Sodom & Gomorrah Is Finally Gone!

As a poor man, I TOTALLY and UTTERLY empathise with poor people. However, I know the pervasive poverty in this country goes beyond a handful of squatters on the outskirts of Accra. Therefore, I wish to disregard the populist argument about poverty as an excuse to break laws.

I also know that when poor people get displaced, their poverty accelerates. So if i were a populist, I will jump on to the bandwagon and criticise the AMA for demolition sodom and gomorrah and creating a semblance of a refugee situation in Ghana.

But I am not a populist. I am a realist. And realism tells me that, even if demolition is not TOTALLY and UTTERLY the solution to flooding in Accra, at least, it forms part of the TOTAL SOLUTION. A problem partly solved is better than a problem left untouched.

In my books, this sort of courage displayed by the AMA is the sort crucially required by our leaders to tackle difficult national issues - it doesn't matter how many electoral votes it will cost. Afterall, leadership is not about winning elections. It is about solving problems after winning elections. If President Kufuor and the NPP had half the courage several years ago to take the necessary action on sodom and gomorrah, today's debate would have been non-existent.

The AMA must however go beyond demolition of known and popular squatter communities and demolish even the most fanciful buildings that have been put illegally on waterways by well - to - do people in well - to - do communities in the capital.

It will be TOTALLY and UTTERLY unjust to ignore illegal structures that belong to people in power and opulence whiles concentrating the demolition on poor squatters. Ghana must move forward!!!

Dear Hon. Atta Akyea

Dear Hon Samuel Atta Akyea,

Greetings from my corner of the world. I can see that you take the title "honorable" very seriously and very personally - almost like a bonafide title, to the extent that it even forms part of your Facebook name. That's great! You deserve it. After all, you worked hard and paid hard to get to parliament in the name of the people.

My only problem with some of you so called "honorables" is the way that you have taken this privilege to serve the people in parliament as a personal opportunity to do business with anybody from anywhere for personal gain instead of focusing on the public good - which is the primary reason why we-the-people sent you there in the first place.
Honourable, it has become very clear to some of us that you people in parliament have become rentable at a good price, not only to engage in lobbying, but to pursue the parochial agendas of individuals and organisations in this country at the expense of the public good - just for your personal gain.

Mr. MP, I don't think I am the only one who is aware of your dishourable behavior. Indeed, the public knows - thanks to one of you - Hon. Majority leader Alban Bagbin, who not too long ago acused all of you - including himself by the way - of taking bribes from individuals and organisation to work for their interests in parliament. Even before Hon. Bagbin let out this open secret, Hon. PC Appiah Ofori of the NPP made similar revelations of how you people took bribes to facilitate the sale of state assets to foreigners etc.

Hon, if there were still some lingering doubts in the public's mind about thèse damning révélations coming from within your own house, thèse doubts have now been sufficiently cleared by your own déshonorable behavior in récent times.

Does anybody have to think deep to know that some of you, including Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, have been privately rented by the some characters within the destination inspection companies (DICs) to do thier bidding for them against the Trade and industry minister Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah or rather the people of Ghana? The only thing one cannot be exact about - for now - is how much your illégal spinning services are Worth.

Otherwise, how on earth can so-called honorable members of parliament claim that the Trade Minister's creative efforts at paying a judgment debt awarded to Bankswitch by an international tribunal amount to soliciting bribes from the DICs? Where on this plannet Will a minister of state write an official letter with government of Ghana letterhead to solicit bribe?

Or is It that in your indécent haste to fill your pockets and serve your Private masters as well as score your cheap pilitical points, you refused to think before speaking out? Perhaps, you wrongly assume that we-the-people Will be cajoled into this your petty scheme Just because of your empty title honorable? If that is the case, you Will have to think again because we-the-people know that your titles have been rented out for crumbs.

These are the FACTS - in case you care to know.
The judgment debt was for the termination by the Prof Mills administration of a contract awarded under President Kufuor for services in the trade facilitation arena.

The Mills administration thought that the contract was improperly awarded and that Bankswitch did not perform the services for which the Kufuor government contracted it to perform.

Bankswitch then sued the Government of Ghana in international courts and won a judgment debt amounting to approximately GHC 197 million. The payment of this judgment debt has not only delayed, but It Is also accumulating to colossal sums.

Since the Government of Ghana has not been able to pay this judgment debt yet, Bankswitch has been engaged in négociation with Government on alternative payment arrangements.

Bankswitch even recently sought to have the Government of Ghana pay the entire judgment debt over a 5-year period, and in addition for Government to award Bankswitch 0.35% of the FOB values of all Ghana's imports over five years.
This supplementary award of 0.35% of FOB imports over 5 years, was not accepted by the NDC Government of Ghana because that would meak going into a contract with Bankswitch that would be worth more than GHC One billion cedis over five years.

This additional over payment to Bankswitch would be over and above the full settlement by the Government of Ghana of the GHC 197 million debt, whether paid in one lump sum or over a number of years.
It is this 0.35% of Ghana's import trade bill that Bankswitch would wish to be awarded that the Ministry of Trade has invited Destination Inspection Companies interested in paying off the Bankswich debt to present expressions of interest so as to prevent the people of Ghana from being milked an extra GHC One billion for no work done.

The Trade minister's transparent invitation on official Government of Ghana letterhead to five destination inspection companies to treat in pre-paying the GHC 197 million was motivated by the national interest in saving the country more than GHC One billion in overpayments that Bankswitch is seeking from the people of Ghana.
Honorable, it was Members of your NPP government who negotiated and signed the Bankswitch contract, and which includes some of you NPP MPs, your associates in civil society like IMANI GH and your rented press who are today running riot without doing the least due diligence checks. Indeed, hon. Anthony Osei Akoto of the NPP went to testify at the international tribunal to make government of Ghana loose the case against Bankswitch. What is your own rôle in all of this?

something i don't understand is what You people want from the people of Ghana after taking huge house rents, loaned cars, huge salaries etc whiles your ex gratia await you - which you people décide for yourselves without consultation from the people anyways.
The only reason i can attribute to your déshonorable behavior is avarice. Your desire for money and fame and vain glory is so insatiable, you Will go down even to hades, if need be, to have It.

What we-the-people want is Financial prudence on the part of Our governing officials. What we want is to have no illégal and improper contracts signed between government and private companies in the first place.

It is obvious to some of us, honorable, That you people in the NPP only want a delay in the Settlement Which will inevitably lead to paying perhaps more than double the amount in the near future which May then lead to "willfully causing Financial loss" to the state.

As a lawyer, you should know better than to suggest that the Trades minister who Is trying to avoid causing Financial loss to the state in the future is acting illegally. Acting illegally is when members of parliament rent out their public Platform to private individuels for personal gain. Check It!

The destination inspection companies already have contracts with ministry of Trade. Indeed, they are direct stake holders of the ministry of Trade. And the letter written by minister, as we have all Read, is not compelling the DICs into any agreement.

What is the NPP's problem with the people of Ghana? And what is your problem with the minister of Trade?

yours constituent

Amenga-Etego SaCut
(Journalist& Ghost Writer

WAEC!!WAEC!! WHO IS WAEC?

WAEC!! WAEC!! WHO IS WAEC?


Yes, it is very traumatic to have your examination paper or papers cancelled. And this is more especially when one is convinced that one has excelled in that first sitting.
I know this because in 1996, in Notre Dame Sem. Sec. Sch. I, and others suffered a similar fate when we wrote our final WAEC examinations. We had to resit English language and other papers. It was nation-wide cancellation - like this one.
It traumatized us, our mothers, sisters, fathers and brothers. Yes, It traumatized our friends.
At that time, again, I, and my friends naively blamed WAEC for their "insensitivity". But now it is very clear to some of us that blaming and getting outraged towards the exams council for these leakages is very unreflective behavior. Our outrage towards WAEC is indeed misguided because we are the exam council.
Why, isn't it our same fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who themselves go as low as Hades, if need be, to get these so-called "Apor" for the students? The people at WAEC - our brothers, sisters, mothers,fathers etc - sell these questions on the secret market every year to make ends meet because after all, everyone else in other organizations, even at the level of the presidency, has some plan B of some sort to make extra money from their work side - damn integrity. And we, who are outside of WAEC buy these leaked questions Just so that our relatives can "excel" unmeritoriously to boost our egos among our peers in society. So that we'll get "flying colors".
Isn't it true that students will rather risk the cancellation of their papers by cheating rather than be honest even if they have to resit after failing? Yes we think that if we fail and have to resit, we'll be stigmatized by our supposedly more intelligent peers. As a people, we honor those who dishonestly excel and we stigmatize those who honestly fail. So we prefer to cheat and pass - Damn the consequences.
Cheating is in our DNA Or do people think that the people at WAEC are citizens of Jupiter? We should never ask again why the educated people at the top are mostly cheats and thieves because it is obvious this has formed part of our nurture to the extent that it is almost our nature. Those guys in government who inflate contract sums, they started their thievery at WAEC exams. Check it!
Let us admit - WAEC is us. We begin our lives with short cuts from WAEC exams. No wonder we end up as thieves in public office as a shortcut to riches so as to impress the same society for which reason we cheated in our exams. We have now placed "integrity" on cheating, looting and sharing as a people. The ends justifies the means, in other words, is now our motto. Even at the university level, it is more shameful because many students at the universities go in to write common end of semester exams with back up "apor" in their pockets. So you sometimes know straight away that some university students clearly passed their SSS examinations by cheating which is why they come into the Uni. With same attitude only to graduate into greater shame.
Let's stop behaving as if we are a confused people - even though we are indeed confused. Let us blame ourselves for our bad nurture as a people and our get -success-quick&easy attitude. After all we want flying colors!!! And we have it! The flying colors are RED, GOLD &GREEN!

Ghana's MPs - Our Servants or Our Lords?

Ghana's MPs - Our servants or Our Lords?



..Are they ignorant? May be..are they philosophers? NO sir!

If you demonstrate true ignorance on a subject matter (don't forget ignorance of the people's representatives in parliament can be dangerous to the people's wellbeing) - and then, I - one of the people - have the specialised knowledge and courage to tell you that you are indeed ignorant on the subject matter - have I insulted you? How? What has Prof. Doodo than wrong to our representatives in parliament for them to wake up with their arms against we-the-people? I don't get it!

Or have our "legislooters" forgotten that we-the-people put them in there and reserve the right to question their competence or incompetence any time?

Are they better than the President and his team who are placed on the chopping board daily by we-the same-people? What ever they are thinking, they should think again!

Their posture is simply not that of "servants of the people"..as it is supposed to be in a so-called Democracy. And We-the-people will not be cowed by thier wrong posturing into deluding ourselves that our parliamentarians are "philosophers", because they"re simply not!!!

Amenga- Etego SaCut
(Journalist & Ghost writer)

It is neither in my nature nor nurture to flatter men - don't expect it