Features
Need to promote tourism sites in the country
One advantage that many countries in Africa and elsewhere have is the promotion of tourism sites that will help to bring in the needed revenue at both the domestic and international levels.
Here in Ghana, the country is blessed with many tourism sites that ought to be preserved and promoted for that purpose. Such tourism sites will help to increase the knowledge of Ghanaians and help them to know more about their country. In addition, foreigners will also be able to come into the country to learn more about these sites and thereby contribute to the generation of revenue for the nation.
ADVANTAGES OF TOURIST SITES
When the local people visit tourist sites, they bring in revenue just like foreigners and this helps to boost the local economy of the area concerned. If for nothing at all, food will be cooked and sold to these visitors. This means that employment will be generated for those who cook the food and so more money that comes in the way of revenue can be used to improve conditions in the local area. It, therefore, means that there will be much improvement in the local economy.
The same advantages will be realised when we think of foreign travels and visits.
What this means is that roads to such areas would have to be improved to make tourism, whether domestic or international, very attractive to all visitors to the area.
INFRASTRUCTURE
It is not only roads that will have to be developed but various forms of housing units in such areas to serve as accommodation units for would-be visitors.
These visitors are people who would have to be treated well to make them comfortable. If they are not made to feel comfortable, they will not be attracted to come back and very soon, people will stop visiting such areas.
The development of tourist sites cannot be done in a day. It will have to be done gradually and in a systematic manner so as to be able to attract more visitors into such areas. If this is done, the tourism sector will soon become the largest income earner for the country.
GREAT POTENTIAL
The potential is there so we need to plan well and execute our tourism intentions so as to make that sector the most important as far as revenue generation is concerned. This can be done so as a people, we need to put our acts together and begin the journey today so that the end result will be achieved with time.
When it comes to tourist sites, they exist in two main forms. These are naturally endowed sites and man-made sites.
The naturally endowed sites include beautiful rivers, unique mountains, animals like monkeys and birds that are not common to find in the world. Other naturally endowed sites may also contain uniquely attractive fountains of water and many other scenes that beat the imaginations of people. Such naturally endowed sites can be found in all the 16 regions of the country and this calls for a special purpose investment to preserve and upgrade them together with certain facilities like roads and accommodation as well as restaurants that will make the place attractive to everybody.
SPECIAL PROJECT
We need to develop a special project for this purpose and if it will mean going for international assistance, we will have to do it and earn more money for the country. What is the point in keeping national habitats such as special birds and animals in the country without making them known to would-be visitors whose desire would be to visit and explore such places to satisfy their curiosity, mental interest and also welfare as a people in the country.
We need a special project, as has been pointed out, to bring this about. Such a project can be possible so we need to work towards it within specified and achievable timelines.
When we come to man-made tourist sites, we also have many of them in various parts of the country especially along the coast of Ghana. We have heard of forts and castles built by colonial masters who visited the coastal regions of Ghana and built them for their own security purposes and also use such buildings to keep and transport slaves from the Gold Coast to other parts of the world.
FORTS AND CASTLES
A good example here is the Fort Santo Antonio at Axim in the Western Region. This fort was properly built and designed by the colonial people who used it for trade in humans and other goods. This together with other sites serves as images of the slave master and the slave trade but can be reversed and modified to serve a good purpose for the people of Ghana today.
Other forts and castles still exist and all of them will have to be utilised to generate wealth for the country, having existed for over 400 and 500 years. Examples are Elmina Castle, Cape Coast Castle and the Christiansborg Castle which became known as the Osu Castle and was used as seat of government by various governments until recently.
The use of castles for tourist sites will mean developing them and roads to attract tourists. One good thing that can come out of this is that apart from income generation, they will help in the education of people in the local level as well as foreigners who will come to visit such places. An interesting point to note about the communities in which these forts and castles are located is that most of the people do not know much about them and the purposes they were used for.
EDUCATION OF PEOPLE
A gradual development and preservation of such areas is, therefore, very necessary for the education of the local people of the communities as well as foreigners who visit those places.
As has been pointed out already, such areas stand the chance of boosting up the local economy to promote domestic trade and business transactions all over such areas.
Thus, when it comes to man-made sites such as forts and castles or naturally endowed tourist sites such as beautiful sites, animals and birds, what we need to do is to put in as much investment as possible to be able to preserve them and make them attractive for sale to people whether Ghanaians or foreigners. This is how both domestic or international tourism can be promoted in this country.
INVESTMENT
However, to be able to succeed in this dream, the investment cannot be avoided in terms of roads, bridges, healthcare, housing, flyovers where necessary, etc. This is how the country, Ghana, can be made to move forward in anticipation of our national aspirations.
Contact email/WhatsApp address of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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