Features
Where are the gatekeepers?
The passion for freedom is ineradicably ingrained in every human breast. In fact, when you see children displaying any streak of rebellion at that tender age, it is an outward manifestation of an inward disposition for freedom. But they soon realise, regretfully though, that there is a limit to their freedom. That is when their parents rightly heed the advice from the Holy Scriptures to not spare the rod. I know this from experience.
In God’s opinion, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction shall drive it away from him,” Proverbs 22:15. I do not think that back in the day, there was anyone as effective as my mother in applying this time-honoured catchphrase. Talk of a thoroughbred matriarch! That refers to my mum, Auntie Aggie, as she was popularly called.
She was as indulgent as she was penalising in her approach to nurturing. Her penetrating gaze in your direction while you misconducted yourself, was enough warning. That space meant grace for you. But to persist in your indiscretion implied courting trouble and reaping the due recompense. The rod would definitely be applied without any more grace. How I miss her!
Without any doubt, democracy thrives on liberty whose roots are in the freedom of the press, including freedom of speech. Professor Wole Soyinka, the man whose political activism made him a constant thorn in the flesh of Nigeria’s military dictators, once said: “The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.” But as scathing as he was in his publications, the Nigerian Nobel laureate who became the first African south of the Sahara to be so honoured in 1986 in the category of literature, did not just use his pen or voice to fight for the oppressed. He did so responsibly because he knew the implications of default.
In the former Soviet Union, a fresh wave of freedom hitherto unheard of in that rigid, iron-clad regime, blew across the republics of the federation when Mikhail Gorbachev, emerged as the new head of state. He quickly moved towards reform highlighted by his policy of openness whose core features were “glasnost” and “perestroika,” the terms for political and economic reform respectively.
In the process, he turned out to be the unlikeliest of leaders to become a proponent of free speech. “How can we live if not through criticisms from below, correcting our policies, fighting negative phenomena? I cannot imagine myself living without this form of democracy,” he famously said as he embarked on his bold agenda to dismantle the suffocating culture of silence under which dissent was a crime. No wonder, he also won a Nobel prize for peace.
Just as in the Soviet Union, maybe in less severe terms, a culture of silence prevailed in Ghana. Various governments, right from Ghana’s early days under colonialism, through to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s post-independence era, as well as the military regimes that followed, hid behind the criminal libel law to hound and punish people for the slightest hint of opposition which was synonymous with pointing out wrongdoing. Given the latitude and scope of the law, Ghanaians were deprived of any safeguards against excesses of that draconian statute. You criticised the government at the peril of your life. Extra-judicial killings were rampant.
Editors of private newspapers were tortured. Notable among them were Dr. Chris Asher Snr of the Palaver who blazed the trail in the struggle to entrench freedom of the press before the likes of Tommy Thompson and John Kugblenu, publisher and editor respectively, of the Free Press, took over with Haruna Atta of the Statesman, Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt and Ewusi-Brookman of the Pioneer.
Also deserving of recognition are columnists such as Professor P.A.V. Ansah of the Chronicle, who was the Dean of the School of Communications Studies, University of Ghana, Legon; Professor Adu Boahene, and Lawyer Obeng Manu who wrote for The Pioneer.
Gradually, the struggle yielded dividends reaching its climax with the repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Act by Parliament on Friday, 27th July 2001. This was in fulfillment of a pledge by candidate J.A. Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to do so if he was elected.
The dismantling of the harsh law immediately led to a proliferation of the media in all its forms. More private newspapers have since been established. Radio stations have sprung up in every nook and cranny of the country, leading to a very vibrant and robust media free to voice views contrary to that of the government. Social media platforms are also inundated with all sorts of contrary opinions that have all served to make Ghana one of the most media-friendly and free countries in Africa, and indeed, the world.
Unfortunately, a section of the media appears to be on a downward trajectory. Some are taking this newfound, hard-won freedom farther than it was intended. They are behaving as if the floodgates have been opened for irresponsible journalism. To them, freedom of the press has no boundaries. They misconstrue freedom of the press to mean the right to venture into prohibited territory at will without any scruples. That is a false paradigm.
Madam Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the longest-serving American first lady, (1933-1945), who was a great champion of freedom, disagrees with that notion. She says, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.” That responsibility is to be law-abiding or face the consequences of your breach. Pope Paul II puts it this way: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought,”
Many unscrupulous people, taking undue advantage of the decriminalisation of free speech and the ensuing liberal media climate, have resorted to crass disregard for ethics and are unprofessionally spuing messages that are obviously defamatory and seditious, all in the name of freedom of the press.
And people who should know better are rather leading the parade of coup mongers to beat war drums. When you willfully cross the line to challenge the boundaries of the law, that is presumptuous trespass. It is as if you are testing the limit of what is tolerable, and you must not blame anybody if you find yourself in an unpleasant embrace of the long arm of the law.
Governments are ordained by God to regulate society. In fact, governments are described by the Holy Scriptures as ministers of God for the praise of those who do well and the punishment of those who breach the law. God says they do not bear the sword in vain. In other words, governments have punitive powers. For that matter, we are told to expect punishment when we fall foul of the law.
Thomas Jefferson, the primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, America’s first Secretary of State (1789–94), its Second Vice President (1797–1801), and the third president (1801–09), extolled the importance of the press by stating: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
His reasons: “The people are the only censors of their governors: and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs through the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right.”
An Akan proverb says: “Nnfa mcmcne nnhy3 m’anum na wonnka s3 m’anum bcn,” to wit, “Do not sneak stinking fish into my mouth and charge me with having foul breath,” Do not misbehave and charge the government with high-handedness. Let the press grow up as Mrs. Roosevelt advises, otherwise we are not worthy of Jefferson’s encomium; otherwise, we justify the stance of those who opposed the repeal of the criminal and seditious law. Before freedom, gatekeeping was the watchword. Where are the gatekeepers now?
By Tony Prempeh
Contact: teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
Features
Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
Yes, in literature and in practice, differences exist regarding customer service, service failures, and service recovery.
But have you ever considered the latter (service recovery) and its potential impact on service experience, brand building, and sustainable growth?
Well, in today’s fiercely competitive service economy, customer experience has become one of the most powerful determinants of business survival and long-term success.
Across industries, from aviation and banking to telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, retail, and digital platforms, customers now expect fast, seamless, and reliable service delivery at every touchpoint.
Yet despite technological advancements and operational improvements, service failures remain inevitable.
Systems experience downtime, deliveries are delayed, reservations are misplaced, payments fail, customer inquiries go unanswered, employees mishandle interactions, and digital platforms experience disruptions.
In the midst of these, what increasingly separates successful organisations from struggling ones is not whether failures occur, but how quickly and effectively they recover when they do.
Service Recovery
Simply put, it is the process of fixing a service problem and restoring customer confidence after a failure has occurred.
Examples of service recoveries are; an airline offering compensation after a flight delay, a telecom company restoring interrupted service and providing bonus data, a restaurant replacing a wrongly prepared meal at no extra cost, a hotel upgrading a guest’s room after a booking problem, and finally a bank reversing an erroneous transaction and apologising promptly.
As competition intensifies and customer expectations continue to rise, service recovery is rapidly evolving from a routine customer service function into a critical strategic capability.
Businesses are discovering a hard truth of the modern marketplace: fix customer problems quickly, or risk losing them permanently.
Customers are More Powerful Now Than Ever
Customers now possess more power than at any other time in business history. Digital technology, social media, online reviews, and mobile connectivity have fundamentally changed customer behaviour.
Consumers now easily compare competitors instantly, publicly share negative experiences, switch providers with ease, and influence the purchasing decisions of thousands of others online.
This evolution has made customer loyalty increasingly fragile. A single poor experience can quickly damage years of brand-building effort.
In highly competitive sectors where products and pricing are often similar, customer experience has emerged as one of the few sustainable competitive advantages.
Modern customers no longer evaluate organisations solely by product quality or pricing. Increasingly, they judge businesses by their responsiveness, reliability, transparency, empathy, and effectiveness in resolving problems.
Why Service Recovery Matters More Than Ever
Failures are no longer viewed as isolated operational incidents, especially in competitive service sectors. They are moments that directly influence customer trust, brand perception, and future purchasing behaviour.
Research across service industries consistently demonstrates that customers are often willing to forgive mistakes when organisations respond quickly, communicate honestly, show empathy, and resolve issues effectively.
Conversely, poor recovery experiences frequently create stronger dissatisfaction than the original service failure itself.
For many businesses, the greatest reputational damage does not arise from operational errors, but from delayed responses, poor communication, lack of accountability, and unresolved customer frustrations.
This has elevated service recovery into a central component of customer relationship management and competitive strategy.
Speed, a Competitive Weapon
In the modern service economy, speed is no longer merely operational efficiency; it is a basic customer expectation.
Consumers increasingly expect: immediate responses, real-time updates, fast complaint resolution, and proactive communication. Delays are often interpreted as incompetence, indifference, or organisational inefficiency.
Consequently, organisations are redesigning their service recovery frameworks to prioritize rapid intervention and customer reassurance.
A cursory assessment revealed that some businesses now operate dedicated customer experience teams, 24/7 support systems, AI-powered service platforms, automated escalation systems, and real-time issue monitoring dashboards.
The ability to resolve customer problems quickly is now a major source of competitive differentiation.
Technology Is Transforming Recovery Strategies
Technology is fundamentally reshaping how organisations manage service recovery. Across industries, companies are leveraging artificial intelligence, customer analytics, chatbots, predictive monitoring systems, and integrated digital support platforms.
These tools allow organisations to identify service failures earlier, monitor customer dissatisfaction, automate responses, personalize engagement, and accelerate resolution timelines.
Some organisations now proactively contact customers before complaints are formally lodged, using analytics to identify service disruptions in real time.
This means that the future of service recovery is increasingly preventive rather than purely reactive.
Service Recovery as a Brand Strategy
Forward-looking organisations are now treating service recovery as part of brand management strategy rather than operational damage control.
The logic is straightforward because, acquiring new customers is expensive, dissatisfied customers influence others, and loyalty is increasingly experience-driven.
Businesses are therefore measuring customer satisfaction, response times, complaint resolution rates, customer retention, and net promoter scores more aggressively than before.
In many industries, service recovery performance is now discussed at executive and board levels because of its direct relationship with profitability, reputation, and long-term growth.
A call to action
As industries become more digital, interconnected and customer-driven, service recovery will likely become even more important.
Therefore, organisations that succeed in the future will likely be those that respond rapidly, communicate transparently, empower employees, leverage technology intelligently, treat customers fairly, and place their (customers’) trust at the centre of recovery strategies.
Remember, customers now have more choices, less patience, and greater influence than ever before, a clear message to forward-looking organisations that when service breaks down, recovery is everything. Fix it fast or risk losing customers forever.
Writer: Mohammed Ali
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
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Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
