From My Lazy Chair

In your eyes, I can see sorrow; In your face, I read disappointment From past years; Your lips shiver In utter disbelief; Your looks paint A gloomy picture Of uncertain tomorrow; I write this From a troubled heart...

When the sun Settles behind the horizon As darkness beckons And the birds Return to their nests Then we will recount Our exploits And render accounts accordingly: Of broken shells of egg Of scars of tortoise Like market women...

I have been following keenly the campaign to flush out illegal miners in the mining areas and I have been amazed with some of the discussions. Sometimes, in our effort to find solution to some of the problems that confront us, we end up creating room for people to exploit because of the haste with which we approach the problem.  In Ghana, the way we approach ‘human’ problems with the aim of solving it is simply appalling, to say the least. We often fail to think through the problem and the intended approach or methods thoroughly to identify the best way out. In other words, we don’t define the problem properly. As a result, we are unable to permanently solve the socio-economic problems that confront us. It’s no wonder the approach we use to ‘solve’ the problem only last for a short while that’s why in no time the very problem we claimed to have ‘solved’ suddenly resurfaces again in the same or different form. ‘Galamsey’ simply means surface mining. The 'galamsey' ope...

Is the world watching the attempts being made by the U.S to 'attack' North Korea over the alleged nuclear ambition? Former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussain, was accused of possessing weapons of mass destruction which later turned out to be untrue. U.S attacked that country and the repercussions are still there for us to see. Are we going to see the same thing repeated in North Korea? I hope the UN is watching and would remain quiet as usual because it receives most of its funding from the US. Perhaps the UN has failed the world! Assad of Syria was accused of using chemical weapon on his own people when it was reported that the said weapon including others have been surrendered. Yet US went ahead to launch missiles attack on Syria killing innocent civilians. Does it mean that the US has the right to kill wherever and whenever it can? And when others do same, then it becomes an issue of crimes against humanity? In any case, what constitutes 'crime against humanity?' Is it ...

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has come under severe criticism by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in particular. In the estimation of the NPP, the scheme has ‘collapsed’. Analyst and government officials have put up defence for the scheme insisting that if the scheme as so described to have collapsed would still have people being registered onto it including even members of the NPP. Some of these analysts and NPP commentators or relatives also rely on the NHIS for medical attention and their experience at the various health facilities they may have visited certainly could have formed the basis of their analysis. So they may not be entirely wrong in their conclusion.  Accessing healthcare with the NHIS card comes with some technical challenges especially with regards to where a patient is receiving healthcare falls under primary, secondary or tertiary status. If you are NHIS card holder, you can’t access direct healthcare in hospitals referred to as tertia...

Establishment of private schools is on the increase especially in the area of basic school. Some of these schools are not running the GES curriculum but UK and US.  It is one business venture a lot of people are venturing into as it is easy to make money. The growth in this sector may be good for our education system as it affords parents alternatives to choose from. However, it appears they are not being regulated effectively enough. They have been left entirely in the hands of their owners. Some are operating without license.   When the president, in his first state of the of the nation’s address, indicated that Free SHS policy would start in September for the 2017/18 academic year, private schools are calling for inclusion in the intended policy. In as much as I think they should be granted some incentives in the policy, they must not forget that are into business. Their activities are not supervises effectively so they do everything and get away with it. The pri...

A motorcycle is a two - or three-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport including racing, and off-road riding. – Wikipedia. The use of motorcycle for commercial activities especially commuting passengers known as ‘okada’ has come to stay even though it’s in clear violation of the laws of Ghana. When it first surfaced, it received some amount of objection especially from the Ghana Police Service which tried to even enforce a section of our laws that prohibits the use of the motorbike for commercial purposes. The police argued that if motorbikes should be allowed to operate commercial activities, then that piece of the legislation must be amended to that effect. This issue ended up in Parliament and parliamentarians were even divided over whether or not ‘okada’ should be allowed to operate commercially. While a section was for, another section was against. That notwithstandin...