Feature: What is an all-Inclusive government?

"Africa doesn't need Strongmen, it needs Strong Institutions" - Barack Hussein Obama

There has been many calls from different political divides and some identified opinion leaders, all

proposing an all-inclusive government, to do away with the winner takes all governance that has characterized our fledgling democracy since its inception in 1992. The call to commune however, does not sit well with some of us because the timing of the call is misplaced. Simply, an

What is an all-inclusive government when Ghana is always run by an all Ghanaian leaders who are either elected or appointed to post? 

The politician, by his cunning nature will do everything within his means and power to win or amass anything that belongs to the people or where the booty eludes him, he will try to at least have a portion of what the other is enjoying. It is rightfully so, because Politics has become an economic or a commercial venture in which you invest monies, with 98% surety of recouping it, simply because, it has proven to be profitable over the years.

As a political animal who cannot escape my descent, I have keenly observed politics in our dear nation, Ghana, and I have realized that, all we practice here is Politics of Convenience. We do not really love our Country as we profess to and our posture is just a facade. We shift goalposts to assuage for our loss or to still be relevant in the political terrain. Even though, the onus of governance currently lies in the bosom of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), there is no gainsaying that, only two successive governments, represented by the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have taken turns to rule our dear nation, Ghana, for eight (8) years each in the past. 

We can’t rule out the possibilities the supposedly all-inclusive governance can reap for the nation, but how sure, are we that, the two opposing parties can work coherently to achieve the objectives of ensuring the welfare of our citizenry and the nation as a whole? Who then plays the role of checks and balances on the governing team?

Aside the over-arching constitution, we don’t even have national policies to guide the government of the day, so how are we going to go about the inclusion exercise? Are we just going to look around and call up members of the opposing political parties who can play ball or each party would be mandated to present a quorum to be integrated into the governing team?

Methinks it is another strategy to team up to rip our already touted lean coffers apart, thus denying the electorates what is due them. We all know that, the only bill that gets passed quickly in Parliament is the one that has to do with monies due our Parliamentarians, and that is an all-inclusive governance right there, so just do the math and tell me how our monies will be spent, should the all inclusive government be promulgated. 

Our Constitution clearly endorses a multiplicity of political parties in which the emergent Presidential hopeful forms his government, regardless of whether he obtained the right number of Parliamentarians or not. The system further gives him the right to appoint Ministers and their deputies from all over Ghana, especially those who made it to Parliament regardless of their party affiliation, so which all-inclusive government are we talking about?

Shouldn't we rather be consulting our Constitution which would help us put up strong structures to ensure that, the right persons are appointed by the President to work for us, rather than calling for an all-inclusive government that is already in place?

Since these calls started, prior to the election petition judgement, I thought the proponents of this all-inclusive government were making such calls just to massage the ego of the emergent loser or to bring about peace, but the incessancy of the calls from people who should know better has made it a worrying development which might not augur well for us as a Country.

To begin with, we were all Ghanaians until we decided to break up into different political parties, driven by our varied ideologies which is borne out of religious, Social and economic leanings. Then through the successive days, the individual and the political parties keep evolving through reforms which are dictated by the changing times, yet we still find it convenient being with our parties, because they embody our ideals. We also do this tenaciously because we believe in their governing know-how, so why would we cry wolf if our parties lose?

Just as I don’t expect to see or hear Chelsea Football Club soliciting for some of their players to be integrated into the Glorious Manchester United’s team to have a feel of what glory tastes like, simply because they have consistently won the European Premier League, I don’t expect to see any Political Party making such calls to their opponents either.

Being a good businessman among other things, includes your acumen to foresee what can befall your business and plan strategies to forestall negative occurrences, so I think failure on the part of an individual to see that s/he is not in a winning team should also be something the individual should dearly suffer for. Plainly, if you know or think that you have something to offer this Country, join the winning team to wrestle power and bring your know-how to bear or you sit and bid your time. You can still help from the fringes by suggesting to the government of the day, what should be done or where the government deserves some bashing, you give it to them constructively. 

After all, no one dines with their supposed enemy, because, that is what it is, per the governance in this country, as demonstrated over the years by both parties being at extreme ends of the pole. Any party which wins power is already an all-inclusive government because it is made up of diverse people with diverse backgrounds from every nook and cranny of our nation - so wherein lies the merit of the clarion call? 

Political Parties even in opposition, always have a government in place by appointing shadow Ministers et al; so, I think the call is just another ploy by the Politician to fleece us of our scanty resources.

Conversely, calling industrious Citizens who have a proven track record to join the government to help build the nation is welcomed but not the en masse integration of other party members who do not even believe in the ideals of the government of the day to start with and there is still an issue of trust. You may be finding ways to bring solidarity between your enemy and you, but trusting them with your business will be a tad stretching the already stretched lines.

While still pursuing our selfish ends through democracy, where only a few people create, share and loot at the expense of the populace, let us not lose sight of the fact that, Ghana is already practicing the all-inclusive governance as evidenced by the various representations from the Political parties in our Parliamentary system, so let us not push our luck further, because we might proverbially pooh like the lizard.

Tribute: Ku ma ny3 nu!

(Tribute to Prof. Awoonor and other Westgate Attack Victims)

How would we have known that,

At the sight of the self-acclaimed troll,

Heads would roll?

That a stroll at the mall will have you mauled?

The sun is now set and all I see are silhouettes,

Canvasses without brushes,

Audience without Actors,

And, Shoes without feet,

Awoonor!

Your cause which hitherto was a farce is now a force,

As you shook the foundations to resurrect its forms,

You defied the odds to re-define the norms,

Even though, our hearts are aggrieved and sorrow-filled,

We are piecing together your fragments to have a whole,

Sadly, your indelible footprints only left us at the crossroads,

Yet, we will find a way, because we have your Will; the road map,

Like the hewers and drawers, you lived and labored,

Knowing that Life is transient,

But, did you know about the West gate in the East?

Did you know that the West gate will become the exit?

We take solace in the fact that, art is not meant to be perfect

 “Awoonor ma ny3 d3d3, n3 m3 ny3 d3d3 o, ava d3 dzi kpl3 akla afugb3”

Journeying to the East are the shadows of the pall-bearers

Carrying away your lifeless body and of one of our forebears

Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor,

Xede nyuie!

Damirifa Due!!

Rest in Peace!!!

Some women get it wrong!

"As much as men do not expose some of their chunk of boneless flesh through their flaps while going about their daily businesses, the women should also spare us the sights of cracks in their butts and their almost-about-to-flip breasts from its uncomfortable zones. Being a woman is sexual enough!"

I have heard in many circles that women are their own enemies and as much as I believe that same goes to men too, I couldn’t help agreeing more to that assertion. Whilst, it is easy for commentators to be labeled chauvinistic in nature, I want to also believe that, all the men seek to do, is to comment on what happens in the world of our women.

What’s the big deal? A 20year old Musician, Miley Cyrus “simulated masturbation with a giant foam finger, grabbing her crotch and rubbing herself against a man old enough to be her father, pretending the man was performing anal sex on her and walked around in a nude latex bikini” in a bid at performing ‘twerking’, to the audience that graced the just ended MTV VMA awards in America and the world at large and you ask yourself what has the world come to?

People are talking about how racist the performance was, but, since I don’t have much racial experiences except the one I have had with my fellow ‘Blacks’ who prefers to treat the ‘Whites’ with a sense of urgency at the expense of ethical considerations where everyone should be treated equal and orderly, as far as queues are concerned, so, I have chosen to talk about how the performance was debasing to women.

 

Why is everyone going out of their way to flaunt their sensuality when it is the least to be showcased anyway? It is very convenient for some ladies to go about half naked or to expose their vitals at the mercy of raunchy feeding eyes of men. Whereas, it is worthy to note that this trend is mainly spearheaded by the unmarried who should ideally keep their bosoms intact, the irony is even heightened by the fact that the trend is overwhelming our society.

It is a disturbing phenomenon to say the least, because, they are all around us.  All you have to do is to watch a secular video clip and you will find a woman who is almost nude and shaking what her mama gave her, as though her life is dependent on the act. It is even interesting to note that their male counterparts in the same act looks all dressed up if not well dressed up. I don’t know women to have much to do with Motorbikes, but you are bound to see a half-butt naked woman advertising the brand. They do same when advertising for a stick of cigarette, cars, room fittings, furniture, underwear, stilettos and what have you.

Have some women allowed themselves to be demeaned just because they are deemed to be leaving in a patriarchal society?

Watch a Hip-hop video and you will see a woman happily washing cars in a bikini while her male counterparts sit comfortably throwing dice and sipping alcoholic beverages which does not make sense. Women are supposed to be dignified, protected and taken care of, so subjecting them to such roles only makes you ask if it is solely for the love of money or it’s just their preserve?

Sensationalism accounts for some of the factors that have driven some of these ladies along this road but we also know that, most of them are oblivious of their own folly and ignorance, as they immerse neck deep into unknown cultures and fashion trends.

As much as I do not like to wade into the sensationalism caused by these puppet stars who are instructed on what to do, to be in the tabloids just to distract us from the basic issues and imminent dangers we are faced with on daily basis, my reverberating thoughts would not let me be.

It’s an unequivocal fact that, one’s action or feelings should not stop the other from expressing their persona and what makes them happy since it infringes on their rights, but if the popular maxim still stands that men are aroused by what they see, then is it not convenient to say that, some of these women are pushing their ‘freedom-to-express’ button too hard?

These sights are even commonplace with the advent of social media where everyone feels a sense of entitlement to their space or walls, forgetting that, values and culture still abounds and nothing has changed. Maybe, things have changed, but, can’t we exercise some decorum?

As long as men do not expose some of their chunk of boneless flesh through their flaps while going about their daily businesses, the women should also spare us the sights of cracks in their butts and their almost-about-to-flip breasts from its uncomfortable zones. Being a woman is sexual enough!

Experience even tells some of these poster women with the knack of going semi-nude that, such a lifestyle have a telling effect on their social capital, thereby making them a ‘Miss Right now’ rather than a ‘Miss Right’ for horny men with prying eyes. Yet, the trend is on the ascendency, all in the name of Freedom of expression, a fundamental human right that must be enjoyed by everyone.

We have an explosive menace on our hand as a society and the multi-million dollar question is, how do we curb this derailing trend that is about to detonate, thus, setting our society ablaze with naked women around all dressed-up men?

Saints and Sinners!

I don’t know if this rhetoric will fit to be a good prose,

Neither am I sure if it will be laden with any literary devices.

Not to talk about poetic quality to adorn it like thorns on a rose;

But I pray the questions inherent provokes your thought

And set your mind and heart on a soul searching spree.

It might even help your spirit soar and set your conscience free.

But firstly, show me two things and let’s proceed; a saint and a sinner.

And the difference between a righteous and a self-righteous spinner.

Yes, I binge drink and you occasionally gulp in a couple of spirits.

I wear condoms and aid in abortions while you literally kill people.

Just like my liking for the color green and you, purple!

You also point fingers at me for smoking while you safely harbor in lust;

Avariciousness is what you wake up to yet you call me a thief;

You spit on my existence and what I stand for, like a dustbin;

While calling me names because I don’t indulge in your kind of sin;

You call me a sinner while you live your illusive life as a saint.

Forgetting that you cannot see through any object with a taint.

How about removing the log in your eyes first – objectivity.

Before proceeding to quenching my thirst – positivity.

You sex two or more people yet call me a prostitute – subjectivity.

We both engage in different and varied degrees of vices – relativity.

So just allow your good self to live and let’s live – adaptivity.

I want to be free; devoid of your labeling theories.

To be referred to, as an individual and not this or that

Hence my resolve to be true, thorough and tough,

A force to reckon with and not to be written off,

Accept my flaws for it is not your call to judge.

Just do your bidding and wait for the clarion call,

The only moment to know the true saints and sinners.

Sex - Key to knowledge (II)

I have come to believe that the world basically revolves around sex, hence my affinity to the Freudian school of thought which postulates that, the existence of the libido is the underlying subconscious energy with which mental processes and structures are invested and which also generates erotic attachments, and a death drive, the source of repetition, hate, aggression and neurotic guilt. You would realize that almost everything we do as humans are directed at sex and if you think otherwise, then our worlds must be apart.

Sex with all kinds of accolades plays a lot of roles in our lives; it eases pain, reduces anxiety, heals us, and gives us joy and many more I cannot list and will always come calling, as long as our systems are functional. 

Is it any wonder our generation connote every object or even ideas to sex? Almost everything now has a sex appeal, e.g. cars are now sexy, dresses are sexy, we have human figures which are sexy and those that are not for both genders. Motorbikes comes sexily done, not to talk about houses, our postures, gestures and just anything.

Our wise generation discovered miseducation and everything went haywire. Ladies, now spend all their time pursuing non-practical education for a Certificate; a mere printed paper whose lost can be replaced by an attestation and at the expense of their biological developments, signs and warnings which is irreplaceable by any sustainable method known by man. 

Formal education as a social value has eroded the science of nature which is dictated by all the changes we undergo as humans; changes that cannot be altered in any way whatsoever. 

Since no one can actually cheat nature in its entirety, young men and women are not able to ignore their heat feelings, so somehow, they find ways to gratify sex but only for sensual reasons thus pleasure, when they ought to have been married and if possible, still pursuing their miseducation. And since sex for any reason other than propagative purposes primarily will only result in pain, sickness, sorrow and death, our generation is having its fair share of all the above.

Young ladies are always queued up to carry out abortions of pregnancies they could have kept while most of them are busily educating themselves notwithstanding the fact that they still fail in the end and others end up losing their womb which brings about untold hardships and its related misery.

Both young men and women are contracting venereal diseases every hour thus failing themselves and society as a whole in the process, and all these comes with depression, not to talk about its rippling effects. Our generation will surely discourage and possibly laugh at an 18 year old girl who wants to marry. She would be asked if she knows what she is getting herself into. She would be asked to narrate all she knows about love, as if, that is what it should necessarily take. The person is responding to the biological changes in her system like menstruating periodically, the need for companionship and the need to be sexually satisfied and you talking about love? 

Sex has plunged many individuals and nations into destruction. Scandals in sex has brought many respectable men on their knees and brought untold hardships on them. Many embittered people are prowling in our society calling themselves broken-hearted just because their partners have refused to have sex with them any longer or have initiated sex with another person who eventually has come to occupy their space. 

People are killing others everyday because they have either perceived or found out that their partners are having sex with others and by now you cannot underestimate the power of sex and all the thoughts it provokes in our minds. It will interest you to note that, most issues that emanate from marital relationships all revolves around sex. Either the man wants more or less of sex to which the other partner is not enthused about or one of them is having it elsewhere or both.

You must be out of your senses if you have been underestimating sex anyway. Whether you are religious or an atheist, sex comes with a burden most people cannot carry especially if you fail to have it for the right reasons which is propagation.

God in his ten commandments given to Moses emphatically commanded Christians not to either commit fornication or adultery which outrightly bars the unmarried from having sex and I am wondering how you have fared with these two commandments or probably, it’s just one of those fictional stories and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Indiscriminate sex certainly has its consequences and no one can escape it even in the long run. Sex is an energy which must not be toyed with and if you are wondering how energetic sex can be, then watch how semen from a sex encounter metamorphoses a woman until she delivers another human being who becomes an extension of his family of procreation with an almost striking resemblance to its parents.

A friend of mine, Kofi Wilson, in a discussion sometime ago gave me an enlightened perspective on sex which has lingered on my mind for some time now. He sought to say, everyone has been bestowed with immense power or energy which is represented by sex or reproductive organs or even the number of sex we will have. As generative as sex is, every sex should be directed at propagating ourselves i.e. to multiply our empires to help us fight when the Armageddon war starts (Rev 16:16) 

We are supposed to be multiplying like the sand at the shore as instructed by God, our Creator, but the famed serpent whose encounter with Eve changed everything has managed to introduce to us, family planning methods, contraceptives, condom usage and other means of averting that generative force from coming into fruition. It doesn’t want us to be ready for the war. The serpent wants us to be powerless, frail, pathetic and hopeless soldiers even before the start of the war.

All other things being equal, if sex can bring forth another human being which becomes a force to reckon with, then, do you know how much energy in the form of human that you have been wasting which you might be compelled to account for someday?

Do you know how many other human beings you could have surrounded yourself with, with all the generative force which you have turned into a pleasure expedition and the pills you have been popping?

God must be very displeased with us but we can turn around and safeguard what is left of our curse where pain, humiliation, sorrow, sickness and eventual death will be our portion.

generative faculty. Let us stop using it as a means to an end. Let’s stop using it as collateral for school and hostel fees. Let’s not give it out for a film premiering at Silverbird or to make a fantasy come to fruition. Let’s stop using it as a means to securing a vacancy slot. Let’s also stop the practice of using what we have to get what we want because the only thing we should want from what we have is a child, lest we remain in our

If you know all about sex and respond to it accordingly but cannot stay without it, then get married and have it as much as you want so that you can also fall within the divine plan and probably get ready for the war.