Anas is a Decimero

Anas Aremeyaw Anas

World-known greatest investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas yesterday on his official Facebook handle, explained why he undertook the exercise of exposing corruption in the activities of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

It was a very lengthy submission. Some people who made comments stated that they were unable to read the whole story but got the gist of it by reading few line lines. One thing that must be stated is that Mr. Anas was poetic in the introductory lines of his submission.

The story can best be described as a satire, with its tone and mood depicting despair in Ghana football. 

Below is the poem. 

It’s not my domain and I have done my best to remain in my terrain. 

Yet have I been hounded with a refrain of pleas I can no longer restrain. 

Our game is on the wane,

           
They complain, 

And the very officials in charge are the bane. 

No matter how you train, 

However much you strain, 

You labour in vain, 

For the main actors have a stain on their brain, 

And no blood of honour in their vein. 

Literature experts are not alien to this kind of exercises. Back in school, perhaps the initial questions to emanate from such a poem will be to identify the literary devices, rhyming scheme, tone and mood, themes, the persona’s attitude and what have you.

Knowing Anas for the past few years, I can say he is not somebody very inclined to sports, most especially football. However, during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, he sat outside one of the stadia during a match, wrote what was happening and still won an award.

His least desire for football and willingness to “remain” at the areas he likes best in fighting corruption are evident in the first couplet (two lines) of his decima -“It’s not my domain and I have done my best to remain in my terrain. Yet have I been hounded with a refrain of pleas I can no longer restrain”.

Here, he narrates that he has “done his best” to stay in his “terrain” where he could be much comfortable. However he had been “harassed” with lots of “pleas” “he can no longer” cope with. This narrates what motivated him to investigate alleged and perceived corruption at the GFA.  

The tercet (three lines) which follow the couplet state emphatically that the beauty of Ghana football have dwindled – “Our game is on the wane”, whiles Anas accused the “officials in charge” to be the cause of the problem.

At this stage, it clearly tells that Anas might have gotten some concrete facts in order to put across this allegation, an allegation which has caused someone’s job quite recent.   

The final quintet (five lines) of his decima, suggest the pitiful mood of some dedicated players who train extra hard to win points on the field in order to bring smiles on the faces of their vociferous fans; only for the score-line of the said matches to have been decided indoors already by the “main actors” involved.

He ended by stating that these actors have no respect for Ghana football which is seen as the passion of the nation.    

"No matter how you train,

  However much you strain,

  You labour in vain,                             

  For the main actors have a stain on their brain,

  And no blood of honour in their vein”

Anas Aremeyaw Anas used a ten line poem to tell a satire. In literature (poetry), a ten-line poem is called decima. Those who write and perform decimas are called Decimistas or Decimeros. Anas’ decima in his recent work depicts despair in Ghana football.

In Puerto Rico and some parts of Lartin America, decima is often sung and improvised (Robert Lee Brewer, 2015). Who will sing for us? I choose Shatta Wale for the main track and Patapaa Ft. Sarkodie for the remix.  

https://www.modernghana.com/news/856637/anas-is-a-decimero.html

Ghana set to be encouraged in taking lead in extraditing Jammeh to face justice

ACILA Executive Director, William Nyarko 

Campaigners seeking to extradite former president Yahya Jammeh from Equatorial Guinea to Ghana to face justice for his alleged involvement in the murder of 44 Ghanaians in the Gambia in 2005 are set to encourage Ghana to take the leading role.    

The Executive Director for the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), Mr. William Nyarko stated that for extradition to happen, the state would first have to be encouraged in taking the leading role by establishing the facts and evidences that have been put forward by the campaigners. He was speaking with the BBC’s Thomas Nardi.

“First, we will encourage the state of Ghana to try to independently establish the facts which have been put forward, and then after that, based on the evidences they [state] will also uncover, they will seek an extradition request from the Equatorial Guinea”, Mr. Nyarko said.

The Executive Director was optimistic and sounded positive in the extradition process. He noted that should an extradition request be sent to Equatorial Guinea, they will be under an obligation to comply because Equatorial Guinea has ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).

“Torture was involved and under the Torture Convention to which the Equatorial Guinea has ratified, the state of Equatorial Guinea, if an extradition request is sent to them, will be under an obligation under International Law to extradite or prosecute”, he added.   

Leading campaigners, the Human Rights Watch has debunked the outcome of the previous investigations in 2009 by a team of investigators from the United Nations and Regional Group, the Economic Community of West Afrcan States (ECOWAS). 
  

The Lead Counsel for the Human Rights Watch Mr. Reed Brody stated that the new evidences they have found is at par with the findings of UN and ECOWAS investigators.

“We have found new information and it is clear that the migrants were not killed by rogue elements, but they were murdered by a paramilitary death squad who took orders directly from Yahya Jammeh”, Mr. Brody narrated.

The said report by the ECOWAS and UN exonerated Mr. Jammeh and his government from any wrong doing in connection with the murder of 56 migrants of whom, 44 were Ghanaians. It was reported that they were mistaken for coup plotters. 

According to Mr. Nyarko, the president, Nana Akufo-Addo has already been engaged, hoping that the president will oversee the matter.    

Martin Kyere, the only known survivor 

Teasing analysis / questions

The Gambian Government returned eight bodies to Ghana and paid $500,000 to cover the cost of burial for the victims. Then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration Mohammed Mumuni received the money in 2009.

1. If Yahya Jammeh and his government were not responsible for the murder, why must they pay such an amount to cover the cost of burial for the victims?                                                              
2. Were the UN and ECOWAS investigators prevented from visiting crucial sites which could have aided in their investigations? OR                                                                                             
3. Were they bribed by the Jammeh regime to exonerate them from any wrong doing?                     
4. On what basis did successive Ghana governments accept the UN and ECOWAS findings? OR.                                                           
5. Did some Ghana officials benefit from the $500,000 “victims money”?                                   
6. What was the cost of the entire burial of the eight bodies?                                                             
7. How much did each family receive?                                                                                              
8. Is there any concrete report which states how the monies were disbursed?

Video Source: BBC

https://www.modernghana.com/news/855740/human-rights-campaigners-to-encourage-ghana-to-extradite-jam.html

Next Elections Leadership, Instead of Next Generation: A “Black, Evil” Mindset of African Leaders

Many have seen AU Summit as talk shop

On Wednesday night, a dam on Kenyan commercial farm in Nakuru County burst, killing at least 45 people whiles more than 40 are missing. The water resource regulator has stated that the dam was built illegally and police has opened “initial investigation into the disaster.

The minister in charge of water also ordered other dams on the property to be drained immediately, a report by Reuters stated.

In August 2017, more than 1,000 people died whiles hundreds were missing and thousands rendered homeless in the worst natural disaster from the mudslide and flooding that hit Sierra Leon's capital, Freetown.

The initial report on the fatal disaster which resurfaced few days stated that it was a man-made tragedy that could have been prevented.

“The economy of Africa has remained in the doldrums for some time. We seemed some kind of stacked. We get locked up because the political cycle is obsessed with the next General Elections instead of being obsessed with the next generation”. Director of Malawi Economic Justice Network Mr. Dalitso Kubalasa stated in a recent interview with the BBC on the economy of Malawi.    

However, because the next generation’s fate hinges on the decisions taken by politicians and key stakeholders today, the economy and the way things are done on the African continent is not likely to be good from any time soon. 

Is it either African leaders have absolutely no or less knowledge on the problems confronting Africa or have decided to pay greater attention to their families, cronies and their pockets rather than the interests and wellbeing of the continent. I think it is both factors. This makes it evil.

I have listed just two of the unending disasters that hit two African countries quite recent because of the number of casualties involved; how and when they occurred. The fact of the case is that such disasters which claimed many lives could have been avoided. So what happened? 

Mount Sugar Loaf  which collapsed causing the disaster

With respect to Sierra Leone, a country that has seen civil war for quite long period should have been cautious of the effects of environmental degradation in order to prevent any unforeseen tragedies not related to any war.

“Freetown is a coastal city built on wooded hills. Though mudslides are a rare event, this incident was not surprising. Over the past 10 years research papers and civil society organisations have repeatedly warned the government, and individuals who choose to build in unstable areas, that the city faces a serious threat from deforestation on the peninsula”.

“As the city pushes up into the mountains, the population pressures are taking a toll on the forest. Trees are being cut down by people who want land for housing and those who cut wood for their daily needs. About 14.7% of dense forest in 1986 was converted to built-up by 2015. This increases the risk of mudslides as trees usually prevent run-off and forests hold water. When there is prolonged or intense rainfall in places with no trees, the soil becomes saturated and erodes”, (The Conversation).

The report added that there were calls to stop “the extension of settlements into the peninsula hills”, but the authorities took no steps in addressing the situation.

A recent report by Aljazeera stated that “land was – and still is – doled out freely by politicians to their loyalists. Permits and paperwork are issued regardless of the location of the property being built. Shacks that are marked for demolition remain standing, and catchment areas are encroached upon with impunity”.  

Some rescue workers pull bodies from the mud 

Regarding the Kenya dam disaster, I was not surprised to hear that the owners of the dam did not have operational permit. There could be few questions: since when did the water resource regulator find out that the owners of the dam did not have permit? Are some officials from the regulator benefitting from the dam? Have some of them benefited from such illegal dams that have been ordered to be drained immediately?

The comments by the Kenya water resource regulator clearly depict that some Africans put in leadership positions are just lazy to implement some basic rules that go a long way to helping their own people. To make the long story short, the culture of doing and managing things in Africa has mostly been reactive instead of being proactive. If this had happened in a developed nation, the official in charge could have resigned.  

These are the same people in most part of the continent put in charge to manage various activities in their respective countries. No physical work is done by them till a disaster struck. In Ghana, a clear example of such institutions is the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). Most often, we do not see NADMO educating the populace till a disaster struck. They tour around affected areas, give them few items and that is it.  

Here in Ghana, some disasters have occurred which claimed lives of many individuals. One thing which is similar to the aforementioned disasters is that they could have been prevented. Lots of noise is made in the initial stage and after few days, noting is done.

In 2012, an Italian court sent shock waves through the scientific community in a verdict that convicted seven prominent Italian earthquake experts including a former government official of manslaughter in a six year jail term for failing to adequately warn the public about a fatal 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck in the central Italian city of L'Aquila in 2009 which killed more than 300 people.  

This is unusual knowing that earthquakes, just like any natural occurrence can never be predicted, yet these experts were imprisoned. How about the actions that we are directly responsible for?

Our attitudes boil down to the fact that we have elected leaders, who just after winning election, focus their attention on winning the next election rather than fulfilling their mandate. The electorates have also allowed themselves to be bought into this idea, thinking that it is the new normal.