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Democratic Socialism
Any keen observer of the political happenings around the world, would have seen in recent times the emergence of a political philosophy that seems to resonate with a lot of people who belong to the working class and the middle income group.
In recent times, a name on the lips of people is Zohran Mamdani, who is the new Mayor of New York, and he is creating a buzz not only in New York but across America, for the transformational, servant leadership style of governance, which are impacting lives of the average man on the street.
Right across our border to the north of this country, is another man whose exploits in terms of governance, have restored hope to the people of Burkina Faso and his name is lbrahim Traore.
This was a country that until recently, had been devastated by years of corrupt leadership under Campaore and the immediate past leader, coupled with Jihadist attacks, which had resulted in social misery, economic decline and lack of good governance.
This is the Democratic Socialism ideology on display, where no one is left behind.
A review of our governance system had shown that what we have practised over the years have not delivered the promises it offered and therefore one can safely say that, it has failed us.
Currently most Ghanaians have lost hope in the democracy we are practising. All we see is a group of leaders who only crave for power to better the lot of themselves and their families.
This is the perception out there and so citizens are not motivated to be patriotic and this is one of the major causes of entrenched corruption in the public and civil service.
Within a short period, since he took over as head of the country, although he came into power through a coup, which l do not support, he has begun to transform Burkina Faso where patriotism is on the rise to the extent that ordinary citizens, are now protecting their villages against Jihadist attacks.
They have teamed up with the government to implement security measures aimed at protecting the citizens and it is because the citizens have observed a new leadership style that is transparent, selfless, patriotic and very committed to the welfare of the citizens.
This is the kind of governance system our country needs and it has a name; Democratic Socialism. Socialism as a political ideology on its own is not helpful as history has shown because it eventually breeds dictatorship and also stagnates economic growth.
Democratic Socialism is a blend of democratic values and social welfare, which ensures that the vulnerable in society are taken care of.
There is a popular quote which is attributed to Albert Einstein that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
The Democracy we have practised over the years has not delivered the expected results so it is about time we started reviewing it. This is the only way to see progress.
Burkina Faso is almost a desert yet we depend on them for a large portion of our tomato needs as a nation which has all the forests and vegetation Burkina dreams of.
Recently they said they were not going to allow exports of raw tomato because they have to keep enough to feed their factories and our government had to go and beg them to allow our traders to import tomato from them. This is shameful.
When a leader of a state, demonstrates patriotism, it trickles down to the citizenry and creates a culture of patriotism and that is the way to drastically reduce corruption, if not completely eliminate it, because corruption deprives the nation of adequate resources for development. God Bless.
The 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards has celebrated three decades of recognising excellence and contributions to journalism and national development, while highlighting the media’s role in Ghana’s democracy.
Marking the milestone, Philip Osei Bonsu of the Multimedia Group emerged as the GJA/P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Ghanaian Times’ Benedicta Gyimah Foley won the Best Feature Reporting, Print category, alongside other journalists recognised across various media platforms.
Other winners included Nathaniel Attoh, Best in Sports Reporting; and Godwin Asediba of Media General, Best in TV Documentary; Doreen Ampofo of GBC, Best in Radio Documentary; and freelance journalist Nii Adjei Mensahfio, Best in Online Documentary.
Daniel Kwabena Mantey was adjudged Best in TV Feature, while Clinton Yeboah of Luv FM won Best in Radio Feature, with Gilbert Azeem Tiroog of GNA taking Best in Online Features.
For news reporting, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won Best in Print News Reporting, Nabil Ahmed Rufai, a freelance journalist, Best in TV News Reporting; Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman of EIB Network, Best in Radio News Reporting; and Timothy Ngnenbe of the Daily Graphic, Best in Online News.
The ceremony, held in Accra last Saturday on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age”, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour.
Also in attendance were the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, among others.
In his address, President Mahama announced a GH₵10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget as seed capital for the reactivated Media Development Fund to support journalists’ welfare, professional development, investigative reporting and safety training, with additional corporate contributions expected.
Mr Mahama, also urged media practitioners to uphold professionalism and accuracy by avoiding sensationalism, unsubstantiated allegations and the deliberate pursuit of scandals, while promptly correcting inaccurate reports and apologising when necessary to maintain public trust and professional standards.
On journalists’ safety, he assured that the government would continue to act against attacks on them.
By Stephanie Birikorang
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Today, I focus on the theme of Ghanaian/African migrants in Finland and economic empowerment, a move away from the topic of personalities or groups and their accomplishments within the Ghanaian community in Finland that I have been writing on.
In recent times, African migrant associations and Finnish institutions are organising meetings or forums and help people seeking employment to meet employers or build professional networks to achieve economic empowerment.
Such forums are usually open to their members and anyone of African descent.to get into the Finnish job market.
Competences
Researchers and experts say entrepreneurship or self-employment has great potential to offer a route for migrants, including highly-educated ones, to participate in and contribute to the local economy.
Competences, including knowledge and knowhow, opportunities, and social capital such as family support, language, etc., are necessary to boost the entrepreneurship endeavour.
Competence in the official Finnish or Swedish languages is undoubtedly a key quality to improve employment prospects, especially for migrants since the overall unemployment among migrants could be higher than in the mainstream Finnish population.
There could also be particular privileges which may be the provision of the right information for potential entrepreneurs or job seekers.
Barriers and stress factors
Although language has a huge potential to contribute positively to entrepreneurship possibilities, studies have shown that some of the major stress factors are language problems, finances or economic capital among African migrants.
Other barriers or challenges may be how to grow the business venture or its sustainability.
Thus, migrant communities can generally be highly vulnerable to language barrier, lack of information, the nature of the work of migrants in professions where working from home is not possible.
Migrant associations, social networks, and information
By their activities, migrant associations are doing much to educate and create awareness as well as enhance economic empowerment through migrants’ entrepreneurship or self-employment and enhance opportunities.
Such associations and institutions become networks that create an important social capital as well as outlets for sharing and gaining information or knowledge. Also, it will all be for societal good if such activities are able to help reduce stress and anxiety in the migrants’ entrepreneurship endeavours.
As I keep pointing out, Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society. A number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.
Public agencies, migrant associations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Finland have been publishing information to help educate people, which is also good for their wellbeing.
Generally, migrant associations formally create awareness among their members and other migrants usually in collaboration with some Finnish institutions, and are thus an important tool for several migrants to be positively active and to get their interests and claims heard.
As I wrote previously, the role of migrant associations 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!
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