whenever I read the comments from readers, I am a bit taken aback! Whenever I read comments on features of other writers, I am generally disappointed! Let us call a spade, a spade! Enough of the comparison! It is disappointing, when people conveniently stray from the issues confronting this nation! Instead, they trivialize it! Some even have the effrontery to request that you talk about something else! It is as though what they imagine to be important really is important. Some time ago, I wrote about homosexuality in Ghana and received varied responses; someone requested that I rather wrote about abortion, because to the person, that was more important! Another asked me to talk about corruption! But at that moment, I needed to tackle homosexuality! On another occasion, I wrote about doctors in Ghana, and seve...