GBC

A year ago, the whole nation came to a standstill. The land was soaked with unadulterated tears of all well-meaning Ghanaians whose hearts were broken by the demise of a noble, humble and peace-loving President. Indeed the memory of his extra affection for peace turns the tap of tears on any time his name is mentioned. Former President J.A Kufour certainly did not mince words when he described him as one with air of peace around him. He did not only punctuate his speeches with his gospel of peace but his entire lifestyle demonstrated this noble virtue. If there is any time that Prof Mills' message of peace should be relevant for us as a nation, then it is now when Ghanaians are awaiting the Supreme Court verdict on the presidential election petition. Prof Mills' description of peace as a priceless commodity is an understatement. Peace is a sign of development and p…

The National Peace Summit held last Friday to educate Ghanaians on the need to use dialogue instead of violence to resolve conflicts indeed gives cause for hope, given the anxiety as Ghanaians await the verdict of the Supreme Court in the 2012 election petition. On the 31st of this month, counsel for both the petitioners and respondents will be delivering their addresses to enable the nine member panel of the Supreme Court to come out with their final judgement. The Summit organised by the National Peace Council, Manhyia Palace, Civic Forum Initiative and the Institute of Democratic Governance was indeed refreshing having brought together, people of high repute and influence to make peace overtures.

Dominating the speeches was the need for Ghanaians to ensure that the pronouncement of the verdict unite them instead of divide them. Both former President Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor reiterated the need for political dialogue to …

53 years in the life of a person or a country is not a mere achievement that is why we have to rejoice and be glad the Lord has yet again added another year to the life of our country in freedom as a Republican State. More than five decades ago, our colonial masters handed over the baton of leadership to us so that we can make our own decisions and implement them. After many years of presiding over our own affairs, what we see clearly now is political freedom backed by partisanship, coupled with meaningless economic indices and to a large extent some level of social freedom. One wonders what actually might be contributing to our inability to develop our country as expected. It will indeed be out of place to say that God has not given us the right place as a people, because we have all that many a country does not have. Many of the developed and semi-developed countries started with Ghana and some even later and yet t…

The Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman deserves a thunderous applause on her decision to sanction some staff of the Ghana Education Service for absenteeism. The Minister took the decision during an unannounced visit to some basic schools in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions. Some teachers and Head teachers who were not at post during Professor Opoku Agyeman's visit are to be sanctioned by the Director-General of the GES who was part of the Minister's entourage. The Minister observed that supervision seems to have broken down in some schools. Prof. Opoku Agyeman took a decisive decision which most superiors fail to do because they fear to court the displeasure of their subordinates.

Teachers are a group of people seen as role models in society. Students learn largely from their teachers. In recent times however, it appears discipline is not receiving priority …

President Mahama's directive to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to set up a Committee to start prosecuting people cited in the Auditor-General's report for misappropriating state funds scores him another plus. Speaking at the Senior Citizen's luncheon to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Ghana's attainment of Republican status, President Mahama is reported as saying that the move is to send clear signals to people that they could not dip their hands into the state coffers and go scot-free. The 2011 Auditor General report indicates that the country lost more than two billion cedis to financial irregularities. These include cash embezzlement, payroll irregularities, uncovered debts, procurement and tax irregularities by over 80 public boards, Corporation and Institutions. According to the report out of the total figure, misapplication of funds, embezzlements, unverified payments and uncredited bank l…