On:

By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 12 October, 2019 Joshua Attoh Quarshie, (a well known “former Gold Coast politician”); has been reported by Ghanaweb to have resurrected the tired issue of tribe, ethnicity and hometown as the acceptable parameters for citizenship. To paraphrase him, Kwame Nkrumah is Liberian. Let us leave it at that.“It is all so sad,” my mentor will say, “when Kwame Anthony Appiah, the renowned Ghanaian philosopher, has addressed such matters comprehensively. But do we read anything important?” Before colonialism we were Africans, not Ghanaians. Even the Gold Coast boundaries have evolved, and tribe as an administrative construct was not an issue beforeRead More →

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By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 11 October, 2019 The BBC “Sex for Grades” documentary has achieved its aim. “This is nothing more than a ‘sting’ operation,” clarifies my mentor. “Or if you like, a quality assurance/control audit of the compliance of lecturers – who are public servants, to accepted standards. In the US, every now and then a male urine/blood sample was taken to the lab for a pregnancy test. If it came back positive, the lab was closed down.” This addresses the concerns of Prof Kwame Karikari, founder of Media Foundation for West Africa: “In investigative journalism, the journalist is known by the subjectRead More →

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By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 9 October, 2019 Reverend EJ Klufio produced “9 works in 12 publications in 1 language in 27 library holdings,” according to worldcat.org. The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) requires 10 publications (textbooks) and an MPhil/PhD before one could be “invited” to become a Fellow. Klufio easily qualifies; his publications cover Ga Bible translation, novels and history (Odoi Diŋ; Legon Mantsɛ). As a former headmaster of Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (Odumase Krobo and now Legon), he is a peer of F.K. Buah, (known for a popular History textbook among the older Ghanaian generation), Rev. E.A.W Engman and Dr JamesRead More →

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By Isaac Ato Mensah/Augustine Williams-Mensah Accra – 7 October, 2019 Patience Asante, an educationist – yes, a teacher, taught us the rubrics of radio and TV production on 29 September, when we visited to wish her happy birthday. She was among the first ten persons Kwame Nkrumah sent to Manitoba and Winnipeg in Canada to study TV Production. How did the switch happen? Asante “was a teacher at Odumase” [Krobo] when she was “roped into school broadcasting.” When Ghana television was started in 1965, Nkrumah selected 10 individuals to travel to Canada and study TV Production. “You have a radiogenic voice, grandma,” we said, whenRead More →

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By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 4 October, 2019 I honoured an invitation to the Teshie police station Thursday evening and arrived there in the company of a friend. A police officer admitted that he had read some “favourable” police articles on this blog; our mission statement, “…..a moral and intellectual guide…….” was also praised with enthusiasm. Then the discussions reached a crescendo. Officer X offered that from now on, peer-reviewed articles from police officers and other security experts on “security, peace and development” should appear on this blog so that we shall together with the police raise the level of public discourse. “But theRead More →

On:

By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 2 October, 2019 The Tuesday meeting was rescheduled first at the behest of the police and second at my behest; a new date is still pending. When I was leaving the police station at about 530am after my “arrest” and detention for querying why police will flash a torchlight into my face, the CID officer warned me that he could “not guarantee your safety in front of the gate because armed robbers attack people there!” The Teshie police station is a few meters away from Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre; Military Academy and Training School; and Teshie Military camp.Read More →

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By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 1 October, 2019 I spent the night of 29 September in a police cell at Teshie; I am now on self recognizance bail and have been ordered to report back on 1 October at 12 noon. What led me there was a personal choice; I have not broken any law. For 20 odd years I have always questioned the police for flashing lights into my eyes and the eyes of other commuters during night traffic duties. And I will continue to do so regardless of whatever they say. And so it happened that on the Teshie Bush Road inRead More →

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By Isaac Ato MensahAccra – 27 September, 2019 The development of an academic course for Online Journalism (OJ) in Ghana has been fraught with serious problems. At the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, which is the foremost graduate level mass communication school in Ghana, the course is not taught. Some private universities are fast developing and teaching OJ. Interestingly, whilst UG has not started the course for whatever reason, GIJ that it mentors teaches a course with very similar content at the masters level under the brand name “Multimedia Journalism”. Some educational administrators of an undergraduate OJ course have complainedRead More →

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Accra – 25 September, 2019 Mustapha Diyaol Haqq, a young Ghanaian app developer was among 40 students who received scholarships to study at BlueCrest College (BCC), Accra. We reproduce below Mustapha’s response at the scholarship awards ceremony held on 30th August 2019 at the BCC auditorium. The Chairperson, Honourable members of the high table, members of staff present, invited guests, fellow students, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon to you all. I am extremely humbled to be a recipient of this special award. I am grateful to the Scholarship team of BlueCrest College for giving me this opportunity to further my education in this noble institution.Read More →

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By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra – 23 September, 2019 The recent speech by Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, at the UN General Assembly’s High Level Forum on Peace, has generated controversy. Now let us begin with some facts that will help contextualize the issues in contention. The Otumfuor means literally the owner or source of power. He has another title, Busumuru, “He who is like a deity”. Interestingly, Ghana’s Chieftaincy Act 1971, section 41 specifically mentions “the Asantehene and Paramount Chiefs”; Divisional Chiefs; Sub-divisional Chiefs; Adikrofo [plural]; and such other Chiefs not falling within any of the preceding categories,” as types of chiefs. TheRead More →