The Writer
In case any person needs some distractions to divert attention from their poverty alleviation stress and endeavours during the Christmas holidays, here are some issues to ponder:
(1) MY QUESTION FOR ORGANISERS, THE GNAT 7TH QUADRENNIAL CONFERENCE
In the Daily Graphic of last Tuesday, December 16, I read with interest, but also growing concern, an advert by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) announcing:
“GHANA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS (GNAT), 7TH QUADRENNIAL (54TH) NATIONAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE”.
It will take place in Accra “between 2nd – 8th January, 2026.”
“Theme: Education and Development: The GES @ 50; Reflecting, Reviewing, Revising and Growing the Profession and the Unions.”
The distinguished high table speakers whose photos are featured in the advert are: “HE John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana; Special Guest of Honour, Hon Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education; Special Guest of Honour, Opanin Kwame Pianim, Elderly (sic!) Statesman & Eminent Economist; and Keynote address by Prof. George K.T. Oduro, Technical Adviser to the Hon Minister of Education.”
My interest was in the very loaded theme; and my concern was that once again, the indispensable role of women in the development of our country is being downplayed, ignored!
How come, despite the essential role of women teachers, too, in the profession there is no woman among the invited conference speakers?
Meaning that GNAT couldn’t think of any woman in the profession, or outside, who would have a significant contribution to the theme or views on education in general? ‘Sɛbe, sɛbe’ and ‘taflatse’, this is inexcusable!
What happened to gender sensitivity, inclusion, which teachers are supposed to promote?
Yet, I believe that a good percentage of teachers in Ghana, from kindergarten to university, are women.
According to a reference source: “The Ghana National Association of Teachers is Ghana’s largest teacher union, boasting over 250,000 members as of 2023, representing about 80% of unionized teachers in the country … (however) specific recent figures on the total number of women teachers in Ghana or within GNAT aren’t provided ….”
For the record, I tried to confirm with GNAT their membership, as well as the number of women members, but without luck. Despite the encouraging invitation on the GNAT website: “Contact GNAT – Send Us a Message”, at the time of writing this, five days later, I have received no response to my email enquiry.
Even if no woman in the sector readily came to mind, what about a Ghanaian woman teacher, Portia Dzilah, who this year won a GLOBAL TEACHER AWARD, as widely publicised; her amazing achievement conceivably saluted internationally?
“Ghanaian teacher Portia Dzifa Dzilah, from Pakro Anglican Basic School, made history by winning the 2025 Global Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award in May 2025, becoming the first Ghanaian to achieve this prestigious international title by inspiring students in a rural area with food drives, supporting girls’ education, and showing incredible dedication. Her win, decided by public vote, highlights the transformative power of teaching, emphasizing empathy, community impact, and belief in students’ potential.”
So, not even this outstanding RECENT achievement by a Ghanaian woman teacher in 2025 was considered worthy enough by GNAT in selecting speakers for their Conference high table?
(2) BANK OF GHANA, CEDI @ 60: HOW ABOUT SHARING THE JOY?
I must say that I’m disappointed with the Bank of Ghana (BOG), because I see no sign that the milestone 60th Anniversary celebration of the birth of the cedi includes some cedi ‘souvenirs’ for the needy, a practical sharing of the joy!
Through many adverts and a ‘Keep the cedi clean campaign’, the BOG has been reminding us of the cedi’s arrival on the international currency market on July 19, 1965 when it replaced the UK pound sterling.
But how can ordinary Ghanaians join in the celebration if they are ‘cedi-less’, if their pocket, or bank account, is in distress, and they are in need of some drastic poverty reduction?
Thankfully, I recall that at the launch of the 60th anniversary on October 28, 2025, BOG Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama stated: “It is a year-long national engagement” … and “This anniversary belongs to all of us.”
If indeed, it belongs to all of us, to enable as many as possible share in the ‘Cedi @ 60’ joy, I suggest, for example, that the Central Bank find out from a main partner, the GCB Bank PLC (formerly the Ghana Commercial Bank) customers whose accounts need support, and provide them with some Anniversary cash ‘souvenirs’. (Needless to say, I’m a longstanding GCB Bank customer.)
If such ‘souvenirs’ complemented the publicity, I’m sure beneficiaries would long remember the 60th Anniversary.
Anyway, as it’s a year-long celebration, fingers crossed …!
While on the subject, why do we still need to call it the ‘Ghana Cedi’? As no other country calls their currency ‘the cedi’, why do we still need the ‘Ghana’, nearly seven decades after the 1957 Independence euphoria, when ‘Ghana’ was attached to practically everything?
And, intriguingly, the international currency sources refer to it with an ‘s’, not a ‘ȼ’; it becomes ‘GHS’! The puzzling explanation: (a) “The currency code for Ghanaian Cedis is GHS. The currency symbol is GH₵.” And,
(b) “The currency code for the Ghanaian cedi is GHS because it represents the current, redenominated currency introduced in 2007. GHC refers to the obsolete “old” cedi that was replaced.”
Confusing! To put it mildly.
Also, as I posed in 2017, I wonder if the BOG regulation banning forex bureaux from advertising their rates openly still relevant.
I wrote: “Some years ago, the BOG banned the displaying of currency exchange rates outside forex bureaux. The practice was said to be helping black market operators to manipulate the rates, so the exchange rates were to be displayed only inside.
“Yet, the exchange rates are shown on TV daily, and are also available online! Not only that; at present anyone with the right smart phone application can easily check exchange rates on their phone.”
Again: “Has any review been done to find out whether the ban is still needed?
“Or the assumption is that those who are likely to manipulate the rates don’t watch TV, or don’t know how to search for the rates on the internet?”
(3) ATTN.: ‘GROUP ON SIGNAGES’, THE CASE OF A PHANTOM ‘SANKARA CIRCLE’!
“Where in Accra can one find Sankara Circle?” This is a question I have posed a number of times in published articles, the last one being in 2023.
In that 2023 article, I stated: “Don’t bother to rack your brains, trying to remember. There is no Sankara Circle in Accra. In fact, there hasn’t been one for the past 21 years!” However, just by the King Tackie Tawiah Overpass, there is still a directional sign which includes “SANKARA CIRCLE”.
Fortunately, on December 19, 2025, many newspapers published this interesting news item:
“The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, and Chairperson for the Technical Working Group on Standardisation and Regulation of Signages, Ms. Rita Na Odoley Sowah, has admonished owners of billboards and signages mounted at unapproved locations, or without the requisite authorisations, to have them pulled down, or the State will pull down the structures … (Ghanaian Times).
Very encouraging! So perhaps the Working Group will also tackle the matter of the age-old phantom Sankara Circle sign! The then ‘Sankara Circle’ was replaced by the ‘Ako Adjei Interchange’ as far back as 2002!
Yet, last Thursday, December 17, I confirmed that the misleading, PHANTOM directional sign is still there! Ironically, it even has an arrow helpfully pointing towards the Ako Adjei Interchange!
Why in 2025 is there still a sign with that name on it, when Sankara Circle was demolished some 23 years ago?!
(4) A CASE OF POLISH ON DIRT AT DANSOMAN ESTATE?
A few days ago, I was excited to see a uniformed man busy at work painting a section of a kerb along the General Acheampong High Street, at Dansoman Estate, in Accra. My immediate thought was that at long last the authorities are dealing with Dansoman’s dirt-choked gutters.
I reasoned that anybody deciding to beautify the environment with some paint, even if only for Christmas, would surely have had the gutters cleaned first.
Sadly, I rejoiced too soon. When I went over to where the painter was working, I saw the same refuse-filled eyesores!
I guess this is what people describe as ‘polish on dirt!”
Why would anybody have kerbs spruced up, but not see the need for first having the filth removed?
By Ajoa Yeboah-Afari