Features
What a hardworking President! (Part 3)
Real leaders are those who are able not just to fight for political power but make use of it in a positive manner to promote socio-economic growth and development and at the same time overcome difficulties that confront them to preserve the interest of their people which they hold and regard as paramount.
President Akufo-Addo has proved to be such a leader, and this explains that despite all the challenges during his campaign to become president, he worked hard and stayed focus to attain his ambition in life with his political career.Indeed, he is one of the greatest leaders that the country has ever produced and will go down in history as the one who, riding on the presence of former President J.A Kufuor, has made history by propelling the country into a higher standard of living.
The achievements of President Akufo-Addo in the health and agricultural sectors are there for all to see except for professional opposition members who unfortunately would not want to credit him with anything good even though his practical achievements are being enjoyed by all and sundry.
HEALTH SECTOR
Every constituency has been given at least one ambulance vehicle and some hospitals to improve health care delivery. In all, 350 brand-new well-equipped ambulances with well-trained personnel have been provided for the districts and hospitals throughout the country. Again, drones have also been brought in to help in the distribution of essential drugs to all parts of the country to ensure that no one is left out in health care if only people are able to act early enough to save lives in our hospitals.
Also, the government’s programme, Agenda 111, under which many hospitals are to be built at the regions and the districts are also being rolled out. The purpose is to ensure that each region has its own full-fledged hospital as well as ones for the districts. In addition to all these, some hospital beds have been distributed to many of our health facilities. This is noble and deserve the blessings of God.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was also remarkably impressive. In March 2020, when the disease was first reported in Ghana, the government took immediate steps to ensure that its people became protected. Electricity and drinking water were provided free of charge to Ghanaians. The free water helped the people to regularly wash their hands in line with what the government wanted them to do. The electricity provided free of charge also helped the people to iron all dresses before wearing them since there was the need to ensure that everything, including dresses, was well sanitised before use.
Government is fighting hard to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccines are also produced locally. Prof.Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has submitted a report with his committee to government on how to go about it.
PREVENTING BANKING CRISIS
To speed up national economic development, certain steps were taken for rapid economic growth as a way of improving upon the welfare of the people. Once such step was a strategy to overcome a looming banking crisis in the country. Many of the banks operating under the previous government, that is, the NDC did not have the required level capital to operate as expected. What had happened in other countries such as Lebanon and others could have also occurred here because the banks with capital below the required levels would have not been able to satisfy their customers’ withdrawals.
To resolve the issue, the Akufo-Addo administration withdrew the licences of such banks and reorganised the banking sector. Those banks that were too small to operate on their own were joined together to operate as one entity as can be seen in the example of Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG) which is now doing very well.
The confidence required in the banking sector has risen high and all these are helping the economy to boost up at a faster rate. This, together with other policies, account for the reason Ghana is ranked among the fastest growing economy in Africa and the world. Another achievement related to this is the relative stability of the Cedi. Matters would have been worse if government had not taken these steps to rectify the situation.
FASTEST INTERNET SPEED IN AFRICA
Another issue related to smooth economic growth is the fact that Ghana had been rated as the country with the fastest internet speed in Africa. According to a Speedtest Global Index for the top 10 fixed broadband categories in the first quarter of 2021, South Africa, Madagascar, Egypt, Senegal, Seychelles, Morocco, Congo, and Burkina Faso were ranked behind Ghana. Additionally, Ghana was ranked 79th in the world for the Speedtest Global Index with the speed of 53.28 Mbps, which was the fastest in Africa. This has helped in a way for the economy to develop at a faster rate because modern economies are linked to a fast-speed internet system.
CONSTRUCTION OF MORE ROADS
The Year of Roads, declared in 2020, is still being continued for 2021. The good news about the Year of Roads, including that of this year is that asphalt overlay is in progress for Accra roads and regional capitals. This means that major cities to enjoy the overlays would include as has been pointed out, Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Sunyani and Bolgatanga, among others.
Alongside this is the construction of interchange networks in various parts of the country such as Pokuase, Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange, Takoradi, Kumasi and Tamale. Therefore, the country has been uplifted in a pleasant manner as far as road infrastructure is concerned. If this does not constitute a good mark of good governance and economic growth, then what else can it be?
FIGHTING AGAINST CORRUPTION
The government is fighting hard against corruption. A new Special Prosecutor has been appointed to make corruption as unattractive as possible. He has begun to work in an assiduous manner and very soon the country and the world would begin to see the positive results that come out of his endeavour.
Conscious effort is also being made to guarantee peace and security in the country. In fact, Ghana today has been ranked the first most peaceful country in West Africa and remains the second most peaceful country in the whole of Africa. It is this credential of being a peaceful country that attracted the AfCFTA secretariat into the country. It is the same reason that President Akufo-Addo has been chosen as ECOWAS chairman for two consecutive terms.
IGNORING PROPAGANDA
Many Ghanaians are complaining about facilities they lack in their communities such as good drinking water, electricity, telecommunication facilities, clinics, or hospitals etc. These are being provided in a systematic manner so as much as we want people to draw the attention of government to their community needs, they should also bear in mind that this is a government that is committed towards the good of the people and that if we don’t allow it to complete its project successfully, we may all live to regret later. For this reason, no one should be influenced by any form of propaganda to turn his/her back against the government.
President Akufo-Addo appears tireless in his desire to fix the problems of this country looking at how energetic he is as if he is only forty (40) in age. This is what the Akufo-Addo administration has planned for this country, so do we support him or not?
The answer is not far-fetched and that means that we all need to support him no matter what!
Contact email/whatsApp of author:
Pradmat2013@gmail.com (0553318911)
This week I have a very strong desire to put on my Apostolic Cap and talk about the power available to children of God which we can utilise to generate positive outcomes, in our lives.
There is a phrase in the Bible that if Christians meditate on, can immensely transform their lives. In Matthew 28:6 there is a phrase “… as he said…” according to the King James Version.
Thus phrase forms part of a statement declared by an angel of God to two women who were disciples of Jesus who had gone to his tomb early in the morning on the third day after his death.
According to the Biblical account, the stone covering the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away and an Angel was sitting on it and he made the statement to the effect that the Jesus they are seeking is not there and that he had risen, as he said before his death.
His resurrection affirmed the authenticity and dependability of the word of Jesus and therefore the word of God.
Christianity has to do with faith in the word of God. Pastor Mensa Otabil said if we view Christianity as an inside out view, you would go inside to operate the power that is in you.
As a Christian, the spirit of God and therefore the power of God, dwells in you. Anyone who is aware of this truth, does not go around seeking to have a so called powerful person resolve his or her spiritual issues.
Most Christians who move from prophet to prophet, do not believe that the spirit of God which operates in a Pastor or Prophet, is the same spirit that dwells in him or her.
In fact , that Christian may be more ‘powerful’ than the Prophet or Pastor he is going to for prayers because he is living a holy life, which is pleasing to God, for God is no respecter of persons according to Acts 10:34-35.
God does not give out his spirit in different measures to indwell believers. The spirit of God that dwells in a new convert, is the same spirit that dwells in a Bishop or a Prophet or an Evangelist or an Elder or a Deacon.
All you need to do as a child of God is to believe in the word of God and know that it works and that according to 1 John 4:4 we, Christians, that the Spirit of God dwells in us have overcome the world and Jesus in us, is greater than the Devil who is out in the world, wrecking havoc all around.
If we realise that we have overcome the Devil and everything he controls, then we can believe and act in faith and make declarations and just as Christ declared that he will die and on the third day, he will rise from the dead and it manifested as he said, there shall be a manifestation of our declarations also.
The problem of modern day Christians is that, a lot of them, do not study and meditate on the word of God, so they do not witness the manifestation of the power of God, in their lives.
Such an experience over time, give them the impression that the spirit of God dwells in different dimensions in believers. This then leads them to seek solutions to their challenges from so called powerful men of God.
Some Pastors also fall into this misconception of the measure of the spirit of God in believers. When the size of a Pastor’s church for instance, is not increasing the way he had been praying for self-doubt sometimes begin to set in.
Especially, if he begins to compare his church with that of say a colleague from the same Bible School, then he begins to wonder if there is not a spiritual secret he is not aware of.
This is when, if care is not taken, fellow Pastors who appears to be very successful in the ministry but are using occultic powers, could sway them from the narrow path and get them trapped in the Devil’s clutches and eventually and inevitably, destroy their lives. God bless.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Introduction
You have been there. Twenty tabs open comparing laptops. A blank page for an email you’ve been “thinking about” for three days. A menu with 30 options and you leave hungry.
This is decision paralysis: the state where the volume of information, options, or perceived stakes prevents you from making a decision at all. It’s not laziness. It’s a cognitive overload response.
In a data-rich environment, it’s becoming the default mode for both individuals and organisations.
This article breaks down why it happens, how it shows up, what it costs, and how to break it.
1. What decision paralysis actually is?
Decision paralysis is a failure of the decision-making system to convert information into action. Psychologists call it ‘analysis paralysis’ or ‘choice overload.’
It has three components:
1. Cognitive overload: Working memory can hold between four to seven chunks of information at once. When you try to track 20 variables, the system freezes.
2. Anticipatory regret: You overestimate the pain of making the wrong choice. The brain avoids the emotional cost by avoiding the choice.
3. Ambiguity aversion: Humans prefer known risks over unknown ones. When outcomes are uncertain, we stall.
The result is not neutral. Not deciding is a decision. It costs time, momentum, and opportunity
2. Why it’s getting worse now
2.1 Infinite options
Amazon has 350 million products. Netflix has 6000+ titles. Dating apps have unlimited profiles. The paradox of choice: more options increase initial satisfaction but decrease final satisfaction and increase regret.
2.2 Information abundance without synthesis
You can find 50 studies on sleep. Each one has caveats, conflicting results, and different methodologies. Without a framework to integrate them, more data creates more confusion, not clarity. This connects directly to the “data-rich, wisdom-poor” problem.
2.3 Reversibility anxiety
In the digital age, most decisions feel permanent. A bad post goes viral. A bad hire is public on LinkedIn. A bad career move is visible. The fear of irreversible error makes people delay.
2.4 Algorithmic mirroring
Platforms show you what you already engage with. This creates an illusion that there’s one ‘best’ option you are missing. You keep searching, convinced the optimal choice is one more scroll away.
3. How it shows up
Personal Level
Cannot pick a career path after six months of ‘research’
Spend two hours choosing a movie and watch nothing
Delay sending an email because it ‘isn’t perfect’
3.1 Organisational level
Teams spend 80 per cent of time in meetings gathering data, 20 per cent deciding
Product teams delay launch waiting for “one more data point”
KPIs multiply but no strategic choice is made
3.2 Common cognitive tells:
Endless comparison tables
Asking for one more opinion
Reframing the problem instead of solving it
Feeling drained after thinking but not acting
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
