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Monday 20 August 2012

GHANA NEEDS A CHINESE PRESIDENT



Today in our homeland, there isn’t a day we do not hear of at least one thing that suggests the Chinese Invasion.

Chinese immigrants are invading in our privacy, they are engaging in economic activities that are reserved for only Ghanaians. The worst part of their infiltration into our country is that they are engaging in illegal economic activities such as galamsey and they even go to the extent of arming themselves, in our country. Yes! They arm themselves in our country! That poses a National Security Threat.

So many questions have to be answered. First, do we even have a data on all these Chinese immigrants who are roaming on our streets with arms? Secondly, how do they even get access to these guns in the first place? Did they purchase them in this country or they brought the guns into this peaceful country of ours.

In our dear country, nothing gets done without the involvement of these invaders. From digging grave like holes at the Flagstaff House to building huge structures like the four CAN 2008 stadia and construction of roads.

There isn’t any sector of the Ghanaian economy that doesn’t have Chinese immigrants featuring prominently. They are basically taking control of everything that makes us Ghanaian and the worst thing is that we are allowing them to do that.

We have politicians who do nothing but always looking for abrogated contracts to pay judgement debts. The leaders of this country are visionless to the extent that they fail to recognise no faults in bringing in Chinese convicts to engage in laborious work, not to say that we have overcrowded prisons in this country indicating that there is no shortage of convicts in our own prisons. The Chinese convicts, most of the times do not leave the country when their projects end.

I just want my fellow Ghanaians to realise that the Ghanaian generated money ends up in the pockets of these Chinese convicts.

Every originally made Ghanaian product has its Chinese inferior version. They get them into this country through our ports, the products then end up collapsing the Ghanaian grown businesses that our dear fragile economy badly needs. The economy is run behind the scenes by these Chinese people who have infiltrated our country and those who are even calling the shots outside the country.

Chinese are everywhere and it will not be much of difficulty to have a Chinese President in Ghana to make “Operation Invade Ghana Complete”.

Besides if we have Chinese people engaging in retail in Ghana (a venture reserved exclusively for Ghanaians nationals). Section 18 of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, 1994 (Act 478) reserves retail trading exclusively for indigenous operators. Foreigners who wish to engage in trading activities in the country are required under the Act to invest a minimum of $300,000 and employ not less than ten Ghanaians.


Then the request for a Chinese President isn’t far fetched though it is also exclusively reserved for Ghanaian nationals. In the 1992 Constitution, Art 62 (1a) states that “a person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless he is a citizen of Ghana by birth”.

By: Andrew Tetteh

5 comments:

  1. Andrew,
    It is quite a surprise to me that you are a journalism student at GIJ.
    Your article is nothing more than an uneducated emotional rant replete with very simple grammatical errors.
    In fact, in some places it makes no sense.

    Let's go through your piece:

    "Chinese immigrants are invading in our privacy.." - but you never explained how they are invading
    our PRIVACY, and I suspect it's because you don't have a good understanding of the word, privacy.

    "That poses a National Security Threat.". - That's a bit of a stretch. Don't you think?
    A couple of armed immigrants don't constitute a national security threat and if it does then there is something
    wrong with our national security network. You later asked how they get these guns. Maybe the right thing
    for you, as an aspiring journalist, to have done was to try to find that out for all of us.

    "First, do we even have a data on all these Chinese immigrants " - Let me inform you that 'data' is plural and
    you used it without any singular quantifier(eg. huge, dozen, etc) and so you can't precede it with 'a'.
    If it was a typo then why didn't you proof read as journalists are supposed to?

    "Chinese convicts"??! - What are you talking about here? You never introduced us to this situation you just
    inserted it into the middle of your arguments and leaves a lot of questions in the reader's mind.

    "Every originally made Ghanaian product has its Chinese inferior version." - Examples, please..

    "...then end up collapsing the Ghanaian grown businesses that our dear fragile economy badly needs." - A compelling
    true story of this will bolster your argument.

    "....if we have Chinese people engaging in retail in Ghana (a venture reserved exclusively for Ghanaians nationals).
    ....Then the request for a Chinese President isn’t far fetched though it is also exclusively reserved for Ghanaian nationals."
    - A good journalism student would know about slippery slope arguments and will also know that it's one of the worst forms to employ.


    I sincerely hope that this disaster of an Op-Ed you've written is not a reflection of the education given at GIJ but rather of your
    own ineptitude and demons. From your thoughts, you strike me as someone who suffers from inferiority complex.
    You seem to feel inferior to Chinese and want to exact some "equalness" on Chinese immigrants in Ghana. I bet you the majority of Chinese
    in Ghana are adding value to our economy. Remember that China is a global superpower with a huge and still growing economy,
    and a potential market size of 1bn+. I am sure most of the Chinese people in Ghana could have found better opportunities in their country.
    What especially worries me is the xenophobic hate you are spewing.
    Your use of terms like "invaders" and "infiltrated" towards a particular migrant group in Ghana is very despicable and unbecoming of a young and educated person.
    Ghana is a small and growing ecomony and we need investment and also diversity. It is not by coincidence that at this period that we are seeing a lot of
    Nigerians, Chinese, etc coming into our country is also when we are experiencing our most rapid growth. Remember, there is strength in diversity.
    I will encourage you to be more open minded and accepting. Afterall there are a lot of Ghanaians in China and other parts of the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Hilary, i very glad you have read my Op-Ed and have found it necessary to comment. However, a person who seems to be knowledgeable in critical thinking should know that "ad hominem" fallacy isn't a good one to commit, in fact all fallacies are not to be committed.

      My Op-Ed did not in anyway preach xenophobia and i do not not support xenophobia. If you were discerning enough, you would have realized i was implicitly calling for the implementation of the regulations Ghanaians have put in place to check the influx of immigrants, be it legal or illegal into our country.

      The fact that we need people to help us diversify our economy does not mean we have sell our national pride and even collapse our own Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs.
      When you go to Abosoey Okai, Accra, you will find Ghanaian Spare Parts Dealers being put out of business because foreigners have taken over their retail trade.

      I do not have a problem with foreigners engaging in economic activities in Ghana, no, what i have a problem with, is foreigners completely disregarding our laws and engaging in economic practices which by our laws they are not allowed to engage in.

      Are you in anyway suggesting that immigrants who are engaging in illegal mining and are fully armed are not a threat to national security? When they have pointed their guns towards our local authorities? Do you even know the implications of that action? Please refer to Daily Guide's story:Chinese In Gun Battle Over Gold,published on July 20, 2012 and you would understand what i'm talking about.

      It is an open secret that Chinese ex-convicts are working at Bui Dam, they worked at all the four CAN 2008 stadia, Hilary stop pretending you don't know.

      Ghana deserves better than this, indeed far better.

      Please, do not paint a picture as if China is a develop country, they are only but a second world country, though they have a larger economy, it does not mean each of its 1 billion plus citizens are rich and can afford three square meals a day.

      Do not be deceived that they are here only to help Ghana, before they give us anything, they first consider what they will get in return, they are not here to do charity to Ghana.

      Foreigners are welcome but they have to respect our laws.

      Take it that i'm your guest and you have given me access to everything except your washroom in your master bedroom and you later found out i do not only use your washroom but i also do not keep the place clean.How you will feel?

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