Open Letter to Obinim and the Church

Thinking aloud... 

If you decide to belong to a church that will humiliate you a guy for impregnating a lady out of wedlock or you a pregnant lady, then that is purely up to you. Apart from that confused angel, I haven't heard of any church that will dare assault a lady and a guy for engaging in sexually intercourse and ending up with pregnancy.  Because away from the religious self-righteous nonsense, assault is a criminal offence which is against not only the individual but the state, and anyone who allows him or herself to be assaulted in the name of some god is just a plain idiot.

After visiting some churches and seeing how some of its members have been possessed by the spirit of ‘holier than thou’, I'm left to believe that most Christians in our part of the world are ignorant, selfish and judgmental. Yet the Holy Book says ‘Judge not, and you shall not be judged’. Jesus the Christ accepted everyone without pointing out their sins -including the prostitute Mary Magdalene-.

In Christianity which means Christ-like or behaving like Christ, there is a popular account where a woman (Mary Magdalene) was brought to Jesus the Christ for being a prostitute or a ‘loose woman’. Expecting Christ to condemn the woman, the crowd were shocked with the Messiah asked each of them without sin to cast the first stone. This Mary later became a disciple of Christ.

Why can’t we Christians who claim to be emulating the Christ behave in that regard?

To the Churches, will you prefer that youth will pretend to be without sin as they engage in abortions- which is murder, one which is the greatest sins among most religions- and all manner of sinful behaviour or they come in their sinful nature just like Saul and Mary Magdalene did,  and should they get pregnant and you counsel them, accept them just as Jesus the Christ accepted you even in your sin and filth?

On The Obinim Famous Lashing Video

Some have argued that he was disciplining the two individuals for engaging in sexual activity which resulted in pregnancy. If he had done that in his house without publishing it and none of the affected parties felt the need to report it fine. But once it was published (through social media and other platforms) it goes beyond the 2 to become a criminal offence which is against the state as well.

Again other say as the guardian of the 2, the fake angel has the right to discipline them any how or anywhere he likes. I think that is total nonsense. Do you remember the story of the grandparents who decide to discipline their grandkid giving him pressing iron burns? They are prosecuted and jailed for the act. That was the best way they felt they could discipline the kid but was that right in the sight of the law? No!!!

As a man of god, common sense should have told him not to subject a pregnant lady to that form of punishment. I'm no medical practitioner yet I know that he could have caused the lady to lose the pregnancy as a result. I reckon that he and his god will prefer that the innocent baby who was given by God will die because it was conceived out of wedlock. It's a shame!!!

As I get off this dusty road of nonsense and madness in the name of Christianity, I can proudly say -like Jesus the Christ said- that those who assault, scorn or mock individuals who bare a child or children out of wedlock should cast the first stone if they are without sin or they should pick the log out of their eyes before they point to the speck in the eyes of other. 

I'm done

Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

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‘Are You The One’ A Mystery or Reality?

There has been a massive concern about a picture and video making rounds on social media about something called ‘Are You the One’.


For the past few days, a bold picture of a faceless personality in a hood has been flooding various timelines on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram among other social media platforms. On the other side, there was a video of this same hooded personality with a voice that says “are you the one? Coming soon”


Others have also spotted this strange hooded personality in our newspapers with the same inscription as well. The element of surprise attached to this whole thing has got several people around the country asking it is.


As to whether this ‘Are you the one’ craze has to do with a campaign, promotion, event or a movie or series, still remains a mystery.


Meanwhile no organization or face has been attached to this and makes it very difficult to know about. 

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Meet the Ghanaian Reps at this Year’s Project Fame West Africa

Gabriel aka Gabby

GABRIEL ANKRAH is representing Ghana at the 9th of the Project Fame West Africa. Gabriel is fondly called Gabby by his friends. The 27-year-old school teacher who is from Accra loves God, music, and children. Being an only child, Gabriel is very close to his Dad whom he said taught him almost everything, cooking, especially.

Also, because he is an only child, Gabriel hopes to have six children, so he can make up for the large family experience he didn’t have.

Gabby continues to hone his singing skills by listening closely to artistes like Kesse, James Arthur, Frank Ocean, and Brymo. He plays the piano and drums.

Eli

ELI LETSA is the other contestant representing Ghana at the Project Fame West Africa reality show .22year old Eli is currently studying Fashion Designing in Ghana. He grew up in a house where they enjoy listening to music. He holds his family and pastor dearly and would miss them greatly while in the Academy.

He enjoys listening to Timi Dakolo and Tuface while playing his favourite sport-basketball. Apart from singing, Eli also enjoys playing the guitar, Single and ready to mingle, Eli however sees the Academy as serious business and not a place to mingle.

Catch the live telecast of the show every Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm prompt  exclusively on e.TV Ghana and follow happenings in the academy house every Monday -Friday at  5:30pm.

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Kofi Kinaata Rocks Kaneshie Market at Vodafone 1, 2 free event

Kofi Kinaata rocking the crowd 

Ghanaian Rapper, Kofi Kinaata, has thrilled hundreds of traders and music lovers at the Kaneshie Market in Accra to wonderful tunes during the outdooring of Vodafone 1,2 free.

Kofi Kinaata, who is noted for his great stagecraft, took the stage to treat numerous fans to good music including some of his hit songs like ‘Susuka’, and ‘Oh Azaay’. He got the crowd going “gaga” as he performed more than 30 minutes.

The ‘Fante Rap god’  sang both his old sand current hits with his ‘Sweety Pie and Action Time’ getting patrons patrons of the event on their feet to make some dancing moves.

Speaking to the enthusiastic crowd, Marketing Director of Vodafone Ghana, Agnes Emefa Essah, said, “We are excited that once again we are able to deliver something unique to our customers”.

She added: “Customers, are not outsiders to our business. They are in fact our targets and we will go to every length to make sure that our customers are satisfied with our services”.

“Vodafone 1 – 2 – Free” gives prepaid customers free 60 minutes to call Vodafone numbers or 5 free minutes to call other networks, after every second call.

This means that prepaid Vodafone customers who subscribe to this offer can enjoy every third call for free regardless of the number of minutes spent on the first two calls.

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CSR Practice in Ghana; The Need For Policy Framework

The overall contributions of businesses to sustainable development underpin the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (UNES 2007). 

It is termed differently in several circles. While companies prefer using the term CSR or Corporate citizenship, non-governmental organizations and some governments prefer social investment. 

Some, in recent times, prefer sustainable development in order to demonstrate their consciousness and commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Whatever the term used, be it corporate citizenship, philanthropy, corporate responsibility, social investment or triple bottom line, generally it connotes the contribution of businesses to development in a country.

Currently, CSR has become a popular acronym in the Ghanaian media and means many things to many companies. It is often used by companies at the slightest show of philanthropy to society no matter the worth of what they give out. 

And with the UN’s declaration of the Sustainable Development Goals it has become even more imperative that companies prove their commitment. Regardless, companies cannot be blamed for the exploitation of the term if they have committed resources in any quantum to address societal issues. 

Where there are no clear guidelines and structured framework for CSR practice in a country, the misuse of the term is inevitable and that could expose the all-important role of public policy in shaping CSR practice in Ghana.

  

The challenge with CSR practice in Ghana is lack of strong commitment to integrate CSR practice in to public policy as recognized by Kweku Rockson, senior lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism in a lecture delivered at the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Ghana. He argues that this has led to some organizations virtually isolating some aspects of CSR. 

No wonder in Ghana CSR can be seen to be more social than environmental and more outward (projects in society) than inward (working environment and human right issues). A practice not guided by policy or clear-cut national framework or benchmarks portrays a chaotic scene where companies build with no clear guidelines or with self-made social architectural designs. 

Most often this leads to the duplication of social projects in particular sectors (education and health) to the neglect of other sectors (water and agriculture) that equally need attention.

Though there are considerations and efforts to integrating CSR practice in public policy such as the setting up of the CSR policy committee in 2013, government has shown little commitment to this cause.  

Perhaps government is oblivious of the great potential of the Ghanaian private sector in contributing to social and environmental development as compared to external and donor assistance. The allocation of resources annually for social projects demonstrates the private sector’s eagerness and enthusiasm to address social issues in Ghana. 

Companies such as Vodafone, Guinness Ghana and Tullow to mention but are few, continue to demonstrate their commitment to addressing social issues. Regardless of the amount of financial contribution, are these being harnessed and aligned to a national plan for the actualization of the SDG goals?  

How is the private sector being roped in to contribute to development in Ghana? Actualising development in a sustainable and equitable manner reinforces the importance of public policy in CSR. 

A policy framework which will outline clear targets and enforce minimum standards, guarantee transparency and accountability of business, ensure innovative and adaptable core standards and provide guidelines for reporting as identified by Rockson will provide the enabling environment for effective practice of CSR in Ghana.

Government is the primary development agent in the country and has the responsibility to create the needed environment as well as employing measures to advance sustainable development in the country. Adopting a policy framework, which states a clear development vision on the part of government with objectives and timelines will maximize the potential of the private sector in contributing to the SDGs in Ghana.

By: Princess Sekyere

Founding Director

Kingdom Concepts Consult (KCC)

princess.sekyere@gmail.com

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