Pick of the GhanaBlogging Week: Will the "Real Jemi" of "CIRCUMSPECTE" Please Stand Up?

I spoke to my best friend, Juliet, today who told me Jemila Abdulai is a very talented and brilliant individual. That kind of endorsement from someone like Juliet--a trained and experienced publisher and journalist--can only be good, especially if Juliet happened to have been Jemila's "trainer" at a reputable magazine a few years back.

It's also good, especially when I know Jemila as well, and recognise that she is indeed a talented and brilliant individual, who also happens to manage a blog, entitled "CIRCUMSPECTE".

She claims to write about:

"Ghana::Africa::Development::Youth::Global Issues::Life::Anything & Everything"

Though she does do that, she does it very well. She also tweets, and a few weeks ago, when the "trending topic" was "Jemi", she quipped something in her tweets that suggested that someone might have come across a major piece of news which funnily corresponded with her name.

Truth be told, the "Jemi" is a compound name of "Demi Lovato/Joe Jonas", who ostensibly work for Disney! Some clever sod with too much time on his hands decided they would turn it into a trending topic, and given how US-centric twitter can be, it got there!

But back to the "Real Jemi"!

Perhaps one of the central reasons for chosing Jemila's blog was not just because I know her a bit after phone and email conversations and recognise how at 23, she's very smart, but also because I -- shame on me!--very rarely visited her blog! This was not because I did not want to--more about so many other blogs, being updated more regularly, that were (and have been) competing for my attention.

Still, lucky her. Today's her day--and not necessarily because she's "Pick of the GhanaBlogging Week", but because I believe she deserves it.

Her blog is structured in a way that pretty much segments information (in the same way I like to segment some of mine). So she has:

*Development
*Interviews
*The Water Chronicles
*The Letter-Writing Project
*The 16' Journal

These are among the highlights of her writings, but the one that does it for me is the "Letter-Writing Project", where she writes about an important and topical subject (sometimes it's newsworthy) in the form of a letter.

I will refer to the latest one, entitled "

The Letter Writing Project: Sex Sells, But At What Cost?"

I had seen this article elsewhere on the web, totally oblivious to the fact that it was she who had penned it. It is a very insightful commentary on the increasing use of salaciousness in movies, and what it means for what the Brits would call "dumbing down" of our nascent-but-rapidly-developing movie industry.

Although the whole piece is good, what I most liked about it is this quote:

"I also think you need to think twice about how you're presenting these issues to the Ghanaian and global public. It's one thing to try to encourage confidence in one's sexuality by talking about the inherent issues, and it's another thing to go the overt sex or soft porn route. One - the actual sex act- belongs in the 'private domain', while the other - sex education -is in the 'public domain'. Education concerning sexual reproductive health and rights is just beginning to take root in many African societies and that's precisely because of the fabric of those societies. You need to keep that in mind the next time you decide on a detailed threesome or office tryst. And for heavens sake, keep the buttocks-showcase to a minimum. This whole soft-porn business might not be too bad for the male actors, but with the double-standard society we live in, I can only imagine the havoc it's wrecking on the females' reputations. That statement might sound sexist, but it's the truth. And the worst of it all, is that with this focus on sex, less attention is going to be paid to talent"

She could not have put it any better!

Go check out her blog on http://www.circumspecte.com!





labels: ghanablogging, pickoftheghanabloggingweek,

Why an ex-BBC Journalist-Blogger Was Censured for his Racist Comment

There have always been racists among us, and like crime, I don' think it is ever going to go away.

I can understand how the democratisation of the e-space (read:the Internet) has enabled voices of all slants establish themselves through blogs.

But when we get experienced journalists -- like Rod Liddle, former BBC Radio 4  "Today" programme Editor make racist comments, without even realising it is racist, and thinking that his "pedigree" would sanction his comment, then the blogosphere becomes all that bit more murkier.

Still, we have to thank God organisations like the UK's Press Complaints Commission exist, for they were able to censure Liddle, explaining that his blog entry

"...had not been able to demonstrate that the 'overwhelming majority' of crime in all the stated categories had been carried out by members of the African-Caribbean community".

Now this is the UK, and I am not surprised someone's complaint brought the PCC's attention to bear on the matter. But I cannot help but wonder what would happen if something similar had been done in Ghana, where no agency exists to deal with such issues?

Not that in Ghana, anyone would necessarily write a racist comment (!), but given the degree of our political polarisation, where almost every issue is politicised, who would censure any blogger who might write a highly-biased entry that was written through the filter of (excessive) partisan politics?

Would it be the rather-pusillanimous Ghana Journalist Association? or the ever-more timerous National Media Commission(NMC).

I am encouraged that GJA information can be found under the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, and that people can complain to the NMC, but how about a form--like that of the UK's PCC?

The way the NMC site is set up is great, but if it were made easier for citizens to complain--as is done with the better-performing Ghana's Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, then more people would feel, in my view, compelled to complain and make the Commission more meaningful.

Ghana still has a challenge with blogging--not enough of our journalists are blogging, and that cannot augur too well for our fledgling democracy as the guardians of the Fourth Estate seem to linit themselves to the 9-to-5 journalism.

Perhaps, given the state of play of non-blogging journalists, citizen journalists can begin to put sufficient pressure to ensure that the agencies that need to have teeth to make necessary censures can begin to think a bit more about working!




*This entry can also be found on http://ghana-mediawatch.blogspot.com*


labels: ghanablogging, ghana bloggers, ghana purc, ghana gja, ghana journalism, rod liddle, bbc, racist comment, ghana citizen journalism

Pick of the GhanaBlogging Week: Golda's Blog (SAVING GHANA)

Every now and then, you come across a blog that catches your eye, and you wonder why on Earth you had not paid attention to it before. In the first of the occasional Friday series on catching some of the eye-catching blogs on the http://www.ghanablogging.com community, today I introduce :

GOLDA's blog on http://savingghana.blogspot.com.

For someone who's taken an eye for issues of climate change off-late (and not just because we might pick it up as a key area of advocacy for our work some time in the future), I can pinch myself for missing this blog. This is what I wrote in a post to my fellow ghanabloggers in our list-serv:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Emmanuel.K. Bensah Jr. <ekbensah@...>
Date: 2010/4/6
Subject: More on Golda's Blog...some insights for GhanaBlogging
To: ghanablogging <ghanablogging@googlegroups.com>


Morning all. Welcome back to work (if ur here already!;-)) )

I was just browsing the web for work-related stuff, and thought I'd pass by Golda's blog. I am ashamed to say that it's the first time I'm coming across her blog, but loving it!

I love this quote:

"

I HAVE STEPPED FORWARD. Will you?

Let's form a new rank of Ghanaians with the willpower to change our circumstances for the better. Because better is for all - the hardworking person as well as the hazed druggist or the hardened criminal.

And on that note, if ever a thief comes breaking into your home, or attacks you somewhere; or you see a mad person or a dazed drug addict, ask "Bruv, what happened to make you this way?" "

from: http://savingghana.blogspot.com/2010/01/between-good-and-evil-is-only-fine-line.html

Now I can appreciate the fact that not all of us are comfortable delving in and out of darkness, but I think the words gave me some food for thought. I don't think none of us could ever save the world by ourselves, but I have personally always believed that every endeavour that we undertake is done so for a reason.

We are united under Ghanablogging members by choice, but if we wanted to take it further to help expose the underbelly of Ghanaian society -- as we did with Jemila's initiative of World Water Day -- then we should try to continue doing so undaunted.

So I thought that with Golda's "support", and her passion and expertise in energy and environment, maybe she could prepare us a bit for June 5th (ENVIRONMENT DAY), already so that we can begin thinking how we can all help contribute to elucidating some of the complexities of living in a healthy environment in a developing country like Ghana.

It is normal some of us will fail to throw sufficient light along the way, but if some of us try, why not?"

I think the eml has spoken volumes about my intention of where one can go with Golda's blog. Although it has not been updated for a while, I highly recommend it for its deep insights on Ghanaian culture and our attitudes to environment, which is something GhanaBloggers don't blog sufficiently about!


Take it easy as you try to have--like myself--as stress-free weekend!






labels: ghanablogging, ghana blogs, ghana environment

Nightmare at Private Hospital Lister, Redux, & A Cautionary Tale of Private vs. Public Health Care in Ghana?

The shower is a great place to catch early news on radio.


So it was not without reason that it would be there I would catch the news of a harrowing story that involved Lister Hospital and a case of a dead baby that was not attended to by nurses. The station was CITI97.3fm, and although a bit too much time was spent on the story, it was clear that it was important issue to be talked about, especially as it was an interview of the mother in question, Mrs.Vaah.


According to the interview, her baby lay a good five minutes outside her body--without the umbilical chord being cut by either the doctors or the nurses.


This is how CITI97.3fm reports it on its website:

"Mrs. Vaah added that several minutes after the baby came out the nurses kept running back and forth without knowing exactly what to do. She said that noticing that her baby was not crying as usual she inquired from the nurses but no definite answer was given.

when the baby came out, for about 5minutes he was laying in between my thighs and these nurses kept running back and forth without doing anything but I realized the baby was not crying so my husband and I started asking why the baby was not crying but one nurse came in and cut the umbilical cord and wrap the baby and took him away. "

from: http://www.citifmonline.com/site/news/news/view/4590/1


What is noteworthy here is that this is far from the first time I have heard of a horror story from Lister hospital. I have a very
personal story of a very good friend, Nana Amaa, who passed away on Mayday 2006. This is what I wrote on my blog back then:

I am still reeling from the news of the sudden death of one of my very good friends (pictured above), Nana Amma, at a private hospital near the Spintex Road. It is Day Three since I heard the news that she passed away on Mayday, but I wake up every day feeling that I can give her a call. I still have not deleted her phone number, neither have I deleted the last txt msg she sent me. I won't either. I want to preserve them for posterity, and for her memory. I even went to the trouble of saving our online chats on msn messenger. I am still grieving, because I miss her very very much.

Why Nana Amma's passing is critical in this weekly review is because it calls into question the debate of private versus public health care. A lot of people, including myself, appreciate the efforts of public health care, but see it as still insufficient. I have tended to believe that private is better, because of the quality of the time spent with you, and the service provided. Nana Amma's case has proved a rude shock that this is not always the case.

Once my work colleagues heard the news, everyone wondered why she did not go to Korle-Bu, which is one of the biggest hospitals in the sub-region and the continent. It was only this week that the Graphic reported that the President had inaugurated a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computer Technology (CT) Centre "to help in the diagnoses of serious diseases" at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

The machine, procured at the cost of ç27.5billion "will be used for the early detection of diseases, such as stroke, cancer, and breast diseases which are not easily detected by the normal X-ray machines."

Regrettably, it came too late for Nana Amma.

from: http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2006/05/as-week-draws-to-close-in.html



So when I called into CITI97.3fm a few days after her death, it was normal I would be concerned about the necessity of a debate on private versus public health care. This is what I called in to say to then-host Bernard Avle (as
captured in a blog entry then):

I think it's important that whilst we are talking about Korle-Bu, we also bring in the question of private versus public health care. A lot of people might be tempted to beg or borrow money to go private, because they hear it is faster and more efficient. As I indicated, my good friend passed away at a private institution, and that, for me, speaks volumes. The more we talk about the negative aspects of Korle-Bu, the more we might go to feed the perception that private is better. We should also be talking about public investment in our public health care institutions. A debate needs to be had so that people's relatives don't go dying [in droves] on us…"

from: http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2006/05/more-on-public-health-care-or-korle-bu.html


While it is true that I was imbued by grief then, it is also true that I have left discussion of the debate for a while now. I don't get sick often, thankfully, and I am still rather young--although at almost 33yrs, I could do far better on my weight management.


Point is: blogging has gone far in this country, and if we are to avoid such unnecessary deaths [which death is necessary, anyway??!!!] then it probably behooves more of us bloggers to make commentaries on these important health issues more than we do--and not just when we are sick.


This is no lecture. Probably more of a "note to self" !






labels: ghana health, private health care, public health care


 

Re: Mid-Week Madness: "Great with the Podcast, CITIfm97.3, but How about a Downloadable file?"

As I write this, I am listening to a very good recording of an interview by CITI Breakfast Show Host Bernard Avle and Minister of Trade and Industry Hannah Tetteh, which was conducted this morning. I missed some of it, so I am very glad to be listening to the whole thing.

That is all well and good, but what is not is the fact that I could simply have downloaded it! What if my internet connection was--alas--not as stable as it is today? Would it mean that I am indefinitely incapacitated? Would a podcast (à la BBC) not simply have done the trick?

Whilst I am the first to commend CITIfm97.3 and what I call its "pseudo-podcast", which it calls "audio on-demand", I will also be the first to criticise it.

It is great that one can re-listen to radio clips, but how about being able to download it -- as exemplified by the inimitable BBC?

Back in 2008, I wrote an article for the erstwhile "Sunday World" newspaper, entitled "(Pod)Casting Aspersions on the Ghanaian Media". You can access the article here: http://penplusbytes.blogspot.com/2008/03/podcasting-aspersions-on-ghanas-media.html.

In it I gave the raison d'être for podcasts, which I quote here:

Let's face it: podcasts are not only supposed to educate us; they are supposed to make our lives easier. Issues with internet connectivity notwithstanding, last time I looked, most internet cafes enabled you download from the 'Net and even from and unto your storage devices. Even without a connection at work or in your home, if you knew you could re-listen to your popular breakfast, or lunchtime show, by way of a podcast, I could imagine you would end up feeling both sated and dedicated to your station of choice—knowing they not only care about the kind of programmes they produce, but want you to be further interested in giving you the opportunity to listen again. To boot, your productivity would inevitably be boosted knowing you would not make too much effort to listen to a programme on the hour, especially when you can catch it again—albeit without contributions by text and email you might want to make.

So, when I get to the very much-improved CITIfm97.3 website, yet it requires me --  in a developing country like Ghana where the internet connectivity through broadband is unpredictable -- I cannot quite figure it out.

Please give me a downloadable radio clip, which I can download from any computer in the country, so I can die happy!


*This post can also be found on http://ghana-mediawatch.blogspot.com*




labels: mid wk madness, mid week madness, citi fm, ghana radio, ghana podcast

Where are the Ghanaian Crime Writers?

As a budding crime writer, with already three chapters under my belt (thanks to a creative writing class at university, where I penned my "Usual Suspects"-style crime thriller, and used the lyrics of a song by Catatonia to frame my chapter titles), I just realised that it has been a good three years since I started making bombastic claims about my thriller!

April 3, 2006, in this post, revealed a very excited E.K.Bensah Jr waxing lyrical about writing a novel.

And write he did, but it has waxed and proverbially waned.

I picked it up last Christmas, but have continued to postpone its writing because of work "pressures".

Then I think of a Ghanaian lawyer I saw on KSM's "Thank God it's Friday" programme on Ghana's Metro TV last two years who won a Commonwealth writing prize--despite his heavy schedule as a lawyer!!

Thing, though, was his book was on the usual African style of fiction--you know, set in an African village, traditional customs, conflicts, etc. That's all well and good, but I want more!

Can you imagine that I did a Google search for "Ghanaian crime writers", and I came up with "Youth crime" as the first entry; it's virtually non-existent! Contrast that with "British crime writers", and you find a LIST and even an ASSOCIATION!

Where are the Ghanaian crime writers?

Perusing further, I came across one Kwei Quartey (Afro-American mother, Ghanaian father) who had this to say about writing crime about Ghana:

"As a mystery writer, I'm drawn to Ghana because it provides a compelling background to any crime. The society is in rapid flux. Traditional clashes with modern. As affluence increases, so does the gap between the rich in their mansions and the poor in their shantytowns. Young people surge in vast numbers from the rural areas to the big cities in search of employment that often never materializes. Add to the mix drug lords, corrupt politicians and the mores of Ghana's generally conservative society, and we have a rich tableau indeed."

I don't know if it is "regrettable" as such, but my characters have no whiff of what Quartey calls "the physical world coexist[ing] with another realm of gods and their magical powers.". He is write when he opines that "These beliefs can considerably complicate a murder investigation"!

I might just be the first crime writer to go the atypical way of setting my story not in the traditional African setting! We'll see!

Some wise person once said "go where there is no path, and blaze the trail".

I guess I might just have to hurry up and finish that crime thriller I've been banging on about, no?




labels: ghana crime, ghana crime writing

Ghanaian Drivers, Climate Change, and Irresponsibilities Thereof

To claim that Ghanaian drivers are irresponsible without giving a reason as to the blanket finger-pointing is never a good idea, but neither is it a great idea to witness the following scenario: a car parked outside a neighbour's house--with driver not just waiting with a running engine for more than fifteen minutes now, but with no less than the air-conditioning on as well?

To boot, there is a cool wind blowing because of the harmattan winds, so there is no need for air-conditioning.

What is one to say about a scene like that?

With the basics we know of climate change, is it not categorically irresponsible to pollute the atmosphere with a running engine that is running air-con, when in waiting, you could switch off the darn engine? Set against the backdrop of cool winds thanks to the weather, why air-con at all?

I suspect the person waiting might be a driver, because I cannot for the life of me fathom any private driver behaving this way, when he would want to be prudent with his petrol! If he is the car-owner, then I seriously fear for Ghana.

We have come a long way, but time and again, our occasional ignorance and/or illiteracy on dynamics of global affairs can precede us in horribly ignominious ways.

Is this where I castigate the Environmental Protection Agency (with a pitiful website on http://www.epa.gov.gh) for not sensitising Ghanaians sufficiently on the perils of climate change?

LABELS: ghana climate, climate change ghana, ghana epa, ghana environment, ghana regulation

___sent: e.k.bensah (OGO device)+233.268.891.841/ekbensah@ekbensah.net

These words brought to you by Ogo.

As the Week Opens in Accra: On Taxes, and Why Obama's Tenacity is to Die For...

I spent the better part of the weekend monitoring the debate on the BBC World service regarding Obama and health care.

So, I don't quite understand why Europeans do not have a major problem paying tax (I even re-call once hearing on the BBC that Sweden is the country where they pay the highest tax, and rarely complain as they know where it goes to!) but the Americans do.

I re-call that just before we came back home from Belgium in 2004, the what Belgians called "TVA" in French--simply VAT--was around 20.5%. Whether you were exempt from taxes at some point because of the work you did or not, there was some tax you could not avoid. And really, there was no need: insurance companies almost-always reimbursed a large part of costs incurred at the "Pharmacie" on most of the drugs. It was always a joy to see the folks with receipts going to have money reimbursed at our insurance company. Even though I was still rather young to understand some of these intricacies of tax and its use and whatnot, the process spoke for itself.

Back in Ghana, when the government -- some weeks back -- decided to raise taxes on the toll booths, I understand it was problematic as many felt it was too much, too high, too soon. Fast-forward a few weeks later, Ghanaians have veritably put up and shut up.

That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh! I like that! Uh-huh, uh-huh!

Seriously speaking, I pay income tax of around $200, but I don't bother to think about it, or even imagine what I could do with that money. At the end of the day, it is my trump card to hold the government accountable for what it is doing with my money. Is it not?

Back to Obama, reports in the media indicate that the biggest reforms include:

 1. Democrats say the overhaul will extend coverage to 32 million more people in the United States

2. Americans will be obliged to buy health insurance by 2014 and in 2016, if they have not bought coverage, they will be fined 2.5% of their wages.

3. By 2014, employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidised insurance.

4. Dependent children are permitted to remain on their parents' health policies until they are 26

5. The richest will be charged a higher rate of tax to pay for the government health insurance plan for the elderly, Medicare

from: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Obama-Healthcare-Bill-What-Will-Reforms-Mean-For-Americans/Article/201003415579100?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Page_Feature_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15579100_Obama_Healthcare_Bill%3A_What_Will_Reforms_Mean_For_Americans

If I am at all impressed by Obama, it has everything to do with how he has kept his steely resolve by working hard to get more supporters. That he failed to get even one Republican vote beggars belief, but him missing a trip to Australia (despite the lure of a Free Trade area) to ensure this domestic agenda is passed speaks volumes not only of his tenacity and steadfastness, but, in my humble opinion, continued commitment to the social, which the slip-ups in the first year seemed to have knocked.

I hope this victory provides sufficient fillip for him to work on other pressing areas he set out to work on!


labels: Obama, health care, ghana taxes

Why, Thankyou, but Sorry!

Apologies
It's a cool, Friday afternoon and I am feeling rather bad: I am no longer unable to comment on my favourite blogs at work. Not that it distracts or anything, as most of the time, I sacrifice my lunchtimes to do commenting and whatnot. The truth of the matter is that given the execrable bandwidth provided by VODAFONE GHANA, our IT officer has seen it fit to "temporarily suspend" social networking sites, and blogger.com! It seems like since this was done w few weeks ago, the speed at work has greatly improved, so I suspect it's going to stay! This means that short of running across the street to a hotel, where I can get unlimited access to blogger comments, and the weekend, where I do other things than commenting on blogs, there will be a lapse in commenting. Just wanted to say "thanks" to all those who have been commenting, like DANIEL and MIKE of GHANA Hall of Shame, and ESI CLELAND. I shall be your way in hopefully more-innovative ways soon. Sadly, the mobile is not very friendly to blogger.com, and it takes quite some time to load pages.

We shall see!!

BBC SUPERPOWER
Am currently listening to BBC Worldservice's "Business Daily" programme, referring to the BBC Season of how the Internet as transformed our lives. If you have not checked their site out yet, do so; it's a wicked read: http://www.bbc.com/superpower

GHANA POLICE ON SPINTEX ROAD
I took a picture of that police dispatch rider to indicate how increasingly well-behaved the Ghana Police is becoming. Yesterday, they had police directing, and disciplining (yes, even this morning, they ordered an impatient driver to return from the long queue he jumped!!) drivers--private and commercial vehicles alike--to the extent of providing the much-needed sanity on that legendary strip they call the Spintex Road!

Labels: spintex road, ghana police,

Happy Independence Day (March 6 1957-March 6 2010)!

I believe the pictures speak for themselves, but let me say it anyway: Ghana obtained independence from Britain exactly 53 years Saturday 6 March, 1957, with the memorable words ushered by great Pan-Africanist and founder of Ghana Dr.Kwame Nkrumah:

"At long last, the battle has ended. Ghana--our beloved country--is free forever!"

There have naturally been reminders of this on television and radio, and for those alien to Ghanaian culture (am unsure how you can be if you've been following this blog for almost 4 years now;-) ) there's a website to find out more:

http://www.ghana.gov.gh/anniversary/
--

culled from: http://accradailyphoto.com

You can view some of the upcoming and past events here: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/anniversary/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=15&Itemid=84

My March Mission: Monitoring Ghana Police on Twitter

I have been tweeting a lot for the past week.

For some strange reason (or maybe not so!) my growing affection for Google Buzz has probably taken me in that direction as twitter feeds into Google Buzz "status". Whatever the case may be, I thought March--the first day falling on a Monday and all--was an optimal time to make a New "Month" Resolution, which includes more tweeting; more buzzing; and less Facebook!

Far be it for me to pronounce the death-knell of the latter, but I seriously think Google Buzz has in many ways come to steal its thunder. Its fallout will not be seen now, but it is clear new legends will be created!;-)

In any event, I have always carped elsewhere about the marvels of technology and how Ghana Police ought to be on the social networks. I'm sure someone will say that it's about "priorities" and "resources".

I was brought up to believe that where no path is set, you create it, and blaze it. Clearly, the top people at Ghana Police are not thinking that way. And because they seem not to, I shall continue, in the manner of my annoying National Road Safety Commission, to monitor their movements (when I can) for the twittersphere.

If you are on twitter, watch out already for the #spintexroad #ghanapolice search tags!


Labels: google buzz, google, ghana police, twitter

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: T&TofaFADINGHA Gets Noticed!; Gear Up For Gold Cab!

The week has ended with some degree of sanity on the Spintex Road. I have not received the proverbial call from the NRSC for the past few days, but I rest assured that the MTTU is doing their job, so I'm quite satisfied.

That said, satisfaction is far from my mind as the country went political again, what with the President reading the State of the Nation, and incurring the wrath of the hapless opposition who should, frankly, be booed out of the august house of Parliament for the time-wasting that they practice there!

But to the point:

There I was minding my business on a Friday lunchtime, checking the latest entries on ghanablogging.com, when I notice a blog entry by Global Voices Online co-"author" for GhanaGayle Pescud and now author of An Insider's Guide to Ghana. Her entry was on "Ghana Blogs I like".

Now I know this humble site--though five years and some 369 posts old --is not as popular as some of the newer ones who have been around for only a year, so I far from expected that it would top her list--but it did. She wrote:

Another top Ghanaian writer is E.K. Bensah and his blog The Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denizen of Ghana, with a fantastic view of Akosombo Bridge as the main header. If you want to know what it's like to get caught in Accra traffic, read  The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Spintex Road Traffic. (Great title, crappy situation.)

She also praises another ghanablogging colleague Mac Jordan, who does have a great site. I exhort you to go check it out.

Now, while we're in the self-congratulatory mood(;-), allow me to direct your attention to one of my first posts of 2005 and here on this blog, which you can click here: http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2005/03/im-in-accra.html!!

Gear up for Gold Cab!

For the past almost-four years, I have been patronising the services of "Gold Cab", located in the centre of town (Kokomlemle). Though I have never been to their head offices, they have always been a phone call away. They are useful because they can go where commercial vehicles are unable to go, because they have WHITE number plates, which are the preserve of private cars (unlike yellow ones that dominate the taxi landscape).

Only this week, their fares per hour went up from GHC10.00 to GHC12.00, which is, respectively, US$6.66 to US$8.00. Not bad per hour, considering normal taxis have now gravitated towards that amount.

What makes them even more special is the fact that the cars are all new, or fairly new (roughly 1-2 years old) and are all air-conditioned. They first started with this fiat in the captured picture in this post, went to TOYOTA YARIS (no funny thoughts, pls!!) some 12 months ago...and will now go to...the Black Cabs of the UK.

Two GOLD CAB drivers have confirmed independently that the British Black Cabs will not be as big as in the UK, and will be converted from right hand- to left-hand drive. Another driver told me yesterday that they are currently at the ports.

I seriously look forward to seeing a slice of British cabbies here in Ghana very soon! If you're ever tempted to patronise Gold Cab's services, let me know and I'll pass you the info. Frankly, their communication strategies are poor. Despite the fact that they have a fleet of some 25 cars (painted in inimitable GOLD), they do NOT have a website!

In the 21st century?!

This free ad, I hope, ought to get them some patronage;-)

Just in case you missed what the GOLD CAB TAXI SERVICE CAR looked like in 2006 before it was painted a gold colour, here it is:

The Unbearable Lightness of Being...in Spintex Road Traffic

Roads are our lifeblood. It is what we need to move from A to B. It is what helps us get to our destination. So, when we do not move on it quickly, it invariably becomes more than a headache. We cannot avoid traffic--there will always be accidents, people driving crazily and/or carelessly/foolishly--but we can certainly avoid a situation where the most important parts of our morning are eaten up in traffic on the only thoroughfare that will take us into the capital!

I took the picture this morning to first, indicate where the origin of some of the worst traffic comes from, and secondly, to signal that all the noise I had been making to the National Road Safety Commission might just have paid off!

I know because when I called--yet again--this morning, the lady immediately recognised my voice and greeted it with a chuckle.

Then she said that she had called one police officer at the Motor Transport Unit, subsequently rattling of a phone number for me to verify whether she had called.

I brought the tempo down by explaining if she says she has called, then there would be no need for me to call. She promised to call me back, which she did, explaining that the MTTU has a problem with their "roster" [good grief!] so were re-scheduling.

The good news was that the hot line room would call me early tomorrow morning to check whether the police had been dispatched! Oh joy!

Ain't complaining grand!;-D

While I'm jubilating, let me do a public service by offering the number for those on the MTN network: it can be reached on short code 18008; on VODAFONE: 0800.10.800 and on land line 021.912.107

Store it on your mobiles now! The more of us complain, the more pressure will be brought on the Motor Transport Traffic Unit of the Ghana Police to get their act together!

Mid-Week Madness: Re-dux: This is What Young Ghanaian Journalists Should Aspire To; The Inconsistency of Spintex Road Police

Back in 2007, I wrote a blog post, praising Business&Financial Times Journalist Moses Dzawu (now a Deputy News Editor!) who picked up my story of a piece of news I had heard on the radio about Stanbic Bank wanting to take over Ghana's only Agricultural Development Bank. I had spoken with him on Sunday night. By Monday, the front-page of BFT was asking whether ADB was being sold to Stanbic!!

Three years later, I feel compelled to revisit the title, because I think CITI-fm Journalist Bernard Avle (back from studying an MBA at Warwick university in 2008/2009) a couple of months ago and back on the "CITI Breakfast Show" for Mondays-Wednesdays) deserves the accolade for picking up a piece, written by former Deputy High Commissioner in Ghana Craig Murray on his blog a few weeks ago.

The story was on corruption, and how the British government is being hypocritical by not touching on how British companies have been complicit in corrupting Ghanaian officials over a number of deals. I circulated the story last Friday afternoon. On Monday, I saw it in front of "The Insight" newspaper.

After Avle's interview of Craig Murray himself, and a hosting of a panel that included Ghana Integrity Initiative (local chapter of Transparency International)Vitus Azeem, the story has taken somewhat epic proportions. The actual story is here: http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/02/the_uk_and_corr.html#comments. I must, in fact, thank my British blogger-friend (since 2005) Daniel Hoffman-Gill, which website I found the link on last week! Thanks Daniel!

Meanwhile, I am getting frustrated in using the Spintex Road as the Ghana Police (motor Transport Unit) continue to show the same inconsistency I complained of in the last post. They simply are not deploying--either on time, or at all--police to stop all sorts of cars creating confusion on the road. When they're there, the traffic assumes a sanity that is refreshing. Refreshing because it is so rare for the road to be sane!

I wasted units calling the National Road Safety Commission hotline on MTN 18001 today. It didn't go through, so I was compelled to call their landline--only to be told that there was an electrical fault.

With a hotline?

Only in Ghana!

Truth be told, yesterday, when I did call, they picked it up and called me back to say that they have informed the Motor Transport Unit of the Ghana Police and they have been dispatched. Need they be told? I wondered. They didn't have an answer for me. This morning, I got the lie that the MTTU had been deployed. We had been on the road since 7.45am and it was as choked as ever, developing multiple lanes thanks to commuters using shortcuts that fed into the road.

I fear what tomorrow will bring, but I ain't giving up calling them, or radio stations to get the message across that Ghana Police are not helping us...

This is GHana, or a Cautionary Tale of its Inconsistencies

For all the noise that is made about the media in Ghana, you have got to put it that they are a more powerful batch than we give them credit for.

If we take the issue of traffic chaos on the legendary Spintex road, thanks to a couple of interviews on radio and television of policymakers and policemen on steps to resolve the headache-inducing traffic, for the past few days, police have been deployed in strategic places to ensure compliance by motorists of main roads that will make for smooth traffic.

Forty-eight hours into this laudable initiative, the police has gone the way of lackadaisical ostensibly abandoning posts where they should be. The result is traffic of the sort of last week that has begun to build.

Yet again.

Must we call on the media to save us--yet again?

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As the Week Opens in Accra: Mad Men in the Ghanaian Media

The week has opened with a lot of noise and speculation in the Ghanaian media about what the British call "cheque book journalists". I would like to think that no country is immune from this kind of journalism. In Ghana, it is just that it has a different twist--rather than the journalists being ashamed that they have succumbed to this kind of atypical journalism, they lament--like journalist Baby Ansabah (who is the talking point right now -- that they did not get anything from the previous government for castigating the incumbent President who was then in opposition. The claim that others got immovable property and cars is just...something else. Issues like these only deepen my perception of the media as riddled with more (square pegs in round )holes than a swiss cheese, and a lot of mediocrity.

It was refreshing to hear CITI97.3fm's Bernard Avle broaching the issue this morning on the "Breakfast Show". I would hope he can talk more about his colleagues in future.

In my view, only a critical self-reflection of the Ghanaian media by their own kind can take the future of journalism to heights that commanded respect in the era of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah when even Nigerians--better journalists these days in my view than my Ghanaian counterparts!--came to Ghana to study at the Ghana Institute of Journalism!

My Unwitting Foray into Ghana's "Funeral Tourism" (of a Domestic Kind)

Given Ghanaian's penchant for attending funerals, it was only a matter of time before a term be coined to describe all the kinds of activities
associated with what I would call "funeral activism". I rarely write about them here--and not because I don't attend them, but largely because it's not my style to pour gloom on my beloved followers. When I did first write--that was in 2005--I attempted to bring some humour to it. I called it
"77 Degrees of Separation and a Funeral
".

To be specific about "funeral tourism", I had the unfortunate "priviledge" of attending the funeral of a colleague's Dad in Akosombo last Saturday. Now Akosombo is no stranger to the organisation as it is a place that has played host to a many of our institutional year-end "retreats" long before I came.

Being there again reminded me not just of the greatness of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah-- whose planning of Akosombo, where the world's largest man-made lake remains in the Akosombo dam is--but also of how endearing the serenity and order of the place remains.

Despite the humidity, it is a place I would not mind visiting evey weekend; it's a world apart from the chaos of Accra, and so verdant you won't believe it's only some 90 minutes drive from the bustling capital.

All this praise for the place does not take away from the "funeral tourism"; it only brought it home yesterday when a colleague referred to it. Given the number of funerals that take place every weekend, and how "sympathizers" are always welcome, you are most likely going to find people with more time than sense feeling like travelling across the country to a part of Ghana they have never seen before -- just for a funeral. Naturally, in the process, seeing a bit of town they would not normally have seen.

If ever this called for a way forward, then it would be in the government communicating, promoting, advocating domestic tourism. A website-- like that of the Ghana Tourist Board on http://www.touringghana.com is great, but it needs to go beyond the electronic and spread to radio and television: Ghanaians need not a funeral before they decide to enjoy the country that is so green and blessed with beaches and beautiful sights all round!

A Sweet Tale of Trekking to Tema with a Unsung "Mate"

Last night, I made the not-so-obvious mistake of boarding a "Nungua/Bush Road" tro-tro which I assumed would take me through the famed Spintex Road and on my way home. Given the traffic build-up, I found it no news at all to see that the trotsky (as some commuters so affectionately call this form of transport) had turned to take the motorway.

Now, these drivers like shortcuts--a lot, so it was very surprising to see that the usual shortcut that the trotskys pass to get to the Spintex Road had been by-passed by this driver in question.

There we were: some eighteen Ghanaian citizens rocking and rolling (our eyes in disbelief on account of the traffic!) through the night and streetlamps that line up the 46-year old Tema motorway when suddenely I realised that we just would not stop. I kept on harrassing the dosy "mate" (that's the guy who collects the fares) as to when we could hit the Spintex Road, but I noticed after a while that his elusiveness did not just precede him, but it was him: he just was so taciturn it was not funny. As I tried to speak to him in twi, he was practising his relatively good English on me. After speaking that language the whole day at work, I just wanted to fall into vernacular. I guess that's what irritated me all the more. I thought of all the things I could say to him, but held my tongue.

Good thing I did too, because it is this same "mate" who would eventually open up and give me directions how to get back to the Spintex road after we alighted at a TOTAL filling station on the Baatsonaa road, near ECOBANK. All this--not without passing through what I came to find out was Community 18 of the Tema metropolis!

It certainly was a long night.

Did I say it's good to be back some three weeks later (mostly spent planning the year!!)?;-) Well it is! And I sure do hope more regularly, too.

Given that this month is exactly 5 years since I started blogging, it behooves me to come up with some surprises, which I'll keep tightly under my sleeves--for now!

Ghana's Chronicle Paper Must Come Again on Its Photo Policy

I am very glad to see that the Ghanaian media is continuing to cover road safety issues, which remain a pivotal part of ensuring all of us are alive to contribute to national development. Conversely, what really irks me is the picture of that articulator truck in today's edition. That picture was taken straight from...

this picture here! Actually from my Accra Daily Photo post in February 2009. And it was taken without credit, or acknowledgement.

It would seem to me that these are the kind of lazy practices by our friends in the media that give them a bad name!

While we are on road safety, have yourself a great weekend. If you're driving, do so safely--and spare a though for the Haitians whose lives have been more than devastated this week...

Any Lessons for the Togo's CAN2010 Abortive Adventure?

The loss of lives any time is sad and unfortunate, but when it simply could have been avoided, it becomes even more sad.

In my humble and candid opinion, the Togolese team should never have decided to go to Angola by road! Even assuming that the sojourn through Cabinda might have been a smooth one, there was never going to be any guarantee that it would have been. When all the teams flew to Luanda, why did only one out of fifteen countries decided to go the slow route? I think we can blame Angolan security--or lack of it--till the cows come home, but bottom line is that the decision of that trip exposed not just possible security lapses by the host, but an unforgivable ignorance of the Togolese team!

Come on now! Did they not read about the country before they hopped to Angola? Did they not know it was a country that had gone through brutal civil war? Why tempt fate in any way at all? Had they read about Cabinda beforehand, they might have decided against a bus route. Given that total security is never absolute, it was paramount for the team to have been cautious about their travel.

This event reminds me of the unfortunate Black Star John Paintsil showing off an Israeli flag during World Cup in 2006. The ignorance was understandable, but ignorance in 2009 about politics of any kind is, frankly, unpardonable. And when it leads to the loss of lives, it's too tragic for words.

After hearing the cacophony of opinions throughout both foreign and local media, I have only three lessons to offer:

1. READ about any country you are travelling to, especially if it is a war-torn country so you can avoid taking certain routes

2. You might not be a fan of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but information is online 24-7, so ignorance is not just bliss, but fatal--and unacceptable

3. large parts of Africa are at peace now, but there remain pockets of unrest--so keep yourself informed about your continent if you're an African.


Yesterday, I read news that a bomb had gone off in a European country of Greece's parliament. So would that mean that the democratic, albeit chaotic country, should be avoided like the plague?

Afghanistan and Iraq it is not.

But I also think Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma bombings in 2001 should remind us that bombs and shootings are not the exclusive preserve of the African continent.

In the year that the African Union has declared as a "Year of Peace and Security", I think the Nigerian panty bomber and the tragedy afflicting the other West African country of Togo should remind those in West Africa to get serious, through ECOWAS, on crime prevention and anti-terrorism management (through its-already worldwide-acclaimed peace and security infrastructure); and those in Africa to look within to see how they can make a difference in the promotion of peace throughout the continent.

Spintex Road Diaries:Inexplicable Bottleneck

A couple of minutes ago, I had the priviledge of boarding a SAKUMONO-bound MASS METRO BUS. Although we have only as much as crawled a few metres through the snaking traffic, you might want to forgive me for considering it a priviledge.

You see, I arrived here some 20 minutes ago to the sight of darkness falling this side of Accra, in what would be a melee of colours and smells that contrasted wildly with the serene air-conditioning of the mall. Both cars and tro-tros would be bumper-to-bumper in a scene reminiscent of the legendary Christmas traffic that befalls the capital in December with a disturbing regularity it is not funny.

Truth be told, I did not really mind till the darkness started enveloping the capital, because I knew it was not going to bode well for the bottleneck.

And it has not.

Although the crawling of a few metres has made way for significant movement that lets us know we are going forward in a positive direction, you cannot escape the sounds of tooting horns filling the air around us. Everyone seems to want to get to their destination first, forgetting that we are all destined to undergo a degree of frustration till we get to our destination.

I am not trying to be funny here, but I cannot shake off the desire to KNOW what is causing this inexplicable bottleneck.

The historians of this country must have their work cut out, for the mysteries of the strange-yet-unresolved bottlenecks on this darned road must be sufficient to fill tomes!

Any takers?

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Happy New Year!

May all of you exceed ur expectations in many more ways than you expected. Have a fantabulous 2010!
___sent: e.k.bensah (OGO device)/ekbensah@ekbensah.net

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Do Middle Class Ghanaians Care About Mining?

Few Ghanaians either care or make the effort to care about the issue of mining, and this is not because they are as naturally apathetic to causes as I sometimes make out in this blog. I suspect it also has a lot to do with insufficient information about developments in the country.

For example, there has been a lot of noise this week and last about the reading of the 2010 budget. As ever, it has been turned into an NDC-NPP affair of polar opposites where the opposition NPP see it fit to condemn and condemn some more some of the aspects of the budget not necessarily because it lacks coherence, but simply because it is coming from the incumbent government. The NDC are also wont to react rather than offer substantive comments that would facilitate bipartisan discussion. Still, this is what we have become used to in Ghana.

So much so that when the government announced that mining royalties would be raised to around 6% in lieu of the paltry amount thbe last government accepted to give back to the country, few media houses touched on it, preferring to gloss over some of the more substantive proposals.

The meeting that I was in for three days last week discussed the issue of mining, but in a more holistic way. Organised by TWN-Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, ECOWAS, and the AU, the meeting sought to take inputs from--what the international community like to call --"relevant stakeholders" (i.e. civil society, policy officials, ECOWAS, AU, UNECA officials) to revise the work of the so-called International Studies Group(established since 2007) who have gone very far in creating a framework on the mining regime not just for West Africa but for ALL Africans.

One can imagine that I would have been in my element being surrounded by the kind of people, which policies I like to write about often. But I was also seriously outraged.


The guy in this picture is Ayoub Ziad of the African Union Commission. The guy is a director in one of the AU units responsible for the drafting and reviewing of an industrial policy for the AU countries, yet the guy had to have his laptop in front of him before he could speak! A good, old director! I do not doubt that apart from his cigarettes, he knows his stuff, but his ineloquent style defied belief.

The Libyan AU Official rarely spoke--except at the end of the meeting when they were doing closing statements, and I could not for the life of me understand how we get officials like this at the African Union!

Some of us are burning out, burning out, feeling the need to make substantive contributions to our sub-region and our continent, and our being stymied and frustrated because of the kind of leaders we continue to have in areas where some of us could play serious roles.

If that is not sufficient to get one outraged, I do not know what is!

More seriously, though, mining might not mean to the average middle class Ghanaian blogger, but I do hope that this post provides some insight into how far the debate and discourse has gone on a framework for ALL African countries to not have their minerals totally expropriated by rapacious mining regimes.


More information can be found on the website of Third World Network-Africa: http://www.twnafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=54:mining&Itemid=60&layout=default, and the African Union website as well...

Enter Left for Ghana in ECOWAS, as Ghana Plays Host to a Regional Electricity Agency

Two important developments within the past two days have reminded me that Ghana might not be playing a low-key role in international diplomacy, albeit African geo-politics.

Now that one of my long-time blogger-followers since 2005--Daniel Hoffman-Gill--has migrated from my other blog to this one, I think it behooves me to be as clear as possible about where I am going with this post, as even in Ghana, few care about what ECOWAS means.

The Economic Community Of West African States is a regional organisation--just as the EU is of 27 countries--that has been in existence since 1975. It successfully, albeit controversially, resolved the crisis in Liberia, primarily by expanding its mandate from an economic imperative to a peace and security one as well.

In 2007, it changed its structure to an EU one, whereby there are now ECOWAS Commissioners for trade, human security, etc. The Secretariat in that year also became a Commission, rather than a Secretariat, with greater powers to facilitate a more people-centred organisation that would be meaningful for West Africans.

Now the boss, since 2001, has been a Ghanaian by the name of Dr.Ibn Chambas. Yesterday, I learnt from reports online that he has just landed a top-job in the Brussels-based African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group).

In the same vein, I found out today that the promise that Ghana would play host to one of the ECOWAS agencies--in this case the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) has been honoured, and it is in a very visible place on the famed-Spintex Road!

This evidently means nothing about Ghana in ECOWAS foreign policy, but the developments within the past two days is certainly nothing to be sneezed at.

For the record, I do hope that as the EU meet today to decide who becomes the President of the newly-empowered EU Council(thanks to the Lisbon Treaty) Tony Blair will miss it by inches--not because he is not competent, but because I don't think someone who never accepted that he botched the justification for the invasion of Iraq will be accountable to EU citizens!

A 37-yr-old Father's Strange Vodafone Ghana Tale

In 2019, when the-then 47-yr-old (former) carpenter looks back at when he won the grand prize of 1million dollars from Vodafone Ghana as part of its promotion, what will he say to his two children?

Will he still be in his Trassaco Valley house, or would he have left the place for fear of more snubs from the rather-rich entourage? Would his money be well-invested in stocks, and a part put aside for his kids, or would it have been finished?

It is certainly none of my business, but in a society in which a 37yr old carpenter can win a cool 1 million dollars, without recourse to how he will manage that money or the home that clearly is "inconsistent" with his profession, is a society I have serious issue with.

Forget the fact that Vodafone is so filthy-rich to have given a 4x4 vehicle PLUS an almost $400,000 home AND a $1m cash-prize to one person, and let us think about the upturned values that we are presented with.

Large amounts of money have a way of influencing us for better or for worse, and for many people it is for worse. Couple that with the artificial class that Vodafone has created, and you are left with an explosive set of circumstances that needs the wisdom of Solomon to manage.

Good luck to him and his family. I do hope he maximises the opportunity to obtain all the wisdom possible for him to lead a very fulfilling life!

Where did Ghana's 80's Go, or Reminisces of a No-Style Rookie High on Neneh Cherry!

Friday 6 November will go down in the annals of my personal history as a day of profoundly serious reminiscing.

I blame the BBC Worldservice for its daily reminders of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which ghanablogger Nana Abena has done well today to be one of the first bloggers to blog about this important and significant event.

It had to be purely serendipitous that I check out Nenneh Cherry's hit song of that year; in fact, I only found out a few days ago that it was indeed 1989 that the song became so popular. Whether it was my sub-conscious working over-time is moot. In November 1989, when the wall came down, I was only almost a year into writing a personal journal.

Twenty years later, I still write a journal of daily and weekly accounts and do not quite get how I am still chronicling my life! But I digress!

When "Buffalo Stance" came out, I re-call Samuel--my older late brother-- and I dancing to the song like the two goons in the background of the video. I know it was so cool then to do so.

The eighties was also the time of "cool"--funny dances a la Afro-American; usage of slang like "fresh", "cool", "wicked", etc--mostly to impress and let your friends know you were with it.

Upon reflection, I can say this song was one of many that possibly epitomized coolness. A quick look at the lyrics just brings it all home:

* no style rookie
* don't u mess with me
* who's looking good in every way?
* money-man
* bomb the bass

In all this, I could not help but wonder how Ghanaians were celebrating 1989 when I was busy giggling and jumping foolishly up and down with my brother (who was the quintessential cool guy, when I remained the classic dork) like I was in an American 'hood with homies on a chill-pill.

If you can feel me, drop me a comment to this no-style rookie, but just don't mess with me!

Vodafone Ghana's Got What's Coming

Some of us hate to say "we told you so", but some of us really did carry on till the cows came home on how bad and inimical for Ghana the Vodafone deal last August was. Here is what I wrote for nowpublic.com:

The specialists can bandy around figures that point to gross inefficiency in GT till the cows come home, but they can never escape what the legendary Mark Twain wrote--to wit: “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.” Even if we were to accept the plausible argument that GT is mismanaged and in dire need of capital injection, we cannot take away from the fact that despite this “mismanagement”, GT was able to roll out DIALup4u, despite the fact that many foreign cards were on the market that enabled internet access with no less than a GT landline base. On top of that, GT rolled out an aggressive campaign around 2005/2006 of BROADBAND4U (est.2004), which is now reportedly available in all the regions of the country.



I am not quite sure how dedicated a Vodafone Ghana will be to ensuring that the remotest parts of the country will have broadband internet access. As a state-owned company, it will always be in its interest to ensure deep penetration of its products in the country--and the bottom line is not always what counts. Contrast that with any strategic investor that comes into the country: unless the government monitors, there will be scant attention paid to the provision of rural telephony.

I cannot get over the fact that no less than the UK's Serious Fraud Office is considering querying Vodafone Ghana over what it calls financial irregularities. I cannot help but wonder what would have happened had this current administration not assumed power.

I do not believe for a second that they have a spotless record, but the retention of Ghana's fibre optic as a strategic national asset is nothing to be sneezed at. I do hope Ghanaians will strip away the polarization and politicization and remember that a fibre optic that is retained by Ghana is a deal that benefits Ghanaians--just the way our policy-makers should be looking at every aspect of policy.

Calling all Young Ghanaians Below 35years!

I have not yet had the priviledge of meeting up with Dr.Sammy Laryea, but I like what I know. He recently obtained his Ph.D and he is an ardent believer in Ghana. And he is young. He sent me a message on FACEBOOK over the weekend, asking I distribute this to as many of my networks as possible.

Go ahead and maximise its usage through networks you might know!

I think most of the Ghanablogging community already qualify.

Are you writing your bios already?;-)

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Profiles of Ghanaian Successes: 200 Rising Ghanaian Stars

Call for Entries

People, we are seeking to publish a book containing profiles (brief success stories) of 200 rising Ghanaians stars under age thirty-five (35). The title of the book would be “Profiles of Ghanaian success: 200 rising Ghanaian stars” and would be published in January 2010.

Submission deadline for entries: 31 November 2009
Book to be published in January 2010
Criteria for inclusion: Must be Ghanaian below 35years

We are hoping that the book would become a wealthy source of knowledge and inspiration for the younger generation in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. The age limit of 35 also means that we are interested in learning from (and about) Ghanaians who have serious potential to be in the next generation of business, political, entrepreneurial and industrial leaders in Ghana, Africa, and beyond. Each profile entry should be brief (1000 words max). The entry should summarize the person's background, family, education, occupation, profession, best books, membership of major groups and societies, best movies, best quotations, favourite leaders, top five secrets or habits of their success, personal achievements and accomplishments, best moments of their lives, worst moment of their lives, highest aspiration in life, top five ideas for developing Ghana, advice for young people who want to become successful, etc. It would be truly excellent to learn and benefit from the life experiences and success stories of the 200 rising Ghanaian stars who would be profiled.

The accomplishments of some people are clear to many of us; such people would simply be invited to share an entry on how they have managed to become successful so that we can learn from their stories. The profiles of 200 young and successful Ghanaians would be truly interesting and inspirational. Bringing together the stories of these rising Ghanaian stars can inspire them to even greater heights. I am looking forward to reading about the lives of all these brilliant people and learning from the secrets of their success. I hope all of you would help us to produce this book in January 2010. Please feel free to bring to our notice any rising Ghanaians stars that you think should be profiled in the book and we would be happy to contact them. Alternatively, you can simply forward this Call for Entries to them.

Several people might love to have their profiles published. However, it is not possible to publish a profile of every Ghanaian under 35. Only the profiles of people whose life stories and accomplishments can truly inspire the younger generation in Ghana would be published. If you feel sure that your life story is compelling and can inspire young people in Ghana, please feel free to drop an entry about yourself into SALARYEA AT YAHOO.COM. We would assess it using our guidelines. Profiles will only be published based on merit to ensure integrity of the process. In order to be able to publish the book in January 2010, the deadline for submitting entries is 31 November 2009. We look forward to receiving your entries.

Best wishes

Sammy Laryea

---------------------
Dr Samuel Laryea
Editor: Profiles of Ghanaian successes: 200 Rising Ghanaian Stars
Email: salaryea AT yahoo.com
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