GBC

The Covid-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to political activities as well as other activities in the country. For this reason, political activities and other programmes have been slowed down making it difficult for political and other actors to go about effective campaigns in various parts of the country. This explains why the acclamation by the NPP has to be delayed until last weekend when the National Council of the NPP and other top-ranking officials of the party came together to officially acclaim President Akufo-Addo as the flagbearer of the NPP in the December presidential elections. During the programme, President Akufo-Addo and his running mate Dr Bawumia extolled the achievements of government in all sectors of the economy for which reason Ghanaians are expected to renew their mandate for another four years in line with the constitution of Ghana. This explains why the slogan “Four more for Nana to do more” has been chosen as the campaign theme for the party. The role of p…

As restrictions regarding coronavirus ease for economic and human activities in the country to continue and the December 2020 general elections getting closer, the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP over the weekend held parliamentary primaries in forty-seven constituencies.  Besides the shocking losses experienced by some sitting parliamentarians and possibilities of new entrants to the August House, the primaries also brought to the fore some burning issues. Globally, the Coronavirus has caused more harm to humanity in general than expected. In Ghana, the hardship ordinary Ghanaians are experiencing is unbearable for many.  Democracy arguably comes with enormous challenges known in both theories and practice. Numerous videos captured by the mass media and individual posts on social media outlets over the weekend clearly showed that protocols regarding the pandemic were not observed at the various polling centres by the delegates across the country. Meanwhile, corporate entities, re…

The recently-held primaries of the New Patriotic Party continue to grab the media headlines for two major reasons. First is what some have described as a “tsunami”, the political tidal wave that swept forty of the sitting MPs of the NPP off their seats, come the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic. The other aspect of the elections that continues to make waves and raise concern at all levels of our body politic is the inducement of delegates in the electioneering process. Large amounts of money and consumer goods and, in one trending case, over two hundred bicycles were reported to have exchanged hands, in a bid to influence delegates. One may take a popular line from the repertoire of legendary highlife star, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, and ask, “Wetin dey there?”, for candidates to sell off their houses to finance their bid for parliamentary election. This monetization of politics so pronounced, probably as never before, at even the primaries stage is a cause of worry. The day Parlia…

In 1968, a British Politician Enoch Powell said “the greatest disservice one can do to his nation is to see and not speak.” This statement, though uttered many years ago, is still relevant because of the current happenings in America. The issue of racism has been an age-old canker in the annals of American history. This can be traced to the very moment the first set of slaves arrived on American soil from Africa. The white slave masters subjected these slaves to dehumanizing conditions with the view that they were inferior to them. This notion of inferiority emanated from the fact that these were blacks and they were white. However, what at all is racism? This term, strictly defined refers to the unequal power relations that emerge because of the socio-political domination of one race by another race which result in systematic discriminatory practices. Racism in America has never been defeated even after civil rights activists like Martin Luther king JR. launched relentless crusades …

Dreams, visions, ideas or plans are very essential in the life of individuals, families, communities, nations and even continental blocks. They help shape direction and serve as road map to the attainment of aspirants. It is instructive to state that the creator of the Universe encourages people to dream dreams when He declared in the book of Acts 2:17 that quote “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” Unquote. President Akufo-Addo upon assumption of office envisioned a country where its development will be driven by the ingenuity of Ghanaians leveraging on the nation’s endowed human and natural resources. He believed in a paradigm shift where Ghana will cut down on its dependence on foreign assistance. This belief birthed the now popular vision, Ghana Beyond Aid. The President and his team must be applauded for the bold initiative to change the narra…

For close to three months, almost every aspect of our national life has been shaken by the corona virus. Government based on its understanding of the dynamics of the virus instituted measures and interventions geared towards controlling the spread of the virus and reviving the ailing economy and other sectors like, education, religion and social life. Many skeptics have questioned the effectiveness of government’s programmes towards ending the spread of the virus. They have complained about the unavailability of PPE and the seemingly lack of transparency in the disclosure of the true state of Affairs.  This notwithstanding we have to commend the health experts and the team managing the fight and urge them not to relent in their efforts even as the cases continue to rise. Ghana now has about twelve thousand cases out of the two hundred and fifty-four thousand three hundred and thirty-one (254,331), tests conducted. A total of four thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight (4,258) recoveri…