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Showing posts with the label Opinion

Open letter to Education Minister

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - February 23, 2022

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Education Minister Minister, as much as I think your heart is in the right place and you care about Ghana, I usually listen to you in dismay. The policies that may have worked in America will not necessarily work in Ghana. The terrain is very different and not everything in the US is wonderful. We need to fashion out policies that would work for Ghana by looking at best practices. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides reliable and timely trend data on the mathematics and science achievement of U.S. and in 2019 these were the striking Statistics showing the poor STEM Performance in U.S. schools. About 75 per cent of U.S. students fail to become proficient in math by grade 8. More than 75 per cent of U.S. students are behind in math by grade 12. Only 10 per cent of U.S. 8th graders reach the advanced science level on the international TIMSS exam. By contrast, 25 per cent of 8th graders in China and 32 per cent of 8th graders in Si...

Concerned or misinformed doctors: My response to the unscientific petition by my colleagues to the president of Ghana

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - January 16, 2022

I have resisted the urge to react to the lackluster petition put forward by the 11 “concerned” doctors to the president of Ghana asking the first gentleman of the land to stop the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. However, as a doctor and public health researcher, I am perturbed by the damaging effect and the likely consequences of the misrepresentation and the selective use of data by these “concerned” doctors. Their write-up is full of inaccurate data reporting. Most of their sources do not pass the litmus test of full scientific rigor. The issue of COVID-19 and vaccinations are easily tied to people's doctrines and moralistic views. Psychologists define "motivated reasoning" as the potential for people to accept evidence that aligns with their existing beliefs. Even renowned scientists are not immune from falling into the pitfalls of faith vs. science. This apparent conflict is demonstrated in the write-up by my colleagues. However...

Tamale DVLA extorting money from motorbike owners

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - November 26, 2021

Mr Abdulai Mutawakil, Northern Region Manager of DVLA The Northern Regional Office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has been allegedly being extorting GH¢ 71.36 from motorbike owners who willingly go to their office to register their motorbikes in the Tamale Metropolis. Motorbikes, impounded by the DVLA, in collaboration with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service and the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), their owners are also allegedly being extorted GH¢ 101.36. This extortion, if really true, is a mockery of the exposé done by Tiger Eye on the corruption at the DVLA. This blog know, the exposé hasn’t been a deterrent, because most of the officers caught in the exposé, were only transferred and that may have embolden them to perpetuate more corruption. The Northern Regional Manager of the DVLA, Mr. Mutawakilu Abdulai, has been holding interviews with media in Tamale metropolis and beyond on his efforts to enforce ...

Dela Coffie's thought on the grim reality of NDC agenda 2024

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - October 25, 2021

It’s quite tricky to capture the correlations of the 2019 NDC presidential primaries, and the forthcoming race ahead of election 2024. But here’s two school of thought within the NDC over the direction of the party and who will face either Dr Bawumia or Alan Kyeremanten in 2024; The first school of thought says, Mahama ought to be given the opportunity to go for his second term unopposed. This group believes that he has what it takes to win power for the party in 2024. On the other hand, others believes giving Mahama another shot at the nomination means automatic relegation of the NDC to the political abyss for a very long time to come. This group is of the view that Mahama can't win against any NPP candidate and that his nomination by the NDC will signal perpetual opposition for the party. That brings me to the other grim reality of NDC 2024 politics, Mahama is certainly going to run on the legacy of the four years he served as President while a fresh face is g...

Is President Mahama not undermining democracy?

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 26, 2021

Forget Do or Die! The issues are much bigger than that. Why has ex-President Mahama turned his supposed Thank You Tour into a subversive mission of the democracy we have built since 1992? Pay attention to what he has been saying on the tour: “The elections were clearly rigged.” “There was overstuffing of ballot papers in several constituencies.” “Soldiers were deployed purposely to kill people and suppress the will to vote”. These are but a few of the things President Mahama has been saying on his tour.Do or Die caught the attention of everyone because it sounded macabre. However, pay attention to the fine print and you will discover a sinister ploy to reduce the confidence of the people in the democracy we are running. John Mahama certainly has the right to hold his views no matter how jaundiced they may be. However, when he systematically maligns the institutions of state that anchor our democracy, then he has his knives out to fatally wound that system of governance...

Why Kwame Nkrumah’s face was embossed on Guinean currency

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 21, 2021

Did you know Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was once embossed on the currency of Guinea? Dr Kwame Nkrumah who fought for the independence of Ghana was a very close friend of Guinea President, Seim Toure to the extent that when he was overthrown in 1966, he went into exile in Guinea. Nkrumah was received by Toure who made him honorary co-president of the country. The Ghanaian liberator fought hard for countries to win their independence and his good friend, Seim Toure, chose to honour him even after hi death. Toure had the Bank of the Republic of Guinea emboss Dr Nkrumah's iconic picture on th country's five sylis. The syli was the currency of Guinea between 1971 and 1985. The word syli means 'elephant. Nkrumah's face was placed not only on the five sylis banknotes but also on the five sylis coin. Nkrumah never returned to Ghana until his death while in exile in Guinea. He was first buried in Conakry-Guinea in May 1972 but former president Jerry John Raw...

Our Ding-Dong Education System - Is the new strategic plan the Messiah?

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 19, 2021

The dream of Rapheal Kuunianaa was to be one of the medical doctors in his village in the Upper West Region. This was after he was attended to by a medical doctor at the Nandom Hospital when he accidentally forced a bambara bean into his nose and had to be taken to the hospital. He admired the professionalism with which the doctor attended to him and how he was able to save his (Raphael’s) life. However, Raphael, who was one of the third batch students of the then junior secondary school (JSS), had to abandon his dream, following the sudden demise of his father while he was still in JSS Two. When he wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), he came out with flying colours, but could not proceed to the then senior secondary school (SSS) because his mother, who had to fend for him and his six other siblings, could simply not get money to help him pursue his dreams. Today, that potential doctor is a caretaker of a palm wine tapper’s swine in the Western North Region. For t...

The historical claims and the politics of misinformation about Konkombas in Ghana

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 18, 2021

THE HISTORICAL CLAIMS AND THE POLITICS OF MISINFORMATION ABOUT KONKOMBAS IN GHANA. The relationship between chieftaincy, land ownership and the issues of inter-ethnic exclusion present another labyrinth of causes and events that have underscored all the ethnic wars in northern Ghana especially among my tribe (konkombas) and others. Traditionally, ethnic claims to land in northern Ghana is established through three main sources: 1. Prior settlement – All the ethnic groups in northern Ghana base their claim of origin, indigeneity and ownership of land on the principle of prior settlement. Under this procedure, any group that is first to move into an unclaimed space assumed the right of ownership of said land. 2. Conquest: - in many cases, the right to land was also acquired through military conquest. In this case, a military superior group of latecomers might fight and conquer the prior settlers and thereby annex the right of ownership of such lands. In such cases conquest seem to...

TM1 laptop; Features and first impressions

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 12, 2021

The Teachers Mate 1 (TM1) laptop is a customized laptop made by KA Technologies (KAT) for teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning. In this article, I will provide the features as well as an unbiased first impression of the most talkedabout laptop among teachers in Ghana. Before we delve into the features, here is a brief information about KA Technologies; The company that made the laptop. About KA Technologies KA Technologies (KAT) is an indigenous private limited liability company, duly registered in Ghana under the Companies Act, 2019 (ACT 992), engaged in Manufacturing, Training, Connectivity and Technology Solutions for identifiable societal segments such as education, healthcare and agriculture, among others. The company focuses on delivering unique value to institutions and individual users through an integrated and optimized blend of hardware and software. Features and first impressions of TM1 laptop The quality of every laptop is determined based on key facto...

"Mahama's 'Do or Die': A funny tale of how his followers who couldn't understand unambiguous vigilance are expected to understand an idiom"

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 11, 2021

"Mahama's 'Do or Die': A funny tale of how his followers who couldn't understand unambiguous vigilance are expected to understand an idiom" On a normal day, John Mahama's Do or Die comment would have been viewed as the desperate effusions by a politician to attempt saving his name from going down in history as the only President in the 4th republic who could not win re-election. This would have been the only plausible explanation coming from someone who has been a Member of Parliament (MP), deputy Minister, Minister, Vice President and a President who was rejected at the polls because of his unmitigated disastrous economic record (courtesy President Akufo-Addo). However, the posture of Mahama and the NDC prior to and after the 2020 general elections coupled with his recent 'transical' outbursts since he started his so-called 'Thank you tour' betrays his afterthought explanation of Do or Die as vigilance. For indeed, the key word abused b...

TM1 Laptop shouldn't cost more than GH¢ 500

By Abdul-Latif Ahmed - September 09, 2021

THE TRUE COST OF TEACHER'S LAPTOP EXPLAINED-A CONCERNED TEACHER/BUSINESSMAN EXPLAINS The cost/price of the acclaimed ONE TEACHER, ONE LAPTOP machines (TM1) MUST not exceed GHC500.00 for the reasons below; 1. The laptop has no place in the global market chain owing to its brand not known by any local/global laptop analyst/technician. 2. When I requested a price quote from Lenovo regarding the laptop in your shot (left), lenovo quoted $180 = GHC1,080 each with 20% discount and free shipping if I order for more than 1000 pieces. That brings the price to GHC865 per laptop. 3. With the HP, the company gave me a quote of $190 = GHC1,140 each with 28% discount and free shipping if I order for more than 2000 pieces. I was even advised to buy in November to enjoy extra 10% coupon discount making the total discount to 38%. That brings price to GHC706.8 assuming I decide to buy in November. NOTE: The two laptops Lenovo and HP (Left and Middle) are durable high-grade laptops with availa...