Features
When will the AU take its destiny into its own hands?
When Africa is mentioned, things that readily come to mind are poverty, conflict, famine etc. The narrative on Africa has been nothing to write home about. From West Africa to North Africa to the Central part of the continent, to the East and the Southern part, there is evidence of an unrest, a conflict or some other strife.
Currently, there is a serious conflict raging in Libya despite the COVID-19 which is ramping through nations and destroying economies. The other unenviable tag is a continent with a lot of epidemics like Ebola, which has been a thorn in the flesh. A deliberate effort at rebranding must be embarked upon to change the African story and this endeavour is non-negotiable.
The baffling question is why the African Union (AU) is in this situation when the continent is the richest in terms of resources, in the whole world? Respect is earned and not granted on a silver platter, and for as long as African countries and the AU as a collective, begs for assistance from donor countries, the requisite recognition as a partner of equal status to other trade blocs and continents would continue to be a mirage.
When other countries are adding value to their raw materials and exporting them to other places to generate enough foreign resources to increase their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to promote the necessary growth and living standards of their populace, most African countries are still exporting raw materials.
According to the insider.com, the Chocolate industry is about $103 Billion Dollars. President Akufo-Addo in one of his numerous addresses, stated that Ghana and Ivory Coast together produces about 65 per cent of the total world cocoa production, yet can account of just about $6 Billion Dollars.
This is clearly the predicament of the African countries and, therefore, the predicament of the AU. Until there is a deliberate policy to focus on value addition and hence an industrialisation, the revenue inflows would continue to be forever inadequate and Africa would not become the economic power that it should be in order to generate the required respect from the international community.
The COVID-19 disease exposed the continent’s lack of preparedness to deal with epidemics or pandemics and the urgent need for the AU to speed up the industrialisation of the continent as part of the integration process among nations of the continent. It is not as if we need to reinvent the wheel to be able to implement policies that would speed up the integration process.
There is the European Union (EU) which has been in existence for quite some time that the AU members can study and adopt or modify where necessary to give the AU project the momentum needed, to become really established to help the people of Africa and Africa descent both on the continent and in the diaspora.
A picture sent to me via WhatsApp showed a map of Africa with the natural resources available in each country clearly displayed. A glance at the picture removes any doubt about the fact that Africa is the richest continent in terms of natural resources. In the near future, petroleum will lose its importance due to the use of electric vehicles and the clamour for reduction in CO2 emissions.
The countries or continent with other natural resources will become the most sought after trading partners and it is for that reason that the Chinese have embarked on a serious project of establishing relationships with African countries and the AU as an organisation.
According to Wikipedia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the potential to provide a third of the energy requirement for Africa. The right leadership that can implement policies that fit into the overall agenda of AU in the individual countries is what is required to transform the AU into a global player.
This was the vision of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and is still relevant today as it was many years ago, and, I dare say, much more relevant now when countries are establishing alliances. There is no lack of personnel with the requisite skill in any field of endeavour to bring transformation on the continent. What is required is the need to eschew selfish agenda of the various leaders of the individual countries and Africa will become a very powerful force to reckon with.
The need to address the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea by illegal migrants from Africa through Libya is an issue that must engage the attention of the AU. The conflict in Libya is what has enabled this issue to fester. The AU must take charge by sending in an AU force fashioned after the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) model. Africa cannot always rely on foreigners to resolve its problems totally. When it initiates an action to resolve its problems, that would mark the beginning of the process of gaining recognition and respect at the world stage.
The illegal migration from Libya can easily be resolved if there is a stable legitimate government in place in that country which the AU is obliged to help establish. The creation of an AU force must be given priority attention, so that the Libya conflict can be dealt with as soon as possible.
When the desperate attempt to embark on illegal migration to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea stops, then the international community will begin to see Africans in a different light. At the moment, in the eyes of the world, Africans are a bunch of desperate and dangerous people who do not care about their lives. The AU would have to create the necessary environment for member countries to generate employment avenues for their populations, especially the youth to enable them shun the idea of illegal migration.
A deliberate policy must be adopted to instill in the African youth, a sense of self-worth and self confidence, that he or she is equal to any other person in the whole world no matter the colour of their skin. The sense of inferiority complex established by the colonial masters should be thrown away mentally, so that the African can be mentally liberated to pursue higher dreams.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement signed by 54 of the 55 countries of the continent, is one of the best things to happen in the life of the AU. It provides a wonderful opportunity for trading among countries on the continent. It is a vehicle with the requisite potential to quickly facilitate the transformation required to elevate the status of the AU to that of a respected player in the geopolitical arena.
The good book even says that “money answereth all things” according to Ecclesiastes Chapter 10, verse 19. Economic power is what gives nations and trade blocs the power to influence decisions on the international stage and, therefore, it is imperative for Africa and for that matter the AU, to become an economic power house to influence international issues. It is high time the AU was given a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, given our contribution to world economy in terms of natural resources. Resources alone is not going to give us the right unless we translate the resources into huge GDP and that is what would command the respect of the world.
Writer: Laud Kissi-Mensah, a social commentator
by GhanaianTimes
Features
The Cop, press and lost fingers
The job of a policeman, whether he is short or tall, is not a cheap one. He is supposed to keep the peace, protect society and monitor the activities of local magicians and money doublers who are specialists in making civil servants lose their pay within seconds.
By far the most difficult job of the policeman is when he is expected to arrest a murderer who is not only armed but also has a record of appearing and disappearing at will. Even if the tough cop is in the company of other policemen all armed to the teeth, his stomach will turn to water when the criminal suddenly appears.
He is terrified not because the criminal is a better marksman, but because nobody dies twice. The problem also is that a criminal might be prepared to die in a bid to shoot his way to freedom. But is the police-man prepared to risk death in the course of duty when he has a family to rear.
If he had just acquired a new girlfriend with whom he is enjoying life, should he not run away with his tail between his legs and tell his boss that the criminal is uncatchable?
Before some policemen go on patrol duties, they actually pray solemnly. “God send me into the wilderness and bring me back safely with my nose intact because I’m worth more than a common rat. I also do not want to die like a stray dog. If a bullet is targeted at my forehead, Holy Spirit please let it go over the bar, because six children is not a small palaver. If I die, who will look after them? Lord keep me safe day by day. Amen!”
The Sikaman policeman’s job is a risky one because he is not properly equipped with even a trained dog to help track down criminals easily. So he has to use his own nose judiciously in sniffing out suspects while making sure a bullet doesn’t catch him square on the jaw.
My friend Sir Kofi Owuo, a.k.a. Death-By-Poverty was telling me journalists are in an even riskier profession. Apparently, he had been reading about the palaver of journalists in places like Algeria and Columbia. Algeria, even women journalists are not spared assassin’s bullet. You’d see them lying in front of their homes with their heads full of bullet holes.
In Columbia, no journalist is safe. When a journalist is leaving home, he has to tell his wife. “Darling, when I don’t come back by 7 p.m. check the mortuary
The drug trade in Columbia has made journalism a profession not worth practising. If you write on cocaine and the harm it is inflicting on society, you’ll certainly receive a phone call.
“Hello, Mr Journalist, your article yesterday was great. Congratulations! We never knew you were such brilliant writer, championing the cause of society. Again we say congrats! But you know something, by your article, you want to take the bread out of my and that of my family. You don’t want us to beak. We are aggrieved beyond measure”
“Oh, I was just… “You’d try to say something
“You don’t have to explain. The harm has already been done by your award-winning masterpiece. We have an appointment with you. You’ll hear from us.
Rest In Peace!” After such a phone call, you just have to pray to your soul, sing a hymn or two and get prepared fort appointment with death. For, death will surely come
I think pressmen in Sikaman would also have start informing their families appropriately before leaving for work now. “If I don’t come back early, I’m probably at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Korle- Bu checking a leakage in my left ear due to a gendarme slap from an AMA official. If you don’t see me there, track me down to the emergency ward. If you see a newly-made cripple, I’m the one”
What about referees? These days they are guarded during football matches so that the risk they bear in terms of lost teeth is minimal. Formerly, it used to be a job full of woes and tribulations.
You were expected to oversee a match in such way that would favour a particular team. If that is not done, you’ll get back home and your wife will not recognise you. She’ll mistake you for Frank Bruno who had just lost a bout. When she finally recognises you, she’ll fix some hot water to massage your poor face.
I hear that these days, apart from the protection referees receive, some are well-armed with Damfo Dzai, a kind of jack-knife that can carve a rowdy supporters face in several designs.
My Press Secretary and part-time bodyguard Devine Ankamah, was telling me if he happens to be a referee, he’d surely carry a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle with him, complete with loaded magazine, before officiating matches. According to him, that is the only way to do the job without fear or favour. Anyone dares will lose his jaw.
Anyway, risky jobs require good remuneration. As Kwame Korkorti once said, risky jobs require risky salary. A policeman would require a good pay so that when a criminal targets his left ear it would be worth the ‘amputation’. Same for journalists and cameramen.
But go round private workplaces and factories and you’d see really risky occupations where workers are receiving salaries they can’t see with the naked eye.
In fact, in some private workplaces, environmental safety is completely absent. Workers breathe in fumes, poisonous gases and risk lung and respiratory problems. Their employers do nothing about protecting them against these hazards. Check out their payer.
In other places, workers have their fingers chopped off on the job, some losing as many as four fingers in stretch. The compensation they get can best be described as “wicked”. Their employers live big, chop big, ride big but are not willing to pay more than ¢120,000 for lost fingers.
Actually the more fingers you lose, the more money you get. So if you intend losing your fingers on the job, it is advisable to lose as many as possible so that you can get more cash. Those who have lost one finger have not benefited much and are encouraged to lose more next time around.
Sikaman Palava is undertaking to investigate some of these cases of very risky jobs in private setups and companies where workers are being exploited to unnecessarily but not offered protection against health hazards, and not properly compensated when they sustain injuries.
This article was first published on Saturday, September 28, 1996
Features
Position yourself for God’s blessings
Motivated by the impending 40-day fasting and needless to add prayer programme, preceding the Greater Works Conference scheduled for August in Accra, I would like to draw attention to how believers can receive blessings from God.
There is a scripture in Hebrews 11:5 that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God”.
This clearly shows that in order to receive blessings from God, you must please God. How can one please God? You can only please God by obeying him and walking in line with God’s word. Just like how children who obey their parents, enjoy special treatment, so does God deal with his children who obey his word.
There are ways by which people receive blessings from God and holiness is an important criteria in the whole equation. Holiness is a process and not a one day event.
It is a mindset borne out of walking in obedience to God’s instructions i.e. his word. In order to have a mindset of living to please God, requires studying God’s word coupled with praying and fasting.
This helps us to develop trust in God by knowing his nature, what he likes and dislikes. This is what will enable us to live to please him and for our faith in him also to increase.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Fasting is one of the required criteria for blessings to be released and it goes with prayer because fasting without prayer is just a physical exercise. Fasting enables a person’s inner man to be in tune with the spirit of God and also becomes spiritually empowered to hear from God and also obey God.
Fasting enables a person’s spirit to feed on God’s word in a much more focused manner as compared to studying God’s word in normal times. As a result our spirit gains the upper hand to dominate the body and the soul, so that we are more conscious of the presence of God in our lives which causes us willingly the desire to live to obey God.
Holiness which is a prerequisite for pleasing God, can only manifest in our lives if we are able to overcome the desires of the flesh and this only happens when the flesh is subject to the spirit.
Apostle Paul said that “But l keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should not be castaway”, according to 1 Corinthians 9:27.
In order to bring the body or flesh into subjection so that believers will be able to live to please God, we have to study, God’s word in a certain state of mind which fasting and prayer appropriately provides.
Our minds are the battle grounds for decisions that either please God or the Devil. In order to please God so his blessings can be released upon our lives, we must continuously engage our minds with thoughts that is in line with God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that “Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May God help us to live to please him by meditating on things that please the Lord, so we shall be blessed in all aspects of our lives. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
