Features
Publicans at the airport
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The publicans were the most detested people in ancient Israel during the time of Jesus, when the Roman Empire ruled the nation as an imperial occupying power. They were Jewish tax collectors employed indirectly by the Roman government and classified by their fellow Israelites as collaborators of the enemies of Israel.
Roman businessmen usually established companies through which they would acquire certain Jewish provinces for renewable periods of five years, and charge taxes on behalf of the imperial government. These entrepreneurs would then employ local Jewish men in their acquired territories to collect those taxes comprising duties on imports and exports, bridge tolls, poll tax, and levies on merchants who came to Israel to buy and sell.
The position was open to bids and the highest bidder, invariably a wealthy Jew, got his proposal accepted and won the right to do business in the territory concerned. Such collectors would be given a threshold of revenue expected from them. Whatever they got over and above the threshold was theirs. And so, they used all kinds of unethical methods to collect it for the government and themselves.
First, they would impose a fictitious assessment on property or income and inflate the rates at their discretion in order to rake in a higher percentage of tax and make maximum profit at the expense of the hardworking and helpless people. Moreover, these unscrupulous tax collectors harassed the people and charged them on the spot.
And it did not end there. Hours or even minutes after your unpleasant encounter, you were likely to meet another tax collector who would also demand tax. Sometimes, the publicans were accompanied by Roman soldiers and the oppressed people had no recourse to justice anywhere.
For their corrupt practices, these cruel tax collectors were regarded by their fellow Jews as, not just traitors working for their oppressors, but also, as extortioners and leeches that drained the lifeblood of the people by their exorbitant taxes.
Even more condemning of these hated people were the rabbis, that is, the religious leaders, who considered them unclean because of their contact with the Romans. They excommunicated them from the synagogues, forbade them from exchanging their money at the temple treasury, and prohibited them from testifying as witnesses in court. Thus, despite the substantial wealth they made, these publicans were derided and ostracised from their own communities. Yet, in defiance, they furrowed their brows and shrugged off the jeers and sneers. Now, Israel is a democratic country; they are not under the hegemony of any empire, and thankfully, the publicans are nowhere to be seen.
But, sadly, the publicans have resurfaced, not in Israel, but in Ghana. They are everywhere but in this article, those on the radar are the kind operating at the airport. They are encouraged by the powers that be for the share they would get. The operations of this new breed remind me of a certain woman somewhere in the Ashanti Region nicknamed, “Maame Ap3nkwa nya wuo,” which translates to, “The woman who got death while looking for life.”
It happened that the woman’s pastor proclaimed a fast for the congregation with the following instruction: “You may do it continually for seven days from six to six, or you can fast-track it by doing three days dry fasting,” which implied that you could not drink any water or eat for three days. The woman weighed the options and chose the latter. After just one day, she realised that she was gasping for breath. In anguish, she exclaimed: “Ei, me b3 p33 nkwa anaa s3 owuo,” meaning: “Did I come seeking life or death,” That is how she got her name.
The inception of COVID 19 brought in its wake the loss of precious lives. The National Security Coordinator, Mr. Joseph Kyeremeh, a family friend, known among my siblings as K-Joe, succumbed painfully to the virus. Another heavyweight who was not spared by the deadly virus was Dr. Jacob Plange-Rhule, FRCP, FWACP, FGCP (July 27, 1957 –April 10, 2020), a Ghanaian physician, academic, and Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons from October 2015 until his death in 2020.He was the private doctor of my first son about three decades ago in Kumasi, and one of the finest gentlemen I ever came across. How can I forget the loss of Nanabanyin Pratt, my own former Managing Director at New Times Corporation who, perhaps, in admiration of my straight talk, called me “Wogyafo.” You have to find out what that means.
Given the frequency and scope of death resulting from COVID, it became imperative for the Government to adopt stringent measures to stem the tide. As part of the interventions, personal protective equipment were supplied to healthcare workers. The wearing of masks was enforced while the use of sanitisers was also recommended. Mass gatherings were banned, compelling churches to go online, and become financially unstable. Funerals suffered a drastic cut in donations adding to the sorrow inflicted by a COVID-related death.
Another intervention adopted in the heat of the pandemic, was the introduction of a regime of testing by the Government to determine the COVID status of arriving international travellers, and prevent a situation where a positive person would slip into the country and spread the virus. The Ghana Airports Company Limited, in collaboration with a group calling itself the Frontier Healthcare Services Limited, is in charge of the programme at the Kotoka International Airport. All these measures were taken because we were seeking life. But, like the Ashanti woman in the tale related above, we are gasping for breath.
From the way things are going, I see some similarity between Israel’s ancient experience at the hands of the tax collectors and the imperial government. In those days, the Roman government just waited for what it deemed its fair share. Whatever the publicans imposed on the people was none of their business. I smell the presence of the publicans at the airport and other places. Fortunately, we are not under the hegemony of any foreign power. “Y3n ara asaase ni.”“This is our own land.” Yet, unfortunately, the publicans are operating as typical of them, with all impunity and the Government, through its agent, has given them the latitude to impose an unjustifiable and unbearable testing fee on the people.
In many jurisdictions the world over, the fee has been drastically reduced due to mass vaccination everywhere and the reduction in the spread of the virus. So, for what justifiable reason should the testing cost $50 for Ghanaian and other ECOWAS citizens, and $150 for other nationals? The most painful and irritating aspect of the whole thing is that even people with proof of being vaccinated within the stipulated timeframe before arriving, are still compelled to undertake the test.
Yet, according to information on their own website, passengers must possess a COVID-19 negative PCR test from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin. The test should have been done not more than72 hours before the scheduled departure time from the country of origin. You take all this precaution, and they still insist on taking the test and charging you unjustifiably.
Annoyingly, they have the guts to tell travellers arriving from the US or UK, with all their stringent testing regimes that they have tested positive for COVID and must be quarantined at a hotel at their own expense, which is all part of the grand scheme to extort money from people.
Is the Government not just folding its arms and waiting for its “fair share” of the revenue from the “publicans?” Have they considered the pain it takes to make $50? That is more than GH¢300 which is somebody’s monthly pay in Ghana in this day and age. Miss Mercy Agyei-Ankomah, a former English language teacher at the Juaben Senior High School, now based in Vietnam, says she used to be paid GH¢1,500, Do you know how much that is in dollars? It is about $250. That means Frontier Healthcare Services charge a fifth of a teacher’s monthly salary for a few minutes they spend testing an arriving passenger.
For all you know, the Government just gets a token while the collectors pocket the biggest chunk of the money accruing from the testing. That is the way it worked in ancient Israel. There must be an immediate intervention to save passengers from this rip off by these latter-day publicans.
In January, the MP for North Tongu, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa described the fees as an extortion and cautioned that if the cheating was not stopped by February, Parliament would intervene. Please, Homourable, February ended a long time ago, and March has already crossed the half-way mark. We are anxiously waiting for your next move.
Meanwhile, another legislator, Mr. Davis Opoku Ansah, the MP for Mpraeso Constituency, has added his voice to calls for a drastic reduction of the fees, saying that even though we need to keep track of the virus and deal with it through interventions like testing, we must reduce the charges because they are harming trade and tourism.
Whoever the cap fits, let them wear it. Over to you, Joe Lartey!
Contact:
teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
The average modern Gold Coaster born and bred in Sikaman is an adventurous creature. Go to any part of the world and you’ll find Ghanaman diligently slugging it out either in the snow or in hot sweltering weather, earning a decent living.
Go to Guinea and see Ghanaman in the garb of a herbalist, curing the sick of various ailments. He makes the Guinean understand that not all diseases are caused by James Lucifer alias Jimmy Satan. On the contrary, most diseases are caused by kooko which can even attack the human nose and turn it upside down.
That kooko is also the cause of poverty and the internal bleeding of personal back-pocket economies. And that kooko can be cured using the chemistry underlying Sikaman herbal medicine which has been blessed by the gods of Larteh.
And before Ghanaman starts dispensing his herbal concoctions, he must attract the passing crowd with some Sıkaman-originated choreography, akin to a combination of adowa and agbadza, such that the dancer can easily dislocate a shoulder and start crying for his mother.
When the crowd is enough to form a quorum, Ghanaman must perform magic as a side-attraction, and proceed to sell his drugs. The drugs are genuinely made from potent herbs which the Pharmacy Board of Sikaman says it has no confidence in. Believe me, Ghanaian herbalists are practising in neighbouring countries like Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Benin, while we are discouraging them from practising in Sikaman.
Go to Las Palmas and see Ghanaman as a fisherman. He sails on Korean-owned boats and is forced to eat garlic and raw tuna for radiant health. The garlic is also supposed to protect him against witches. But sometimes, he is not good bedfellows with some Korean crew members, and once in a while a fight breaks out.
The typical Korean is a Kung Fu expert and before displaying a golden dragon data. He must first terrify Ghanaman with a Korean dance which consists of wild arms and leg throwing. But Ghanaman is usually not daunted. Why has he been eating cancer kenkey all years without developing cancer? It mean is a superhuman capable of countering Kun fu side-kicks to the ribs.
Anyhow Ghanaman’s most potent arsenal lies in his fists. If he is a southpaw, it mean left fist is probably insured and can cause damage. When Ghanaman lands a cassava blow and it lands on a Korean chest, it has the effect of a cruise missile. If there is no ceasefire a funeral cannot be ruled out.
Greenland
Go to Alaska and find Ghanaman there. Greenland, Iceland, Brazil, Argentina, Madagascar, everywhere and you’ll find him. He has become an international citizen and is generally lauded for his hardwork, sincerity and honesty.
However, some bad nuts are also condemned and despised.
The world and all its parts and corners are for the human race, and anyone can choose to live anywhere and earn a decent living so long as he doesn’t misconduct himself or become a social misfit and a law unto himself.
Sıkaman for instance accepts foreigners, and we are so liberal that people just come in through our borders and we welcome them with the best palmwine in town and goat light soup. Who cares about passports and visas? Our hospitality is, as it were legendary.
So we have Liberians, Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans, Togolese, Europeans, Americans, Scandinavians and Koreans in Sikaman. And some of them have misinterpreted our overzealous accommodation to mean “foolishness” and are misconducting themselves.
The newspapers carry stories of some unscrupulous Nigerians stealing, defrauding and collaborating with their Sikaman counterparts to rob people. You’ll find some good and law-abiding Liberians around but some other Liberians are in the business of fraud, robbery, money printing, money doubling, anything criminal.
Ghanaian hospitality can no longer be extended to such people. I do not think Ghanaians will be treated kindly either, when they misbehave anywhere in the world. Those who come from outside with the intention of bringing down their evil deeds and to practise them here professionally must be getting ready because Ghanaians are getting fed up with the menace.
These days, you’ll find strange people following you as soon as you emerge from a bank. If you are not careful, they’ll wrestle your briefcase from you and speed away in a waiting taxi.
Someone was just saying that many foreign criminals are flocking to Ghana because in their countries, they are enable to operate either because they are being looked for by the police for offences committed or fear instant justice at the hands of mobs. Ghanaians, it is said, are humanitarian in dealing with criminals.
Well, in some African countries, a thief who is being chased runs directly to the police station in his own interest and begs the officer at the counter to lock him up. Otherwise he’ll be lynched or be burnt to death. In Ghana, it is the opposite. The thieves run far away from the cop stations.
The criminals must reform and stay peacefully in Sikaman or quit. No court case!
This article was first published on Saturday September 5, 1998
The human condition is defined by two absolute, biological bookends: the commencement of complex cellular animation and its ultimate, irreversible cessation.
For centuries, medicine treated life and death as strictly separate states. Today, modern pathology and molecular biology reveal a more profound truth: the mechanisms that allow us to live are the exact same mechanisms that dictate how we die.
Understanding this relationship is no longer just a philosophical pursuit. It is a clinical necessity for managing public health in the 21st century.
Part I: How we live – The mechanics of animation
At its core, biological life is a continuous, high-stakes battle against entropy (the natural tendency of systems to degrade into disorder). To maintain form, consciousness, and function, the human body relies on three fundamental pillars:
1. Cellular respiration and energy production
Every second of human life is powered by the conversion of oxygen and glucose into Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy currency of our cells. This process occurs within the mitochondria.
Without a constant supply of ATP, the microscopic pumps that maintain electrical gradients across our cell membranes fail, causing cellular collapse within minutes.
2. Homeostasis: The balancing act
To survive, the internal environment of the body must remain incredibly stable, regardless of external chaos. This balancing act, known as homeostasis, regulates:
Blood pH: Strictly maintained between 7.35 and 7.45.
Core Temperature: Ideally kept around 37°C (98.6°F).
Electrolyte Balance: Precise ratios of sodium, potassium, and calcium that allow nerves to fire and muscles to contract.
3. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The ANS acts as the invisible conductor of life, split into two complementary branches:
Part II: How we die – The path of cessation
Death is rarely a singular event; it is a progressive biological cascade. Whether caused by old age, chronic illness, or sudden trauma, the final pathways of mortality generally follow a predictable trajectory.
1. The cellular horizon: Senescence and Apoptosis
Every time a human cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of its chromosomes-telomeres-shorten. Eventually, telomeres become so depleted that the cell can no longer divide safely. It enters senescence (a state of permanent arrest) or triggers apoptosis (programmed cell death). This gradual, systemic loss of cellular renewal is the underlying engine of aging.
2. The clinical cascade of somatic death
When the body can no longer maintain homeostasis, somatic death (the death of the organism as a whole) begins. This occurs in a distinct sequence:
1
Clinical Death
Zero to four minutes
The heart stops pumping blood, and respiration ceases. While breathing and circulation have ended, the body’s tissues still contain residual oxygen and cellular energy reserves. At this stage, resuscitation is often still possible.
2
Brain Death (Infarction)
Four to six minutes
Deprived of fresh oxygenated blood, the brain’s highly sensitive neurons begin to starve. Lacking ATP, the brain cells lose their electrical charge, swell, and begin to burst. Permanent, irreversible neurological damage occurs within minutes.
3
Biological Death
Hours to days
The organs fail entirely. Without central control or blood flow, individual cells throughout the body consume their final energy reserves. Enzymes that once aided digestion begin to break down the body’s own tissues from the inside out, a process known as autolysis.
Part III: The modern collision of life and death
In the modern era, the boundary between how we live and how we die has blurred. Historically, humanity died primarily from infectious diseases and acute trauma. Today, global mortality is dominated by non-communicable, chronic lifestyle diseases.
Modern Pathology: How we live (the cause) how we die (the result)
Cardiovascular disease, chronic stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep keep the sympathetic nervous system hyper-activated, damaging blood vessels .Occlusion of coronary arteries leads to myocardial infarction (heart attack) or ischemic stroke.
Metabolic syndrome over nutrition and physical inactivity overwhelm cellular mitochondria, leading to systemic insulin resistance. Multi-organ failure, chronic kidney disease, and severe vascular complications.
Neurodegenerative Disorders Chronic systemic inflammation and sleep deprivation prevent the brain from clearing metabolic waste. Gradual loss of synaptic connections, leading to dementia and the eventual loss of basic autonomic functions.
Conclusion: The unified theory of health
Ultimately, how we live directly shapes the path of how we die. The micro-choices of daily existence-how we manage emotional stress, the quality of our rest, our communal connections, and our nutrition-either preserve the integrity of our homeostatic systems or accelerate their decline.
True medical advancement is shifting away from merely extending the final, frail stages of biological death. Instead, the focus is turning toward optimising our living years-ensuring that the intricate, beautiful machinery of human animation runs smoothly until its natural, quiet conclusion.
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
