Hello Osagyefo,

A lot has happened since I last wrote to you. Chief among them, the Beijing Olympics just ended over the weekend. I share in your disappointment; our beloved country failed to win a single medal. Either our athletes are not good enough to earn our national anthem some airtime on the world stage or we are not investing enough in various sports disciplines so that we can be counted amongst countries with medals. We went there to make up the numbers. But we didn't even have the numbers - our contingent was less than a score (Ha, always wanted to use this expression). In the meantime, our current president handed out a ton of medals recently to about 200 people who have served our nation in various ways. Each 18 carat gold medal cost 33,000 pounds. Here's a good debate Kwame: should we have spent this gold medallion money on our athletes instead to save face at the Olympics? Are the Olympics that important or we should rather cherish celebrating our national heroes?

I will not be dwelling on these 'medals' in this blog, it has gotten enough publicity. The last time I was in DC, I was talking to my cousin and a friend, and the issue of 'working' came up. This was in the context of working for someone you didn't know or your family/relative. Many of us work for someone else. We all can't be Kwabena Darko, Appiah Menkah or Alhaji Asuma Banda or the new school Mark Zuckerberg and the other entrepreneurial gems we can think of. Some of us have to earn our lifetime earnings being 'bossed' over. It's normal and it is what we are used to.

People complain that Ghana as a country doesn't take good care of its sportsmen. Even in football, we always hear of stories where our stars get into conflicts with the authorities over winning bonuses, air travel, amongst other things. Imagine our sportsmen who represent Ghana in the 'lesser' sports. An argument can be made that our sportsmen should take ownership of Ghana's sports and understand the financial trouble we are in, so that they can pay some more sacrifices. If that holds true for our sportsmen, it holds very true for workers all across Ghana as well.

Osagyefo, let's study the different types of workers in Ghana. Which group do you think takes more ownership of their work and firm? A lot of Ghanaians work in family businesses or in the public service. In the public service domain, workers are famous for not being enthused about working hard because "EyE aban adwuma, EnyE me deE" (it is government work, it is not mine). Those who work for themselves or their families work much harder, because they have control of the earnings and returns. But even there, there is a lot of room for complacency. In the private sector, even though it is better than the public domain, attitudes to work are not the best. The idea of "monkey dey work, baboon dey chop" is engrained in our psyche enough to prevent us from giving our all.

Let's compare workers in Ghana to those in America for a moment. Do you think Ghanaians working in America work harder than those in Ghana? Why is that? Maybe it is because for the most part, they don't know their bosses and their bosses have no sympathy for them. So even though they may hate their boss in America more often than they will in Ghana, they work harder for him/her anyway. The same thing happens in cases where you have foreign-owned companies in Ghana. One would argue that the rewards working for these foreign entities are higher, so I would throw the gauntlet down to our Ghanaian employers to produce more incentives for their workers. We must choose wisely here, or we'll face many more Kufuor-50 Cent stories.

One underlying factor though is the issue of discipline. Discipline is the foundation of many Ghanaian problems. Ghanaians are too nice sometimes and tend to tolerate a lot of nonsense. We tolerate mediocrity, we accept small glories, we wish upon stars and leave control of our lives and improvement in the hands of others. We need more discipline in the workplace, we need to discipline our brothers and sisters, our friends, our workers, and our colleagues. Kwame, interestingly, we know how to discipline, we swear on our last breaths that we will not be defeated by the noise about 'abuse and cardinal punishment'. "Me, my kids, I will beat them". And beat them he/she would. Do we not understand the tenets of discipline? We know how to use the rod but can't seem to use it for the right reasons or at the right times.

Kwame, we need better work attitudes in Ghana, across the board, in all industries, in all disciplines, and both in the public and private sector. We are able to do this and we should follow through for the betterment of our nation. We may not be rewarded with 'bling bling' but we'll build a better country which would support the kinds of lives we hope for and the dreams we aspire to.

Let's get to work,
Maximus.

Here comes my first non-museke/music related blog post, say yay! Post is from my blog (that I just started) - Why so serious - blogs of a MighTy African

The Olympics is totally the biggest sporting event. Some may argue for the World Cup, but even though the Mundial is grand and is centered around the passion of the nation (aka football), all other sports have some different fans who pay attention to the Olympics. For instance, I have a couple of friends who could care less about football but will stop work to watch Michael Phelps and the 100 metre sprint.

I didn't catch the opening ceremony, it's always the greatest spectacle of celebration. Ghana's contingent was very small and they were clad in kente. I've heard people complaining about the choice of attire, about how kente has been accepted by the greater Black community and we can't claim it anymore. Nonsense! People should know we are the originators! :-) The Ghanaian contingent held their own, you can't miss us, we are colourful and we stand out.

I was very disappointed the Black Meteors failed to make it to the Olympic soccer tournament. We have a lot of good young players but we fell short to our West African friends from Nigeria. We rejoiced like maniacs when we sent them packing at the African Cup of Nations but this absence at the Olympics was a great return shot from the Naija peoples. I wish the Nigerian Dream Team the best as they go for Olympic glory.

Ghana's bread and butter at the Olympics is amateur boxing. Bukom sure does churn out a ton of boxers, the kenkey is the key. People generalize a lot of Ghanains to be short and stout, go to James Town and see. It seems we'll lose out on a boxing medal too, what happened to the kenkey, folks? Ghana has 4 all-time Olympic medals, silver (2) and bronze (2). We were the first African country to medal in soccer (Barcelona 92) and then in the subsequent editions, Nigeria (Atlanta 96) and Cameroun (Sydney 2000) shut us up with gold medals.

vida anim carrying ghana flag at beijing olympics 2008 As if not having enough representatives at the Olympics wasn't enough bad news, Vida Anim (our flagbearer) boycotted the 200m citing lack of support from the Ghanaian authorities. Apparently, our prayers and support is not enough. We all know we don't have money to fund every sport and there are bigger priorities so this is bound to happen. Sometimes, we have to look at separate cases and support success and progress. Vida Anim could have been great but she feels she is not being rewarded. Does she have a free meal compared to the athletes from Jamaica? Well, the difference is Jamaica actually takes their athletics program seriously. What do we as Ghanaians take seriously? Am not talking sitting around discussing tactics for football games, but putting our money and effort where our mouths are.

Check out the website of Ghana's female really team for the 4x100m. According to them, mismanagement, bad luck, and losing of the team spirit prevented them from fulfilling their potential. We shouldn't lay the blame solely on management and the powers that be, they try - the contingent was promised cash rewards, 20,000 GhC for a gold, 15,000 for a silver and 10,000 cash for a bronze. You could argue that they needed the monetary support to win the medals and not the promise of rewards after they achieved the medal.

The make-up of the contingent is as follows: three athletes — sprint queen, Vida Anim, male sprinters Aziz Zakari and Seth Amoo and their coach; six boxers — Bastie Samir, Issa Samir, Manyo Plange, Ahmed Saraku, Samuel Kotey-Neequaye and Prince Octopus Dzanie and their technical handlers, as well as a team doctor and a physiotherapist.

There is a joke about how Ghana and Nigeria ended up in West Africa and Ethiopia and Kenya ended up in East Africa. A long long time ago, Africans entered into a race for settlement and land from Africa's West Coast. The Ghanaians and Nigerians shot out of the blocks, sprinting and leaving the other countries in their wake. About a quarter of the way into the race, they got tired and settled in what is now West Africa. The Ethiopians and Kenyans were rather slow and lagged behind but with their superior endurance, they made it past Lake Victoria all the way to the East Coast. That is why the West Africans excel in the sprints and the East Africans are excellent in the long distance races. True story.

It seems we are okay in the sprints and boxing sports. We need to invest some more money into these sports because we have to be counted in the Olympics. We've not won a medal in 16 years - I shock, shy, conf extra. Why do we need to win something at the Olympics? Because Togo did. Cameroun did. You know won too. It would be good for our development, our psyche, our well-being, our patriotism.

How well do you think new technology can be implemented in Ghana? Waiting for new gurus to emerge? You can be part of the design team. Mail to nanapee2@hotmail.com

What do you think hampers the patronage of Open Source in Ghana?

...Sounds on da ground and seens on the see-ins

There has been a lot of controversy in Ghana lately about the recent National Honours Awards and who deserves awards and who should be giving them out. Naturally, we would want 'Ghana' to give out these awards and not the president of the nation or a bunch of people with various interests. So what if Ghana was a person? What would Ghana have to say to its people? If Ghana was a monarchy, the king would be Ghana. We don't have that. My buddy, Okyeame Kwame personifies Ghana in his Kwame Ghana song and tells us what Ghana has to say to its people. 6th march 1957 was a Wednesday while July 1st, 1960 was a Friday. Maybe Kwame Ghana's message sums up the thoughts of Okyeame Kwame, who after all is a Ghanaian as well.

Okyeame Kwame is a hiplife musician from Ghana. He is an original member of Akyeame, one of the first rap duos in Ghana. He's one of Ghana's finest rappers and one of the most respected. His first solo album was Bohye ba and he followed it this year with M'awensem (my poetry). Songs on his second album take the form of stanzas (mostly four lines). Some of his tracks include Medo mmaa nanso mempe mmaa, Woso, Odo nkyen, Tutu, Mbre, Mate ahwe ne do mu, Hello Maame, etc.

Kwame Ghana starts out like a dirge. Kwame Nsiah Appau is not happy about the current state of Ghana. He argues that Ghana is not happy with itself, apparently, it (he/she) is dying. The lives being lived by its children is killing Ghana softly. Okyeame Kwame talks about a number of social vices bedevilling Ghana and many other issues it is facing. According to him, Ghana is not alone as he mentions various African countries who he believes are in more or less the same predicament.

Okyeame makes a reference to monarchies. He talks about how a chief sells a piece of land to two different people. This is a small window to present the larger problem of land ownership. Prices of land in Ghana are shooting through the roof, especially around the metropolitan areas. The land tenure system has failed to do its job and different peopel claim to own different pieces of land. This is one of the greatest bottlenecks facing local and foreign investors alike. We need to get our land ownership system more organized and in turn push for better expansion of our metropolitan areas and planning of new settlements and communities.

The journalists and media are not left out as they are accused of fanning the partisan and tribal conflicts in Ghana. Kwame Ghana calls out to his doctors to have mercy on his citizens by accepting their salaries and desisting from strikes, etc. The people who pay the doctors are different from those who normally benefit from their services. The people who pay the doctors don't use the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye facilities and they don't seem concerned about upgrading their facilities to an appreciable level. These people can't be the Ghana that is crying out to. The Ghana personified in Okyeame Kwame's song consists of the common Ghanaian who doesn't have access to the best medical facilities, education or financial opportunities. They won't be giving car loans because they wouldn't earn enough to pay them back and they don't have the financial muscle to benefit fully from the transport systems. They also have to live with the bad transport infrastructure which while improving, is not up to par.

Kwame Ghana is standing at the Kotoka Airport and admiring the faces of people travelling to seek greener pastures abroad and those returning to visit families. Increasingly, more people are coming to seek opportunities in Ghana where they believe they can become the next Ernest Chemists, Unique Trust or Databank. Ghana has seen its children through their education, bearing most of the cost and watches them send their skills abroad for better compensation. Ghana is too disorganized and nepotismized for an average person to make it. How can we retain our talent? If there is no space for them at home, can we at least have a say in what they do with the skill, where they achieve further training and enjoy the benefits?

The Rap Doctor could not leave out corruption which seems to be the biggest symptom in many ailing African countries. He starts with the government as usual and how they misuse money allocated for building and tidying up him aka Ghana the person. There are many instances of money mismanagement. For a start, we need to dedicate more money to the GETFund, we should not hold up the progress of our educational facilities for ransom. We have to follow through with all the good ideas, the school feeding program, National Health Insurance Scheme, amongst others. We don't want garnished walls and beautiful gardens when we can't pay our electricity bills or afford a generator.

In an indication that the moral decadence in Ghana has reached another level, Okyeame complains about same-sex marriages as well. He laments sexual relations at work (managers and secretaries) which ultimately lead to broken homes. Some people may see the latter situation as a class-leveller, a secretary who is in the middle class enjoys some rich class privileges as per her relations with her boss. How many stories had you heard of people in Ghanaian companies rising through the ranks to take up more responsibility? Look at our government, it's a rotation of positions and there is little initiative and creativity in growing our ministries, businesses and communities.

For some of you, Ghana is not dying. Okyeame Kwame and I will like to hear arguments to the contrary. Like I argued in my last blog entry, Ghana has a lot going on. The Ghana is crying out to its children not to neglect it and support it through thick and thin. We have to be more responsible, disciplined, self-sufficient and organized. We don't want our country to sing out dirges for our schools, hospitals, etc. Collectively, we can give Ghana life and a life worth living.

Full Kwame Ghana lyrics, audio.
Photo by Cimpsy

Do you think the advent of Linux/Open Source will help Africa caught up with technological advancements in the "West"? Let me know your reasons?

Hey Osagyefo,

Please don't put me into your bad books due to this long silence. I have been thinking about you but I was preoccupied with thinking about my classes rather than dedicating time to preparing a letter to you. After all, no one is paying me to do this, but my classes are supposed to get me paid in the future. Eventually. So appreciate my efforts, Kwame, I am not being corrupted. I surely don't need any brown envelopes to share my thoughts on our beloved nation. Now think of those who are actually supposed to serve our nation. It's their job to do it. They are the ones whose jobs have been clouded in the controversy called corruption. It's a canker, but what can we do about it?

Corruption has become part and parcel of our culture that it is easy to overlook it. I was trying to think of corrupt practices I witnessed or engaged in when I was back home in Ghana and it took me awhile to count a few. The most popular culprits are the lawmakers themselves. If it's not the Christmas present you are handing out then it's the little widow's mite to the police for 'taking care' of us. If it's not the few cedis you are paying to save wasting a few minutes of going to the police station, it is the on-the-spot fine for speeding. But is there a spot fine for overspeeding? What are the rules on traffic offences? Ghanaians are not educated about road traffic rules but we complain about the bribery, corruption and punishments nonetheless.

A friend told me just the other day that I should prepare to go home and get one of those government contracts. "We for chop the money some". It seems the corruption is here to stay and you are better off putting yourself in a position to benefit than to complain about it. Is that how it worked in your time, Osagyefo? Was there any transparency in how contracts were awarded? Is it a crime to be friends with those who create the opportunities? In Uncle Sam's country, it is called networking. The processes are as transparent as they come but in the end, everyone hires someone he/she trusts. Maybe in Ghana, people hire those they trust where the trust is built on friendships, and family ties. What am I missing here?

People say the black man is corrupt. The white man buys into it as well. Power can corrupt anyone, even if/when the person who does not wield the power. I was at an African business conference the other day and the issue of corruption came up. We love these foreign businesses that try to get a presence in Ghana. They claim to fight corruption by not budging to the various demands but am sure they balance the books and look at the numbers, and eventually give in. As a result, we have low quality projects going up around Ghana and instead of building infrastructure, we are stuck with improving existing ones.

While we discuss how to prevent people from being corrupt and being corrupted, let's seek to fish out how to build our economies and industries more efficiently and effectively. There is too much disorganization in various public setups in Ghana to control wrongdoing. Kwame, we need discipline, first and foremost. When you have systems that don't work and require so much creativity to get by day in and day out, people will take advantage of the cracks in the system. The sad thing is, the richer are the ones primed to do so, in addition to those who are friends with the elite, and this does not bode well for national development and wealth creation.

Corruption seems to be the biggest deterrent for people who want to invest in Ghana. Ghanaians abroad know more about this than anyone. When they visit Ogyakrom, it is one of the first things they realise, it is unlike what they see in Western countries. This is the group that should be leading the charge against indiscipline, disorganization and corruption. Ghanaians abroad should not only be seeking to take advantage of government contracts; it would not solve the problems. We should give power to the common citizen, the entrepreneur and the hard worker. Power here represents opportunity, capital and resources.

Kwame, it is easier written than done. The highest position in the land seems to go to the highest bidder. How much did you bid in the run up to 1957? But like I said, no one is corrupting me to discuss corruption. Someone just gave me an opportunity. Thou shall give corruption no daylight. Thou should send some small cash though, there is nothing corrupt about that.

Yours truly,
Maximus.

We all do know that unique problems call for unique solutions. Africa, being unique, could only be saved if Africans could think outside the box when solving the problems of the land (Text book knowledge only provides complementary guidance!). In their quest to relieve the continent of fake and substandard drugs, Ashifi Gogo et al. (AKA Mpedigree) have provided an African-viable mechanism to help the sick ascertain the genuineness of their prescribed medicine. Ashifi et al. realized the popularity of cellular phones in Africa and thus came up with a simple mobile technology that would enable almost every Ghanaian (rich or poor, rural or urban) verify whether or not a medical product is fake. Their approach is indeed a TROPICAL SOLUTION FOR A TROPICAL LAND! I have attached a progress report of their work below for public use. All are invited to enjoy the elegance of their work and also to make any useful suggestions

The GhanaThink call to action is "Less talk, more action" and over the years I've been personally motivated by this call. It has forced me to re-evaluate what it means to do more and talk less. In fact, it is a lot harder to take action than to talk about taking action. And I have found that until you take action, you do not really know what you are talking about.

Talking is good, to some extent. It exercises your mind and forces you to articulate your ideas. But to what end? I believe, talking should only serve the purpose of convincing others to join you in taking action. i.e. talking is a recruiting tool. Any other use is probably a waste of time for both the speaker and the audience.

Part of my excitement about GhanaConscious has always been driven by the belief that it was possible to form a community of Ghanaian practitioners online where one could return time and again to get inspiration to take more action. To that end, in the early days of GhanaConscious, there were occasional purges of the member rolls to remove those members who had signed on merely to observe or distract others. Controversial yes, but ultimately more effective in encouraging the right kind of community to form.

I never hoped for it to be a talking shop devoid of action. And so I am disappointed to see that the discussions on this forum have taken a decided turn in the direction of the hypothetical. "What if somebody?" instead of "I have done this and am looking for more ideas". This risks us becoming irrelevant and ineffective.

Please join me in calling out the talking heads and instead encourage the action-takers. Remember, Ghanaians have never had a lack of good ideas so merely spewing out ideas isn't impressive. What we have historically lacked are decisive action-takers. There are few people who have acted with conviction that and convincingly made a great impact on our national life--Kwame Nkrumah, J J Rawlings, Apostle Kwadwo Safo, Reggie Rockstone. For good or ill, they tried to do something good. They used words to convince others to join their cause, not to show off how "intelligent" they are. Let us learn lessons from the best among us.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

Do you really think that open source will make an impact in Ghana? I will lke anyone interested to get back to me so we can start discussion on it. Thanks.