Features
Getting the Ghanaian Diaspora more involved
Experts have noted that the rise of various Diasporas and their economic exploits has been a huge advantage regarding financial resources and skills or knowledge for development in many countries.
It is becoming increasingly common for countries to attract their Diaspora members for investment and development efforts.
The migration-remittances-development nexus has evolved members of the Diaspora into transnational agents whose activities involve the circulatory flows of remittances or people and their ideas.
Even ‘fixed capital’ stocks such as land, houses and business property are bought and maintained with transnational money.
Diaspora expertise
There are many members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in the advanced countries who have acquired huge expertise, knowledge and resources (academically, economically, technically or technologically, etc.) and would like to get back home to establish something productive.
Some are engaged in the freighting business to transport goods in containers to Africa, while others own small companies and other businesses particularly in the services sector, and they can even use that to finance other businesses at home.
Many can also offer consultancy services for the growth of our dear nation.
Threat
Yet, there are situations where members of the Ghanaian Diaspora who try to come back home to invest or help in building our dear country could be seen as a threat to those at home in terms of taking their jobs and other opportunities.
This may be understandable in a way, but generally members of the Ghanaian Diaspora should not be seen as a threat.
Rather, the Ghanaian Diaspora should be considered people inherent with human and social capital, in ideas and knowledge acquired in their country of settlement.
Frustration
I think such a scenario of them as a threat leaves many members of the Ghanaian Diaspora frustrated.
Many Ghanaian migrants are active in development projects and in politics back home. Others are involved in civil society organisations by African Diasporas and they build, for example, a library, a well, or public toilet with a sign showing that it was built and donated by the migrants.
Most of the migrants would want to derive mere joy from their efforts and contributions. So, to be regarded in other light is quite frustrating.
Diaspora bonds
Another way to attract members of the Diaspora to contribute is through Diaspora bonds, which are issued by governments to their Diaspora populations. Experts see Diaspora bonds to offer a particularly large untapped opportunity for African countries to attract additional development finance.
Some members of the Ghanaian Diaspora are even proposing a Ghanaian Diaspora Bond as a way to raise funds. It has been suggested that since the amount of remittances from the Ghanaian Diaspora fetches over six billion US dollars every year, setting up a Diaspora Bond will encourage many members of the Diaspora to invest in it.
Actually, some countries have gone into a Diaspora Bond mechanism and are known to have been quite successful.
Maybe, the idea of a Ghanaian Diaspora Bond should seriously be considered, if not already done.
Mutual respect
Finally, nobody can deny the fact that citizens at home and the Ghanaian Diaspora need each other to help build our dear country.
Of course, there could be situations where Ghanaians at home may feel that members of the Diaspora look down on them.
The Ghanaian Diaspora needs to respect those residing at home and vice versa.
As I wrote some time ago, if members of the Diaspora are more proactive and impart back to others in Ghana the knowledge, experiences and the good things seen whilst living in the advanced countries, the better it will be for our country.
Thank you!
- The writer is a Ghanaian lecturer at
the University of Helsinki in Finland
By Perpetual Crentsil
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”. The Holy Bible (Psalm 53:1)
The greatest gift I ever received was the Bible, given to me by Mr Anyetei Sowah of BIBLE HOUSE on April 4, 1991. It saved my life. He was my mate in sixth form, and while some of us were easy-going, perpetually looking for adventure in town, he was a bit different and we all respected and admired him for his Godly ways, his mild manners, his wise counsel.
When I became a journalist, he paid me a visit and asked me to attend one of his plays which was staged at the Arts Centre. He performed in this magnificent drama and I recall the role of one character, Reverend Sozo Macumbe. As a reward for being present, Anyetei presented me with a gift – The Holy Bible. It was more than One Million Dollars.
Earlier, I had always wanted to possess one but found it extremely difficult to purchase although it was very cheap, about the equivalent of two bottles lager beer. I could buy several lagers for myself and friends and yet couldn’t bring myself to spending on a Bible.
When Anyetei brought me the wonderful gift, I confessed almost on my knees that if he hadn’t presented me with the Bible, I couldn’t have bought one for myself no matter how hard I tried. I then blamed the devil for my inability to spend on a Bible rather than on beer. Of course, everybody blames the devil, so why not Kwame Alomele.
The Bible I got made me quite religious and as I read through and prayed, I was able to veer from dangerous paths of temptation and self-destruction. It was also an opportunity for me to reminisce my born-again days of old when I drew very close to Christ until Satan tore me away and re-baptised me fully into sin.
I really did not know what happened to me at the time. I was strongly in the faith but suddenly Satan came round and presented the whole world to me in exchange for my soul. On the whole, it was not a bad deal and I accepted Satan’s offer. Man mon enjoy life, abi!
When Anyetei’s Bible came, I told myself, “Kwame, you’ll fall a thousand times and take the mandatory count like a battered boxer. But you won’t remain sprawled, in the name of Jesus! You’ll crawl, you’ll stagger but eventually rise above beer bottles and continue from where you left off. Halleluyah!”
Yeah, you’ve got to give God his due. If you are a Christian, be strong in the faith and don’t be a mere church-goer; if a Moslem, don’t fail to pray and read the Koran daily; if you’re a Buddhist, chant ‘Myoho renge kyo nam’ till your jaw breaks; and if you’re a follower of Krishna, chant ‘Hare Krishna Hare’ till you collapse. And if you want to follow the devil too, please go ahead and wind up in hell. And in hell, you’ll find yourself in the form of ‘human khebab, precisely ‘human suya’. Hare.
In any case, research has shown that religious persons rarely become neurotic or psychotic. A person who is in a grave financial distress but is religious would hardly commit suicide.
Aside all the divine benefits, there is a psychological consolation that with God all things are possible. This is not only psychological, but real.
Those who are religious and get gilted by their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives just laugh it off. They never get broken-hearted to the point of mental derangement.
After lamenting a day or two over the loss of her lover, a gilted girl who is truly religious would declare that “Jesus is now my boyfriend”. She would never go mourning for days, weeks, months and end up at the Psychiatric Hospital. No, not when Jesus has taken over the show.
Of late, I’ve come a bit closer to Jesus not because I’ve been gilted by a ‘babe’ or in financial distress; far from these. I have realised that a youngman must organise his life and your life can hardly be organised if you are not religious. Jesus is like a pillar of your life, just as Buddha or Krishna might be.
The Lord says, “When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm”. (Psalm 75:3).
If you come to learn that people like mystic writer LOBSANG RAMPA have turned over a new page in life doubled-up. He was an occultist and one of his and is now a born-again Christian, then it is time man famous books which is now very infamous is ‘THE THIRD EYE’. I have read it three times over.
Before Mr Rampa came into the Christian fold, he apologised to the world for having deceived people with his writings and led them away from the path of righteousness.
I fellowship at the E. P. CHURCH OF GHANA at Tema. It is regarded as a renegade wing of the E.P.CHURCH. When they broke away, I was furious with them and called them good-for-nothing devil-inspired idiots.
Today, that is where I meet Jesus for a chat. And that is where my younger brother Edward Alomele, a latter-day convert, does business with Christ.
In fact, when churches split, it is only an opportunity for the word to spread further. So the two churches are now far apart and doing the work of God to spread the good news further and further. They need not be antagonistic to each other after all. Isn’t it?
And it came to pass that last Sunday when I walked into the synagogue I espied Diana Akiwumi sitting on the dais. Not sure if it was her, I looked out for her husband; they are almost always together.
And lo and behold, there was the Reverend Samuel Akiwumi perching beside his superstar wife. They were our guests. Today be today, I said.
As expected, Lady Diana led the praise and worship. It was an inspiring ecclesiastical blitz as the lady songbird with a musical call took the congregation through an explosive spiritual extravaganza. I was completely overwhelmed with joy and if it hadn’t been for my weight I would have executed the monkey-dance Kwame Korkorti taught me years ago.
When it came to delivering the word, it was no other than Evangelist Samuel Akiwumi. I never knew he was such a vibrant preacher man. He delivered the sermon with total conviction and power and the congregation nodded and nodded with satisfaction. Basing his sermon on Chronicles 2 Chapter 20, he urged us to rely exclusively on God in times of trouble.
After the service I cornered the Europe-bound duo and asked them about the AKIWUMI GOSPEL MINISTRIES.
This article was first published on Saturday, July 22, 1995
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If God grants us the grace to live long like our parents, I am of the firm conviction that we shall hear a lot of interesting things. Discipline in schools, especially at the Senior High School level, has become a hot topic for discussion in the country in recent times.
I recall Achimota School, a few years ago, being in the news for insisting that a Rasta-haired student, who had just gained admission, must cut his hair before being admitted. This generated a heated national debate, and the parents of the student decided to go to court. The Ministry of Education eventually intervened for the student to be admitted, and the court later ruled that he could not be prevented based on religious grounds. Interestingly, the teenager recently completed the school with no disciplinary issues — and on top of that, had 8 As.
A few days ago, a Minister stirred up another debate in the education space by announcing that regulations governing short hair in schools must be strictly enforced to ensure discipline and character formation. But I fail to see how cutting one’s hair short ensures morality.
In the past, students in second-cycle institutions were required to keep their hair short. Many of these boys later became men, completed universities, entered politics, and ended up in Parliament as Members of Parliament (MPs) representing their respective constituencies. At that time, the fashion in vogue among men was short hair, and in many cases, completely shaved heads, popularly called “Sakora.” One would therefore assume that these men would be morally upright.
Surprise, surprise! During the previous government, it came out that some MPs had dishonestly received double salaries. One then begins to wonder — what correlation, therefore, exists between short hair and right conduct? If short hair has anything to do with character formation, then something went very, very wrong somewhere.
Frankly, I fail to see the correlation between short hair and moral uprightness. I once lived in an area notorious for wee (marijuana) smoking, yet I never smoked wee. Character formation, in my opinion, depends largely on the individual — not on whether they have long or short hair.
What happens when a child is forced to pretend to be obedient and morally upright in school, only to go to university after three years in SHS? Even those of us who went through Sixth Form before university had our challenges — how much more those who spend only three years in SHS?
Some argue that in the army, soldiers cut their hair short and that’s why they are disciplined. I find this reasoning absurd because in countries like the United States, Canada, and across Europe, students do not cut their hair short, yet their societies are disciplined. They do not litter their streets, corruption is frowned upon, and their MPs do not take double salaries. That’s not to say they are angels, but on the whole, they eschew anti-social behaviour and are patriotic citizens.
A look at the Public Accounts Committee sittings proves my point beyond reasonable doubt. Most of the people engaged in misconduct had their hair cut short in various Senior High Schools, yet they turned out to be unpatriotic citizens.
I am sure that the man who a court of competent jurisdiction ruled had unlawfully taken GH¢51 million from the state of Ghana also observed the short-hair rule while in secondary school — and yet, he swindled the nation.
Food for thought. God bless.
NB: Change Kotoka International Airport to Kofi Baako International Airport.
BY LAUD KISSI-MENSAH
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