Ghanapolitics 101: How to End an Action Year with a *Bang*

In January 2011, the government of Ghana declared that 2011 was an "Action Year". Indeed, the government hit the ground running with the first order of business being a  20-30% fuel price increment which came into effect on 4 January 2011. This and other swift actions that characterised the first full week of 2011 were captured in "Ghanapolitics 101: How to Start an Action Year with a *Bang*".  It seems that Action Year 2011 has also ended on a similar note with a 20% increase in fuel prices that came into effect yesterday.

Apparently the fuel price increase was necessitated by  international crude price increases and depreciation of the cedi. The ripple effects of the price hike have also been rapid with transport operators having also swiftly increased their prices. It seems public engagement is lacking and already the Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC) is asking the government to explain the fuel price increment since it is coming at a a time when "the cost of living in the country is high".

On Peace FM this morning it was pointed out that the government does not have control over the fuel price increments and it is up to the  National Petroleum Authority (NPA). Therefore it would be great if the NPA would hold a public forum to interact with the public and explain in detail the justifications for the hike. 

Also on Peace FM this morning, the deputy secretary-general of the ruling asked people not to "play politics" with the issue. Finally, could a ceasefire on playing politics with fuel prices be in the offing? That would be great since for the entire decade that I've lived in Ghana, one thing that has remained a mainstay of Ghanaian politics has been playing politics with fuel prices!

Well, the jury is still out on whether 2011 was indeed an Action Year in Ghana. The government insists that the Better Ghana Agenda is underway while the main opposition insists a Bitter Ghana Agenda is in full effect. Ordinary people seem ambivalent to the situation but do lament that prices are going up from utilities to fuel. Hopefully the government will release a pamphlet soon with a listing of the successes chalked in 2011 to remind the populace that things are indeed getting better and not bitter. Alas, some may also then say that pamphlets are unfortunately not edible.

Dutchliving: Of Push-up Bras and Male models

Dutch department store Hema has a rather interesting new push-up bra advertising campaign that has not only stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy but is likely to generate interest in a brassiere that may have actually passed unnoticed. The lastest Hema adverts use an androgynous Bosnian-born Australian male model Andrej Pejic to advertise the push-up bra. Aside from the somewhat disturbing fact that the male model looks alot better than many females in female clothing, Hema has opted for this route possibly to get everyone talking. Indeed it appears that Hema has succeded. The launch of the campaign a few weeks ago had Hema trending on Twitter worldwide and it was not long before the story was picked up by international media outlets.



An advert I ran into showing Hema's new push-bra modelled by Andrej Pejic

After hearing about the push-bra controversy via Twitter, I was excited to see a Hema billboard advertising the bra outside my local supermarket.

I love the way the Hema ads have “Andrej Pejic voor Hema (Andrej Pejic  for Hema)” at the bottom right-hand corner just in case one was blissfully unawares that the model was a male. Whether Hema is aiming to challenge social norms and sell bras or just primarily to sell bras still remains to be seen. However, it does appear they are succeeding on both fronts.

The Cameron Gambit

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

gam·bit noun \ˈgam-bət\

Definition of GAMBIT

1: a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position
2 a (1) : a remark intended to start a conversation or make a telling point (2) : topic
b : a calculated move : stratagem

David Cameron
Source: wikipedia.org

British Prime Minister David Cameron seems to be the most discussed person in Ghana this week. In fact, Mr. Cameron appears to be in serious contention for a Ghanaian national award. The award being "Special citation for your ability to unite Ghanaians in hatred across diverse religious and political divides". The last recipient of this award being the Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez whose World Cup 2010 antic is ingrained in the Ghanaian national consciousness. 

It  all seems to have started with Mr. Cameron’s appearance on the popular BBC Andrew Marr show  where he stated:

 "British aid should have more strings attached"

In the end  Mr. Cameron basically threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

The anti-Cameron backlash in Ghana has been huge. Aside from vitriol being spewed in the media by callers, serial callers, politicians and religious leaders,  the Ghanaian president has come out to say unequivocally:

"I, as president, will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana,"

While many Ghanaians have been celebrating a defiant stance where advocating violence against gays has somehow been deemed acceptable, I've been contemplating this whole Cameron debacle. Is Mr. Cameron really interested in human rights for gay Africans? From his statements alone, I’m pretty sure life for gays in places like Ghana and Uganda just got a whole lot harder. Well, Mr. Cameron is a smart man. He did not get a first class in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University for nothing. There must be more to this all.

The fact of the matter is that these are hard and economically uncertain times for the United Kingdom. The past few years have seen massive cuts to all sectors of the UK government's spending. In this current budget cut climate, could this Cameron debacle be a carefully thought-through gambit to justify future aid cuts to African countries? I present to you...

The Cameron Gambit:

Stage 1. Call for reforms on an explosive and emotive issue that you know African countries will be outraged over and make sure you threaten to withhold aid over this emotive issue

Strage 2. Ensure the countries you are threatening are appropriately vexed over the suggestion of reforms on the emotive issue and hope one of two things happen:

• The country refuses all concessions and
declares they can manage without aid. Future aid is rejected. 

• The country refuses all concessions and remains defiant although future aid is not rejected 

Stage 3. In face of refusals to reform, the UK government obtains the perfect justification  to enact  cuts to future foreign aid budgets

Stage 4. The UK is saved a truck load of money

That my friends, is 'The Cameron Gambit' in practice. Checkmate in 4 swift moves.

Farewell to the Brotherly Leader

Colonel Gaddafi
Source: African politics.com 

Nine months after vowing to fight until the very end, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, 'Brotherly Leader and Guide of the [Libyan] Revolution', met his demise in his hometown of Sirte on 20 October 2011. I should point out that the Revolution he was the guide of was not the one in 2011 that led to his demise but rather the one in 1969 that saw him topple King Idris before installing himself leader of Libya.

A lot has been said about the circumstances surrounding  Gaddafi's death. Many people were horrified by the images of a battered and bruised Gaddafi being shown captured and alive followed by images showing him dead. Events took a turn for the macabre when Libyans lined up outside a cold storage unit in their hundreds to take pictures of their former leader's body. Interestingly,  amid the  sounds of jubilation coming from Libya, the only voices lamenting his passing appear to be from sub-Saharan Africa where he is heralded by many as a great African leader. This is despite the fact that just last year, Colonel Gaddafi sought to cash in on illegal African migration to Europe by asking the EU for 6.3 billion dollars per year to prevent a "black Europe". I stumbled across a very interesting op-ed piece in The East African online that examines Sub-saharan African love for Gaddafi entitled "What secret do Africans know that the majority of Libyans don't?"

Regardless of his record, one cannot escape from the fact that the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's death are questionable and unsettling to say the least. However, after all that is said and done, the reality is that Libya faces a long arduous road to rebuilding a nation. 

It is fascinating to note that since 1 January 2011, the list of   African-leaders-still-in-power-when-I-was-in primary-school, has lost three entries. Time will only tell who is next to vacate that list. In the meantime, may Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi Rest in Peace.

Occupy [Insert City]: Global 'Spring' of Discontent or Universal Boredom Spawning Rebels without a Cause?

An iconic Time Magazine cover depicting the spirit of the Cold War in the 1980s
Source: time.com

It was about 20 years ago that the Cold War officially ended. For those of you too young to remember the Cold War, all you have to know is that it made for some great James Bond films. On a more serious note,  I am sure there are history books out there with glossy chapters about how the epic Cold War ended with Western Democracy/capitalism victorious over the evil menace of Eastern Communism /Marxism. However, back in 1991, would anyone have predicted that two decades later, the mighty machine that is Capitalism would implode plunging the entire planet into an economic crisis of grave proportions? Moreover, would anyone have known that a global wave of socio-political discontent would lead people of all ages and walks of life registering their disaffection with Capitalism? 

I must admit it is hard to decide whether the Occupy Movement is a real expression of global popular anger and discontent spurred on by the World Economic Crisis and the Arab Spring or just a case of universal boredom spawning masses of rebels without a cause. The latter view comes from listening to interviews with some protesters at Occupy Wall Street many of whom articulated the fact that the protest had no clear-cut goal or targets. Is it all about bank bail-outs and corporate greed? 

Anyway, until this afternoon, I was under the impression that the Occupy [Insert City] protests were restricted to the US. This impression crumbled when I came across two notices.

Occupy Den Haag (The Hague) and Occupy Amsterdam:

This is our land.We occupy these our streets, we occupy them. We are here. We are increasing in number

A global movement has indeed been born and you can follow its activities at www.occupytogether.org. I am still yet to decide what it is really all about but the words of that popular Buffalo Springfield protest anthem  from the 1960s For What It's Worth are ringing in my ears:

"There's something happening here

What it is ain't exactly clear

There's a man with a gun over there

Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn

Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Young people speaking their minds

Getting so much resistance from behind....."

- Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth (c) 1967

Death of an Iconic African Activist: Professor Wangari Maathai goes home

The cover of Prof. Maathai's memoir published in 2006
Source: www.greenbeltmovement.org

"A Mighty Tree Has Fallen !"

-KBO, Facebook 

These were the profound and apt words expressed by KBO on his Facebook wall as he shared an article on the sad passing of Professor Wangari Maathai. Not only do these words capture her personality but also embody the cause to which she was devoted to for most of her life.

Prof. Maathai was an environmental activist extraordinaire who did not pay lip-service but rather took pro-active concrete steps to effect change. In 1977, through the National Council of Women of Kenya, she started the Green Belt Movement focused on environmental conservation through community mobilization and empowerment. With humble beginnings, a green revolution was started in Africa. Through the Green Belt Movement, over 40 million trees have been planted in Kenya with the organization still going strong today.  


Prof. Maathai was also a staunch women's empowerment advocate and was heavily involved in the pro-democracy movement in Kenyan politics. In addition, she served as both a Member of Parliament and minister. Prof. Maathai was a role model to many and the epitome of the African Icon. She will be missed.

Camfed Camfed 

RIP, Wangari Maathai - the1st African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. May there be many who follow in your footsteps!  

A tweet from Camfed (Campaign for Female Education) that could not capture my sentiments more aptly. 

"Education is for the masses, not just for ruling classes"

On BBC news last night, I watched a report about students at the University of Edinburgh occupying a building on the university campus to protest an announced hike in fees for the "Rest of UK" students attending the university. This hike would make the University of Edinburgh the most expensive university in the United Kingdom. This afternoon it was such a delight that our tour of Edinburgh unintentionally included the very occupied building I saw on the news last night. It was like walking onto the set of a film. Speaking of which, another news item was on how Halle Berry is in Glasgow making a film set in San Francisco! Apparently  the falling pound is making Scotland an attractive destination for film crews.   Alas, I digress. I was talking about student protests. Interestingly, students at the University of Ghana have also recently been protesting against fee hikes.  Also, back in my undergraduate days in the US a long time ago, students at my college  occupied a building during a harrowing protest over fees. It does seem like as time changes, somethings never change....all around the world.

 Occupied building at the University of Edinburgh. Prominently displayed in the windows are signs that say "Education is for the masses, not just for the ruling classes".

REPOST - Postcard from the Edge

Its hard to believe it has been 10 years since that fateful Tuesday morning in September but the emotions are still raw and events still fresh in my mind. A decade later, I still find it hard to piece words together to describe that day and find myself speechless. I did find my post from 11 September 2009 which captured the emotions then and now. So here is the re-post of 'Postcard from the Edge':


It is strange to think how a quiet Tuesday morning can start with your biggest worry being the fact that your roommate took too loooooong in the shower finishing all the hot water and making you late for work. As the day progresses, this concern completely evaporates as you wonder if you will ever get to shower again. You are also griped with panic and fear that the very roommate you were snappy with earlier in the morning over a shower, may be buried under the rubble of her work building. As night falls, you are still coming to terms with the very bitter realisation that the world is not a kind place after all.


We did survive that day and the months that came after. My roommates, our friends, coworkers and families all managed to pull through. New York survived. The city was completely shaken but bounced back more resilient, more vibrant and (strangely) friendlier. But not everyone was so fortunate. Over 3,000 people perished as result of the September 11 attacks. It took just one fateful day to change the world forever. Eight years on, I'm still in awe and still lost for words at the complete senselessness of the event. I'm also trying to remember what New York was like before 11 September 2001 and then I find a reminder in a drawer at home. A postcard:

Postcard from the Edge...of Manhattan: The New York Skyline at night before 11 September 2001 with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center seen clearly

We laughed, we cried, we fought but we were there for each other. The dear roommates from Steinway Street, Astoria, Queens, New York
(Left to Right ) Nabyna, Wendita, (Me) & Laurena
I just hope they don't kill me for publishing this picture online

Art Garfunkel - Heart in New York

When I was around 4/5 years old, my father played the Simon and Garfunkel - Central Park Reunion Concert album everyday for about a year. Many of their songs were inspired by or are about New York. It is no wonder I fell in love with New York city then and forever. 

Wikileaks: Late-Breaking Entry to the Ghanaian Political Lexicon for the Aspiring Politician

Wikileaks are definitely the cables that keep on giving. For almost a year now, the leaked confidential memos from the United States diplomatic missions abroad have caused an uproar in the world at large. 

For the past week, the latest revelations from Wikileaks have been subject for discussion on Ghanaian radio, television and printed media. Wikileaks has definitely proved it merits an entry in the Ghanaian Political Lexicon for the Aspiring Politician:

Wikileaks Cables: Revelations based on suppositions, rumors, opinions provided by local politicians, security experts and seasoned journalists to US embassy officials and compiled in cables sent back to the US State Department. Given their source, these cables are likely to be consumed wholesale by the Ghanaian public so it imperative that the aspiring politician uses them to their advantage. It is important that the politician quotes from and uses all cables that indict your political opponent while ignoring or downplaying any cables that are detrimental to your own party.

The Wikileaks fiasco in Ghana has come with some interesting questions:

• How much time can Ghanaians spend discussing issues that may not have any factual basis and will not create jobs, bring down inflation or reduce utility prices?

• What does the way in which the cables were compiled say about the startling trust and affection public officials/politicians may have for foreign partners/donors with whom they share their opinions freely and without hesitation or discretion?

• What do the Wikileaks revelations around the world say about how the public personas presented by politicians/political players contradict or contrast private personas?

Food for thought. 

Ghana Politics 101: New Additions to the Ghanaian Political Lexicon for the Aspiring Politician

Class, it has been a while since we have had a lesson in Ghanaian politics. This is simply because this particular roller-coaster is hard to keep up with. Today we will discuss some new additions to the Ghanaian Political Lexicon for the Aspiring Politician. These entries have been culled  mainly from radio and television emanating from the Beacon of African Democracy (BAD):

1. Inherited: All the perplexing problems a newly-incumbent government is faced with often receive the label 'inherited'. In most cases, this is because these pesky problems were passed on by a previous administration. Solving 'inherited' issues is crucial for any government's success. Also, please note that good things are never 'inherited'. It is also key to downplay any good passed on from a previous administration. However, it is imperative to occasionally give credit to your predecessors but this has to be done swiftly and preferably, inaudibly. 

2. "I have in my hand.......": On any political panel discussion programme, this means that the person making the statement has supporting evidence to buttress their point. The term appears to have been originated by veteran journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako. Lately, it appears  others have developed a perchance for the phrase which is clearly a good sign since it shows careful examination of the issues.

Abdul Malik Kweku Baako. Source: Joy FM online

3. "I would like to interrogate the issues": On any political panel discussion programme, this means that the person making the statement would like to examine the issues in depth. The term also appears to have been originated by veteran journalist Abdul Malik Kweku Baako. Lately, others have also developed a perchance for the phrase. Please use this phrase with extreme caution because grammatically, can inanimate things such as 'issues' really be 'interrogated'? 

4. Promises/Pledges: Lofty assurances made by all political parties on the campaign trail. Hope to God that everyone forgets these if you ever have the chance to be in power.

5. Party Manifesto: Lofty assurances made by all political parties on the campaign trail but (unfortunately) captured in writing. Once in power, hope to God that everyone loses their copy of your manifesto. Any good Ghanaian politician carries their opponent's manifesto in his (or her) briefcase to be whipped out during panel discussions and quoted from as if it were The Bible.

6. Roads: According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 'A Road' is an "open way for vehicles, persons and animals". In our part of the world, roads are pathways on which our nation's future are built. When in government, highlight and  herald all the roads that you are constructing. Ensure that road construction projects open with much-publicized sod-cutting ceremonies. When in opposition, emphasize that roads cannot be eaten. Once in power, be sure to revise your former stance on the inedible nature of roads. Likewise, once out of power, be sure to revise your former stance on the edible nature of roads. 

Descriptive cartoon of inflation.
Source: Greekshares.com 

7. Inflation : Something from economics that no one really understands but we all know it is really, really, very important. It is key that this thing inflation is kept as low as possible. When in government, highlight and herald that you are ensuring inflation is down. When in opposition emphasize that inflation cannot be eaten. Once in power, be sure to revise your former stance on the inedible nature of inflation. Likewise, once out of power, be sure to revise your former stance on the edible nature of inflation. 

Asempa FM literally lives up to their tagline
Source: sportlife.ghana.com

8. 'Ekosii sen?'. Political panel discussion programme  in the Akan language broadcast on Asempa 94.7 FM between 3-5pm daily. It is partly concert party, partly debate and often times a worrying indication of the base nature of partisan politics in Ghana. Ekosii sen is fast-emerging as an essential ingredient in the daily political diet in Ghana. If you don't think so, check out the speed in which high-ranking politicians call in once a libelous statement has been made about them. Shows like this are perfect for the aspiring politician. Although it is perfectly okay to make wild, unfounded statements on this show, if these can be backed by facts, even better.

Also, all political party footsoldiers are welcome to post insults on Asempa fm's facebook page which is usually done in atrociously bad English. Some of these comments are  read out by the show's hosts.

A snapshot of Asempa FM's (in)famous facebook page. All profile names have been removed. Click on this picture to read the comments properly and also to weep for Ghana's educational system

9. 'My good friend [insert name]': If any political opponent refers to you on the radio or television as a "good friend", be aware that they mean the opposite. To be referred to as a 'good friend' is a good thing. In Ghanaian politics it means that you have been flagged and identified as a dangerously  capable adversary. 

Class, do you have any additions for the ever-expanding Lexicon?  

Of Bent British Coppers** and Life on Mars

Life on Mars - Sam Tyler (John Simm) in the centre

Back in 2008, I blogged about my  fascination with the UK TV series Life on Mars. Quick recap:  The year is 2006 and the setting is Manchester where a high-ranking police officer (Sam Tyler) gets hit by a car while listening to the David Bowie classic Life on Mars? (great song, horrible video...orange hair and a pastel blue suit? Seriously...like what was David Bowie thinking back in the early 70s?). Anyway, Sam Tyler wakes up in Manchester in 1973, is he in a coma? Has he traveled back in time? He is completely clueless and so are we.

So Sam Tyler is stuck in a 1973 nightmare without the internet, mobile phones or computers. He is also forced to put up with dinosaur police colleagues who are sexist, racist and smoke too much. The best character on the show is Sam's whiskey-swigging wise-cracking boss from hell Gene Hunt; an expert at making sexist comments, planting evidence, carrying out grievous bodily harm and of course taking bribes. Since Sam comes from 2006 where all policing is followed strictly by the book, he feels like he "landed on another planet" [part of the show's tagline],

Modern British policing all strictly by the book? Hahaha!  The recent phone-hacking scandal in the UK revealed (among other things), that journalists bribed several police officers over an extended period of time in order to get information about criminal investigations. As appalled as I was about the revelations, the fact that policemen in a model western democracy took bribes gives me ample satisfaction. Why? Well, over the years, us in the [so-called] Third World have been preached to, patronized, and admonished by the West about our weak and corrupt institutions. Turns out people who live in glass houses.....

However, I cannot be rubbing my hands with glee for too long. One thing I know is that once the problem has been identified in the UK, swift corrective action will follow. Indeed, as I type, heads have already started rolling. Alas, that is the difference between our part of the world and the West. On a few occasions, we actually identify the rot but we are either slow to act or choose to ignore the problem for various reasons. So in the end who gets the last laugh?

By the way, someone better tell Sam Tyler that he may be better off staying put in 1973. After all,   things may not have changed that much between then and now. 

**Bent British Coppers= Corrupt British Police officers

Memories of my father and debates over Seal

Whenever I hear any song by the unique talent that is Seal, I think of my father. Back in the 1990s I was a huge Seal fan. I think it may have started with Kiss from a Rose from Batman Forever.

In my teen know-it-all days, my father and I had a heated debate over Seal's origins. Mind you, this was long before Wikipedia, Google or even Altavista could have solved any argument within seconds. I insisted that British-born Seal was of Jamaican descent which I had read in either Smash Hits or Number One magazines. My father begged to differ. He insisted Seal had distinct Yoruba features and half-jokingly suggested that his facial scars could be as a result of Yoruba scarification. This was an argument that could not be won. my dad stood his ground and so did I. I think I was more perturbed that parents were not supposed to even know anything about contemporary pop music. They were supposed to be listening to classic highlife, the Beatles, Fela and Osibisa!

As it turns out, my father was halfway right. According to Wikipedia, Seal was born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel in London. With a name that includes 'Olusegun', 'Olumide' or 'Adeola', one can only be of Yoruba descent! However, the jury is still out on the scars. 

Seal is probably one of the under-rated musical geniuses of our time. Those amazing lyrics and that atypical singing voice. Seal first hit the scene as a vocalist on Adamski's Killer in 1990. Which raises an even bigger question; like where is Adamski these days? Then there was Seal's 1991 unforgettable hit Crazy. I must say I was glad when Seal finally chopped off the dreads. 

Seal  in the Crazy video with the dreads

Interestingly, at the height of my Seal adoration, I had the surreal experience of walking between him and his model girlfriend (at the time) in Heathrow Airport. Its a true story I used to tell anybody who would listen. I had just gotten off my flight from Johannesburg and had a few hours to kill before a connecting flight to the US. I could not believe my eyes as I walked between Seal and his German model at the time, Tatjana Patitz. As they towered on either side of me I was in awe. I was so shocked that I went back and followed them wanting to ask for an autograph.  In the end, I did not have the nerve. I turned around and went back to look for my gate. Oddly, the real-life encounter led to a cooling off of my appreciation for Seal but I was still a fan. 

Recently I have re-discovered my appreciation for Seal with the beautiful song The Right Life. 


Well, its my Father's birthday today and I'm celebrating with my Seal collection. I just wish I could have told my father in the living years that he was right about Seal; he is indeed a (super-talented) Yoruba man.

Fun and GAMEs with FONKAR, OLONKA and GARI

The Cocobod House in Sunyani, the capital of Brong-Ahafo. Source: www.panoramio.com

Apparently, all roads [in Ghana] lead to the capital of the Brong-Ahafo region, Sunyani this weekend. From all accounts, these roads are already congested and laden with heavy traffic transporting ruling party faithful to the congress to elect a party flagbearer. Over the past 6 months, there has been much discussion about the hotly-contested race between the incumbent president of Ghana, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and an unlikely contender in the person of the former first lady of Ghana, Mrs. Nana Konadu Agygeman Rawlings. I will not even want to delve into the much-dissected reasons why Mrs. Rawlings is challenging the one-term incumbency of President Mills and the implications of such a move. 

Rather, what I find fascinating is the proliferation of grass-root pressure groups  supporting each side. 

It all started with the emergence of FONKAR (Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings) which burst onto the political scene with a glossy website, beautiful portraits of Mrs. Rawlings and a list of her achievements. With the birth of FONKAR came the first real  indications that Mrs. Rawlings had her eye on the presidency not in the distant but rather the immediate future.

As time went on and the whispers of Mrs. Rawlings running started to become a reality, the FONKAR website suddenly became filled with President Mills' pictures and a strange "we was wrong"  disclaimer that they (FONKAR) had been supporting Mrs. Rawlings for a 2016 bid and not a 2012 one. The plot grew even thicker when FONKAR emerged to say their website had been infiltrated by the Mills camp. Clearly an easy chair and popcorn were required to follow all the action.

Eventually, the incumbent side kicked off their own game-plan with the wittily-named GAME (Get Atta Mills Endorsed) campaign. This launch was followed by curious radio ads by Friends of President Mills in the Eastern Region** declaring their love for the President and deep gratitude for the new roads, school uniforms and abolishing schools under trees. With the GAME campaign in full swing, came accusations by the FONKAR side of intimidation and abuse of incumbency. There was also talk of a GAME budget running up to 90 Million Ghana cedis  ($60 million) and an elusive tape (that never surfaced) to supposedly buttress the accusations. The twists and turns were becoming riveting.

Well, the President laughed off the astronomical budget claims and I mean literally laughed it off. His rich laughter can be heard on an audio clip from an interview first broadcast on Asempa FM. Of course I was hoping the laughter would be followed up with an actual budget outline since having the Friends of Atta-Mills in the Eastern region ads in heavy rotation on the radio cannot come cheap!

Aside from the very active FONKAR and GAME, there are other pressure groups in operation:

• GARI: Get Agyemang Rawlings in
• FOAM: Friends of Atta-Mills
• OLONKA: Original Ladies of Nana Konadu Agyemang.
• SADAM: Sons and daughters of Atta-Mills

The clear overlap between the mandates of  some of these groups could only lead me to one conclusion; the real battle is about which side  can come up with the wittiest acronyms!

Meanwhile, over in the main opposition camp (yes, there ARE actually opposition parties in Ghana and not just opposition from within one's own party), a nationwide campaign by the presidential candidate Nana Akuffo-Addo has kicked off. This Listening Tour/Campaign sounds mysteriously like then-candidate Mills' House-to-House Campaign in  2007/2008. Ironically, this very strategy was laughed off (literally laughed off) by the then-incumbent and now-opposition New Patriotic Party. Well, I guess it is true what they say that "he who has the last laugh, laughs longest" since the house-to-house campaign proved that it indeed had GAME. After all, it Got Atta Mills Elected (GAME).


**Not sure why I heard only ads by Friends of Atta-Mills in the Eastern Region. If anyone heard ads by other friends in other regions, please let me know. 

How the BBC Jailed the Former Tunisian President....in absentia

I trust the BBC. From the age of 7,  I can recall that every morning started with the Lilliburlero blaring from my father's Grundig radio which announced the start of the BBC World Service News at 7am. In those days, most of the news revolved around war games between the erstwhile USSR and  Reagan's USA. Although most of the content of the news was beyond my understanding at the time, my siblings and I played a game with my dad where we would guess the name of the presenter for the morning. 

Later on in the day, there was the almost ever-constant "This is Chris Bickerton with Focus on Africa" that marked our evenings and announced the start of the BBC flagship programme often presented by the late BBC journalist Chris Bickerton.

From the Cold War to the end of the Cold War, from apartheid South Africa to the end of apartheid South Africa, through famine and strive in the horn of Africa, the BBC was there. 

Aside from a commitment to journalistic integrity, I have  long-associated the BBC with impeccably spoken English language and grammar. That is why, a headline I first heard on the BBC and later saw on their website this past Monday, left me completely perplexed and befuddled:

"BBC News - Tunisia's Ben Ali jailed in absentia for 35 years". 

Former President Ben Ali and wife Leila....."jailed in absentia"
Source: myjoyonline.com

Former President Ben Ali is in exile and clearly not in Tunisia so how could he have been jailed? Also, what does being "jailed in absentia" mean anyway? This headline had me heading for the dictionary definition of jail from the Merriam-Oxford Dictionary online:

²jail

 verb

Definition of JAIL

transitive verb

: to confine in or as if in a jail

Still perturbed, I put the question to the wise people of the Twitterverse.The best response I got was:

elidot  

@ 

@abena_serwaa Perhaps they're speaking figuratively? Or in reference to his soul, which is already in captivity?

So perhaps they were speaking figuratively but the BBC online was sure to correct the headline later on in the day and also remove all traces of the original faux pas:

BBC New: Tunisia's Ben Ali sentenced to jail in absentia

Sadly for the BBC, due to its reputation as an authoritative and trusted news source, the original logic-defying headline has been reproduced on other sites world-wide including on Ghana's Joy FM online as you can see here. 

Nobody is infallible and we all make mistakes, grammatical ones included. But it is fascinating how this grammatical lapse gave the sentence a whole different meaning. Now...can someone tell Joy FM?