25 July 2008
WITH JUST a week for the Electoral Commission (EC) to open the voters register for the December polls, the Publisher of The Chronicle and aspiring Member of Parliament (MP) for Effia-Kwesimintsim, Nana Kofi Coomson, has asked the youth of the country who have attained the ages of 18 and above to endeavour to register in their numbers.
The registration exercise, barring any unforseen hitches will be opened on the 31st of July, this month. According to the celebrated journalist, who is now lacing his shoes to step into mainstream politics, the only way the youth could determine their future was for them to register with the exercise when it is opened, to be able to elect good leaders for mother Ghana.
Nana Kofi Coomson was addressing hundreds of students of Tanokrom Junior High School 'B', at Effia-Kwesimintsim, in Takoradi. This was during a programme of career awareness which was held by the school, to expose the students to various career options in life.
At the programme, he donated roofing sheets worth millions of cedis to assist the school, which has some of its classrooms leaking badly. He also announced, to deafening cheers from the students, that the school would be one of the centres to benefit in next week's free vacation classes, which has been running for four years now.
According to Mr. Coomson, the Executive and the Legislative powers in the next government would be determined by the December polls, which is crucial to the country's democratic process.
He told the students that the President and Members of Parliament to be elected in December, would be serving the interest of the general Ghanaian populace, since the President and members of parliament are supposed to discharge their duties in the interest of the state, and not by their party lines.
Turning to the field of journalism, the aspirant made it clear to the students that several training institutions existed for them, if they wanted to pursue the profession, citing the school of Communication Studies at Legon, Ghana Institute of Journalism and several private ones that exist in the country. He also advised the students that the Ghana constitution gave everybody who can speak and write the power to be a journalist. The only exception was section 164 of the constitution, which places certain limitations like defamation and national security considerations on the journalist.
He said that the constitution of Ghana guarantees free speech, therefore allowing anybody interested in the practice of journalism to do so, with or without formal training. "You don't need any formal training in journalism to become a journalist in this country, but you must have good command of the English language" he advised.
For one to become a good journalist, it required some amount of specialisation, but in the case of Ghana, almost every journalist is doing what he termed as general reporting, covering anything that is newsworthy, he stated.
Touching on his credentials and experience as a journalist, The Chronicle publisher disclosed that he has worked as a reporter in Nigeria, with the Daily Express Newspaper, and subsequently with the Sunday Times in London when he moved to the United Kingdom. His experience as a journalist subsequently gave him the confidence to return to Ghana to establish the Ghanaian Chronicle in 1991, he said.
The veteran journalist also touched on his contribution to the place of his birth, and explained why he had established a private initiative dubbed- Coomson Private Initiative, to help needy but brilliant students in the Effia-Kwesimintsim area, in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis. The initiative involves providing free vacation classes and skills acquisition programmes to the youth of the area.
He noted how he lobbied and still continues to lobby, in order to support needy but brilliant students with scholarships in the area. "This initiative is actually to help you to be the best that you can be" he pointed out.
Consequently, he reminded the school children to give back to society what it had given to shape their future.
Other speakers of different professions were at the programme to advice the students on their career lines. The Commander of the Western Naval command, Commander Agyenim Boateng in his address, explained to the school children why military work was sacrificial. According to him, "When you join the military, you have sold your freedom, not for anything, but for the service of the country.
An educationist, Seamstress, and a caterer, Madam Isabella Polley, Madam Grace Andoh Mensah, and Mrs. Dorcas Lawo respectively, were also present at the occasion to speak to the students on career guidelines.
Mrs. Mary Mbo Mills, headmistress of the school, told the students to applaud Kofi Coomson for his kind gesture. The Metro Director in charge of Girl child education of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan assembly, Madam Benedicta Seidu was also ecstatic about Coomson's efforts for girl child education in the community.
He said the registration exercise is very important to every Ghanaian because it is the only way they can get the opportunity to exercise their franchise during the December polls.
In a related development, Kofi Coomson has advised the youth of Effia-Kwesimintsim to be alive to their civic responsibility, by racing to the registration centers to exercise their right to choose their next leader, whose decisions would impact on their lives as young adults.
Nana Kofi Coomson urged the young men and women, who have graduated from the skills training centers, that Nana Addo, whom he opposed in the Presidential primaries had convinced him and most Ghanaians with his demeanour, magnanimity and his capacity to construct a patchwork of differing political opinions to follow his vision.
Kofi told some of the youth at Effia-Kwesimintsim who had graduated from technical and vocational Institutions that he had helped lobby some mining companies in the western region for sponsorship. He advised that they should elect a leader for the country whose judgment cannot be at variance with their aspirations, for a safer and secure country.
He recalled that more student enrolment had tripled, especially in the Northern region. The New Patriotic Party parliamentary aspirant, speaking to Tamsco Junior High school, noted that the New Patriotic leader, Nana Akuffo Addo was going to continue with the massive infrastructural development that has characterised the Kufuor administration, so it was logical to select him as a leader.
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