Pulling down Ph.Ds
By Dr. Ato Kwamena Danso · 17 July 2025 · Politics
Word on the street is that the same government that scrapped the betting tax now wants to build a rehab center in the Ashanti Region for the very people who got addicted to betting because there was no tax. Sports betting and online gambling have become deeply woven into the fabric of youth culture in Ghana. Billboards line our streets, mobile apps make betting effortless, and celebrities endorse it with catchy slogans and promise laden jingles. It's a case of giving you the knife, watching you cut yourself, and then offering you a Band-Aid, with ribbon-cutting and media coverage, of course. Meanwhile, the government has decided to cancel licensure exams for professional teachers. A licensure exam acts as a quality control mechanism, ensuring that those entering the classroom have met a nationally recognized benchmark of competence. Just as we wouldn’t want an unlicensed doctor treating patients or an uncertified engineer building bridges, we shouldn’t entrust our children’s education to individuals whose knowledge and teaching skills have not been formally assessed. Teaching is not simply about passing on information; it’s about managing classrooms, applying pedagogy, and adapting to diverse learning needs. In other news, GTEC has suddenly woken up and started sending love letters to people parading around as “Doctors” without the papers to back it up. Enter Hasan Ayariga who, depending on the day, has either three doctorate degrees, two honorary titles, one academic credential. Turns out the university that awarded him his “diploma” in the U.S. Regis University might just be fake. Ask him a simple question, and by the time he’s done answering, you’ll be questioning your own existence. You won’t remember what you asked, why you asked it, or how you ended up in a philosophical fog, somewhere between confusion and a trance-like daze. The days when our grandfathers brewed herbs in clay pots, filling the air with the healing aroma of neem leaves, are long gone. Back then, one whiff of that bitter steam and malaria would pack its bags. Even catarrh didn’t dare overstay its welcome. We’ve traded mortar and pestle for plastic bottles and powdered promises. Our new healers don’t live in the village shrine they ride trotro and set up shop in traffic. Before your headache even arrives, they’ve sold you a cure. One magical powder to cure diabetes, piles, waist pain, broken hearts, and even erectile dysfunction talk about a miracle in a sachet. Some of these so-called "medications" are secretly loaded with psychotropics, which explains why people report “deep, restful sleep” not realizing they’ve basically been chemically sedated into dreamland. What knocks you out at night also wakes up your appetite !! They wait patiently in lorries until the last seat is taken. The bus jolts forward and the sermon begins. For 10 to 15 minutes, you’re treated to a TED Talk on the wonders of a suspiciously unlabelled bottle and powders in sachets. To seal the deal, two “random” passengers rise to testify to its miraculous powers. Occasionally, the driver chimes in with a confident nod, because if your trotro driver believes it, it must be true. Doctors everywhere, Ato_KD