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Opinions of Friday, 4 November 2011

Columnist: Pobee-Mensah, Tony

Let's fix this racism that has been visited upon us

Sankofa: Let's fix this racism that has been visited upon us.

I am sure by now everyone yearns to get his or her hands on those Italians who are carving a piece of Ghana to make it their own Edelweiss haven. What would be better than stuffing their pockets with a few thousand dollars and dropping them off at Bukom and let the guys have at them. Severe though this may sound, it is a band aid on a much neglected wound that we have inflicted on our selves. Can you imagine this in a Ghana under President Kwame Nkrumah? So where do we go from here?

With haste we must have legislation in place not only to make it illegal to own a racist joint in Ghana; it should make it illegal to belong to one. Foreign owned facilities must be made to conspicuously display signs saying that it is illegal to operate a business based on race, nationality, or ethnic origin as well as illegal to belong to such a facility. Such a requirement will ensure that if operators of such businesses are blinded by money, innocent patrons will be aware of the law and have a chance to extricate themselves from the situation and avoid the consequences. Those hard core racists who patronize such businesses will not be able to claim innocence. Our law makers must get to work now.

Finally, I hope that those Italians will enjoy Ghanaian prisons and will never see any part of Ghana following their prison terms.

Tony Pobee-Mensah