Features
Saved by COVID-19
A look at the title of this peace would set minds wondering as to how a deadly pandemic could be a saviour of some sort. In this country handshakes between certain individuals have been of immense interest on account of certain perceived friction between the people involved.
Many years ago Sarfo Gyamfi, then a player of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, refused to shake hands with the Head of State, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, who was shaking hands with players shortly before a football match.
It became a big issue and was the topic for discussion in the media space. I think the player as well as his team later apologised for the embarrassment caused the head of state.
It is an open secret that there is no love lost between the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, and Mr Asiedu Nketia, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress.
People were, therefore, looking forward to an encounter between Mr Asiedu Nketia and Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings. The expected handshake was as a result of the sad passing of the former President and husband of Nana Konadu Agyemang, Jerry John Rawlings.
The custom of the land demands that people go to greet the bereaved when a spouse passes on and since the former President was the founder of the NDC, it was expected that the leadership of the NDC will go to express their condolences to the spouse of their founder.
The conflicts that have led to the rifts between those people that have become issues of public concern or interest are generally political in nature.
The handshake that people were really looking forward to but may not likely happen was the one between Asiedu Nketia and Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings due to the peculiar personal and political nature. A bit of background story would put things in perspective.
It was the former President who brought Asiedu Nketia into the lime light after the formation of the NDC Party. He favoured him and Asiedu Nketia became close to the former President and his family. It is an open secret that the former President respected a lot the advice of his wife and if you were in the good books of the former First Lady, you were automatically in the good books of the former President.
Asiedu Nketia benefitted immensely in the political arena within the NDC resulting in his becoming the General Secretary of the NDC. All was well between General Mosquito, as the General Secretary is affectionately called in the political arena and Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings until the primaries for the selection of a flag bearer for the NDC was announced and late President Mills decided to seek the mandate of the delegates to lead the party to contest the 2012 elections.
Some members of the party felt the late President Mills, then the incumbent President must be allowed to go unopposed since if contested, it would be a message to the electorate that, indeed, the late President was underperforming as claimed by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
They feared it would lead to a loss of the election to the NPP in the 2012 elections. Asiedu Nketia then the General Secretary, was with that school of thought. Unfortunately, Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings felt it was time for her to realise her political ambitions and, therefore, decided to contest the incumbent at the primaries.
The majority of the party, led by Asiedu Nketia, fearing the loss of the 2012 elections, tried to persuade the former First Lady but to no avail. That was the beginning of serious problems between Asiedu Nketia and Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings.
Then came the primaries at the Sunyani Stadium for delegates to select who was to become the flag bearer going into the 2012 elections and all hell broke loose. As the former First Lady and her husband, late former President Rawlings, entered the arena where the voting was to take place, the delegates not on their side started hooting at them and they were subjected to an embarrassing moments at the place.
Needless to say, the former First Lady was defeated at the elections and late President Mills became the NDC flag bearer. This embarrassment led to the former First Lady parting ways with the NDC and forming her own party, the National Democratic Party (NDP). Some members of the NDC also left to join her in the NDP.
The last straw to break the camel’s back was when after the elections, Asiedu Nketia commented that the barking dog had been tamed in obvious reference to the former President. The animosity then reached its peak and from then on there was no love lost between Asiedu Nketia and the Rawlingses.
There have been handshake encounters between the former First Lady and former President Mahama which had been speculated by observers to be tension packed and not been the usual cordial greetings with smiles.
People are looking forward to see what would happen when Asiedu Nketia who had “betrayed” the trust of the Rawlingses and even referred to her husband in derogatory terms, encounters Mrs Agyemang-Rawlings; but we may never know due to the no handshake regime currently prevailing as part of the COVID-19 prevention protocol. Asiedu Nketia must surely be thanking and saying to himself “Thank you COVID-19.”
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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