However on Thursday 25th February, 2010 I got an invitation from a Swedish friend of mine, Kajsa, who is a lecturer at Ashesi University to sit in a meeting of bloggers. Bloggers? Yeah bloggers.
I must say blogging is something alien to most people in this country. I’ve got friends who might be tempted to unleash a hefty slap on my solid cheeks if I’m to turn up in any of our old school’s meetings informing them I’ve taken up blogging as a full time job. Blogging for a living, what crap is that? It’s strange but that is the reality on the ground. Blogging is something alien to our system.
However, the trend appears to be changing. There are lot more young folks who are coming to appreciate the essence of blogging, even if nobody reads what they write. They just write and post anything at all that comes to mind: It could be John Mills expunging that stupid medallion Former President J. A. Kufour awarded to himself. I’m still not clear the heck that motivated him to go the 50 Cent style.
A bit of presidential foolishness, I guess. Thank God Mills has scrapped that crap off the national honours list. He could do us all a favour by asking Kufour to bring that stuff back. And what the heck was Mills talking about in parliament during his address.
That yeah he is going slowly but surely? That is absolutely rubbish. People are hungry and you are telling them slowly but surely? 2012 is just around the corner and unless he wants to be a term president, which I want to believe he doesn’t, he should sit there and pamper himself.
Things are not properly working right on the economic right, though inflation is said to have dropped. But who is going to eat inflation figures?
What the hell does inflation figure mean to the guy handing out newspapers at a public toilet? Or the commercial Trotro driver who is always on the road even during those odd hours when myself and others queued up to be carted home.
Back to my issue. Kajsa sent me an email and later met with the group. It was at Smoothy’s one of the eateries thrusting its name in the minds of the so-called upper and middle classes in Ghana.
The place is normally cold due to small giant air conditions stashed at the corners. However on the said Thursday, a blackout in some parts of Accra which affected Osu(and are we not getting tired of this erratic power supply in this country) rendered the air-cons useless. We just sat behind joint tables in the smouldering heat talking about ourselves, blogs and the topic ‘Citizen Journalism.’
One of the bloggers called Kofi,a brilliant photographer(hope I got your name right) set the tone. He told us about how they are training some inexperienced but determined guys to undertake some photojournalism job. His remarks set the stage for a debate. I really enjoyed the discussion. There were fertilised ideas from almost everyone and people made their point forcefully. It was Donald who brought up the issue of the chap who lost a finger at work and yet told by the supervisor to return to work. How inhumane could that be.
During the discussion, somebody raised the issue of the legal wranglings involved in our attempts to write.I have no knowledge in law, though I have always said I might end up someday as a lawyer, but I tend to have problems with the long arms of the law being used to cajole all of us into playing it safe.
Fuck the law! Fuck the law? Yeah fuck the law! That’s how most of us respond anytime the law is used to kind of, again, cajole all of us into dancing to a hiop-hop tune when it's that of reggae. It’s a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of the law. Your life will be be miserable.
Go ask editor of the Enquirer Raymond Archer. A court in Accra recently asked him to apologise and stop publishing materials in an on-going trial involving former foreign minister Akwasi Osei Agyei who stupidly forgot his diplomatic duties and rather chose to import rice. Sorry if I have erred on the side of the law by mentioning that.
I see the meeting as an opportunity to share ideas and discuss issues of national importance. I’ll be looking forward to learning from almost everyone. Just being a bit demonic but the issue of gender balance was clear. I’m not sure if it does matter to the women!
. I must say blogging is something alien to most people in this country. I’ve got friends who might be tempted to unleash a hefty slap on my solid cheeks if I’m to turn up in any of our old school’s meetings informing them I’ve taken up blogging as a full time job. Blogging for a living, what crap is that? It’s strange but that is the reality on the ground. Blogging is something alien to our system.
However, the trend appears to be changing. There are lot more young folks who are coming to appreciate the essence of blogging, even if nobody reads what they write. They just write and post anything at all that comes to mind: It could be John Mills expunging that stupid medallion awarded Former President J. A. Kufour awarded to himself. I’m still not clear the heck that motivated him to go the 50 Cent style.
A bit of presidential foolishness, I guess. Thank God Mills has scrapped that crap off the national honours list. He could do us all a favour by asking Kufour to bring that stuff back. But what the heck was Mills talking about in parliament during his address.
That yeah he is going slowly but surely? That is absolutely rubbish. People are hungry and you are telling them slowly but surely? 2012 is just around the corner and unless he wants to be a term president, which I want to believe he doesn’t, he should sit there and pamper himself. Things are not properly working right on the economic right, though inflation is said to have dropped. But who is going to eat inflation figures?
What the hell does inflation figure mean to the guy handing out newspapers at a public toilet? Or the commercial Trotro driver who is always on the road even during those odd hours when myself and others queued up to be carted home. Back to my issue. Kajsa sent me an email and later met with the group. It was at Smoothy’s one of the eateries thrusting its name in the minds of the so-called upper and middle classes in Ghana.
The place is normally cold due to small giant air conditions stashed at the corners. However on the said Thursday, a blackout in some parts of Accra which affected Osu(and are we not getting tired of this erratic power supply in this country) rendered the air-cons useless. We just sat behind joint tables in the smouldering heat talking about ourselves, blogs and the topic ‘Citizen Journalism.’
One of the bloggers a photographer called Kofi(hope I got your name right) set the tone. He told us about how they are training some inexperienced but determined guys to undertake some photojournalism job. His remarks set the stage for a debate. I really enjoyed the discussion. There were fertilised ideas from almost everyone and people made their point forcefully. It was Donald who brought up the issue of the chap who lost a finger at work and yet told by the supervisor to return to work. How inhumane could that be.
In the course of the discussion the issue of legality came in. I have no knowledge in law, though I have always said I might end up someday as a lawyer, but I tend to have problems with the long arms of the law being used to cajole all of us into playing it safe.
Fuck the law! Fuck the law? Yeah fuck the law! That’s how most of us respond anytime the law is used in such discussion but try and be caught on the wrong side of it. It’s a dangerous thing to fall into hands of the law. Life will be miserable.
Go ask editor of the Enquirer Raymond Archer. A court in Accra recently asked him to apologise and stop publishing materials in an on-going trial involving former foreign minister Akwasi Osei Agyei who stupidly forgot his diplomatic duties and rather chose to import rice. Sorry if I have erred on the side of the law by mentioning that.
I see the meeting as an opportunity to share ideas and discuss issues of national importance. I’ll be looking forward to learning from almost everyone. Just being a bit demonic but the issue of gender balance was clear. I’m not sure if it does matter to the women!
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