Ghana now a laughing stock and international ridicule – Dr Bawole

Head of Department of Public Administration and Health Services Management at the University of Ghana Business School says Ghana is fast becoming notorious for international ridicule. Dr. Justice Nyigmah Bawole was reacting to the error-ridden 59th Independence Day brochure. According to him, it is unacceptable for a developing country like Ghana to face the recent humiliation from the international community. Dr. Bawole said the error-ridden brochure is just one of the many unfortunate events at government level that has made the country a laughing stock. The 59th Independence Day brochures were riddled with inaccuracies including a wrongful designation of Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, as the President of Ghana.

The Coat of Arms of Ghana was referred to as the ‘Coat of Arm’ among a raft of other spelling and grammatical errors. Some Ghanaians and Kenyans have ridiculed the government for the mistakes on social media. In 2015, Ghana's President and immediate past ECOWAS Chairman, John Mahama shocked the gathering of heads of West African states and governments at ECOWAS summit in Accra when he suddenly stopped in the delivery of his speech and announced that some pages of his address were missing.

 In 2014, government airlifted $3 million to Brazil to pay appearance fees of agitating Black Star players during the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Citing the above instances, Dr. Bawole said he is surprised the planning committee of the Independence Day anniversary on March 6 did not do due diligence to avoid another blunder.

Commenting on the issue, the Executive Director of a policy and research Think Tank, VIAM Africa Centre for Education and Social Policy, Dr. Prince Armah, also described the issue as a serious matter which needs proper attention to avoid recurrence in the future. “It’s very difficult to believe what happened but it might be deliberate on the part of some government officials,” he said. Dr. Armah also added his voice to the numerous calls that those responsible be fired by the President for their respective roles in blunder to serve as a deterrent to others.