A SIXTY-ONE YEAR OLD DIRTY COUNTRY: When every public property looks like a notice board in the eyes of the African - WILLIAMS OSEI, WILLS ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION - WAF AFRICA

Writer: Williams Osei, Executive Director WAF Africa

Date: 6^th February, 2018

It is very unfortunate and unpleasant that in this part of the world, a number of critical issues are not given the “oxygen of attention”. This attitude of many of us has gone a long way to affect the African continent negatively. With all seriousness, I must echo and make it clear that in order for Africa to move forward and get where it is expected to be, we must get people who will not fear to call a spade a spade at any wrong acts! Ellen G. White said it better, “The greatest want of the world is the want of men - men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.” Education 57.3. 

Our beloved country Ghana is over sixty years, yet only few of her citizens are willing and brave to stand for what is right and true. We have not gone so far in terms of development, yet we are seriously destroying the little we have acquired. It is very unethical and shameful looking at how public properties are handled in Africa, especially Ghana. A number of Ghanaians, most especially the educated who should know better do not take proper care of public properties. In fact, it is a disgrace to see posters smeared and splattered on the walls along roadsides, overheads, interchanges, footbridges, public buildings etc. in a sixty-year-old country as if every public property were a notice board in the eyes of the African – Is Africa Thinking Right?

On April 23, 2017, at a durbar organized by Nii Kojo Ababio V, James Town Mantse and President of the James Town Traditional Council, the president of the republic of Ghana, H. E. Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, made this declaration and I quote, “The commitment I want to make, and for all of us to make, is that by the end of my term in office, Accra will be the cleanest city on the entire African continent. This is the commitment I make to you.” These were the words of our president. Thinking deeper into his commitment, I do not think he was talking about making our pavements clean and leaving our walls dirty or making our walls clean and leaving our pavements dirty. This is due to the fact that, a clean pavement(floor) with dirty walls is still a dirty place. This can be likened to “a person who brushes his teeth twice every day and refuses to bath. The value is the same”, says a friend.  In order for us to implement what the President spoke about, we have to make sure as Ghanaians that both our walls and pavements are clean. This will help us to achieve our set objective of making Accra and the entire nation clean. As said by Julia McNair Wright, “…there can be no real beauty without neatness and order”. Ghanaians must learn to be neat by doing what is right.” We should learn to handle public properties the same way we would handle our own properties. IS AFRICA THINKING RIGHT?

It is Sunday morning, as I walk on the streets of Accra, the capital city of the sixty-year-old country, Ghana. I see the untoward act of some Ghanaians. Who could have done this? I asked. I drew closer and what I saw was very appalling. I nearly cried. Could this be an act of a church? I thought they say “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” How could a church do this? Was it looking nice in your eyes after defacing our overheads, footbridges, interchange and walls with posters? I asked the second time. Did Ghanaians ask for “sticker or poster painting designs”? Well, maybe Ghanaians have decided to do “sticker painting” by coating all public properties with posters. – IS AFRICA THINKING RIGHT? Did the church splatter these posters on its own church building the same way it has defaced our capital city? I asked the third time. Aww! Africa! Why should people be allowed to do whatever they like at the expense of their respective countries and our beloved continent, Africa. Someone should start thinking right!

An open letter to Bishop Charles Agyinasare and the Perez Chapel International

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           I speak with all humility and with the love I have for our country and the African continent as a whole. Although very difficult but I will say, Bishop Charles Agyin Asare and the Perez Chapel International, what you have done to Accra city is unacceptable. It's unethical. It's a “NO NO NO!” with all due respect. You did not deface your church buildings with posters and stickers the same way you have done to the capital city of Ghana, Accra. I want to strictly condemn others who do, have done and are preparing to do same. It is not ethical, it is not right. In fact, it is a sin, James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is a sin. The opposite is true, whoever knows the wrong thing and does it, to him it’s a sin. My father, Bishop Charles Agyin Asare, I am not against you, your church or your program. I’m against the act of your church making Accra “dirty”. In fact, if my church repeats the same mistake, I won’t write a short article like this, I will write a book. Let us do the right thing, Ghana is sixty already. – Someone should start thinking Right!

 

An Open letter to the Students of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
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It is so sad that in our part of the world, those who mostly misbehave are those who should know better. I am making noise about an act of a church, come to my school, University of Cape Coast and see for yourself.  I thought they say “Tertiary education is to help shape our thinking, enhance our ability to differentiate between wrong and right ...”  I cannot condemn people who are outside the university for the act of pasting poster on public properties and leave the university student who should know better. You would be surprised that for students of the University of Cape Coast, they have chosen to paste these posters in their lecture theaters, where they study. It is like defacing the walls of your bedroom with these posters. What is wrong with the African mind? That we destroy whatever we set our eyes on. How can a lecture theater, where the future leaders of our beloved country are trained be dirty like this? The African university student must think and think right? 

Despite the fact that it is no news to see posters at unaccepted and unauthorized places in Africa most especially Ghana, we are unable to condemn such acts because most of us are agents of such poor conducts. It is very obvious that a number of our leaders have seen such unacceptable acts, not only in Accra, but throughout the country especially the regional capitals which happen to be filled with a number of educated Ghanaians but have remained dumb about these acts. Who is to blame?

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The Ghanaian citizen. Those who are making our cities dirty are not foreigners. We are responsible for our own problems. Ghanaians who do not directly participate in such unethical act, do not condemn it. We cannot blame anyone else apart from ourselves. We should take responsibility fellow Ghanaians. Is Africa thinking?

       The Ghanaian University Student. In a number of our tertiary institutions, students do not see anything wrong with defacing walls of school buildings, lecture theaters, trees and walls with posters and stickers. What breaks my heart is that, those who do not directly participate do not speak against it. Someone should start using his mind rightly. Ghana is sixty years already. 

         Political Parties and their leaders. During elections, Political parties do not see anything wrong with pasting political stickers and posters anywhere in the country. Leaders of the various political parties such as NPP, NDC, CPP, PNC etc. do not condemn this unethical act by their follower during elections. This has made it very difficult for the President, H.E. Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo and some key people in the various political parties such as Former President John Dramani Mahama, Members of Parliament etc. to condemn it today. They were once the main agents of the act in question.  Let us change from our bad deeds. Africa is sixty already, let us walk the talk. Is Africa thinking?

·        Movie directors, Producers and Actors. Our brothers who are into movie acting are no saints in this act. They also paste stickers and posters of their new movies anywhere in the country. This is unethical with all due respect. We must learn, Ghana is sixty years already. 

  

      Churches and Pastors. Churches and individual pastors also do same, they “paint” public properties with posters. Anywhere they find a space they deface with stickers and posters. But the unfortunate thing is that, they do not do same to their respective church buildings. Woow, “take good care of your properties and spoil that of the nation” Says the bible? 

            Individuals and families.  It is not uncommon to see posters of deceased people on public properties in Ghana. This is usually done by individuals and families. We must end it. It is unethical. 

·         Government Organizations. Government Organizations such as Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), National Commission for Civic education (NCCE) are also agents of such unethical act. During elections, the Electoral Commission of Ghana sees nothing wrong with pasting of notices and posters at any place in the country. NCCE is no different when they want to educate the general public on some important issues.

      Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies. The various Municipal Assemblies are responsible to take proper care of any public property in their municipality or district. They usually turn a blind eye to these unethical issues of people pasting posters on Government properties. So I ask, has the Accra Metropolitan Assembly seen the unethical act by the Perez Chapel International Church and other individuals?  Someone must start thinking right!

          Let us try to keep the nation clean. Ghana deserves better. Is Africa thinking right?

Suggestions to my beloved country Ghana

a.       The problem at hand can help government to generate revenue. Government can make some large and mini notice boards for people who wish to advertise with banners and stickers to rent for the duration of their respective programmes. 

b.      There must be laws that restrain citizens from defacing any public property with posters. They should rent what government has made as suggested in (a).

c.       People who disobey and deface any public property with any sticker or poster must be prosecuted.

d.      People who have already defaced our cities with posters must be instructed to remove them without leaving even a piece on any wall. We shouldn’t only make noise about the problem at hand. We should walk the talk.

e.       Ghanaians must walk the talk of cleanliness as it is next to Godliness. Ghana can be the cleanest country on the land of Africa if only Ghanaians decide to make it so. We are our own problems. Let’s start thinking right.

f.        The various Municipal/District Assemblies should make sure people do not deface public properties in their municipality/ District respectively. 

g.      We can also place huge fines on such acts to prevent people from repeating what has happened.

Organization: Wills Anti-corruption Foundation (WAF Africa)

Writer: Williams Osei, Executive Director

Editors: Giov’HONEY (Spoken Word Artist) & Doris Anderson

Email: wafghana2017@gmail.com , wafghafrica@gmail.com

Tel: + 233 545 322 678

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Wills Anti-corruption Foundation is a non-profit organization that pursues to help Africa  fight poor leadership, corruption, injustice, laziness, poor ethics and other poor attitudes among Africans especially Ghanaians through public education. We undertake the above duty through

•  Public lectures/Seminars

•  Research and writing of educative articles

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WILLS ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION - WAF AFRICA

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