Budget for rejected (GN)
December 16, 2008
By Doreen Allotey
The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is expecting GH¢160,000 from the Ministry of Finance to enable it to carry out more public education to reduce rejected ballots in the December 28 elections.
The amount would be a supplementary budget to GH¢ 622,000 spent by the NCCE for its activities from January to December 7, this year.
For the year’s activities, the NCCE had made a proposal for GH¢830,000 from the Ministry of Finance but it received GH¢622,000 out of the amount.
Figures for the 2004 elections were not readily available.
Mrs Augustina AKosua Akumanyi, Deputy Chairperson of the NCCE, told the Daily Graphic in an interview today that the NCCE made the request for the supplementary budget from the ministry following a request for assistance from the Electoral Commission to assist it to educate the public on rejected ballots.
She said that the NCCE had limited time for the education but would quickly contact its regional offices to link up with presiding officers and political party agents to find out the exact reasons for the phenomenon and the areas where they occurred most.
“ When we get this information, we would mount vigorous education campaigns through the media with messages designed to address the problem and we would use a lot of audio -visuals ”, she said.
Mrs Akumanyi said however that the NCCE would have to know from the EC the definite steps to be adopted for the voting this time round in order to make its education programme successful.
“ We would have to know whether we will be dipping fingers into ink before the voting or after for instance” she added.
On some of the challenges she observed in the December 7 elections, Mrs Akumanyi said it related to the availability of the voter transfer lists at the various polling stations.
She said that the EC had assured this time round that the lists would be made available at the various polling stations.
She hoped that the EC would also provide lanterns at the various polling stations to facilitate the counting of votes saying that at some places , they had to resort to the head lamps of vehicles to see.
Mrs Akumanyi appealed to Government officials not to interfere with work at the polling stations adding that they are not part of the administration of elections.
In the December 7 elections, there were 205,438 rejected ballots out of the 8,671,272 votes cast . This represented 2.4 per cent of the total votes cast. There were 12,472,758 registered voters.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Give unto caesar what is Caesar's
By Doreen Allotey
Many people were getting ready to celebrate Christmas in grand style. They wanted to add victory at the polls to Christmas (call it two-in-one) and celebrate big time. This was not to be.
By the command of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner, we have to go to the polls again on December 28, 2008. And that will be after Christmas. The inability of any of the presidential candidates to get more than 50 per cent of the votes cast is what has caused all this.
What was good about it, any way, was the silence that ensued. Even though some party supporters had, on the day before the announcement of the results, went into hasty and premature celebration, claiming victory for their parties, Dr Afari-Gyan’s announcement went like: “Let there be silence”, and there was silence.
Bars that had been stocked to the brim in readiness for the victory celebrations became quiet and drivers who were getting ready to blow their horns as they drove through the streets found something else to do, not necessarily better, though.
God did not give us the one-touch result that we had hoped for. He is the only one who knows why. But I guess it was to give us the chance to think again and settle on what we really want as a people. At a cost to us, anyway. We have to spend more money on the run-off. But this is something we are prepared for. From the day we decided to toe the line of democracy, we indirectly signed a silent pact to go along with all that multi-party democracy entails.
The December 7 stalemate is quite significant. It showed that the Ghanaian voter had become sophisticated, complex and therefore not so predictable. It also confirmed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) remain the two dominant political parties in the country. The rest still have a lot of work to do to make an impact. Their presence, however, spiced the menu and gave the electorate more choices and that was all. Another lesson is that incumbency is not a panacea for success at elections and that political parties will have to do more serious work to win elections. It also tells our leaders that they must constantly and continuously identify with us and listen to us ! Our next Parliament promises to be interesting. Parliamentary proceedings will be different, with a few new faces here and there and may be fewer walk outs!
The run-off has come as good news for some businesses, especially advertising agencies and their partners in the media. They are bound to make more money from the politicians who will definitely repackage their campaign messages for the final combat.
But run-off or no run-off, Christmas, the Mass of Christ, is approaching. We will celebrate the birth of Christ before we face the second round of voting. As it stands now, some who voted in the first round may not vote again. They may have lost that mood for travelling to do so or the excitement and motivation that kept them standing in long queues for the purpose of voting on December 7.
Those long queues certainly call for an increase in the number of polling stations, but, of course, that will come at a cost. Some who did not vote in the first round may have regretted staying away and would now want to, while those who spoilt their ballot papers and, therefore, made their candidates poorer and the opponent richer may have learnt their lessons and are ready to do the proper thing this time.
These, and the expected participation of the die-hard and fanatical supporters of the candidates, will make the difference.
For now, the celebration of Christmas occupies my mind. It sends my mind way back to how it used to be and how it is now.
In my part of the world, over 30 years ago preparations for Christmas meant, among others, that children would have the privilege of lining up to have their hair dyed. The dye was called yoomo, a Ga word which means old woman. It was quite messy and after application it dribbled down the forehead. That, however, depended on the expertise of the one doing the application. Somehow, some parents thought that the use of yoomo gave children a neat look!
Surprisingly, I still see some old people around whose hair has virtually refused to take on the yoomo, leaving the hair some kind of reddish-brown shade — not black and not grey! You may say the hair has become immune to the dye. And this is in spite of the fact that it now looks noble to keep the grey hair and even enhance it with grey dye, not black!
In those times, children got so excited about Christmas because they would have rice and chicken to eat. And they got the opportunity of drinking Portello, Vino and Lemonade (Lamley). Those names are now history and only Fanta and Coca-Cola are still on the shelves. We would sometimes add some water to our drinks to increase the quantity and eat Gem biscuits. Children made chains from those gem biscuits by stringing them together and wearing them around their necks. Luckier children got new dresses and shoes or sandals which they invariably wore until the next year. They also got the opportunity to go round from house to house to eat and drink in the spirit of unity and good neighbourliness.
I don’t see many of those things anymore. With the city riddled with fast food joints selling fried rice and chicken and at very affordable prices too, chicken which we occasionally ate, has become an everyday food. In fact, it will cost you more to buy fufu and smoked fish (Akosombo fish) soup than it will to buy you chicken and fried rice, irrespective of the fact that the chicken may have been sleeping in the cold stores (mortuary) for close to 10 years! As for rice, we eat it almost every day now so it’s no big deal.
With stories of children being kidnapped for ransom, how many parents will allow their children to go round the homes of neighbours in that spirit of unity?
Whatever it is, I am still excited about Christmas. Let’s release some tension. Let us give what is Christ’s to Him and show the same enthusiasm in choosing between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills on December 28.
Many people were getting ready to celebrate Christmas in grand style. They wanted to add victory at the polls to Christmas (call it two-in-one) and celebrate big time. This was not to be.
By the command of Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner, we have to go to the polls again on December 28, 2008. And that will be after Christmas. The inability of any of the presidential candidates to get more than 50 per cent of the votes cast is what has caused all this.
What was good about it, any way, was the silence that ensued. Even though some party supporters had, on the day before the announcement of the results, went into hasty and premature celebration, claiming victory for their parties, Dr Afari-Gyan’s announcement went like: “Let there be silence”, and there was silence.
Bars that had been stocked to the brim in readiness for the victory celebrations became quiet and drivers who were getting ready to blow their horns as they drove through the streets found something else to do, not necessarily better, though.
God did not give us the one-touch result that we had hoped for. He is the only one who knows why. But I guess it was to give us the chance to think again and settle on what we really want as a people. At a cost to us, anyway. We have to spend more money on the run-off. But this is something we are prepared for. From the day we decided to toe the line of democracy, we indirectly signed a silent pact to go along with all that multi-party democracy entails.
The December 7 stalemate is quite significant. It showed that the Ghanaian voter had become sophisticated, complex and therefore not so predictable. It also confirmed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) remain the two dominant political parties in the country. The rest still have a lot of work to do to make an impact. Their presence, however, spiced the menu and gave the electorate more choices and that was all. Another lesson is that incumbency is not a panacea for success at elections and that political parties will have to do more serious work to win elections. It also tells our leaders that they must constantly and continuously identify with us and listen to us ! Our next Parliament promises to be interesting. Parliamentary proceedings will be different, with a few new faces here and there and may be fewer walk outs!
The run-off has come as good news for some businesses, especially advertising agencies and their partners in the media. They are bound to make more money from the politicians who will definitely repackage their campaign messages for the final combat.
But run-off or no run-off, Christmas, the Mass of Christ, is approaching. We will celebrate the birth of Christ before we face the second round of voting. As it stands now, some who voted in the first round may not vote again. They may have lost that mood for travelling to do so or the excitement and motivation that kept them standing in long queues for the purpose of voting on December 7.
Those long queues certainly call for an increase in the number of polling stations, but, of course, that will come at a cost. Some who did not vote in the first round may have regretted staying away and would now want to, while those who spoilt their ballot papers and, therefore, made their candidates poorer and the opponent richer may have learnt their lessons and are ready to do the proper thing this time.
These, and the expected participation of the die-hard and fanatical supporters of the candidates, will make the difference.
For now, the celebration of Christmas occupies my mind. It sends my mind way back to how it used to be and how it is now.
In my part of the world, over 30 years ago preparations for Christmas meant, among others, that children would have the privilege of lining up to have their hair dyed. The dye was called yoomo, a Ga word which means old woman. It was quite messy and after application it dribbled down the forehead. That, however, depended on the expertise of the one doing the application. Somehow, some parents thought that the use of yoomo gave children a neat look!
Surprisingly, I still see some old people around whose hair has virtually refused to take on the yoomo, leaving the hair some kind of reddish-brown shade — not black and not grey! You may say the hair has become immune to the dye. And this is in spite of the fact that it now looks noble to keep the grey hair and even enhance it with grey dye, not black!
In those times, children got so excited about Christmas because they would have rice and chicken to eat. And they got the opportunity of drinking Portello, Vino and Lemonade (Lamley). Those names are now history and only Fanta and Coca-Cola are still on the shelves. We would sometimes add some water to our drinks to increase the quantity and eat Gem biscuits. Children made chains from those gem biscuits by stringing them together and wearing them around their necks. Luckier children got new dresses and shoes or sandals which they invariably wore until the next year. They also got the opportunity to go round from house to house to eat and drink in the spirit of unity and good neighbourliness.
I don’t see many of those things anymore. With the city riddled with fast food joints selling fried rice and chicken and at very affordable prices too, chicken which we occasionally ate, has become an everyday food. In fact, it will cost you more to buy fufu and smoked fish (Akosombo fish) soup than it will to buy you chicken and fried rice, irrespective of the fact that the chicken may have been sleeping in the cold stores (mortuary) for close to 10 years! As for rice, we eat it almost every day now so it’s no big deal.
With stories of children being kidnapped for ransom, how many parents will allow their children to go round the homes of neighbours in that spirit of unity?
Whatever it is, I am still excited about Christmas. Let’s release some tension. Let us give what is Christ’s to Him and show the same enthusiasm in choosing between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills on December 28.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Kwabi Hanson......the barber chosen for the Belgian twin documentary
April 7, 2008
Story and pictures : Doreen Allotey
A Belgian crew working on a documentary that would compare the lives of people who have spent the same time on the globe have chosen Kwabi Hanson, a barber in Accra, as part of the project. He was born on October 5, 1968.
The crew have only made contact with Hanson on phone so far but intend to visit the country to do more. The interesting thing for the crew is that Hanson has a job( barbering), which is very recognisable to the Belgian audience, even though there may be little differences as a consequence of where Mr Hanson lives —Ghana.
I traced Hanson to an area in Accra popularly known as Abuja and found his wooden kiosk situated on what can pass for a hill in a little settlement near one of Accra’s markets known as Agbogbloshie. His shop is almost opposite a pile of firewood for sale and among many other kiosks that serve as workplaces and sleeping places for most travellers from other parts of the country, who arrive in Accra in search of jobs. His shop has “No money , no woman” boldly inscribed in front of it.
Hanson says he loves this saying very much because he has found from his experiences in life that women, whether wife, sister, friend, girlfriend or daughter, love to go where there is money and that women could easily disown you in the absence of money. Guided by this saying , Hanson is not married but has a 16 -year- old daughter— Dorothy Hanson— who is living with his relatives in Aflao, the border town between Ghana and Togo.
Hanson charges 70 Ghana pesewas for a haircut, but at the end of it all, the earnings are woefully inadequate to take care of his basic necessities.
In his barber’s shop sat a huge black box serving as a loudspeaker that has the notice ‘For sale’. To complement his earnings, Hanson makes these boxes himself for sale. He makes them one after the other as they get sold out and advertise this ware when he blares music out of it.
He has another love, which is acting. He has been working with Prime Media in Accra on a number of productions and showed me an album of himself in various acting scenes.
One of his favourite movies is “Finished man”. On a daily basis he responds to demands of carving out a career and hobby in film acting. As soon as he hears of places where auditions are taking place, Hanson dresses up and heads there.
His daughter Dorothy and one of his six siblings were in the album. The picture showing his siblings was taken at Osino, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where Hanson hails from.
His father, Mr Awuah Hanson, a retired teacher and his mother, Joyce Ama Serwaa, a trader in foodstuffs, live in his hometown.
Hanson has travelled widely across the country. This is because he followed his father anywhere he went on transfer to teach.
Hanson did not train to be a barber; it was something that came naturally to him while in school. He found himself being asked by friends and mates to give them a hair-cut. With time and practice, he perfected the art of barbering.
This act was to become a major earner of his daily bread.
Hanson’s real dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when he was involved in an accident a few days to writing his final examination at the Rans Business College at Osino. He stayed in hospital for six months waiting for the injury to his leg to heal. At that time, he didn’t believe he could walk again.
Hanson explains that his time in hospital disrupted his whole direction in life, and because his father had as many as seven children, including him, resources at home were always very little. He is sometimes very angry with his father for having many children.
“ Wishes are not horses for me to ride; sometimes I feel like giving up but what would I eat if I don’t go on,” Hanson urges himself to go on.
“ But I will never take part in any illegal business. I like my freedom very much, maybe as much as I love reggae music.”
Before going into barbering, Hanson was doing some work as a draughtsman in the very kiosk that is his barber’s shop today. He took part-time classes at the Super Techinical College in Asylum Down in Accra in that field of study. He learnt to do that manually and with time, this became outmoded, causing his customers to leave him.
Even though Hanson lives in Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, he often goes home at the weekends because he cannot afford to use all his earning on transportation from his barber’s shop in Accra to Amasaman everyday. He attends a Pentecostal church and even though he does not attend very regularly, he believes “that is where my salvation is”.
Hanson is not very clear about the objectives of the documentary and how beneficial it would be to his life but is keeping an open mind.
On what the documentary seeks to achieve, an editor on the project, Annelore De Donder, says “It has to do with an interest in other customs and traditions”.
“The responses to the search from Ghana by the project in Belgium were so many that I even had to stop accepting people who kept on calling. Strangely, most of the people who called were born on May 3, 1981,” she said.
In all, 20 responses from Ghana were received by the project. Other people chosen for the project are two other men living in Chile and Canada. The episode will result in parallel portraits of these three men and their Belgian counterpart— but in very different places all over the world. All four of them were born on October 5,1968.
The interesting questions the documentary will seek to answer are : What have been their life experiences? Did the cultural context in which they grew up influence those experiences? Are there similarities in the lives of these people? Does it really matter where you are born?
Story and pictures : Doreen Allotey
A Belgian crew working on a documentary that would compare the lives of people who have spent the same time on the globe have chosen Kwabi Hanson, a barber in Accra, as part of the project. He was born on October 5, 1968.
The crew have only made contact with Hanson on phone so far but intend to visit the country to do more. The interesting thing for the crew is that Hanson has a job( barbering), which is very recognisable to the Belgian audience, even though there may be little differences as a consequence of where Mr Hanson lives —Ghana.
I traced Hanson to an area in Accra popularly known as Abuja and found his wooden kiosk situated on what can pass for a hill in a little settlement near one of Accra’s markets known as Agbogbloshie. His shop is almost opposite a pile of firewood for sale and among many other kiosks that serve as workplaces and sleeping places for most travellers from other parts of the country, who arrive in Accra in search of jobs. His shop has “No money , no woman” boldly inscribed in front of it.
Hanson says he loves this saying very much because he has found from his experiences in life that women, whether wife, sister, friend, girlfriend or daughter, love to go where there is money and that women could easily disown you in the absence of money. Guided by this saying , Hanson is not married but has a 16 -year- old daughter— Dorothy Hanson— who is living with his relatives in Aflao, the border town between Ghana and Togo.
Hanson charges 70 Ghana pesewas for a haircut, but at the end of it all, the earnings are woefully inadequate to take care of his basic necessities.
In his barber’s shop sat a huge black box serving as a loudspeaker that has the notice ‘For sale’. To complement his earnings, Hanson makes these boxes himself for sale. He makes them one after the other as they get sold out and advertise this ware when he blares music out of it.
He has another love, which is acting. He has been working with Prime Media in Accra on a number of productions and showed me an album of himself in various acting scenes.
One of his favourite movies is “Finished man”. On a daily basis he responds to demands of carving out a career and hobby in film acting. As soon as he hears of places where auditions are taking place, Hanson dresses up and heads there.
His daughter Dorothy and one of his six siblings were in the album. The picture showing his siblings was taken at Osino, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where Hanson hails from.
His father, Mr Awuah Hanson, a retired teacher and his mother, Joyce Ama Serwaa, a trader in foodstuffs, live in his hometown.
Hanson has travelled widely across the country. This is because he followed his father anywhere he went on transfer to teach.
Hanson did not train to be a barber; it was something that came naturally to him while in school. He found himself being asked by friends and mates to give them a hair-cut. With time and practice, he perfected the art of barbering.
This act was to become a major earner of his daily bread.
Hanson’s real dream of becoming an accountant was cut short when he was involved in an accident a few days to writing his final examination at the Rans Business College at Osino. He stayed in hospital for six months waiting for the injury to his leg to heal. At that time, he didn’t believe he could walk again.
Hanson explains that his time in hospital disrupted his whole direction in life, and because his father had as many as seven children, including him, resources at home were always very little. He is sometimes very angry with his father for having many children.
“ Wishes are not horses for me to ride; sometimes I feel like giving up but what would I eat if I don’t go on,” Hanson urges himself to go on.
“ But I will never take part in any illegal business. I like my freedom very much, maybe as much as I love reggae music.”
Before going into barbering, Hanson was doing some work as a draughtsman in the very kiosk that is his barber’s shop today. He took part-time classes at the Super Techinical College in Asylum Down in Accra in that field of study. He learnt to do that manually and with time, this became outmoded, causing his customers to leave him.
Even though Hanson lives in Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, he often goes home at the weekends because he cannot afford to use all his earning on transportation from his barber’s shop in Accra to Amasaman everyday. He attends a Pentecostal church and even though he does not attend very regularly, he believes “that is where my salvation is”.
Hanson is not very clear about the objectives of the documentary and how beneficial it would be to his life but is keeping an open mind.
On what the documentary seeks to achieve, an editor on the project, Annelore De Donder, says “It has to do with an interest in other customs and traditions”.
“The responses to the search from Ghana by the project in Belgium were so many that I even had to stop accepting people who kept on calling. Strangely, most of the people who called were born on May 3, 1981,” she said.
In all, 20 responses from Ghana were received by the project. Other people chosen for the project are two other men living in Chile and Canada. The episode will result in parallel portraits of these three men and their Belgian counterpart— but in very different places all over the world. All four of them were born on October 5,1968.
The interesting questions the documentary will seek to answer are : What have been their life experiences? Did the cultural context in which they grew up influence those experiences? Are there similarities in the lives of these people? Does it really matter where you are born?
Informal training...Story of Philip Aidoo, the sucessful carpenter
March 13,2008
By Doreen Allotey
` Ghana’s education has been organised along two main lines—the formal and informal.
Informal vocation takes place in the form of apprenticeship agreements with craftsmen and trades people. Training is on the average, a period between two to four years but this depends on whether the “master” thinks that the apprentice has learned enough to become a senior and carry his good name wherever he or she goes.
The master also determines how long an apprentice who qualifies to be a “senior” would serve under him/her and whether the senior can work with him or her on commission or what is termed “work and pay” basis.
Thousands of Ghanaian youth are engaged as apprentices in the private or informal sector throughout the country. While some of these apprentices have formal education of some sort, others have never stepped into the classroom but are making it their own way through hard work, determination, discipline, humility and patience.
Apprenticeships available include fitting, spraying of vehicles, hairdressing, tailoring, masonry, welding, plumbing, shoemaking or how to mend shoes, catering and carpentry.
In the carpentry business, one of such persons is Mr Philip Aidoo who started his apprenticeship in 1984. He left his parents’ home in Mankessim in the Central Region to become an apprentice at the Akan Centre of Furniture in Mateheko in Accra for three years, after which his master graduated him as a senior. With this new status, Philip served his master for a couple of years.
He then worked at the centre, supervising some of the new apprentices for another couple of years. When he left the centre, it was to enable him work for different companies on different contracts for three years, gathering experience as he worked. He has since 1992 established a furniture shop at the Awudome Estates with the name Green Wood Furniture Works, opposite the famous Bongo Bar. He obtained his certificate of registration in 1993.
For the apprenticeship agreement, Philip’s parents paid ¢2,500, the equivalent of 25 Ghana pesewas today, to the master at the Akan Centre of Furniture. They also gave two crates of soft drinks, known in Ghanaian parlance as minerals, and a bottle of schnapps. But this was after he had completed a probation period of some weeks to enable his master to assess his character. He had just completed middle school form four then.
Philip had no one to stay with in Accra and, therefore, slept in his master’s shop, bathed and ate there.
“ It was quite difficult in those days. Money for food was hard to come by”, Philip recalls.
The furniture shop doubled as the classroom and a sort of boarding school for him. His determination to learn the trade was what kept him going. The other apprentices had places to live in Accra but out of the 24 of them, three dropped out along the way; they could not take the regiment of learning under the feet of their master.
As a master himself, Philip tries to maintain discipline at his shop and has trained more than 100 young men as carpenters. Currently, he has nine boys under his tutelage.
He has his own entry requirements which he says is similar to that of other masters of his status: A prospective apprentice has to attach himself to Green Wood for three months during which Philip would assess his character to find out if “he can really learn the job” and the apprentice must be above 16 years but not as old as 40.
“ It is quite difficult to teach the older ones”, Philip explains.
“ I once had a 40 year old man as an apprentice but he could not cope and fell out”, he said.
The apprentice then pays GH¢100 and presents two crates of minerals.
On acceptance of these, the apprentice has his colleagues to deal with; those who started learning before him; to them he owes GH¢20. That money is referred to as “Anbantem sika” for the new apprentice would surely learn something good or bad from them too and their co-operation would be invaluable.
Then comes the tools for the trade. “The apprentice should come with the basic; a hand saw, pincers, a hammer and planner”, Philip requires.
Philip does not countenance obstinacy and disrespect to seniors. Theft is an abhorrence and speaking politely is a must. Disregard for any of these attracts caning, suspension for a period or both.
Learning is by observation in stages.
“If it is making a table, I ask the apprentice to observe me making one. At another time I guide him to make the legs of the table and then we move on and on”, he said.
If after three years Philip is not satisfied with the progress of work, he adds on another year to make sure the apprentice is well baked. He has a name to protect.
During training, Philip occasionally fetes his apprentices when business is good. He makes sure they get health care during illness, but “ if it is a serious one , I send them to their parents,” he said.
On graduation, the apprentice turned “senior” pays to Philip another GH¢100, presents two crates of minerals a sheep. Graduation parties are optional but if the graduation coincides with a festivity like Christmas, the celebration is grand.
The challenges of the job as enumerated by Mr Aidoo include the high taxes to the Accra Metropolitan Authority, Internal Revenue Service, payments for utility services and the collection of waste products generated by the trade. At the end of the day almost every earning goes into such payments.
Mr Aidoo suggests that there should be some kind of assistance to enable carpenters acquire new technology in the form of machinery to make carpentry less labour intensive.
Formal and informal education bears a lot of similarities. Before the introduction of formal education in the 1800s, apprenticeship as a mode of training had already started. It’s contribution to national development is obvious and will continue to be with Ghanaians for a long time.
By Doreen Allotey
` Ghana’s education has been organised along two main lines—the formal and informal.
Informal vocation takes place in the form of apprenticeship agreements with craftsmen and trades people. Training is on the average, a period between two to four years but this depends on whether the “master” thinks that the apprentice has learned enough to become a senior and carry his good name wherever he or she goes.
The master also determines how long an apprentice who qualifies to be a “senior” would serve under him/her and whether the senior can work with him or her on commission or what is termed “work and pay” basis.
Thousands of Ghanaian youth are engaged as apprentices in the private or informal sector throughout the country. While some of these apprentices have formal education of some sort, others have never stepped into the classroom but are making it their own way through hard work, determination, discipline, humility and patience.
Apprenticeships available include fitting, spraying of vehicles, hairdressing, tailoring, masonry, welding, plumbing, shoemaking or how to mend shoes, catering and carpentry.
In the carpentry business, one of such persons is Mr Philip Aidoo who started his apprenticeship in 1984. He left his parents’ home in Mankessim in the Central Region to become an apprentice at the Akan Centre of Furniture in Mateheko in Accra for three years, after which his master graduated him as a senior. With this new status, Philip served his master for a couple of years.
He then worked at the centre, supervising some of the new apprentices for another couple of years. When he left the centre, it was to enable him work for different companies on different contracts for three years, gathering experience as he worked. He has since 1992 established a furniture shop at the Awudome Estates with the name Green Wood Furniture Works, opposite the famous Bongo Bar. He obtained his certificate of registration in 1993.
For the apprenticeship agreement, Philip’s parents paid ¢2,500, the equivalent of 25 Ghana pesewas today, to the master at the Akan Centre of Furniture. They also gave two crates of soft drinks, known in Ghanaian parlance as minerals, and a bottle of schnapps. But this was after he had completed a probation period of some weeks to enable his master to assess his character. He had just completed middle school form four then.
Philip had no one to stay with in Accra and, therefore, slept in his master’s shop, bathed and ate there.
“ It was quite difficult in those days. Money for food was hard to come by”, Philip recalls.
The furniture shop doubled as the classroom and a sort of boarding school for him. His determination to learn the trade was what kept him going. The other apprentices had places to live in Accra but out of the 24 of them, three dropped out along the way; they could not take the regiment of learning under the feet of their master.
As a master himself, Philip tries to maintain discipline at his shop and has trained more than 100 young men as carpenters. Currently, he has nine boys under his tutelage.
He has his own entry requirements which he says is similar to that of other masters of his status: A prospective apprentice has to attach himself to Green Wood for three months during which Philip would assess his character to find out if “he can really learn the job” and the apprentice must be above 16 years but not as old as 40.
“ It is quite difficult to teach the older ones”, Philip explains.
“ I once had a 40 year old man as an apprentice but he could not cope and fell out”, he said.
The apprentice then pays GH¢100 and presents two crates of minerals.
On acceptance of these, the apprentice has his colleagues to deal with; those who started learning before him; to them he owes GH¢20. That money is referred to as “Anbantem sika” for the new apprentice would surely learn something good or bad from them too and their co-operation would be invaluable.
Then comes the tools for the trade. “The apprentice should come with the basic; a hand saw, pincers, a hammer and planner”, Philip requires.
Philip does not countenance obstinacy and disrespect to seniors. Theft is an abhorrence and speaking politely is a must. Disregard for any of these attracts caning, suspension for a period or both.
Learning is by observation in stages.
“If it is making a table, I ask the apprentice to observe me making one. At another time I guide him to make the legs of the table and then we move on and on”, he said.
If after three years Philip is not satisfied with the progress of work, he adds on another year to make sure the apprentice is well baked. He has a name to protect.
During training, Philip occasionally fetes his apprentices when business is good. He makes sure they get health care during illness, but “ if it is a serious one , I send them to their parents,” he said.
On graduation, the apprentice turned “senior” pays to Philip another GH¢100, presents two crates of minerals a sheep. Graduation parties are optional but if the graduation coincides with a festivity like Christmas, the celebration is grand.
The challenges of the job as enumerated by Mr Aidoo include the high taxes to the Accra Metropolitan Authority, Internal Revenue Service, payments for utility services and the collection of waste products generated by the trade. At the end of the day almost every earning goes into such payments.
Mr Aidoo suggests that there should be some kind of assistance to enable carpenters acquire new technology in the form of machinery to make carpentry less labour intensive.
Formal and informal education bears a lot of similarities. Before the introduction of formal education in the 1800s, apprenticeship as a mode of training had already started. It’s contribution to national development is obvious and will continue to be with Ghanaians for a long time.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Zero tolerance for FGM
Zero tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
By Doreen Allotey
Today, February 6, is International Day on Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) with its national committees in 28 African countries and the group sections, in 16 countries outside of Africa observes February 6, 2008 as the 5th anniversary of the day
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Partnering with the media to reach Zero Tolerance to FGM.”
By “Zero Tolerance to FGM”, the IAC means that FGM should not be tolerated for any reason, at any time, place or on anybody. FGM has been recognised as violence against women and girls and coupled with other medical, social, psycho-sexual and economic consequences, the practice should not be allowed to continue under the guise of tradition or religion.
February 6 was adopted as a day to draw attention world-wide to the menace of FGM during the International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM organised by the IAC and held at the ECA, Addis Ababa, from February 4 to 6, 2003.
The conference that drew over 400 participants world-wide was unanimous in adopting the day. Since that time several other bodies and organisations have recognised February 6 as world FGM Day.
The United Nations Sub-committee on Human Rights not only recognised February 6, but has also been marking the day in Geneva in collaboration with IAC Geneva office under the leadership of Mrs. Berhane Ras-Work, the IAC Executive Director. Also celebrating February 6, 2008, is the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. It would hold a panel discussion and press conference on “How to end the practice of FGM”.
IAC and its partners the UN, Governments, International and local NGOs among others agreed to commemorate February 6 as a day to strategise, reflect, deliberate on FGM and to re-new commitment to end this human rights violation in the name of tradition.
All actions towards ending FGM is in accordance with Article 5 (Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 120 million African women and girls have been subjected to FGM. African immigrants have taken the practice to Europe, America and Asia thus making FGM a global concern.
It is the goal of IAC and other stakeholders that the millions of at-risk cases to FGM every year are prevented and that the traditional practice would be eliminated by 2015 in line with the Millennium Development Goals: -
Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,
Reducing child mortality and Improving maternal health
The Inter-African Committee believes that to eliminate FGM, there must be a multi-dimensional approach that involves all stakeholders. IAC at the 2003 International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM presented a Common Agenda for Action for the elimination of FGM which was adopted by the conference as a tool for harnessing energy to achieve Zero FGM world wide.
IAC partners with the media because the media reaches a wider segment of the population with powerful and lasting messages. Therefore their involvement in the campaign would likely accelerate the reaching of the goal of eliminating FGM.
From 1993 to date, IAC has been working closely with the media by organising media workshops, conferences, press briefings and through direct involvement of media professionals in programme planning and implementation in the different countries where IAC has National Committees.
Engaging the media in the campaign against FGM has resulted in some successes top of which is breaking the taboo on FGM and making it a public discourse.
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices is an international non-governmental network organisation founded in Dakar, Senegal in 1984.
The vision of IAC is to see “A society in which African women and children fully enjoy their human right to live free from harmful traditional practices”.
IAC has its headquarters at the UN premises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a liaison office in Geneva, Switzerland.
By Doreen Allotey
Today, February 6, is International Day on Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) with its national committees in 28 African countries and the group sections, in 16 countries outside of Africa observes February 6, 2008 as the 5th anniversary of the day
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Partnering with the media to reach Zero Tolerance to FGM.”
By “Zero Tolerance to FGM”, the IAC means that FGM should not be tolerated for any reason, at any time, place or on anybody. FGM has been recognised as violence against women and girls and coupled with other medical, social, psycho-sexual and economic consequences, the practice should not be allowed to continue under the guise of tradition or religion.
February 6 was adopted as a day to draw attention world-wide to the menace of FGM during the International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM organised by the IAC and held at the ECA, Addis Ababa, from February 4 to 6, 2003.
The conference that drew over 400 participants world-wide was unanimous in adopting the day. Since that time several other bodies and organisations have recognised February 6 as world FGM Day.
The United Nations Sub-committee on Human Rights not only recognised February 6, but has also been marking the day in Geneva in collaboration with IAC Geneva office under the leadership of Mrs. Berhane Ras-Work, the IAC Executive Director. Also celebrating February 6, 2008, is the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. It would hold a panel discussion and press conference on “How to end the practice of FGM”.
IAC and its partners the UN, Governments, International and local NGOs among others agreed to commemorate February 6 as a day to strategise, reflect, deliberate on FGM and to re-new commitment to end this human rights violation in the name of tradition.
All actions towards ending FGM is in accordance with Article 5 (Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) in the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The World Health Organisation estimates that about 120 million African women and girls have been subjected to FGM. African immigrants have taken the practice to Europe, America and Asia thus making FGM a global concern.
It is the goal of IAC and other stakeholders that the millions of at-risk cases to FGM every year are prevented and that the traditional practice would be eliminated by 2015 in line with the Millennium Development Goals: -
Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,
Reducing child mortality and Improving maternal health
The Inter-African Committee believes that to eliminate FGM, there must be a multi-dimensional approach that involves all stakeholders. IAC at the 2003 International conference on Zero Tolerance to FGM presented a Common Agenda for Action for the elimination of FGM which was adopted by the conference as a tool for harnessing energy to achieve Zero FGM world wide.
IAC partners with the media because the media reaches a wider segment of the population with powerful and lasting messages. Therefore their involvement in the campaign would likely accelerate the reaching of the goal of eliminating FGM.
From 1993 to date, IAC has been working closely with the media by organising media workshops, conferences, press briefings and through direct involvement of media professionals in programme planning and implementation in the different countries where IAC has National Committees.
Engaging the media in the campaign against FGM has resulted in some successes top of which is breaking the taboo on FGM and making it a public discourse.
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices is an international non-governmental network organisation founded in Dakar, Senegal in 1984.
The vision of IAC is to see “A society in which African women and children fully enjoy their human right to live free from harmful traditional practices”.
IAC has its headquarters at the UN premises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and a liaison office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Changing face of shopping in Accra
The changing face of shopping in Accra
December 23,2007
By Doreen Allotey
One of the ingenious means people are using to steal at the Shoprite Supermarket within the Accra Mall is to open drinks while they are in the supermarket, hide behind shelves and drink to their fill, leaving the empty bottles behind.
The shop has responded by providing more security. This is because in one stealing incident it lost two bottles of Brandy, each costing over GH¢100. The boxes containing the bottles were intact but the bottles containing the drinks were gone.
Apart from that, Shoprite is on the move, concentrating on the sale of fast moving goods such as perishables, while Game deals in durables such as televisions, cameras and other household appliances.
Enter Shoprite and you can see and smell the season of Christmas. Ten kilo turkeys, decorations, hampers and lots of goodies. You see the tellers happily smiling at the numerous customers pushing their trolleys up and down and filling them with goodies. Some toddlers sit on the trolleys, pointing at a thousand and one things they want their parents to buy for them.
The prices of the hampers range from GH¢20 to GH¢40 and they contain items like perfumed rice, biscuits, drinks and cooking oil.
Not too long ago, in this city of Accra, it was unheard of to go shopping for vegetables like pepper, tomatoes, okro and garden eggs in a supermarket. Now it has become very close to the usual with the existence of shops like A&C, Koala, Max Mart and, very recently, Shoprite in the newly opened Accra Mall.
So, instead of buying these vegetables and other items like fish from the market, where one will vie for space with other people, porters and flies, some have chosen to shop in comfort at these supermarkets.
And contrary to the situation in the past when supermarkets were not open for business on Sundays, these shops have realised that not all people go to church on Sundays and that even if they did, they love to shop after church.
“It is becoming a family outing kind of thing, a venue to meet friends and chat for a few minutes,” Mr Johann Koegelenberg, the General Manager of Shoprite, told the Daily Graphic in a chat.
For that reason, he said, Shoprite, for instance, maintained its 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. business hours, even on Sundays, and Sundays are the busiest days for the shop.
Mr Koegelenberg said the shop’s focus was to satisfy Ghanaians and foreign residents and that since the shop officially opened in November, patronage had been good.
He said the fire outbreak that occurred in April which prevented the shop from opening in May was a major setback.
“Some goods which had been brought in for the grand opening had to be taken back to South Africa because they had expired and new stocks ordered,” he explained.
And to meet the demands of the season, the shop has been stocked with a wide variety of items.
People have been employed specifically to work deep into the night stocking the shelves with food and other items.
The shop runs promotions on a regular basis and this season it has special promotions on many things we love to use at Christmas — rice, tinned tomatoes, drinks and more.
The positive thing is that most of the foods, such as vegetables and the meat products neatly packaged on the shelves, are made in Ghana, Mr Koegelenberg proudly said.
“We want to promote local business. We even have locally-produced fresh milk in bottles as we have in the developed countries,” he said.
Mr Koegelenberg observed that even though Shoprite was open to all, some still saw it as a place for a certain class. He, therefore, encouraged everyone to come in.
“Once at Shoprite, you will realise that the prices are truly affordable,” he said.
Mr Andy Shaw, the General Manager of Game, was very impressed with sales.
He said it was normal everywhere that sales went up by between 60 and 70 per cent during Christmas.
He said Game had learnt that Ghanaians liked to give themselves special treats at the end of the year and so they walked into the shop buying things they wanted like televisions sets, compact disc (CD) players, etc. for themselves.
At Game too, customers were seen busy with trolleys shopping, while others did window shopping.
As is normal every year, the human traffic at the central business district of Accra is heavy at this time of the year.
Auntie Connie, a cosmetic and ribbons seller, said although there were many people in town, they were looking more than buying.
By as early as 5.00 a.m., a number of shops were already open at the central business district (Makola Shopping Mall, Tudu and Aflao Station areas) and crowds of Christmas shoppers had filled them. Others stood in front of shops, waiting for them to open.
Sellers and pedestrians were vying for space at Okaishie, which has three lanes, leaving only the centre lane for vehicles.
The situation at Melcom, a supermarket at the Opera Square, was not different. The shop was filled to the brim with shoppers, some of them schoolchildren buying Christmas decorations especially.
December 23,2007
By Doreen Allotey
One of the ingenious means people are using to steal at the Shoprite Supermarket within the Accra Mall is to open drinks while they are in the supermarket, hide behind shelves and drink to their fill, leaving the empty bottles behind.
The shop has responded by providing more security. This is because in one stealing incident it lost two bottles of Brandy, each costing over GH¢100. The boxes containing the bottles were intact but the bottles containing the drinks were gone.
Apart from that, Shoprite is on the move, concentrating on the sale of fast moving goods such as perishables, while Game deals in durables such as televisions, cameras and other household appliances.
Enter Shoprite and you can see and smell the season of Christmas. Ten kilo turkeys, decorations, hampers and lots of goodies. You see the tellers happily smiling at the numerous customers pushing their trolleys up and down and filling them with goodies. Some toddlers sit on the trolleys, pointing at a thousand and one things they want their parents to buy for them.
The prices of the hampers range from GH¢20 to GH¢40 and they contain items like perfumed rice, biscuits, drinks and cooking oil.
Not too long ago, in this city of Accra, it was unheard of to go shopping for vegetables like pepper, tomatoes, okro and garden eggs in a supermarket. Now it has become very close to the usual with the existence of shops like A&C, Koala, Max Mart and, very recently, Shoprite in the newly opened Accra Mall.
So, instead of buying these vegetables and other items like fish from the market, where one will vie for space with other people, porters and flies, some have chosen to shop in comfort at these supermarkets.
And contrary to the situation in the past when supermarkets were not open for business on Sundays, these shops have realised that not all people go to church on Sundays and that even if they did, they love to shop after church.
“It is becoming a family outing kind of thing, a venue to meet friends and chat for a few minutes,” Mr Johann Koegelenberg, the General Manager of Shoprite, told the Daily Graphic in a chat.
For that reason, he said, Shoprite, for instance, maintained its 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. business hours, even on Sundays, and Sundays are the busiest days for the shop.
Mr Koegelenberg said the shop’s focus was to satisfy Ghanaians and foreign residents and that since the shop officially opened in November, patronage had been good.
He said the fire outbreak that occurred in April which prevented the shop from opening in May was a major setback.
“Some goods which had been brought in for the grand opening had to be taken back to South Africa because they had expired and new stocks ordered,” he explained.
And to meet the demands of the season, the shop has been stocked with a wide variety of items.
People have been employed specifically to work deep into the night stocking the shelves with food and other items.
The shop runs promotions on a regular basis and this season it has special promotions on many things we love to use at Christmas — rice, tinned tomatoes, drinks and more.
The positive thing is that most of the foods, such as vegetables and the meat products neatly packaged on the shelves, are made in Ghana, Mr Koegelenberg proudly said.
“We want to promote local business. We even have locally-produced fresh milk in bottles as we have in the developed countries,” he said.
Mr Koegelenberg observed that even though Shoprite was open to all, some still saw it as a place for a certain class. He, therefore, encouraged everyone to come in.
“Once at Shoprite, you will realise that the prices are truly affordable,” he said.
Mr Andy Shaw, the General Manager of Game, was very impressed with sales.
He said it was normal everywhere that sales went up by between 60 and 70 per cent during Christmas.
He said Game had learnt that Ghanaians liked to give themselves special treats at the end of the year and so they walked into the shop buying things they wanted like televisions sets, compact disc (CD) players, etc. for themselves.
At Game too, customers were seen busy with trolleys shopping, while others did window shopping.
As is normal every year, the human traffic at the central business district of Accra is heavy at this time of the year.
Auntie Connie, a cosmetic and ribbons seller, said although there were many people in town, they were looking more than buying.
By as early as 5.00 a.m., a number of shops were already open at the central business district (Makola Shopping Mall, Tudu and Aflao Station areas) and crowds of Christmas shoppers had filled them. Others stood in front of shops, waiting for them to open.
Sellers and pedestrians were vying for space at Okaishie, which has three lanes, leaving only the centre lane for vehicles.
The situation at Melcom, a supermarket at the Opera Square, was not different. The shop was filled to the brim with shoppers, some of them schoolchildren buying Christmas decorations especially.
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