The resounding call for change echoes through the ranks of the Coalition of Transport Unions and Associations as they confront what they perceive as a barrage of unjust taxes. With unwavering determination, they present a clear ultimatum to the government: eliminate what they deem as needless levies or face the brunt of a daunting 20% fare increase. This ultimatum is a potent manifestation of their dissatisfaction, a collective outcry against financial oppression that impacts not only drivers but also the wider populace.
David Agboado, the National Public Relations Officer for the Concerned Drivers Association, stands as a vocal advocate for change. He articulates the pressing need to unshackle motorists from the weight of redundant taxes, such as the energy sector levy, fuel marking margin, sanitation, and pollution levy, and the special petroleum tax. He deems these taxes as outdated relics that fail to serve their intended purpose. In an interview on Citi FM, Agboado passionately expresses, “These are the taxes that we want the government to scrap from the price build-up because they are outlived.” His conviction is underscored by the fact that energy sector debts were reportedly cleared in June 2021, rendering the energy sector levy obsolete. Similarly, the fuel marking margin, once linked to the operational status of the Tema Oil Refinery, now stands irrelevant due to TOR’s inactivity. The special petroleum tax, touted as a distinct feature, is debunked by the uniform nature of fuel sources. Agboado’s resolute stance is clear: these taxes must be jettisoned to relieve financial strain on the public.
This isn’t the first time this coalition has brandished the threat of fare hikes as a means of driving home their demand for tax reform. Their persistence is a testament to the gravity of the situation. Agboado elaborates on the rationale behind their chosen increment: it accounts for variables like fuel costs, lubrication, spare parts, and the broader automotive landscape. This meticulous calculation underscores the fact that their call for change is not arbitrary; it’s rooted in the very real financial struggles drivers face daily.
The coalition’s statement sheds light on a broader context, one where escalating costs inflict a harsh reality upon ordinary Ghanaians. The disparity in costs is palpable, as prices soar across the board. Car batteries, VIP bus tires, engine oil—everything has seen a significant increase in price. The mounting financial pressure has tangible consequences for individuals and families, impacting everything from transportation to daily necessities.
The broader question looms: will the government heed these calls for change, or will the past repeat itself, and the cries of the masses fall on deaf ears? In a landscape where financial stability is a delicate balancing act, the outcome holds immense significance for the people of Ghana. As the clock ticks down on the coalition’s ultimatum, the nation watches, hoping that the powers that be will recognize the urgency of the situation and respond with empathy and transparency.
Menzgold Ghana has introduced a fresh round of customer validation, aiming to untangle the web of locked-up funds. However, the shadow of skepticism looms large, casting doubts on whether this is a sincere effort to mend past wrongs or yet another avenue to extract funds from the same people who have already suffered.
In a letter dated August 18, 2023, the company acknowledged the need for this new validation process. Their previous escapades, which led to scams and shattered trust, have not been forgotten. Reports of hard-earned money vanishing into thin air still linger in the memory of many.
“As we recounted in our previous communication on August 8th,” Menzgold began, “our comprehensive review of the transaction documents submitted by our esteemed customers has reached a turning point. Alarmingly, we’ve identified that over sixty percent (60%) of these claims carry discrepancies that raise concerns about their authenticity.”
The introduction of the Menzgold Digital Verification Access Card is their new offering, obtainable for GH¢650 through authorized Payboy Agents. This key will open a door of validation, accessible from August 10, 2023, to September 14, 2023. The twist here is the requirement for customers to submit original colored soft copies of supporting documents for their transactions.
Menzgold Press Release
Yet, this effort comes cloaked in skepticism, wrapped in a history of deception. The ghost of past scams continues to haunt Menzgold’s reputation. The sheer number of claimants seeking reparation raises questions about the intent behind this process. When one multiplies the cost of validation by the multitude of claimants, a significant sum emerges. The cynics among us can’t help but wonder if this endeavor aims to restore justice or merely capitalize on the same people it previously deceived.
Given the chaos and evidence of fraud that marked their previous dealings, one would assume that transparency and genuine problem-solving would be Menzgold’s utmost priorities. However, the spotlight shines on their ulterior motives, leaving customers to grapple with a difficult choice—engage in a process that reeks of doubt or hold onto their convictions in the face of past betrayal.
Oh, the tale of Hassan Ayariga and the Mysterious Ministerial Misadventure! Gather ’round, my friends, for I shall regale you with the latest scoop from the land of political shenanigans.
So, Hassan Ayariga, the captain of the All People’s Congress (APC) ship, has emerged from the depths of secrecy to share juicy tidbits about none other than Cecilia Dapaah, the ex-Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources. You know, the lady who found herself tangled in a web of intrigue and thievery.
Picture this: a tale as twisted as a pretzel. The grand drama unfolded when Cecilia Dapaah accused her own former house helpers of running off with an eye-popping stash of cash, including a cool million bucks! Cue gasps and raised eyebrows.
But wait, there’s more! Hassan, the sly fox that he is, decided to spill the beans during a chit-chat with Kofi Adomaa on the enchanting Kofi TV. He confessed that, much like a common mortal, he was initially miffed by the scandal. However, he decided to play detective and dive headfirst into the murky depths of the case.
Lo and behold, Hassan’s clandestine inquiries revealed a plot thicker than Ghana’s most treasured jollof rice. Turns out, not all that glitters is Cecilia Dapaah’s gold. The stolen loot, a sumptuous cocktail of $1 million, 300,000 clams, and GH¢250,000, had a royal twist. A certain brother, apparently of regal stature, had passed away. His worldly possessions, valued at a princely $800,000, were bundled up like a surprise party waiting to happen. And guess what? These spoils of the deceased’s life were meant for the chief, not the former minister herself. Plot twist!
Oh, but the saga doesn’t end there. Hold onto your hats, folks. These pilfering domestic wizards, armed with a spare key to the treasure room, managed to pull off a heist worthy of Hollywood. Imagine, stealing from right under Cecilia Dapaah’s nose, like a scene straight out of a telenovela!
Unbeknownst to our illustrious house helpers, their shifty activities were soon exposed when the head of the household, quite unexpectedly, stumbled upon one of them in the act. Cue dramatic music and suspenseful glares!
In a cunning twist, the culprits were eventually nabbed in the bustling town of Tamale, where they apparently disturbed the peace with a car blasting music fit for a concert. Oh, the irony! It seems that their criminal escapades couldn’t hold a candle to their affinity for decibels.
So, my dear compatriots, there you have it—a tale of stolen riches, secret chambers, and key-wielding mischief makers, all served with a side of Hassan Ayariga’s signature sass. Stay tuned for more riveting escapades from the land of political intrigue and beyond!
Human Population Control. Simply put, it is altering the rate of growth of the human population. This is primarily accomplished by limiting a population’s birth rate, mostly as a response to factors like overpopulation. Thus far, the two most widely used forms of population control have been contraception and abortion. While the former has been adopted in many a country, the latter is a hotly contested topic the world over.
Though famine and war have in the past reduced human population unintentionally (WWI & WWII), they are both extreme lines few people in power want to straddle. With Earth’s population almost at the 8 billion mark, many would think the conversation to control the Earth’s ballooning population started only recently… and by “recently” I mean from three decades ago.
In 1968, a US biologist and environmentalist, Paul R. Ehrlich published a book that made a strong case for the adoption of stringent population control policies. In his book, The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich likened the human population to cancer; treating only the symptom of human population would grant temporary reprieve from the problem. If the root cause, the cancer, is not cut off – with brutal and heartless decisiveness – the world would meet a grim fate.
His solution to the problem? Compulsory birth regulation through sterilization. Staple foods, along with the water supply would be “poisoned” with sterilant, with the antidote carefully rationed to produce the desired family and population size.
As twisted as that might sound today, back then Paul Ehrlich’s book was so convincing, the US government bought into the idea, influencing its policies in the late 60’s, leading into the 70’s.
On the other end of the spectrum, China’s approach to population control appeared to have been successful; at least according to the Chinese government officials. Introduced in 1980, the one-child policy was proposed to lessen the social and economic problems of China. Under this policy, couples were discouraged from having more than one child, with non-compliance often resulting in fines. Extreme cases, according to unofficial reports, cite forced abortions and sterilizations.
Though the government ended the program in 2016 (after operating for 35 years), with couples allowed two children, the Chinese government estimated around 400 million births were prevented during that period.
Now, Hollywood has for the past decade (and then some) used its “big screen” platform to push interesting but specific themes in its movies; Human Population Control. Culling out significant portions of the population in order to ensure the survival of humanity and mother Earth.
“Natural resources are dwindling, the world is headed towards collapse, humans are doing their absolute best to kill our beautiful blue planet. What can we do about that?”
Does that sound familiar?
I just gave you the plot a lot of blockbuster movies in Hollywood have recycled often this past decade. From the hugely popular Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame, to the bland and rather anaemic Inferno, Hollywood has for the greater part of the just-ended decade been pushing movies that force viewers to consider overpopulation as a threat to humanity and our way of life.
The main villains from the aforementioned movies, Thanos and Bertrand Zobrist, share similar goals; sacrificing half of the world’s population in order to fix the world and/or bring balance. As dark and inherently twisted these villains might seem, they execute their plans with unyielding conviction, believing themselves chosen for the “righteous crusade”. Indeed, they are evil but they have accepted sometimes you need to crack more than a few eggs to make an omelette.
“You were going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps. Your planet was on the brink of collapse. I’m the one who stopped that. You know what’s happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It’s a paradise.” – Thanos
I have for the longest time held the belief that the higher ups in Hollywood just want to feed their blueprint of “extermination” to an individual or group of people crazy enough to follow through; to bring balance.
When 11,323 people died from the Ebola epidemic of 2014, the devastation left in its wake was gut-wrenching and brutal; Lives taken, families shattered. Although a lot of conspiracy theorists believed the virus was reintroduced to “thin out” the African population, I think anyone following Hollywood’s plan would have favoured a global rollout.
Thank God that didn’t happen though. At least not with Ebola.
Fast-forward a few years however and we have a situation that could easily have been a Hollywood movie, if Contagion didn’t already exist.
Since its discovery in Wuhan (China) back in December 2019, the virus has invaded virtually every country on Earth and has killed tens of thousands of people. Though not as deadly as Ebola, the Coronavirus has a tighter grip on the world right now. The near-universal lockdown imposed across countries has all but frozen the world in place. Whiles this lockdown aims to flatten the curve and restrict the spread of the disease, something some struggle obeying, the world has been utilizing this time of human “inactivity” to detoxify itself.
The skies are clearer because there are less vehicles on the roads, less smoke-spewing factories in operation and generally less people burning stuff – especially in Africa and India. These changes have invariably made the air cleaner in cities that observe the lockdown.
With almost everyone indoors, the streets are freer now. If people do leave home, they can rest easy knowing they won’t be stuck in traffic, breathing in fumes or suffering through the constant car horns.
Though these changes don’t measure up to Hollywood’s standards, they illustrate the impact we’ve had on the planet. A lot of the movies advocating for stringent population control believe there are no alternate methods.
While the Coronavirus has dealt a heavy blow, the world’s response to fighting it has proven we can take care of ourselves and Earth at the same time. We kinda found the balance. Too bad we needed a pandemic to see it… but as we wait for the cure and the inevitable economic fallout, we can at least take the good with the bad.
In September of 2015, a massive scandal hit the automotive industry that sent shockwaves around the world, but somehow, a great(er) portion of Africa felt nothing. The diesel versions of Volkswagen (VW) cars cheated emission tests by spewing out clean(er) test results… thus, fooling authorities into allowing these cars roam the streets as though they were indeed environmentally-friendly. It’s no secret that diesel vehicles have always produced more pollutants than their petrol counterparts.
The increase in the car population, and the need for more fuel-efficient cars, which diesel cars have down to a science, has pushed manufacturers to explore creative ways to beat the system, amid growing reports of a steady increase in global pollution. Making money and fulfilling a perceived need is, by and large, the reason companies exist… so who are we to judge when VW breaks some rules, right? Especially when other companies practically made the rule book.
It turns out what VW did was a big No-No, so aside lawsuits and sanctions, VW had to recall all affected cars. This cost them billions of dollars and invariably, hurt their brand image as well.
So, whiles the rest of the world was reeling from this shock, and rightly so, countries in Africa (save for South Africa) could do nothing about it.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks into months, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A.M.A) and VW dealerships in my country – Ghana – stayed mute about this serious environmental issue, which didn’t just affect Europe and America, but Africa too. Every single day I would see “defective” VW vehicles roaming the streets of Ghana and wonder if the drivers cared even a little about the environment they were killing.
But alas, why blame them?
They are just unwitting consumers driving around in cars that should have complied with every regulation… but don’t. I cannot in good conscience blame “innocent” consumers, but I will throw a lot of blame on the A.M.A, EPA and VW.
When a scandal that big hits, a press release is rolled out to all media platforms; the first phase of damage control. The local and international authorities then follow suit in order to assure the concerned public the matter has been flagged under “very important”.
Well, let’s assume the organizations in Ghana at the time of the VW Emissions scandal had more pressing issues to deal with, because when the scandal hit, we got nothing from them.
I guess the health and welfare of Africans does not matter as much as those in Europe and America.
VW, the mastermind behind the disaster, funny enough, can rest a little easy knowing that a lot of their “defective” cars in Ghana were not sold through their licensed dealerships, but shipped from different countries by individuals or unauthorized road-side dealerships.
Press VW hard enough and trust that lawyers would crawl out of the woodwork to pull out an incomprehensible clause that would compel VW to only deal with customers who bought cars through the authorized dealerships.
That’s how international conglomerates operate.
For A.M.A and EPA though, we cannot give them such a long leash… but to even think they would crack down on the VW scandal when it happened was incredibly naive on my part.
Why?
If A.M.A and EPA, after all these years can’t put a handle on the chimney-smoke-spewing cars polluting the air, what the heck can they do about a bunch of VW’s killing us slowly with invisible air?
Ever-present… ready to tag your uncompleted building in red paint.
From green to black smoke, one can’t go a day in Ghana without seeing all manner of vehicles sputtering out toxic smoke. As if making us wheeze ain’t enough, vehicular fumes contain a boatload of hazardous pollutants that have been identified and listed by… wait for it… the EPA. No! That isn’t the EPA in Ghana, but does that matter? Shouldn’t they all be as active and vigilant irrespective of location?
They have slowly adopted the Ghanaian mentality; it ain’t my problem if someone else can solve it.
So, how do these smokey cars pass through the Roadworthy test and come out with a seal of approval? Beats my mind.
But, according to Regulation 33 in the Road Traffic Offences Regulations (1974 LI 952),
“No person shall drive a motor vehicle which emits exhaust fumes in such quantities as to be a hazard or annoyance to road users or pedestrians.”
There you have it; it’s actually very illegal to drive around town in a smokey vehicle, yet the police pay no mind, ever ready on the other hand to take off their authority for a measly Gh¢5 or less.
There are so many cars in Accra, and so much traffic as a result… forcing us to sit still and inhale the unholy concoction of chemicals these cars happily cough out for our enjoyment.
We risk lung cancer, headaches, runny eyes and other serious diseases if this issue is not tackled and/or resolved.
The A.M.A and EPA are effectively powerless against this and yet claim to defend our environment. How could they, when they can’t even shutdown a single factory endangering the lives of people living in the La Dadekotopon Municipality of the Greater Accra Region. Edisaw Company Ltd, the factory in question, has been oppressing the unlucky people living in close proximity with thick clouds of smoke. The EPA shut them down in February of 2018 only to have Edisaw spring up again two weeks later. This remarkable display of ineptitude has unsurprisingly, forced the residents affected by the manufacturing processes of Edisaw to sue the EPA and Municipal Assembly for failing – rather disastrously – at their jobs.
It is easy to lay down the rules but hard to put into practice, isn’t it?
I hope they win the lawsuit; too long have Ghanaians been content with mediocrity.
We’d rather talk about troops invading our country than fix the broken infrastructure every government in power promises to rectify.
The inter-connectivity of government agencies ensures that, when one arm fails, the rest will all fall short.
But Wait! Ghanaians burn rubbish all the time, so what’s new right?
AH! God Bless Ghana.
If there isn’t a fundamental change in how we deal with these half-competent entities, they will always chop our monies, hide in expensive houses and fail us every single time.
Technology is now the criminals best friend; there’s now less effort in stealing a lot of money. When done right though, clueless people practically throw their hard-earned money at criminals.
How criminals utilize this power nestled within technology determines how smart or “unsmart” (I can’t say stupid) they are. Few criminals have shown themselves smart enough, but others are just plain dumb.
But then, the “inbetweeners” enjoy the spoils of decaying foundations and hope for the best.
The merry men at HelpGhana blazed the trail Priado Wealth Alliance carefully walk on now…however, no matter how professional a website looks or how sweet an offer appears, the truth will out.
The truth? Priado Wealth Alliance is the newest member on the Let-Us-Scam-Ghanaians campaign: stealing our monies GH¢30 at a time.
Following HelpGhana’s terrible example, Priado is built on a system that requires every new member pay out GH¢30, which ultimately goes to the referrer…with these new members referring new people to the platform so they can all get a piece of the action (a ponzi scheme). Rinse and repeat until the whole world loses GH¢30.
The fact remains, ponzi schemes don’t work unless somebody loses. Those at the bottom of the scheme are essentially defrauded by those on top. It’s a mathematical fact that no matter how many people join the scheme, 88 percent of the members will be on the bottom level and will lose their money.
The scheme revolves around the process of paying old investors with the money you get from new investors. The central method remains the same. All one has to do is hook a few investors who are willing to get in early on a once-in-a-lifetime business venture. The details of the investment don’t matter too much. What suckers people in is the promise of fantastic returns on investments. (Source: How Stuff Works)
After a lengthy conversation with a self-appointed “spokesperson” for Priado Wealth Alliance, it was obvious he didn’t know what he had gotten himself into. His description of the Priado’s business model is a textbook definition for a Ponzi scheme, but he just can’t understand why it’s illegal. That is a problem.
I have scoured the entirety of the Priado website in hopes of finding how the company generates wealth for it’s clients, wondering how they manage to stay afloat and be relevant when they have no clear-cut plan on making money. There is no such mention of that plan…but, they do encourage their members to bring in more “affiliates”. These affiliates come forward with their money, which is given to “older” members on the platform.
Priado is not a bank or a financial institution, but they promise members a whopping GH¢ 699, 940 for the initial deposit of GH¢30. Of course you’d have to jump through some hoops first but in the end, no legal company has what it takes to honor that promise.
What? Are they plucking out money from trees?
The “clueless” people in this venture consider this model as “networking”, but if the money is not generated by Priado but by the new recruits and then redistributed to the members, what happens when these members spend their “hard-earned” money but can’t convert new members?
There are no official social media pages for Priado, just a lot of obscure scam-looking pages with no obvious ties to the company…save for text-heavy low-res images with the Priado logo plastered all over. For a company that is allegedly legal, it does little to differentiate it’s business model from a Ponzi scheme.
What breaks my heart? My fellow Ghanaians still fall to this scam. When a new company crawls out of the woodwork with a get-rich-in-no-time offer, 9 times out of 10, that offer is most probably false and illegal.
But alas, the life of opulence blinds people to the red flags these preposterous offers raise.
Until people change from such childish fantasies, I fear we will always fall to such trickery.
The Rants of a Ghanaian! 