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Queen Mothers Launch Project to Promote Peaceful Elections in Ghana Ghana is set to go to polls to elect a new parliament and president and there
are indications things might be rough before, during and after the elec-
tions. As a result a project dubbed “Grand Peace Project for 2012
and Beyond” was launched in Accra, Ghana in January 2012 by the
Queen Mothers’ Foundation in collaboration with the Northern Youth for Peace and Development, a nongovernmental organization working in the area of social development. The project envisages the role of Queens and women in peace-building and conflict resolution aimed at educating Ghanaians on the need for peace and tranquility in the country during and after the elections. According to Ms. Ruby Sandu-Rojan, UN Resident Representative in
Nana Ama Serwaah Bonsu Queenmother Kayera Offinso Tradition Area, President of the Association
Ghana, the role of women traditional leaders in conflicts resolution has been recognized by UN Security council Resolution (UNSCR) 1,325 on women, peace and security and its successor resolutions which identify the importance of women leadership in conflict cont'd on pg. 9
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Government’s Proposed Refugee Law, Illegal? By William Doyle-Marshall
From L, Hon. Judy Sgro, MP York West, Hon. Bob Rae, Interim Leader of the Liberal Party, Hon Jim Karygiannis, MP Scarborough-Agincourt
Bob Rae, Interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada has serious misgivings with the Government of Canada’s proposal to enact new legislation governing the admission of refugees into the country. Speaking on Parliament Hill, Ottawa on Monday he said the proposed law is not legal because he doesn’t believe it conforms with the Charter of Rights and Freedom. “I don’t think you can politicize the designation of refugees the way the government is doing,” he said emphatically while conversing with members of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada. They were invited to Ottawa by MP
Jim Karygiannis, the legislator for Scarborough Agincourt. “I don’t think you can separate out different groups of people depending on how they came to the countryu. So I find the position of the government to be dishonest,” Rae observed. He was sure that the government have had legal adavice telling them what they are prlposing to do is not lawful. “Under the Charter you can’t treat similar cases in a different way. You can’t discriminate between someone because they came in a boat as opposed to if they came in by foot or they came on a plane or they came from Buffalo or they came from somewhere else. You can’t do
that. Every case has to be treated individually,” Rae continued. Referring to Sri Lanka which is supposedly the country that motivated the proposed legislation, Rae points out contradictions in the government’s positions. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs says what is taking placae there with respect to human rights is unsatisfactory; that Sri Lanka has to clean up its act; that there needs to be a further investigation at the end of the civil war; that war criminals are to be brought to justice.” However Rae notes that the Immigration Minister says there cont'd on pg. 7
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Liberals cave to auto insurance industry pressure on measures to protect people from unfair bills: NDP The decision by Liberal MPP Mario Sergio to withdraw a bill aimed at unfair auto insurance rates in the GTA shows the Liberals are caving in to auto industry pressure, says NDP Consumer Affairs Critic Jagmeet Singh. “Mr. Sergio’s bill was far from perfect but the decision to withdraw it doesn’t help the fight for auto insurance fairness
for families across the GTA,” said Singh. “It’s disappointing that the Liberals are unwilling to stand up for families seeing their auto insurance rates skyrocket based solely on the neighbourhood they live in.” Liberal MPP Mario Sergio withdrew his bill at the last moment after heavy pressure from the insurance industry.
Sergio’s original bill was aimed at addressing insurance industry practices where people in low-income and New Canadian neighbourhoods pay as much as twice the rate for auto insurance of residents of other GTA neighbourhoods. Singh, who has been spearheading the fight against these practices, tabled a comprehensive bill that would stop insurcont'd on pg. 39
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EDITORIAL KEEPING YOU IN TOUCH WITH NEWS FROM HOME AND LOCAL COMMUNITY ISSUES
EDITORIAL Publisher / Editor Emmanuel Ayiku Contributing Editors Dr. Michael Baffoe Joe Kingsley Eyiah Director of Operations Comfort Ayiku Community Reporter Jonathan Annobil Winnipeg Bureau Dr. Michael Baffoe
The Ghanaian News Publishes news and comments from the Community, serves Ghanaians across Canada with good source of information is committed to give good community Journalism The Ghanaian News is published in Canada by The Ghanaian News Corporation
Editorial Office 2256 Sheppard Ave. Suite 202 Toronto, Ont. M9M 1L7 Tel:(416) 916-3700 Advertising Fax (416) 916-6701 Internet: www.ghanaiannews.com E-mail: cayiku@gmail.com Subscription costs $89.95 for one year. $129.95 for two years. U.S. and foreign subscriptions costs US$120.00 per year.
Letters to the Editor We encourage your feedback and value your comments. Please feel free to write to us. keep letters to a maximum of 200 words, include your full name, Telephone # and mailing address with all correspondence. Address your letters to the Editor The Ghanaian News 2256 SheppardAve. Suite 202 Toronto, Ont. M9M 1L7 Tel: 416-916-3700 or Fax: 416-916-6701 or e-mail us at afrocan@afrocan.com
Articles appearing in various columns of the Ghanaian News are intended to generate civil and informed public discussions. You do not have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers. That should encourage you to write to express your own views. This is the way we generate lively and civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults and we want readers to adhere to these principles.
Cool down the political tension in Ghana Over the past couple of weeks, the political temperature in Ghana has risen to unacceptably high levels of tension. The tension has arisen and centered around the new so-called “Biometric” Voters Registration exercise currently going on in the country. The Biometric Voters Registration is supposed to be a computerized electronic system designed to replace the old paper Voters Register which most of the political parties have had cause at one point or another to complain about. The manner and levels of complaints about the Voters Registration List always depend, on which political party is in power. Before the NPP came to power in 2001 they were always complaining about irregularities in the Voters Register, that there were a number of “ghost” names on the Register especially in the strongholds of NDC. Fast forward to 2003, the period before the 2004 elections and 2007, the period before the 2008 elections. It was then the NDC’s turn to complain loud about the Voters Register. They accused the NPP of bloating the Voters’ Register in their Ashanti and Eastern Region strongholds. As a result of all these complaints and countercomplaints, the Electoral Commission, in consultation with the All-Party Consultative Group consisting representatives of the political parties themselves, decided to introduce a new computerized system of compiling the Electoral Voters Register. This new system, we were told, will weed out all ghost names, prevent double registrations and all the malpractices that the political parties have complained about. However the introduction of this new system has been beset with so many problems that the Electoral Commission itself do not seem to have answers to. The complaints have thus started again in earnest, some very real and genuine. But with the shoe on the other comfortable foot, the NDC and its government do not see and wish to hear any complaints about the Voters Registration exercise currently going on. Accusations and counter accusations from the two major political parties, the NDC and NPP have been flying like migrating birds. The representatives of these two parties have been hurling insults and accusations against each other, some bordering on sheer irresponsibility and complete nonsense. They insult each other publicly on the radio airwaves and in the private newspapers sympathetic to their cause. As a result of these irresponsible and misguided actions and behaviours from representatives of these two major parties, tension in Ghana has risen over the past couple of weeks to very unacceptable levels. We wish to caution ALL the political parties in Ghana and their representatives and indeed every citizen of the country that, Ghana, our dear country is bigger and more important than their misguided and bloated egos. Threatening to plunge the country into chaos serves no-one any good. We will all pay a heavy price if these irresponsible talks and actions of a few so-called politicians end up creating mayhem in a country we have all struggled to create, and disrupt the stability we have all laboured to establish despite all the mayhem and confusion that have engulfed our neighbours on the African continent. Let good sense and cooler heads prevail during all the exercise that will be embarked on in the period leading up to the Elections in December and the period after. Ghana is for all of us and generations unborn and we should not allow a few irresponsible ones masquerading as “politicians” to destroy it.
Opinion/ Commentary Race, Crime and Justice in the United States: Critical Reflections on Trayvon Martin’s Case By Kwabena Akuoko It took mass vigils and rallies demanding justice for the shooting death of 17 year-old African American, Trayvon Benjamin Martin to attract national and international attention. Unarmed Martin was killed by a self-appointed White Hispanic neighbourhood watch volunteer captain George Zimmerman in Sanford, a suburb of Tampa, Florida on February 26, 2012. The circumstances surrounding Martin’s death and the manner in which the police first responded to it have aptly sparked an intense discussion about the interplay between race, crime and the American justice system. Citing a highly controversial self-defence (Stand Your Ground) law, which allows “people to use deadly force anywhere they feel a reasonable threat of death or serious injury” in Florida, the local Police Department refused to lay charges against Zimmerman. The police hastily concluded that there were no grounds to even detain a confessed killer. In an essence, he was given an instant immunity for his murderous action. Suffice to say that Zimmerman’s arrest would have been a good beginning toward justice for the victim. Regardless of the extenuating circumstances, I think it was a mistake for the police to allow a confessed killer to walk free. Self-defence or not, the question on many people’s mind is, if Zimmerman was an African American who had confessed to killing a White person, would he not have been arrested or conceivably charged instantaneously? It is in this context that the perception of racism relative to how the police initially handled the case cannot be ignored. The decision not to arrest or charge Zimmerman therefore confirms what many people already know about the America’s twotie justice system. Countless narratives abound in the African American community, which indicate that the American justice system is still not colour blind. Compared to Whites, Blacks are more likely to
receive unfair treatment in the justice system either as alleged lawbreakers or crime victims. Therefore, protests demanding justice for Martin’s death is nothing new. It must be pointed out that without the protests, the shooting would not have come to the limelight. Information that has emerged so far provides a hint that racial profiling also played a role in the killing, hence only the trial of Zimmerman would truly unmask the precipitating circumstances about Martin’s death. While the trial does not necessarily mean that justice will be served in the end, it may at least bring a sense of fairness for Martin’s family and the African American community at large. From my standpoint, the manner in which the authorities initially handled the case reflects the ugly history of injustice African Americans have suffered for decades. Unsurprisingly, the case became a rallying cry and chance for the community to air what it rightly believes as centuries of injustice. It is therefore beyond comprehension for critics to insinuate that race or Martin’s skin colour has nothing to do with the manner in which police first responded to the shooting. While Martin is not the first African American to be killed for what seemed to have been triggered by racial profiling coupled with the perception of bias about how the authorities responded to it, his death has become a symbol of an issue, which the community has struggled with for centuries. People have to understand that fairness within the American justice system is something African Americans have always demanded. Without the outpouring cry for justice, Martin’s death would have attracted no publicity. It is only hoped that justice will be truly served in the end, though. The fact that Martin’s killer was not first arrested or charged for his murderous action clearly speaks to the injustice African Americans have encountered for decades. Whether mainstream
America wants to admit it or not, these types of injustice have always been the narratives for African Americans. We need to reflect on history in order to uncover many instances of cases involving African Americans that were not properly investigated, poorly prosecuted or unfairly adjudicated. Had thousands of people not mobilized and taken to the streets demanding justice for Martin, special prosecutor would not have been appointed to investigate his death. Similarly, the 911 tapes indicting Zimmerman’s reference to Martin as “suspicious and Black…” (Evidence of racial profiling) would not have surfaced if the mass protests had not taken place. Furthermore, the Florida Legislature would not have committed to review or even consider abandoning the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, which is at the nucleus of the shooting. Also, without the protests, the Justice Department would not have launched a special investigation into the Sanford Police Department’s poor response to the killing. Finally and most importantly, Zimmerman would not have been eventually charged with second-degree murder. United States claims to be a just society where personal security, freedom, liberty, etc. are of utmost importance and all citizens are treated equally under the law, but examples of injustice flourish in its justice system. As evidenced by the tragic encounter between Zimmerman and the late Trayvon Martin, young African American males are routinely profiled not only by law enforcement personnel, but also ordinary folks. Even when they are victims, African Americans are disproportionately treated unfairly in the justice system. The interplay between race, crime and justice was apparent in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Also, how the subsequent investigations of his death by the police unfolded clearly indicate that colour blind justice system is still an illusion for African Americans.
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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40th Anniversary Of The Death Of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah On April 27 1972, 40 years ago this Friday, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the founder and leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) , African independence movement and the foremost advocate of Pan-Africanism, died in Bucharest, Romania after a long bout with cancer. Nkrumah was the first head of state of an independent post-colonial nation in Africa south of the Sahara, after he led Ghana to its national liberation under the direction of the Convention Peoples Party in 1957. To mark the occasion the Convention People’s Party (CPP) will be holding a memorial service at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, High Street-Accra. The service will be followed by a wreath laying ceremony. Keynote speakers at the event will include the two CPP Presidential Aspirants, Mr. Bright Oblitei Akwetey, Esq. and Dr. Abu Sakara Foster Date: Friday, 27thApril 2012. Time: 10:00 am- 1:00pm Educated at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Dr Nkrumah became involved in the PanAfrican movement in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s as a leading member of the African Students Association (ASA), the Council on African Affairs (CAA) as well as other organizations. After leaving the United States at the end of World War II in 1945, he played a leading role in the convening of the historic Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England - a gathering which is credited with laying the foundation for the mass struggles for independence during the 1940s and 1950s. In England between 1945-47, he collaborated with George Padmore of Trinidad, a veteran activist and journalist who wrote extensively on African affairs. Nkrumah was offered a position with the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) as an organizer in late 1947 and made a critical decision to return to the Gold Coast to assist in the anticolonial Struggle, intensifying in the aftermath of World War II. After being imprisoned with other leaders of the UGCC for supposedly inciting unrest among WWII veterans, workers and farmers in the colony, he gained widespread popularity among the people. After forming the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO) which became the best organized segment of the UGCC, Nkrumah was later isolated from the top leadership of the Convention, who objected to his demands for
immediate political independence for the Gold Coast. On June 12, 1949, Nkrumah and the CYO formed the Convention Peoples Party in Accra at a mass gathering of thousands of people. During this same period, Nkrumah formed links with other anti-colonial and Pan-African organizations that were operating in the other colonies of West Africa. When the CPP called for a Positive Action Campaign in early 1950, leading to massive strikes and rebellion throughout the colony, he was imprisoned by the colonial authorities for sedition. However, the executive members of the CPP continued to press for the total independence of the colony, eventually creating the conditions for a popular election in 1951, that The CPP won overwhelmingly. In February of 1951, Nkrumah was released from prison in Ghana and appointed Leader of Government Business in a transitional arrangement that eventually led to the independence of Ghana on March 6, 1957. At the independence gathering on March 6, Nkrumah declared that the independence of Ghana was meaningless unless it was directly linked with the total liberation of the continent. This statement made by Prime Minister Nkrumah served as the cornerstone of Ghanaian foreign policy during his tenure as leader of the country. George Padmore became the official advisor on African affairs and was placed in charge of the Bureau of African Affairs, whose task it was to assist other national liberation movements on the Continent in their efforts to win political independence. In April of 1958, the First Conference of Independent African States was convened, with eight nation-states as participants. This gathering broke down the colonially imposed divisions between Africa north and south of the Sahara. In December of that year, the first All-African Peoples Conference was held in Accra, which brought together 62 national liberation movements from all over the continent as well as representation from Africans in the United States. It was at this conference in December of 1958, that Patrice Lumumba of Congo became an internationally recognized leader of the anti-colonial Struggle in Congo. Nkrumah in 1963 identified neo-colonialism as the major impediment to the genuine liberation of Africa. At the founding meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa, cont'd on pg. 57
Government’s Proposed Refugee Law, Illegal? cont'd from pg. 1 is no problem in Sri Lanka and there is no reason why poeople should be fleeing the country. Rae also recalls the Immigation Minister saying Sri Lankans are not going to be allowed to come into Canada and claim refugee status if they come in by a boat or by some other techniques. “You can’t treat someone differently because of the mode of transportation they used to come to the country. The fact that they were in a boat with 100 other people is irrelevant in how you determine the merits of the individual case. The Government of Canada is trying to say because you come over in a boat with a buynch of other people that means we are allowed to treat your case like this where you can stay up to a year in detention and be kept apart
and separate and where there is a reverse onus on you to prove things which there wouldn’t be in another circumstances. Unfortunately Rae also stresses that Canada has no policy with respect to accepting the people who are now in camps in West Africa, India, Indonesia and elsewhere in South Asia. “There is a complete inconsistency in their policy,” the Liberal Party spokesman continues. Looking specifically at Sri Lanka Rae contends that Canada has to be very firm in dealing with that country regarding human rights situation. “Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous countries in the world along with Iran and Syria and a few other countries we can think of. It’s one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a joiurnalist,” Rae emphasized.
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Almost 40 print and broadcast journalists made the journey from Toronto to Ottawa and they sat in on Question Period. They witnessed the new NDP Opposition Leader lead the charge against the government. He and his colleagues on the oppostion benches focussed on the thousands of jobs that have disappeared from the country due to the federal government’s lack of action to protect good jobs here. The government was reminded over and over that thousands of Canadians are now without income because their jobs have been exported to foreign countries. Judy Sgro Marc Garneau, Justin Trudeau, Kevin La Moreaux were among the members of parliament who dropped in to welcome them to the nation’s capital.
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Diplomatic perks can influence peace talk outcomes, new study concludes An examination of two peace processes in Africa shows that luxurious perks for delegates can unintentionally derail peace talks, according to a new paper issued by the Africa Initiative and The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). In How Perks for Delegates Can Influence Peace Process Out-
comes, Thomas Kwasi Tieku, lead researcher for the Africa Initiative, draws on the experiences of the Burundian peace processes held in Tanzania (1996-2000) and the Seventh Round of the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks held in Nigeria (20052006) to illustrate that it can be financially beneficial for delegates to prolong peace negotiations.
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“For some of the delegates, staying free of charge in five-star hotels and receiving the equivalent of five months’ pay in one week of per diems made continued talks more attractive than achieving peace,” Tieku says. In the specific cases examined, “the generous incentives seduced the conflicting parties away from whatever interest they might have had in actually reaching an agreement, encouraged delegates to create procedural barriers where none had previously existed, and promoted fragmentation among the rebel groups at the negotiating table.” The findings also have profound implications beyond the African continent, given that perks are a long-established diplomatic practice, and create cont'd on pg. 43
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April 2012
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Reflections on Ghana’s Contribution to World Peace By Dr. W. Andy Knight, University of Alberta
His Excellency Kwaasi Obeng-Koranteng (Acting High Commissioner of Ghana to Canada), Nicholas Ameyaw (President of the Ghana Friendship Association of Edmonton), Hon. Carl Benito (MLA, Edmonton Mill Woods), Karen Lebovici (Councillor of Ward 5), Hai Nguyen (Regional Program Advisor, Citizenship and Immigration, Canada), Mirande Alexandre (Program Officer, Citizenship and Immigration, Canada), ladies and gentlemen, It is an honour for me to be able to join you in celebrating the 55 anniversary of Ghana’s independence. Ghana, the Black Star of Africa, the lodestar of the continent, is one of the most stable countries in Africa and has the potential of punching above its weight on the continent and in the world. Your President, John Evans Atta Mills, noted recently that “Ghana is under pressure to live up to the challenge of being touted as the beacon of hope of Africa as it goes into another crucial election in December.” Can it live up to this challenge? I think it can. Tonight, I want to speak to you about the many contributions that Ghana has made to the maintenance of international peace and security. And there have been many contributions. I will focus specifically on six important demonstrations of Ghana’s commitment to world peace.
First, Ghana has taken a leadership role in regional and sub-regional organizations on the continent of Africa in an effort to bring peace to countries torn apart by civil conflict. Let me give you a few examples of this. Former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings was appointed in 2011 as the African Union’s High Representative for Somalia in an attempt to mobilize increased support for efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in the war ravaged failed state of Somalia and to generate greater attention from the international community for the plight of Somalis who are living under the fear of al-Shabaab and the various warring factions especially in the South of that country. A similar kind of leadership role was taken by Ghana in the 1990s during the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil conflicts when Ghana stepped up to the plate to mobilize international support at the United Nations in order to get these two crises on the UN Security Council agenda. The efforts of one of Ghana’s leading diplomats at the UN at that time, Victor Gbeho,
were instrumental in making that happen. And, Ghana also took a leading role in pushing for a collective regional security approach to resolving these conflicts, working through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). Second, has made a significant contribution to UN peacekeeping over the years. Today, Ghana’s commitment to UN peacekeeping is much stronger than Canada’s commitment to UN peacekeeping. And Canada was once known to be the strongest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations around the world. As of February 2012, Ghana’s commitment to UN peacekeeping missions include 337 police officers, 57 military attaches to UN Military Experts on Mission, 2,577 soldiers assigned to eight active UN peacekeeping missions – for a total of 2,971 military personnel. Ghana is now ranked 10th overall on the UN peacekeeping contributors’ list. Indeed, Ghanaian military personnel can be found in the following UN peacekeeping missions around the globe: MINURSO (Western Sahara); MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of the Congo); UNAMID (the hybrid UN/AU mission in Darfur – which is the largest peacekeeping mission in the globe); UNIFIL (Lebanon);
UNMIK (Kosovo); UNMIL (Liberia); UNMISS (Sudan); and UNOCI (Cote d’Ivoire). There is a little known fact and that is that: Ghana deploys the highest percentage of women in UN peacekeeping. In addition, Ghana has been instrumental in helping to bring reforms to UN Peacekeeping operations to make those operations more responsive and flexible (multidimensional and multidisciplinary) in dealing with the emergence of violence , the height of conflict, and the winding down of skirmishes. So for the Ghana government, peacekeeping has to do more than monitor peace agreements and separate warring factions. It should also play a role in post conflict reconstruction and in the rebuilding of democratic institutions that have been destroyed by war. This philosophy perhaps explains why Ghana became a member of the Peacebuilding Commission’s Organizational Committee in 2006. Third, Ghana has worked hard at the UN in support of efforts to ensure the safety of women and children – some of the most vulnerable in society – during time of war and within conflict zones. In 2007, I held a conference in Accra, Ghana at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on the subject of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). The pri-
mary focus of the meeting was the reintegration of war affected children back into communities once wars are over. I was invited to visit the Buduburam refugee camp just west of Accra. What struck me there was Ghana’s willingness to house Liberian refugees who fled from their homes during the first Liberian civil conflict (1989-1996) and the second one (1999-2003). At one point there were over 42,000 Liberian refugees in the Buduburam refugee camp. Between 1991 and 2001, refugees from Sierra Leone also escaped the ravages of civil war in that country and came to Ghana for refuge.
landmines, called the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction.” As a signatory of this Convention, Ghana has refrained from producing or using these despicable weapons which usually cause devastation and death long after wars are over. It is a member of the Kimberley Process Working Group that ensure that diamonds are not going to be used to fuel conflicts, finance rebel groups and support the purchase of deadly weapons. Relatedly, Ghana has given its full support to the treaty on arms trade that has been proposed by the United Nations.
Some of the refugees I spoke to in the camp were child soldiers. It was then that I discovered Ghana’s commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol as a signatory to both documents. Ghana has tried to internalize those international legal documents by passing the Children’s Act of Ghana in 1998 which commits the country to protect children (those under the age of 18) from being exposed to harm and to allow them to grow up and mature properly – both mentally and physically.
Ghana’s President John Atta Mills, in a recent speech at the 66th UN General Assembly in New York, declared his country’s support for a legally-binding UN treaty on arms trade “that would help stem the flow of arms to destinations where they could fuel conflict or undermine national and regional peace.” Given that the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and other conventional weaponry continue to pose a threat to national security and socio-economic and political stability, and given that the proliferation of SALW is linked to terrorism, organized crime, drugs and human trafficking, Ghana’s support of the proposed arms trade treaty (ATT) demonstrates its commitment to world peace.
Fourth, Ghana has demonstrated that it is prepared to support international agreements that contribute to making the world a safer place. It is a signatory of the Ottawa Convention to ban
cont'd on pg. 38
Queen Mothers Launch Project to Promote Peaceful Elections in Ghana cont'd from pg. 1 prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building, both at the formal and informal sectors. Also Madam Amoah Aboagye who represented the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture said that statistics indicated that the government had spent billions of cedis on peace-building and peace keeping efforts in the 3 Northern Regions over the years. She added that these monies could have been used to provide facilities which would have gone a long way to create employment, especially for the youth, to reduce poverty. Major General Nii Carl Coleman of the African Security Dialogue and Research, said that peace is a rare commodity which should not be taken for granted. He continued that countries that had been plunged into wars had nothing meaningful to boast of except leaving in their trail misery, hardship and poverty. Major General Nii Carl Coleman, a security expert, commended the queen moth-
ers for their initiative in helping to preserve peace in Ghana. The president of the Queen mothers Foundation of Ghana, Nana Ama Serwaa Bonsu who is the Queen mother of the Kayera Offinso Traditional Area said the queens are in a special position of being kingmakers and do play a very critical role in crisis management and to resolve conflicts. She said peace heralds improvements in a country’s wellbeing and called for a clean political campaign by all the various political parties before, during and after the impending general election in December.2012.She added that all leaders of civil society groups, educational and cultural organizations should join in the cause to ensure that peaceful and fair elections is held in Ghana The event was chaired by Nana Osae Nyampong VI, Kamenahene of Akwamu in the Eastern Region of Ghana and chairman of Genser Power.
10
The Ghanaian News April 2012
IGP Defends Police HE INSPECTOR General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, has assured Ghanaians that the country is not in tatters as some people want to portray. Mr. Quaye cautioned that critics should not take the calmness of the police as weakness, as their comments would not in any way daunt their resolve to stay committed to ensuring that they enforce the law fairly and passionately without regard to position, power, religion social or political status. The police capo regretted that a section of the public had become so tem-
peramental and were angrily using unprintable words to attack the Police Service with the aim of discrediting its hardworking officers who had been rendering an excellent job to maintain peace in the country. “Indeed, the perception deliberately created by a certain group of people in society that the police are biased and unprofessional is very unfortunate,” IGP observed. Mr. Quaye however maintained that the service welcomed any constructive and fair criticism from the public as they were vital to refining the
service for the improvement of its services to Ghanaians. He promised that the Police Service would not in anyway discriminate against any group of persons in the execution of its work, urging officers to remain non-partisan and neutral in their engagements while they stayed glued to their legal position of being accountable to the law and the people of Ghana. He called on the media as the fourth estate of the realm to remain circumspect in their reportage, feeding the public with accurate and develop-
ment-oriented information that would keep the citizens focused as a country, especially as the elections drew closer. The media was also urged not to create an arena for self-centred individuals or groups to propagate lies and unsubstantiated rumours to incite the public as well as attacking the integrity of others. Mr. Quaye urged that aggrieved persons use the available structures to seek redress while calling on all stakeholders to help maintain the peace process. “This will help avoid a situation that may compro-
mise the peace and security of the country,” said the IGP. He observed that apart from a few unfortunate incidents, the biometric registration had been fairly successful. So far, he noted, some electoral offenders had been arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for various offences. The Interior Minister, William Kwasi Aboah, observed that the work of police all over the world suffered unpleasant flight of accusations of being biased and therefore advised that the phenom-
enon should not divert their focus from executing their mandate without fear or favour. “Your professional ethics enjoin you to be fair and firm in enforcing the law without any discrimination whatsoever on grounds of sex, religion, class, ethnic affiliation or political inclination,” the minister told the police. Mr. Aboah announced that government, with the approval of parliament, was securing some equipment under a BNP Paribas •50million loan facility from France to cont'd on pg. 12
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
11
South Sudan ‘aggression’ condemned by Arab League The Arab League has condemned South Sudan’s “military aggression” against an oilrich border region claimed by Sudan while also supporting Sudan’s right to defend itself. The statement Thursday came as some fear growing disputes between the two countries may soon lead to an all-out war. South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year after a referendum held as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of civil war, but unresolved issues such as the sharing of oil revenues and demarcation of the border have
led to tensions and clashes. Earlier this month, South Sudanese troops attacked and captured the oil-rich Heglig area. Sudan says it has since recaptured it. Earlier this week, after South Sudan said it was withdrawing its troops from Heglig, Sudan dropped bombs on the South. The UN said the bombs killed 16 civilians. Sudan is a member of the Arab League, whose foreign ministers were meeting in Cairo. Their statement called on South Sudan to respect the borders between the two nations and to stop supporting rebel
movements in Sudan’s western Darfur region, south Kordofan and Blue Nile. The meeting, said the statement, “rejects any claims that the Heglig area is disputed,” meaning it belongs to Sudan. The Arab League also called for an international fact-finding mission to assess the damage caused by the attack on Heglig. It said the two nations must resolve their differences through negotiations and called on league members to offer immediate financial aid to Sudan to rebuild oil installations in Heglig.
Ethnic, religious and linguistic divide South Sudan is mainly animist and Christian, and its people are linguistically and ethnically linked to sub-Saharan Africa. The north is overwhelmingly Muslim, and many members of the government consider themselves Arabs. Sudanese President Omar AlBashir gave a fiery speech last week in which he said there will be no negotiations with the “poisonous insects” who are challenging Sudan’s claim to disputed territory near the border. He also threatened to
topple the South Sudan government in Juba. U.S. and UN leaders have pushed both sides to end fighting and resume negotiations. A South Sudan official said Sudan bowed to international pressure and didn’t resume attacks on the south Thursday after the violence ebbed earlier in the week. “They have realized that what they are doing, nobody is happy about it,” South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said. “It has dawned on them, they are the ones who declared war, they
are the ones calling us insects. I think they are beginning to feel the pressure.” The African Union also has said both countries should cease hostilities. The AU’s Peace and Security Council issued a seven-point road map calling for a halt to the fighting and giving Sudan and South Sudan two weeks to restart negotiations, which broke down earlier this month. The AU also warned the two countries against making inflammatory statements and propaganda against each other, which could fuel the conflict. The Associated Press
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
FOCUS
Ghanaian-Canadians in Toronto Speak Motivational Talks and Strategies to Deal with Systemic Barriers By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, OCT, Brookview Middle School, Toronto Across Boundaries is a Non-governmental Organization focused on assisting immigrant communities in Canada to build appropriate network for making resources accessible to their members for their own development. Ghanaians living in Canada have many strengths which well harnessed could make us into a dynamic community within the Canadian mosaic of diverse culture. In time past attempts have been made by some individuals in the community to give one voice to all Ghanaians! I personally appreciate such efforts and wished we had had better results than we have as a community now from those efforts. Our Strengths: We have a lot of strengths which include among others; a) Cherished Traditional Values
- Real Estates - Cab Drivers - Social Workers c) Many Community Business- grocery, cosmetics, fashion etc.
- coming together to honor our dead (funerals) - making time for our spiritual life (churches-there are about 30 Ghanaian Churches in Toronto alone!) - supporting our external families , especially, those back home in Ghana b) Organized Professional Bodies We now have Ghanaian professional workers who have organized themselves to assist the community with their services. These include: - Nurses - Teachers - Doctors
Our Challenges: As immigrants we (adult and youth) are confronted by; -cultural dilemma -juvenile delinquency (youth in trouble with the law) -systematic racism Despite the above numerated challenges and more, we as a community have basic opportunities that we have to make good use of in our new land of abode. Ghanaians Speak will be a forum to share ideas on such opportunities in particular as against the background of our strengths and challenges and; examine the avail-
able resources that can move us forward! Opportunities: The opportunities we have in Canada include: a) Health System -annual medical checkups (free of charge) -mental health education to develop our thinking for our social, emotional, physical and economic well being! b) Education - free primary up to high school education
- education funds for our children matched by the government -informal training and trades -OSAP (Ontario government’s student loans for college/university education c) Networking and Resources I therefore congratulate Across Boundaries for their initiative of mobilizing willing and concerned Ghanaians, as a beginning
to come to 121 Kendleton Drive (Kipling and John Garland) in Toronto on Saturday, April 12, 2012 from 3pm to 7pm to participate in workshops which will make your voice heard and also provide you with resources you need to move forward successfully as a Ghanaian living in Canada. “Obi nnim a obi kyere” so say the Akans of Ghana. Come and see! This will not be just talk-talk!
Check Us online @ www.ghanaiannews.ca 416-916-3700
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
13
TALKING FINANCES WHY not HOW, Financial Success Model We have all heard stories about a mother lifting a truck off her trapped child. If you were to ask her HOW she was able to do it, she wouldn’t have the slightest idea. But she clearly knows WHY she did it. This article is a model for achievement, based on the concept of WHY, and not HOW. Many among us spend hours to decades trying to determine HOW to achieve our objective(s). Planning and strategizing a path to achievement is good. Eventually, there comes a time when you have to take action with or without all the answer(s). While you are on the path, the HOWs will be determined for you. Just think for a moment, to accomplish something you have never done, you will not know how to do it. If you knew HOW to, it wouldn’t be new. Yet, there are many new things we now know WHY we want to do them. Aside from religious beliefs, have you ever considered why human beings are the rulers of all creatures? Many animals have so many superior gifts over us. The following are some of the wellknown ones: 1-Cats have night vision that allows them to see in the dead of night, 2- A Cheetah and Peregrine Falcon are blessed with mind boggling speeds of 112km/hr and 182km/hr, respectively, 3- A Cougar can jump 18 feet vertical, 4-A Snow Leopard can leap 50 feet horizontally, 5- Lions are blessed with brute strength, speed, agility and a reasonable stamina, 6Elephants (24 000 pounds) and Blue Whales(300 000 pounds) have the gift of size. These animalistic gifts far surpass that of humans. Yet, with all their natural gifts, they are still subordinate to humans. Humans are at the top of the food chain. The main difference between us and all the gifted animals is our
capacity to think. Thinking has allowed us to invent tools, weapons and has propelled human beings from caves to outer space existence. If thinking is our biggest asset, it is very important to learn how to use the mind. A brief introductory about the mind would be appropriate at this time. We have two minds, a conscious and sub-conscious one. The conscious mind is the basis of our 5 senses, the sense of taste, seeing hearing, and smell. The conscious mind is known as our working memory and individuals have absolute control over it. One very important aspect of the conscious mind is that it has the power of rejection, ie: it filters what comes in. The sub-conscious on the other had has no rejection power and will accept whatever the conscious has allowed to exist for a reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, the sub-conscious mind is not aware of what is real and what is imagined. Which means, if you hold wealth or poverty image(s) in your working mind long enough? Eventually, the subconscious will accept it as reality and move you towards its accomplishment. Because, our conduct is directed by the subconscious mind, the information that has been allowed to stay in our conscious mind long enough becomes part of the programming of the subconscious, which then moves us habitually in a certain direction. The direction of movement will then determine the results that we get. The said result/ achievement will never change until we do something different. A model of financial success is based on the concept of WHY you want the money and not HOW you are going to get it. If your WHY is substantial, meaningful and gigantic enough, the HOW will be sorted out by the subconscious at the appropriate
time. To determine why you want to do something takes a lot of hard work. Most of us are not fully aware of who we are and why we do what we do. We are all creatures of programming and once the programming is completed, usually by the age of seven (7). The install habit runs the pre-programmed course. The language we speak was not by choice but rather parental and environmental programming. The food we eat is based on the same programming. Most childhood friends and current friends are due to proximity. The point being made here is that most of the things we engage in are not by choice, but due to programming and habit. As adults, at some point you need to use what makes you human, your mind, and ask yourself some tough questions: 1.Why do I have a particular religious faith? 2. Why do I like the food that I eat? How many other types of food have I been exposed to in the world? 3. Why am I happy? 4. Why am I sad? 5. Why am I content? 6.Why am I angry? 7.Why do I love person A or B? 8.Why do I want to be loved, etc? 9.Why do I want to be important? 10.Why do I want to be rich/wealthy?, and what does it mean to me to be rich/wealthy? To be able to truly answer the ten questions above you will definitely have to do some deep thinking and analysis to arrive at some reasonable conclusions. Your introspection should be done based on
past behaviour, achievement and current habits. The point of the exercise is to truly come to terms with who you are, as per your definition, not based on programming, environmental circumstances or societal expectation. Once you discover the real you, the WHYs in your behaviour will become crystal clear. You will no longer be a leaf at the mercy of the wind to determine your daily direction. Do you ever wonder why your multi-level marketing friends invite you to gatherings (conventions) and bombard you with constant stories about other members with big houses, expensive cars and lots of money? Rather than showing you HOW to run the business, they want you to buy into WHY you should do the business and not HOW you are going to do it. They know very well that if you become convinced that it is important to have a big house, expensive cars and lots of money, you will figure out HOW to recruit additional candidates without any effort on their part. Studies have shown that the brightest humans amongst us use less than 10 percent of their mental capacity. There is a hidden power of the mind
that science has not been able to explain. The mind is the greatest computer ever built. The difficulty is that it has no operation manual. Most of us discover the use of the mind via trial and error. My suggestion to you is to implement the WHY concept and not worry about HOW it will get done. If you want to start a business don’t worry about HOW it with will work when you have no money. Rather, focus on WHY you want to start a business. Great achievers determine WHY they want something and take a leap of faith and keep moving and changing their actions until the desired outcome is realized. Inventions have taken humans on a path they have never been before. If they knew HOW they were going to do it, it would not be inventions. The Wright Brothers didn’t know HOW to fly, they just knew WHY they wanted to fly and eventually it became a reality, the birth of air travel. Most great achievements are based on WHY they need to get done not HOW they will be done. If you look at your life’s achievement you will discover points in your life where help came to you unexpectedly. This type of
help cannot be forecasted or indicated in a business plan. I term this “THE HIDDEN HAND OF HELP”. Its arrival is unknown, and only available to those who are moving in a general positive direction towards their WHY objective(s). To get this unexpected help you have to be on the road towards your WHY. If you are not in pursuit the help will never come. In conclusion, if financial abundance is your aim, then clearly come to a definite term WHY it is important. If the reason(s) becomes crystal clear, is gigantic and meaningful enough, your sub-conscious mind will definitely find the path. The reason WHY you want the huge money is more important than how you are going to do it. Don’t worry about what business or profession you will use to make this money, because each of us is blessed with some gifts that can make us plenty of money. There is a genius hidden inside each of us, unique only to us. The only thing missing is WHY we want the money. Once that is discovered, the money will flow to you without resistance. That’s WHY you are financially blessed, now find your light and let it shine.
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Mali gives military personnel key government posts sonnel. The military representatives have been appointed ministers for defence, in-
The interim president of Mali has announced a new government, giving key posts to three military per-
ternal security and the interior. Soldiers ousted the democratically elected govern-
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ment in a coup just over a month ago. Coup leaders agreed to hand control to an interim president, Diouncounda Traore, who has been tasked with overseeing a timetable for elections. The deal was struck with the West African regional organisation Ecowas which wants to ensure a return to a democratically elected government. But the leader of the junta, Capt Amadou Sanogo, has insisted his military committee “will continue to play a supervisory role until new elections are held,” Bamako
journalist Martin Vogl told the BBC. Mr Traore and his prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra, have appointed 24 ministers in total, none of whom were part of the old government. It is not known how long they will serve or when elections will take place. The government’s biggest challenge is to resolve the crisis in the north of Mali, where Tuareg and Islamist rebels have seized an area larger than France. The Malian soldiers who carried out the coup said they did so because the
elected government had been incompetent in dealing with the Tuareg rebellion. But during the power vacuum that ensued the rebels took control of an area they call Azawad. Mali’s former leader who was ousted in the coup, Amadou Toumani Toure, later fled with his family to neighbouring Senegal. Mr Toure was hailed for ending years of military rule and handing power to civilians after organising elections in 1992. He was later elected to power himself. BBC News
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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16
The Ghanaian News April 2012
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2012 Easter Convention by Church of Pentecost Canada By Jonathan Annobil, Toronto
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Akan Zone of the Church of Pentecost held a 4-day Easter Convention at its premises, 2256 Sheppard W. from April 5 to April 8, 2012 with “God sent His Son” as the theme. The theme was taken from Galatians 4:4-5. The climax of the 4-day event was the special Easter Sunday with Apostle Dr. E.O. Bediako (National Head) as the Apos. Dr. E.O. Bediako, National Head of COP speaker. cont'd on pg. 18
Elders and congregation
From L: Mrs. Faustina Bediako, Dcns. Mavis Anane and other Dcns.
Apos. Dr. Bediako with Pastors, Elders and Deacons
Cross section of congregation
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
17
18
The Ghanaian News April 2012
2012 Easter Convention by Church of Pentecost Canada cont'd from pg. 16
Pastor Ransford Obeng-Gyamfi (3rd left) Overseer Richard Adjei and some Elders Deaconnesses
Heaven Jewels (Children Choir)
Chef kwesi Asiedu was born in kumasi, the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He studied catering at Sunyani Techenical Institute now known as Sunnyani Polytecnic. He then went on to open his own catering school, named Blackberries Catering Institute with a Restaurant attached, in kumasi. Due to his hard work, enthusiastic, energetic, and love for what he does which is "cooking delicious food" he quickly established rapport with his coustomers and the community in which he served. He was able to provide delicious(mouth watering) food, that earned him a contract as a special event planner and caterer for Ashanti regional cordinating Council, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assesmbly including dignitaries. He was also assigned to cater for the Officials of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2008. He relocated to Canada in 2009 and currently works as a chef at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Mississauga. In Canada, he catered for the Kumasi Asafo Social Club in Toronto in 2010 and the Kumasi Youngsters (high Blood) in Toronto in 2011. He also caters for wedding receptions and many more. .
PIWC Choir
cont'd The speakers during the convention were Pastor Ransford Obeng-Gyamfi (Peel District), Overseer Richard Adjei (PIWC District Overseer), Elder Joseph Tieku and Mrs. Faustina Bediako. “May the power that raised Christ from the dead open heaven for you in addition to blessings in Jesus Name” was the opening remark from Apostle E.O. Bediako who then led the congregation in singing a song from the Pentecost Hymn (Songs) Book. He added that the blood Jesus shed on the cross to redeem us is priceless and because of the preciousness of Jesus’ blood it is able to cleanse us of our sins. His topic was “Jesus Christ is risen.” There are so many testimonies in the Bible that goes to prove that Jesus did rise from the dead indeed. Josephus, a renowned Jewish historian also recorded the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says He revealed Himself to many people including his disciples. All these goes to prove that the resurrection did happen. Christ said “For as Jona was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the son of Man will be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth. He prophesized and it came to pass. The Bible says that if Christ did not resurrect then our faith is useless, but He did rise from the dead and sitteth at the right hand of the father. The blood of Jesus has done wonders for us. He conquered death when He rose from the dead. Heavens Jewels, the Children Choir, McKeown Choir, Evelyn Antwi, Deaconness Monica Agyeman and Kwaku Gyasi gave song ministrations. Elder Patrick Attuah was the conductor for the Easter service and Mrs. Faustina Bediako who gave the closing prayer.
The Ghanaian News
SUE AND CHARLIE’S
April 2012
19
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
21
Ghana Cuts Military Expenditure Ghana spent an amount of $98 million at current prices on its military in 2011, according to
new figures published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) April 17, 2012.
But in real terms, the Institute indicated that the country’s expenditure on its military in 2011 was $96 million, declining 23%
from $125 million it spent in 2010. The 2011 military expenditure
was 0.4% of the 2010 gross domestic product (GDP), SIPRI figures indicated adding that Ghana spent $26 million on the military in 1988. According to SIPRI, world military expenditure in 2011 totalled $1.74 trillion, almost unchanged since 2010 in real terms. “The small rise of just 0.3% in 2011 marks the end of a run of continuous increases in military spending between 1998 and 2010, including an annual average increase of 4.5% between 2001 and 2009,” the Institute said in a statement accompanying the report. The SIPRI observed that six of the world’s top military spenders—Brazil, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States—made cuts in their military budgets in 2011 as part of attempts to reduce budget deficits but nations such as China and Russia increased their military spending markedly.
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“The after-effects of the global economic crisis, especially deficit-reduction measures in the USA and Europe, have finally brought the decade-long rise in military spending to a halt—at least for now,” said Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Project. African countries spent $32.2 billion on their military during the year 2011 as the SIPRI said most of the regional increase of 8.6% was accounted for by a 44% ($2.5 billion) increase by Algeria – partly due to concerns over the conflict in Libya. While North Africa’s expenditure was $13.1 billion, sub-Sahara Africa’s was $19.1 billion.
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
THE QUEEN OF DENIAL…my life as a polio survivor! Nothing in my world changed until I changed and once I changed, everything changed! Imagine this………..it is the year 1956, in north east England. I lived on a military Air Force base with my mother, father and twin brother. My father was always travelling to various military facilities all over the world and was often gone for months at a time and as a family, we were constantly being relocated to different military camps in England, sometimes as often as once every two years. I had one leg that was thinner than the other and very weak. Every time I tried to run, I would fall over and I have the scars on my knees to show for it! I had polio. Polio was considered as somewhat of a self correcting illness in that, as children’s bodies grew and became stronger, their symptoms would improve and that exercise was an integral part of that recovery. Sitting on that exercise mat in the gymnasium with dozens of other ‘polio children” while we did our exercises was a vivid memory as my leg was so weak, I would cry as I tried to lift it up. “Just one more time” Mum would say. Wearing heavy, ugly, leather lace up shoes, although considered helpful in terms of strengthening my muscles, made walking even more difficult but I had to wear them every day to school. Polio was considered to be a disease of poor hygiene which we know today, simply wasn’t the case. However, as a result, parents were ashamed if their child had this disease. There was no educational support and so parents could not help their children cope. It was simply something that wasn’t talked about. Children with breathing difficulties who were put in to iron lungs were left, without a single visitor, sometimes for up to two years! I had very poor eyesight as well and had
to wear very heavy, thick glasses and so as you can imagine, going to so many new schools, I would inherit a new set of bullies each time. “Run away”, “just ignore them”, my parents would say but how could I run away in those shoes when my legs didn’t work! It was relentless and hurtful and because no one would tell me “it’s ok, you are not what the bullies say you are, you are beautiful, smart and kind” there was no positive re-inforcement about myself as a little girl. I was just told to work harder than anyone else to achieve the same results….advice that would not serve me well in later life. Being a teenager in the 60’s was wonderful…..hippies, jukeboxes, coffee bars, The Beatles, mods and rockers, ban the bomb, mini skirts and Elvis was still the king of rock and roll! The ugly glasses and shoes came off! NO one was going to know about my polio EVER! Walking was still difficult but I knew I could pull off looking ‘normal’! I had fun. I partied and dated just like everyone else. I pretended to see. I looked great with my platform shoes and mini skirts! I became “The Queen of Denial”! But, every night I cried myself to sleep and prayed to God that I would wake up the next day and my polio would be gone. “Please make my body normal God, PLEASE!” But every morning, it was still the same and there was no one to talk to. I knew, however, that my life could be better and decided to make a brand new start. I am going to leave all the pain and bad memories behind, come to Canada and make better memories. At age 21, I met John who is still my husband. Three years later, we emi-
grated to Canada and three years after that our beautiful daughter was born. I started going to exercise classes and my body loved it! Shortly afterwards, I became certified as a fitness instructor, then a Personal Trainer and within the following twenty years acquired several more certifications. I was one of the first Trainers in Canada to be certified as a Medical Exercise Specialist qualifying me to work alongside Medical Specialists assisting in the rehabilitation of chronically ill patients requiring exercise and nutritional therapies. I was fit, strong, healthy, almost symptom-free and very happy. I provided lectures to hospital medical staff, large Corporations and appeared on TV several times. I attended every health seminar and lecture I could….this was I indeed my passion. UNTIL……just before I turned 50! My polio symptoms came back! I could hardly walk, was in excruciating pain and was very tired all of the time. I knew that I had Post Polio Syndrome and that I had been exercising much too hard all these years on my polio damaged body. I spent several years being mis-diagnosed by Doctors. I was told that I had everything from plantar fasciitis to arthritis to…..it was “in my head”! I finally found a wonderful Doctor who understood polio and was referred to The Post Polio Clinic in Toronto. Upon confirmation of the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, it was recommended that I stop teaching all forms of exercise and start resting every day. So, I closed my Personal Training studio, quit teaching fitness classes, and discontinued rollerblading and tennis. I was also told by a well meaning occupational therapist that I will probably be in a wheelchair within two years! What
a shock after being able to be so active for so long. I believed the wheelchair prognosis and within that two years, my physiology changed. I became far more symptomatic which brought on depression. I was back to square one with no one to talk to and I didn’t know what to do. I knew that medication was not the answer and again, knew that the only one that could heal me….was me! I decided to research ALL aspects of healing, everything that surrounds healthy living. I expanded my thinking and re-interpreted my world and things began to improve dramatically. My story is typical of what it was like for children who had polio. I was one of the lucky ones as mine was less severe. Many others were in wheelchairs or iron lungs. I became almost fully functional over the years as a fitness trainer but walking was always difficult. Today…..Walking is more difficult but I exercise and live within my symptom range. I do things much differently now but have never been happier! My energy is always high and rarely do I get sick. I am actually grateful for my polio on most days and I have never stopped attending lectures and researching ways to feel better. I think much differently which has a profound affect on the body. I only consume ultimately nourishing foods. I have wonderful memories because I choose to see them and now….there is no more anxiety, no more stress and no more “Queen of Denial” any more. Sue Arnott www.vitalitylady.ca Bus: 519-265-7761 Res: 519-716-8371
P & C Rehabilitation Ser vices Services Dr. Paul Agyemang, BHK (Hons) CSCS.DC. Chiropractor 1749 Jane Street, Unit 2, Toronto, Ontario, M9N 2S5
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The Ghanaian News
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starting with $100 and $50 notes, with the more common $20 coming this fall and $10 and $5 bills next year. Like the coins, the new plastic currency is being touted as more durable and less vulnerable to counterfeiting. But users have reported the bills tear easily once they’re creased or nicked and can melt if exposed to heat. The mint is defending its new coins. Spokesman Alex Reeves said the shift to coins that can be more easily read by vending machines has actually made life easier. The electromagnetic signal can be better manipulated on that type of coin,” he told the Free Press. Although statistics are not current, the number of shaken and kicked vending machines has come down dramatically, the Free Press said. But the mint is already preparing an alternative to coins and small bank notes for so-called microtransactions. The Mint Chip would be a form of secure digital currency that would allow people to transfer value from one chip to another and via devices such as smartphones.
CO
Vending machine operators are also bracing for an added cost to modify their equipment. “I don’t know if the new coins will fit in our machines,” Simo Caffe owner Jessica Seguin told the Calgary Herald. “If they don’t fit, it will cost $300 to $600 per machine to upgrade the coin mechanism.” The mint has been using the multi-ply steel technology in smaller coins for about a decade, causing headaches for the vending industry. “Now, every time they change the metal content of the coin, the mechanism does not read it,” Ralph Burokas, who supervises servicing of 200 machines in Winnipeg for Gourmet Coffee, told the Winnipeg Free Press. Jay Toporowski, who reprograms coin machines with J-Tech Vending Sales & Services in Calgary, told the Herald the new coins will be a cost headache for the entire industry. “And later in the year we will have to reprogram again for the new $20 polymer bills,” he said. The Bank of Canada began issuing the new plasticized currency last year,
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If you’re having trouble getting a vending machine or parking meter to accept your shiny new loonie, don’t kick the machine, blame the high-tech coin. The Royal Canadian Mint’s new generation of loonies and toonies apparently are getting spit out regularly by coin-operated devices. The coins, issued this month, use multi-ply steel technology that makes them cheaper to produce and provides more security features. But they also weigh slightly less than the older alloy coins and often get rejected by vending machines and parking meters. “This one didn’t work,” Verinder Kumar told the Toronto Star after a new loonie landed in a city parking machine’s reject slot. The Toronto Parking Authority estimates that at about $345 per machine, it will cost about $1 million to upgrade almost 3,000 machines to accept the new coins, the Star reported. Calgary’s Parking Authority is already spending about $30,000 to recalibrate its 770 parking machines.
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New lighter loonies, toonies causing headaches for vending and parking machines
April 2012
ISLINGTON NORTH CHIROPRACTIC Dr. M. Agyemang, B.Sc. (Hons.), D.C.
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STATE OF THE ART TREATMENT FOR: 1. Protruding and Herniating Discs 2. Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) 3. Spinal Root Impingment 4. Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) 5. Compression Fractures We also offer these services: 1. Motor Vehicle Accident 2. Extended health care 3. Soft tissue massage 4. Custom made orthotics
Tel: 416-747-5888 / 905-264-8010 Fax: 416-747-1930 / 905-264-9010 Mondays to Thursdays 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Fridays 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Saturdays By Appointment 7007 ISLINGTON AVE., UNIT 14, Woodbridge, Ont, L4L 4T5 (North-East corner of Islington/Steeles)
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
IMMIGRATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES By: James A. Kwaatemg, B.A. (Hons), LLB (Hons)
Criminality and Immigration and Citizenship Applications In your dealings with Government and even some private establishments, in your quest for good jobs and appointments and in your applications for membership in professional societies or organizations, your criminal background may become an issue. Individuals who submit applications to Citizenship and Immigration Canada – be the applications for visitor visas, student permits, work permits, refugee protection and even for Citizenship - must be aware that their criminal history could be a principal determinant of the success of their applications. Generally, a person with a criminal conviction will not be admitted into Canada as a permanent resident - and not even as a visitor. However, if a prescribed period has passed after the person has completed his sentence or committed the offence and the person was not convicted of a
subsequent offence during that time, they may be deemed to have been rehabilitated. If you were convicted of, or committed, a criminal offence outside Canada, you may be deemed to have been rehabilitated if 10 years have passed after completing the sentence imposed upon you or after committing the offence, if the offence is one that would, in Canada, be an indictable offence punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years. If the offence is one that would, in Canada, be prosecuted summarily and if you were convicted of two or more such offences, then that period is 5 years after the
sentence imposed was served or to be served. Almost the same conditions apply to offences committed in Canada. Don’t overlook the fact that the emphasis is not only on conviction, but also on commission, of an offence. Immigration Regulation 133(1) indicates that a sponsorship application shall only be approved by an officer if, on the day on which the application was filed and from that day until the day a decision is made with respect to the application, there is evidence that the sponsor is not subject to a removal order. Such removals are mostly triggered by criminal offences. Thus, permanent residents of Canada and even naturalized Canadian citizens, who may be subject to removal from Canada, could be ineligible to put in sponsorship applications in respect of their relatives. A person who is detained
in any penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison, is not likely to be eligible for sponsorship. Also, persons who are convicted under the Criminal Code of an offence of a sexual nature, or an attempt or a threat to commit such an offence, against any person, as well as persons who commit an offence that results in bodily harm as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, to any family members may be barred from sponsoring relatives. It may not matter whether the offence and conviction took place outside Canada or in Canada. The term “family member” in this context is defined expansively. Seek clarification from an expert. Immigration Regulation 133(2) indicates that a sponsorship application may not be refused on the basis of a conviction in Canada or outside Canada if a period of five years or more has elapsed since the completion of
the sentence imposed and the sponsor has demonstrated that he or she has been rehabilitated, or if a pardon has been granted and has not ceased to have effect or has not been revoked. You may therefore be eligible to apply for rehabilitation without necessarily waiting for five years or more to be deemed rehabilitated. Regarding Citizenship applications, the Registrar of Canadian Citizenship must check with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to find out if there are any criminal or security reasons which could prevent you from acquiring Cana-
dian citizenship. A permanent resident with a bad criminal record is likely to be ineligible for Canadian citizenship. Criminality in Immigration context is a complex area. Seek professional advice if you reasonably believe criminality could be an issue in your application. James A. Kwaateng is an Immigration Law practitioner with offices located at 168A Oakdale Road, Suite 4, Toronto, Ontario. For thorough discussion of your immigration and related social and legal issues, contact him at telephone number (416) 743-2758.
Ghanaian News online www.ghanaiannews.ca
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
25
The Ghana Culture Day: A Review Ghana Kindum Festival Wednesday, 14th March, 2012 was Ghana Culture Day. The day, the authorities say, is held to promote “mainstreaming of the culture in national development.” This has been going on over the years – basically pandering the same thinking. While I was expecting something more enlightening from the cultural connoisseurs, what I read was the same old, same old rational. Why Ghana Culture Day? To restore Ghana/African cultural values that have been demeaned in the eyes of the world during colonialism and perpetuated by the
lethargic Ghanaian/African elites and the fact that Ghanaian/African traditional values have not been integrated fully into mainstream thinking and policy-making. This is what will lead to “mainstreaming of the culture in national development.” Despite the historic African Personality concept advocated by President Kwame Nkrumah that seeks to raise the African’s essence, the idea has been practically unsustainable, making Ghana/Africa the only region in the world with a development process that
is dominated by foreign development paradigms. It is as if Ghanaians/Africans have no cultural values and a soul of their own, for development. At best, the African Personality concept is shallow as witnessed in Ghanaian/ African inhibitive values that still pose serious development challenges. The Ghana Cultural Day, a brilliant idea, is yet to incorporate the realities of the on-going enlightenment campaigns by addressing the inhibitive values within the Ghanaian culture and at the same time influence policymakers to appropriate the
IGP Defends Police
cont'd from pg. 10
augment the work of the police. Among the equipments and logistics are 1,110 ten pick-ups and saloon cars, 100 motorbikes, 1,000 walkie-talkies, two cabin patrol cutters, several ballistic vests, protection helmets, ballistic plates and four high speed interceptor boats for the marine police. Some 500 selected police officers would undergo training on a wide rage of marine courses in marine law enforcement, with the
view to protecting Ghana’s coastline, especially the shores and oil industry. Problems regarding the Police Hospital Development Project have been resolved. Negotiations were at an advanced stage for International Hospital Group (IHG) to resume work soon. The draft Police Service Regulation is also before cabinet and will be passed immediately parliament resumed. This will consoli-
date all existing police legislative instruments to stand the test of time. The minister observed that the parking of accident and broken-down vehicles in front of the various police stations was an eyesore. He therefore issued a two-month ultimatum for the clearing of such cars from police stations to beautify the stations. Mr. Aboah earlier visited the Criminal Data and Statistics Bureau (CDSB) unit of the CID Headquarters. Daily Guide
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enabling aspects of the culture for development. In this sense, the Ghana Cultural Day could be strategized as part of the engine of reforms being advocated by the enlightenment movement. For, in
the final analysis, the Ghana Cultural Day will be meaningless unless the enlightenment effort is incorporated into its programme. Certainly, Professors Kofi Anyidoho and Esi
Sutherland-Addy, key conveners of the Ghana Culture Day and its adjunct Ghana Cultural Forum, could shine on the Ghanaian culture. But realistically, they could sometimes look at the cont'd on pg. 57
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Moody’s downgrades Ontario credit rating Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded its credit rating for Ontario. The credit rating agency announced Thursday that it downgraded the rating to AA2 with stable outlook, down from AA1 with negative outlook. Moody’s said the government’s targets for reining in spending appear “particularly ambitious” and there is a risk the province will not get rid of its $15-billion deficit as scheduled, five
It also said that there was little chance of the rating improving any time soon, though Moody’s did say that if the Ontario government can meet its targets and reduce the provincial deficit that “could put upward pressure on the rating.” Also Thursday, DBRS affirmed its long- and short-term debt ratings for Ontario, while holding its outlook at stable. The news from Moody’s comes just a day after Standard and Poor’sdowngraded its outlook for Ontario. The province’s Finance Min-
years from now. “The downgrade of Ontario’s rating reflects the growing debt burden and the risks surrounding the province achieving its mediumterm fiscal plan given the subdued growth outlook, extended timeframe back to balance and ambitious expenditure targets,” said Jennifer Wong, the lead analyst for Ontario and an assistant vice-president at Moody’s.
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vative finance critic Peter Shurman called it “catastrophic news.” “The consequences of this are very real and very troubling for our province,” Shurman said in a statement. “This will drive up interest rates and increase the cost of servicing our $280 billion debt.” However, Craig Alexander, the chief economist at TD Bank, said that the downgrade won’t drive borrowing costs through the roof. “I don’t think that the cost
of borrowing for the province will go up dramatically. But it is going to cost the government more on a going-forward basis to borrow,” Alexander said during an interview with CBC Radio’s Here and Now on Thursday afternoon. And that means that there will be more money set aside to pay for “the previous debt that’s been accumulated,” instead of for programs and services that benefit Ontarians, he said.
Credit ratings by province Moody's DBRS Canada Aaa Newfoundland and LabradorAa2 A Nova Scotia Aa2 A Prince Edward Island Aa2 A (low) New Brunswick Aa2 A (high) Quebec Aa2 A (high) Ontario Aa2 AA (low) Manitoba Aa1 A (high) Saskatchewan Aa1 AA Alberta Aaa AAA British Columbia Aaa AA (high) (Source: Agency websites) CBC News
Standard & Poor's AAA AAA A+ A+ A AA- (outlook negative) A+ AA- (outlook negative) AA AAA AAA AAA
Call Us First The Ghanaian News 416-916-3700
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ister Dwight Duncan said that feedback the province had received from ratings agencies this week was an indication of the challenges Ontario is facing. “What they agree on and I think we all agree is that we have challenging targets to meet and we will meet them,” Duncan told reporters at Queen’s Park after the markets closed on Thursday afternoon. While Duncan predicted the Moody’s downgrade “won’t impact us much at all,” Progressive Conser-
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The Ghanaian News
Ecowas sends troops to Mali, Guinea-Bissau after coups West African leaders have agreed to send troops to Mali and GuineaBissau following coups in both countries. The regional grouping Ecowas said after an emergency summit that it expected both countries to organise presidential elections within the next 12 months. Between 500 and 600 troops will be sent imme-
diately to Guinea-Bissau. At least 3,000 regional soldiers are ready to go to Mali to support the transitional government’s fight against rebels which control the north. The BBC’s John James at the meeting in Abidjan says no timescale was set for the deployment to Mali, because the leaders were waiting for the Malian government to
draw up details of their collaboration. But Ecowas warned the coup leaders in GuineaBissau that if they failed to agree to the deployment within 72 hours, they face targeted sanctions. It is still unclear which regional countries will contribute to the Ecowas force, and even once ready, it will need financial and logistical outside
help before it can be deployed. But Ecowas warned the coup leaders in GuineaBissau that if they failed to agree to the deployment within 72 hours, they face targeted sanctions. The troops will provide security during the transition to civilian rule. The army took power on April 12, during presidential elections which were
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African Crops * Smoked Fish & Meat * Yam * Plantain * Gari * Fufu etc.
Call Rosinaa Boakye Tel: 905-913-0033 Cell: 647-588-5755 8887 The Gore Rd., #56 Brampton, Ont. (Jaipur Gore Plaza)
Check Us online @ www.ghanaiannews.ca
401 or 403 to South on Erin Mills Pkwy, Exit West on Dundas, 2nd light left Liruma Road, Behind Mr. Lube
Rowntree OPEN Meat Ringing The Bell - Seasoned B.B.Q. * Chicken * Meat * Jerk Seasoning 7 DAYS Call For Your Order Ahead Of Time - 416-742-6333
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Fish Boxes * Red Snapper Talapia, * Mackerel King Fish * Goat Meat Oxtail * Chicken Leg
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Tel: 416-742-6333 Visit our Meat Shop for your Party needs @
1148 Albion Road. Etobicoke, Ont. (at Islington)
Central Market We Carry All Your Tropical Grocery Items For All Your Family Grocery Needs * * * *
Rowntree Meat Ltd
Email: ben@the-wire.com
2642 Liruma Rd, #2A, Mississauga, Ont.,
Fresh Ghana Yam (Pona) * Palm Oil Titus Sardine * Exeter Corned Beef Accra Kenkey * Akwaabi Fresh Garden Eggs * Red Snapper And much more at discount prices
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African Supermarket & Beauty Supply
cont'd on pg. 43
Kaf African Caribbean Market
April 2012
2687 Kipling Ave. W Unit 5, Etobicoke, Ont (Rowntree Plaza)
Afrocan Business Centre One Stop Shopping For Family Groceries
Wholesalers of Tropical Foods Two Locations to Serve You Better Brampton
Toronto
We are open 7 Days a week. Sundays from 12 noon to 6:00 pm
70 Devon Road,
1749 Jane Street
Tel: 416-745-5928
(Airport Rd/Clark)
(Jane/Lawrence)
5010 Steeles Ave. W., Unit 2B, Etobicoke (Steeles/Kipling)
Asafo Market R & G African and Caribbean Grocery Inc. * Yam * Gari * Rice * Accra Kenkey * Can Food * Dry Fish * Koobi * Akwaabi Fish * And many more Call Rita or George
Tel: 416-650-5368
391 Driftwood Court (Jane/Driftwood)
Tel: 905-458-5004 Open 7 Days a Week 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sun. from 12 to 6 p.m.
Tel: 416-241-9318 Open Monday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
* Fresh Ghana Yams (Pona) * Palm Oil * Titus Sardine * Exeter Corned Beef * Accra Keneky * Akwaabi * Fresh Garden Eggs * Red Snapper * And much more at discount prices Afrocan Barber Shop & Beauty Supplies Excellent Hair Cut @ Dicount Price
FREE Transfer to Accra and Kumasi ONLY WESTERN UNION AGENT (Worldwide)
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
The 12th Annual Ghanaian-Canadian Achievement Awards 2012 a celebration of Excellence Houring our Communicty Achievers Hosted by The Ghanaian News in September 2012
Call for 2012 Award Nominations This year's (2012) presentation recognizes achievements in the following areas:
2012
2012
NEW BRANCH (of Assemblies of God Church)
Immanuel Assembly of God Church Scarborough Starting Sunday, June 3rd 2012 9:00 am to 12 noon LOCATION Don Montgomery Community Centre 2467 Eglinton Ave. E. Scarborough, Ont., M1K 2R1 (Kennedy/Eglinton Subway Station)
Contact: 647-880-4216
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
Community Information GHANAIANS SPEAK!!! - Motivational presentations on how to aspire higher education 路 Leadership and skills development 路 Community mentors sharing their journey to success 路 Strategies to deal with systemic barriers Keynote speaker: Joe Kingsley Eyiah Experienced Educationist and Communications Expert based in Toronto. A seasoned teacher, writer, parent, youth activist, social commentator, and motivational speaker.
121 Kendleton Drive, (Kipling and John Garland) Saturday, May 12th 2012 3:00 - 7:00pm Contact: Ben Antwi (416) 570-7443; Daniel Sem (416) 787-3007 ext 246
Light snacks and refreshment will be served FREE REGISTRATION Organized by: Across Boundaries, Youth Unlimited, YConnect, Youth Development and Empowerment Project (YoDep), Ghanaian Social Workers Assoc, Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo Organization
10th Anniversary Celebration Ghanaian Women's F asting & Pra yer Fasting Pray Conference And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language: and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do Gen 11:6
Monday, May 21st 2012 Victoria's Day Holiday At or d Assemb ly of God Chur ch Living W Wor ord Assembly Churc 139 Mill wic k Driv e (Steeles/Islington) Millwic wick Drive
9:00 a.m. - 12noon For more info call:
416-916-3700, 905-265-9747, 647-343-3567, 905-791-3720, 416-749-0631, 905-846-6257, 905-792-9516, 416-248-8593
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
The
Youth Journal MOVINGFORWARD WITH OUR YOUTH THE FUTURE OFOUR COMMUNITY
Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder and How to Better Support Children By Kwabena Akuoko, MSW, RSW, Toronto
Canada observed April 2, 2012 as World Autism Awareness Day. As a matter of fact, April is recognized globally as Autism Awareness Month, where educational activities around autism are promoted. More children now suffer from autism than previously estimated and hence there is a need for greater awareness of the condition in our community. Research suggests that undiagnosed children, especially those from minority communities are often mistakenly labelled as disruptive or characterized as bad students and most importantly, may not benefit from the available resources. It is estimated that over 200,000 Canadian children are autistic. The latest statistics from the United States also indicate that 1 in 88 children are affected by autism. Once a rare condition, it has now become the most common neurological disorder, which affects individuals of all ages. This article is a revised version of what I wrote for this column approximately a year ago. What is Autism Spectrum Disorder? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition of neural development that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and also by restricted and repetitive behaviours. Predictably therefore, autistic children also have difficulty developing normal relationships with others. Similarly, they have different interests than their peers. Signs of autism are observable as earlier as during infancy and progress through a child’s developmental stages. These signs begin at birth or within the first two to three years of life. Children with ADS develop motor, language, cognitive and social skills differently and slower than other children their age. They may for example be good in sports or have the ability
to solve numerical and other complex puzzles but have extreme difficulties relating to peers or may simply find it difficult expressing themselves verbally. Although most autistic children may appear functional in many ways, they also engage in puzzling or other disturbing behaviours, which are markedly different from their non-autistic peers. Also, they may particularly have unusual responses to sensory stimulations, such as high tolerance for pain for instance, over or under reaction to sounds, oversensitivity to being touched and fascination with lights, shiny objects among others and hence they need constant supervision. Similarly, expression of affection or mood is frequently abnormal and there may be an apparent absence of emotional reaction or sometimes have inappropriate reaction to the context. Treatment options for children Like any other mental or physical health condition, early intervention is very important in dealing with autism. Timely or appropriate age at intervention thus optimizes best outcomes in dealing with autism among children. For instance, studies have shown in recent years that there has been marked increase in the population of autistic children who can attend school and function with minimal reminders and redirections. They attend school and function in traditional classroom environment and almost fit in independently in community or group settings. The problem however is that there is still majority of autistic children who remain impaired in their ability to communicate and interact with others. Also, other aspects that are frequently common among children who have autism include among other things, behavioural symptoms such as self-injurious actions, aggression, hyperactivity and short attention span. Hence early recognition and timely intervention are of essence. While autism impedes children’s psychological development and learning abilities in many significant ways, the condition is treatable or manageable in many respects.
Children with mild forms of autism may for instance never need treatment. They can function well and may even excel. However, those with severe forms of the disorder are unable to function may greatly benefit from active therapy.There are several ways young people with autism can be treated and there is a continuous debate over what kinds of treatments offer the most successful outcomes. Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) and Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) are designed to actively engage children with communication, socialization, learning and behavioural problems. Caring and challenges Children with ADS need positive reminders and redirections as a base support for them to function in an acceptable manner. The caring of an autistic child places a lot of burden on families, which in turn puts them in high risk situations that result in many of them being raised or cared for by a sole parent, usually a mother. An autistic child in the family may for example deprive other children from receiving the attention they deserve, and it does not take long before crisis sets in and potentially leads to dysfunctional families. Studies however show that autistic children who are surrounded by loving families or caregivers tend to do well. The first and most essential principle in supporting children who have autism is to understand them and the precondition to understanding is effective listening. Unfortunately, lack of understanding has contributed to the fact that many of the supports provided to children with ASD over the years have often been insensitive, inappropriate and inadequate. This therefore particularly reinforces the importance of listening to autistic children in order to better understand them. Being aware of ASD is a good starting point toward helping children who may have the condition. We need to be aware that earlier signs of autism may include but not limited to child’s slow language development, inability to point or make eye contact among others. Experts recommend that children be screened for autism twice before their second birthday.
The Ghanaian News online Check it out www.ghanaiannews.ca
Keep on top of your changing needs By: Marian Ayiku-Teye, B.Adm Your priorities and needs change as you move through different stages in your adult life. Throughout these stages, your advisor can help you choose the right products and services that meet your evolving needs. Off to work In the first stage of adult life, you leave high school, college or university and enter the workforce. Your career is just getting underway. You may want to add to any group insurance coverage you have through your employer with personal insurance, such as disability, life and health insurance. Personal insurance is even more important if you’re starting your own business, or working in a contract position that doesn’t offer a benefit package. Retirement is generally the last thing on your mind. However, the sooner you start planning for your financial future, the better it will be. That head start can translate into thousands and thousands of dollars. Relationships A partnership, such as marriage, means your financial planning now includes two people. You
need to develop a financial plan to help make sure you and your partner are provided for today and in the future. If you’re buying a home, think about the advantages of purchasing life insurance, rather than mortgage insurance. Since you’re just starting on your journey through life together, it’s important that you head in the right financial direction from the start. Raising a family If and when children enter the picture, your financial priorities change again. It’s more important than ever to maintain a strong financial plan through these formative years to help keep your financial future bright. You’ll need to ensure your life insurance plan continues to meet the needs of you and your family, as well as saving adequate funds for your children’s education.
Empty nesters At this stage, your children have left home and gone out on their own. Your career is beginning to peak and retirement is just around the corner. Your discretionary income has grown now that the expenses of raising your children have all but disappeared. You’ll have the capital to pursue financial investments that can further enhance your retirement plans. Retirement Finally, it’s time to turn your retirement plans into reality. You’ll move into new financial products that will provide you with a comfortable living, in a tax effective manner. You’ll look at income options such as annuities, Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs), and the Flexible Income Plan (FIP). It’s important that you develop and maintain a specific financial plan so you can enjoy your new life of leisure. It’s also time to get your estate in order to ensure that after all of your hard work your wishes will be carried out as you planned.
The 1st Annual Ghanaian Canadian Youth Leadership Summit By Kwaku Wirekoh-Boateng
On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) will be hosting the first annual Ghanaian Canadian Youth Leadership Summit. The event is being run by the GCAO, in collaboration with various Ghanaian churches, as well as youth and cultural associations in the GTA. It is scheduled to take place at the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church, located at 51 High Meadow Place, from 11 am to 6 pm and is free of charge.
The summit will feature workshops, seminars, lectures, and talent displays. It will touch on key issues pertaining to Ghanaian youth in Canada, including challenges facing the youth, our youth in business/education, bridging the communication gap between youth and parents, role models in the community, and ways to facilitate networking among professionals in the community. These topics represent the most pressing concerns for Ghanaian youth, and as such, demand the attention of the entire community. All members of the community are encouraged to attend. This is the first event of its kind and its success will set a precedent for future initiatives. There have been quite a number of such programs run by different organizations within the community in the past, but this one stands out in its large scale and commu-
nity-wide reach. It is a great occasion for all segments of the Ghanaian community to engage in discourse on issues relating specifically to the youth and broadly to all of us. If you have any ideas or concerns relating to youth in the community that you would like to discuss, make it a point to attend this forum. There are many challenges facing our youth and it is time for us all to come together to seek solutions. This can only be done through dialogue and the exchange of ideas. In our own little circles, we have conversations about some of these topics, and many of us hold strong and informed opinions. This is a great opportunity for everyone to come out and give voice to these concerns. We all have something to contribute to the progress of the community and this event presents an excellent opportunity to do so.
THE CRITICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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BUSINESS Personal Milestones & Financial Implications By Eddie Twumasi Smith Bsc(Hons) Chem Eng, MBA,CGA, CPA
Day in day out we make decisions and choices that affect our financial well being in the short term, or in the long term either positively or otherwise. Over time, the sum total of these decisions or choices can affect our financial health, improve our net worth or create a financial black hole. World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking defined black hole as a body that absorbs all radiation of light in the process destroying all traces of consumed matter or energy. To paraphrase this in financial terms, our choices and decisions if not taken without sound basis can ultimately plunge us into a situation where any increase in net worth in the short term will not have any significant improvement in our livelihood in the long term . The danger is when we hit a financial black hole, it takes a lot of effort to recover or a lot effort to make appreciable change in your financial wellbeing. A person is deemed to be in the financial black hole when the sum total of all his/ her liabilities far outstrip the sum total of all assets discounted into present value terms. In other words, a person in financial black hole has huge negative net worth. Moshe Milevsky in his book Money Milestones defined or calculated net worth as difference in the sum of your total capital and liabilities. He calculated Total Capital as summation of “Explicit Financial Capital + Implicit Financial Capital + Estimated Human Capital. He goes on to calculate liabilities as the summation of “Visible Debt and Liabilities + Estimated Hidden Liabilities. The interesting thing about this equation is that, these variables in the equation are not always the same at different stages of our lives. One can increase his/ her human capital now at a cost or increase in liability and with time, translate the human capital into financial capital. Educational Milestone Over the course of our lives,
throughout post-secondary or college, professional live, till retirement; we make choices that affect either the liability or the asset arm or both sides of the net worth equation. For example, a student who is offered admission to college has the option to take student loan there by increasing his liability side of the equation. The decision to take loan will result in positive net worth provided after college, the student can improve his/her human capital, secure a career where his/her income from employment discounted at a given interest rate will outstrip the present value of the student loan. Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that at the average exit age of college graduates of 25years, with an average of 40 years of career life, the human capital of a physician for instance is approximately $2.7M, a lawyer is approximately $2.1M, civil engineer $1.4M and a plumber is $960,000 to name a few. This means our choices on the type of college, career, and the loans we take will in the long run be a potential black hole in our financial health if we don’t pay attention to the career, type of college our kids attend or the money they accept as loans during the course of the development. Student loans are just one of those decisions or choices we make which come back to help or hurt us in the long run. Other Milestones There are other milestones we aim for and try to achieve such as getting married, starting a family, renting or buying a house, buying your dream car, insurance portfolio investments, savings, career progressions, continuous professional development, insurance coverage for unexpected events, pension & retirement planning and other personal dreams at a given time in our life. These milestones have significant financial implications that can help improve our net worth or hurt our personal balance sheet. These milestones cause us to have to make decisions or sometimes spend over and above our income level thereby accumulating debt on credit card or store cards, line of credit debt or other loans arrangement. I read Bernadette Mary Poku’s article in the March 2012 edition of the Ghanaian News titled “Perspective On Money” and I must say, her narration of her experiences in the ar-
ticle brings to light some of the challenges our youth and even some parents’ face living from pay check to pay check. This is reality and should not be taken with a pinch of salt. It is about time we face the bull by the horn and attempt to educate our youth and parents on the essence of financial planning and setting financial goals at every stage of development throughout our lifetime. It is unfortunate most parents spend most of their time teaching their kids on good morals at home, encouraging their kids to take their education seriously but hardly do you hear or see parents teaching their kids about financial literacy at home. That is teaching our kids the culture of worth creation, savings or financial planning. The kids grow up and are not able to think holistically about their finances or how to use financial resources but are left at the mercy of some profit loving financial institution whose main interest is to make profit at the expense of their standard of living. To add more flesh or context to the above rhetoric, I had a discussion with one of my friends who has three (3) credit cards, one (1) store card and a line of credit at varying rates. I inquired why the need to keep all these cards? He responded, one financial institution offered him a lower rate to transfer his balance as such he transferred his old debt to this new credit card. He thought he had a good deal on the new credit card hence started spending left right and forward. My curiosity caused me to read the details or fine print on my friend’s new credit card and to my surprise, even though he got a lower rate for the balance transfer, any subsequent spending on this new card was higher than the old credit card. There are no free lunches my friend! I would like to use a very simple analysis here on the savings we can get if we decide to consolidate our debt instead of spreading our debts across various cards. My friend who has a balance of $ 7,500 on the first credit card at 15.0% and $ 8,000 on the second credit card at 18.0% and paying an average monthly rate of $200 on each will take approximately 54 months paying a total of $ 10,800 on the first credit card and approximately 65 months on the second credit card paying a total of $13,000. In the end my friend will end up paying $23,800 on the as-
Rental Applications – When Can Landlords Retain Deposits? By: Konstantine Chatzidimos and Jayson Schwarz
Introduction Many of us rent our homes. One of the big questions we might have is when a Landlord can keep your deposit if something goes wrong and you don’t take the rental property. This article discusses a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal which explored the meaning of the term ‘rent deposit’. The court’s decision may surprise you. Musilla v. Avcan Management Inc. In this case Sarah Musilla filled out a rental application form for a one-year tenancy and provided it to the landlord along with the required deposit cheque equivalent to one month’s rent. Six weeks before the tenancy was to have commenced, she backed out of the agreement and refused to sign the lease as contemplated in the rental application. She never took possession of the property. Ms. Musilla then sued to get her deposit back. This would seem like an easy one for the Landlord but not so. At the Landlord and Tenant Board (the “Board”) and the Ontario Divisional Court Ms. Musilla relied on subsection 107(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”) which states that a landlord “…shall repay the amount received as a rent deposit in respect of a rental unit if vacant possession of the unit is not given to the prospective tenant.” Ms. Musilla argued that she was entitled to a refund because she had not taken possession of the unit – regardless of the reason why. The Board and Divisional Court disagreed and held that tenants cannot unilaterally terminate tenancies prior to taking possession and then claim the deposit back. It makes sense for the Landlord to keep the deposit . . . . Well, not for Ms. Musilla who appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The Court considered whether the deposit provided by Ms. Musilla actually represented a “security deposit”. The Court reasoned that the rental application signed by Ms. Musilla was not a lease; this was confirmed by the wording on the very application form which contemplated that an accepted prospective tenant would execute a formal lease
prior to moving in. Moreover, the RTA states that payment of last month’s rent is the only circumstance where a landlord can retain a “security deposit”. As such, the deposit provided by Ms. Musilla with her rental application did not constitute a “security deposit” as there was no tenancy established at that point given no lease was signed. The result in this case was that Avcan Management Inc. was not authorized under the RTA to keep Ms. Musilla’s money for her failure to enter into the lease. Conclusion Rental application forms such as the one considered in this case are commonly used by landlords as a way of vetting potential tenants; deposit cheques are typically provided with such applications. As you can appreciate, the Court’s recent decision in this matter has potential to create problems vis-à-vis this established practice. Deposits are required so as to establish that prospective tenants are serious in applying to rent a unit as well as to incentivize landlords into holding the desired units. It will be interesting to see how this decision affects matters going forward. If you are a prospective residential landlord, it may not be a bad idea to have your rental application form reviewed by a lawyer experienced in this field as it seems that the Court’s decision applies only to situations where it is unclear whether a deposit may be returned if a lease is not entered into. Konstantine Chatzidimos is a Toronto business lawyer and associate in the law firm Schwarz Law LLP. Jayson Schwarz is a Toronto business lawyer and partner in the firm. Perhaps the most difficult part of writing these articles relates not to the actual writing, but thinking of a topic to address. Please mail, deliver or fax letters to the magazine or to us, use the web site (www.schwarzlaw.ca), email (kchatz@schwarzlaw.ca), or phone us at 888-609-8888 and give us your questions, concerns, critiques and quandaries. We will try to deal with them in print or electronic form.
Schwarz Law Barristers and Solicitors Schwarz Law LLP is a full service law firm, offering sound and practical professional advice in the areas of Business Law, Corporate, Commercial, Real Estate, General Litigation, Personal Injury, Construction Liens, Immigration and Estates and Tax Planning. Schwarz Law LLP is also associated with law firms in Providenciales (Turks & Caicos Islands), Kansas City, Missouri (USA), Accra (Ghana) & Montreal, Quebec. Jayson Schwarz is also a foreign referral associate of Cyrus Ross International (Europe). As a result, through our network of associated firms, we can provide national and international solutions as required.
Tel: 416-486-2040 schwarz@schwarzlaw.ca
Fax: 416-486-3325 www.schwarzlaw.ca
1984 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4S 1Z7
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Holy Matrimony between Jerry Ntakrah and Abena Opoku The ceremony was held at Living Word Assembly of God Church, 139 Millwick Drive on Saturday, April 21st 2012. The officiating pastor was Rev. Joseph OseiAmoah, Senior Pastor of Living Word Assembly of God Church and was supported by Rev. James Quainoo, Rev. Christian Popo Ola, Overseer Richard Adjei all of The Church of Pentecost. Reception was held at Claireport Place Banquet and Convention Centre, Toronto.
The couple with family
Lighting the candle
The clergy
The newly wed jubilating after their vow
Mr. & Mrs. Ntakrah
Nana Tabiri (father) escorting Abena Opoku
The newly wed with Elder of Living Word A/G
The couple with their family
The newly wed with Elders of The Church of Pentecost
Exchange of vows
Signing of the marriage register
Family and friends of the couple
The couple with the wedding party
Celebration
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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Joint Easter Convention of Assemblies of God Churches in Toronto By Staff Reporter
Easter is a Christian festival of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after His crucifixion at Calvary. It is in this vein that the Assemblies of God Churches in Toronto held a joint 4-day Easter Convention which was cli- Rev. Dr. Paul FrimpongGeneral Supt. A/G From L, Rev. Isaac Takyi De-Graft, Rev. Joseph OseiRev. Dr. & Mrs. Frimpong Manso (center) with the Pastors maxed with a joint Eas- Manso, Amoah, Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong-Manso, Rev. Milton Ofei, Ghana, Guest Speaker Rev. Tom Quinn ter Service at the premises of Living Word Assembly of God Church on 139 Millwick Drive on April 8, 2012. The 3 participating churches were the Living Word, Lighthouse and Evangel Assemblies of God and the theme was “ The Resurrected Christ empowers His followers to be the salt of the earth Mrs. Quinn (right) among the congregation during praise and worship time Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Frimpong Manso with Pastors, wives and church leaders and light of the world� from Matthew 5:13-14. The guest speaker was Rev. Dr. Paul FrimpongManso (General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Ghana). As an ardent lover of hymns, he started his sermon by leading the congregation to sing 3 songs after which he delivered Easter greetings from the cont'd on pg. 59
Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Frimpong Manso with Pastors and wives
Joint Choir
Altar call Congregation
Ushers
Cross section of congregation
Joint Youth Choir
Congregation
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Community
y in Pictures
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
PEOPLE AND PLACES Gilbert & Belinda Asamoah dedicate their baby at Ghanaian Presbyterian Church, April 1, 2012 A reception was held at at 85 Charolais Blvd. in Brampton after the church service. Family and friends were in attendance Gilbert and Belinda Asamoah with God-parents and family
Gilbert & Belinda and Deandria Obenewa Asamoah
Mr. & Mrs. Boateng, God-parents Group picture of family and friends
Trinity Baptist Church Easter Service
Rev. Nana Amoakohen preaching
Cross of the congregation
Praise and worship Team
Church Elders
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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Bethel Prayer Ministry Int'l Easter Convention in Toronto Bethel Prayer Ministry Int’l celebrated Easter Sunday with a Special Guest Speaker Rev. Clenn Forde, Senior Pastor of Reformation Centre, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. He spoke mainly about the Foundation of the Church, Death, and Resurrection of Christ and then admonished the congregation to lead exemplary lives of Christ worthy of Christ‘s followers
Pastor Glenn Forde Apos. Dennis Awuku receiving certificate from Hon. Kirsty Duncan, MP Etobicoke North
Apos Dennis Awuku and Mrs. Octavia Forde Praise and worship Team Some of the church members
Congregation
Rt. Rev. Abraham Kobina Ackah and wife Mother Superior Margaret visit Ghanaian Congregation St. John's Anglican Church
Members of the newly formed Ghanaian Congregation St. John's Anglican Church
Bethel Prayer Ministry Int'l Trinidad & Tobago Assembly A new Branch of Bethel Church was opened in November 2010. The opening ceremony was performed by Apostle Dennis Awuku, Snr. Pastor of Bethel Prayer Ministry Int'l Toronto.
Congregation
Pastor Evang. Samuel Effah Twum in charge of Bethel Trinida & Tobago Assembly preaching
Congregation
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Senegal swears in new president Macky Sall
Charles Taylor guilty of aiding Sierra Leone war crimes Former Liberian Presi-
since the Nuremburg mili-
down in the courtroom of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague Taylor was convicted in connection with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity International judges have found former Liberian leader Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes during the Sierra Leone civil war. Taylor, 64, has been on trial in The Hague at a UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone for almost five years. He was accused of backing rebels who killed tens of thousands during Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war. Taylor was convicted of 11 counts including terror, murder and rape - but cleared of ordering the crimes. He is the first former head of state convicted by an international court
ter World War II. Human rights groups described the judgement as historic. “This is an incredibly significant decision,” Elise Keppler from the campaign group Human Rights Watch told the BBC. Rights group Amnesty International said the verdict sent an important message to all high-ranking state officials. “While today’s conviction brings some measure of justice to the people of Sierra Leone, Taylor and the others sentenced by the Special Court are just the tip of the iceberg,” the group’s Brima Abdulai Sheriff said in a statement. The US State Department said the ruling sent “a strong message to all perpetrators of atrocities, including those in the highest positions of power, that
Macky Sall won 65.8% of the votes in the presidential election in March dent Charles Taylor looks tary tribunal of Nazis afThe new president of Senegal, Macky Sall, has been sworn into office to become the country’s first new leader in 12 years. Around 2,000 people attended the ceremony, including 11 African heads of state, and crowds of people lined the streets to cheer Mr Sall. He beat the outgoing president, Abdoulaye Wade, in a second round run-off vote last month. Mr Wade’s peaceful acceptance of defeat won him plaudits from around the world. He had previously been criticized for trying to stay in office for a third term. The Senegalese constitution states presidents can only serve two terms but Mr. Wade argued that, as
this rule was only introduced in 2008, it should not be applied retrospectively to include his first term in office. The new leader, 50-yearold Macky Sall, has in the past served as prime minister. At the ceremony he
pledged to “observe and enforce the constitution” while defending the country’s “territorial integrity”. He is Senegal’s fourth president since the West African nation gained independence from France in 1960. BBC News
Frank Odoi: Kenya mourns Ghanaian cartoonist Tributes are being paid to one of Africa’s leading cartoonists, Ghanaianborn Frank Odoi, who died over the weekend in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. He was killed in a traffic accident involving a minibus tax, known as a matatu, on Saturday but his family only learnt of his death on Monday. His Driving Me Crazy comic strip that tackled the subject of the matatu’s notoriously reckless driving. Mr. Odoi, 64, moved to Nairobi in the 1970s and worked there ever since. Mr. Odoi was one of two passengers to die when
the matatu in which they were travelling veered off the road into a ditch on Saturday. When the cartoonist did not return home over the weekend, family members searched all the hospitals before finding his body in a Nairobi mortuary on Monday morning. Mr. Odoi was one of the first visual artists to be given a daily slot in Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper about 30 years ago - and he has dominated the Kenyan artistic scene ever since. His work - fiction and political commentary - was also featured in newspa-
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pers all over Africa and the BBC’s Focus on Africa magazine. He was most famous for his Golgoti series, about a white man who comes to Africa, and Akokhan, the tale of two centuries-old squabbling men which was based on the folklore of his native Ghana. News of this death broke on Monday evening in Kenya. Fellow cartoonist Paul “Maddo” Kelemba, who was a fellow director of the media company Four Dimension Innovative, was among those to pay tribute to his colleague. “Looking at the empty desk in the corner and expecting to see Frank has been very difficult, disturbing and has made us very angry,” Mr. Kelemba told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme. “It is so sad that he met his end at the hands of the matatus which were the subject of his comic strip,” he said. BBC News
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they will be held accountable”. Chief prosecutor Brenda Hollis said it was “confirmation of what the people in Sierra Leone told us from the beginning of our investigations, and that is that Mr Taylor was one of those who bore greatest responsibility for the crimes against them”. But defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths denied this, saying the verdict was a “major blow to the prosecution” as it had failed to show that Taylor was part of a conspiracy led by Libya to take over West Africa. The judges, Mr Griffiths added, had also rejected the contention that Taylor was micro-managing events in Sierra Leone. Judge Richard Lussick said the court was satisfied Taylor had aided war crimes Reading out the verdict in cont'd on pg. 45
Reflections on Ghana’s Contribution to World Peace cont'd from pg. 8
Fifth, Ghana is trying to address the serious global security problem of human trafficking. Human trafficking cannot be resolved by individual states acting alone. This is why Ghana has chosen to work through the multilateral system to deal with this problem, while at the same time strengthening its domestic laws, monitoring and enforcement mechanism to stem the tide of human trafficking. Last year a court in Accra sentenced three Chinese traffickers, James Xu Jin, Chou Xiou Ving and Sam Shan Zifan, to a total of 41 years in prison. These traffickers had recruited young women from China - sometimes from within their own communities - by offering them work in a restaurant in Ghana. Once these women arrived in Ghana, they quickly discovered that the restaurant did not exist. They were stripped of their travel documents and forced to work in the sex trade. Ghana was able to deal with this problem because it passed a law in 2005 against human trafficking which is designed to protect children and women from those individuals who prey on the vulnerable to force them into hard labour, into domestic servitude, or into commercial sexual exploitation. There are approximately 30,000 children who are thought to be working as porters, or Kayaye, in Accra alone. Ghana has an anti-Human Trafficking Unit that is trying to crack down on those responsible for taking advantage of these children. It has also established human trafficking funds as well as a human trafficking board within the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs to make sure Ghana’s policies are aligned with international agreements against human trafficking. Finally, I want to turn to Ghana’s best known contributor to world peace. Kofi Annan is probably the best known Ghanaian in the world. Born in 1938, Kofi Annan rose from the Kofandros section of Kumasi, the son of a tribal chief, to become a two-term Secretary-General of the United Nations (from 1997 to 2006). Annan came to the US in 1961 on a Ford Foundation scholarship to do his undergraduate degree at Macalester College in Minnesota. Then he went on
to Geneva to complete a degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Relations. And he completed a Masters in Science degree at MIT Sloan School of Management (1971-72). It should be noted that in 1962 Annan began working within the UN system, first as a budget officer for the World Health Organization (WHO). Between 1972 and 1976 Annan took the position of Director of Tourism in Ghana , but returned to work in the UN where he was appointed as Assistant Secretary-General in Human Resources, Management and Security Coordinator (1987–1990); Program Planning, Budget and Finance, and Controller (1990– 1992); and Peacekeeping Operations (March 1993 – December 1996). It is in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) that Kofi Annan began to receive notice as a visionary leader and competent manager. It is very difficult to find visionary leadership and management skill sets in the bosom of a single person, but Kofi Annan has certainly proved that this is possible. In 1994, while Annan was directing peacekeeping operations within the UN, the genocide in Rwanda broke out. Romeo Dallaire, who was leading a small UN observer mission in that country at the time, sent several faxes to Annan asking for increased personnel and logistical and material support to help him stop the massacres. Dallaire complained in his book, Shake Hands with the Devil, accused Annan of being overly passive and cautious in the face of imminent genocide. As we know, over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in that genocidal blood-letting. It would have been easy for Annan to blame the major powers in the UN Security Council for tying his hands. After all, it was the US that did not have the appetite for getting involved in another conflict in Africa after some of its military personnel were killed and dragged through the streets of Mogadishu just prior to the outbreak of the Rwandan conflict. But, Annan took personal responsibility for the failure of the UN to act saying: “I could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally supcont'd on pg. 43
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
39
Frankly Speaking Maintaining Professionalism and Credibility of the Ghana Police Force By Dr. Michael Baffoe in Accra In every civilized modern society, the Police are charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order as part of their responsibility of ‘protecting’ the citizens of that given society. For the Police Force to be effective in the discharge of their duties and assigned responsibilities, members of that establishment should be seen and perceived by the citizens they seek to protect and serve, to be performing their duties impartially without fear or favor to any sections of the society.Unfortunately in the Republic of Ghana, the Police Force has historically and in its present form and set-up, been beset with an organizational structure and mindset that has shaped the Unit into a corrupt, unprofessional and partial establishment always ready to pander to the whims and caprices of their political masters of the day and season. We can trace this unfortunate image problem of the Ghana Police Force, and indeed of many Police Forces in Africa, to their historical times during the colonial era. The British and French set up Police Forces in their colonies with structures that did not make the members of the Force think or act in any impartial manner. It was always “Massa says”. The Forces were set up initially with the very illiterate or less educated people of the colonies, usually from the Northern Regions of the colonies. All that was need as qualifications was a height of five feet ten inches and above and strong physical structure needed to arrest and slap people around. The “Massa’ {Master} mentality has therefore been the engine and wheel around which the Police Forces of post-colonial Africa have evolved. The Post-colonial reforms of the Police Forces have done little to change this attitude and mental “massa, massa” mentality of the members of the police forces, always willing and able
to pander to the whims of their “massa” in the political establishment of the day. I have been studying the behavior of Ghana Police Force since my teacher training college days in the 1970s and in my university education years in Ghana in the late 1970s and over the past thirty years. The Force and its members have not changed much from the “massa”, “massa” mentality of the colonial times. Politicians and governments of the day always use the Ghana Police Force to harass, intimidate, frustrate and bully their political opponents into submission. The frightening thing about this is how they are always ready, willing and able, to comply with the orders of their political masters. Tom prove this point, the appointment of the head of the Police Force, the IGP, is always a political appointment, a favour for good behavior, by the government of the day. During my university days in Ghana, I tasted what real stuff the Ghana Police Force was made of when the then military governments frequently sent loads and hoards of police officers to invade the university campuses to pump some senses into the heads of students demonstrating and exercising their civil rights of protests. Yes, because “massa” says they should go and beat the students. It is this non-thinking “massa, massa” mentality and behavior that led the late hard-hitting Ni-
Liberals cave to auto insurance industry pressure on measures to protect people from unfair bills: NDP cont'd from pg. 5
ance companies from charging drivers in neighbourhoods such as Brampton, Jane-Finch, Weston, Rexdale and northern Scarborough more than double the rate they charge residents of more affluent Toronto neighbourhoods. “Two people buy the same car and have the same driving record but the person living in a modest income, high immigrant area pays twice as much. We wouldn’t accept this in any other business,” said Singh. “We need change that puts everyday drivers first.”
Singh’s bill amends the Insurance Act to prohibit auto insurers from using a geographical region in which an insured person resides as a factor in classifying “risk” and therefore charging them far higher premiums than similar drivers residing in other neighbourhoods in the same urban area. The bill also directs auto insurers to make the “at fault” driving record of the policy holder the most important factor in determining rates.
gerian Afro-Rock Musician, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti to compose a song about them calling them “Zombies” who never think with their heads but always obey just instructions. I have chosen this month to focus on this Police behavior in Ghana particularly due to the unfolding high political tension currently brewing in the country in the run-up to an all-important election in December. A number of ugly incidents have happened which called for the intervention of the Ghana Police in a responsible and impartial manner. They have looked the other way. When it comes to protecting the safety or security of persons, the Ghana Police Force only does that if the situation goes in favour of the political “massas” of the day. Recently, precisely on Wednesday April 25, 2012, the head of the Ghana Police Force, Inspector-General Paul Tawiah Quaye, warned that the police will not tolerate the behavior of anyone that threatened to disrupt law and order in the country. “We are ready to carry out our duties to protect the nation without fear or favour”, he declared. He also complained about the “unfair” criticisms that have leveled against the police about partiality and unprofessional behavior. The poor Inspector General of Police knew exactly that this was empty talk. The lie behind his assertion are borne out by very ugly incidents that have happened in Ghana under his administration which prove beyond every reasonable
doubt that his outfit in NOT “impartial” in the exercise of their duties and that he himself is part of the problem. A few examples: in August 2011, the Deputy Minister of Interior who goes by the name Kobby Acheampong was caught by the Motor Traffic Unit of the Ghana Police Force on the AccraCape Coast highway coasting at about 140km per hour in an 80km per hour zone, a whole 60k over the legal limit. The Police Officers who had been dispatched to perform their duties read the Minister his rights and responsibilities under the law. He flew into a rage. This Minister is the one with direct oversight responsibility over the Ghana Police Force. He called this very Inspector General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye on his cell phone and complained rather about the “disrespectful” behavior of his officers. Instead of protecting his officers and commending them for their professional conduct, the IGP sent a number of other police officers in armoured tankers to go and arrest the “offending”, “irresponsible” officers for daring to challenge his political “massa”. The police officers were suspended from duty. Yes, this was Police “professionalism” without “fear or favour” at its best. Recently an aspiring Parliamentary candidate of the opposition NPP, Ms. Ursula Owusu was subjected to very severe beating and manhandling by supporters of the ruling party, the NDC in the Odododiodoo constituency in Accra in the full
glare and presence of police officers who did nothing to either intervene in the fight of protect the victim. Yes, “fair” play, “without fear or favour” indeed!!! Then hei, presto!. Just last week the Ghana Police CID invited an MP of the opposition NPP, a tough-talking guy known as Kennedy Agyapong for questioning on certain inflammatory remarks he had made against the NDC government on radio. The CID people, according to their own accounts, had not even heard the so-called inflammatory remarks. They decided to let the guy go. All of a sudden they decided that the guy was going to be detained on “orders from above”, from the IGP? Kennedy Agyepong was then whisked to the Police Headquarters in a number of armoured tankers in a manner reminiscent of a war zone. It was a disgraceful spectacle to the image of Ghana and to that of the IGP preaching law and order, impartiality and performing his duties without “fear or favour”. I wish to caution the IGP that respect is like debt: it is paid to whom it is due. The Ghana Police Force can only earn the respect and admiration of the citizens of the country if, and only if, the outfit headed by the IGP, appointed always and fired by the political “massas” of the day, is seen as performing their duties impartially….and in real fact and deed… without real fear or favour to anyone including the political “massas” of the day.
Personal Milestones & Financial Implications cont'd from pg. 31
sumption that he is not using these cards to incur more debt. If this same debt is consolidated on a line of credit at 3.25% paying off at $400 per month will take approximately 41 months costing my friend a total of $16,400 on the assumption no additional spending is made on this line of credit. Between the two financing strategies, my friend will save approximate $23,800 - $16,400 =$7,400 over a period of three and half years. This is good amount that can be transferred into a pension plan/ RRSP, an investment portfolio, or to enhance the asset side of his balance sheet at the same time reducing his liability side of the equation. The above is a typical example of how our choices and decisions can affect our financial net worth or how we can drag ourselves into financial black hole. This is a typical case where the good old book admonishes saying without knowledge the people perish. Without financial literacy, we make choices or decisions which in the long run hurt our finances and rub us of our hard earned income. This begs the question; will higher income earners have higher net worth than lower income earners? The simple answer is, it depends on one’s
attitude towards spending or consumption and investment. Chuck Swindoll said our attitude and values which drives our choices & decisions, defines our behaviors, and our behavior determines our habits and our habits reflect our character and the sum total of our character is our personality. Our milestones is essentially driven by what we perceive as valuable throughout the course of our lives. I was impressed to read some interesting research work done by a group of psychologists, sociologists and marketing experts at San Franscisco State University in the United States of America found on www.beyondthepurchase.org. Their research work is trying to understand attitudes and connect people’s spending habits, happiness and values. Some of their findings are that, people who have a positive view of the past are more likely to spend their discretionary money on life experiences such as investment, career progression, vacation, and looking for value in spending as opposed to material possessions. In general, people who are more likely to spend their money
on experiences as opposed to possessions report better relationships and higher overall life satisfaction and wellbeing. In contrast, people with a negative view of the past are more likely to pursue happiness in life by acquiring material possessions. Psychologists believe that people who feel they have been deprived in childhood attempt to guard against deprivation in adulthood by surrounding themselves with material goods. Unfortunately, pursuing happiness through materialistic pursuits generally results in lower, rather than higher, satisfaction with life. The above findings suggests that for those who are lower on the food chain for any reasons are more than likely attracted to spending or consuming beyond their means or if within their means are not able to invest to improve their net worth. Hence their liabilities far outstrip their asset portfolio. Such people are less likely to invest in their human capital in the interim to improve their net worth in the long haul. For lack of space I will end here and would like to continue on this topic, retirement planning and other financial strategies in the subsequent months.
40
The Ghanaian News April 2012
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
41
‘’Ghana’s Business Environment is UN-shakeable’’-Prez Mills President John Evans Atta Mills has said that the business environment is ripe for American investors to take advantage of
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money. He emphasized that there was credible judicial system, enough labor force which will respond to the
needs of the investors and a system that is responsible to address the needs of potential investors. At a meeting with the Business Council for In-
ternational Understanding (BCIU) in New York as part of his working visit to the U.S, President Mills stated that, his administra-
tion had done everything possible to increase investment in the country and also move the country forward in the right direction. The BCIU is an international business association aimed at promoting commerce and diplomacy as a non-partisan facilitator of dialogue and alliances for the world’s leading businesses and political leaders. Ghana’s economy is expanding, according to reports, the West Africa country may have been the fastest growing economy in the world last year; we have struck oil, but let me be quick to say that it is our determination to ensure that ‘’the God given resource becomes a blessing and not a curse. He said ‘’One of the things we promised to do and which we are doing as can be verified in my state of the nation address in Feb, is that we are giving full account of the oil revenue resource and be accountable to the people of Ghana, how the resources have been used,” he stated. President Mills said, he believed many of the American investors were cont'd on pg. 45
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PARENTAL FAVOURITISM; DOES IT EXIST?
The Ghanaian News April 2012
View Point
Community Concerns
Modelling Saving, Budgeting and Spending to Teens (SBS) By Golda Abena Quayson
Of all the challenging education we need to give to our teenage children, perhaps the most important is educating them about money. The question is: who should provide that critical piece of education about money? It is certainly not their schools and probably not their parents either? Unlike gym, personal finance is not a required subject. And in many homes, talking about money is on par with talking about sex — “the last two taboos,” Teaching financial skills that become good habits can be challenging. If you question your own habits or your own introduction to the financial world, teaching someone else can be even more intimidating. However, there is no excuse not to do it; these issues need to be addressed seriously. One excuse I hear from friends and family for not preparing to teach their children is that, they were not taught certain skills, or they still do not have good skills. Since kids learn best from what you do and not what you say, getting your own financial house in order is the best way to start the process of teaching your child about solid financial habits. There is nothing wrong with demonstrating to children that adults change their habits and learn new skills too. So if you do have habits you do not wish to pass on to your children and you do want them to start with healthy financial skills, learn them. Then teach those skills, not the bad habits that have worked so poorly for you, to your children. Seeing you change will be a strong lesson in why this is important to them. Talk to your teen about the change. If communication is a challenge, continue to work on it, but find someone who can teach these valuable skills to your child. Do not leave these skills untaught. Find financial mentors for both of you. While your teen may not thank you now, years from now a good financial education will be something that will be remembered. Should you already have good financial habits start
considering which basic habits you wish to start teaching your teenager. A good place to start is with banking skills. Teens should understand banking products. They will need to know how to balance a checking account, read a checking account statement and how to write checks, and handle all aspects and responsibilities of checking. There are many adults who have had this part of their education neglected. Make sure this is an area you do address with your teen. Introduce short-term savings to your teens which they have full access to manage their day-to-day expenses and long-term savings. But they need to have some form of structure: two signatures, for example, yours and theirs, so they do not spend all their university money on unnecessary stuff. And as your kids approach the teen years, you can begin sharing the household budget with them so that they can begin to understand what it takes to run a household. If your budget, or lack of one, is such a nightmare that it would only scare your kids, seek outside help to get a handle on it, and then tell them about your experience, the mistakes you made, and how you are fixing those mistakes. Teach budgeting skills. Regardless of how much money the student has to work with, put it on budget. Savings, spending, and any charitable giving that you require. Modeling budgeting strategies is one of the best means to teach financial skills. There is a difference between sharing the burdens of your finances and sharing the strategies you use. You can demonstrate how you budget your income, divide money into categories, put money towards bills, savings, and other areas without putting the burden for worrying on your child. It is important to stress that the responsibility for maintaining the income and the budget is yours. However, learning how to budget is a skill you want to teach your child. There are many children who know their parents performed miracles of stretching an impossible budget, but today have no idea how it was done. It was always a great secret. So while you obviously are not going to share everything, do consider sharing some of your secrets with your older teens. This will allow them to use healthy financial strategies or to learn from your less successful ones. There are some parents that want to introduce the concept of credit to their children. I would suggest
introducing a debit card. Teens and adults both seem to struggle with understanding the consequences of the “buy now pay later concept”. A debit card forces a teen to face the immediate consequences of a purchase because there is an immediate debit from their account, not a promise to be billed later in payments and interest. The funds must be available or fees and fines apply. Credit can acquire large balances before lessons are learned. Debit cards can provide some of the conveniences of a credit card, but do not allow a teen to acquire a debt that can take years to dig out from. Help your teen to understand and research the cost of living. Many parents expect that schools are covering this curriculum and are disappointed to find that children have no realistic expectations of what it costs to live in the world. Contrary to many popular opinions this is either cruel or unusual. It is actually a great gift to your teen if done with love and respect. As teens are approaching graduation they should have an understanding of the cost of living. Most teens enter the world blind to the realities of money. Teens should have a general understanding of what it would cost to rent an apartment complete with utilities. Car costs should not be a great mystery, including purchase, maintenance, and insurance. There should be a clear understanding that “take home pay” and “gross pay” are not the same when figuring your expenses. Taxes do need to be explained. Too many students leave school thinking that maintaining the lifestyle that Mom and Dad provided requires a minimal effort. It is no great kindness to leave them in ignorance. Providing a basic education in cost of living can help them make better choices regarding future education plans and jobs offers. Never assume the school has done this job for you. It is very easy to evaluate your child’s financial awareness just by talking to them and asking basic questions. Within a few minutes one can be aware of where a student falls on the financial awareness spectrum. You want your child to be at the high end of the spectrum, not at the end of it. Habits of all kinds, once formed, are hard to break. Good financial habits once learned are a real gift to your child and can make life a great deal easier. Bad habits can follow the child for life. Do lay the foundation for avoiding these habits now!
Doris Osei Bonsu, Crisis Counselor, Toronto
Understanding your teen and adjusting your parenting style for the teen years
Change is the only constant thing that happens in the world. Constant changes have grown to affect everything including parenting styles. The times of our parents and grandparents era have now changed. What used to be normal for an eighteen-year old teenager, is in trend now for teenagers of fourteen to fifteen years. Because of change, parents need to apply those parenting styles which will better prepare their children for the twenty first century. Adolescent is a time of rapid and dramatic growth. You can see these changes in the way teenagers behave, express their feelings and in the way they interact with their families. Parents need to adapt their parenting style to suit the changing needs of their children. Knowing about the changes that adolescents experience will help you to understand and manage your teenager more effectively. Some of the challenges teenagers face include physical changes, the way they think and feel, why family squabbling is inevitable, the influence of teenage peers and friends, and why they need their parents now more than ever. Children entering adolescent face three big challenges · Biological (physical changes) · Psychological (changes in thinking and feeling) · Social (changes in relationship) Most of us tend to parent the same way we were parented. Even those of us who vowed, “I’ll never do that to my children” often fall back to imitating what we saw from our parents. The problem is that the world has changed. Our parents would have been horrified by what our children experience and discuss amongst themselves today. Things are different and children are changing everyday as well. The question is “are you keeping up?” In the same way as parents, we need to adjust. But we sometimes refuse to change our parenting style to respond to the changes in the maturity of our children as they get older. But teens need their parents to recognize their growing maturity. To adjust from controlling to coaching them does not mean parents are surrendering their core values or giving up. It means as parents, we are meeting our children at their level and respecting their individuality. Parents who are unwilling to adjust tend to push away their teenagers or cause
them to rebel. Do not get me wrong; I am not saying that your child should be allowed to walk all over you; rules and boundaries must be set and maintained. But adjusting can help your child think you are keeping up with their age and are in touch with their world. In that way, they will be more likely to lean on you when they need help or to discuss the issues in their life. I remember when I was growing up, information turned over every five to ten years. Today, it happens in less than six months or one year at most. The pace of change has quickened, and if we are inflexible and refuse to acknowledge those changes our children see us as “dinosaurs” out of touch with their world. Now, it has become more vital than ever that we stay engaged with our teens. That means we need to know what is going on in their lives and in their culture and to fit in with the way they relate to others in their world. A good example is their mode of communication which mainly through texting, emailing etc. There was a shocking revelation after a study that showed that 85% of teens stop attending church after high school graduation. Many of these teens feel that what is being taught in the church does not apply to the world in which they live. According to them the church is not answering the questions many of them are asking and as parents we can fail to do so in our homes as well. The commanding communication style used when our children were younger won’t work well when they are adolescents. Hence, we should stop lecturing and start discussing. Stop talking and start listening. I am not saying the old way is wrong. It was fine then, in those times. It is needed for the care and nurturing of our younger children. But the changes in the thinking process of your teen will require a new way to talk to them if you want to really get through to them. Modifying the presentation does not change the contents of the message or the values of the messenger. It just makes it easier for you to get through to your teenager. Finally, raising adolescents is not always easy. Do not hesitate to seek advice or support. Talking with other parents can be helpful. However, if you cannot get help you need from friends or family, seek professional advice rather than worrying and doing nothing.
Ecowas sends troops to Mali, Guinea-Bissau after coups cont'd from pg. 27
expected to elect the current prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior. Soldiers say they staged the coup because of alleged plans by Mr Gomes to reduce the size of the army. The interim President Raimundo Pereira and Mr Gomes were arrested during the coup. Northern rebels In Mali, a civilian government has been restored in the south following last month’s coup that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure shortly
before he was due to be replaced in elections. The government in the capital, Bamako, is struggling to cope with rebels who want to create a separate northern state. The current Ecowas chairman, the Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, said the leaders were “confronted by the biggest ever threat to our democracy”. Speaking at the start of the meeting he said: “A strong response and the commitment of our allies is more than ever vital so that the region doesn’t fall prey to
terrorism and international criminality.” There are two main groups behind the rebellion in Mali: The secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Ansar Dine, an Islamist group that has started to impose Sharia in some towns. The MNLA is made up partly of Tuareg who had fought in Libya on the side of Col Muammar Gaddafi and returned to Mali after he was killed. They complain they have been ignored by the authorities in the south. BBC News
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
43
Lifestyle Ask The Doctor By: David Yaw Twum-Barima, MD, MSc, FRCPC
This column is devoted to answering your questions on health and discusions of diseases which are common among the African Canadians.
FAST FOODS: ARE THEY GOOD FOR YOU? In recent years there has been a lot of talk about fat contents of some common food products. Most people are now aware that both trans and saturated fats are not good for you. Equally bad for you is a high salt diet/ food product. In a recent study, scientists looked at the caloric and salt content of some of Canada’s most popular hamburg- Burger King’s Whopper ers. is a 290g serving of beef, tomato, lettuce, pickle, The study looked at the onion, ketchup and mayo McDonald’s Big Mac, on a sesame seed bun. It the Burger King’s Whop- packs 670 calories, or per, Wendy’s Baconator, 760 calories if you order the Hero Burger, the Whopper with Harvey’s Angus Burger, cheese. It contains 40g of and A&W’s Teen Burger. fat. Sodium content in a Whopper is 910mg. McDonald’s has been serving its Big Mac for Wendy’s Baconator more than 40 years. The Single is a 181g sandwich 209-gram serving still has made from a beef patty, its lettuce, cheese, pick- processed cheese and les, onions and special Applewood smoked basauce, and weighs in at con. If you add honey 550 calories. If you hold mustard sauce, dill pickthe cheese, you can shave les, yellow onion, tomait down to 480 calories. toes and lettuce, the caloThe Big Mac has 232 rie count will be 580, calories from fat and with 280 of those calo1,020 milligrams of so- ries from fat. A fully dium.
loaded Baconator packs information supplied for 14g of saturated fat and the Hero 4 oz. burger is 1,370mg of sodium. for a plain burger with no toppings. Hero Burgers are currently only available in the Harvey’s has locations in Greater Toronto Area. all provinces except The Hero 4-ounce burger Saskatchewan. The has 302 calories, of 243g Harvey’s Angus which 208 calories come Burger comes with tofrom fat. The saturated fat mato, lettuce, pickles and comes out at 11g and so- onion, and will supply dium around 398mg. The you with 719 calories. If
Annan’s contribution to world peace can be seen in the numerous reforms he initiated to the structure and functioning of the UN system in order for it to be more efficient and effective in responding to threats to global peace. For instance, Kofi Annan responded to Canada’s suggestion to create a 24 hour situation room at UN Headquarters in New York so that the organization would be in a position to respond rapidly to requests for UN intervention as soon as conflicts
are imminent; he improved the process of seeking voluntary troop contributions from member states of the UN by developing stand-by arrangements for rapid deployment of troops; he instituted a rapid deployable mission headquarters and an arms and munitions depot in Italy which stores weapons, equipment and tanks for the use of the UN system when it is called upon to respond to emerging conflicts; and he created a “Lessons Learned” unit within DPKO, among other initatives. Today, Kofi Annan is known as a diplomatic rock star. He was selected to head the Panel of Eminent African Personalities and helped to negotiate an end to postelection civil unrest in Kenya in 2008. More recently, he has been appointed by both the UN and the Arab League as Special Envoy to Syria in the hopes of getting Assad to end his brutal crackdown on opponents of the Syrian regime.
mato, bacon, processed cheddar cheese, ‘Teen’ sauce, ketchup, mustard, pickles and diced onion, and supplies 500 calories. The more modest Mama burger, minus the A&W Canada operates cheese and bacon, has restaurants across the 100 fewer calories. A country, and is perhaps Teen Burger takes 208 best known for its Teen calories from fat. It conBurger. At 236g, it is tains 1,220 mg of sotopped with lettuce, to- dium.
Diplomatic perks can influence peace talk outcomes, new study concludes cont'd from pg. 9 challenges for international organizations. Tieku argues for “fundamental cultural and attitudinal change, not only in negotiation circles, but also in the arena of international institutions” to confront the problem. “This paper is a fresh look at the practical impacts of a long-established international practice,” says Dr. Nelson Sewankambo, director of the Africa Initiative. “Dr. Tieku’s findings significantly advance the conversation around the value, and potential pitfalls, of providing perks
Reflections on Ghana’s Contribution to World Peace cont'd from pg. 38 port.” When it was obvious that Boutros BoutrosGhali would not receive the support of the US in his quest for a second term as UN SecretaryGeneral, Kofi Annan became the dark horse candidate (the first ever UN international civil servant) to replace Boutros-Ghali. He has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2001) and oversaw the greatest expansion in UN peacekeeping while he was Secretary-General of the organization.
you hold the bacon and cheese, the burger is 560 calories. It has 35g of combined fats. The sodium level for this burger is 1,390 mg.
Clearly, Ghana has made important and substantive contributions to world peace. It has done so by contributing to international legal norms, conventions, treaties and protocols; by internalizing those international agreements in domestic law; and in offering up individuals, like Kofi Annan, son of the Black Star of Africa, to pursue peace and provide stability within the international system. All Ghanaians should be proud of their country’s contributions to world peace. And, it is a pleasure for me to be able to give you a sense of the extent of that contribution on the 55th anniversary of Ghana’s independence. This is a country that has the potential to punch above its weight on the African continent and the international arena. Much is expected of Ghana in the future, and I am confident that it will rise to the challenge of taking a leadership role in Africa to maintain international peace and security.
for delegates to peace negotiations, in particular in the African context. We are proud to publish this important work.” How Perks for Delegates Can Influence Peace Process Outcomes is published as the third CIGIAfrica Initiative Discussion Paper, an ongoing series that promotes discussion and advances knowledge on issues relevant to policy makers and opinion leaders in Africa. Read
the paper at this link: http:/ /www.cigionline.org/publications/2012/4/howperks-delegates-can-influence-peace-processoutcomes. The Africa Initiative is a multi-year, donor-supported program at The Centre for International Governance Innovation, in cooperation with Makerere University and the South African Institute for International Affairs. It aims to contribute to the
deepening of Africa’s capacity and knowledge across five thematic areas – conflict resolution, energy, food security, health and migration, with special attention to the cross-cutting issue of climate change. It facilitates unique knowledge building and develops policy recommendations for decision makers in Africa by incorporating field-based research, online collaboration, and strategic partnerships.
44
The Ghanaian News April 2012
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The Ghanaian News
"Ghana’s Business Environment is UN-shakeable" cont'd from pg. 41
aware of the legion of opportunities which were present in the country, however Ghana recognizes that there were certain conditions which must be met before one could attract investment. Ghana wants to ensure that; there was credible
judicial system, have the kind of labor which would respond to the needs of the businesses. ‘’We as a government want to ensure that we have created the necessary environment which will allow investors have good returns on their investment.” Prez Said.
According to the affable Ghanaian president, one of the criteria to guarantee safe and good returns on investment was to minimize the burden that investors have to carry. ‘’So far we have been able to attract quite a number of investors but there
Charles Taylor guilty of aiding Sierra Leone war crimes cont'd from pg. 38
The Hague, Judge Richard Lussick said Taylor had been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt in connection with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Those included terror, murder, rape, and conscripting child soldiers, he added. Judge Lussick said that as Liberian leader, Taylor had extended “sustained and significant” support to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. The judge said the accused had sold diamonds and bought weapons on behalf of the RUF - and knew the rebels were committing crimes. But Judge Lussick added that this support fell short
of effective command and control over the rebels. “The trial chamber finds the accused cannot be held responsible for ordering the crimes,” he said. He also said the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Taylor was part of a joint criminal enterprise. In the Liberian capital Monrovia, newspaper publisher Tom Kamara hailed the verdict, saying “justice has been done” and it was “an end to impunity”. However young supporters of Charles Taylor took to the streets brandishing placards reading: “We love you Taylor, God willing you will come back.” A sentence hearing will be held on 16 May, with the
sentence to be handed down on 30 May, he added. Taylor has a right to appeal against the conviction. If he loses the appeal he is expected to serve his sentence in a British prison, as the Dutch government only agreed to host the trial if any ensuing jail term was served in another country. Taylor, a warlord in the 1980s and early 1990s, was elected president of Liberia in 1997 following a peace deal than ended a brutal civil war. He governed for six years before being forced into exile in Nigeria following a second conflict. In 2006 he was arrested, repatriated to Liberia and eventually sent to The Hague to be tried. BBC News
is the need for more and more to come to Ghana.” He said He assured the American Investors that, when they came to Ghana they would get the right kind of people to work with. He promised that it will not be difficult for potential investors to have graduates to work with them. He noted that education is being giving its pride of place and that there are a bunch of ‘eager’ younger graduates who want to learn. He reiterated his government’s commitment to democracy, saying without rule of law, natural justice, respect for the judicial system, non selective justice and all it will be difficult to accrue the desired results. ‘’Ghana can only move forward, we have made this choice and do not intend to go back. I am not saying everything is perfect in Ghana, no country can say that it does not have any lapses; the important thing is to recognize your deficiencies and be willing and able to tackle the challenges and difficulties,” Prez Said.
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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48
The Ghanaian News April 2012
Naming and Outdooring ceremony of Agartha Norbu's 45th Super Jeremy Boakye son of Mr. & Mrs. Birthday Bash at Ahenfie Boakye (Abrantie) at Ghana Methodist Saturday April 21, 2012 Church, April 1st 2012
Petroleum Commission Ready To Enforce Local Content Provisions Dr. Donkor Dr. Kwame Donkor, Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Commission, has said the Commission would ensure that international oil companies meet the demands of the local content provisions across the broad spectrum of oil exploration and production. He said the local content in the oil and gas industry was the centre piece of national development agenda, and the Commission would ensure that contractors and subcontractors complied with the law. Dr. Donkor was speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on guidelines and procedures for the oil and gas industry in Accra, organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana and Ghana Oil Club to discuss new developments in the industry, including the guidelines for acquisition of work permit. The Commission, Dr. Donkor said, would place emphasis on the local content in all negotiations for the exploration of oil and gas and issue specific guidelines to enable Ghanaians maximise the benefits. He debunked assertions that the country had no local content law, saying PNDC Law 84 had sections and specific provisions on local content that were binding and had been used in agreements with oil companies. Dr. Donkor said, what the legislative instrument on local content, which was yet to be passed by Parliament, sought to do was to update the existing law and fill in the gaps in the face of new knowledge in the industry. He assured stakeholders that the Commission as a national body would pursue the national interest rather than a partisan one to ensure that investors made good returns on their investments. In doing this, Dr Donkor said, the Commission’s intentions were to keep to world standards in the regulations of the sector through the issue of guidelines, advice on policy and coordinate all petroleum activities and to ensure compliance. cont'd on pg. 64
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Funeral Rites of Mad. Agnes Otemah Anaafi, mother of Raymond Ansah at CAW Hall, Tangiers April 21, 2012
Celebration of Life of Mr. Lawrence Beasah Damalie father of Vida Oforiwaa at Ahenfie on March 24, 2012
Celebration of Life
Ekona Abusuapanyin Nana Kwabena Nnuro of Tikrom, Kumasi, Nana AkotenAsamoah (Kontihene) of Tikrom, Kumasi, Mr. Stephen Antiedu-Forkuoh, (brother), Ghana, Mr. Solomon Antiedu-Forkuoh (brother) UK, Rachael Antiedu Forkuoh, Mr. Kwabena Kankam (uncle), UK, Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Donkor (founders and the entire congregation of All Nations Full Gospel Church International), Dr. & Mrs. Gyimah, Mr. Anthony Osei-Afriyie (widow), Gloria, Ebenezer, Emmanuel Osei-Afriyie (children) sadly announces the death of their daughter Florence Osei-Afriyie whose sudden death occurred on 24th February 2012 at Korle Bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana after a short illness.
FUNERAL RITES in GHANA @ TIKROM, KUMASI Saturday May 19th 2012 6:00am Viewing 10:00am Burial Funeral Rites 1:00 to 6:00 pm THANKSGIVING SERVICE Sunday, May 20th 2012 @ Trinity Baptist Church (Patasi, Kumasi) 8:00am - 10:00am Family Gathering 1:00pm - 6:00pm
Florence Osei-Afriyie 50
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Mr. Joe Acquaye - 416-244-3337 Mr. & Mrs. Eric Mensah - 647-835-5419 Mr. Stephen A. Forkuoh - 0208-166 574 Mr. & Mrs. Opoku - 0208423688 Mr. Anthony O. Afriyie - 0208175777 Rachael Antiedu-Forkuoh - 0265165694
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Nana Wiafe Akenten funeral in pictures, Saturday April 14, 2012
Celebration of Life of Akosua Yeboah a.k.a. Akos Funeral Rites for James Boakye-Yiadom alias JB at Luna Ballroom on March 31, 2012 at Amansie Multicultural Centre, April 6, 2012
Funeral Rites Nana Kofi Amoako, father of Mrs. Appiah-Kubi at Church of Pentecost April 21, 2012
Funeral celebration of Emmanuel Opoku Marfo at The Apostles' Continuation on April 21, 2012
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Ghanaian News online www.ghanaiannews.ca
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The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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The Ghana Culture Day: A Review
cont'd from pg. 25
Ghanaian/African diaspora for nourishment. The Ghanaian-BritishAmerican philosopher and cultural theorist, Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah, of Princeton University and author of the brilliantly dazzling Honor Code (2010) that explores how societies are brought to repudiate inhibitive cultures they have long ac-
cepted, could be invited, occasionally, to discuss the attempts to refine the inhibitive values that have been entangling Ghanaians’/Africans’ advancement. The Ghanaian/African enlightenment project is a deep, complicated enterprise, and will need profound sages and experienced thinkers like Dr.
Kwame Anthony Appiah on board its programme. In the Honor Code (2010), Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah, described variously as having “settled mind,” practically speaks to the Ghanaian enlightenment campaigners. Yes, Ghanaians know about their arts and culture, they know about
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their traditional food – kenkey/dokonu, omo tuo, waakye, tuo zaafi, fufu with soup prepared with fish, snails, meat or mushrooms, banku/etew, etc. Ghanaians continue to dress in their traditional styles. Ghanaian traditional dresses such as kente cloth are key source of common identity and pride. Traditional festivals such as Aboakyer and Odwira that affirm values of the society are year round events. The Ghana Culture Day, expectedly, also showcased cultural exhibitions and performances. Unquestionably, periodic rituals of such culture jamborees are good for the Ghanaian soul, especially if the soul has gone through colonial domination for so long that it has affected its self-worth. But in today’s new thinking and enlightened epiphany about the Ghanaian/African culture in the place of progress, the Ghana Culture Day should re-orientate itself and go beyond all the cul-
tural accoutrements and help shine light on the inhibitive values that have been entangling the Ghanaians’/Africans’ life.This will let Ghanaians enjoy their culture better without fear of witchcraft and other outlandish cultural practices. The Ghana Culture Day should naturally join the on-going enlightenment movement and find concrete solutions to the question of how to refine such deeply objectionable, deeply obdurate cultural practices that greatly undermine Ghanaians’ larger progress.
Once again, in addition to the showcasing of traditional foods, exhibitions and performances, the Ghana Culture Day could use the occasion to discuss the deeper undercurrents of the culture both the inhibitive parts and the enabling aspects - for the larger progress of Ghanaians. The game here is simply about progress. This is “moral obligation,” as Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah would say, for the elites behind the Ghana Culture Day. Kofi Akosah-Sarpong
40th Anniversary of the death of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah cont'd from pg. 6
Ethiopia, he released his book entitled, “Africa Must Unite”, which provided a proposal for the adoption of a continental union government as the only means of countering the development of a new form colonialism on the continent. At the OAU conference in Egypt during July of 1964,
Nkrumah pleaded for the adoption of a United States of Africa by the heads of state. This proposal was not accepted despite the apparent problems associated with the legacy of colonialism on the continent. The Congo crisis and the economic stagnation of many of the newly independent states illustrated that these nations were not viable as economic and political entities. At the 1965 OAU Summit held in Accra, Nkrumah issued his book entitled, “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism”. Just four months after the release of this book on Neo-Colonialism Nkrumah was overthrown by a Coup d’état led by military officers and police in Ghana. Nkrumah was out of the country at the time of the coup, enroute to North Vietnam on a mission to bring peace settlement in the war against the people of South-east Asia. Aborting his mission to Vietnam, he returned to Africa via the Soviet Union and Egypt, where he eventually settled in Guinea-Conakry. Nkrumah remained in Guinea until he was flown to Romania to undergo treatment for cancer in 1971. During this period after the coup (1966-1971) he continued to write on the history of Africa and the revolutionary movement for Pan-Africanism and world socialism. The legacy of Kwame Nkrumah in Africa and
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
PLACES OF WORSHIP DIRECTORY The Apostolic Church Int'l.
Ghana Methodist Churches in Canada ( SOCIETIES UNDER THE GHANA METHODIST CONFERENCE)
The Apostolic Church International (Toronto Assembly) is a Branch of The Apostolic Church in Ghana
Meeting Schedule
The Superintendent Minister-In-Charge
invites you to worship with us
Apostle F.Y. Agyemang (Area Supt. Canada-Wide)
Sunday (Worship) 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Wednes: - (Bible Studies) 7:30 p.m. Fri: (Intercessory/Deliverance Prayers) -7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Fri: (Alt.) All Night 10:30 p.m. - 3:00 a.m. Saturday(Alt.) Women's, Men's,Youth Movement Meetings) 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. 1st Saturday of every month Prayer for breakthrough) (Montreal)
9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. TORONTO CENTRAL ASSEMBLY Pastor: 905-791-8190 Cell: 647-218-1052 Church: 416-740-1979 94 Kenhar Drive, Unit 39 & 40, North York, Ont. BRAMPTON ASSEMBLY 270 Rutherford Road, Unit 10 Brampton, Ontario, L6W 3K7 HAMILTON ASSEMBLY 801 King Street East Hamilton, Ontario, L8M 1A8 MONTREAL ASSEMBLY Elder Eric Frimpong - 514-748-1545 Church 514-279-6565
845 Jean Talon West, Montreal, Quebec, H3N 1S5
HOLY ALPHA & OMEGA CHURCH
Very Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Asare-Kusi
Toronto Society
Place of Worship: 19 Penn Drive, North York, Ont. (off Finch Av./Milvan)
Day and Time of Worship: Sunday: Bible Class Meeting: 9:00 a.m. - 10.30 a.m. Church Service: 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Jericho Hour Prayer Meeting - 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Friday: Bible Teaching/Prayer Meeting 8:00 p.m. - 10.00 p.m. Saturday Organizational Meeting: 6.30p.m. - 9.30 p.m.
Contact: Tel: (416) 743-4555 (Church) In Montreal at: Place of Worship: 6870 Rue de Terreborne, Montreal, Que, H4B 1C5
Day and Time of Worship Sunday Divine Service: 12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Friday Prayer Meetings: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Contact: Rev. Emmanuel Ohene Gyimah - 514-542-0871 Anna Phillips (Church Secretary) 514-421-4152 SERVICES ARE CONDUCTED FOLLOWING THE TRADITIONAL GHANA METHODIST LITURGY. PLEASE COME AND JOIN US. WE HAVE A PLACE FOR YOU. GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU
Redemption Faith Church Invites you to worship with us at 1485 ALBION ROAD (Albion/Kipling)
We invite you to worship with us Church Service: Sunday Worship: 10.00a.m. - 12.30 p.m. Wednesday Bible Studies: 6.00p.m. - 7.30 p.m. Friday Prayer Meeting: 7.00p.m. - 9.00 p.m.
JESUS Loves You
Tel:
Tel: 416-638-5990 / 416-419-6671
EVANGEL ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH 1245 Martin Grove Road, Rexdale, Ontario, M9W 1L4
Tel: 416-242-7950 Fax: 416-242-8573 Church Activities
Pastor in Charge Rev. Milton Offei
Sunday School: Church Service: Sunday Evening: Wednesday Bible Studies: Friday Prayer Meeting:
10a.m. -11:00a.m. 11a.m. - 1:30p.m. 7p.m. - 8:30p.m. 7p.m. - 8:30p.m. 7p.m. - 9:00p.m.
Fax:
905-495-1937
This is a loving and caring Church that preaches and teaches the whole counsel of God. A place where the word of God is backed by strong anointing to bring Salvation, Healing and Deliverance to all people who believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST
Prophet John Mensah
869 Wilson Avenue, North York, Ont.
905-495-1936
Rev. Dr. Stephen Ofori-Darko
CHURCH ACTIVITIES: Sunday Search the Scriptures - 12 noon - 12-45 p.m. Church Service - 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Fridays - 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Bible Studies, Intercession & Deliverance
CHRIST REDEEMER CHURCH Pastor-in-charge: Pastor Eric Amoah Tel: (416) 748-1242 Cell: (416) 300-9970 Church Services Sunday Service: Bible Study: 10 a.m.-11a.m. Worship Service: 11a.m. - 1p.m. Wednesday: Bible Study 6:30p.m.-7:30p.m. Friday Night Prayer: 8p.m.-10p.m. Pastor Eric Amoah Location: 4 Racine, Unit 9
(Kipling/Rexdale)
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April 2012
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FOOD FOR LIFE Bringing the Gospel to our Community By: Rev. Joseph Osei-Amoah God, the champion of the stranger, the widow and the orphan “17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.” (Deut. 10:17-20 NKJV) God, from time immemorial has been interested in meeting the needs of the underdog and the above passage from the book of Deuteronomy and similar statements recorded throughout the Bible supports this fact. While God’s Law or commandments, directives and instructions were primarily given to the children of Israel, unlike some specific covenants between Him and Israel, the above directives concerning the treatment of the orphan, widow and the stranger are meant to be obeyed by all people groups throughout the world. Any injustice meted out to a stranger, widow or an orphan re-
ceives prompt response from the Lord, “curse is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deuteronomy 27:19) This article is to remind followers of Christ that it is their duty to treat theses vulnerable individuals with respect and to come to their aid whenever necessary. In the present worldwide economic constraints it is very easy for people to think about their present and future survival and forget about the needy. Sometimes some people speak against the welfare system because of its abuse by some dishonest individuals; it is also true that the needy will always be with us as the Lord Jesus affirmed and asks His people to help them just as He helped the needy during His earthly ministry. (Matthew 26:11; Matthew 14:16-21). As a pastor, I know many individuals who are new immigrants (strangers), orphans and widows who work hard to support themselves without receiving any assistance from the welfare system. However, some of them are underpaid by their employers or agents who find jobs for them. “Then the word of the
LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’” (Zech 7:8-10) James, the half brother of the Lord Jesus dealing with practical Christianity wrote, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached
Joint Easter Convention of Assemblies of God Churches in Toronto cont'd from pg. 33
church in Ghana to the congregants. He said the occasion has brought a sober reflection about what Christ has done for us and challenges us to do even more for Him and as we celebrate Easter, no one should leave here without personal commitment to Him. He added that the greatest thing you can do for the Lord is to win a soul for Him. When Christ was crucified, Satan was was rejoicing but his happiness was short lived when Christ rose from dead and crushed the head of the serpent in victory. He is risen indeed. The enemy thought he has crushed the head of Assemblies of God in Canada. I am comparing what hap-
pened to Christ 2000 years ago to your church. We went into hibernation. We are alive and kicking. The resurrection of Christ makes Christianity unique. There are many other religions. All their leaders tried to do something to uplift the moral standards of their people. All that they could do was to make their bad people good. But Jesus Christ came to make dead people live, so never compare Christianity to other religions. There are messages that can ever be taken from Christianity. The message of the cross. He was humiliated and killed. There were also those who denied the resurrection took place. There has been discoveries and exhumes and a lot of DNA were done but nothing matches that of
Jesus. Yes, he is alive. Another was the swoon theory purported contradiction of biblical accounts which goes to validate the truth that He did rise from the dead. There is scriptural and validation that He rose. The hallucination theory is part of those against Christ’s resurrection. The Bible itself validates the truth that Christ is alive. Christ’s resurrection has really changes lives. He lives to intercede on our behalf as He sitteth at He right hand of the Father. The continuous existence of the church proves that He is alive. As part of the Easter celebrations a special fundraising was done. The 3 pastors of the various churches were the joint hosts for the convention
the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.” (James 5:1-6) I believe this warning must be taken seriously by Christian employers not to take advantage of their employees. On the other hand it is also wrong for employees to “steal” time from their employers for which they are paid. It would not be proper for believers who work for fellow believers with whom they worship at the same church expect preferential treatment as against company policy—“ 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Tim 5:1718) In other words “equal work for equal pay.” We may not always deal directly with
strangers, widows or orphans in situations discussed above, however, we have been called not only to share the gospel but to help the needy. In our calling as believers, we need to balance our approach. In the past some preachers were only interested in preaching the gospel and never tried to assist where there was genuine need among the target group for the gospel. On the other hand, some Christian groups were only pre-occupied with providing secular education, medical help and material assistance to the people they served at the expense of sharing the gospel with them. The gospel of Christ does not only liberate the spiritually oppressed but transforms the lives of people who receive it. A church of which I used to be the pastor in Ghana, West Africa, started another church in a village. At one service I baptized 200 people mostly young
people. Among them was a promising young man who needed financial assistance with his education of which I was not aware. A lay-pastor who was assigned to lead the church assisted that young man from his own resources. When I last visited Ghana, a young man and his wife and one of his children visited me. He introduced himself as the medical officer in charge of the hospital in my hometown and told me he was one of the young men I baptized. By divine providence, my help in getting the gospel to the young man coupled with the commitment of a caring lay-pastor, has led to a God-fearing young doctor been assigned to serve my people as their medical officer and also a lay– preacher assisting the resident pastor of our church in my home town. “17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17 NKJV)
Living Word Assembly of God Church (Affiliated with P.A.O.C.)
139 Millwick Drive Toronto, Ont. (Steeles/Islington) Tel: 416- 741-6285 Fax: 416- 741-0133 Email: livingwordag@bellnet.ca Church Activities
Senior Pastor: Rev. Joseph Osei-Amoah
Sunday Early Morning Prayer: 8:30 a.m. Sunday School: 9:30 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday Prayer: 10:00 a.m-12 noon Wednesday Bible Study 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Friday Prayer 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. (Last Friday of the month “All Night Prayer”): 7:30 p.m.-12 mid-night Youth Service (Fridays): 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Departmental Meeting (Every other Sunday): 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Ghana Calvary Methodist United Church, Toronto 65 Mayall Avenue, Toronto Ontario, M3L 1E7
Tel: 416-614-6110 647-341-7305 Email: gcmethodist@hotmail.com
Invites all Christians to join us to worship and glorify the Living God
Worship Schedule: Sunday Church Service/Class Meetings: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Friday Prayer Meeting: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Bethel Prayer Ministry Int'l Do you desire to experience the power and the presence of God demonstrated in your life? Do you want to experience the marvelous work of God's grace in your life? Then, Bethel Prayer Ministry International would like to invite you to visit their church where the word of God is preached powerfully to release the power of God in your life. Pastor Dennis Awuku COME AND YOU WILL BE BLESSED Senior Pastor
Contact:
Res. 416-740-6963 Church 416-642-0390 Worship Hours: Sunday Service: 9am - 1pm Tuesday 9am - 2 pm Consultation Wednesday: 7pm - 9p.m. Friday: 9pm - 12 pm Saturday (Prayer Warriors) 6pm - 8pm Location: 52 Carrier Drive, Unit 12, (Albion/Hwy 27)
Etobicoke, Ont., M9w 5S5
End-Time Harvest Ministry Very Rev. De-Graft Semie Obiri (Calvary Methodist)
Saturday Auxilliary Minister Youth Musical & Computer Rev. Samuel Victor Mpereh Lessons Fellowship Meetings Choir Practice, Singing Band Practice 647-770-8440
Venue of Worship 65 Mayall Avenue, Toronto (Route: Through Jethro Road or Haymarket Road, off Wilson Ave. between Weston Rd. and Jane St., or walk across bridge from Chalkfarm North)
Invites you for a wonderful time with the Lord
Worship Hours Sundays (Mornings) 10 - 12:45pm Wednesday (Bible Study) 7 -8:30 pm Friday (All Night Prayer) 8-10:30pm Rev Moses Sarpong
COME AND EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF THE WORD Join us at 196 Toryork Drive(Corner of Weston/Finch)
Tel: 416-743-2507 Tel: 416-614-6110
Email: gcmethodist@hotmail.com
IT’S HARVEST TIME SO REACH OUT AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
It’s A Great Commission!
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
61
Lighthouse Assembly of God Church Senior Pastor: Isaac Takyi De-Graft Exclusive English Service: 8:00am - 10:00am School of the Light: 10:00am - 10:45am Exclusive Ghanaian Service : 10:45am - 1:00am Tuesday(Time with the Holy Spirit) 10:00 am-12:30 pm Wednesday(School of Ministry) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm -Torontonians Thursday(School of Ministry) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Bramptonians Friday(Time in His Presence) 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Every First Friday is Special Youth Service 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Every Fouth Friday is Half Night Service: 9:00 pm - 12:30 am
NEW LOCATION: 42 Steinway Blvd. Unit 1&2 (Hwy 27/Steeles) Toronto, Ontario, M9W 6Y6
Tel: 416-740-1200 Fax: 416-740-6435 Email:
lighthouse@lighthouseag.caWebsite: http:/www/lighthouseag.ca
RESURRECTION POWER EVANGELISTIC MINISTRIES INT'L Invites all OLD and NEW members to come and fellowship with us and experience GOD'S RESSURECTION POWER through JESUS CHRIST our Lord.
THE APOSTLES' CONTINUATION CHURCH INTERNATIONAL (CANADA)
We fellowship on: Rev. Akwasi Kyeremateng
Sun. 10:30am - 1pm Wed. 7:00pm - 9pm Fri. 7:00pm - 9pm
North American Headquarters: 10 Belfield Road Toronto, Ont., M9W 1G1 Tel: 416-247-6629 Fax: 416-247-5308
Worship Prayer Meeting House of Prayer
Venue: 445 Eddystone Avenue, 2nd Floor For further information please call Tel: 647-351-8155 Cell: 647-700-5062 Secretary: 647-704-4904 We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Col.1:28)
Power of Grace Chapel Int'l Invites all Christians, Non-Christians and members of the Resurrection Power Tradition to join us worship the Great Jehovah
Place of Worship:
350 Deerhide Cres, North York, ON
Apostle Charles Anokye-Manu
Website: www.apostlescontinuation.org
SERVICE TIMES: Worship Service - Sunday 10:30 a.m. Bible Studies - Wednesday 7:00 p.m. All Night Service - Friday 9:30 p.m. Deliverance - Saturday 4:00 p.m. Worship With Us At These Branches In Canada
Toronto Sunday Wednesday Friday
Rev. Joe Bonnah Days And Time of Worship - Divine Worship - 10a.m. - 1p.m. Pastor-in-charge - Bible Studies - 7p.m. - 9p.m. - Prayer / Deliverance - 7p.m. - 10p.m.
Contact Lines: Tel: 416-321-2796 (Pastor's Res) 416-745-7065 (Church)
Cell: 647-403-2796
Peace Light Ministries
Scarborough Assembly 1632 Midland Ave., M1P 1C2 Tel: 416-288-1333 Pastor In-Charge: Pastor Patrick Antwi Contact: 647-402-4708
Montreal Assembly 378 Cremazie East Montreal, Quebec, H2P 1E5 Tel: 514-271-9083 Pastor-In-Charge: John Arhin Contact: 514-274-2978
Praise Temple of Christ International
Senior Pastor & Founder: Rev. Augustine Adu-Anane BRE, M.Th. CPC
Snr. Pastor: Apostle Osei-Bonsu
Senior Associate Pastor: Rev. Eleanor Adu-Anane BRE, ECE
336 Gary Ray Drive @ Signet
TIME OF WORSHIP
Rev. Augustine Adu-Anane
10 Belfield Road Tel: 416-247-6629
Wednesday: Bible Study 7:00 - 9:00 pm Friday: Group Prayer Meeting 8:00 - 11:00 pm Sunday: Christian Education 9:30 am - 10:30 am Sunday Service: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Tel: 416-839-1662 / 647-892-9412 LOCATION: 100 Penn Drive, Unit #3, North York, Ont. M9L 2A9 Happy are those who work for PEACE, for God will call them His children Mtt: 5:9
Worship Schdule Sunday Worship - 10 am - 12:30 pm Wednesday - Bible Study - 7 pm - 9 pm Friday - Prayer Meeting - 8 pm - 10 pm Second and last Friday of each month All Night Prayer Meeting 8 pm - 12 midnight
For information call: Apostle - 647-330-3346 (cell) or 905-216-5733 (Res) Emmanuel - 647-701-1912 (cell)
62
The Ghanaian News April 2012
Let's Think Family - By Rev. Dr. Samuel Kisseadoo HOW TO EXPERIENCE A SUCCESSFUL HOME, MARRIAGE, AND FAMILY LIFE It will take volumes to elaborate on all the rich gems that I can share with all of us regarding the factor that are necessary for the development and attainment of a position where you can comfortably say that the life in your home, marriage, and family is truly successful. I will, however attempt to provide you with a few of the major principles for a very fruitful and successful marriage and family life that will enable you to have a happy home: 1. Marriage is a covenant relationship ordained by God, and should not be taken lightly, because you cannot break or leave it once you enter into it. No one should make plans in advance to divorce, “in case it does not work”. You go in like a full-scale war with the objective to “do and die” that is rooted in an unflinching determination to make it work with diligence and God’s help. 2. There should be absolute commitment in all marriage and family life initiatives. Serious and genuine commitment is a major problem for many people today, because of the lack of proper understanding of marriage and family life, absence of the fear of God, escalation of
immorality and careless living, and the multiplication of distractions of the modern world that take away our focus on what is essential, and does not help us to order our lives and priorities in the right way. There are 3 aspects of commitment: a) Commitment to God; b) Commitment to the institution of marriage or family; and c) Commitment to the individual in the marriage or family. If a person is not committed to God, and is not committed to the regulations and requirements of marriage and family, then it becomes very difficult to become committed to the husband, wife, or family member. The person then cannot easily make quality time for the mate in the relationship, help to meet his or her needs, live happily with the person, and obtain success in the marriage or family life. 3. There are principles for marriage and family life, which must be known and
obeyed before anyone can hope for results and benefits in the relationship. We usually want to run for success, good results, and rich benefits in our relationships without taking time to observe the principles necessary to obtain these. When we talk of principles, we imply a set of important values and guidelines by which we live and operate orderly and wisely, for any good thing in this life, in order for it to have real meaning and produce the expected results. Many people begin courting, enter into marriage, and live with their spouses without any principles, and depend on their feelings or what goes on around them without moral and decent values. All their decisions and choices therefore become faulty. Several of the problems in marriages are due to the fact that many of us do not understand the real meaning of marriage and family life. 4. Parenting began in the sinful state of man, and that is why the training of children is such a difficult task. “My wife and I always tell our children that we are imperfect parents training imperfect children.” Parents should
therefore know that they become trained themselves in the process of parenting, and should carefully and diligently learn their lessons, and become more experienced with time. Parenting never ceases from birth to death, and parents and their children should build strong bonds of love as they grow together. Parents should take time to explain the reasons for their exhortation and instruction to their children, so that they can meaningfully impart them to their own children in the future. All training must aim at training of the mind (mental development), followed by physical development, then spiritual development, and social development. These 4 basic areas of development are the same areas that a young adult focuses in his or her preparation to enter into marriage (after being trained in those areas from childhood), in addition to emotional development (dealing with anger, sorrow, fear, frustration etc.) and financial development (ability to manage money wisely). 5. Couples must fully complement each other in a marriage, in order to
become the complete couple. No one should be the hero in the relationship, and all resources should be shared equally without any form of cheating. Your preferences should not be transformed into commandments. What you do not know, you patiently teach the other partner until you learn more from each other, grow more into each other, love each other deeply, and appreciate each other joyfully as you wait and work mutually to acquire more skills, overcome more weaknesses, and share more together. You should study each other very well, and seek to satisfy the interests, needs, and welfare of each other, which is the real definition for true love. Real love is sacrificial, and is very rewarding when the love is sincere. Genuine respect, true humility, and sacrificial commitment bring fervent love to the table. A selfish, uncommitted person is the one who loves things and rather uses people; but a loving, selfless, wise, committed, genuine person rather uses things, and loves people. Which category do you belong to? Tune in to JOY 99.7 FM in Accra, Ghana on Sat-
urdays at 5:30 am – 6:00 am (Ghana Time) or 1:30 am – 2:00 am (US Eastern Time, March -October) and listen to Dr. Kisseadoo’s broadcast “Hope For Your Family”. Access on the Internet u s i n g MYJOYONLINE.COM. Obtain more information from Dr. Kisseadoo’s book “Challenges Of Modern Men And Women In Relationships”. Obtain 8 of his books online from RedLeadBooks.com, or Amazon.com. Contact Dr. Kisseadoo in the USA (757-7289330) for copies of all of his 13 books or free counseling and prayer. Visit our website: www. fruitfulministriesint.com for essentials that will enrich your relationships and ministry. Rev. Dr. Samuel A. Kisseadoo (Professor of Biology, USA). Founder and President, Fruitful Ministries International Inc. (Evangelistic & Teaching M i n i s try). 6 Red Robin Turn, Hampton, Virginia 23669, USA. Ph 757-7289330 Email: kisseadoo@msn.com Facebook: DrSamuel Kisseadoo
GHANAIAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MONTREAL INVITES YOU TO WORSHIP WITH US REV. SOWAH ABLORH - MINISTER-IN-CHARGE
SUNDAY WORSHIP 10.00AM - 1.00PM WEDNESDAY SERVICE 7.00PM - 9.00PM FRIDAY PRAYER MEETING 7.00PM - 9.00PM
OFFICE: 514-278-8109 RESIDENCE: 514-683-8444 Eugene Kotey, Clerk of Session - 905-502-7875, Jennifer Agbanti, Treasurer - 905-908-2152
1345 LAPOINTE (CORNER OF OBRIEN)
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40th Anniversary Of The Death Of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah building in Addis Ababa, cont'd from pg. 57 throughout the African world continues. His views on the necessity of coordinated guerrilla warfare to liberate Africa was realized in the sub-continent during the 1970s and 1980s, when the settler-colonial regimes of Rhodesia and eventually South Africa were defeated. The role of Cuba in the liberation and security of Angola was in line with the notions advocated by Nkrumah, which upheld the view that until settler colonialism was destroyed, the entire continent of Africa would not be secure. The realization of a United States of Africa still eludes the continent but virtually all governments of Africa have accepted the need for unity. His views on the necessity
of African unity have been prophetic in light of the continuing underdevelopment of the continent and the phenomena of domestic neocolonialism in the United States and the Caribbean. Over his lifetime, Nkrumah was awarded honorary doctorates by Lincoln University, Moscow State University; Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt; Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland; Humboldt University in the former East Berlin; and many other universities. In 2000, he was voted Africa’s man of the millennium by listeners to the BBC World Service His rehabilitation on the continent was demonstrated recently with the unveiling of a 3.5 metre bronze statue of him at the forecourt of the new African Union (AU)
Ethiopia. The unveiling of the statue was in recognition of the leaders of the 54-nation continental body of the leading role of Dr Nkrumah in the African liberation struggle. African leaders, had in 2009, accepted the proposal by the Ghana Government to declare September 21, the birthday of Nkrumah as Founders Day. The legacy of Dr Nkrumah remains more relevant to the present day struggle of African peoples around the world and can only benefit the present efforts by the CPP and others to create an African world that is genuinely independent and selfdetermined.
Invites You All To Come Worship With Us Apostle-in-charge: Apostle Twumasi Ankrah
Tel: 647-344-6726 Cell: 416-200-2453 TIME OF WORSHIP: Sunday 10:30 am - 1:30 pm Tuesday 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Friday 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Apostle Twumasi Ankrah
1177 Finch Dr. #20, North York
"And these signs will follow those who believe, in My Name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick , and they will recover. Amen (Mark 16:17)
"COME AND EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF GOD"
Living Praise Ministries Int'l Church
Ghanaian Congregation
St. John's Anglican Church VENUE:
2125 WESTON RD., WESTON ONT. Priest-in-charge: Rev. Fr. Gabriel Opoku Ware
416-901-3932 Cell: 647-624-4044 Sunday: Bible Study - 2p.m.- 3p.m. Divine Service: 3p.m. - 5p.m. Wed.: Prayer Meeting: 7p.m. - 8p.m. Friday: Encounter with the Lord: 8p.m. - 9:30p.m. Bro. S.H. Morris (People's Warden) Sis. Monica Akrofi (Priest Warden) Sis. Beatrice Asare (Secretary)
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905-792-9761 416-748-8246 416-745-8148
Welcome Home Evangelistic Ministries Affiliated with the Evangelical Church In Canada
Snr. Pastor & Founder: Evang. & Prophetess Winnie Manu BRE, M. Div.
Worship Celebration Services Sunday Worship Celebration: 10 a.m. Friday Prayer Meeting / Discipleship Group: 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Last Sunday of Every Month: Healing Service
Place of Worship 236 Queen Mary Drive Brampton, ON L7A 3L3
Contact Info: Tel: 647 210 7057
Fax: 905 495 4789
Website: www.whemtoday .org Email: info@whemtoday.org Healing Service: Last Sunday of every month at Cheyne Middle School. 236 Queen Mary Dr. Brampton.
Gospel Action Ministry Location: 135 Oakdale Rd. (Back door)
We are a diverse group of individuals who come together to build a church based upon a common foundation in Christ Jesus
Senior Pastor: Rev. Peter Awuah
Pastor Sam & Helena Addai Pastor Elvis & Sonia Henry
Tel: 416-836-9235, 416-667-8637
Our Services Friday: 7:30 p.m. Healing and Deliverance Service Sunday: 10:30 a.m. - Intercessory Prayer 10:00 a.m. - Worship Team 12:00 noon - Sunday Sch., children 3-13 yrs.
Weekly Spiritual Growth
Pastor Sam Addai
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Nii Armah Akomfrah
Christian Hope Ministry Int'l
VENUE:
April 2012
Tuesday: Bible Study, 7:00 p.m. at the church Friday: Youth Ministry, 7:30 p.m. at the church Friday: Prayer and Revival Service, 7:30 p.m. at the church Tuesday: Anointing Today, 7:30 a.m. on Vision TV (61) First Friday of each month: Midnight Prayer Meetings 11p.m.to1 a.m.
Tel: 613-228-2189, 1-800-973-2189 1877 Merivale Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K2O 1Y8
Service Schedule
Rev. Peter Awuah
Sunday: Church Service 12:30 pm - 3:00 pm Tuesday: Prayer Meeting 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Friday: Bible/Prayer Meeting 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Last Friday of the month: All Night Prayer Meeting 11:00 pm
Glory Pentecostal Ministry of Toronto Pastor-in-charge: Rev. Rockson Owusu Atwima Elder Moses Frimpong
416-708-7742 905-673-7237
Invites all Christians and Non-Christians to join us to worship the Almighty God WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Regular Service 11:00 am to 1:30 pm Tuesday Prayer and Healing Service 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Friday Prayer Night 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm
PLACE OF WORSHIP 230 Eddystone Ave., #207, North York, Ont. M3N 1H7 We are more tan our conquerors Romans 8:37 "Come and see the manifestation and the power of the Holy Spirit at work"
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The Ghanaian News April 2012
Around the Ghana Sports Scene with Jonathan Annobil Welcome Akwasi Appiah as coach of Black Stars! SAFA apologises to Ghana Football Association
According to statistics Akwasi Appiah is the 41st coach of our beloved Black Stars who was confirmed as the head coach recently. He is the 9th Ghanaian to be at the helms of our senior national team since 1963, when C.K. Gyamfi became the first Ghanaian to coach the Black Stars and won the African Cup for Ghana for the first time. Akwasi Appiah did a yeoman job by leading the U-23 team to a historic gold medal during the 2011 All African Games held in Maputo, Mozambique. Before his confirmation, he was the assistant to the former Serbian coach Goran Stevanovic who was let go by the GFA. All cups won by Ghana at all levels especially the senior national team has been with Ghanaian coaches, namely C.K Gyamfi and Fred Osam Duodu. The only foreign coach to win a cup for Ghana was Otto Pfister with the 1991 squad for U-17 in Italy. Ghanaians have been the heads or interim coaches 17 times with Fred Osam Duodu leading the pack with 5 times, followed by C.K. Gyamfi, Emmanuel Akwasi Afranie and Sam Arday twice each. Akwasi Appiah also brought home the cup in soccer for the All Africa Games in Mozambique last year. Then in Egypt 2010, Selas Tetteh managed the Black Satellites to win the U-20 FIFA World Cup. Sam Arday also led the 1995 U-17 squad to win the cup in far away Ecuador. This goes to prove the point that Ghanaian coaches have been successful in winning laurels for our nation. Despite all these achievements with Ghanaian coaches, it was with foreign coaches that brought Ghana to the ultimate, World cup stage. We have the mentality that “Obroni” is better than our local coaches So we should all throw our support behind Akwasi Appiah as the new coach of the Black Stars. For our coaches to bring out their best as Ghana abounds in raw talents, GFA should help the coaches with refresher courses to enable them deliver. They could be seconded to some of the leading clubs preferably in Europe to learn new tricks of soccer. Soc-
cer is changing so our coaches should be up to date with modern trends. How soccer is now being played is different from the time I use to play colts way back in the 70s in my holy town of Agona Swedru with Chahal Babies. There should be investment in clinics for our coaches. Some people too are of the opinion that the “millionaire” players are not going to respect the coach, if he is a Ghanaian. To me that is childish. He has to maintain discipline and there should not be any preferential treatment to anyone. All the players should be treated equally. Selection should strictly be on merit. Akwasi, please pick in-form players and not famous players. GFA should support him in all that he does and not to interfere with his duties as a coach. He should be given all the necessary tools to enable him perform for better results which we all yearn for I was elated when he said that he is confident of formulating a plan to make his reign a success. He knows of the challenges and pressures that go with being the coach of the Black Stars. He should know and I believe he knows that the expectation of Ghanaians is HUGE. I also caution the “armchair” coaches to give constructive criticisms As a former player he knows the game well for his job is now cut out for him and he has promised his best to deliver. I caution my fellow Ghanaians that we CANNOT win every game. He should be in a position to read the game and act accordingly. I know Ghanaians will clamour for his dismissal should things go terribly wrong. It is not going to be easy but with determination and hard work he will be able to put the smile back on our faces. Yes, Mr. Coach, I believe you can. Remember what Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory said on 6th March 1957, “that we Africans can manage and mismanage ourselves” .Welcome to the hot seat as a coach for uneasy is the head that wears the crown goes a saying. Akwaaba, Akwasi Appiah, make us proud to be truly the Black Stars of Africa.
German-born Schlindler wants to play for Ghana Youngster Kingsley Schlindler has pledged his international future to Ghana even if it means playing for the junior teams. The 19-year-old currently plays for the junior team of German club Hannover 96 after stints with Concordia Hamburg. And though with a chance to play for Germany, Schlindler insists he prefers to play for Ghana. “I will play for Ghana. It is my motherland and I love to play more for Ghana thanfor Germany,” he told Accra-based Radio XYZ.
“If I get the chance I would like to play for Ghana U-20 not for Germany.” The German-born to Ghanaian parents however admits he will need a couple of years before breaking into Hannover’s first team. “I think my chances to play in Bundeliga now will be better elsewhere but at Hannover maybe in one or two years.” Schlindler hopes to to join Quicny Owusu-Abeyie and Kevin-Prince Boateng as players with dual nationalities to have played for Ghana. Ghana Soccer Net
The South African Football Association (SAFA), has apologized to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) about the allegations of over-aged cheating made by the head coach of their National female Under-17 team against their Ghanaian counterparts. Coach Greg Mashilo, head coach of the South African team, alleged after a match against Ghana, when his side were eliminated in the Fifa Under 17 Women’s World Cup qualifier that, the Ghanaian side fielded over age players.
In a letter signed by Dr Robin Peterson, Chief Executive of SAFA sent to the GFA and copied to the GNA Sports in Accra, it said, “we apologize without reservation for the comments made by the coach of our Under 17 National Women’s Team: Mr Mashilo about players of the Ghana Under 17 Women’s Team after the qualifying match for the Fifa Under 17 Women’s World Cup played in Accra on Friday 23 March 2012”. It added that the comments by Mashilo were
not only against the good spirit of friendship and fair play but it has also caused immense embarrassment for the Association. “We would also like to distance the Association completely from the statement and make you aware that it was made without knowledge or mandate of the Association. “It is my sincere hope that the Ghana Football Association will accept our apology and not allow the matter to strain our long standing friendly relations in any way”. The letter stated. GNA
Simpson wins Heptathlon Olympic qualifier in Mauritius Ghana's Margaret Simpson proved her status as the Heptathlon Queen of the Africa continent by emerging tops at the Africa Combined Events Championship held in Bambous, Mauritius last week. Simpson, 30, garnered 6,184 points to emerge winner of the seven-event championship held from 13-14 April at the Germain Comarmond Stadium lo-
cated in the Black River District of the Indian Ocean Island.
Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium finished second on 5906 points.
The two-day event also served as a qualifier for the London 2012 Olympic Games, meaning the 2011 All Africa Games gold medalists has sealed her ticket for the 27 July to 12 August championship in London.
Ivorian Gabriella Kouassi, Selloane Tsoaeli of Lesotho and Togolese Sandrine Thiebaud finished in that order with 5766 points, 5194 points and 5025 points respectively.
Information gathered by GNA Sports indicates that
Simpson also finished first at the last edition held last year.
Petroleum Commission Ready To Enforce Local Content Provisions cont'd from pg. 49
He expressed optimism that the Petroleum Commission would become fully operational in July. Dr. Juliette TumasiAnokye, Officer-in-
Dr. Donkor Charge of Legal Services at the Commission, said it was a misconception to say that there was no local content law. She said specific provi-
GLO PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE Club Kotoko AshGold Hearts of Oak Berekum Chelsea Aduana Stars Medeama SC Edubiase FC Liberty Wa All Stars Dwarfs Tema Youth Heart of Lions Arsenals Mighty Jets Bechem United Wassaman United
Pts 55 41 40 39 37 36 36 36 35 32 29 28 25 23 23 22
sions had been made in the Exploration and Production Law and these provisions had further been buttressed by agreement signed with the oil companies. Dr. Tumasi-Anokye said, the Commission would be seeking from the companies their local content plans that spelt out the intentions of the companies on the promotion of Ghanaian interest in the industry. She said the Commission would undertake the registration of service providers adding that key areas to be covered by the plan would include employment, training, research and development activities, technology transfer and legal services and insurance. Mr. Felix Addo, Senior Country Partner, PwC Ghana, said all necessary guidelines should be put in place to ensure that all sectors of the economy derived maximum benefits from the oil and gas industry.
The Ghanaian News
April 2012
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April 2012
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