Features
Politics, money and big English
I do not know how campus politics is like these days. When we were at Legon, it was quite turbulent. From the JCR to NUGS elections, it was often a do-or-die matter. Candidates took the elections so seriously that they would in the meantime pack their books somewhere, start chewing gorro and go hunting for loans to finance their campaign. Ghanaman student doesn’t joke with his post!
When a candidate manages to grab a loan using his sound system, faded jeans, lunch coupons and ancient shaving-stick as collateral, he uses the loan wisely. At least half the money instantly to his girlfriend at Volta Hall. Fact is that the girlfriend is his political adviser during elections and a comforter when he loses.
Normally, girlfriends give their boyfriends rage and urge them on, knowing they are going to lose anyway. And if they don’t urge them on, they won’t get part of the campaign money to “chop”. It is just like during national elections where wives urge their husbands on, knowing well that the man they are married to is a political non-starter and, therefore, presidentially bankrupt.
Woe unto you if you told your presidential can-husband the truth. “Daddy, the way I see you, the way you walk, the way you dance, the way you snore and the way your mother no born you fine, I advise you to call it quits because you can’t beat your opponent. In fact, there is no way you can beat him. He is more handsome, dazzling, and more stylish and can talk big English.”
Such a politico-marital advice is a sure recipe for bedtime hostilities and an end to the happy marriage. “Who dare you tell me nonsense?” the man would explode. “Don’t you know I am a born-again politician? Haven’t you seen that my forehead is of presidential quality and design? Bad-luck woman! I’m going to divorce you first if I win the elections and shame you and the devil; Kwasia like thatt!”
With campus politics in those days, what was clear was that some candidates actually spent big sums of money on the electorate to court votes. It took the form of buying endless jugs of bubra and sharing “jot” around and sometimes money among close friends and campaign pushers. It was quite amusing because the more bubra you gave out, the less votes you got.
Anyhow the acid test of a candidate’s suitability or otherwise was determined at a face-to-face forum where each candidate orally vomited his manifesto and answered hot and peppered questions from the audience.
A candidate wasn’t only expected to talk sense, but also to talk big English. The idea is that when half the Merari Alomele’s audience do not understand what you say, it means you’re a mystery man and only mystery men can perform wonders and deliver the goods.
It turned out that those candidates who genuinely promised to make campus a better place for all with better facilities, better food and mandatory student loans were not applauded much. It was those who virtually said nothing progressive but reverberated in highfalutin language and used phrases like “progresso-reactionary polarization” who won the elections. Tragically enough, the users of such magniloquent phrases least understood them but won hands down.
So successful campus politics at the time did not depend on appealing to the good sense of fellow students but on the amount and quality of kpokpomatic linguistic delivery in the Queen’s language, and if it was guaranteed that the candidate did not understand what he was saying, he was sure to win.
Luckily, it is not so in national politics. You really have to talk sense. And if you insult, you lose.
Questions time was another palaver altogether. One single question from an adversary could send you directly to the grave, no-curve-no-bend. “Mr Aspiring Candidate my question is not a lorgorligi one. It is direct to the point. We all know that that once a thief, always a thief. I was in the same secondary school with you and you were one of the prefects. I lie? When you were in office, you couldn’t account for certain monies paid to you and got sanctioned by the authorities.
Number two; it is no secret that you are a man of great appetite. It is on record that you once won a food-eating competition. We’ve also heard reports from the grapevine that after devouring your own gari and shito in record time, you unilaterally took over that of your room-mate and finished it also. Congratulations.
Now your room mate is facing acute hunger and needs foreign aid to survive. He has grown lean like a dog. What makes you think you can be our leader?”
Such questions have two poisonous ingredients. The first can induce instant hypertension and stroke enough to reduce your lifespan by half. The second is to inform you officially that it would be a miracle if you won the election, so you are so better off not responding to the questions.
Campus politics is sometimes very much like national politics except that it is quite opposite in some instances. The only real differences border on the fact that national politics is somewhat of a higher level when it comes to treachery, corruption, insults, whatever.
Politics in general, however, concerns all about big talk and money both of which can lead a candidate either to succeed or to gnash teeth. I have been following the happenings in the New and Patriotic Party (NPP) for interest and I personally see nothing dangerously wrong with politicians dishing out money so long as every other politician is either guilty doing same, or is capable of doing so at a future date.
I was a bit surprised some politicians said they were alarmed that delegates were being bribed, as if it had never happened at any time in the history of the parties.
What I know is that you can bribe and still lose just like it used to happen on campus, because voting is by secret ballot.
If you’re popular, nothing can influence your success, and it is only in few cases that money can easily influence the political direction of a voter. In fact, with secret balloting, bribery isn’t a big factor, because everybody has his (or her) favourite he wouldn’t sacrifice for 30 pieces of silver.
VENGEANCE
As it were in Sikaman general elections, it is not a matter of big English, overflowing knowledge or Big money. It is a matter of what the country’s priorities because Ghanaians are becoming sensitive to a fact that with some people, entrusting them with affairs of the state would be a national disaster not cause they are incompetent, but because their motives for becoming the country’s leaders are not in the interest of the nation. Theirs is vengeance!
Secondly, it is a matter of what a person is capable of doing, and not what he thinks he can do or dreams can do. With politics, dreams are only dreams what we need is the truth. And the truth is that Ghana is not going to make it unless we forget our differences, stop bearing grudges and act in concert towards continuous growth and development.
This article was first published on Saturday, April 13, 1995
Today, I focus on the Apostolic Church International in Finland, as I continue with my description of institutions and personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.
The Apostolic Church International, Finland (or, Apostolic International Association Ry) was established in October 9, 2023. The Church in Finland has seen significant strides and accomplishments within the short time that it has been established in Finland, which must be highlighted.
History of the Church in Ghana
The Apostolic Church Ghana originated from the 1904–1905 Welsh revival, officially established in Ghana (then called Gold Coast) in 1935 following connections between a local prayer group in Asamankese (a town in southern Ghana), led by Peter Newman Anim, and the Apostolic Church, UK. There were historical splits in 1939 and 1953, but the Apostolic Church attained autonomy in 1985.
Today, the Church is headquartered in Accra. Last year (2025), it dedicated its new 10-storey headquarters, “The Apostolic Church Tower,” in Frafraha, Adenta West in Accra.
Activities of the Apostolic Church in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland conducts church service on Sundays. The service starts at 11a.m. in the morning and closes by 1 p.m. in the afternoon. There are no other activities during other days for now.
The Minister in charge of the church in Finland is also the Area Head of Italy Area. He is Pastor Daniel Kofi Addison who is the new Italy Area Head, and has just been transferred from UK South Area to Italy Area during the just-ended Council Meeting in March this year. Italy Area comprises Italy, which has 13 Assemblies, Germany, one Assembly, and Finland, one Assembly.
Elder Ebenezer Amoaning-Coffie is the Presiding Elder in charge of the Assembly in Finland. A Presiding Elder is responsible for day to day activities of the church (Assembly) and reports to the District Pastor, or in the absence of the District Pastor, reports to the Area Head.
Achievements
The Apostolic Church International, Finland was officially registered under the Finnish Law, guaranteeing freedom of worship and providing legal foundation for future growth. The church service is conducted in both English and Twi.
The church opens its doors to all people of every nation, especially Ghanaians who are in Finland and other African nationals. Now, the membership comprises Ghanaians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans.
The Church and the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland plays a prominent role as a religious group that serves Ghanaian migrants and others in the Finnish society.
Thus, the Apostolic Church is a religious body for Ghanaian migrants in Finland and other nationalities who want to worship with them for diversity and better intercultural and multicultural understanding.
Elder Amoaning-Coffie said that the main and primary aim of the church is to bring people closer to God. “We aim to win souls for Christ. We aim to preach the gospel to the world. By propagating the gospel to the people, we are hopeful that they will turn away from any ungodly ways and be good individuals in the community and in society in general”, he stated.
He said that everything is going well so far. A key challenge, however, is how to get more members especially the youth. As a new Assembly, we are in need of instrumentalists, for example. We pray to God Almighty to help us do His work, the Elder disclosed.
Integration
By its activities, the Apostolic Church is helping to ensure integration of its members well into the Finish society. This is important since social interaction and citizens’ well-being are an important part of the integration process in Finland.
As I mentioned some time ago, the role of migrant associations and groups such as the Apostolic Church acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
The landscape of the Ghanaian palate is shifting, and not necessarily for the better. In our bustling urban centres, from the streets of Accra to the suburbs of Kumasi, a quiet culinary revolution is taking place; one where the mortar and pestle are being replaced by the pizza oven and the deep fryer. This transition from traditional staple foods like fufu, banku, akple, kenkey, tuo zaafi, and ampesi toward “continental” dishes is more than just a change in appetite; it is a reflection of a deeper social struggle with identity and prestige.
The illusion of modernity
For many, “stepping out” for a meal has become synonymous with consuming foreign cuisine. There is an unspoken social hierarchy where a bowl of Abunuabunu is relegated to the village category, while burgers, pizzas are branded as prestigious choices. We have reached a stage where we equate foreign with modern and local with primitive.
This perception is a dangerous illusion. Our traditional dishes are marvels of culinary engineering complex, nutrient-dense, and deeply rooted in our history. When we choose a processed foreign import over a meal made from local tubers or fermented maize, we are not just changing our lunch; we are eroding the indigenous knowledge attached to our local ingredients and foods.
We need to turn the consumption of indigenous grains and tubers like millet, sorghum, and plantain into a statement of self-worth and national pride.
The cultural and health erosion
Every time a local dish disappears from a restaurant menu to make room for foreign fast food, we lose a piece of our cultural fabric. Traditional Ghanaian cooking is an art that requires patience and skill. By choosing the convenience of foreign fast food, we are raising a generation that may know the taste of a pepperoni pizza but cannot identify the rich, earthy profile of Prekese or the subtle tang of well-fermented dough dishes like corn porridge, banku, etew, abolo, agidi or kamfa, and kenkey.
Furthermore, we are at the crossroads of a nutrition transition. Replacing high-fiber, indigenous crops with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foreign fast foods is driving a rise in lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and liver disease. We are trading our longevity for 15-minutes convenience or unhealthy diet.
A call for culinary patriotism
It is time for us to appreciate, preserve, and promote our indigenous foods and culinary traditions. We need to be proud of our local dishes, ingredients and cooking methods, rather than relying heavily on foreign or imported foods. We must stop viewing our local delicacies as low-class and start treating our culinary heritage as the high-end gastronomy it truly is.
True sophistication does not come from imitating Western fast food; it comes from innovation and adding values to our own resources. We see glimpses of this potential in the rise of branded Sobolo and the creative use of gluten-free plantain flour in modern baking of flour-based dishes such as bread, cakes, biscuits and others. This is the path forward. We must elevate our local dishes, making them as accessible, affordable, presentable and trendy as any foreign alternative.
To the hospitality industry: Innovate or stagnate
Our hotels and high-end restaurants must lead the charge. They must stop relegating local dishes to the “traditional corner” of the buffet, and apply the same culinary finesse given to imported dishes to our Fante Fante, apapransa, aborbi tadi, fetritoto, akple, abolo, yakayeke, fufu, ampesi, kokonte, wasawasa, tubani, apapransa, mpotompoto, kelewele, aliha, brukutu, pito, and other local dishes. The industry must enhance customer experiences making eating local dishes the ultimate luxury experience for both tourists and residents alike. We must elevate the presentation of our foods by using modern plating techniques to show that a bowl of light soup can be as visually stunning as a French consommé. We need to reclaim our Ghanaian plate before it is too late.
To the policy makers: Let us encourage buying of local ingredients to promote the local food industry and economy. There should be educational programmes and talks about the nutritional and cultural benefits of local foods so that people understand their value.
We need to encourage serving traditional dishes at school programmes, parties, and celebrations instead of only fast foods,
To the Youth: Let us value and appreciate our traditional dishes instead of always choosing foreign foods. There must be balance in our choice of local and foreign dishes. Confidence in our culture encourages others to respect it too. Our local dishes can also be promoted by sharing pictures, recipes, and videos on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp to make them attractive and trendy.
Young citizens must learn from their parents and elders how to prepare local meals to keep the knowledge and cultural relevance alive. Local dishes can be modernised to appeal to younger generations and tourists.
Conclusion
We cannot afford to trade our heritage for foreign cuisines which are gaining grounds across the country at an alarming rate. We must disabuse our minds of the perception that anything foreign or imported is better than those locally made. Our health, economy, and identity are tied to the soil. It is time to stop apologising for our local flavours and start celebrating them. It is possible to embrace modernity without losing ourselves and our cultural identity. Let us make the Ghanaian kitchen the heart of our modern identity once again.
By: Marilyn Gadogbe
