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27.10.2020 Feature Article

The World Ruler - Part 22

The World Ruler - Part 22
27.10.2020 LISTEN

"I am so pleased to see you all," smiled Finance Minister Mason Miller greeting his colleagues from the African continent. Most countries were present to discuss the new strategy and its implementation. The management of the conference hall in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, Africa`s largest country with a population of just over four hundred Million supposedly to cross the mark of one Billion in the coming thirty years, was the host of the conference. Even Minister Mason Miller was the official representative of the Kingdom of Ghana yet he attended the gathering not in his governmental role rather seeing his part as the mediator of a vital sector of the financial activities on the African continent. As he knew Ghana was the leading nation in all of Africa, he also knew that wisdom demands this not to show off too often but to stand more behind the scene to pull the strings and entertain consensus among diverse African nations. The Kingdom of Ghana was still faced with hotspots of opposition in certain countries trying to bring back history into the now and future. White men were always best advised to demonstrate courage and knowledge with a sprinkling taste of caution. He knew only too well to move Africa by force into a better future without anticipating the old families and their grip on their mostly democratic constituted countries and the mentality of African leaders to stay in power for longer than beneficial to for their people could potentially harm a smooth transition for the African continent to take dominion over the world. Cleverness and wisdom were supposedly the best ingredients for a success story.

"Let us start today's meeting...so, I beg of you...please fellow Ministers...take your seat...so that we can start," said Minister Mason Müller, looked around, took a sip of water and a bite of oats biscuits. Taking a deep breath, he continued his work as the chairman of the conference: "We are all aware of the numbers that we are faced with. Some of us have already put some social security systems in place, still in the infant stage but on the move to mature to greatness. Yet, we can see that most of our Africans still have the mentality to have many children for them to feel comfortable and someone loved and accepted in their own wider families. To change that tradition and emotions is much harder to achieve than setting up a good functioning social system to lower the curve of the overpopulation of Africa. As my own country the Kingdom of Ghana is concerned, we are pleased to share with you that the curve is slowing down as the first positive effects of our social system demonstrates to our people that having fewer children eventually pays off and that care is taken of them while they are still working or being occasionally unemployed to reach pension age and during that period of their life are cared for very well to enjoy a good retirement. All these have led us to the issue of housing at various stages of maturity of our people, meaning to cater for the once finding their first employment, getting married and finally reaching old age. All of us should be proud that rent advance of two or even more years has been buried for good. Now that we enter a new phase, we have gathered here today to exchange ideas and make them work well for all of our people here on the African continent. Humble as I am...yes, I can see the smiles in your faces...very well and my memory is sharp, sharp...so, you better watch out...anyway, the Building Societies of Ghana have truly by now dominated the African market even now in touch competition from all of you people. Competition is very good as it keeps all of us on our toes and up and running. We all have learnt from outside countries and incorporate their advantages and disadvantages to having the best system. Let me share with you briefly that even as we speak now Representatives form European and American Building Societies come to us to learn our advanced system. The current rate of a mortgage stands in Ghana at an interest rate of four and a half per cent compared to between twenty and thirty per cent during the darkest days of the Fourth Republic of Ghana a great improvement. Companies have sprung up over the years to build a modern state of the art affordable housing. We all must ensure that each of our African families can have a house of their own or an apartment was more suitable. Like Singapore had done it in the past as a pacemaker that owning your own home or apartment is part of your pension plan for a good and comfortable retirement. But what worries me most, and for that one, we must find a workable good solution, that the speed in which our societies grow population-wise, is troublesome. I can see all across the African continent that the birth-rates in our nations are so overwhelmingly growing fast to handle the building of houses and apartments so to catch up with the demand, brings us to our limit right now. The financing model of our Building Societies does no longer match what we need. We have to restructure our approach to make our promises work well for the people. At the same time, I do not want our state budgets to be overburdened with loans rather look to a balanced budget that has a black zero at least instead of many red zeros at the end of many more figures. Of course, we can sponsor the system with taxpayer’s money and see a loan system inside our own countries as an option, but in the end, this is not viable and not an option we should draw on. So, dear colleagues, let us all stick our heads together and see how best we can square a circle so that we can all make the impossible possible. Get up your sleeves, spit into your hands and let's get the job down...shall we?"

"The devil will no longer be allowed to mess us up. We will find the best of the best answer...yes Sir," said the Finance Minister of South Africa who had become a close friend of Minister Mason Miller. Like most of his colleague they did not see each other as Ministers of a foreign country rather as Representatives of their nations sitting with them in the same boat, on the same continent, so as friends. Whenever time was on their hands they met in private, introduced their families to each other and share sports activities or playing instruments and singing along to popular music known all over the continent. They had become like a big family.

As the night was falling, birds outside had gone to sleep a sat quietly on their tree branches, cats came out to look for food to eat, workers had returned from a long and hard day’s work, children had completed their homework, streets started to get emptied, rush hour had ended, the African Finance Minister sat together at the bar of their hotel having a drink together or were walking outside around the hotel for fresh air.

"I still so well know," remembered the Finance Minister of Zambia looking over to Minister Mason Miller from Ghana, "the dark days of our continent when we all met in conferences and our cities and had discussions after discussions about Pan-Africanism. we were blasting out sweet words and pleaded a better future for our people and the entire African continent, yet our leaders had let us down not allowing actions to follow sweet words. Oh, my gosh, our African Leaders of the olden days were so convincing always...I guess all of them had witchcraft in their blood...to make their people believe again and again, from election day to the next election day, that their promises surely will come to pass, only certain obstacles were in their way which was never their fault but of other outside forces that did not want them to succeed. Iman, none of our leaders ever accepted his mistakes and his shortcomings and stepped down voluntarily. They all needed to be taken out by force in on or the other form. And when these sweet words of Pan-Africanism and a better future for Africa were spoken with blame game on the white people and their exploitation of our natural resources and mishandling of our people, we among ourselves, let us all be honest, did not trust each other a single bit, We lambasted about African Unity but rather did business with outside of Africa nations than among ourselves. Hippocrates, that is what our leaders were and their poisoned the mind of our people so that they stood behind them as one against the enemy, the evil white people...people in whose societies we all had our advance education, still, many of us have private houses...we used the white man for medical treatment and our kids enjoyed their universities and work experience, their safe in their streets, their efficiency, their honesty, their way of making good business with others and so on. I mean in these dark olden days of the African continent; we all were not serious with each other never telling ourselves what we think about each other to avoid any violent conflict. I guess that was a vital mistake we made misunderstanding differences in politics with violence. We had to embrace the idea that political conflicts can be very helpful to find the best way forward for nations when conflicts are understood as momentum to bring thinking to a climax and for that matter to discover what is best for all involved in the thinking process."

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