Features
Politics, money and big English
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I do not know how campus politics is like these days. When we were at Legon, it was quite turbulent. From the JCR to NUGS elections, it was often a do-or-die matter. Candidates took the elections so seriously that they would in the meantime pack their books somewhere, start chewing gorro and go hunting for loans to finance their campaign. Ghanaman student doesn’t joke with his post!
When a candidate manages to grab a loan using his sound system, faded jeans, lunch coupons and ancient shaving-stick as collateral, he uses the loan wisely. At least half the money instantly to his girlfriend at Volta Hall. Fact is that the girlfriend is his political adviser during elections and a comforter when he loses.
Normally, girlfriends give their boyfriends rage and urge them on, knowing they are going to lose anyway. And if they don’t urge them on, they won’t get part of the campaign money to “chop”. It is just like during national elections where wives urge their husbands on, knowing well that the man they are married to is a political non-starter and, therefore, presidentially bankrupt.
Woe unto you if you told your presidential can-husband the truth. “Daddy, the way I see you, the way you walk, the way you dance, the way you snore and the way your mother no born you fine, I advise you to call it quits because you can’t beat your opponent. In fact, there is no way you can beat him. He is more handsome, dazzling, and more stylish and can talk big English.”
Such a politico-marital advice is a sure recipe for bedtime hostilities and an end to the happy marriage. “Who dare you tell me nonsense?” the man would explode. “Don’t you know I am a born-again politician? Haven’t you seen that my forehead is of presidential quality and design? Bad-luck woman! I’m going to divorce you first if I win the elections and shame you and the devil; Kwasia like thatt!”
With campus politics in those days, what was clear was that some candidates actually spent big sums of money on the electorate to court votes. It took the form of buying endless jugs of bubra and sharing “jot” around and sometimes money among close friends and campaign pushers. It was quite amusing because the more bubra you gave out, the less votes you got.
Anyhow the acid test of a candidate’s suitability or otherwise was determined at a face-to-face forum where each candidate orally vomited his manifesto and answered hot and peppered questions from the audience.
A candidate wasn’t only expected to talk sense, but also to talk big English. The idea is that when half the Merari Alomele’s audience do not understand what you say, it means you’re a mystery man and only mystery men can perform wonders and deliver the goods.
It turned out that those candidates who genuinely promised to make campus a better place for all with better facilities, better food and mandatory student loans were not applauded much. It was those who virtually said nothing progressive but reverberated in highfalutin language and used phrases like “progresso-reactionary polarization” who won the elections. Tragically enough, the users of such magniloquent phrases least understood them but won hands down.
So successful campus politics at the time did not depend on appealing to the good sense of fellow students but on the amount and quality of kpokpomatic linguistic delivery in the Queen’s language, and if it was guaranteed that the candidate did not understand what he was saying, he was sure to win.
Luckily, it is not so in national politics. You really have to talk sense. And if you insult, you lose.
Questions time was another palaver altogether. One single question from an adversary could send you directly to the grave, no-curve-no-bend. “Mr Aspiring Candidate my question is not a lorgorligi one. It is direct to the point. We all know that that once a thief, always a thief. I was in the same secondary school with you and you were one of the prefects. I lie? When you were in office, you couldn’t account for certain monies paid to you and got sanctioned by the authorities.
Number two; it is no secret that you are a man of great appetite. It is on record that you once won a food-eating competition. We’ve also heard reports from the grapevine that after devouring your own gari and shito in record time, you unilaterally took over that of your room-mate and finished it also. Congratulations.
Now your room mate is facing acute hunger and needs foreign aid to survive. He has grown lean like a dog. What makes you think you can be our leader?”
Such questions have two poisonous ingredients. The first can induce instant hypertension and stroke enough to reduce your lifespan by half. The second is to inform you officially that it would be a miracle if you won the election, so you are so better off not responding to the questions.
Campus politics is sometimes very much like national politics except that it is quite opposite in some instances. The only real differences border on the fact that national politics is somewhat of a higher level when it comes to treachery, corruption, insults, whatever.
Politics in general, however, concerns all about big talk and money both of which can lead a candidate either to succeed or to gnash teeth. I have been following the happenings in the New and Patriotic Party (NPP) for interest and I personally see nothing dangerously wrong with politicians dishing out money so long as every other politician is either guilty doing same, or is capable of doing so at a future date.
I was a bit surprised some politicians said they were alarmed that delegates were being bribed, as if it had never happened at any time in the history of the parties.
What I know is that you can bribe and still lose just like it used to happen on campus, because voting is by secret ballot.
If you’re popular, nothing can influence your success, and it is only in few cases that money can easily influence the political direction of a voter. In fact, with secret balloting, bribery isn’t a big factor, because everybody has his (or her) favourite he wouldn’t sacrifice for 30 pieces of silver.
VENGEANCE
As it were in Sikaman general elections, it is not a matter of big English, overflowing knowledge or Big money. It is a matter of what the country’s priorities because Ghanaians are becoming sensitive to a fact that with some people, entrusting them with affairs of the state would be a national disaster not cause they are incompetent, but because their motives for becoming the country’s leaders are not in the interest of the nation. Theirs is vengeance!
Secondly, it is a matter of what a person is capable of doing, and not what he thinks he can do or dreams can do. With politics, dreams are only dreams what we need is the truth. And the truth is that Ghana is not going to make it unless we forget our differences, stop bearing grudges and act in concert towards continuous growth and development.
This article was first published on Saturday, April 13, 1995
Features
Confronting newborn abandonment in Ghana: When a cry for help is heard in a dustbin – Part 2
The root causes: It is never just one reason
My years of counselling at CPAC show me abandonment is rarely an act of malice. It is the tragic endpoint of seven overwhelming distresses:
1. Severe maternal mental illness —The hidden emergency
a) Clinical Postpartum Depression (PPD): This is far beyond “baby blues.” It is a severe mood disorder that can appear weeks to months after birth. Due to a massive drop in hormones, extreme sleep deprivation, and emotional exhaustion, the mother feels deep sadness, worthlessness, and complete emotional numbness towards her baby. Picture: A new mother sits by her bed all day, staring blankly. Her baby cries for hours, but she cannot lift her hands to carry the baby. She whispers, “This baby would be better off without me.” She does not hate the baby; she feels she has completely failed as a mother.
b) Peripartum Psychosis (Postpartum Psychosis): This is a psychiatric emergency. Rare but extremely dangerous, appearing suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks after delivery. The mother completely loses touch with reality. She hears commanding voices telling her to abandon the baby, or believes the baby is possessed by an evil spirit or is a “spirit child” who will bring a curse. Picture: A mother genuinely believes she heard a voice saying, “Leave this child at the crossroads at midnight or your family will die.” She abandons the baby not out of hatred, but because her broken mind believes she is obeying a higher spiritual order to save her family.
c) Pre-existing untreated Schizophrenia: This is a chronic, severe mental disorder that existed before the pregnancy. The stress of pregnancy and labour shatters her fragile coping. She suffers from paranoid delusions — believing people want to poison her and the baby — flat affect (zero facial expression), and grossly disorganised thinking, making it impossible to plan how to feed or clean a baby. Picture: A young woman whose family called her illness “spiritual attack” instead of taking her for medication wanders away after delivery, completely forgetting she even gave birth, leaving the infant behind.
2. Extreme socio-economic deprivation: For many girls in some parts of Ghana such as Kasoa, Madina, or Bekwai, poverty is not a statistic; it is a daily panic. No money for antenatal care, no money for hospital delivery, no money for baby diapers or formula. When a mother cannot feed herself, the thought of feeding another mouth feels impossible. Some mothers say, “I left her where someone richer would find her, because I could not watch her starve to death in my hands.” It is a distorted act of survival.
3. Intense societal stigma and shame: In Ghana, pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, or pregnancy from rape can bring extreme family rejection. The girl is called “spoilt,” beaten, banned from church, or sacked from school. The fear of bringing shame to the family name is heavier than the fear of police. So she hides the pregnancy for 9 months, delivers alone, and abandons in secret to protect her family’s “honour.”
4. Paternal abandonment — The Man Who Ran Away: Behind almost every abandoned baby is a man who vanished. He says, “It is not mine,” or “Abort it,” and switches off his phone. The mother is left utterly isolated — no emotional, financial, or social support. She is criminalised alone, but the abandonment started with him. Psychological research shows paternal denial is one of the strongest predictors of maternal panic and newborn abandonment.
5. Substance abuse disorders: Alcohol, tramadol, and other drug addiction impair the brain’s executive functioning — the ability to plan, judge consequences, and process emotions. A mother struggling with addiction may give birth in a highly intoxicated or withdrawal state, unable to comprehend the needs of the newborn, leading to neglect and eventual abandonment.
6. The spirit child cultural phenomenon and superstition: In some remote pockets of Northern Ghana and even in few parts of Central and Ashanti regions, public health research shows babies born with congenital deformities, severe disabilities, or whose mothers die in childbirth are branded as “spirit children” or cursed. In extreme instances, families, under cultural pressure, mandate that such babies be exposed or abandoned at shrines or bushes. This is not mental illness, but a harmful cultural belief system that still kills.
The invisible wounds
On the baby: Risk of death from hypothermia, sepsis, and infection. Survivors suffer Anaclitic Depression and Failure to Thrive due to lack of touch. As adults, they battle Reactive Attachment Disorder, chronic mistrust, and identity crisis — “Why did my mother leave me in a dustbin?”
On the mother: Lifelong hidden grief, intense guilt, chronic PTSD, depression, and elevated suicide risk. A prison cell does not heal this.
On the nation: Overburdened orphanages like Osu Children’s Home, draining health budgets, and overworked Social Welfare officers.
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“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference; – Rom. 3:10, 21-22. (NIV)
Introduction
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21. This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Establishing our hearts in righteousness
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23
According to the above verse in Proverbs, our heart is the source of our life. Our life flows from our heart. The Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born again Christian. So there is a strong influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the new-born Christian. But our heart is also comprised of our soul. As Christians we can choose to focus our soul on the Lord, or on evil things. If we focus on corrupt, immoral, and evil things our heart will be affected detrimentally. It will cause our heart to be crooked or wicked, instead of straight or righteous. So the Scripture says to keep, or guard, our heart. It is wise to protect our heart as what we allow to dominate our heart will inevitably become the fruit, or influence the outcome, of our lives.
One way to approach life is to continually ask the question, “How will this decision or action affect my heart?” Everything we do, every thought we entertain, everything we watch, read, or listen to, shapes our heart. Therefore, the future prosperity of our life will flow from how well we care for our heart.
Think of everything you do, every moment of time, as a seed. We have been given responsibility for choosing which seeds to plant in our heart. What will you grow in the garden of your heart? What seeds will you choose? Our heart is our garden, and our life is the fruit of our garden. So next time you are tempted to dwell on a bad thought, think, “Do I want this seed to grow and manifest in my life?” Next time you are tempted to indulge in a sinful action ask yourself, “Do I want the extension, or fruit, of this sinful action to be what I am known for?”
God gives us the freedom to plant whatever we like in our garden. God loves us regardless of the good or bad choices we may make in our lives. You may be reaping the fruit of some poor choices right now. And God is still saying, “I love you.” But He has wise advice for us; He desires we have a good life. He says, “Guard you heart with all diligence.” This Hebrew word translated ‘diligence’ conveys the meanings of: prison and guard (ibid). A superintendant of a prison is very particular as to what goes in and out of his prison. A prison has very tight security. Just as a superintendant watches over his prison, so we should also supervise our heart (our lives). We should exercise meticulous security with regards to what enters into our heart. Actually, even what comes out of it, as the Scripture says, “ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” – James 1:19, as “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” –Matthew 12:34b.
If what goes into, and what comes out of, our heart determines the success of our lives, what is the first important principle to establish in our heart? “In righteousness you shall be established;” – Isaiah 54:14
Righteousness is the key foundational truth we need to first establish in our heart. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” –Matthew 6:33. Notice Jesus said, “His righteousness”, not our own righteousness. We have to seek and understand God’s righteousness. Isaiah 54:14 says, “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” God’s righteousness comes from God, not from within us. Humans cannot make themselves God’s righteousness, as all humans have sinned and are therefore inferior to God. God’s righteousness is a gift from God: “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness, or right standing with God, has been attained for us through the exchange Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. God’s righteousness is imparted to us when we are made a new creature in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17. This righteousness is a gift from God and undeserved by us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”- Romans 5:17
Through our faith in Jesus’ blood, shed to remit our sins – Romans 3:25, God imparts righteousness to us by His grace. We actually become a new righteous creation, fully identifying in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the foundational miracle we need to understand and have established in our heart. All the other miraculous promises of God come the same way, by God’s grace through faith. Righteousness must be established in our heart for us to truly have faith to receive our rich inheritance in Christ. Jesus has been made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are now “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Establishing our minds in righteousness
God expects that, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be radically changed. In Romans 12:2 He tells us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He expects us to become totally different.
Scripture uses many different images to express the change that should occur: We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.“ – 2 Cor 5:17. It is almost as if we become a new species. Scripture speaks of the “first Adam” who was earthly and fell into sin, and the “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) who was sinless and holy – Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:44-49.
We are “made new in the attitude of our minds” – Eph. 4:23.
We “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” – Eph. 4:22,24; Col 3:9-10.
We “live by the Spirit” and not by the flesh – Gal. 5:16; Rom 8:13.
We become “instruments of righteousness” rather than “instruments of wickedness” – Rom. 6:13.
Each of these metaphors, in a different way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. Each is dramatic and astonishing in itself; their cumulative effect is even more powerful. We are talking about a tremendous transformation. It should be visible to others, but its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.
The goal of this transformation
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this, because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
To be continued!
Stay blessed!
For further inquiries please contact us on Tel Nos. 0243588467 or 0268130615
Email: saltnlightministries@gmail.com
Website: saltandlightministriesgh.org
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