Features
Ghana Army: Is it ‘useless’?
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
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
Today, I continue with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland, with a focus on Mr Joseph Osei Amoah.
Mr Amoah is one of the senior members of the Ghanaian community in Finland and a top member of the Ghana Union Finland, an association of the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
He is an active and a well-respected person in the Ghanaian community in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah moved to Finland in the mid-1990s, and he has lived in Helsinki all this time.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland in order to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
Mr Amoah holds a Master’s degree in Demography from the University of Helsinki. At the time he came to Finland in 1994, he had majored in Economics at the Bachelor’s level at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Sometimes affectionately called “Chairman” in the Ghanaian migrant community, Mr Osei is a former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) branch in Finland, assuming office around 2015, a few months after the branch was formed, until 2019 when he did not run again for the elections. He helped to bring vibrancy into the NPP Finland branch.
Religious life
Mr Amoah is a prominent member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland. In spite of his busy working life and other responsibilities, he remains a committed member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland.
He plays a key leadership role in the church, which is attended by many Ghanaian migrants and other African migrants, Finns, and those of other nationalities.
His position in Asanteman Finland
Mr Osei Amoah is an outstanding member of the Asanteman Finland, where he is the Gyasehene, a prominent position as a sub-chief in the Asante (and Akan) royal hierarchy, in the functioning of the traditional authority systemgenerally in Ghana.
The Asanteman Finland is an association formed purposely with the aim of supporting each other as well as to ensure unity among its members and others outside of the group.
One of its top priorities of Asanteman Finland is to display the Asante culture in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah finds this as very important since by upholding the traditional culture and heritage, the association enables its members and especially the young ones to get the chance to learn and appreciate Asante and Ghanaian cultural values. They do this through rites such as marriage, the naming ceremony, and death and funeral rites, which makes the people to learn more of their provenance and not forget their origins.
“My point is that, by displaying the traditional heritage it helps people to learn more about their provenance. For, I think it will be embarrassing to go home and see that even the young ones have much knowledge about how to perform certain rites whilst those of us in the diaspora may be deficient in understanding those practices”, he argued. It is also very important for the young ones who are born in Finland to learn what the culture of their original society is, he continued.
The Finnish educational system
Mr Osei has a lot to say about the Finnish educational system, which he sees as very good. “When we came to Finland, education was free. There were library books and manuscripts readily available in the library, and one could print or make as many photocopies as possible for your studies. There was more flexibility. One could read books and write exams on them for the necessary grades in order to complete your studies”. In his opinion, Ghana could learn much from the Finnish system, which is one of the best in the world.
He said the only initial challenge he found in Finland was how to master the Finnish language, without which it was difficult to get a job befitting one’s status after the studies. But things have changed today and there are many English courses so it is easy to study and get a job that matches your studies, especially in the area of ICT, he said.
His role in the Ghanaian community
Mr Osei Amoah has been very active in the Ghanaian community, as I have indicated earlier. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland, and has played a leadership in many functions organised by the Union, as a non-governmental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
Mr Amoah has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been part in settling various kinds of conflicts between opposing parties or persons. In conclusion, I would say Mr Osei Amoah has succeeded in embossing his name in the golden pages of visionary Ghanaians in both Sweden and Finland.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
