Truthful
words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words
are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
A quick read of our young political history (1993 to date), one thing has been grossly overlooked - human development. But sooner or later, those in authority and political power are going to inundate us with their individual achievements and personal contributions into our collective progress. As we sit in their meetings, durbars, media reports and hear-says, or whichever form it takes, one thing is certain: Many of our people do not make any good use of the information provided them. And those in leadership have taken notice but none of them is interested in developing our human capital lest the people wake up and take back their power. A sad reality, if you ask me.
Any longtime visitor to Jacobu notices the disturbingly slow pace of infrastructural progress, even after about 23 years of constituency dispensation and 11 years of district status. The only thing that remain unchanged is the backward NPP/NDC partisan strife. Other ten-year old districts are doing better. We have sent three MPs to parliament since '93 and have had four DCEs since 2005. Any serious thinker can help take stock of their cumulative rule. Truth be told, much is left to be desired.
Something else is equally troubling: the few kindsmen who were privileged to be schooled, well educated and gainfully employed choose to stay in the sojourn where they work. Some great names continue to ring bells even on the national scene whose origins are traced to Jacobu. Personally, I have made some attempts to get some of them talking about our town, constituency and district but the effort only receives excuses. We had one being spokesperson to a sitting president but never made it to visit his hometown. I bet he doesn't consider Jacobu as his hometown! There is another making giant strides in the media but I am yet to hear her do a report of the state of things in Jacobu. I bet she doesn't care that much. She would not even return a call on Jacobu matters.
Yet, the few others who were induced (and reluctant at first) to come home and help steer institutional affairs are yet to live up to the confidence the youth vested in them. Those serving on institutional boards have failed to realize that, in the end, it is not how long they served on the boards but how well their individual inclusion on such boards shaped the progress of our community on the right course.
What we witness now is their desperate attempt to hold on to their tenure - regardless the legalities - with the quintessential hope of owning the very institutional asset entrusted in their care. I still cannot understand why a bank's annual general meeting of shareholders would be manned by armed soldiers, police and machomen. It's a shame on our collective intelligence but we had not even the traditional rulers condemning it. It is certain the board governing the district NHIS are either defunct or non-performing or incompetent! I do not even know any of them, if there still exists such a board. Until recently, the Water Board was a joke (now, it is interesting). None of them - past and present - knows anything worthwhile about water production and supply management. And by the looks of it, their financial performance shows the water system cannot sustain itself for long unless something is done about it now. I hope the ongoing wranglings between the former PTA chairman and headmaster of JASTECH shall prompt the school's board of governors (if they too still exist) to sit up and govern!
Don't forget the number of Jacobu natives who were sacked, dismissed or had their appointments terminated or forced to resign by the bank for whatever reasons. Expect more Jacobu people to be laid off by any means the powers that be deem necessary. How come in its over 30years existence, not more than two Jacobu natives have had scholarship opportunity for further studies? All beneficiaries were non-Jacobites. Most of them have left the bank and the town entirely with the higher knowledge we paid them to acquire.
We are yet to witness public account (from both the palace and the politicians) of the lands that were sold to the Chinese for gold. Don't forget about the rivers and streams that were stopped from flowing, the cocoa farms that were uprooted and the oil-palm plantations that were laid waste. If anything shows that the gold business has been going on in our district for over 20years now, it is the overturned water bodies, the uncovered pits and heaps of sand and pebbles they left behind.
As we enter into 2016, my question is same: WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Lao Tzu
A quick read of our young political history (1993 to date), one thing has been grossly overlooked - human development. But sooner or later, those in authority and political power are going to inundate us with their individual achievements and personal contributions into our collective progress. As we sit in their meetings, durbars, media reports and hear-says, or whichever form it takes, one thing is certain: Many of our people do not make any good use of the information provided them. And those in leadership have taken notice but none of them is interested in developing our human capital lest the people wake up and take back their power. A sad reality, if you ask me.
Any longtime visitor to Jacobu notices the disturbingly slow pace of infrastructural progress, even after about 23 years of constituency dispensation and 11 years of district status. The only thing that remain unchanged is the backward NPP/NDC partisan strife. Other ten-year old districts are doing better. We have sent three MPs to parliament since '93 and have had four DCEs since 2005. Any serious thinker can help take stock of their cumulative rule. Truth be told, much is left to be desired.
Something else is equally troubling: the few kindsmen who were privileged to be schooled, well educated and gainfully employed choose to stay in the sojourn where they work. Some great names continue to ring bells even on the national scene whose origins are traced to Jacobu. Personally, I have made some attempts to get some of them talking about our town, constituency and district but the effort only receives excuses. We had one being spokesperson to a sitting president but never made it to visit his hometown. I bet he doesn't consider Jacobu as his hometown! There is another making giant strides in the media but I am yet to hear her do a report of the state of things in Jacobu. I bet she doesn't care that much. She would not even return a call on Jacobu matters.
Yet, the few others who were induced (and reluctant at first) to come home and help steer institutional affairs are yet to live up to the confidence the youth vested in them. Those serving on institutional boards have failed to realize that, in the end, it is not how long they served on the boards but how well their individual inclusion on such boards shaped the progress of our community on the right course.
What we witness now is their desperate attempt to hold on to their tenure - regardless the legalities - with the quintessential hope of owning the very institutional asset entrusted in their care. I still cannot understand why a bank's annual general meeting of shareholders would be manned by armed soldiers, police and machomen. It's a shame on our collective intelligence but we had not even the traditional rulers condemning it. It is certain the board governing the district NHIS are either defunct or non-performing or incompetent! I do not even know any of them, if there still exists such a board. Until recently, the Water Board was a joke (now, it is interesting). None of them - past and present - knows anything worthwhile about water production and supply management. And by the looks of it, their financial performance shows the water system cannot sustain itself for long unless something is done about it now. I hope the ongoing wranglings between the former PTA chairman and headmaster of JASTECH shall prompt the school's board of governors (if they too still exist) to sit up and govern!
Don't forget the number of Jacobu natives who were sacked, dismissed or had their appointments terminated or forced to resign by the bank for whatever reasons. Expect more Jacobu people to be laid off by any means the powers that be deem necessary. How come in its over 30years existence, not more than two Jacobu natives have had scholarship opportunity for further studies? All beneficiaries were non-Jacobites. Most of them have left the bank and the town entirely with the higher knowledge we paid them to acquire.
We are yet to witness public account (from both the palace and the politicians) of the lands that were sold to the Chinese for gold. Don't forget about the rivers and streams that were stopped from flowing, the cocoa farms that were uprooted and the oil-palm plantations that were laid waste. If anything shows that the gold business has been going on in our district for over 20years now, it is the overturned water bodies, the uncovered pits and heaps of sand and pebbles they left behind.
As we enter into 2016, my question is same: WHERE ARE WE GOING?
