Hail the King of Plagiarism of Projects, Policies and Speeches. Who is he?
Why will a man who appears upright in the face of the public plagiarize projects, policies, and speeches of others? Plagiarism
Projects, Policies, and Speeches have been plagiarized in Ghana and everyone thinks it’s okay when pupils and students have to think and produce their own intellectual properties.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to “plagiarize” means, to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own; to use (another’s production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft.
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, plagiarize means to steal or to commit literary theft. Is this a CRIME to plagiarize?
In this 21st Century, technology has been a tool for finding the information you want through the internet, and this makes researching easy.
There is an adage that says that “a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare”
Now, thanks to the Internet, we know the above adage is not true because every piece of information can be found. You cannot plagiarize intellectual property
It’s always better, to tell the truth than it is to lie; and if you want people to trust you, you need to be honest with them. Honesty is the best policy.
Projects, Policies, and Speeches have been plagiarized and I intend to substantiate a few.
Fellow Ghanaians, a speech was delivered on 7th January 2017 at the Independence Square and aspects were from a speech delivered by American presidents. What a shame?
A story published by Reuter’s and Aljazeera on the 8th and 9th January 2017 respectively on Ghana, “Nana Akufo-Addo caught up in plagiarism row. The Office of new president apologized for lifting passages from speeches by ex-US leaders during his inaugural address.” What a shame
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When COVID-19 hit Ghana and we went on lockdown, the government was lost and lacked ideas. His Excellency John Dramani MAHAMA began to suggest possible policies that will help the nation but the government behaved as if it fell on deaf ears. What a shame?
John Mahama suggested a reduced rate for WATER, ELECTRICITY, and a reduced rate by the Telecom companies on Data and voice calls. Soon after, the King of Plagiarism realized the wisdom in them, and he announced them as if he had already thought about them and began to implement the same as his own ideas. What a shame?
John MAHAMA promised to build 6 new regional hospitals in the newly created six regions. The King of Plagiarism then came to say he was going to build 88 Hospitals and 6 New regional hospitals. What a shame?
John MAHAMA then promised to pay customers whose savings were locked up due to the fraudulent banking sector crisis, and again, the King of Plagiarism immediately put out a payment schedule to pay DKM customers and customers of the collapsed Fund Management companies. The King of Plagiarism quickly gave a deadline to pay then but that date has elapsed as of 31st July 2020. What a shame?
The 1992 Constitution of Ghana has made provisions for basic educational rights. Article 25 clause 1 A and B clearly state that (i) basic education shall be free, compulsory, and available to all. The King of Plagiarism has shoddily implemented it without a White Paper outlining how it will be sustained. We are faced with Gold, Blue, and Green tracks. What a shame?
John Mahama cut sod to construct the Tema Roundabout Interchange, the Pokuase Interchange, and the Obetsebi Roundabout Interchange, but what do we hear and see?. The King of Plagiarism went to cut sod again when he doesn’t even know how the funds were secured. What a shame?
John MAHAMA has again promised to pay Assembly Members from savings to be made from cutting down the size of government and again we heard Nana Addo said he will also pay Assembly Members. What a shame?
John MAHAMA has promised free tertiary education and again Akufo-Addo has jumped to say they will also do the same. What a shame?
An African proverb says that “Rain beats the leopard’s skin but it does not wash out the spots”
This means, no matter how hard you try, you cannot change another person’s character. Similarly, if you behave badly and develop a poor reputation, it’s difficult to change other people’s opinions of you, regardless of how many good deeds you perform.
Ghana has come a long way in the Fourth Republic with five successive Presidents but never has the previous four have been crowned as the King of Plagiarism by the International media.
The World and Ghanaians know what an original Rolex watch looks like, and what a fake one too looks like.
I remain the echoing voice of a village scribe and the son of a gong-gong beater.
TT Caternor
La Dadekotopon