GIST ALOUD: Features

GIST ALOUD

News | Entertainment | Lifestyle

  •

    • Friday, 16 March 2018

    #BeAnICON: Ashish Thakkar

    March 16, 2018 0
    #BeAnICON: Ashish Thakkar

    Ashish Thakkar’s family emigrated from the Indian state of Gujarat to Africa in the 1890s. Thakkar, however, was born in Leicester in 1981, after his parents had moved to the United Kingdom in 1972 when Idi Amin enforced the expulsion of Asians from Uganda. Thakkar and his family returned to Africa to live in Rwanda before they were again forced to leave due to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. The Thakkar family then fled to Burundi before settling in Uganda as refugees. At 15 years old, Thakkar dropped out of school to start his own business with a $5,000 loan.

    Thakkar founded his own company, Mara Group, in 1996 at the age of 15. He began by importing computer parts including keyboards, mouses, and desktops from weekly trips to Dubai. After Thakkar had received a $5,000 loan to start his company, he opened the small IT business in a shopping mall across the street from his father's shop in Kampala.

    Over the next ten years, Thakkar expanded Mara Group into manufacturing, real estate, agriculture and IT services. Thakkar later relocated the company headquarters to Dubai, but kept business in Africa.
    In 2013, Thakkar announced a partnership with Bob Diamond to launch Atlas Mara, a company that invests in commercial banking institutions across Africa. Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, and Thakkar met at a conference through their foundations, Mara Foundation and the Diamond Family Foundation.

    Twenty years after starting in a shopping mall in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Thakkar’s company now employs more than 11,000 people in 25 countries. He also serves as the chairman of the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council and founded the Mara Foundation in 2009, which serves as an online mentorship portal for young African entrepreneurs.

    He founded Mara Foundation, a non-profit company that mentors and supports young African entrepreneurs,  in 2009. Mara Mentor, a mobile application that connects young entrepreneurs with business professionals, was launched through Mara Foundation.
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    ALL WE ASK FOR IS A TRANQUIL SOCIETY

    March 16, 2018 0
    ALL WE ASK FOR IS A TRANQUIL SOCIETY

     '#ProtectUs' seems to be gaining more attention on many social media platforms. The people of this country can only cry out for themselves as the parliamentarians, who are supposed to do so, cares more about their political parties' fortune than the people who put them in parliament.
     
    Recently, gory narratives and images have been circulating in the media. It seems criminals believe our secuirity portfolios are impotent and lack the required intelligence and resources to fight the incessant robbery attacks occuring around the country, mostly in the capital. As a result, the secuirity of our country seems to be swinging dangerously on a brittle branch attached to a tree having no roots.

    In the space of two months, begining this year,24 armed robbery attacks have been recorded around the Oyibi, Adenta area.
            
    According to the reports, it is clear that these criminals see no value in human life. A 67-year old man's head was reportedly crashed with a concrete slab.
    Another man was also shot and thrown at the back of his home. A lady was reportedly raped twice by two robbers after they took her money. Shops are been robbed and robbers are stealing in broad day light. A lebanese national unfortunately lost his life in a similar incident. 

    As worrying as the situation is, my fear is the over-politicisation of "even the air we breath" in this country. This pushes the real situation to the background and politicians take advantage of the phenomenon to score points for the next elections.

    The minority has spoken to the media, trumpeting these horiffic incidents and attacking every existing security aparatus controlled by the NPP government, as if "a fly was not hurt under their watch."
     
    That is the politics we understand. But as the NPP criticised incessantly every decision made by the NDC when they were in opposition and proffered little or no alternative ideas in solving such connundrums, so is the NDC acting in opposition. Is our interest their interest? It seems not. 

    We the people who gets stuck in traffic for hours before and after school , or work, care less about the rhetorics of the NDC and the NPP.

    WE CARE ABOUT HOW WE CAN REACH OUR POTENTIAL IN A SERENE SOCIETY. WE  CARE ABOUT HOW OFTEN WATER RUNS THROUGH OUR TAPS. WE  CARE ABOUT HOW OUR GOVERNMENTS CAN FIND A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE ERRATIC POWER SITUATION.
    WE  CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT THE PROPER USAGE OF OUR TAXES. MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE WANT TO BE ASSURED THAT WE CAN LIVE OUR LIFES WITHOUT LOOKING OVER OUR SHOULDERS FOR THE FEAR OF BEEN ATTACKED. 

    We now cry out in unison as one people, to our leaders for them to take our needs into considseration for ones. They must nib this canker in the bud before it becomes impossible to fight.
    We cannot live in constant fear whiles those who are suppose to protect us, still take salaries for little or no work done. And positions are still been occupied by inept officers.  
      
    Knee-jerk solutions will  not help us in any way.
    Tackling unemployment is a must or else these are just the beginning of worst days to come.

    The time is now or never. #ProtectUs
     
     

     Kofi Boateng is a student journalist at the Ghana Institue of Journalism, Accra.

     
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    Friday, 16 February 2018

    When I Became A Mother, Feminism Let Me Down

    February 16, 2018 0
    When I Became A Mother, Feminism Let Me Down

    By Samantha Johnson
    I am a feminist. I believe women should have equal opportunities to men. I acknowledge that they often do not. (Yes, even now.)
    I am also a mother, and when it it came to preparing for motherhood, feminism let me down.
    From the beginning, we tell young girls they can do anything they want to do, they can be anyone they want to be. They are given access to great education, encouraged to further their studies and attain higher degrees. We push them to push themselves, to break boundaries, to achieve what seems impossible, to break through corporate glass ceilings and professional roadblocks.
    We tell them they can have it all. And they can.
    Until they have a baby.
    In the fight to ensure equality, as we preach to girls that they can -- and should -- do anything a boy can do, we are failing to prepare women for one of the greatest challenges so many of them will face; motherhood. We are teaching our young people that there is no value in motherhood and that homemaking is an outdated, misogynistic concept. We do this through the promotion of professional progression as a marker of success, while completely devaluing the contribution of parents in the home.
    We then wonder why, when these girls become women who turn into mothers, they suffer from depression, anxiety and struggle to find a sense of self or identity. Are we truly helping women get ahead, or are we instead setting them up for a future of self doubt and a sense of failure?
    We are functioning in a society that pretends women don't grow up to become mothers. We are so driven by the focus that women can do the same and be the same as men, that we completely fail to provide them with education or understanding of what may be ahead for them, as future homemakers and those who raise children. How can we ensure equality for all women, when we place so little value on the role of the mother?
    Mums need the sisterhood more than ever. We need feminism. But we need it from the beginning.
    We need to be telling our young people that raising children is an incredibly important part of the fabric of our society and we need to be giving them the skills to be doing that well.
    We need to be validating the role of the mother and highlighting the work that goes into it, instead of perpetuating the myth that the work that takes place in the home is 'less than' -- less meaningful, less valuable, less important.
    We need to teach young people the skills they need to succeed -- not only in the workforce, but in the home as well. We need to teach them how to care for children, how to cook, how to clean and organise, how to manage household budgets and administration.
    We need to view and offer this as just as an important career option as any other; because for many women, the ones who, for whatever reason, do not return to the workforce and instead stay home to raise their children, this does become their career.
    Young men need to understand the value of this role as well. They need to be shown that a homemaker -- male or female -- provides an essential contribution to society. They, too, need to be given the option to become the primary caretaker. We need to ensure that we lift up the value and recognition of this role to the point where it is just as viable an ambition as any other career prospect.
    The men of our society, when not performing the role of stay-at-home parent themselves (as so often is the case) need to be taught to see the worth of the parent who stays home. There needs to be a change within our society in how we speak to and about homemakers. If our only marker of success is what you do in the workplace, how can we ever achieve that degree of equality?
    We need to stop acting as though when we provide women with these traditional skills, we are taking away their power.
    The reality of our society cannot be ignored.
    For many women, their journey will naturally lead them to a period of stay in the home, caring for children. Whether that time is only a few months, or for several decades, they need to be prepared. They need to be given the skills they need to succeed and they need to be taught that their work is valuable.
    We need to stop acting as though when we provide women with these traditional skills, we are taking away their power. Teaching women to care for children and a home empowers them. It prepares them for a path that may lie ahead. What really takes away their power, is telling them that doing so is worthless.
    Feminism, it's time to catch up. Our women deserve better.
    Let's tell them they can be anything they want -- including a Mum, and let's start telling them just how important that is.

    Source: huffingtonpost.com.au
    By - No comments:
    Tags: ,

    Tuesday, 13 February 2018

    Road crashes and loss of precious lives. Role of all stakeholders

    February 13, 2018 0
    Road crashes and loss of precious lives. Role of all stakeholders
    The increasing rate of accidents of our roads is so alarming. About 6 people died in an accident, on Tuesday morning in Accra. Not forgetting the several accidents on the Accra - Kumasi road which claimed so many lives, including that of a 2-year old infant, and the Ebony, two others demise. This article below was written in 2016 by the former Transport & Logistics Manager of a Fan Milk Ghana Ltd, and I think it'd be useful especially, in relation to this morning's accident at Taifa, and the other accidents that happened on the Accra - Kumasi stretch involving commercial vehicles:

    Road crashes and loss of precious lives. Role of all stakeholders

    By Michael K. S. Yerb

    Picture Credit: Pulse.com

    The rate at which road crashes are claiming lives in this country is so alarming and worrying that stakeholders in the road transport industry need to take a critical look at it and find a solution to this carnage. Although the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) is doing a lot to minimise road crashes, its effort is not meeting the desired result. What then is the problem? Why should precious lives be lost this way?
    Inasmuch as good roads and roadworthy vehicles are key to safe and comfortable driving, the driver factor is very crucial in curbing road accidents. By extension, the transport managers as well as station masters have a big role to play, since they recruit and supervise drivers. It is an undeniable fact that due diligence is not done in recruiting drivers by most transport operators and organisations; the result is the recruitment of mediocrity.I am speaking from experience as a former transport manager of a reputable company in this country. As part of my schedule, I interviewed and recruited drivers for many years and have met drivers from equally reputable organisations with many years of driving experience. But the output from most of these drivers left much to be desired when they appeared before the panel.
     It is in this vein that I am focusing on the transport manager and station master who manage the drivers.
    It is a fact that private individuals buy commercial vehicle and give them to drivers of their choice regardless of the competence of the driver involved and impose them on station masters.
    But this is where masters at the station need to stand on their grounds and reject or accept such drivers based on their assessment of their performance.

    Read more on graphic.com
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    Monday, 12 February 2018

    A Thin Line Between Prophecy and Reality

    February 12, 2018 0
    A Thin Line Between Prophecy and Reality
    Following the death of dancehall musician, Ebony, Ghanaians have been rumbling about prophecies, and if they should be taken seriously. The songstress death, is said to have been predicted by prophets. Showbiz icons and pastors have been at war, with prophets prophesying deaths of entertainers, whiles some celebrities view the alleged revelations as abuses.

    Well, whether you believe in prophecies or not, some facts can't be ignored; not all prophecies are true, and people are being manipulated by fake prophecies. In our technological world, you don't need to go far to come into contact with prophecies. Just stay a little longer on your Facebook timeline and you're likely to see some accounts and pages prophesying, surprisingly just to promote their platform and increase number of shares and likes.

    This is perhaps, the most devastating 'prophetic kind' post I came across last week. The manager of the page uploaded the gory images of Ebony amd the other two who died tragically, just a day after the incident. Together, with pictures of Archbishop Duncan-William (who may not even know that this page exists), the page operator added a supposed 'prayer', demanding people to share and like the page. Yes, this isn't new, but what hurts is the numbers shares, likes and the 'Amen' comments it received in a  short period. It's shocking how people could ignore respect for the friends and families of the dead. Furthermore, the post is misleading and would make people have the notion that the dead people in this picture were offered as 'human sacrifices'.

    You might have also seen others which posts pictures of money and other luxurious things, asking people to like to make some 'prophecy' come true. This has the tendency increase the rate at which people spend more time at the church, than at work. Let's not pretend that being exposed to such posts regularly may uncontrollably elevate ones desire for wealth which may lead to a lot of evil deeds.

    Karl Marx was certainly write when he said "religion is the opium of the mass".

    How did we lose our conscience by thinking sharing the demise of others would make us safe? How can we not recognize that we're being exploited  by fake pastors,  and prophecies? Don't get me wrong, I'm not against your religion. Let's just learn to know what's real and what's not, because there are a lot of phony things controlling us.

    THIS MUST STOP!!



     
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    Monday, 29 January 2018

    COMMUNICATION IN THE OPEN SEA

    January 29, 2018 0
    COMMUNICATION IN THE OPEN SEA



    By Kofi Sarpong

    Have you ever wondered how communication is done in the open sea? You probably might have a relative 
    or friend who works in the shipping industry, specifically sails on a ship. 

    About two thirds of the ship crew on open seas across the world have no means of communication to their families. Only about 1 in 10 have free available Internet.This makes their task difficult because when they are being attacked by pirates, most families wouldn't know and they probably might never hear of the death of their relation.

    In 2010, it was reported that Somali pirates were holding 544 seafarers hostage. 

    About 2000 seafarers die at sea every year and two ships get missing almost everyday. A container ship travels the equivalent of three-quarters of the way to the moon and back in one year during its regular travel across oceans. 

    Finally, to all who think owning a ship is easy, the most expensive ship can cost over 200 million dollars to build with an additional expenses to run the ship. A big respect to our brave and courageous seafarers. Say a prayer for them each time you kneel to pray to your God.
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    Friday, 26 January 2018

    Prof. Nii Quaynor - Pioneer of African Internet

    January 26, 2018 0
    Prof. Nii Quaynor - Pioneer of African Internet

    The accessibility of the internet to more people, specifically Africans cannot be talked about without mentioning Prof. Nii Narku Quaynor. It is often overlooked that Ghanaian engineer and science professor was responsible for making sure Africa was part of that transformation.

    Quaynor, an engineering and computer science graduate from the University of New York and Dartmouth College in the United Kingdom, returned to his home country to head the first computer science department at the University of Cape Coast in Accra in 1977.

    During the early 1990s, as internet technology developed across the world, he began spearheading the establishment of Africa's first internet connectivity. He did this through setting up key organisations, including the African Network Operators Group, as well introducing Value Added Networks, Swift (global financial telecommunications) and other burgeoning commerce technology systems. These were all integral in making the internet more accessible and above all, more secure.
    Quaynor was the first African to be elected to the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), a leading international organisation dedicated to keeping internet technology "secure, safe and interoperable". Between 2000 and 2004, he served as the Icann director for the African region, ensuring that technology advancements made in the United States and Europe were also available to Africa.
    Source: AllAfrica
    By - No comments:
    Tags:

    Tuesday, 23 January 2018

    THE UNFORGOTTEN: IDI AMIN DADA

    January 23, 2018 0
    THE UNFORGOTTEN: IDI AMIN DADA

    He was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. Amin held the rank of major general in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971. He later promoted himself to Field Marshall while he was the head of state.

    Amin's rule was characterized by human right abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extra judicial killings, nepotism, corruption and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers to range from 100,000 to 500,000.

    Amin became the chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1975. After Britain broke diplomatic ties with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE" for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title. His entire title was then announced by Radio Uganda as "his Excellency President for Life, Field Marshall Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE".




    Amin's attempt to annex the Kagera province of Tanzania in 1978, lead to the Uganda-Tanzania war and the demise to his eight-year regime. He fled into exile to Libya and Saudi Arabia where he lived until his death on August 16, 2003. 
    By - No comments:
    Tags: ,

    Monday, 8 January 2018

    My Leadership Experience

    January 08, 2018 0
    My Leadership Experience

    Picture credit: discoverformen.org 
    I never thought I'd spearhead school projects during my time in the university. I mean, I  had some leadership roles in my childhood days, mostly as a class prefect, but growing up, I became a lot more discrete and solo with my moves. Not that I never thought I'd be a leader, but I felt unprepared because of my solo attitude and recovery from prolonged depression. All that changed when my class was given an assignment to produce a documentary on the history of the media in Ghana. My initial plan was just to lay back and wait for tasks to be assigned to me. Two weeks to the deadline, we had nothing besides financial resources; no plan, no script, nothing! That was when I decided to intervene. I led my class reps to seek advice from a lecturer, made some research on documentaries, came up with a plan and organized my course mates. In the end, our documentary scored the highest among four classes. I went ahead to take charge of two more projects with my class never hitting below the second spot.
    Here are some lessons I learnt as a leader in my adult years;
      1. Don't  let the power control you: This is perhaps, the most important rule of leadership. As a leader your main purpose is the show the way. You are like a compass on the journey. Your main aim is to serve in the interest of your followers since they may not directly benefit from you. An instance is my school project scenario, these were people I didn't pay, I just needed their collaboration for a successful project. Hence it was very necessary to treat everyone with maximum respect. You should see people, not subjects, even if they are on your payroll. 
      2. Be willing to do extra work: As a leader, I had to do everything possible to make sure our targets were met. I faced situations where I had to do extra work to enable us subsidize our budgets. Having extra skills really helped me in this case. I printed t-shirts and handled graphic design works to help my team make some cutoffs. There were times I had to handle tasks deserted by members they were assigned to. It's important to gain diverse skills as a leader. You don't know when they'll be needed.
      3. Don't expect everyone to like you: Never expect complete adoration. Some will like you, others will hate. This is inevitable as humans. Others may have liked you before, but would hate you due to your position. The hatred may be invisible, but it does exist. It's important to realize that not all smiles are real. The hate becomes visible when you fall, but that is a part you don't want to get to. Don't be overwhelmed with mind-blowing attributes and admiration. Don't go beyond your means to gain the love of those who hate you. It won't work. Nonetheless, you should correct hatred resulting from bad leadership.
      4. Get used to criticisms: Criticisms will always keep you in check. Through this, you'll know the thoughts of your people. It would help you realize one of these two things; your path may not always be right or you'd have to prove to your people why you think your move is the right one. Accept criticisms with no emotions attached.
      5. Be yourself, no matter what: Don't abandon your personal and social life. Be who you want to be, be with whomever you'd want to be with, and do whatever you'd want to do so far as these have no negative influences. There are times when people would probably want to change their outfit, or move with a particular sect of people but would be uncomfortable because other might think they've been acting up or superior since they became leaders. Be humble, but don't live to the satisfaction of people. Do what makes you feel happy once they're positive.
    By - No comments:
    Tags: , ,

    Tuesday, 17 October 2017

    The impending dangers of Ghana’s oil field

    October 17, 2017 0
    The impending dangers of Ghana’s oil field
    Since the discovery of oil in 2007, Ghana has gained a spotlight in the oil industry. This comes a long way to adding up to the numerous resources the country has, which are bettering the lives of its citizens and making them comfortable. The exploration, drilling and selling of oil is just what we have done as a country since gaining the oil. However, there are so many things involved in an oil exploration and drilling, that, if maximum care is not taken, will cause damage not only to the ships and their crew, but to the water body and other organisms that have the water body as their habitat. 
    Research has it that too much noise near a good fishing hole causes a reduction in population of fish, which leads to dissatisfaction among fishermen .
    Ghana has two active fields currently drilling oil. The Jubilee field managed by Tullow Oil and the  
    Sankofa field managed by ENI. These fields are designed to drill oil and bring wealth to the country with all safety measures but there are factors that are being ignored by the government. These are; 
    fishermen who come a long way out onto the field to catch fishes near the drilling ships and other ships working on the field as supply vessels or construction vessels.                   
    Some fishermen even tie their ropes to the anchor or the FPSO JAK and set fire under it to cook their meals. The (FPSO) Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel is a ship designed to store oil and transport it to a commercial tanker ship basically. This FPSO flares off some toxic gases among others and thus makes it unsafe for unqualified personnel to be in the working field. Sometimes the waves get too high that it sways the canoes to hit the construction vessels, the danger is they rip their boats or cause damage to some side, they can fall and get chopped by the propeller or even the ROVs working. Even at times, the propellers are trapped by their fishing nets. The captains always have to sound an alarm to wade them off when they come around. Technically the ships know there are some no go areas for each other but these fishermen don’t even know. 
    My question is how do they measure these distances? After a chat with some of them, it seems that they sound ignorant about the situation. I quizzed again, can’t they see the dangers they put themselves into? The answer I obtained was that majority of the fishes love being around the ships hence they got no choice than to get that close to the fish.                                                                                                                                            
    I would really appreciate if the minister of fisheries could set up a law to prevent the fishermen from getting too close to the ships or probably using a beacon as a barrier to stop them from getting close. This in effect will save their lives and enhance smooth and safe operations.
    By Kofi Sarpong (Marine Engineer)
    By - No comments:
    Tags: