FREMAA BUSIA'S LAMENT FOR GHANAIAN DEMOCRACY!

Ohemaa, on the day of the anniversary of the overthrow of our founding father, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, I could not help, but reflect, on the Ghana of today - especially coming as it did, in the wake of the visit to Ghana, by the leader of the very nation, which was at the forefront of the duplicitous and self-seeking alliance of neo-colonialist regimes that engineered Nkrumah's overthrow.

That intervention directly led to so many wasted decades - those tragic years during which our nation has been a vassal of the neo-colonialists. Their local lackeys have, in the meantime, run our nation strictly in their and their foreigner sponsors' interests, since that day of infamy (and abomination), when tragedy befell mother Ghana so cruelly and so brutally: February 24th, 1966.

I have filed the many examples, of the disgraceful fawning on Mr. "Thats-Baloney-Bull-Dubya" Bush: on display so glaringly and irritatingly, during the visit of the American leader, under the title: "Begging-bowl Diplomacy's Superpower Fetes Leader of World's Only Remaining Economic and Military Superpower!" in the "organic computer" in between my ears.

Those visual irritations will forever be etched in my mind's eye as manifestations of the deadly virus, known as: "lack-of-self-belief " which afflicts so many of the members of our ruling elite!

Yes, you are so right, Ohemaa: future generations will not forgive Nkrumaists, if they fail to unite, in order to win power again - and ensure that the bestowing of a second-chance opportunity at nation-building on our homeland Ghana by Providence, which the discovery of large deposits of high grade crude oil and natural gas off our coastline represents, is not squandered, by those ever-profligate members of our political class.

You mentioned the lamentations of Fremaa Busia - but weep not for her, Ohemaa: for, her father, like the few powerful tribal supremacists who dominate the hypocritical crowd now in charge of our nation, was, in essence, a ghastly fuedalist who was beholden to, and enthralled by, the elitist English philosopher Edmund Burke.

They are all unreconstructed "Devine-right-to-rule"

feudalists who only masquerade as believers in democracy, in order to make it possible for them to successfully lead the ordinary Ghanaian up a very convenient garden path, deliberately named democracy - simply to psychologically disarm the doubting Tawiahs, amongst the Ghanaian masses: a much-deceived section of society.

And ordinary people are indeed right to be wary, Ohemaa, for they are being asked, simply on blind faith, to trod a well-worn path in today's Ghanaian politics: and grope their way through the miasma of unfathomable greed, which is enveloping a nation in which public discourse has become an obstacle course in ethics - and speaking the truth has morphed into the intellectual equivalent of finding one's way out of a particularly fiendish and complicated maze of deception, called: "The-super-smart-BNI-propaganda-maze."

And it is carefully maintained at great public expense: using the outsourcing business model, by our secret services - which deploy their lackeys in the media for that purpose.

And a motley team of prevaricating; over-zealous; and largely dim-witted regime guard-dogs, busy themselves day after profitable day feeding fat on hard-pressed taxpayers' money.

And our secret services apparently regularly funnel zillions of the public funds, to countless media houses: most of them without credibility; and scores of buffoonish-hacks, full of over-blown ideas about themselves: exhibitionist and garrulous spin doctors, laying siege to decency and freedom of expression, on a daily basis, on our airwaves and television screens - shameless men and women, with neither conscience nor principle!

I gather she calls our hypocrite-in-chief a "dictator" - hmmm, aye asem o, Ohemaa! Her scholarly father, and his ideological bedfellow and soul-mate, Dr. J.B.Danquah, made lucrative careers out of dazzling sundry racist neo-colonialists with verbal picture-portraits, some framed masterfully. They created mental murals made with magical words, that are forever entombed in the hallowed pages of big-tomes and hallowed repositories for antiquities.

They assiduously painted a picture of an apparently sophisticated and exotic "noble-savage-world". That reality was that of an unjust feudalistic African society, aspects of which were evoked so vividly, by the writing skills of the erudite and scholarly Kwame Anthony Appiah's New York Times article, published on March 18, 2007.

The few powerful tribal supremacists who dominate Fremaa Busia's father's political progeny today, so completely: and whose actions apparently occasioned her lament for Ghanaian democracy, could have come straight out of the absurd feudal world, portrayed in that article.

Their world is the same cruel and vain world - and it is full of the same absurd individuals, in that Nerw York Times article: caricatures in a barren landscape, which is an intellectual backwater full of self-important philistines; a feudal social jungle of meanness presided over by a narrow-minded ruling elite.

Remarkably, they share a mindset and a world-view, very similar in kind to the absurd mental-outlook, of the haughty and ridiculous men and women who fancied they were "well-born" natural rulers, in the pre-colonial feudal age. By Divine right, they had to be at the apex of what passed (laughingly, true egalitarians would say, Ohemaa!), for the cream of "high society" during the golden age of Oseikrom's tribal supremacists (our local version of the Western world's odious white supremacists!).

Yes, it is a pity we have only just stumbled upon that article, Ohemaa. But we can still point out a few home truths to the author, about the Ghana of today: One of them being the fact that were his illustrious Asante warrior forebear, the military general, Akroma-Ampim, to be alive today, he would definitely not be a man feted for his war-time exploits.

On the contrary, he would probably be cooling his heel, in a prison cell, somewhere in Holland - awaiting his turn to face the same judges now trying Liberia's former leader, Charles Taylor, for crimes against humanity!

As for his dear and shy "Auntie" living as a lonely and unwanted spinster in one of his wealthy family's many houses, in Oseikrom, perhaps it escapes our philosopher that since we are all descended from apes, any close and detailed examination of her DNA and that of the descendants of his illustrious forebear, "General" Akroma-Ampim, would doubtless reveal that indeed, she had absolutely no reason to feel any less human, than any of those so-called well-born relations of her dear and kind "nephew" : as they are actually all blood-relations, who hail from different branches, of the same bushy and extra-tall, family tree! Hmmm, Ghana, aye asem o, Ohemaa!

Ohemaa, we must endeavour to find the email address of the current headteacher of the Nyaduom village primary school, whose inhabitants are apparently now promoted to be "ethnically" Asante " - "if they are anything"( one gathers from our philosopher!).

We must inform him that far from allowing the nonsense on bamboo stilts, that their status is "one of hereditary inferiority to free Ashanti," to persist, the people of Nyaduom must always remember that they are proud and free citizens of the modern African nation-state called Ghana: and that it is a democracy in which all citizens are equal before the law - and no one is anyone's slave!

And furthermore, we must tell them to ponder the fact that if the boot had been on the other foot, so to speak, and by a quirk of fate their ancestors (who were merely defeated in a single battle, by a more brutal and murderous foe, after all), had had to face an Asante army, which suddenly and mysteriously became afflicted with an epidemic of diarrhea conjured by the powerful juju of a compatriot of theirs, who had been a herbalist of renown in his time, who also doubled as a fetish priest and military general, during wartime, the story would have been so different - as the "ahenema" sandals of slavery, would have been firmly on the "well-born" feet of that snooty crowd!

And the "forever-gossiping-lackey" and spy, of Kwame Anthony Appiah's family, the old man, who felt ashamed that the world would think that he was an inhabitant of Nyaduom (and consequently, always prefaced his endless and arrogant drivel with a reminder that Nyaduom was not his actual hometown - it being a village of slaves - but that he merely resided there), would today proudly be beating his chest every time the opportunity presented itself: and boldly inform the world that he was from a village called Nyaduom, which was full of conquering heroes! And such, are Africa's tribal supremacist snobs created, Ohemaa. Simply amazing!

The people of Nyaduom today, are incredibly fortunate: for, the very "history" for which their absurd "well-born" distant relations in Oseikrom's high society (who apparently so love having fancy dinner parties in massive drawing-rooms in posh mansions at Mbrom, and look down on others with such disdain!), despise them with such unrelenting and unceasing fervour, could turn out to be a lucrative drawing-card in community-based eco-tourism. For, Nyaduom is a fascinating eco-tourism destination, unique in African social and cultural tourism: because hitherto, it had been a garrison town settled by the 'slaves' of the celebrated Asante military hero, 'General' Akromah-Ampim! Hmmm, aye asem o, Ohemaa!

They could literally play host to millions of "back-to-roots" Africans from the Diaspora, over the coming years: each one of whom will pay handsomely for the privilege of enjoying a once-in-a- lifetime holiday experience, enjoying a self-tailored tour package, the highlight of which would be: "a 3-day pilgrimage home-coming home stay tour trip, with authentic ancient Asante families in Nyaduom" - thus empowering them economically in a sustainable manner. Hmmm, they may yet have the last laugh, Ohemaa!

And can you believe the absurdity of those disdainful beings, who people the ridiculous world of the so-called "well-born" in the 'high society' of Oseikrom: which spawns absurdities such as the bestowing on an African equivalent of a Queen consort in the 'civilised' world, with the title: "Lady" - simply because Diana, Princess of Wales, once upon a time was known as Lady Diana Spencer? Hmmm, aye asem o!

Do you not think, Ohemaa, that because of their penchant for constantly meddling in affairs of state at the highest levels, perhaps the time has now come for certain facts to be pointed out to them?

Perhaps we ought to point it out plainly to them, the existence of that singular legal fact of life in the Ghana of today: the fact that the Ghanaian nation-state, founded by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, is a unitary republic in which all Ghanaian citizens are equal before the law (in a nation in which the rule of law is said to prevail!)?

Ought we also not make it clear to them that that bald legal fact of life, in the Ghana of today, has many consequences - a major one being the fact that our country has no room for "mickey-mouse" 'kingdoms' of any size or shape, in any spot in the landmass of the sovereign nation-state called the Republic of Ghana?

And that it implies, therefore, for example, that hypothetically, were any sitting Kumasihene to be caught conspiring with some of the tribal supremacists currently ruling Ghana (at any point in time, going forward: after the current ruling party loses the December 2008 elections and is turfed out of power from 7th January, 2009), to try and get a part of our nation to secede from Nkrumah's Ghana, technically, all of them, including whoever that particularly unwise Kumasihene might be at that point in time, would be put before the law courts?

Progressives in the Ghana of today, would not hesitate to put traditional rulers caught engaging in such treasonable acts, on trial: and if found guilty, and sentenced to death, have them locked up literally for life. Period.

Such tribal supremacists would be wise to understand that Ghanaians of today, Ohemaa, are certainly not the slaves of any people, anywhere, on the surface of the planet Earth! Ohemaa, asem ebaba debi o, hmmmm. Do stay blessed, fellow Nkrumaist and pan-Africanist! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live freedom! Long live Ghana!

Dr. Richard Annane Not Fit For Government!

Soon the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) gravy-train will make an unscheduled stop at parliament, to pick up yet one more hypocrites for its jam-packed first class carriage - reserved specially for the cleverest and most ruthless of the NPP's high net worth hypocrites. Incredible.


The question, dear reader, which many an astonished and decent-minded Ghanaian is asking is: Just what signal does Ghana's current leader think that he is sending out to the world, about morality in Ghanaian public life, in re-appointing a known philanderer of the very worst kind - in a nation wracked by HIV/AIDS but which alas is in denial?

The time has now come for all decent-minded people in our country to make their disapproval of the loose morals of so many public officials in Ghana, absolutely clear to our ruling elite. Period.

What public officials do in their private life, does have a bearing on the way they conduct themselves in office - and should therefore be a matter of some concern to all of us.

In a nation in which at least ten citizens are said by some to be infected by the HIV/AIDS virus every day, the sexuality of the men and women who Ghanaians elect into office, should be a matter of public concern - particularly when they are so reckless that they are prepared to risk their own lives and that of their innocent partners by being unfaithful: in a nation, awash with HIV/AIDS, and in which chastity has become a rare virtue.

Clearly, in life one is either honest, or one isn't - for, honesty is not a virtue that can be compartmentalised: such that an individual is honest in one particular area of his or her life but thoroughly dishonest in yet another area of his or her life.

And if you consider the practicalities involved in cheating on a partner: the duplicity and the endless lying it entails, it soon becomes obvious that you do not want characters like that to be in charge of your country, if you are someone with principles who leads a decent life on a daily basis.

But alas, when you live in a society in which people from the highest echelons of leadership can even be involved in scandals in which pornographic videos, which depict the most torrid and lurid sexual acts being performed (and which apparently circulate freely!), what can one expect, dear reader?

One of the most important qualities of any leader, is that he or she is someone who always has a truthful nature. And in a nation, in which many people are on the fiddle, in one form or the other, the importance of having leaders, who are totally honest, cannot be overemphasised.

Dr. Richard Annane's infidelity to his wife, was particularly reprehensible: for, he broke his marriage vows, at a period when he had travelled overseas, at the hard-pressed Ghanaian taxpayers' expense, to represent his country, in a conference to discuss the scourge of HIV/AIDS: a health condition, which used to pose the single most dangerous threat, to the very survival and continued well-being, of the Ghanaian nation-state, but now ranks second, after the threat posed to our country, by the impact of global climate change.

Thus the purported re-appointment of Dr. Richard Annane, is most unfortunate - and every decent-minded Ghanaian, ought to condem it, and urge the members of the vetting committee of parliament, to reject him: for, he has clearly shown, by that singular act of betrayal, of his wife, that he is not a trustworthy individual. Period.

There are many decent-minded Ghanaians who feel strongly about the lack of morality in our public life - and are thoroughly fed up with the way things currently are in that respect.

For many Ghanaians Dr. Annane's re-appointment reflects and illustrates perfectly the sorry pass to which our nation has come.

Such Ghanaians object to Dr. Richard Annane returning to government, in the strongest possible terms - and urge the members of the appointments committee of parliament, to reject him: for the sake of all those decent Ghanaian women cheated over the years, by their duplicitous and unfaithful partners (and vice versa!).

It is precisely the prevalence of low moral standards at the highest levels in government, dear reader, which enables women with questionable characters, like the Julia Cottons and Gizzelle Yadzis of this world, to come into our country, and succeed in embroiling high public officials, in financial scandals - because leaders in charge of our country, expected by the citizenry, to be principled and high-minded, could not keep their pants down, when confronted with the wiles, of those pretty-faced Jezebels.

And if we are all agreed that one is either honest or one isn't because there can be no "halfway-house" in the matter of truthfulness, then obviously, as a people, we cannot be expected to tolerate those whom we elect to govern our country, to be individuals who are honest in one set of circumstances, when it suits them, and be dishonest, in a different set of circumstances, when it suits them - particularly when it comes to taking kick-backs, on government infrastructural projects, from contractors!

One is either honest or one isn't: And in breaking his marriage vows, on the occasion he did, Dr. Richard Annane showed that he is not trustworthy - and is consequently not fit to hold the high office of government minister.

Those charged with the responsibility of vetting individuals nominated by the president to serve their country in various areas in our national life, must reject Dr. Richard Annane - to send a clear message that men or women with loose morals, will not be allowed to serve in government. Period!

WHY PRESIDENT BUSH IS NOT WELCOME TO GHANA!

Over the years, since Nkrumah's overthrow in 1966, progressive pan-Africanists on the continent (a group that includes most Nkrumaists ), have learnt to be extremely wary, of the American Establishment.

A widely-held view amongst Nkrumaists, is that the US Establishment, has always gone to great lengths, to identify and provide support, for local lackeys, of neo-colonialism: through whom they actively work, to achieve the imperialist agenda, in nations like Ghana.

However, nothing strikes more fear, in the hearts of neo-colonialists, than the vision of a united Africa, led and peopled, by progressive pan-Africanists - who have the type of political awareness, which makes them protectors of Africa's interests: as opposed to being stooges for neo-colonialism.

The frightening spectre of an African continent, full of such new Africans, who could not be relied on, to allow, and even help, in the continued plunder, of the resources of the continent, concentrated the minds of the neo-colonialists, wonderfully, during the Nkrumah era.

And the urgent need to eliminate the brilliant and progressive Nkrumah, who was raising the consciousness of Africans, all the time he was in power, was made clear, by the then British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr. Snelling, who said, inter alia, in a dispatch, sent on the 15th September 1961, to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (and to MI5): "His knack of giving expression to the feelings of so many Africans, who are all the time rapidly becoming more politically conscious, is exasperating.....We shall be be better off without him."

Thanks to declassified C.I.A and US State Department documents, we all now know, dear reader, that to achieve that end, Ghana's economy was callously and deliberately strangled, throughout the 1960's, in a determined bid, to make Nkrumah unpopular amongst the masses, by Western nations: acting in concert, to deny desperately needed financial aid, to the Nkrumah regime - whiles their two-faced diplomats accredited to Ghana, spoke with forked tongues, to continuously assure Nkrumah, that they would come to his aid, during their meetings with him: chief amongst them, being the duplicitous US ambassador to Ghana, at the time, Amassador Richard D. Mahoney: whom Nkrumah considered a personal friend.

And so it came to pass, that on the 24th of February 1966, having received payment of the princely sum of US$ 13 million, from the C.I.A., to overthrow Nkrumah (and promised even more, if they succeeded in murdering him!), a group of traitors in Ghana's military and police, staged a bloody coup d'etat, to bring to an end, Nkrumah's vision and mission, of ushering in the new African Renaissance.

In a subsequent briefing paper to President Johnson, on March 12 1966 (declassified document 260) the then acting special assistant for national security affairs, Mr.Robert W. Komer, in assessing the Ghana coup, noted: "The coup in Ghana" he wrote in jubilation, "...is another example of fortuitous windfall. Nkrumah was doing more to undermine our interests than any other black African. In reaction to his strongly pro-communist leanings, the new military regime is almost pathetically pro-Western. "

And that, dear reader, is how the tragedy of the modern Ghanaian nation-state's continued dependence, on the Western world, began: and has turned our country, into a superpower, in begging-bowl diplomacy.

And today we have come full circle - and our nation is yet again in the firm grip, of the lackeys of neo-colonialism: and the US Establishment is actively using them, to promote its own interests here - at the expense of Ghanaians and their nation.

Nothing has changed: the political progeny of the military regime of 1966, which overthrew Nkrumah, the current regime of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is just as pathetic, in its pro-Western stance - and is probably despised, in equal measure, by the neo-cons in the current US administration, for being such enthusiastic stooges for neo-colonialism: and assiduously helping self-seeking foreign interests, in the plunder of our nation's wealth!

And it is for that reason, amongst many others, that the visit of President Bush is not welcomed by progessives in Ghana. For, they regard it as a subtle attempt, by the US Establishment, to influence the course of the December elections, in favour, of today's stooges for neo-colonialism - on whom they are depending, to ensure access to West Africa, for America's war machine: on which the US Establishment ultimately depends, to secure our oil reserves ( a la Iraq-stlye, if need be!). Hmmm, Ghana - aye asem o!

NPP'S ASTONISHING AND SHAMEFUL CYNICISM!

The cynicism of our political class never ceases to amaze me. Not too long ago, I remarked to a friend, in reference to our rather well-spoken and cultured (unlike the "bush" tribal supremacists in her crowd!), minister for information and national orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai-Cofie, that the policies of the regime of which she is an apparently much-favoured member, amounted to the political equivalent, of pinning mother Ghana down, to facilitate the gang-rape of our country (by sundry apparently 'respectable', high net worth oligarchs, whom, if the bush telegraph is to be believed, are nothing more, than politically well-connected white collar criminals!).

It appears that that criticism stung some of the female supporters, of the unimaginative regime, which we are currently lumbered with: including, one gathers (although I cannot personally vouch for it!), the minister for information, who is the very embodiment, of quintessential Ghanaian middle class chic!

And as is typical of a regime full of politicians, of the kind, a neighbour of mine once uncharitably described as: "...well-educated geniuses, who also happen to be "chew-and-pour" (learning by rote, to the uninitiated!) 'imbeciles' with Ph.D's," our rulers have dreamt up what they probably think will mollify, a nation, outraged, by the glaring inequalities in wealth, in the Ghana of today.

The government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) apparently now proposes to hand out taxpayers' money, to selected "very poor families" in Ghana - as a response to the criticism that the masses are poorer today, than they were yesterday: at precisely a period when the rich have seldom been better off, in Ghana.

And this, in a nation in which nursing mothers with new-born babies, are routinely detained, in maternity wards of hospitals, across our nation: because those poor women are unable to pay for their hospital fees. Why not fund our hospitals properly instead - so they can cater for the very poor, who deliver babies in their maternity wards, without exhausting their minuscule budgets?

And grown-up government ministers, are apparently agog with excitement, because they are convinced that in coming up with this insane measure (which makes a complete nonsense, of the fiscal discipline they are so proud of), they are under the illusion they have discovered the holy grail of Ghanaian politics: the biggest "big idea", yet - guaranteed to enable Government lead the masses up the garden path, without them ever cottoning on, to that grand deception!

Where, dear reader, is the free money for the "very poor", going to come from? And how long can this lunacy last? And above all, precisely how many of the "very poor", exist in Ogyakrom? And this pure nonsense on bamboo stilts, the bright "big idea", is apparently emanating from the very heart of a regime, which, when it first assumed power, said it was coming to create an environment, in which business would so thrive, that future generations, would come to refer to their period in office, as the golden age of Ghanaian business.

You would think, dear reader, would you not, that to lift the very poor out of poverty, the government would seek to also create an environment, which would enable the very poor, too, to have access to (unsecured!) micro-credit: and pull themselves out of poverty, through their own personal initiative, and individual effort? So much for the lackeys for neo-colonialism's "less government, not more government" mantra! Like many things about our local neo-cons, that too, is a sham: just another "the-end-justifies-the-means" falsehood, amongst many falsehoods: mere conveniences, parroted endlessly, to cloak a Machiavellian ruthlessness - and determination to hang on to power, at all costs!

Those who suffer daily in it, often refer to Ghana, as "Ogyakrom": the hell on earth, created in Nkrumah's Ghana, for ordinary people, as a result of the unthinking adherence, by all the post-Nkrumah era regimes - but none more so, than the ruling NPP, and before it, the previous regime, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to the strict monetarist economic policies, so beloved, of the doctrinaire neo-cons, who stalk the corridors of power, in the Washington offices, of the Bretton Woods multilateral financial institutions.

And over the years it has resulted in the impoverishment of millions of ordinary Ghanaians - who often wonder, how it came to pass, that they were bypassed, so completely, by the economic 'boom', which has enabled Ghana to experience GDP growth rates of close to between 3 and 4% in real terms, on average, for the past few years.

On the whole, there is general agreement, in the country, that this sustained growth, has benefited only a privileged few - who can only see the upside, of an era of sustained economic growth, from which they alone have profited (and how mightily, too!), such as: the stabilisation of our currency; the creation of a boom in our capital markets; enrichment of sundry stock-brokerage firms, at the speed of lightning - and the earning of mega-salaries, by their fast-living, and grossly-overpaid employees; the accumulation of vast fortunes by the founders and owners of private sector non-banking financial services corporate entities - and above all, the empowerment, of the scions, of politically well-connected family clans, to become tycoons, overnight: enabling spectacularly dull middle-aged men and their siblings, previously not well-noted for financial brilliance, to metamorphose, into the owners of US $10 million-dollar hotels!

The bind, in all this, for the party in power today (which appears to be totally bereft of original thinkers!), is that it faces their party with a conundrum, at election time: how do you convince the impoverished masses, that as a result of the nation experiencing growth rates, of between 3 and 4%, on average, for the past few years, and thus ensuring, year after year, the constant pointing of the fundamental economic indicators, in a positive direction, quarter after quarter, and reporting year after reporting year, the ordinary person is consequently better off today, under the NPP's tenure, than he or she was, yesterday, under the tenure of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime - when those same Ghanaians, insist, that the quality of their lives has deteriorated: and that they, do not feel the prosperity, which those in power trumpet so loudly, and endlessly, in their near-empty pockets?

Furthermore, irritatingly, and to the complete befuddlement of our super-clever rulers, those same 'ungrateful' ordinary people, seem to take for granted, the many impressive infrastructural projects, completed over the years, during the tenure of the party in power - and point out, rather sensibly, in my view, that that is the primary responsibility of all governments, elected to power, in our nation: and that in any case, it was taxpayers' money that was utilised for same: not the vast private fortunes, accumulated so rapidly, during their tenure, by our rulers!

The patent failure of the expensive sophistry, employed by this regime, to try and delude Ghanaians that they are experiencing the feel-good factor, is obvious to all, but the dullest, in our nation. For, despite the trillions of taxpayers' money spent by our secret services to date, during the NPP's tenure, thus far, there has been very little return, on that massive investment - in real terms!

Yet, it has involved the recruitment of a whole army of individuals and organisations, which have all sold their consciences for a handsome profit, and are actively engaged in pro-government propaganda, on the NPP's behalf.

Sadly compromised in this sophisticated scheme, designed to kill press freedom by stealth, have been: a dazzling array of media professionals; countless sycophantic media houses; as well as scores of dim-witted, praise-singing, serial callers (male and female!) - who constantly crucify the English language, as they attempt to justify the unjustifiable, subjecting decent people in the process, to a stock of parroted drivel, from the "political-deceivers-handbook": drilled into their tiny brains, by over-paid secret service handlers, tele-guiding them by text messages, on our television screens and airwaves! Hmmm, Ghana, aye Asem o!

Let me humbly point it out, dear reader, to the masters of the universe, currently in charge of Ghana, that selecting a number of poor people, and handing over hard-pressed taxpayers' money to them, for no reason, other than that Government wants them to feel they are sharing in the prosperity they see around them (some of it in the shape, for example, of a state-owned fleet, of some of the most expensive luxury vehicles in the world; and the long convoys of expensive spanking new SUV's, which move the small army of security personnel, who have to accompany our leaders, in order to protect them - from only heaven knows what!), is a cynical and unethical way, for any democratically elected government, to proceed.

For, what our nation rather desperately needs, is social transformation, which will make it possible for ordinary people too, to enjoy the following basic necessities of a civilised life: the right not to have to put up with living in a nation whose public space is drowning in filth, because no one in authority has the courage, to dismiss the incompetent buffoons, appointed in the distribution of political patronage, as district chief executives, and as municipal and metropolitan assembly chiefs; have access to good quality housing, at affordable rental rates; be provided with efficient and affordable utility services; have access to good public schools, from primary to tertiary level; live in a nation in which public safety is assured; and above all, become the citizens of a nation, in which taxpayers' money, is not frittered away, by unscrupulous politicians, in dubious vote-buying schemes, designed for the primary purpose, of giving bribes to a section of the voting public, to entice them to vote their benefactors, back into office.

Power, it is said, corrupts - and their long years in power, appears to have corrupted the minds, of some of those in power, today. Who, in heaven's name, came up with such a mad and bad idea: to dispense charity to a proud and honest people, who want well-paid and sustainable long term jobs - not demeaning cash handouts from the Ghanaian nation-state?

Is this not the political equivalent, of giving the very poor in Ghana, fish: instead of teaching them to fish, themselves, and providing them the wherewithal, to buy netting and canoes - to enable them to go fishing, on a regular basis, to catch fish with: and earn regular income to improve their lives with?

Has it not struck those who claim to have come to power to bring about a golden age for Ghanaian business, by creating an enabling environment, for business to thrive, that if the state were to provide rural banks with sufficient funds to enable them make micro-credit available to groups of poor people, without demanding collateral from them, that is far more likely to empower the youth?

And would we not consequently witness the flourishing of youthful enterprise - enabling many young school-leavers from the poorest homes, for instance, to buy tools, to enable them work as self-employed carpenters, electricians, welders, vulcanizers, etc. etc.; acquire market stalls; buy taxis; trotros; open electronic repair shops; hairdressing salons; tailoring workshops; barbering shops, etc. etc.?

And if this regime was to be creative enough to let the APEX Bank enter into a joint-venture with internationally well-respected and innovative micro-credit institutions, such as the experienced Australian micro-credit organisation, Opportunity International, would it not make it possible for rural and community banks in Ghana, to make credit and training in managing micro-enterprises, available, for poor families up and down our country, and enable them free themselves from poverty, by their own bootstraps?

The masters of the universe who dominate the NPP, must not insult the intelligence of the poor, in Ghana - for, the poor will never forgive such an insult from the party of those, who have so enriched themselves (and their cronies), and become so breathtakingly wealthy, in the relatively short period, in which this myopic regime has been in power for, that some of them were able to finance their individual bids to realise their presidential ambitions, with billions.

Were most decent-minded Ghanaians not astonished, dear reader, that a brace of seventeen wannabe presidents, collectively spent trillions of the useless old cedis, the bulk of it used to bribe their party's, mostly poor, and largely forgotten, foot soldiers - to ensure and facilitate positive outcomes, for their personal presidential dreams? What astonishing and shameful cynicism! In the NEPAD era, are these our apostles of African peer-reviewing, good governance? Hmmm, Ghana, aye asem o!

EXPEL SUDAN FROM THE AU, NOW!

For many ordinary Africans across the continent, watching television news programmes, showing clips of their leaders being driven to and from the AU headquarters conference centre, in expensive luxury vehicles, at the recent AU heads of state meeting, was akin to watching a film, of a conclave, of the well-heeled capos, of a ruthless, continent-wide African mafia family, each of whom, has the power of life and death, over the lives of Africans, on our continent.

For me, a particularly odious member of this mafia: a most brutal, cunning and totally dishonest ruler of human beings, this continent has ever had the misfortune, of allowing to wield political power, is the ruler of Sudan. This is a man, whom many thinking Africans, feel, is a black clone, of the infamous and evil German genius, the mass murderer, Adolf Hitler.

Black Africans in the West, often have to put up with the outrageous racism of Western societies, suffering indignities on a daily basis: in which no matter how cultured; highly educated; and proud a possessor of decent human values an African might be, the most uncouth and ill-educated white-skinned racist, has the effrontery and temerity, to consider him or her, an inferior being - simply on account of the skin-colour of the African: not because of the character of the African.

For the thinking African, who has had to put up with years of being treated with disrespect and been discriminated against in the West, because of their skin-colour, the idea that a sly and dishonest monster, like the Sudanese leader, Omar Bashir, who would also be treated with similar disdain by white-skinned racists of the Western world, were he to live there, actually leads a regime on the continent of Africa, which looks down on fellow black Africans, is simply intolerable.

The idea that the members of an African regime, made up of fellow Africans, only of a slightly lighter hue, than the average African, are today actively tele-guiding the evil para-military force, the Janjaweed, as they carry out a pogrom in Darfur and parts of Chad, is rather difficult to take in, for thinking Africans.

How can Africans in the 21st century, permit mass murder, mass rape, and the destruction of whole villages and towns, in a scorched-earth policy, which is designed to wipe out the black African population of Western Sudan, to be carried out, with such arrogant impunity?

How can it be that a regime on African soil, and formed by Africans, such as that of the Omar Bashirs, who although only of a slightly lighter hue than the rest of us, but are blacks too, nonetheless (as they would soon discover were they to live in the West!); thinks that the black African people of Darfur, are less human: just because they are of a slightly darker hue, than their fellow so-called "Arab" compatriots - those offensive and murderous monsters, who now rule Sudan?

Why should thinking Africans tolerate the nonsense on bamboo stilts, the ridiculous, absurd, and outrageous notion, that somehow, the African Omar Bashir, and his gang of murderers, who now rule Sudan, and think they are the cleverest people on the continent of Africa, are superior, to the black Africans of Darfur - on account of the lightness of the hue of their black skins?

Should the AU continue to accept in its midst, an African regime, which is busy committing genocide, in the 21st century information and technological age, on the basis of a foolish, ignorant, fanciful and misguided sense of racial superiority, and which is driving them to commit the most dastardly crimes against humanity, ever seen on this earth, since Hitler's Nazi Germany, set about systematically wiping out, all those, they considered not Aryan enough, in Europe?

The irony in all this, is that it appears that it has not dawned on the smug black leaders of Africa, attending the AU summit meeting, that were they to be living in the Darfur region of Western Sudan themselves, Omar Bashir and his gang of mass murderers, now in charge at Khartoum, and who laughingly delude themselves, by proudly calling themselves "Arabs" (slaves of Arabs, would probably be a more apt description, of their outrageous and misplaced sense of superiority, many a thinking African, will say!), would treat them worse than animals, on account of the dark colour, of their presidential skins!

The time has come for African leaders to expel Sudan from the AU - and to help the international community to gather evidence, to enable prosecutors of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to indict Sudanese government members, in preparation for their trial, at a future date, for crimes against humanity. For, their unspeakable crimes in Darfur, are no different, from some of the many crimes of mass murder, which were committed during the second World War, by the evil Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.

And in addition to supervising, by "remote control" those unspeakable and abominable acts of brutality, Sudan is now adding insult to injury, by aiding Chadian dissident leaders, to recruit and arm a conventional force, which has now been deployed to invade Chad, in a three hundred-vehicle convey, to overthrow the legitimate government of Chad - for the sole purpose, of sandwiching the people of Darfur, who have sought refuge near the Chadian border, between forces Sudan controls: and make the final annihilation, of the inhabitants of Darfur, easier, that way.

How can the international community tolerate such outrageous actions by this regime of impunity? And when will Africa's leaders act to expel Sudan from the AU - and ask the International Court of Justice to indict the murderous Omar Bashir and the members of his crafty regime: which uses deception as a national policy, when it comes to the issue of Darfur, in its relations with the international community? Why, does the world not understand that the Sudanese regime should be held responsible for Africa's equivalent, of the Jewish Holocaust?

Decent and thinking Africans condemn the mass murderers now ruling Sudan, in the strongest possible terms - and call on the international community to invade Western Sudan, to protect the the black African inhabitants of the area.

It is the citizens of nations who are sovereign - not the men and women who constitute, at any given point in time in a nation's history, the regimes, which rule over the land mass that make up the territory of given nation-states: so the world must not entertain the protestations and intransigence of the Sudanese regime, when it makes the absurd claim that in refusing to allow international troops into Sudan, it is protecting Sudan's sovereignty.

Would the Western allies, who invaded Hitler's Germany, to end his evil and tyrannical rule, have rid the world of the Nazis, if they had prevaricated, instead of acting decisively to invade Germany, simply because Hitler was invoking the doctrine of sovereignty - the self-same absurd claims, which the murderous and racist buffoons, who now rule Sudan, make today?

The world must not tolerate genocide in Darfur, because murderers seek to hide behind the doctrine of sovereignty. In invading Western Sudan, the world will be rescuing a people being slaughtered by their government - which then seeks to stop the world from decisive action to rescue Darfurians, by the monstrous lie that the West is seeking to recolonise Sudan: and that allowing Western troops into Darfur, would therefore be tantamount to allowing the recolonisation of Sudan? What absolute drivel.

The time has come for sanctions to be imposed on all the leaders of Sudan and their immediate families. Their overseas banks accounts ought to be frozen; their relations living in the West must be deported; and they should all be denied visas to travel to the West. All African nations must break off diplomatic relations with Sudan en masse, immediately. The continued membership of Sudan of the AU, is an affront to all black Africans. Period. The AU must act to expel Sudan from membership of the continental body, now!