Woman chews off testicles

It is quite normal to expect naturally of any right thinking person about the immediate and foremost idea that comes to mind upon reading the aforementioned headline. Sorry guys to disappoint you and to let you know that your mind is thinking badly. In future, take your time to get all the facts before drawing a conclusion on a matter else you may unduly condemn innocent people for no justifiable reasons. To avoid charges of speciesism, the Blackstone ratio maxim is, better to let ten guilty selves go free than to punish one innocent self." It is not a type of isogamy. Now you may read on the full story as it transpired. 

A 31-year-old woman from Anwiankwanta in the Amansie East Municipality of the Ashanti region of Ghana, Akosua Serwaa Bonsu, has been arrested after she bit into the scrotum of a middle-aged man.

Her victim is a 55-year old a native of Ofoase-Kokoben, Kwadwo Owusu, who had his testicles severed by the woman ‘vampire’. Serwaa Bonsu now faces provisional charges of causing bodily harm and aggravated assault.

Serwaa Bonsu appeared in the Bekwai Circuit Court and was remanded into prison custody by the presiding judge, Daniel Kwaku Obeng, to re-appear on November 29, 2011 to face trial.

Prosecution, Detective Sergeant Stephen Ofori, said the attack happened just around 6:00 pm after Mr. Owusu was returning to Ofoase-Kokoben from Anwiankwanta, where he attended a funeral during the day.

According to the police prosecutor, the accused emerged from nowhere and engaged the middle-aged man in a quarrel, during which she decided to chop off his testicles.

Akosua Serwaa Bonsu claimed her victim, a palm-wine tapper, had poked his nose into her affairs by intervening in a brawl between her and another unnamed lady in the wee hours of the day.

She allegedly told Kwadwo Owusu she was going to teach him a lesson as she pushed him onto the ground and bit off chunks of his scrotum, prosecution said.

The stitched scrotum of Kwadwo Owusu

The court heard that the victim’s testicles fell off from the scrotum after the attack, rendering the victim weak in a pool of blood before bystanders went to his rescue.

The victim had surgery to re-attach his testicles after he was rushed to the Bekwai Government Hospital, where he would spend several weeks to recover from the attack.

Serwaa Bonsu was arrested by residents and handed over to the Anwiankwanta police, where she has been on remand following her appearance in court.

Credit: Daily Guide

'I'm Jesus, Obama the Antichrist'

An Idaho man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House believed he was Jesus and thought President Barack Obama was the Antichrist, according to court documents and those who knew him. At one point, he even suggested to an acquaintance the president was planning to implant computer tracking chips into children.

Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, was charged Thursday with attempting to assassinate the president or his staff. He is accused of firing nine rounds at the White House last Friday night — one of them cracking a window of the first family's living quarters — when Obama and the first lady were away. If convicted, Ortega faces up to life in prison.

Ortega was arrested Wednesday at a western Pennsylvania hotel when a desk clerk there recognized him and called police.

Ortega's public defender, Christopher Brown, declined comment after his first court hearing in Pennsylvania. Ortega's mother has said he has no history of mental illness, though when authorities were looking for him, they reported he had "mental health issues."

In Idaho Falls, where Ortega is from, a computer consultant told The Associated Press that the two met July 8 after Ortega asked for help editing a 30-minute infomercial. Monte McCall said that during the meeting at Ortega's family's Mexican restaurant, Ortega pulled out worn sheets of yellow paper with handwritten notes and started to talk about his predictions that the world would end in 2012.

"He said, 'Well, you know the president is getting ready to make an announcement that they're going to put GPS chips in all the children, so they're safe,'" McCall said. "... And then he said, 'That's just what the Antichrist is going to do to mark everybody.'"

This image provided by the U.S. Park Police shows an undated image of Oscar Ortega.

Kimberly Allen, the mother of Ortega's former fiancee, said he had been well-mannered and kind in the four years she had known him. But he recently began making statements to her daughter that were out of character, including that he believed he was Jesus. Allen said the family was worried when he went to Utah recently, where he said he had business, and didn't come back. Ortega's family reported him missing Oct. 31.

A person who knows him subsequently told investigators that he had become increasingly agitated with the federal government and was convinced it was conspiring against him, the document said. Others told investigators that Ortega had reportedly said Obama was the Antichrist and the "devil." Ortega also apparently said he "needed to kill" the president.

This is not the first time the White House has come under attack.

In the last 40 years, the landmark has faced threats ranging from a stolen helicopter that landed on the grounds in 1974 to a man who wielded a sawed-off shotgun on a sidewalk outside in 1984. In 1994 alone, there were five threats including a plane crash on the lawn and a suspected drive-by shooting. Another man fired at least 29 rounds from a semiautomatic weapon, with 11 striking the White House.

Mr. Twister and team, you are what you write!

You have probably heard the saying that 'first impression lasts forever'. Our brains form first impressions by creating a composite of all the signals given off by a new experience. Similarly fashion mirrors the inner personality and your mood. When you put on sackclothes, everyone instantly recognises that you are in a state of mourning a loved one. What you choose to wear says something about who you are. The great thing about fashion is that it is obviously very visible. For some other aspects of our lives, certain things may not be obviously very visible. It takes discerning eyes and minds to decipher and spot your personality out of that. One of such fields is writing. What you write portrays your attitude to life. It is not just about the content, most importantly, the style and grammar usage as well as typos. Being meticulous portrays a person who pays attention to details and has an eye for æsthetics.

I received an e-mail message on the morning of Thursday November 17, 2011 announcing 'good news'. Yes good news in these gloomy times, you know it is something you rarely get nowadays. Four people, making two couples whom I knew back at the University will be tying the nuptial knots on December 3, 2011. It is always a merry making occasion for all concerned to hear the sound of the voice of the priest authorising the bride 'now you may kiss your bride, mwuah!!! I just glanced through without paying attention to the details of the message. Later in the day, a colleague back at office in Ghana asked me if I had received a copy of the message. Thinking he was going to tell me something about 'how the lovebirds met' or news about them, I quickly replied in the affirmative without much thought. He however insisted if I read the whole e-mail thoroughly. When I indicated no, he then drew my attention to the typos in the email. Oh yes, it was terribly composed. The colleague then remarked, "I think the scribe should be spoken to, to be more meticulous when sending out such e-mails because 'the association' has a reputation which should be guarded." What is the import of this conversation? You are what you write.

Another colleague in the same office, two years ago was attending an interview at a reputable financial institution. He smartly deactivated his social networks accounts. Later he explained his action as that he is aware serious human resource managers or recruiters usually do background checks from social networks. This confirms the result of a recent survey of human resource professionals which found that more than one-third has visited social networking sites to look for information about employment candidates. Personal pages and videos posted on MySpace.com, YouTube.com, FaceBook.com and similar sites are now fair game when employers conduct “background checks” on job applicants. With concerns about office security, employee theft, and malicious behaviour on the rise, they want to learn as much as they can about the character of a person as well as their capabilities on-the-job.

This is why I was more than amazed at what I read today at the official Government of Ghana website. I just visited a page headlined SUMMARY OF GHANA AT A GLANCE following a news item on women and children that appeared on my blog's 'News Extra'. Not only that I observed more than one typo but also factual inaccuracies. The worst of it is the source of information on Ghana, guess what WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS (WORLD BANK WEBSITE). The immediate question that came to mind was, can't the ISD and Ministry of Information generate this data. 

•    GDP GROWTH  ANNUAL: 4.7USD

•    LIFE EXPENTANCY TOTAL YEAR:63.4 AT BIRTH
•    LITERACY RATE, YOUTH:(FEMALE AGES 15–24 78.9

•    PREVELENCE OF HIV/AIDS AGES 15–49 5.4 (2007)
•    GHANA HAS 170 DISTRICTS

•    GHANA IS AN ISLAND OF  ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY IN THE OCEAN OF FRANCOPHONE NATIONS: (BURKINA FASO IN THE NORTH,  TOGO IN THE EAST, COTE D’IVORE IN THE WEST AND  THE ATLANTIC OCEAN IN THE SOUTH).

Ghana is an island of English speaking country in the ocean of Francophone nation, the Atlantic Ocean in the south. mmmm  dumbfounded. For God's sake somebody must pull down this useless website immediately without fail. It is an absolute trash not worth even bearing the name Ghana much more official government site. If indeed these 'mere useful idiots' (apologies to Imani Ghana) are being fed fat on our taxes GH₵3,882.86 NET salaries per month excluding fringe benefits, then I have every right to demand accountability. Nobody loves coughing up choking taxes you know. People who benefit from the national kitty owe the tax payer responsibility to give back excellence and nothing less or more. This is not negotiable. If we are not throwing away our resources into the drain, then I can't fathom what else this country is coming to. This is a great shame. I feel very disgusted that no one feels that this speaks volume about our approach to business. It simply sums up what we are, a nation of chatters, we can't be a serious nation. Oki  doki!
A couple of years ago, I chanced on a certain newspaper called 'The Enquirer'. It was new then on the Ghanaian newsstand but nearly tens years before that I had read the Liberian edition. That was full of stuffs regarding the civil strife that was then raging in that country. What about this news paper (Ghana version)that caught my attention? I remember the news item was a reportage about court proceedings involving a certain 'ant'. The editing was so horrible and terrible that I virtually had to re-edit the item before I could make any sense out of the report. I asked myself why must I pay money to gain value by way of knowledge only to end up doing the work of the editor. Don't forget the main role of the media is to educate, inform and entertain. How was I educated? Negative experience. I concluded and vowed never to read that paper again. In fact since then I always tune off any radio station that starts reviewing that news paper. I have lost every respect for that paper because 'my first impression created negative perception that cannot be easily erased from my memory.

Mr Twister

Please Mr. Twister instead of telling ISD staff to describe small black sheep as an elephant sized white cow without blemish, please supervise these activities directly under your purview. 
The level of mediocrity is overwhelming. What you write says a lot about you. Experts advise that you carefully compose every message and then even more carefully proofread what you have written. The reason can't be far fetched. Even the briefest and seemingly insignificant message between you and a reader within the global village becomes a part of your record. And, the messages you write online may have an even greater impact on your evaluation by discerning readers. It is a more candid snapshot of who you are and thus are often considered a more reliable gauge of how you will act once engaged. Investors will shun countries such as Ghana if they get onto our official website only to encounter negative experience. Are you thus surprised that that for the fiscal year 2011, the sector of the economy that mirrors how others perceive us (Ghana), tourism recorded a negative eleven percent? People who just might have heard of Ghana certainly need further information to decide whether to visit Ghana or choose another destination. I had the opportunity to do a presentation on Ghana. I had a limited time so I need to focus on the issue put on the table. Many of the people in the audience asked questions that clearly indicated their interest to know much more about Ghana. However after viewing this website, I feel vindicated not citing Government of Ghana as source of information.It is very disgraceful and I am disappointed. We need to understand that people with money to spend have plenty of choices as to where to go and spend the money. Inevitably, the critical factor that will determine this decision will be the availability and quality of information.

Mr. Twister, the concert party must be put behind bars, chained and discarded for good. One question: what is the GDP growth in Ghana for 2009? 4.7USD. A word to the wise....

Ghana faces tough times risking higher prices & Rising Debt as Budget Gap Set to Widen

Ghana like most developing and emerging economies may have escaped the current global economic crisis due to cultural, financial and commodities reasons but she may have to brace herself up for a difficult period ahead. This tough time is forecast considering the nature of reckless spending normally governments in power do to attract electorates approval and votes. As the country heads into the 2012 election year, Businessweek quotes Bloomberg report that concludes that things will get severer for the already over stretched people in the country.  
"West Africa’s second-largest economy, faces a widening budget deficit as the government ramps up spending in an election year at a faster pace than increases in oil, gold and cocoa revenue.

The budget deficit will probably widen to 6.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2012, according to the average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor, who will give his budget speech in the capital, Accra, on November 15, 2011, had pledged a shortfall of 5.1 percent this year.

Ghana, West Africa's 2nd largest economy

Duffuor is struggling to keep spending under control and avoid a repeat of 2008 when the then-ruling party boosted expenditure ahead of an election that it failed to win. The deficit soared to 24.2 percent of GDP at the time, sparking a slump in the cedi and pushing inflation to a five-year high. Standard & Poor’s said on Nov. 3 Ghana hasn’t yet demonstrated “firm” commitment to curb the deficit, undermining investors’ confidence.

“The government may have to borrow at higher cost to finance the deficit next year if spending is not aligned with budget revenue,” Ravi Bhatia, an analyst at Standard and Poor’s in London, said in a telephone interview from London. “Debt levels have already risen sharply since 2006,” when Ghana’s debt was written off and stood at 38 percent of GDP last year.

Spending Targets

Government expenditure in the first eight months of the year reached 7.5 billion cedis ($4.6 billion), which was 12.9 percent more than budgeted and 41 percent higher than recorded in the same period of 2010, according to the central bank. Revenue was 1.5 percent above target at 6.5 billion cedis.

The deficit is widening even as Ghana earned revenue from its first oil exports in December 2010, and gold and cocoa earnings increased. The gold price surged 25 percent this year, cocoa output is forecast to match last season’s record of 1 million metric tons and production from the Jubilee oil field is set to reach 120,000 barrels a day by early next year.

“We will consolidate economic gains with wise spending in 2012,” Duffuor said in an interview Nov. 3, declining to give a specific forecast. The government has pledged to focus spending on job-creation projects and providing essential services such as water and sanitation.

Cedi Declines

The cedi has depreciated 6.5 percent against the dollar since July 14, when Duffuor boosted the 2011 deficit target to 5.1 percent of GDP from 4.1 percent, taking its slump this year to 8.4 percent against the dollar. The currency reached a record low of 1.6411 on Oct. 17.

Inflation will probably reach 12.1 percent at the end of June 2012, compared with 8.6 percent in October, as spending increases, Yvonne Mhango, a sub-Saharan Africa economist at Renaissance Capital in Johannesburg, said in an e-mail. The inflation rate was 20.7 percent in June 2009.

Yields on Ghana’s 8.5 percent Eurobonds due 2017 gained 11 basis points to 6.2 percent since the supplementary budget on July 14. It reached 7.8 percent on Oct. 5, the highest level in more than a year.

John Atta Mills will face Nana Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party’s candidate, in a Dec. 7 presidential vote after defeating him by less than 1 percentage point in 2008. Akufo- Addo, a former foreign minister, is campaigning on a pledge to provide free high school education and create jobs.

Economic Growth

Faster economic growth may help offset rising spending, said Razia Khan, head of Africa economic research at Standard Chartered Plc in London. Tullow Oil Plc started production at the Jubilee oil field in December 2010, helping to boost the economy an estimated 13.6 percent this year, according to the government.

“Elections due at the end of 2012 are expected to be close, so an increase in spending is almost a foregone conclusion,” Khan said in an e-mailed comment to clients. “Broadly positive trends in growth and revenue collection should allow authorities to announce a lower deficit to GDP ratio for 2012” of 4.5 percent.

The government estimates growth of between 8 percent and 12 percent in 2012, while the International Monetary Fund, which gave Ghana a $1 billion loan in 2009 to shore up its economy, projects 8 percent growth next year."

Credit:--Nov. 15 (Bloomberg). 

How to turn your hometown into #1 sought after place

Hi folks, I promised a 'comeback on the aftermath of the 11/11/11 hoax. I must tell you though that only Ghanaians got busy about nothing regarding this apparent doomsday falsehood. None of my friends here in Portugal has any idea or even my social contacts on the cyber space had the least hint. I tried a search on the internet using certain key words like doomsday and nothing about Ghana's 11/11/11 obsession popped up. I for one never lost a sleep of this blatant false prophecy. But that is me! Many people in Ghana did though.So what is the 11/11/11 aftermath?

Many of us for reasons best known to us only feel shy to tell other people about our hometown. I really don't understand this attitude or the reason for it. At least I can attempt to appreciate the reason why some people try to cheat nature regarding their 'real' age but not this. Well, fortunately this is not the case for this man. He is a self-acclaimed prophet of God. It is obvious that such claims can never be challenged anywhere not even in the court. And we will never be able to ascertain the authenticity of such too. I am just waiting for the day that someone in Ghana will publicly declare that he/she is the prophet of the Devil. Yes if we can have many 'prophets and men of God, then logically the rest of us are what? The conclusion does not lie in my mouth to utter. There can't be a class distinction without a class system. If you are going to take a measurement of any variable, you will be confronted by the choice of measurement scale as your variable will determine. You may use one of four scales: Ordinal, Nominal, Interval or ratio. Similarly, we can't classify someone as a prophet of God or man of God if there aren't men of 'the old foe'. 

And so it came to pass that there was no show. He now says maybe God changed his mind and he is now going to consult God to find out the reason. Preposterous! Why do you presume 'God changed his mind' when you are yet to get the reason from God? Is this an excuse to cover up your shame? Be careful. Who says he is ashamed? He must really be a very proud man. His town folks must be holding him in a very high esteem having brought them into the limelight and so much popularity. There is no gainsaying that a little known settlement called Zuarungu Tua has now firmly established itself on the tourist and religious map of Ghana if not the whole of West Africa. This is due to the claim or if you like the hoax by a certain Brother Peter Anamoah that his hometown Zuarungu Tua near Bolgatanga in the Upper East region was to be a safety for the righteous. Already his congregation at Machaira Community Church and a number of superstitious-minded Ghanaians including the media trailed him from all parts of the country to his hometown Zuarungu expectantly. This unpaid advertisement has if nothing, rewritten the history and changed the status of Zuarungu Tua for good. 

Was Brother Peter Anamoah's proclamation of 'the end of the world' a false prophecy?

What is however surprising to me and I believe many other Ghanaians is the apparent lack of interest shown by the Ghana Police Service in this drama. History has thought us that many of such self-acclaimed apocalyptic visionaries are nothing but twisted charismatic megalomaniacs. Often they end up as killer cults after fleecing largely their ignorant followers of all their belongings. They are usually drunk with lust and power that have physical and sexual control over their followers. In most cases their beliefs stem from twisted interpretations of established doctrines. These self-proclaimed divinities usually amass a large arsenal of weapons before bringing forth their personal day of reckoning. The lack of absolute interest shown by the Ghana Police Service is thus very alarming. While admitting that the right to worship is guaranteed by the constitution, same goes with responsibilities. Such responsibilities, I believe include freedom from 'causing fear and panic among the people in the name of freedom of worship. In our modern system of things,we can't stand aloof and watch rampaging 'killer cults' exploiting and fleecing gullible people in the name of religion. Time to act is now and I am calling on the police to bring this man to book for playing this prank on his followers and some gullible members of the Ghanaian society. Anything short of this is most regrettable.The Rev. Jones incident has made Jonestown a popular town albeit a regrettable episode. James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple headquartered in San Francisco. Rev. Jones is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip. The incident in Guyana ranks among the largest mass murders/mass suicides in history, and was the single greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. Among the dead was Leo Ryan, who remains the only Congressman assassinated in the line of duty as a Congressman in the history of the United States. 

A cult suicide is a term used to describe the mass suicide by the members of groups that have been considered cults. This incident plus many other religious/cult massacres have caused many lives in the past 23 years. Some examples here to buttress my point: 

1.Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God: March 17, 2000, Kanangu, Uganda, 778 members, 

2.Heaven's Gate: March 26, 1997, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 39 members,

3.Order of the Solar Temple: Dec. 23, 1995, Grenoble, French Alps, 16 members,

4.Order of the Solar Temple: Oct. 5, 1994,  cult farmhouse and three chalets, Switzerland, 48 members,

5.Branch Davidians: April 19, 1993, Waco, Texas, 80 members,

6.Mexican Sect: Dec. 13, 1990, in Tijuana, Mexico, 12 members, and

7.South Korean Sect led by "Benevolent Mother": Aug. 29, 1987, in Yongin, South Korea, 32 members.

   

So you see Ghana might not be so lucky next time when a cult and its leader mesmerizes a whole group and uproot them south-north and let them return safely to lick their wounds. Do not ignore apocalyptic activities, there may be a more serious underlying problem that meets the eye. A word to the wise... 

Apocalyptic fables in the 21st century

According to the Holy Bible book Hosea 4:6 ignorance is a burden heavily laden upon many people. In an attempt to account for such vacuum, fables evolved. Myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form, and explain how the world gained its current form and how customs, institutions and taboos were established. In a very broad sense, the word fables is shortened form of two words 'false stories' as referring to any story originating within traditions. The term mythology derived from the root word myth can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. 

For many of us growing up on this side of the planet have been made to believe kind courtesy of Hollywood movies that modern science offers explanations to all observed phenomenon. This mentality is  what aroused my curiosity when I saw the news headline from Yahoo! News on a monster fables in Canada. As they say curiosity kills the cat hence I wanted to find out what this news about 'Canada's Loch Ness Monster Caught on Tape?' was all about.Sighting at a lake in British Columbia is stirring up talk of sea creatures.

Well, if you are interested and curious like me, watch the video below on "Ogopogo the Canadian version" of sighting of a sea monster in British Columbia.

Now we know that somethings never die irrespective of degree of advancement in science. You need to be here in Portugal to see people especially elderly Catholic adherents stopping by images in town and doing the signs  of the 'cross' and praying.
Yesterday I had a chat with a friend and we spoke about the relevance of 'ananse sem' (Ghanaian fables). We were particularly intrigued at its role in promoting socialisation as well as discipline (norms and good behaviour). The children will do anything to be punctual to hear the elderly tell some of the famous fables. The intelligent children always manage to retain and memorise as well as mimic the mannerisms of how to speak in public. It taught young ones the dos and donts without paying a pesewa. We also acknowledged the fact sometimes,  the old person cleverly formulate and weave the story to expose a misbehaviour of one of the children sitting right in front without mentioning his or her name. However, woe betide you for you to insinuate that the old lady was fabricating a tale. We all swallow 'her anansesem' but most importantly, the lesson behind it. It is a good tradition we have almost lost to modernism and urbanism. While we might have lost that good tradition, we have clever people who have also managed to repackage those antics in the cloak of beliefs which is flourishing due in large to ignorance of the masses. This level of ignorance has nothing to do social standing including attainment of very high formal education. There are of course many educated illiterates parading in high places in Ghana. They lack the capacity to discern and be able to sift the chaff from the grain.
Beliefs are one of the strongest anchors on which to chain the imagination of the people. And talking of chaining the thinking cup of people, today happens to be another doomsdaysayers special favourite. The specialness and uniqueness of the day's date lends itself to manipulation and superstitious predictions. So a certain man of God has predicted that the world will be destroyed, Friday, November 11, 2011 (11-11-11 @11:11). It would be recalled that today is listed among the four special dates of note in 2011 in an earlier article posted on this site at the beginning of 2011 -Four Special Dates in the year 2011: 
1.)  1- 1-11 
2.)  1- 11-11
3.)  11-1-11
4.)  11-11-11
Peter Anamoh, who described himself as a “prophet to the nations”, claimed the destruction would commence from the sea in Ghana and would then proceed to the rest of the world. He however claimed the only place that would be safe was a village about an hour’s drive from Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.The founder of Makara Church, located near the Ghana Trade Fair site, has convinced his congregation and they have since left Accra for the ‘safe village’ in Bolgatanga.

OK folks see you on the other side of eternity whether heaven bound or hellish living if at all we survive the predicted destruction, we will get back on this matter. Thank God it's Friday. See you on aftermath of 11-11-11@11:11.

Ghana's educational system on the nosedive

Many people had been warning for a while about the disastrous consequences awaiting the piece meal approach with which the educational authorities in Ghana have been addressing matters. Three things leave much to be desired: reduction of the SHS duration without any scientific justification, tent housing and classroom phenomena (lower level is schools under trees) and corruption of the schools computer selection system. No body seems to give heed to the warnings except to intensify propaganda of falsehood and unfounded accusations and blame-game.  Unusual School Prospectus for Senior High School (SHS) entrants in Ghana is an added burden and a new dimension to the signs that education in Ghana is taking a nose dive for the worst.

Parents of, especially, new entrants to many senior high schools are stressed, having had to contend with unusual purchases for their wards.They are seeing for the first time the demand for buckets of branded paints, plastic chairs and even bags of cement in the list of items they must buy before their children can take up residence in such schools.

Now that the admission process has been completed or on the verge of doing so, they can afford to lay bare their unusual predicament at the hands of an educational system which government has promised to make friendly and affordable.

We have just learnt that the plastic chairs which some schools are demanding are meant to be used in the chapels on Sundays. Bizarre eh!

It appears that the Ghana Education Service (GES) is too distant from the happenings in these schools that in the bid of the headmasters to survive, they are hatching all manner of survival projects to weather the storm of the times.

Some of the schools are specific in their demands, asking for only Azar Paint and others Leylac, justifiably prompting questions about whether there is a certain pact between them and the manufacturers of such brands.

We hear that the demands have the blessing of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) which, we hear, want to make for the inability of the GES to supply the needs of the schools.

In such cases, we would have expected that the crazy demands be applicable to continuing students and not parents of newcomers who have already managed to pay so much for their kids.

Things are so difficult in the country that such strange entries in schools’ prospectuses create more challenges for the already vexed economic situation in the country.

Parents who have had to dip their hands deeper into their already lean pockets must be sulking about the new predicaments they are facing in a Better Ghana template.

Why the existing systems like the GETFUND cannot be made to provide paints and cement to assist public schools to fend for their development needs is something beyond our ken.

Perhaps, a Better Ghana project means more demands on the citizenry, regardless of the negative effects of these.

In the midst of the rancour triggered by the spectacle of students in the company of their parents porting bags of cement, buckets of Azar paints heading for their new schools, the GES is yet to come out with a convincing dissociation from the developments.

It is interesting to note that the unusual demands are not limited to one school or even a region but it cuts across the country. The country-wide pervasion has pushed critics of the new system to ask whether the GES is unaware of the demands.

Even as we await the usual dissociation by GES from the demands and perhaps a warning to schools to desist from asking parents to make bizarre purchases, we would continue to wonder what is really happening to Ghana’s educational system and governance in general.

It is time we all woke up and told the powers that be that we are tired of the numerous blame games being constantly played out by the elected. I believe you would agree that no employer hires an employee to come and list the problems within the outfit without proffering the way forward. Apparently, the employer already knew all the problems hence used that as basis for selecting presumably the most competent candidate to help resolve the perceived challenges. Thus it would appear horrendous for such a candidate to assume office and then turn round to blame his predecessors for all the seeming challenges. Either the current administration face the difficulties head on else they be given the boot. I think four years is too long a time for a nation to waste with block heads at the helm of affairs. I propose that contrary to parliamentary impeachment ascribed by the Constitution, we should rather use the system applicable to the District Assemblies. At the District Assembly level, a proportion of duly registered voters in an electoral area have the right and can actually seek to remove an elected Assembly person from his seat or post in a very simple and less complicated form.They only sign a petition with a given number or percentage of signatures and that is all they need to kick out a non-performing member from office. Similarly, a percentage of voters in Ghana should be able to sign a petition by way of collating signatures to oust a non-performing President from office before the end of his official term or tenure if he or she is deemed not performing. There should not be any yardstick by which voters can judge whether a President is performing or not. They are discerning enough to set their own standard by comparing and contrasting. Invariably I can already understandably feel and hear some murmurings that this is a recipe for chaos as it is largely subject to abuse and manipulation by some miscreants but for me it is the best check on abusive regimes to make a President both perform and be a listening/sensitive to the cries of the voters and citizenry at large. What do you think?

Fools Gold

Anas Areyaw Anas on Aljazeera TV

Gold is back. With global investments delivering little returns, the eyes of many investors have turned to the old favourite. But the new gold rush has come with a big rise in scams and confidence tricks. They now represent a major threat for companies and individuals and many of them take place in Africa. 

Todd, a businessman from Texas, who recently lost $7,000,000 in a gold scam, is just one of many victims. He was lured to Ghana by an email offering cheap gold from a supposedly legitimate gold trading company. Over a series of meetings he was shown all the official documentation needed to run a legitimate operation. Then he was taken to a small scale mine and shown samples of gold. Todd was convinced he was dealing with serious professionals, so he put a down payment on the purchase, received all the necessary paperwork and left Ghana feeling happy. When, weeks later, the gold still had not arrived, Todd emailed the company. But the address and telephone numbers were no longer valid and the website had disappeared. 

Ghana is the second-largest producer of gold on the continent and is now home to a large network of gold fraudsters. Investors have lost millions at their hands. In this investigation, Anas Aremeya Anas go undercover to lift the lid on this illusory pot of gold. He explains his resolve to name, shame and jail those undermining the aspirations of his country by duping foreign investors.

Watch the investigative piece by Anas below

Africa Investigates can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 2230; Thursday: 0930; Friday: 0330; Saturday: 1630; Sunday: 2230; Monday: 0930; Tuesday: 0330; Wednesday: 1630.

Some useless facts of life

Emus and kangaroos can't walk backwards!
1. You blink about 4,200,000 times a year!

2. Phobophobia is a fear of fearing!

3. A sneeze can travel up to 100 mph! 
4. A dream lasts on the average for twenty minutes!
5. You spend about five years of your life eating!
6. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors!
7. There are no poisonous snakes in Maine!

8. Chewing gum can make your heart beat faster!
9. A crocodile can't stick its tongue out!
10. 850 peanuts go in to 18 oz. of peanut butter!
11. A one-minute kiss can burn 26 calories!

12. Tigers also have striped skin!

13. Humans can survive for two to eight weeks without food but can live for just three or four days without water!
14. A sloth spends 80% of its life sleeping!  

15. Your left hand does 56% of your typing!

16. Our eyes are the same size from birth!  

17. Girls have more taste buds than boys!
18. A snake is not humble simply because it crawls on its belly!

19. A cricket's ears are on its front legs!
20. The mirror test reflects abstract thinking!Only six species pass this test.

The Mirror test reflects ability to think abstractly

21. A shrimp's heart is in its head!

22. A moth has no stomach!

23. Over ten million people share my birthday!

24.I'm the 3,768,525,838th person alive on Earth!

25.I'm the 77,949,983,711th person to have lived on earth since   history began!

Imagination is more important than knowledge

The signs were clearly written on the wall. The current disillusion and sense of hopelessness afflicting Ghanaians is a cause for concern. I know many people will quickly remark that but it has always been this way so why grumble now. I reply that things cannot be allowed to go on as if nothing is at stake for our dear nation. Ghana cannot “presently” change yesterday or tomorrow, so it is of supreme importance that we as a nation dedicate all of our efforts to “right now.” It is the only time that matters, it is the only time there is. The only way to properly address Ghana's future is to be as present as possible “in the present.”

Although he is reputed to be a legal luminary having taught law at the University of Ghana for a quarter of a century, his legal team is yet to win any case of repute. One sometimes wonder what is really going on within the legal team of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDC). Fortunately for people who see things beyond the ordinary, may not be surprised when you take into account some of the utterances of some members of the NDC legal team such as Chris Ackumey, David Annang, Nana Ato Dadzie, Mahama Ayariga, Haruna Iddrissu to mention but just a few. 

It can be recalled that in the first quarter of 2009 when John Mills assumed office, he assembled his team and forwarded the list of his nominees for vetting by Parliament. The signs were ominous as many of the nominees publicly and openly apologised for literally lying on a number of issues leading up to the 2008 elections. Nominees like Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ama Benyiwaa-Doe, Fiifi Kwetey, James Agyenim-Boateng, ASK Bagbin, Mahama Ayariga, Haruna Iddrisu, Sherry Ayitey and Betty Mould-Iddrissu all had question marks on their integrity. Of course people with questionable characters as these will always struggle to win public trust and confidence especially when they are in public office and entrusted with the public pulse. This inevitably deflects from the amount and quality of time available to dedicate to the public good. Our conduct in private matters when we hold public office. There is a thin line between our private lives and the public activities we engage in. This does not mean we should not establish a line what to consider as private from public. I vividly recount that at the vetting of Sherry Ayitey she had a legal counsel by her side indicating to her which questions she could answer and which she might decline. I personally found that situation quite bizarre as a public servant could be so much pressured into such a position. Actually what worried me most was her responses. It was very clear this nominee had done what students in Ghana call 'chew, pour, pass and forget'. In Ms Ayitey's attempt to show how well she was on top of current environmental issues confronting humanity, she replied to a question that we need to do more to curb 'Global Warming' as it has already led to disasters like 'Tsunami'. Indeed, Tsunami brings boiling water but it is due to global warming? Fortunately, MP for Takyiman North, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi was quick to point out to her that school children were listening to her and it was wrong to tell them such 'filla'. Melting Magma from the crust of the earth exposed by earthquake that occurs deep in the ocean causes the ocean water to boil. It is not caused by Global Warming. One may ask why raising this issue at the moment. The answer is not far fetched. If the one at the helm of affairs does not understand and appreciate the issues at stake, how can such a person lead in the formulation of ideas and policies to deal with them? Visionary leadership is obviously what a country like Ghana requires and for that to happen, we need leaders who can do things differently. For change to occur, you cannot continue doing things in the same manner. The same thing could be said of Betty Mould-Iddrissu. Atta Akyia specifically wanted to know how she was going to handle cases as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice when she had no prior criminal trial experience. True to his word, her tenure in that office was a disaster and people with the NDC demanded her removal. In fact, she never personally prosecuted a single case in court.

The man long considered a genius by the masses for his great contributions to the scientific world, Albert Einstein once observed that “insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” His own achievements included the theory of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the prediction of the deflection of light by gravity, the quantum theory of atomic motion in solids, the zero-point energy concept, and the quantum theory of a monatomic gas. Einstein further indicated the power of imagination compared to mere knowledge acquisition. Einstein said the imagination is more important than knowledge! Your imagination pre-plays your future. Einstein went on to say, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.” You see according to him “imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.” 

This brings me to the current raging debate sparked off by 'black sheep' turned 'white cow' gift Baba Jihad. Not only was his claim that President Mills obtained 1st Class Honours at his BA studies at University of Ghana has turned out to be a complete fabrication but his reasoning too is faulty. We can all now draw our own conclusions on the power of imagination of President Mills and his team. When he assumed office as President in 2009, many people complained about his lack to formulate any policy. His 'useful idiots' including Kwesi Pratt Jnr. rebutted that he had a four year mandate and we should give him time to assess him. Three years down the line with just one more year to say good bye to the Presidency, we still yet can not point to any consist single policy that can serve as his legacy. Can Ghana continue doing things 'business as usual' and expect to leapfrog to development? Are Professor Mills and his team exercising their “imagination muscles” daily, weekly, monthly and annually? Do we deserve as a nation Ghana to let something as powerful as our imagination lie dormant due to uninspiring leadership? We will all agree that Ghana deserves better leadership than what we are going through 'the motions' presently and we need people who can think big out of the box with the 'can do attitude' to lead us. Knowledge clearly is necessary in life but the power of imagination can never be replaced with mere acquisition of knowledge. The educational system in Ghana must take up the challenge of helping young people to stimulate their power of imagination by allowing the exercise of freewill and rewarding initiative rather than reproduction of knowledge. We must bear in mind that “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”   

Organised Labour in Ghana barks at Mills "Cost of living is becoming unbearable"

The organised labour in Ghana has finally broken its long silence regarding living conditions in the country. Many groups in the country have been grumbling about the skyrocketing cost of living while the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) paid agents (those the think tank Imani Ghana calls 'mere useful idiots') keep on shouting from the ivory tower about micro statistics stability in the country. While for many average Ghanaians this claim does not translate positively into their daily lives, various segments of the organised labour had been struggling with government on their own without any support from the supra body. The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) is now  asking government to step up efforts to reduce the spiraling cost of living in the country. 

The Union said government is too focused on maintaining inflation in the single digits at the expense of making life more bearable for the average working Ghanaian. It noted that whiles the macroeconomic indicators might look promising; the end effect is not felt among the populace. In an interview with Joy News, acting Secretary General of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah, wondered why, for instance, it takes a worker who earns the minimum wage, four days to buy a delicacy like tilapia, stressing, “that is not good enough." 

The National Tripartite Committee increased the minimum daily wage by 20 percent in February. What it meant was that workers shall not receive less than 3.73 cedis as daily minimum wage, but the new wage has not been implemented since February. The TUC is not enthused about the situation and is calling on the government to turn its attention to the plight of the people.

“We wanted to bring out the issue of the rising cost of living and the relationship with living standards because once politicians start using inflation and start saying it’s slow… there is the tendency for people to think that cost of living is falling. Cost of living is not falling. It is the rate of increase which is falling,” Dr. Yaw Baah said. Dr Baah added that government must, as a matter of urgency, implement the 20 percent across board pay increase agreed upon for 2011 before Christmas.
In my personal view, the TUC call though belated, still did not go far enough. The organised labour supra body should be concerned about inefficient, insufficient and ineffective power and water supplies, spiraling and inexplicable inconsistent utilities tariffs month after month, continuous depreciation of the cedi against major trading currencies and freeze on employment into Government outfits (World Bank conditionality that many Ghanaians  consider death warrant for young people in Ghana). TUC as a major stakeholder in labour issues must be sensitive to matters affecting the welfare of all Ghanaians both working and a large army of unemployed youth. Ghanaians are very worried over the ramifications of the formation of the unemployed graduate association. Its consequences could be far reaching as this is a very volatile group that might be easily manipulated for economic, social and political reasons. History has many lessons to guide us. It is time the TUC demands leadership that is visionary and thinks out of the box to deal with the herculean problems confronting the country. Governing is a social contract between the electorates and the elected that requires sacrifice and not mere self-serving platform of the elected greedy bastards.

Reminiscing the good old days of DXing

Growing up in the Western regional twin city capital of Sekondi-Takoradi now rechristined the 'Oil City' in Ghana was real fun time to reminisce. I developed a keen habit or hobby of DXing. Yes I have been a popular dxer since the early 1990s. Some of my favourite SW1 radio stations included DW (the German national broadcaster), VON (Nigeria), VOA (PBS of USA), BBC (the UK), Voice of the Andes (a Catholic radio in Peru), Radio Nippon (NHK -Japan), Radio Baghdad (Iraqi national broadcaster under late despot Saddam Hussein), External Service of GBC (Ghana), Radio Flemin (Belgium), Radio Netherlands, Radio France international (RFI) among others. I was always the first to give news (of course propaganda as I was vehemently opposed to 'Operation Desert Storm') on the situation in Iraq during the first Gulf War. My opposition had nothing to do with whether the action of Saddam Hussein to invade and annex the small Kingdom Gulf state of Kuwait (queue and wait)was right or wrong but had everything to do my principle that the act of war itself is evil. Further, I also believed and still do anyway that two wrongs could not make a right. Till date my mates from school call me 'Radio Baghdad' because I kept telling them that despite the numerous sorties and bombings by the allied forces, the 'Pillar of Baghdad' (a symbol of the strength of Iraq) was still grounding. In fact I have a verification card from Radio Japan. Those were the days of SW listening when there were no FM radio stations in Ghana (of course with the exception of GBC-FM now Radio Uniiq and Voice of Legon now called Radio Univers). We were also occasionally particularly during the Harmattan season receiving signals from the national TV station in Cote d'Ivoire. I can not forget the sight and sense of the taunting on Ivorian national TV streaming live celebrations after they (the Elephants of Ivory Coast) won the 1992 African Cup of Nations by beating Ghana (the Black Stars) in a marathon penalty shootout in Senegal. A particular song that was repeated over and over was 'Oh when the Saints go marching in' Les Elephants were African champs! But who is a Dxer? 

"DXing" is tuning in distant or hard-to-hear radio

DXing is the hobby of tuning in and identifying distant radio or television signals. DXing is tuning in distant or hard-to-hear radio. Many DXers attempt to receive written verifications of reception (sometimes referred to as "QSLs" or "veries") from the stations heard. The name of the hobby comes from DX, telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant". Like every other early radio listener, we (with my two other brothers) often used home made crystal sets and long wire antennas, all in an attempt to find as many radio stations few and far between. With the broadcast bands uncrowded, signals of the most powerful stations could be heard over hundreds of miles, but weaker signals required more precise tuning or better receiving gear.

Those days, I had to write down the frequencies, time and date of reception for mainly two reasons. SW radio stations change frequencies depending on the time tuned in to it. In fact sometimes they might not be broadcasting on that frequency at all. It is the waves that make it possible to get reception and may not find it again. The other reason being that as an QSL, I needed to quote this information and details for the radio station to confirm. Some of the most important programmes to tune in to were not just the news but music requests. It was so much of a fun to hear your name being mentioned. I was so much overjoyed when I won prizes in current affairs quizzes on RFI and NHK. After collection from the post office, everyone had to see my achievements. Hey man, it was really fun and source of pride. The anxiety of waiting for weeks and months to hear your name and music requested played from a far away place was great. 
I benefitted great deal from this hobby. It led me to work with radio stations for five years beginning with my voluntary work at Radio Univers when I entered the university in the mid 1990s.

The background to developing this habit began during the 'long vacation' as we used to call the the end of the academic year vacation in Ghana then. In those days, attending a vacation classes was a norm rather than the exception. I remember we (at that time, I was living with my late Uncle, Joe de-Graft Oppong Yeboah - RIP)had relocated from New Site in Tokradi to GCB Training School at Nungua in Accra. That was in 1988. I was attending vacation classes at Nungua Secondary School. Due to the military regime's ban on newspaper publication (PNDC led by Jerry John Rawlings was an absolute dictatorial power), there was a proliferation of 'gossip' or human interest stories newspapers like 'The Hustler, Leisure, Confessions, Joy Ride, and Fun Joy among others. Of course the only newspapers that cover political stories were the state-owned ones namely The People's Daily Graphic (now Daily Graphic), The Ghanaian Times, The Mirror and The Spectator. I was developing interest in reading the papers for current affairs because I was a fan of the quiz programme on GBC 2 'What Do You Know?'. Then my uncle gave me a stern warning never to read any of those tabloids again as he felt their contents were socially immoral and did not have proper grasp of English grammar and would not help my learning. The Confessions newspaper (I believe is what has now metamorphosed as 'People and Places' -P&P) was particularly noted for covering 'confessions' of sexual escapades of high standing people in Ghana like priests, step-dads and the rest. Of course they were supposedly confessions hence no corroborations of such incessant reportage. My uncle insisted I read the national dailies alone or nothing.

As a good and experienced parent, he knew the vacuum needed to be filled and thus dumped on me volumes of huge story books. The one I still remember very well because of its impact on my opinion about our history is called 'ROOTS' by Alex Hurley. The main character, Chicken George, a descendant of Gambian slave Kinta Kunta reflects the misdirected energies of the disoriented typical African American. From there I developed the habit of reading African Writers Series and Pacesetters publications. My memory on those readings was a certain impression that there weren't many good writers in Ghana like Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe or South Africa. I also recall concluding then that all these nations had experienced violent conflicts one time or the other. These experiences had served as the foundation for those good authorship. It had influenced their imaginations. Of course I am not hereby advocating war in Ghana in order to develop good writers. With proper planning, we can encourage young people to cultivate the habit of writing imaginative novels. This I hope will come to debunk the notion and assertion of the early Europeans that if you intend to hide anything from the African, put it in a book. One particular story from Nigeria called the 'Undesirable Element' touched my soul. It was about a cursed precious stone that led to the annihilation of a whole generation of a family. The moral lesson then was that greed does not pay. This influenced my attitude to be honest and principled while bidding my time in life. 

This was all before the advent of the proliferation of privately owned FM Radio Stations beginning with Dr. Charles Yves Wereko Brobbey's Radio Eye in May 1994. His struggle and initiative to challenge the status quo at the time earned him the nickname 'Tarzan' from then Information Minister, Mr. Kofi Totobi Quakye. Mr. Quakye compared Dr. Brobbery to the fictional character who was an extreme example of a hero figure largely unalloyed with character flaws or faults. Following the jamming and subsequent seizure of the operating equipment of Radio Eye, the airwaves space and debate opened up. A high court ordered the Ghana Police to release his machines, but till date no one knows what happened to the machines as the court order was never obeyed. However before anybody could say hey jack, a certain Kwasi Twum entered into 'partnership' with GBC to use their frequency in July 1995. A week before this announcement, the National Communication Authority (NCA) then headed by Major (retired) Tandoh had seized this frequency (99.7 FM) from Voice of Legon (VOL). This action forced the militant Students' Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana led by a certain Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and Egbert Faibaile to forcibly begin broadcasting on frequency modulation 105.7 without ever registering it. Is Joy FM still a partner station of GBC or it was a corrupt act perpetuated on Ghanaians? We deserve to know this as well as a seemingly cover up 'partnership' with Metro TV.

The popularity of DXing the medium-wave band and Short-wave news and has diminished as the popular music formats quickly migrated to the clearer, though less propagating, FM radio beginning in the 1990s.With the rise in popularity of streaming audio over the internet, many international broadcasters have cut back on their shortwave broadcasts. National and Missionary Religious broadcasters like GBC 1 & 2 still make extensive use of shortwave radio to reach less developed regions around the world. Now here I am blogging, social networking, emailing and sending text messages. How fast the world has changed in just under a generation. Will such revolution come over again to save the current generation from the current economic crisis? The telephony industry will be another field to reminiscing the good old days of dialtones: "the telephone number you are dialing does not exist, please check the number you're dialing and try again." Hey, how can your own telephone number exist? We have come a long way!!! The famous Ghanaian Sanyo 'Akasanoma' radio set (literally 'the talking bird') now belongs to the museum of Science and technology thanks to science revolution. Akasanoma RIP!!! 

They are rich but unhappy and insecure

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." More money doesn't exactly make us miserable. The wealthy enjoy an intangible benefit that often eludes the paycheque-to-paycheque worker: a sense of control over their lives. They feel secure in their jobs and less stressed about their futures. They can order room service instead of trying to make three meals out of a Subway sandwich. But are they much happier than the rest of us eking out a living? Not really. we know that money doesn't buy happiness. And that is exactly what a survey in 25 countries has confirmed. Paradoxically, citizens deemed to live in poverty are more optimistic while those from rich nations are pessimistic. Come to think of the shame of it that the once-mighty Europe has become China's supplicant or willing servant.South Korea has developed into 12th world's most affluent country since partition in 1948 but suicide rate among the younger generation is five times than the 1948 war ravaged generation.
Well, is it any wonder? I don't certainly think so. After all, he who is down needs not fear falling down. 

A BBC World Service survey in 25 countries has found strikingly different attitudes to the economic outlook between rich and developing countries. 

In the developing world, optimists outnumbered pessimists in nearly every country surveyed. In Nigeria more than seventy per cent expected good times. The results were strongly upbeat in Kenya, Ghana and Egypt as well.

There was one exception, Pakistan, where pessimists were slightly more numerous. In Russia, Chile and Ecuador, the optimists were only just ahead.

In the rich world, consumers were pessimistic, while in emerging economies people were more upbeat.

It is a pattern that reflects the very uneven recovery from the recent global recession.

More than 25,000 people were surveyed by the polling firm Globescan.

Japan, France and Britain emerged as particularly gloomy. The percentage expecting good times in all three countries was in single figures. More than half expected bad times. 

Recession danger

The picture across the rich world was one of pessimists outnumbering the optimists, though by smaller margins.

The one exception to this pattern was Germany, where 36% expected good or mostly good times, well ahead of those who were downbeat. Even there, the optimists were outnumbered by those expecting a mix of good and bad times ahead.

The difference in attitudes does broadly reflect recent economic performance: strong growth in many emerging economies, sluggishness in the rich world.

It is also consistent with most forecasts, which suggest an increasing danger of at least some developed economies sliding back into recession.

The research was done between July and September this year.

Since then the situation in the world's biggest economic trouble spot - the eurozone - has moved on and in some respects the uncertainty there has deepened.
In developing countries, three things may give them the hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Cultural and social psychological make up, strong economic growth in many of these countries due to hike in prices of their export commodities and being less integrated in the world financial system. 
In Ghana for instance, I took part in a help and health-seeking behaviour among residents of a slum called Nima in the heart of the capital in 2006. One of the questions was to find out how they felt about their future health. The response was universal, positive. It stunned my European colleagues. I explained that Ghanaians are trained to think positively that no matter their present conditions, the only permanent condition in life is change. Thus if you walk to any hospital and ask a very seriously sick patient 'how are you? His immediate response is likely to be 'I am fine, thank you'.
Secondly, if a society where over 60% of the citizens are unabnked or there is no mortgage or investment products, what does the imminent collapse of a financial institution like a bank mean to them? It is therefore not surprising that people in  the so-called developing or better put 'poor' countries are optimistic. They have always lived like this without the hope of getting any help so they can't be bothered at all by the so-called Western economic crisis erroneously christined as 'World economic crisis. If Europeans fight their baseless wars, they called it world wars, if they suffer for bad management too, they call it world economic crisis. I am not really surprised at what is happening because the Holy Bible has already predicted in the book of Daniel that there will be no more large empires after the Roman empire. What the Eurozone and EU is seeking to do is to build an European empire which is contrary to the word of God. To make matters worst, they chose to obliterate any reference to God from their charter. It is only a matter of time for the EU to come down crumbling. (Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin) מנא ,מנא, תקל, ופרסין  This is the interpretation of the matter: mina, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; shekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; half-mina, your kingdom is divided and given to others.