No matter how pathetic and unrealistic the idea of Ghana going back to pre-independence days is, the state of affairs in Ghana has pushed some Ghanaians into considering this…
My friend who lives in Germany just came from Ghana and the moment I mentioned that ‘I am looking for a ticket to go to Ghana next month’, she loudly said, ‘ Chris do not go down there, do not waste your time and money since nothing works down there in Ghana’.
Apparently, the electricity is never on, there is no water, ‘talk alone gas’. What happened to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s belief and trust that ‘new Africa is ready to fight her own battles and show that after all the black man is capable of managing his own affairs’?
According to over 10 people I spoke to in Ghana yesterday including 2 female Ghanaian Celebrities, ‘Ghana is a not a place to live or do any business right now if you have somewhere as an option’. This is how bad things have gotten since the extensive heat coupled with the rampant power cuts are making life exceedingly unbearable.
‘At least, when the white man was ruling us, we had electricity and if they were still here, no doubt we would still have these things running-though we would not be free’ one said. It may sound absurd to compare self-governance in hardship to being under colonial rule with things effectively functioning. But this is how frustrated some Ghanaians are, thereby wishing for the latter.
Controversial Ghanaian-musician A-Plus seems to be of the above opinion, even if it is satirically expressed, the fact remains-Ghanaians are getting tired and they are frustrated with the state of the Nation.
If after 56years of independence we do not have a viable means of providing ‘consistent water supply and electricity’ in our capital city, then we seriously have a problem as people.
Our leaders have utterly disappointed us. Greed and corruption have brought us to this stage which I do not see ending anytime soon so be ready for the worse…
Wherever Kwame Nkrumah and the independent fighters are, they would surely be disappointed and must kicking themselves in the head.
Are you one of the many frustrated Ghanaians? Let’s hear you!
Don’t worry, they should stay there and continue to clean and mop floors. Even in our so called poverty we live way better than most Ghanaians living abroad.You talk of Nkrumah? Oh how we easily forget, that we Ghanaians didn’t want him or believe in his vision, we called him power drunk, we complained times were hard, and now he’s dead we talk of him like we loved him, same as Prof. Mills, what didn’t we call him? I would hope this writer would do more research before writing his articles, obviously he’s not even well read and exposed, even to other African countries. Is Ghana hard? Of course it is, but people live here, work eat every night and party, infact these poor people(celebrities) will all go to see Chris Brown when he comes. And yet still say they’re poor..hmmm… I wish we would be more objective in our writings and debates,what is the real issue here? what does government mean? We all have a role to play to build this nation, so apart from talking about how bad Ghana is, what else have you done to help build your nation? Again I doubt this will be posted since we all know Chris doesn’t like anyone to disagree with him, or then again he’ll posted this because I’ve stated that he won’t…ah well *shrugs
@Ajoa, well spoken. I live in Canada but for people to talk like this (that things don’t work there) really hurts me. We were all born there, lived there till we left. we still have family there, who haven’t died yet, very happy and content. It is very hurtful to talk of our own background this bad. Having said that. I agree that our gov’t isn’t helping enough. I personally want to know why the lights keep going off this often, why, why why?
@Sally Amon-Kotey, so if its so good why are you abroad… you and Ajoa are lying to yourselves. You have not once acknowledged what the writer has stated about the bad issues at hand. The reason Ghana and other African countries remain in poverty is our ignorance and our denial of what is bad. The fact is you should not dare justify having no lights for three days it appalling. If you condone this how can it get better? Continue to say things are cool and see how it gets worse. Your government takes the piss out of you coz you accept it. The government loves your ignorance coz it keeps them rich and you in poverty and they know you will rather defend the rubbish they do…they love ppl like you! it laughable!!
@Sally Amon-Kotey, What are you talking about? A guy like me can never date someone like you, you know why? You sound like the kind of girl that would keep quiet in a relationship even if there is a problem. This is a national issue, not talking about it will not let the problem go away. As a matter of fact, talking about it alone will not solve the problem either but at least we are conscious that there is a problem at hand, and with the right leadership, measures can be taking to solve them. The truth hurts but it is better to say it and be free.
@Evans, i love what u have written. I just dont understand why some people are refusing to accept that there is a problem…u can only find a solution to ur problem if u accept that indeed there is a problem… I always ask those who think that “it dey bee” that Should we keep quiet and be content with what we have when actually what we are content with is being snatched from our very own eyes? then what will be left to be content with….I will always point out the issues that need to be addressed
@Evans, My dear Evans, I will date a guy like you paa. The thing is not just talking about it. the problem is there, and I get it. The guy who went back to the UK and stold Chris not to go to Ghana becos things don’t work there is the kind of people I hate. My point is having identified what doesn’t work, can you identify the solution that just getting away from it. That is all. I just find that Ghanaians know all the problems and all the solutions but forget that the solutions need financing and we need sometimes to dig dipper in our pockets for the solution. I am in Canada for a lot of reasons: Main on being that I my spouse is here so I need to be here. I did not leave Ghana because I found a problem with the place. Ghanaians abroad do not support Ghana in so many ways: 1. can you believe that we go for eg: a canadian visa and pay let’s say $50 to get it. when we who hold foreign passports have to get ghanaian visa to ghana, they ask us to pay the same about $50 and they complain that it is too much, why??? because canada needs the money more than ghana needs some?? and they complain, the passport is low quality than canadian’s (whatever country). WE NEED TO PAY MORE FOR IT FOR OUR GOV’T TO IMPROVE THE PRODUCT. IT IS THE SAME FOR EVERYTHING ELSE. IF WE DON’T WANT TO PUT IN THE MONEY, YOU CAN’T COMPLAIN. every month, I pay about the equivalent of 185ghana cedis for electricity here in canada. I use the same things my mother in ghana uses: fridge, lights, iron, etc. She doesn’t pay even quarter of the amount I pay here. The amount I pay includes my usage and maintenance of the electricity facilities. When you give ghanaians any bill, they complain that it is too much. HOW THEN WILL THE SUPPLY BE ENSURED TO KEEP FLOWING. this is just one simple analogy. I could go on and on about a lot I have noticed and now i realize that as much as ghana gov’t leaders have their own stupidity in management, we all have a part that we have not played. JUST DON’T LET US POINT FINGERS AT SOMEBODY.
@Sally Amon-Kotey, wow, that’s good reasoning. I think we should all focus on how to make things better in our country rather than ranting & raving all day about what we think is wrong. Of course even a 2-year old baby in Ghana knows what our problem are. We all have eyes abi? No one needs to tell us that we need better utilities etc. but where we all fall short is that we all love to blame but never like to be part of the solution. Like you said, none of us want to pay for any governmental service. I remember when I was in the University, several people complained when the tuition fees were shifted to 150GHC. However, now that I came to grad school in the US on scholarship, I keep bumping into many of my classmates who used to complain then but are paying 40,000 dollars & more for an education. That’s not right. We must be the change we seek.
@Afia, PS: & like you said, ‘running away’ to another country isn’t the problem at all! Because at the end of the day, even if we spend 100 years overseas, Ghana will still be our home & if we fail to solve the problems there, we’ll come back from our sojourn to find that things are the same if not better. Then maybe we’ll start complaining again 🙂 hahaha
These are my views: I’m very frustrated with the way a lot of public services work in Ghana be it electricity or water or infrastructure. But although I blame all the governments we’ve had for not doing enough, at the end of the day, I blame all of us. Yes, I said it, all of us. We are all to blame. For those of us who live in Ghana, we have such bad work ethics. Go to all the work places & you’ll see so much lateness, laziness, unprofessionalism, apathy that it’ll make you weep. & instead of complaining about our poor circumstances, all we care about phoning into radio stations to discuss politics. When have you seen anyone go on a march to protest lack of electricity or poor hospital services but so many people are willing to go on parades for NDC and NPP. & for those of us living outside Ghana, what are we doing to develop Ghana? or do we just expect to come to Ghana one day from Germany, UK & Netherlands & find that things have developed? Some of us were trained with taxpayers money in the universities in Ghana, how have we repaid our country with our expertise or money? Asians who migrate to the US & UK have been documented to be going back to their countries in droves to develop it or at least establishing businesses there & that’s part of why they are progressing. Do we have such a mindset or are we just comfortable to live in another man’s land & then when we come back home, we complain that things are not so rosy?
@Afia, nice speech, we really need to invest there especially in electricity and water, I am willing to let my money go into it but the problem is how do we do that, what is the problem, what really causes them the cut power this often, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION then we can put ourselves together and do something. We don’t have that info. I have been asking if people’s electricity payment are increased, will it help solve the problem? will the complainers be willing to pay more for those amenities so that gov’t can help? We need some questions answered first.
@Sally Amon-Kotey, I’m not an expert in energy delivery & so I won’t pretend to know what is wrong or even how to solve it. As a lay woman, I would say that maybe the government needs to prioritize? Instead of using Ghana’s money to pay hefty salaries to mps & ministers, give pe diem etc, this can be challenged to vra. We may also look at other energy source- solar, biogas etc. For yourself personally, you can’t give your personal money to vra but why don’t you use the money to give kids from your hometown scholarship instead? & at the end of the day, Ghana needs your skills more than your money so you might think of giving that to Ghana somehow too.
@Afia, thanks a lot. I am here for a lot of reasons: my spouse is here and other things that make it impossible to move to Ghana so not because I find a problem with ghana. 2. I do not have any knowledge in electricity or solar energy to bring to ghana. So yes, I agree that money is what we need to pass on. Hopefully some day, we the people abroad are able to channel some or our resources for the improvement of our country and hopefully the bodies that receive the monies also use it the way it is intended for.
@Sally Amon-Kotey, for your information, the Ghana government owe ECG about $16 million dollars. if they can get the money back from the government, it can go a long way in solving some of the problems. In fact, that money alone can build a hydroelectric power plant in Accra and they will never experience power outages again. However, I don’t believe in increasing electricity tariffs with the kind of crappy service the good people of Ghana have been getting.
For me the problem with Ghanaians is indiscipline.We just dont want to discipline our selves in any and everything we do and for me that is what Kwame Nkrumah wanted to give to us and we rejected it.Sad at may seem most ppl would wish for a foreginer to discipline us rather than allow our own national to do it and that is what is slowly killing us. I also believe we are not religious enuf we go to places of worship but we dont practise what is preached cos no religion will tell an individual to be corrupt.
@Frog, i agree with you.
Chris what have you done for ghana,you lack knowledge
You just write whatever that comes into your useless mind.
Ghanaians at home live better than your sorry ass
@theory, that’s a bit harsh don’t you think so? I mean if he’s not done anything at all for Ghana @ least he’s created this blog which gives Ghanaian celebrities publicity & creates a platform for us to discuss issues pertaining to our entertainment industry. In any case if he’s as ‘useless’ as you call him, then how come he’s created a blog for you to come to & put up comments? That’s not fair on your part at all.
@theory, This is the misconception killing many Ghanaians. I have heard over and over again the fallacy that Ghanaians back home have BETTER QUALITY of life than those abroad…Where does this come from?
Do you know the meaning of better quality of life? When we talk about quality of life, we are talking about education, healthcare, security, social amenities, economic strength-employment, welfare, how we treat the minorities like the disabled, law and order, social life and others…
The only thing Ghanaians back home can argue to have better than anyone abroad is social life (that sense of community and the social friendly climate that exists). Apart from that, what else?
We do not even have electricity and clean drinking water and we wanna argue about better life?
It is sad that we never seem to address the issues affecting us. We have been ‘fooled’ over years with this misconception that those back home in general have a better life than those abroad…WRONG.
I feel far secure here than anytime I am in Ghana and that is a fact. Law and Order works here…I have better healthcare here than I have ever had in Ghana, My water has never stopped flowing and my electricity has never been cut off when I have to work…
That does not mean we cannot work to get Ghana there. But first of all, we need to get ride of the ignorance that our leaders in an attempt to make us feel good about ourselves have fed us.
If you do not even recognize that you have a problem, how will you move to the next step to find a solution to the problem?
Define Ghanaians back home live better and let us all hear!
Anyway, thanks for commenting…
Geez!
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, That’s insightful reasoning about the quality of life. I think that the reason why people say that Ghanaians living at home experience better quality of life than those who travel is that it may be true to an extent (& for certain persons).
1.You see, once you obtain a certain level of income in Ghana, you may life a certain type of life that you can’t afford to live when you emigrate to another nation. My cousin is an ACCA trained accountant & he emigrated to the US. When he was in Ghana, 5 years after working he started building a house, had a car & chauffeur , house staff- security men, housemaid, chef. But now that he’s in the US, even after getting an MBA, after 5 years of work, he lives in a small flat, has no car or any of those things I mentioned.
2.I also think that a person living in Ghana may score higher on the indicators of quality of life than when he emigrates to another country. For example, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s indicators for quality of life include material well-being (which may be more for a middle-income/ higher income person in Ghana due to lower taxes, or the fact that he can get better jobs back home than when he emigrates), Family life & community life (might be better for a person in Ghana due to our communal values), climate (better weather back home), Job security (I barely hear of people being laid off work back home but here in the States, it’s common if you’re black or an immigrant like my doctor friend who’s hospital has asked her to pack out) & Political freedom (it may be harder for an immigrant to assert his rights for eg. my friend called the police in California to report her room mate but they were reluctant to act because she’s an immigrant & the roommate is American. there’s a lot of racism & no1 cares about you if you’re an immigrant).
3. I think that the reason that politicians, higher income persons & middle income people in Ghana are not so aware of the issues with amenities is that it’s the poor people that feel the brunt of the issues. You see, a generator is $100-200 back home & lots of people have installed them at home so they fail to realize how serious the electricity problem is. Same with people installing poly tanks or boreholes & using 4 wheel drives to move around on difficult road. Sorry for my long statement & let’s all work to make our motherland better!
The problem with your analysis is that, you have somehow failed to look at the alternatives…For instance, you said your cousin has no car in the USA…What is the purpose of a car…It is for transportation…In the USA, she has a reliable train or bus which is even faster than the car…A better way of life index would consider the mode of transportation (its effectiveness, reliability and cost). In scoring your cousin’s USA situation against her Ghana’s situation, her USA situation though she has no car would be a better life than Ghana (in terms of transportation)…
What is the point in having a car when it will take you 2 hours to just cover 5 miles in a thick traffic? What is the point in driving a car on accident prone roads?
You must look at the scoring well…Having a small flat that you need is better than 5 big rooms that you only need 1 room. I don’t see that affecting your way of life in any greater way…It is like this, if you have 10 bedrooms and I have 3 bedrooms, how is your life any better than mine? The indexes will have a cut point of satisfaction…
I get what you are saying though…But in totality, there is no way anyone can successfully argue that people living in Ghana have better life than those living abroad-comparing all the factors!
Anyway, how are you?
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, I’m fine oh charley, long time! After reading your comment, I think that at the end of the day, it’s a matter of perception. So for someone like me who’s rushing to go back home to Ghana as soon as I graduate in school (although I got a job offer), I really believe that the quality of life is best for me back home. On a day to day basis, I have access to things that people living here spend years working for (home, car, peace of mind, the fact that I won’t be stopped & frisked by some random policeman just because I’m black). That’s why I don’t understand my cousin. I have no idea why he’d leave his plush, air-conditioned chauffeur driven Toyota camry back home to come to a place (NYC) where he has to use smelly sub-ways (why do those things always smell of urine, lol) & wait in the cold winter for a bus. & I can’t imagine leaving my plush house back home which is 5 mins from the seaside to come & squeeze into some tiny apartment- afterall, there’s a reason why rich people in the US all aspire to buy huge homes & sprawling studios, lol? But to each his own, I know that for persons like you & my cousin who’ve decided to make a home in a developed country, you also believe that your quality of life there is best. At the end of the day, it’s only a person who can tell how good his/ her life is. No? Cheers!
Totally unacceptable…If anyone wants to talk about quality of life, it is not perspective based, rather data base…So it is not what you think as opposed to what I think…
When we assess the quality of life of people within a country, we look at all lives in totality and strike a balance. The fact that you have a plush house near the sea and having a good life does not mean the quality of life in Ghana is better compared to UK or USA…Your lifestyle in Ghana is not a reflective of the masses and in striking a score, it would not make any significant impact.
I can equally decide to compare your better lifestyle in Ghana to that of the Queen or many of the UK or US billionaires and celebrities…So why are you comparing that to your cousin? We call what you have done unjustified comparison.LOL
For example, places in Accra are far developed than Brixton in UK, that does not mean Ghana is developed than UK when we decide to strike the over all average. Same way when it comes to quality of life… This is a wide factorial concept with multiple subsections which must be considered.
Having a watchman/security or anything like that in Ghana does not make you more secured in Ghana…When we talk about security as a contributing factor to quality of life, we talk about law and order, enforcement of rights, and many others…Not just having a watchman. I know you that but you are just trying to score a quick point with this!
As I stated before, quality of life can be statically proven, it is not a matter of opinion as you sort to argue…
And there should not even be an attempt to debate here that Ghanaians in Ghana (totality) have a better life than Ghanaians in UK or USA (Totality)…
In many aspects of the factors that determines quality of life such as healthcare, welfare, infrastructure, entertainment, security, treatment given to minorities like the disabled, social amenities, availability of basic needs such as clean driving water, shelter, food and whatsoever, Ghana can never beat USA or UK (when an aggregate is found).
Are trying to tell me my disabled cousin in UK has far low quality of life compared to her disabled penpal in Ghana? You lie bad!
We all love Ghana and I would love to live next to all my childhood friends and catch up all the time. However, we should not let our wants blind us to thinking we have a far better quality of life. We have to really accept where we sit on the ladder and begin to work our way forward. Constantly deceiving ourselves has been our problem from day 1.
@Afia, Hmm, I agree with you to a greater extent. Now here is the truth, Those subways STINK OF PEE not only because the Homeless people are housed in there but pretty much the condo for the NY rats which can grow to sizes of baby rabits or its cuson o.oo… i forgot the name something…. pig lol..
Most of us here in the states had a good quality life back home. The sad thing is I who can afford to pay for the high cost of living in Ghana is complaining but I find is strange that those who (for lack of proper words i will say are much poor and broke than me, or who at any given time will take anything from me for free) are not complaining! They are so so content to a fault! I don’t get it.
Yes, I have Generators, well and over head tanks, cars and my gated house at a top area- This is because I’ve challenged myself since my youth if not infancy! And yet am not satisfied not out of greed but the desire to do more! am more determined to instiling same in my kids.
But these folks burnt on reproduction, more satisfied in the level of all things, and we who need the Govenments effort less seems to be the ones CRYING OUT MORE! They accept everything and qustion nothing but good advice and challenge! hence they deviler little of themselves too. How can you help someone if they are not accpting that the condition they living is not nomal and that a lot can be done for them begining from them taking and accepting the proper intiative? My heart always bleed when you want to talk abt home. I always say if these big guys wants to Drink Beer and the finest brands of alchols, and the poor masses wants to drink SOBORO, please add some ice cubes so it becomes better than their yester day!! And the ppl must learn to wash their calabashes clean in order to demand or get it filled again.
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, I’m trying to reply to your latest comments but for some reason, it had no reply button so pardon me for replying here.
1.
I think that you’re confusing ‘quality of life’ with ‘standard of living’. These are two different concepts from the standpoint of economics. Quality of life is an intangible & qualitative concept while Standard of life is a quantitative concept. Because quality of life is intangible, it is based to a larger extent on one’s perception of one’s environment. If you read the prominent researchers in this field, you’ll realize that several focus heavily on such concepts like happiness, satisfaction etc. (3 books that enlightened me in this area when I was doing a research for a paper & which you might find helpful are the following: Quality of Life: Concept, Policy & Practice by David Phillips, Quality of Life Research by Mark Rapley & finally Quality of Life by Sally Baldwin).
2. Secondly, you mentioned the need for a ‘data base’ on the issue. I agree with you. However, to date, although establishments like the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) have measured the quality of life in different countries, I’ve not come across a major study (kindly refer me if you have) that has been done into the quality of life of persons in their home country vis a vis the one they have when they emigrate. So for now, all we have is anecdotal evidence (like my experience & my cousins & like yours). Now, please note that the mere fact that a country may rank high in the quality of life index doesn’t mean that immigrants in that country also have a high quality of life! On the contrary, its been documented that due to immigration laws, immigrants in the US for example face a lot of difficulties. & Note also that the fact that someone has running water, electricity etc in a country doesn’t mean that that person’s quality of life is high. There are several indicators (See for eg. the EIU 2012 report). It’s not a matter of a country ‘beating another’ or a mere fact of amenities.
3.You mentioned that I live like the Queen of England while most Ghanaians don’t live like this. Well, I don’t know. I work in the ministries (non managerial) & earn $500 a month, my parents are lecturers & they earned really little growing up in the 90s. So I think I fall into the middle class & I doubt I’m the only one who’s in that class in Ghana. But even that is irrelevant. I’m in no way using myself as the shining example for every Ghanaian lol. Indeed, I never said that the quality of life for all Ghanaians (disabled, low income etc) is far better in Ghana than anywhere. However, I said that several middle income & high income people may enjoy a higher quality of life at home than abroad (even that hypotheses has to be proven by a research)
No, I am not confusing the two…I know about the standard of living being quantitative argument-reflective of economical things like housing, healthcare, food, educations and others… and quality of life being intangible things that can vary from person to person-evidence in happiness and all that…
Also, I know of a second school of thought, which seeks to establish quality of life as a philosophical attribute…So there are different ways to look at these two things.
What I have been looking at is quality of life and not standard of living (though both seem to be within themselves-one has a direct effect on the other).
Though quality of life seems subjective, in order to compare or say one nation or a group of people have a high quality of life, we have to find some sort of certain factors to compare/measuring rode…Else we will only compare opinions which is silly…
As a result “The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, provides an excellent list of factors that can be considered in evaluating quality of life.” These are…
Freedom from slavery and torture
equal protection of the law
freedom from discrimination
freedom of movement
freedom of residence within one’s home country
presumption of innocence unless proved guilty
right to marry
right to have a family
right to be treated equally without regard to gender, race, language, religion, political beliefs, nationality, socioeconomic status and more
right to privacy
freedom of thought
freedom of religion
free choice of employment
right to fair pay
equal pay for equal work
right to vote
right to rest and leisure
right to education
right to human dignity
These are deemed to be independent factors upon which conclusions and evaluations can be drawn. From these list, how many can you thick and boldly say or defend that Ghanaians back home enjoy more than Ghanaians in USA or UK?
The reason I said standard of living and quality of life can not be totally separated can been seen in the list, for you to enjoy right to equal pay and right to fair pay…there must first be employment. For you to enjoy freedom from discrimination, equal protection of law, freedom from slavery and torture, there must first be Law and Order & Security. Right to have a family means there must be conductive structures to having a family, hospital, housing, education and all that…
All these are RIGHTS…And surely you know that anywhere there is a right, there is a corresponding duty to act and institutions must work to ensure that the duty is performed…So how will anyone argue that the quality of life in a country where almost all these institutions have broken down is far better than a country where the institution works a bit better… Come on! We need to first get our institutions and structures to work first before debating quality of life.
Look at these quality of life index: http://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
Anyway, I guess this can go on and go…
@naadu, lol,you’re so right! I agree with you 100%. well done for the hard work
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, I saw this article online which you might find interesting. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/893ae814-486d-11e2-a6b3-00144feab49a.html#axzz2MJmcJRtd It talks about Ghana’s growing middleclass & estimates it to be around 1 in 5 persons. So maybe, there may be persons who have a similar standard of living to mine in Ghana? I doubt that I’m the only one whose parents have a 2 story building & who drives a car to work but we can debate that too. Best Wishes!
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, lol I’m becoming a troll with my plenty comments! hahaha. So one last thing, I realized you mentioned security & I didn’t respond to that. Of course you’re right, having a security man doesn’t equal security but I swear to you that I have never felt so scared for my safety as when I came to the US. The gun violence thing & statistics of gun deaths are crazy man! In August, I was in the shootout that took place in Time Square in NYC in broad daylight! Top that with the serial killers & people shoving others onto the train tracks in New York & you know why I don’t feel safe. & you know how in this country, someone can attack you in the street, you’ll shout for help but passers by will do nothing. Plus as a black woman in America, & an immigrant to boot, I don’t feel particularly protected by the police either. As I told you, my friend reported being abused by her roommate who even broke into her apartment but the Police did nothing & one of my family friends died in a small town in Kansas 2 years ago. It was an obvious racist death but the police refused to pursue it because it was a small town, my friend was an immigrant & the perpetrators were 2 white boys.
@Afia, I can’t find the reply button on your comment (what’s going on?!) so I have to reply you this way. 1stly, We can certainly develop some way of comparing quality of life but because it’s a subjective test, there will always be a margin of error since it’s based in a large part on people’s perceptions of their happiness & satisfaction with their life, the EIU test for eg. acknowledges this (read their 2012 report). 2ndly, you used the universal declaration of rights as a standard for determining quality of life but that’s wrong because you must look at different sets of indicators & not just focus on one set ie: rights. 3rdly, even if you use rights as a standard, how can you say that an alien/ immigrant (essentially a 2nd rate person) enjoys these rights better in another country? Unless that immigrant’s home country is war-torn or grossly underdeveloped (which Ghana is not) I fail to see how this can be true. You’ve studied international law & know the limited rights immigrants are entitled to. As an alien in the US, I’m not entitled to a lot of constitutional rights. Let’s look @ some of the rights you listed: freedom from discrimination-in a country where black people are so discriminated against? where people cant get jobs or houses ’cause they’re black & I’m an immigrant to boot? equal work for equal pay: that ain’t happening for me here either. even women earn less here than men how much more a black female alien. freedom of thought: I can rain insults on Mahama back home & keep my head- don’t people do it everyday ie: Ursula owusu& co? or I can even diss Ghana & Ghanaian leaders but let me try that here & see if the patriot act wont be used to label me as a terrorist or I won’t be shipped out quick! When you’re in someone else’s country, you’re always walking on eggshells. Finally, the study you gave me the link to doesn’t have any name showing on it or any report attached. Which study is it? Who conducted it? How credible is it? I would rather use the EIU study which is accredited & has a report with methodology used etc. But like I told you, I don’t dispute that citizens of developed countries have better quality of life. My contention is that middle income Ghanaians, typically enjoy a higher quality of life at home than when they emigrate.
@Posted By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, Chris, I beg you, Could you publish something about what the leadership of Ghana Electricity corp and water and sewerage think the solution to the shortages are. I will not condemn Ghana in any way. That is where we come from. Not all of us can leave the place, we have family there; we need to protect their welfare and maybe bringing the knowledge and experience we gained abroad to Ghana. At the end of the day, Ghana is an African country – the geographical location and environmental differences will always make it impossible to reach where the first countries are. Have we tried to at least find out what the problem is because I really really want to know why, why why is the power being cut this often, why? Are there some workers who have nothing doing and so just cutting power or it is because our plant can’t supply continuously or what??????????????????????. PLEASE USE YOUR HONOURABLE BLOCK TO FIND US SOME FACTS..
I love you very much; and you know that. Please use the legals and find us some facts.
THE SIMPLE SOLUTION: take those services from the government and allow competition from private suppliers/contractors and you will see the difference. For financial purposes, we may want to leave gov’t supply to those who want it and those who can afford private to go get that just as those people afford generators. Just like we have private hospitals, it will allow a two tier system but it will free up supply to the the less fortunate.
THE SIMPLE SOLUTION: take those services from the government and allow competition from private suppliers/contractors and you will see the difference. For financial purposes, we may want to leave gov’t supply to those who want it and those who can afford private to go get that just as those people afford generators. Just like we have private hospitals, it will allow a two tier system but it will free up supply to the the less fortunate.
I 100% support what A Plus said. The very basic needs are even a huge problem for most people and yet what you hear is, it dey be keke. what dey be? Lord have mercy on my beloved country.
This is a very important topic
We all want Ghana to be developed one day but waht i hate is the ignorance towards Ghanaian/African history ……..
What did the british do so well that made Ghana developed during the colonial time.
The british build the infrastructure only to EXPLOIT OUR RESOURCES such as gold , timber, diamonds etc. And thats why they used ACCRA AS THEIR CAPITAL CITY TO EXPORT THE RAW MATERIALS and left other areas such as the north to be undeveloped. Some people say that the british built schools in Ghan …But what did they teach? They taught the students maths, science, englsih and a´´ sense of inferiority complex´´ ..that everything what the African does is wrong and what the european does is right.
Thats why today people who speak local languages in Ghana are seen as illiterates
Thats why today many women are bleaching their God given skins
Thats why people see our cultural values as primitive
@Chris did u read my message?
@Yahoozee, Yeah I have just read it now! You make excellent points… Hmmm!
woooho i loving the debate between chris and afia. except u guys got me more confused. i .’ve plans of relocating home after i m done with school. now i m not sure which is the best decision.
@madam social, lol, sorry 4 the confusion! I’m sure that deep down inside you know what’s the best decision for you so just follow that ok & don’t be distracted by what anyone says. Best wishes
@Afia, sweet i guess i m imore inclined towards Ghana. I didn’t have the best of everything. But i was happy. Living a happy life is best quality of life in my opinion
@madam social, aww, in that case don’t let anyone discourage you, follow through with your wish to move back home after school. After all, it’s not as if there’s war or famine in our country or anyone is chasing us out & so we should all run to other lands. In actual fact, emerging African countries like Ghana hold a lot of business & career opportunities & that’s why foreigners are emigrating in their numbers to Ghana (the Chinese population in Ghana are about 50,000 now & counting!). Google ‘Obama town hall African youth’ & watch Obama’s interaction with some young African achievers where he encouraged them to go back home because despite the challenges, there are so many opportunities. Take care & please take my email from the website owner so that we can link up when you get to Ghana (i’ll be there in August)
@madam social, I meant to type 750,000 Chinese people (that’s the number I got from an article in modern
Ghana) but maybe they may be more or less.
@Afia, ooh yea about the Chinese people i was in Ghana about 15 months ago and i was amazed at the # of Chinese people i saw. i’ll definitely check out Obama town hall video. you said you are in NYC or California?. i m in NYC.
@madam social, yes dearie I live in Upstate New York
You wanted a HANDSOME president over an INTELLIGENT PRESIDENT. He stole the votes and you accepted it cos EDEY BE KEKE, so yall shut the FCK up and DEAL with the hardship. You all have not seen anything yet. This is to the 30% who voted for mahama – its just unfortunate the majority 70% who voted for Nana Addo have to be affected. NKWASIAFUOR eni EGYIMI FUOR
@BreastLina Atwerrr Naa Fofo Nufour, no, not all of us wanted Edey bee keke bulls hit! My whole family voted against him, and i have never been this proud of my vote before, at least i have the satisfaction that i voted against him…
@BreastLina Atwerrr Naa Fofo Nufour, looooool……….
hmmm asem ooo we sacked all these white folks all because we thought it’s tym we rule ourselves but just take a look at how our own people are missmanaging an d messin up things..our leaders are sooooo wicked and greedy dat they dont think abt the citizens and i sometimes believe they are sent from satan to treat us this way..they killing our education, health sector, energy… could u imagine in this 21 century we still having problems with our lights and till wen is dis goin to stop whiles some poor europeaan nations like moldavia, lithuania who aint got nothing are not even experiencing this on and off lights…i can simply say our leaders have failed and disappointed us since independence
Hmm so u guys ve all these bulk/loads of problems in ur country and yet u still ve time posting irrelevant topics ’bout Nigeria simply out of jealousy nd hatred. You berra use dis fuckin site to help change d mindset of ur pple aiming @ dev only.
Where is miyaji nd caribre? Come argue in a resonable topic 4 once,or u re waitin 4 a Nig post.
U re alreadyback to colonializatn cos ur economy is colonized by Nig,ur women re all ova white tryin to give birth to mulatoes. Get back on ur feet if u ve any
So Nigeria is no more ur problem. Una get wahala like dis abi. Slaves
@Joy, was this all you could say???
Do people in Ghana know that Ghana is a blessed land living somewhere is not the same like living in your own county many people are running to live in Ghana now there is nothing for us who live abroad now I am proud to be a Ghanaian even though I wish is better but it will happen