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Happy birthday Richard Owusu(FO of BeatsGhana)

Hitzmakers — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 22:41:00 +0000

I may not have car ,cash ,or any gift to gift you on your day.

I therefore take you to this huge platform to wish you a happy birthday

May you seek for your required things you need in life.

I wish you wealth ,prosperity and long life in this world

Your boy BeatsGhana

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WAFU Women’s Football Tournament is great for the Queens

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 02:01:00 +0000

10 years ago, on the 7th of February Ghana (host nation) bowed out of the African Cup of Nations to Cameroon in the semis.

You could hear a pin drop in Accra and and by extension, the whole country as the Cameroonians advanced to the final of the 2008 Afcon.

The dream of a ‘host and win’ was shattered and the then 26-year wait for a title counting. The count is still on.

In November this year, Ghana will host the entire of Africa again but this time, for the Women’s Afcon known as the Awcon.

It will be the first time the West African country is hosting the women’s football tournament. The agenda of a ‘host-and-win’ is clearly on the mind of all and sundry.

In Africa, Ghana is a powerhouse when it comes to Women’s football ranking and the general belief is that the nation is the 2nd best on the continent. They are only bettered by their huge nemesis Nigeria to whom they lost in three Women’s AFCON finals (1998,2002 and 2006).

The Black Queens are yet to win the AWCON trophy but they can count on the history that favours host nations.

Nigeria’s success in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002, and 2006 all came at home while Equatorial Guinea’s two titles in 2008 and 2012 were won before their home crowd.

That should serve as enough inspiration to the Black Queens later this year but that will be challenging looking at the context of the women’s game in Africa.

Women’s football is run a bit differently on the continent as compared to the men’s game.

The system of a women’s league is now gaining grounds in Africa and international friendlies aren’t frequent or sometimes non-existent.

The road to a first Afcon title for Ghana will prove a tough nut to crack with teams like Nigeria,Cameroon all posing a threat to Ghana’s goal.

However, the Wafu tournament will be a silver lining for the Black Queens since it offers a nearly foolproof way of gauging the team’s level.

The 2018 Wafu Zone B tournament assures Ghana of at least three matches.

As a host nation, Ghana will not be playing in the qualifiers hence it gives the Black Queens technical team led by a former Black Queens player Mercy Tagoe Quarcoo a chance to assess the team’s weaknesses and strengths.

The competitive nature and physical toughness from some of the teams will give the technical handlers a fair idea of where the team ahead of the AWCON tournament in November.

In Group A, Ghana will be playing against the host nation Ivory Coast.The Ivorians made it to the last World Cup in 2015 and were actually the only African team to move past the group stages.

Although Burkina Faso and Niger may not be considered as power houses in women’s soccer the physical and athletic nature of these teams would be a great test for the Black Queens.

The possibility of facing Nigeria,is probably one great aspect of the tournament for the Black Queens.

Nigeria’s new coach Tomas Dennerby has downplayed the expectations from Super Falcons.

However a Ghana-Nigeria tie is all sorts of tantalizing on any day and should the clash happen it could give an opportunity for Ghana to identify dennerby’s tactical position.

Although the Swedish Coach opted for a youthful squad with the absence of star names like Asisat Oshoala and Esther Sunday, the encounter will still prove useful for the Black Queens in November when the Awcon tournament kicks off.

There is a new technical team in place for the Black Queens following a reshuffle in 2017.

The Wafu tournament gives the technical team the chance to gel and start preparations from scratch.

The departure of Didi Dramani as head coach means Mercy Tagoe Quarcoo will be the interim coach for the Queens.

The team’s performance at the regional competition if great could be a persuasive factor for her to get the jobs for keeps.

The 2018 Wafu Zone B tournament, which is an inaugural edition, provides the team a good stepping stone for Ghana’s host and win ambitions for the 2018 AWCON.

They better take it.

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Sanitation in Bugubelle – an urgent need for education

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:59:00 +0000

Sanitation is critical to the total health well being of every community.

Due to its importance, it features as goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which states: “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”

In spite of its importance, sanitation in Bugubelle, a community in the Sissala East of the Upper West Region leaves much to be desired.

One of the aspects of the poor sanitation situation in Bugubelle is open defaecation.

Sadly, the indigenes don’t have an idea how dangerous this act is to their health.

According to the Assemblyman, out of the more than five hundred households in the community only a handful of these households have a pit latrine.

He narrated that, latrines that Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation supported to be built were in households of opinion leaders of the community. These latrines have deteriorated and most of the indigenes practice open defaecation.

In addition to this effort, there’re only two public toilets in the community: for the basic school and another built close to the market; unfortunately, due to poor maintenance culture, the facility close to the market is nothing to write home about – the facility has human excreta littered in front of it, the slabs that covered the holes are broken and refuse dumped around the whole place.

According to a native, there was initially a committee that was set up to see to the maintenance of the facility but unfortunately the committee has been dissolved for reasons unknown.

The Assemblyman revealed that a couple of months ago, the District Assembly requested that the community provide one person to be trained in building household latrines in the community.

The Assemblyman stated that, the trainee has reported to him that the indigenes have started showing interest in owning household latrines after an initial lack of interest in the idea.

Although such interest has been shown in owning household latrines, there’s the need for consistent and persuasive sanitation education in the community.

Taking the indigenes of Bugubelle through the importance, health and social benefits of owning household latrines will ensure that the act of open defaecation will be a thing of the past.

Also, it will make the indigenes to take the initiative of constructing their own household latrines without waiting for the District Assembly or a non-governmental organisation to solve their challenges for them. That is development.

It will give the indigenes the understanding of taking charge of issues on sanitation management in the community since they are already aware of selecting group of persons who will see to the management of various aspects of their lives. Sanitation education for the indigenes of Bugubelle will bring an end to open defaecation in the community, and the community loses only the indignity and the diseases that accompany poor sanitation in our communities. Sanitation education is important to all.

It borders on health, and health is wealth.

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Forcing out Jacob Zuma; a lazy approach to corruption fight

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:53:00 +0000

When Obama said that Africa needs strong institutions, at no point was he implying that we need strong institutions to deal with only the weak in society.

His recommended institutions are ones that have the capacity to deal with both the privileged and the under-privileged in order to get rid of all cankers we are struggling with.

Publicly forcing Jacob Zuma to resign as the President of South Africa is definitely not the right way of hunting out corruption effectively. This approach, I believe is rather encouraging others to aspire to be more corrupt since they will always have the option of resigning and going scot-free regardless of the financial losses they may have caused the state.

Elsewhere, people resign from their positions on the dictates of their conscience and subsequently apologize for wrongdoing. Notwithstanding their apologies, they are held before the law if they are found guilty of any of those. From his speech, it is clear that Zuma never resigned because of the heap of allegations against him. Rather, for the sake of peace in South Africa.

It is tempting to assume that kicking Zuma out of the presidency is worth it and South Africans must be okay. Yes, politically it is important for the ANC because getting him out will help clean the slate to enable them win the 2019 elections. For me, the longer-term damage of presidents resigning from office with impunity is in my view very much incalculable.

No good comes of Zuma’s resignation if there are no laws to deal with him as a private citizen now that he is out of office. Since there is no deterrent to prevent other presidents from following Zuma’s catastrophic example, knowing well that at the end he has gotten everything he wanted including the title, “His Excellency, Former President ………”

Cracking down on corruption without any clear intention to hold a resigned Zuma and subsequent presidents who misconduct themselves accountable could suggest that once elected president, one is immune from the law, despite the South African Constitution’s provision that “all are equal before the law”.

It is time African countries made laws that can bite hard at presidents who rape the coffers of their states and misconduct themselves. These laws must be accompanied by institutions that will implement them effectively and yield good results for the interest of the public.

I agree that presidents and their deputies must be accorded some privileges, but those privileges must not be inclusive of corruption. If they are involved in bribery and corruption, the option must not be the public forcing them to resign. Rather, they must be made to pay the monies they may have stolen to the nation with calculated interests.

This will certainly serve as a deterrent to others who aspire to occupy the seat of the presidency.

The euphoria among many on the heels of Zuma’s resignation is totally okay. But it is unfortunate to only rejoice over the present without raising our heads up to look at what is ahead. In countries like Brazil and the Republic of Korea, there are laws and effective institutions that hand down criminal inquiries and even prison sentences to deserving presidents and prime ministers who engage in bribery and corruption, abuse of power, coercion and disclosures of confidential information.

In South Korea for instance, aside the immediate past president who has been made to face the laws after her impeachment, two other former leaders, Chun Doo-hwan and his successor, Roh Tae-woo, were charged in the mid-1990s after they left office and it had been legally established that they improperly collected millions of dollars from businesses during their tenures.

Going forward, the South African public and the entire African populace must not only be loud in calling for presidents to resign but must also be insistent on the enactment of laws and the establishment of strong institutions that will deal with the likes of Zuma who are suspected of misconducts.

As a people, we Africans must learn lessons from countries like Brazil, South Korea and others that have systems in place to deal with top-hierarchies that engage in corrupt practices. Until then, the Zuma exit comes with no important lessons to other corrupt leaders in Africa.

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Security at Parliament: Blueprint to a national disaster

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:51:00 +0000

From where I stand, it will take a lot of guts but very little effort by a genius degenerate, even a dumb one, to wipe out our entire beloved country (That might be an exaggeration but yeah, a lot of people could die.) Why? Because over here, words are currency.

Currency that grants just anyone access to certain domains they under normal circumstances, shouldn’t be. Simply put, we are too trusting to a fault. And this will soon result in a fatality that will change our country’s course. But just maybe, this impending fatality is a necessary evil that will bring us back to reality and etch in our minds, the need to be stringent with security.

All this gloomy talk is fueled by several trips I have made to some of the highest public offices which I expected to have impregnable security, only to be greeted with the opposite. Initial impressions of some instances being a one-off were eventually discarded by frequent visits.

For instance, the first time I went to Parliament, I used the back entrance. I was in an Uber. At the gate, this is how my conversation with the uniformed security official ensued;

***Security Official = (SO)***

SO: Yes, Madam, who are you looking for?

Me: I have a meeting with Mr. X.

SO: Who are you?

Me: I’m a journalist with Citi FM.

SO: (nods head and signals gate to be opened.)

As much as I was relieved that he didn’t give me a hard time as I expected, I was as much surprised the ease with which I was granted access to what is supposed to be The House of our lawmakers. The short trip from the entrance to where I alighted got me thinking hard. Trying to come up with answers to why this obviously weak security system was present at parliament.

Besides the fact that I’m gorgeous, I convinced myself that just maybe, I gained easy access because the media house with which I work is considered one of the reputable ones in the country. But still, I consider it very remiss that some form of identification was not required of me. Because what’s proof that I’m indeed a journalist?

Unless there’s a specialized virtual system at the entrance that had already verified that. But that, I doubt.

To more of my disappointment than surprise, more security lapses were laid bare as I navigated through the rest of the premises. Before entering the Job 600 Block, there’s a security check system to go through, which by the time I had, concluded was USELESS.

There, I had to put my bag through an e-scanner while walking through another. But despite the beeps, I was allowed entry anyway. The security officials were the least interested in further checking why there were beeps; many beeps at that.

Of course, I’m not a psychopath or a terrorist on some sort of death mission. So yes, I didn’t have in my possession any offensive weapons or explosive devices. But the next person could have been and the next second, BOOM! Tragic, sad headlines splattered across the country. Lives and properties lost just because we failed to get it right from the start – by choice.

For you to better understand how lax the security system is at parliament, it may or may not surprise you that I was also able to enter the chamber with no questions asked. Instead, I was being offered nods of acknowledgement, salutes and smiles!

Then again, I’m gorgeous but so what?! I could have been anyone.

You wouldn’t be reading this piece if the events I’ve just described were just a one-off. The situation persists. It’s an everyday occurrence. My complaints to friends within the media and other circles revealed that my experience was not uncommon. To the extent that one of them narrated how he was able to walk straight to the president’s office without going through the requisite security checks.

But that I cannot speak much to. I wasn’t there.

But this I can say, that we [Ghanaians] as a people, are overly trusting and that will be the death of us. On top of that, as is of human nature, we even unconsciously, tend to judge people by their appearance – a toxic cocktail.

So for instance, I show up at a place a couple of times and by say, the fourth time, the personnel feel they know me and almost always are ever-willing to suspend protocols (including security checks) for me. There’s only as much “human” one can be until it costs us humans – a lot of them.

Parliament is just one instance of many other public offices with disturbingly lax systems. I’ve experienced one too many times but I want to believe staff and parliamentarians are oblivious to this situation by virtue of that fact that they have special passes to access the premises.

So if that’s the case, then this piece is to make them AWARE, subsequently leading to immediate action. I refuse to believe that we await a massive tragedy before tackling the highlighted phenomena.

Private entities should take a cue too.

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The westernized slave trade we now have

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:43:00 +0000

Slavery was the most important use of the benevolent African in the early 15th century through to the early 21st century. To an extent, it was called the trans-Atlantic slave trade as slaves were transported from Africa to the middle east of Europe and to America where they worked on the plantations of the white men.

In fact, those were the times Africans were forced to go out their homes, countries and continent. It was a serious punishment to those who moved outside the continent, meaning Africa was the best place for everyone including the whites.

This is proven by the fact that the whites did not only involve themselves in the slave trade, but also stayed in Africa to explore our natural resources such as gold, manganese, timber, diamond and copper. They introduced many things that brought Africa far beyond recognition.

The establishment of schools, hospitals and churches brought about the African civilization though it claims to start from Africa (Egypt). The schools built for Africans were the tools we used to fight for our freedom hence gaining independence after colonial rules.

In Africa today, especially, Ghana what status of our independence can we boast of? Our schools have become our death, slavery and dependence traps. Many Ghanaians are those who wish to have their education outside Ghana when we have strong universities running numerous programs that even house foreign students from all walks of life. The rich Ghanaian returns home after efficiently working for the white man to put burden on the few resources we are pull together.

The Ghanaian medical and law schools have received world recognition that we patronize them to improve development. Are we not still slaves to the white, where we abandon our hospitals and seek medical treatment from theirs generating them money and development.

We find many Ghanaians in America, Europe, Asia and other continents doing all the odd jobs which are equivalent to the plantations our fore fathers used to work on but still feel comfortable since they are not chained as the slaves used to be in. Why is it that the outside world creates avenue for job creation? They are able to identify the resources at their disposer and utilizing them.

In fact our agricultural sector which can employ over 60% of the country’s population is seen to be a place of filth. Ghanaian youth prefer to be housekeepers, a gate men or servants to the white to exploring our natural resources.

Colonization has come into the country with a different look since our chiefs are lured with gifts and money to grant white men who involve themselves in timber logging and illegal mining (galamsey) operations to carry out their activities without fair of the country’s rules and regulations. These illegal operations have depleted our soils, polluted our water bodies and now destroying the ozone layer.

I don’t think the mere bad farming practices of the Ghanaian farmer can contribute much to these adverse effects. Our natural resources are at stake as they are now over exploited without development.

At the times of clear colonization, the British were responsible for the nation’s development, now we host them in our hotels and guest houses, hence they put down nothing before returning to their countries after getting their aims achieved.

When I think of political and economic freedom, I laugh loud only within me. Despite the billions some Ghanaians pay studying in the so- called best schools outside Ghana, our economy cannot be managed all by ourselves.

We wait for international analysts to declare our GDP, to predict our economic growth and model our developmental policies just because we are so enslave to seeking unproductive help from them building a heap of debt for the country.

The current status of the American economy affects all African countries. If the white man termites lending, we are likely to turn into cannibals. Our political systems have received a laudable respect, our peace has been honored a lot but the slavery of the Ghanaian remains the same as the whites still supply some Ghanaians with weapons and amulets which can be used during wars and fights which are characteristics of the African content though minimal in occurrences.

It is time all developed Ghanaians laboring for the white man come home to add their quota to national development. The peace we claim to enjoy is gradually failing as the number of murder cases, political attacks and ethnic conflicts keep increasing.

The time has come that Ghana and the whole Africa have a stable political system not only in the peaceful change of governments but with a collective national development where in governance, no minority or majority.

The views of the minority should not be seen as attacks but inputs and corrections that bring national development same as the policies of the political party in power should not aim at gaining political power in elections but development. This system will promote a slow but sure governance and development since policies will not be implanted in a rush but done properly.

We need roads, schools, hospitals and other strong structures that can last for years to save the nation’s coffers from always renovating and giving out compensations to people in grief due to poor national plan.

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Right to Information law, a May birth?

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:42:00 +0000

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu, has demonstrated many times when he chairs the House’s vetting sessions, that he’s extremely sharp and is also a very fair person.

What I also find admirable is that he seems amiable and someone with a great sense of humour. Additionally, he comes across as a person who wouldn’t make a promise lightly.

So why is Mr Osei-Owusu not honouring a promise he made, as far back as February 2016, regarding the Right to Information (RTI) Bill?

Actually, the above is the question that the Coalition on the Right to Information, Ghana, is asking the Honourable Member for Bekwai. And I associate myself with their concern.

On Monday, February 5, 2018 the Coalition published an Open Letter in the Ghanaian Times to Mr. Osei-Owusu about his promise.

The following is an abridged version of the Open Letter signed by Mina Mensah, Head of the Africa Office, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Vice-Chair, Coalition on RTI, Ghana:

THE OPEN LETTER

I have decided to use this medium to communicate with you because I read something attributed to you which I find very disturbing.

Before I get to what I read, I don’t think we as a Coalition thanked you enough for the role you played in supporting the advocacy for the passage of the RTI when you were in opposition.

I want to especially mention the Technical Meeting for Selected MPs organised by the Coalition that you chaired on February 29, 2016 when you committed yourself and other MPs present to be Champions of the RTI Bill in Parliament.

FLASHBACK: On May 3, 2016, in an interview on Joy News you questioned why the then government had failed in prioritising the passage of the RTI Bill ….

You actually urged Ghanaians to insist on the passage of the bill because they have a right to information. On behalf of the Coalition, I say thank you.

FLASHBACK: Another time when I gave you kudos was on September 28, 2016 when you described the then President, His Excellency John Mahama’s claim of being frustrated about the delay in the passage of the bill as “hypocritical” during an interview on Citi News.

To quote you, as reported, “… the President also knows that any time the Executive considers something a priority, it gets done so if it were their priority, it would have been done. This public expression of frustration for me is rather hypocritical.”

This is why when your party won power in 2016 I felt that the hassle and struggles of yesteryears to get the Bill passed were over.

After all we now have champions in the House, including one who has been in the trenches with the Coalition, working on the Bill to make it more robust, and who knows the benefits of an RTI law to citizens in general and Ghanaians in particular.

FAST FORWARD TO JANUARY 31, 2018: Commenting on the RTI Bill during an interview on ‘Morning Express’, a programme on Radio XYZ, you allegedly said: “It’s not different from any other bill ….

“As far as I’m concerned, it is like any other Bill. For me if you ask me, the more critical Bills that are still pending are the Property Rights of Spouses and the Intestate Succession Bills. These are things that affect the everyday people.”

My question is: what has changed? The RTI Bill is no longer a priority as far as you are concerned?

Oh, and by the way, the RTI Bill when passed will actually enhance the enjoyment of the two very critical Bills you mentioned.

You reportedly alluded to the fact that the Constitution has stated limits, I beg to differ, the Constitution just said in Art 21 (1) (f) “information subject to such QUALIFICATIONS AND LAWS as are necessary in a democratic society”.

Moreover, since you were one of the people who worked relentlessly to get the Bill amended I am sure you are aware that a Right to Information law is not about “limits”, as you put it, and Ghana’s RTI law is definitely not about limitations to access information.

Again, it is true that a Constitutional provision can be enforced in court and (the pressure group) Occupy Ghana did that as you alluded to, and were given the information. But let’s not forget that they paid GHC 1,000.00 for it, excluding legal fees – filing fees, etc.

If you say anyone can go to court, true, but I am wondering how many of your constituents can afford the legal fees if they were to go to court?

The NPP 2016 Manifesto (promises to): “ensure the passage of the Right to Information Bill if the present Parliament delays in doing so”; (and adds) our Commitment to passing the Right to Information Bill will further enhance transparency in oil and gas sector.”

I sincerely hope that Ghanaians will not have to wait till 2020 for a law that is long overdue. The RTI Bill has been with the Cabinet for one full year, amidst promises but no movement.

Yours truly,

Mina Mensah

* * * As indicated above, I sympathise with the position of the RTI campaigners. Notably, the Bill has been awaiting passage for more than ten years.

Unfortunately, as at the time of writing this, I had not seen any Times rejoinder from Mr Osei-Owusu; and my checks also did not reveal a response to the Coalition.

Why the silence, I wonder.

Or could the silence of Parliament be due to a historic surprise being planned? I would like to think so! If not, then the following is my suggestion:

As UNESCO and our Government have announced that Ghana is to host this year’s World Press Freedom Day, marked on May 3, why not ensure the passage of the Bill on that date?

The eyes of the global media fraternity will be on this country during the UN celebration. Therefore the news of the birth of the RTI law on May 3 would ‘go viral’ and boost Ghana’s democratic credentials.

It would also be a memorable climax to the celebration of World Press Freedom Day 2018, and serve as a fitting appreciation for the choice of our country by UNESCO for its flagship media event.

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In partial defence of the Births and Deaths Registry and in total defence of ‘Nana’

Hitzmakers — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 01:41:00 +0000

For the purposes of this article, reference to “Nana” and “Nii” also covers Awulae, Naa/Naaba, Nene, Nenyi, Ohemaa, Togbe/Togbi/Torgbui and other chiefly titles.

It is a reaction to comments and observations made by the distinguished Prof. Opanyin Kofi Agyekum, Dean of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon, as well as the statement on the issue of Name registration in Ghana presented to Parliament by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 as captured in the following day’s edition (page 3) of the generally reliable “Daily Graphic”.

Prof. Agyekum is a well-respected authority on Akan/Ghanaian cultural practices and usages. Because of his informed insights, I make it a point to listen to Peace FM’s Kokrokoo slot every Tuesday and Thursday and feel disappointed, unfulfilled and short-changed on those occasions when he does not turn up for the programme. Indeed, I so admire him that I have “followed” him since his Radio Univers days more than 20 years ago. It is, therefore, with a sense of trepidation that I unwisely “take him on” in this instance; akin to a David (me) and Goliath (he) mismatch.

The views expressed by Prof. are, as to be expected, shared by the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians, a situation which has compelled the minister of Local Government and Rural Development to direct the Births and Deaths Registry to suspend the implementation of the registry’s existing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which, among other prohibitions, forbids the registration of Nana/Nii as names.

Nana and Nii

First of all, we must agree that Nana and Nii are titles, not ordinary words or names. They are acquired, not assumed. In Akan culture, Nana is acquired through chieftaincy or conferred on grandparents, as well as on old men and women as a mark of respect.

In principle, parents should have the inviolable right to officially give their offspring any name of their choice. As the saying goes, however, “To every rule, there is an exception.” The exception in the name registration exercise ought to be that a name which is a title cannot be officially registered as a first name in order not to create the misleading impression that the person so named actually holds that title. Thus, whereas a parent may delight in honouring the memory of his beloved father by naming his equally beloved son after him, such a son may be affectionately called Nana Mensah or Nii Kpakpo at home by relatives, friends and other relations but cannot have Nana/Nii registered as his first name.

In his radio contributions to the debate (Peace FM, Tuesday, January 23 and Asempa or Atinka – I cannot now remember which – Monday, January 29), Prof. Agyekum argued that Nana could be used as a name, even as a first name, because chiefs used other titles. He cited as examples Otumfuo (Asante), Osagyefuo (Akyem Abuakwa) and Daasebre (Kwahu). We must, however, remember that all these our revered traditional rulers are first and foremost “Nana”. Other titles such as Kantamanto, Katakyie, Oblempong, Odeefuo, Odeneho, Ogyeahoho, Osabarima and Oseadeeyo are titles which have been assumed in recent times by some of our chiefs as the spirit has moved them.

To further buttress his viewpoint, Prof. Agyekum also alluded to some of his colleague academics at Legon having Nana/Nii as part of their names as well as the venerable Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and Minister of Education. I suspect that if we were to check the Prof.’s birth certificate, Naana would be nowhere to be found although she may have always been fondly called Naana at home by kith and kin. The fact that these learned personalities may have Nana/Nii/Naana as their first names does not make it right. As Prof. Agyekum himself is wont to say: “Adee aa onye de, na onye,” (to wit: “What is wrong is wrong”).

Besides, it is logically sensible for forms to routinely specify only “Mr/Miss/Mrs” because, by convention, every human being, on attaining the age of majority/maturity, is either “Mr” (if male), “Miss” (if unmarried female) or “Mrs” (if married female) and so automatically falls into one or the other of the “Mr/Miss/Mrs” categories.

Incidentally, has anyone ever heard of our current Head of State being referred to as Mr Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. No? Why not? It is simply because we consider “Nana” as his title; so we do not prefix his “Nana” with “Mr”.

Standard Operating Procedure

The Births and Deaths Registry may have had a good case for implementing the Standard Operating Procedure as far as it pertains to the non-registration of Nana/Nii as first names. To, however, extend the ban to cover such gorgeous names as Adom and Nhyira is biting more than the registry can chew. How can the registry, on the one hand, justify registering “Nyamekye” (God’s gift) but on the other, reject Adom (God’s Grace) or Nhyira (God’s blessing)? Still, why is the registry raising a red flag against Junior (Jnr)? If you have the good fortune of being called Kwaku Adjetey Fuseini and you decide to name your son exactly after you, a convenient and accepted means of differentiating between father and son (with apologies to the great Barima Azumah Nelson) is to name the son Kwaku Adjetey Fuseini Jnr. What does the registry find problematic about this?

The two opening paragraphs of the Daily Graphic reportage on the sector Minister’s interaction with Parliament state as follows: (Quote) “The acting Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry has been directed to register names such as Nana, Nii, Papa and others as given by parents to their children.

“The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development which gave the directive, further asked the Births and Deaths Registry to limit itself to the non-registration of OFFICIAL (capitals mine) titles and prefixes such as President, Reverend, Doctor, Minister, Miss, Mrs, General, Honourable, among others.”(End of Quote.)

Does the ministry view President, Reverend, Doctor etc. as OFFICIAL titles merely because these are depicted in the Queen’s English while Nana and Nii are not considered official titles on account of being Ghanaian? What a pity looking down on our own mother tongues! One also wonders how and why on earth “Honourable”, as in Hon. Asimasi Kon Ke Kenam, Assembly Member for Adabraka, can be an official title which must not be registered as a name, while the “Nii” in Nii Adjabeng, Adabraka Mantse and overlord, is not treated as a title and can, therefore, be used “by heart” as a registered name. (Nana Kwaku Dei, Nkosuohene of Pakro and acting Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, tenant of Nii Adjabeng, over to you!!!)

Reflecting the prevailing thinking of Parliament as a whole, both the Majority Leader and Minority Leader concurred with the ministry’s directive to the Births and Deaths Registry to refrain from enforcing the Standard Operating Procedure ban on registering Nana/Nii as names. Judging from our usual partisan parliamentary divisions, such a rare meeting of minds between the Majority and the Minority means “case closed”. Nonetheless, in conclusion, it is suggested for the consideration of Parliament, the sector ministry and the generality of Ghanaians that:

(i) Awulae, Naa/Naaba, Nana, Nene, Nenyi, Nii, Ohemaa, Togbe/Togbi/Torgbui etc. should be recognised as chiefty titles;

(ii) Only chiefs should, therefore, be permitted to use the aforementioned accolades as prefixes to their stool/skin names; and

(iii) A commoner may include any of the royal titles in his or her registered name but not as the first name so as not to create the wrong, potentially deceitful impression that he or she is a chief or queenmother. In other words, if you are not a chief, you can call yourself Kwaku Adjetey Togbe Fuseini but not Togbe Kwaku Adjetey Fuseini.

Nananom, President and members of the National House of Chiefs, where are you? Are you going to stand aloof and allow your time-honoured titles to be cheapened and prostituted?

The writer is a retired Director of the Ghana Civil Service.

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