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Ghana Army: Is it ‘useless’?
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Wikipedia defines “useful” as able to be used for practical purpose in several ways.
Synonyms for “useful” include beneficial, rewarding, productive, valuable, helpful and utilitarian.
It defines “useless” also as not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome.
Synonyms for “useless” include purposeless, hopeless, fruitless, broken, unusable, impotent, junky, unprofitable and ineffectual.
Readers, Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor is reported to have described the Ghana Army as “useless” in his social media post, even though he has not been provoked in any way, by the disciplined Ghana Army.
And who is Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor? He is said to be the ring leader of the FixtheCountry Movement.
Reportedly, the FixtheCountry Movement is a youthful Ghanaian group that claims to be non-partisan and non-political, which aims at mobilising thousands of Ghanaians for series of demonstrations, for a so-called new Ghana.
But many Ghanaians strongly believe that “the FixtheCountry Movement is a creation of the opposition National Democratic Congress and clothed with the orchestration to destabilise the Akufo-Addo led government”, thus, with the intent to making it unpopular, so that the NDC could ride on its back to power, come 2024.
Others also say:”The cat is now out of the bag because the ring leader of the movement, Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor, was a legal and policy adviser to President John Mahama’s administration.
“And that it was under President Mahama’s led government that Ghana’s economy got rotten.”
The ring leader of the moment, was last Monday, (February 14, 2022), put before the Ashaiman District Court and ‘slapped’ with treason felony in accordance with Section 182(b) of the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
He was arrested last Friday at the Kotoka International Airport on his arrival from London and was detained by the Tema Regional Police Command.
Barker-Vormawor’s arrest and prosecution is in relation to a social media post in which he threatened to stage a coup if the Electronic Transaction Levy Bill (E-levy), which is currently under consideration in Parliament, is passed into law.
The police insist that Barker-Vormawor’s social media post “contained a clear statement of intent, with a possible will to execute a coup in his declaration of intent to subvert the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.”
Without any provocation from the Ghana Army, he described the Ghana Army as “useless”.
An army within the military set-up, is a ground force or land force. It is a fighting force that fights primarily on land.
In some countries, such as France and China, the term “army”, especially in its plural form, “armies”, has the broader meaning of armed forces as a whole, while retaining the colloquial sense of land forces.
To differentiate the colloquial army from the formal concept of military force, the term is qualified. For instance, in France, the land force is known as Land Army while the land and space force, is also referred to as Air and Space Army.
The naval force, although not using the term “army”, is also included in the broad sense of the term, armies,thus, the French Navy is an integral component of the collective French Armies (French Armed Forces) under the Ministry of the Armies.
Readers, a similar pattern is seen in China and other countries. So, in effect, one cannot tell whether Barker-Vormawor was referring to the colloquial Ghana Army or the Ghana Armed Forces.
A standing army is a permanent, often professional institution. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts.
Standing armies tend to be better equipped, better trained and better prepared for emergencies, defensive deterrence and particularly wars.
Mr. Kwame Jantuah, Chief Executive Officer of Accra-based African Energy Consortium Limited, says:”Barker-Vormawor, being a Constitutional Lawyer should know that the right to free speech comes with responsibilities.
“You don’t just get up and say things and just walk free because free speech comes with limitations.”
Mr. Kwame Jantuah charges:”Nobody should even think about a coup in Ghana because it won’t help us. The situation we are in today, will be 10 times worse if there is a coup in Ghana.”
Readers, I am rather concerned about Barker-Vormawor’s description of the Ghana Army as “useless”. Is it because they have “refused” to assist him to organise his coup?
Is it also the case that the Ghana Army has threatened to deal ruthlessly with Barker-Vormawor and his FixtheCountry Movement, should they make any attempt to derail the democratic and economic progress made so far by our country?
Really, what at all incensed and “raptured” the “bile” of Barker-Vormawor to describe the Ghana Army as “useless”?
Readers, can anyone contemplate what was raking the conscience of Barker-Vormawor to have described the Ghana Army as “useless”, besides his coup making hallucinations?
Contact email/ WhatsApp of author:
asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)
By G. Frank Asmah
There is a culture that permeates all aspects of leadership in the advanced countries which I believe has contributed to the success in all aspects of their national lives. Citizens strive to excel so that they will not find themselves in a situation where they would have failed, to necessitate a decision to resign.
Countries where failure is frowned upon, it pushes the citizens to strive for success. In our part of the world, failure and mediocrity has become an accepted norm and therefore, there is no shame in failing in a particular position of leadership.
A head of an organisation mismanages the place and he does not see the need for him to resign. The appointing authority does not also see the need to sack him and so the merry go round continues.
It becomes friends and family as usual and if care is not taken, the rest of the world will leave us far, far behind.
The practice of resignation in parts of the world for failure in some parts of the world has to be institutionalised in our country too. It encourages the principle of accountability which is good for any organisation, sector of an economy or a country.
It promotes good governance, a necessary ingredient in the growth of the economy of any country.
When this practice becomes a culture, every individual, privileged to hold a position of trust, gives his or her full attention to the job assigned him or her, to ensure that objectives are achieved.
This trickles down to every individual down the chain of command and there are no rooms for errors.
That is how efficient systems are built over time and this is the difference between advanced nations and third world countries.
Where systems are designed such that people take responsibility for things that go wrong under their supervision or ultimate responsibility, there is evidence of development.
There are a few people that I admire in Ghana as far as this culture of resignation based on principled stance. One of them is the late Mrs Emma Mitchell. She was a cabinet member but chose to resign after the confrontation between late President Jerry Rawlings and late Vice President Kow Akaah.
She was not prepared to be part of a cabinet which was lying to the general public that Rawlings did not assault Akaah.
She was of the conviction that telling the truth is more honourable than telling lies and that if she was bound by confidentiality oaths to tell a lie, then she would resign and she did exactly that.
That is how we build a culture of truth and accountability. We have people in positions who have not lived up to expectation but are still holding on to their positions not prepared to let go of it.
This is a clear case of display of selfishness, trying to be a Boss instead of a Servant to serve the people, which leadership is all about.
The ineffectiveness of some leaders, often result in waste of resources which could have been channeled to other sectors of the economy which could have been more productive. A culture of voluntary resignation must be advocated for by all stakeholders, especially the CSOs, traditional leaders and the clergy.
This is the only way the needed growth in every sector of our national life would manifest.
Presidents, Prime Ministers, heads of reputable organisations have voluntarily resigned by taking ultimate responsibility and it is about time, we started seeing it manifest in our country.
The people in charge of our sports especially our soccer, can initiate this long desired culture and resign in view of the embarrassment witnessed from the defeat of the Black Stars by Gambia. God bless.
BY LAUD KISS-MENSAH
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THE QUR’AN FORBIDS RELIGIOUS PROVOCATION
There is a remarkable verse in the Qur’an which every Muslim preacher should memorise.
Allah says:
“And do not insult those they invoke besides Allah, lest they insult Allah in hostility without knowledge.” (Qur’an 6:108).
Think about this carefully.
Allah knows that the unbelievers worship false gods.
Yet Allah tells Muslims: Do not insult their objects of worship.
Why?
Because your speech may provoke an even greater offence.
This establishes a profound principle:
A Muslim must not fight religious provocation with religious provocation.
If someone insults what we hold sacred, we do not respond by insulting what they hold sacred.
If someone attacks Islam, we defend Islam with knowledge.
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), we explain who is Muhammad to him.
If someone lies about Islam, we answer with truth and knowledge.
We do not allow another person’s bad behaviour to dictate our own morality.
LOOK AT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) — HE WAS INSULTED BEFORE WE WERE
Servant of Allah,
Sometimes we speak as though the Prophet (pbuh) lived in a world where everyone respected him.
No.
He was mocked and insulted. Quran 37:36, Quran 15:6
He was called a liar, magician, and a mad man. Quran 51:52, Quran 17:47
He was ridiculed. Quran 6:10
His followers were tortured, and some were killed. Quran 85:8-10
He himself was persecuted, leading to his migration to Madina.
Yet he remained the Messenger of Allah.
Allah said:
“Indeed, we know that your heart is distressed by what they say.” (Qur’an 15:97)
Allah acknowledged the Prophet’s pain.
Islam does not say that insults do not hurt. They hurt.
But the question is: What do you do with the pain?
THE DAY OF TA’IF: WHEN THE PROPHET (PBUH) COULD HAVE CHOSEN
REVENGE
One of the most powerful examples is the journey of the Prophet (pbuh) to Ta’if.
He went seeking support for his message.
Instead, the people rejected him and incited their children and others against him.
He was chased.
He was insulted.
He was struck with stones until his feet bled.
He was physically and emotionally exhausted.
Then the Angel of the Mountains came to him.
The two angels offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains.
The Prophet (pbuh) could have said: “Do it.”
But he did not.
Instead, he hoped that Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Him.
This account is recorded in the authentic hadith literature, including Sahih Muslim (Muslim, 1795).
What a lesson!
The Prophet (pbuh) had suffered injustice.
But he did not turn his pain into indiscriminate revenge.
He saw beyond the offender.
He saw the possibility of tomorrow.
And this is one of the greatest characteristics of prophetic leadership:
The Prophet (pbuh) did not merely ask, “What punishment does this person deserve?”
He also asked, in effect: “What can this person become?”
THE PROPHET IN MADINAH: LEADER OF A DIVERSE SOCIETY
When Muhammad (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, he did not enter an empty city.
Madinah contained different communities, including Muslims and Jews, and there were also Christians who interacted with the Muslim community.
The Prophet became the political and communal leader of Madinah.
The Sahifah (A Covenant) of Madinah, preserved in the early sīrah (Prophet’s biography) tradition, established arrangements concerning mutual obligations, security, justice and relations among the communities of the city.
This is important:
The Prophet did not build Madinah by teaching Muslims to hate everyone who was not Muslim.
He built a society governed by covenant, responsibility and justice.
Allah says:
“Allah does not forbid you from being kind and just to those who have neither fought you because of your religion nor driven you from your homes. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (Qur’an 60:8)
This is not weakness.
This is Islam.
THE PROPHET DEALT WITH JEWS IN MADINAH
‘A’ishah (Wife of the Prophet) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) bought food from a Jewish man on credit and gave him his iron armour as collateral.
“The Prophet purchased food from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his iron armour to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2068)
Think about it.
This was Muhammad.
The Messenger of Allah.
Yet he conducted lawful commercial dealings with a Jewish citizen.
He did not say: “He is not a Muslim, therefore I cannot deal with him.”
No.
Islam gave him a relationship governed by justice and trust.
Jabir رضيهللاعنه narrated:
“A funeral procession passed before us and the Prophet (pbuh) stood up, and we stood with him. We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is the funeral of a Jew.’ He said: ‘When you see a funeral procession, stand.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1311)
Another narration records his response: “Is it not a soul?” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1312–1313)
What kind of heart did Muhammad (pbuh) possess?
A heart that recognised human dignity even in death.
THE PROPHET AND THE CHRISTIANS OF NAJRAN
The Prophet also received the Christian delegation of Najran.
They disagreed with him theologically.
Yet when they requested a trustworthy person, he did not choose someone because of hatred.
He selected Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
The Prophet said:
“I shall send with you a man who is truly trustworthy.”
He then appointed Abu ‘Ubaydah.
This is authentically reported in Sahih al-Bukhari 4380–4381.
Notice something profound:
The Prophet could disagree with people without becoming dishonest toward them.
That is the standard we need today.
The author is the chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
