where are the men????
Pardon me for my use of the masculine sense but I only mean it to refer to human beings of either sex. pardonnez moi mes amis feministes; put down your placards! and more specifically I mean to implicate every living-breathing-sound-minded individual living on the continent of Africa. Actually, scratch that. I only know enough about my homeland not to conjecture about the manliness or otherwise of the entire citizenry of Africa. Question for today is "where are the men in Ghana?". "You dimwit!" someone might say, "for a nation of 20+ million people, as of last count, there are at least 8 million men". Well to that person, I say u are slow of mind; re-read the first few sentences of my post!
I am doubly amazed - as if that were possible - by the glaring dearth of men of conscience and conviction back home. I as an 'expatriate' 'sold' into a foreign land on the idea of milk and honey bursting from the ground in the US of A, still passionately follow developments back home. I was really excited when another chapter in our, burgeoning democracy was ushered in with the Kufuour administration last year. But now?!?!? How do i feel? Well let me sum it up this way, if in a nation where the annual per capita income is less than $2500 , parliamentarians can pass laws giving themselves loans worth $20,000+ to purchase vehicles to enable them 'visit their constituents in their villages' then hell has indeed frozen over. I think I am warranted to ask,"WHERE THE F$#K ARE THE MEN OF CONSCIENCE!!!!". Yeah! I said it! And if you are more disgusted by my un-gratuitous cursing than the fact that individuals are amassing wealth at the expense of national solvency and a chance at dragging a debt-ridden nation out of poverty then you need to get yourself checked! Imagine that, if loans are due to be fully paid in 4 years, how are these servants of the public interest expected to pay back if per capita is cited above. This smacks of intentional myopia; feigning ignorance about the corruption that these MEN would have to resort to in order to recoup enough money during their tenure to support family - and friends as is the norm in Africa - and pay off these loans as well. Boy oh boy!
Where are the men? I won't even begin to discuss the ludicrousness of a minister of health engaging in a tryst, unprotected sex while attending a conferrence on AIDS prevention in the US of A. And of course I won't discuss the aptly captioned "Hotel Kuffour" saga brewing in Ghana because the waters are as yet too murky and details scant for me to critique anyone.
You'd think that after the recent statements by Western governments to forgive billion dollar debts we, as a nation, will become more prudent in managing our country. and where are the men, in the general poplulace with no governmental affiliation, willing to decry, bemoan and challenge those charged with (mis)managing out country? I am not espousing unbridled emotion that in erswhile days led to military obstruction of our democracy. I'd hope those days are past.
And please don't point me to the idiocy that is called the 'wahala' demonstrations. I kiss my teeth at those partisan charlatans who after looting and ransacking the national vault for their personal increment have collectively simultaneously 'turned' over new leaves - even nature does it over period of months - and become champions of transparency and accountability. LOL. I remember those good old days when 'accountability' was perpeptually the subject of national discourse ... when 'accountability' meant personal aggrandizement while surreptisiously raping the national coffers and offering bread crumbs to low level cronies to intimidate political opponents. If these crooks are the new voice of conscience then Ghana as we know it will NEVER grow beyond its HIPC status. More than a generation has passed since the red, gold, and green afrankaa was first unfurled ushering in the first independent state south of the Sahara. It has been a bitter-sweet evolution and I cannot help but feel that if changes are made in the manner of governance in Ghana this early in the century, perhaps our progeny, my seed, at the turn of the next century will live in a industrial, well-educated, financially sound, politically stable country.
So where are the men? Perhaps the head honcho, JAK, will should movie with Mbeki-esque swiftness, imbibing the SA president's much applauded move, by firing someone for something ... anything ... to calm nerves, restore a sense of trust, and signal a desire to return to a policy of zero-tolerance for corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement. If it reeks of corruption, walks like corruptions and talks like coruption personified, hell, it sure is corruption!!!
I know, this piece seems like an unhealthy diatribe against myself and my fellow Ghanaians. Well that it might be but do not think I am singular in the simmering frustrations about future of Ghana. But just to lighten the mood and show you what can be achieved through sheer determination and zeal to improve the plight of others - politicians take note - I present to you the Ghanaian of the week Honorable Mr. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Read more about him at
Ghanaweb.com and the Herald Tribune
In an unfortunately warped Orwellian sense, and no disrespect implied here, one leg appears better than two legs when it comes to an unrelenting ambition to exalt the nation. My sincere gratitude to Mr. Yeboah. Godspeed! but where are the men?!?!
the.Iz™
I am doubly amazed - as if that were possible - by the glaring dearth of men of conscience and conviction back home. I as an 'expatriate' 'sold' into a foreign land on the idea of milk and honey bursting from the ground in the US of A, still passionately follow developments back home. I was really excited when another chapter in our, burgeoning democracy was ushered in with the Kufuour administration last year. But now?!?!? How do i feel? Well let me sum it up this way, if in a nation where the annual per capita income is less than $2500 , parliamentarians can pass laws giving themselves loans worth $20,000+ to purchase vehicles to enable them 'visit their constituents in their villages' then hell has indeed frozen over. I think I am warranted to ask,"WHERE THE F$#K ARE THE MEN OF CONSCIENCE!!!!". Yeah! I said it! And if you are more disgusted by my un-gratuitous cursing than the fact that individuals are amassing wealth at the expense of national solvency and a chance at dragging a debt-ridden nation out of poverty then you need to get yourself checked! Imagine that, if loans are due to be fully paid in 4 years, how are these servants of the public interest expected to pay back if per capita is cited above. This smacks of intentional myopia; feigning ignorance about the corruption that these MEN would have to resort to in order to recoup enough money during their tenure to support family - and friends as is the norm in Africa - and pay off these loans as well. Boy oh boy!
Where are the men? I won't even begin to discuss the ludicrousness of a minister of health engaging in a tryst, unprotected sex while attending a conferrence on AIDS prevention in the US of A. And of course I won't discuss the aptly captioned "Hotel Kuffour" saga brewing in Ghana because the waters are as yet too murky and details scant for me to critique anyone.
You'd think that after the recent statements by Western governments to forgive billion dollar debts we, as a nation, will become more prudent in managing our country. and where are the men, in the general poplulace with no governmental affiliation, willing to decry, bemoan and challenge those charged with (mis)managing out country? I am not espousing unbridled emotion that in erswhile days led to military obstruction of our democracy. I'd hope those days are past.
And please don't point me to the idiocy that is called the 'wahala' demonstrations. I kiss my teeth at those partisan charlatans who after looting and ransacking the national vault for their personal increment have collectively simultaneously 'turned' over new leaves - even nature does it over period of months - and become champions of transparency and accountability. LOL. I remember those good old days when 'accountability' was perpeptually the subject of national discourse ... when 'accountability' meant personal aggrandizement while surreptisiously raping the national coffers and offering bread crumbs to low level cronies to intimidate political opponents. If these crooks are the new voice of conscience then Ghana as we know it will NEVER grow beyond its HIPC status. More than a generation has passed since the red, gold, and green afrankaa was first unfurled ushering in the first independent state south of the Sahara. It has been a bitter-sweet evolution and I cannot help but feel that if changes are made in the manner of governance in Ghana this early in the century, perhaps our progeny, my seed, at the turn of the next century will live in a industrial, well-educated, financially sound, politically stable country.
So where are the men? Perhaps the head honcho, JAK, will should movie with Mbeki-esque swiftness, imbibing the SA president's much applauded move, by firing someone for something ... anything ... to calm nerves, restore a sense of trust, and signal a desire to return to a policy of zero-tolerance for corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement. If it reeks of corruption, walks like corruptions and talks like coruption personified, hell, it sure is corruption!!!
I know, this piece seems like an unhealthy diatribe against myself and my fellow Ghanaians. Well that it might be but do not think I am singular in the simmering frustrations about future of Ghana. But just to lighten the mood and show you what can be achieved through sheer determination and zeal to improve the plight of others - politicians take note - I present to you the Ghanaian of the week Honorable Mr. Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Read more about him at
Ghanaweb.com and the Herald Tribune
In an unfortunately warped Orwellian sense, and no disrespect implied here, one leg appears better than two legs when it comes to an unrelenting ambition to exalt the nation. My sincere gratitude to Mr. Yeboah. Godspeed! but where are the men?!?!
the.Iz™
posted by moloo at
9:30 AM
