MPs to select research assistants

... Hmm... for the lovers of truth and objectivity, this carries a dangerous foreboding. Science and Truth manufactured in a pot. ... I am a very strong believer in the crucial role of research in the development of Africa. I do think that our tertiary students should be engaged in applied research - not just to solve problems and to understand and better manage the various phenomena that engulf us daily, but to contribute to the body of knowledge that exists.

In an age where we seek to quantify all things, and we allow the mere recitation of numbers to confer a certain importance, irrefutability, objectivity and truth to the issue in question, I worry about this Research Assistant story.

Yes, by all means, let's engage our junior scholars in research. When we start raising issues of loyalty and confidentiality, and so request that MPs appoint/select their own RAs, then we are heading for trouble. We may be heading into a zone where numbers are interpreted through very political and partisan lenses, where loyalty can mean covering up the sins of the emperor, and can mean the downright insulting of our corporate and individual quests for knowledge and truth as human beings.

An alternative would be to hire RAs based on industry/sector/area, to furnish information to anyone in the government (executive/legislature/judiciary) and to the outside world, with the same, consistent empirical information that can be used in decision making. This way, we actually have the opportunity to generate intellectual resources to aid us in policymaking and development planning. Having issue-focused RAs also means we do not have to get 230 of them to match the number of MPs!!! Is this 'jobs for the boys and girls' since the hiring freeze in the civil service? It seems to be a way for getting gofers and personal assistants for MPs.

And please, somebody tell me ... how is this supposed to improve governance? ... Why can't we set up a non-partisan national research institute that can house senior and junior scholars across disciplines, to help in whatever endeavour this is, and avoid partisanship? Why don't we as a nation support research coming out of our institutions of higher learning?

Come on now! ... let's not toy around with something this serious, and insult the intelligence of Ghanaians. I do feel insulted. ... I have much more to say, but this will suffice. Other duties call. ... more coming from whence this cometh ...

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Read the story for yourself...
Directly Quoted from www.myjoyonline.com
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Members of Parliament have until the end of this month to choose some 230 graduates from the nation’s tertiary institutions to act as research assistants.

The initiative is part of President Mills’ pledge to assist the legislature in carrying out its constitutional mandate more effectively.

The Executive Director of the National Service Board, Vincent Senam Kuagbenu in an interview with Joy News hinted that the MPs have the right to choose relatives or people from their constituencies, but added the board is yet to take a firm decision on the modalities.

“The MPs should know the person and trust that he is able to do his work for him and keep some level of confidence in his research person,” he explained.

The minority leader Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, though in favour of the president’s initiative, lamented the absence of an office space to house the research assistants.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga has supported moves to have relatives and close associates of Members of Parliament appointed for the position.

"Whether it is a relative, whether it is somebody from his constituency or whether it is any other person, i believe that there must basic criteria which must be met."

"We cannot discriminate against a relative on the basis of such people being relatives, he added.

He said the MPs need to be comfortable with the assistants who will work for them.

He reiterated government’s commitment to strengthening the legislature, saying the president is ready to increase budgetary allocation to ensure the speedy implementation of the research initiative.

Mahama Ayariga suggested the erstwhile Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to be used as a new office block for the research assistants.

Ayariga advised the leadership of the House to consult the Works and Housing Ministry for the release of the office space.

He said the presence of the research assistants will in no small way improve the performance of parliamentarians.

Listen to excerpts of the interview with Mahama Ayariga in the attached audio.


Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

... it's been a looooong while!

I've been MIA for a while now. I've been too busy for my own good, trying to change the world! Well, that's still my mission. Well, this is just a way to jumpstart my writing again - to at least post something and begin writing again. There is soo much - in fact, too much going on for me to be silent about. I will be back in this space!

A Price Worth Paying – esi, ‘08

A Price Worth Paying – esi, ‘08

A price worth paying, and a sacrifice worth making …
A bride worth waiting for, and a flavour worth savouring …
A Good worth buying – its benefits priceless …
A journey worth taking, destination unknown …

An altar where self must die and nation arise
A place where comfort must retreat, and unflinching resolve proceed
A place where sweat runs freely, pacified by weary cotton friends
A place where calories are tested, coursing through excited veins
A place where tempers can soar up high, crest and explode
A place where human lava can boil, and volcanoes erupt
A place where nothing is free, where the currency is life itself
A marketplace called democracy, a place where we rise

Better than war, and troubled sirens
Better than the screams of innocent children
Better than guns, booms and bombs
Better than fires, smoking embers and tear gas
Better than big, ruthless dogs on the prowl
Better than heartache, pain and death
Better than refugees with nothing, and yet great a load
Better than oppression, suppression and confusion
Better than all the ‘shuns’ that shun peace
Better than the alternative – chaos unleashed

A marketplace for sharing dreams
A marketplace for hawking ideas
A marketplace for trading talents
A marketplace for finding comrades
A marketplace where nation rises
A marketplace where me and you are fused into us
Sojourners for the common good, destination unknown …

I started writing this piece while standing in line to cast my vote. I heard people (including myself sometimes) complain – the queue was long; the sun was hot; they didn’t start on time; the people were tired; there was no shade; the rules weren’t clear; the process was cumbersome; etc etc,… and several times, people tried to make things easier – offers to get me a seat, move me up the line etc etc., but I realized how little a price, it was to pay … a small price for democracy -- a small sacrifice compared to those who struggled to make this freedom real, and those who laid their lives down for the cause. As I stood there, I thought of freedom fighters from around the world and different eras … in our own minute ways, those who are willing to endure the ‘pain’ of election processes are the new freedom fighters – those who will do what is right and good, suffer just a little for it, and allow the interest of the nation to overshadow their comfort. Yes, we are the new freedom fighters – our first step in demonstrating our resolve to dare – to dare to do things differently and to set the right example, and prepared to pay a price for an invaluable commodity. Anyway … before I get carried away … it was a price worth paying. A minute sacrifice in the face of greater losses that others have endured.

ElectionMania 2008!

There's soooo much going on, and so much to write about, ... about how our democracy has grown and is still growing; how we need to distinguish between public office, public leadership and public change - all hands needed on deck ....

Well, I currently have end-of-semester blues -- grading etc., so more to come later on ... I started writing a poem while waiting in line to vote ... the price of democracy .... in a nutshell, the fatigue, sweat, discomfort and aching legs from waiting in line are all minor - a small price to pay for a decent, chaos-free election. A price waaay cheaper than blood, guns, booms and tear gas .... think about it... more to come later.

G.H.A.N.A.
God
Has
A
New Agenda
for us
!!!


Long live Ogyakrom!!!

Running for a good cause

Visit the Accra International Marathon Website

Folks!

Picture this ...I’m in secondary school form 5, and it’s the Inter-houses athletic competition. In my little green skirt and bright yellow top (my house color was yellow), heart is pounding so loudly I can’t hear anything else, and then I hear “on your marks ... my pounding powerhouse of a heart has taken over, … get set … and the next thing I hear is ... pow! I take off, pacing myself so that other folks pass me by on the first lap of our 400m race. As we begin the 2nd lap, I see all the ‘too-known’ people who started aggressively begin to ‘de-gas’ and slow down, and Yours Truly picks up the pace ... I hear the crowds chanting ... “Esi, ma wo nan so.... aka kakraa na we wiei, ma wo nan so, aka kakraa na we wieii... ma wo nan so! [Esi, pick up your speed, you have just a little more to go, pick up your speed! (literally ... Esi, raise your leg, it’s left with small, and then you’ll finish” hehehe.)] Well, I come from behind and from seeing about 10 people in front of me in the beginning, I now see about 5. Blood is rushing through my body and my stalky legs are racing as fast as they can (like a cheetah’s chasing me), and ... I finally cross the finish line and come in 3rd! Phhew!! That was quite an experience! Anyway, I’m re-living this experience because it felt sooo good, and it felt even better when I kept coming in 1st, 2nd or 3rd on different occasions for Long Jump—my favorite sport. I was da bomb!!! Well, I’m about to do some more athletic stuff, and this time, not just for the adrenaline, but to support a good cause! ... ...

I’m going to be taking on a marathon! ... well, not exactly, but ... I’ll be doing the half-marathon walking/ jogging/ running/ panting/ sweating/ praying I survive and doing everything else I can to hang on till the finish line! I’m very involved in The Longevity Project because I believe in what the Project is about –raising health awareness and making people sit up and pay attention to our individual and shared health and well-being. So far, the Project has done well in raising awareness—a marathon last year, many smaller projects - walks, talks, health screenings etc, etc.... the Project rides on the backs of many volunteers (including Yours Truly, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to get involved!), and this marathon is to raise awareness and also raise funds to support the work of the Project.

For me, it’ll be fun getting back into the athletic endeavor itself, but most importantly, if I’m able to raise funds, it’ll be a great help to the Project, and the wonderful work we’re already doing can move forward. With a life expectancy of 58 years in Ghana, the sooner we all get to it and pay attention to our personal and collective health, the better it’ll be for us! In the past, our health concerns may have had to do with poor nutrition and sanitation, resulting in kwashiorkor, beriberi, rickets, Guinea worm disease, malaria etc.... As we generally do better, there’s a new set of health concerns waiting around the corner for us—diabetes, heart problems, obesity etc, etc.... So regardless of how rich or poor we are as a nation, health issues will not go away. I’m interested in joining whatever efforts I can, to help address some of these issues that I’m very passionate about.

I hope you agree that our personal and shared health is important enough to invest in. Please consider supporting this effort however you can. Financial support is great, as is any other kind of support—in-kind support, spreading the word about the Project, getting your employer or an organization you’re part of to adopt the Project as its ‘pet project’ to support, or whatever else you can give.

Thanks in advance, and God bless you! You’re helping us send the message out to keep Africa Alive one step at a time! If you’re in the USA, consider coming to join the marathon—if you raise a specified amount, you get a free ticket and hotel accommodations for the duration of the marathon – see the Accra International Marathon website for more details. Your contributions are also tax-deductible. Thank you! Remember ... ketwaa bia nsua (no amount is too little)!! Nyame Nhyira Wo!

Click here for my Marathon Site ... Consider joining the marathon!!!

esi

Africans and the Social Sciences

AFRICANS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

This was one of the first articles I wrote -- back in 1996 or 1997. It arose out of my frustration with people harassing me about why I was studying Psychology in college. In their minds, an African in America had no business in the Social Sciences. The way to go, according to them was Nursing (for quite green reasons), Computer Science, Business, Accounting etc ... The lesson I learnt was simple -- know what you want out of life, or else someone else will define it for you.

On many occasions I have come across Africans who strongly propose at the slightest opportunity that Africans who study at the tertiary level, especially outside the continent have no business studying anything in the area of the humanities and social sciences. Africans in fields of study such as Psychology, Sociology and History are seen by some as doing a disservice to the continent at large, and also wasting resources that should be diverted to support ‘better’ courses. In lieu of these subject areas, they would rather see Africans studying in fields including business, medicine, law and engineering. I was often asked why I was “wasting time” on Psychology, when I could make “more money” studying business, computer science or medicine.

Being a people who have dire economic/material needs, some aspects of well-being that deal with the non-quantifiable or abstract are categorized as unnecessary. Contingent upon the line of reasoning in question, this could be a somewhat legitimate argument – that it is more beneficial, contemporarily more functional, and developmentally more efficient to focus on satisfying basic needs than needs that have no 'visible' or ‘tangible’ and immediate impact on daily survival. However, ‘abstract’ needs such as mental health and self-esteem in the face of competition for scant resources are just as crucial. How well these needs are or are not met reflect the well-being of the people, and also serve as a tool for assessing the functional roles of individuals in the larger context of community, nation and the world at large.

As disciplines, African Psychology, Sociology or History for that matter have been stunted in their growth in the few instances where they have managed to take seed. Where there is usually an emphasis on Africa in many fields of study, the prime source of interest has been problem-areas, and there is almost always an "anthropological" approach that renders African ways of life, beliefs and traditions ‘exotic’ and to be gazed upon in wonder. Modern Africa is attention-deprived, and the Tarzan stereotype still exists in the minds of many non-Africans across the globe. Where there is any factual knowledge, it is only about an Africa that is antiquated and left behind by progress, enslaved by disease, poverty, drought and famine. With few published materials/resources in African humanities/social science disciplines, it is assumed that there are no authentic organizational systems or ideologies that govern African ways of life/thought. That contemporary political systems are borrowed from European models does not mean that there were no political/social systems set up by and for Africans even before the advent of the European. The importation of foreign theories/models have dwarfed authentic African models, and they are either rendered obsolete or given up in a mélange that echoes more westernization than anything else. It is said that when your story is yet untold, it is assumed that you have no story to tell at all.

In a Black Psychology course I took as an undergraduate student, I was exposed to the role of formally-trained psychologists in the society – specifically the black community, and how they can be used as tools in understanding individuals and the society at large. There are very limited resources on African Psychology, and I would be glad to find and join Africans willing to effect a change in that situation. Fundamental social institutions are changing with time, and accommodations must be made through social scientists to facilitate this transition into a new age and new century altogether.

The griots and elders, mothers and grandmothers, indeed the entire community in most African, collective societies took up roles as psychological care providers; offering mental and emotional support to those who needed it, recounting and outlining the past in order to offer direction for the future, lowering the need for clinical psychologists. Our social network/support system is not as it used to be -- more families are split up demographically, we have more working adults, especially women, who formerly were for the most part present in the home and offered support. We have more social problems, many which merit formalized support systems to accommodate evolutions that our societies are undergoing -- changes that are further compounded by contemporary influences. For example, dealing with simple misunderstandings, some resort to fatal and ‘sophisticated’ ways of retaliating -- pulling out guns and taking lives, scheming armed robberies (which were not very common till recently in Ghana), hard core child pornography and child prostitution, carefully orchestrated scams pulled by all sorts of religious and other "non-profit" bodies.

Take for example the grandparents and other elders who mediated conflicts in the past, passed on their wisdom, and guided the younger generations. Yes, they still continue to do so, but to generations that are more individualistic than collective in focus, making the 'services' of these people of little use, and in war-ravaged countries, where will we find the wisdom saints? With new difficulties comes the need for new and different solutions to replace or complement the old modus operandi.

A look at the statistics that indicate/demonstrate the spread of AIDS across the continent merits urgent attention and multifarious approaches to tackle the problem. Discarding the myopic solutions that have been embarked upon to deal with the problem and putting in place new methods and advances. Sex education for example has been taken up as a weapon to fight the spread of AIDS in many African communities. However, what good are these seminars if the health care delivery system has not been upgraded in decades, and improperly sterilized or re-used equipment is used on patients? What good would it be, when some cultural myths or practices encourage mostly men to have multiple sex partners, thus reinforcing the proliferation of the disease where it is already predominant? Largely a very stigmatized disease, AIDS remains a covert topic in the individual and or collective lives of people. In such situations, professionals trained to offer social services can be employed to open up lines of communication and tactfully expose people to how and why cultural beliefs/practices can aggravate the spread of the disease. In collaboration with the media, social service workers can research and design infomercials or programs that raise public awareness and discuss the issue, taking into consideration the existing cultural perceptions, and research into more effective solutions for the problem.

There are many other instances where social service personnel can effectively be used to combat contemporary problems. For example, in a society where corporal punishment is the principal mode of disciplining children, policy makers cannot impose policies banning the practice without expecting a public outcry against the new policies. This is where available research on the effects of corporal punishment, for example how it may inhibit articulate expression in a child can be discussed. Where studies have been conducted on alternative methods of discipline, and have been found to work better, some compromise can be made. Some lines may be drawn between physical abuse and discipline, and a joint effort by parents/caregivers and policy makers can protect children without robbing parents of their right to raise their children as they so choose.

Sometime ago, BBC and CNN aired Cry Freetown, a documentary which demonstrates the problems faced by post-war African communities, and the need for rehabilitation, particularly for the children formerly engaged in perpetrating atrocities. The World Health Organization currently seeks people in the social sciences to assist in providing health care (physical and mental) to post-war populations. The families/communities that used to be the bulwark of collective societies are now split up, and child-soldiers need to be mobilized, rehabilitated and re-integrated into society. This is where Africans can support their own, using social support professionals rather than relying so much on foreign NGOs to move in and work with the people.

Grassroots development along all fronts starting with us, for us, by us. Going to the villages, cities and wherever else to get the masses to understand that one can be saved from malaria or typhoid through medicine rather than sacrifice the life or peace of some despised old lady in the village. We need to assist communities to take better advantage of contemporary amenities, start opening up minds and challenging the ideas/beliefs that all good things come from the west, and that we cannot make it on our own. Fighting dependency along whatever scale, be it familial, societal, national or international; methodically and tactfully demolishing mentalities that hold out the palm for foreign aid, and hold back the Self from initiatives that will propel development.

Any individual, whatever his/her profession can actively support initiatives such as those outlined, but a concerted effort made with 'professionals' in area of social sciences and services is a valuable investment. As my personal interest in the field of Psychology grows, I envisage an Africa with a growing need for social services like never before. Personally, I would want to see more research, especially in the field of social cognition and social policy. For example, studies on the interaction between Social Policy and cultural perceptions – how effective are social policies, and how can their effectiveness be hampered by cultural norms and beliefs? How can these policies subsequently be adjusted to accommodate the culture of the people? Studies on Social Cognition and re-adjustment in post-war communities, changes in self-perception through community/self-help development projects, perception of Self as a part of a global community, and its effects on local community participation are only a few of the issues that need to be examined. The era is dawning, when Africans have to give attention to previously-ignored fields of study and utilize any and every resource available to meet the needs of a new Africa with gaping social wounds that desperately need healing.

... my thoughts exactly!!!

Don't have the time to write, but ... this is an echo of my thoughts - 100%. (I might as well have written the script! I totally agree). Ghana indeed DESERVES better leadership - those with pride and hope in the nation will say the same, and that won't be a lie.


Original posting from Joy FM's website...

Nduom: Ghana Deserves Better Leadership

Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party, (CPP), Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom has enjoined Ghanaians to pray to God for renewed and committed leadership.

He said after 51 years of Independence, Ghanaians are still grappling with so many basic necessities that other nations take for granted, such as water, requiring that Ghanaians pray for a leadership that will provide solutions to the basic problems.

Borrowing from the CPP’s maxim of organisation decides everything, Dr. Nduom, who spoke to Joy FM said ‘leadership decides everything’, and added it is nauseating to hear regular references to the Malaysias and Koreas of this world and how much progress they have made while no effort is made at finding out what they had to do to be where they are.

“With everything it is leadership, it is leadership that brings about the renewal, it is leadership that encourages the people. You know in Ghana, sometimes to the annoyance of many we keep talking about Korea, Singapore, Malaysia; all those people who were behind us at independence, but then no one wants to talk about the things that they did, the discipline in the society, the discipline with the leadership, the determination of the leadership to go beyond what the people can see for themselves…

(read the rest of this article on the Joy FM website)


Author: Isaac Yeboah

Story from Myjoyonline.Com News:
http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/200803/14701.asp

Published: 3/24/2008

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