Features
Why NDC directive failed in Parliament
Mr. Fiifi Kwetey
Quite recently, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) issued a directive to its Members of Parliament (MPs) not to approve the nomination of ministers presented to parliament as a way of preventing the ruling government from carrying out its mandate of ensuring that the country achieves growth for the entire country.
The ministers were appointed to replace those who had resigned to explore their presidential ambitions for the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Some of the ministers were Hon. K.T. Hammond, who has now replaced Hon. Alan Kyerematen, and Hon. Bryan Acheampong, who has also replaced Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
DIVISIONS
The directive from the NDC was disobeyed, and this has brought tension within the party. The tension has also brought about some divisions within the NDC.
Why are all these things happening within the NDC?
Relationships, politics, religion and social aspects of Ghana’s environment make for interesting observations. Ghana is an interesting and peaceful country.
DEMOCRATIC NATION
It is a democratic nation, with the 1992 Constitution as the supreme law of the country. It has other laws, such as the various acts or legislation, rules, regulations, and others. There are what we refer to as existing laws, common laws and customary laws.
There is also a multiplicity of political parties engaged in their own activities.
Ghana is a secular state. There is one dominant religion. The leading religions are Islam, Christianity, and traditional.
HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY
It is a country with a heterogeneous society. Ghana is a country in which numerous population groups have specific and distinct values and understandings. In a heterogeneous society many sets of shared meanings make up the society.
That notwithstanding, Ghanaians live peacefully, happily, and are lovely, but with challenges such as unemployment, social infrastructure, etc.
INTERMARRIAGE
They intermarry among themselves. For instance, a Chamba man is married to a Busanga, Kokomba or Wala woman, or an Ewe man is married to an Asante woman, or vice versa.
Ghana is both a politically and culturally oriented nation. We love and respect our cultures, traditions, and customs.
Though not from the same tribe or family, many of the citizens know themselves and are very close to one another. This is so because they are either school mates, classmates, workmates or religious colleagues, etc.
NEIGHBOURLINESS
When we take the Nima community for instance, where the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims, you will be amazed to see many Christians living in the homes of Muslims as tenants and doing everything together. It also happens in other communities. This is how Ghanaians relate to and live with one another. Muslims attend social programmes such as weddings, funerals and birthdays of their fellow Christians and vice versa.
RELATIONSHIP
In the politics of the country, many blood relatives belong to opposing political parties and live or relate well.
The current Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and a Member of Parliament for Damango, Hon. Abu Jinapor is a Cabinet Minister in the NPP government of Nana Akufo-Addo and is a direct and younger brother to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Yapei Kusawgu and the ranking member of Energy, Hon. John Jinapor. They have the same parents. Abu follows John directly, like how number two follows number one in that order.
Also, the current NDC Member of Parliament for Adentan, Hon. Mohammed Adamu Ramadan, is the direct brother of the Second Lady, Hajia Samira Bawumia, whose husband is the Vice President of the Republic. Both Samira and her husband are leading members of the NPP. The other brother of Samira is Abu Ramadan, who is also a member of the NPP after defecting from the People’s National Convention (PNC).
Other examples are the Yankahs: Kojo and Kwasi, the Osafo Maafos, Baba Kamara and Boniface Abubakar Siddiq, etc. They are either NPP or NDC. These people are together and relate happily.
We also know of some NPP members who are related to other members of the NDC. We are together, and we do everything together to promote our common interests. Our different political affiliations have never and will never divide us. This is how life must be. We all cannot support or belong to one organisation or grouping; we must scatter and bring happiness, joy, and assistance home.
Our loyalty is to our faith, followed by our united country, family, and any other consideration.
The current Speaker of our 8th Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, is a founding member of the NDC but has been a political father to some people within the NPP. He was a classmate of the Interior Minister Hon. Ambrose Dery both at the faculty and at the Law School. His other classmate was Hajia Alima Mahama, a former Minister under Nana Akufo-Addo who is now an envoy to the United States.
Also find out the relationship between Hon. K.T. Hammond (NPP) and Hon. Dr. Kwabena Donkor (NDC), the late Sir John and General Mosquito of the NDC. They were very good friends until the former’s demise.
REPULSIVE FIAT
It was, therefore, disgusting when the National Democratic Congress issued a fiat asking its members in Parliament to reject the appointees of the President. It will never happen because of the numerous examples assigned. That was why the NDC directive failed.
For example, will John Jinapor ever vote against Abu’s nomination or vice versa? Relationships should be a priority before any other political consideration.
Politics should not have any place to create disaffection or division among us Ghanaians. We are all people with a common destiny.
Email address/WhatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
SIKAMAN is gradually becoming a health-conscious nation because piles is now a national disease. Some natives claim that piles, alias kooko, has gone on strike and has attacked different parts of their bodies — buttocks, forehead, inner ear, inner nose, lips, and hair. Now they do not know where next it would attack, and soon a petition would be sent to Parliament to declare piles a national tragedy.
It is interesting when you consider the way people assume that even common malaria is caused by kooko. Well, the medical authorities have come out to say that piles is a disease of only the last end of the alimentary canal. It has a name. Go and check the name in your biology textbook, or ask the nearest herbalist.
The health consciousness of the average Sikaman native is not limited to kooko, though. People are becoming very much aware of their pot-bellies. They can’t be carrying it all their lives, taking into consideration that half the time, it is laden with gallons of beer.
Even Kwame Alomele is gradually trying to unload the burden that precedes him. “I no longer have the stamina to carry a pot. I am now health-inclined and want to be a slim-macho, doing a sport. I am applying to be a member of a golf club and hope to do wonders with the tiny ball. Fact is I want to be up-and-doing like Gordon Avernogbor, the Grandmaster of GBC fame.”
The media have helped to carry this health idea far. Ghana Television does weekly health programmes, and the FM stations have various programmes and tit-bits on health. Radio Gold is on a Diabetes Month health beat, and patients are made to acquire some knowledge about what they may be suffering from and how they can manage their conditions.
In the print media, the Weekly Spectator has singlehandedly launched a powerful health crusade, and the sky is the limit. In fact, the Spectator has been hailed in medical circles as one of the papers that have zealously carried the health mantle aloft in recent times. The Mirror also runs a health column with my good friend Dr. Anyah in the chair.
Tune in to any of the FM stations and you’re likely to hear a health tit-bit that can be useful to you. You’ll hear something like, “if you eat too much yorke gari, you’ll develop coccidiosis, which is a fowl disease. So check the level of gari and beware of zorzor.”
COCKROACH DIET
Well, healthy living in general has to do with healthy eating. At least, that is what the nutritionists say. And the cockroach has been the most qualified nutritionist in the world. The reason is that the common cockroach is so health-conscious that it eats only a balanced diet — anything from rotten fruit to human excreta. It doesn’t reject food.
The experts say fruits and vegetables, which are alkaline in nature, are good for the human body. There is some truth in this. The silver-back bear, perhaps the most powerful animal in the world, is a vegetarian. It can uproot a tree almost effortlessly, and the power in its arms is attributed to its vegetarian diet.
Anyhow, man cannot continue eating fruits and vegetables perpetually as the main diet. The stomach would get bored, the tongue will revolt, and the human body will subconsciously start crying for banku and okro soup plus giant crabs.
Ideally, a balanced diet — carbohydrates, protein, fats and oils, vitamins and minerals — in their correct quantities are enough to ensure healthy living. It means that you can’t fare well when you eat bread in the morning, bread in the afternoon, and kenkey and shito for supper. There would be a traffic jam in your intestines. And believe me, the traffic lights will also go off.
The killer menu is maintained for three days, and you’ll have what is termed as “treasonable constipation,” a sin against your body. No purgative can save you unless rice and okro soup. That combination is the best purgative in town. In 1983, it used to be one of the famous diets in Legon when famine besieged Sikaman. Students had to abandon lectures and stay close to the WC. Anything can happen. You can’t trust your own stomach.
Exercise also begets health, and brisk walking is the golden rule. I have a friend who is a positive thinker, and he told me walking is no problem to him. He once walked from Osu Christianborg to Circle to Abeka and back to Christiansburg.
No ice-water. No one gave him an award, but I congratulated him. Not that the guy is broke and can’t fix himself up in a trotro or taxi. Walking is his hobby. And his health is always excellent, his appetite ever-ready — no need for bitters. As for his sex life, your guess is as good as mine. He can deliver more than AK-47.
Exercise is good, but it must not wear you down. Do not over-exert. What about sex? Research has shown that excessive indulgence in sex is harmful to the central nervous system because it drains the body of its vitality.
Sex is basically for reproduction, but Ghanaman thinks quite differently. Some experts say twice a week or less is just what the body can cope with. Others say abstain and live long.
But what is the body’s most formidable adversary? It is WORRY. Worry has killed many more people than the Second World War did. About 90% of the population are chronic worriers. People are so addicted to worrying that even when there is nothing to worry about, they worry that there is nothing to worry about.
Worry causes hypertension and its attendant complications of heart disease, stroke, renal failure, and mental illness. The question is, how can man stop worrying? There is a formula by which you can stop worrying.
Make a date with Sikaman Palava in the coming weeks and get your formula for longevity, your life without worry.
This article was first published on Saturday, August 16, 1997.
Christmas has been celebrated ever since I became aware of events as a child and I believe it will continue to be celebrated till thy kingdom come.
The month immediately after Christmas is the month of January and is usually associated with harmattan and its related health challenges like catarrh etc.
Except this year that even on the January 2, there was rainfall in some parts of the country. This is very strange indeed and I pray that the false prophets do not take advantage of it to come up with all kinds of fear mongering predictions.
Growing up, one of the issues that parents and people in general talk about is how long January is and how difficult it is to successfully manage things economically in catering for the needs of the family.
It therefore requires prudent planning to ensure that one is not found wanting in having enough money in the pocket, to cater for the needs of the family after the Christmas holidays.
ln January, a lot of issues crop up. This is the month that students will be returning to school after the holidays and so you can imagine the financial burden it places on parents whose children are in secondary and tertiary institutions.
Money has to be found to provide for provisions at all cost. These days the Free SHS has lessened the burden of parents a bit but if a parent has children, in the tertiary level, then the issue of hostel accommodation comes in and it is not easy to handle.
After managing to see the children off to school, then comes the issue of how to manage to the end of the month when money will be made available to you, as a salaried worker.
Those who ran their own businesses usually do not face such challenge but are also affected in a way because the people who should be buying stuff are not financially sound to patronise goods and services being offered.
In January, I honestly believe that most adults, if they had the power to wish for anything, would wish that they were children. I believe that even for those who are not hypertensive, their blood pressure, if measured and compared to those of previous months, will show a sharp rise each morning in January.
Generally rise in blood pressure is caused by stress apart from the other causes that cones from the food intake and lack of exercise. They say a healthy workforce results in a healthy economy; reason why we pay special attention to the health needs of our leaders.
The cost of the absence of say the President or the Minister for Finance to the state due to illness is huge and likewise the aggregate cost of workers who provide the requisite services for the economy to run smoothly
The whole issue has to do with the low salary levels for most civil and public workers in the country.
One former President once said we pretend to pay them and they also pretend to work. Salaries are not being paid based on living wage and so salaries people receive are not enough to properly take care of their needs and this is what mostly account for this perennial phenomenon which I term as the January Headache. This question of the chicken and the egg, which comes first, as far as salaries are concerned, must be urgently addressed.
The issue of hire purchase, could be one way of addressing this January Headache and government can liaise with supermarkets and other business establishments to take advantage of the Ghana Card, to provide this service to ease the burden of workers especially those who are parents each January. God bless.
NB: KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
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