Father, If you don't tell me, how will i know ?

                                                                                                                                Pic Source: www.ciee.org

As a child growing up I hated it when I had to be given the talk by my dad, somehow it felt more like a punishment than an advice. It always ended up in minimum of two hours and I get to hear the same story repeatedly about his life and how he wanted to be... and wasn't able to but I have the opportunity, so I should make good use of the opportunities available. This was the talk routine, but looking back now I realise the story always toke a different shape, with an introduction of new element each time, in short it has taken me over 15 years if not more to get the full story even that, I still  feel there is more to it.

Now, this might not sound like your average dad talk but surely it depicts the way our leaders treat the flow of information in the country. It takes a long time to get the full, right and accurate information. Its like they are holding back and by the time they do,that is if you are lucky, that particular information might not be that relevant or the harm might already been done and the truth won't matter that much. Sad to say but that is the way information is treated in the country by our leaders. No wonder parliament has not been able to pass into law the right to information bill.

There is always the feeling everybody is holding back as if it a national treasure, sadly those that meant to be guarded are easily given out .i.e wikileakes cables on Ghana. Tune in to the morning radio and it all over the airwaves for cheap political points forgetting they just place the countries sovereignty at risk.

I was told by a matured friend of mine that when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was bombed in the northern region, He was taken to a hospital that had a dutch doctor who removed all of the bomb particles in wounds of Osagyefo except for two, the doctor requested for time to get them out but his aids refused, saying he needed to be brought to Accra, at the end of the day it was those fragments that  caused the spreed of his cancer which eventually led to his death( but that is debatable because sometime i feel it was the heartbreak caused by the ungrateful Ghanaians). You see his aids were worried about the rumour of his death from the blast going round, so they hurriedly took him to Accra and told everybody he was ok and well (hmmm....i wonder if they made him jog at the airport). As to whether this is true or not I can't confirm but do you see a pattern?

Unconfirmed reports by some news media said the late President Mills doctors upon their medical check ask that he be kept for observation for a period of three months but again his aids rejected the idea just because they wanted to cover up the fact the the man was not well, they didn't want the opposition to have a field day as already there were rumours going on that the president had died while on medical check up in the states. Guess both party got what they wanted, they brought in the man to show he was alive only for him to dead and this time for real.

I am told there is a provision in the constitution where opposition in parliament could call for a review of the President's health and if found to be unfit will be made to resign and this scared the government so much they had to conceal the health status of the President, hence their defensiveness on issues pertaining to the President's health.

Whiles in office the President  had been accused of being weak,slow and not working or delivering on the promise of A Better Ghana. For the past three years that this accusation went on, the Gov't did not make enough effort to bring to fore the massive developments taking place in the other regions/villages, not till his demise ( hmmm... demise,love that its the new phrase in the media now) that people started talking about those projects that had better their lives. One wonders what the ministry of communication, information, the president's spokes person, party's communication machines and all those that were responsible for bring outing those informations including the journalist.

It is funny how we must wait till a man dies before we hear his good deeds. It was when my grandmum died that I got to know that she was one of those who help first set up the St Paul's Methodist Church in Tema and also gave the land on which the Ada community center was built. How I wish I knew what her motives were for giving out that parcel of land( big land paaa ooh), challenges she faced with that decision, how she felt and what she expected us to learn from it?  Now it all gone.

The previous Gov't did very well in providing information to the masses, they knew the value of it and used it to their advantage, I can't say the same for the Prof. Mill's Gov't. I hope since President Mahama is a communication fellow his  Gov't will learn from the past and  provide enough information to keep the people informed, for an informed mind makes informed decision and become discerning, translating into  VOTES!

We the citizen of this nation should not accept the norm but ask questions and whiles we at that we should asked productive ones that seek to provide solutions for our many social and governance issues, not those as President Mahama termed "useless", those that detract us from the real issues. If  you seeks the answers and they ask you why, tell them 'father if you don't tell me, how will i know and who will tell me.

Does anybody know if President Mills had a memoire and if so will it be publish for the public to buy. I was so much hoping to read his book, what a shame. Has any body read "my first Coup 'd tat" ? let me know what you think.

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