To Janet: [MENDENYO] - Yahoo Groups

Dear Janet,

Since you have addressed me directly, I am compelled to respond, as a matter of courtesy, to you. I salute you, Janet - and may I humbly point it out you that www.helium.com, would be a perfect place to earn money from your brilliant writing?

Perhaps when you make money from your Helium articles you can also donate to any of Helium.com's non-profit partners, of your choice, if you are so minded.

I am afraid I tend to disagree with many Western liberals, amongst whom there often appears to be a recourse to rush to seek shelter in political correctness, whenever the issue of transparency and accountability are raised in our continent.

A thief stealing public funds in Washington DC, through the awarding of lucrative outsourcing defence contracts, to Establishment-crony-tycoon-types, who are profiting mightily from two brutal and national-energy-sapping foreign wars abroad, in Iraq and Afganistan - which are being borne casualty-wise, in the main, by the underpaid and often poorly-protected (in terms of armoured equipment) sons and daughters of ordinary American and UK families - is no different from a thief ensconced in a zillion-dollar presidential palace in an African capital, who raids the national treasury for self and family, on a regular basis.

Both must be equally held accountable by their people - for, accountability and transparency, have nothing to do with culture or race.

Every society must demand accountability and transparency from both individuals and corporations/NGO's - so don't think you should be diplomatic with those who use race and culture as a cloak to hide their chicanery, and to stop caring and committed Westerners like you from speaking out boldly, about dishonest Africans.

A thief is a thief everywhere on the planet Earth, no matter his or her skin colour. Period.

Throughout Africa today, ordinary people's greatest wish, is that their leaders are held accountable. And  there is a realisation by the continent's political elite that the blatant Mobutu-style transfer of aid straight from the donor nations into their myriad overseas bank accounts, can no longer be a business-as-usual approach to their personal wealth creation.

Today, they are seeking more creative business models for that end - and a profitable route seems to be kickbacks from fees earned by sundry professional advisers from the privatisation of profitable state-owned entities in the strategic sectors of their economies.

Caring Western friends of Africa like your good selves, are right to demand accountability and transparency, from all those involved in the process of sustainable economic development of the continent: be they African politicians; or the many NGO's set up by Africans; and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.

For, in so doing, you are merely trying to ensure that poor Africans at the grassroots level, also get to benefit from sustainable development - and experience an improvement in their quality of life.

And you are also doing what pre-colonial traditional societies throughout the continent have always done, right from the beginning of time - and long before our paths crossed with Western civilisation: when the first Europeans ventured here.

In the distant past, long before our encounter with Western civilisation, Africans treasured honest stewardship, both at the individual and societal levels, as well as selflessness.

Today, there is an epidemic of get-rich-quick schemes on the internet, by all manner of African characters who no longer care about the good name of their families - and poor fools like Kofi Thompson are bombarded on a daily basis by "419" spam scams of one sort or the other: requesting me to join some imbecile and crook promising me, a complete stranger, millions of dollars to hijack some dormant account, in a non-existent bank with a glorified-sounding name.

Yet, poor old Kofi Thompson, is an old man from the old-African-traditional-school that believes in reward from honest endeavour, by the sweat of one's brow - and uneducated fools like us would rather starve than shame one's family by begging or stealing from others.

So you must not sound so apologetic when you touch on subjects like transparency, good governance and accountability, sister Janet. They are all universal human prerequisites for a fair society, and transcend culture or race. Truthfulness and decency are universal human virtues that are common to all races and cultures.

In my own native Ghana, for example, ordinary people have put our political class on notice that the wealth from our huge oil and natural gas deposits will be used solely for the purpose of transforming our homeland Ghana, into Africa's equivalent, of Scandinavia' s prosperous egalitarian societies.

We are united in our resolve - and our position is non-negotiable . We intend to ensure that what amounts to a windfall from Providence, is used for social transformation in Ghana: in the quickest possible time - and does not end up in the very deep pockets of our country's politically well-connected influence peddlars.

We have no intention of allowing a powerful few in our country, full of greedy ambitions, to repeat the tragedies of the oil-rich nations of the continent, in which, despite the availability of massive oil and natural gas revenues, there is still widespread poverty and underdevelopment

As regards the recent posting about sanitary pads for Zimbabwe, may I humbly suggest that you look up Barb Briggs of the www.nabuur.com Kenyan village of Kabondo - and ask her to help replicate their very successful sanitary pad project, in which the ladies of the village were taught to make good quality sanitary pads, from available local materials, in Zimbabwe too?

Andrius' and the Chief's idea that it be used as a way of building bridges across the political divide there, is brilliant.

Do stay blessed, all you dear souls. I shall continue to respond as and when I am addressed directly, as a matter of courtesy - but as I want to avoid the distress my bluntness might cause here, I shall continue to keep my distance: so that you can continue the important and good work you are engaged in, in the very friendly and brotherly cross-cultural community you have so successfully created.

I admire and respect all of you very much - but sadly, I am essentially a loner, as writers often are: it being a pretty lonely occupation. I feel much happier sticking to my daily conversations with my dear pet dogs; whom I can talk to frankly, without ever causing offence.

Keep up the good work, my dear brothers and sisters of the planet Earth's one human race.

Warmest regards,

Kofi.