Yussif Ahmed Ibn Yussif

Prior to Dr Abrefa Busia becoming the president of the second republic of Ghana in 1969, he had written a number of books and articles chastising the previous administrations and in the same vein espousing what he perceived should be the underlying factors of a true democracy. Particularly, his book titled, "Africa In Search Of Democracy" originally published in 1967, Dr Busia argued that freedom of speech, movement, and the freedom of the media to function without any external interference were part of the basic necessities of a true democracy. With all these talk of setting the people free of the bondage they suffered at the time in the hands of his predecessors, the citizens of Ghana thought it wise of giving him the mandate to serve them as president for him to accomplish his talk in deed. But when Busia assumed office, he did exactly the opposites of what he spoke of while in opposition. Kwame Nkrumah definitely did same in terms of how he treated the media under his...

What if black man was the one referred to as an European and the white man an African? We all descended from Adam and Eve, not so? Why so much discrepancy between the white man and the black man and why does the black man have to be mocked because of his colour? Increasingly, there are so many negative stereotypes about Africa for that matter Ghana that is becoming true or reality. The white man was not born with ingenuity and neither was the black man born otherwise but the reality today is that the white man is ahead of the black man in most if not all facets of life due to reasons that if the black man is willing to overcome, can do so and rise to greatness. The black man has been characterized as inimical to progress. To do things for collective growth, no, we would rather cheat the system for our singular good. For this reason, our leaders, especially politicians have become more corrupt or at least perceived as corrupt. In 2017, Ghana scored 40/100 ranking 81 out of 170 count...

Is it anger, disgust, violence, frustration or just normal social behavior that leads people to openly spit in public? As much as I don’t want to kiss anyone in public, I don’t want to share anyone’s saliva. Normally we talk about indiscriminate disposal of waste ranging from plastic to polythene and so many others but we forget that as soon as saliva leaves the mouth and lands on the floor, it becomes waste because it turns to be a risk to human health. Now, indiscriminate spitting is as much a problem as all the other wastes mentioned. The worst part of open and indiscriminate spitting in public is when the spitter doesn’t rob off the spit from the floor. They leave it for anyone passing by to see the spit even though it is not a pleasant sight for the eye. I wonder if anyone who engages in indiscriminate spitting would perpetuate the act if they spent an hour or two in the Flagstaff house. Oh no! Wait! The place is too clean for that. This indicates how much the stinky environ...

In a country where the media only move from one issue to another without actually following up the former to see justice done to them, leaders are given the opportunity to engage in what I call ‘prostitutional’ corruption. It is great that the media updates citizens on daily happenings, but it is even more imperative that the media ensures that citizens are served well by their leaders. ‘Prostitutional’ corruption in the context of this article means to explain the unending yet unpunished corruption that engulfs Ghanaian politicians. Just as a prostitute moves from one man to another every night, our leaders seem to move from one corrupt act to the other. How many leaders have actually been processed in court and sentenced to prison because of their corrupt acts but how many alleged corruption cases has this country seen? Why else would they perpetually perpetuate the act and defend themselves with such impunity? If the media was angry enough, if the media was severe enou...

There is a popular joke that the name zebra crossing should be changed to human crossing because some drivers think the name suggests it is for zebras. Well, to all those drivers, I say, please, it is for human beings. In fact, zebra crossing is also known as pedestrian crossing but I wonder why pedestrian crossing is not as popular as zebra crossing is. Zebra crossing as is seen on the roads are there not for decorative purposes but for one of the most significant activities on the road, pedestrians crossing the road. But how many drivers know the essence of zebra crossing? And even those who know its significance clearly ignore it. The zebra or pedestrian crossing is put on the road to allow pedestrians to cross the road without any troubles from approaching vehicles. It is imperative to note that unless the vehicle has stepped on the pedestrian crossing, it must give way for the pedestrians to cross. Indeed, not just that but drivers are meant to stop for pedestrians to cross wh...

No doubt farmers are one of the most important group of people this country has ever known. They not only contribute to what we consume on a daily basis but also hugely contribute to our export commodities. Agreed, there are small-scale farmers who only do hand to mouth kind of farming but there are also large scale farmers who not only feed themselves and their families but the entire nation. Both the small-scale farmer and the large-scale farmer are equally significant to this country. Tomorrow is farmers' day and we are all going to celebrate farmers and applaud them for their good and far more significant efforts to the growth of this country but is what they really need an applause and a pat on the back? I think they need more than just that. Agriculture, as has always been claimed, is the backbone of Ghana's economy. It contributes far more than most sectors and yet little attention is given to it. Granted that this government is trying to put some e...

He who calls for equity must come with clean hands. Some of our leades most especially our political leaders have fallen short of this saying. But I’ve been wondering, how about the youths of today, are we really the early 1600s sanctimonious people we claim to be today? I am always saddened by the retarded progress this country has experienced over the past sixty years. We always talk of the fact that the next generation will do better forgetting the next generation is actually been groomed by the current generation who have fallen short of their mandates and responsibilities. In any case, how many next generations has this country seen in over sixty years and how better have any of those so-called next generations been? Now, the chauvinism with which some of our youth leaders of today sometimes comment on issues and also lead us with make me wonder if we will be any different when the reigns are handed over to us. Our acts of cheating in the examination halls are no exception t...

So in this modern society of Ghana, who would still deny that the police on the roads take bribes from drivers on a daily basis? No one? Great! With that fact established, what if other professionals like teachers also decided to do same? What then would we be turning this country into in the long run? There is very little regard for the police in the traditional setting of Ghana. Our folks think that dumb people populate the Ghanaian forces. So whoever has a dumb kid is encouraged to throw him or her into the police force and not waste money on them in the university. Do you really want to waste money on this your dumb kid in the university? Just buy him police forms. Yeah, that’s exactly what our folks say. This is so inconsistent with the huge responsibilities of the police force. They are supposed to be the protectors of our society. They are supposed to be the law enforcers in our country. How can we have dumb people protecting us? Would we feel safe in their hands? Do our fo...

While pedestrians are always looking forward to traffic lights turning red, drivers and passengers are always looking for the green light. The heat in trotro vehicles alone makes you want to encourage the driver to jump the red traffic light but for fear of getting caught and well the policeman taking a bribe from you for personal benefits in the name of punishment. And the desire to actually be a citizen and not a spectator, you endure respecting the law. As for okada riders including all motorists on the road, are they bound by any road regulations including stopping for pedestrians to cross when the traffic light is red? We all hate traffic and we like to travel as fast as possible to get to our various destinations. And one of the horrors of Accra is the unbearable traffic people are faced with in their daily routine lives. But is okada the right way to go? Okada is using motorbikes to transport both people and goods from one place to another for commercial purposes. And beca...

Dear Sir, Comparing the Ghana Institute of Journalism to the University of Ghana or University of Cape Coast in terms of resources is like comparing a member of parliament to his meagre farming constituents. It does not even come close. Not that you have done this comparison but I just want to draw your attention to that. Yes, we are a university of reputable stand not just in Ghana but across the whole of Africa as one of the best communications universities on the continent. And I am a proud student of the institute but frankly speaking, lots of things also bother me about the school. Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, first of all, congratulations on becoming the rector of GIJ not long ago, have a fruitful stay. Now, though I was not able to attend the recent student durbar organized on Saturday, November 10, 2018, on campus to listen to you because the very ear I would have used to listen to you was not working properly, I have every indication that you have the best interest o...

There is a saying that everyone dies but not everyone really lives. There is a country called Ghana wherein the process of governance, the equivalent happens. In Ghana, everyone talks because they hold views and there is freedom of speech but not everyone acts even though there is freedom for that as well. In every single interview or governance conversation that goes on in the media space in this country is one commonality and that is the fact that the leaders are not doing enough to propel the country to the zenith of development. But is it really the fault of our leaders or is it our collective fault? Now, yesterday I was in a conversation with Razak Musbau, the host of Morning Dew, the morning show of radio GIJ. As usual, I bombarded him with a lot of questions about governance and politics. The ideas he shared with me yesterday though there are a few variations are no different from any of the views I have heard and read in the media space. In my article titled Ghana’s Politic...

When Kwame Nkrumah became the first Prime Minister of Ghana in 1952, he didn’t pretend to want democracy though he had espoused same in his books. He observed that if he gave his colleagues the opportunity to form political parties based on ethnic and religious backgrounds, it would not augur well with the country. So he passed laws like The Preventive Detention Act, Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1957, etc to suppress people. Some of these laws gave Nkrumah and the CPP at the time the power to imprison people who publicly held dissenting views to his. An individual could be jailed for up to 10 years without any trial just for being outspoken. Kwame Nkrumah and his cohort may have gained independence for Ghana, but he also did his fair share of harm to the country because of his political agenda and persuasions. In its entirety, The Avoidance of Discrimination Act of 1957; especially section 3, (1) "An organization established substantially for the direct or indirect bene...

If a politician needs to buy you food for you to vote for him, it means he has succeeded at starving you to make your vote worth a meal. And if politicians make themselves the source of food of the ordinary citizens, they will always be attacked when the citizens feel hungry. What kind of country are we building for ourselves and posterity? Are we really committed to the democracy we so much do lip service to? How many times do party affiliates have to offend social normalcy before they are equally dealt with? A bandwagon of a vigilante group because they are affiliated to political parties can do whatever they want? And how many vigilante attacks have happened since the inception of Ghana's young democracy particularly under the watch of this NPP government? When will we finally deal with such a dangerous social canker that has the potential to clampdown our democracy? No vigilante group is bigger than this country nor are they above it’s laws. Neither Delta force, Azorka bo...

Once upon a time she traded in all kinds of vegetables ranging from tomatoes and garden eggs to pepper and several others. She also traded in snails and smoked fish. But now she sells only waakye. That’s my mother. One day during the period she traded in vegetables, she went to a market and survived an accident that killed hundreds of people. You see, I’m telling you this story because sometimes we despair when we don’t get to where we are going or don’t get what we are looking for in life. We become despondent and blame people forgetting that there is a divine hand that knows what’s good for us better than anyone else including ourselves. My mother, on whom the thin line between life and death confronted that fateful day tried to get into a shop that almost everybody was  running to hide in. Then just as she was about to enter the decrepit wooden box of a shop, she slipped and fell into a gutter that was in front of the shop. She fell so hard that she couldn’t get up from the ...

One of the things I like about you, President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo is how you pronounce the word ‘economy’. But it looks to me like your management skills of the Ghanaian economy isn't as sweet as you pronounce it. Nana, I am a student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism but I stay at Awoshie and go to school every day because the school doesn't provide accommodation for its students which in itself is a worry but I will talk to you about that later although I’m sure you’re already aware of that abhorring condition. Barely 4 months ago when the university academic year ended, I was paying a transportation fee of GH¢2.10 from Awoshie to circle but I felt it was quite okay. Fast forward to now when I have to pay GH¢2.50 before I can get to circle in a rickety old trotro vehicle which could easily get me tetanus. The worst thing about all of this is the deplorable roads that connect parts of the city like Awoshie and Circle. The roads are so bad that there are no p...

History doesn’t just happen. It’s the actions and inactions of certain individuals that are recorded as history. If Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had sat back and folded his arms and made excuses of how it was impossible for Ghana to achieve independence, he wouldn’t be remembered this much. Even if he would be remembered for something he may have done, history wouldn’t be this favourable to him. Unless there is a specific clause in Ghana’s 1992 constitution that prevents a one term former president from contesting for elections again, I don’t see why Former President John Dramani Mahama can’t have a comeback in the 2020 elections.  I must admit that unless Ghanaians have lost faith in President Akuffo Addo, how will John Mahama unseat him. Well, he probably believes that if it was possible for Nana Addo to unseat him as a sitting president, then the same thing can happen to Nana Addo. Well, everything has its ups and downs. If John Mahama is able to win power in 2020, he will go d...

Ouch!! Farewell to the former Energy Minister, Mr. Boakye Agyarko. Well, His Excellency Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo has booted him out of his government over reasons media rumors say includes the renegotiated AMERI deal. A communiqué from the presidency on August 6, 2018, indicated the President has relieved the former minister of his duties. But what I find interesting is that the communiqué doesn’t detail why he has been sacked. But for some time now, this renegotiated AMERI deal which parliament has put on ice has been one of the main issues in the media especially when it was said that the President was misled into signing the deal. Really? Misled? Did the President not have enough time to read through the deal or he didn’t even read it all? Let’s take it that he was misled into signing the deal, by whom? Could that be part of why the energy minister has been sacked? Former Energy Minister, Mr. Boakye Agyarko. We live in a country where high ranking members of governmen...

Little did I know that the saying that if you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book wasn’t just a cliché but a reality. How is it that anybody would append his signature to anything without first reading its content? Some things are just mind boggling. For some days now, a document has been going round in parliament asking minority members of parliament to append their signatures to garner support for Former President John Mahama to run for the NDC flagbearership again in the upcoming 2020 presidential elections. This document is said to have seen as many as 94 signatures out of the 106 minority MPs in support of John Mahama. This tells how much support the former president still has in the NDC party. But can we say the same among the larger Ghanaian population? Well, a question only time and research can answer.                       Parliament House of Ghana. Among the numerous MPs who signed this docum...

Just a few questions, please. So, in whose interest do politicians take decisions? When parliamentarians sit in the chamber of parliament to execute their mandates, do they have the ordinary man in mind? When the president is appending his signature to anything, in whose interest does he do it? The judiciary arm of government, in whose interest do they work? Do all of these people perform their functions at the expense of the ordinary Ghanaian or for his benefits? Do they perform their duties with the next election first or last on their agenda? Does the politician fight for the ordinary man to not be disenfranchised to ensure human rights and freedoms are ensured or just for their parochial interest of winning political power? Last but not least, in whose interest does the electorate queue come rain or shine to cast their ballots every four years? We live in a country where everything politics is just black and white. There is no middle ground.  Everything any government does is...

The month of July will forever remain in the minds of  Ghanaians. It has invariably left an indelible mark on our history. Ghana was thrown into a sudden turbulence on July 24, 2012, when for the first time we lost a sitting presiden t.  As usual, when the inevitability of death caught up with His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, it was shocking to everyone because even though we never see death coming, this was totally unexpected and very much a big blow to the country. The whole of Ghana mourned like we never had and never will again. As the custom of Ghana demands, we don’t speak ill of the dead and so all manner of people from all walks of life said all kinds of good and sober words about the former president.    The Late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills Per the demands of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, the then Vice President of the land was sworn in as president. After His Excellency John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as president, he chose the then governor...