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The Tragedy of a Misguided Generation

The push for a return to multiparty democracy in Ghana in the lead up to 1992, was informed and inspired by an optimistic vision of what Ghana could become in an era characterised by enthusiastic and robust debates and scrutiny, involving all Ghanaians throughout the country, contributing largely in good faith, towards the collective advancement of the nation. These agitations for a multiparty dispensation grew stronger and stronger as the country was nearing two decades of military rule; only interrupted by a multiparty experiment plagued with its own many challenges that barely lasted two years. The military regime at the time, which had begun democratic elections for assembly members in the late 1980s, gave in to the pressures from multiple directions, and outlined a transition plan, from military rulership, to a multiparty democracy set to be ushered in on 7th January 1993. This marked the beginning of what should've been a blessing to the people of Ghana. Key actors who had pl...
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Xenophobia; The Phenomenon

Capitalism has brought us where we are; no point beating about. The wave of xenophobic sentiments, attacks and policies that have characterised the past five years especially across the world have one main thing in common; Economic Despair. This is not to discount other factors such as "cultural purism" that prevail in many societies around the would. Often when socialism is touted as a remedy, the predictable question is asked; "where has socialism worked?". Frankly that's a ridiculous question and I think everybody knows it. Keep reading, maybe I'll explain why. Capitalism is a failed system for too many reasons. The basic rationale for defending capitalism is that open unfettered markets promote competition which leads to innovation which then results in either creating more jobs elsewhere and serving as a catalyst for the diffusion of said innovation or making profits for employers to employ more people. This theory is called the "trickle down e...
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A Reform Our Country Needs

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Source: www.myjoyonline.com Perhaps we owe thanks to Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum for making the proposal to scrap the Basic Education Certificate Examination and extend basic education to cover Senior High School a major campaign pledge in the run up to the 2016 elections. Or maybe we owe thanks to H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo for his "free SHS" policy which has compelled his government to figure out the right way to structure our education system. Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh and Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum probably also deserve their share of thanks for what appears to be their bold leadership of the Education sector of our dear country, Ghana. In my opinion, those two as Minister and deputy, have presided over the best performing Ministry in the Nana Addo-Bawumia government so far. As someone who has been of the opinion that the National Science and Maths Quiz has over the years exposed a weakness in our education system through how consistently predictable the best performing schools have ...
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Who We Are; Patriarchy Vs Feminism

I wrote this in September last year to try to explain to someone what the difference between Patriarchy and feminism really is with respect to gender constructs. Made it as comprehensive as I could and included the term "toxic femininity" because for some reason, people argue that feminists should be put under that bracket. In the context of Patriarchy ; 1. Masculinity ; identified with, •Assertiveness •Chivalry •Desire to take the lead •Will to sacrifice •Being the "hunter/chaser" Etc 2. Toxic masculinity •Limiting your range of tastes (career, lifestyle, entertainment, sexuality etc) •Refusal to recognize/acknowledge that you're capable of empathy/sympathy/'love' ('Hard guy' phenomenon) •Suppression/hiding of emotional trauma/distress •Conscious efforts to dissociate yourself from support systems when you notice them forming around you (family/friends showing care/protection for you). Refusing help, basically. 3. Femininity ...
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Who We Are; Our Sexual Orientations

In my previous post I talked about how our thought processes, our preferences and our whole personalities are dependent on socialisation. That claim forms the basis for the discussion I'm going to do in this follow-up, so please spend some minutes to revise if you have to. I have found that often in discussing this subject, people find it really hard to remove the filter of what has been normalised around them and keep an open mind to at least, understand new arguments. Generally, a lot of the beliefs and values that have come to be perceived as normal actually had normalisation processes that involved more enforcement than persuasion. In other words, we are - in many cases - willingly upholding and conforming to standards that generations long before us were coerced into accepting. Such coercion either took the form of threats of direct punishment from rulership or threats of punishment from deities. Many aspects of heteronormativity had to be enforced at different points throug...
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Who We Are; The Power of Socialisation

This was written for an assignment in one of my courses at the University, and was submitted as same.  As someone who is often accused of having weird and misguided beliefs and opinions, I have become accustomed to being confronted every now and then with how significant socialisation is in each of our lives. Right from childbirth, we're taught everything from eating, to walking, to knowing when we feel something and how to express it. Every act of learning that takes place right from childbirth; in fact right from the point we attain cognitive functionality in the womb if there's such a time, is as a result of the process of socialization. Now I define socialization as the ever-evolving outcome of when the effects of our upbringing, our experiences and our exposures in life blend. Merriam-Webster defines it as "the process beginning during childhood by which individuals acquire the values, habits, and attitudes of a society". The bottom line here is, socializat...
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The Wisest Choice; If There Is One

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In order of their arrangement; Alex Mould, Alex Segbefia, Dzifa Gomashie, Fritz Baffour, Goosie Tanoh, Hanna tetteh, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Prof. Joshua Alabi, Karen Tanoh, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, Kyeretwie Opoku, Mona Quartey, Nii Moi Thompson, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Victor Smith, Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings.  First of all, what on earth is the NDC waiting for????? It's been 4 months since the National Democratic Congress elected - overwhelmingly - former President John Dramani Mahama as their flagbearer, and with barely 17 months to go to the general election, I sincerely cannot help but wonder why his running mate hasn't been announced yet. With no major figure touting and explaining their vision and ideals to the specific demographics they lost favour with, one would've thought the NDC would take a cue from Dr. Bawumia's effective engagements all through 2015. Clearly the former President is a busy man, and I would be shocked if I'm told he's...
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