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Kwaku Baako to Apologise to Gh Submitted on 2008-04-08 10:14:09 Kwaku Baako stands out as a giant epitome of a new brand of journalism in Ghana - parochial, partisan journalism. Not that he is alone in this category – in fact, in Ghana today, his type are in the majority. But he stands out because he is the loudest crusader and propagandist for the government. Kwaku’s zeal and enthusiasm in defending government is legendary. He speaks the loudest and carries the heaviest research documents. I’m wondering whether Paul the Apostle was as fierce in his defense of his new faith. What is Kwaku’s motivation?One has to identify Kwaku’s objective to understand why he does what he does. And this objective is not hidden. To paraphrase his own statement, ‘when I’m finished and done, the NDC would be consigned to the dustbin of history’. According to the wisdom of Mr. Baako Jr., all is fair game as long as it leads to the attainment of this stated objective – the demise of the NDC. His game plan simply is: the end justifies the means.For example, Kwaku claims to be a follower of the CPP political ideology. This claim is doubtful given the zest with which he crusades for NPP which is a party of the UP philosophy. He is either not a true CPP follower, or he does not understand the CPP philosophy or that he has sold his conscience for financial gain or for the attainment of his stated objective – the destruction of the NDC, or he is simply a damn right enthusiastic stooge. Whatever the reasons for Kwaku's muddled confusion of intentions, he has unwittingly labeled himself as a laughable clown whose pronouncements can no longer be taken seriously. He has lost the potency of a journalist, if he ever were one.Talking about journalists, so many "professional journalists" in Ghana really are not worth looking up to. We tend to think in this country, that anyone who can string together two or three grammatically correct sentences and avoid misspelling his/her byline is a journalist. We tend to forget the important aspect of the profession: "journalistic" standards. I’m afraid, Mr. Baaku Jr. has thrown ‘standards’ to the wind. Let me add that Mr. Kofi Coomson, Egbert Faibel, Garby Okyere Darko are part of this breed of journalists who have sold the conscience to the government.There is a mistaken view being bandied about that press freedom was fought for and won by some personalities. This is not true. Press freedom in Ghana was not achieved as a result of the pressure brought to bear on the PNDC government by actors in the local media landscape. When people like Kwaku Baaku Jr. and others like him attempt to portray themselves as heroes of the fight for free speech in Ghana, they are claiming more than their due. Free speech in Ghana was as a result of an era whose time had come. The PNDC government came to the realization that it did not stand to lose anything by relaxing media control. The PNDC government’s desire to prepare Ghana not only to be acceptable in the eyes of the international community, but to gradually integrate it into the comity of nations, was the principal reason for the democratization process and its concomitant freeing of the media.It surprises me therefore that the mere act of abolishing the criminal libel law by the NPP government should be regarded by some Ghanaian journalists (Kwaku Baako’s type) as the end of the struggle for freedom and citizens rights. To the extent that this singular act was enough to let them sell their conscience and to go into bed with the government is simply unpardonable. The media have done a great disserve and injustice to the Ghanaian people. They have been gagged. They have swallowed ill-gotten meals and their throats are choking and they cannot talk for the ordinary citizen. Today, majority of Ghanaians are still poor, they lack access to healthcare and education, they lack housing and water, etc. Law and order seems to be a mirage. Yet Kwaku Baako and his like continue to set the wrong agenda for Ghanaians. Never in the history of a nation has the media been so lame and awfully useless.The other day, I took a look at a headline in the Ghanaian Chronicle and I couldn’t help feeling very sad – sad for PAV Ansah of blessed memory. The poor man must be weeping in his grave. What is Kofi Coomson turning that paper into? From those noble days of the professor, we are witnessing a gradual adulteration of the potency of that paper simple because Mr. Coomson has decided to ordain himself a mini deity, while dwelling on trivialities. Did you hear him the other day quixotically saying he could not entrust the destiny of Ghana into the hands of Akufo Addo? I was simply scandalized. Who does he think he is?As gate keepers and agenda setters, Ghanaians expect better from the media. Kwaku Baako, Kofi Coomson, Garby Okyere Darko, Egbert Faibel, please live up to expectation. Apologise fo Ghanaians for your sins. All of Ghana is watching you. The day of reckoning is coming!
Cry heartless, Cry Callous! Submitted on 2007-11-29 05:59:50 (modified 2007-11-29 06:01:28) Have we become heartless, callous, insensitive and impervious? Or have we always been? I'm just wondering! See, the other day - no, it's everyday - there is this or the other act of brutality, of savegery, of absolute inhumanity. An innocent, defenseless child is killed for ritual purposes, another is killed for still from her auntie, another for not accounting properly for the sale of ice water. Raped, defiled, abused - in the hundreds on a daily basis across the country. Enslaved, sent to the boats, diving deep under the waters, hewing stones, carting heavy loads, selling ice water. Hungry, starving! School is a taboo. Childhood stolen! We see all these things with our eyes, we smell them, we touch them, we breath them, we feel them, yet we show no emotion. We just go about our business as normal. What haven't we seen before? It's like returning from a war, says the soldier - death sends no palpitation to the heart, not a single tear! A dead body means nothing to the mortuary man. Oh cry heartless, cry callous, cry insensitive, cry impervious! For the things that are being done, if the same things were done in America, the reaction would have been different. There, the other day, a man was killed and it became worldwide news, in the Portugal, a girl got missing, and it became worldwide news, miners were trapped in the bowels of the earth - it became worldwides and we sympathized and sent our condolences. What hits a cord as breaking news in America, same is treated as no news in Ghana. Are we less human? Have we allowed poverty to rob us of our humanity?
Was it an Accident? Submitted on 2007-11-15 07:37:30 (modified 2007-11-15 07:49:01) It was another very day ordinary day, just like any other. People were going about their normal business, ordinarily. The only difference was that on this day, Our President was involved in a motor accident. Luckily, he was unharmed. I sympathize with the president from the bottom of my heart. However, rather than sitting down and sympathizing with the president and with the many more victims gone before, and surely yet to come, I thought I might just have to put this on record. An accident is an unforeseen occurrence. It is common sense that if the stone that is lying on the road in daytime is not removed, it will surely cause you to stumble at night. And so, when night came and you stumbled, was that an accident? It is a symbol of power abuse for one person to inconvenience so many others on a daily basis on a public driveway. You know, this mentality that you are important when everybody else must give way and stand at attention because you are passing by. For me, it is simply a mark of a ruler and his subjects situation. This does not happen in the countries we aspire to be like, but only in Africa. Yet again, if all the rush and the resultant risk to innocent Ghanaians by the president's convoy was just so to enable him meet with some lousy good-for-nothing chiefs from Wassa Fiase and Birim, then what really was the point? What were they at the castle for? We are so confused in this country. How can we develop with this kind of attitude? Just imagine the things for which they came to thank the president - for ensuring the construction of the Agona Junction-Tarkwa road, upgrading the Tarkwa School of Mines into a university, the elevation of Tarkwa into a municipality and for creating a new district in the Bogoso area. The delegation from Birim was at the castle to thank the president for appointing Mrs Esther Oben Dapaah as Minister of Lands, Mines and Forestry and for the creation of the Birim North district. This doesn't make sense in any serious country. And then we complain that we got our independence at the same time as Malaysia - can such a thing happen in Malaysia? Think of it, why should a delegation of chiefs go and thank the president for doing what he is suppose to do? Did the president do them a favour? If Ghanaians continue to hold the perception that the president holds the resources of the country in his fist and decides at his own will and convenience, who should get what, then there is a big problem. This attitude is the root of corruption and our underdevelopment. Ghana will be on the right path to development if the next president will be bold enough to outlaw this sycophantic practice which we pretend is part of national cultural heritage. Elsewhere, Ghanaian children are still walking the streets, hewing stone at quarries, selling iced water on our streets, and being molested by adults - in 10 to 15 years' time, these children will certainly not have the required skills to help develop Ghana. They will then increase the dependency ration and some might just simply be a threat to society. At that time, can we say we didn't see it coming? Just as we didn't the president's accident coming!
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