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Ghana grows stronger when critics bring proof, officials bring files, and the public brings patient attention
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When truth becomes a spectator in public debate, credibility collapses, and nations quietly lose their moral balance.
INTRODUCTION: THE CALL FOR CALM AND FACTUAL CONVERSATION
Ghana stands at a delicate crossroads where facts must reclaim their rightful place above factions. Over the last fourteen months, our national dialogue, especially around some state institutions such as MIIF, has shown how easily perception can masquerade as proof.
The media’s role remains indispensable, and so too is its responsibility to verify before amplifying. As a nation that is increasingly striving for transparency and progress, we cannot allow conjecture to replace confirmation or let alternative facts fracture institutional credibility. Truth must be told, traced, verified, and protected.
As the former non-executive chair of a number of institutions, including MIIF and the now further transformed Labadi Beach Hotel, I remain invested in their fortunes because stewardship does not end with tenure.
Even well-run bodies pursue continuous improvement through dialogue with proven past executives and supervisory leaders. That is the spirit of Kaizen. Progress implies learning, not wrongdoing.
WHY MEDIA ENGAGEMENT MATTERS
It serves the public interest for media houses to invite current and former chief executives, including those at MIIF, individually or jointly, to present clear accounts to the public or, where necessary, in private. Investigations into potential wrongdoing must proceed. They are strongest when principals place documents, timelines, and decisions on the table for all to see. Transparency grows when all voices are heard, not in anger, but in accountability. Journalism is not the amplification of suspicion. It is the clarification of truth.
FAIRNESS AND ETHICS IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE
Anyone mentioned or implicated should be approached and afforded the opportunity to present their side of the facts before their names enter the headlines. Due process is not a courtesy. It is the foundation of trust and credibility.
Ghana’s media space is admired for its freedom and vibrancy. Freedom must walk with fairness. A democracy that weaponises perception risks turning truth tellers into targets and institutions into casualties.
A TEACHABLE MOMENT FOR MEDIA AND PUBLIC DIALOGUE
On October 4, during a JoyNews programme, a representative from the Bank of Ghana called in to correct an alternative fact about MIIF. It was unfortunate and regrettable. I felt for the distinguished interviewer who was placed in a difficult position in real time.
Such moments, even when unintentional, show the need for evidence based dialogue in our national discourse. Media remains one of democracy’s greatest guardians. With that power comes a duty to report with accuracy, balance, and fairness. Before any public institution or individual is discussed, it is right and ethical to approach the parties concerned to clarify or present their side of the facts. Balanced reporting requires facts, not fragments.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALTERNATIVE FACTS
A single broadcast can illuminate or inflame. When conjecture replaces confirmation, institutions suffer, reputations erode, and public trust falters. The spread of alternative facts is already affecting some state institutions and private citizens.
If left unchecked, it may discourage capable Africans from accepting national duty and from transferring critical skills to the public sphere. Ghana’s media landscape has the talent and influence to set a higher standard, one where integrity in reporting becomes the oxygen of national progress rather than a casualty of political heat. Credibility must never be sacrificed for sensational reach.
ACKNOWLEDGING CIVIC WATCHDOGS AND CALLING FOR BALANCE
IMANI and some of its researchers and Fellows deserve commendation for aspects of their work that have contributed to national awareness and accountability. At the same time, all civic actors must remain cautious about the reliability and motivation of sources.
The critical question for every whistleblower or informant is simple. Are they acting in the national interest, or in pursuit of personal or political gain? Investigative and policy advocacy communities should work together for the common good, not for institutional applause.
Oversight must be objective, not opportunistic. Otherwise, even well-intended initiatives can erode confidence in state institutions and weaken the collective pursuit of good governance.
THE DANGER OF FALSE WHISTLEBLOWING AND MISINFORMATION
Whistleblowers who peddle falsehoods for selfish interests should be publicly exposed to deter the furnishing of watchdogs and media houses with alternative facts that advance private agendas.
Where the law so provides, they should be held accountable, including possible prosecution for causing reputational or economic harm to state institutions and individuals. Truthful whistleblowing strengthens democracy. Dishonest whistleblowing poisons it. The legitimacy of transparency depends on the authenticity of those who claim to defend it.
CONTINUITY AND GOVERNANCE PRACTICE
In many state institutions, current and former non-executive chairs and chief executives have yet to meet face-to-face. MIIF is among them. In my capacity as former Chairman of MIIF, I have formally requested such a meeting with my successor.
I am still waiting and looking forward to the meeting. The absence of a meeting does not prevent investigation. It does, however, create room for confusion and weakens institutional memory. Good governance requires more than handover notes. Outgoing and incoming leaders should meet to discuss long term obligations, risk registers, projects in progress, and matters of continuity. This discipline preserves facts, limits speculation, and protects national value.
MULTIPLE NARRATIVES, ONE NATIONAL CONSEQUENCE
Over the last 36 weeks, multiple narratives have circulated across television, radio, and social media. However unintended, they risk harming MIIF’s credibility and, by extension, Ghana’s reputation for continuity, integrity and predictability. Markets price uncertainty, and citizens ultimately bear the cost of it.
When narrative outpaces evidence, risk premia rise, partnerships stall, and managers spend time responding to noise rather than delivering results. Truth delayed can become opportunity denied.
LESSONS ON TRUST AND NATIONAL BRAND
Misinformation may garner applause in the short term, but it ultimately inflicts lasting damage. Nations build trust through facts, not factions. Institutions like MIIF form part of the scaffolding for future prosperity.
We should not chip away at that structure with politicisation or partial information. The Ghana brand and its associated institutional brands must be protected by facts, not by alternative facts.
NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, NOT POLITICAL TROPHIES
State institutions are not assets of the government of the day, and they are not trophies for the opposition. They belong to Ghana and therefore to all of us. We cannot spend years building credibility with one hand and then weaken it with misinformation and partisanship with the other.
The public interest is best served when facts lead and when all parties respect due process. Today, former chairs and chief executives may be under the spotlight. In four or eight years, current leaders could face the same scrutiny. All deserve fair treatment.
Those found guilty of deliberate wrongdoing should face the consequences. Accountability must rest on actual facts, not on alternative or self-serving narratives.
GOVERNANCE IS ABOUT CONTINUITY, NOT CONTROL
Governance is not about control. It is about continuity. It is not about who occupies the seat, but about whether the seat serves the people. Leadership is tested not by the defence of power, but by the defence of process. When facts are buried beneath political dust, institutions stumble and nations lose their rhythm of progress.
MOVING FROM HEAT TO LIGHT
Respected newsrooms can help move the national conversation from heat to light. The best journalism promotes understanding rather than echo. A balanced, fact led discussion may not resolve every question at once, but it will sharpen debate, model accountability, and rebuild confidence. This is a service to citizens and to those who carry responsibilities on the nation’s behalf.
RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM SERVES GHANA
This is not theatre, and it is not trial by microphone. It is responsible reporting in the public interest. It safeguards reputations where warranted and exposes wrongdoing where proven. Either outcome serves Ghana. Standards and fairness are not obstacles to truth; they are the pathway to it.
A SHARED DUTY TO LOWER THE TEMPERATURE AND RAISE THE STANDARD
This is a respectful request to media leaders, public officials, private citizens, and all who care about our democracy. We are duty-bound to help the current administration govern well by doing what is right, because when any government fails, the cost is borne by everyone and by future generations. Suffering does not choose a party.
Let us therefore lower the temperature and raise the standard. Let us listen more carefully, document more faithfully, and verify more completely. Let us invite those who know to speak on the record, and let us publish the full record for the nation to examine. We are one people. We should not allow politics to divide us where facts can unite us.
FINAL REFLECTION AND A HOPEFUL NOTE
Real facts, not alternative facts, must set the pace.
Let documents speak.
Let truth breathe.
Let fairness guide our words and our work.
Ghana has the talent, the institutions, and the democratic culture to get this right.
If we choose patience over haste, evidence over conjecture, and country over faction, we will strengthen trust at home and respect abroad. That is the surest path to shared progress. Ghana deserves nothing less, and with calm minds and steady hands, Ghana will achieve nothing less.
By Professor Douglas Boateng
Features
Confronting newborn abandonment in Ghana: When a cry for help is heard in a dustbin – Part 2
The root causes: It is never just one reason
My years of counselling at CPAC show me abandonment is rarely an act of malice. It is the tragic endpoint of seven overwhelming distresses:
1. Severe maternal mental illness —The hidden emergency
a) Clinical Postpartum Depression (PPD): This is far beyond “baby blues.” It is a severe mood disorder that can appear weeks to months after birth. Due to a massive drop in hormones, extreme sleep deprivation, and emotional exhaustion, the mother feels deep sadness, worthlessness, and complete emotional numbness towards her baby. Picture: A new mother sits by her bed all day, staring blankly. Her baby cries for hours, but she cannot lift her hands to carry the baby. She whispers, “This baby would be better off without me.” She does not hate the baby; she feels she has completely failed as a mother.
b) Peripartum Psychosis (Postpartum Psychosis): This is a psychiatric emergency. Rare but extremely dangerous, appearing suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks after delivery. The mother completely loses touch with reality. She hears commanding voices telling her to abandon the baby, or believes the baby is possessed by an evil spirit or is a “spirit child” who will bring a curse. Picture: A mother genuinely believes she heard a voice saying, “Leave this child at the crossroads at midnight or your family will die.” She abandons the baby not out of hatred, but because her broken mind believes she is obeying a higher spiritual order to save her family.
c) Pre-existing untreated Schizophrenia: This is a chronic, severe mental disorder that existed before the pregnancy. The stress of pregnancy and labour shatters her fragile coping. She suffers from paranoid delusions — believing people want to poison her and the baby — flat affect (zero facial expression), and grossly disorganised thinking, making it impossible to plan how to feed or clean a baby. Picture: A young woman whose family called her illness “spiritual attack” instead of taking her for medication wanders away after delivery, completely forgetting she even gave birth, leaving the infant behind.
2. Extreme socio-economic deprivation: For many girls in some parts of Ghana such as Kasoa, Madina, or Bekwai, poverty is not a statistic; it is a daily panic. No money for antenatal care, no money for hospital delivery, no money for baby diapers or formula. When a mother cannot feed herself, the thought of feeding another mouth feels impossible. Some mothers say, “I left her where someone richer would find her, because I could not watch her starve to death in my hands.” It is a distorted act of survival.
3. Intense societal stigma and shame: In Ghana, pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, or pregnancy from rape can bring extreme family rejection. The girl is called “spoilt,” beaten, banned from church, or sacked from school. The fear of bringing shame to the family name is heavier than the fear of police. So she hides the pregnancy for 9 months, delivers alone, and abandons in secret to protect her family’s “honour.”
4. Paternal abandonment — The Man Who Ran Away: Behind almost every abandoned baby is a man who vanished. He says, “It is not mine,” or “Abort it,” and switches off his phone. The mother is left utterly isolated — no emotional, financial, or social support. She is criminalised alone, but the abandonment started with him. Psychological research shows paternal denial is one of the strongest predictors of maternal panic and newborn abandonment.
5. Substance abuse disorders: Alcohol, tramadol, and other drug addiction impair the brain’s executive functioning — the ability to plan, judge consequences, and process emotions. A mother struggling with addiction may give birth in a highly intoxicated or withdrawal state, unable to comprehend the needs of the newborn, leading to neglect and eventual abandonment.
6. The spirit child cultural phenomenon and superstition: In some remote pockets of Northern Ghana and even in few parts of Central and Ashanti regions, public health research shows babies born with congenital deformities, severe disabilities, or whose mothers die in childbirth are branded as “spirit children” or cursed. In extreme instances, families, under cultural pressure, mandate that such babies be exposed or abandoned at shrines or bushes. This is not mental illness, but a harmful cultural belief system that still kills.
The invisible wounds
On the baby: Risk of death from hypothermia, sepsis, and infection. Survivors suffer Anaclitic Depression and Failure to Thrive due to lack of touch. As adults, they battle Reactive Attachment Disorder, chronic mistrust, and identity crisis — “Why did my mother leave me in a dustbin?”
On the mother: Lifelong hidden grief, intense guilt, chronic PTSD, depression, and elevated suicide risk. A prison cell does not heal this.
On the nation: Overburdened orphanages like Osu Children’s Home, draining health budgets, and overworked Social Welfare officers.
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“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference; – Rom. 3:10, 21-22. (NIV)
Introduction
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21. This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Establishing our hearts in righteousness
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23
According to the above verse in Proverbs, our heart is the source of our life. Our life flows from our heart. The Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born again Christian. So there is a strong influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the new-born Christian. But our heart is also comprised of our soul. As Christians we can choose to focus our soul on the Lord, or on evil things. If we focus on corrupt, immoral, and evil things our heart will be affected detrimentally. It will cause our heart to be crooked or wicked, instead of straight or righteous. So the Scripture says to keep, or guard, our heart. It is wise to protect our heart as what we allow to dominate our heart will inevitably become the fruit, or influence the outcome, of our lives.
One way to approach life is to continually ask the question, “How will this decision or action affect my heart?” Everything we do, every thought we entertain, everything we watch, read, or listen to, shapes our heart. Therefore, the future prosperity of our life will flow from how well we care for our heart.
Think of everything you do, every moment of time, as a seed. We have been given responsibility for choosing which seeds to plant in our heart. What will you grow in the garden of your heart? What seeds will you choose? Our heart is our garden, and our life is the fruit of our garden. So next time you are tempted to dwell on a bad thought, think, “Do I want this seed to grow and manifest in my life?” Next time you are tempted to indulge in a sinful action ask yourself, “Do I want the extension, or fruit, of this sinful action to be what I am known for?”
God gives us the freedom to plant whatever we like in our garden. God loves us regardless of the good or bad choices we may make in our lives. You may be reaping the fruit of some poor choices right now. And God is still saying, “I love you.” But He has wise advice for us; He desires we have a good life. He says, “Guard you heart with all diligence.” This Hebrew word translated ‘diligence’ conveys the meanings of: prison and guard (ibid). A superintendant of a prison is very particular as to what goes in and out of his prison. A prison has very tight security. Just as a superintendant watches over his prison, so we should also supervise our heart (our lives). We should exercise meticulous security with regards to what enters into our heart. Actually, even what comes out of it, as the Scripture says, “ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” – James 1:19, as “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” –Matthew 12:34b.
If what goes into, and what comes out of, our heart determines the success of our lives, what is the first important principle to establish in our heart? “In righteousness you shall be established;” – Isaiah 54:14
Righteousness is the key foundational truth we need to first establish in our heart. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” –Matthew 6:33. Notice Jesus said, “His righteousness”, not our own righteousness. We have to seek and understand God’s righteousness. Isaiah 54:14 says, “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” God’s righteousness comes from God, not from within us. Humans cannot make themselves God’s righteousness, as all humans have sinned and are therefore inferior to God. God’s righteousness is a gift from God: “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness, or right standing with God, has been attained for us through the exchange Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. God’s righteousness is imparted to us when we are made a new creature in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17. This righteousness is a gift from God and undeserved by us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”- Romans 5:17
Through our faith in Jesus’ blood, shed to remit our sins – Romans 3:25, God imparts righteousness to us by His grace. We actually become a new righteous creation, fully identifying in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the foundational miracle we need to understand and have established in our heart. All the other miraculous promises of God come the same way, by God’s grace through faith. Righteousness must be established in our heart for us to truly have faith to receive our rich inheritance in Christ. Jesus has been made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are now “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Establishing our minds in righteousness
God expects that, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be radically changed. In Romans 12:2 He tells us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He expects us to become totally different.
Scripture uses many different images to express the change that should occur: We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.“ – 2 Cor 5:17. It is almost as if we become a new species. Scripture speaks of the “first Adam” who was earthly and fell into sin, and the “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) who was sinless and holy – Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:44-49.
We are “made new in the attitude of our minds” – Eph. 4:23.
We “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” – Eph. 4:22,24; Col 3:9-10.
We “live by the Spirit” and not by the flesh – Gal. 5:16; Rom 8:13.
We become “instruments of righteousness” rather than “instruments of wickedness” – Rom. 6:13.
Each of these metaphors, in a different way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. Each is dramatic and astonishing in itself; their cumulative effect is even more powerful. We are talking about a tremendous transformation. It should be visible to others, but its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.
The goal of this transformation
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this, because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
To be continued!
Stay blessed!
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