Opinions

Ghana Beyond Aid – Ghana is beyond plagiarism

It is very disgusting to hear we have messed up again by plagiarizing an artwork from Kenya for the cover of the Ghana Beyond Aid under the leadership of the Ghana Beyond Aid Committee and its Chairman.

On the day the Nana Addo led government was inaugurated, the government did the unthinkable by plagiarizing speeches of former American presidents and others which was delivered verbatim by our president. On that day when Ghana should be receiving only congratulatory messages from around the world, we got a big disgrace and the bashing. We were teased, mocked and laughed at.

Ghana Beyond Aid cover page has turned into Ghana Beyond Plagiarism. The Ghana Beyond Aid Committee and its Chairman have quickly called on the company in charge of producing the artwork to apologize to the committee for using a picture of Dawit insurance building in Nairobi, Kenya and for the disgrace caused the president and the nation. Mr Chairman and the Committee, stop right there, I beg to differ.

From a nonpartisan perspective, the Ghana Beyond Aid cover Committee and its Chairman should be blamed squarely for this singular act. Because they were constituted to oversee this work and its content. Not even one member of the committee asked a question as to which place is this on our cover page and when did you take this picture?

From this, there is a clear indication that as a nation, Ghana does not have any laid down policies for producing public documents in terms of plagiarism, Graphic works and the likes. And committee members probably give less attention to the material ones it has been given out as a contract.

Going forward, the government should require pictures and graphics to be produced by whoever is in charge producing such public documents and there should be an independent committee examine such documents before even the first copy comes into the public domain.

The government of Ghana should also procure a plagiarism software for all ministries, departments and all government institutions to facilitate the testing for plagiarism for speeches and other public documents which will ensure that, we stop disgracing this country with all the academicians we have in this country.

We should also begin to build a national library of images as a nation from which we can draw pictures from for our national documents and projects. This way, the government will make available pictures to be sued to whichever persons charged to produce a national document for Ghana. If it comes to the worse, Ghana can get free stock images on Ghana.

Ghanaian are tired with this avoidable disgrace that takes away the best shines at great moments such as this if not, we shall continue this way forever. Shame into the committee and its chairman, you should bow your heads in shame.

Source: Wisdom Hammond