Thursday, March 24, 2016

Betrayal of an African Leader - One Million Pounds!

Ghana my happy home, land of rich resources, land of mighty talents, racial tolerance, justice and freedom...

Why then do we find ourselves where we are now? How can we have so much and still be saddled with economic crisis, power crisis, etc. Should Ghanaians not be living large with the abundance in resources Ghana has been blessed with?

Are our leaders really looking out for us, or do they go out there and sell us out for their personal gain? Are all the decisions our leaders take in our best interest, or do they go out there looking out only for themselves, and how much they can make off us, and try to convince us whatever decision they took is for the best?

What about our international partners? Are we getting honest help from them? Do they honestly want to see us get out of this quagmire we find ourselves in (through no fault of ours), or are they interested only in helping us so far, but not all the way?


One Million Pounds, the latest play by James Ebo Whyte, tells the story of 4 talented Ghanaians who take a shot at the maiden edition of an international competition. Much to everyone's surprise, they make it so far. It would have been novel for an African group to win, but the system was willing to let them get only so far, but definitely not all the way. Much to the exasperation of the system, the African group appears to be going further than the system ever intended for them to go. What to do? How to deal with this situation? Well, the group is from Africa, they have a leader, and African leaders and free money, well, enough said about that.

How these 4 handle their manager selling them out, and almost clipping their wings before they even had a chance to take off, takes a lot of determination and realisation that they may be down, but they were definitely not out.

The tale is told of love, insecurity, greed, corruption, hope, betrayal and foolishness, laced with the humour characteristic of every Uncle Ebo Whyte play.

Can the story of Jama, the talented 4, be likened to the story of Ghana and its leadership? Why not judge for yourselves this weekend, Easter Monday and next weekend at the National Theatre. I should add that there are a myriad of lessons to be picked up from One Million Pounds.

Monday, March 21, 2016

£1,000,000

When fame and fortune beckons at your door, you could almost feel it,
Just when you are about to grab it, it is snatched away from you,
The system really was designed only to let you get that far, but not all the way,
What were you thinking trying to go any further?


Meet Jama, whose quest to showcase their talent and make a name for themselves, turned out bringing hope to the African continent. But just when they are ready to soar, their wings were clipped, by none other than one of their own.

Roverman Productions & Airtel in partnership with Joy FM & National Theatre present:

"One Million Pounds"

An Uncle Ebo Whyte Play.

The themes of love, greed, corruption, insecurity, hope and plain foolishness are intertwined bringing out an amazing play loaded with lessons to be learnt, laced with the humour characteristic of every Uncle Ebo play.

Find out how Jama make it in a foreign competition, which wanted them in so long, but not long enough to win the ultimate.
Find out how Jama make it when their manager, sells them out, after they make it so far against all odds.
Venue: National Theatre
Date: 26th, 27th & 28th March, 2nd & 3rd April
Time: 1st show 4pm, 2nd show 8pm
Rate:GH¢80.00

Tickets are available at all Airtel Shops; Shell Shops at Tema Community 11, Sakaman, Mallam, Dansoman, Achimota & East Legon; Joy FM; 37 Goil; Baatsona & Haatso Total Shops; Frankies, Osu; Jane-Anne Supermarket and Motorway Supermarket, Tema.

Alternatively, tickets can be paid for via Airtel Money.
1. Dial *500#
2. Select Buy Goods
3. Select Other
4. Type "ROVERMAN"
5. Enter Amount
6. Enter your name, show date & time as Reference Number (eg. Efua Dentaa, 28th, 4pm)
7. Confirm payment details with your Airtel Money PIN
8. Present the confirmation text that'll be sent to you at the gate for entry

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Terms and Conditions

How many of us go through the hustle of reading that very verbose document detailing conditions for a service before clicking accept?
Well, I know I don't bother. All I want to do is download and use an application or subscribe to a service and I'm expected to read some 100 page (no kidding, those documents are so lengthy) document about the conditions for use of an application or service?

I've always known I should bother, but I never got round to bothering. Now, I know I should really definitely bother.

Last week, I decided to subscribe to an internet bundle on my cellular phone. I enter the short code, and I see there are unlimited bundles. These bundles are valid only at night (middle of the night). So I'm thinking, why not subscribe to the unlimited bundles, use my cellular phone as a hotspot and download all the stuff I want to download on my laptop. All I have to do is not sleep. Great idea, or so I thought. I knew something was wrong when I was asked to confirm, and the message read, "confirm purchase... terms and conditions apply". Warning bells should have been ringing because none of the bundles ever added that clause, "terms and conditions apply". The daily bundles didn't have it, neither did the weekly or monthly bundles. Only the unlimited bundles had that clause.

I subscribe, and I start downloading. Somewhere inside me though, I felt it was too good to be true. I kept checking my account balance, only to realise I wasn't being charged from the internet bundle I had subscribed to, but was being charged from my main account.
I am angry. I disconnect and decide to call customer service in the morning. But then I remember the clause (terms and conditions apply), so I reconnect and go online to read the terms and conditions.

What did the t's and c's say? Well, the unlimited bundle is worth 3GB (how 3GB can be described as unlimited beats me) and it was designed for those living in remote areas with limited (2G mostly) cellular network coverage. To use the unlimited bundle in the city, the network mode selected on the cellular phone should be 2G (Edge). I had been browsing with high speed (3G) all that time. I went back to sleep, and did not bother calling customer service when I woke up (what's the point).

Now, I have resolved to bother to read all terms and conditions before I accept. If it's too lengthy and I feel I can't read, I won't accept or subscribe.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

International Women's Day - What is Lupus?

This day marks the International Women's Day and I take this opportunity to wish all women all around the world, a Happy #IWD2016

I also wish to use this day to answer a question not many people ask.
What is lupus?

The first time I heard about lupus was on a reality show. One of the contestants had it and curiosity had me reading up on it. I thought I knew so much about it until two weeks ago when I found out a friend of mine had the condition. From what she told me, I realised I did not know as much as I thought I did.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks normal healthy tissue. Basically, the body attacks itself. This results in symptoms like inflammation, swelling and damage to organs of the body. Any part of the body can be affected by lupus such as the skin, joints, brain, lungs, kidneys, blood vessels and other internal organs. Needless to say quite a number of the known cases result in death.

Why do I choose to talk about lupus today? Because chances of developing lupus are higher in women. Other risk factors include age and ethnicity. Persons of African or Asian descent between the ages of 15 and 45 years are more at risk of developing the condition. Sadly, few people know about this condition. If known cases result in death, what about the unknown cases? What about those who do not know they have it?

Let us spread the word. Let us get the information out there, and hopefully save a life. Let us love our women. Let us create the awareness of this condition. Awareness which is not quite out there yet.

Kudos, to Wilhemina Halm Danso and the Oyemam Autoimmune Foundation.
You are a fighter Mina, and on this day, I celebrate you, your fight against lupus and your fight to create awareness.
#OneDayIWill
#Africa4Her

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