Water Is Life 2

Imagine  the earth without water, all living things would just die and that would be the end of humankind. But are we doing our very best to protect our water sources? We keep on repeating the mantra “water is life” and we look on unconcerned whiles our sources of drinking water are polluted by illegal miners, people in our communities through the dumping of waste material and dangerous and hazardous chemicals. We are the same people who will be calling for help the moment our taps stop flowing and we do not get water to do our many household chores. Imagine you not taking your bath for a whole day because there is no water, you can not wash your dirty clothes, no water for cooking and what even baffles me is that whiles we need water urgently, treated water is always used for flushing the water closet. The worst of it all is that thirst  can kill more quickly than hunger. One can go without food for a long time, but can not survive without water for a short time. Your whole body smells when you do not take your bath for the whole day, and not to talk about you not getting water to brush your teeth. Water is indeed life and this precious gift has been given to humankind, but it seems we are not being grateful by polluting our water sources, and cutting down the trees along the banks of our rivers.  I had to write this post due to the current water shortage in my city, Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana for the past three weeks and it seems the situation keeps on getting worse. The rains are not falling and all the taps have stopped flowing. We fear a cholera epidemic might break out due to certain insanitary conditions that may come up as a result of the water shortage. We need water to survive. Do not be surprised when you see me carrying water on my head. Let us do our very best to conserve our water sources because when the last drop of water finishes humankind will cease to exist.

World Malaria Day.

The world celebrates World Malaria Day on the 26th of May every year, and the year 2013 has been no exception. Africa is the continent where the Malaria disease is very prevalent, and this disease kills more people than the deadly HIV AIDS Virus. Every year whiles this day is celebrated, the focus is always on the distribution of anti malaria mosquito nets to the people whiles neglecting the root causes of the disease. Why distribute mosquito nets whiles we still have choked drains all over the country. Have we forgotten that mosquitoes breed in stagnant water. We live in a continent where the masses are taken for granted and left to their fate any time they face problems such as the outbreak of epidemics and other contagious diseases. These mosquito nets being distributed to the people are being supplied by a so called charitable Non Governmental Organization, but the government is paying for them with the tax payers money, so it is not free. Why sleep in a mosquito net whiles just behind or in front of your house, all your gutters are choked with both liquid and solid waste, and these are the breeding grounds for the malaria causing mosquitoes? Most governments on the African continent lack the political will to take certain decisions that would go a long way to make our environment clean. An example would be the clearing of illegal structures in areas as those squatters pose a major risk to the environment. These people end up polluting the drains in their areas with both liquid and solid waste. These same people would then call on the government to come to their aid any time there is a flood. The earlier we as individuals took our destinies into our hands and desilt the choked drains in our areas to allow for the free flow of water, the better it would be for us. Our governments should stop this piecemeal approach towards the eradication of the malaria disease by encouraging the use of mosquito nets rather than tackling the root causes of the disease. All hands need to be on deck for the fight against this deadly insect which is killing more people on the African continent. Just some humor: Mosquito means “Little Fly” and Malaria means “Bad Air”. Lets give a true meaning to the celebration of World Malaria Day by putting in place measures to get rid of all mosquitoes on the African continent, but not by the distribution of mosquito nets from which a foreign company outside Africa is benefiting financially from. These nets are not even manufactured in Africa, that’s the irony of the situation we are facing now.

MY FIRST DAY IN U.C.C.

 

The dream of every young man is to continue his education to the highest level. Upon completing the Senior High School, I hopefully applied and gained admission into my school of choice which is the University of Cape Coast and I thereby wish to describe my first day in this institution in this essay.

            On the 19th day of August, 2012, I reported to school even though it was some few days after the stated date to report. It was a Sunday and it not being a working day, I had nowhere to go than to head to my hall of affiliation which is the Oguaa Hall. I reported at the porter’s lodge and I was given a temporal room to stay for the night. I was given a room on the ‘G’ block numbered 55 which is actually for males only. I was the first to occupy that room. To be honest, when I entered the room, I knew there was no way staying in that room with others will be comfortable. For a moment, I pictured my room back home and then compared it with the room I will be spending most of my life in now. The room was so dusty since it had no occupant.

After unpacking my things, I went out to take some passport pictures which were used to fill any document if the need arises. I was fortunate to have a friend who has been in the University for some time now, who offered to take me around the campus to show me the various lecture theaters and other buildings in the school including the other five halls of affiliation on campus. After he showed me around, I headed back to my hall.

            I began to feel a little bit nostalgic upon getting to the hall due to the conditions in the hall not withstanding my room and passing the night there alone. I was willing to endure and also act as a man to withstand all these unpleasant conditions since I was told back then at home that no condition is permanent. Before the day came to an end, the unfortunate thing happened. I was not aware that I was supposed to leave the key in the lock when I opened the door since the door will automatically lock when the key is not at the entrance and I found myself in that situation. The only thing that came to mind was to report it to the porter which I did but the only solution I got was that since it’s not a working day, there was no carpenter around to break the door down so I had to wait till Monday morning. I settled down for a moment to recover from such an unfortunate incident and after all what happened, I did not even have the appetite for food so the best thing I did was to take my bath and go to sleep. I could not wait to see the rise of the morning sun that day.

            Although my first day in the University of Cape Coast was not a pleasant one, it was at least a day I would never forget as long as my stay on this campus is concerned.

(As written by Ahmed Toffic, a Level 100 student from the University of Cape Coast.)

The Rainy Season Is Here Again.

Ghana experiences the harmattan and the rainy seasons and these two weather patterns have an impact on all aspects of the life of the people living in the country. The rainy season in particular sometimes delay and our meteorologists sometimes attribute these changes in the weather pattern to the climate change phenomenon. They often give weather predictions and people are made aware of the changing weather pattern so that they schedule their daily activities so as prepare very well for an impending storm or heavy downpour. But the question i have here is that, are we prepared for the rainy season? Reports of floods in some of the major cities are very rife on the airwaves and in the newspapers, what are we doing as good citizens to make sure the perennial flooding in some of our major towns and cities is reduced to the barest minimum. Accra and Kumasi are no exceptions to flooding in Ghana. When this occurs, lives are lost and properties worth millions of Ghana Cedis are destroyed by the raging floods. The government is then called in to come to the aid of the affected citizens, but they only provide relief items and usually do not tackle the root causes of the problem. The government lacks the political will to pull down or demolish structures built on water ways, prosecute people who divert the courses of rivers and streams, and put in place measures to prevent or deter people from dumping refuse into the drains and unauthorized places. As a result of all these negative practices which the government is unable to curtail, most of the drains and gutters in some of the major cities are choked with refuse and liquid waste, and the impending rains are bound to cause more havoc. So as an individual and a Ghanaian living in our dear country, how prepared are you in your own small way to make sure that you do not fall victim to this perennial flooding in the towns and cities? The most amazing and surprising thing is that, when the floods happen and lives and properties are lost, that’s when the solutions are prescribed by both the government and the people. Are you prepared to pull down your house which you have built on the waterway through the connivance of some corrupt Town and Country Planning official, who took some bribe from you and gave you the green light to put up your structure? Are we also willing to help desilt the gutters in our communities before the onset of the rains? It seems the sense of communal labor that used to exist in our communities some time back is no more as most people are just sitting there waiting for the government to come and desilt their drains or gutters for them? I believe and think that we are simply not prepared fro the oncoming rains. We are behaving like the vulture who has no proper place of abode but tells itself when it starts raining, that tomorrow it will build its nest, but just as the rain stops, it goes back to perch on the tree and forgets that it rained. God bless Ghana, amen.

Should God Go On Strike?

I have to write this piece due to the ongoing situation of labour agitations in my dear country, Ghana. The current strike actions embarked upon by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Ghana Medical Association have really brought about some sort of tension in the country. Other labour unions have served notice of embarking on similar actions if their concerns are not addressed by the government. But despite all these agitations going on in the country by these unions exercising their constitutional rights, what if the Almighty Father Himself decides to also go on strike, then humankind would be doomed for ever? Our oxygen supply would be no more, the rain would not fall, no trees would grow, animals would die, the sun would not shine again, and there would be no water and food for the survival of humankind, in fact humankind would cease to exist. All living things would just die. We do not pay God Almighty for all the things that He has given to us on this earth but He is very patient and merciful towards us though we keep on sinning and not doing things according to His commands. Its simple, we just can’t pay God for all that he has provided and keeps on providing for us. God demands no ex-gratia, per-diem or monthly salary from us, but yet still He keeps His part of the promise He has made to us, and we on numerous occasions go against him by committing the same sins that we begged Him to forgive us. God Almighty loves humankind and even sent down His son to die for our sins, so He would never go on strike, and we are thankful to Him for that.

The government should as a matter of urgency meet all the aggrieved labour unions and settle their differences, being they allowance arrears, salary arrears retention premiums etc etc. But i am so much disappointed in the institutions such as the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Emoluments Commission as to why they have to wait for such a situation to get to this critical stage before they decide to go to the negotiating table? Ghana is indeed at a critical stage in her democratic journey and all these agitations must be settled with cool heads. I am very well convinced and i have the firm belief that God Almighty would never go on strike. God bless my homeland Ghana, amen.

It Is An “Animal Farm” World In Ghana.

I did not want to wade into the current situation in our dear country, but for sometime now sadness has engulfed my heart and it seems i can’t be mute and look on while our leaders and politicians rob our nation in the name of democracy, hence my decision to write this piece. As i write this article, i feel we have totally lost it as a nation since those we elected to our legislature and the government seems to be very insensitive to the plight of the masses.Do we understand democracy at all? Why should democracy be used as a tool by our politicians to empty the nation’s coffers? Since the beginning of this year, several groups of government workers and unions have threatened to lay down their tools, and some have actually carried out their threats. Mention could be made of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Tertiary Education Workers Union (TEWU), University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), in fact the list is endless. It seems whenever a group threatens to embark on a strike action, that’s the moment you hear of the Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. So what are they being paid for? Why wait for the situation to get out of hand before you try to find a solution to it? In my opinion, these two institutions mandated to look into the emoluments of workers are not working, but rather sleeping on the job. Now back to the substantive issue of Ghana now being turned into an “Animal Farm”. I am still baffled as to why workers go on strike over unpaid allowances and salaries, then the government comes out to tell them that there is no money in the state coffers, but the government is able to pay the exgratia of parliamentarians. It seems we have two classes of human beings in Ghana currently, and the “Animal Farm” method is being applied here. Four legs good, two legs bad. So ti means that some groups of people are more important than others. With this mentality, do you think workers would have sympathy for the government? My answer is a big NO. Why the special dispensation for the so called “Article 71” office holders which includes parliamentarians, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, President, Vice President etc etc? Now every educated young man or woman is being tagged as a thief by our folks from the rural areas, because the rural folks toil for the economic sustenance of the country, but end up not benefiting. Why do you build a “Cocoa Clinic” in Accra which is not a cocoa producing area, whilst the cocoa growing areas lack even a basic health center? In my opinion, we have lost it as a nation and until we get a leader who would be sensitive to the plight of the masses who don’t have access to health, water, electricity, education, good roads etc, we would continue to live in this “Animal Farm” world.