Circumspecte

Originally published on the blog Women Change Africa -- As the Ghana elections get closer, we thought it would be great to hear from one of our fabulous, smart and beautiful friends of WCA Ms. Jemila Abdulai. Jemila is a woman who is  definitely changing Africa. Amongst her many hats she wears, Jemila is a attaining her Masters in International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, owns and operates a very highly read blog titled Circumspecte which focuses on various issues in Africa, and of course is part of the Ghana Decides team working to help engage youth in Ghana to get involved and vote pre and during elections.  We hope you enjoy and learn about Ghana's elections and women, and be inspired the way we were with Ms. Abdulai. Enjoy!   Like its predecessors, this election is important for young Ghanaian women. The obvious reason is that women form the majority of Ghanaian society and being excluded from the political process could result in policies and pro

Ghana Decides launched a campaign yesterday, 27 November 2012, to get the Ghanaian electorate to turn up massively at the polls to vote on 7 December. The campaign, called  Our Vote, Our Voice,  is the latest in a series of successful campaigns since February 2012, which commenced with  #iRegistered ,  Ghana Decides Tag  and  SpeakGhana . The purpose of the campaign is to promote communal voting. Campaign Coordinators, Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng and Nehemiah Attigah, said “we believe peer-to-peer influence is still high and people could call up friends to vote or post updates to say #iVoted which may encourage others to vote.” According to the Coordinators, “From our experience during the #iRegistered campaign, enthusiasm usually dies down after the first week or so. That is why the campaign is deliberately launched this close to the election.” Project Lead of Ghana Decides, Ms. Kinna Likimani said “The Our Vote Our Voice campaign intends to use pledge cards to get people off

Khalil Gibran is one of my favorite poets/writers. I believe his piece "The New Frontier" rings true for Ghana, L'Afrique today. Changes in [ ] are mine: The New Frontier There are in [Ghana/Africa] today two challenging ideas: old and new. The old ideas will vanish because they are weak and exhausted. There is in [Ghana/Africa] an awakening that defies slumber. This awakening will conquer because the sun is its leader and the dawn is its army. In the fields of [Gha na/Africa], which have been a large burial ground, stand the youth of Spring calling the occupants of the sepulchers to rise and march toward the new frontiers. When the Spring sings its hymns the dead of the [harmattan] rise, shed their shrouds and march forward. There is on the horizon of [Ghana/Africa] a new awakening; it is growing and expanding; it is reaching and engulfing all sensitive, intelligent souls; it is penetrating and gaining all the sympathy of noble hearts. [Ghana/Africa] tod

Credit: Talk of GH Facebook Page Yesterday, I awoke to news that the six- story Melcom  shopping complex in New Achimota, Accra had collapsed, Currently, there have been about 70 rescues and 9 deaths  as a result of it.  How does a supposedly state of the art shopping center collapse like a stack of cards after a mere six months of completion? That is yet to be seen, but for now people are dishing out blame on various doorsteps. This is a repost of my thoughts on the issue shared via Facebook: This whole Melcom thing doesn't have to be a blame game. The truth is, we all contribute to it.  We care more about how things look/seem on the outside (high-rise buildings), than we do about foundations for development (truly reforming education for instance).  We play the 'open for business' card, without looking to put in place regulations to guide foreign and local investment (think not just Melcom, but China, oil, etc). Even when we do put rules in place, we are quic