Entrepreneurs diary

“It happened within our house, our family and within our community so I have witnessed it several times. And when that type of child dies, they don’t use a proper thing to carry him for the burial, they will take a rough mat and put the child there and hold it just like anything and go and throw it away. They normally don’t take the baby to the hill alive. They will use something like a stone, stick, or a cutlass to hit the child and kill him” The spirit child phenomenon and the catholic side of life By Joseph osei The spirit child phenomenon started in some part of the upper east region in the northern part of Ghana, in 1975, is a culture practice whereby children born with disabilities or whose birth coincide with a tragic incident in the family, such as the loss of a parent. “To witness the birth of a child is the best opportunity to experience.”- paul cavel   The practice is common in sirigu in the Kassena Nankana West district of the upper east region, it take...

There is no Chinese doing illegal mining (galamsey) in this country that is the misconception created by people who sees the Chinese as a threat to their business in Africa. Because they provide affordable services and products to the middle and lower class who cannot afford the expensive western products they feel challenge and have resulted to using the media and other strategies to create animosity between China and Ghana (Africa). The Chinese in Mining only provides services to Ghanaian own registered mining companies, the reasons why you see the Chinese working on the ground is that they are hardworking and don't want to look interventionist like the Americans and others who want to sit and direct without participation. The Chinese has provided enormous employment to youths in our rural areas, now instead of rural urban migration, people prefers to move from the urban areas to the rural areas to work. Years ago the Chinese allowed the westerns to settle in their count...

“It happened within our house, our family and within our community so I have witnessed it several times. And when that type of child dies, they don’t use a proper thing to carry him for the burial, they will take a rough mat and put the child there and hold it just like anything and go and throw it away. They normally don’t take the baby to the hill alive. They will use something like a stone, stick, or a cutlass to hit the child and kill him” The spirit child phenomenon and the catholic side of life By Joseph osei The spirit child phenomenon started in some part of the upper east region in the northern part of Ghana, in 1975, is a culture practice whereby children born with disabilities or whose birth coincide with a tragic incident in the family, such as the loss of a parent. “To witness the birth of a child is the best opportunity to experience.”- paul cavel   The practice is common in sirigu in the Kassena Nankana West district of the upper east region...

Agnes Addy was born in January 1895 in suyani,. She won a music award in 2001 for her music on” Agnes Addy’s Life”. Agnes Addy was a singer, storyteller, composer, guitarist and banjo player. She worked as a housekeeper for years before beginning a performing a career at age sixty five .she is the author of many songs, including the folk music classic, “life in this world”. The song has been recorded by groups as diverse as Peter, Emmanuel, and Mary and the Grateful Dead. Until her death at age ninety-five, Agnes Addy continued to perform around the country. She invested the three-fingered picking style of guitar picking that is now called “Addy picking”. AGNES ADDY I Dream a World By Joseph osei Like Elizabeth Cotton, I named myself. The first day I went to school, the teacher was calling roll and everybody was called a name. My parents didn’t name me. They all called me sis, u knows. so when the teacher got to me, she said, “hi sis, don’t you have a name? What is it?...

Standing in a bus coming from church I see a man mercilessly beaten beyond recognition. Disfigured with only god knows what offensive objects. Voices around me conjecture He should be a thief; he could be beaten to death they recount incidents of instant mob justice as we drive on away from the sight Questions run haywire in my mind What if he did it; what if he didn’t do it. What might have driven him into this? Is it fair? What could be going on through his mind What could be going on through his heart Naked and broken, his dignity, pride and freedom snatched from him Is his spirit alive, does his soul still live A dead man whose body just has enough strength to lead him to the slaughter. No one to speak for him No one to defend him Where are his parents Who is responsible for him What should instincts be doing in the heart and intestines of a mother whose son’s life hangs in the balance The balance to the mercy or cruelty of people whose eyes of justification for justice s...

Witchcraft in Ghana is a very real phenomenon. It displaces people from their homes, it breaks up families and it destroys lives. Those believed to be responsible for causing illness and misfortune are often tortured, killed or expelled from their villages. Yaba Badoe’s powerful and heart-rending documentary The Witches of Gambaga , screened in London as part of Film Africa 2011 , examines the lives of some of the accused witches who have sought refuge in perhaps Ghana’s oldest and most famous witches’ camp of Gambaga. Filmed over the course of five years and told largely by the women themselves, the documentary highlights the plight of some of the true victims of witchcraft beliefs. Salmata was attacked and run out of her village after she was blamed for her stepson getting ill; Amina was threatened and exiled when her brother died suddenly; Asara, a successful trader, was accused of being a witch after an outbreak of meningitis in her town. The women of Gambag...

A Bold Supreme Court Decision – Two Perspectives There are four possible decisions the Supreme Court (SC) can render: 1.      Dismiss or reject the petition filed by the NPP, saying it is without merit. 2.      Invalidate Mahama’s victory and award the electoral win to Nana Akuffo-Addo. 3.      The SC could acknowledge that there were some irregularities that affected the presidential results and when these irregularities are rectified, neither candidate secured   50 percent of the vote. Therefore, the SC may order a run-off. 4.      The SC could say the election was so tainted by irregularities that it is ordering a re-vote or do-over of the entire election – both presidential and parliamentary. T wo experts to dilate on these possible outcomes and indicate which option they would consider to be a “bold decision” for the Supreme Court to take in the supreme interest of the nation. ...

Dear Uncle Rozay, If there is one man I like in Accra, it is you. It is people like you who give some of us hope that our future will be bright and Patience being a Virtue has got nothing to do with traits Efo’s daughters who bear the names Patience and Virtue have. One would have thought your close resemblance to Rick Ross was a mere coincidence but alas, you political punch lines could earn you the Grammy Awards to be held in Dzelukope. I had wanted to write this letter to you earlier on when you goofed on Joy Fm, on the issues of the market fires but then you cousin’s utterances beat you to it. Sad as I was when I realized I needed to address your cousin first, I knew deep within that a day will come when your actions and inactions will let me write you a letter.  The elders say the Chameleon will never act as a lizard and you are a true living testament of this saying.  So as I write you this letter, I pray you feel the same excitement I’m feeling r...

Esi Ocran When was the last time you really felt that this nation has a plan and is really heading towards the Promised Land, as an objective Ghanaian? Today is not the day for partisan politics. It is time we reflected genuinely on the manner in which this country has been run. It is time we stopped pretending that all is well, once it is our party in government, while we suffer. Ghanaians have been told incessantly in recent times that a whopping 60%, or just around that figure, of the taxes we pay go to settle the salaries of workers on the state's payroll. Not surprisingly though, we have not been told how much of it goes into the invisible pockets of the so-called leaders of this country from the Executive through the Legislature to the public service. Is it also surprising that government is quick to cite 'no money' when it comes to the development of Ghana and the payment of the salaries and allowances of the average Ghanaian worker but that ex...