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.
Saturday, 27 October 2007
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
