Features
Korea’s COVID-19 strategy is worth emulating
On Saturday, October 4, 2020, Ghana joined the Korean Embassy and the Korean community in Ghana to celebrate Korea’s National Foundation Day.
The day, is an occasion for Koreans to celebrate their successes in political, social and economic spheres, which dates back to 2333BC.
In spite of the country’s numerous achievements which culminated in the rapid economic development over the years, Korea’s journey towards the path of progress was rough and tough.
For several decades, Korea, like many other countries, fought wars and hunger and eventually overcame adversities in the form of natural disasters, plagues and pandemics.
The most known adversity that drew back the clock of progress was the Korean war which resulted in the deaths of more than three million people along with its concomitant famine and poverty.
Korea’s story encapsulates the fight for economic growth in the face of challenges for a low-income country that later turned into an economic powerhouse.
The Asian country’s meteoric rise to greatness did not happen overnight; theirs was a sterling demonstration of hard work and the desire to succeed.
In all this, leadership matters. And Korea’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic which continues to wreak havoc across the globe, is yet another good example of impressive leadership.
Today, Korea is used as a good example in the fight against COVID-19 by countries known to have efficient health systems.
They include the United States of America, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany and many others.
South Korea learned many lessons the hard way- by not having sufficient resources to cope with previous epidemics, notably the 2015 MERS outbreak. At the time, the Korean Centre for Disease Control (KDC), was the only institution authorised to do epidemiological testing.
Thankfully, today, with advancement in science, technology and research, Korea has become the envy of the world in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease.
When countries like the United States were recording case numbers in the millions with more than 212,000 COVID-19 related deaths, Korea is managing few numbers with less than 1,000 deaths.
Korea is fighting the virus with time tested scientific methods of aggressive testing, tracing and treatment.
One of such methods which has gained prominence is the drive-through testing.
If you roll up to a drive-through COVID-19 testing centre in South Korea, you might notice that safety procedures extend all the way to your car’s air conditioning. You will be advised to hit the recirculation button so that if you are sick, you keep the pathogens to yourself, in your car, and avoid infecting medical personnel doing the testing.
The test takes 10 minutes at most. Results are texted to you, usually the next day. And it’s free-paid for by the government.
Drive-through centres have helped South Korea to do some of the fastest, most-extensive testing of any country. And while nobody is claiming that South Korea has defeated the outbreak, experts credit the emphasis on testing with reducing case numbers and fatalities.
Although the country is not out of the woods, it is safe to say that it has cracked the back of the virus.
Korea has done remarkably well in stemming the tide and preventing the spread of the disease.
As the world races against time for a vaccine and ultimately a potential cure for the virus, Korea’s common sense approach to masking up in crowded places, observing social distancing protocol, as well as regular hand washing with soap also helped them in tackling the pandemic.
We are now learning that nose masks are more effective than a vaccine. Korea knew this long before now and took appropriate measures to enforce the law on wearing of masks.
This is the reason one is likely to see eight out of 10 Koreans wearing a mask in the sub-way, supermarkets and places of scenic interest.
Lessons for Ghana
Ghana and many other African countries have been largely beneficiaries of Korea’s benevolence, not forgetting millions of dollars in donations of personal protective equipment, transfer and deployment of technology and other interventions.
In his address on the National Foundation Day, the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Kim Sungsoo praised Ghana’s efforts in handling coronavirus.
He was right to a large extent. Needless to say, Ghana could not have been successful without the support of the Korean government.
The Korean Government, acting through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and KOFIH had in the past few months donated medical supplies running into millions of dollars to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Inner City and Zongo Development to help contain the virus.
The support came in handy as many health facilities do not have enough personal protective equipment to cater for COVID-19 patients.
That is not all, Ghana is still a recipient of Korean scholarships.
By far, the Korean Government had in the past decade, implemented several projects in all regions of Ghana, in different sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
“Yes, the Koreans are our good friends, but the Korean Government is not Father Christmas, and it is time Ghana took its relationship with Korea a notch higher.”
When President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declared Ghana Beyond Aid, he meant that Ghana was better placed to engage its partners on favourable trade deals and agreements.
The Ghana Beyond Aid agenda can only succeed if Ghana readjusted and recalibrated its relationship with western countries from aid to strong partnership.
No doubt, Ghana cannot be at par with Korea any time soon, but with the right mindset and good leadership, Ghana can become the Korea of Africa.
Korea deserves a pat on the back for being a leading light in the fight against the pandemic.
By Yasin Billy
The writer is a freelance journalist and the Executive Director of A Better Community for All
email: Billyslang@gmail.com
Features
The Cop, press and lost fingers
The job of a policeman, whether he is short or tall, is not a cheap one. He is supposed to keep the peace, protect society and monitor the activities of local magicians and money doublers who are specialists in making civil servants lose their pay within seconds.
By far the most difficult job of the policeman is when he is expected to arrest a murderer who is not only armed but also has a record of appearing and disappearing at will. Even if the tough cop is in the company of other policemen all armed to the teeth, his stomach will turn to water when the criminal suddenly appears.
He is terrified not because the criminal is a better marksman, but because nobody dies twice. The problem also is that a criminal might be prepared to die in a bid to shoot his way to freedom. But is the police-man prepared to risk death in the course of duty when he has a family to rear.
If he had just acquired a new girlfriend with whom he is enjoying life, should he not run away with his tail between his legs and tell his boss that the criminal is uncatchable?
Before some policemen go on patrol duties, they actually pray solemnly. “God send me into the wilderness and bring me back safely with my nose intact because I’m worth more than a common rat. I also do not want to die like a stray dog. If a bullet is targeted at my forehead, Holy Spirit please let it go over the bar, because six children is not a small palaver. If I die, who will look after them? Lord keep me safe day by day. Amen!”
The Sikaman policeman’s job is a risky one because he is not properly equipped with even a trained dog to help track down criminals easily. So he has to use his own nose judiciously in sniffing out suspects while making sure a bullet doesn’t catch him square on the jaw.
My friend Sir Kofi Owuo, a.k.a. Death-By-Poverty was telling me journalists are in an even riskier profession. Apparently, he had been reading about the palaver of journalists in places like Algeria and Columbia. Algeria, even women journalists are not spared assassin’s bullet. You’d see them lying in front of their homes with their heads full of bullet holes.
In Columbia, no journalist is safe. When a journalist is leaving home, he has to tell his wife. “Darling, when I don’t come back by 7 p.m. check the mortuary
The drug trade in Columbia has made journalism a profession not worth practising. If you write on cocaine and the harm it is inflicting on society, you’ll certainly receive a phone call.
“Hello, Mr Journalist, your article yesterday was great. Congratulations! We never knew you were such brilliant writer, championing the cause of society. Again we say congrats! But you know something, by your article, you want to take the bread out of my and that of my family. You don’t want us to beak. We are aggrieved beyond measure”
“Oh, I was just… “You’d try to say something
“You don’t have to explain. The harm has already been done by your award-winning masterpiece. We have an appointment with you. You’ll hear from us.
Rest In Peace!” After such a phone call, you just have to pray to your soul, sing a hymn or two and get prepared fort appointment with death. For, death will surely come
I think pressmen in Sikaman would also have start informing their families appropriately before leaving for work now. “If I don’t come back early, I’m probably at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Korle- Bu checking a leakage in my left ear due to a gendarme slap from an AMA official. If you don’t see me there, track me down to the emergency ward. If you see a newly-made cripple, I’m the one”
What about referees? These days they are guarded during football matches so that the risk they bear in terms of lost teeth is minimal. Formerly, it used to be a job full of woes and tribulations.
You were expected to oversee a match in such way that would favour a particular team. If that is not done, you’ll get back home and your wife will not recognise you. She’ll mistake you for Frank Bruno who had just lost a bout. When she finally recognises you, she’ll fix some hot water to massage your poor face.
I hear that these days, apart from the protection referees receive, some are well-armed with Damfo Dzai, a kind of jack-knife that can carve a rowdy supporters face in several designs.
My Press Secretary and part-time bodyguard Devine Ankamah, was telling me if he happens to be a referee, he’d surely carry a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle with him, complete with loaded magazine, before officiating matches. According to him, that is the only way to do the job without fear or favour. Anyone dares will lose his jaw.
Anyway, risky jobs require good remuneration. As Kwame Korkorti once said, risky jobs require risky salary. A policeman would require a good pay so that when a criminal targets his left ear it would be worth the ‘amputation’. Same for journalists and cameramen.
But go round private workplaces and factories and you’d see really risky occupations where workers are receiving salaries they can’t see with the naked eye.
In fact, in some private workplaces, environmental safety is completely absent. Workers breathe in fumes, poisonous gases and risk lung and respiratory problems. Their employers do nothing about protecting them against these hazards. Check out their payer.
In other places, workers have their fingers chopped off on the job, some losing as many as four fingers in stretch. The compensation they get can best be described as “wicked”. Their employers live big, chop big, ride big but are not willing to pay more than ¢120,000 for lost fingers.
Actually the more fingers you lose, the more money you get. So if you intend losing your fingers on the job, it is advisable to lose as many as possible so that you can get more cash. Those who have lost one finger have not benefited much and are encouraged to lose more next time around.
Sikaman Palava is undertaking to investigate some of these cases of very risky jobs in private setups and companies where workers are being exploited to unnecessarily but not offered protection against health hazards, and not properly compensated when they sustain injuries.
This article was first published on Saturday, September 28, 1996
Features
Position yourself for God’s blessings
Motivated by the impending 40-day fasting and needless to add prayer programme, preceding the Greater Works Conference scheduled for August in Accra, I would like to draw attention to how believers can receive blessings from God.
There is a scripture in Hebrews 11:5 that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God”.
This clearly shows that in order to receive blessings from God, you must please God. How can one please God? You can only please God by obeying him and walking in line with God’s word. Just like how children who obey their parents, enjoy special treatment, so does God deal with his children who obey his word.
There are ways by which people receive blessings from God and holiness is an important criteria in the whole equation. Holiness is a process and not a one day event.
It is a mindset borne out of walking in obedience to God’s instructions i.e. his word. In order to have a mindset of living to please God, requires studying God’s word coupled with praying and fasting.
This helps us to develop trust in God by knowing his nature, what he likes and dislikes. This is what will enable us to live to please him and for our faith in him also to increase.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Fasting is one of the required criteria for blessings to be released and it goes with prayer because fasting without prayer is just a physical exercise. Fasting enables a person’s inner man to be in tune with the spirit of God and also becomes spiritually empowered to hear from God and also obey God.
Fasting enables a person’s spirit to feed on God’s word in a much more focused manner as compared to studying God’s word in normal times. As a result our spirit gains the upper hand to dominate the body and the soul, so that we are more conscious of the presence of God in our lives which causes us willingly the desire to live to obey God.
Holiness which is a prerequisite for pleasing God, can only manifest in our lives if we are able to overcome the desires of the flesh and this only happens when the flesh is subject to the spirit.
Apostle Paul said that “But l keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should not be castaway”, according to 1 Corinthians 9:27.
In order to bring the body or flesh into subjection so that believers will be able to live to please God, we have to study, God’s word in a certain state of mind which fasting and prayer appropriately provides.
Our minds are the battle grounds for decisions that either please God or the Devil. In order to please God so his blessings can be released upon our lives, we must continuously engage our minds with thoughts that is in line with God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that “Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May God help us to live to please him by meditating on things that please the Lord, so we shall be blessed in all aspects of our lives. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
