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Hello everyone.

Hope you are all well and keeping well. It is March already…Happy New Month! I pray you are favoured and blessed in all you do in this new month.

So for today, I want to share with you what my highlight was for the month of February. Just last weekend, I travelled to London as part of my role as a community leader for the ONE Campaign for a residential and a Lobby Day at the Houses of Parliament. It was an engaging and informative event especially hearing about what is happening in East Africa and how the UK government can increase funding to assist them in this crisis.

Apart from the workshop sessions we had prior to the Lobby Day, I went to a Nigerian restaurant with the other community leaders ; Enish Restaurant. I had jollof rice with chicken suya and it was not bad at all. In fact, their jollof rice is the best Nigerian jollof rice I have had till date (NO CAP!)

I was meant to meet my MP, Rachel Reeves, during the Lobby Day (after inviting her prior to the event) at the Houses of Parliament but she could not make it but there was an opportunity to talk to other MPs present including Leeds Central MP (Hilary Benn) who was such a pleasure speaking to after his powerful speech. In his own words, it is a moral responsibility of the UK towards East Africa in resolving this crisis including increasing funding and ensuring that the money allocated reaches the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in society such as women and young children.

The day ended on a good note with pledges from MPs present all from the Labour Party to write to the Chancellor highlighting how UK’s aid will contribute to alleviating the dangers and effects of the hunger crisis. I will meet my MP in the coming weeks to further highlight this issue and get her to add her voice to this campaign. #EastAfricaCannotWait #TheONECampaign #CommunityLeader

Oh of course, I cannot go to London without linking up with my girls! I met up with my boo (Ade) and Lydia (my new friend from an Angloville programme I was part of late last year). Love them!

What was your February highlight?

Looking forward to sharing monthly highlights for the rest of the year. Pictures Below!

Hope you enjoyed this post. See you with another one soon. Take care. Live Life and Be Happy!

Happy New Year everyone!

I know I am late but like they say, ‘Better later than never’! I hope your 2022 was great and your 2023 is even greater! Did you make any New Year resolutions? I am not really into all that ‘New Year, New Me’ kind of stuff. But if writing down your goals or better put visualising it helps you achieve it, by all means, GO FOR IT.

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with someone about how ‘annoying’ it seemed when I write down my goals and then at the end of the year, I look back and realise I had not achieved all…but then, I lose sight of the things that I achieved that are not on the list! I do not want to succumb to that kind of pressure. It isn’t healthy for me and I do not need that!

At the end of 2022, I did something I usually do not do! So I saw a tweet about ‘what the highlights of your 2022 was’. Normally, I will just scroll through or read through the comments about the superb achievements of others like WOW! But last year, I also decided to join in, just because WHY NOT? I did a bit of reminiscing and listed the ‘many things’ that I did including; courses I took, fellowships I was a part of, places I travelled to among others. The truth is, I even forgot about a couple but as I wrote the first ‘batch of achievements’, the others just came through. After doing this, I was like WHAT? Girl, you are an ACHIEVER! And the comments I got from friends and acquaintances were even better. The thing is, I hardly post my achievements on social media because it is just not my thing and I think it is not for people to know. However, I share my achievements with just a few friends who may then go ahead to ‘hype’ it on social media which I do not have a problem with.

Again, I realised that I do not really celebrate myself, especially how far I have come. I am mostly bothered and worried about what I have not achieved and I think that is something most of us are guilty of. It is normal because in our current world of ‘social media’, everyone wants to show off their achievements or tell tales of having their dream job, dream house, dream car but, not much about appreciating their journeys even if their dream has not actualised yet. So does that mean if we have not ‘gotten there’ we can’t celebrate what we have achieved thus far? Of course we can, and that is the attitude that I am holding on to this year and beyond and I believe you should too. So what if I have not gotten my dream job yet? I have campaigned with different charities, made an impact, participated in various youth programs/fellowships, travelled to different countries, taught diverse number of students and above all been an inspiration to people (It is quite humbling when someone told me this recently; and this person is much older than I am; my adorable auntie).

I am resting in the fact that, I am doing my BEST. I know this and so like my auntie says, all that is left is for the opportunity to come and then BOOM! Everything will make sense! I actually cannot wait, because I know I deserve good things in life and with or without a New Year Resolution list or visual board, it will COME!

On that note, I hope you have picked a thing or two from today’s post and also taking it easy on yourself. You can only do your best and that’s that. Be rest assured that things will eventually fall in place! :). See you soon with another post!

Hello everyone,

Hope we are all well and surviving..I used the word surviving because LIFE IS HARD! And like we say, ‘Wahala no dey finish‘ loosely translated as ‘There will always be problems‘.

I am sure most of you my readers can relate to the term ‘adulting’ and may have probably used it or seen it across social media. Well, the term is often associated with challenges which comes with adulthood or being a grown up which most people say it is a scum. And will I agree? Yes! To a large extent.

Growing up, I always saw adults within my family and neighbourhood as having freedom to do lots of things I as a child did not have the freedom or better put the right to do so. This included, going out and coming in anytime they wanted, not having to give explanations to anyone regarding their actions, making your own decisions, in summary being in charge of your OWN LIFE! (and oh I forgot, having more meat with your food…yes because in African households adults get more meat than children even though children need more protein..LOL!). Anyways, these were some of the reasons why I in particular could not wait to be an adult especially the FREEDOM aspect. But what happened when I became an adult finally? HMM! (And I am not referring to when I turned 18 because I was stil depending on my parents and living at home…this adulting I am referring to, for me, was after I completed my Bachelor’s Degree (between the ages of 22 and 23) and now the question everyone will be asking is ‘WHAT NEXT?’

The what next means, now, your life is in your hands and you are responsible for it going forward…Is it going to be work, postgraduate degree, gap year or for some marriage… It’s the decisions upon decisions that one is faced with and the opportunity costs involved when decisions are made and the daily challenges one has to face day in day out (without a breather) that makes this adulting thing no child’s play! Like you are not even done with one problem and then another is saying hello! or just warming up to you…Sigh!

But then, how have I handled it so far…I will just say I am doing my best; trying to enjoy life amidst the problems that I know will always come in different shapes, sizes and degrees at different stages in life. When I have the opportunity to talk to my long time friends (most from secondary school) I realise that we share similarities in the challenges we are all facing and we end up talking about them and encouraging each other with kind words. And mind you, sometimes we reschedule our calls three or four times because of ‘adulting’…like it isn’t easy!

And oh one thing I love about adulting is despite the challenges life throws at you and you are meant to be handle them like a pro, it teaches you a lot about yourself and also helps you to grow as a person. You lose friends and you learn one or two things from that (whether the friendship ended on good or bad terms), you embrace your personality and flaws and understand that you are only human and making mistakes is inevitable, you learn to distance yourself from negativity (by distancing yourself from drama even it includes family for your own mental health sake). You just learn to live your damn life!

Personally, that is what we all have to do. Live our lives because we only live once and this adulthood stage is longer than our childhood stage hence the earlier we start to embrace it all and enjoy it despite the challenges we face, the better. And while at it, do not (I repeat), DO NOT allow anybody pressure you especially when it comes to marriage and having children..these two are good but not essential for a happy life. If not anything, with what I see and read about marriages and relationships day in, day out, I am convinced many people should not have ventured into it but they did due to the fact that they were 25 and perceived to be ripe for marriage, hence they jumped into it. Be guided! And irrespective of your age, you can always make it and your dreams can always come true! So don’t think because you are 30 and have not made it yet, you are a failure! Do not let anyone pressure you (especially on social media) because our destinies are different. Eventually, we will all make it, maybe not at the time we want, but we will!

To conclude, adulting is HAAAAAARRDD! But I am doing it with the help of God, great friends and loved ones. A good support system is all you need to navigate adulting..hope you have that if not, I hope you find one!

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is so much more to say but maybe another time. Chop life! Be happy! You Only Live Once!

Hello to you all!

I hope you are doing great! I am not doing bad at all! So exactly 10 years ago (25th May 2012), I officially graduated from Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast, Ghana having completed the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). That was a day I had been looking forward to for a while but when it finally came, it was rather emotional! Saying my final goodbyes to friends, classmates, teachers and juniors…

The truth is that Wesley Girls’ was a pain in the ass at different times; from mean seniors, wicked prefects, unecessary rules, hypocrisy, cliques and what have you but in all that I am certain it was training grounds for the world outside and hell yeah it was! I dreaded my first term in Form One as I could not stand so many people, the environment and the RULES! (omg! someone get me out of here!). I thought I could not survive! I still remember vividly how I cried when I saw the first meal I was supposed to have (Gari and Palmnut soup with fish)…Hmm!

One of things that I hated (yes I did!) was formation…ask any Gey Hey girl you know to tell you about it..OMG! Marching for hours in the hot sun, jogging down the drive, doing press ups et al all in the name of winning some silly contest. Was that even worth all the stress? And the fact that they make it seem like it is a DO OR DIE affair. Ei y3bl3 o! hmm! Anyway, for me, I really started to enjoy my time in Gey Hey after this formation thing (which was form 2, 1st term)…In summary, my form 1 was hell and will so not want to repeat it in this lifetime or the next (Is it the sprint to water the lawns after the siren goes off at 5am, or rushing to class after breakfast or break, or bathing quickly and then getting shito from the pantry within 7 minutes so as to make it to the D Hall for supper, NOPE!)

But the fact remains that my class made my stay in the school much better…A1 sisters. LMAO! Where were we not punished to work? We were a HANDFUL but regardless I loved my class like crazy. Despite the drama here and there (which is definitely expected in an ALL GIRLS class), I would not trade the 3 years we spent for anything. Our crazy teachers cannot be left behind, the ALMIGHTY Reggie Effah! (*inserts monstrous laughter*). I really do miss this woman…Ei Reggie with her ‘Chrife’ character…you dare not mess with her especially in her elements!

Last but not the least, the friends I made in Gey Hey are something else…they are friends for lifetime. Being a person who finds it hard to make friends, it really took a while to warm up to people before getting to know them better and even consider them as friends! And to each of these friends, there IS a special bond. Fortunately, I am still friends with all my friends from secondary school (well except one..lol) and for that I am very grateful. I am certain that they are friends for LIFE! Such that after 10 years of leaving school, I still consider them friends irrespective of the new ones I made afterwards. So today, I want to give them shoutouts! You guys contributed to making my time in school much better! In no particular order;

Sandra Atakora, Jessica Abiri, Elizabeth Osei, Aresi Orgle, Nana Ama Agyei, Nana Akua Assibey, Joan Appiah Yankson, Nana Yaa Bosompem, Natalie Cofie, Agyeiwaa Boakye Yiadom, Naa Teki Akuetteh, Felicia Owusu, Leila Lily Oheneba Danso, Ama Koomson, Barbara Aboagye including all Bellamy House sisters and of course my A1 classmates. Yall ROCK!

My fondest memory of Gey Hey is when we were made to go home earlier than usual because there was shortage of food (Form 1, 3rd term; circa July 2009) and the most terrible one will be when there was a false alarm that there will be earthquake as such we all had to move to the school field to pray…smh! (circa June 2010) Wasted about 2 hours of sleep praying for God knows what and then afterwards the day went on as normal. All this was influenced by those Kamkudonians and their noisy community radio centre or whatever it was (*rolls eyes*).

I could go and on and on because the memories are a LOT charley but Gey Hey was and is still Gey Hey! The scandals, breaking of rules, rumours, cliques among others but hey! you got to find a way to fit in, which I did eventually! And Oh I rep Bellamy House (Le Petit Paris)!

Hope you enjoyed my little rant..lol! See you soon with another interesting piece. Stay blessed and safe!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are well. Today, I would like to share my 6 months experience as a Climate Campaigns Organiser with Christian Aid with you. This was meant to be a press release for my local newspaper in Leeds but since my request was declined, I decided to share with my followers here. Hope you enjoy reading!

As an activist who has supported causes related to education, gender equality, among others, joining Christian Aid as a Climate Campaigns Organiser in June 2021, gave me the opportunity to add my voice to yet another issue of global concern which in this case is climate change.

As part of my campaign, I have lobbied my local MP; Rachel Reeves (Leeds West MP) and had conversations with her regarding what the UK government is doing or can do better in terms of climate financing, especially leading up to the UN COP 26 which is currently happening in Glasgow. Rachel added that ‘I believe the Government needs to be clear about how much of the gap between existing pledges and the emissions reductions we need must be closed at COP26 to keep 1.5°C alive and what individual countries must do for that to happen. It also needs to be clear about what must be done after COP26 to close the gap entirely.

With a petition sheet, I have also built power within my local community with a number of people signing the Christian Aid’s Climate Justice petition sheet telling the UK government to fight towards climate justice. On the 6th November which was the Leeds Day of Global Climate Action, I joined 100s of other activists across West Yorkshire to march across the Leeds city demanding climate justice from the UK government and world leaders at the COP 26 and beyond. This was a fulfilling event amidst the speakers that graced the occasion specifically Leeds East MP, Richard Burgon who delivered a powerful speech on climate justice. 

Finally, I will be hosting a film screening later this month concerning climate change with a group of selected people within my community which will result in a discussion about climate justice and how we all have a role to play in ensuring the safety of our planet. 

I am certain that my journey of being a climate justice campaigner/activist has been very fulfilling to my persona and career. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Stay tuned for more content soon!

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well. In today’s post, I would like to brief you about the Youth Assembly, my involvement with it, and how you can be a part of this year’s edition.

I first got to know about this conference some time in 2015/2016 thereabout when a colleague in university attended and made several posts about it on Facebook. I became very much interested in it and applied for the following year’s session (February 2017) which I got accepted for. The experience was short but impactful and memorable in summary. Hence, it was an honour to be among the 31 Youth Assembly ambassadors selected in January 2022 to promote the conference within our countries and networks. Though I am an ambassador for the UK, I am also targetting other delegates from all over the world.

The Youth Assembly is simply a conference for young leaders and changemakers from across the world to come together and deliberate on global issues pertaining to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s theme is ‘Dare to Reshape the World‘ with its focus on four main areas namely;

Track 1: Youth in relation to Peace and Politics; Education and Climate action;
Track 2: Global Health in relation to Mental health and Covid-19; effects on Marginalized populations;
Track 3: Global Citizenship: Leadership and Resilience in today’s world;
Track 4: Digital Cooperation and Inclusion: Technology and Artificial intelligence.

Interested persons can apply for either ‘Conference Only‘ which lasts from the 12th to the 14th August or through 4 different packages namely; International Affairs (10th – 15th August 2022), Changemakers (12th – 17th August 2022), Educators (11th – 15th August 2022) and Premier (10th – 17th August 2022). The Conference Only package consists of ;

• Event Pass to the 27th Session of The Youth Assembly in New York City (August 12-14, 2022)
• CultureFest at the Closing Ceremony
• Opportunities Fair
• Souvenirs 
• Electronic Certificate of Completion

The eligibility requirements to register/attend as a delegate include;

• Delegates must be 18-32 years old-
• Proven track record of leadership experience, school, or community involvement
• Interest in global affairs, sustainable development, and youth issues
• Proficient in English (Intermediate Level)

The Early bird application is still in session and ends on the 9th March so you still have some time to send in your application. Also when applying, you have the option to ‘ Apply through a Youth Assembly Ambassador’ which means the AFS team will know that you applied through me or you got to know about the conference through my recommendation. When doing so, use the code ‘YA27AMB14’ at checkout. (Very important! Please do not forget!)

It is understandable that some students or young people who may want to attend may face some financial challenges hence this is why it is important to apply early especially if you are looking at the ‘Conference Only‘ package which is more affordable compared to the others. Thus for this package;

Early-bird → applies from February 9 to March 9, 2022 → $295
Regular → applies from March 10 to June 2, 2022 → $365
Late → applies from June 3 to June 30, 2022 → $405

The longer you wait, the more you will have to pay!

You may then ask, how do I apply? You can follow this link to register your details and follow through to the next steps. Upon your successful application, delegates can also apply to other opportunities on the Portal namely;

• AFS Award for Young Global Citizens
• Outstanding Youth Delegate Award 
• Action and Impact Hub
• Opportunities Fair

Lastly, as visa proceedings could take time especially for delegates from Africa and other continents, it is essential you send in your applications on time so as to request for an invitation letter from the AFS once your first installation of payment has been made.

I do hope that I have been able to brief you on the Youth Assembly and why you should attend. Even if this is not for you, you can forward it to a friend who may be interested. Please comment and let me know if you have any questions. In case you want to get in touch, my email is asumadugertrude@yahoo.com. Looking forward to answering all your questions! #YouthAssembly #YA27 #AFSteam

Hello everyone.

Happy New year! It may be coming late but like they say….Better late than NEVER! 2021 is gone and 2022 is here…I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and looking forward to an amazing 2022.

Personally, I am not so keen on New Year Resolutions…I used to but I realised that they were not as effective as they should have been….not that I do not have goals for each new year. It is just that as time went on, I realised that it was becoming more of a mere formality than actually something that was supposed to be intentional.

2021 did not end on a very good note for me because I lost someone very close to me which I have still not really recovered from. What makes it even more shocking is that, I had just spent some time with this person only for me to receive death news 3 days after I last saw her. It is all still too much for me to believe. This only reinforces what I say about life that it is really short and the fact that it can be taken away from you within the twinkle of an eye. Incredible!

Having entered the new year brokenhearted, I still want to believe 2022 will be a bit kinder to me as the previous year and the other previous years have not…stories which may be told one day. There is still one main desire on my heart that was unfulfilled in 2020 and 2021 and I am only hoping that in this year it is fulfilled. I can only tell when it is 31st December 2022 as to whether it was fulfilled or not. I hope it is the the case of the former.

With the current state of the world right now, the Covid-19 pandemic among other news day in, day out, we do not even know how we will be living in the next few years. Irrespective of what comes, I am only certain about one thing which involves living my best life, achieving all my dreams and most importantly; DOING WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY! I still have things I am dealing with and so do others but I do hope that in this year especially and in the years to come (especially as I turn 30 next year!!!), I make an effort to deal with them as much as I can to be able to live a better and a healthier life.

On this note, Cheers to a better and healthier 2022. I hope that by the end of the year, we can all look back and SMILE!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and keeping faith. On my part, I have been very busy but still try to find time to do other things which excite me! For instance 2 weeks ago (on the 4th October, I turned 28!). The years seem to be rushing by but I am so thankful to God for what each year brings and the lessons therein. I am so positive that the best is yet to come and I have not even scratched the surface yet.

Today, I would like to briefly touch on a group of people who are everywhere in our society specifically social media….’motivational speakers‘. These people are supposed to be those who have all the nuggets or experience in a certain field of topic area hence tend to inspire their audiences or anybody who cares to listen to them. Now, let me issue a disclaimer that I do not have anything against these people, I mean there are some people who do this as a source of livelihood (I am not about to pour sand in anybody’s gari)…but if there is anything I have a problem with it is HOW some or I’d say most of them convey their messages and the effect it could have on their audiences who may be in different stages in their lives.

The truth is if you swallow what a supposed motivational speaker tells you to do hook, line and sinker you are in for trouble especially when another one tells you the complete opposite. For instance, One motivational speaker will tell you that ‘Good things come to those who wait’ and another will tell you ‘Good things come to those who go out and fight for it’…Of course these two statements have entirely two different meanings and could either preach influence a person positively or negatively.

The other sect of ‘motivational speakers’ are our friends, acquiantances or people we follow on social media (public figures, celebrities among others). I am of the opinion that nobody knows it all as such when someone is supposedly motivating or inspiring, be careful how you take it because in the end a lot of people DO NOT practise what they preach…they only became popular for saying the ‘right things’ or things they know people want to hear which mostly works. You have some of these people advising their followers on social media about relationships when their own is in shambles or nothing to write home about (I have an example in mind I do not want to share but the fact is the hypocrisy in our society is alarming!). Social media makes it worse because after all people will be inspired or motivated by what you post or share and not who you REALLY are.

The pressure to live a certain life these days because of what some so called celebrities portray does not also help matters especially when they automatically become ‘motivational speakers’ for a lifestyle they do not fund. I could not care less if anybody decides to sell their body to big men to live like a big girl or slay queen on social media but that needs to end there. However, it mostly transcends to these same people advising those who look up to them to ‘Work hard’ (this statement is open to a lot of interpretations because they will never define where their hard work is) or the fact that they started a business with 100 cedis or whatever and now they are worth millions of cedis..(A VERY VAGUE NARRATIVE)….the funny thing is not all their followers are as stupid as they think they are but the ridiculousness is when they never stop and continuously make up stories trying to force the ‘From Grass to Grace‘ story on people because after all those stories sell!

But the bone of contention here is, where do we draw line? The truth of the matter is there will be a crop of motivational speakers here and there everyday and it will never stop because everybody thinks they have the keys to success and as such they should be paid attention to. However, it is you the individual who needs to guard your heart and be picky about who you allow to preach to you or influence your decisions in life.

I could really go and on…but this is a topic that me and some friends talk about once in a while and I decided to share on the blog today! Hope you enjoyed reading. Have a blessed week and hopefully another blogpost comes in soon enough!

Not every advice should be taken and the most opinionated does not equate always being right or wisdom!

Hello!

I hope everyone is well..alive and kicking! Busy times hence the long break! Apologies. In today’s blogpost, I would like to focus on ‘seasons’ in life and its many aspects.

I am sure that when we all look back in life, there were moments or times which were far better than where we are now or probably worse off compared to where we are now…but the most important thing is irrespective of how good or bad that time was you learned something out of it.

I have always said that because I have tasted being broke (like really broke especially when I needed the money) and also having money (in abundance) hence I am non chalant if anytime in the future I might be broke or whatsoever and have to find a way to survive.

There has also been a season where I had certain people in my life but currently I do not and life is still going on. There have been times where I have been extremely happy and there have been times when I have been sad. This reiterates Ecclesiastes when he says ‘there is a time and season for everything under the sun’. The problem with this is that sometimes we cannot get over or come to terms with the fact that a particular season has ended and as such we need to let go..however it is not easy..it is easier said…

One thing I have realised in life is that there are some situations that no matter how difficult or painful it is you just need to learn how to handle it, deal with it and move on as though nothing happened. The truth is whether you let it go or not, the clock is still ticking, time is going and not waiting for you, so in the end, it is really up to you.

The season of plenty, good health, blossoming career, healthy relationships etc is all nice…I mean in the end, who does not like to taste good things or want positive vibes…but the bitter truth is your whole life time will be a mixture of the good and the bad seasons and unfortunately you cant pick and choose when what should happen. You just have to be prepared to face what happens when and then learn from it for the next season (good or bad).

And one last thing imagine you are in a bad season in life and everyone or most people within your circle have a good job, receiving great salaries with benefits, doing businesses, some getting married, having babies etc..then you are there; no job, frustrated, broke, depressed, unsuccessful relationships among others and you wonder what is going on…especially when you go on social media platforms and the everybody seems to be excelling. I know how that feels because I am also in a season where I feel unfulfilled to a large extent because I believe I should be getting more out of life than where I currently am (not because I am comparing myself to anybody but because I know the investments that I continually make in my personal development and careerwise) but then as hard as it seems I have learned to appreciate seasons like this, do what I have to do and then continually prepare myself for ‘that which I have been praying/hoping for’ which I know will manifest very soon!

Thus, to whoever may be reading this, life is HARD but it is sprinkled with some nice moments as well even if the bad seasons seem long and never unending..have so much belief in YOU, that tough times dont last! E go better!

If you are a very active on social media, over the past few days or I should say a little over a week ago, a new campaign dubbed #FixGhana started on Twitter. At the beginning of this campaign, different photos of dilapidated roads, children in school buildings with extremely bad conditions, polluted water bodies (mostly from galamsey/illegal mining) among others were trending on social media. On the other part of the campaign, there was #nameandshame where MPs in different constituencies pictures were put up against bad roads in their constituencies among others. Also, there were videos and tweets of the current President and Vice President criticising the now opposition party when they were in opposition and so on and so forth all dubbed with #FixGhana.

In the heat of all these, some MPs and ministers in the current government lambasted the citizenry that instead of pointing fingers at the government to fix the country, they should rather fix themselves. One particular tweet that generated a lot of comments mentioned things that some citizens also do that stalls the development of the country hence #fixyourself instead of #fixthe country. He cited not paying taxes, littering, illegal electricity connections, bribery and corruption orchestrated by some individuals among others just to mention a few. Now, where exactly should the focus be, should we fix ourselves as citizens or the government should fix the country?

The answer to this is not just by choosing a side. To sum it up, both the government and Ghanaians are responsible for the current state of the country, including past governments…so we all need to fix ourselves! The truth is, the leaders we elected do not come from anywehere but within the citizenry, so if as a people we are greedy, selfish, corrupt, we should not expect our leaders to be any different. You cannot fetch water from the sea and expect it to be saltless. It is as simple as that in that end! I have seen arguments that we elect our leaders because we believe they should know better to make and implement better policies for the advancement of the country but then this is flawed if this particular leader was already corrupt in their daily lives; giving bribes to get away with their wrongdoings, embezzling church funds as a church treasurer among others…When that person is elected into power, they would have been given a bigger platform to steal more and then it goes on and on…In this vein, I agree that we as citizens need to fix ourselves!

On the other hand, when we fix ourselves, we can start demanding better! If we start by eliminating bribery and corruption in our workplaces, by refusing to cut corners when awarded with contracts to complete a project and start policing each other to do the right thing, then maybe our leaders will take us seriously. If they do not, then we know we as a people have done our part then we will use the power of our thumb to demote them and elect those people who now reflect our goodwill into power. If not then we will be going in circles forever; after few months, this hashtag dies and then life goes back to normal.

On the other side of #FixGhana, our leaders should also realise that you can fool some of the people at some point in time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. If people were always foolish, I think the scales are beginning to fall off their eyes (especially the youth) so then if you lied to the people that you will build 88 hospitals, construct several roads, fix ‘dumsor’ (power outage) among others and you were relaxing and busily embezzling funds, it is NOW time to ACT. The people are speaking up because they are TIRED! The youth NEED jobs because the unemployment rate is too high, the health system needs to be FIXED because people are dying just because there aren’t enough beds in the hospital, or equipment are lacking, lots of people are dying from road accidents because roads are poorly constructed or on the other hand the corrupt system has eaten deep to the extent that policemen standing by the roadside are taking bribes instead of arresting drivers with vehicles in poor conditions or drivers with no driving licence at all or fake ones…Hence FIX the SYSTEM. Let the LAWS work so that those individuals who still want to perpertuate a corrupt style of life will be brought to book! This is what citizens NEED.

Because if you only argue from the side that people should fix themselves instead of fixing the system you are exonerating yourself from the BIGGER problem which in one way or the other we all contribute to. For instance a lot of people including celebrities flouting the Covid 19 protocols because they KNOW that laws dont work in Ghanathat is a narrative that NEEDS to change! Because when most Ghanaians travel abroad they commend the system for working, hence if they were always late to work in Ghana they have to learn to be punctual in abroad because they know there are consequences but in Ghana they may get away with. They know that if they overspeed on the roads or park their vehicles just anywhere, they will be FINED hence they drive with extra caution. They know that they have to work hard to pass an exams to get admission to university and not have to resort to an uncle who knows someone in that university hence they can be admitted anyways knowing fully well they don’t deserve it!

In effect, a working system will see people from a BROKEN system adapting to it because they are FULLY AWARE that LAWS work!

I could go on and on..but the point is, the government has its part to play in terms of ensuring that LAWS are not only made but also ENFORCED and that campaign manifestoes are not just filled with promises as we do not run a country on promises but feasible policies with reasonable time periods for delivery, being role models to the citizens so that in effect the citizens will also adapt to a working system, be able to hold their leaders accountable when they falter and every now and then both governments and individuals can evaluate themselves regarding how far they have come.

The Ghana we all want to see will not fall from heaven or does not end in shifting blames. It requires all hands on deck. So after all is said and done…there is plenty of WORK to do and trust me, we have not even scratched the surface yet!