Hello Nitin,
How very kind of you to remember me - thanks very much, indeed. Well, let me also take the opportunity, to wish you, personally, a merry Christmas - and a very happy 2008! I must say, I admire your commitment to your community, very much indeed.
The determination of so many young people like you, Nitin, across the globe, to improve the quality of life of the communities in which they live, gives one hope for the future.
Whenever I come across determined and idealistic young people like you, my faith in the future is restored - and I am able to hope again, that my grandchildren, living in far away London, as well as all the grandchildren of the rest of my comtemporaries, around the world, just might have a chance, to inherit a world, in which all of humankind, is united, in protecting our planet: and the peoples of the world, care about each other, and see themselves as one.
And that will happen, because your generation of Nitins, cared enough about your fellow human beings, and about the natural environment too, during your stewardship of the planet Earth - unlike my generation, whose greed has resulted in global climate change; international catastrophes like Iraq; and the tragedy of young boat-people from West Africa, risking their lives every day, crossing dangerous oceans, in flimsy boats, to find a better life, elsewhere.
And why are they leaving their own shores to go abroad: to nations where they are despised and not wanted? Because, Nitin, the wealthy EU, has deliberatly closed its eyes firmly, to the crimes against humanity, committed on a daily basis, with arrogant impunity, by thousands of rampaging fishing trawlers, from Europe.
These trawlers are fishing illegally, in the 200-mile economic zones, of nations, too poor, to police those waters. Incredibly they are from the same nations which despise our young people, who, having lost their livelihoods, as a result of the depletion of fish stocks all around the coastline off West Africa - which used to provide them with their livelihoods, have now become desperate. It is the need to feed their families and secure their futures, which drives them to make those suicidal journeys, across dangerous ocean waters.
The rape of the oceans off the West African coastline, by trawlers from Europe, which the criminal activities of those boats represents, can be stopped by the EU today, if they chose to do so: and it is typical of the hypocrisy of the EU, in much of its economic relations, with sub-Saharan Africa.
Europe just doesn't care: and it is a pity that it does not realise that it is in its own interest to help the nations of the West African sub-region protect their fish stocks and the 200-mile economice zones, off their coastline. A booming local fishing industry in the nations of West Africa, will end the waves of boatloads of economic refugees, seeking a better life in the EU.
But, sadly blind and short-sighted (in this instance!) Europe, just doesn't care: for, it brings valuable fish that provides protein for European consumers - and dazzling wealth for the owners of the European fishing fleets, ruining West Africa, and destroying the futures of its next generation, daily.
It is the combined effect of the actions of millions of the caring and sharing Nitins, Nitin, in scores of Vadgams, all over the planet we inhabit so precariously, which will save humankind, in the end! Stay blessed, Nitin - and continue to care about your fellow human beings - for, in so doing, you are also saving yourself, our planet, and safeguarding the very future of your children, and their children!
Best wishes,
Kofi.
Posted at http://www.nabuur.com/ on: 2007/12/23 23:01 (With slight changes for this blog on: 2007/12/25 8:49)
Hello Nitin,
Yes, all of us have a lot to thank Siegfried Woldhek and the organisation, which his far-sighted vison, has produced. And it is concievable, Nitin, that Nabuur.com, may very well win the Noble Prize for peace, at some point in time, during your lifetime! Have you noticed the many cross-cultural friendships, which are being formed in the various villages, at http://www.nabuur.com/?
Nitin, India has made tremendous progress since its Independence, and today, it has a woman as its president. I hope that one day, the caste system, will disappear from Indian society - and that your nation, will consequently be enriched, by the unleashing, of the huge potential, of the outcasts: fellow humans, such as you and I. It is scandalous that any human being is labelled an "untouchable".
Just think of the numbers of potential brilliant inventors; medical doctors; computer scientists; visionary politicians; space explorers; Noble Prize-winning research scientists, etc. etc. that India is missing - because a part of India, is excluded from participating actively, in the mainstream of your national life, and regarded as outcasts.
I am sure it is an uncomfortable subject for many Indians, including you; but one must always be open to new ideas, Nitin: I am sure that we have learnt a thing or two, from each other, and have been enriched by our friendship across the oceans, thousands of miles from each other - but still able to connect with each other, through http://www.nabuur.com!/
Why don't Vadgam's young people, start that journey of a thousand miles, to equality amongst all the peoples of your great and dynamic nation, known as India: by making friends with some untouchables? Stay blessed, dear friend!
Best wishes,Kofi.
PS In time, I shall send your club, some organic papaya seeds, to grow. When they start bearing fruit, you can share it with visitng cricket teams - and tell them it came from an old African man, from Jawalal Nehru's good friend Kwame Nkrumah's, Ghana!
Posted at http://www.nabuur.com/ on: 2007/12/25 0:36 (With slight changes for this blog on: 2007/12/25 8:51)
Hello Nitin,
Thank you so much for agreeing to my posting slightly modified versions, of our conversations, on my personal web blog! That really is is very generous of you.
It is kind of you to say you are learning a few things from our conversation - but you must always remember, Nitin, that we are all of us, learning all manner of things, from each other.
The same enriching personal experiences, are occuring, in the many conversations, which are going on, in the various village projects, on the http://www.nabuur.com/ online volunteer platform!
It really can be a very rewarding journey of discovery - if one is broadminded: and willing to open up to people from different races and cultures!
Well, I am sure I can manage to get the hang of using the messenger chat facility in my Yahoo mailbox, somehow! So you can contact me by email at:peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk, and we can then have conversations in real time - which will make a nice change!
The papaya seeds will be selected, dried and sent to the ministry of agriculture, to obtain a phytosanitary certificate - to enable us send it to you, Nitin. I do hope we can get all that done by the end of the first quarter of 2008, at the very latest!
Now that the Gujarat state elections are over and done with, I am sure you will try and get hold of your elected representative - and get them to partner you and the organisations that Poonam has succeeded in contacting. Do ask Poonam to let me have copies of her correspondence with the ones I recommended to her, if that is acceptable to all of you.
Based on the contents of the correspondence, I will be able to help you draw up a memorandum of understanding (MOU), for a three-way public private partnership (PPP) between your community-based organisation; the cross-cultural organisations Poonam has contacted; and the relavant local government department, which supports community-based projects, like yours. Thank you once again, Nitin - you are a real sport!
Best wishes,
Kofi.
(First posted at http://www.nabuur.com/ on: 2007/12/25 17:57)
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
NKRUMAISTS: TIME TO UNITE AND LET A NEW CPP RISE AGAIN!
I am amazed that Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey, one of the cleverest and few truly world-class political figures in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), seems to have been taken aback by the huge numbers who took part in the recent Accra Yewuo demonstration organised by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) - a potent sign of disgruntlement with the status quo if ever there was one.
Apparently, he now recognises the depth of dissatisfaction amongst ordinary people, with the government of the NPP: and has consequently warned his party not to be complacent about the coming December 2008 elections. Wise words, indeed - but a bit too late in the day to be of much help in rescuing his party from its dwindling fortunes.
How did it come about that a man as astute as Jake Obestebi-Lamptey, came to believe in the propaganda of his own party: to the extent that he apparently believed the fantasy put about by the well-funded NPP spin-doctors that ordinary Ghanaians were actually experiencing "positive change" in their individual lives?
Fact is, dear reader, Jake Obestebi-Lamptey and Co must understand that Ghanaians have come to realise that apart from no longer having to look over their shoulder when condemning the unfathomable greed of some of our leaders, there is absolutely no difference between the NPP and the previous regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which preceded it.
Yes, there have been those who have had positive change in their lives: as can be seen by the vast fortunes being expended by some of the most ambitious ones in his party, to win them the right to become his party's candidate for the December 2008 presidential elections.
And then of course there are the eternal Busia-Danquah beneficiaries of that party's propensity for Kokofu-football pork-barrel politics, chief amongst whom, are: the leader of Jake's party; his immediate and extended family clan, and the coterie of regime-favourite roguish businesspeople who appear to have a stake in virtually every lucrative deal going.
Then there are the infernal, sly and greedy high net worth oligarchs, in whose collective pocket our number one hypocrite was when he first assumed power as Ghana's leader: until his own family suddenly mushroomed into one of Ghana's (and Africa's) wealthiest families - and he took to calling those who pointed it out as being envious: forgetting that not all of us are driven by greed, and furthermore, that many ordinary people operate on the basis that a good name is better than tainted riches.
And, above all, those who have prospered the most under this regime, are the insufferable, greedy, ruthless and totally amoral tribal-supremacist traditional rulers: to whom Jake's hypocritical leaders are so beholden - and who clearly call the shots in his party: which is why a clever man like Alan Kyremateng can openly suggest, the pure nonsense on bamboo stilts, that he will include "Chiefs" in "his government." Unbelievable. It is an open invitation for an equally clever young military man to promptly overthrow his government, for the sake of Ghana's unity - and swiftly call for fresh elections to usher in a new 5th Republic: were the clever Kyremateng to be so foolish after winning power.
Well, Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey and his crowd must understand that poverty is the worst enemy of democracy - and that their mistake was to slavishly follow neo-liberal economic policies: without considering the social consequences of those policies.
Their so-called private sector-led model of economic development, has led to the developmental equivalent of a gilded-road-to-nowhere: a tiny high-walled gated cul-de-sac community, which is an enclave of unimaginable "waa-waa" wealth surrounded completely by a vast slum that is literally, a seething cauldron of extreme anger and mobrowa discontent. Welcome to the real Ghana, Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey.
And just to let them know how their lack of original thinking has dearly cost our nation, dear reader, let me pass on a few figures about Singapore: a clever nation whose far-sighted and selfless leaders have used the Nkrumaist model of economic development to create a dynamic nation, whose citizens' standards of living has increased progressively since independence.
That tiny city-state, dear reader, happens to be the 17th wealthiest nation in the world, in terms of GDP per capita - and astonishingly, has foreign reserves of over US$ 145 billion. Yet, at one stage, the masters of the universe currently in charge of Nkrumah's Ghana, were crowing over foreign currency reserves of a little over a mere US $ 1billion - made possible, largely, due to the lifeline thrown our country by debt relief.
Similar to the direction taken by Nkrumah's Ghana, and using the model of state-led industrialisation, dominated by state-owned entities like Temasek, and boosted by foreign direct investment, Singapore has succeeded in creating a highly successful and modern economy. And today it is powering ahead with an efficient and transparently-managed, dynamic economy: which is based on electronics manufacturing, petrochemicals, tourism and financial services - besides its centuries-old entrepot trade.
Our national tragedy today, is that the progeny of those who were used by the imperialists and neo-colonialists to overthrow Nkrumah (those treacherous coup leaders of 24th February,1966, were paid US$13 million by the C.I.A. to overthrow him - with even more to come if they murdered the Osagyefo in the process), have not learnt any lessons over the years.
They still do not understand that no African nation can be turned into a prosperous nation-state, if it does not replicate Singapore's model of development: state-led industrialisation managed by honest, competent and gifted leaders - who do not blindly accept the strictures of self-seeking foreign powers and neither copy the West blindly, nor kow-tow to foreign interests!
In other words, you will never hear, for example, a defence minister of Singapore seeking to be its leader, telling reporters that: "America is too powerful" - and consequently obliges every whimsical demand it makes. And unlike Ghana, you will most certainly not see traditional leaders who were once rulers in pre-colonial times, daring to poke their noses into affairs of state either - for, Singapore is the quintessence of a meritocracy: not a kleptocracy dominated by a few pride-filled tribal-supremacists, some with absurd pretensions to past feudal grandeur.
One only hopes that the Convention Peoples Party (New CPP), now led by Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, will take Ghana along that same "Sankofa-path" to sustainable growth, which Nkrumah took, after his liberal policies practised before 1960, spectacularly failed to lift ordinary Ghanaians out of poverty.
The New CPP must also learn from the mistakes of the Nkrumah regime: it must not tolerate corruption within its ranks and it must always deal ruthlessly with those who mismanage state entities - and must stay committed to a free society: to ensure a cross-fertilisation of ideas to help propel our homeland Ghana forward.
And above all, they must offer Ghana principled leadership: One that is full of honesty; is and puts Ghana, not their personal interests, first, at all times; eschews personal greed, nepotism and cronyism; deals ruthlessly with family members who think that the entering into public service by their kith and kin, who are in government, is their family's golden opportunity and a passport to amass untold wealth at Mother Ghana's expense.
In short, those who now lead the great party founded by Nkrumah, the New CPP, must always remember that Ghanaians expect them to be completely different from the regimes of the NPP and the NDC. They must improve on, and build upon, the very solid foundation that was laid by Ghana's greatest ever leader, our brilliant founding father Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory - for, clearly, Ghana cannot survive yet another greedy and incompetent regime after December 2008.
The leaders of the New CPP must make it clear to all Ghanaians that their regime will be totally different from Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey's party leader's dreadful regime: which thinks that creating a climate in which selfishness and disdain for the less fortunate thrives (a society in which you exploit others, including the vulnerable, ruthlessly - in order to become super rich), is somehow the way that one builds a harmonious and prosperous African society. Nkrumah did not seek office in order to acquire wealth - and they must also not come to power to acquire wealth, but to serve Mother Ghana instead, by creating a caring and sharing society for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
Some of us may be ardent Nkrumaists, but we will will not spare them from criticism, if they do not clearly spell out the Nkrumaist vision of a modern and united African nation-state, in which the Ghanaian nation-state proclaims that it will not allow any Ghanaian to fall below a minimum standard of living: to enable ordinary people see clearly what their lot will be like in a Ghana run by a New CPP regime.
For, equitably sharing Ghana's wealth, and refusing to allow it to be appropriated by the greedy ambitions of a ruthless and powerful few, is the only way to enable all Ghanaians to be able to lead dignified lives - in a united, prosperous and humane society. And, above all, it is a message that will resonate with ordinary Ghanaians.
May God bless our homeland Ghana always. Long live freedom! Long live Ghana!
Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Apparently, he now recognises the depth of dissatisfaction amongst ordinary people, with the government of the NPP: and has consequently warned his party not to be complacent about the coming December 2008 elections. Wise words, indeed - but a bit too late in the day to be of much help in rescuing his party from its dwindling fortunes.
How did it come about that a man as astute as Jake Obestebi-Lamptey, came to believe in the propaganda of his own party: to the extent that he apparently believed the fantasy put about by the well-funded NPP spin-doctors that ordinary Ghanaians were actually experiencing "positive change" in their individual lives?
Fact is, dear reader, Jake Obestebi-Lamptey and Co must understand that Ghanaians have come to realise that apart from no longer having to look over their shoulder when condemning the unfathomable greed of some of our leaders, there is absolutely no difference between the NPP and the previous regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which preceded it.
Yes, there have been those who have had positive change in their lives: as can be seen by the vast fortunes being expended by some of the most ambitious ones in his party, to win them the right to become his party's candidate for the December 2008 presidential elections.
And then of course there are the eternal Busia-Danquah beneficiaries of that party's propensity for Kokofu-football pork-barrel politics, chief amongst whom, are: the leader of Jake's party; his immediate and extended family clan, and the coterie of regime-favourite roguish businesspeople who appear to have a stake in virtually every lucrative deal going.
Then there are the infernal, sly and greedy high net worth oligarchs, in whose collective pocket our number one hypocrite was when he first assumed power as Ghana's leader: until his own family suddenly mushroomed into one of Ghana's (and Africa's) wealthiest families - and he took to calling those who pointed it out as being envious: forgetting that not all of us are driven by greed, and furthermore, that many ordinary people operate on the basis that a good name is better than tainted riches.
And, above all, those who have prospered the most under this regime, are the insufferable, greedy, ruthless and totally amoral tribal-supremacist traditional rulers: to whom Jake's hypocritical leaders are so beholden - and who clearly call the shots in his party: which is why a clever man like Alan Kyremateng can openly suggest, the pure nonsense on bamboo stilts, that he will include "Chiefs" in "his government." Unbelievable. It is an open invitation for an equally clever young military man to promptly overthrow his government, for the sake of Ghana's unity - and swiftly call for fresh elections to usher in a new 5th Republic: were the clever Kyremateng to be so foolish after winning power.
Well, Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey and his crowd must understand that poverty is the worst enemy of democracy - and that their mistake was to slavishly follow neo-liberal economic policies: without considering the social consequences of those policies.
Their so-called private sector-led model of economic development, has led to the developmental equivalent of a gilded-road-to-nowhere: a tiny high-walled gated cul-de-sac community, which is an enclave of unimaginable "waa-waa" wealth surrounded completely by a vast slum that is literally, a seething cauldron of extreme anger and mobrowa discontent. Welcome to the real Ghana, Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey.
And just to let them know how their lack of original thinking has dearly cost our nation, dear reader, let me pass on a few figures about Singapore: a clever nation whose far-sighted and selfless leaders have used the Nkrumaist model of economic development to create a dynamic nation, whose citizens' standards of living has increased progressively since independence.
That tiny city-state, dear reader, happens to be the 17th wealthiest nation in the world, in terms of GDP per capita - and astonishingly, has foreign reserves of over US$ 145 billion. Yet, at one stage, the masters of the universe currently in charge of Nkrumah's Ghana, were crowing over foreign currency reserves of a little over a mere US $ 1billion - made possible, largely, due to the lifeline thrown our country by debt relief.
Similar to the direction taken by Nkrumah's Ghana, and using the model of state-led industrialisation, dominated by state-owned entities like Temasek, and boosted by foreign direct investment, Singapore has succeeded in creating a highly successful and modern economy. And today it is powering ahead with an efficient and transparently-managed, dynamic economy: which is based on electronics manufacturing, petrochemicals, tourism and financial services - besides its centuries-old entrepot trade.
Our national tragedy today, is that the progeny of those who were used by the imperialists and neo-colonialists to overthrow Nkrumah (those treacherous coup leaders of 24th February,1966, were paid US$13 million by the C.I.A. to overthrow him - with even more to come if they murdered the Osagyefo in the process), have not learnt any lessons over the years.
They still do not understand that no African nation can be turned into a prosperous nation-state, if it does not replicate Singapore's model of development: state-led industrialisation managed by honest, competent and gifted leaders - who do not blindly accept the strictures of self-seeking foreign powers and neither copy the West blindly, nor kow-tow to foreign interests!
In other words, you will never hear, for example, a defence minister of Singapore seeking to be its leader, telling reporters that: "America is too powerful" - and consequently obliges every whimsical demand it makes. And unlike Ghana, you will most certainly not see traditional leaders who were once rulers in pre-colonial times, daring to poke their noses into affairs of state either - for, Singapore is the quintessence of a meritocracy: not a kleptocracy dominated by a few pride-filled tribal-supremacists, some with absurd pretensions to past feudal grandeur.
One only hopes that the Convention Peoples Party (New CPP), now led by Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, will take Ghana along that same "Sankofa-path" to sustainable growth, which Nkrumah took, after his liberal policies practised before 1960, spectacularly failed to lift ordinary Ghanaians out of poverty.
The New CPP must also learn from the mistakes of the Nkrumah regime: it must not tolerate corruption within its ranks and it must always deal ruthlessly with those who mismanage state entities - and must stay committed to a free society: to ensure a cross-fertilisation of ideas to help propel our homeland Ghana forward.
And above all, they must offer Ghana principled leadership: One that is full of honesty; is and puts Ghana, not their personal interests, first, at all times; eschews personal greed, nepotism and cronyism; deals ruthlessly with family members who think that the entering into public service by their kith and kin, who are in government, is their family's golden opportunity and a passport to amass untold wealth at Mother Ghana's expense.
In short, those who now lead the great party founded by Nkrumah, the New CPP, must always remember that Ghanaians expect them to be completely different from the regimes of the NPP and the NDC. They must improve on, and build upon, the very solid foundation that was laid by Ghana's greatest ever leader, our brilliant founding father Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory - for, clearly, Ghana cannot survive yet another greedy and incompetent regime after December 2008.
The leaders of the New CPP must make it clear to all Ghanaians that their regime will be totally different from Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey's party leader's dreadful regime: which thinks that creating a climate in which selfishness and disdain for the less fortunate thrives (a society in which you exploit others, including the vulnerable, ruthlessly - in order to become super rich), is somehow the way that one builds a harmonious and prosperous African society. Nkrumah did not seek office in order to acquire wealth - and they must also not come to power to acquire wealth, but to serve Mother Ghana instead, by creating a caring and sharing society for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
Some of us may be ardent Nkrumaists, but we will will not spare them from criticism, if they do not clearly spell out the Nkrumaist vision of a modern and united African nation-state, in which the Ghanaian nation-state proclaims that it will not allow any Ghanaian to fall below a minimum standard of living: to enable ordinary people see clearly what their lot will be like in a Ghana run by a New CPP regime.
For, equitably sharing Ghana's wealth, and refusing to allow it to be appropriated by the greedy ambitions of a ruthless and powerful few, is the only way to enable all Ghanaians to be able to lead dignified lives - in a united, prosperous and humane society. And, above all, it is a message that will resonate with ordinary Ghanaians.
May God bless our homeland Ghana always. Long live freedom! Long live Ghana!
Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
A New Presidential Jet For Ghana?
I was recently accosted by an irate neighbour, who usually calls me, every time I appear on Alhaji Bature's popular Saturday discussion programme,"Alhaji and Alhaji," on Hot FM, to berate me, for "showing gross disrespect" to the current regime - and its hypocritical leader.
So you can imagine my sense of disbelief, dear reader, as I listened to him, telling me, how right he thought I had been about our current president, and the regime he leads, all along : "Awose yedi womu enyina eko prison, Kofi!"
And why was this "my-party-right-or-wrong" fanatic, and relatively well-off stooge for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), hoping that the leaders of his party, would all end up in jail? Well, he had just heard the rumour that President Kufuor had bought a "private jet", which is apparently scheduled for delivery, in 2010 - when he would be out of office.
I tried to explain to this irate NPP foot-soldier, that although it was classified as a private jet, it did not mean that it was President Kufuor's private property - and that if the rumour was true, it simply meant that Ghana had acquired a class of jet, made mainly for private business owners: and that in that sense, the rumour was not strictly accurate. For, the plane would be the property, of the Ghanaian nation-state.
The purchase of the new presidential jet, if true, illustrates perfectly, how our hypocritical ruling elites, constantly pursue their own interests: at the expense of our nation - and its hard-pressed people.
The man, who, at the onset of his tenure, refused to use the Gulfstream 11 presidential jet, acquired by the previous regime, because its purchase was shrouded in mystery (and apparent illegality), is now ending his tenure, with the acquisition of a much more expensive presidential jet: purchased without the approval of our spineless parliament. And only heaven knows what financial skulduggery has gone into the financing of its purchase - knowing the unfathomable greed that motivates our government of waa waa "super-kickback-specialists".
And to add insult to the injury done to taxpayers' pockets by this profligacy, it is apparently being funded by the same foreign bank, which was once successfully sued in the US courts, by Tsastu Tsikata, for giving the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), self-interested (and patently bad!) advice, to invest in derivatives, much to the GNPC's detriment - a case Tsatsu Tsikata won.
And if readers will recall, significantly, shortly after assuming power, the NPP halted a case Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata's GNPC had brought against that self same French bank and some of its roguish executives, in the London law courts - and hastily settled the matter out of court: ignoring the fact that the money they were going to pay out to those French rogues in any possible settlement, was a great deal more, than the legal costs, which they claimed was prohibitive: and were hence ending the case.
And today, some of those who sanctioned this rip off of our nation, are fighting each other ( spending billions in the process!), to have the chance, to become Ghana's next president - in order, presumably, to be able to supervise, personally, from the very top, the continued gang rape of mother Ghana, even more effectively (and profitably for themselves; their extended families; and their greedy favourites, amongst our anachronistic and hypocritical double-land-selling traditional rulers)! Hmmm, eye asem o!
And that, dear reader, is how over the years, our nation has been ripped off by our leaders, acting in concert with foreign carpetbaggers! If the rumour turns out to be true, Mr. Kufuor will have the dubious distinction, of being labelled the most hypocritical leader Ghana, has ever had the misfortune, of electing into office, thus far!
It will certainly be interesting to know the actual details of the loan agreement for the purchase of the new presidential jet, from that greedy French bank, which has aided and abetted our leaders' financial skulduggery since they assumed power, in a number of questionable deals - a prime example being the cynical role they played in the takeover of Ashanti Goldfields (the so-called "merger"!).
The main problem, however, is that the parliament we are currently lumbered with, and which could effectively trace the paper trail that would reveal how this regime financed this outrageous deal, which was clearly entered into without parliamentary approval (and should put those who carried it out in prison, for a very long time, some day: for recklessly causing financial loss to Ghana!), is now showing its deficiencies: and it is being exposed to be the toothless bulldog, which those who gave birth to the 4th Republic, intended it to be - so that their dictatorship could successfully metamorphose into a democratically elected civilian regime, in 1992: and enable them carry on exactly as before, with their high-handed ways!
And if the hypocrites now running our country think that they are being clever, by building a new and modern prison: so that those of them who will be tried and jailed for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, when they are turfed out of power in December 2008, will be able to serve their sentences out in comfortable conditions, they had better think again - for, they will be made to serve their sentences, in the worst of the prisons in Ghana. And they can then experience first hand, the consequences of their years of neglect, of much of our nation's public buildings!
It is clear, that the regime President Kufuor leads, is blithely mortgaging the anticipated oil revenues, of our country - for how else could the apostles of the rule of law, have had the audacity and nerve, to purchase a presidential jet, for nearly US$ 40 million, without parliamentary approval: when we have still not made it possible, for example, for all our law courts to be adequately equipped, with recording equipment and computers, to relieve our judges, of the unacceptable drudgery, of having to write down the proceedings of court cases they are hearing, in longhand (in the 21st century ICT world!)?
President Kufour, and the regime he leads, must remember the Ghanaian saying: "No condition is permanent". They must not think they can continue to find endless clever ways to shortchange Ghana, and get away with it. One fine day, the ordinary people of Ghana, will bring the Rawlings-Kufuor era to an end, by dismantling the creature spawned by the sly architects of the December 31st 1981 military coup: the discredited 4th Republic - and replace it with a new 5th Republic, which we shall create in the current conditions of freedom (one of the current hypocritical regime's few truly significant achievements!), as opposed to the days of silence and fear, that saw the birth of the 4th Republic.
President Kufour certainly has the dubious distinction, of leading the most profligate government, ever elected to power, in our country. Today, the man who began his tenure, telling Ghanaians that as a people, we would have to learn to cut our coat, according to the size of our cloth, is building a new presidential palace complex (which I predict will end up costing over US$150 million, by the time it is completed!), to leave as his main legacy. Perhaps having built himself a palatial home before becoming our leader, he knows what benefits such an obvious outward sign of "achievement" brings.
Apparently (if the bush-telegraph is to be believed!), for years, after he built his own monument of personal success at Airport West, it made it possible for him to project an image of a successful man: even though rumour has it, he had to struggle financially, after making his very public statement of having arrived in society, with the completion of his new mansion! And now to top it all, he is also going to leave another sign of his idea of 'success' as Ghana's leader: by acquiring a new presidential jet, costing the impoverished Ghanaian taxpayer, close to US$ 40 million!
Obviously, the mentality of our current leader and his profligate crowd, is that as long as they can point it out to Ghanaians that an expensive acquisition will not benefit them personally, but rather benefit their successors of the future, they can get away with dissipating as much of Ghana's projected future oil revenues they can get away with, today. But it is flawed and dangerous thinking - for, Ghanaians know who the waa waa kickback-specialists are, in the Ghana today - and they will all be made to pay for the reckless errors of judgement they are making on a daily basis, as they near the end of their tenure!
It is a pity the obtuse gang of ruthless tribal supremacists now controlling Nkrumah's Ghana, appear not to have heard of the new developments in the private jet sector - the very light jets (VLJ): most of which cost less than US$ 3 million: but can do all the things larger and infinitely more expensive business jets like the French-made Falcon, do.
Against that figure, the nearly US$40 million they have spent in acquiring the new Falcon from the French plane maker, positively looks criminal. Hmm, eye asem o, Ghana! Asem abeba debi! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://uk.f264.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: 027 745 3109.
So you can imagine my sense of disbelief, dear reader, as I listened to him, telling me, how right he thought I had been about our current president, and the regime he leads, all along : "Awose yedi womu enyina eko prison, Kofi!"
And why was this "my-party-right-or-wrong" fanatic, and relatively well-off stooge for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), hoping that the leaders of his party, would all end up in jail? Well, he had just heard the rumour that President Kufuor had bought a "private jet", which is apparently scheduled for delivery, in 2010 - when he would be out of office.
I tried to explain to this irate NPP foot-soldier, that although it was classified as a private jet, it did not mean that it was President Kufuor's private property - and that if the rumour was true, it simply meant that Ghana had acquired a class of jet, made mainly for private business owners: and that in that sense, the rumour was not strictly accurate. For, the plane would be the property, of the Ghanaian nation-state.
The purchase of the new presidential jet, if true, illustrates perfectly, how our hypocritical ruling elites, constantly pursue their own interests: at the expense of our nation - and its hard-pressed people.
The man, who, at the onset of his tenure, refused to use the Gulfstream 11 presidential jet, acquired by the previous regime, because its purchase was shrouded in mystery (and apparent illegality), is now ending his tenure, with the acquisition of a much more expensive presidential jet: purchased without the approval of our spineless parliament. And only heaven knows what financial skulduggery has gone into the financing of its purchase - knowing the unfathomable greed that motivates our government of waa waa "super-kickback-specialists".
And to add insult to the injury done to taxpayers' pockets by this profligacy, it is apparently being funded by the same foreign bank, which was once successfully sued in the US courts, by Tsastu Tsikata, for giving the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), self-interested (and patently bad!) advice, to invest in derivatives, much to the GNPC's detriment - a case Tsatsu Tsikata won.
And if readers will recall, significantly, shortly after assuming power, the NPP halted a case Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata's GNPC had brought against that self same French bank and some of its roguish executives, in the London law courts - and hastily settled the matter out of court: ignoring the fact that the money they were going to pay out to those French rogues in any possible settlement, was a great deal more, than the legal costs, which they claimed was prohibitive: and were hence ending the case.
And today, some of those who sanctioned this rip off of our nation, are fighting each other ( spending billions in the process!), to have the chance, to become Ghana's next president - in order, presumably, to be able to supervise, personally, from the very top, the continued gang rape of mother Ghana, even more effectively (and profitably for themselves; their extended families; and their greedy favourites, amongst our anachronistic and hypocritical double-land-selling traditional rulers)! Hmmm, eye asem o!
And that, dear reader, is how over the years, our nation has been ripped off by our leaders, acting in concert with foreign carpetbaggers! If the rumour turns out to be true, Mr. Kufuor will have the dubious distinction, of being labelled the most hypocritical leader Ghana, has ever had the misfortune, of electing into office, thus far!
It will certainly be interesting to know the actual details of the loan agreement for the purchase of the new presidential jet, from that greedy French bank, which has aided and abetted our leaders' financial skulduggery since they assumed power, in a number of questionable deals - a prime example being the cynical role they played in the takeover of Ashanti Goldfields (the so-called "merger"!).
The main problem, however, is that the parliament we are currently lumbered with, and which could effectively trace the paper trail that would reveal how this regime financed this outrageous deal, which was clearly entered into without parliamentary approval (and should put those who carried it out in prison, for a very long time, some day: for recklessly causing financial loss to Ghana!), is now showing its deficiencies: and it is being exposed to be the toothless bulldog, which those who gave birth to the 4th Republic, intended it to be - so that their dictatorship could successfully metamorphose into a democratically elected civilian regime, in 1992: and enable them carry on exactly as before, with their high-handed ways!
And if the hypocrites now running our country think that they are being clever, by building a new and modern prison: so that those of them who will be tried and jailed for wilfully causing financial loss to the state, when they are turfed out of power in December 2008, will be able to serve their sentences out in comfortable conditions, they had better think again - for, they will be made to serve their sentences, in the worst of the prisons in Ghana. And they can then experience first hand, the consequences of their years of neglect, of much of our nation's public buildings!
It is clear, that the regime President Kufuor leads, is blithely mortgaging the anticipated oil revenues, of our country - for how else could the apostles of the rule of law, have had the audacity and nerve, to purchase a presidential jet, for nearly US$ 40 million, without parliamentary approval: when we have still not made it possible, for example, for all our law courts to be adequately equipped, with recording equipment and computers, to relieve our judges, of the unacceptable drudgery, of having to write down the proceedings of court cases they are hearing, in longhand (in the 21st century ICT world!)?
President Kufour, and the regime he leads, must remember the Ghanaian saying: "No condition is permanent". They must not think they can continue to find endless clever ways to shortchange Ghana, and get away with it. One fine day, the ordinary people of Ghana, will bring the Rawlings-Kufuor era to an end, by dismantling the creature spawned by the sly architects of the December 31st 1981 military coup: the discredited 4th Republic - and replace it with a new 5th Republic, which we shall create in the current conditions of freedom (one of the current hypocritical regime's few truly significant achievements!), as opposed to the days of silence and fear, that saw the birth of the 4th Republic.
President Kufour certainly has the dubious distinction, of leading the most profligate government, ever elected to power, in our country. Today, the man who began his tenure, telling Ghanaians that as a people, we would have to learn to cut our coat, according to the size of our cloth, is building a new presidential palace complex (which I predict will end up costing over US$150 million, by the time it is completed!), to leave as his main legacy. Perhaps having built himself a palatial home before becoming our leader, he knows what benefits such an obvious outward sign of "achievement" brings.
Apparently (if the bush-telegraph is to be believed!), for years, after he built his own monument of personal success at Airport West, it made it possible for him to project an image of a successful man: even though rumour has it, he had to struggle financially, after making his very public statement of having arrived in society, with the completion of his new mansion! And now to top it all, he is also going to leave another sign of his idea of 'success' as Ghana's leader: by acquiring a new presidential jet, costing the impoverished Ghanaian taxpayer, close to US$ 40 million!
Obviously, the mentality of our current leader and his profligate crowd, is that as long as they can point it out to Ghanaians that an expensive acquisition will not benefit them personally, but rather benefit their successors of the future, they can get away with dissipating as much of Ghana's projected future oil revenues they can get away with, today. But it is flawed and dangerous thinking - for, Ghanaians know who the waa waa kickback-specialists are, in the Ghana today - and they will all be made to pay for the reckless errors of judgement they are making on a daily basis, as they near the end of their tenure!
It is a pity the obtuse gang of ruthless tribal supremacists now controlling Nkrumah's Ghana, appear not to have heard of the new developments in the private jet sector - the very light jets (VLJ): most of which cost less than US$ 3 million: but can do all the things larger and infinitely more expensive business jets like the French-made Falcon, do.
Against that figure, the nearly US$40 million they have spent in acquiring the new Falcon from the French plane maker, positively looks criminal. Hmm, eye asem o, Ghana! Asem abeba debi! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://uk.f264.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: 027 745 3109.
Friday, 23 November 2007
WE DEMAND A NEW 5TH REPUBLIC FOR GHANAIANS!
Recently, an event took place, which illustrates just so perfectly, why we need to bring the 4th Republic to an end - and usher in a new 5th Republic, for the good people of Ghana: The New Patriotic Party (NPP) chose to carry out the vetting of those seeking to be that party's candidate, for the December 2008 presidential election, at the state-owned property, Australia House - a blatant disregard for propriety and a clear abuse of power, by politicians: now so contemptuous of ordinary Ghanaians, that today, they behave as if they actually owned our country.
The blatant misuse of government property, for the private business of the NPP, with such breathtaking arrogance, is similar to the cavalier manner, in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime, decided to appropriate millions of US dollars of taxpayers' money, to renovate Australia House (complete with gold taps and a swimming pool!): with the sole object of presenting it as a retirement gift, from a "grateful nation", to the hypocritical hero of June 4th 1979.
The hero of June 4th 1979, had metamorphosed by then, into a spitting image, of the very elite Ghanaians, whom he railed against and punished so remorselessly, in his revolutionary days: to the extent that he was by then even enjoying their luxurious lifestyle - which he previously claimed to despise and was consequently so contemptuous of: except that now the ace hypocrite relished the luxury life, and indulged himself in it, with considerable aplomb and abandonment; complete with, amongst other possessions, an Akosombo river-front luxury holiday home and convertible Jaguar XJS!
Such has been the utter contempt of ordinary people and the interests of our homeland Ghana, by the two democratically elected regimes of the 4th Republic, led by our former president, ex-Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, and his ever-lucky successor, President J.A. Kufuor - who, to the utter dismay of many a patriotic Ghanaian, has led what has turned out to be, the most hypocritical and tribalistic regime, thus far, in Ghana's history. And the question many ordinary people ask today is: what should ordinary people do, to ensure that our political elite do not squander the golden opportunity to have a second chance at nation-building, as a people, which the discovery of large quantities of high grade crude oil and natural gas, off our coastline, represents?
How can we ensure, dear reader, that when Ghana's oil revenues start pouring into our national treasury, no ordinary Ghanaian, will ever have to be heard muttering in quite anger and disgust (in condemnation of the clever crooks who often masquerade as believers in democracy to win elections, and invariably end up ruining our homeland Ghana, once they assume power: whiles succeeding in amassing untold wealth for themselves, their kith and kin, as well as their cronies!), that infamous and crass outburst, which so perfectly encapsulated the ill-educated vulgarity, of the arrogant semi-literate Lebanese buffoon, who uttered it: (they are) "chopping Ghana small"?
How can we ensure,dear reader, that Nkrumah's far-sighted vision of a united, modern and prosperous African nation-state, which is a beacon to all Africans and those of African descent world-wide, finally becomes a reality - thanks to the wise use of our anticipated oil wealth?
How can we ensure, dear reader, that the revenues from this windfall, are used wisely, to make possible, the desperately needed social transformation, of our nation - from one held back so frustratingly, because it is a society not much changed (if the patina of modernity is removed!), from that which for centuries in the pre-colonial days, was dominated by a traditional feudal ruling elite, with a superstition-ridden mindset, who made our societies stagnant and impotent, in the face of the onslaught of Western colonialism: because their near-absolute power, was effectively used to subjugate their subjects - whose creativity was inhibited by years of domination, by a greedy, corrupt, selfish and self-centred elite: for whom anything that had the slightest hint of innovation about it, was a taboo and an anathema.
The time has now come for a radical shift away from this backward "monkey dey work, baboon dey chop" paradigm of nation-building - in which our ruling elites constantly ask for sacrifices from ordinary people; but in the end, when those sacrifices yield economic benefits, those benefits are only enjoyed by our selfish elite: whose corruption and unfathomable greed, seems to know no bounds.
We must bring the 4th Republic, which is a creature of the dissimulating genius of the hero of June 4th 1979, and was specifically designed to enable him and his hangers-on ( his "Eye zu, eye za" crowd, of greedy and sycophantic hypocrites), hold on to power, in the post- Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), era. And not to be outdone, the NPP has incredibly, succeeded in surpassing the greed and hypocrisy of the Rawlings crowd - and the gang rape of mother Ghana, is now at its apogee: proceeding with a frenzy seldom seen in our country; as clever scheme after clever scheme is dreamt up, to rip Ghana off.
An example is the criminal foray into the capital markets of the Western world to raise money: which will eventually impose an impossible burden on the public purse (yearly interest payments of over sixty million US dollars) and will most likely mean massive cuts to investments in social programmes, like health care and education - and in ten years hence, would have finally cost ordinary Ghanaians a whopping 1.4 billion US dollars, to repay those clever foreigners, who bought the confounded sovereign bonds, which have already enriched Databank and the beleaguered Citibank (now in the doldrums as it is buffeted by the US sub-prime loans debacle), even as we speak.
It is rather curious that this irresponsible and heavy burden, now being placed on the public purse, was chosen by the masters of the universe, currently in charge of Ghana, at precisely the point in time, in the history of humankind, when China is able, and willing, to provide soft long-term loans, with minimal interest, as well as long moratoriums before payments on interest are due, to embark on this expensive folly. It is patently an illegal "loan" technically - yet the NDC has obviously not been clever and imaginative enough, to think of communicating with social democratic politicians in the EU and the democrats in the US, to force the regulators in London, Frankfurt and New York, to get Citibank and Databank, to divulge to Ghana's lawmakers, precisely how much commission, was paid to them: and the sundry fat-cats, who have also benefited (no doubt, handsomely!), from this national disaster.
It is interesting that the unimaginative leaders we now have and their too-clever-by- half praise singers in the media (who are so nauseatingly fulsome in their praise of today's myopic rulers of Ghana: whom we are so painfully currently lumbered with), have clearly not heard that not too long ago, Malaysia, was able to issue Islamic bonds (Sukuks), and raise 600 million US dollars, of more or less interest-free funds, for that sensible and hardworking nation's development. If even the UK government and super-conservative Japan are thinking of following in the footsteps of Malaysia and hope to issue sukuks soon too, then one can only hope that our hopelessly unimaginative Bank of Ghana, will also look in that direction - and help build institutional knowledge in the ministry of finance as well as within our banking system, about this very useful ethical financial instrument: instead of being beholden to greedy Ghanaian high net worth oligarchs, in self-imposed exile in South Africa, and who are selling our nation to South African interests, for tidy sums in percentages, as kickbacks, for arranging those inimical and dubious deals.
How come we have ended up, for example, with a management company (Rand Vittens Aqua ) that was supposed to change the Ghana Water Company by showing us super-efficient management; but which is today threatening to use the provident fund of the company's workers, to purchase company vehicles? Where in the civilised world, would this outrage be tolerated, I ask, dear reader? Why, have we become such an empty-headed people now, that we are forced by the incompetence of our crafty leaders, to put up with such pure nonsense on bamboo stilts? Is this really Nkrumah's Ghana? Oh God, help us!
And instead of wasting their energies protesting about energy prices that we really have no control over, ultimately (and which, in any case, will only encourage conservation of electricity and fuel by Ghanaian consumers, and discourage wasteful use of electric power and fuel!), the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), must rather focus its attention, and devote its considerable energies, to agitating for a new 5th Republic - which will be underpinned by a new 5th Republican Constitution, in which there is a clear separation of powers: an independent legislature with effective oversight powers over the executive; a truly independent judiciary; as well as effective anti-corruption and human rights agencies, like the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CRAJ): all of which will be funded from the consolidated fund, to ensure that they are truly independent entities, free from the hypocrites and greedy rogues who always end up running (and ruining!) our country.
In the new Ghanaian era, flush with our envisaged oil wealth, we must do creative things to unleash the enterprise of our people, by implementing imaginative policies, such as abolishing personal income tax; bringing down corporate tax rate to just 10 per cent; making the avoidance of tax a serious offence, punishable by a mandatory (minimum 5-year) prison sentence; and make drug trafficking as well as armed robbery, both carry mandatory death penalties: to help rid our society of those menaces, which are so detrimental to the well-being of ordinary Ghanaians and their nation. In short, dear reader, we must make the 5th Republic, an earthly paradise for law-abiding Ghanaians - and a hell on earth for all those who refuse to obey our nation's laws and regulations. Period.
We must also use some of our envisaged oil wealth, to ensure that the absurd and outdated practise of having our judges write the proceedings of court cases in longhand (in the 21st century ITC era!), ceases. How can we punish our judges like that, dear reader - and expect an efficient justice system? Is the justice system not the foundation on which our democratic way of life supposed to be built - and our human rights safeguarded?President Kufuor would have left a more lasting legacy, if he had had the presence of mind, to use the loan from India (and borrowed more from China too, if necessary!), to buy recording equipment for every court in the land, to relieve our judges of this intolerable burden: as well as renovated and embarked on a programme of building modern and well-equipped new law court buildings, throughout our homeland Ghana - rather than the vainglorious dream of leaving a presidential palace complex, as his legacy to an impoverished nation. Period. May God bless our homeland Ghana always. long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://www.ghanaweb.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
The blatant misuse of government property, for the private business of the NPP, with such breathtaking arrogance, is similar to the cavalier manner, in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime, decided to appropriate millions of US dollars of taxpayers' money, to renovate Australia House (complete with gold taps and a swimming pool!): with the sole object of presenting it as a retirement gift, from a "grateful nation", to the hypocritical hero of June 4th 1979.
The hero of June 4th 1979, had metamorphosed by then, into a spitting image, of the very elite Ghanaians, whom he railed against and punished so remorselessly, in his revolutionary days: to the extent that he was by then even enjoying their luxurious lifestyle - which he previously claimed to despise and was consequently so contemptuous of: except that now the ace hypocrite relished the luxury life, and indulged himself in it, with considerable aplomb and abandonment; complete with, amongst other possessions, an Akosombo river-front luxury holiday home and convertible Jaguar XJS!
Such has been the utter contempt of ordinary people and the interests of our homeland Ghana, by the two democratically elected regimes of the 4th Republic, led by our former president, ex-Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, and his ever-lucky successor, President J.A. Kufuor - who, to the utter dismay of many a patriotic Ghanaian, has led what has turned out to be, the most hypocritical and tribalistic regime, thus far, in Ghana's history. And the question many ordinary people ask today is: what should ordinary people do, to ensure that our political elite do not squander the golden opportunity to have a second chance at nation-building, as a people, which the discovery of large quantities of high grade crude oil and natural gas, off our coastline, represents?
How can we ensure, dear reader, that when Ghana's oil revenues start pouring into our national treasury, no ordinary Ghanaian, will ever have to be heard muttering in quite anger and disgust (in condemnation of the clever crooks who often masquerade as believers in democracy to win elections, and invariably end up ruining our homeland Ghana, once they assume power: whiles succeeding in amassing untold wealth for themselves, their kith and kin, as well as their cronies!), that infamous and crass outburst, which so perfectly encapsulated the ill-educated vulgarity, of the arrogant semi-literate Lebanese buffoon, who uttered it: (they are) "chopping Ghana small"?
How can we ensure,dear reader, that Nkrumah's far-sighted vision of a united, modern and prosperous African nation-state, which is a beacon to all Africans and those of African descent world-wide, finally becomes a reality - thanks to the wise use of our anticipated oil wealth?
How can we ensure, dear reader, that the revenues from this windfall, are used wisely, to make possible, the desperately needed social transformation, of our nation - from one held back so frustratingly, because it is a society not much changed (if the patina of modernity is removed!), from that which for centuries in the pre-colonial days, was dominated by a traditional feudal ruling elite, with a superstition-ridden mindset, who made our societies stagnant and impotent, in the face of the onslaught of Western colonialism: because their near-absolute power, was effectively used to subjugate their subjects - whose creativity was inhibited by years of domination, by a greedy, corrupt, selfish and self-centred elite: for whom anything that had the slightest hint of innovation about it, was a taboo and an anathema.
The time has now come for a radical shift away from this backward "monkey dey work, baboon dey chop" paradigm of nation-building - in which our ruling elites constantly ask for sacrifices from ordinary people; but in the end, when those sacrifices yield economic benefits, those benefits are only enjoyed by our selfish elite: whose corruption and unfathomable greed, seems to know no bounds.
We must bring the 4th Republic, which is a creature of the dissimulating genius of the hero of June 4th 1979, and was specifically designed to enable him and his hangers-on ( his "Eye zu, eye za" crowd, of greedy and sycophantic hypocrites), hold on to power, in the post- Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), era. And not to be outdone, the NPP has incredibly, succeeded in surpassing the greed and hypocrisy of the Rawlings crowd - and the gang rape of mother Ghana, is now at its apogee: proceeding with a frenzy seldom seen in our country; as clever scheme after clever scheme is dreamt up, to rip Ghana off.
An example is the criminal foray into the capital markets of the Western world to raise money: which will eventually impose an impossible burden on the public purse (yearly interest payments of over sixty million US dollars) and will most likely mean massive cuts to investments in social programmes, like health care and education - and in ten years hence, would have finally cost ordinary Ghanaians a whopping 1.4 billion US dollars, to repay those clever foreigners, who bought the confounded sovereign bonds, which have already enriched Databank and the beleaguered Citibank (now in the doldrums as it is buffeted by the US sub-prime loans debacle), even as we speak.
It is rather curious that this irresponsible and heavy burden, now being placed on the public purse, was chosen by the masters of the universe, currently in charge of Ghana, at precisely the point in time, in the history of humankind, when China is able, and willing, to provide soft long-term loans, with minimal interest, as well as long moratoriums before payments on interest are due, to embark on this expensive folly. It is patently an illegal "loan" technically - yet the NDC has obviously not been clever and imaginative enough, to think of communicating with social democratic politicians in the EU and the democrats in the US, to force the regulators in London, Frankfurt and New York, to get Citibank and Databank, to divulge to Ghana's lawmakers, precisely how much commission, was paid to them: and the sundry fat-cats, who have also benefited (no doubt, handsomely!), from this national disaster.
It is interesting that the unimaginative leaders we now have and their too-clever-by- half praise singers in the media (who are so nauseatingly fulsome in their praise of today's myopic rulers of Ghana: whom we are so painfully currently lumbered with), have clearly not heard that not too long ago, Malaysia, was able to issue Islamic bonds (Sukuks), and raise 600 million US dollars, of more or less interest-free funds, for that sensible and hardworking nation's development. If even the UK government and super-conservative Japan are thinking of following in the footsteps of Malaysia and hope to issue sukuks soon too, then one can only hope that our hopelessly unimaginative Bank of Ghana, will also look in that direction - and help build institutional knowledge in the ministry of finance as well as within our banking system, about this very useful ethical financial instrument: instead of being beholden to greedy Ghanaian high net worth oligarchs, in self-imposed exile in South Africa, and who are selling our nation to South African interests, for tidy sums in percentages, as kickbacks, for arranging those inimical and dubious deals.
How come we have ended up, for example, with a management company (Rand Vittens Aqua ) that was supposed to change the Ghana Water Company by showing us super-efficient management; but which is today threatening to use the provident fund of the company's workers, to purchase company vehicles? Where in the civilised world, would this outrage be tolerated, I ask, dear reader? Why, have we become such an empty-headed people now, that we are forced by the incompetence of our crafty leaders, to put up with such pure nonsense on bamboo stilts? Is this really Nkrumah's Ghana? Oh God, help us!
And instead of wasting their energies protesting about energy prices that we really have no control over, ultimately (and which, in any case, will only encourage conservation of electricity and fuel by Ghanaian consumers, and discourage wasteful use of electric power and fuel!), the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), must rather focus its attention, and devote its considerable energies, to agitating for a new 5th Republic - which will be underpinned by a new 5th Republican Constitution, in which there is a clear separation of powers: an independent legislature with effective oversight powers over the executive; a truly independent judiciary; as well as effective anti-corruption and human rights agencies, like the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CRAJ): all of which will be funded from the consolidated fund, to ensure that they are truly independent entities, free from the hypocrites and greedy rogues who always end up running (and ruining!) our country.
In the new Ghanaian era, flush with our envisaged oil wealth, we must do creative things to unleash the enterprise of our people, by implementing imaginative policies, such as abolishing personal income tax; bringing down corporate tax rate to just 10 per cent; making the avoidance of tax a serious offence, punishable by a mandatory (minimum 5-year) prison sentence; and make drug trafficking as well as armed robbery, both carry mandatory death penalties: to help rid our society of those menaces, which are so detrimental to the well-being of ordinary Ghanaians and their nation. In short, dear reader, we must make the 5th Republic, an earthly paradise for law-abiding Ghanaians - and a hell on earth for all those who refuse to obey our nation's laws and regulations. Period.
We must also use some of our envisaged oil wealth, to ensure that the absurd and outdated practise of having our judges write the proceedings of court cases in longhand (in the 21st century ITC era!), ceases. How can we punish our judges like that, dear reader - and expect an efficient justice system? Is the justice system not the foundation on which our democratic way of life supposed to be built - and our human rights safeguarded?President Kufuor would have left a more lasting legacy, if he had had the presence of mind, to use the loan from India (and borrowed more from China too, if necessary!), to buy recording equipment for every court in the land, to relieve our judges of this intolerable burden: as well as renovated and embarked on a programme of building modern and well-equipped new law court buildings, throughout our homeland Ghana - rather than the vainglorious dream of leaving a presidential palace complex, as his legacy to an impoverished nation. Period. May God bless our homeland Ghana always. long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://www.ghanaweb.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
WHY OTUMFUO CAN NEVER BE A HEAD OF STATE!
There are many critics of his presidency, who insist that President Kufuor will go down in history, as the most tribalistic head of state, Ghana has ever had the misfortune, of electing into office. According to such Ghanaians, the miasma of Mr. Kufuor's tribalism, cronyism, and nepotism, has such a long footprint, too!
For example, not too long ago, a documentary was shown on the German public service broadcaster, DW-TV, about the current German president. A portion of it, showed the German president, leaving for a state visit to Ghana. The narrator of the documentary, then went on to say derisively, that the German president, had had to suffer the indignity, of having to go to pay a courtesy call, on the Asantehene, at Kumasi - and that it was beneath a German head of state to do so, in terms of protocol, and that Asante was a state within a state in Ghana, an absurdity, apparently akin to the existence in modern Germany of a sovereign Prussian Kingdom - a weird phenomenon, that could only happen in Africa, in the view of the narrator!
Sometimes, dear reader, one wonders what exactly is the agenda of Germany in Ghana? And who in Ghana's mission in Germany told DW- TV that Asante was a state within a state, in Ghana? And why was German Ambassador Linde constantly insisting that traditional authorities had an important role to play in Ghana - when his own native Germany, had got rid of its feudal ruling classes, many many years ago, in their march to progress?
Although many people do not want to hear it said, the fact of the matter, is that a traditional ruler, by definition, is a tribal supremacist - our equivalent, of the odious white supremacists of the Western world: who absurdly think they are superior, to all blacks.
And in the same vein, our tribal supremacist traditional rulers, also think that their tribe and its traditional ruling elites, are superior to all other tribes and their ruling elites, in Ghana. And you will find these narrow -minded and arrogant individuals, in every palace of the leading traditional rulers of all tribal groups in this country - from the northernmost part of the Ghanaian land mass, to the southernmost tip, and from the east to the west, of our dear nation. And each one of them is a ridiculous and anachronistic dinosaur. Period.
There are many Ghanaians who regard it as unfortunate in the extreme, that the current Asantehene, in marked contrast to his predecessor (who many feel will be judged by history as one of the greatest modern-day Aantehenes, ever) the lawyer Otumfuo Opoku-Ware 11, carries on apparently, as someone, who thinks he has come to revive the Asante Empire of old. Such people do not find that really surprising: as he was sponsored to his present position, by that most odious, of tribal supremacists, ever - the late Baffuor Akoto. He led one of the most violent and murderous political organisations in our history; the National Liberation Movement (NLM). His critics say that Baffuor Akoto's hands, were apparently dripping, with the blood of many innocent Ghanaians, who lost their lives in the series of bombings that he organised to try and murder Nkrumah, and end his attempt to transform Ghanaian society, and make it more egalitarian.
And this absurd nonsense on bamboo stilts, which the unrealistic dream of reviving a sovereign Asante kingdom represents, is being actively encouraged by some of those who now rule Ghana - yet it is pure treason! It is for this reason that so many Ghanaians are said to feel that Mr. Kufuor's shameful tribalism, poses a far greater threat to Ghana's stability, than any coup Rawlings will ever carry out again - for, Rawlings, does not seek to make any Eve traditional ruler, a power in our homeland Ghana. Indeed, the notorious Sargent Amedeka, once actually slapped a leading Eve traditional ruler - showing clearly, the utter contempt, which Rawlings and Co. had, for that feudal mambo jambo rubbish! And quite right too, if you ask me, dear reader!
There are many ordinary Ghanaians, who say they detest the current Asantehene and resent his megalomania - which is so irritatingly humoured at taxpayers' expense, by "that man President Kufuor"!
It is important, dear reader, in discussing the issue of tribalism in Ghana, that we seperate ordinary Ghanaians: Eves; Ga Dangbes; Asantes; Fantis; Gonjas; Dagombas; etc. etc., from today's successors, of the pre-colonial traditional fuedal ruling elites, of the various tribes in Ghana - for, ordinary Ghanaians from all our ethnic groups, are not tribalistic in the least.
And that is why in virtually every family in Ghana today, you will find many different tribes, united as one extended family, in it - tied and bonded together by blood ties and by marriage. And that is also why many ordinary people will tell you, dear reader, that myopic politicians, without any creative solutions to our many problems, such as Mr. Kufuour, who are in hock with power-hungry traditional rulers like the current Asantehene, must be put firmly in their place, by ordinary Ghanaians, in order to save our Republic of Ghana, from disintegrating! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://uk.f264.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text maessage at: (027) 745 3109
For example, not too long ago, a documentary was shown on the German public service broadcaster, DW-TV, about the current German president. A portion of it, showed the German president, leaving for a state visit to Ghana. The narrator of the documentary, then went on to say derisively, that the German president, had had to suffer the indignity, of having to go to pay a courtesy call, on the Asantehene, at Kumasi - and that it was beneath a German head of state to do so, in terms of protocol, and that Asante was a state within a state in Ghana, an absurdity, apparently akin to the existence in modern Germany of a sovereign Prussian Kingdom - a weird phenomenon, that could only happen in Africa, in the view of the narrator!
Sometimes, dear reader, one wonders what exactly is the agenda of Germany in Ghana? And who in Ghana's mission in Germany told DW- TV that Asante was a state within a state, in Ghana? And why was German Ambassador Linde constantly insisting that traditional authorities had an important role to play in Ghana - when his own native Germany, had got rid of its feudal ruling classes, many many years ago, in their march to progress?
Although many people do not want to hear it said, the fact of the matter, is that a traditional ruler, by definition, is a tribal supremacist - our equivalent, of the odious white supremacists of the Western world: who absurdly think they are superior, to all blacks.
And in the same vein, our tribal supremacist traditional rulers, also think that their tribe and its traditional ruling elites, are superior to all other tribes and their ruling elites, in Ghana. And you will find these narrow -minded and arrogant individuals, in every palace of the leading traditional rulers of all tribal groups in this country - from the northernmost part of the Ghanaian land mass, to the southernmost tip, and from the east to the west, of our dear nation. And each one of them is a ridiculous and anachronistic dinosaur. Period.
There are many Ghanaians who regard it as unfortunate in the extreme, that the current Asantehene, in marked contrast to his predecessor (who many feel will be judged by history as one of the greatest modern-day Aantehenes, ever) the lawyer Otumfuo Opoku-Ware 11, carries on apparently, as someone, who thinks he has come to revive the Asante Empire of old. Such people do not find that really surprising: as he was sponsored to his present position, by that most odious, of tribal supremacists, ever - the late Baffuor Akoto. He led one of the most violent and murderous political organisations in our history; the National Liberation Movement (NLM). His critics say that Baffuor Akoto's hands, were apparently dripping, with the blood of many innocent Ghanaians, who lost their lives in the series of bombings that he organised to try and murder Nkrumah, and end his attempt to transform Ghanaian society, and make it more egalitarian.
And this absurd nonsense on bamboo stilts, which the unrealistic dream of reviving a sovereign Asante kingdom represents, is being actively encouraged by some of those who now rule Ghana - yet it is pure treason! It is for this reason that so many Ghanaians are said to feel that Mr. Kufuor's shameful tribalism, poses a far greater threat to Ghana's stability, than any coup Rawlings will ever carry out again - for, Rawlings, does not seek to make any Eve traditional ruler, a power in our homeland Ghana. Indeed, the notorious Sargent Amedeka, once actually slapped a leading Eve traditional ruler - showing clearly, the utter contempt, which Rawlings and Co. had, for that feudal mambo jambo rubbish! And quite right too, if you ask me, dear reader!
There are many ordinary Ghanaians, who say they detest the current Asantehene and resent his megalomania - which is so irritatingly humoured at taxpayers' expense, by "that man President Kufuor"!
It is important, dear reader, in discussing the issue of tribalism in Ghana, that we seperate ordinary Ghanaians: Eves; Ga Dangbes; Asantes; Fantis; Gonjas; Dagombas; etc. etc., from today's successors, of the pre-colonial traditional fuedal ruling elites, of the various tribes in Ghana - for, ordinary Ghanaians from all our ethnic groups, are not tribalistic in the least.
And that is why in virtually every family in Ghana today, you will find many different tribes, united as one extended family, in it - tied and bonded together by blood ties and by marriage. And that is also why many ordinary people will tell you, dear reader, that myopic politicians, without any creative solutions to our many problems, such as Mr. Kufuour, who are in hock with power-hungry traditional rulers like the current Asantehene, must be put firmly in their place, by ordinary Ghanaians, in order to save our Republic of Ghana, from disintegrating! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://uk.f264.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text maessage at: (027) 745 3109
Saturday, 27 October 2007
From Ghana With Much Live To Uriva Village In The DR Congo
Hello Rodolphe,
I really do admire what you are doing to help those less fortunate than yourself, in the village of Uriva, in your native Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is often said that men don't cry. However, when I read the latest posting by Uriva's adopted son, Ned Meerdink, your American friend and helper from the University of Wisconsin, about those poor little children, in your village page at http://www.nabuur.com/ , tears welled up in my eyes - and I felt that I had to write to you.
Rodolphe, that story about those little children, is an indictment of all the corrupt leaders of our continent.
Your young president, Joseph Kabila, is obviously doing his best to stabilise the DR Congo, and appears to be well-meaning.
It is sad that whiles little children like those Ned has befriended starve, some of the idiots we allow to rule us, are using tribalism to fuel wars.
I do not know what exactly are the fears of General Nkunda - but it is outrageous that Africans, all of whom are descendants of the same early inhabitants of our continent, think of ourselves as Tutsis and Hutus, etc. etc.
And because of this absurd belief that we are different from each other, some of us, are even prepared to murder each other - our fellow humans and fellow Africans!
Your country sits on top of unimaginable wealth, which could rebuild your shattered nation, and make all of you live happy and contented lives.
It is sad that it takes a vulnerable American youth, to stand up to local officials suspicious of his motives, to try and build a multimedia centre for his adopted village: with the help of others, serving as online volunteers, from many nations around the world. What does it matter even if he were a spy?
If he can help to make a difference to the future of those dear children, who cares?
Our leaders build sumptuous presidential palaces, and drive around in bulletproof air-conditioned luxury vehicles, to impress the world - forgetting that it is only the quality of life of their people that will impress the world!
The current self-righteous leaders of that young American are no better. Their greed has led them into a war that has destroyed the country of a people with a civilisation dating back thousands of years - a war which has now sent them straight back into the Dark Ages.
And obscenely, the greedy merchants of death, who are behind those running the US today, particularly that arrogant extreme right-winger, Vice President Dick Cheney, have started a whole new industry driven by the unfathomable greed of some of today's neo-conservative business elite - that feeds off the misery of the victims of American aggression.
Today, the shareholders of those evil privately-owned American military industrial complex entities, are prospering mightily, from the blood and tears of the victims of unjust and illegal wars overseas.
And the employees of these privately-owned war machines, are killing Iraqis like flies, with impunity - simply because the cronies and lackeys of their bosses in Washington, have out-sourced a brutal war to them: without public tender, and worth billions of dollars in US taxpayers' money, to fight an illegal war in Iraq.
Yet, it would take only a fraction of the vast sums going to these new thriving business models, the so-called defence contractors now operating as a law unto themselves in sovereign Iraq, to wipe out poverty in many places on planet earth.
The American people themselves are amongst the most generous people in the world, and many of them would rather the huge amounts of money the US is expending on the crime against humanity that the war in Iraq represents, which is enriching the new rich of America (the likes of the notorious "defence contractor" Erik Prince, founder and owner of Blackwater Corporation), was spent on funding scores of village projects, which could wipe out poverty in much of rural Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, by providing some of the infrastructure that Ned bemoans a lack of in the many Uriva villages across Africa.
What decent man, Roldolphe, will not shed a tear for such outrages? You represent the unsung heroes of Africa, Rodolphe.
And our wwww.nabuur.com is indeed a veritable means of bringing good human beings together to help each other.
Those who give off their time and energy (and money sometimes!) to help those in need, living many thousands of miles away, from behind their computer screens, also benefit as much from our online community as those they help in villages around the developing world.
That is the way God has made humankind - we need to help each other in order to be happy and fulfilled!
God bless you, Rodolphe - and please find those little children Ned mentioned in his latest posting: and tell them they have an African friend in me, and that they must make an effort to learn to read and to write: so that they too, can help others tomorrow, as you, Roldolphe, are helping the very nice people of Uriva village, today.
I salute you - and the many others like you across our dear home continent, Mother Africa!p. Bravo!
Best wishes,
Kofi.
I really do admire what you are doing to help those less fortunate than yourself, in the village of Uriva, in your native Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is often said that men don't cry. However, when I read the latest posting by Uriva's adopted son, Ned Meerdink, your American friend and helper from the University of Wisconsin, about those poor little children, in your village page at http://www.nabuur.com/ , tears welled up in my eyes - and I felt that I had to write to you.
Rodolphe, that story about those little children, is an indictment of all the corrupt leaders of our continent.
Your young president, Joseph Kabila, is obviously doing his best to stabilise the DR Congo, and appears to be well-meaning.
It is sad that whiles little children like those Ned has befriended starve, some of the idiots we allow to rule us, are using tribalism to fuel wars.
I do not know what exactly are the fears of General Nkunda - but it is outrageous that Africans, all of whom are descendants of the same early inhabitants of our continent, think of ourselves as Tutsis and Hutus, etc. etc.
And because of this absurd belief that we are different from each other, some of us, are even prepared to murder each other - our fellow humans and fellow Africans!
Your country sits on top of unimaginable wealth, which could rebuild your shattered nation, and make all of you live happy and contented lives.
It is sad that it takes a vulnerable American youth, to stand up to local officials suspicious of his motives, to try and build a multimedia centre for his adopted village: with the help of others, serving as online volunteers, from many nations around the world. What does it matter even if he were a spy?
If he can help to make a difference to the future of those dear children, who cares?
Our leaders build sumptuous presidential palaces, and drive around in bulletproof air-conditioned luxury vehicles, to impress the world - forgetting that it is only the quality of life of their people that will impress the world!
The current self-righteous leaders of that young American are no better. Their greed has led them into a war that has destroyed the country of a people with a civilisation dating back thousands of years - a war which has now sent them straight back into the Dark Ages.
And obscenely, the greedy merchants of death, who are behind those running the US today, particularly that arrogant extreme right-winger, Vice President Dick Cheney, have started a whole new industry driven by the unfathomable greed of some of today's neo-conservative business elite - that feeds off the misery of the victims of American aggression.
Today, the shareholders of those evil privately-owned American military industrial complex entities, are prospering mightily, from the blood and tears of the victims of unjust and illegal wars overseas.
And the employees of these privately-owned war machines, are killing Iraqis like flies, with impunity - simply because the cronies and lackeys of their bosses in Washington, have out-sourced a brutal war to them: without public tender, and worth billions of dollars in US taxpayers' money, to fight an illegal war in Iraq.
Yet, it would take only a fraction of the vast sums going to these new thriving business models, the so-called defence contractors now operating as a law unto themselves in sovereign Iraq, to wipe out poverty in many places on planet earth.
The American people themselves are amongst the most generous people in the world, and many of them would rather the huge amounts of money the US is expending on the crime against humanity that the war in Iraq represents, which is enriching the new rich of America (the likes of the notorious "defence contractor" Erik Prince, founder and owner of Blackwater Corporation), was spent on funding scores of village projects, which could wipe out poverty in much of rural Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, by providing some of the infrastructure that Ned bemoans a lack of in the many Uriva villages across Africa.
What decent man, Roldolphe, will not shed a tear for such outrages? You represent the unsung heroes of Africa, Rodolphe.
And our wwww.nabuur.com is indeed a veritable means of bringing good human beings together to help each other.
Those who give off their time and energy (and money sometimes!) to help those in need, living many thousands of miles away, from behind their computer screens, also benefit as much from our online community as those they help in villages around the developing world.
That is the way God has made humankind - we need to help each other in order to be happy and fulfilled!
God bless you, Rodolphe - and please find those little children Ned mentioned in his latest posting: and tell them they have an African friend in me, and that they must make an effort to learn to read and to write: so that they too, can help others tomorrow, as you, Roldolphe, are helping the very nice people of Uriva village, today.
I salute you - and the many others like you across our dear home continent, Mother Africa!p. Bravo!
Best wishes,
Kofi.
Sunday, 21 October 2007
WHY CPP WILL HAVE NO TRUCK WITH NPP!
I read with considerable dismay a recent article by Mr. Ekow Duncan in the popular US-based Ghanaian website, http://www.ghanavotes2008.com/, entitled: "INVESTMENT OF $750MILLION SOVEREIGN GUARANTEED CREDIT" . Although in many respects a brilliant, positive and intellectual piece, he spoils it, after making sensible suggestions about some of the areas a CPP government could focus on, with an unfortunate example of the fawning tone, which many of those who have prospered under the NPP regime adopt publicly, when discussing national issues.He poses a rhetorical question asking if the hard-of-hearing regime, which refused to heed the concerns of patriotic Ghanaians, who warned it about the infamous IFC loan and the absurd attempt to source money for Ghana's development, from a Chinese hairdressing salon, in the backstreets of the seedier parts of London, is open for discussion, about the spending of the US $750 million, which was realised by Ghana's highly irresponsible foray, into the piranha-infested capital markets of the West! Incredible.
It is time we spoke bluntly to those Nkrumaists who think nothing of flirting with this regime. If there are any politicians who claim to be Nkrumaists, who do not recognise that China, with hundreds of billions of dollars available to it, and looking for investment opportunities, represents a better option for Ghana, going forward, as a source of investment for infrastructural development, than the capital markets of the West, then perhaps it is time we purged the CPP of those who think that flirting with a political party like the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is the very antithesis of everything Nkrumah stood for, is in the interest of ordinary people.
It is typical of the kind of fuzzy-minded fence-sitting, so beloved of Ghana's well-connected middle classes. This desire to always play safe and never be openly critical of our inept rulers, is what has led to the huge disparities in wealth that we see today: and which threatens the very foundations of today's unjust society. Politeness to the enemies of the poor, whose greed and corruption literally kills their fellow human beings, is most definitely not the way to fight for a better quality of life, for ordinary Ghanaians. Ghana urgently needs social transformation - not more of the same ghastly music accompanying the musical chairs game of politics, entilted: "Unfathomable greed, Nepotism and Tribalism." Period.
Mr. Duncan writes (inter alia):"...prudent macro- economic management by the Government that has lifted the credit rating of the nation on the international financial and capital markets and the competition of China and India in our financial market." Perhaps it has not occurred to Mr. Duncan that it is only a relatively few Ghanaians, who have benefited from the "prudent macro-economic management by the government"?For the information of the well-heeled Nkrumaists in our midst in our homeland Ghana, there actually exists another Ghana, whose citizens face an entirely different reality.Away from the haze of the smoke and mirrors economics, the so-called "prudent management of the macro-economy", which blinds the privileged few within the air-conditioned cocoon of the resultant Alice-in-wonderland Ghanaian version of Hollywood society: with their high-spending lifestyles of expensive SUV's, US$1O million hotels, billion-cedi Hollywood-style mansions, as well as the wasting of billions on sundry girlfriends, there actually exists a very different Ghana - the reality known by many as Ogyakrom.
It is a seething cauldron of deprivation, lack of opportunities and endless suffering. Yet Mr. Daniels is proposing that those self-same deprived Ogyakrom Ghanaians are made to underwrite the IOU's given to foreigners in exchange for their money (the so-called sovereign bonds - redeemable in hard currency, and for which in the meantime, regular interest payments will have to be made immediately to those foreigners, till their maturation dates - Because they are buying them simply in order to get regular income: our regular interest payments, on their sovereign bonds, i.e.!), which the government then hands over to banks (some of them foreign-owned!); leasing companies; venture capital firms: the very same fat-cats who have benefited mightily from the "prudent management of the macro-economy"!Why do the Mr. Duncans not ask those entities to go and borrow money themselves from foreigners in the financial markets of the West, to loan out to whom they please, in Ghana, if they were so brilliant - and take the risk themselves? Do we not know how funds similarly handed out to many of Ghana's elite under the Rawlings regime, remain unpaid even as we speak?
There will be no socialisation of private risk under any CPP regime. Period.Mr. Duncan also goes on to say:" The Government has indicated that the credit will be utilised in the provision of major infrastructure development in the road and energy sectors. In effect the sum will be utilised in the public sector by the public sector." I do not know where exactly he has been living all these years, but did he not hear how the too-clever-by-half public sector spin doctors, who talked endlessly about spending the public sector US$ 20 million Golden Jubilee money on "core infrastructures", utilised that sum - and had the effrontery to go to parliament and stonewall, when some MP's demanded that itemised accounts of expenditures pertaining to that sum, be produced? Let us be absolutely clear about this, now we will soon have oil money to make Ogyakrom a more comfortable place for society's Mobrowas: No Nkrumaist must ever think that any CPP regime is going borrow huge sums on foreign capital markets to be given to the banks that grew fat on income from the public debt of the Rawlings era - the treasury bills that made them super-rich, complacent and disrespectful to their customers, until the Nigerian banks ventured here and started focusing on real people's needs: 50,000 or zero cedis to open an account.
Who in this nation of well-educated and apparently respectable swindlers, will monitor the way the US$750 million is "utilised in the public sector by the public sector," I ask, dear reader? Hmmm, aye asem o! Is this not the same nation in which some of the scions of the family clans of our well-heeled and well-connected elite, who previously did not show any extraordinary signs of financial wizardry, suddenly could convince consortia of apparently sensible banks, led by banks in which there is considerable state interest, to stump up a cool US$10 millions, to acquire posh hotels? The people of Ogyakrom are tired of being exploited by those who they elect to serve them.The next CPP regime, will be a self-reliant one that will use Ghana's oil money (after tearing up the current unfavourable agreements and replacing them with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez-like agreements!) to give Ghanaians some of the world's best endowed educational institutions, as well as some of the world's best good quality public housing for renting out at reasonable rental rates, to ordinary people.
And it will also use our oil wealth to provide free education up to secondary school level and set up an educational bank to provide long-term soft loans to those who have the aptitude to continue to tertiary level. The party of the people, has no time to hold discussions on anything, with those whose philosophy of greed has created a dog-eats-dog society, in which people end up believing that to be successful, every one must think only of his or her self. Yet we are all expected to believe that in the midst of all this selfishness, somehow, God will be there for us all. Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long Live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompason@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
It is time we spoke bluntly to those Nkrumaists who think nothing of flirting with this regime. If there are any politicians who claim to be Nkrumaists, who do not recognise that China, with hundreds of billions of dollars available to it, and looking for investment opportunities, represents a better option for Ghana, going forward, as a source of investment for infrastructural development, than the capital markets of the West, then perhaps it is time we purged the CPP of those who think that flirting with a political party like the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is the very antithesis of everything Nkrumah stood for, is in the interest of ordinary people.
It is typical of the kind of fuzzy-minded fence-sitting, so beloved of Ghana's well-connected middle classes. This desire to always play safe and never be openly critical of our inept rulers, is what has led to the huge disparities in wealth that we see today: and which threatens the very foundations of today's unjust society. Politeness to the enemies of the poor, whose greed and corruption literally kills their fellow human beings, is most definitely not the way to fight for a better quality of life, for ordinary Ghanaians. Ghana urgently needs social transformation - not more of the same ghastly music accompanying the musical chairs game of politics, entilted: "Unfathomable greed, Nepotism and Tribalism." Period.
Mr. Duncan writes (inter alia):"...prudent macro- economic management by the Government that has lifted the credit rating of the nation on the international financial and capital markets and the competition of China and India in our financial market." Perhaps it has not occurred to Mr. Duncan that it is only a relatively few Ghanaians, who have benefited from the "prudent macro-economic management by the government"?For the information of the well-heeled Nkrumaists in our midst in our homeland Ghana, there actually exists another Ghana, whose citizens face an entirely different reality.Away from the haze of the smoke and mirrors economics, the so-called "prudent management of the macro-economy", which blinds the privileged few within the air-conditioned cocoon of the resultant Alice-in-wonderland Ghanaian version of Hollywood society: with their high-spending lifestyles of expensive SUV's, US$1O million hotels, billion-cedi Hollywood-style mansions, as well as the wasting of billions on sundry girlfriends, there actually exists a very different Ghana - the reality known by many as Ogyakrom.
It is a seething cauldron of deprivation, lack of opportunities and endless suffering. Yet Mr. Daniels is proposing that those self-same deprived Ogyakrom Ghanaians are made to underwrite the IOU's given to foreigners in exchange for their money (the so-called sovereign bonds - redeemable in hard currency, and for which in the meantime, regular interest payments will have to be made immediately to those foreigners, till their maturation dates - Because they are buying them simply in order to get regular income: our regular interest payments, on their sovereign bonds, i.e.!), which the government then hands over to banks (some of them foreign-owned!); leasing companies; venture capital firms: the very same fat-cats who have benefited mightily from the "prudent management of the macro-economy"!Why do the Mr. Duncans not ask those entities to go and borrow money themselves from foreigners in the financial markets of the West, to loan out to whom they please, in Ghana, if they were so brilliant - and take the risk themselves? Do we not know how funds similarly handed out to many of Ghana's elite under the Rawlings regime, remain unpaid even as we speak?
There will be no socialisation of private risk under any CPP regime. Period.Mr. Duncan also goes on to say:" The Government has indicated that the credit will be utilised in the provision of major infrastructure development in the road and energy sectors. In effect the sum will be utilised in the public sector by the public sector." I do not know where exactly he has been living all these years, but did he not hear how the too-clever-by-half public sector spin doctors, who talked endlessly about spending the public sector US$ 20 million Golden Jubilee money on "core infrastructures", utilised that sum - and had the effrontery to go to parliament and stonewall, when some MP's demanded that itemised accounts of expenditures pertaining to that sum, be produced? Let us be absolutely clear about this, now we will soon have oil money to make Ogyakrom a more comfortable place for society's Mobrowas: No Nkrumaist must ever think that any CPP regime is going borrow huge sums on foreign capital markets to be given to the banks that grew fat on income from the public debt of the Rawlings era - the treasury bills that made them super-rich, complacent and disrespectful to their customers, until the Nigerian banks ventured here and started focusing on real people's needs: 50,000 or zero cedis to open an account.
Who in this nation of well-educated and apparently respectable swindlers, will monitor the way the US$750 million is "utilised in the public sector by the public sector," I ask, dear reader? Hmmm, aye asem o! Is this not the same nation in which some of the scions of the family clans of our well-heeled and well-connected elite, who previously did not show any extraordinary signs of financial wizardry, suddenly could convince consortia of apparently sensible banks, led by banks in which there is considerable state interest, to stump up a cool US$10 millions, to acquire posh hotels? The people of Ogyakrom are tired of being exploited by those who they elect to serve them.The next CPP regime, will be a self-reliant one that will use Ghana's oil money (after tearing up the current unfavourable agreements and replacing them with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez-like agreements!) to give Ghanaians some of the world's best endowed educational institutions, as well as some of the world's best good quality public housing for renting out at reasonable rental rates, to ordinary people.
And it will also use our oil wealth to provide free education up to secondary school level and set up an educational bank to provide long-term soft loans to those who have the aptitude to continue to tertiary level. The party of the people, has no time to hold discussions on anything, with those whose philosophy of greed has created a dog-eats-dog society, in which people end up believing that to be successful, every one must think only of his or her self. Yet we are all expected to believe that in the midst of all this selfishness, somehow, God will be there for us all. Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long Live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompason@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Friday, 19 October 2007
Disrespect Shown To Alhaji Aliu Mahama By The NPP
If I had been born in any of the three northern regions, and had been a member (God forbid!) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), I would be watching unfolding events in the party with incredulity - and an increasing sense of exasperation.
In virtually every democracy in the world, there is a convention that the nation's sitting vice president, succeeds the incumbent president - and runs in the subsequent national election to choose his or her successor.
There are many Ghanaians, including some southerners (who care about the plight of the three northern regions), who wonder, why this is not apparently so, in the case of the NPP. Such Ghanaians wonder whether it is not yet another example of the miasma of tribalism that envelopes the NPP.
Would it ever have been the case, dear reader, if the malevolent clique of powerful oligarchs who now dominate the NPP so completely, and maintain such an iron grip on it, would have allowed anyone in the party the space (because of the obvious effrontery it would represent in their view!), to attempt to mount a challenge to a sitting vice president if he had hailed from a different part of Ghana - say from Kokofu in the Ashanti Region?
Such Ghanaians feel that one of most shocking scandals of our time, is the deafening silence in the Ghanaian media, and elsewhere in our homeland Ghana, about the apparent sidelining of Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, by the ruling party - in choosing a successor to President Kufour.
Why are the powers that be prepared to risk publicly washing the very dirty linen of a political party dominated by tribal supremacists, and some of the greediest oligarchs Ghana has ever had in its chequered history - when there is a sitting vice president, who in the scheme of things, ought to be the second most important figure in the NPP after there sitting president?
If the current vice president is healthy and of sound mind, why do they not make sure he succeeds our current president? This is something that should provide food for thought for those of our compatriots, who hail from the three northern regions - for, it speaks volumes about the real nature of the NPP.
When it suited those who now have such an iron grip on the NPP - as they put together a strategy to win power in December 2008 - they looked to the north and selected someone from that region, who would balance their party's ticket for the presidential election of December 2000.
The interesting thing about the Danquah-Busia tradition, is its consistency. Many of those who have dominated the various parties of that tradition, have been tribal supremacist individuals - and it has always been thus. Dr. Danquah once dismissed the government of Dr. Nkrumah as a regime with some "Ntafuo" in it. It would appear that nothing has changed since that infamous remark!
That selfsame Danquah-era contempt for outsiders (non-Akans), by the tribalists in the Danquah-Busia tradition, still persists even today, amongst the greedy and hypocritical oligarchs who now dominate it.Yet, winning votes in the three northern regions was a crucial factor in the NPP's victory in the December 2000 elections.
It is the determination to ensure that the party's Kokofu-football-politricks will continue after 2008, that makes those who think they own the NPP, prepared to risk everything, to elect someone more 'suitable' to them to run for the presidency.
And that is why when it came for Alhaji Aliu Mahama to take his turn and step into the shoes of President Kufuor, as is the convention in virtually every democracy in the world, those who dominate the NPP are using the cloak of adherence to the principles of internal party democracy, to enable them handpick a more 'suitable' successor - who will doubtles ensure that their favourite traditional rulers will be able to continue their behind-the-scenes manipulation of the institutions of state to enable them dominate our country from the shadows as its unelected rulers!
Let all northerners of conscience take note - and send a clear message to the NPP in 2008 (if the NPP does not elect Alhaji Aliu Mahama as their presidential candidate for the presidency in the December 2008 elections) that northerners are not hewers of wood and drawers of water for any group of Ghanaians - but are full and equal citizens who also deserve to be presidents of the Republic of Ghana: and vote accordingly. Period.
May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom!
Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com and by SMS on: +233 (0) 27 745 3109.
In virtually every democracy in the world, there is a convention that the nation's sitting vice president, succeeds the incumbent president - and runs in the subsequent national election to choose his or her successor.
There are many Ghanaians, including some southerners (who care about the plight of the three northern regions), who wonder, why this is not apparently so, in the case of the NPP. Such Ghanaians wonder whether it is not yet another example of the miasma of tribalism that envelopes the NPP.
Would it ever have been the case, dear reader, if the malevolent clique of powerful oligarchs who now dominate the NPP so completely, and maintain such an iron grip on it, would have allowed anyone in the party the space (because of the obvious effrontery it would represent in their view!), to attempt to mount a challenge to a sitting vice president if he had hailed from a different part of Ghana - say from Kokofu in the Ashanti Region?
Such Ghanaians feel that one of most shocking scandals of our time, is the deafening silence in the Ghanaian media, and elsewhere in our homeland Ghana, about the apparent sidelining of Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, by the ruling party - in choosing a successor to President Kufour.
Why are the powers that be prepared to risk publicly washing the very dirty linen of a political party dominated by tribal supremacists, and some of the greediest oligarchs Ghana has ever had in its chequered history - when there is a sitting vice president, who in the scheme of things, ought to be the second most important figure in the NPP after there sitting president?
If the current vice president is healthy and of sound mind, why do they not make sure he succeeds our current president? This is something that should provide food for thought for those of our compatriots, who hail from the three northern regions - for, it speaks volumes about the real nature of the NPP.
When it suited those who now have such an iron grip on the NPP - as they put together a strategy to win power in December 2008 - they looked to the north and selected someone from that region, who would balance their party's ticket for the presidential election of December 2000.
The interesting thing about the Danquah-Busia tradition, is its consistency. Many of those who have dominated the various parties of that tradition, have been tribal supremacist individuals - and it has always been thus. Dr. Danquah once dismissed the government of Dr. Nkrumah as a regime with some "Ntafuo" in it. It would appear that nothing has changed since that infamous remark!
That selfsame Danquah-era contempt for outsiders (non-Akans), by the tribalists in the Danquah-Busia tradition, still persists even today, amongst the greedy and hypocritical oligarchs who now dominate it.Yet, winning votes in the three northern regions was a crucial factor in the NPP's victory in the December 2000 elections.
It is the determination to ensure that the party's Kokofu-football-politricks will continue after 2008, that makes those who think they own the NPP, prepared to risk everything, to elect someone more 'suitable' to them to run for the presidency.
And that is why when it came for Alhaji Aliu Mahama to take his turn and step into the shoes of President Kufuor, as is the convention in virtually every democracy in the world, those who dominate the NPP are using the cloak of adherence to the principles of internal party democracy, to enable them handpick a more 'suitable' successor - who will doubtles ensure that their favourite traditional rulers will be able to continue their behind-the-scenes manipulation of the institutions of state to enable them dominate our country from the shadows as its unelected rulers!
Let all northerners of conscience take note - and send a clear message to the NPP in 2008 (if the NPP does not elect Alhaji Aliu Mahama as their presidential candidate for the presidency in the December 2008 elections) that northerners are not hewers of wood and drawers of water for any group of Ghanaians - but are full and equal citizens who also deserve to be presidents of the Republic of Ghana: and vote accordingly. Period.
May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom!
Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com and by SMS on: +233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Friday, 12 October 2007
DO NOT TAKE NKRUMAH’S NAME IN VAIN!
Seldom has there been a more propitious time, for the Nkrumaist vision of a united and modern African nation-state of diverse ethnicity, to triumph in the battle of ideas, in post-Nkrumah Ghana . Today’s Ghanaian society, a polity that is a hell-hole, underpinned and driven by greed and selfishness, is the result of the blind and unthinking acceptance by our largely unimaginative political class, of the iniquitous policies foisted on our country, by neo-colonial interests - chief amongst which, have been the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund: ably assisted by the self-seeking Western governments, referred to, incredibly, by some in the Ghanaian media (who should know better!), as “our development partners.”
And nowhere does the Nkrumaist message of self-belief and the need for a fairer society resonate, in today’s Ghana, more than amongst those who have had to make the most sacrifices, and lost out the most, as over the years, successive Ghanaian regimes since 24th February 1966, from that of the traitors who were paid agents of the C.I.A., as well as stooges for neo-colonialism; through to the brutal military dictatorship of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC); and today’s civilian carpetbaggers and pretend-democrats, known respectively as: the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have all, during their tenure, enthusiastically implemented the harsh economic measures, advocated by sundry foreign self-seekers for their own benefit - and at the expense of the Ghanaian masses: whose well-being and welfare, constitute and represent, Ghana’s abiding national interest.
Nkrumah’s message of self-belief and the African personality, resonates amongst ordinary people, and more so today, dear reader, as ordinary Ghanaians look askance at the oligarchs who now dominate Ghanaian society, and who have benefited the most, from the misery inflicted on the masses, as a result of the implementation of cruel and inhuman economic policies, over the many years of suffering in Ghana, as those mostly overweight stooges for neo-colonialism, club together, to use some of the enormous wealth they have now amassed ( because it is they and their crowd who have prospered mightily under the PNDC, NDC: and now, even more so than ever, under the NPP), in an outrageous attempt to buy their way to power, yet again.
And the question one often hears many a down-trodden Ghanaian ask these days, whiles watching the obscene display of wealth by some members of the ruling party, as they compete to buy their way to the presidency in 2008, is: why do the followers of Nkrumah not unite to win power in December 2008, and form a regime that can, and will, act, to protect Ghana’s national interest and promote the welfare of all Ghanaians, in January 2009?
Why, do ordinary Ghanaians not have in power today, one of the most incompetent and unimaginative of regimes, which is steadily impoverishing the vast majority of Ghanaians: who are seeing their quality of life deteriorating, even as sundry interested parties (who themselves are benefiting from the misery of the masses!), tell them that poverty is reducing in Ghana ?
And is the NPP not proceeding to saddle the masses and their offspring (and their offspring!), with yet more hard currency foreign debt - the most egregious example, being the recent highly irresponsible and criminal issuance (as in causing financial loss to the state: exactly when, dear reader, did parliament approve this loan?), of IOU’s to investors overseas, redeemable in hard currency within a set time frame, and known by the fancy name of sovereign bonds; regular interest payments on which start being made henceforth?
And in adopting this imprudent course of action, is the desperate regime in power today, which is shamelessly piling up yet more of the self-same hard currency debt of the past (simply to enable it procure the wherewithal to dazzle the electorate with, by using the borrowed money to create a mini economic boom - which will come to a quick end, soon after they win power again), not scandalously ignoring the bitter lessons of the consequences of building up a large foreign debt portfolio, payment of interest on which, bled the very lifeblood out of our nation, in the past, and led to the present misery of ordinary Ghanaians?
So in the light of all of the above, dear reader, how can any follower of Nkrumah today, claim to be a true Nkrumaist, and still not understand the importance of uniting to enable Nkrumah’s CPP to become a powerful force once again, in Ghanaian politics: one that is capable of winning power in December 2008? Why do those myopic individuals who today claim to be Nkrumaists, refuse to unite under the banner of the party founded by Nkrumah? Does it not have a brand-name that has instant recognition throughout our homeland Ghana , and which there is such tremendous goodwill for?
If they were true Ghanaian patriots and pan-Africanists; would they, at this crucial juncture in our nation’s history, when our envisaged oil wealth can provide our country with all the needed resources, with which to finally undertake the social transformation that Ghana so desperately needs: to make this a fairer and just society for all Ghanaians; not unite to fight to win power again, for the New CPP?
Is that end, not the very driving force, which sustained Nkrumah, during the period when bomb after bomb, was exploded by the enemies of the people, as they attempted to assasinate him? And what is wrong with uniting to win power again for the New CPP, which will make ordinary people, masters of their own destiny once more, I ask, dear reader?
Is that not what led Nkrumah to seek political power - so that he could lead the creation of a modern African nation-state, which was egalitarian in nature, and in which the power of the nation-state, was harnessed for the benefit of all the people? Did he not return to our shores on 16th December 1947 after his long sojourn abroad, to help drive away the colonialists who were exploiting our country and its people, and help to create a fair society for all of his people? And is that not why he was removed from power by the enemies of Africa - who did not want him to succeed in his aim?
How can those who claim his legacy live with their consciences, if they continue to refuse to put aside personal ambition; and unite under the banner of the party founded by him? Do they not understand the necessity, at such a critical point in time in Ghana’s history, for them to downsize their inflated and oversized egos; and refrain from engaging in the outrageous and cynical exploitation of Nkrumah’s name, simply as a cloak to hide the unpalatable truth: that politics has become mere business for them, for which reason, they must hang on (at all cost!) to those irritating vehicles of their personal wealth creation - those laughable and absurd so-called political parties of theirs, which do not have any credibility whatsoever, with the majority of the Ghanaian masses?
If the historic opportunity to harness, protect and utilize Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth, to transform Ghanaian society from the present “dog-eats-dog” hell on earth, which our nation has been turned into, since Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966, is not to be missed by the followers of Nkrumah, then we must, dear reader, speak plainly to those whom, for outrageously banal reasons, refuse to put aside selfishness and greed, to unite under the banner of a united New CPP.
Do these tiresome little minds not understand that if Ghana’ oil wealth is to be used for initiatives, such as: setting up an educational bank, which will make long-term soft loans available for all those studying in our tertiary intuitions; build state-of-the-art healthcare facilities throughout the country, so that they are easily available to all; build one major new planned city to completion point, on a regular basis, until all our cities are planned and civilized places, for us all to live in; train a paramilitary police force of 100,000 men and women to help ensure that we make our democracy a paradise for law-abiding Ghanaians - and hell on earth for the criminals in our midst.
Dear reader, do Ghanaians not deserve to have a political party, such as the CPP, which will do the following with our oil wealth: provide resources to modernize and make our judiciary a truly independent one, which delivers justice swiftly and fairly; provide long-term mortgage for all public servants to buy or build their own homes which they will promptly lose if they cheat mother Ghana; enable all public servants (not just military officers!) to retire on their present salaries; abolish personal income tax; bring down the tax rate to just 10 per cent to encourage private enterprise (and please note that Nkrumah, as always, was light years ahead of his contemporaries: whiles the Chinese and Russian socialists banned private enterprise, Nkrumah believed in a mixed economy something which today, both Russia and China have discovered, to the benefit of their people!); and build railways to link all our regional capitals, just to mention a few of the sorts of initiatives which Nkrumaists will introduce, when they unite and are returned to power by Ghanaians and assume the reins of government in 7th January 2009?
Let the hypocrites amongst the members of our political class, who claim to be the followers of Nkrumah, stop taking the name of the Osagyefo in vain! They must not have the effrontery to use Nkrumah’s hallowed name, if they continue to refuse to unite and fight the December 2008 elections, under the banner of the New CPP. Why, do they not see the appalling state which Nkrumah’s Ghana is in today? Do they not care about the plight of the Ghanaian masses? Those who lead the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC), must understand that Nkrumaists do not have the luxury of remaining divided and fragmented, any longer - not when Ghana will soon have oil money, to transform it into a prosperous society for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
They must remember Madame Fathia Nkrumah’s death-bed appeal to the followers of Nkrumah to unite. And they must respect the memory of Nkrumah. And above all, if they wish to continue burying their heads in the sands of time, then those of us who are loyal to the memory of Nkrumah, demand that they cease using his name in vain - or we shall turn the writing equivalent, of the gun turrets of military tanks in their direction, henceforth.. They are forewarned. Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana ! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be contacted by email at: mailto:Tpeakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
And nowhere does the Nkrumaist message of self-belief and the need for a fairer society resonate, in today’s Ghana, more than amongst those who have had to make the most sacrifices, and lost out the most, as over the years, successive Ghanaian regimes since 24th February 1966, from that of the traitors who were paid agents of the C.I.A., as well as stooges for neo-colonialism; through to the brutal military dictatorship of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC); and today’s civilian carpetbaggers and pretend-democrats, known respectively as: the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have all, during their tenure, enthusiastically implemented the harsh economic measures, advocated by sundry foreign self-seekers for their own benefit - and at the expense of the Ghanaian masses: whose well-being and welfare, constitute and represent, Ghana’s abiding national interest.
Nkrumah’s message of self-belief and the African personality, resonates amongst ordinary people, and more so today, dear reader, as ordinary Ghanaians look askance at the oligarchs who now dominate Ghanaian society, and who have benefited the most, from the misery inflicted on the masses, as a result of the implementation of cruel and inhuman economic policies, over the many years of suffering in Ghana, as those mostly overweight stooges for neo-colonialism, club together, to use some of the enormous wealth they have now amassed ( because it is they and their crowd who have prospered mightily under the PNDC, NDC: and now, even more so than ever, under the NPP), in an outrageous attempt to buy their way to power, yet again.
And the question one often hears many a down-trodden Ghanaian ask these days, whiles watching the obscene display of wealth by some members of the ruling party, as they compete to buy their way to the presidency in 2008, is: why do the followers of Nkrumah not unite to win power in December 2008, and form a regime that can, and will, act, to protect Ghana’s national interest and promote the welfare of all Ghanaians, in January 2009?
Why, do ordinary Ghanaians not have in power today, one of the most incompetent and unimaginative of regimes, which is steadily impoverishing the vast majority of Ghanaians: who are seeing their quality of life deteriorating, even as sundry interested parties (who themselves are benefiting from the misery of the masses!), tell them that poverty is reducing in Ghana ?
And is the NPP not proceeding to saddle the masses and their offspring (and their offspring!), with yet more hard currency foreign debt - the most egregious example, being the recent highly irresponsible and criminal issuance (as in causing financial loss to the state: exactly when, dear reader, did parliament approve this loan?), of IOU’s to investors overseas, redeemable in hard currency within a set time frame, and known by the fancy name of sovereign bonds; regular interest payments on which start being made henceforth?
And in adopting this imprudent course of action, is the desperate regime in power today, which is shamelessly piling up yet more of the self-same hard currency debt of the past (simply to enable it procure the wherewithal to dazzle the electorate with, by using the borrowed money to create a mini economic boom - which will come to a quick end, soon after they win power again), not scandalously ignoring the bitter lessons of the consequences of building up a large foreign debt portfolio, payment of interest on which, bled the very lifeblood out of our nation, in the past, and led to the present misery of ordinary Ghanaians?
So in the light of all of the above, dear reader, how can any follower of Nkrumah today, claim to be a true Nkrumaist, and still not understand the importance of uniting to enable Nkrumah’s CPP to become a powerful force once again, in Ghanaian politics: one that is capable of winning power in December 2008? Why do those myopic individuals who today claim to be Nkrumaists, refuse to unite under the banner of the party founded by Nkrumah? Does it not have a brand-name that has instant recognition throughout our homeland Ghana , and which there is such tremendous goodwill for?
If they were true Ghanaian patriots and pan-Africanists; would they, at this crucial juncture in our nation’s history, when our envisaged oil wealth can provide our country with all the needed resources, with which to finally undertake the social transformation that Ghana so desperately needs: to make this a fairer and just society for all Ghanaians; not unite to fight to win power again, for the New CPP?
Is that end, not the very driving force, which sustained Nkrumah, during the period when bomb after bomb, was exploded by the enemies of the people, as they attempted to assasinate him? And what is wrong with uniting to win power again for the New CPP, which will make ordinary people, masters of their own destiny once more, I ask, dear reader?
Is that not what led Nkrumah to seek political power - so that he could lead the creation of a modern African nation-state, which was egalitarian in nature, and in which the power of the nation-state, was harnessed for the benefit of all the people? Did he not return to our shores on 16th December 1947 after his long sojourn abroad, to help drive away the colonialists who were exploiting our country and its people, and help to create a fair society for all of his people? And is that not why he was removed from power by the enemies of Africa - who did not want him to succeed in his aim?
How can those who claim his legacy live with their consciences, if they continue to refuse to put aside personal ambition; and unite under the banner of the party founded by him? Do they not understand the necessity, at such a critical point in time in Ghana’s history, for them to downsize their inflated and oversized egos; and refrain from engaging in the outrageous and cynical exploitation of Nkrumah’s name, simply as a cloak to hide the unpalatable truth: that politics has become mere business for them, for which reason, they must hang on (at all cost!) to those irritating vehicles of their personal wealth creation - those laughable and absurd so-called political parties of theirs, which do not have any credibility whatsoever, with the majority of the Ghanaian masses?
If the historic opportunity to harness, protect and utilize Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth, to transform Ghanaian society from the present “dog-eats-dog” hell on earth, which our nation has been turned into, since Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966, is not to be missed by the followers of Nkrumah, then we must, dear reader, speak plainly to those whom, for outrageously banal reasons, refuse to put aside selfishness and greed, to unite under the banner of a united New CPP.
Do these tiresome little minds not understand that if Ghana’ oil wealth is to be used for initiatives, such as: setting up an educational bank, which will make long-term soft loans available for all those studying in our tertiary intuitions; build state-of-the-art healthcare facilities throughout the country, so that they are easily available to all; build one major new planned city to completion point, on a regular basis, until all our cities are planned and civilized places, for us all to live in; train a paramilitary police force of 100,000 men and women to help ensure that we make our democracy a paradise for law-abiding Ghanaians - and hell on earth for the criminals in our midst.
Dear reader, do Ghanaians not deserve to have a political party, such as the CPP, which will do the following with our oil wealth: provide resources to modernize and make our judiciary a truly independent one, which delivers justice swiftly and fairly; provide long-term mortgage for all public servants to buy or build their own homes which they will promptly lose if they cheat mother Ghana; enable all public servants (not just military officers!) to retire on their present salaries; abolish personal income tax; bring down the tax rate to just 10 per cent to encourage private enterprise (and please note that Nkrumah, as always, was light years ahead of his contemporaries: whiles the Chinese and Russian socialists banned private enterprise, Nkrumah believed in a mixed economy something which today, both Russia and China have discovered, to the benefit of their people!); and build railways to link all our regional capitals, just to mention a few of the sorts of initiatives which Nkrumaists will introduce, when they unite and are returned to power by Ghanaians and assume the reins of government in 7th January 2009?
Let the hypocrites amongst the members of our political class, who claim to be the followers of Nkrumah, stop taking the name of the Osagyefo in vain! They must not have the effrontery to use Nkrumah’s hallowed name, if they continue to refuse to unite and fight the December 2008 elections, under the banner of the New CPP. Why, do they not see the appalling state which Nkrumah’s Ghana is in today? Do they not care about the plight of the Ghanaian masses? Those who lead the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC), must understand that Nkrumaists do not have the luxury of remaining divided and fragmented, any longer - not when Ghana will soon have oil money, to transform it into a prosperous society for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
They must remember Madame Fathia Nkrumah’s death-bed appeal to the followers of Nkrumah to unite. And they must respect the memory of Nkrumah. And above all, if they wish to continue burying their heads in the sands of time, then those of us who are loyal to the memory of Nkrumah, demand that they cease using his name in vain - or we shall turn the writing equivalent, of the gun turrets of military tanks in their direction, henceforth.. They are forewarned. Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana ! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be contacted by email at: mailto:Tpeakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Thursday, 11 October 2007
OPEN LETTER TO THE IRANIAN AMBSSADOR TO GHANA
Your Excellency,
Re: Proposal for Establishment of Tamale Ethnographic Museum
We are writing formally to propose that the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, fund the construction of an ethnographic museum in Tamale, the largest metropolis, in the most Islamic-influenced part of Ghana - as a token of the friendship existing between our two nations.
As the present bellicose United States federal government, seeks to bring its war machine to our part of the world, the West African sub-region, in order to secure for itself, the abundant oil deposits here, it would be an appropriate symbol of the peaceful and positive role, which the government and people of Iran, through its development agency, the Agricultural and Rural Development organisation (ARD), is seeking to play in the development of Ghana, if it were fund such a noble project.
At a time of global climate change, when extremes in weather is leading to a reduction of agricultural output in the north, one of the most effective means of creating wealth in the rural parts of the three northern regions, is to develop and promote rural community based eco-tourism (CBE) - which encourages poor and marginalised rural communities to conserve their natural environment, as well as their rich cultural heritage.
An ethnographic museum in Tamale, will, amongst other benefits, be an important repository of the many important historical artifacts and archaeological finds, which depict the unspeakable cruelty and abominable acts of brutality, suffered by millions of victims, of this European-inspired evil trade, which was sanctioned by the governments of what were supposed to be civilised nations, simply because their greed for money, knew no bounds.
We appeal to your excellency to play an advocacy role in Iran, for the Chiefs and people of the three northern regions of Ghana, to have this important museum built as a gift to them. It will be the fulcrum, around which responsible tourism, in the north will revolve. Rural community-based eco-tourism, will be the salvation of this largely Islamic-influenced part of Ghana, which sadly, has been consistently neglected by successive regimes, since the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr, Kwame Nkrumah in 1966, by Ghanaian military traitors, who were local agents of the C.I.A., which paid them 13 million US dollars, to enable the imperialists to halt the emancipation of Ghanaians from the bondage of imperialism and neo-colonialism, which Nkrumah had embarked on, after independence in 1957.
Your excellency, the land mass of the three northern regions, is the part of Ghana, which is the most fragile of our country's ecology, and is the worst affected by the negative impact of global climate change - as witnessed by the long drought period that preceded the recent devastating floods: and which has destroyed a large variety of the region's planted crops. Famine is anticipated next year, as a result. Clearly, your excellency, the region cannot continue to rely solely on agriculture.
It is imperative therefore, that the people of the north, find new ways of earning their living - and community-based eco-tourism, will be the best way of capitalising on their rich cultural heritage, and the unique flora and fauna of this truly special part of Ghana.
The proposed Tamale Ethnographic Museum, will be play a crucial role, in the development of sustainable tourism in the north - and will indeed be a welcomed gift from the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the Chiefs and people of the three northern regions of Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana. We will end here and look forward to a positive response from you soon - and we wish your excellency well.
Yours sincerely,
Kofi Thompson
Re: Proposal for Establishment of Tamale Ethnographic Museum
We are writing formally to propose that the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, fund the construction of an ethnographic museum in Tamale, the largest metropolis, in the most Islamic-influenced part of Ghana - as a token of the friendship existing between our two nations.
As the present bellicose United States federal government, seeks to bring its war machine to our part of the world, the West African sub-region, in order to secure for itself, the abundant oil deposits here, it would be an appropriate symbol of the peaceful and positive role, which the government and people of Iran, through its development agency, the Agricultural and Rural Development organisation (ARD), is seeking to play in the development of Ghana, if it were fund such a noble project.
At a time of global climate change, when extremes in weather is leading to a reduction of agricultural output in the north, one of the most effective means of creating wealth in the rural parts of the three northern regions, is to develop and promote rural community based eco-tourism (CBE) - which encourages poor and marginalised rural communities to conserve their natural environment, as well as their rich cultural heritage.
An ethnographic museum in Tamale, will, amongst other benefits, be an important repository of the many important historical artifacts and archaeological finds, which depict the unspeakable cruelty and abominable acts of brutality, suffered by millions of victims, of this European-inspired evil trade, which was sanctioned by the governments of what were supposed to be civilised nations, simply because their greed for money, knew no bounds.
We appeal to your excellency to play an advocacy role in Iran, for the Chiefs and people of the three northern regions of Ghana, to have this important museum built as a gift to them. It will be the fulcrum, around which responsible tourism, in the north will revolve. Rural community-based eco-tourism, will be the salvation of this largely Islamic-influenced part of Ghana, which sadly, has been consistently neglected by successive regimes, since the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr, Kwame Nkrumah in 1966, by Ghanaian military traitors, who were local agents of the C.I.A., which paid them 13 million US dollars, to enable the imperialists to halt the emancipation of Ghanaians from the bondage of imperialism and neo-colonialism, which Nkrumah had embarked on, after independence in 1957.
Your excellency, the land mass of the three northern regions, is the part of Ghana, which is the most fragile of our country's ecology, and is the worst affected by the negative impact of global climate change - as witnessed by the long drought period that preceded the recent devastating floods: and which has destroyed a large variety of the region's planted crops. Famine is anticipated next year, as a result. Clearly, your excellency, the region cannot continue to rely solely on agriculture.
It is imperative therefore, that the people of the north, find new ways of earning their living - and community-based eco-tourism, will be the best way of capitalising on their rich cultural heritage, and the unique flora and fauna of this truly special part of Ghana.
The proposed Tamale Ethnographic Museum, will be play a crucial role, in the development of sustainable tourism in the north - and will indeed be a welcomed gift from the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the Chiefs and people of the three northern regions of Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana. We will end here and look forward to a positive response from you soon - and we wish your excellency well.
Yours sincerely,
Kofi Thompson
Thursday, 27 September 2007
NPP: STOP MORTGAGING GHANA’S FUTURE!
At a time when China is able, and willing, to fund infrastructural projects in nations like Ghana on generous terms, why is our nation venturing unto the capital markets of the West, ostensibly to source funds for our country’s development? It is an outrage that the regime that has been so fortunate, as to be able to reap today, where it did not sow yesterday, and has had virtually all of Ghana’s external debt, of old, cancelled, during its tenure, is piling up yet more external debt.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), is enjoying the fruits of the labour of some of us - and we resent the fact that although they did not have the vision or the intellectual capacity (in terms of original thinking!) then, during the nineties, to think outside the box, and see the importance of campaigning to demand that the West cancel the albatross of our external debt - because it was squeezing the very lifeblood out of our country - it is today, insisting on saddling future generations of Ghanaians, with yet even more hard currency debt. This really is monstrous, dear reader, is it not?
And as the usual spin-doctors and praise-singers swing into action, the highly irresponsible foray unto the capital markets of the West, by the regime of the masters of the universe, who are currently in charge of our homeland Ghana, is being hailed as a coup, by clueless and mercenary media types - with an agenda of their own. One particularly nauseating editorial, in one of those ghastly cliché-ridden NPP rags (that thinks so highly of itself, it actually thinks it is God's gift, to mother Ghana!), thought that this financial grand folly, was actually some kind of a breakthrough, for Ghana!
Yes, dear reader - it is indeed a breakthrough, for those well-connected and well-heeled Ghanaians, who are advising the stubborn and myopic regime (which is full of lackeys doing the bidding, of sundry special interests) that is embarking on this idiocy: and will be charging fat advisory fees in hard currency, and will now also be hobnobbing, with the greedy merchant bankers in the West (who must be drooling at the mouth, at the prospects of rooking naïve and greedy Africans silly, in gargantuan advisory fees)! It simply doesn’t bear thinking, dear reader.
It is nothing short of a national disaster and tragedy, that the men and women, who thought they were going to develop Ghana, with money hidden under the mattresses of the owners of a Chinese hairdressing salon, located in the seedier parts of London, have now graduated from that farce, to fishing for kick-backs, in the piranha-infested waters, of the capital markets of the Western world. Pastor Otabil, please call God (collect?) immediately - and ask him for a miracle for mother Ghana, “asap”.
The question we must ask ourselves, dear reader, is: why exchange generous long-term funds from China, with long grace periods, super-low interest rates, and payment due in decades hence, for the unchattered waters, of the capital markets of the West, where merchant bankers and hedge fund titans, reeling from the aftershocks of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market debacle, will hold Ghana as a hostage to fortune? What rates of interest are we talking about - do they compare to similar rates for the same instrument, issued by other governments?
And were those governments charged similar fees by their Western financial advisors? Would it not have been far better, to have approached the Japanese government, and issued those bonds on the Tokyo market, with its super-low interest rates, if they insist on carrying on with this irresponsibility?How, dear reader, can we trust the regime, which was reluctant to itemize the 20 million U.S. dollars that was fritted away, in scandalous overpayments for outrageous items, such as a 300 million old-cedi website, and 200-plus luxury vehicles?
And will some of the money be allocated to finishing that outrageous presidential palace complex - which I predict will end up costing nearly 100 million U.S. dollars: if lawns and watering equipment is costing millions of dollars! Clearly, all this shameful irresponsibility is happening, because of our anticipated oil wealth. Well, the earlier the greedy hypocrites amongst those currently in charge of our homeland Ghana, get the message that Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth, is earmarked solely for projects and initiatives, which will bring about social transformation in our country, the better it will be for them.
Safeguarding Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth is a non-negotiable issue - and no politician or political party, will be allowed to fritter it away, under any circumstances. Period.We have all tolerated the blatant examples of causing financial loss to the Ghanaian nation-state, over the years, in order not to rock the democratic boat - but we are drawing the line where Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth is concerned. We will never tolerate any attempt to fritter that wealth on the kind of obscenities we saw prior to the AU summit and for the golden jubilee Independence Day anniversary celebrations.
And all the parties in opposition, must unite and demand that the regulators in the financial services sectors of the nations, which that expensive abomination called the “road show”, is being taken to (at such great cost to hapless Ghanaian taxpayers), find out, if the fees being pocketed by the sundry advisors chosen arbitrarily to place the Ghana government hard currency bonds (the so-called sovereign bonds!), mean that our country has been grossly overcharged by those predators, for their services.
They must also insist, in their campaigning for the December 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, that they will tear up all inimical agreements which Ghana has entered into since the tenure of the NPP regime - especially the agreements with the oil companies operating off our coastline. Oil is a depleting asset, so we must make the most of our good fortune - and Hugo Chavez-like agreements, are the only kind, we must entertain, in Ghana's oil industry, henceforth. Period.
There will be very painful consequences for those who think they can use Ghanaian democracy as a cloak to protect themselves, as they loot our country’s anticipated oil wealth. If any such attempt is made, ordinary Ghanaians will bring the 4th Republic to an immediate end (and thank heaven they are closing that chapter of unparralled greed and hypocrisy, in our history!), declare a state of emergency, and install the Chief Justice into office, to head an interim administration of technocrats, for a period of six months, prior to the holding of elections for a new president and parliament, and the inauguration of a new 5th Republic.
The six month interim period, will see the drafting of a new constitution, which will build on the good points of the old 1992 constitution, and improve its obvious weaknesses.
And like the short interregnum of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) era, all the crooks who have "chopped Ghana small" and participated in the gang rape of mother Ghana, will be dealt with appropriately, in the law courts - and if it means that they will have to follow in the footsteps of the Victor Serlomeys, the Kwame Peprahs, the Dan Abodakpis and spend time in the Nsawam prison, well, so be it: and we will not shed a tear for them, either. Period. Hmm.Ghana. Asem ebaba debi. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
At a time when China is able, and willing, to fund infrastructural projects in nations like Ghana on generous terms, why is our nation venturing unto the capital markets of the West, ostensibly to source funds for our country’s development? It is an outrage that the regime that has been so fortunate, as to be able to reap today, where it did not sow yesterday, and has had virtually all of Ghana’s external debt, of old, cancelled, during its tenure, is piling up yet more external debt.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), is enjoying the fruits of the labour of some of us - and we resent the fact that although they did not have the vision or the intellectual capacity (in terms of original thinking!) then, during the nineties, to think outside the box, and see the importance of campaigning to demand that the West cancel the albatross of our external debt - because it was squeezing the very lifeblood out of our country - it is today, insisting on saddling future generations of Ghanaians, with yet even more hard currency debt. This really is monstrous, dear reader, is it not?
And as the usual spin-doctors and praise-singers swing into action, the highly irresponsible foray unto the capital markets of the West, by the regime of the masters of the universe, who are currently in charge of our homeland Ghana, is being hailed as a coup, by clueless and mercenary media types - with an agenda of their own. One particularly nauseating editorial, in one of those ghastly cliché-ridden NPP rags (that thinks so highly of itself, it actually thinks it is God's gift, to mother Ghana!), thought that this financial grand folly, was actually some kind of a breakthrough, for Ghana!
Yes, dear reader - it is indeed a breakthrough, for those well-connected and well-heeled Ghanaians, who are advising the stubborn and myopic regime (which is full of lackeys doing the bidding, of sundry special interests) that is embarking on this idiocy: and will be charging fat advisory fees in hard currency, and will now also be hobnobbing, with the greedy merchant bankers in the West (who must be drooling at the mouth, at the prospects of rooking naïve and greedy Africans silly, in gargantuan advisory fees)! It simply doesn’t bear thinking, dear reader.
It is nothing short of a national disaster and tragedy, that the men and women, who thought they were going to develop Ghana, with money hidden under the mattresses of the owners of a Chinese hairdressing salon, located in the seedier parts of London, have now graduated from that farce, to fishing for kick-backs, in the piranha-infested waters, of the capital markets of the Western world. Pastor Otabil, please call God (collect?) immediately - and ask him for a miracle for mother Ghana, “asap”.
The question we must ask ourselves, dear reader, is: why exchange generous long-term funds from China, with long grace periods, super-low interest rates, and payment due in decades hence, for the unchattered waters, of the capital markets of the West, where merchant bankers and hedge fund titans, reeling from the aftershocks of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market debacle, will hold Ghana as a hostage to fortune? What rates of interest are we talking about - do they compare to similar rates for the same instrument, issued by other governments?
And were those governments charged similar fees by their Western financial advisors? Would it not have been far better, to have approached the Japanese government, and issued those bonds on the Tokyo market, with its super-low interest rates, if they insist on carrying on with this irresponsibility?How, dear reader, can we trust the regime, which was reluctant to itemize the 20 million U.S. dollars that was fritted away, in scandalous overpayments for outrageous items, such as a 300 million old-cedi website, and 200-plus luxury vehicles?
And will some of the money be allocated to finishing that outrageous presidential palace complex - which I predict will end up costing nearly 100 million U.S. dollars: if lawns and watering equipment is costing millions of dollars! Clearly, all this shameful irresponsibility is happening, because of our anticipated oil wealth. Well, the earlier the greedy hypocrites amongst those currently in charge of our homeland Ghana, get the message that Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth, is earmarked solely for projects and initiatives, which will bring about social transformation in our country, the better it will be for them.
Safeguarding Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth is a non-negotiable issue - and no politician or political party, will be allowed to fritter it away, under any circumstances. Period.We have all tolerated the blatant examples of causing financial loss to the Ghanaian nation-state, over the years, in order not to rock the democratic boat - but we are drawing the line where Ghana’s anticipated oil wealth is concerned. We will never tolerate any attempt to fritter that wealth on the kind of obscenities we saw prior to the AU summit and for the golden jubilee Independence Day anniversary celebrations.
And all the parties in opposition, must unite and demand that the regulators in the financial services sectors of the nations, which that expensive abomination called the “road show”, is being taken to (at such great cost to hapless Ghanaian taxpayers), find out, if the fees being pocketed by the sundry advisors chosen arbitrarily to place the Ghana government hard currency bonds (the so-called sovereign bonds!), mean that our country has been grossly overcharged by those predators, for their services.
They must also insist, in their campaigning for the December 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, that they will tear up all inimical agreements which Ghana has entered into since the tenure of the NPP regime - especially the agreements with the oil companies operating off our coastline. Oil is a depleting asset, so we must make the most of our good fortune - and Hugo Chavez-like agreements, are the only kind, we must entertain, in Ghana's oil industry, henceforth. Period.
There will be very painful consequences for those who think they can use Ghanaian democracy as a cloak to protect themselves, as they loot our country’s anticipated oil wealth. If any such attempt is made, ordinary Ghanaians will bring the 4th Republic to an immediate end (and thank heaven they are closing that chapter of unparralled greed and hypocrisy, in our history!), declare a state of emergency, and install the Chief Justice into office, to head an interim administration of technocrats, for a period of six months, prior to the holding of elections for a new president and parliament, and the inauguration of a new 5th Republic.
The six month interim period, will see the drafting of a new constitution, which will build on the good points of the old 1992 constitution, and improve its obvious weaknesses.
And like the short interregnum of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) era, all the crooks who have "chopped Ghana small" and participated in the gang rape of mother Ghana, will be dealt with appropriately, in the law courts - and if it means that they will have to follow in the footsteps of the Victor Serlomeys, the Kwame Peprahs, the Dan Abodakpis and spend time in the Nsawam prison, well, so be it: and we will not shed a tear for them, either. Period. Hmm.Ghana. Asem ebaba debi. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Friday, 21 September 2007
WHY INCOMPETENT POLITICIANS CAN KILL YOU!
If like me, virtually every household electrical appliance (and most hi-tech gadgetry) you own, has been destroyed because of incessant power outages, and constant fluctuations in the power supply, the phrase "incompetent leadership", takes on a whole new meaning!
I am just so sick and tired of living in a nation that has a largely incompetent political class, which is always playing the blame game, instead of resolving the problems that confront ordinary people - and is full of clueless journalists, interested only, in what they can get for their praise-singing, on a daily basis, on behalf of the many incompetent men and women, in charge of our homeland Ghana: instead of pointing out the effects, on the lives of ordinary people, of the monumental incompetence, of some of our leaders.
I appeared on a radio programme not too long ago - and when asked by the host, what I thought was the greatest threat facing Ghanaian democracy, replied: "...the effects of global climate change..." You could hear a pin drop - every one in the studio thought I was mad! Yet, let them go and talk to the ordinary people around the country, whose lives have been destroyed, by the devastating floods of recent times: and who feel abandoned by the authorities - and ask them what are some of the rewards, if any, that they think have accrued to them (apart from the power to choose who rules them every four years!), as a result of their participation in Ghanaian democracy!
It irritates me no end, that virtually no one in either government or the media, is interested in what is the greatest threat facing humankind - a threat that is here with us: not in some distant future, generations ahead. The floods in the north and before that, in Accra and other places in the southern half of our country, are all a result of the impact of global climate change - and they are a harbinger of worse things to come. Extremes in weather will be the norm, going forward, dear reader, and we must adapt to the changed circumstances, of our times, or be ruined en masse, if we continue to ignore it: and carry on with business, as usual.
What planning is going into the business of capacity-building of vital state institutions like NADMO - which our political class simply use as cushy sinecures, for their cronies and their favourite party foot-soldiers, dear reader? And how much are we making available to our scientific community, as our leaders fritter away scarce resources released into the system, by no longer having to pay any interest on our cancelled external debt, in the building of presidential palaces, and collaring banks in which the state has an interest, to fund the hotel-building projects, of the scions, of the family clans, of some of our leaders? Zilch - that is how much, dear reader.
And if you dare to complain about this misapplication of scarce resources, which we constantly insist on calling corruption, instead of super-clever white collar thievery, they have the gall, to say you are envious, of them. Yet, not all of us care about money, to the extent that we are prepared to sacrifice core human values, such as honesty, decency and modesty, in pursuit of our personal wealth creation. Our leaders must never forget that there are many ordinary people, who actually believe, that a good name, is far better, than tainted riches.
So when I hear of the huge sums being spent in pursuit of the personal ambitions of some members of our political class, to become the next president of Nkrumah's Ghana, and who say, in response to those who ask where the money is coming from, that "friends" of theirs, are funding their presidential ambitions, visions of a large army of insufferable individuals, possessing the belligerent arrogance, of men like the Kennedy Agyapongs, who say they spent all their money funding one of the then candidate Kuffuor's failed bids for the presidency, and had to go back to America to become taxi drivers to rebuild their personal net worth, and think that that entitles them to act as if they are all-powerful, stalking the corridors of power, after January 7th 2009, are immediately conjured up my mind's eye.
And that puts my blood pressure up, and resentment builds up in me again, about the collateral damage of incompetent leadership, which the destruction of my home electrical appliances and hi-tech gadgetry represents - and a determination to work hard to ensure that the political party, whose obscene philosophy of greed that says "each one for himself, and God for us all", has turned selfishness and greed into a national obsession for many Ghanaian public officials, never gets back into power again, in my lifetime and that of my dear and precious grandchildren, in far away London, is renewed in me.
Why let them back into office again, when their example, has encouraged many a public official, paid by the hard-pressed Ghanaian taxpayer, to ensure that we all live in a civilised society, to rather focus on becoming high net worth individuals overnight, and are thus busy feathering their own nests, to the exclusion of everything else? Has our entire system not been put more or less on auto-pilot, for that reason, dear reader? A resolve never to allow this particular crowing crowd, to get back into power again in our country, is rekindled in me, every time I see an example of incompetent leadership in the Ghana of today - and there are so many one comes across on a daily basis: which does one's blood pressure, absolutely no good at all, and can kill one!
Ghana's oil wealth, must never be allowed to fall into the hands of the men and women who espouse today's creed of greed and selfishness - ever. Period. And in case you want an example of the monumental incompetence I speak of, take this example, for instance, dear reader: Ghana recently spent some 6 million US dollars, to import energy saving bulbs, to help us conserve energy - doubtless, a worthwhile cause, at a time of global climate change. Yet, the sad fact, is that if we had creative thinkers able to think outside the box, as our leaders, we could have found any number of large multi-national companies, in the developed world, able, and willing, to offset their carbon footprint, to pay for the cost of those energy saving bulbs for Ghana!
Would that not have saved that 6 million US dollars - which could have provided some relief to our flood victims countrywide: many now left high and dry, so to speak? Yet, you will constantly hear our leaders, who do not hesitate to fritter away the public purse, when it comes to spending lavishly on 'prestige' projects that provide them with some personal comfort and benefit, saying government does not have the resources to look after all our flood victims. Electing such politicians to power, could end up literally killing you tomorrow in a flood - because no one could come from the woefully under-resourced NADMO, to rescue you and your family. Hmmm, Ghana. Asem ebaba debi! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be contacted by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
I am just so sick and tired of living in a nation that has a largely incompetent political class, which is always playing the blame game, instead of resolving the problems that confront ordinary people - and is full of clueless journalists, interested only, in what they can get for their praise-singing, on a daily basis, on behalf of the many incompetent men and women, in charge of our homeland Ghana: instead of pointing out the effects, on the lives of ordinary people, of the monumental incompetence, of some of our leaders.
I appeared on a radio programme not too long ago - and when asked by the host, what I thought was the greatest threat facing Ghanaian democracy, replied: "...the effects of global climate change..." You could hear a pin drop - every one in the studio thought I was mad! Yet, let them go and talk to the ordinary people around the country, whose lives have been destroyed, by the devastating floods of recent times: and who feel abandoned by the authorities - and ask them what are some of the rewards, if any, that they think have accrued to them (apart from the power to choose who rules them every four years!), as a result of their participation in Ghanaian democracy!
It irritates me no end, that virtually no one in either government or the media, is interested in what is the greatest threat facing humankind - a threat that is here with us: not in some distant future, generations ahead. The floods in the north and before that, in Accra and other places in the southern half of our country, are all a result of the impact of global climate change - and they are a harbinger of worse things to come. Extremes in weather will be the norm, going forward, dear reader, and we must adapt to the changed circumstances, of our times, or be ruined en masse, if we continue to ignore it: and carry on with business, as usual.
What planning is going into the business of capacity-building of vital state institutions like NADMO - which our political class simply use as cushy sinecures, for their cronies and their favourite party foot-soldiers, dear reader? And how much are we making available to our scientific community, as our leaders fritter away scarce resources released into the system, by no longer having to pay any interest on our cancelled external debt, in the building of presidential palaces, and collaring banks in which the state has an interest, to fund the hotel-building projects, of the scions, of the family clans, of some of our leaders? Zilch - that is how much, dear reader.
And if you dare to complain about this misapplication of scarce resources, which we constantly insist on calling corruption, instead of super-clever white collar thievery, they have the gall, to say you are envious, of them. Yet, not all of us care about money, to the extent that we are prepared to sacrifice core human values, such as honesty, decency and modesty, in pursuit of our personal wealth creation. Our leaders must never forget that there are many ordinary people, who actually believe, that a good name, is far better, than tainted riches.
So when I hear of the huge sums being spent in pursuit of the personal ambitions of some members of our political class, to become the next president of Nkrumah's Ghana, and who say, in response to those who ask where the money is coming from, that "friends" of theirs, are funding their presidential ambitions, visions of a large army of insufferable individuals, possessing the belligerent arrogance, of men like the Kennedy Agyapongs, who say they spent all their money funding one of the then candidate Kuffuor's failed bids for the presidency, and had to go back to America to become taxi drivers to rebuild their personal net worth, and think that that entitles them to act as if they are all-powerful, stalking the corridors of power, after January 7th 2009, are immediately conjured up my mind's eye.
And that puts my blood pressure up, and resentment builds up in me again, about the collateral damage of incompetent leadership, which the destruction of my home electrical appliances and hi-tech gadgetry represents - and a determination to work hard to ensure that the political party, whose obscene philosophy of greed that says "each one for himself, and God for us all", has turned selfishness and greed into a national obsession for many Ghanaian public officials, never gets back into power again, in my lifetime and that of my dear and precious grandchildren, in far away London, is renewed in me.
Why let them back into office again, when their example, has encouraged many a public official, paid by the hard-pressed Ghanaian taxpayer, to ensure that we all live in a civilised society, to rather focus on becoming high net worth individuals overnight, and are thus busy feathering their own nests, to the exclusion of everything else? Has our entire system not been put more or less on auto-pilot, for that reason, dear reader? A resolve never to allow this particular crowing crowd, to get back into power again in our country, is rekindled in me, every time I see an example of incompetent leadership in the Ghana of today - and there are so many one comes across on a daily basis: which does one's blood pressure, absolutely no good at all, and can kill one!
Ghana's oil wealth, must never be allowed to fall into the hands of the men and women who espouse today's creed of greed and selfishness - ever. Period. And in case you want an example of the monumental incompetence I speak of, take this example, for instance, dear reader: Ghana recently spent some 6 million US dollars, to import energy saving bulbs, to help us conserve energy - doubtless, a worthwhile cause, at a time of global climate change. Yet, the sad fact, is that if we had creative thinkers able to think outside the box, as our leaders, we could have found any number of large multi-national companies, in the developed world, able, and willing, to offset their carbon footprint, to pay for the cost of those energy saving bulbs for Ghana!
Would that not have saved that 6 million US dollars - which could have provided some relief to our flood victims countrywide: many now left high and dry, so to speak? Yet, you will constantly hear our leaders, who do not hesitate to fritter away the public purse, when it comes to spending lavishly on 'prestige' projects that provide them with some personal comfort and benefit, saying government does not have the resources to look after all our flood victims. Electing such politicians to power, could end up literally killing you tomorrow in a flood - because no one could come from the woefully under-resourced NADMO, to rescue you and your family. Hmmm, Ghana. Asem ebaba debi! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be contacted by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.
Sunday, 16 September 2007
WAKE UP, GA DANGBE CHIEFS!
I have never understood the mindset of the traditional rulers of the Ga Dangbe people. It is simply beyond belief, that traditional rulers, whose people occupy the most expensive bit of land in all of our homeland Ghana, are rather busy fighting amongst themselves about who has the right to occupy one position or the other - when they should be thinking outside the box to realise value from government lands which rightly should be reverting to them today: but is being hijacked by greedy outsiders, who are also contemptuous of them. Is it not simply incredible, dear reader, that their traditional state should be in such disarray - when one thinks of the influence they could wield? Is this not the capital city of Ghana?
Are all the foreign diplomats accredited to Nkrumah's Ghana not resident here? Yet, how many of them come to pay their respects to them? Have they ever thought of asking all the foreign firms that have made vast fortunes over the years and have their local head offices in Accra and Tema (such as Taysec,Ghacem and sundry Chinese construction firms, profiting mightily here now), to come together to undertake a joint-project to build suitable residences, as well as traditional crafts workshops, and a museum, in East Legon, Ridge or Cantonments (taking over some of the valuable land with expired leases, which the masters of the universe in charge of our homeland Ghana, are busy selling to their nearest and dearest friends and family), as their joint gift to the Ga Dangbe people?
Has it not dawned on the traditional rulers of the Ga Dangbes that society is dynamic - and that a new and powerful Ga Dangbe State can be fashioned out of what currently is but a pale shadow of a once-powerful kingdom? Oh, how King Tackie Tawia1 must be turning in his grave! If they were to devote half their energies to thinking creatively, they could become the kings of Ghana's capital markets: by setting up a mutual fund into which every single entity dealing in our capital markets would have to contribute - as a modern-day form of the "tribute" paid to traditional rulers in the past. Why do they think sundry corporate Titans in Ghana, travel all the way to certain parts of our homeland Ghana, to donate money to the non-transparent funds, set up by their peers elsewhere? Is it not a modern form of "tribute" they are paying?
And when the outsiders who are so contemptuous of them direct foreign dignitaries to go and pay "tribute" to their favourite traditional rulers, do they not know it is a deliberate policy to use the machinery of state to increase the power and influence of those favourite traditional rulers of theirs? Did any one consult any of them when the government that is playing with them as if they were primary school children, was in discussion with super wealthy foreigners about a new future for that very valuable parcel of land known as the trade fair site - which they ceded to Nkrumah on the understanding that the Ghanaian nation-state, not foreigners, would use it as a trade fair site?
Let the the traditional rulers of the Ga Dangbe state continue quarrelling amongst themselves over who should occupy positions in parts of Ga Dangbe, whiles the super greedy oligarchs now controlling Ghana, make it possible for foreigners (who no doubt, like the past owners of Scancem, most certainly know a thing or two, about how to make sure that some of Ghana's choicest assets, fall into their hands too!), to eventually end up building luxury hotels, shopping malls and posh homes there: and pretend it is a new and modern trade fair site. And whiles our greedy rulers and their foreign cronies grow even richer, the Ga Dangbe people will continue to grow poorer still.
Why, when God created humankind, did he create a special breed of human beings called Kings or Queens? Was it not the most brutal individuals willing to fight to take territory - even if it meant killing scores of their fellow humans, who ended up ruling their fellow human beings, as Kings and Queens? So what is the point of quarrelling over titles - whiles greedy outsiders are busy using legal technicalities to steal what is rightly and justly the property of the traditional rulers and people of the Ga Dangbe state? Do they not see what is going on elsewhere - where their peers disregard the law, even as the machinery of state is manipulated, to enable them further their overweening ambitions?
Let the Ga Dangbe traditional rulers wake up - and if they want to fight court battles, let them sue the crafty regime that has taken over their lands at "cable and wireless" - and is now about to hand over those valuable lands to their speculating cronies for a song, to sell to make super profits! Do they not know that whiles the unbelievable nonsense on stilts, which the various court cases represent, about who should be "Nii-this" or "Nii-that" goes on, clever traditional rulers elsewhere, have illegally taken over land owned by the state - and are busy selling those lands right in front of the noses of officials of the Lands Commission, whiles our rulers look on benignly, because they feel their favourite traditional rulers, are above the laws of Nkrumah's Ghana: and are consequently getting away with the blatant illegality, with impunity?
And if, dear reader, the Ga Dangbe traditional rulers ask what right a complete nonentity like Kofi Thompson has to speak his mind about matters concerning the affairs of the traditional state of the Ga Dangbe people, well, first of all, I happen to be a Ghanaian - and although it is not of the slightest significance to me, my paternal grandmother was a Bruce and a Sempe royal - so although I am Paul Kofi Asare from Adukrom, I too (like the politicians who are playing with them as if they were primary school children), have a right to poke my nose, into their affairs! Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on:(027) 745 3109.
Are all the foreign diplomats accredited to Nkrumah's Ghana not resident here? Yet, how many of them come to pay their respects to them? Have they ever thought of asking all the foreign firms that have made vast fortunes over the years and have their local head offices in Accra and Tema (such as Taysec,Ghacem and sundry Chinese construction firms, profiting mightily here now), to come together to undertake a joint-project to build suitable residences, as well as traditional crafts workshops, and a museum, in East Legon, Ridge or Cantonments (taking over some of the valuable land with expired leases, which the masters of the universe in charge of our homeland Ghana, are busy selling to their nearest and dearest friends and family), as their joint gift to the Ga Dangbe people?
Has it not dawned on the traditional rulers of the Ga Dangbes that society is dynamic - and that a new and powerful Ga Dangbe State can be fashioned out of what currently is but a pale shadow of a once-powerful kingdom? Oh, how King Tackie Tawia1 must be turning in his grave! If they were to devote half their energies to thinking creatively, they could become the kings of Ghana's capital markets: by setting up a mutual fund into which every single entity dealing in our capital markets would have to contribute - as a modern-day form of the "tribute" paid to traditional rulers in the past. Why do they think sundry corporate Titans in Ghana, travel all the way to certain parts of our homeland Ghana, to donate money to the non-transparent funds, set up by their peers elsewhere? Is it not a modern form of "tribute" they are paying?
And when the outsiders who are so contemptuous of them direct foreign dignitaries to go and pay "tribute" to their favourite traditional rulers, do they not know it is a deliberate policy to use the machinery of state to increase the power and influence of those favourite traditional rulers of theirs? Did any one consult any of them when the government that is playing with them as if they were primary school children, was in discussion with super wealthy foreigners about a new future for that very valuable parcel of land known as the trade fair site - which they ceded to Nkrumah on the understanding that the Ghanaian nation-state, not foreigners, would use it as a trade fair site?
Let the the traditional rulers of the Ga Dangbe state continue quarrelling amongst themselves over who should occupy positions in parts of Ga Dangbe, whiles the super greedy oligarchs now controlling Ghana, make it possible for foreigners (who no doubt, like the past owners of Scancem, most certainly know a thing or two, about how to make sure that some of Ghana's choicest assets, fall into their hands too!), to eventually end up building luxury hotels, shopping malls and posh homes there: and pretend it is a new and modern trade fair site. And whiles our greedy rulers and their foreign cronies grow even richer, the Ga Dangbe people will continue to grow poorer still.
Why, when God created humankind, did he create a special breed of human beings called Kings or Queens? Was it not the most brutal individuals willing to fight to take territory - even if it meant killing scores of their fellow humans, who ended up ruling their fellow human beings, as Kings and Queens? So what is the point of quarrelling over titles - whiles greedy outsiders are busy using legal technicalities to steal what is rightly and justly the property of the traditional rulers and people of the Ga Dangbe state? Do they not see what is going on elsewhere - where their peers disregard the law, even as the machinery of state is manipulated, to enable them further their overweening ambitions?
Let the Ga Dangbe traditional rulers wake up - and if they want to fight court battles, let them sue the crafty regime that has taken over their lands at "cable and wireless" - and is now about to hand over those valuable lands to their speculating cronies for a song, to sell to make super profits! Do they not know that whiles the unbelievable nonsense on stilts, which the various court cases represent, about who should be "Nii-this" or "Nii-that" goes on, clever traditional rulers elsewhere, have illegally taken over land owned by the state - and are busy selling those lands right in front of the noses of officials of the Lands Commission, whiles our rulers look on benignly, because they feel their favourite traditional rulers, are above the laws of Nkrumah's Ghana: and are consequently getting away with the blatant illegality, with impunity?
And if, dear reader, the Ga Dangbe traditional rulers ask what right a complete nonentity like Kofi Thompson has to speak his mind about matters concerning the affairs of the traditional state of the Ga Dangbe people, well, first of all, I happen to be a Ghanaian - and although it is not of the slightest significance to me, my paternal grandmother was a Bruce and a Sempe royal - so although I am Paul Kofi Asare from Adukrom, I too (like the politicians who are playing with them as if they were primary school children), have a right to poke my nose, into their affairs! Period. May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on:(027) 745 3109.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
