Blondys233

23/12/2019

29/11/2019

🙏🙏🙏

I join the millions of Ghanaians to wish our former president, leader and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress a happy birthday day.

@61, my wish and prayer for you is to walk in grace, good health and the favour of God always. May all the elements work in your favour as you lead us to rescue this country in the 2020 elections.

Happy birthday to you, once again, Your Excellency.

Enjoy your day!

28/11/2018

We need light, literally as well as figuratively. We need light to guide us through the darkness of ignorance, to help us to make informed decisions, to enable us to navigate and negotiate the maze of life‘s possibilities and hazards, and to allow us to recognise and seize those opportunities that are the steps towards reaching our destiny and fulfilling our divine purpose.

_Sylvester Mensah

23/11/2018

I got back to Ghana and immediately landed a job at the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS, now UPSA) as a lecturer. I went through a couple of interviews, got hired and was handed my appointment letter. I had to go back to London to pack off and say my long goodbyes before I started my new appointment. My wife was still not happy about the fact that I was bent on returning to Ghana. She would look at my appointment letter, look at my salary, convert it to pounds sterling, compare it with the salary I was earning before I left the UK, and ask me whether I was making a sensible choice. The family opposition to my returning to Ghana was strong, but so was my determination to leave – perhaps my determination was even stronger than their opposition. I was fed up with life in London; I just had to come back home.
I assumed my lecturing duties in Ghana, soon realising that the promise I‘d made to my wife to send them money every now and then was one that I would not be able to meet. I could barely stay afloat in Ghana on my own. I made her understand the situation so that she would minimise her expectation – or, better still, kill it off. I even went on to request of her that, if she had excess money that she could afford to part with, she should send it my way. In hindsight, I think those words were rather harsh for her to hear, but at that time, reality was glaring at me, and I had no trouble glaring back at someone else – even my wife.
We were in the senior members‘ room one fine day at IPS when I chanced on an advertisement in the Daily Graphic which would later on propel me to greater heights. A new bank was looking for a Head of Public Sector Banking, with not less than five years‘ experience.

[This series is an excerpt from my book. “In the Shadows of Politics” – Reflection from My Mirror. Page 137]

20/11/2018

TeamSly visited fellow comrades at the Ridge Hospital who were involved in a car accident on their way to the just ended party National Delegates Congress on Saturday 17th November, 2018.
We prayed and wished them speedy recovery.

25/07/2018

Let us exercise some amount of introspection and circumspection

In my closing remarks, I spoke on something I was very passionate about: unity at La:
‘Let us exercise some amount of introspection and circumspection; let us ask ourselves what we have said in the past that has aggravated the worsening social relations in our township. Let us examine what we have failed to do to ameliorate the situation, and resolve to be part of the unity
and peace-forging process.’

Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, a great son of La, was the first of the special guests to share thoughts on the occasion. He acknowledged my ‘untiring efforts and creative talents’ as MP, declaring his support for me as long as I remained the MP for Dadekotopon. This was very profound indeed coming from an opposition member.
Another prominent son of La, Hon. Francis Amarkai Amarteifio (Consular-General for
Sweden in Ghana at that time), spoke passionately on the need to achieve lasting unity at La.
‘The problems of La should defy all political divisions,‘ he said, adding that all differences needed to be buried in the interest of the community. All in all, it was a memorable and effective event.

At the New Year‘s Day reception, Hon. Nuamah Donkor (Minister of Health at the time), announced in his speech that the La Polyclinic would attain the status of a district hospital, with all essential facilities and consultants in place by the end of that century (as we were about to enter the new millennium). Many at the time considered this to be mere political talk, and some thought it was an outright ‘dream’. Why? Because of the strength of his rhetoric, and also because of the gap between the then-current reality and the words and performances of many past politicians.
Not long afterwards, however, Hon. Nuamah Donkor proved to have the magic wand that
proclaimed, ‘Let there be light!’ But for a morgue and a few other facilities, the clinic would
have been designated as a district hospital. As at the time I was winding up my term as MP, the
La Polyclinic had become one of a kind. It provided twenty-four-hour-a-day service to the
general public. The whole infrastructure was given a massive facelift, much to the awe and
admiration of the constituents of Dadekotopon.

At the time, the clinic could boast of about four doctors and three medical assistants, including a public health practitioner and specialists on call from the Ridge and Korle Bu Teaching Hospitals, respectively. Under the rich experience and capable leadership of Dr Florence Bart Plange, then the principal medical officer, it rendered full-scale health services to all patients who visited the facility.

[This series is an excerpt from my book. “In the Shadows of Politics” – Reflection from My Mirror. Page 93 - 94]

23/07/2018

In the process of growing up, we learn from our mistakes

Like many other children of my generation, my formative years were partly lived in a fog of ignorance, hearsay, fear, and superstition. We lived from day to day, not knowing what we were going to do with our lives. While we daydreamed or fantasised about a desirable future, we cared more about immediate desires and needs – what to eat, what to wear, hanging out with friends (which sometimes meant getting into trouble), etc. I was impressionable and susceptible to the lure of adventure, and yet I was also somewhat cautious. Our parents were oblivious to some of the mischief we got up to. My parents never knew about how close I got to drowning on one occasion at the La beach. This was all part of the process of growing up. We each had to learn from our mistakes, as well as from our peers and families.

18/07/2018

The Great Togetherness

New Year‘s Day 1998, which is justifiably an occasion for merrymaking and reunion of family and friends, saw me host a buffet, which I christened ‗the Great Togetherness.‘ It took place poolside at the Labadi Beach Hotel. I considered the Great Togetherness an apt title for that gathering because it saw the coming together of prominent sons and daughters of the Dadekotopon constituency, without recourse to party or religious colours.

In attendance were many key Ghanaians of the time: Hon. Nuamah Donkor, Minister of
Health; Mr Joshua Alabi, MP for Krowor; Hon, Peter Ala Adjetey, a leading member of the
NPP, who eventually became Speaker of Parliament when his party came to power in 2000; Nii
Adjei-Boye Sekan, a presidential staffer and MP for Ledzokuku; Dr Charles Mensah, Resident
Director of VALCO; Hon. Amarkai Amarteifio, former Minister of Youth and Sports and
Consular-General for Sweden; Lt Col I.B. Quartey, a prominent army officer; and Hon. Sherry
Aryeetey, General Manager of GIHOC Distilleries. The occasion was also graced by prominent representation from the La Traditional Council. Everybody was dressed to the nines, the atmosphere was lively, and a spirit of great camaraderie pervaded the event. Because I wanted to stay local and keep things within the constituency as much as possible, our sources of entertainment were also products of Dadekotopon: the Black Berets Band and the Recce Ladies Cultural Troupe, both from Burma Camp, a suburb within the constituency. Food and drinks abounded, as the General Manager of the hotel led his team to make sure that particular aspect of the function was very well taken care of.
At exactly 7.20 p.m., I picked up the microphone to give my welcome address. I made it quite brief and precise; as such occasions did not call for long and winding speeches. Among other things, I gave an account of service to my electorate in the two years I had held office.

I touched on the road reconstruction project that was on going, as well as the Polyclinic and the need for an upgrade. (I had hounded the sector minister over it long enough. I also spoke about the Dadekotopon Educational Trust Fund and explained that the beneficiary ratio was what made the DETF stand out from other similar schemes. I explained that unlike other funds, the DETF was not limited to natives of La but open to all who were resident in the constituency, irrespective of where they hailed from. Other projects very dear to my heart, and which I was assiduously tackling at the time, were also mentioned. Among them were the reconstruction of the La Market, a poverty alleviation scheme for the constituency, issues concerning unemployment and sanitation at La. I disclosed to the gathering how I had committed
GH¢2000.00 of the MP‘s share of the Common Fund to a poverty alleviation loan scheme of which the La GPRTU, La Cane Weavers Association, and other unit traders, as well as individuals, had already been beneficiaries. I also mentioned in my address that even though the get-together was as much as possible devoid of sophistication and formalities, and even though it shied away from matters that divided us, it would undoubtedly afford some of the younger ones
at the gathering the opportunity and privilege of hearing and learning from the more experienced and knowledgeable men and women among us. And so it did!

[This series is an excerpt from my book. “In the Shadows of Politics” – Reflection from My Mirror. Page 91 - 93]