- Attention: Mr. Kyle Whitehill, CEO Vodafone Ghana Ltd. IS VODAFONE GHANA SERIOUS ABOUT QUALITY OF SERVICE and VALUE FOR MONEY? Do they care about CUSTOMER SERVICE? Have they ever heard the old saying that the CUSTOMER IS KING? Do they treat customers in their home country UK with the same disdain they do in Ghana? Mr. Kyle Whitehill, Please I need answers to my questions and I want explanation as to why Vodafone has refused to provide the service that I have fully paid for and was promised will be delivered within 10 days after payment but it's been over 90 days and no service. YES, 90 days and counting !!!! No service for what I have already paid for. Vodafone are you se…

- A 12 Year Old Writes to The President: Attn: H.E. President John Attah Mills, The Castle Osu, Accra. A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT: CAN WE HAVE A NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN GHANA HISTORY? A 12 year old pleads. My name is Prince Ben Ofosu –Appiah. I am 12 years of age and a sixth grader at the Morning Glory Montessori Child Development Center, Teshie Nungua. I have a question that I would like to ask; WHY ARE THERE NO MUSEUMS IN GHANA? When I was about 4 years old, my parents and I visited the United States. We went to Maryland, Virginia, Boston Massachusetts, New York and Washington DC area. We visited many national monuments, galleries, museums, etc and lear…

- African Union: The Joy or The Tragedy of A New Headquarters Building ? This article was culled from the African. On the 28th of January, 2012 African countries will collectively descend to a new low on the global index of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and actual independence of nations. On that day, Chinese President Hu Jintao will be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to commission the new $124 Million African Union Headquarters built and donated to the continent by China. Termed “China’s gift to Africa,” the edifice was constructed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation with over 90% Chinese labor. It is to the discre…

- Jarreth Merz’s Movie : An African Election ADDRESSING THE FLAWS OF ORGANIZING ELECTIONS IN AFRICA; After watching Jarreth Merz’s internationally acclaimed movie, An African Election, and all the commentary and interviews about it, I realized how close we were to violence in 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections. One interview that caught my attention was the one conducted by Paul Adom Otchere of Metro TV. The interviewer made a lot out of having cameras in the EC strong room and I ask myself: What's the fuss about having cameras in the EC strong room? Jarreth Merz did a great job by filming the EC strong room during the 2008 elections for his acclaimed movie;…

- We don't have class in Ghanaian politics all we have is crass. How come people in political office, people who aspire to be in that office, people who call themselves leaders can go on air, on national TV and go that low.? Even kids behave better these days than these self seeking bunch of losers who can't make a living in private life and think Ghana owns them a living so being in political office to steal is the only way they can make it in life. Do they need anyone to remind them that one's political opponent isn't his/her enemy? But don't just blame the politicians alone, blame the Radio stations, and the TV stations that give them the platform to insult ea…

- Stop These Counterfeit And Fake Drugs On The Market Now !!! One of the major public health scares in Ghana today is the flooding of the pharmaceutical market with fake medicine which the Food and Drugs Board seems to have no answer. In Ghana today simply taking a pill to cure an illness can be suicidal. “ Will the medication be what it says it is, made by a reputable company? Or will it be a clever copy that looks virtually indistinguishable, but contains a sugar pill at best - or, at worst, something like the tainted teething syrup that killed at least 80 babies in 2009?” I got sickened by popping an anti malaria drug in Ghana last year after visiting and didn’t…

- Ghana’s Poor Reap None of The New Riches: From Poverty to Middle Income Status A Boulevard of Broken Promises Africa's long suffering people are all too frequently caught in the crossfire of rampaging wars, millions afflicted with diseases, preyed upon by greedy despots and prevented by corrupt leaders and bureaucracies in a kleptocracy from obtaining basic schooling, medical attention, and any semblance of economic opportunities. A look at the socio-political and economic environment in Ghana today reveals a horrifying picture. There is massive corruption, staggering poverty, unemployment, poor education, deteriorating infrastructure, and general degree of hopelessness…

- What Is This Incurable Greed Ailing Our Politics? Most Africans are poorer today than they were 50 years ago. Why is poverty worse in many African countries today after over 50 years of political independence? It is disheartening to note that Ghana, once the beacon of hope in Africa, a country so blessed with many natural resources, and at the time of independence with a GDP larger than South Korea cannot meet it's basic needs after half a century of political independence. Over 40% of its citizens survive on less than a dollar a day, have no access to clean drinking water, uninterrupted electricity, basic health services, and formal education. What went wrong? Where did the promi…

- WHY IS POVERTY WORSE IN GHANA AFTER 55 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE? On a recent visit to Ghana, I had the opportunity to travel extensively within the country. For the first time, I did not visit your fancy towns like Obuasi, Akosombo, Elmina etc the usual tourist spots but decided to spend time visiting rural Ghana across the length and breadth of the country. In most cases, I was shocked at the extent of poverty I saw around me. Poverty and extreme poverty everywhere. Poverty is an unacceptable human condition that needs to be addressed at all cost. Poverty is characterised by a lack of access to essential goods, services, assets, credits, and opportunities to which every human being is…

- THE NDC AT THE CROSSROADS: UNATTRACTIVE AND JUST ANOTHER POLITICAL PARTY WITHOUT RAWLINGS. With the NDC delegates conference in Sunyani over and the endorsement of Attah Mills peace is supposed to return to the party and all factions are supposed to join hands, close ranks and work together in unity. However it is easier said than done and it looks like it is not going to be easy to mend fences. The refusal of Nana Konadu to concede defeat, congratulate the winner, raise his hand, give a concession speech and pledge support to Mills for the 2012 campaign is something that is going to hurt the NDC as 2012 approaches. Nana Konadu should have been graceful in defeat and Mills humble in v…

- POLITICS OF ;SCRATCH MY BACK AND I WILL SCRATCH YOUR BACK;. IS JERRY RAWLINGS RIGHT OR WRONG? There is a strong perception out there that the two dominant political parties in Ghana today seem to have entered into a tacit, unwritten agreement to ;chop and let me chop Ghana small; whenever in power. This is setting a dangerous precedent for the country and it threatens the very foundations of our democracy. This tacit and unwritten agreement enjoins the party in power to disregard evidence of corruption of its predecessor and embark upon its own corruption. They play ;watch my back and I will watch yours; while the economy is pillaged and allowed to bleed to death like a war casualty. A…

There is a strong perception out there that the two dominant political parties in Ghana today seem to have entered into a tacit, unwritten agreement to chop and let me chop Ghana small; whenever in power. This is setting a dangerous precedent for the country and it threatens the very foundations of our democracy. - This tacit and unwritten agreement enjoins the party in power to disregard evidence of corruption of its predecessor and embark upon its own corruption. They play; watch my back and I will watch yours; while the economy is pillaged and allowed to bleed to death like a war casualty. Any call for action to ensure probity and accountability is ignored with contempt while the rot and …

What a day it was last Friday, March 11th. I as well as many in Japan will never ever forget this day. I have lived through a lot of earthquakes in my close to 20 years studying, living and working in Japan but NEVER before had I experienced anything close to what happened on Friday. This day will forever be etched on my memory. It is the day I went to hell and came back. - It was 2:46pm. I work in the Otemachi business area of Tokyo. If you know Tokyo well, Otemachi is the business heart of the city, all the giant Japanese multi-nationals have their offices here, and right next door is Kasumigaseki, the bureaucratic nerve center of Japan, where all government ministries are, and again next …

We have a problem! Well, fellow Ghanaians, we have a problem. We have a problem with the body politic of Ghana; we have a problem with the moral fiber of our society. We have a problem with leadership, and management of our country. We have a governance problem and a moral decadence to deal with. - In major public fora, international conferences, symposia, and also throughout my writings I have identified corruption, mismanagement and bad governance as major problems inhibiting African development. In most cases, I have had many who agreed with my assessment of the situation in Africa but in some cases there have been some disagreements, with some saying corruption is everywhere including ev…

- GHANA AS A MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY: ARE WE THERE YET? On the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of Ghana's independence, it worthwhile to take stock of where we are as a nation after journeying for 53 years on our quest for socio economic development and uplifting our people from poverty. It's been well documented that at independence in 1957, Ghana was better off than the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia etc among others, but where do we stand now as a nation vis-a-vis these other nations? It is disheartening to note that Ghana, once the beacon of hope in Africa, a country so blessed with many natural resources cannot meet it's basic needs after ha…

- GOVERNMENT MUST TACKLE SERIOUSLY THIS OUTRAGEOUS INTEREST RATES IN GHANA. " Deposit your money with a commercial bank in Ghana and the interest you earn on it can be as low as 7%. Borrow money from a commercial bank in Ghana and you will be faced with an interest rate of 30% or higher." This was how a friend recently put it. Why are interest rates in Ghana so outrageously high and the Bank of Ghana and the government not doing anything about it? I had a discussion with a friend about this ridiculously high interest rates charged in Ghana "legally" by the banks operating in Ghana and we were both shocked to realise that Ghana has the highest interest rates in Af…

- The Black Gold (Oil) Discovery in Ghana: It's Promise and It's Perils (Part II) By: Ofosu-Appiah, Ben. The 2nd part of this article looks at the perils of the recent oil discovery in the Cape Three points area of Ghana. The 1st part dealt with the promise of the discovery. The Oil Curse Economists often talk of the "curse of oil" pointing out that countries with resources such as oil often grow more slowly, more corruptly, less equitably, are prone to more violence, and with more authoritarian governments to boot. The authors of "Escaping the Resources Curse" - Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, and Macartan Humphreys - assert that there is "a stron…

- The Black Gold (OIL) Discovery in Ghana: It's Promise and It's Perils By: Ofosu-Appiah, Ben. This article is in two installments. The first part deals with the promise of the recent oil discovery in the Cape Three points area in Ghana holds for its people and the economy, and the second installment will cover the perils of the oil discovery. The Promise..... There’s no doubt that the discovery of oil in Ghana is good news for Ghana’s economy. It has the potential of transforming our economy and being its engine of growth if managed well. Our oil imports take a big chunk of our foreign exchange earnings. With oil in Ghana, we can save our hard earn for…

- MR. PRESIDENT, PLEASE KEEP YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS TO YOURSELF. Prayer, thanksgiving and fasting are no substitutes for hard work, creative thinking and visionary leadership. According to a GNA report on Ghanaweb.com posted on January 29, 2010, President John Attah Mills has declared Sunday, March 14, 2009 as a National Prayer and Thanksgiving Day and has therefore asked all Ghanaians to support and participate in it. In the news item in question, the president entrusted the nation into the hands of God and appealed to the Christian clergy to support government to put the nation on a sound spiritual foundation. President Mills was quoted as saying, all prosperous nations had very fi…

- Our Obsession with Religion is Dangerous and Undermining Our National Development. Prayer, thanksgiving and fasting are no substitutes for hard work, creative thinking and visionary leadership. According to a GNA report on Ghanaweb.com posted on January 29, 2010, President John Attah Mills has declared Sunday, March 14, 2009 as a National Prayer and Thanksgiving Day and has therefore asked all Ghanaians to support and participate in it. In the news item in question, the president entrusted the nation into the hands of God and appealed to the Christian clergy to support government to put the nation on a sound spiritual foundation. President Mills was quoted as saying, all prospero…

- Educational Reforms Should Start From Pre School By: Ofosu-Appiah, Ben Refocus the aims and objectives of Pre School (Nursery and Kindergarten) Education in Ghana. There has been an increase in the number of private schools and so called international schools in Ghana in recent years. This is in part due to the crumbling nature of public schools in the country and the need to find an alternative form of education for our children. Particularly there has been an influx in the number of pre schools and elementary schools in the country. It seems to me that the mark of quality of a school is measured by how much they charge not what they teach a…

- Nkrumah's Ghana: 52 Years of Growth Without Development By: Ofosu-Appiah, Ben. On the 100 anniversary of Africa's man of the millennium, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, it is befitting to take a look at the socio-political and economic situation in the country he once led, Ghana. So how have we fared in the last 52 years? It is disheartening to note that Ghana, once the beacon of hope in Africa, a country so blessed with many natural resources cannot meet it's basic needs after half a century of political independence. Over 40% of its citizens survive on less than a dollar a day, have no access to clean drinking water, uninterrupted electricity, bsaic health services, a…

I am compelled to write to you on this one because frankly I see NADMO as a useless national organization as it is constituted now and as it has always been. I have written about this before in the Ghanaian press and also in the international press during the NPP's 8 years rule. You have headed this organization before, and you didn't do a particularly good job. - Not many people get a second chance after messing up but you have it now. So let's see a proactive NADMO, more responsive and forward looking. I am particularly dismayed at why you were selected to head an organization you have headed before and did not have a track record of success. We need people with fresh thinki…

- An Open Letter to Mr. Kofi Potuphy and NADMO: Pulling Down Houses Not an Answer to Flooding in Accra by Ben Ofosu-Appiah, Tokyo, Japan. Attn: Mr. Kofi Portuphy, Director, NADMO. ACCRA-GHANA. Dear Mr. Portuphy, Pulling Down Houses Not An Answer To The Flooding In Accra. I am compelled to write to you on this one because frankly I see NADMO as a useless national organization as it is constituted now and as it has always been. I have written about this before in the Ghanaian press and also in the international press during the NPP's 8 years rule. You have headed this organization before, and you didn't do a particularl…

- On Matters of National Interest : Ethics and State Funding of Political Parties. by Ben Ofosu Appiah Introduction: State funding of political parties is a controversial issue which has generated heated debates elsewhere because of the added implication that state funding means taxpayer's funding and that money could be better channeled elsewhere. Currently the issue is under debate in countries like Britain and New Zealand. In Ghana, I just read a new report that states that about 2.5% of all tax revenue will be used to fund political parties. There are some who passionately believe that taxpayers money should be channeled into pro…

I see a lot of parallels between the Republican Party of the US (GOP) and the NPP of Ghana. Both parties have lost successive elections and are finding it difficult to connect with the larger electorate beyond its narrow base. - The GOP lost the midterm elections, lost control of Congress to the Democrats, and again lost the Presidential elections to President Barack Obama. The NPP on the other hand lost Odododiodoo by-election, Asawase by-elections, and the last general elections, both Parliamentary and Presidential elections. There is struggle for the soul and spirit of both parties now. With no clear national leader now emerging to lead the party, various wings are struggling to fill t…

My attention has been drawn to a news item carried by Joy fm and ghanaweb on the fate of ACP Kofi Boakye, the former Director of Operations of the Ghana Police Force. ACP Boakye is reported to have called on the Police Council to reinstate him with full benefits in the Police Service. He was supported in this call by the self described "ace" journalist and the former government serial praise singer Kwaku Baako Abdul Malik on Metro TV Newspaper review program. - It will be recalled that ACP Boakye was found culpable by the Georgina Wood committee that investigated the mysterious disappearance of a large quantity of cocaine from MV Benjamin and subsequently the committee recommended …