Ghana Deserves Better – Otumfuo Calls for End to Negative Thinking
The president, John Dramani Mahama has been charged to provide the needed leadership to help redeem the country from the quagmire of problems it is currently facing.
According to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who graced the 19th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards in Accra, Saturday, many of the challenges facing Ghana currently can be addressed through an effective leadership response.
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu charged the president to make use of the rich human resources available at his disposal, “and the country will be the better for it”.
Otumfuo added: “I have already alluded to the fact that we are passing through difficult times. The fact that we may have been through a similar or even worse experience before can be no comfort.
“What matters is to fix the problem. And while we contemplate the role you can play, we must look to the leadership of the state for the solutions. The tendency to tinker with problems by a process of shifting cultivation does not inspire confidence.
“The solutions, I have to say, lie in the bosom of one man and only he can provide the answers. So I say unto the President of the Republic, in the seminal words of the Methodist hymn: Master speak. Thy servant heareth. And let’s hope we will not have to wait too long for a response.”
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also bemoaned the increasing level of corruption which is fast eroding business confidence and destroying the basic fiber of the Ghanaian society.
“The community of international business and finance is expressing concerns that Ghana may be drifting to the tipping point of irredeemable corruption”
He said: “The community of international business and finance is expressing concerns that Ghana may be drifting to the tipping point of irredeemable corruption.
“Is there some salvation on the horizon? Not if you listen to the political class and the debate in the media. For them, corruption is not the issue.
“The issue is who is better at it, which party has been more corrupt. It tells us that we are in danger of coming to accept the inevitability of corruption as our way of life. And there is plenty of evidence that points in that direction.”
He stressed that the alarming level of corruption “is not something to trifle with. It is destroying business. It is undermining national governance. It is frustrating individuals. And it is eroding international confidence in our country.
“We must accept that it is part of the problems afflicting the economy today and while we ponder over policy options, we must cry out for some act of courage to tackle the scourge of corruption, not on the peripheries, but at the top,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stated.
Winners of the awards include;
Photojournalism Electronics Mark Sasu – GTV
Photojournalism Print Samuel Tei Adanu – Daily Guide
TV feature Narkwor Kwabla (TV3)
News Reporting (TV) Asante Fordwor – TV3
News Reporting Print Dzifa Emma Tetteh – Ghanaian Times
Electronic Reporting disability Kwetey Nartey – TV Africa
Reporting Disability (Print) Jamina Okaretsire
Science Reporting Rachel Quartey – GTV
Agric reporting Soyoko Kyere – GTV
Feature (Print) Maxwell Adombilla – Daily Graphic
Business Finance and Economics Kwetey Nartey – TV Africa
Human Rights Nelson Adanutey – Diamond FM
Investigative journalism Kwetey Nartey – TV Africa
Telecommunications Seth Dogbey, Kwesi Amprah Twum – Daily Graphic
SMEs Moses Aklorbotu – Daily Graphic
Education Reporting (Electronic) Isabella Owusu Oppong – GTV
Education Reporting (Print) Kofi Yeboah – Daily Graphic
Rural Reporting Seth Otoo
Online Journalism Nana Boakye-Yiadom – Citi FM
Arts and
Entertainment
Rebecca Armah – GTV
Water Reporting Kofi Yeboah
HIV/AIDS reporting Kwetey Nartey – TV Africa
Crime/Court Reporting Mabel Aku Baneseh – Graphic
Sports Reporting John Vigah – Ghanaian Times
Political Reporting Mabel Aku Baneseh – Graphic
Oil and Gas Maxwell Akalaral – Graphic
