November 2019

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 30 November, 2019 Where is the godly passion and sad emotion in you over the disappearance (if you have already heard of it) of Emmanuel Essien, a 28-year old “fishing observer”? Emmanuel Essien was employed by the Government of Ghana, on tax payers’ payroll to travel in industrial trawlers and patrol our seas and monitor and generally report illegal modes of fishing. By now, the one who has the job of approving his monthly salary at the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture should have queried his absence from duty and then due process will have followed. Since the fishingRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 26 November, 2019 The 70th anniversary edition of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) climaxed with the 24th awards ceremony but consideration for diversity and community radio stations (CRS) was at a minimum. This is particularly troubling given that the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL2019) is drawing to a close. The competitive awards categories gave consideration to a few “Regional FM stations” which either broadcast in Akan (mainly Twi) or run frequent syndicated programmes from Accra in English and Twi. The implications of the non recognition of CRS as a separate category are manifold; here are just three. First, communityRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah/Desmond Osae Amponsah Accra – 22 November, 2019 For pregnant Miss P, a 19 year old student at a university in Accra, “the emotional trauma is unbearable”. “I had a relationship with a guy for a year. He got me pregnant and wanted me to abort it. I tried, but was unsuccessful. My parents suspected my condition and took me to the hospital for a check-up, it was positive,” narrated Miss P at her residence in Accra. “I’m carrying a six month baby for a guy I loved dearly. My parents have decided that, I will give birth but will not giveRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 20 November, 2019 My mentor agrees with Tony Benn, the British politician/writer that when a man/woman reaches age 40, (s)he should be stripped of all his/her certificates; all certificates should be collected from his/her room. “What you are, what you stand for; what you are passionate about and what you are known for is the real you,” says my mentor. “That is your profile.” A profile is not the regurgitation or rehash of your CV; that is an error. For a corporate brochure or website your profile should be summarised into a maximum of 400 words. The following isRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah/Priscilla Esi Korankye Accra – 18 November, 2019 As far back as the 1960s, Ghana had a national agenda – to control population growth by empowering women with a pro-choice agenda. And on 8 April, 2019 writersghana.com reported President Akufo-Addo as saying that the government’s strategic Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (CPESDP) had outlined clearly government’s proposed action on population and reproductive health which included the reduction of the population growth “from 2.2 per cent per annum to 1.5 per cent per annum”. But, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) has taken placed and ended in NairobiRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 11 November, 2019 In July this year, an Accra High Court ordered Ghana Education Service (GES) to reinstate Augustine Mac-Hubert Gabla and pay his salary arrears outstanding from 2013. The court ruled that GES had failed to follow due process and the principles of natural justice; Gabla had been “constructively” dismissed in a manner that was unlawful, capricious and against his fundamental human rights. In October 2018, the supreme court of Ghana determined that Professor Mawutor Avoke was not removed from his position as vice chancellor of University of Education Winneba (UEW) under the right procedure. The powers thatRead More →

By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 7 November, 2019 While reflecting on 2 November, – All Souls Day a little girl asked me, “Why did God allow us to be born only for us to die later?” “There is nothing like death; it is part of life,” I replied, sharing with her my mentor’s perspective. Such it was as the Christian world and beyond meditated on death and the afterlife during All Souls Day, Halloween and the Day of the Dead. The powerful sermon “The Beauty of Death”, delivered by Rev. Akua Ofori-Boateng at the All Souls Chapel, Lashibi – Ghana, the leading funeral home isRead More →

By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 4 November, 2019 Twenty-four years ago on 4 November, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, an Israeli Prime Minister (PM), and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was assassinated by an extremist Israeli. The world cannot forget the historic moment when Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, met US president Bill Clinton at Camp David, in a determined search for peace. The Oslo Peace Accord (signed by Rabin, Shimon Peres and Arafat; all subsequent joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize) was supported by many countries including Ghana. It recognized the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as Israel’s partner in permanent status negotiations, and theRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 1 November, 2019 Teaching African students in Africa to accept themselves as Africans is tough; you either win the class or lose your job. One of the objectives of the course Global Comparative Media is: to identify global best practices and highlight them as “This is what global media does.” Of course you should grant me the space that as an African lecturer I MUST find examples of African best practice that conform to the highest global standards. “Sir they say my kinky hair is unkempt,” said a female student. “And the camera is not friendly to the blackRead More →