Banks Aid and Condone Internet Fraud in Ghana.

All Banks Know This But Won't Respect it.

I do not work in the banks, neither am I a banker but my visits to banks seem routine almost daily. I just love the scenery in the banking halls in Ghana and since you don't have to pay anything to be in there, I take advantage of that liberty by the kind courtesy of nice customer relations and observe activities inside the banks.
I am not going to be specific with any Ghanaian bank but all banks in Ghana do condone this pandemic of internet fraud, holistically. Everybody is happy, especially bank owners and general managers when huge profits margins are announced at the annual general meetings with increasing rates yearly.
The question nobody ever got the balls to ask is how much is the income revenue of interests on loans from customers since that is the only source of revenue for banks in Ghana. I can say this on authority because aside Data Bank and Ghana commercial Banks, no other banks earn much on stock trading like they make from international remittance services.
You see cautions and warning signs boldly placated inside of all banking halls that "Money laundering is a crime..." and the rest of all financial criminal jargons but that is how far those warnings could go. They stay written on walls and never respected by any banker in Ghana.
The Central has recently issued some warning for banks to be able to raise their capital income to some insuperable level and nobody wondered how in a living hell's name these banks are going to meet such demands, given the decaying economic standing of the jurisdiction, Ghana.
Day in day out, foreigners accuse my country of fraudulent behaviors and the first gentleman is bent on combating such crimes by starting the arrest of innocent young men who are only Facebook and Instagram hooligans.
The question of how these looted and "scam funds" get into the country is left unattended to. These young people may be involved in these activities one way or the other, I would not shield anybody, but the fact still remains that none of these people owns or operates banks and loans facilities. Politicians and pseudo-businessmen and women do.
They are aware of how these boys operate because these bankers "buy" shares in the online scam business of our young people. I so much wish to make this post very formal and professional but I think I just have to throw in everything the way they come.
Police officers, business tycoons, ministers and lawyers allows our young people involved in these online scams to use their names and bank details to receive huge bank transfers for a percentage share of total transfers.
Most of these young people do not even have to go to the bank to receive most of these funds. They just put a call through to the personalities they deal with, let them know about the amount involved and just sit home and wait for a call for their money after the political figures and the bank managers deduct their own percentage shares.
It is only when the truth hits the streets that everybody looks for ways to get out. That's why you see some young men arrested and kept from the cameras, and probably released on the same to keep them from blowing the whistle.
It is the sole responsibility of TEAM tHe Clerk GH to blow the whistle as nobody has balls huge and hard enough to make that call. These boys, "scammers", when thoroughly searched, are in possession of some highly classified documents of the state ranging from the judiciary, the police, business entities, the registrar and what have you. The question is how do they come by all these documents? Would the banks agree that they have any knowledge of these things? I am not certain any bank would admit this because that is pretty much a career and reputation destructive than a C4, but it is the truth walking butt-naked without even having to look out for facts.
All these would be rightly denied by even those caught on camera as is the custom in Ghana recently where some corrupt officials caught on spy cams taking bribes for services they are employed and being paid for, denied ever doing so. The list is just pathetic. The good new however is that spy cam footage inside of these banks would give ample explanations as to the kind of business some young men like us do when we are paid huge sums of uncountable monies over the counters through remittances by these banks.
I think it is about time we restored the lost respect to the laws of Ghana by putting each act and article into practice. We all know the laws exists but those who are to ensure they are enforced are the ones recruiting us the civilians to over step beyond legal bounds.

Credit: TEAM THə CŁƏrk GH

```Editors Must Stop Sleeping On Grammar```

Credit: Daily Guide, 28 June, 2017

To err, we believe, is human, and to forgive, divine...but before such errors, as grammatical blunders committed by our media practitioners, are forgiven, we must first punish those guilty of them with as severe a laughter as can be afforded by the very inks used to commit such errors. 

With reference to a publication in one of the most widely patronized newspapers in Ghana, the Daily Guide, captioned 'Shake-up At DVLA', dated June 28, 2017, on page 6 of the paper by our senior and learned colleague Charles Takyi-Boadu, what looks like a grammatical blunder was committed.
In description, in the first paragraph after his introduction to the story as titled, Mr Takyi-Boadu opened the body of the message with the words "In follows...( previous and recent developments at the place (offices of the DVLA)...)" 

I do not wish to make this sound like a question of whether "it follows" was the intended clause before "In follows" was rather used; that is why, I call it a grammatical blunder.
If truly he intended to tell the reading public that in consequence to the 'previous and recent developments' at the offices of the DVLA, a comparison of which indicates a discrepancy between the cost of the contracts awarded and the cost of printing the yet-to-be-introduced license, then I am a thousand per cent certain that the right clause to be used is 'It follows' and not "In follows". Using anything of the sort is a grammatical crime which when taken up from the international court of arbitration could put the offender, his career and reputation behind bars for life.

I put it to my big brother and the Editor-in-chief of the said paper, to make sure as a matter of urgency all the necessary "house chores" are carefully performed before publishing an item for the consumption of the targeted audience. 

These simple tasks must be performed in order to ensure the attainment of one of the key elements of the social responsibilities of every media house, which is to educate the audience. It is known, by learned professionals in the publishing business, that before publishing, all tasks at the editing stage like proof-reading and copy-editing to check for and correct grammatical errors must be duly undertaken by personnel responsible in that department. It is also true that the Queen's birth language, the English Language, is by no means a Ghanaian mother tongue. A greater part of it was borrowed and was later sold to us by the gold coast colonial masters, which we bought in blood and sweat. For this reason, no one person can boast of perfection in utilising this language without such cheap and petty errors. Some concerned citizens, however, demand that those professionals recognised, employed and mandated by the governing bodies of the Ghana Association of Publishers (GAPs) and Ghana's Graphic Communications, perform their duties and responsibilities with diligence. 

In another feature article by Thomas Fosu Jnr. on the same page (page 6) of the nation's Daily Guide, there was an oversight, if I must put it so, in the introduction of the main story captioned "NDC Gave Fertilizers To Party Activists -NPP." Thomas Fosu Jnr. opened the story with "THE MAJORITY New Patriotic (NPP)..." and then went on. I would like to use this medium to tell my big brother that the abbreviation "NPP" neither represents "New Patriotic" in full, nor does "THE MAJORITY New Patriotic", rather New Patriotic Party. That simple. 

I have a "gut feeling" everybody knows this very well but the impatience of some journalists to do more stories for more media houses amidst tight schedules result in such errors of omission as can be seen in the above article by my dear brother. 

Again, in another story on the same page (page 6) of the same paper, the last of all stories on the page, in the ending sentence of 'Case Closed' paragraph under the news article "No Case For Akua Donkor Robbers", another common grammatical error was recorded, (as was written by Jeffery De-Graft Johnson) Here, "IT" was used in a stead of "ITS". This never amazed me much because it is a common mistake back in our elementary school days. It is just that I think it is bad that it appeared in our newspapers, which I hope would receive the right attention due it. 

Flipping back to page 5 of the same paper, moving forward, under "World News", in an article on the two consecutive times Wimbledon Champion "Serena Williams In Pregnancy Shoot" I spotted another oversight. I know Daily Guide would not like to carry that blame for the mere fact that the original writer was Martha Cliff for MailOnline. I still would not shift the blame to Martha directly unless the Editor-in-chief of the Daily Guide would like to tell the reading public that he had no time to glance through the online article he was going to feature in his newspaper. 

Reading the first sentence of the third paragraph which read "Speaking of 'he' career", I felt ashamed at how our celebrated award-winning newspaper like the Daily Guide failed in a simple "copy 'n' paste" exercise. 

It is clear Martha's write-up misled whoever lifted the story from MailOnline and so instead of making the necessary thorough reading before publishing it, he or she must have been scared of an international suit of piracy or plagiarism, should any changes affect the text "as was". I could involve the Editor of MailOnline in this saga of "oversights" but I would first need to sweep my room out clean before I "out with the trash". 

So, let us make the necessary changes by adding the missing "r" to the nude "he" before the sentence in that paragraph of the story can make some real sense. I took the time to check the texts in the original story by Martha Cliff for MailOnline and it was exactly as "carbon-copied" by Daily Guide, Ghana.
Language indeed is dynamic but those of us who spent our last pesewa in acquiring some in hard labor at the basic level of the educational ladder, wish that people like us be well informed as and whenever changes affect some of these words especially when used as clauses and phrases in our sentences.
Only then shall we be able to inform and educate the less privileged to whom the language has been a "fifth landing stage" even fifty years after slavery. 

The dynamism of the language and its usage, in this modern world, make it too tricky to master especially by those professionals in haste. We must never forget the naked fact that every hasty climber suddenly falls. 

I am heretofore calling on all writers and users (of English language) concerned to exercise patience especially when the task at hand is to inform, educate and entertain a certain target group of audience with what we publish. The degree of silly grammatical errors is pretty much entertaining but it's unprofessional on the part of those who are constantly found in the act. A switch of profession could make this less talked-about.

I hope this humble plea will receive the necessary attention and amicable resolution it deserves. Also I hope this would deter the rest of the media houses and their sea of journalists from toeing this same line of grammatical incompetence even with their silos of certificates and qualifications in the publishing profession. 

It must serve as a fore-warning and caution to all publishing houses, especially editors, that even an "editorial oversight" is a crime according to all grammatical codes of conduct in the daily usage of the English language.

God bless our homeland Ghana and make all grammatical blunders committed by our learned colleagues be punished for corrections as and whenever the truth is stripped bare, and its private parts exposed.
"Akpe".

THə CŁƏrk GH.
(A Pressure Group)
(Klikor & Diaspora)

Demystify Vague Weather Reports.

Credit: Metro TV News, Rainwatch.

Language, for its lengthy duration of existence, is a figure of speech, in that understanding of what is said by one person to the other depends solely on the common medium known to the two parties as and whenever information is communicated. This helps eliminate the burden of ambiguity in most everyday expressions in the various languages with which we interact with one another.

For this reason, organizations throughout the world have their own unique means and forms of communicating information to the corporate bodies as would all domestic or educational institutions. The use of special acronyms for communication is prevalent among most Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the world, allegedly, and they are, without a doubt, carefully chosen and arranged in all undertakings for effortless understanding as regards dealings in that particular field of knowledge.

Many peculiar disciplines, ranging from Medicine, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Archeology, Theology, Geography, Accountancy, Economics, Journalism, Law, Sociology, Meteorology, Printing, Publishing, Psychology, Philosophy, among many but to mention these few, have their own preferred languages for communication. This debunks the complexity associated with the broad nature of language, in the wider sense of its use. This choice of special languages help people associated with the various fields of disciplines know what is said, when and how it is said.

For some times past, the meteorological department of Ghana, through the nation’s broadcaster, GTV, used to give detailed information on weather reports and forecasts, which was very informative and educative to all who had the chance to watch evening news and a repeat of the same at late news, before close down. This seems to have disappeared from all media submissions for as long as anybody could remember, in spite of the numerous television stations that are granted the broadcasting rights to operate by the National Communications Authority (NCA).

The era of the yester-years is shamelessly being knocked to the curbs without any regards to cherished values and essence it holds in the lives of the viewing public in this season of rapid advanced technology. The reason specialized languages are used in every field of knowledge is also done away with, in respect to weather reports and forecasts from the meteorological department in Ghana, if I must say so myself. Watching all news coverage across the country, no single television station boasts of a personnel well-vexed in the know-how to interpreting the figures of the weather reports and forecasts, as submitted to some television stations on request or some that happen to stumble upon such numbers, browsing the website of the weather department.

The only time newscasters and reporters think it is necessary to do a story on the meteorological department in this country, Ghana, especially when the story is deemed to blame the weathermen, is when after a bad weather destroys lives and properties of citizens whose various contributions, one way or the other, pay for the livelihood of those personnel who are licensed to work assiduously to make sure citizens do not suffer such ill predicaments; at least not without a fore-warning of the event when it hits them.

It is morally right, without a doubt, for us all to assume the fact that most citizens would have some fore-knowledge of weather warnings per reports and forecasts due to the massive embrace of the technology of smartphones and gadgets by most Ghanaians today. Professionally, it is unwise for anybody to dare such a thought, as the reason someone is employed and being paid, must be unequivocally fulfilled in its entirety. No form of opaque or flimsy an excuse would be tolerated.

The common knowledge that computers, in this era of advanced technology, would make things easier for humans does not mean human aids are not needed to man and supervise these machines to do what they are meant for. Watching a weather report on some television stations reveals clear indication of thoughtlessness, on the part of some presenters and producers, if I must include everyone in my unfamiliar tone of French.

For instance, in the weather segment of some live news telecasts, you see figures displayed on the screens with some icons of clouds in different shades and the average Ghanaian is “thought” of as well educated and informed on what the weatherman’s reports entail. And that the viewing Ghanaian public is also “thought” of to be professors of meteorology the moment and time such weather segments are televised with the display of just numbers on the screens without any weather personnel to break it down to a level for all to understand.

One instance after the recent flood disaster on TV3 evening news was when a presenter, whose name I would not mention here, tried to shift some sort of blame onto the weatherman for not issuing a weather warning prior to the Kumasi flood after it rained for more than half the day since morning. What I asked myself that evening was that should that warning about the weather given, say the previous evening, before the day of the flood, would the presenter have found someone to do the interpretation or he would just put the figures out there on the television screen for the public to guess what the weather was going to be like for people of Kumasi?

I would have written this a month ago but I waited long enough to be sure someone “very thoughtful” would realise this critical negligence of an oversight by all media practitioners across the country, taking no exception for our weather personnel, and do what must be done as and whenever any information about the weather, beit forecast, report or warning, needs to be televised. This used to be done in the distant past by GTV but only God in Makola and Katamanto knows why they had stopped.

If priority plays a major role in what professional news writers, casters, presenters and their producers bring to the public domain, I think some importance needs be attached to our weather reports, especially crucial warnings, to help demystify information communicated vaguely to the viewing Ghanaian public, both home and abroad, and the international media also, keeping eagle eyes on how we perform as a country. I believe, doing this is the only sure way anybody outside the borders of classrooms to the meteorological department would be able to understand the mysterious numerological languages with which weather reporters and forecasters communicate to us through their media associates.

God bless our homeland Ghana and the world for that matter.

The Clerk.

Is The Free SHS Policy Not Too Early For Government?

The campaign promise of the sitting government, while in opposition heading into the just ended general elections 2016, just kicks off on Tuesday September 12 of the 2017/18 academic year. 

It is in fulfillment to one of the much expected political promises, which, many believe, will be impossible to implement. Tirelessly enough, however, it is eventually here but is it not too early for this government to implement? Is Ghana really capable to groom and nurture this program into a full blown permanent educational policy to benefit future generations?

These questions disappear from all media submissions on the introduction of this Free SHS program amidst the computer placement brouhaha it generates when Ghana Education Service (GES) postponed deadlines for placement of students for the fourth time; and the fact that some students who were repeated by teachers in various classes due to poor academia had been promoted just to make room for this 'all-inclusive' policy to gain grounds. 

Ghana being a "big baby" in the practice of a democratic system of governance, policies and management of national properties keep changing as per change of government. On a political platform, one political ideology says the implementation of this program is impossible given quite a number of factors, which the Free-SHS-starving Ghanaian public pay no mind to. It was, at the time, taken as a political propaganda to sway votes and to gain public sympathy. 

This write-up is not here to take sides but to inquire from the listening public whether or not the grounds are fertile enough for government to propagate and harvest bountiful future for this new political baby. 

We are well aware many are the challenges schools in Ghana struggle to survive from, right from elementary through to the very top of educational ladder. For the Senior High Schools, not many boast of adequate educational facilities and the previous government of the Mahama administration of the fourth republic was not able to finish its promise of providing a set number of infrastructural facilities for the senior high schools across the country. Had that been completed, there will be no discussions as to whether there are enough facilities to help this government see its Free SHS policy through. 

What is worrying, and which everyone seems to be asking nothing about, surprisingly, is the fact that even heads of the senior high institutions, that lack reasonable number of educational aids, are mute and GES pretends not to know about their plight. I worry because when government starts distributing funds to facilitate its Free SHS policy for the selected first year students, minus the continuing student of course, it is going to ensure fair and equal disbursement without taking into accounts whether or not an institution lacks human or material resources, allegedly. 

The assumption may be that perhaps all institutions are well equipped to carry out the grand agenda and so therefore allocation of funds to all schools are and will be done with that in mind. 

But I love to be the person to ask this government what the outcomes of its feasibility studies were, as regards availability of educational resources, infrastructural and human alike, for all schools especially those in the rural parts of the country before decision was taken to roll out this educational policy? 

Also, the question of why the pick-and-choose in the selection of students for the supposedly "free for all" Free SHS policy and why no single continuing student is a beneficiary of it, is gliding by unanswered. Parents who are the most affected by this incongruence seem to have no voice to question the right authorities as Parents Teacher Associations (PTAs) throughout the country are progressively silent all of a sudden. 

Perhaps there are, allegedly, some negotiations behind the scenes to indemnify those not benefiting from the program although they are directly affected by the introduction of the Free SHS policy. Just maybe. 

The only way to ensure fairness to every Ghanaian child, who has the right to a share of the national cake, which is the main sponsor of this policy, at the end of the day, is to implement this policy when the grounds are well prepared and set for every Ghanaian child to benefit without discrimination. 

To the ordinary Ghanaian mind, without even any political dispute, choosing who is, and who is not, to benefit from a free policy which tax payers money is going to pay for by the end of the day, is nothing short of abject discrimination. This because students of equal right and chance at benefiting from a government policy now sitting in the same class under one teacher but with this "imaginary" division of those who are not good enough for even a Free SHS policy. 

Being a ward of a voter politically affiliated to the government of the day, what will be the mental position of a parent whose ward is declared "unqualified" for this Free SHS policy? Happy? Most definitely not; at least not until such a parent admits otherwise, I will not bite my tongue. 

More so, all over the media, Ghana and beyond, you see flashes of "Free SHS" there and about, without any one journalist or blogger breaking the monotony by reporting on the plight and complains of those other Ghanaians "left out" in the share of the national cake just because their wards are not "good enough". 

If government decides to go choosy in implementing this educational policy excluding wards of some other Ghanaians, the word "free" needs to be carefully looked at one more time in the Oxford Longman  version of the Dictionary. Also, if all Ghanaian students cannot benefit from this policy why the need to implement it now, knowing too well all is not set for its inception? 

We all know that in every democratic dispensation, government needs to listen and respond to the cries of the people but must do so without any partiality, especially when government response will not benefit all. 

Government in a rush to, allegedly, win a political sympathy, of some sort, from Ghanaians and the on-looking worlds, so as to prove a point to other political rivals, maybe,  is what pivoted this hasty implementation of the Free SHS, so-called. 

It is true the policy will relief parents, whose wards are beneficiaries, of some but not all financial impediments, but who is to comfort those parents whose wards need to go to school but are declared 'not qualified' for this "free" policy? Does this instance satisfy the "Access, Equity and Quality" which is the theme chosen for the Free SHS policy? 

Last but not the least, is every provision for the policy well represented in practice exactly as on paper? Who is to look into all these, unbiased, and advise government on the right course of action to take, for the benefit of all Ghanaians? Who has the balls to dare this ' I'm-in-rush' government? 

Thə CŁƏrk. 

(A Pressure Group) 

(Klikor & Diaspora). 

Accra - The cleanest city of Africa in the making.

We were told Accra would be made the cleanest city in Africa; and so you see the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) officials sacking hawkers from the pavements on the streets of Accra and ceasing the goods of those who fail to pack in time.

City of Accra in filth

Not everyone is lucky enough to pay the set fines as penalty for failure to comply but none of such ceased goods spend the night under seizure. Pavement hawking is as old as the city and its very streets and so before hawkers are cleared off the streets, an alternate spot suitable for all hawkers must first be provided. The question of a ready market and stores accordingly apportioned to sellers and traders must be accurately answered to fully stop hawking on the pavements of our streets.

A walk through the city of Accra, in and around the streets of Accra Breweries Ltd just after the little rain showers today September 7, some strategic portions on the streets are still logged in filth and stagnant water. You see A.M.A. officials chasing hawkers all over while these filths lie comfortably unattended to. Vehicles and unsuspecting market women and head porters (kayayeis) kept these mashed up till the water and its contents changed colors beyond recognition.

The truth to this scene is that this picture of filth is not the same everywhere around the city of Accra. The irony is that it gets even colorful as every spot has its own degree of filth in description. Perhaps this is the beauty of the cleanest city our honorable mayor promised the people of Ghana, nobody must protest...yet.

I only am creating the awareness that if what is lying there is what was promised, then I want to be the first person to say that I have heard and seen it all before; It's all in the game of politics and how it's played.

THə CŁƏrk.
(A Pressure Group, Klikor and Diaspora)