GHANA'S YOUNG GENERATION MUST GUARD THEIR NATION'S OIL AND NATURAL GAS REVENUES JEALOUSLY!

Going forward into President Mills' year of action, 2011, Ghana's younger generation must ensure that those old fogies, who have dominated their country for so long, and have dissipated the country's wealth over the years, are not allowed to misuse the oil and natural gas revenues too. It is crucial that young Ghanaians move away from the destructive partisanship that the "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" type of blinkered politics, represents. It is slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy. They must look next door to the tragedy now playing out in the Ivory Coast, to see where that kind of narrow-mindedness leads. They must focus instead, on demanding that those who rule Ghana, at any given point in time, going forward, transform the nation into an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.

They must not allow Ghana's educated urban elite to end up doing what Nigeria's kleptocratic elite has done: purloin that nation's oil wealth for themselves. Above all, they must force Ghana's ruling elite to end the pure nonsense on bamboo stilts self-serving policies, which enable politically well-connected individuals fronting for some of our rulers, to end up getting blocs in oil-fields, for simply leading oil companies here. Is it not the norm that in business deals globally, sometimes locals get "sweat equity" by being given stakes in foreign companies they assist: to compensate them in lieu of cash payments upfront? Who ever heard of such individuals being handed "market share" on a silver platter, in the sector of the economy those entities operate in? Yet, somehow that is precisely the unthinkable that has occurred in our oil and natural gas industries: thanks to the perfidy of self-seeking and greedy politicians.

Amongst other things, young Ghanaians must demand that their homeland Ghana, becomes a nation in which well-built and well-designed affordable public-sector housing, is available nationwide, to all hardworking citizens who need accommodation; railway lines traverse the entire country, thus enabling ordinary Ghanaians to travel to all the regional capitals, by train, whenever they so wish; lack of finance to fund their education becomes a thing of the past, and that coming from a financially-challenged background never again prevents any young person with the aptitude to do so, to study up to tertiary level: because state funding for educating the academically-gifted is available to all who need it.

That is the kind of Ghana Nkrumah planned when he was fighting for an independent nation for his people - and that is precisely the kind of Ghana that young Ghanaians must insist today's Ghana is turned into by their nation's political class: utilizing the country's oil and natural gas revenues. They must never allow a powerful few with greedy ambitions to hijack that wealth for themselves, their family clans, and their cronies. One hopes that they saw and abhored the beginnings of that journey to hell, Nigerian-style, during the Kufour-era: and will never again allow private individuals to be given blocs in oil fields, from which revenues that could improve the lives of all Ghanaians, end up just enriching a few politically well-connected individuals. Henceforth they must insist that if individuals driven by unfathomable greed want to own blocs in Ghana's oil-fields, they must stump up the cash for it. They must jealously guard what in effect are windfall profits, from a finite natural resource, hugely risky, environmentally, to extract. A word to the wise...







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Should The EOCO Investigate The Purchase Of Overseas Properties Worth Millions Of Dollars By Ghanaians?

Nothing epitomizes better, the disservice being done by a large part of the Ghanaian media world, to Mother Ghana, and to Ghanaian democracy, than the deafening silence that has followed, since news reports began filtering through, online, that a very important personage from Ghana had purchased a property worth some three million pounds sterling in the UK.

In any other jurisdiction, where money laundering from the illicit drugs trade is a huge problem, and tax evasion by the most powerful folk, a common occurrence, journalists would be scurrying on to London-bound jetliners, to investigate such a story: in order to ascertain the true facts on the ground.

But this is Ghana – a nation full of moral cowards and in which truth faces extinction – so nothing much is being done to find out the truth.

The question is: Has it not occurred to the authorities that they owe it to Ghanaians, and the very important personage concerned, to move quickly to establish the truth?

As a charitable soul said to me: “Massa, who knows whether it is not a surprise gift to the very important personage? Perhaps it is from an admirer, who has not even yet told him that such a magnificent property, has been purchased for him: as a present for his years of hard work for the poor in society?”

If that is the case (or even if it isn’t), should the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) not be contacting the relevant UK authorities to establish a paper trail to trace the source of the transaction cash – so that they can tell the very important personage concerned whether or not the transaction is a case of money-laundering: to enable him reject or accept it?

Above all, who knows where such a paper trail will lead, I ask, dear reader? Perhaps it might even lead to the discovery of the ownership of some of the many offshore entities that hide the wealth of those who took part in the gang-rape of Mother Ghana during the tenure of the previous regime.

It would really be an outrage, if it turns out that those whose job it is to investigate such things, in the Ghana High Commission in London, have done nothing about it. If they have not done so, they must move quickly to establish the truth.

Above all, the high commissioner must ensure that it is handled by someone who is loyal to the Ghanaian nation-state, and not to the tribal-supremacist cabal that controlled the previous regime – lest they do what is usually done here in such matters.

Luckily for the very important personage concerned, documents cannot be made to disappear in the UK, like they often do here – a case in point being the VALCO documents that some members of the previous regime, insist, were in the possession of the late Baah-Wiredu (of blessed memory), when he died.

Fancy that – trying to blame a dead man who cannot answer back to defend himself: and who incidentally was so meticulous, and principled, he would never have hidden such an important state document, for any reason. But I digress.

Our very important personage need not worry, if it’s an attempt by persons unknown, to smear him – as the truth will emerge eventually. As we all know, if all his known legitimate sources of income are put together, he will still never be in a position to purchase such a property, for yonks – so if he does deny ever purchasing such a property, we must give some credence to what he says.

On the other hand, there is the little matter of the BBC World Service's Celeste Hicks and the Sunday Times' reporters, being ethical professionals, who are unlikely to do what those Ghanaian journalists who sell their consciences, often do – make up stories because they benefit their paymasters.

So it is a bit of a conundrum – as the cynics amongst us are wont to say in such matters. Well, we shall simply have to wait for the EOCO to investigate this faraway little local difficulty for our very important personage: to find out what the truth really is.

Hopefully, our very important personage will be vindicated – if he has actually said openly that he has never purchased such a property, that is. In any case one can only wish him well.

At the very least, this affair has brought up the question of whether or not, to help fight money-laundering in Ghana, it is necessary for the EOCO to investigate the purchase of expensive properties overseas, by Ghanaian citizens (including even those who occupy the highest positions in society!). Hmm, Ghana – eyeasem oo: asem ebaba debi ankasa!

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REACTION TO THE UK GUARDIAN’S STORIES BASED ON WIKILEAK’S US DIPLOMATIC CABLES LEAK: REVEALS GHANAIAN ELITE'S MANY THIRD-RATE INDIVIDUALS !

Reaction to the UK Guardian newspaper’s stories about Ghana, based on the WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables leak, by sections of the Ghanaian media, and some members of the country’s political class, illustrates perfectly, how our political and media landscapes are peopled mostly by third-rate individuals. The former Ghanaian President Kufuor’s reaction, said to have been given in an interview on Accra’s Citi FM, if true, really does take some beating – especially when one considers the fact that he did go to Oxford University (Exeter College). He is quoted in a Wednesday, 15 December 2010 www.ghanaweb.com general news web-page article entitled, “Kufuor Slams WkikiLeaks – Guardian expose” in which he makes the most outrageous statements about the integrity of the UK Guardian newspaper, during the aforementioned radio interview.

According to www.ghanaweb.com, when Accra's Citi FM’s Richard Sky asked President Kufuor whether he thought “the Wikileaks-Guardian publication was not a fair reflection of his Government’s performance” Mr. Kufuor responded: “What did Guardian say about Kufuor? And you are Ghanaian and Guardian is not in Ghana. Do you want to believe Guardian who might be paid to do something, criminal against Ghana? Is that what you want to believe?” Incredible. How can an educated man (who studied in one of the world’s best universities in the UK!), who has also been Ghana’s president before, say such an outrageous thing about a global Liberal media icon like The Guardian, I ask, dear reader? Perhaps leading a regime that corrupted so many Ghanaian journalists during its tenure has had an adverse effect on President Kufuor’s sense of objectivity – when it comes to the small matter of judging media houses and journalists?

Thanks to the duplicity of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, which spent zillions of old cedis of hapless taxpayers’ cash (mostly purloined from the Tema Oil Refinery’s coffers and from the bottomless-pit of his national security minister's secret budget), to buy the consciences of so many Ghanaian journalists (and in the process making a complete nonsense of the reason for the repealing of the criminal libel laws), there are precious few journalists in Ghana who have any personal integrity. As a result of that, today, a cursory glance at the columns of Ghanaian newspapers, will lead to only one conclusion: that yellow journalism is alive and well in Ghana. It is thriving as result of the gargantuan sums funneled to corrupt sections of the media and individual journalists – a huge disservice to Ghanaian democracy. It has also caused egregious harm to the well-being of ordinary Ghanaians, and slowed the growth-processes of Ghanaian democracy. Pity. With respect, those in President Kufuor’s inner circle must advise him to weigh his words, a great deal more carefully, than he has been doing of late – lest he is included in the "A" list of the third-rate individuals who people our political and media landscapes: and are ruining the enterprise Ghana with their perfidy. A word to the wise…

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PRESIDENT MILLS WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO POWER AGAIN: IF HE DOES NOT DEAL WITH ALL THE CROOKS IN HIS REGIME!

Any Ghanaian who remembers seeing television news reports earlier this year, showing President Mills submitting himself to the security personnel at the Accra International Airport’s VIP lounge, to be searched by them, and telling them to search all the members of his regime who pass through the VIP lounge too, must be reeling from shock, after reading the latest WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables leak about Ghana: “ (Reuters) - Ghana's president was concerned about drug trafficking and corruption within his own government, the Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Wednesday, citing U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.

President John Atta Mills was reported by the U.S. ambassador to Ghana as saying that anti-drug activities at Accra airport had also been sabotaged by narcotics control officers.

"The President told the Ambassador that he knows elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there," Ambassador Donald Teitelbaum said in the June 2009 cable.
The head of a British anti-drug campaign in Ghana told the U.S ambassador that Mills was worried about drug problems within his own entourage, and wanted to avoid the embarrassment of seeing them caught by airport officers when heading out of the country.

"...Mills wants these officials to be checked in the privacy of his suite (at the airport) to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs," another cable to Washington from Teitelbaum said in November 2009.
Drug flights from South America to Europe through West African countries have became common in the last three years and officials have seized ton-sized quantities of cocaine.

(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Matthew Jones)” End of quote.

How extraordinary. What is it about Ghanaian politicians, which makes them think that keeping the wrongdoing of members of their parties’ under wraps, when in power, somehow helps them avoid public opprobrium? President Kufuor apparently more or less said the same thing, when he intimated that exposure of wrongdoing by members of his regime, by him, would lead to its downfall. How daft can one get, I ask, dear reader? Is it not logical that moving quickly, to prosecute the crooks who lurk in their regimes, whenever such rogues are exposed, is what would rather engender public confidence, in leaders who run the enterprise Ghana, at any given point in time, in our history?

No wonder the crooks in the Mills regime whose wrongdoing has come to light, have all succeeded in holding on to their jobs, regardless, thus far. How very disappointing it all is for those who wish President Mills well. Makes one wonder, whether this regime is really serious about creating a better Ghana – or if it is just a hackneyed and platitudinous phrase, designed to lull Ghanaians into a false sense of security: that their nation is in the hands of a new crop of honest leaders? No wonder this regime has ignored pleas from many patriotic Ghanaians that they publicly publish their assets (as well as that of their spouses!) to enable them occupy the high moral ground in Ghanaian politics, and put clear blue water between themselves and their political opponents.

Perhaps President Rawlings does have a point after all, when he talks endlessly about the “greedy bastards” in President Mills’ regime. Well, if President Mills fails us, one hopes that the more radical of Nkrumah’s followers, such as Mr. Kwesi Pratt, will move from being social commentators, to become active seekers of power. If they were to have a platform, for example, which commits the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) to changing the constitution, to guarantee half of the seats in Parliament for women, as well as reserving half of the cabinet posts for women, and giving the right to all adult Ghanaians who need it, access to public housing provided by the Ghanaian nation-state, surely they would gain widespread following, amongst the younger generation of Ghanaians?

As is common knowledge, most of them are totally fed up with the two dominant parties, which now have such a stranglehold on power, in Ghana – to the detriment of our country. What patriotic Ghanaian does not worry about the zillions of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon–types, whose intolerance and blinkered support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is slowly destroying our democracy? That is why so many well-meaning Ghanaians want President Mills to sit up and crack the whip – if he wants to be returned to power again in the December 2012 election. He really must start dealing ruthlessly, with all those crooks that lurk in the shadows, in his regime, and are busy ripping Mother Ghana off by stealth, as we speak: just like those super-clever crooks of the Kufuor-era did. He must remember that time is not on his side – so there is no room for any more prevaricating. A word to the wise…

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WHO ARE THOSE NDC MEMBERS THAT GHANA’S VICE PRESIDENT JOHN MAHAMA SAYS HOLD MEETINGS ON SUNDAYS – AND WILL THEY HAVE THE COURAGE TO OUST HIM SOMEDAY?

As Ghana’s Vice President John Mahama waded into the argument about the use of our oil and natural gas revenues as collateral for loans to build our infrastructure, I wondered, yet again, at the calibre of the people around him. I asked myself, why, when he was in South Korea, those around him, did not advise him to try and convince the South Korean government to provide funding from the KITM Global Infrastructure Fund, to South Korean firms, to build, operate, and transfer motorways (of the Accra –Tema type that Nkrumah built), as well as railway lines to all our regional capitals – and in return get long tax holidays for all earned revenues covering the entire period they would build, own, and operate such motorways and railway lines (before finally transferring them to the Ghanaian nation-state)? Surely that would be a creative way of getting modern roads and railway lines built across the length and breadth of Ghana, without recourse to our oil and gas revenues – if Ghana’s politicians cannot put aside partisanship and agree on exactly what to do with those revenues?

As a wag said to me recently: “Massa, it is very difficult to point out exactly what John Mahama has brought to the table, since he became Ghana’s vice president." Well, for those of us who said that even though he happens to be well-liked by people from across the political spectrum, John Mahama could not possibly make a good vice president to a mild-mannered President Mills (because the president needed someone with a more ruthless streak in him – and able to reach out to all the factions in their party: because he or she is politically acceptable to all the centres of power in the National Democratic Congress (NDC)), that cynical remark does have a gem of truth in it. I have always been of the view that the next president of our nation, after President Mills, must be from the north of Ghana – because the people of the north also deserve to have a president who hails from that part of our country. However, John Mahama would be wise to retire whenever President Mills’ tenure ends – and support another northerner from the NDC to serve our country as president after President Mills. It will be a sacrificial act that will help unite his party.

I will not hide the fact that in a sense I have lost any admiration I had for John Mahama – and I say so with much regret and sadness. But as someone from a long-standing organic cocoa-farming family (which has been in the industry continuously since 1915!), I was dismayed and pretty livid, to hear him saying that he had only asked those British politicians and officials who approached him to intervene on Amajaro’s behalf, to get Amajaro to write a petition to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCBOD0). Did it not occur to him that as Ghana’s vice president it was his duty to tell them that cocoa was of such importance to Ghana’s economy that any company caught smuggling bags of cocoa could not be allowed to continue trading in that all-important commodity? I do hope that those whom he says are holding meetings on Sundays will make sure that he is forced to retire with President Mills when the president’s tenure ends. The question is: Will they have the courage to do so when the time comes? One hopes that they will – for all our sake. A word to the wise…

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WHAT WILL WE FIND OUT ABOUT GHANA’S POLITICAL CLASS FROM WIKILEAK’S US EMBASSY CABLES LEAK?

There are many Ghanaian patriots and nationalists who are eager to discover, what exactly, over the years, US Embassy officials in the Accra embassy, have been saying behind closed doors, about members of our political class – and their views on our nation’s public discourse. During the Kufuor era, I wondered, in an article (in which I noted the contempt in which American officials held the traitors who overthrew Nkrumah!), what would be unearthed thirty years hence (from the date of the article), when cables about the events of our time from the US Embassy here, are declassified. I wondered what Progressives of that time, would learn about what exactly the Kufuor-era quislings secretly got up to, and what would be gleaned from conversations between the Accra US Embassy and Washington, which would finally shed some light on the opaque Kosmos Oil/E.O. Group jubilee oilfield deal. Little did I know that my fly-on-the-wall wish, would come true, even sooner, than the thirty years I had originally envisaged. Such is life.

It will be riveting to find out just how contemptuous US Embassy officials here have been, and are, of the pro-US members of our political class. As many a Ghanaian Progressive is aware, evidence of the contempt in which US officials held the traitors who overthrew Nkrumah in 1966, was summed up succinctly, in a declassified National Security Affairs memo (Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, Robert W. Komer, Vol. 21 3/3/66-3/2/66. Confidential. A handwritten “L” on the source text indicates that the memorandum was seen by the President). Acting Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, Robert W. Komer, wrote to President Johnson in a Washington D.C. memo dated March 12, 1966: “The coup in Ghana is another example of a 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.”

For today’s Progressives, the question must be: What will the WikiLeaks cables leak reveal about the quislings in our midst – and who will be on the list of today's stooges for neo-colonialism: ever ready to do the bidding of the US Government and to serve US commercial interests here, even to the detriment of the well-being of the people of Ghana and their nation? One certainly hopes that Ghana’s Progressives will be able to hold such traitors accountable in the public space – and work hard to make sure that ordinary people never give political power, again, to such treacherous nation-wreckers, under any circumstances. The prayer of many such patriotic Ghanaians is that, finally, some light will be shed on the real truth about the Kosmos/E.O. Group deal. Hopefully, that will lead ultimately to the unraveling, of what many Progressives regard as an opaque deal, which enabled undeserving individuals to use their political connections, to purloin part of our oil and natural gas reserves.

In the view of such patriotic Ghanaians, everything must be done to reverse an abuse of power, which ended up enriching a few unscrupulous and greedy individuals, at the expense of our country. They are hopeful that the WikiLeaks US embassy cables leak will expose those politicians who abused the power entrusted to them by the ordinary people of Ghana, and used it to enable members of their family clans and their cronies, to appropriate what belongs to all of the people of Ghana. More to the point, dear reader, will the oft-tongue-tied spokespersons of the Mills regime, have the nous and the gumption, to use such revelations to fight yesteryear’s powerful rogues – and stop them from coming to power again in 2013? One certainly hopes they will – for all our sake. A word to the wise…

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