Are Kwame Nkrumah's offspring now more illiterate?

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A PROBLEM 9 years ago

Impressive article Prof.We certainly don't have critical or analytical thinking people in leadership.Worse of it is the fact that common sense and practicality cannot be applied in simple logic.The consistency with which some ...
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Impressive article Prof.We certainly don't have critical or analytical thinking people in leadership.Worse of it is the fact that common sense and practicality cannot be applied in simple logic.The consistency with which some of these things occur simply suggest the Mahama Administration is fraud with serious bureaucratic and administrative problems.Incompetence,recklessness and irresponsibility is on record ascendency both in public institutions and government because we have too many square pegs in round holes across board.Nevertheless ,i disagree with some school of thoughts who equate age with competence why because we have a lot of old folks who are still incompetent and irresponsible and will remain so till eternity.My major concern however is that youth put in position of responsibility should show maturity,capability,skill,dedication,hard work and experience to make a case for all youth.Some youth are phenomenal when put in position of responsibility but others are clearly a disaster.A youth selected for high profile appointment on grounds of merit and competence is likely to perform effectively.When rewarded with a position mainly through political lobbying,bribery,nepotism,cronyism,sexism and other negative factors you expect a disaster.Many are of the view Omane Boamah is an intelligent chap except for his speech deficits as a stammerer.But Prof.Longu in this piece is once again raising critical issues about his maturity and competence as many others have done past and present.Prof.is bringing into fore the content and quality of a written speech by no mean a person but Ghana's Minister of Communication.I have observed with keen interest that a good a number of people in this country are holding positions and institutions they are incapable of manning because they clearly don't deserve or merit such positions.Over exuberance in politicization of key institutions and positions at the expense of requisite qualification,experience and competence is the reason.
Gordon 9 years ago

In other words, the buck stops at Mahama's desk, if we all agree with Nduom.

So we are waiting for a thorough investigation into this incidence. It must be in the president's interest to see to it that he gets to the botto ...
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In other words, the buck stops at Mahama's desk, if we all agree with Nduom.

So we are waiting for a thorough investigation into this incidence. It must be in the president's interest to see to it that he gets to the bottom of this thing and Ghanaians know the truth.

On the Nkrumah legacy:
Mahama, born 1958, our first head of state born after our independence. He was 8 when Nkrumah was overthrown. His father was a Nkrumah minister so he may have learned something from Nkrumah's legacy. He is not showing any of that. Not at all.

Nduom - born 1953. 13 years when Nkrumah was overthrown. Was a member of the Ghana Young Pioneers. A true Nkrumah man who has tried to continue with the man's legacy. But he has never been president and is not likely to ever be.

Omane Boamah (age unknown). Attended Pope Johns, Koforidua and Ghana Medical School. He's not really a book Dr. You don't have to have a degree in Communications to be a good Communications Minister. You only have to be a good administrator and a person with good ideas and great drive. He may be young - not a product of the educational system Nkrumah bequeathed us.

Our biggest problem now is that ideology and the commitment to that ideology are dead in our politics. This is a far cry from the Nkrumah era where the leader himself (Nkrumah) was passionately committed to a certain idea(l) of Ghana, first and foremost. Even if he couldn't reach the goal, his commitment could not be faulted. Today, all our politicians are in it principally for the prestige that office gives them and the money they make out of it personally. The president himself is like that. He appoints people who can help him win elections and maintain himself in power, not people who can help him achieve the ideal of Ghana he has in mind. He doesn't have any great ideal of Ghana.

Everybody is struggling to be in political office in Ghana. And the rogues are often the winners. It doesn't matter whether it is NDC or NPP. Same story.

Nkrumah's offspring are displaying nothing, absolutely nothing, of their great progenitor! And our present educational system has nothing to do with the one Nkrumah bequeathed us.
Soomui 9 years ago

I will continue to say that the NDC is an illness.

It is an illness because virtually every single person I know who is an NDC sympathizer - whether that person is a truck-pusher or has a doctorate hanging on his name, exh ...
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I will continue to say that the NDC is an illness.

It is an illness because virtually every single person I know who is an NDC sympathizer - whether that person is a truck-pusher or has a doctorate hanging on his name, exhibits weird and unbelievable symptoms of complete and utter illiteracy. As for Omane Boamah even his physical demeanor suggests that he is retarded. He has time and time again proven this suspicion by his idiotic public utterances. To make matters worse, I am made to understand that he is medical practitioner. I fear to ponder how many of his kind we have lurking around as doctors in the health service.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

We wrote this essay because we've always understood that the "Government of the Day, Is the Government of the Day!"

Our sense is, only the Facebook account of the Government of Ghana should be used for communication of i ...
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We wrote this essay because we've always understood that the "Government of the Day, Is the Government of the Day!"

Our sense is, only the Facebook account of the Government of Ghana should be used for communication of information intended for the public, and only rarely precisely because Facebook is a restricted media, for the elite of the world.

We talked about access and capability!

Every communication by the government ought to be on the free, unrestricted websites owned, managed, and updated by the government - for official GOG (Government of Ghana) business.
Francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Good one, Prof Lungu.

Have a great weekend.

Good one, Prof Lungu.

Have a great weekend.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Greetings, Francis kwarteng!

Greetings, Francis kwarteng!
Gordon 9 years ago

Prof Lungu,

Sometimes the minister's comment may just be his private view not intended as an official government position. In such cases, Facebook or twitter or an of the other social media, will be ok for the minister to ...
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Prof Lungu,

Sometimes the minister's comment may just be his private view not intended as an official government position. In such cases, Facebook or twitter or an of the other social media, will be ok for the minister to use, despite their restricted nature.

Even for official government of the day's position, social media can only be a supplementary avenue so long as the traditional avenues have also been used.

The resort to FB, in itself. is not bad as long as...
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Gordon,
Thanks for your comment.

Facebook communications by government officials would be ok if we want a government of elites, for elites!

Point is, if those are "his" personal views, then he must, in the same statem ...
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Gordon,
Thanks for your comment.

Facebook communications by government officials would be ok if we want a government of elites, for elites!

Point is, if those are "his" personal views, then he must, in the same statement, tell the people "those are his personal opinions".

That is how it is supposed to be done in "literate" public agencies, when one uses their official titles, uniforms, name tags, government resources, etc.

If Dr. Omane Boamah had done exactly that, we would not be here today!

Which still begs answers to our Ghana @59 Brochure questions?

What 'happen'?

When?

Who?

How much?

Why?

Greetings!
Soomui 9 years ago

Prof Lungu, have you by some mischievous whim also jumped into the sickening bandwagon of insinuating that these utterly perverse characters who form the bulk of the NDC are of any real or imagined nightmare, true affiliates ...
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Prof Lungu, have you by some mischievous whim also jumped into the sickening bandwagon of insinuating that these utterly perverse characters who form the bulk of the NDC are of any real or imagined nightmare, true affiliates or followers of the great Dr Kwame Nkrumah?

As far as I can see, there is no ideological affiliation nor is there any attempt to employ the far-reaching political strategies that the great man employed.

It seems to me that you yourself (Lungu) makes some kind of claims as to being an Nkrumaist of sorts. This nevertheless, respectable overture grates uncomfortably against your claims of asigning the NDC or any of its befuddled thieving operatives as offspring of Kwame Nkrumah.

This is a vile and sickening assumption which as far as I can see, is only calculated to give a cover of respectability and credibility to an inept party and its woefully incompetent and now largely irrelevant govt that has only increasingly succeeded in making those vulgar adversaries of Kwame Nkrumah appear to be a desperately -needed option to save this country from further crippling punishment.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

No!

So, we must make a belated notation!

We are using "Kwame Nkrumah's offspring" in the general sense in this series: it applies to every Ghanaian official, wherever they work, today!

So, all responsibility still b ...
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No!

So, we must make a belated notation!

We are using "Kwame Nkrumah's offspring" in the general sense in this series: it applies to every Ghanaian official, wherever they work, today!

So, all responsibility still belongs to the Government of the Day and Mr. Mahama!

wego 9 years ago

we've not been able to contain our laughter since reading the "nation-building" explanation was posted on Facebook by Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Ghana's Communications Minister regarding the brochure.

we've not been able to contain our laughter since reading the "nation-building" explanation was posted on Facebook by Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Ghana's Communications Minister regarding the brochure.
wego 9 years ago

explanation THAT was posted on facebook.

explanation THAT was posted on facebook.
Rambo Hamburg 9 years ago

A friend in need is a friend indeed but a friend in weed is better

A friend in need is a friend indeed but a friend in weed is better
kwasi 9 years ago

Omane you must watch your statments. U don't have to be insultive whilst issuing your statements. They are waiting for you. All shall surely come to pass.

Omane you must watch your statments. U don't have to be insultive whilst issuing your statements. They are waiting for you. All shall surely come to pass.
MARCUS AMPADU 9 years ago

Kwame Nkrumah's offspring are more likely now to make mistakes in what and how they communicate. I wouldn't brand them as illiterates per se.

I'll definitely side with menuahbaa Ampadu's article about citizen's ratings of ...
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Kwame Nkrumah's offspring are more likely now to make mistakes in what and how they communicate. I wouldn't brand them as illiterates per se.

I'll definitely side with menuahbaa Ampadu's article about citizen's ratings of their own political leaders... which Mr. Bond characterized as "intellectual deficiency syndrome". Lot's of syndromes these days.

Because of the proliferation of social media & platforms like Ghanaweb, not to mention Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook, ".. idiotic mistakes, murder of grammar, illogical and misspelled words..." , we are all likely to err nowadays, especially, if you don't make an effort to read over what you wrote.

For example, I doubt if you had time to carefully scrutinize what you as Kwame Nkrumah's offspring wrote, "We imagine Dr. Omane Boamah's still want us to know that he...'" . Of course if you had the time to check, you would have picked up the wrong grammar. Which goes to prove that to err is human.
Kwame Addo 9 years ago

What was Prof. Lungu' s mistake ?, please tell us.

What was Prof. Lungu' s mistake ?, please tell us.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Thanks, Kwame Addo!

Thanks MARCUS AMPADU!

But yes, our essay has several mistakes.

In fact, we found some of them after sending the article for publication, We deliberately decided not to provide corrections by way ...
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Thanks, Kwame Addo!

Thanks MARCUS AMPADU!

But yes, our essay has several mistakes.

In fact, we found some of them after sending the article for publication, We deliberately decided not to provide corrections by way of "Comment", as we normally do, because of the content this time.

It is not important, according to this "position".

Please know that we used the Ghana @59 Brochure debacle as just an example of "illiterate". Notice we did not discuss the "mistakes" reported in the brochure.

As a mater of fact, our essay, given the introductory paragraph, has little to do with the English as written in that brochure. Rather, the essay has more to do with Dr. Omane Boamah's "national-building explanation". That, to us, is "illiterate" given the purpose and functions of "government communications" and the quality of that brochure, as contrasted with historical documents from the Kwame Nkrumah era.

HERE AGAIN: "...This essay and the series it starts today is about leaders with twisted versions of history and deficit of intellect and critical-thinking skills. It is about intentionally cruel, absent-mindedness about the value of transparency and accountability to the business of the citizens of Ghana that the political and administrative elites claim to represent today...".

That is the solid, big picture!

Besides, one ought to appreciate the difference between "private communication" and "government communication". We took pains to tease that one out.

Our article is "a private communication". But, the brochure is a "government communication" paid for by the People of Ghana. They have employed people in the bureaus and expect the employees (the politicians, appointees, working "stiff", etc.), to do their job professionally.

Here is how "literate" governments work:

Some one directs a report be accomplished, someone composes the report, another person reviews, another person validates,....., before final approval and signature by the "titular Head".

So, you must appreciate the multiple checks by "independent", and hopefully qualified "employees" who must review or otherwise approve a "government communication".

To the point, for that type of government communication, it ought to have been reviewed by multiple agencies, including legal department, public relations, even fire, police/security, etc. (In fact, even the leader of Kenya, if they were serious enough, ought to have requested advance copies of the official brochure showing exactly how they are been treated in that "government communication."

So, that is how it is done in literate organizations!

That is how it ought to be done in the Government of Ghana!

We know that many members of the Ghanaian elite have a strange love affair for "protocol."

So, we are wondering what happened this time!

By The Way (BTW): One of the biggest mistakes one can make is to "murder" the name of a person we are speaking to, or about. That goes for pronunciation of that name too. The name of the writer we referenced in the article is not certainly not "Ampadu".

We may have "...time to carefully scrutinize what (we) as Kwame Nkrumah's offspring (write)"..., but, we may not to care to make revisions to "mistake" precisely because ours is not "official communication."

That is the difference!

And, there's more coming!

Greetings!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago

Nkrumah's offspring, proteges and progenies have always been illitrerate, just like Nkrumah himself who was a lumpen idiot.

Nkrumah's offspring, proteges and progenies have always been illitrerate, just like Nkrumah himself who was a lumpen idiot.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago

Above, we've provided a note on what we mean by "Kwame Nkrumah Offspring(s)".

...Read this, if you need reminding, but more important enjoyment, enjoy "Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana", in your own "lawyerly" word ...
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Above, we've provided a note on what we mean by "Kwame Nkrumah Offspring(s)".

...Read this, if you need reminding, but more important enjoyment, enjoy "Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana", in your own "lawyerly" words.

Enjoy....

"...BY DR. SAS, ATTORNEY AT LAW ON DR KWAME NKRUMAH...

"....Biological sciences affirm the notion that all humankind are equal, and that exposure to knowledge and culture accounts for why some are more inclined than others to achieve greatness, power and wealth...

Therefore the defining variable in mental development is “opportunity” which establishes the most legitimate intellectual differentials in the cognitive abilities of groups and individuals.../

...\...It is in the context of all this knowledge that Ghana’s first president, soon after independence, deemed it fit and proper to concentrate on the formal school system to boost the African personality and to merge the tribes under one great banner of nationhood.../

/...Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana was the elevation of the confidence of the African and the unity of the nation and her people. This vision extended beyond Ghana’s borders to include the whole of Africa.../

//...What Nkrumah conceived of nationhood made philosophical sense because without knowledge and unity, no country can claim nationhood. If ignorance makes people show greater allegiances to tribes at the expense of the nation, then the survival of the nation is under serious threat. For a country to be a nation, her people will have to subsume ethnicity under the aegis of the national interest. The present conflicts amongst the tribes, though so far verbal, is a testimony that our country comprises nations within the state.../

/...In effect, we of this generation have repudiated the concept of nationhood with our ethnic animosity and undermined the very tenets under which the nation was founded..." (6 February 2007, Ghanaweb, Samuel Adjei Sarfo, J.D., AKA, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law).

Ha!
MARCUS AMPADU 9 years ago

I have come across lumpenproletariat and lumpen bourgeoisie, and lumpectomy, but not lumpen idiot. Lumpen pertains to disenfranchised & uprooted individuals or groups who don't have status or means. The masses who supported t ...
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I have come across lumpenproletariat and lumpen bourgeoisie, and lumpectomy, but not lumpen idiot. Lumpen pertains to disenfranchised & uprooted individuals or groups who don't have status or means. The masses who supported the Osagyefo were mostly lumpenproletariats, that doesn't make Nkrumah Lumpen whatever.

Lumpectomy is a medical term: meaning the excision made to remove cancerous tissues from the breast.

Please SAS take ur legalese somewhere. Vast majority of Nkrumah's offspring, protégés & pro genies are obviously not illiterates.

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Are Kwame Nkrumah's offspring now more illiterate?

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