News
Appearance can be deceptive
One of the themes running through Shakespeare’s work is the conflict of appearance and reality. He was the first to tell us that “All that glitters is not gold,” and he again reminded us that “Every cloud engenders not a storm.” In trying to tell us that things are not always as they seem, the bard said, “Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour.”
It is sometimes good for us to reflect on the themes of great literature because their truth isn’t always limited to a certain time or people. And we, much more than the people of Shakespeare’s day, are living in a world of false images where reality is hard to sort out from appearance. It’s a world where a political candidate’s hairstyle may prove more important to his campaign than his stand on the issues. It is a world where we know one another so superficially that for some our best friends are those flickers of a colour on a television set. It is a world where our dream homes are the slim facades of a Hollywood movie set. A world where we put on fronts because we are uncertain people will like us without our veneer.
The great danger in all this is that we may become so confused between appearance and reality that we put our faith and time in the temporary, rather than the eternal, spending a lifetime chasing cotton candy realities. It is too easy to equate the importance of a person with his visibility, the meaning of a job with its notoriety. We may let those things which seem the most pressing pull us away from the things which are most important. We may begin to think that power is wealth and influence, rather than personal integrity.
It was Rudyard Kipling who said, “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday, Is one with Ninevah and Tyre,” two cities which have utterly vanished from the map.
Appearance and reality, if only they would label themselves so we could clearly recognise them and act accordingly. But appearance has a way of seeming immediate, important, demanding. And reality dressed in simple clothes fades quietly into the background. We rarely have time to stop in our running and ask, “What really matters in the eternal scheme of things?”
Thus, there is the father who misses his child’s first piano recital, but not his business meeting. There is plenty of time for a mindless magazine, but not the scriptures. We learn to envy those who are served, not those who do the serving.
But one day when our eyes are clear, appearance with all of its false gaiety and self-seeking will take a final curtain bow and reality will take its rightful place centre stage. Then we will know if we have put our faith and time in their proper place.
Long ago, the prophet Samuel was taught: “. . . the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” This passage of scripture is familiar to many. But, like Samuel, we may find it difficult at times not to be distracted, or even misled by appearances.
Samuel was struggling to find a replacement for King Saul when the Lord gave him this counsel: “Look not on the countenance, or on the height of his stature,” but rather look on the heart. He was still mourning the downfall of this great leader when, as prophet, he was commanded to anoint a new king. At that point in time, looking on the heart of any other man even a future king required the opening of his own heart.
And so, it goes for each of us. Think how our lives are enriched when we choose to look on the heart, and when others look on ours. How we value the friend who at first seemed so different from us, but who we took the time to get to know. How we cherish the family member who sees past our shortcomings and never fails to find goodness in us. For who we are on the inside how we think and feel, matters so much more than what we appear to be.
Appearances can be deceptive, to be sure. The clothing we wear, the company we keep, the car we drive, the house we occupy are all outward measurements that can keep us from each other’s hearts. They allow for quick and easy classifications. But the stature of a person’s soul is so much more difficult to qualify, let alone discern.
Henry David Thoreau had much to say about looking deeper: “We know but few men,” he wrote, and “a great many coats and breeches.” So often, our evaluations of each other don’t extend far past coats and breeches. But, as Thoreau decides, “. . . if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do, will they not?”
Certainly, the Lord is less concerned about outward appearances. His all-seeing eye penetrates the very heart and discovers there the greatest treasure. He sees goodness, because He is good. He knows truth, because He is truth. He discerns real love, because He is love.
The more our own hearts are full of His goodness, truth, and love, the more we will be able to see as the Lord sees and really look on the heart.
By Samuel Enos Eghan
Women in Sustainability Africa (WiSA) successfully holds the African Women’s Health and Wealth Conference (AWoHW) with a call for research and investment into women’s healthcare.
It also called for robust financial systems and encouraged women to generate wealth as well as prioritise their health.
The conference held at the Shippers House in Accra on Thursday, March 5, 2026, was on the theme, “Championing Inclusive healthcare and finance systems for African women and girls.”
Speaking on behalf of Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sabia Kpekata, Programme Officer at the Ministry, said, Financial inclusion remains one of the most critical pathways to women’s empowerment and achieving sustainable development.
According to the minister, it is for this reason that the government continues to support initiatives that expand access to affordable credit, strengthen women-led enterprises and build financial literacy.
“Institutions such as MASLOC, the Women’s Development Bank and other targeted financing mechanisms play a critical role in closing the financial inclusion gap,” she added.
Against this backdrop, she stated that the passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121), further strengthens this agenda. By mandating progressive representation of women in decision-making spaces across public and private sectors, the Act ensures that women are not only beneficiaries of financial and healthcare systems, but architects of those systems.
“Women must sit at the policy table where budgets are approved, health priorities are set, and economic policies are designed. This is why the Ministry calls on all stakeholders to push for the effective implementation of the Affirmative Act,” she stated.
Furthermore, she noted that the conference called on everyone to move inclusion from talk to action, incorporating it in budgets, laws, health systems and corporate policies.
She added that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is committed to partnering with stakeholders to build inclusive healthcare and financial systems that serve every woman and girl, regardless of location, income, or social status.
“Let us strive to build a Ghana where opportunity is not determined by gender and where systems are designed to uplift, protect and empower,’ she noted.
Addressing the gathering, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, said many women suffer from mental health issues as a result of health financing, adding that this is why President Mahama has initiated the Accra Reset to tackle issues relating to women.
Additionally, she commended the Ghana Enterprises Agency for consistently promoting women entrepreneurs.
Nana Oye Bampoe further touched on some government initiatives targeted at women, adding that the government is intentional about women’s empowerment.
On his part, the convener, Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, said, “Today is not just a conference – It is a declaration. It is a declaration that African women and girls will no longer stand at the margins of systems that determine their health, their wealth, and their future.”
According to her, it is a declaration that sustainability is not a slogan for them, rather, it is a strategy, a commitment and a promise.
She said the greatest resource any organisation, community, nation or continent has is its human resources, adding that the continent’s economic prosperity depends on the quality, productivity and capacity of its labour force, including men, women and young people.
The convener noted that where both genders have equal opportunities and operate at near optimal levels, there will be greater economic Expansion and output for the prosperity of all Africans
Additionally, she stated that to drive inclusive economic growth, reduce poverty, amongst others, there is a need for an intentional and clear alignment to economic and social dynamics in specific contexts.
“This will in turn positively impact the involvement and contributions to drive the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the overall economic prosperity of Africa,” she added.
She further stated that as 2030 approaches, WISA which officially launched on May 1, 2025 in Partnership with the UN Global Compact on behalf of all Women of Africa and of African Descent, will mark a new beginning to accelerate growth towards the closure of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) gaps, by being deliberate to center women at the heart of implementation and compliance.
The Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod Jewellery, Getrude Emefa Donkor, said, Saving alone cannot make one financially sound, adding that investing and having other sources of income is the best way to go.
She also provided some tips for women, calling for discipline in spending, and consistency in saving behaviour, as well as inculcating the habit of budgeting.
WiSA is a Coordinating Pan-African Organization that works with other CSOs, NGOs, Corporate Institutions, local and International Development Organizations and individuals to bring all women, men, young people and women groups together (especially those at the grassroots level) to foster the achievement of the SDGs across Africa.
WiSA stands for the development of new perspectives and catalytic ideas towards accelerating growth for the achievement of the SDGs, including closing the Gender Inequality gap.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
Promoting Gender Equity In Governance: Felicia Adjei highlights importance of proportional representation
The Member of Parliament for Kintampo South, Felicia Adjei, has made a statement in Parliament on the importance of proportional representation in promoting gender equity in governance.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, she noted that the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121) was a bold step toward encouraging women’s participation, but laws alone cannot guarantee fairness if the electoral system does not support inclusion.
She explained that proportional representation, particularly through Gender-Balance or “zebra” lists where parties alternate between male and female candidates, could help ensure equal opportunities for women in leadership.
The Kintampo MP was of the view that such a system promotes fairness by design rather than leaving representation to chance.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
