The Hostility Of Cairo

I was one of those lucky fans, but also courageous Ghanaians who dared to enter into Cairo Tuesday 19th November 2013 to cheer our national team the Black Stars in that final encounter which qualified Ghana into the 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP in Brazil. There was so much talk about insecurity in Cairo prior to the game. With a military government in place there after the overthrow of the Democratically elected president this year, It seemed to our minds, or at least, to my mind, that we were going into a rowdy city. Cheerfully, It was not. Well, we went into a quiet city. Even though we the fans were asked to report at the Kotoka airport here in Accra at 12:00 midnight, all the process at the Kotoko airport lasted between that time and 5: 30 am Tuesday morning. Imagine such a long night standing between siting, talking and walking. We finally took off with a chatted Egypt Air flight lasting six hrs to Cairo. It was like sitting in a bus from Accra to Bolgatanga, so long and boring at some point. When I first sat in the flight,I said to myself, well, Egypt is better than Ghana, at least, in that they own a national career. I imagined how Much government of Ghana was paying the Egyptians to carry us on their own plane from Accra to Cairo and back to Accra, simply because as a nation, we have failed woefully in managing our own national career which was established by our forebears and collapsed because of a lack of discipline on the part of our political and business leaders over the years. So lets say that I began that journey with some thoughts of Lamentations for Mother Ghana. There were all categories of fans. Some called themselves GOLDEN AGE SUPPORTERS UNION, JM SUPPORTS BLACK STARS, APSU etc etc. there were also some of us who were unlabeled. I went to Cairo as a journalist. We arrived in Cairo airport at mid - day to be welcomed to Egypt by the smell of Tobacco all over the place. Cairo is definitely a smoking city. And if what we witnessed in Cairo is anything to go by, Egypt is a smoking nation. Almost every airport worker was smoking tobacco in the open. Cairo airport even have 'smoking rooms' where workers and travelers can seclude themselves and cloud themselves in tobacco smoke. At the airport, one Ghanaian supporter was detained briefly for entering into Cairo without a valid visa. How he managed to do that remains a mystery. Refreshingly, there was a free WiFi here at the Cairo airport which enabled me to post one photograph on my Facebook wall to announce our arrival to Cairo that afternoon. The buses were waiting outside of the airport. With a suit - wearing driver accompanied by suit - wearing security man with a walkie - talkie in hand, each bus was supposed to be secured. We were instructed by the security man in each bus to close all curtains and not attempt to look outside the bus. Our curiosity to see the streets of Cairo did not allow some of us to strictly adhere to that sort of instruction. I tried to look as the buses moved in a convoy. I noticed too many construction works and excavations going on in Cairo, or at least, along the route that was taken by our buses. The landscape had the semblance of a desert. The driver pulled over at a hotel named Le Passage. We the supporters were again instructed by the security man on the buses to remain seated. Of course, we obliged. Soon, food was brought into the buses. Each one for a box of assorted food and fruit. In addition to rice and chicken, there were vegetables and pastries. I had a piece of banana on my plate. Something was missing and everyone noticed it - water. These desert warriors don't play with water. When we loudly demanded water, it took the security man on the bus not less than ten minutes to give us a hostile response of '' no water, only food, no water''. He was very stern in his demeanor and gesticulation. I couldn't understand. I needed water much more than I needed food that afternoon. On the top of my voice, I shouted out ' Is this how you welcome visitors to Egypt? First thing we give to visitors in Ghana is water. Give us water now or take your food'. That shout only worsened by thirst as I didn't even get a glimpse from the security man in response. He ignored us completely, then I remembered that we are not in democratic Ghana where people can demand their due - there was a military government in - charge of Egypt. So with solid food in the stomach without water, we headed for the 30th June stadium which also is a military encampment. There were more soldiers than there were fans. Apart from the guns in their hands, almost all those I saw also had cigarettes in their hands. Cigarettes must be the cheapest thing in Cairo. Even journalists were distracted from their work by the cigarettes in their hands. At the entrance, a friend of mine dared to borrow a cigarette from one Egyptian security man. ' Can I borrow a cigarette' ? He requested whiles stretching his hand. And here comes the rude awakening. ' You want cigarette? Bring money' responded, the Egyptian man, unwilling to part with a free cigarette to a Ghanaian visitor. My insistent friend decided to give the Egyptians a lesson on hospitality. 'You have to welcome me to Cairo with a free cigarette ' he said whiles stretching his hand to receive one. He got it finally, accompanied by fire to light, it took us into our stands. Here, we saw a couple Ghanaian supporters holding some bottles of water. They bought each bottle for US$7. Water is Gold on this desert called Egypt. Of course, some of us couldn't afford it - even if it was sold in Gh cedis. Understandably, our energies were low at the stadium. Our voices too sounded horrible considering the dry throats we used. Determined to cheer our black stars, we still tried to put up a good performance but these desert warriors won't let us. With laser lights, they beamed into our eyes offensively - and they did it without apology. If they were not pointing it at our players on the field, they were on us the supporters on the stands. It was so irritating, you have no idea. The hostility of Cairo was coming to it's peak. I am sure you saw it on on television. With US$ 1m winning bonus promise from the military government determined to hold on to power by any means necessary, the Egyptian players put up their best performance. As we cheered, we debated the US $ 1m. Could these power usurpers, who we are told, have been denied funds by their American friends and allies, really afford a million dollars for each Egyptian player if they beat Ghana by more than 5 goals to qualify for Brazil 2014? or were the soldiers just yapping?Some of us argued that their promise was just a populist move - one of those discredited communist inferior tactics usually employed by soldiers everywhere to get the support of the masses. The Egyptian military rulers knew that it was near impossible to beat the black stars of Ghana with so many goals to qualify them for Brazil World Cup. Nevertheless, that tactic employed by the military regime went as far as energizing the Egyptian football players beyond reasonable doubt. According to what I saw on the pitch, their formula was ' If you miss the ball, don't miss the man' and they had a timid referee to give them back up. Unfortunately for the Egyptians that day, God was a Ghanaian. Sending us back home after the game wasn't such a daunting task for the Egyptians. We left the military stadium at about 10 pm under full military protection and direction straight to that same hotel where we got lunch without water earlier in the afternoon. This time, we were allowed to disembark and walk into the hotel where assorted dinner - and of course water for the first time since we arrived in Egypt - was waiting for us. Just imagine the stampede from thirsty and hungry foot soldiers turned black stars supporters who were asked to serve themselves. Many foot soldiers headed first for water - naturally. Others went for food without knowing it's names or tastes. That seemed like a recipe for disappointment. One foot soldier after loading his plate with tasteless junk food came to sit by me. Upon his first attempt at tasting the food, he turned round to ask me ' what food is this' ?....but amazed by his unreasonable question, I asked him why he didn't ask that question before fetching the food. He left immediately to replace. Whiles here, I gulped at least 5 gargantuan glasses of water, plus, there was another free WiFi to power my iPad which was now full of interesting pictures from Cairo which I wanted to share with my social media friends. I took advantage immediately. This other guy had been so famished without water the whole day he decided to harvest water from the various tables after dinner. He carried with him two empty bottles, and from where he got those bottles, I don't know since the Egyptians did not serve their water in bottles. As he harvested, he got to a table near us but occupied by Egyptian security men. He found a glass full of water. The owner, a security man, had gone for more food. As he emptied the glass of water into his bottle, the owner returned and caught him in the act. The Egyptian was uncharitable as he grabbed the glass of water with anger and replaced it on the table to the disappointment of the Ghanaian foot soldier. Visibly angry at the very provincial act of the Ghanaian soccer fan, the Egyptian security man began an amusing narrative to all his colleagues who were willing to listen and laugh off the night. Such a worthy ambassador of Ghana! I felt ashamed as a Ghanaian witness. Anyways, the Ghanaian ambassador to Egypt, Alhaji Said Sinare who welcomed us into Egypt in the afternoon was also at the Cairo airport that night to give us a goodbye handshake as part of his diplomatic routine after late dinner. When I got into the returning flight, I concluded that Cairo was undoubtedly hostile to us. May be hostility is their nature but who knows, it could have been out of their envy over us going to Brazil at their expense. A desperate man is capable of anything including hostility. What ever be the case, we had the last laugh. I say ayeekoo Black stars! Brazil, here we come. And hopefully, the Brazilians being half Africans and not Arabians, we may come home with a better story of hospitality to tell come next year. Amenga -Etego Akaabitono SaCut - The writer is a political journalist, broadcaster and ghost writer.

Open letter to Victoria Hammah

Dear Victoria Hammah, I have heard the news of your dismissal from the governing regime of Ghana by his excellency the President John Dramani Mahama. It was deeply saddening, not for me, but for you - I can imagine.I first heard the news of your recorded conversation. When I heard it, I had no doubt it was your voice because I know you and how you try to speak with authority on some of these intra party political machinations. I always knew it was going to end like this with you - brought down by the media - just that I didn't know it would come this soon. I knew it not because I was praying for it, but because I have had arguments with you on how you carry yourself about in your media relations. First of all, you know that you and I worked together long before you even dreamt of running for that parliamentary seat that you obviously knew you will lose. We did the weekly radio show together. I brought you on the radio show frequently to 'patronize your political godfathers', as you always put it. You once even got into a near physical fight with an NPP guest during my show before the elections. I was surprised but happy when you got appointed by the president as deputy communications minister. Do you remember that I came to your office a couple of months after your appointment to visit you? You told me you enjoyed the publicity you received from your vetting. We started a discussion on negative and positive publicity. Your stand was that you enjoy any form of publicity - negative or positive. You just wanted to be in the media. I disagreed with your chosen methods. I told you about image building and the need to take it easy with negative publicity but you remained adamant. Indeed Vic, you continued to enjoy your negative publicity with a social media publication that sought to indict your party foot-soldiers making demands on you - demands that are capable of forcing you or any other public official to steal from the public coffers to satisfy them. You even got a public applause for that and I guess that spurred you on and on until you were caught on video and audio reading the wrong speech to the right audience. You interrupted your own speech in a very embarrassing manner and ridiculed yourself before the world in that episode. I guess you enjoyed that one as well? Victoria, do you still remember vividly when we met recently during the one - week funeral of the mother of one of our mutual friends, Randy Abbey, at his residence here in Accra?That day we took a stroll down to the house of Mr. Silverster Mensah which is very close by. On our arrival there we met with Abdul - Malik Kwaku Baako who was just leaving Sylvester Mensah's residence. That day we had a heated argument. Do you remember the bone of contention? I can remember it and I wish to remind you of your own words. That day I asked that you be careful - again - with the way you try to handle issues with the media. I said to you that the manner in which you allowed who ever to use such strong language in attacking the media after your aborted speech scandal in a press statement was counter productive and could spell your doom especially if you became the main target of the media. I said to you the media is too powerful for such an approach from a mere deputy minister of state. I also said to you that if you want to succeed with the media, you must learn to make friends with media practitioners rather than fighting with them and making yourself a target. And do you remember your response to me? You told me in my face that you could fight the media. You also asked me if I knew the number of stories you have managed to 'kill' in the last couple of months? You were emphatic that all was under your control and my knowledge and experience as a journalist was irrelevant in your scheme of things. I felt very saddened that you will be digging your own grave and refusing to accept free professional advice. But that was our last conversation regarding how you conduct yourself. You listened to some of us on issues of media before you became a deputy minister of state in this government. I promoted you because I believe in the ability and participation of women in our body politic. But you suddenly became madam know- it - all - rejecting even expert ideas from some of us with contempt within such a short period of time in office. With you, I now understand when they say power corrupts, and corrupts absolutely. I was hoping that with your so - called new found power, you would have fought the media vehemently in this current saga that has led to your political demise. But obviously, you were only boasting about media power that never existed in your hands. You were sacked by the President for opening your mouth too wide on the telephone ( well the president didn't exactly say why he sacked you but we all know) without even giving you the opportunity to resign with a little dignity left in you. What a shame! Does that mean the million dollar dream is cut short? And talking about a million dollars, may I ask you where you actually intended to get that from? Were you going to steal it through dubious contracts? I don't think your former boss at the ministry would have passed any of such contracts to you - and especially since you accused Omane Boamah in one of your leaked tapes of taking 'kickbacks' without giving to you what you consider your due. Did you have some 'ways and means' at the ministry of communications? But if you intended to make one million dollars , why then were you complaining about the foot soldiers who trooped to your former office for favors from you? Did you intend to 'chop' all that money all by yourself? Oh that can not be an egalitarian philosophy - unless you have forgotten what the ruling NDC stand for. I also hear that you reported your former driver who is also your cousin to the police for recording that unpalatable conversation which led to your political nemesis. I can't understand why you will do that. Are you blaming him for how loosely you spoke over that telephone? For your lack of discretion? Are you sure it was your driver, and not Ayitey Basty the guy who you hired as your personal assistant and fired recently for what ever reason? Not too long ago, before the broadcast of your voice, Ayitey Basty was threatening you on social media and dared you to open your mouth. Predictably, you didn't open your mouth. I later heard from some of our mutual friends that this former personal assistant sent you a copy of the tape for a ransom earlier in that week. Could that be true? If that is so, why are you not reporting Ayitey Basty rather than your driver? Isn't it your personal assistant who had a motive of revenge after you fired him who you should be chasing? And by the way I thought ministers were no longer entitled to personal assistants at their various ministries? Anyways, I don't think the person who recorded you did any wrong. You are just lucky we have a naive police force who will arrest anybody without even establishing the relevance of the report. Indeed, if there is anybody who should have been arrested by the police, it should have been you who is heard speaking on the tape. By reporting your driver to the police for recording you secretly on a tape, you have exacerbated your ignominy with a confirmation and authentication of it's content. Now look at the bad situation you have created for your government and party? However,I think the person who published or leaked the tape for publication has been wicked to you but they cannot take blame. The only one to blame is your arrogant self - your own mouth brought you down from the day you naively conceived the idea you have the ability to fight the media. Next time you find yourself in power in the unlikely event, please don't make new friends because they are likely to be fair weather friends. But I don't doubt you know, and you will admit humbly by now that no one can fight the media no matter who they are - not even a mere incompetent deputy minister whose sole confessed objective it is in politics to make a million dollars. Take it from me. I am a journalist and I still remain your friend. Yours sincerely, Amenga -Etego Akaabitono SaCut - The writer is a political journalist, broadcaster and ghost writer

Open Letter To President Mahama

Dear President John Mahama (JM), I pray you are healthy as a fiddle to be able to carry on with the daunting task of ruling this nation Ghana. It is known to all that the inception of your presidency has been rocked with legal roadblocks - heddles that you only just recently succeeded in overcoming in our Supreme Court. Given that stagnation, it has become imperative to stamp your legitimate authority and show clear direction for all of us to work in harmony and with strategy towards achieving your set vision for this nation as the President of Ghana in this epoch of our democratic history. No doubt your presidency is the youngest regime in our recent political history. This youthfulness of your government is in the interest of good governance and in accordance with the new world order of youthful leadership and ideas taking charge of governance. And your government is not a young one only because Your Excellency is relatively young but also because majority of your appointees are young and talented - not old and experienced. It is however clear to all of us that not everyone in the NDC party hierarchy or government is impressed with your decision as a young president to rule with young appointees and advisors. Many older party people are giving you a public fight over that. Mr. President, they include Hon. Alban Bagbin, NDC MP who is also one of your 'three wise men' as well as Dr. Tony Aidoo, also a former appointee of both the late president Mills and the former President Rawlings. These and others have been speaking publicly about your government in recent times but not in palatable terms. Indeed, some of the comments from your comrades about your presidency have been very abrasive. Some of it cast a slur on your integrity. Hon. Alban Bagbin for example claims that your government is not an NDC government but a government of your family and friends. He didn't stop there Sir. He also claimed that when you became president, your appointments of your officials have not been based on meritocracy among party members or Ghanaians but based on how much financial contribution people made to your campaign not withstanding their political inclinations. At least we know that Hon. Alban Bagbin is not a strange face, and was not appointed based on his financial contribution to your campaign so he must be speaking about others - but may be because he wished for a better appointment from you than a 'wise man' - he definitely prefers silver and gold to a good name. As for him, judging from his past, I can tell that all the issues Bagbin has raised against you will disappear as soon as you give him what he wants from you beyond a 'wise man'. He did it with late President Mills. He is still relying on same old discredited tactics to achieve his personal interests. Mr. President, I know you are wise, so kindly ignore Hon. Bagbin with all the contempt he deserves. I am just short of words; otherwise I would have said he is envious of your elevated position. To make things worse, Mr. President, this appointed 'wise man' even claimed that you are attempting to fight allegations of corruption by the wrong methods of setting up committees. He has tried to convince Ghanaians that if he had access to give you wise counsel, that you would be fighting corruption differently and efficiently. The most common of the allegations against you by your comrades is that there is an iron curtain around you which restricts access to your office or home for your audience. Interestingly Mr. President, this is not a new phenomenon in the NDC. We saw it when President Mills reigned over Ghana. There were similar public allegations made not just by anybody within the party but by the NDC founder President Jerry John Rawlings. There were also similar allegations made by former Attorney - General Martin Amidu as well as former National Youth Authority boss Dr. Sekou Nkrumah. Mr. President, what I find intriguing here is that, unlike in the case of Mr. Martin Amidu and Dr. Sekou Nkrumah, when they made their public statements against the sitting president whiles being part of the same governing regime, they were immediately dismissed from government for their open disloyalty to the regime, it seems different under your reign since Hon. Alban Bagbin is still in office. Besides being dismissed from government, along with President Rawlings, Martin Amidu and Sekou Nkrumah faced the wrath of the President Mills’ appointees in the media. The party leadership especially the General Secretary always remained emphatic that there was never any justification for any member of the government or party to go public with comments that seek to ridicule Your Excellency as President and Leader of the NDC party itself. His favorite refrain has always been that all members of the party and/or government must always use the 'official party structures'. Anything short of that is condemnable by the National Executive Committee. Mr. President, we those observing from a little distance as students of Ghanaian politics and particularly NDC leadership perpetuity, can see a sharp difference and a lack of clarity from the NDC executive structure in your instance. I will not insist that you must sack Hon. Bagbin from his job for his open criticism because some of us didn't support the sacking of Mr. Martin Amidu and Dr. Sekou Nkrumah under President Mills, yes, because we believe in freedom after speech. I think your decision to still keep Hon. Alban Bagbin in office clearly differentiate you as a more tolerant President of dissenting views within your own party. Well done for not following the old ways of thinking from an intolerant point of view. However, Mr. President, it is not difficult to see the inconsistent stands taken by both government officials and party executives or even government communicators. The ruling party's General Secretary Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia for instance, inconsistent with his previous stands in the past, failed woefully to condemn the unorthodox means used by Hon. Bagbin to make his allegations against Your Excellency. He also went ahead to endorse the allegations made against you by lending them credence when he said that those same issues had been raised within the party hierarchy at various levels. He called for cease fire on the airwaves without debunking and restating emphatically that Your Excellency’s government is a government of the NDC and the people of Ghana and NOT as Hon. Bagbin put it, a government of your family friends. Some of us find it very curious that the General Secretary of the ruling party will rather provide an exit for Hon. Bagbin to escape the heat of his unfounded allegations on the airwaves whiles at the same time allowing these allegations to remain hanging on Your Excellency’s government as though they were true. What is the difference between Mr. Martin Amidu and Mr. Alban Bagbin in the context of our democracy and the NDC? Why will Bagbin be protected by the party against the sitting President? Juxtapose that with the same party represented by the same General Secretary protecting President Mills against Mr. Martin Amidu in his public utterances barely over a year ago – I see an unprincipled party leadership acting on their own personal and parochial interests. Do you see the same thing I see here Mr. President? It will seem to some of us that there is a seeming tension between the young and the old within the ruling NDC. The young President is being resisted by the old party advisors in his youthful and progressive thinking. Unfortunately, some young people in the party and government are towing the line of the old thinkers. In my books, the old guys must be told to take a step backwards now and allow the new order to operate. They must desist from all these old political tactics and traditional mindset of so - called seniority in the party etc etc. They must immediately abandon this old notion that gives them a sense of entitlement to the NDC party, its government etc etc. As if that is not enough, official governments communicators have tended to side with the General Secretary and are now openly justifying the unfounded allegations of your 'fair weather friend' Hon. Alban Bagbin. Some few of the fire brand young appointees currently in your government were also in the last government. They were super - vociferous in their Defense of the President in the last regime of President Mills. Today, Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Alhaji Bature, Dr. Tony Aidoo, Alban Bagbin and so on are all on the rampage, accusing even your wife of creating and running a parallel presidency. I am yet to hear some of these young government appointees - some of whose godfathers by the way are among these current acidic critics of yours - come out with a defensive response to all the damaging allegations against your Excellency. At first, I was thinking that your Excellency, in accordance with your new thinking, restrained response to the allegations. However, I later read and heard a few close aids and appointees of yours make statements. Kudos to appointees like Hon. Hannah Tetteh, Stan Dogbe, Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Hon. Joseph Yammin, Twum Boafo, Hon. Felix Kwakye Fosu for standing to be counted in the defense of Your Excellency. I also heard your Excellency recently in a speech in which you lamented the lack of comradeship and loyalty from some of your colleagues. You added that those who questioned your ability to deal with corruption do not know you. I took that as a defense of yourself and your integrity against the allegations made by people like Bagbin and co. I was not surprised to hear you personally speak in defense of your integrity since the party whose duty it is to protect you seem rather to be in cahoots with the accusers - something which is clearly against the laid down party structure and exposes great discrimination and selectivity in applying the same party rules differently to different actors. Some of us are deeply worried by this glaring and sudden inconsistency and its implications for party and government cohesion. No wonder Your Excellency thinks that some of them want to see your back even before 2016! Mr. President, I know you are a listening President. The NDC founder/former President has confirmed publicly that indeed you are. Many others who some of us have heard all say that you are a listening President – no wonder you have listened to cries of Ghanaians and reduced the price of electricity tariff to make life more bearable for your people. Sir, I have never tried to meet you and failed in my effort. May be it is because I know already I will fail in my effort so I don't make a try. But if you are truly as accessible as your aids are telling us, and to proof that Bagbin is totally wrong with his allegations, kindly tell your soldiers at your home gate to allow me entrance to come and see you for a conversation this weekend. Tell them I am bushy haired, bearded, and agitative! I am a foot soldier so I will be coming to your home on foot. Also remember that I am coming as a comrade, and NOT as a family member or friend, to give you some piece of advice on how you can succeed as President of Ghana - that is if you consider me worthy of advising Your Excellency. Yours Sincerely, Amenga - Etego Akaabitono SaCut – rasacut@gmail.com The writer is a political journalist, broadcaster & ghost writer. -- Amenga - Etego Akaabitono SaCut Political Journalist, broadcaster and ghost writer. +233277819038 +233207267072 www.sacutamenga-etego.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/sacut skype: rassacut If your chief plan is to destroy my plans, check yourself. Don't say you are just toying with my 'small plans'. I have no such small plans, as I have no such small goals. If your chief plan is to destroy my plans, I say again to you, I am like a stepping razor. I am dangerous! I go for the overkill.

Shaking Hands with Atuguba JSC on the streets

I was privileged to meet JSC Atuguba surprisingly on the street in osu yesterday. It was difficult to identify him - unless it is you really know him. He was standing by the side walk and having a conversation with one young man. When I saw him, I left my friends and walked across to greet him. I got close to him and attempted to shake hands but he seemed reluctant. Looking at my strange face, he just nodded at me in response. But I wasn't satisfied and wasn't about to give in. I wanted to talk to him. So I was adamant. I said to him ' mam Dela hu Mabia ooh'. And I got his attention immediately. 'What's your name'? He asked me. 'Denis Amenga - Etego, from Kandiga'. I said. He was smiling now. But he still had a question to ask. ' you are from Kandiga, but who is that SaCut guy on radio here in Accra who is also from Kandiga'? He asked me. Now I am shocked. I thought he was the most famous but the great had of me. ' I am the one' I answered. ' you don't mean it' he said excitedly whiles shaking my hands. ' I used to listen to you on radio. You made me proud especially when you mention your grandfather's name' he added. 'Oh I am humbled hearing this from you. But you are the one who made all of Ghana proud. In fact we are proud of you. May the gods and ancestors guide you always' I told him with a handshake. We exchanged phone numbers on the streets like some ordinary guy I just met. Mehn, the man was in simple sandals, his car parked somewhere, and he was walking on the street. I doff my hat for the JSC Atuguba the great! May he live long!

CHURCH & STATE IN BED – WHERE STANDS THE PEOPLE?

Has the non - denominational church in Ghana ever heard of liberation theology? Are there no ‘men of God’ in Ghana who have listened to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? Did they not understand that to be a man of God means to be an avowed defender of the poorest people in the society? If they did, how come we have the church hierarchy offending the poorest people in Ghana and rooting with the prosperous in the class war? Well, I know about the church in Latin America and in other parts of the world where it is actively involved in liberation theology whereby the teachings of Jesus Christ have been interpreted in relation to liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions. This is where the church and it's leaders interprets and the Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and their hope. This form or version of Christian theology also actively and with consecrated determination, work against the oppressor’s establishment just as Christ preached and lived - that which led to his crucifixion on the cross. In those countries, at least, some men of God side and work with the poorest masses. The Peruvian priest and strongest advocate of liberation theology, Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez says, ‘’God is revealed in the historical ‘praxis’ of liberation. It is the situation - economic, social or political – and our passionate and reflective involvement in it, which mediates the word of God’. Today, the true word of God is mediated through the cries of the poor and oppressed. Liberation theology has arisen principally within the church first in Latin America, and now universally, as a moral reaction to the massive levels of poverty in our society caused by social injustice which is perpetuated by our political, religious and business leaders. The Vatican has openly criticized liberation theology- which started in the Catholic Church anyways – because the priests and laymen of the church - such as the Peruvian father Gustavo - who identify with this theology know, and have openly said that the hierarchy of the church in our society, our ‘Osofos’ and bishops, cardinals and deacons – all these people fall under the same privileged class with the oppressive politicians and business men of our society today since our so – called independence from colonizers. The advocates of liberation theology have criticized the church for its refusal to root for the poor in a class struggle. I have joined that movement for a while now. In Nicaragua, the priests of the church in the late 1970’s took liberation theology even to a revolutionary point of armed struggle by joining the Sandinistas to form a poor people’s government in 1979. In Haiti, liberation theology brought Jean - Bertrand Aristide, a catholic Priest of the salesian order to power as first democratically - elected President of that country. In Mexico, Peru and many other countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe, liberation theology – taken to the extreme - has led to the formation of various political parties based on a theocracy which has further led to popular political and armed struggle over the years although we know that Christ advocated non – violence in any social, political or liberation struggle. This is where true men of God’s church root for the poorest people in society’s ongoing class war. So: liberation theology says the church can get involved in politics as long as the church and its hierarchy will be on the side of the oppressed, the poor people. In this regard, the ‘men of God’ of our nation Ghana, have no moral reaction to the ongoing injustice, characterized by pure squalor, which has led to a general apathy among the people. Our ‘men of God’ are unable or rather are incapable or even uninterested in interpreting the Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope simply because they are in a clique with the politicians and business men – or perhaps, because they are politicians and business men themselves. These days, names of pastors and their respective political party affiliations have been published for all of us to know what we long suspected. This means it is no longer a conspiracy theory – they are indeed in bed with the politicians here in Ghana – since there has not been denials of these publications. A relevant question to ask at this point in my books, is whether or not; these ‘men of God’ know that they are part and parcel of the group of people responsible for the mass poverty of our people? I thought that Jesus Christ identified with the poor during his ministry? So why are they claiming to be preaching the teachings of Christ whiles acting the complete opposite of the Christian messiah’s teachings? Did Christ ever wined and dined with the King of the Jews? Not that I have read of. However, I have read and heard of Christ’s wining and dining with the poor people in Galilee. So are we talking about a different Christ here in Ghana? Others keep saying we are a former colonized people. Granted that to be true, and we know that the colonizers oppressed the indigenous people in colonial times. Are we indigents of this nation going to pretend that we are a formerly oppressed people too? I cannot imagine that. Again in my books, we the indigenous people – not the foreigners residing in Ghana - are currently oppressed with public utility prices and services, we are oppressed with public bureaucracies and bottle necks, we are oppressed with discrimination and patronage, with the total lack of meritocracy in our commonly created opportunities as a nation, we are also oppressed by the ‘majestic egalitarianism’ of the law. We are oppressed with church collections, donations, festivals, rituals and offertories. Indeed, we are oppressed with unjustifiable and exploitative taxes and levies. public office Corruption is the greatest tool of oppression here. And what do we hear? a mute church unashamed of their complacency in this social injustice. This time, the oppressors are not white men. They are our own brothers and sisters - who by the way are even more brutal than the white colonial oppressors. For example, the white colonial administrators in the colonial governments were less corrupt with public resources than the current indigenous administrators in our governments. In similar terms, the white priests and ‘men of God’ in colonial times took less collections, no special donations and offertories from their colonial congregation. This should rationally make the colonial oppressor more preferable to the indigenous ones - if we are to choose the lesser of two evils. As if this sort of oppression is not enough, our ‘men of God’ who we expect to stand with us in this situation, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the theology of liberation, are on the side of the oppressor. They have completely abandoned liberation theology – that is if they have ever embraced it. The church hierarchy in Ghana is prosperous and stand with the prosperous so they are preaching prosperity. They abhor poverty, so they dissociate from the poor masses and their poor and meek aspirations. Or do these ‘men of God’ in Ghana want us to give them a biblical bases for why they must interpret the teachings of Jesus Christ in relation to liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions as well as from sin? That has already been long established. Let them refer to Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 10:34, Luke 22:35-38 where one will discover that the mission of Jesus Christ brought a sword which stirred controversy and civil strife and not peace. For there shouldn’t, and cannot be peace in the midst of poverty and social injustice in a mass scale such as we have among our people. If our ‘men of God’ understood this, the non – denominational church and its men and women in Ghana today may stop being a hypocritical bunch pretending to be neutral, or even on the side of the people, when indeed, they form part of the oppressor’s regimes that we have past and currently enduring as a people. Rather, they will interpret the Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope. Amenga – Etego Akaabitono SaCut – The writer is a political journalist, broadcaster and ghost writer rassacut@gmail.com www.facebook.com/sacut