AU Summit 2007: Praise Ghana, Alleluia!!!

AFRICAN UNION LOGO

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath
Long, long, long ago - long before Leonardo da Vinci of Italy flew the first air craft from a mountain top and crushed in a valley and got hurt badly, the legendary African Lizard had fallen off the tallest tree in the world and crushed on the ground without being hurt at all! Then still on the crushed spot, he looked up, down, left and right, expecting people around to clap for him for a great feat. But when the Lizard realised that nobody was minding him, he declared: “If nobody will praise me, I will praise myself!”

So, too, if nobody in this terrorist-infested world and highly coup d’état prone-continent of Africa will praise Ghana for having successfully hosted a terrorism-free AU Summit in the capital city of Accra from June 25, to July 3, 2007, with over 50 Heads of State, numerous Ministers and high-power diplomats and other dignitaries in attendance, I will praise Ghana on behalf of Ghana.

Commendation
There is no speck of doubt that Ghana as a nation deserves commendation for ensuring that not a single mosquito touched even the smallest toes of any of the African Heads of State who participated in the just-ended historical A U Summit in our country. Even Ghana Parliament has documented in its Hansards that there are incalculable mosquitoes in Accra and these mosquitoes do not need passports and visas to board a plane from any part of the city to the Accra International Conference Centre? This is why we must be grateful to the Creator and sing Praise to Ghana..! So Praise Ghana..! It was not an easy feat at all. Our ancestors coined a proverb that: “If you did not take part in the warfare, you would have the luxury to fume that people did not fight enough.”

Whether we like it or not, the 9th A U Summit Accra, with focused on the Grand Debate by the African Heads of State on the Union Government of the Continent has come and gone. I will prefer to call it a Golden Jubilee African Union Summit because it took place in the year that Ghana celebrated her Golden Jubilee Independence Anniversary. More importantly, the seed of the United States of Africa germinated in the fertile womb of a son of Ghana in the African personality of the 20th century, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who never dies. Over 40 years ago when he was wide awake, and dreaming during day time, his peers were snoring in the night – hrorrrr- hrorrr- hrorr…!

Dr Nkrumah’s soul
As a matter of fact, the invisible soul of Dr Nkrumah took his seat in a corner behind the 52 or so African Heads who locked themselves up in the dark room to engage in the invisible Grand Debate. Why wasn’t the debate telecast live for the over 800 million other Africans to see “feelee-feelee?” If the Grand Opening Ceremony could be broadcast live, why not the Grand Debate? It would have made the drama more exiting indeed! And the Heads of State would have even earned the sympathy and an understanding of their citizenry in Africa and the Diaspora instantly.

Can you imagine an African Cup of Nations match in any country in Africa where only the players are allowed into the stadium? Are they playing for themselves or they are playing for the people of their respective nations? Now the African media, African civil societies and individuals citizens on the mother continent and the Diaspora, have also fiercely engaged themselves in another Grand Debate arguing the merits and demerits of the outcome of the “secret” debate - the “Accra Declaration” as the communiqué of the Grand Debate is known.

The purpose of this write-up is not to join the debate but just to look at how Ghana as a nation prepared for the event in terms of accommodation, vehicles and other logistics which made the summit worthy of attending. I will also touch briefly on how most delegates or visitors who came to Ghana for the first time saw our beloved country.

Philosophically, let us first and foremost be honest with ourselves that, as human beings, we are still treading in the forest of errors. Thus, nothing we do on this material plane can be perfect as such. We should therefore, not pretend that everything at the summit was like angels singing and dancing in the kingdom of heaven. And there has never been any perfect human endeavour any where in the world. There can only be a degree of excellence at best or outstanding.

Apology
We must be humble enough to admit our mistakes and say sorry for our shortfalls. This explains why Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai Cofie, deserves commendation for coming out boldly to apologise to the media for the problems encountered with some security officers at the event. That apology was indicative of humility, maturity and wisdom on the part of Government and people of Ghana to the rest of Africa and the world. All those who felt offended in one way or the other must accept that apology in good faith.

The truth is that the original arrangements made for the media coverage under the direct command of the AU Commission Headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, supported by the Ghana Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), was fantastic. But for the last minute security re-arrangements requested by some participating Heads of State, which protocol demanded Ghana Government to comply with, there would have been no much problems at all as far as media coverage of the event was concerned.

Again another factor that made things a bit difficult to accommodate the over 600 foreign journalists including local ones who descended from the media planet unto our land to cover the Grand Debate was the less than 2000 sitting capacity of the Accra International Conference Centre itself. Space in the Conference Centre became such a scarce commodity that GJA had to adopt a rationing strategy for the benefit of media personnel.

Whatever discussions and arguments we engage in now after the event is but a postmortem analysis or a review of the summit; which is very healthy for our democratic growth. This writer will therefore, humbly assert that we focus more on the positive aspects of the summit and pick up some lessons from the negative aspects so as to move forward not only as a nation but as a continent as well.

Let us also bear in mind that: “Darkness pervaded all before light came. But light came not from darkness. For darkness is the absence of light.” Therefore, as a nation we must endeavour to embrace light and shun darkness. Is there any Ghanaian of good will who will not wish only the best for Ghana?

Positive views about Ghana
Now listen to some positive comments made by most delegates about Ghana. Generally speaking, some foreign journalists whom this writer interacted with at the Media Centre confessed that they could not believe their eyes that they were in an African country. Two young Kenyan female journalists told me they were visiting Ghana for the first. Then when I asked them how they saw Ghana, they looked at each other’s faces and laughed. I wondered why. Then they exclaimed: “Your country is WAWO!” According to them, they found the city of Accra very “sparkling,” I felt flatted. And I was proud to be a Ghanaian. But inside me I knew most of the delegates did not have the opportunity to visit the Korle lagoon and the Sodom and Gomorrah areas of Accra.

One Cameroonian journalist put it this way: “I never knew that apart from South Africa there is another country in Africa which is so neat, clean and beautiful like Ghana.” Then he added, “Little wonder the World Bank and the IMF have always cited Ghana as a shining star of Africa.” Despite the problem with the media, some delegates at the Media Centre could not help it but to be dancing to the tune of highlife music being provided by the Global Media Alliance’s stand.

The Ministry of Information and National Orientation mounted a magnificent semi-photo exhibition of tourism pictures which attracted so many delegates. They collected all kinds of brochures and pamphlets about Ghana and wanted more. Some of them were snapping photographs of themselves, their shoes, belts and hats from January to December non-stop. They were enjoying the happiness of being in Ghana “keke,” as the Ga will say.

Another positive aspect of the Summit for which Ghana must be praised to the blue heavens was the splendid accommodation facilities made available for delegates ranging from the poorest messenger to the richest Head of State who came to Ghana. The Government and people of Ghana must be commended for sacrificing a little to make the august visitors feel at home away from home. It is these little, little basic things that add up to give Ghana a global branding as hospital and Friendliest people in the world.

The AU village at La Wireless area in Accra was a tourist attraction in itself. Coupled with the magnificent numerous three to four star hotels and others in the sparkling city of Accra made lodging and boarding enjoyable for the august visitors. In fact, Accra is on the way of becoming the neatest and cleanest city in West Africa if it is not yet there. However, the street lighting at night in the city is not good enough. We must do something about this street lights business before we die hen!

Again another successful aspect of the Accra Summit which must not be taken for granted was the harmonious and smooth fashion the delegates were conveyed in luxurious cars from their hotels to the Conference Centre and other venues for various activities such as the African First Ladies meetings, the Fashion Shows, the State Lunches, Dinners and Ghana’s Senior Citizens’ Party Gala with African Heads of State.

People who deserve commendation in this regard are the Ghana Police, the traffic wardens, the drivers who drove various delegates including the Heads of State, the young Ghanaian men and women who served as conductors, or guides and other security officers into whose hands the immediate safety of these delegates were entrusted while in Ghana. Sometimes, such officers had to spend long hours with these delegates to ensure that they safely returned to their lodges before they went home only to return the next moment to conduct them round again. The vital roles played by these ordinary officers must not be taken for granted. When the Big men and women are in the Paradise, they should not forget these small men and women on earth, oooo!

African First Ladies

Oh, less I forget! I have observed that most of the African First Ladies who came to Ghana including their host could participate in any beauty contest in any part of the world and they would win hands down. You see, the Creator Himself molded African women in a special way with their unique shapes from the toe to the head. Black beauty is always charming, soothing, graceful and consoling. On the Ghana Television, we saw that one of the African First Ladies was a gentle man. Something extraordinary happened at their meeting on Monday, July 2, 2007. When their Ghanaian Master of Ceremony was introducing them one by one, one of them was represented by a gentle man.

When that particular First Lady from a West African country was announced and a bearded-man in three-piece-costume moved to take the seat, the entire Parliament House where they were meeting burst into uncontrollable laughter. Was he a First Lady or First Gentleman? He himself could not help it. He laughed and laughed until tears started streaming from his eyes. It was fun. That is how life should be. Once in a while someone must create a situation where everybody will forget about their woes and laugh. Laughter is good for human beings. That is why of all creatures on earth only human beings have the gift to laugh haw-haw -haw- haw!

On a more serious note, I can vouch that African First Ladies are not only physically good-looking but their heads are impregnated with wisdom, intelligence and sense of purpose. They are bold, courageous and fearless in their outlook. At the time some of their husbands put their tails in-between their thighs and covering their faces so that television camera will not look into their eyes, their wives stoop up with chests high and decisively declared war on HIV/AIDS on the continent.

As mothers who go through the actual pain of labour, they reasoned that they could not sit down with their hands in their laps for HIV/AIDS to be robbing them of their babies at random. Consequently they have adopted a resolution to drastically deal with HIH/ AIDS here and now and not wait until January, 2008 or so.

The First Ladies’ resolution was so vital that it constitutes the foundation of the very survival of the future of Africa. How can there be United States of Africa in 50 years’ time if today’s African babies cannot live beyond the ages of five? Did African Heads of State embody the First Ladies’ resolution into the Accra Declaration? If not, why? African Women’s Rights Activists are you there? No further comment!

Frankly, there have been so many positive achievements of the Summit. I have not mentioned the economic gains such Dollars, Euros, and CFAC cash that poured into to the hospitality industry of our country during the period of the summit alone. But for purposes of this article the final one I should like to mention is the special website Ghana created for the event.

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD in collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Information and National Orientation developed a unique website which was devoted solely for online information dissemination on the Accra AU Summit 2007. The website address was: www.ausummit-accra.org.gh This site was located within the premises of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation and managed by the Information Services Department (ISD).

It must be admitted that, perhaps the publicity for the site was not adequate. But it was through this site that, in addition to publishing news stories on the summit on daily basis, speeches, communiqués and other papers presented at the Summit were dispatched online to the AU Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In fact, the AU Headquarters was very appreciative of the services received through this site. They admitted that but for the Accra Summit website, AU itself would have been totally out of coverage area of Ghana. As you know, Africa is still struggling in the forest of technology and power crisis. But we shall overcome someday.

Suggestion
Shall I make one small suggestion for the consideration of the nation? Alright! Ghana must embark, as a matter of urgency, upon the construction of a new International Conference Centre. The new Conference Centre must have at least 10.000 sitting capacity. In the main hall, provision must be made for a Press gallery of at least 3.000 sitting capacity. The Conference Centre must no longer be squeezed in the already congested city centre of Accra. It must be sited either at Dodowa or Kokrobite near Accra. Twah, twah, twah- Omanye abaa! Yaoo!!! Praise Ghana!

Taking ICTs Closer To Rural People in Ghana

COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTRE (SAMPLE)
By Mawutodzi K. Abissath
Once upon a time, the only means of transport available to mankind were human feet. There was no automobile, no locomotive, no sea-craft, let alone an air-craft. But then, King Hyena and King Tortoise had to embark upon a long journey to a common destination.

The two friends were to participate in a very crucial council of traditional rulers' meeting that was to adopt a resolution to transform all satellite kingdoms into one mighty kingdom with one supreme King. Of course, they had no choice but to make the trip on foot. However, because King Hyena was faster than King Tortoise, he left him behind and rushed to the meeting. Eventually the two friends reached their destination and successfully accomplished their mission. There is, therefore, this African proverb which reminds that: "Wherever Hyena will go, Tortoise, too, can go; the only difference may be the time each of them will reach their destination."

Ghana, like Malaysia, Singapore and other technologically minded countries, is today gradually but steadily taking Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) to rural communities so as to bridge the digital divide between the urban dwellers and the rural folks in the country.

One strategy Ghana Government has adopted to achieve this feat is the establishment of Community Information Centres (CICs) in all 138 districts throughout the country. The ultimate goal is to establish the CICs in all the 230 constituencies in Ghana. In fact the beauty underlining this concept is to replicate miniature kinds of Ghana-India Kofi Annan of Advanced Information Technology Centre of Excellence in all corners of the country. No matter how long it will take Government to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task, the important fact is that Government has taken the first step towards the realisation of this vision and mission. It must be borne in mind that those countries like Singapore and others who are leading in this field of endeavour, known as E-Government started their journey almost 30 years ago. So Ghana, too, will get there. In this context, E-Government simply stands for Electronic Government. And Electronic Government signifies Governments providing public services to their citizens electronically or online. In Singapore, Government slogan is: Whatever services that can be provided electronically must be delivered electronically. Simple and short.

ICT Policy
It is relevant to mention in passing that Ghana Government through the Ministry of Communications, in 2003 formulated an ICT policy dubbed, Information and Communication Technology for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD). This policy can be characterised as the foundation upon which Ghana's vision for the information age was built. As a matter of fact the Ghana ICT4AD is the concrete evidence of the government's objective to ensure the availability of quality and affordable access to information and communications services to facilitate the transformation of Ghana into knowledge-based society and technological driven- economy as ratified by the country at the World Summit on Information Society in 2005 or so.

The formulation of the ICT4AD also takes in account the aspirations and the provisions of key socio-economic development framework documents such as Ghana's vision 2020 the First Step; the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) 2002 -2004; the Co-ordinated Programme for Economic and Social Development of Ghana (2003 -2012).
This has been updated within the thee-pronged Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) II development strategy. The focus is to enable Ghana attain her developmental goals faster and more efficiently.

At the time of writing this piece, Ghana Government has drawn up comprehensive Development Action Plans out of the ICT Development Policy. The implementation plans outlined specific areas of focus, dubbed Sub-plans. These include: the E-Government Sub-plan; the Accelerated Human Development Sub-plan; the E-education Sub-plan; the Private Sector Development Sub-plan and the E-Commerce Development Sub-plan. Others are the E-Health Sub-plan; the ICT and Physical Infrastructure Development and Roll-out Sub-plan; the Legal, Regulatory, Institutional Provisions and Standards Sub-plan; the Industrial, Scientific Research Drive and Promotion Sub-plan; Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Drive in ICTs ; the E-Security Sub-plan and above all, the ICTs-in-Community Sub-plan; just to cite a few.

It is the ICTs-in-Community Sub-plan which is the special point of reference in this article. This plan is targeted at programmes and initiatives for facilitating rapid deployment of ICTs within the community especially in the rural zones to promote universal access to and the exploitation of ICTs and its resources in the population at large. And one of the concrete measures Government has adopted in achieving this transfer of ICTs to the rural dwellers is the establishment of the Community Information Centres in various districts of the country.

CICs
Ghana's Ministry of Communications since 2005 has embarked on infrastructure development of CICs at the, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies throughout the country. So far 71 CICs have been established in selected communities. The communities have been selected based on certain existing facilities such as electricity, telephones and so on in those communities.

It is important to underline the fact that the CICs are at various state of development. In other words, not all the established 71 CICs are in full operation yet. According to survey and evaluation mission conducted by the office of the UNDP in Accra in April, 2007, various CICs are at various operational and functional levels. For example, out of the total number of 71, five have been commissioned (C); eight have been classified as fully operationalised and functional (OF); two are described as operationalised (O); 11 of them are categorised as pending operationalisation (PO) and another 11 referred to as ready, while 34 are placed on status of Civil Works (CW). It must be noted that some of the terms used here to describe the status of the CICs are more or less technical and can best be interpreted by the technical experts. This writer is only trying to disseminate relevant public information for the benefit of the people of Ghana and beyond, and as such, will not pretend to be an ICT expert at all.

This year (2007) Government is determined to establish at least two CICs with full operational capacity in each of the ten regions of the country before the end of the year. And when we talk of CIC with full operational capacity, we mean a Centre that is fully equipped not only with machines but with the human being with ICT skills and managerial know how, who will operate the equipment and manage the Centre as well. In this regard a fully operationalised and functional level CIC must have the following: The physical building itself with electricity and telephone facilities; the Local Area Network (LAN); at least five (5) workstations, that is computers; one Server; one Switch; one Printer; one Scanner and five (5) UPSs. One may ask what are some of the services that a CIC is supposed to render to the community. And I will further probe to know the targeted beneficiaries of CICs in a typical deprived community.

Basically a CIC has a responsibility to provide not only an Internet cyber cafe services to the community, which is so far, the focus of most CICs visited in April this year. But the CICs are mandated to provide ICT training opportunity to the rural brothers and sisters in the area of basic computer literacy so that they will not see a computer as some ferocious creature ready to devour them whenever they touch it.

Further, the CICs are to support business activities in rural communities by providing marketing information on improved agricultural production and extension services. More importantly, the CICs are strategically positioned to disseminate and educate rural folks on government policies, programmes and projects, especially in the areas of health, education, agriculture, environment, local government by-laws, tourism potentials and investment opportunities in their own localities and how they can tap those using ICT tools. And the main beneficiaries of CICs among others are the general community members, school children, youth out of school, women and women groups, private business entities, Non-governmental organisations, local government authorities and of course our most venerable traditional authorities.

Stake holders
There are several stake holders or collaborators including the Ministry of Communications, the Assemblies themselves, the UNDP, the Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL)and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO), who are putting their expertise at the disposal of the CICs to make them really productive and to live up to expectation. There are other indirect development partners, playing crucial roles behind the scene such as the World Bank, the International Institute for Communication Development (IICD) and others.

MINO for instance, is responsible for the content management of the CICs. In other words, it is the Ministry of Information and National Orientation through the Information Services Department that has the mandate to employ its experience in the communication and dissemination of public information and the technical know how in editorial matters of information gathering, processing, packaging and disseminating to the grassroots people in the rural zones through the famous ISD Cinema Vans. Information Services Department also has offices doted in most districts with officers who have the technical know how of sending feed-back to government to assess the impact of its policies on ordinary people in the street.

With the coming into being of CICs it has become imperative for these Information Officers to acquire relevant ICT skills in order to support the CICs in content management strategies. This is where, UNDP deserves tons of commendation for teaming up with Ghana Government by providing technical and financial support in the area of capacity building for MINO in training Information Officers to enable them upgrade themselves so as to add modern technique of information dissemination using ICT tools in addition to their traditional know-how.

Capacity Building
During the first and second weeks of June, 2007, UNDP organised a 'Train-the-Trainer' Course in ICTs for selected 22 Information Officers including some District Information Officers at the Ghana Multi-media Information Centre (GMIC) in Accra. At the closing session of that capacity building programme, Ghana's Minister for Information and Orientation, Hon.Kwamena Bartels (MP), was full of praise to the UNDP for their commitment to supporting Government in achieving its ICT 4 AD goals in the country.

The Minister disclosed that his Ministry had just embarked on a nation-wide recruitment exercise and over 116 additional District Information Officers are expected to be appointed to fill vacancies in the remaining districts where officers are not currently available. He pointed out that the CICs have come to stay and are to contribute to get the people at the grassroots to "be informed and enlightened to enable them make informed choices."

Honourable Bartels stated that a series of ICT capacity building programmes would be lined up for all new Information Officers to be engaged to acquire the requisite skills in content management to enable them discharge their duties effectively and efficiently at the CICs where they would be posted to. He, therefore, placed UNDP on "red-alert" to stand by. As he put it, "Oliver Twist."

Mr Fredrick Ampiah, Partnership Advisor and Head of Partnership Unit at the UNDP who represented the UNDP Country Director in Ghana was of the view that the entire country was strategically positioned to achieve the time-bound Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. He noted that, "the initiative of developing ICT capacity within the Information Services Department will not only serve as the foundation for the full utilisation of the CIC concept, but will also go a long way to improve the creation of knowledge based societies in the rural areas where the majority of Ghanaians live."

Mobile Phone: A Tool For Modern Fishermen In Ghana

EVOLUTION OF MOBILE PHONES OVER THE YEARS

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath
It is prudent to be guided by some of the thought-provoking African proverbs like this simple one: “A child who has never traveled before tends to think that only his mother knows how to cook delicious soup.”

Long, long ago; and long before the Pyramids of Egypt were built and before Amenhotep IV a.k.a Akhenaton who was the first human being to proclaim monotheism or the concept of One God, passed through transition in 1350 B.C., traditional fishermen went to sea with only two basic tools – a wooden canoe and fishing net. The canoe fishermen then could not sail into relatively deep sea to catch whatever fishes they wanted. They were compelled to spend long days and harsh nights at sea, all in vain like Apostle Peter and his colleagues before they met the Saviour, Jesus the Christ.

Later in the 20th century or so, when automobile was invented and mechanical engineering advanced to a cert degree of perfection, canoe fishermen added one more tool to their implements – the out-board motor. This tool helped tremendously to make sailing swift, fast and very smooth indeed. In fact, fishing became more pleasant and enjoyable. The canoes were propelled by four- stroke engines and fishermen could go as far as they wanted provided there was enough pre-mixed fuel in their petrol tank. The proud fishermen could ride and dive deep into the sea and chase fishes and harvest them in their very “dormitories” even when they are in the process of “procreating”.

In Ghana, during bumper harvest seasons, some fishermen had no choice but to dump some of their catches back into the sea to avoid selling them at heart-broken prices at the shore. Why? Because they did not have access to cold store facilities to preserve the extra catches for tomorrow. Further more; they did not have the means to communicate with their agents or customers beyond their immediate communities in advance to determine whether their catches could be sold at competitive prices before else where. Thus, they were at the mercy of some unscrupulous middle women fish mongers.

Today, at the threshold of the 21st century, thanks to Information Communication Technology (ICT) particularly Mobile Telephony, fishermen in Ghana have added the fourth most important tool to their fishing equipment – Mobile Phone. Ghanaian fishermen may be characterized as the latest segment of the Ghanaian society, especially in the rural community to join the technological train wagon of mobile phone users.

On Wednesday November 23, 2005, this writer was invited in his capacity as a Journalist interested in ICT or online-journalism or cyber-journalism to join a group of researchers, headed by the Coordinator of the Technology Assessment Project (TAP) of the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Amos Anyimadu on a study tour of some selected Districts in the Central Region of Ghana with particular focus on fisher folks of Moree.

Without attempting to bamboozle the reader with any ICT jargons such as “VSAT Technology”, “Telematics”, “Mobile telephony”, “Seamless Integration” and what have you, suffice to say that the purpose of the study tour was simply to find out how Information Communication Technology for Advanced Development (ICT4D) policy of the Government of Ghana was being impacted on the rural communities in general. In this particular case the research was further narrowed down on how the fishermen of Moree are making use of Mobile Phones to enhance their traditional fishing business to improve upon their living standards.

Moree is a prominent fishing town along the coast of Ghana. It is about two hours’ drive west of Accra, off Accra-Takoradi road a few kilometers away from Cape Coast Township. It is located in the Abura, Asebu, Kwankese District. Moree now has a population of about 30.000 according to the 2000 population census. Even before the research team got to Moree, the team leader, Dr Anyimadu, decided that a stop-over be made at Apam, another progressive fishing town in the Central Region to briefly interact with some fishermen there to see whether the Mobile phone fiver in Ghana has caught up with them, too.

In fact, we reached Apam rather late about 7.30p.m to 8.00p.m. We asked and were directed to the real area where typical fishermen and women live. The first question Dr Anyimadu asked in the language of the people (Fanti) was whether there was any Communication Centre in the area. A wooden quiosk was pointed out to us. Even though there was no electric light in it, it was operating as a Communication Centre alright.

Central Region fishermen were found to be very open and eager to offer information. As soon as they were made to understand the purpose of our visit in their community at that time of the day, the news spread like bush fires. They were told that we were a team of researchers from the University of Ghana trying to find out whether they had access to mobile phones. If yes, was there any way the communication gadgets were helping them to advance the business.

Within a twinkle of an eye, we were invaded by people and any questions put to them were responded to with alacrity. They even offered some information that we did not anticipate. They talked about how they use the mobile phones to check from their agents and customers from various parts of the country where the prices of fish were more competitive.

One revelation we did not know until then was that some fishermen go to sea only to buy fishes from other bigger fishing boats to come and sell. In a nutshell the Apam fishermen are making good use of the Communication Centres and “Space to Space operators” who are operating both fixed lines and mobile phones to enhance their fishing business. Shall I digress a bit?

About 18 years ago, precisely in September 1988, just after 12 months of the establishment of an Apam Community FM Station, I personally went to spend seven days in that town to administer survey questionnaires to a variety of respondents. The survey was in connection with my Project Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Diploma in Journalism of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Accra. My topic was “Communication and Organisation of Rural People for Development: A Case Study of Apam FM Station”. In fact the survey covered Apam and Mannford fishing communities. Even though the Station had been in existence for barely one year at the time, I wanted to know if it was making any impact on the rural people. As a matter of fact, the Apam Community FM Station was an experimental Project of the Ghana Broad Casting Corporation (GBC). The experiment was based on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) concept of Rural Broadcasting.

What was fascinating about the Apam FM Station was that, at that time, Ghana was the second country in Africa (after Kenya), selected by UNESCO to benefit from the Community FM Station Programme initiated by what was known as the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).The Station was commissioned on September 26,1987 by the then Ag. PNDC Secretary for Information, Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi on behalf of the then Chairman J.J.Rawlings.

One major benefit that the fishermen derived from that Community FM Station, according to the survey was that, every dawn before they embarked on their fishing expeditions, they would wait and listen to the weather forecast for the day on the radio in their own language before they went to sea. That service the Station was rendering them was more valuable to them than anything else in their vocation or trade. It helped them avoid storms and other unpredictable hazards at sea.

Thus, besides, relevant information, education, entertainment and other motivational programmes that the station was broadcasting to mobilize the rural folks for development as far as communication was concerned, the people were allowed to go to the studio to undertake some unique traditional performances themselves. Today the Apam Community FM Station is “dead”. The fishermen lamented when I inquired on Wednesday 23 November, 2005 when the Technology Assessment Project team visited the town. Apam fishermen expressed the desire to have their Community FM Station back. According to them, the 10kw transmitter donated by UNESCO has broken down and the Station had been off air for the past seven years or so.

Now they had to rely on Adom FM in Tema or Peace F M in Accra to listen to the weather forecast. May I take the liberty to suggest that the District Assembly responsible for Apam, the Member of Parliament for that constituency in collaboration with GBC, if possible, should do some feasibility study of the Community FM Station and come up with a proposal for the consideration of UNESCO for technical support to see if that Radio Station could not be revived for the development communication of the rural people?

On Thursday November 24, 2005, the Technology Assessment Project study team continued with their research findings at Moree. There is one Communication Centre in Moree, called “Shalom Communication Centre”. It has one fixed line. The land linetelephone number is virtually known to everybody in the town. With this strategy whoever in the town receives a call from any part of the country through the Communication Centre can be sent for to respond for a fee. The Communication Centre owner also has a mobile phone in addition to his fixed line. There are three other people who are operating “Table-top Space to Space system” in the town. Those who have mobile phones have to search for a suitable location to position themselves in order to receive network connectivity otherwise, their handsets will only be “museum pieces” in their hands. Mobile phone operating companies should not only crowd themselves in Accra and other big cities. They must consider investing in rural communities, too. They will still make profit considering what we saw at Moree.

In an interview with the chief fisher of Moree, Nana Fin and some of his elders, the Mobile phone has become one of the most important tools they are now using to enhance their business as far as the fishery industry is concerned. According to Chief fisherman, he himself has two mobile phones. He himself does no longer go to sea often. Therefore, when his people are sailing, he gives one mobile phone to them to take along. He keeps one with himself at home. With this strategy communication link is established between him and his fishermen at sea.

He explains that whenever there is any problem such as a shortage of pre-mixed fuel or someone falls sick at sea the fishermen at sea use the mobile phone to communicate with him at home. Then he will quickly respond and arrange for solution to whatever might be the difficulty being encountered at sea. Nana Fin is very happy and proud for this dimension brought about in their vocation thanks to Mobile Telephony. He recalls that previously, when his fishermen went to sea for about three or more days without any feedback, he would be restless until they returned safely. “But these days I am always in contact with my people at sea if only they are within 30km to 40km radius away from me. And I am able to know whatever is happening until they come back to shore”, he said with broad smiles in his face.

Furthermore, with the Mobile phone he could verify the prices of fish at various market places at Tema, Kumasi, Koforidua or even Accra before his people land with their catches. Other fishermen spoken to in Moree concurred with the Chief Fisherman. Messrs Kobina Otu, Mark Pratt and Kofi Sarsah, all of whom have one mobile phone each were very proud to possess the modern communication gadget which is making their business more enjoyable. They are calling on mobile phone operators to come and open mobile phone shops in Moree because more people are eager to acquire the equipment as part of heir fishing implements.

Nevertheless, the fisher folks of Moree have one particular problem which is militating against the smooth operation of the canoe fishing industry in the area. According to fishermen interviewed the basic problem is the use of very powerful lights by some fishing trawlers or boats in fishing in their waters. They said this problem has been persisting for over two years now and all efforts made to obtain the attention of authorities concerned to help solve the problem prove futile. They complained bitterly that the use of the powerful lights tends to drive the fishes away from canoe fishermen who are not able to do deep sea fishing. In fact the Chief fisherman of Moree stated that because of this problem the business of women fishmongers in the town has virtually come to an end. “Now our women are leaving for Abidjan, Kumasi and other places because they don’t have work to do in our town” he lamented.

Mr. Kobina Otu, another leading fisherman, put his lamentation in a rather philosophical fashion thus: “Look us,” he chipped in. “We don’t have forest into which we can go and hunt for games or cultivate cash crops like cocoa and so on. Fishing is the only vocation we depend on to feed ourselves, cloth our wives, and above all to education our children. If today others are making it impossible for us to undertake our God-given career, then what are we living for?”, he queried hypothetically. Moree fishermen are therefore, appealing to the authorities concerned to come to their aid by stopping those who are using the powerful lights in fishing in their area of operation.

The Technology Assessment Project has been mandated by the Ghana Office of the World Bank and other partners to undertake a radio production on Information and Decentralized Development. A follow-up forum on Mobile Communication will take place at Busy Internet in Accra on December 5,2005, while in-depth research findings of the Moree study tour will be published in a book later. Ghana now has no choice but to
embrace ICT to accelerate its development strategy for the prosperity of the nation.

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Ghana’s Solar Eclipse 2006: It Came to Pass

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GHANA
By Mawutodzi K.Abissath

Ghana's Solar Eclipse2006,
And it came to pass!
It was a Wednesday,
March 29, 2006.
It was a magnificent day
In the true sense of the word.

And it came to pass!
Scientists predicted it,
And it came to pass!
Philosophers foresaw it,
And it came to pass!
Mystics knew it in advance,
And it came to pass!

Oh Divine Intelligence,
The Universal Mind,
How omnipotent art thou!
How omniscient art thou!
And how mysterious art!
Thy ways!
Thou art SUPREME
Glory be to thy name
Now and evermore!

The Solar Eclipse in Ghana was spectacular in the true sense of the word indeed!
It happened as was predicted by scientists. It was almost near to perfection. Scientists indicated it would occur between the hours of 0830 and 093 UT.

However, by 7.30 hours GMT some parts of the country, especially in the Western Region about 400km west of the capital city Accra, the lunar journey across the solar pathway had actually started in Ghana.
In the Ghanaian capital itself the magical movement was spotted around 7.45 am. That was the precise time this writer noticed the event for the first time with the solar eclipse goggles, purchased for that purpose.

The much anticipated eclipse of the sun and its resultant anxiety and eagerness was no longer a speculation .It happened on 29/03/06 in Ghana where it set off as its gateway to Africa. Scores of excited and enthusiastic overjoyed citizens viewed the phenomenon. At the time Ghanaians were enjoying the sight of the celestial romance between the sun and the moon with the planet earth acting as an eye witness, some selected other African countries were experiencing memorable event as well.

Those other nations included Benin, Nigeria, Niger and Togo, all in West Africa; Egypt and Libya in North Africa and Chad in Central Africa.The event attracted scientists and tourists from all parts of the world who trooped in to Ghana to witness once- in- a -century event. It was telecast live on the National Television for the world to behold.

Records show that the last time a total solar eclipse occurred in Ghana was in 1945.There was no television at the time in the country. Thus, in the next 50 years or so time, when the miracle is expected to occur again, our children's children would be privileged and likely to view what we watched today.

Interestingly virtually all hotels in six out of ten Regions in the country where the total eclipse was experienced were booked in advance. The regions included the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Volta and Western Regions. The rest of the Region experienced a partial eclipse.

Along the country’s coast, some high grounds offered unique spots such as hill or mmountain tops, in towns like Anomabo in the Central Region, McCarthy Hill in the Greater Accra, Shai Hills and Aburi Hills in Eastern Region. Tourists who came to Ghana enjoyed themselves to the blue heaven. They experienced the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality that would be engrained in their store house of memory forever.

In some hotels for instance, organised, special traditional drumming and dance programmed to entertain tourists while they were watching and snapping pictures of the natural phenomenon. In Accra, the usual traffic-jammed streets were deserted. Workers abandoned their desks for once and rushed out of their offices to experience the romantic relationship of the two celestial bodies.

And at about 9.10 a.m, when the moon succeeded in blocking the view of her superior astral sister, the sun, a Siren was sounded in Accra to alert the citizenry that some miracle was about to occur. Multi-coloured flames of fire works decorated the skies of the city. There was an extraordinary blissful breeze from the sea.

The atmosphere instantly changed to that of autumn-like-season in Europe. It was fantastic but sublime, indicative of the handiwork of some Divine engineering. Then a mini-Night fell during broad day time! While human beings were enjoying the scene, some poor birds and other creatures in the animal kingdom were thrown into some sort of semi-confusion.

I saw a vulture on top of a nearby storey building that had no choice but to go to bed prematurely. That was how the March 29, 2006 Total Eclipse of the Sun came to pass in Ghana. When shall we experience it again?

How wonderful and beautiful is Nature! Oh, Supreme Creator of the universe, You are the Divine Intelligence indeed! Oh, the Universal Mind, Your greatness is beyond human comprehension. It is only by Your grace that we mortals are privileged to be breathing the breath of life. Unfortunately, mankind prefers to terminate its own existence through the manufacturing of nuclear weapons and other instruments of mass destruction .

Please, Have mercy upon humanity, Oh Divine Love!

Putting Knowledge Management Into Practice

By Mawutodzi K.Abissath
What do you think of this African proverb which says: “If your friend is more handsome than you are, admit it and praise him.” By so doing, he will be happy and you will be happy, too. But if you envy him and try to denigrate him, what will happen?

Ghana cannot compare herself to Singapore at all in terms of socio-economic and technological advancement using ICT. But Ghana is larger, richer and older than Singapore in terms of land area, natural resources and political independence. What both countries have in common is their colonisation by Britain at one time in human history. The point of this piece is to scratch the surface of this relatively new concept of Knowledge Management (KM) and see how countries like Singapore are putting it into practical application for the prosperity of their citizens. It is the belief of this writer that Ghana, too, can do the same or even better because she has the human and material resources. The problem, however, from my point of view, seems to be lack of sustained vision, focus and misplacement of priorities. I may be wrong though.

What is Knowledge Management (KM)?
Knowledge is said to be power! This has been a mantra from the day God first opened His/Her mouth and said: “Let there be light! And there was light!” God has the knowledge and so has the power to create. Not so? So if God created man in His own image and breathed into the nostril of man and man became a living soul, it implies that man also possesses some knowledge with which he can also create. Not so? All right! At the threshold 21st century, knowledge and management experts have been able to establish the fact that those who have information and knowledge can navigate their way to the economic kingdom. This is what brought about the term knowledge economy. It has also been established that for the last 15 years or so, economic, social and technological changes, especially ICT have changed the workplace and the way we work.

How come a country like Singapore, a miniature island with a population of less than 5million souls, and with no natural resources whatsoever, is able to become a world leader in technology and moving economically at a pace beyond compare? I will answer my own question because I know what I am talking about. Singapore is just putting Knowledge Management into practical application.

In July 2004 this author happened to be in Singapore to do a short training course in E-Government. The course took place at a polytechnic, Nanynag Polytechnic. In Singapore that polytechnic is one of the educational institutions where professionals like engineers, nurses, computer scientists and others are trained. At the Nanyang Polytechnic one particular room called Knowledge Management Centre is reserved purely for knowledge management and experience sharing. The school has one particular senior lecturer who is responsible for that Centre. What is done in that room is to invite experts in various field of specialty to come and share their knowledge and experiences with students of the polytechnic?

Day in day out, retired educationists, engineers, media practitioners, physicians, nurses, cooks, agriculturists, administrators, artists, dancers, musicians, accountants, and what have you, called upon with respect and dignity to come and interact with adolescent learners. As long as the person has some knowledge in a particular field and has worked successfully in life until he or she went on retirement, that person is qualified to come to the Knowledge Management Centre to impart his or her knowledge to the younger generation.

Do we have something like that in Ghana? If yes, where is it? If no, why not? Don’t we have knowledgeable retirees in Ghana? How do document their knowledge and expertise for the future? What happens to their knowledge when they pass through transition? This is why African traditional experts in herbal medicine and even some modern trained specialists enter their tombs with all their knowledge and experiences. Who is the loser?

Currently at the Institute of System Science (ISS) of the National University of Singapore, where this writer recently underwent another short training course in IT strategic management for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) a new concept of Knowledge Management has evolved. It is known as Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom (DIKW).

This DIKW is explained in this way: That Data is structured facts, values of parameters and measures. Information is data plus contextual references of meaning. Knowledge is that which guides humans in their use of information and data to make judgements, decisions and to do work. And finally, Wisdom is said to be proven confidence in one’s knowledge or decision making, usually gained through experience. The DIKW concept is simplified to mean that Data and Information are what get processed and Knowledge and Wisdom are how they get processed in the first place. This is where it was explained that there are two types of knowledge: They are Tacit Knowledge and Explicit Knowledge. Explicit Knowledge is that which can be written down or expressed verbally. It is said that 20% of knowledge is easier replicate and contribute to efficiency.

On the other hand, Tacit Knowledge is that which resides in the minds of the individuals and is surfaced in response to a situation or action. And 80% of knowledge is said to be hard to steal. That it leads to competency, but hard to articulate or transfer and has high competitive advantage. There is no doubt that a lot of Ghanaians know about what is being discussed here. But as to whether that knowledge is being put into practical application for the advancement of our society for the socio-economic prosperity of our citizens like Singapore, is what one is tempted to ascertain.

Ghana In The World Map Of ICT

GHANA MAP

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

There is this simple Ewe proverb which prompts us that: “If Sunday will be a glorious day, it would reflect on the preceding Saturday”.

Ghana seems to be poised for glorious days in the coming year and beyond. In fact, if I were to pretend to be a clairvoyant, and looking into a crystal ball, I would predict that the year 2005 would be sparking for Ghana indeed.

The just-ended general election, which was universally acclaimed to be one of the best in recent political history of the country, has set the tone for magnificent things to follow. It has come to the attention of this writer that numerous foreign journalists who covered the 2004 elections marveled about the civility with which Ghanaians went about the entire event.

Some of them were amazed to learn for the first time that Ghana was the first country in black Africa to obtain independence in 1957. So they wired very inspiring stories about Ghana, hailing and praising Ghanaians to the blue heaven. Sadly, most of their foreign media institutions deliberately buried their faces in the sand like the proverbial ostrich as if those beautiful things did not exist in Ghana.

They refused to publish or broadcast the stories because they were positive in content and scope. They thought Ghanaians were primitive people who would start slaughtering and butchering each other and drive their women and children into refugee camps in the tropical forest because of elections. That would have been what the foreign media preferred to project about Ghana and Africa as they are wont to do.

Anyway, the actual reason why I am writing this article is to alert all Ghanaian journalists, and for that matter African media practitioners that Ghana is starting the year 2005 with a mammoth Information and Communication Technology (ICT) event that must be promoted and projected by the media.

Coming February, precisely from the 2^nd to 4^th, 2005, Ghana will host an international conference in the capital city of Accra. The conference is simply dubbed: African Region World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Preparatory Conference. Ghana has hosted conferences upon conferences in the past. But this conference is one that will strategically plant Ghana in the center of the world of ICT.

The conference is expected to bring over one thousand delegates made up of ICT gurus, media professionals, academicians, politicians, scientists, engineers, legal experts, agriculturalists, technologists, educationists, human rights activists, NGOs, the private sector, civil society, development partners and many more. And if Ghana does not gain anything at all out of this conference, the hospitality industry of the country would not close their doors without a few dollars in their coffers.

But the real purpose of the conference is for Africa to use the Accra event to build consensus to place the continent in a position where it will harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration before another summit scheduled for November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.

Documents available from the WSIS Accra National Planning Committee under the chairmanship of the Hon. Mike Gizo MP indicate that Ghana is ready to offer the world one of the memorable events in technological history of the globe.

The genesis of this whole WSIS business started in December 2001 when the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 56/183 ordering that the world summit on information society must be structured and fashioned out in two phases.

Consequently, the first phase was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 10^th to 12^th 2003.The second phase is what scheduled to take place in Tunisia.

It is imperative to put on record that it was as the Geneva summit this Declaration of Principles was made among other things:

“ We, the representatives of the peoples of the world, assembled in Geneva from 10-12 December 2003 for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, declare our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the chapter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.

Respected reader, if you find the first paragraph of that declaration, which I have quoted verbatim, mouthful, then read the second one which says:

“ Our challenge is to harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration, namely the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and development and agreed development goals, as contained in the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation and the Monterrey consensus, and other outcomes of relevant United Nations Summits.”

The paragraph four of the Declaration reads: “We re-affirm, as an essential foundation of the Information Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Communication is a fundamental social, process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organization. It is central to the Information Society. Everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits the Information Society offers…..”

I have deliberately quoted only three out over 18 paragraphs of the Geneva WSIS Declaration. In my opinion, the paragraphs quoted here are not romantic but dealing with real issues that are facing developing countries, especially African nations. Such issues include poverty, hunger, starvation and above all the dreadful killer disease HIV/AIDS and malaria.

The benefits that the ICT tools or applications can be employed to solve some of these seemingly insurmountable challenges facing Africa are beyond human imagination. The Ghanaian media must be self-motivated and play their stated role to place Ghana on this World Map of ICT.