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Most Ghanaians agree that there is too much corruption, bribery and nepotism because of lack of transparency of official actions and records, and lack of freedom (power) by individuals, media and other organizations to request information on government expenditures and to receive that information in a timely, accurate, and complete manner. At bottom of this deficiency is failure of government to empower people to know and understand governance, as is only possible though a strong Right To Information law.

Fundamentally, RTI will contribute to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government. RTI will promote citizenship; it will support public education, responsible socio-cultural and physical development, and it will definitely increases public trust in government agencies and officials.

Can someone tell me why some parliamentarians, especially KT Hammond is so against the RTI? What strange underhand dealings is he and his colleagues engaged in that they wouldn’t want full disclosure on?

It’s interesting to note that in October 2016, when the then Attorney General went to parliament to have the RTI Bill that had been laid before parliament for reading and consideration, withdrawn, some of these same NPP legislators who don’t want RTI to see the light of day now, made us believe that the then government was against passing the RTI into law.

We are watching and closely too

#PassTheRTINow

#StopTheMerryGoRound

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Just before you part ways with her, you spread kisses across her neck and under her chin, up to her cheeks, kissing a line to her mouth. Your lips met hers. She trembles a little

The feeling that you both could be caught in the act even makes this very moment much more exciting

You grab her waist, lift her up slightly and pin her against the wall.

She wraps her legs around your waist as you jam your erection between her thighs and shove your tongue inside her willing mouth. You direct her hands down to your lil man and she holds on to him gently

Your fingers find her nipples and they are hard, pointed and ready to be sucked and so you do just that….and damn you love it

You know you’ve lost your motherfucking mind. You think to yourself ‘maybe none of this should be happening’ But there it is…happening and it’s just too good to be stopped. Like they say, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ but this isn’t the road to hell and this road has a double portion of good intentions paved on it and you sure just bought yourself a one-way ticket coz you aren’t turning back

Are we serious about dealing with Rape? 

If we are really serious about putting an end to rape and sexual harassment, it’s high time we began having some conversations around the way some boys and men are socialized to affirm their masculinity through their penises, let’s talk about how sex is framed as something done to women as opposed to with women and let’s also discuss the sexual molestation of young boys by some women. 

The measures by which society goes through to absolve rapists make victims have to stay silent and endure their pain with no hope for justice.

Say No To Tribal Bigotry

It’s high time we understand that tribal bigotry has a tendency, more often than not, of creating two villains. In the end, it’s not possible to distinguish between the victim and the villain.

We tend to respond in kind to bigotry instead of reasoning, we become defensive. And in retaliation, we apply the same bigotry used against us.

Instead of seeing an attack as committed by one misguided individual, we take the wrong and blame an entire people from whom the individual belongs. 

When we take a wrong done by an individual and blame it on his tribe, we affirm what is wrong as right, and make it impossible to stop this vicious cycle.

He’s Gay and You Are A Hypocrite

I am amazed at the rattling speed at which some Ghanaians are throwing salvos at KKD for saying he loves his son who is gay. 

What do you expect? Must he hate his son for being gay? Do you hate your church members who fornicate, steal, lie, take and give bribes? Are those not sins too? I think our hypocrisy is bigger than KKDs love for his gay son.

We have lived with this stinking hypocrisy for far too long. Do men of God not admonish us to go to the prisons to show love and preach unto convicted criminals to get them converted? Do Ghanaians not quickly (like a parrot that has eaten pepper) come to the defense of the very politicians duping and milking the future of our country dry? Oh please. One’s sexual orientation should not be used as a reason to despise him/her.

I have come to the realisation that for some Ghanaian Christians sin means especially sexual sins (eg. fornication/adultery and now homosexuality),  stealing etc.

But it is surprising how we do not see that God is not a fool to have given this country all the enviable human and natural resources that we have buried and we go round begging for loans and aids from the Western world. Also God is not a fool not to have created dirt. His commandment to the Ghanaian Christian is “till the earth” but we have changed that to dirty the earth, the reason why Accra, Kumasi etc are so filthy and stinking. But because our bodies are the temple of God and not the surroundings of our bodies we care less. How many times haven’t we Christians gone to work only to be engaged with social media and not work or leave the office before closing time yet claim payment for the work not done forgetting that a hand that does not work must not eat? There are countless examples that show that we have been operating on a false balance as Christians and that is an abomination unto God.

It is our responsibility to make disciples of the world and not condemn anybody. Our light must shine to overcome all these ills in our country. If biblical teachings are contrary to gay practices for example and these practices are ongoing, one thing we cannot overlook is that we Christians have failed in letting our light shine to those we think are living contrary to our teachings.

You are no better than the homosexual you claim is engaging in an abomination if your life isn’t a blameless and sinless one. Stop the hypocrisy! 

Dear Dad

Dear dad,

Growing up, you made my world and that of my siblings seem easy. Your cover of protection over us was sometimes nauseating but you never failed to make us realise that you loved us. In honor of Fathers’ Day, I would like to celebrate you: a calm and gentle man, a loyal and devoted husband, a loving father, and my very true friend.

I did not enter the world through your body, but I entered the world through your heart. The bond we share is unlike any other connection.

I want to thank you for making me love reading and writing. I wouldn’t have known a better way of dealing with boredom and depression had it not been for the love of reading and writing. Picking a book to read or picking my notepad to write brings me a lot of sanity, and I will forever remain grateful to you.

Thank you for loving my mum all these years and for always reminding us that she is the pillar upon which you’ve come this far in life. Congrats to you both for being married for forty-six (46) years. I hope to beat your record.

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Thank you for being my first editor. You will insist I write a review of every book I read and write an article on every trip you took me on, even if it was from Akosombo to the Adomi bridge at Atimpoku. Thank you for taking a special interest in everything I’ve ever written.

Thank you for being my sex education lecturer till this day. You never spare any chance to talk to us about the rights and wrongs of sex. Thank you for getting me my first pack of condoms; condoms that you kept inspecting to see if I’ve used…hahahaha

Nothing could be more important than for you to be there for us as we turned older. You never forgot our birthdays and you still don’t.  Thanks for the gifts when we were younger and the calls now that we’ve left your protective nest. We are forever grateful.

Dad, I love you for an infinite number of reasons. I feel so blessed to have you as my father and I’m thankful for the wonderful life you have given me. Please know that my list of gratitude is endless and continues to grow with each passing day. I love you and will forever love you.

 

Happy Fathers’ Day!!!!!

Same Script…Different Cast!

With our two eyes, we see many visions; yet there are so many omissions and revisions.
We all have 24 hours, yet some are rich, some are poor.
With desires and ambition, others crave for so much more.
We all are determined to be due for 9 months, yet we all won’t die on the same say in the same way.
We all have same body parts yet some are gaunt, others are big; some have speed, others are slow; whiles some say wow, others scream oh!
Different thoughts, same actions, different results….for the cause will produce effects and defects as you reflect.
It is not about how rich you are today; it’s about how this wealth can be sustained.
It is not about your current stature; it’s about how this stature can be maintained.
If wisdom is too lofty for the fool; we all cannot use the same tool.
What is far fetched?
What is deep necked?
And what is stiff necked?
You don’t have to lose before you start to find; you don’t need the world to show that you can be kind.

It is only the leaven in the dough; a small but mighty substance that steals the show.
Wow! We say when we see how it all turns out in the now.
We can ran but we can’t hide just as until it’s time, we cannot get off the ride.
If all shall pass, then this too shall pass…. Some smother, others show mercy; some curse whiles others bless.

In all our strivings, there is just one end that we all stem from.
The question is how different is my life?
How different have I lived my life?
How different have I lived my different life?

One script, different cast; one world, different people; different people, different destinies.
There is room to sit on the fence; you are either engaged or discharged.
You can take from life or give back to sustain life.
Yes we all can.

The script has a director whose performance indicator is an awesome presence with a great difference.
How mean can you be?
How hateful and revengeful can you scheme?
How worse can it get?
And how deep can you bury yourself in debt?

Think about it……
If it can be played, then it can be stopped; if it is that bad, then it can be that good, and if it is dustily old, it can be squeaky new.
There are lies born out of wiles; don’t wait till it’s too late.
Don’t accept that this is your fate.
Just pause, re-think and enter the existing narrow gate.
There you cannot be late; there you cannot hate; there you will not be able to wait.
The director is on set working; your script is ready for your acting.
One step and that will mark a great difference; one thought and this will stop the cycle and change the negative reference.
It doesn’t have to end bad and sad, when it can good; it doesn’t have to be a tragedy all the time.

Believe me, if it’s your time, then it’s worth your time!

What You Are!

When you looked at me and frowned, I felt like a tree hewn at the roots with an axe.

All of a sudden it all seemed like I’ve been caged in a dark world.

As I worked and toiled under the sun with my carriage, you stretched a hand to lighten my load in this road

I became breathless and speechless at the thought that somebody still cared and would share their life.

When I was accused by many who expected my downfall

And wanted to inspect a sudden turn of events in my life by nightfall

You defended before you listened to their cutting and destructive words

You believed and still had faith in me. That was enough to sustain my gasping for breath in the hands of those Judases in my life’s court.

You reminded me that everybody deserves a second chance before they get exiled to condemnation

When fear gripped my soul that I nearly failed my goal

You fueled my faith when you screamed –go for it, when you rose up from your seat and clapped, when you walk past and tapped my shoulder, when you cheered me on and when you said – you can do it!

I don’t know how you did it, but those timely actions cracked and melted the ice cap over my stature that got ruptured with inspiration just to give my best.

You that wiped a tear,

You that patted someone on the shoulder,

You that said kudos,

You that said thanks,

You that smiled,

You that said it’s OK, and you that said it’s possible –always making life more meaningful

You, I can’t describe but only appreciation and recognition I ascribe,

You, I can’t see but feel and know you always there somewhere in the crowd.

You! You always get me relieved that I still believe in the dream that we can make life better by making a difference

What I’m grateful for!

I’m grateful for being born a Ghanaian. I wouldn’t choose any other country if I had the chance to. Things are its worst at the moment but like every other optimistic Ghanaian, I’m hopeful things will get better.

I am grateful I have watched people walk out of my life, for it has helped me to understand the importance of making the most of what is in front of me, while I have the chance. I am grateful I have watched the same people return, for it has helped me see that nothing is certain, nothing is for sure. Life moves in circles and unruly shapes and patterns; not a straightforward path. Nothing is linear and it never will be.

I’m grateful for the grace of God that keeps me going day in day out. His grace has shown me that living with a grateful heart gives me the opportunity to celebrate the goodness in life and to see goodness in others. It has taught me that living with a grateful heart allows me to share happiness and love. And living with a grateful heart opens the way for more joy and peace to come in.

I’m grateful for the gift of a family that is there with me through thick and thin. They’re people I can confide in. Many people don’t have that kind of family, so I’m grateful. I won’t forget on any given day to tell them how lucky I am to have them.

I’m also grateful for my teachers who had believed in my abilities throughout my young life. Because my teachers believed in me, I never gave up. Now I am flying towards my dreams.

 

I’m grateful for the gift of sight. Even though I can’t see properly at night, I’m grateful for my eyes. I can at least see and appreciate nature.

I’m grateful for good health. The number of times I’ve had to visit the clinic/hospital this year has been more than a pregnant woman going for ante-natal care but I still have life.

I’m grateful for social media. I can rant as much as I want against people in power and against the ills of society. I get blocked for getting too loud at times but it’s all good.

I’m grateful for good food. I guess I would consider myself a foodie. I love to eat but that really isn’t the reason that I said I was thankful for food. I do wish at times I would make better food choices but I am limiting my sugar better than I was and paying more attention to getting more fruits and vegetables into my body. I don’t mind fighting over Banku and Tilapia or some proper Ghana Jollof. Food is one of the things that we all need and can make choices about and right now I’d better go and have lunch!

I’m grateful for good music. I find music very therapeutic. I’m thankful to have good music to listen to while I am up in the middle of the night when I’m writing or reading.

I’m grateful for the gift of writing. It helps kill the boredom

Gospel Musicians and The Ghana Music Awards – Why They’ve Never Won Artiste of the Year

Since its inception some 16 years ago, no gospel artiste has ever won the prestigious accolade at any of the 16 editions of the Ghana Music Awards (now Vodafone Ghana Music Awards) organized by Charter House. The winners have been from various genres of music but not gospel. Out of the 16 Artistes of the Year winners, three are highlife artistes (Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi and Ofori Amponsah), three Dancehall artistes (Samini, Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale). The rest are all hiplife artistes.

Juxtaposing this fact with the religious posturing of the Ghanaian society, the irony is very glaring. The Ghanaian society is very religious and predominantly Christian, and gospel music is huge so it is unimaginable that despite the number of gospel artistes and music released annually, they still are unable to win the coveted accolade in music in May of every year when the event is hosted.

In the absence of any recent figures on the growth of gospel music, I would borrow statistics from 2002 to show how massive the gospel music industry is/was in Ghana. According to figures released by Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGHA) in 2002, 133 new gospel artistes made entry onto the music scene. Out of the figure 71 were women. Also, between 60 to 80% of the music market share was dominated by gospel artistes.  Nii Addokwei Moffatt of the Graphic Showbiz (January 13-19th, 2004) wrote that 258 gospel album were released, of which 62% sold above 5,000 copies (technically a ‘hit’ in Ghana).

Looking at the Ghana Music Awards winners list, specifically the Gospel Music category, one would readily realize that the number of winners and categories is declining. Gospel music had three categories-Gospel Artiste, Gospel Song and Gospel Album.  This year, at the 2016 edition, the categories were just two out of 29 categories. Those won were gospel specific categories- Best Gospel Artiste, Best Gospel Song. This year, the category for Best Gospel Album was scrapped by the organisers based on the reason that no gospel album released boasted of at least three hit songs (basis for qualification). The decision obviously did not go down well with most gospel artistes.

The closest gospel artistes who came anywhere close to winning Artiste of the Year was the Daughters of Glorious Jesus. The group, in 2004 went head to head with hiplife group VIP for the topmost award of the night. They, however, missed out on the award to the Ahomka Wo Mu hitmakers.

Daughters picked up five awards that night-all in the gospel categories including the female vocalist category. They took home Gospel Song, Gospel Album, Gospel Artiste, Album of The Year and Best Female Vocalist. Their win made them the highest winning Gospel Artistes in the history of the (Vodafone) Ghana Music Awards. The next highest winner was Cindy Thopmson, who in 2001 picked up four awards at the back of her hit album Awurade Kasa; Gospel Song, Gospel Album, Gospel Artiste, Best Female Vocalist.

In between these periods, Esther Smith, No Tribe (2015), Christiana Love, Philippa Baafi, Selina Boateng, Gifty Osei, Joe Mettle, SP Kofi Sarpong, Nicholas Omani-Acheampong, Amy Newman, Pastor Joe Beechem, Qweci Oteng, Kweku Gyasi and Ohemaa Mercy have made huge impact with their songs within the Ghanaian music space.

The question that is often asked is that, despite the impressive showing by gospel artistes and the general religious nature of Ghanaians, why is it the case that gospel artistes find it almost difficult to win the Artiste of the Year award when they come face to face with their counterparts doing secular music. In this article, I will be teasing out possible reasons, taking into account the issue of distribution of music in this new age.

Distribution and Marketing of Music: During the golden age of gospel music (2000 to 2005), the highest grossing music in the country used to be gospel music (as pointed out above, where cassette sales used to hit 5,000 copies sale mark). One of the reasons which accounted for that was the availability of music labels and music marketing and distribution networks. These pseudo-labels had record shops across the country so it was easy to get these songs all over the country. These pseudo labels scouted churches and picked up talented singers, usually from their choirs, and with their own financial backing or help from these churches, produce and distribute their works.

This is not the case today. Most of these labels had either folded up or branched into other fields of entertainment due to the unprofitable nature of the gospel music business, measured based on album sales. These labels have now become movie production houses (Kumawood movies) which in their estimation is relatively more profitable than investment in gospel music.

Artistes who have the desire to do gospel music have to find a financier- who may not invest much in the music due to its unprofitability or go indie. And with little resources, only little can be achieved by these artistes. They resort to releasing singles rather than full albums with hit singles. Those who put out albums don’t promote it well. Also, the consistency of album releases is lacking leading to a situation where people forget these gospel artistes.

Marketability /Visibility of Artistes: For an artiste, visibility is their life wire. For many gospel artistes, their visibility does not go beyond the walls of the church or other churches and Christian oriented events like crusades, conventions. The few who are out there play just few big shows in a year compared to their secular music making counterparts. Aside that, most of these gospel artistes do not position themselves to attract sponsorship deals. In the history of gospel music, only Kweku Gyasi, Christiana Love and Ohemaa Mercy had been able to clinch deals with big corporate organizations. Those with no deals are invited to play supporting acts to big name secular headline artistes at big non- religious events.

Again, unlike their secular music counterparts, most gospel artistes are literally cautious and afraid to tap into the fan base of their non-gospel counterparts through collaborations for fear of being accused of ‘backsliding’. Those who have attempted have had their motives unjustifiably questioned by those who should know better. Sometimes, one hears the song on radio yet won’t know the artistes behind the music. They don’t have the confidence to stage their own shows like their secular counterparts. Those who attempt do it on a smaller scale, attracting a handful of people. How many Gospel Artistes can fill the Accra International Conference Centre like Sarkodie did during this Rapperholic Show? The last time an event house decided to award a gospel group for their contributions to music in general in Ghana, the organizers called it off, fearing the headline gospel group won’t pull the expected audience to the show.

Gospel Music is perceived as an exclusively ‘Christian thing’ and so those outside the Christian faith hardly accept it as theirs. The exclusivity does not help spread its appeal unlike secular songs which spread across all boundaries or labels, making it possible for everyone to accept as their own.

Radio and TV Promotions: TV and radio still remain powerful in reaching out and selling an artiste to the populace. In Ghana, radio and TV have, based on their reach and power of hypnotization, are able to turn a mundane song into a hit song. But, the challenge that confronts gospel artistes is that, most radio and TV stations play songs or screen more videos of their secular music artistes than them. Most radio programming schedules are secular music oriented except the countable gospel oriented stations. If we have about 120 radio stations in Ghana, about 90% of their music shows play more secular songs than gospel. The gospel slots are in the wee hours of the mornings and late at night; and on Sundays. The rest of the schedule is dedicated to secular or ‘worldly’ music. In effect, the average secular musician stands a chance to have his music reaching a large proportion of people in a day than a gospel musician. Is it a case of gospel acts unwilling to pay payola?

Social Media Use: The emergence of social media has bridged the gap between fans and musicians in respect of how they communicate. With just a click of a button, fans are able to track what their favourite artiste is doing. Some artistes very much versed in the use of social media can hold conversations with their fan base, share their works (songs), hype their shows and videos. They offer their fans all across the world a glimpse into their world and lives. The secular artistes are ahead on this front than their gospel counterparts.

Check the followerships/fans of secular artistes on various social media platforms-Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat- as against gospel artistes and the difference is huge. The hype that comes with Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy or EL putting out a song or video is massive that the news sometimes trend for days. Examples; Sarkodie (Take It Back and Choices songs), Shatta Wale (Kaikai video) and EL (Shelele and Koko videos). One cannot say same for our gospel artistes. I’ve never seen a gospel artistes name or song trend for days on Social Media despite some having absolutely great songs. And one is left asking why this is the case since the culture of staying in the eye of the public has moved from the traditional medium (TV & Radio) to a more diverse and instant one (social media). Failure to stay smart ahead of this curve is to ones’ disadvantage. Sadly, many gospel artistes are behind the curve.

Despite the above outlined reasons as to why gospel artistes are unable to clinch the coveted Artiste of the Year accolade at the Ghana Music Awards all these years, some of these gospel artistes have pointed to other reasons that would make it difficult for them to win. It is about commercial appeal.

One of the strongest advocates of such stance is Nacy of No Tribe. In his view, the Artiste of the Year is supposed to do certain things that goes contrary to gospel or Christian values. ‘There is a sponsor for the Artistes of the Year category which is mostly nightclubs. They expect the winner to perform during the after party and you don’t expect any gospel artiste to go there and perform’.

Nacy’s opinion might be shared by many of his counterparts who feel the award scheme deliberately overlooks their hard work by not shortlisting them in the biggest category of the night let alone winning the award. It must, however be said that, until gospel artistes realize that they are in competition with these secular music making artistes and begin to learn their ways in respect of management, promotions and positioning themselves as not a gospel artistes but an artistes who does gospel music, they shall forever be overlooked when it matters during Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.