Ghana Has Bright Future 

In Robotics Science –Dr Trebi-Ollennu

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu (right) in a chat with MK Abissath

An ancient adage says: “If sweet potato did not trace its roots, it would not have discovered that its best part is hidden in the ground.”

Ghana is such a blessed land that is endowed with unimaginable natural resources such as gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese, timber, arable lands, rivers, oil and gas etc. Ghana equally abounds in super-human resources that are taken for granted. Just take a look at people like the Former UN General Secretary, Busumburu Kofi Annan and Prof. Francis Allotey for example.

On Tuesday, October 8, 2013, this writer had an honour to briefly chat with another unassuming but extraordinary Ghanaian-born scientist who is employing his brain power to deploy the almighty America into space through robotics engineering.

For three consecutive years since 2011, Dr. Trebi-Ollennu who is a US-based NASA Senior Robotics Engineer through the instrumentality of the US Embassy in Ghana, rhas made it possible for thousands of Ghanaian children to participate in hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics  (STEM),  motivational experience in their lives.

Records show that in 2012 for instance, thanks to Dr. Trebi-Ollennu’s tutelage, some Ghanaian students were identified through a program dubbed Robotics Inspired Science Education (RISE2) competition. And for the first time in robotics history of Ghana, a team from our country participated in World Robotics Olympiad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I can bet my last one Ghana Cedi that if that program had been a beauty contest, those young Ghanaian scientists who took part the global scientific event would have been met at the airport on arrival with brass band music, kpalogo and agbadza with local and foreign media falling on one another to capture the actors’ noses.

In fact, if Dr. Trebi-Ollunnu himself has brought a trophy or a title-belt in any sporting event to Ghana, he would have been carried shoulder-high on an articulator trailer with azonto rhythm and melody to be paraded in the principal streets in the capital.

That triumphant entry into Jerusalem-fashion would have taken off right on the tarmac to the seat of Government where his medal would have been presented to the President of the Republic. Then he would have been recognized and decorated as a national hero. But because he a scientist nobody smells his scent when in Ghana.

Oh dwellers of beautiful Ghana, when shall our national consciousness be elevated to that degree of ecstasy where we may appreciate science, technology, engineering and mathematics as the only  discipline in the 21st century  that can  hasten our development journey into the economic kingdom! Look at countries like Singapore - natural resources they possess none; but science and technology – their cup of tea. What is their per capita income as compare to Ghana?

According to Dr. Trebi-Ollennu, science, technology, engineering and math are   the future for   human advancement. The need to introduce children to these subjects matter at tender age and encourage them to pursue careers in STEM, he recommends strongly.

“All over the world,” Dr. Trebi-Ollennu points out, “people are trying to get more kids to study STEM so we look at Europe, America and other South-Eastern Asian countries  and we realized that  the surest way to get students hooked into science, technology, engineering and math is by giving  them the chance to  experiencing science.”

Dr. Trebi-Ollennu has observed that in our parts of the world in terms of educational curriculum, practicals are usually relegated to the background. “So our objective is to try to connect science theory to practice. This we do by taking basic science as taught in a classroom theory and get them to implement those solutions that can  solve real world challenges,” the Senior NASA Robotics Engineer has disclosed.

Dr. Trebi-Ollennu advises that children must be told that they have hidden talents. That science is not for Einstein alone but everybody can do science. “This is one way to demystify science education.” According him, Ghanaian kids not only in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, but across the country including Bawku, Abor, Gomoa Brofoyedu and in the remotest hamlets anywhere there are endowed with science ingenuity.

Dr. Trebi-Ollennu disclosed that the strategy adopted to concretize the STEM concept into reality in the country is the establishment of an NGO known as Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF). That it is through the GRAF with the support of the US Embassy in Ghana and other stakeholders both individuals and organizations that thousands of students drawn from over 100 Senior High Schools have benefited from the Robotics Inspired Science Education program since 2011.

This year for instance, between the last week of September and the first week of October, RISE3 was organized for both senior and junior high school students throughout the country and the participation was overwhelming.

According to the first Ghanaian Robotics Engineering Wizard, the country was categorized into four zones where the northern zone was made up of Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions. In all 13 high school clubs participated in the RISE competition at Ghana Library Board in Tamale. Here Bawku Senior High School topped them all as champions.

The middle-belt was made up of Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions with 15 school clubs locking horns in the scientific intellectual duel. The two –day competition took place at the Opoku Ware SHS, Kumasi.

The South- Eastern zone comprised Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions. The competition was held at the Christ the King Hall in Accra with 13 schools contesting for glory, he said.

The Central zone was made up of the Central and Western regions. Here too, the competition took place at the Aggrey Memorial SHS for high school clubs as well. Dr. Trebi-Ollennu stated that winners of the competitions from various zones would represent Ghana at the 2013 World Robot Olympiad (WRO) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Dr. Trebi-Ollennu who is also the Founder of the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation disclosed that the GRAF had been applying what he termed as a “motivational effects of robotics” to draw kids in whatever they do to apply scientific theory .

The training is structured in such a way to develop science, engineering and technology skills, while building well-rounded leadership skills, self-confidence, emotional intelligence, communication and stewardship.

Because the vision of the GRAF is to transform the learning experience of young Ghanaians by connecting science to theory with practice and hands-on learning experience to draw students to pursue education and career opportunities in science and technology, two robotics kits and laptops  are provided to about 50 schools which were trained about three years ago. Students in these schools are give specific programs to perform and the end competitions are organized among such schools and prizes in the form of medals are awarded to winners.

One area of focus for the RISE3 program was the introduction of robotics engineering to Ghanaian kids where they can use robots to perform a kind of rescue operation in the mines. Ghana being a mining country where galamsey is the order of the day and the way stubborn galamsey operators have been dying in the belly of the earth by heart, it will be very, very progressive if future Ghanaian robotics engineers can use the technology to save lives in the extractive industry.

So far, a survey conducted among some beneficiaries of the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation programs indicates that, interest in career involving math, science and technology has increased as a result of RISE.

Other ordinary students from very deprived and inaccessible rural communities, whose parents have never seen the corners of a classroom in their lives but had been given the opportunity to participate in the Robotics Inspired Science Education programs, are enthusiastic of becoming scientist, or engineers, or technologists or mathematicians in the future.

Dr Trebi-Ollennu commended various stakeholders in the success story of the GRAF, especially the US mission in Accra “on whose shoulder the major sponsorship had fallen so far.” Other partners include board of directors of GRAF, the Ghanaian media, schools, teachers, volunteers and students who have been participating in the innovative RISE.

He expressed appreciation to Government officials from various ministries such as Education, Environment Science, Technology and Innovations for their moral support for the RISE programme thus far.

The Ghanaian-born Senior NASA Robotics Engineering Wizard is of the view that if Government could create the conducive environment for effective investment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education, Ghana will reach the economic kingdom in no time. According to him Ghana abounds in robotics engineering talents, some as young as seven to eight kids engaging in mind boggling programming,” Dr Trebi-Ollennu stressed.

The writer works with the Information Services Department in Accra.

(This interview was facilitated by Ms. Jeanne L. Clark Information Officer at the US Embassy, Accra)

Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu US-based Ghanaian-born Senior NASA Robotics Engineer and Founder of Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF) an Accra-based NGO  (right) in an interview with Mr. Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath Deputy Director at Information Services Department (ISD) Accra, October 8, 2013

   

 INTER-FAITH CONFERENCE 2013 ESSAY CONTEST

HOW CAN WE, BY CELEBRATING DIVERSITY, ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE PEACE?

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

HOLY SCRIPTURES

Traditional wisdom in African proverb reminds us: “When broom sticks come together not only do they sweep well, but they cannot also be broken by anybody.”  To wit:  In unity and diversity lies strength and progress.

The theme for this year’s Interfaith-Conference – “Celebrating Diversity for Peace,” should serve as a war cry for humanity at the threshold of the 21^st century.  And the essay topic for the occasion- “How can we, by celebrating diversity, achieve sustainable peace?” is even more profound.

The 64-million-Euro question is: “How can mankind achieve sustainable peace on this planet of diversity?”  Whose responsibility it is to initiate the sustainable peace movement?  Where should the sustainable peace start?  These queries began to kick out each other out of the womb of my thought as I reflected on the essay topic. Then the first hunch I received from my master- within was that the person or group of persons who proposed the essay topic might be enlightened souls themselves. Otherwise, such an inspirational drop of wisdom would not have geminated in their minds in the first place.   The organizers of the event merit felicitations.

To answer my own question, I dare say that peace is not a commercial article to pick up on supermarket shelves anywhere in the world.  Peace, in my view, is a sentiment that must be experienced and expressed.  It is like love. It is abstract but tangible. It cannot be seen but can be felt. It cannot be touched but can be hugged. Peace is sweet and loving. It is harmonious and infectious. It is peace that gives fragrance to the bouquet of flowers of diversity. Sustainable peace must originate from the individual’s heart. And it is only profound peace that can be sustainable.

To achieve sustainable peace, man must be at peace with himself (herself).  Man must be at peace with nature and his environment.  Man must be at peace with his neighbor.  And if we reflect on the biblical anecdote of the Good Samaritan, as advocated by the Master Jesus the Christ, we must ask ourselves: “Who is my neighbor?” All human beings living on this planet of self-interest   must see one another as their neighbors. So, therefore, if we build our concept of sustainable peace on this foundation of good “Samaritanian” spirit, the following must be considered to achieve sustainable peace in the 21^st century:

·         The seed of racial discrimination must not be planted in the consciousness of our new generations regardless of their geographical origins.

·         Conscious efforts must be made to eliminate all forms of discriminations, especially gender related ones where men see themselves as being superior to women.

·         Human pigments whether white or black, or yellow, must be seen as beauty in diversity rather than a barrier to fellow-feeling.

·         The suppression and oppression of the poor by the rich must be kicked out of human civilization.

·         The deliberate economic policy whereby the first world perpetually keeps the third world in socio-cultural bondage must be abolished like the slave trade of the 15th and 18^th centuries.

·         The manufacture of chemical weapons and other weapons  of mass destruction for whatever reason must be condemned by all peace loving people  no matter against whom  it was used or being used or  will be used  in the future.  Conversely, the benefit of science and technology must be distributed globally in the name of globalization.

·         Sustainable peace can be achieved when wasteful resources, especially food stuffs in one part of the world can be preserved and delivered to starving and dying neighbors living in other remote corners of the world as our neighbors.  

Undoubtedly, when fair play is observed in accordance with the rules of the game   at any local or  global arena in any  sporting events whatever,   at all times, sustainable peace will triumph. As we celebrate the 100 years of the Peace Palace here in The Hague, tribute must be paid to the pioneers who dreamed of such a reality as far back as in 1913. The flame of their vision must not be snuffed. Fair play must always be the watch word.  

Unfortunately, however, sometimes, some citizens somewhere in the world feel left   in the   sea of suspicion that the scale of the international peace and justice is not being balanced equitably.  A typical illustration is what happened recently when the African Union (AU) protested that two Kenyan leaders who were elected by their own people through peaceful and fair democratic elections ought to be given the chance to serve their term of office first. It seems to me that the AU has made some observations which must be subjected to further interrogation. Are there some equal or worse offenders somewhere who have not been given invitation cards for a tea party in the jail in The Hague?

As an ordinary African citizen who just arrived in Europe for studies, I am speaking from personal experience.  From an African perspective as far as sustainable peace is concerned, I can express my opinion as well.  The socio-political, economic and cultural behaviors of some African leaders leave much to be desired. Corruption has been a bane of development and sustainable peace in Africa.

The cases of former Presidents Mobutu Seseseko of Zair, now Democratic Republic of Congo and Sani Abacha of Nigeria are there for verification.  These were African leaders who were reported to have stuck away millions of dollars in some foreign banks in Europe and elsewhere while their   poor citizens died of hunger and starvation. But where lies the moral justification of those European countries that also accept corrupt and ill-gotten wealth into their secret banks?  Can sustainable peace be achieved in the atmosphere of mistrust and self-interest? 

 It is my contention that if we can all embrace and celebrate unity of diversity which is the beauty of creation, humanity will experience sustainable peace on earth as in heaven. 
 Essay written and presented by MK Abissath MA Student  for the first Inter-Faith Assay Contest held on 16 November 2023, ISS, the Hague, the Netherlands (Did not win the only prize at stake)

   (03/11/13)

AES ANGEL OF JOY 

By MAWUTODZI K ABISSATH

THE ANGEL OF JOY

An African proverb postulates: “If Sunday will be sparkling, Saturday will send the signals.”

Monday, 28 October 2013 could be jotted down as a magnificent united Monday in the lives of AES students for 2013-2014 academic years. For it was a day that did not only bring them together as academic members of one family but also leading them to discover the angel of joy in the Netherlands.

And Like the three wise men of the biblical tale who journeyed from the East, under the guide of  a star to discover the infant Jesus in a manger, so too, about 30 wise AES students of   ISS, under the direction of Prof. Jun Borras,  travelled to a Rotterdam farm to unveil  their angel of joy.

Little daughter Koos, suddenly became the centre of attraction.  As ever happy as a child, little Koos first extricated her self from the warm arms of her father unto the ground. Then she started meandering her way in between the forest of legs of visiting students . Initially, her antics distracted the academician’s  attention from  listening  to her father. Then she started hugging the visitors’ thighs at the level of her height.  Eventually her excitement, joviality and innocent happiness brought joy to every heart and soul  on the field trip.

The field trip itself could be described in one word – fantastic! Professor  Jun Borras, Convener of the Agrarian and Environmental Studies (AES) Major in MA in Development Studies 2013-14, could not have chosen a better occasion for such  study tour. For those of us who not have the opportunity to participate in the initial opening ceremony at the beginning of the academic year the trip was an eye opener.  Prof Jun become the star that led the 30  wise folks to discover the angel of joy.

Miss Nalini Harnam, Programme Administrator for AES, who saw to the organization and actualization  of  the field trip deserves commendation.  But the person who stole the show was Professor  emeritus  Ben White who taught at ISS for 32 dedicated  years. He retired only two years ago but  still plays remarkable roles  in the academic  lives of  AES students from MA to Post-doctorate levels. He was my man of the match . It  was in the sanctum of his kitchen that the party was held. But there was no music!

Was Ben a gastronomic specialist? It was amazing how he could put together such a variety of sumptuous meals including mouth-watering vegetarian cuisine .  Sparkling red and white wines from France to South-Africa were  flowing like the canals of the farm. Those who proclaimed themselves to be connoisseurs of the game could not exhaust the stock.  Like Christ fed the multitude on the mountain, Prof Jun had to collect the left-overs going round pleading with everybody  to accept and swallow the last egg before  we  departed.  It was a heart-warming experience. It was fun galore!

All said and done, the day had been  useful and fruitful. The objective of the trip was fulfilled, in my view. The host, Mr. Koos van Derlann  conducted the inspection tour and narrated how  he  had  had to inherit  the farm from his demised  father at the age of 17. Fowls, sheep, smart dogs  and fat cats were all inspected. The amazing  huge  fatty  cows that produce the fresh milk for public  consumption  were a sight to behold. The over 60 milky cows feed on over 70 tones   of green grass and   produce over  250 -350 grams of milk annually.

 What distinguishes Mr. Koos van Derlann and his industrious wife Monique’s farm from others is that they engage in organic farming. All their products are natural and healthy for human consumption. My only regret is that there is no English version among the voluminous literature available on the history and evolution of the farm. For the benefit of international students of ISS translation of a summary of Dutch literature into English will do a magic for maximum  appreciation of the wonderful job  the farm is doing to feed the  world.

Story  and Photographs by Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

2013-14 MA Student at ISS/Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Hauge, The Netherlands

 

2013-14 AES MA Students A

2013-14 AES MA Students B

 2

POETIC TRIBUTE IN POETIC MEMORY OF THE ACADEMIC POETPROFESSOR KOFI AWOONOR FOR THE ATTENTION OF ANCESTOR POETS OF OURS IN THE POETIC KINGDOM OF AFRICAN WISDOM

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath 

PROF. KOFI AWOONOR

MY TRANSITION

Oh, mourn not

Over my sleeping corpse,

For my humble soul

Is free for a higher course.

As the pain of living

Is faithfully relieved

By the joy of dying,

My blissful transition

Is but a sublime reincarnation

Through a wonderful initiation.

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!

For dead though i seem,

So alive still I am

Oh, mourn not

Over my sleeping corpse,

For my humbly soul

Is free for a higher course

MKA

THE SOUL

From Divinity

To humanity,

Like a ghost from the sea

In million manifold shapes

On its journey to manifest,

Wanders in the atmosphere

Only to convert into clouds

That darkens the bright horizon.

Then, into the sea it returns

In an incarnated form of a rain

To bring life to dying creatures

Crying on the deserted plain!

Yes, that downpour you see,

Is the fruit of an invisible vapour

That ascends into the heavens

When the sun’s rays,

Like the Holy Ghost

Descend on the ocean waves-

A divine process indeed!

It manifests itself in a wondrous

Fashion from eternity to eternity!

MKA

YOU WILL OBLIGE

An ancient woman I know,

How old she is – I don’t know,

Neither beautiful nor ugly she is;

But when she knocks at your door,

You will definitely oblige.

Nobody’s friend ever she is

But million’s foe she always is

When she knocks at your door,

You will oblige!

Whether wise or fool

When she knocks at your door,

You will oblige.

From animality to humanity,

When she knocks at your door,

You will oblige!

Beloved ancient woman,

Your action is inevitable,

But hardly acceptable

To the human kind,

Can you have some mercy

On humanity?

MKA

THE MAN POET

The unmade poet

Is a born lunatic.

Like the Atlantic,

A flood of ideas

Undulate in his mind

And burst on his tongue

Like the waves of the shore

At the explosion of his thoughts

In the city avenues even!

Ordinary eyes

Judge him abnormal,

But wise ears heed his counsel.

Little brains

Grope with his words,

But evolved souls

Grasp his thoughts;

A scientific madman indeed!

He uses the philosophers’ lab

For his lunatic researches

He rushes to the mystics’ asylum

For his dramatic experiments

And only few taste

His poetic philosophy!

Worthy brethren, brethren!

Cross the Man Poet you may,

“What a lunatic being,” you‘ll say,

Right or wrong you may be –

Why not seek ye the key

That reveals the poetic will?

MKA

SELECTED POEMS

 DEDICATED TO

PROFESSOR KOFI AWOONOR,

A FEARLESS INTELLECTUAL WARRIOR

WHO OBTAINED HIS HIGHEST INITIATION

IN THE HANDS OF SOME WAYWARD SOULS

OF PEACEFUL ISLAM IN GLOBAL TERRORISM

ON HIS MISSION OF LITERARY ILLUMINATION  

ON 21 SEPT., 2013 IN NAIROBI, KENYA -

POSTERITY WILL BE HIS JUDGE!

Contact: abissath@gmail.com

Video Documentary Review

Reviewer:                       Mawutodzi   Abissath

Title:                                 Galamsey – The Real Price We Pay

Duration:                       30 Minutes

 Producer:                      Emmanuel Yuori

Some Foreign Galamsey Operators Destroying
Rivers in Ghana 

Do you remember the reaction of Apostle Thomas when he was told by his colleagues that the Master Jesus   appeared to them in a room without opening the door after resurrection? Most people who do not live in Ghana will behave like Thomas when they watch this video documentary about environmental criminality of   GALAMSEY.

Warning

GALAMSEY – The Price We Pay opens with a warning in accordance with cinematographic classification regulations thus:  “This documentary contains scenes that viewers may find DISTURBING. Viewer discretion is advised.”  This is professionalism in film production.

Garden of Eden

The documentary is structured in three main chapters chronologically:

Chapter one creatively and curiously takes the viewer through memory lanes of creation about five million years before Jesus was born. The screen play writer succeeded in projecting Ghana as the biblical Garden of Eden. But it was the narrator in the documentary who uses his deep-throat voice to transport the viewer into the Paradise itself.

 It was nostalgic to see and feel the originality of the   virgin rain forests of magnificent green vegetation.  And as demonstrated in the documentary, Ghana used to possess forests like the Garden of Eden where Adam and Even were located by the Creator. Aerial   view of the thick forest canopies was delightful to behold!

In those thick forests of natural beauty, timber trees of unimaginable proportion were in abundance.  Magnificent tributaries of rivers and stream crisscross one another culminating into one huge water body like the Volta River. Others like the Pra, Ankobra, Birim and Offinso rivers open their arms to other smaller rivers and carry them in unison into the mighty Atlantic Ocean. In fact, one can see all sorts of aquatic mammals like hippopotamus, charming and golden fishes some of which find their way into the cooking pots of our great –grand mothers. How beautiful is nature!

Among other dwellers of the fresh rivers was this   crocodile that could acrobatically catch a chicken thrown to it to the envy of a Black Stars goalkeeper like Robert Mensa of yesteryears. The documentary also shows how these rain forests play host to other wildlife species like the innocent antelopes and ever mischievous monkeys that snatch bananas and stuff them in their greedy jawbones.

Again, other agricultural biodiversity benefits of the forests which the documentary portrays are the cultivation of cash crops such as cocoa and oil palm plantations. One can see large tracks of these plantations with green and golden cocoa pods as well as millions of ripe orange fruits which are succulent to the eye in close shorts. In terms of food crops, the documentary projects particular bunch of plantain fingers that are as huge as baby tights. What a Ghana of heaven on earth!

 Galamsey Genocide

 Chapter two of the documentary focuses on the core issue at stake and   shows a sorry state of Ghana environmentally.  It is like the biblical hell of eternal fires. The scenes here are in shocking disparity of what the viewer saw in the first chapter.  

Again, the script writer employs rare artistic mastery in creative writing to evoke the emotions of the viewer where tears may be the result from the faint-hearted. And if this reviewer were granted the privilege to modify the title of the documentary, it would be something to this effect:  “Galamsey Genocide – The Environmental Criminality in Ghana.”

Reader, the documentary was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that galamsey operators in Ghana have committed an environmental genocide not only against humanity but against nature and the Creator Himself for which they ought to face the International Criminal Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The biodiversity elements depicted in the first chapter ranging from the virgin forests with their dwellers from the tiniest ant to the largest mammal all vanished into tin air. The beautiful flowing fresh rivers water bodies created by God and preserved for millions of years for the benefit of present and future generations of Ghanaians   are completely extermited.

 This is the result of the diabolical handiwork of a few “greedy bastards” and selfish environmental criminals referred to as galamsey operators in Ghana. As was explained in the documentary by the Hon. Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, “Galamsey” is a corrupt English term for “gather them and sell.”  So because a few local selfish nation-wreckers and their evil-minded foreign cohorts want to gather gold dusts and sell humanity and biodiversity must be wiped out of the face of the earth?

Loss of Precious Souls

The documentary goes further to prove that apart from the devastating environment detrimental to sustainable development, precious human lives are being lost on regular basis through the devilish activities of these galamsey murderers in Ghana. One typical example depicted in the video was 16 precious souls that were lost in April 2013 at Offinso in the Ashanti Region.

It was known that people have been dying in galamsey pits in various parts of the country on daily basis. But that particular incident was a national tragedy.  The documentary captures very horrifying and most despicable scenes when the 16 lifeless bodies were laid in state ready for mass burials. And if you see how bereaved families including chiefs, queen-mothers , poor old women and men, orphan children who were deprived of their  loved ones and breadwinners were grieving in agony; the uncontrollable  sorrowful  wailing and weeping  were so  heart-wrecking that even if you’ve eaten a tortoise’s head , as the Ewes say, you would shed crocodile tears!

The documentary shows a footage of the funeral rite for that particular tragedy where Government officials including the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources was among the chief mourners. It was pathetic to say the least.

Galamsey operations might have be going on in this country for generations but the documentary demonstrates that when some foreigners introduced the use of modern excavation equipment that go right in the middle of rivers and dig deep down the belly of these rivers and water bodies completely poisoned and polluted thereby depriving communities the very sources of their drinking water and food production, Government could no longer afford to stand and stare any longer.

  That was the last straw that broke the back of the Carmel.  President John Dramani Mahama had to stand up and be countered. And his fearless decision to set up the Inter-ministerial Taskforce against illegal mining came into being. The success story of that committee is there in the documentary for the viewer to see.

The concluding chapter of the documentary deals with the solution and the way forward to the Galamsey problem in Ghana.

The purpose of this review is to render my only God-given national service by alerting my fellow compatriots about the existence of such a documentary in our midst. It is hoped that those who will watch GALAMSEY – THE PRICE WE PAY will give some credit to St. Thomas but not wait for Jesus to come and show him his wounds before believing. Galamsey is real in Ghana.

The author is Deputy Director and works with Information Services Dept. of the Ministry of Information and Media Relations in Accra, Ghana

Contact: abissath@gmail.com.