News
Political language
It will be interesting to check the number of times the phrase “plans are far advanced” and the other one “it is in the pipeline” appear in responses of politicians to questions from their constituents and their public releases.
It appears they are taught this in special classes organised for them in how to respond to questions during public interactions like town hall meetings etc. Whenever you hear someone speaking on TV or Radio and using such phrases, the probability of him or her being a politician, a government spokesman or an official of some sort is very high.
They know they are lying to you but they will still use such language to make you believe that the issues that are of concern to you are being addressed. The worst of them are those with the title Government Spokesman. They will tell you lies with a straight face and attempt to defend the indefensible.
It reminds me of a cartoon someone sent to me. It showed a woman seriously admonishing his little boy and saying to him “If you do not stop this lying, you will grow up to become a Government Spokesman.”
A very interesting observation from the lady but it is a factual statement. How many times have we not heard statements from government spokesmen, only for us to realise as they say, a few moments later, that they were a pack of lies or to be charitable, a pack of misleading statements.
This attitude is so entrenched in our society, irrespective of the government in power. What worries me is that, these persons, would still go to church on Sundays and mosques on Fridays. They may even be leaders in those churches and mosques. How they are able to live with their conscience, is something worth researching into.
We may have to design a system that will compel politicians to be transparent so that these political statements that seek to deceive the public, can be reduced if not completely eradicated. The funny thing is that, they never say how long the pipe is. All they say is that, it is in the pipeline.
The integrity of the political leaders, must be evident for people to trust in the democratic experiment we have embarked on in this Fourth Republic. The culture in other places is that, leaders who are found to have lied, resign voluntarily.
This is where we have to become deliberate in pushing for such a culture to be adopted and entrenched in our society for good governance to thrive.
Let our political discourse be shaped by language that projects truth and transparency. This is the only way, the citizens will begin to have faith that they have lost in the democracy we are practicing.
Let us do all we can, as a people, to make values of integrity and accountability become part of the values we cherish as a nation, to compel our leaders to aspire to live by them to help all of us.
This is because, should democracy fail in this fourth republic, the consequences will be disastrous. Let us pray for leaders as the Bible instructs so that the deceitful phrases of it is in the pipeline and plans are far advanced, when those declaring them know they are lying, will be a thing of the past. God bless.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
The 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards has celebrated three decades of recognising excellence and contributions to journalism and national development, while highlighting the media’s role in Ghana’s democracy.
Marking the milestone, Philip Osei Bonsu of the Multimedia Group emerged as the GJA/P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Ghanaian Times’ Benedicta Gyimah Foley won the Best Feature Reporting, Print category, alongside other journalists recognised across various media platforms.
Other winners included Nathaniel Attoh, Best in Sports Reporting; and Godwin Asediba of Media General, Best in TV Documentary; Doreen Ampofo of GBC, Best in Radio Documentary; and freelance journalist Nii Adjei Mensahfio, Best in Online Documentary.
Daniel Kwabena Mantey was adjudged Best in TV Feature, while Clinton Yeboah of Luv FM won Best in Radio Feature, with Gilbert Azeem Tiroog of GNA taking Best in Online Features.
For news reporting, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won Best in Print News Reporting, Nabil Ahmed Rufai, a freelance journalist, Best in TV News Reporting; Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman of EIB Network, Best in Radio News Reporting; and Timothy Ngnenbe of the Daily Graphic, Best in Online News.
The ceremony, held in Accra last Saturday on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age”, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour.
Also in attendance were the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, among others.
In his address, President Mahama announced a GH₵10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget as seed capital for the reactivated Media Development Fund to support journalists’ welfare, professional development, investigative reporting and safety training, with additional corporate contributions expected.
Mr Mahama, also urged media practitioners to uphold professionalism and accuracy by avoiding sensationalism, unsubstantiated allegations and the deliberate pursuit of scandals, while promptly correcting inaccurate reports and apologising when necessary to maintain public trust and professional standards.
On journalists’ safety, he assured that the government would continue to act against attacks on them.
By Stephanie Birikorang
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Today, I focus on the theme of Ghanaian/African migrants in Finland and economic empowerment, a move away from the topic of personalities or groups and their accomplishments within the Ghanaian community in Finland that I have been writing on.
In recent times, African migrant associations and Finnish institutions are organising meetings or forums and help people seeking employment to meet employers or build professional networks to achieve economic empowerment.
Such forums are usually open to their members and anyone of African descent.to get into the Finnish job market.
Competences
Researchers and experts say entrepreneurship or self-employment has great potential to offer a route for migrants, including highly-educated ones, to participate in and contribute to the local economy.
Competences, including knowledge and knowhow, opportunities, and social capital such as family support, language, etc., are necessary to boost the entrepreneurship endeavour.
Competence in the official Finnish or Swedish languages is undoubtedly a key quality to improve employment prospects, especially for migrants since the overall unemployment among migrants could be higher than in the mainstream Finnish population.
There could also be particular privileges which may be the provision of the right information for potential entrepreneurs or job seekers.
Barriers and stress factors
Although language has a huge potential to contribute positively to entrepreneurship possibilities, studies have shown that some of the major stress factors are language problems, finances or economic capital among African migrants.
Other barriers or challenges may be how to grow the business venture or its sustainability.
Thus, migrant communities can generally be highly vulnerable to language barrier, lack of information, the nature of the work of migrants in professions where working from home is not possible.
Migrant associations, social networks, and information
By their activities, migrant associations are doing much to educate and create awareness as well as enhance economic empowerment through migrants’ entrepreneurship or self-employment and enhance opportunities.
Such associations and institutions become networks that create an important social capital as well as outlets for sharing and gaining information or knowledge. Also, it will all be for societal good if such activities are able to help reduce stress and anxiety in the migrants’ entrepreneurship endeavours.
As I keep pointing out, Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society. A number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.
Public agencies, migrant associations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Finland have been publishing information to help educate people, which is also good for their wellbeing.
Generally, migrant associations formally create awareness among their members and other migrants usually in collaboration with some Finnish institutions, and are thus an important tool for several migrants to be positively active and to get their interests and claims heard.
As I wrote previously, the role of migrant associations acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
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