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Office of the Speaker writes to The Spectator, saying: George Frank Asmah’s aspersions on Speaker exposes his ignorance
Mr.George Frank Asmah, in his column in The Spectator newspaper of Saturday, August 28 2021 titled, “Parliament: When Bagbin decides to tell a ‘red’ lie”, sort to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin.That direct and baseless attack on the integrity of the Speaker is not only an affront to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament of Ghana, but also hypocritical and shameful.
It is a known fact that Mr. John Boadu, in the heat of the 2020 elections, made a categorical statement which was captured on video and has since been trending allover the internet saying that President Akuffo Addo had won the Presidential elections but the NPP lost the parliamentary elections to the NDC.
The Speaker only re-echoed what Mr. Boadu said on tape but strangely, the only one who didnot hear that was Mr.George Frank Asmah.It is important to state however that before I made this decision to write this rejoinder, I called Mr.George Frank Asmah to enquire from him if he had watched the video or seen a transcription of it and his answer was a definite No.He had not seen the video: he only heard Mr. Boadu deny ever voicing out those words attributed to him and decided to launch his attack.
In the writeup, he stated, and I quote; “Rt. Hon. Bagbin: you are known as a very competent lawyer. Not so? In the ‘game of law’ is it not the case that EVIDENCE is supreme? So where is the evidence that what you told the Ethiopian Parliamentary delegation actually happened?”
I get the impression from the above quote that my senior,George Frank Asmah, has forgotten that it is not only in the “game of law” that EVIDENCE becomes supreme. Even as journalists, we are required by our code of ethics to ensure fairness, equity, balance and establish the truthin what we write. The evidence Mr.George Frank Asmah is looking for is allover the place and in every newsroom. There can only be one conclusion to draw from this behavior and that is mischief or a crave to use his column in The Spectator newspaper to court the attention of whoever will get him appointed into political office.
One can understand the frustrations of Mr. George Frank Asmah, who in 2005 was lifted from the newsroom of the New Times Corporation to become District Chief Executive of the Komenda-Edna-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) District Assembly under the NPP administration. This has been the NPP’s way of encouraging journalists like George Frank Asmah to be wayward and unprofessional against the opposition and in turn, they get rewarded with juicy appointments. There is a plethora of such journalists around today on different appointments.
George Frank Asmah’s frustration is a result of waiting in vain over the years for another juicy appointment which has since eluded him.So in his imagination, Mr.George Frank Asmah thinks he can now court the attention of the appointing authority by defending leading members of the ruling party, in this case, the dishonest and devious behavior of Mr. John Boadu, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), to court attention.
Even before his election into the high office of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Bagbin had committed himself to the cause of the nation building and has exhibited high moral integrity at all material times.It is with this same standard that Mr. Speaker spoke to the Ethiopian Parliamentary Delegation when they paid a courtesy call on him in his office. He spoke from the perspective of many issues known to him and it was with this conviction that he admonished the Ethiopian delegation to emulate only the good sides of Ghana’s democracy.
I have no doubt about the unwavering devotion of the Speaker to the collective cause of building a prosperous nation. He has no intention whatsoever to do anything that will jeopardize the successes that this country has achieved so far.Perhaps my little advice to George Frank, who wants to use this antiquated style of directing attention or traffic to himself for political position, to use his energy, time and column provided for him to tout his legacy for the people of KEEA during his stewardship as District Chief Executive.
How many lives did he transform with his leadership in KEEA? What impact did he make? I believe if he is able to do this honestly and effectively, he would not need to destroy the reputations of others or be seen hopping or jumping to defend dishonest men whose words do not mean anything to them and who cannot defend their own words when it is played back to them.
I will come back and discuss the extreme trauma that the chiefs and people of KEEA have been made to suffer following the refusal of the powers that be to put to use the Komenda Sugar Factory which was commissioned in 2016 by the government at the time.This facility was built from loans that would be serviced with tax payers’ money and one would have expected people who claim to hail from the area where it is built to join calls for it to start operations, to produce the sugar for which it was built, and not bad mouth it or sit aloof. That should be your focus, George Frank!
Peter Bampoe
Communication Officer,
Office of the Speaker
By G. Frank Asmah
This week I have a very strong desire to put on my Apostolic Cap and talk about the power available to children of God which we can utilise to generate positive outcomes, in our lives.
There is a phrase in the Bible that if Christians meditate on, can immensely transform their lives. In Matthew 28:6 there is a phrase “… as he said…” according to the King James Version.
Thus phrase forms part of a statement declared by an angel of God to two women who were disciples of Jesus who had gone to his tomb early in the morning on the third day after his death.
According to the Biblical account, the stone covering the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away and an Angel was sitting on it and he made the statement to the effect that the Jesus they are seeking is not there and that he had risen, as he said before his death.
His resurrection affirmed the authenticity and dependability of the word of Jesus and therefore the word of God.
Christianity has to do with faith in the word of God. Pastor Mensa Otabil said if we view Christianity as an inside out view, you would go inside to operate the power that is in you.
As a Christian, the spirit of God and therefore the power of God, dwells in you. Anyone who is aware of this truth, does not go around seeking to have a so called powerful person resolve his or her spiritual issues.
Most Christians who move from prophet to prophet, do not believe that the spirit of God which operates in a Pastor or Prophet, is the same spirit that dwells in him or her.
In fact , that Christian may be more ‘powerful’ than the Prophet or Pastor he is going to for prayers because he is living a holy life, which is pleasing to God, for God is no respecter of persons according to Acts 10:34-35.
God does not give out his spirit in different measures to indwell believers. The spirit of God that dwells in a new convert, is the same spirit that dwells in a Bishop or a Prophet or an Evangelist or an Elder or a Deacon.
All you need to do as a child of God is to believe in the word of God and know that it works and that according to 1 John 4:4 we, Christians, that the Spirit of God dwells in us have overcome the world and Jesus in us, is greater than the Devil who is out in the world, wrecking havoc all around.
If we realise that we have overcome the Devil and everything he controls, then we can believe and act in faith and make declarations and just as Christ declared that he will die and on the third day, he will rise from the dead and it manifested as he said, there shall be a manifestation of our declarations also.
The problem of modern day Christians is that, a lot of them, do not study and meditate on the word of God, so they do not witness the manifestation of the power of God, in their lives.
Such an experience over time, give them the impression that the spirit of God dwells in different dimensions in believers. This then leads them to seek solutions to their challenges from so called powerful men of God.
Some Pastors also fall into this misconception of the measure of the spirit of God in believers. When the size of a Pastor’s church for instance, is not increasing the way he had been praying for self-doubt sometimes begin to set in.
Especially, if he begins to compare his church with that of say a colleague from the same Bible School, then he begins to wonder if there is not a spiritual secret he is not aware of.
This is when, if care is not taken, fellow Pastors who appears to be very successful in the ministry but are using occultic powers, could sway them from the narrow path and get them trapped in the Devil’s clutches and eventually and inevitably, destroy their lives. God bless.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Introduction
You have been there. Twenty tabs open comparing laptops. A blank page for an email you’ve been “thinking about” for three days. A menu with 30 options and you leave hungry.
This is decision paralysis: the state where the volume of information, options, or perceived stakes prevents you from making a decision at all. It’s not laziness. It’s a cognitive overload response.
In a data-rich environment, it’s becoming the default mode for both individuals and organisations.
This article breaks down why it happens, how it shows up, what it costs, and how to break it.
1. What decision paralysis actually is?
Decision paralysis is a failure of the decision-making system to convert information into action. Psychologists call it ‘analysis paralysis’ or ‘choice overload.’
It has three components:
1. Cognitive overload: Working memory can hold between four to seven chunks of information at once. When you try to track 20 variables, the system freezes.
2. Anticipatory regret: You overestimate the pain of making the wrong choice. The brain avoids the emotional cost by avoiding the choice.
3. Ambiguity aversion: Humans prefer known risks over unknown ones. When outcomes are uncertain, we stall.
The result is not neutral. Not deciding is a decision. It costs time, momentum, and opportunity
2. Why it’s getting worse now
2.1 Infinite options
Amazon has 350 million products. Netflix has 6000+ titles. Dating apps have unlimited profiles. The paradox of choice: more options increase initial satisfaction but decrease final satisfaction and increase regret.
2.2 Information abundance without synthesis
You can find 50 studies on sleep. Each one has caveats, conflicting results, and different methodologies. Without a framework to integrate them, more data creates more confusion, not clarity. This connects directly to the “data-rich, wisdom-poor” problem.
2.3 Reversibility anxiety
In the digital age, most decisions feel permanent. A bad post goes viral. A bad hire is public on LinkedIn. A bad career move is visible. The fear of irreversible error makes people delay.
2.4 Algorithmic mirroring
Platforms show you what you already engage with. This creates an illusion that there’s one ‘best’ option you are missing. You keep searching, convinced the optimal choice is one more scroll away.
3. How it shows up
Personal Level
Cannot pick a career path after six months of ‘research’
Spend two hours choosing a movie and watch nothing
Delay sending an email because it ‘isn’t perfect’
3.1 Organisational level
Teams spend 80 per cent of time in meetings gathering data, 20 per cent deciding
Product teams delay launch waiting for “one more data point”
KPIs multiply but no strategic choice is made
3.2 Common cognitive tells:
Endless comparison tables
Asking for one more opinion
Reframing the problem instead of solving it
Feeling drained after thinking but not acting
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
