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Booze it and risC it

A new research establishes that ‘excessive’ drinking raises the risk of some cancers.

The study which is reported in the British Medical Journal looked at 363,988 people and found that 10% all cancers in men and 3% in women were caused by alcohol consumption, either present or in the past.

The study found that men who drank more than two (standard-sized) drinks a day and women who drank more than one drink a day were particularly at risk of alcohol-related cancers.

Excessive alcohol consumption raises the risk of some cancers

When alcohol is metabolized in the body it produces a chemical which can damage DNA, and consequently increase the chance of developing some cancers.

Past research has already established a link between alcohol consumption and cancers of the esophagus, liver, bowel and female breast.

Of the cancers known to be linked to alcohol, the researchers suggest that 40% to 98% occurred in people who drank more than the recommended maximum.

The effect of smoking and healthy body weight on cancers are well known but now including scaled-down alcohol consumption would reduce the risk even further.

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Health Experts Warn Against Drug Resistance Super-Bugs

Global health experts said on Thursday that the world’s most powerful drugs are losing the battle against drug-resistant strains of malaria, HIV, gonorrhea and tuberculosis

According to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antimicrobial resistance is robbing us of the certainty that antibiotics will always be there to fight infections and new drug-resistant pathogens are emerging. “It’s not enough to hope that we’ll have effective drugs to combat these infections. We must all act now to safeguard this important resource,” Frieden said

What you need to know about Anti-Microbial Resistance

What is Anti-Microbial Resistance:

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when germs change in a way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs to treat them. This happens when antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and other medications are used too liberally. About half of antimicrobial drugs — antibiotics in particular — are used unnecessarily or inappropriately prescribed in U.S. hospitals and in doctors’ offices, the CDC says. The best approach to preserving those drugs is to use them only when needed.

How Anti-Microbial Resistance affects developing world, especially Africa

HIV: Studies show that up to 20 percent of newly diagnosed HIV patients have transmitted a drug-resistant infection. Approximately 22 million people live with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the US and other developed countries, Doctors can test or resistance before prescribing drugs, but such luxury may be too hard to come by in under-privileged communities

Malaria: Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the malaria parasites, has developed resistance in nearly all areas of the world where it is transmitted. Annually, there are about 225 million malaria infections and nearly 800,000 deaths. Women and children are the most affected, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Genetically Modified Fungus Could Fight Malaria

Bacteria use for producing anti-body against malaria are seen through a microscope at Westminster University in London, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. In a cramped London laboratory filled with test tubes, bacteria and mosquitoes, scientists are trying to engineer a new weapon in the battle against malaria: a mutant fungus. For years, Angray Kang at Westminster University and colleagues have been testing whether they could genetically tweak a fungus to kill the malaria parasite carried by mosquitoes.

NPR

In a cramped London laboratory filled with test tubes, bacteria and mosquitoes, scientists are trying to engineer a new weapon in the battle against malaria: a mutant fungus.

For years, Angray Kang at Westminster University and colleagues have been testing whether they could genetically tweak a fungus to kill the malaria parasite carried by mosquitoes.

Now they’ve found that in lab experiments, mosquitoes exposed to the fungus show a sharp drop in levels of the parasite. If it works that way in the wild, that should make it harder for the disease to infect people.

Kang said the mutant fungus could be sprayed onto walls and bednets like insecticides and could be made for a comparable cost.

He said the same process of genetic modification could also be used to target other insect-spread diseases like dengue and West Nile virus. The research was done together with scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Early results were published recently in the journal Science.

“This is very exciting research,” said Andrew Read, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University. He has worked on similar projects but was not involved with the fungus research. “It tells us that if you can’t find something in nature to do what you want, you can just make it.”

Read said using the souped-up fungus might be less environmentally invasive than other genetic approaches. Some critics have warned that competing biological approaches, like scientists creating mutant mosquitoes, could wreak havoc to ecosystems if billions of the insects are released into the wild.

With the fungus, “you just spray it on the wall and it does its job,” Read said. “You don’t have to worry about generation after generation of the stuff.”

He also said the fungus technology could be a new way of dealing with insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, an increasing problem that has meant the return of effective but controversial sprays like DDT. “With the (mutant) fungi, you wouldn’t have chemical residues hanging around,” he said. “It would just be a fungus very similar to what is already found in nature.”

In laboratory tests, Kang and colleagues found mosquitoes exposed to the mutated fungus had malaria parasite levels about 85 percent lower than normal. When they added a scorpion toxin to the mix, levels dropped by 97 percent. No tests have shown whether using the fungus would curb human malaria cases, but experts think fewer malaria parasites should translate into fewer cases.

“If the strategy works and there are fewer parasites, this could change how malaria is spread and reduce transmission to humans,” said George Christophides, an infection expert at Imperial College London who was not associated with the research.

Kang’s experiment involved inserting a human antibody against malaria into a fungus commonly found in soil and plants worldwide. Spores made by the fungus burrow into the mosquito, invading its circulatory system. When the malaria-causing parasite multiplies inside the insect, the antibody keeps the parasites from reaching the mosquito’s salivary glands. That theoretically stops the disease’s spread.

“The mosquito can be infected by malaria, but it can’t pass it onto humans,” Kang said. The mutated fungus then eats away at the mosquito from the inside, killing the insect after a couple of weeks. That’s long enough for the mosquito to reproduce, which should lessen its incentive to evolve resistance to it.

The same fungus — minus the genetic modifications — is already produced in industrial quantities to squash locust outbreaks in Australia. The fungus is naturally lethal to locusts, so no genetic modification is needed.

If Kang and colleagues can get enough funding, they hope to test the mutant fungus in malaria-endemic countries like Burkina Faso, Kenya or Tanzania.

Other experts doubted whether the laboratory experiment could be replicated in the wild. “It’s a neat scientific idea, but there are questions about (the mutated fungus’s) stability and formulation,” said Janet Hemingway, director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She said the mutant fungus would have to survive being shipped to Africa and then be viable for another three to six months in stifling heat once it’s sprayed onto walls or bednets.

One group that campaigns against genetically modified organisms warned the mutant fungus could skew behaviors of other wildlife.

“The release of any genetically modified organism into the environment runs the risk that it may have wider impacts than just its target,” said Pete Riley, campaign director of GM Freeze, a U.K.-based advocacy group. He said the modified fungus could have unintended consequences which might be impossible to reverse. “Nature has a pretty cunning way of getting around everything we throw at it,” he said.

Kang acknowledged that simply having a new mutant fungus would not stop malaria. “We still need better drugs and other interventions,” he said. “But malaria kills about a million people every year so we have to try whatever may work.”

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Cote D’Iviore: After Gbagbo What Next

As the sun finally sets on Laurent Gbagbo’s reign in the cocoa growing nation of West Africa, signifying an imminent collapse of his regime, it has become pertinent to begin to take a look at what the future of Cote D’Ivoire should` look like post Laurent Gbagbo.

That this West African nation has suffered so much instability since the death of its first President, Felix  Houphuet Boigny in 1993, seem like repeating the obvious.

As Alhassane Quattara takes over the mantle of leadership it is important he takes a deep look at the history of his country with a view of identifying the immediate and remote cause[s]  of instability in this once peaceful and economically prosperous nation. He should NOT see himself as a politician who must take back his proverbial “pound of flesh” for the numerous injustices he has suffered, but rather consider himself as a statesman whose primary assignment is the healing of wounds and also reintegration of a country that is divided along ethnic/religious/geographical lines, that is,  [north/islam] and   [south/christianity] dichotomy.

He should also not seek to mete out the treatment visited on him by past Ivorien leaders who denied him his nationality claiming he was a Burkinabe on his rivals but rather invite them to form an all inclusive national government to chart a prosperous future for Cote D’Ivoire. And lastly, he should take a cue from the neighboring West African nation of Ghana whose political leaders have decided to build strong democratic institutions as opposed to the pervasive “personalization” of power rampant in most parts of Africa.

Indeed Quattara must hit the ground running in order to lead his country to the right place she belongs to as the country has lost valuable time bickering over a contrived and avoidable political crisis.

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Top UN Relief Official Sounds Alarm After ‘deeply troubling’ Visit to Côte d’Ivoire

7 April 2011 –The United Nations relief chief sounded the alarm today about the humanitarian situation inside Côte d’Ivoire, saying emergency aid is needed now to help hundreds of thousands of civilians caught up in the deadly violence that has engulfed the West African country.

Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in New York that she had “just returned from a deeply troubling visit” to Côte d’Ivoire and neighbouring Liberia.

Ms. Amos said she saw evidence of “what must have been terrible violence” and spoke to numerous people who had either endured or witnessed atrocities as a result of fighting between forces supporting the former president Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down, and those backing Alassane Ouattara, the UN-certified winner of last November’s presidential election.

The heaviest fighting is now focused on the commercial capital, Abidjan, where pro-Gbagbo forces are concentrated. The UN peacekeeping mission (UNOCI) is carrying out ground and air patrols to try to protect civilians and to respond to requests for assistance from journalists and foreign nationals.

UNOCI troops deployed to secure the Félix Houphouët-Boigny bridge in Abidjan were shelled from the lagoon side late yesterday and had to return fire.

“People are immensely traumatized,” Ms. Amos said. “They have witnessed terrible violence, and many have been directly targeted.”

Ms. Amos heard stories of women witnessing the execution of their husbands, of women and girls being abducted, and of children being forcibly separated from their parents.

“I spoke to women who had hidden in a swamp for three days, hiding from militias. I heard claims there are hundreds if not thousands of people still hiding in the forests. I also heard claims that militias are hunting people with dogs.”

The Under-Secretary-General stressed that there can be no impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against civilians.

“While we don’t yet know the full extent of the atrocities that have been carried out, they clearly add up to extremely serious human rights violations.”

Earlier this week prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague said they may open investigations into the “widespread and systematic” killings in Côte d’Ivoire in recent weeks.

Ms. Amos noted that given the deep roots of the violence and discord in Côte d’Ivoire, “a sustained process of reconciliation is going to be needed” throughout the country.

But she said that the parties to the fighting must ensure that humanitarian aid can reach those in need.

“Humanitarian aid needs to be provided now – to alleviate the worst suffering; to provide protection for people; and to help reduce the tensions which will only escalate as food and other basic essentials run short.”

UN aid officials have estimated that up to 1 million Ivorians have been displaced by the violence, with some internally displaced and others forced to flee into neighbouring countries, particularly Liberia.

“Liberian authorities, UN agencies and our partner NGOs [non-governmental organizations] are doing their utmost to ensure that the response is adequate,” the Emergency Relief Coordinator said.

“But we still have a long way to go. With more money, we can deliver more food, provide shelter [and] offer better medical treatment to those who are sick, and much more.”

Ms. Amos said the UN would focus on ensuring that aid workers can gain access to those areas where populations require assistance.

“The important thing to remember here is it is ordinary people who are caught up in this violence. What they told me over and over again is they want a safe and stable Côte d’Ivoire, so they can go on with their lives.”

Cote

UN News Center

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Preventing Genocide Only Real Way to Honour Rwandan Victims – Ban

7 April 2011 –The only way to truly honour the memory of the more than 800,000 people who perished in Rwanda 17 years ago is to ensure that such tragedies never occur again, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, as the United Nations observed the annual day of remembrance of the victims of the genocide.

“Preventing genocide is a collective and individual responsibility,” Mr. Ban said in a message for the day, which is observed every year on 7 April. “Rwanda’s survivors have made us confront the ugly reality of a preventable tragedy.”

More than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutus were murdered in the tiny African nation, mostly by machete, during a period of less than 100 days beginning in April 1994.

The Secretary-General noted that the recognition of the collective failure of the international community to come to the assistance of the people of Rwanda, and to shield the victims of the wars in the Balkans, led to the endorsement by the 2005 World Summit of the responsibility to protect.

Recent measures by the Security Council in response to the crisis in Libya, in particular the adoption of Resolutions 1970 and 1973, mark a significant step along this path, he added.

In addition, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international courts are sending a “strong signal” that the world will not tolerate impunity for gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“My Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect monitor developments worldwide looking for early signs of risk. We must remain ever vigilant.”

Mr. Ban paid special tribute to the people and Government of Rwanda for the resilience and dignity they have shown in working towards national recovery and managing the trauma of the genocide.

This year’s commemoration includes a memorial ceremony to be held at UN Headquarters in New York this evening that will honour the victims, as well as the survivors, and emphasize ways in which education can help reconciliation. It will feature musical performances as well as testimony from Immaculée Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide.

In addition, a student conference will be held on Friday focusing on genocide prevention and feature Francis Deng, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Clemantine Wamariya, genocide survivor and student at Yale University.

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Conquering Your Fear of FEAR, FAILURE and The FUTURE

AFRICAN YOUTHS AND THE 3F ENEMIES…..GAINING VICTORY FOR SELF DEVELOPMENT.

“Know the enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never be defeated; when you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal; if you are ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be defeated” – Sun Tzu (The Art of War).

The quote above is unequivocally food for thought for all ages but especially the youth. I mean the African youth who appear ‘trapped’ by these conquerable enemies identified above as 3Fs….. FEAR, FAILURE AND THE FUTURE.

Take a moment to reflect on these popular quotes on the enemy of fear:

” I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fear to do”….Eleanor Roosevelt.

”Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”… Ambrose Redmoon. ”

No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear”…Edmund Burke. ”

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom”….Bertrand Russell..

No human is immune to this ‘abstract feeling’, regardless of age, social status, and skin color. Fear in this context is not the feeling manifested by an individual when exposed to life threatening situations such as a robbery attack, natural disasters, or the fear associated with the death of a loved one. Rather, the Fear under examination is one that is absolutely within the control of its host. I’ll like to share a personal experience along this line as a youth. I remember growing up in the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria with so many attractions around. As a youth while in High school (secondary education), I had a deep interest in sciences wanting to become a Medical doctor or a Pilot. My Dad used to have a health book as big as an encyclopedia. I usually pick up the book from his library at my leisure to read even though most of what I was reading made little or no academic sense to me. Moreover, growing up in an environment that was not ‘science friendly’ so to say, I started nurturing the fear of pessimism. Added to this was the issue of finance. In school, most of those in the sciences were mates from affluent or wealthy homes. So I had this mindset like, which may be true of most young people that success in the sciences depends on the pay-book of our parents. Hence, I had to settle for the major that accommodates students from all walks of life, the Business Department.

Closely associated with ‘fear’, is the enemy of Failure. In my view, the fear of failure is largely responsible for the stagnant and under-developed psyche of an average person especially youths. In this part of the world (Africa) where superstitions and the fear of the Unknown permeates, many individuals out of lack of motivation and willpower submit themselves to the dictates of their environment thereby giving up after few encounters with failure. Interestingly though, most of the world acclaimed and celebrated personalities from time immemorial, in Africa and in the Diaspora, were beset by this ‘enemy’ on a constant basis and yet are known for success today. Bill Gates, Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Wole Soyinka and most recently, Barrack Obama were all ‘victimized’ at one point or the other in their quest towards success by failure. However, due to determination to succeed at all cost, these individuals are known for who they are today. The same can be your experience too. Failure in my opinion, no matter how often it besets its recipient, is only a natural manifestation,  to some extent the frailty of the human species, which is inevitable before success can be realized. Ponder over this: What does it take an infant to become a toddler and grow into childhood? It takes days, weeks and months of repeated crawling, stooping and falling (failure) as a natural experience. In the same vein, failure in whatever form, be it in your academics, business, relationships and other areas of life should not be a deterrent to your progress and success in life. As a very good friend puts it in an article; ‘MAKING IT SLOWLY BUR SURELY‘, Tunde Oseni fervently addressed issues on success in life as a gradual process that takes time to materialize. Therein, he advised youths, especially those in the developing economies, never to be ‘too ambitious to succeed’. Rather, with the right ‘tools’ such as education, commitment, perseverance amongst others, success is guaranteed even though it may come slowly. Therefore, never allow the failure of today to becloud the success of tomorrow. No matter, how many times failure comes your way, realize that what matters most is your unrelenting determination to turn it into success.

The last ‘enemy’ identified above is the Future. Erroneously, many usually see the Future as being into the distant days ahead. However, the future starts today! Future in this context is the unnecessary worries, concerns and anxieties about tomorrow. Needless to state, it is vital to think or plan ahead of time. Many though have allowed themselves to be entrapped by the uncertainties of life thereby giving up effort towards a bright future. Most African youths grow up in an environment that barely impact positively on their lives. Environments where values which define us a people have been thrown into the air, environment where leaders lack integrity and national interest, environment were the youths hardly have a voice especially in government. Despite these limitations, a good number of African youths have made the best for themselves. It is important that as youths, we start positioning ourselves now in terms of empowerment for the future. Obama positioned himself years ago through academic and intellectual empowerment, emerging as the President of the United States of America in 2009. Certainly, a ‘mystery in disguise!! The same can be your experience too. A positive mindset coupled with optimism is needed to successfully wage the battle for a bright Future.

Hence, a call goes to everyone out there, especially African youths who before reading this piece may have been ‘enslaved’ as it were to FEAR, FAILURE and FUTURE. These three ‘enemies’ are within your capacity not only to control, but to conquer. May your Fear turn to be your Freedom, your Failure turn to Fortune and your Future turn to Fame.

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The Legon Lawlessness Hall of Shame- Watch and Support

Brian Laung Aoaeh

“I promise on my honour to be faithful and loyal to Ghana my motherland.

I pledge myself to the service of Ghana with all my strength and with all my heart.

I promise to hold in high esteem our heritage, won for us through the blood and toil of our fathers;

and I pledge myself in all things to uphold and defend the good name of Ghana. So help me God.”

“God Bless our homeland Ghana,

And make our nation great and strong,

Bold to defend for ever the cause of Freedom and of Right.

Fill our hearts with true humility

Make us cherish fearless honesty,

And help us to resist oppressor’s rule

With all our will and might for evermore.”

As a teenager in secondary school at St. Francis Xavier Junior Seminary in Wa, and Presec, Legon respectively, I recited and sang those words on many occasions. I learned to take them seriously, and I learned to take my duty to our Motherland seriously.

It is my abiding belief in Ghana that has driven my outrage over the incident that occurred at Mensah Sarbah Hall, on the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon on March 31. If you have not yet heard, a young lady was brutally attacked and sexually molested by a mob of men on the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon, in Accra. They alleged that she stole some cell phones and a laptop. As I write this we do not yet know if her attackers have been apprehended. Her attackers filmed their actions, and distributed it. One of the radio stations in Accra got a hold of the video, and other media outlets in Ghana picked up the story and reported on it immediately after the incident.

Thanks to a childhood friend, I watched the video in shock and horror on Friday while I was at work. What I saw first brought tears to my eyes, and then filled me with outrage. What I saw can only be described as despicable. That such violence was directed against a woman makes the crime all the more monstrous. No Ghanaian, man or woman, should have to endure what the victim went through. No, not in the face of allegations of any kind.

My first opinion piece on this matter, titled We Must Hold Ourselves To A Higher Standard, has been greeted with many different reactions. Obviously, I have no quarrel with those that feel as outraged as I over this incident.

I will address some of the rebuttals I have encountered and let you judge if Ghana in which incidents like this seem acceptable is the Ghana whose pledge you recite, and whose anthem you sing.

When the video was posted, many protested on the grounds that sharing it widely violated the dignity of the victim and infringed upon her privacy. I understand that sentiment. If it were obvious that her attackers would be brought to justice no matter what, I would agree with that argument. However, it is not until you feel the horror I felt, or experience the anger that welled in me when I saw the incident in video, not till then will you realize that you can no longer simply sit there and do nothing. You can not just stand idly by and wait for someone else to do something. While I understand the position of those who protested the sharing of the video, I do not know that we had much choice. Seeing the video is what prompted my outrage, an oral or written narrative would have been far less effective.

Another group has suggested that the victim brought this upon herself. What did she expect? It serves her right. It is unfair that these poor students lost cell phones and a laptop through her theft. What about their project work for school that was saved on the laptop? To this group I have one question. Is it their intention to suggest that human life, the dignity of another human being and the sanctity of womanhood is no more significant to our Ghanaian society than the value of some cell phones and a laptop? Do we know that she is in fact guilty of the allegations leveled against her? I vigorously reject the notion that unprovoked and wanton violence that is not in self-defense and dehumanizes any one is ever justifiable, under any circumstance.

Yet another group argues that this has been going on for ages. Mob justice, they say, is nothing new in Ghana, but now that it is a woman people want to make this bigger than it is. Why do we care now? To that I have this response. When I was a boy, I heard stories about mob justice. I could do nothing. I felt powerless and filled with fear. Now I am a man. I can do something. I am not afraid. The point is, mob violence against any person is wrong. I would have felt the same sense of outrage, had the video been one in which a man was attacked and molested by residents of Volta Hall. I hope we can agree that wanton violence against a woman is wrong. Wanton violence against a man is wrong. Wanton violence against any of us is wanton violence against all of us. That cannot be allowed to stand. Shall we stop trying to solve our current and future problems merely because we failed to solve similar problems in the past?

There’s that group that wishes to make this about political affiliation. There is not one notion that could be more wrong. I reject with absolute contempt the idea that we should let our response be governed by our political affiliation. This is about all of us. This is about all Ghanaians. This is about the nature of the society we wish to leave behind for our sons and daughters. This is about the reverence with which we should treat our mothers and our fathers. This is about the respect we should have for one another as children of our Motherland, Ghana. This is about seeking to make our country a more just and equitable one because of our difficult history. This is about revering the sacrifices that others have made on our behalf. This is not about ideology. It is not about ethnicity. It is not about religion. It is not about gender, and it most certainly is not about the current state of our political dialogue. This is about us, all of us, all Ghanaians.

Still another group accuses the police, other law enforcement entities, and those in power of never doing anything to right the ills of Ghanaian society. They seem to assert that nothing should be done about this because many in authority go unpunished for crimes and offenses that far outweigh this. Why they ask should these “small boys” be punished when “big men” get away with far worse? To them I say, we have to start somewhere. Let this mark the day when we stood up as one people, and said we will hold one another accountable. Let us channel President Mills’ outrage at the rampant corruption in sections of Ghana’s Customs Department. Let us say with one voice, in unequivocal terms, that we wish all Ghanaians to be held accountable for their actions. Let us promise ourselves a future in which we are answerable to the constitution and all the other laws of our dear nation.

It is easy to find excuses. It is easy to do nothing. After all the victim is merely an anonymous individual that most of us will never cross paths with. Who cares? We should all care. Rwanda. Liberia. Sierra Leone. Zaire. Uganda. Zimbabwe. La Cote d’Ivoire. Societies slip into sustained, protracted and violent conflict when small injustices are overlooked. Every one looks the other way. People in authority renege on their responsibility to insist that the right thing is done. Society collectively turns a blind eye when wrongs go unpunished, and victims are denied justice. Eventually small injustices become big injustices. Society erupts, and violence upends the idyllic lives that the privileged sought to protect by doing nothing. We must not let that happen. We must start somewhere. We must start today. We can start with this incident.

I am a son of privilege. My parents are not rich, not by any stretch. But I am a son of privilege because others in Ghana were denied something so that I could go to school. Others were denied something so that I could receive an education. Others were denied hospitals, roads, schools, electricity and many other social amenities so people like me would receive an education and one day make a contribution towards the improvement of our collective future as Ghanaians. That is not a privilege I take for granted. Nor is it a privilege that I should abuse. If you are reading this you are a son or daughter of privilege too. I implore you do not waste that privilege.

We may have our differences on many issues. I am hopeful that we can agree on this. If Amina is guilty of theft, then she must be held to account for her actions. That she is guilty of the allegations against her does not acquit her attackers. I do not accept the notion that our society cannot ensure that justice is served on both sides of this incident. The mob that attacked the victim too must be held to account. In attacking her they attacked all of us. They brought shame to our beloved Motherland. That can not be allowed to stand. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard. Ghana demands that of all of us.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

Warning: Parts of the Video may be disturbing and may not be suitable for all audience. Please use your personal judgement in proceeding.


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