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This is how the mushroomed information centers work: �its 4am. And this is your first announcement: Auntie Maggie, of Atobriso junction had her mobile phone stolen from her bedroom, while she was in a bath house. She�s from the Volta region so you know what will happen to the perpetrator. Everyone who is involved will go down. I�ll bring you the rest of the story later. This is Ese -wani information Center .Thank you!� One man�s noise pollution is another man�s �Information Center�, but who is going to regulate this new industry , so as to prevent abuses and tempering of personal freedom of the citizenry? Virtually, every town in Ghana that has electricity has some form of �Information Center�. In fact, my town with less than two �hundred thousand people has two, and it�s most likely we will have more by the end December. For those who are not familiar with an �Information Center�, which is springing up all over the place, it�s a new way of disseminating information in our towns in Ghana. It�s usually housed in a makeshift building, equipped with an amplifier, a mike and a couple of horn speakers attached to tall antenna. Not that they aren�t sign of progress, but I never thought I�d see the day when I�d be constantly woken up in the middle of the night in my town, for an announcement of a missing goat or funeral agenda, in a town where tranquility used to rule, back in the day .As if that was not enough, the announcement is always followed by the proprietor�s �special greetings� to everyone and everybody on his list from whom he has received a blessing or a favor. And I�m not talking about his casual acquaintances only. His family members and the Abusua Panyin are also included-- as a sign of showing love and respect. My guess is, telling them face- to- face is not enough. The situation is this: The original function of these centers was to broadcast stolen goods and pets, missing items and any social announcement during the day or around 8pm. Usually, a day will not go by without the announcement of a missing mobile phone, palm kernels or a missing banku soap from a chop bar operator�do not laugh, I�m not making this up!. It�s also a place for funeral announcements, as well as a medium to send condolences, sympathies and gratitude to loved ones. The idea of people walking to your house to express their appreciation or gratitude for your donation or contribution to a worthy cause is long gone�Thanks to Ese �wani Information Center. Things have changed. These days the operators are laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of disturbing one�s sleep or tranquility. An information center is a God-sent vehicle for vendors, who use it to advertise their products and services with a fee. Maybe that is why herbal medicine vendors have stopped peddling their wares on buses and in passenger vehicles--who wants to sell on the bus while he can sit comfortably in a room? It�s also a place for would-be preachers and Pastors to hone their rudimentary preaching skills. Every night, around 4am, a preacher comes on to preach; while the volume of the system is turned up to the highest decibel so as to get the maximum coverage, but it puts assault on people�s eardrums. After the preaching they send their �special greetings� to those church members who paid the most collection the previous Sunday. Sometimes they use the center not as a pulpit, but as an attacking tool to score points with people who have wronged them. The power of a microphone is very strong and vicious .Indeed, it�s getting very crazy! The question is: Who regulates this new industry and its mode of operation, so as to preserve its integrity and longevity? To me, I consider the information center as a portable local radio station; therefore, it must be regulated and supervised like any other form of media before things go hay-wire. �Yaw Gyasi, mi kyia wo. Kwame Bobo, mi kyia wo .Teacher Asenso mi kyia wo. Antie Yaa Nko Mi kyia wo. �Welcome to the Information age; Ghana- style. Talk about trapping on people�s freedom in the name of �progress �and making a buck.