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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
Public awareness campaigns have successfully cast breast cancer into the global spotlight, typically framed through a uniform lens of pink ribbons, early detection drives and triumphant stories of survival. While these initiatives have driven vital mammography compliance and research funding, they often perpetuate a sanitised narrative. Beneath the polished public messaging lie complex, less-discussed clinical realities and emotional burdens that patients, families and healthcare providers must navigate long after the initial medical milestones have passed.
Moving towards an honest discourse
Acknowledging these untold truths does not diminish the incredible advancements achieved in modern oncology; rather, it humanises the patient experience. Expanding our cultural understanding beyond the simplistic “warrior” trope allows for deeper institutional support, better long-term medical management and genuine empathy for the lifelong journey of survivorship.
When people see breast cancer in movies or awareness campaigns, they usually see a neat story: someone gets diagnosed, goes through treatment, rings a celebration bell and goes right back to normal.
In real life, the journey is much more complicated. Let us break down five “hidden truths” about breast cancer using everyday examples.
Truth 1: The “Post-Treatment Cliff” (Life after treatment)
What it means: Everyone thinks that once medical treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy, are over, the patient instantly returns to their old self. In reality, that is when a whole new set of challenges begins.
The example: Imagine finishing a gruelling uphill marathon. You cross the finish line, but your legs are still shaking, you are exhausted, and everyone else goes home while you are left trying to recover. Many survivors deal with long-term side effects, such as constant tiredness, numbness in their fingers or swelling, called lymphoedema, for years.
Truth 2: Catching it early is great, but not a magic shield
What it means: Early detection saves lives, but some types of cancer are so aggressive that even a small tumour can behave like a runaway train.
The example: Think of weeds in a garden. If you spot a weed early, you can usually pull it right out. But certain aggressive “weeds” spread seeds everywhere or grow roots so fast that even finding them early does not stop them from trying to pop up somewhere else later.
Truth 3: The long, hard marathon of daily pills
What it means: For many survivors whose cancer is hormone-receptor-positive, treatment does not stop when surgery ends. They may have to take hormone-blocking pills every day for five to ten years.
The example: These daily pills act like security guards keeping the enemy away, but they can also bring troublesome side effects, such as joint stiffness, sudden hot flashes or weakened bones. Because of this, taking the medication can feel like a daily chore that reminds patients of the cancer for a decade.
Truth 4: People we forget about (Men and young adults)
What it means: Public campaigns often focus on older women. Because of this, other groups affected by breast cancer may be caught off guard.
The example: Men can develop breast cancer, too, because they are born with a small amount of breast tissue. However, because some men think it is a “women’s disease”, they may ignore an unusual lump in their chest for months, resulting in a later diagnosis. Young adults under 40 face a different shock, having to worry about fertility, having children and career interruptions right in the middle of building their lives.
Truth 5: The hidden price tag (Financial stress)
What it means: A medical diagnosis brings a heavy second burden: financial strain.
The example: Even with good health insurance, additional costs can pile up quickly, including specialised scans, genetic testing, expensive prescription drugs and taking weeks or months off work to recover. It can feel like dealing with two crises at the same time: trying to heal the body while worrying about bills.
Talking about these harder truths does not mean we should not celebrate survivors. It simply means we need to understand the real, full picture of what people go through.
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
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As soon as a married man becomes infected with the he-goat mentality, he is bound to forget that he has a wife.
It is often a tragedy because he can completely lose focus and generally start misbehaving. He considers his wife a headache, at best a pain in the neck.
The man has got a new girlfriend and is excited. And when he sees his wife, he wonders what she is doing in his home. Maybe she is only a stray dog in need of shelter. And Jesus Christ, won’t she just keep out of the way?
The married man who has gone into extramarital affairs is half the time engaged in mindless fantasy. He is engrossed in devising many ways to please his newfound lover. And if the girl is explosive in bed, the fantasy could spiral into the fourth dimension.
It could be that his wife is basically an “old layer” who can no longer take him to the heavens and back. The girlfriend, however, can take him on a trip into space, meandering through the galaxy of stars, down the Milky Way. It can be an experience of a lifetime.
Normally, after such a trip, the married man will forget that he even has a home and children. He becomes a fugitive.
What he needs is deliverance. So his wife will go to the pastor and tell him that her husband has developed very strange symptoms.
First, the man is behaving practically like a he-goat, sniffing desperately after young women. Secondly, he cannot find his way back home.
The pastor is likely to diagnose the ailment on the spot. He does not need to conduct a blood test to offer a prognosis. “It is the spirit of lust,” the man of God will say. “The Lord is in control.”
Sometimes prayers are effective, and the man heads back home. For very curious reasons, he remembers that he had lost his way. So he returns to his family, wondering what might have been happening to him. So long!
Other times, prayer worsens the case. It is not that the prayers are not being answered. God has only given the lecherous bloke a long rope on his own balls. It is as if the prayers drive him further and further away from the world of reason. For as long as three years, his soul is restless. It is in bondage!
The man forgets that the young girl he has been riding will one day marry and leave him in the cold. That day will surely come.
Now, when a married man is jilted by his girlfriend, he remembers that he has a wife. He had almost forgotten that he went and wedded a woman and called her his wife.
The jilted man will lick his wounds and trace his way back home. His wife would wonder whether he had lost his way. Anyhow, she will welcome him back home.
He becomes the loving husband he once was, and his wife is amazed. What might have happened to her man? Was he struck on the way to Damascus? Or on his way back?
When the man is sober, he will decide to calculate how much he has spent on that useless girl who said she was going to get married to some equally useless cockroach.
He realises that, in the short span of sexual enjoyment and extramarital bliss, he has lost all his lifetime savings, enough to build two-storey buildings.
Last Saturday, some youths who distinguished themselves in various endeavours were awarded at an excellence awards ceremony.
The males should always have it at the back of their minds that chasing women is what brings down both the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich, the lettered and the unlettered.
This article was first published on Saturday, August 26, 2006.
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