Ep4: So About Ghana Pt2 (ft UncleSam and BenO)

"Chale, There Has to Be More" | Ghana at 69 — Present & Future (Part 2)

We're back with Part 2 of our Ghana conversation! In this episode, we continue with UncleSam and BenO as we move from Ghana's past into its present realities and future possibilities.

We talk about why there is still reason to hope — from young Ghanaians groping in the dark who just need someone to switch on the light, to the power of the diaspora reconnecting with home. BenO shares the story behind the Nkrani Initiative, a collaborative effort to crowdsource diaspora expertise to solve local problems in Ghana. UncleSam reminds us that change doesn't start with big solutions — it starts with brightening your corner.

We also get into what it looks like for Christians to be actively involved in nation-building beyond the four walls of the church, and we close out with a rapid fire round featuring our favorite Ghanaians and songs that speak to the Ghana story.

Key takeaways:

• Ghana's youth are not lazy — they're groping in the dark, waiting for someone to switch on the light
• The diaspora has historically been a spark for change in Ghana — and that's still true today
• "Brighten your corner" — change starts with you, your workplace, your community
• Christians are called to be salt and light — not just on Sundays
• Charlie, there has to be more selflessness, more lights switched on, and more chances given

If you haven't listened to Part 1, go back and catch it first!

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

I say, Chrome, we are back again. Hey, hey, I'm asking you, who remembers that song? Men are gonna take you higher. Men are gonna t- okay, focus, focus, focus. Well, you are very welcome to "Chale, there has to be more” podcast where we talk about growth, we talk about deep and shallow things, we laugh, but we talk with purpose in mind, you know, with different people who have different perspectives. we talk about God, and we talk about more. More. Somebody say more, because, Chale, there has to be more. There has to be more. in today's episode, we are still talking about Ghana. This is part two of the conversation from our last episode, if you listened to it. If you didn't listen to it, try going back and listening. so we started the conversation with Uncle Sam and Ben Oh. We spoke a bit about past Ghana, and in today's episode we'll continue with present and future Ghana. Because, Chale, it's like people have given up on Ghana oh, but I believe there is hope. And Uncle Sam and Ben Oh agree with me. So let's continue the conversation. Enjoy. Catch you at the end.

UncleSam 1:07

Okay, so we've already established that we are not trying to do the pity party and we understand, we wanna acknowledge because, you know, before any change you need to understand and accept where you are. And we admit six, nine years time. But

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 1:27

Mm.

UncleSam 1:28

wanna to salvage what is left. And we're trying to, talk about ESC and he being the, Ghana 69 passed, you are still standing. He made it. We are not waiting for, Ghana to get to 80. The solutions are around us. The solutions are local. The solutions are personal. The solutions can be localized. And that is where we have to look at the, this issue of people losing hope in Ghana is not a recent matter. Let me tell you, my first time hiring experience about somebody who had lost hope in Ghana. That was way back to my universities. early two thousands, I was on the project side being intensive and usually I like to interact with workers on site. I mean, throughout when I was in school, I got close to them. I listened to them like to get into their head how they

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 2:21

Mm-hmm.

UncleSam 2:22

can and what their plans are for the future. Just today, I mean, I went to a construction center. I was talking to young people who had finished SHS and were doing construction. I trying to ask them, are you trying to do this all your life? What do you want to do differently? You want to stay. Will you continue as a laborer or you change it by becoming an, because I have a LinkedIn contact who started as a, a laborer. He learned a skill and he, he went on to the university to learn civil engineering. he stayed in the industry, but he evolved into different profession, I mean a more advanced one. at

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 3:01

Yeah.

UncleSam 3:02

this, experience back in school, this liberal in the construction side, and he was like, all his life that he's living, he's hoping to travel out. Mario, just a young guy. I mean, I'm sure I was in my early twenties or so, and he says he wants to get money, travel out of the country, if he would die just the same day he learns abroad. He's,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 3:33

So People have that mindset too. No joke.

UncleSam 3:36

and can you imagine about over 10 years ago, somebody was thinking like this, so. had lost hope in Ghana. And it wouldn't surprise you that people are still thinking like that, but that's it. I still find hope, and this is why I found hope, because I preach hope to people, young people, if I'm mentoring you, mentor, and then you don't see hope in the people. But some people tell you their story like, Hey Charlie, I wish I can talk out. can talk out and say that for you after, for you, let's do your next here. But every time I have to be strong for somebody else. So I would say I'm hope Expl amplified. a few days ago, someone sent me a DM on LinkedIn telling me that he was happy because we had a conversation mid 2025. was telling me I had written a post about giving young people a chance after national service and not getting a job. So he contacted me that he's done with his national service. There's no job and he wants to follow his passion in script writing, he's scared that people will find him as serious because he learned civil engineering. There's no job and he wants to be writing scripts and people feel like, ah, you wasted all your life. So when I read what I told him, I was like, oh, wow, you really inspired this guy? Because I was like, you, so you told this guy to go write scripts. So he thanking me that one of his scripts had been accepted in publisher, and he said

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 5:14

Wow. at that.

UncleSam 5:16

screenshot of the, uh, email that we were going to publish a story, that he stood out amongst the lots. And there's a guy who contacted me. He had lost hope. He felt like he doesn't have a job, he doesn't know what to do about his life, but he has a passion. Can he go about it? I told him that he should still look for a job. He should do free internships, for roles, but he should do his passion as a side hustle whilst he's building a skill and as he builds a skill who gets his daytime job. But he shouldn't drop the passion. And now the passion has hit before the daytime job, job, and he are so happy. that's why I find hope in Ghana. We have a lot of young talents here who are not lazy. Ghana, not lazy. Dear

BenO 6:05

Yeah.

UncleSam 6:06

your youth are, don't

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 6:10

Thank.

UncleSam 6:11

I come into contact with a lot of youth? I listen to their stories and they are not lazy. They are just grouping in the dark, looking for someone to switch on the light for them to see their future will be like. So we have a lot of talent. people who have become founders look on social media. A lot of people call us just CEO of, it's not because they wanna face clouds. They really are things. They're

BenO 6:40

Yeah.

UncleSam 6:41

dreams, but they guide us. And that's why I see hope the brain are here. The ideas are local. They're local solutions. need people who have made it in business, people who have made it in industry, people who have made it in academia to mentor them, hold their hands, so that are valid. Your hopes are valid, but you can in this format this has failed before. So don't go this path. And if you have failed before, that doesn't mean you should check it out. means, one thing I always tell young people who contact me with fear is that failed before. Know that you know one way it won't work.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 7:25

It

UncleSam 7:26

Started outta experience. You're not starting from scratch.

BenO 7:30

Yeah.

UncleSam 7:30

at least one step of experience and you're better off. That's why initially I said that we are not where we are supposed to be, but we are definitely not where we started from. So there's a lot of hope. There's technology,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 7:46

can even learn from a, okay.

UncleSam 7:47

there's technology to harness. I mean, what our forefathers did not have. So people are developing apps locally. I dunno if you, you of the needs of, I mean this RAs guy who went to Achi

BenO 8:04

the US

UncleSam 8:04

and they, his,

BenO 8:05

and then,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 8:07

Oh, yeah, yeah,

UncleSam 8:08

he's now in a US school and has built an app in his dorm,

BenO 8:15

and built a small computer that's able to do

UncleSam 8:18

not been

BenO 8:19

interesting.

UncleSam 8:19

is the same Ghanaian brain.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 8:22

yeah.

UncleSam 8:23

And trust you mean there are similar brains down here.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 8:27

I agree.

UncleSam 8:28

So my charge for the hope for Ghana is that those who have made it, we need to turn back and show the way because they are more people who can do it, can do it the African way, who can do it the Ghanaian way. And if that experience, if local people who are, who have made it, turn back and find partnership. We can, we can make homegrown solutions work here in Ghana. So that is my hope Ghana.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 9:05

Actually, let's go there on like the diaspora in Ghana coming together. 'cause I remember that Benu, you had done this thing, what was it called? In, in cra, right?

BenO 9:14

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 9:14

yeah. it ended up not

BenO 9:16

Pause.

UncleSam 9:17

about, tell me about.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 9:19

yeah, so.

BenO 9:20

so the idea was, or the idea is 'cause we paused, we hit a roadblock. the idea is you have a lot of Ghana, has a lot of, Africa, has a lot of issues or problems. And you have a lot of hair diasporan having skillset in diverse areas, right? So possibly crowdsourcing knowledge, ideas, and expertise to be able to solve these challenges and these problems, right? and using that to train her people as well. So when crowning was set up, we picked projects from the country where a provider that we started with was, a desk. Projects like D deficits. So in Ghana you have a huge data deficit, especially in the northern part of Ghana. So you have engineers and people who, artisans right all over the world, Ghanaian, non Ghanaian, right? Who are willing to spend their time and their expertise work with Ghanaians. Maybe students who have some time or even artisans or teachers because they're in that space, bring them together. And then this, these engineers or these teachers could speak on this situation. The engineers could understand what the main problem is. So we started from, it could be it's, we could just say that, oh, we don't have desks, so let's go and build this. No, it could be that we have desks, but we don't have a way to, they keep breaking down. We don't have a way to maintain them. So it's maintenance culture that then the solution is maintaining desks, not making more desk, right? So we send people in there. Identify the problem, speak to the teachers, what is the actual solution? Then we notice that, okay, yes, true. We don't even have desks at all. So if we don't have desks, what sort of desks should we make for these students? It's not just, okay, we need desks. We want to train people as well. So in all these processes, we would have students, people in university, people in high school who joined these projects and then they note, they notice how to identify a problem. That's one. How to think around it. So we had, even the kids who were in, these were, these were class two plus three kids. Primary kids catch, we did a priority. They just set sketch the the desk they would want to sit on. Yeah, so you get to see that. Or most of the kids were sketching desks, which had fun in there. So in the the child's desk, you get to see that. It means that the classrooms are hot. It means that if

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 11:49

Customer process. Yeah.

BenO 11:50

Exactly. So it means that in our desk that we are coming up with, it shouldn't add up to the heat in the classroom, the toys of materials and things like that. So it's a entire design process. And because, um, we are not, it's not like a startup that we are being forced to produce something here and here we work with the pace, right? We work in the pace and we understand making sure that we, we learn as we are going along. So at the end of it, not just solving a problem, but also training people in Ghana, connecting them with mentorships, people abroad. So we all come to board on board, solve a problem, but also train people to also solve other problems, going for, in that respect. So that was the whole idea and concept. the thing is that we needed much more, one is funding, two is also. people or experienced people, experts to be able to help carry the plan and the vision going forward. but we paused a little bit. we'll come back to that, but

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 12:47

I'm not

BenO 12:47

Yeah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 12:47

at the pause or anything, but it's like, for me it's like, I dunno how many countries do, because I remember we had one meeting, I'm like, this person talking from which country?

BenO 12:55

yeah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 12:55

country? I'm like, how many countries are we in this,

BenO 12:57

yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 12:58

call?

BenO 12:58

had,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 12:59

and

BenO 12:59

we had people from

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:00

I

BenO 13:01

Yeah, we,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:01

my roommates was like, yo, like I have the call who, you know, like, we're gonna have the call. Will you join? I was always very excited, but like, just like different people.

BenO 13:07

yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:08

you could just tell that we are all Ghanaians.

BenO 13:10

True.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:10

passionate and it's like we're working and we're all young.

BenO 13:13

I, our web designer was from Sweden. Like it's not from the East End Sweden

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:17

Ghanaian

BenO 13:17

guy.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 13:18

Yeah.

BenO 13:19

We had people from the uk, people from Germany joining in, like, mostly US and Ghanaians, right? And you have, we have, we had a tourist on the call. We had guys who worked with Bank of, finance, Ghana, ministry of Finance. 'cause they, they understood some of the projects and that's a friend who understood some of the projects, educational projects that were coming on board. And yeah, tourists will tell us, no, that's not a really good problem, problem, way to attack the problem. The risk might be this way. So switch it a little bit in this manner. So it was, it's a solid thing that definitely I, I think that we, we still have to be able to make sure we are able to come back online. But the idea is not just to be building stuff. It could also even be educational. Right? So maybe malaria outbreak. Or Colorado outbreak. We have doctors on board maybe doing a, a, a whole program where we go around and speak to people about that. It's also a form of solution and, and education. Yeah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:15

Trying to even, you know, talk about more is like what I'm seeing from this is like, because I think that there has to be a lot of collaboration between like people in Ghana and in the dice. 'cause we have skillsets

BenO 14:25

yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:25

DPR and even in Ghana, like people that I've met in school, engineering school, I'm like, Hey like in the class together?

BenO 14:33

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:33

You know, because it's like the way

BenO 14:34

Okay.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:35

the idea is they are projects. But it's like, I feel like there can be a bit of a collaboration moving forward, like between back home and in the diaspora.

BenO 14:43

Yep.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:43

'cause some of the people in the diaspora, I mean they're talented, but I feel like, oh, you know, it's my skill. It will feed me and my family and that's it. So like, how do we see like collaboration between like, how can we encourage that more? I don't know if you have any thoughts

BenO 14:55

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 14:56

you tell your desperate friends, you know, Ghanaian friends.

BenO 14:58

if we are honest with ourselves, most, I'll not say all, most of the, when you look at Ghana's history, most of the spark for change or like that changes our trajectory has been like from the diaspora, right? So if you pick and chroma right, it came in from the diaspora, like with a different change or with a different mindset, he's, maybe he's seen something different and he's

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 15:25

He came.

BenO 15:25

it's,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 15:25

came from the uk is what you said.

BenO 15:28

so first he wasn't, so he went to, it was in the US and before coming to Ghana, he went to the uk, Liverpool, like for, there was a, there was a conference or some events over there, and then before coming to,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 15:40

Okay.

BenO 15:40

to Ghana. Yeah. So that was basically like a transit, to Ghana. But, if you have like in chroma, right? That's from coming, coming in and seeing that, oh. UGCC has been marking time so long this thing can actually be done like with that aggressive and UGC is telling him, no, take your time. Like actually we can, we, and he's like, no, I've seen it, I've seen that aggression elsewhere. We can actually do it. And with that, within 10 years, right? Like totally change the political landscape, right? Engineered in the, the 1948 route, actually engineered it, changed that entire landscape. The other, the aspirant is the, is the, the, the ex-servicemen, like the, the, the guys who had gone to the World War come back and then they, they, they were like in, they were, were, were like angered because they, they weren't given, they had come back home and things were not working. There are houses which they left. Their wives are married, remarried. So think they were unsettling situation. And then, and Chroma and Ko j engineered give them a letter with a stamp saying that we are taking it to the, the governor's residence. Right. And with that match, that's when, the, the, the, the, the crossroad, that's when there was a fire. and that actually caused that agitation for the drive for independence. You understand? So have the accident being another form of dran. Today we are talking about one big news in Ghana is Coco, the prices being slashed,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 17:09

Mm-hmm.

BenO 17:10

Some people said he swallowed the, the sea. Other people say other things, but he came back with something that we didn't have in Ghana. Cocoa is not a, a, like that is not, it's not from Ghana. Right. Went outside. Found something brought it in that, oh, that can make a difference. And today, Ghana is benefiting from it as if it is our, the whole world. Ghana is second largest producer of cocoa. You understand? So you have, you have people who went outside you, there are a lot of, there, lot of you have like, again, drum sa that I mentioned. Once most of these guys went outside, saw something that was different. And let me talk about, a little bit here with a temple national, right? Went to Hai san is where they usually would train the soldiers in the military. Like it's in the uk. Went to, I think the UK first, went there was training and he noticed that, ah, throughout this, I stay here. It's been usually winter, but we always get food, right? How do these people do it? So when he came back and he, all his years came, became. Of if you've heard this thing, grow what we eat. It's what we grow. Like the popular church, it was from him, right? Backyard farming. At some point in time, most, almost every Ghanaian household, like people own house, had a backyard farm. And that, spirit or that attitude came from him, his regime. And it's because he had seen something that is possible elsewhere with places that even had winter and they could produce food. So I'm saying all this to say that most of these crazy like changes you have a lot of DPOs and most of our press went outside 30, saw things where our apple and came back and said that, oh, there could actually be a change. if you're able to see a huge difference when you've experienced two or more things, right? so I think that first of all, DNCE should know that. They can give a lot, right? They, they, they, if, if you are a diaspora or you're a diaspora, you've been given a lot, so you can give a lot. Okay?

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 19:19

Yeah.

BenO 19:20

it's an opportunity to understand that your skillset, your funds, it could be different things. It could be just you being interested in Ghana, okay? You've been interested in Ghana. Just that interest could change some, because sometimes too, when the diasporan are speaking to people in Ghana, because they don't know what is going on in Ghana, they talk as if everything is easy and simple, right? you talk as if everyone in Ghana doesn't know, like, is not knowledgeable or doesn't know what's up.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 19:51

Oh.

BenO 19:51

if you understood the frustrations of a Ghanaian, the ordinary Ghanaian who works, there was a recent news that 29-year-old guy who. was taught from one hospital to the other and died because of no bed. No bed thing.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 20:07

I was so shocked with that story. Yeah.

UncleSam 20:09

And

BenO 20:09

if

UncleSam 20:10

imagine his father deals with hospital.

BenO 20:15

you see the irony of things, you see the irony, irony of things. So if, and even I, I'm much more even focusing on he getting a motorcycle because he lives in say, a den and works at almost the other end of a craft. And because of traffic, which shouldn't be an issue, traffic shouldn't with a small distance. look at America, for example. Look at where someone can live and work shouldn't be an issue, right?

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 20:42

Yeah.

BenO 20:42

But if you, let's say you start a business, you're in diaspora and you start a business in Ghana and your worker comes to work 30 minutes or 20 minutes late, maybe one time. You are crazy if you're in the US because you're ah, this short distance. Why you not, you have to be, you have to have that mindset of what the ordinary Ghana is also going through. You understand? If, so, so one of it is being interested, like connecting to what is happening in Ghana family. The diaspora. You're in the diaspora, but we all know about the news that there some people don't

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 21:16

Yeah.

BenO 21:17

they don't find interest. Another issue with the coco crisis. So if you have a farmer who has been promised a particular price, right? So I'm, I'm just saying all these things to, to me, that desperate should show interest. One way we can be able to connect, or, or, or, or for alliance to be able to drive growth is one, grow that you can give a lot.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 21:40

Yeah.

BenO 21:40

Two, show a lot of interest. It could be just listening to news. I tune into city every, every day, like listening to news, listening to what is going on in Ghana. So you have that type of tool side of the mindset so you can accurately know what is possible and what is not. Sometimes it's also out of the fact that Ghanaians, some Ghanaians don't know what is possible. So there are some things genuinely you can push a Ghanaian to be able to do it right, because what we only can get to what we've seen, like you have a vision in your mind's eye like, oh, that's possible right there. There are things like that. There's also things that is almost impossible because of systems that are currently in the, in the country. So the connection or the collaboration has to be present to start with. People have to just be interested, right?

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 22:32

Yeah.

BenO 22:32

you can give that not in only money, but even in the conversation you call your friends or your family back in, in Ghana, how you speak to them. Ask, asking them and getting into that realization, and I think it's, really important and we could use that leverage on that to continue that bit.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 22:48

I think, Ben, you're speaking more on the d prayer part, but I'm thinking like Ghana side, have, you know, they haven't left Ghana. Not like you have to leave Ghana. Please know that's not the case, but it's like, what would you, uncle Sam, what would you tell like Ghanaians who are already in Ghana, like, because some of them are, They'll like, you know, Charlie, you know, I want to be involved, you know, but Mm, I've tried, I've, those kind of attitudes sometimes attitude. But, but like, what would you also tell, young people, Ghanaians, you know, as far as like the future is concerned, you know, even though they are skills, maybe they have not been exposed to a different system or a different culture, but they still have the ideas like you had mentioned. What would you tell them?

UncleSam 23:24

Okay, so there is just one principle that I work with that I try to infect the best with. I always say that brighten your corner. Brighten your corner. know I can't save the world even with what I am doing. Trying to put myself out there to, positively the lives of strangers. I still can't save the world, but, what I can do is to impact others. So my personal principle for living and touching lives spread in smiles. Everything that I do ask myself, am I coming from ones, like, if I'm not, then I should ing some smiles to the person. So passing their lives through growth, impact, mentorship, spreading smiles through hope, and that is what I try to guide my accent every day. in Brightening Your Corner, what I tell people is that if you think about the bigger problems, you won't focus on the small solutions that you can use to change your environment. So start with your table, start with your workplace. What can you do differently? Because we feel so comfortable with the status quo that we, we feel it's, it's now strange to stand in the gap and do the right thing. So I keep telling people. As as it depends on you do what is right, you know it's very infectious when you do the right thing, change immediately. But they start uncomfortable doing the I observed this thing, well, one contractor's, worker this to me. There was this project that we were choosing completion on time. I mean, they were, I mean, why, why are we working in a slow? We know we can work fast and achieve the completing. I made it a point going the site, normally my of work, I don't have to be on a distance every day. I made it a point going there every day. It was strange. Like the ones who are supposed to be coming everyday, they're not dealing with that kind of, they're doing it. the guy told me that, Hey, can you realize that our workers are beginning to fuel your presence? I was dealing with the supervisors, but the workers were now observing when they see my car pulling up in the driveway as the construc, all those who were around or conversing, this man is coming. And that is how brightening your corner turns into like a domino effect. The person closest to you starts changing their attitude because a lot of the problems that Ghana, dear Ghana, you're dealing with is the attitude. Attitude from the leaders, attitudes from the public servants, civil servants, the ordinary, Ghanaian, and even the children.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 26:52

Wow.

UncleSam 26:52

So if you're dealing with a business partner does not play with a span, you try to with be on time. Of course the system makes it difficult to stay on time. you calculate your time very well, but you just cannot predict your traffic. You just can't. It's, it's so frustrating sometimes, but I, what I try to do is give people, gets up, people are late for meeting and they'll switch up their phone like, Hey, I'm you'll be bother. So what I try a time and I cannot make it or something is holding me up. I try to give you heads up at being, something is happening at my. Because it helps for people to plan ahead of things. And once you start dealing with people like that, it changes their attitude. The same way. If you're the type who wants to be about your principles, you'll get rebellion from people around you. But over time, you'll start accepting that this man does not wanna do these things this way. lady will not tolerate this kind of attitude. And as they learn to deal with your principles, it'll change something in them and then they'll move on to the next, to the next, to the next. That way we one action at a time, acquaintance at a time, one business transaction at a time. But if you think about the big solutions, you.

BenO 28:30

yeah, yeah.

UncleSam 28:32

There was a time, I'm speaking out from that time, but there was a season in my life listening to morning shows because

BenO 28:41

Constant.

UncleSam 28:42

killing my, my love for Ghana, because you had the headlines. feel like, oh, this is it. the pundits come and how they arguing about the issues like, ah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 28:57

Focus.

UncleSam 28:58

not bad. Yeah, focus on Jesus because they make you feel like there's no hope at all. One bad news. And they read a whole list of scandals that are connected to the bad news. losing is it worth? So stopped listening to their morning show rather listen to, comment, comment from discerning people. There are few people that have. I choose to listen to what updates from, they'll pick the facts as they're, where you see the news as they are, you know, some are chasing clouds, so they just duse your thoughts. When you walk around with inherit people's, uh, enemies

BenO 29:50

Yeah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 29:51

Hopelessness. Yeah.

BenO 29:54

before, but

UncleSam 29:55

You inherit their hopelessness. they're hopeless about Ghana and they wanna recruit you. And if you're not careful, you also lose hope for Ghana. So that's what I did for myself. And I try to effect this by, telling them that, Hey, what do you have control over? Because, you know, they have their levels of control. The is within your circle of control, spend

BenO 30:19

yeah.

UncleSam 30:20

of your energy on. What I do is I try not to do contract payments, you know, know the quality. If you're the one who pays tractors, great. You can imagine you have heard the stories about people in it comes, oh, who is, who payment is this? I

BenO 30:36

Hey.

UncleSam 30:37

And if you dunno the person and they hear, oh, boss person, who the person

BenO 30:43

I,

UncleSam 30:43

with that mentality, have to go and see him.

BenO 30:47

yeah.

UncleSam 30:47

And that kind of scene is the culture we're trying to break. So

BenO 30:52

Yeah.

UncleSam 30:52

people's documents come by the time they come to follow up, oh, I worked on this last week, The document is here.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 30:58

come on.

BenO 31:01

Yeah.

UncleSam 31:01

people still find that attitude as strange, but one action at a time, else there is having hope that there's one guy in some office somewhere

BenO 31:12

Yeah.

UncleSam 31:12

who narrat the story somewhere and someone will feel like, oh. I thought I wanted to do this while I was alone, but since there are other people doing this, lemme hold up to my belief. I've done this for over 10 years. it has changed one person. That is good change and

BenO 31:31

Yeah.

UncleSam 31:32

that some things that I, I'm aware with are holding up that flag at their respective workplaces. Now I have changed, I mean, the mindset of another generation. I may not come into contact with all the people they come into contact with, I now have a disciple. I have disciples, other places who are changing the Ghana story. I think that's what you down here can do. Brighten

BenO 31:57

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 31:57

Hmm.

UncleSam 31:58

do the right thing.

BenO 31:59

Yeah.

UncleSam 31:59

The plot in Accra, I can't solve it now. Make sure that is completed within budget and within time that.

BenO 32:12

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 32:12

and I think one thing I kind of do is like, protect your hope. Don't let anybody come and play with your hope via Wow. Don't let anybody, okay, this is the final question. like how can we ask questions? I think you spoke a bit about like right in the corner where you are, you know, in your workplace and code, and I to like, you know, people should actually stand up and pray, pray for Ghana, all of those things. So have Christians feel like they're not, they don't want to go into politics. It's kind of like a dirty game. I feel like it shouldn't be, not, no one should stop you from going into politics and maybe they're not active in the places of like, influences, but I'm just kind of like curious, like how can Christians be actively involved as part of like, you know, growing our country? Am I being their corner or am I being a global, in a national space, but like, how can Christians also be involved and not just be like, okay, I'm just like, you know, just pray. I mean, prayer is good, but like, how can we do, how can we be involved as Christians? That's, that's my question. How can we be involved as Christians?

BenO 33:09

so as, as Christians, if, if we say we are Christians, automatically, there is an outline set for us of some things we can't do and some things we are supposed to do. Right. It automatically creates an outline for us that we are supposed to fit into. Okay. So as a Christian, you are not, if we, the, the, the issue is that we tend to clean the lines a little bit so we can have a little bit of leeway to do certain things. But as a Christian, if there is an already set outline of Christ given to us to follow, if you're a Christian and like, uncle Sam said you are in his position or his, role, you are not waiting for, let's say the greased in your palm before you do certain things. It's not a line you would want to clean and say, okay, this one there is normal, so let's just do it that way. You understand? You don't allow, you don't compromise on certainties. The only thing is you don't, you can't compromise on because it goes contrary to what a Christian is. Being a Christian is not basically people calling themselves. Like when you look the case of Antioch, it was an Antioch where they saw how they were living, the disciples living like, oh, these people are Christ-like. So it is an attitude and an outline that they fit in that we're called Christians. So if we are Christian automatically going accordance with what Christ did and what how Christ will do, and like there's a common thing, ask yourself, would Christ do the same thing? Right? You're in a similar situation to the point of we chosen not to go. Some Christians saying that a spaces dirty is so they don't want to enter into that space. Bible says, we are the salt of the world, right? If you are the salt of the world and a place is better, who else to fit into that space and sweeten it than a Christian? Okay, so we've been given a lot as Christians, we've been given opportunity to go into that world, to the world and then assault, make that place better. everyone has been given a, we live a, a license with, with purpose. Okay? God calls us in a particular line, in a particular way to be able to shine a light in the space where we've been called. There's a, there's a quotation, I've forgotten where it is, but it says that each o to each, if everyone has to like operate in the office, where in here is called he or here is called, right? You've been given an assignment. You've been given a, it could be as a student, you are supposed to study and show yourself a proof of what you've, you've studied,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 35:55

Mm-hmm.

BenO 35:55

Not doing things that, yeah, there are extracurricular activities that you engage in, but you are supposed, you are according to that office. Right. If you are working, it's you being able to work and work diligently. Okay? And as we as Christians, interesting enough, as we sign in that right four corner and be diligent in what we do, that's when other people see it. And like our consumption, we say, ah, this guy is different. How does he do it? Oh, let me get closer. Or This guy doesn't like to act this way. So whenever he is around, I want to make sure I act in that regard. And then you end up like with a do effect that and consumption reflecting on others. Imagine in a let's you, the same case that Angela, Sam mentioned, like, like the, the how, how when he's around people operate. Imagine there was, an intern who came to work at that period, his first internship working on the site. He would go back to school thinking that that is how one must operate. You would say that, oh, I went to sites and Charlie Ghana sites. There, there's no joke. They come on time, they do things effectively. That is the mindset he will take out. And even after school, right? Hopefully he's not shoved when he goes somewhere else, but like for a long, a long time. That is the mindset we would carry. You understand? So as Christians, we, we are given an outline, which we should not clean that outline and compromise, right? Yes. It's difficult, it's not easy in a, in a case like where we are in the whole world basically, because there's a, there's a war, there's a shift, there's a rift that way things are done and there's a way what God is telling us to do. So it's we holding onto what God has called us to do. doing that diligently.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 37:53

Mm-hmm.

BenO 37:53

And like the Bible says, Kings will come to the brightness of our light, right? They'll come. And I like that quotation because it says things will come to the brightness. You see, they not come to just the light. The light is, oh, you have an ability, but brightness is the type of quality of it. So we, when we are learning to do things, we don't just do them. We have to have a quality to it, and that's what wouldn't bring just human beings. Regular people don't bring kings. Kings means that they come with nations. So we have to get to that realization that, okay, as Christians, we've been called to a particular outline,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 38:32

Yeah.

BenO 38:33

we do that with diligence and with that type of quality that God has called us to live in. And it'll bring more blessings and more opportunities for us.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 38:41

Yeah.

BenO 38:42

that's

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 38:42

And it impacts the country too, so,

BenO 38:44

exactly, exactly. Okay.

UncleSam 38:49

I wouldn't want repeat, I would say different, but Matthew five 16. Let your life shine, perform them, you see your good works and your father heaven. How can you let your life shine? I mean, if there is darkness, you're one holding onto the switch and you say you, you don't wanna press, you wanna see how many people knock their heads against each other. means you're a wicked person.

BenO 39:23

Yeah.

UncleSam 39:23

We had a light and you see a country in darkness and you don't care. You are wicked there. Dear Ghana, your Christians who can switch on the for you, if they say they won't switch it, they are wicked. Do you agree with me, dear? Do you

BenO 39:49

Yes,

UncleSam 39:50

Lemme flip the coin to what I think Christians can also do. should set up ethical businesses business that teach the right values. So let's say I run my own consultant firm or my own construction firm, and on my site, I make sure that I use the right construction material. My workers are learned. I remember I was at, six years ago was pre pre COVID. I was doing a project for a in, and one time I used to travel from win to go and supervise the workers school. I tell them what I want, we buy the materials and then I'll be taking updates and talking to them. So one time I went and the telling that people have been passing by. This, this contractor who is doing this job, somebody's job and he's using this kind of wood for the roof. They're surprised sometimes we are site and I misses that. This one we are doing concrete more, more cement and they don't understand because they do other people's job. And to increase your profit cement it also. And these are values, so Christians not just blow in taking salary or maybe I don't wanna be business such up businesses. Open your shop the market. Your skill four skills are an aboration to the Lord. your skills be correct the, the A cap that you're using to your sugar or rice or whatever. Let it be the correct size.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 41:43

Yeah.

UncleSam 41:44

These are how we change the narrative

BenO 41:48

Yeah.

UncleSam 41:48

So, ethical business volunteer for public rules I mean, serving the nation is only not, it's not only about politics. Not everyone has hat for politics, for instance. I don't have the heart for, it's not because I think Christians do not do it, but

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 42:05

Yeah,

UncleSam 42:06

I serve my nation in different ways.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 42:09

right.

UncleSam 42:09

on public boards, in the western region where we sit to, to, evaluate projects that affect communities, school buildings, health centers, chips, compound road networks, new fields, and contributing to the, the development of the nation on these boards and committees that Christians get a chance to sit on. What's informing your technical or, that committee? Is it business as usual or you are being diligent? Question is one of my mentors who is, who is a, a Christian who tell me somewhere when I was seven or one of these committees, they tell me that, Hey, this person, you can't hide anything in the document. They'll find it and it inspired me. Do you know that if I come on that committee, I'll read, let's be diligent in our work,

BenO 43:10

Yeah.

UncleSam 43:11

offices, public boards, public committees, even if you are not going to be paid, volunteer for it. In my community, I get invited to the Ghana library, authority, local library, I

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 43:25

Mm.

BenO 43:25

Yeah.

UncleSam 43:26

in March, I'm also going to interact with some students to reach them. These are things, of course, when I read. I'll share some with them. Christian, did not meet any of them again, ever. But opportunity. I make sure that I change someone's life as a Christian, and that is towards building. Now, as a Christian mentor, someone, it's not just about you, your wife, your husband, your children, your siblings, your family, someone, someone you dunno, someone in the church, someone at work, someone in your community. Someone you see potential in, or someone you feel is wasting their life. They wanna Rescue. It's not always the easy mentee that we should pick. There are some that they're wasting their lives. You're, you should be their salvation. You should come in for them as a concern. These are the other areas that we don't pay attention to. We could focus on in the community where we don't see our work, where our work will not be celebrated, will not be posted in the newspaper

BenO 44:37

Yeah,

UncleSam 44:37

a single life somewhere that you choose through an honest, conversation. So these are what from my angle, can also do aside holding the switch, you need to switch on wherever there's darkness, but which if you don't switch on you, you are weak. You weak.

BenO 44:58

being a Christian is. All about works. It's actually not that in you saying you're a Christian or only happens on Sundays, like you're not just a Christian on Sundays, it's about works as well. So it's in the doing. Right. So if you say you are a Christian and you are not doing too, like you say, you're not sweating on the lights and you

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 45:24

Yeah. is, I'm learning a lot too. So it's like when you in politics or you're not in politics, just turn on the lights and stick to the outline as a, as a Christian,

BenO 45:42

yeah,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 45:42

to the

BenO 45:42

yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 45:42

All right, coming to the end of the conversation. My final question, is that based all that we have said, so I'm gonna give you like, a phrase and you try and finish it. It can be a word, it can be a a sentence, it can be another phrase. So the phrase is, Charlie, there has to be Dash or Charlie. There has to be, or Charlie, I want more Dash. Ask all that we have said in the past, I don't know, maybe an hour or so, like all that we have said, Charlie, there has to be more dash. What would your word be, or what would your phrase be? I'm thinking about my own as well. Who wants to go first?

UncleSam 46:19

beginning always be. There has to be.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 46:23

You can edit it, but I think Okay, the only word you have to use is just your Charlie in from because of the podcast name.

BenO 46:30

We have to switch on more lights.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 46:33

Yeah.

BenO 46:34

We turn more lights.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 46:37

I think for me, Charlie, there has to be more selflessness.

BenO 46:40

Yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 46:41

That's my own take home.

UncleSam 46:42

Charlie, give people a chance and give Ghana a chance.

BenO 46:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's great.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 46:51

Ghana. And so our Ghana is Charlie. There needs to be more, we want more in Ghana like so your own corner. I wanna do is the national scale. Global scale. You put Ghana there and it helps Ghana, please. We want more. So yeah. right. Now to this section of the podcast. Quick fire around questions. So the first question, please help. You guys can sing, know. So anyway, your favorite or funny song about Ghana Your favorite? I don't have one. your favorite or funny song about Ghana? have one?

UncleSam 47:25

Does it have to be a patriotic song?

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 47:28

No, it doesn't have to be a Patriot song. could be Jamma too, you know? about Ghana.

BenO 47:37

Ghana. I have one, but it's istic, but

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 47:45

Yeah.

BenO 47:45

it's more work by jk. Like we've come from far, like work. Work. By jk? Jk or just

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 47:55

Okay. No. Okay.

BenO 48:03

from Amanda? Like it's.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:08

You wanna choreograph it? What does it mean? So we've come from far, what does it actually say?

BenO 48:16

it talks about where we've come from, like Ghana, you see, you have old Ghana empire, like it's, it's talks about Ghana, but we've come from far. it's, it's, so, it's a, it's a good song. I do spoken word poetry. I used it

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:29

That's

BenO 48:30

time for, for, for, for a piece of it. So it's, it's, it's a really passionate and, powerful song.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:36

Yeah.

BenO 48:36

Yeah. I was about to,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:48

oh my gosh.

BenO 48:49

yeah.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:49

good. Well, uncle Sam, what's your, do you have one?

UncleSam 48:53

Okay.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 48:54

this came to my mind.

UncleSam 48:55

Okay, so I was about to say one, and then I just remembered one that fits well with all.

BenO 49:20

No, no one.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 49:24

Yes, yes, yes, yes. My own that came to my mind is all Ghana. You, I wanna make it Jamma style. All Ghana. You for your country.

BenO 50:09

We are all involved.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 50:13

Sorry. We're all involved. Last question. Very short, very short answer. Which Ghanaian do you admire? Both living and dead. Leader or not a leader. Since you guys, I think I have mine. I really admire delay I like watching her interviews and I feel like she's impacting in different sectors. I don't know, I just like her a lot, so yeah, that's why

BenO 50:39

hmm.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 50:39

I admire one I admire. I can say place in Nigerians, unfortunately, bag Ghanaian, so I have to start paying attention.

UncleSam 50:48

Wow.

BenO 50:48

you got.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 50:48

like men. Do you? Yeah. I think for me, delay Mensa Audible. Yeah.

BenO 51:01

for me, I have a couple of them, So one is, CT FM the guy, what's his name? BELE. that's one Bele, really like a, morning show host and journalist, but. Speaking to issues and speaking through to power. So whenever there are issues that are brought on board, like making sure that they're calling their people in chat who are supposed to make things well, right? and asking them the relevant questions and hard questions, not just trying to please people and all that. another person is side of science and education. professor, right? is dead. But being able to, on a global scale, being impactful, right? Not just, you see, for some of us, for some people, we think that, oh, when it comes to education or making excellence in type of academia, it's only left to people in the west right? Or other places. But to be able to create a, a dense in that space, really, really impactful. Another popular one is, um, so.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 52:07

Okay. One more.

BenO 52:08

Yeah, RA, because he's not popular. Rael. Grale. Am Amato. So there's an old guy's, during, in CHRO's time, who was nominated for, global, was Nobel Prize, right?

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 52:22

Nobel

BenO 52:22

He's the first, first to be nominated. He didn't win though, but first to be nominated, first Ghanaian to be nominated and, and African actually to be nominated. So those are some three Ghanaians that, yeah.

UncleSam 52:34

I'm sure The list will come to my head after, after this podcast.

BenO 52:42

Thing.

UncleSam 52:43

I'll say, what comes to mind immediately that I want to mention as one garden I admire for this season of my life. I mean, I've realized that there's So much information. Everybody is looking for attention and I wanna always stand out. I always wanna see what's wanna say. mean, be different there to be different. the question, the status quo, and stay authentic. very difficult to do. one person I've seen do it in a space that than my speech is, CLE, I dunno his full name. He has, YouTube, account Gossip 24, gossips 24 actually get, I actually get all my news from him because

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 53:37

Account again.

UncleSam 53:39

24, he's very, I admire him for how meticulous he hit when any news breaks. And all media houses are looking the first, it doesn't mind being the last but you'll definitely get the full story, the background, all the narratives, all the commentary. It is to inform. I believe

BenO 54:04

Okay.

UncleSam 54:04

I go into profession, I'll be the voice people to even when they have all the same information everywhere.

BenO 54:14

Yeah.

UncleSam 54:14

when I listen to his, commentary on stories, it's always different from any other source.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 54:21

Hmm.

UncleSam 54:22

That one is in a hurry, join the race, but he's always waiting for his ready of the right information and I admire him for, I mean. He is the one I collect in my mind. I can put together one Ghana right now without looking just for validation,

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 54:42

Mm-hmm. Mm.

UncleSam 54:44

not chasing clouds.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 54:47

I actually have a final question for Benu because you've had a lot of like, I don't know how many books you've read about Ghana's history, but if you could give us like a couple of recommendations of, if I want to know some of the, his historical things you mentioned, like is it Like a social study? I didn't finish reading it. I didn't really read the book. I'm like, I also Ghana Empire, but I didn't read all of these things. So what did you read? in case somebody's like, ah, I like what Benu said, all of these things, how can I find out more? Like, do you have any sources? We can, we can look to.

BenO 55:22

there are different types of books. It depends on, because with Ghana's history, we don't have like one history that, one book that has everything. one that I can recommend, like, I think I, I mentioned it, in the, in the, in the, the before we started was, the book on I, it was forgotten who wrote it, but if, I think it's the only book you would find on, it brig General I Temple, I think you could, it is just, it's recent. I think it's less than five years old, because of a lot of mis narration of his time or his, what he did, right. He, he did one thing that was controversial, which is the uni golf thing. But he did a whole lot and he, that book speaks to a lot of the past and a lot of the, the reasons why he did what he did. What I do is that when I come across the news, I go look into a lot of manuscripts. It's not books. We don't have a lot of history on books. So when you dive into a lot of manuscripts or for example, how infant fame was formed. You get to see a lot of Ghana, Ghanaian history in there, like pre-colonial. It wasn't just Infanib, it was for the people who formed it and out of it come in Ghana. Right. So there is that. I think most of it is when I see something, I just look for papers that have been written. Written on, on, on those. Yeah. Yeah. Some, a few that I can think of.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 56:46

Okay. Did

BenO 56:49

no. No, I didn't, I didn't. Okay.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 56:55

high school in Ghana. Amen. Amen. Amen. Kuma, we always go to the nsm. We're always the first. I'm speaking it like it should be speak those things. I mean. Okay. yeah, that's, that's my school, the basic school in Ghana

UncleSam 57:15

Okay.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 57:15

forever and ever. Anyway. Okay.

BenO 57:20

Ias by way, I have to say. Yeah, I went to Aquinas, so

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 57:23

didn't hear you

BenO 57:24

Oh, okay.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 57:25

they didn't hear that either.

BenO 57:25

Super.

queen_5_12-20-2025_121712 57:27

So thank you all so much. Thank you so much, Elko. Thank you so much, Reno, for your time. We really went way over. But I really appreciate your time, but I hope I learned a lot and I hope you also learned something. You and our listeners also learned something in the way hopeful, more hopeful for Ghana back home in Ghana and also in the diaspora. So you so much for your time.

Speaker 2 57:48

And thank you so much for your time and for agreeing with me that Kiwegehe is the best school in Ghana. I really hope that you learned something new and you were challenged. And to my fellow Ghanaians, those who just renewed their, their Ghana-ship, those who just renewed their citizenship through this, this episode, you know, to all my fellow Ghanaians, keep your joy and your w- your hope up. You can do it. We are all growing together. Catch you in the next episode. Love you. Bye.