By Fadi Dabbousi
When a demonic plan is put in motion to destroy the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families by intentional impoverishment, then it is no longer a case of human rights advocacy, but rather an inhumane attack on the very right to exist in dignity and peace without the interference of enslavement, that very act they seek to, hypocritically, battle by enslaving others.
Yes, that is, exactly, what it is!
I am inclined to believe that international journalism is a sham that is spun around propaganda that favors the strong, mighty, and rich against the weak, vulnerable, and disadvantaged! It makes a mockery of all legitimate efforts at ameliorating the poverty and menial living standards of the vast majority of the world population, especially in Africa.
Here in Ghana, there is a real struggle to ward off the inimical oppression of Western Societies that seek dominance in every aspect of life. For many years, international cocoa buyers have controlled the price of cocoa beans and all related products to the extent that where access to chocolate is as common as that of water in their part of the world, cocoa growers and their families, more so their children, on our side of the world do not know what it tastes like! Western nations do not care how cocoa farmers survive so long as their interests are secured! Isn’t this how the story has always been since the advent of the Europeans on the shores of Ghana on that fateful Sunday, hence the general name given to light-skinned persons, “Akwasi”!? Never mind that they brought Christianity to subjugate their victims yet captured slaves in the name of holy ordinance baptized with the first voyage on board the first slave vessel, insolently, named, “The Jesus of Lubeck”!
If only Aljazeera had made their checks on this sensitive subject, they would have understood some salient points that have eluded their gumption about the bloodthirsty Western hounds that are clamoring to regain absolute control of the cocoa industry, which has slipped through their slimy fingers for the first time in its history. I never imagined that Aljazeera, the main media entity of Qatar, the most respectable country that I hold dear to my heart, the cradle of piety and honor, founded based on human rights, would play along with the international cocoa buyers to the detriment of the poor in Ghana. How can one not recognize such morbid wickedness when the façade being portrayed by Aljazeera is one of hypocrisy and abuse of the very principles of journalism?
Before I go on to explain the way of our life here in Ghana, Aljazeera correspondent in Accra, Eva Atiboka, must be condemned in no equivocal terms for betraying her nation. She knows, all too well, how life is lived in our society. The blessings of exposure to the basic methods of our survival might have evaded her, but the truth of the matter is that it is appalling to subscribe to the foreigner’s way of life and denigrate your own by claiming it child unfriendly. I do not know where and how she was raised, but I can, certainly, say that she has insulted the very ways her parents must have practiced in days gone by, which, I am certain, were the best at all. One must understand that in Ghana, we are trained to be empathetic, and sympathetic, while unapologetic to the foreign dictates that have bewildered even the witches resident in the boglands of the Western topography! Then again, it is not surprising to see the such betrayal coming from Eva Atiboka, after all, she is a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress and a purported parliamentary aspirant on its ticket for the Builsa South constituency in the Upper East Region of Ghana! To this effect, she will go to all lengths to score cheap political points with the hope that she may boost her popularity, something that she does not possess. But for the investigation we conducted, her name would certainly have remained under the dung of the loose animals that are running around aimlessly in her backyard!
Many are those who have fallen for propaganda like that of Eva and her mother station, the Aljazeera Network. Who knows whether Aljazeera was the beneficiary of a very fat cheque from the international buyers’ mafia to destroy the credibility of Ghana cocoa in the war of dominance, but what we are sure of is that they have dented their credibility, something that they should know better not to toy with. This is, of course, without prejudice to many of their genuine and truthful reportages, fantastic anchors, and fine journalists, the reason why this fake exposé has surprised us. We want to believe that they have been misled! Well, Eva did their dirty work, while they claimed the glory!
Politicking is a game grossly entangled with the disastrous belches of loudmouthed miscreants and jaundiced characters, both educated and uneducated, sharp teeth and all, and that has always fueled lopsided propaganda in favor of the rich and powerful. It is difficult to discern any form of honesty in many reportages that are aired because every station has a different twist to the same story. On-air discussions and banters are almost always tipped in favor of the manipulators of the truth. It is not uncommon to listen to screeching lies and insinuations from the buccal cavities of people, both sexes implied, who will have a cheap go at anything that will direct the cameras at them, be it fake news, propaganda, issues of self-aggrandizement, and so on! The latter is a trait that features prominently on these international media networks, and, truly, it cannot be said that they are of normal disposition given the wrong timing of issues, especially those that put a blight on innocent nations!
The fallout from Aljazeera’s false reportage on our nation’s cocoa production is, purposely, to assist international buyers to push European and American legislators to ban Cocoa from Ghana, and when such an unfortunate documentary is aired internationally, their case is given a boost, prompting pressure groups to come on board to discourage Ghana cocoa. All these maneuverings mean that no one will buy Ghana’s cocoa, which if left in the silos will rot and become unwholesome. Therefore, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) would have to sell at whatever price offered even if it meant for a pittance. Who loses in this instance? The poor cocoa farmers toiling on their farms, and, ultimately, the nation that Eva Atiboka betrayed!
