Features
Partisanship threatens Ghana than Coronavirus
The current threat to the developmental agenda of every nation is the COVID-19 pandemic. It has devastated economies we thought were beyond shocks. Countries which were considered the leaders in medicine and solid health infrastructure have been reduced to ruins or nothing , resulting in the deaths of its citizens in thousands.
In Ghana, it led to a shutdown of major cities in the country and the closure of our borders, which resulted in a negative impact on our economy. Through prudent management of the pandemic, a number of infections and deaths were reduced to the extent that , Ghana was acclaimed as one of the top 10 managers of the pandemic in the world until recently that we let our guards down as a people.
The surge in new infections is now becoming very alarming but the threat it poses compared with the partisanship being displayed in our body politic pales into insignificance.
Party politics is a win or lose affair and ,therefore, the degree of competition is very high to the point of even high degree animosity. When we bring our attention home to Ghana and observe our political scene, there is no doubt that our politicians and other political actors are doing all in their power to paint each other as the problem to the nation.
In such an environment, whatever the other does is not commended and it has become a fault finding enterprise which does not augur well for the nation’s development.
Politics has become something like try as hard as possible to paint your rivals as the devil’s incarnate so that the masses will reject them. Things have got to the extent that almost everything that the ruling party does, the opposition will find fault with it. When the roles are reversed the same thing happens and the nation is the loser at the end of it all.
Everything has been so politicised that we have reached a stage where the term ‘winner takes all’ has been introduced into the political scene in Ghana. Everything is either NDC or the NPP and it has got to the point where every decision taken by the party in government is taken as a politically influenced decision.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has declared that he wants the city of Accra to become the cleanest city in Africa but it will be extremely difficult to achieve if this political undermining situation does not stop. Part of the dirt on our streets in our city is the congestion on our walkways, creation of slums by putting containers at unapproved places etc.
Decongestion is one of the surest ways to make the city clean yet the city authorities are unable to implement it due to political considerations. When they move in to clear the streets you are bound to hear the opposition party or parties criticising the government for lack of sympathy and lack of appreciation of the difficult times the people are in. This is done to make political capital out of it..
This always causes the government to hold back on the decongestion and the cost to the nation in terms of choked gutters and the resultant flooding with accompanying loss of lives and property is so huge. This is a threat to our nation’s development more than the COVID-19 which can be controlled by observing the prevention protocols.
Recently as part of the vetting towards the confirmation of the President’s nominees, the Minister-designate of Ministry of Roads said that he would like to introduce tolls that would help generate income for the construction of roads.
This has generated a lot of buzz in the media landscape and while the ruling party’s supporters are hailing it as a good initiative, the opposition supporters see it as a bad initiative. Meanwhile, they are not professing any valid alternative, just criticising it.
The motive behind it is that, when the government is able to improve the road infrastructure, the populace would support the government and vote to retain it in power hence the opposition will lose out. How can we build a nation like this?
Partisanship is definitely a threat to our development. The benefits of good roads to the nation is invaluable and should be something that every right thinking person must eagerly support but due to partisanship considerations, some people are kicking against it.
Ghana lags behind the developed nations by at least 50 years. There is ,therefore, the need to hurry up and try to catch up in various spheres of our development and we must not allow partisanship considerations to deprive us of the needed initiatives to advance our growth as a nation.
The people must vote against any party that seeks its parochial interests above that of the nation. President Joe Biden of the USA said “…Democracy is fragile” and we should not allow partisanship considerations to lead our nation into chaos.
Events leading to the determination of the 2020 election petition at the Supreme Court was another clear example of partisanship considerations, resulting in people who should know better, making statements intended to cast a slur on the reputation of our highest court in the land.
Look at the implementation of the Free Senior High School programme that was proposed by the then opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the period leading to the 2012 elections. A very brilliant and far reaching programme that had the potential of transforming our country.
The ruling party at the time(DNC), seeing it as a threat to its political fortunes, mounted a serious campaign against it, only to turn round and say in the 2020 elections that it was the NDC which started its implementation. Such dishonesty should not be tolerated and parties which indulge in it must be punished at the polls.
Every programme of government requires funds for its implementation and if we are to help the President achieve his vision of a “Ghana Beyond Aid” in the near future, then we have to throw away partisanship considerations. We must have a mindset of Ghana First, that is the only way we can really have our independence not when we depend on foreigners for a considerable portion of our budgetary requirements.
Partisanship which will prevent us from achieving a Ghana First agenda is therefore inimical to our development and must be treated with all the contempt it deserves. God Bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
The writer is a social commentator
Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
