Saturday, September 18, 2010

"There are Homosexuals in Ghana's Parliament - Derrick Adjei" - Observing Ghanaian news from afar and SMH**

Being away from Ghana for a few months, one of my favorite activities is checking up on the news either through Joy FM online, Twitter, Citifmonline or occasionally Ghanaweb. Last week, I concluded that there was clearly nothing newsworthy happening in the whole of Ghana. How could I possibly reach such a conclusion? Well, a headline from earlier this past week led me to that very conclusion:


According to the article, the aforementioned Mr Adjei has a list of purported homosexuals and they all happen to be members of the opposition.

At first I thought April Fool's Day had come early (or late?) and that this article was a prank. I was a little surprised to hear it was actually a serious article. I was even more surprised that some of my Twitter buddies in Ghana actually took  it seriously!   Fellow blogger Osabutey Anny has a colourful and interesting take on this debacle in his piece Rubbish Politics.

Out of morbid curiosity, I listened to the interview where Mr. Adjei first mentioned his list. His revelations only came at the end of  an ironic diatribe on lies in Ghanaian politics. It appears the young man was reacting to being called a homosexual by members of the opposition at some point in time. He said nothing would deter him from publishing his list on Wednesday 15 September. Well, it appears that the Wednesday outing for the mass outings came and went without any such publication. Of course from what I  have observed from afar,  it did cause entertainment and distraction. 

Perhaps Mr. Adjei was saved by the publication of excerpts from the autobiography of former British diplomat Craig Murray. In his book, Mr. Murray makes curious and potentially damaging claims about Ghana Election 2000. However, many have since come out to say that Mr. Murray's claims are not entirely accurate. So aside from the hot pink list and the Murray revelations, other tantalizing tit-bits from Ghana news include:

Clearly it's time for me to give up on the belief that there is a modicum of seriousness still  left in Ghanaian politics. So instead of observing from afar and being rendered speechless by utter ridiculousness, I have decided to devote a little blogging to the world around me. Watch this space for chronicles on #Dutch Living! 

Dutch Living exemplified: The Bikes of Leiden 

**SMH = 'Shaking My Head'. For some of us over the hill, all this LOL (laugh out loud) language is sometimes hard to keep up with!

8 comments:

Ghana_Hall_of_Shame said...

oh oh oh you missed one more news item; The Tarkwa courthouse wee party. I mean! Open air weed bonfire??? Must have been a serene week in Tarkwa after that event.
What has Derrick Adjei done to make Ghana a better place? Is outing homosexuals the best he can do? I hope he reads this and makes us see a side of him that is focused on making the country better. You know, do what we pay him to do.
Craig Murray! A few months ago, I was telling people to listen to him. Today, it sounds like he embellishes the truth a likkle bit. I'm so disappointed in myself for trusting so much.
I saw both articles on Boakye-Gyan but the titles were turn-offs so I didn't read them. I'm not sure what his angle is anyway.
Ghana doesn't need politicians right now. We need leaders. Unfortunately, the real leaders are not loud.

Looking fwd to reading about your Dutch living.
Mike

Anonymous said...

You can watch recorded GTV news online on www.myghanaradio.com

Quality is not the best but if you want to catch up on local news on a daily basis, give it a shot.

The Author said...

Oh, didn't we have a silly week! More fun from how some peeps took the rubbish seriously than the rubbish itself. Did I read the phrase "Ghana Politics"? I say what politics? ;-)

Abena Serwaa said...

@Mike Tarkwa courthouse wee party? Man, I totally missed that one on my Ghana news radar!...our dear country is really becoming an interesting place. Really wish I could get hold of Craig Murray's book to read his account for myself. You are right about Ghana needing leaders and not politicians but I think it is impossible to be a leader without being a politician.

Abena Serwaa said...

@Anonymous thanks for the tip..I will check it out. Interestingly, I never listen to GTV news when in Ghana!

Abena Serwaa said...

@Nana Yaw; lol...the fact that people actually tolerated all this nonsense is the part that scares me.

ImageNations said...

Trust Ghanaians to always have a boiling topic. Always! But it leads to no development and it is discussed for only a week. It is never resolved and accusers go free. Ghana! lol

Abena Serwaa said...

@NFA: That's the problem I have....to me the debate was leading nowhere and so was completely pointless. Besides, I think whether someone is gay or not is completely irrelevant and should not affect their ability to work or function..