Features
Do not let the pressure get to you
Recently one of the topical issues being discussed on various media platforms is the infamous act of one Chef Smith that led to his arrest by the police.
Shortly after the public event patronised by the media, that Chef Smith had won a cook-a-thon contest, news quickly circulated that he had been arrested for fraud.
Rumours were rife that he had perpetrated fraud on Ghanaians and the world at large, regarding his claim that he had officially been recognised as the new cook-a-thon record holder by Guinness book of records.
Couple of days ago in his own words and on live TV, he confessed that it was all a hoax and that he engineered the whole thing. Asked by the host why he did what he did he initially said he did not know.
Then upon further probing he confessed that he was pressured by economic circumstances to indulge in that deceptive act. He explained that he could hardly take care of his bills and that sometimes it was difficult for him to pay his children’s school fees.
He then apologised profusely to some individuals he had hurt by his actions, the people of Ghana and the world in general that he deserve to die and all should forgive him, amidst weeping.
It was sad to witness a young man weeping uncontrollably, all because he allowed the current economic pressure to get to him and therefore cloud his judgement.
There is a twist to this issue regarding the person who was interviewing Chef Smith and the question of hypocrisy given the rumours surrounding the person who was doing the questioning on grounds of morality.
This was a person who had been mired in allegations of immorality and there she was asking someone why he scammed a whole bunch of people? Let us leave this for another day.
When a person becomes desperate, common sense flies out the window and actions that one will not usually carry out, gets executed. People usually blame the devil when caught in the web of bizarre acts which dents the reputation.
As the Chef was being pushed to the wall to tell why he orchestrated that charade, I was saying to myself not again, not again, thinking he was going to say “it was the devil who made me do it.”
Fortunately, this time, the chef took responsibility and said economic pressure pushed him to commit that grand deception. I might have taken a decision to go to court to sue the chef on behalf the devil if he had laid the blame at the devil’s doorstep.
It was becoming too much for me to bear to hear of people always blaming the devil for things they and they alone are responsible for.
The underlying causes of some of the wrong actions are a combination of economic pressures and selfishness or economic pressures and greed or a combination of all three.
It is therefore important to deal with selfish tendencies or greed so as to minimise the potential for problems in our lives.
The embarrassment caused by Chef Smith to his family, friends, and his extended family is huge. This could all have been avoided if greed had been dealt with in his life and had exercised patience as well.
The idea of doing more than one job should be something that the crop of young people in the country now and even older folks should consider. It reduces the economic stress people often go through and therefore the potential for temptation to engage in risky behaviour.
Nobody should think that the cost of living is going to reduce drastically as time goes on. Climate change is affecting food production to some extent and resources like water are gradually diminishing so things are not going to be cheaper as the years go by.
Population is increasing year after year and so in our part of the world, innovation, prudent financial management and self-discipline are required, to be able to overcome the stress.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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