Features
Take politics out of the land border closures
The devastation and misery being caused to nations across the world by the deadly Corona Virus Disease (COVID) continue unabated in their worse forms. Available statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that globally, the infection rate of the disease and the death toll in recent times have gone up astronomically.
More than 220 million confirmed cases with 4.5 million deaths have been recorded almost in 200 countries around the world and these figures keep rising daily. The United States of America (USA), India and Brazil, have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by the United Kingdom (UK), Russia and France in that order.
GLOBAL STATISTICS OF COVID-19 SPREAD
Currently, the US has recorded 39,753,397 cases with 645,338 deaths, Brazil 20,890,779 with 583,628 deaths, India 33,027,621 with 440,752 deaths, Mexico 3,428,384 with 63,140 deaths and so on. The confirmed cases in Africa amounted to 7,075,119 which represent around 3.48 per cent of infections around the world.
As of August 8, 2021, South Africa was leading the chart with 2,533,466, Morocco 696,282, Tunisia 610,660, Egypt 284,706, Ethiopia 284,091, Libya 267,846, Kenya 211,828, Zambia 2000,049, Algeria 181,376, Nigeria 178,086. Latest figures indicate that Ghana has recorded 120,452 cases with 1,052 deaths so far.
With these global statistics staring us in the face,it means countries across the world are leaving no stone unturned to battle it out with the disease which is having a significant toll on their economies and affecting their gains made so far. Our country, Ghana, has got its share of the devastating effect of the disease on the economy making life unbearable for the majority of the people.
CLOSURE OF BORDERS TO MINIMISE SPREAD
When the disease first broke out in the country, the government had no option but to take far-reaching measures to minimise its introduction from other neighbouring countries into Ghana. As a step towards that direction, the country’s borders, land, air and sea, were closed to human traffic on March 22, 2020, to curb the spread of the disease. These closures did not apply to goods, supplies and cargo.
The aim of the closure, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was aimed at stopping the importation of the virus, contain its spread, provide adequate care for the sick, limit the impact of the virus on social and economic life and to inspire the expansion of the country’s domestic capability as well as deepening self-reliance.
After observing the situation on the ground, the President had to review the closure by re-opening the country’s air borders while that of the land and sea remained closed until further notice. The continued closure of the land borders has generated a lot of anxiety and controversy among people in the catchment areas. The citizens, mostly traders who live around the borders and ply their trade in and outside the borders complained that they had been denied their livelihood as a result of the border closures.
TRADERS AGITATIONS FOR RE-OPENING OF BORDERS
Recently, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro in the Western Region, Madam Dorcas Afo-Toffey, appealed to the President to consider the re-opening of the Elubo border, which serves as a gateway to Cote d’Ivoire to alleviate the hardships on the people living in nearby communities. The MP who joined the youth of Elubo to demonstrate against the continued closure of the border, said people had died and many more would die if nothing was done. “More people have died in the area due to hardships as a result of the border closure than COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleading with the government, President Akufo-Addo to intervene,” she said.
According to the MP, the motive behind the land border closure was to prevent the spread of the virus from other countries, but the deaths from hardships exceeded what COVID-19 would have caused. The people argue that trading across the border is their only source of livelihood, hence the continued closure of the border for more than a year now, was making life hard for them and their families and dependants.
Similar pressures have also been mounted on the government by traders at Aflao in the Ketu District of the Volta Region to open the border to Togo to allow them to carry out their daily business along the border. They complained that the border closure had seriously impacted negatively on their livelihood since they could not find any means to make ends meet apart from their trading within the catchment area. It is refreshing that in all these demonstrations lives were not lost as they went on peacefully and we commend the people for their maturity.
It is worthy of note that in both instances, the government has assured the traders that their petitions are receiving urgent attention and that the situations on the ground in both cases are being monitored for further action to be taken.
EFFECT OF THE DISEASE ON GHANAIANS
Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the livelihood of many Ghanaians including those living along the border towns to our neighbouring countries. The severity of the poor living conditions of the people is nothing good to write about ever since the disease started in the latter part of 2019. Apart from the negative impact on the economy, the disease had claimed a number of innocent lives some of whom were bread winners of their families. People have lost their jobs as a result of this deadly disease. It has resulted in an increase in the crime wave in this country as people are bent on doing anything possible to make a living.
However, the closure of the country’s borders to our neighbouring countries, has to a very large extent yielded a positive result as it has helped to minimise the spread of this deadly disease in our dear nation. The truth is that, if we had not taken that positive step to close our borders especially the land borders, the country would have been in a total mess by now; a lot of people would have lost their lives as a result of this deadly disease.
It is a fact that the people along the border towns are suffering as a result of the continued closure of our borders, but strictly speaking, it was a wise decision to be taken by the government to safeguard the lives of the majority of Ghanaians. What is now left, is for the government to find ways of helping the traders out of their predicament so that they can cater for their families and dependants and also alleviate their sufferings.
TAKING POLITICS OUT OF BORDER CLOSURES
For goodness sake, our politicians must refrain from capitalising on the situation to do cheap political propaganda by using the people to attack government because it has no merit whatsoever. Instead, they must assist and support the government with tangible suggestions and ideas that will go a long way to cushion the people from their difficulties and hardships they are currently facing. We need a constructive politics not a destructive and vile propaganda that will not help the course of development. It is quite unfortunate that the land borders still remain closed after more than a year.
ADHERING STRICTLY TO WHO SAFETY PROTOCOLS ON COVID-19
While we think about possible ways and solutions to ameliorate the plight of our traders in the border towns and villages, it is equally important for us to intensify the vaccination in the country particularly in these border areas as a major step towards minimising the spread of the disease. It is equally important for us as Ghanaians, to adhere strictly to the WHO safety protocols of regular handwashing and sanitising, wearing of face masks, observing our distance at designated places, such as churches, funeral grounds and social gatherings. Equally, people at the helm of affairs in this country must try to lead by example by abiding by the laid down restrictions regarding the disease. This country is not out of the woods yet when it comes to the eradication of the deadly COVID-19. The struggle still continues unabated!
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BY CHARLES NEEQUAYE
Features
The Cop, press and lost fingers
The job of a policeman, whether he is short or tall, is not a cheap one. He is supposed to keep the peace, protect society and monitor the activities of local magicians and money doublers who are specialists in making civil servants lose their pay within seconds.
By far the most difficult job of the policeman is when he is expected to arrest a murderer who is not only armed but also has a record of appearing and disappearing at will. Even if the tough cop is in the company of other policemen all armed to the teeth, his stomach will turn to water when the criminal suddenly appears.
He is terrified not because the criminal is a better marksman, but because nobody dies twice. The problem also is that a criminal might be prepared to die in a bid to shoot his way to freedom. But is the police-man prepared to risk death in the course of duty when he has a family to rear.
If he had just acquired a new girlfriend with whom he is enjoying life, should he not run away with his tail between his legs and tell his boss that the criminal is uncatchable?
Before some policemen go on patrol duties, they actually pray solemnly. “God send me into the wilderness and bring me back safely with my nose intact because I’m worth more than a common rat. I also do not want to die like a stray dog. If a bullet is targeted at my forehead, Holy Spirit please let it go over the bar, because six children is not a small palaver. If I die, who will look after them? Lord keep me safe day by day. Amen!”
The Sikaman policeman’s job is a risky one because he is not properly equipped with even a trained dog to help track down criminals easily. So he has to use his own nose judiciously in sniffing out suspects while making sure a bullet doesn’t catch him square on the jaw.
My friend Sir Kofi Owuo, a.k.a. Death-By-Poverty was telling me journalists are in an even riskier profession. Apparently, he had been reading about the palaver of journalists in places like Algeria and Columbia. Algeria, even women journalists are not spared assassin’s bullet. You’d see them lying in front of their homes with their heads full of bullet holes.
In Columbia, no journalist is safe. When a journalist is leaving home, he has to tell his wife. “Darling, when I don’t come back by 7 p.m. check the mortuary
The drug trade in Columbia has made journalism a profession not worth practising. If you write on cocaine and the harm it is inflicting on society, you’ll certainly receive a phone call.
“Hello, Mr Journalist, your article yesterday was great. Congratulations! We never knew you were such brilliant writer, championing the cause of society. Again we say congrats! But you know something, by your article, you want to take the bread out of my and that of my family. You don’t want us to beak. We are aggrieved beyond measure”
“Oh, I was just… “You’d try to say something
“You don’t have to explain. The harm has already been done by your award-winning masterpiece. We have an appointment with you. You’ll hear from us.
Rest In Peace!” After such a phone call, you just have to pray to your soul, sing a hymn or two and get prepared fort appointment with death. For, death will surely come
I think pressmen in Sikaman would also have start informing their families appropriately before leaving for work now. “If I don’t come back early, I’m probably at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Korle- Bu checking a leakage in my left ear due to a gendarme slap from an AMA official. If you don’t see me there, track me down to the emergency ward. If you see a newly-made cripple, I’m the one”
What about referees? These days they are guarded during football matches so that the risk they bear in terms of lost teeth is minimal. Formerly, it used to be a job full of woes and tribulations.
You were expected to oversee a match in such way that would favour a particular team. If that is not done, you’ll get back home and your wife will not recognise you. She’ll mistake you for Frank Bruno who had just lost a bout. When she finally recognises you, she’ll fix some hot water to massage your poor face.
I hear that these days, apart from the protection referees receive, some are well-armed with Damfo Dzai, a kind of jack-knife that can carve a rowdy supporters face in several designs.
My Press Secretary and part-time bodyguard Devine Ankamah, was telling me if he happens to be a referee, he’d surely carry a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle with him, complete with loaded magazine, before officiating matches. According to him, that is the only way to do the job without fear or favour. Anyone dares will lose his jaw.
Anyway, risky jobs require good remuneration. As Kwame Korkorti once said, risky jobs require risky salary. A policeman would require a good pay so that when a criminal targets his left ear it would be worth the ‘amputation’. Same for journalists and cameramen.
But go round private workplaces and factories and you’d see really risky occupations where workers are receiving salaries they can’t see with the naked eye.
In fact, in some private workplaces, environmental safety is completely absent. Workers breathe in fumes, poisonous gases and risk lung and respiratory problems. Their employers do nothing about protecting them against these hazards. Check out their payer.
In other places, workers have their fingers chopped off on the job, some losing as many as four fingers in stretch. The compensation they get can best be described as “wicked”. Their employers live big, chop big, ride big but are not willing to pay more than ¢120,000 for lost fingers.
Actually the more fingers you lose, the more money you get. So if you intend losing your fingers on the job, it is advisable to lose as many as possible so that you can get more cash. Those who have lost one finger have not benefited much and are encouraged to lose more next time around.
Sikaman Palava is undertaking to investigate some of these cases of very risky jobs in private setups and companies where workers are being exploited to unnecessarily but not offered protection against health hazards, and not properly compensated when they sustain injuries.
This article was first published on Saturday, September 28, 1996
Features
Position yourself for God’s blessings
Motivated by the impending 40-day fasting and needless to add prayer programme, preceding the Greater Works Conference scheduled for August in Accra, I would like to draw attention to how believers can receive blessings from God.
There is a scripture in Hebrews 11:5 that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God”.
This clearly shows that in order to receive blessings from God, you must please God. How can one please God? You can only please God by obeying him and walking in line with God’s word. Just like how children who obey their parents, enjoy special treatment, so does God deal with his children who obey his word.
There are ways by which people receive blessings from God and holiness is an important criteria in the whole equation. Holiness is a process and not a one day event.
It is a mindset borne out of walking in obedience to God’s instructions i.e. his word. In order to have a mindset of living to please God, requires studying God’s word coupled with praying and fasting.
This helps us to develop trust in God by knowing his nature, what he likes and dislikes. This is what will enable us to live to please him and for our faith in him also to increase.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Fasting is one of the required criteria for blessings to be released and it goes with prayer because fasting without prayer is just a physical exercise. Fasting enables a person’s inner man to be in tune with the spirit of God and also becomes spiritually empowered to hear from God and also obey God.
Fasting enables a person’s spirit to feed on God’s word in a much more focused manner as compared to studying God’s word in normal times. As a result our spirit gains the upper hand to dominate the body and the soul, so that we are more conscious of the presence of God in our lives which causes us willingly the desire to live to obey God.
Holiness which is a prerequisite for pleasing God, can only manifest in our lives if we are able to overcome the desires of the flesh and this only happens when the flesh is subject to the spirit.
Apostle Paul said that “But l keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should not be castaway”, according to 1 Corinthians 9:27.
In order to bring the body or flesh into subjection so that believers will be able to live to please God, we have to study, God’s word in a certain state of mind which fasting and prayer appropriately provides.
Our minds are the battle grounds for decisions that either please God or the Devil. In order to please God so his blessings can be released upon our lives, we must continuously engage our minds with thoughts that is in line with God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that “Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May God help us to live to please him by meditating on things that please the Lord, so we shall be blessed in all aspects of our lives. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
