Saturday 30 June 2012

Is It Not Time Ghana Did A Public Private Partnership Deal With Google?

Listening to challenges  faced   getting  around Accra for their business appointments, by  a number of  foreign nationals interested in doing business in Ghana, set me thinking.


It made me wonder whether Ghana could not benefit from  a private public partnership (PPP) deal with Google - to leverage the search giant's street-mapping expertise.


One result of such a PPP,  would be to   make satellite navigation nationwide possible  in Ghana.


It would also give us the capability of literally locating  every road and building in Ghana digitally.


The ability to locate every building and road in the areas under their jurisdiction, for example, would enable District Assemblies to number  buildings  and  give names to roads in the areas they administer.


That would mean that District Assemblies nationwide  could obtain more revenue from property rates - a sustainable source of much-needed revenue  for them to fund the provision of modern infrastructure.


Additionally, through such a PPP, all the official documents stored in our public record archives   could be digitised by Google at no cost to Ghana - as such a content deal would add further value to the Google brand.


Above all, as a means of being able to go from one point to another anywhere in Ghana, without having to ask for directions,  nothing beats  tapping  in the name of a destination in Ghana,  and using  one's vehicle's sat-nav system to get to it.


It wouldn't be surprising  in the slightest, if the rest of Africa   did not also rush  to line up for  similar  win-win PPP deals  with Google.
Listening to challenges  faced   getting  around Accra for their business appointments, by  a number of  foreign nationals interested in doing business in Ghana, set me thinking.


It made me wonder whether Ghana could not benefit from  a private public partnership (PPP) deal with Google - to leverage the search giant's street-mapping expertise.


One result of such a PPP,  would be to   make satellite navigation nationwide possible  in Ghana.


It would also give us the capability of literally locating  every road and building in Ghana digitally.


The ability to locate every building and road in the areas under their jurisdiction, for example, would enable District Assemblies to number  buildings  and  give names to roads in the areas they administer.


That would mean that District Assemblies nationwide  could obtain more revenue from property rates - a sustainable source of much-needed revenue  for them to fund the provision of modern infrastructure.


Additionally, through such a PPP, all the official documents stored in our public record archives   could be digitised by Google at no cost to Ghana - as such a content deal would add further value to the Google brand.


Above all, as a means of being able to go from one point to another anywhere in Ghana, without having to ask for directions,  nothing beats  tapping  in the name of a destination in Ghana,  and using  one's vehicle's sat-nav system to get to it.


It wouldn't be surprising  in the slightest, if the rest of Africa   did not also rush  to line up for  similar  win-win PPP deals  with Google.


For Ghana, one  of   the many benefits of such a PPP deal  with Google, would be to further enhance  "brand Ghana"  - and help   make Ghana even  more attractive  to investors: both local and foreign.

The government of Ghana ought to move quickly to explore the possibility of a PPP deal  with Google. The search giant has the wherewithal to fund such a deal - which  would result in a giant leap forward for the enterprise Ghana.


For its manifold economic and social benefits, is it not time Ghana did a public private partnership deal,  with Google?


Tel: 027 745 3109.


Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com


Friday 29 June 2012

Arresting Illegal Gold Miners & Loggers Can Only Be Good News For Ghana's Environmental Activists

The recent statement by  the  Chinese government,   asking for the arrest of Chinese nationals engaged in illegal activities in Africa -   such as illegal gold mining and logging -  seems to have somehow  empowered part of  Ghanaian officialdom.


An example of this new empowerment, is the recent  arrest of some Spanish citizens and their Ghanaian partner,  by the police at  Anyinam,  in Akyem Abuakwa.


That definitely is positive  change from past experience in the Eastern Region -  where   the most powerful individuals in the wealthy criminal syndicates that operate there,  were virtually untouchable.


They   raped  the natural environment in Akyem Abuakwa with ruthless abandon,  and destroyed  its natural heritage with complete impunity.


The devastation wrought by  the   selfish activities of  illegal gold miners and loggers, across  a vast swathe of the Ghanaian countryside,  in the forest-belt,  is scandalous and a national tragedy of apocalyptic proportions.


Alas, gold seems to trigger off the worst in  those driven mostly by unfathomable greed.  That confounded metal seems to evoke the worst   in so many in our country today - especially now its price has reached historically high and unprecedented  levels.


If officialdom  now feels  sufficiently  empowered to act to halt the many foreign criminals  and their Ghanaian collaborators - all of them  driven by avarice and who hitherto  disregarded our country's laws  and got away with it -  that can only be good news,  for all those patriotic  Ghanaian environmental activists,   who  care deeply about preserving what is left of Ghana's natural heritage.


Tel: 027 745 3109.


Wednesday 27 June 2012

Paa Kwesi Nduom Must Deal Directly With The Supposed Skeletons In His Cupboard Now

Sometimes one  wonders why with the many brilliant individuals in our country to seek advice from, so many Ghanaian politicians   insist on  surrounding themselves with an inner-circle of  sycophants and third-rate individuals.


Why,  with so many world-class individuals available in his personal network  (some, like David Ampofo,   even members of  his party),  whose expertise he can  avail himself of, has Paa Kwesi Nduom not yet organised a press conference to deal directly with the rumours and accusations flying around about him?


For what it is worth,  here is one's  2-pesewa free consultancy for him - from the selfsame altruistic source that first publicly suggested he form his own party.


Has forming his own party not given him the maneuvering room and total control that eluded him when he wanted to leverage the incredible and unique historical narrative underpinning the CPP brand-name, which  the Convention People's Party (CPP) is endowed with? So, one hopes he will listen to good free advice, once again, and profit from same.


In dealing with the allegations and rumours that bedevil him,  account ought to be taken of the climate of fear existing during the period in question, and the latent  threat of being dealt with physically,  in brutal fashion, by myrmidon-types  doing the bidding of the powers that be,  then.


Self-preservation measures,  taken by an imaginative and enterprising businessperson,  to protect assets and market-share,  in a nation ruled by a ruthless and murderous clique, with a history of extreme and arbitrary  action, is  perfectly reasonable justification for what in a period of normalcy, perhaps might be described as sharp practice.


Paa Kwesi Nduom ought to understand clearly that for any serious individual in contention for the presidency, it is a grave  error of judgement to rely on  clueless, self-serving  and sycophantic hacks,   to deal with baggage that simply won't go away if not confronted  head on, once and for all. A word to the wise...


Tel 027 745 3109.


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Vodafone

Monday 25 June 2012

Ghanaian Politicians: Don't Lead Us Down A Path Ending In A Boko Haram-Type Of Hell On Earth

No matter how innocent the motive, it is such a pity that an Islamic place of worship in the Accra suburb of  Madina, was allowed to be turned into an arena for vote  seeking,  by a politician campaigning to win power in Ghana.

As a people,  if we want to avoid the difficulties nations like Nigeria,  Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan are experiencing today,  as a result of religious differences,  let us ensure that all places of worship in our homeland Ghana remain sacred ground,  free from politics:  where all can worship in peace.

We must, at all costs,  avoid a situation in which the  separation of the religious sphere from that of the political is blurred - and  Machiavellian  individuals,  for whom the end invariably justifies the means, cynically manipulate religious leaders,  in their quest for what after all is mere temporal-power.

The handlers of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate's running mate, Dr. Bawumia,  let him down badly,  in asking him to make what amounted to a campaign speech, to Muslims gathered to worship Allah in a mosque.

It is vital that our nation learns  a lesson from the violence that erupted in Hohoe recently. It  is evidence of how,  in certain situations, religion can make sane individuals lose their self-control -  such as the moment when herd-instinct, triggered by religious fanaticism, made normally law-abiding  residents of  Hohoe's Zongo,   to become  momentarily  mad.

If the genie of religious fanaticism is let loose, many more Hohoes will erupt around our country. To avoid that catastrophe, let us make places of worship neutral ground,  free of politics. Ensuring that lies in  the hands of all Ghana's religious leaders.

After cynically resurrecting nation-wrecking  tribalism for political ends,  and exposing Ghana to its manifold dangers, we must not allow our political class  to also  unwittingly lead our nation  on a path that could possibly end in an apocalyptic  Boko Haram-type, hell-on-earth, for millions of ordinary people in Ghana.



Saturday 23 June 2012

No Matter Who Wins The Suffering Of Ordinary Ghanaians Will Not End After December's Polls

Listening to some of the  speeches delivered by Ghanaian  politicians  on the hustings, you would think that Ghana was an island unto itself  –  free from the  headwinds buffeting  most of our major trading partners,  as they battle  to  make headway,  economically,  in today’s   choppy  oceans  of endless-budget-deficit-woes.


Faced with belt-tightening at home,  in an era of austerity,   our so-called development partners   are now being forced by economic necessity,   to rebalance their public finances.


It is a situation that does not make for the just-turn-a-blind-eye-to-high-level-corruption  status quo of the past  -  in relation to aid given to poor countries that invariably  ends up in the pockets of crooked politicians overseas.


So,  today, instead of providing  direct budgetary support to poor developing  nations – which can disappear without trace,  and often does – as was hitherto  the case,  those heavily-indebted  wealthy nations   are now  more inclined to  funding only individual development projects.


This new paradigm shift  in the provision of foreign aid, is targeted  particularly at  poor nations blighted by  high-level corruption,  such as  ours  -  because   providers of those funds  can monitor such development projects closely,  and also easily measure their impact on the alleviation of poverty.


Clearly, if the financial woes of the wealthy nations that have been so generous to Ghana over the years deepens, it would  mean,  in effect,  that    cash-strapped wealthy nations making direct contributions to Ghana’s  national budget, will eventually  cease doing so.


That is why no responsible politician in Ghana ought to engage in the dangerous game of making empty promises, merely  in order to get to power.


Where will they find the money to fulfill those promises - when like their Greek equivalent,   both wealthy and ordinary Ghanaians,  routinely evade taxes?


The raising of public expectations  whiles in the political wilderness,  by politicians,  who then end  up disappointing the masses after winning power, poses a serious threat to Ghanaian democracy, alas.


So,  as an apparently  responsible and modern-day technocrat-turned-politician,  why is it that independent-minded and discerning Ghanaians are  yet to hear the New Patriotic Party’s last-word in economics, Dr. Bawumia, for example, asking Ghanaians to prepare for yet more difficult times ahead,  after the December elections? Would that not help start a new national conversation along those lines, I ask?


It is such a disappointment that now  he too  is   busy playing the blame game, and fast becoming a past-master  at the empty-promises-galore wheeze,    aimed at enabling cynical political parties and ruthless politicians to get into power -  even as they  successfully hide  the truth about the difficulties our nation’s economy  faces.


It is a tragedy played out in our homeland Ghana  regardless of which party and set of politicians happen to be in power, or in the political wilderness,  at any given point in time.


Has  Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate,   not  made it plain that the transformation of our nation’s  economy will take at least a decade?


Surely, going by that time-frame, does it not mean  that it is only when  a decade,   or thereabouts  has passed,  that  ordinary Ghanaians might   actually start seeing  a dramatic change   in  their  living standards –  and possibly enjoy a better   quality of life,  than they currently are?


Clearly, if the financial woes of the wealthy nations that have been generous to Ghana over the years continue to deepen, it will simply mean in effect  that more and more wealthy but cash-strapped nations making direct contributions to our national budget, will eventually cease doing so.


How will that gaping  hole-in-the-budget be filled in Ghana, going forward, I ask? And what are we to make of political parties and politicians  seeking to win power in the December polls,  who refuse to warn   ordinary people about  the tight-spot Ghana now  finds itself  in,  economically,  for mostly structural reasons?


Surely,  they are  aware that that  will continue to be the case  for years to come:  because we have abandoned President Nkrumah’s  import-substitution industrialisation policy of the past, which  served us so well?


And how does  our political class propose to deal with the reality that the Ghanaian nation-state is   unable to collect enough tax revenues to fund its  entire national budget?


Since the structural changes needed to bring prosperity to Ghana won’t occur overnight, are we therefore to conclude that any Ghanaian who thinks that the suffering of ordinary people will end,   when the  New Patriotic Party (NPP) comes to power after the December polls, will be disappointed  –  because building a prosperous society takes decades of hard work, discipline and consistent economic growth  (of the green and sustainable variety)?


Perhaps the painful truth   is that ours is simply an unfair and  dysfunctional society,  in which,  with the exception of a lucky few, by and large,   it is only those in power  and their    favourites amongst their family clans, as well as  their cronies, whose personal economic circumstances change for the better, dramatically, with the occurrence of every regime-change after elections.


Thus the question we ought to  be asking is: Are  ordinary Ghanaians  –  who are not politically well-connected  -   hoping  against hope that their suffering will end  when Nana Addo Danquah’s NPP comes to power, not living in a fool’s paradise,   and as a result   are bound to  end up being bitterly  disappointed, yet again?


It would appear that as  things stand  in our country  today,  the suffering of ordinary people will definitely not end, when the NPP comes to power after the December polls.


Only a  chosen few will prosper  -  as has always been the case in our nation,  since the overthrow of President Nkrumah in 1966.


So,  whether Ghana is ruled by an NPP regime under a President Akufo-Addo,  or a National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime under President Mills, the bald   truth,  dear reader, is that the  suffering of ordinary Ghanaians will continue apace,  no matter who wins the December polls.


Tel: 027 745 3109.


Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com



Friday 22 June 2012

Let Us Be More Tolerant In Ghana

There's no gainsaying the fact that most ordinary Ghanaians are desirous of continuing to live in a nation that is relatively peaceful - compared to other nations  on the continent of Africa.


Democracy is not just about institutions. It is also a way of life based on tolerance. The cohesion of our country is coming  under considerable stress -  often,   as a result of violence associated with Chieftaincy disputes and  communal differences.


Most worrying of all is the possibility of electoral violence - as  December looms. For that reason, there is a desperate need for our political leaders to tone down their public utterances.


Whatever may have prompted him to do so, we must take Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo's message wishing President Mills well -  shortly before the president left for America to see his doctors - at face value. It marks a turning point for him - from the infamy of telling his supporters that:  "All die be die!".

Having set that conciliatory example, let him also encourage the more bellicose  amongst the hardliners in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) he leads, to be more tolerant -  as that is in the supreme  interest of Mother Ghana.


One also hopes that  President Mills,  and the more moderate individuals amongst the leadership of  the National Democratic Congress (NDC),  will do likewise  for their party's  hard-of-hearing hardliners too.


Above all, let the Ghanaian media strike a more tolerant pose,  henceforth.


They ought to make protecting the national interest,     and fighting for what will benefit a majority of ordinary people  at all material times,  the ethos that underpins their profession.


By so doing, they will be less amenable to manipulation by politicians.  Their role in Ghanaian society is not to advance the parochial interests of political parties and politicians. It is, aside from  protecting the rights and liberties of Ghanaians,  and being the  watchdogs for  society,  in our democracy,  to make this a society in which hidden evil is constantly exposed.


As they turn over a new leaf, one of the things the media  can do,  is to preach the virtue of tolerance in the columns of Ghanaian  newspapers,  and on the airwaves of Ghana's electronic media.


For the sake of our dear nation,  and the well-being of all its citizens, henceforth,  let  us all  strive to make ours a more tolerant society. Let us be more  tolerant in Ghana.


Tel: 027 745 3109.


Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com


Post Script


 I was aghast, dear reader, as I noticed yet another example of yellow journalism,  in an  edition of the counterfeited  National Review newspaper,   being pointed to,  by the host of  Net2 Television's early morning newspaper review programme,  on Wednesday,  June 20th,  2012.


It does not speak well of officialdom under the present  regime at all, that those evil minds behind that  outrage,  which    the National Media Commission (NMC); the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI); and the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service,   have all  been made aware has nothing to do with me -  who originally registered the title with NMC but has not yet started publishing it for lack of capital - have still not been apprehended.


Are they waiting for it to publish some abomination that will result in a calamity, before they act to arrest and prosecute the criminals behind it? O, Ghana - enti ye ewieye paa eniea? Pity.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Power In Ghana: Sweet For Those Who Wield It! - A Free-verse Poem By Kofi Thompson

Like lambs to the slaughter

The sweating masses

 Are led on a journey of hope

By air-conditioned silver-tongues

Who know the uses of  power

The cleverest wealth creation tool

For Africa's clever ambitious

Who  endlessly seek it

With singleness of purpose

For  at  their tenure's end

With the masses' blessing

Can finally retire

Amongst the continent's wealthiest

Power in Ghana

Sweet for those who wield it!


End of free-verse poem.


The free-verse  poem above, dear reader, sums up the cynicism with which so many Africans regard the continent's ruling elites - and the disdain with which the  politics of their countries of origin is held.


Luckily, today, Ghana is blessed with a crop of presidential candidates who are not personally corrupt - unlike the present incumbent's immediate predecessor in office.


Though they are not corrupt  individuals, such is the insidious nature of our system,  that -  as we have seen under President Mills -  powerful crooks will invariably emerge from within the top echelons of the next new ruling party, to milk our nation dry again.


Like the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills, were the New Patriotic Party's  (NPP) candidate to emerge victorious from   the presidential election this December,  despite Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo's strictures about corruption under President Mills,  and Nana Addo  not being personally corrupt, the tragedy of high-level corruption will be played out under his rule,  too, as sure as day follows night.


Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Asem kesie  ebeba debi ankasa!  
Tel: 027 745 3109.

Ghanaian Politicians: There Will Be Consequences - If Your Actions Or Inaction Results In A Breakdown Of Law & Order In December

Every time there has been a military coup against  a democratically elected regime in West Africa, I have  written a piece  asking the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to demand that the coup makers - in Guinea and Mali,  for example - are forced to hand power back to the civilians they overthrew  swiftly.


I have done so,  because I  believe that  constitutional democracy is the best system of government,   for all the nations in present-day Africa  - so Kofi Thompson is not about to call for a military coup in his native Ghana, under any circumstances, any time soon.


I thank the following: 'Cantankerous',   who posted the comment with the title  "DAFT. DAFT. DAFT" (2012-06-16 01:22:43);  'Tommy',   who posted (2012-06-16 03:44:40) the comment entitled  "FOOLISH IDEA. ARMY BEST IN BARRACKS" and  'Bumbebo',   whose comment (posted from London  2012-06-16 09:14:15)  was entitled "GAF not Needed".


They all took the trouble to   post comments on www.ghanaweb.com, after reading my article entitled,  "December Polls: If Need Be The Ghana Armed Forces Must Act Swiftly To Save Ghana From The Consequences Of Electoral Violence".


I am grateful to all of them    for  sharing their opinions when  commenting on the aforementioned  article of mine.


I suggest, however,  that they re-read the article again. I was  neither  calling for a military coup nor asking the military to mutiny. 'Far from that. Actually, in effect, I was  hoping that the military has prepared plans to step  in to prevent a breakdown of law and order - not take over the country  (God forbid!).
The operative word in the article is ''contingency" - perhaps they would want to look it up?

Yes, in our democracy the army operates  under civil power.  And one hopes that the present Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF),  will rise to the occasion, were there to be a break down in law and order as a result of widespread violence over election results.


However, it is better to be safe than sorry. It is said that coming events cast their shadows.  The posture of the hardliners  in the biggest two political parties in Ghana, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), does not inspire confidence.


For that reason,   for the safety of the Republic,  and to protect Ghanaian democracy - from the machinations of the  greedy and ruthless plutocrats  in our midst who masquerade   as democrats,  but in reality don't actually believe  in democracy - one hopes  the Ghana Armed Forces is  prepared  for any  contingency that will warrant their having to  intervene  swiftly and deal  ruthlessly with  those who resort to violence.


Ghana's political parties and  the politicians who lead them,  must understand clearly that they will not be allowed to get away scot free, if their actions or inaction  result  in a total breakdown of law and order on polling day or its immediate aftermath.


There will be consequences for them personally. No "Big Men" in the Ghana of today, must think they can mess our country up and get away with it. Those days are gone for good.  Period.


Tel: 027 745 3109.


December Polls: If Need Be The Ghana Armed Forces Must Act Swiftly To Save Ghana From The Consequences Of Electoral Violence

Not too long ago, we saw the disastrous effect that disputed elections had on the lives of millions of ordinary Ivorians.


The fighting  that broke out  over the election results arose directly as a result   of that unlucky  nation's mostly-ruthless and selfish ruling elites' lack of foresight;  their unwholesome lust for power and their shameful  power-drunkenness.


Coming closer to home, as a people, we ought to learn a lesson from the trauma currently being experienced by the little over a thousand fellow citizens,   who have had their lives turned upside down,  in Hohoe, as a result of communal violence.


Their misery - and that of Ghanaians elsewhere in the country suffering from communal violence -    results directly from  the intolerance  and narrow-mindedness,  of a  failed few,  amongst the leadership of two communities,  which  hitherto had lived side by side  harmoniously for decades.


One hopes, as the December  presidential and parliamentary elections approach, that  the ultimate guarantors of the territorial integrity   of  the Ghanaian nation-state, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) - together with all the other agencies responsible for protecting  the safety of the Republic and that of all its citizens, in whom sovereignty actually resides,  under our constitution -  have an  operational plan in place, which  will prevent selfish politicians from plunging our country into violence and chaos, because they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the December presidential and parliamentary elections.


In our democracy, the judiciary, through the law courts -  even with all their shortcomings -   are the arbiters of electoral disputes.


It is also the duty of all political parties and Ghana's political  leaders,   to spell it out clearly  and unambiguously,   to   their party members and supporters, that electoral violence is completely  unacceptable in today's Ghana.


Nothing must done to ruin  Ghana's international reputation as a peaceful and stable democracy in Africa.
It is that intangible and priceless asset that gives investors the confidence to  invest in our national economy.


There can  therefore be no justification for the sort of violence that    we witnessed  during the recent biometric voter-registration exercise, being repeated on polling day,  and its immediate aftermath.

The security agencies have an obligation to act swiftly to impose order, should there be a breakdown in law and order as a result of disputed elections.


If political parties and their leadership fail to be responsible,  and are unable to reign in those of their supporters who are predisposed to violence, it would simply mean that they had abnegated their responsibilities as leaders -  and failed in their duty to protect and  ensure the well-being of Mother Ghana.


It would mean,  in practice,  that they and their parties  had  lost the moral right to offer themselves to lead our nation and its people. Under those circumstances, all patriotic Ghanaians expect the GAF to act swiftly to save our country from the consequences of the actions and inaction of such dangerous and irresponsible  politicians.


Tel: 027 745 3109.

Food For Thought For Ghanaweb's Cowardly Abusers

For the benefit of the owners and readers of www.ghanaweb.com, today I am reproducing an article culled from the online edition of the UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.


It is entitled "Toxic trolls should have no hiding place" and was written by the British Conservative MP for Corby,  Louise Mensch.


At a time when Ghanaians of goodwill need to unite to stop the tiny but vocal minority of tribal-supremacist individuals (found in  all the ten regions of our country, incidentally) from destroying our homeland Ghana, with their bigotry, it is unfortunate that such cowardly and uncouth individuals  have free rein to propagate their unspeakable abomination online,  via Ghanaweb.


Those of them who live outside the shores of  Ghana, might find themselves behind bars in the not too distant future, if they don't end their vile vituperation  online.   



Please read on:


"Wednesday 13 June 2012


Toxic trolls should have no hiding place


Social networks have a duty to identify internet bullies who cower behind anonymity.


My troll, Frank Zimmerman, was a repeat offender targeting women. I hope that the publicity surrounding the case will deter others⁠ Photo: Alamy


By Louise Mensch


8:09PM BST 12 Jun 2012


288 Comments


The conviction and sentencing of Frank Zimmerman, the 60-year-old man who threatened my children anonymously over the internet last summer, has aroused much comment. Mr Zimmerman, after having variously claimed that he was agoraphobic, too poor to eat (yet able to use a computer) and that his computer was hacked, was arrested when he failed to turn up for sentencing. He was finally given a suspended term with an extensive restraining order, barring him from contacting me and various other people in public life. If he breaches it, he will go to jail.


I thought the sentence fair. As a mother, it was terrifying to me when I received the email threat, referencing the film Sophie’s Choice in which a Jewish mother has to pick which of her children to send to the gas chambers. I have a Jewish surname, being married to a Jew. The threat was detailed, using photographs of the book and the logos of the hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec. Of course, the nature of the internet is that you don’t know who is behind the screen. Is it Zimmerman, with his filthy house and his record of targeting women online? Or is it some demented teenager with a gun? I arranged security via House of Commons and Northamptonshire police for my family, as at the time it was my ex-husband’s portion of the holidays with our children. But I felt helpless and attacked.


Over the course of the next couple of weeks Zimmerman escalated his campaign. He rang me: I knew it was him right away – the well-spoken, English voice, the menace – and hung up. He sent emails from various fake accounts, pretending to be a duke, a doctor, a student. He researched obscure material about my husband’s former address and even about my novelist sister.


Luckily, by this time I knew who it was. Terence Blacker of the Independent deserves much of the credit for catching Zimmerman, along with the police’s e-crimes unit. He recognised the use of the LulzSec logo and the sexually graphic abuse – abuse that had been heaped on him previously by Zimmerman, who had once been his next-door neighbour. Like me, at first he was concerned for his family, not knowing who was behind the threats.


In this case valuable police resources were wasted on a person who was not a physical threat. However, he was one who thought nothing of threatening sexual violence and death to various women and children, and researching families and relatives. Zimmerman, a typical troll, operated under the belief that if he hid behind an anonymous internet user name, nothing could happen to him.


Related Articles⁠⁠


Trolling abuse got worse for victim after Facebook case 11 Jun 2012


Facebook working to allow under-13s to use site 04 Jun 2012


Sex offenders have no right to Facebook 31 May 2012


Facebook crashes below $30 in 'worst IPO in a decade' 29 May 2012


Too often people have believed that the internet is a magical, protected space where nothing they do can be policed. They type threats on their keyboard that they would never utter in person. A rash of such cases has arisen in the past couple of years, and prosecutors are cracking down. In 2011 a 25 year-old, Sean Duffy, was jailed for posting obscene messages about teenagers who had committed suicide. On a memorial website to Natasha MacBryde, who had thrown herself under a train after being bullied, he posted a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine with Natasha’s face superimposed upon it, and called it “Tasha the Tank Engine”.


Nicola Brookes found herself the subject of relentless trolling after posting a comment about (of all things) Frankie Cocozza, a game-show contestant. Fake Facebook pages were set up in her name which, among other things, solicited girls as young as nine for sex. She sued. Online fans of the footballer Ched Evans, jailed for rape, outed his teenage victim on Twitter, posting slurs against her character – it is a crime to name a rape victim, and North Wales police have made 13 arrests so far.


Sexual abuse and bullying comments, mostly directed against women, are par for the course. The Olympic gold medallist swimmer Rebecca Adlington has said she will stay off Twitter after abusive comments were posted about her appearance; a 21 year-old was jailed for 56 days after making racist comments on the site about the footballer Fabrice Muamba.


The Government yesterday introduced new laws to encourage websites and internet service providers to surrender the identity of those posting abuse or libel. This is a good thing. While Muamba and other celebrities may have resources, mothers like Nicola Brookes do not. She should not have to sue Facebook for them to give police information relating to her abusers. My troll, Zimmerman, was a repeat offender targeting women. I hope that he uses the suspended sentence to get some therapy, and that the publicity surrounding the case will deter others.


Ultimately, the internet is just another form of communication; once that is accepted, including by service providers and social media, trolling will lessen. After all, not so long ago it was acceptable to drink and drive. As victims repeatedly fight back, we can hope to see a culture shift.


Louise Mensch is Conservative MP for Corby"


End of culled article from The Daily Telegraph.


One hopes, dear reader,  that those uncouth cowards who hide behind computer screens to insult others on www.ghanaweb.com will think twice before typing their ghastly words. A word to the wise...


Tel: 027 745 3109.

Will The NDC Survive Or Disintegrate Were It To Lose Power?

During the early period of the tenure of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills, I remember wondering aloud in astonishment,  in the Maamobi office of  a pro-Mills NDC member, and asking him in Twi: "Eii, enti power paa enaa yedi adi agro sei?"


It struck me as odd, then, that having finally won power again, a political party that had been in the wilderness for eight long years, was being so complacent once in office.


I was flabbergasted that the importance of dealing firmly  with the crooks of the Kufuor-era and focusing on securing funding for infrastructure projects from China,  appeared to be lost on those in power.


Today,  their failure to approach the Chinese earlier and their apparent reluctance to deal firmly,  and quickly,   with yesteryear's wrong-doers, has come to haunt them with a vengeance.


To cap their woes, they have already been served notice by the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) hardliners,  that  today's wrong-doers will definitely face the music, when their tenure ends in December and the NPP assumes power in January 2013.


Yet,  it could have all been so different - if this hard-of-hearing lot  had listened to disinterested advice,  offered for none but  patriotic and altruistic reasons, when they first came to power.


At a point,  exasperated with  their obduracy, some of us even repeated the warning we gave Kufuor & Co. at the height of the arrogance of that grasping lot: no condition is permanent.


As things stand, only a miracle can save the NDC from losing their parliamentary majority and the presidency in this  December's  polls. The question is, will the NDC disintegrate or be able to survive in the political wilderness, were  it to  lose the December parliamentary and presidential elections?


Tel: 027 745 3109

A Thousand Apologies Fidelity Bank!

I am writing to render an unqualified apology to Fidelity  Bank Ghana Limited - which I inadvertently mentioned in an article, published on www.ghanaweb.com's features web-page on the 4th of June 2012 - when in fact I was actually referring to Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited.


I am mortified that I have sullied Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited's hard-earned reputation so unfairly, and apologise unreservedly to it, once  again. There is no excuse for this aberration.


To make amends, I am reproducing the said article below -  this time referring correctly to Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited, the bank I had originally meant to mention in the said article, which is reproduced below today. Please read on:


"Ghana Is Slowly Being Ruined By An Elite-Rip-off-Culture - Underpinned By Unfathomable Greed


By Kofi Thompson


The phenomenon that is Martin Amidu, Ghana's former Attorney General, offers patriotic Ghanaians (of every imaginable  political hue), a tantalising view of what Ghana would be like, under a truly principled  and fearless anti-corruption-crusading president.


Thanks to Martin Amidu, the   outrageous,  nation-wrecking  Alchemist's-fool's-gold attempt,  by Zenith  Bank Ghana Limited,  to turn a toxic loan to  Balkan Energy into  a balance-sheet asset,  at Ghana's expense, is now public knowledge.


It will make it that much harder for the powerful crooks in the Mills administration, to allow  Ghana to be short-changed by Zenith Bank Ghana Limited and its roguish rip-off-merchant clients,  that sodden Balkan Energy.


Their nearly-successful  behind-the-scenes sleight-of-hand manoeuvre,  using an  unpatriotic National Democratic Congress (NDC)  lobbyist, to try and get the government of Ghana to agree to an out of court settlement,  of an attempted  rip-off of Mother Ghana (of gargantuan proportions)  by Balkan Energy - in which the government  had an "iron-clad case" (to quote Martin Amidu) - will now almost certainly fail.


And it is thanks to the brave and principled  Martin Amidu. (God bless him - and protect him from his enemies.)


That is how things ought to be in our country - which is slowly being ruined by an elite-rip-off culture:  underpinned by unfathomable greed.


And that is   why we must all join Martin Amidu's anti-corruption crusade.


Alas, it is pretty obvious,   reading between the lines in his press releases,  that he is being put under tremendous pressure,  to keep quiet, by senior Establishment figures whom he obviously respects. Heaven help our country."


End of the aforementioned article in which I unfairly maligned Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited - when in fact I was referring to Zenith Bank Ghana Limited.


That, dear reader was what I had originally intended to write - and once again apologise unreservedly to Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited for  the harm done to their hard-earned reputation so unfairly -  when all along I had actually meant to mention Zenith Bank Ghana Limited. A thousand apologies Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited, once again.


Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com

Saturday 9 June 2012

Can A Government Of National Unity Emerge After The December Presidential Election?

One cannot help but be saddened, when one looks at television news footage,  and sees the obvious suffering of one's fellow humans,  in conflict zones in African nations such as Somalia;  Eastern DR Congo; Darfur;  and the area along the border between Sudan and the Republic of Southern Sudan.


I am equally sure that there are  millions of ordinary Ghanaians,  who also empathise with the victims of African conflicts - and who doubtless are apprehensive about what lies in store for Ghana, on polling day 7th December 2012,  and its immediate aftermath.


If the December elections are violence-free and peaceful nationwide,
It will redound to the benefit of Ghana and all its citizens  - as it will confirm to the world that Ghana is indeed a truly peaceful and stable multi-party democracy:  and a beacon of hope in Africa, worth partnering.


The question is, will the extremists in the two biggest political parties in Ghana, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the biggest of the opposition parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), be reined in by their more level-headed colleagues?


The ordinary people of Ghana are hoping against hope,  that the men of violence will be held in check, at a time of great danger for the enterprise Ghana.


If those myrmidon-types  are successfully held in check, it  will save our homeland Ghana from the trauma that fellow Africans in the continent's conflict zones  experience,  when their lives are turned upside down, as a result of the belligerence and lust for power,  of ruthless and selfish politicians.


It will be a true mark of statesmanship, were  the losing candidate in the December presidential election  to broadcast a message to the nation,  asking   members of his party to accept the verdict of the people of Ghana - and call for
national unity at a critical juncture in Ghana's history:   so that  the people of Ghana  can  face the future  together as a united  people,  sharing a common destiny.


If the losing candidate in the December presidential election were to also then go on to pledge his -  and his party's -  support for the winning candidate and his administration, in the supreme interest of Mother Ghana, that will earn him the gratitude of the whole nation, as well as the respect and admiration of all Ghanaians.


One hopes that whoever ends up losing the presidential election will rise to the occasion on the day - and by his words and actions,   book a place in the Pantheon of great Ghanaians:  for  saving our nation from  possible catastrophe,  in  preventing post-election violence by  disappointed supporters of his party.


Perhaps,  in return,  the winner of the presidential election will reward such statesmanship, by announcing his intention to form a government of national unity - and by so doing, unite all Ghanaians behind the new administration formed by his party. A word to the wise...


Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

If Ghana Is To Be Become Prosperous Ghanaian Politicians Must End Their Negativity

If,   as a people,  we are to move ahead,   and at the same time spread the benefits of economic growth   amongst a larger proportion of Ghana's total population, the extremists amongst our  political class will have to put aside the "let-us-lay-waste-to-the-
nation"  mentality, which, when in opposition,  makes them work hard  at sabotaging the nation-building efforts of the  party in power.


For example, from day one,  on the 7th of January 2009, when the Mills regime was sworn into office, that negative attitude has been on display by hardliners in the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) - who  have  gone to great length to discredit  the current National Democratic Congress (NDC)  and, if their  harshest critics are to be believed, sabotage the NDC's nation-building agenda,  through   public-sector proxies who still remain  loyal to the NPP.


The conspiracy theorists in our midst point to the disgraceful power outage episode,  a few days ago,  at the Baba Yara stadium in Ghana's second city, Kumasi, as a classic  example of such sabotage-by-remote-control.


No doubt we will eventually  see whether that is confirmed by any committee of  enquiry's findings.


Readers will recall that the floodlights failed  and left the pitch  enveloped in darkness  for over an hour, during the World Cup qualifying match between Ghana and Lesotho, a few days ago.


Some of their  harshest critics point to that embarrassing episode   as an example of the sabotage-by-proxy strategy, adopted by extremists in the NPP.


As is common knowledge in Ghana, hardliners in the NDC pretty much did the same thing,  when their party  too was in the political wilderness,  from January 2001 to January 2009. Such tactics will only  set the hands of the  metaphorical clock of progress back in Ghana.


If such politicians (from across the spectrum)  were more responsible and patriotic, instead of such negativity, would they not rather focus  on making ordinary people more aware, for example, of the lunacy, at a time of austerity at home,  and in most of our trading partners,   of continuing  to  spend as much as Ghc60 millions to subsidise  fuel?


As someone pointed it out to me, it is an insane  policy that  fuel smugglers - who illegally transport  fuel from Ghana to sell  across our borders -  benefit the most  from. How can that be of any benefit to   the national economy?


At a time of global climate change, and in an age of austerity, is it not prudent for Ghanaians  to become more conscious of the need to use fuel, electricity and water more sparingly and efficiently?


Surely,   having to pay the true cost of such items, will    make  all of us concious of the need to be more careful  in their usage?


Would the Ghc60 millions spent monthly by the government to subsidise  petroleum products,   not be better value for our nation, if it was spent  instead on an initiative to provide well-designed and well-built  affordable housing,  for low and  middle income families nationwide, I ask?


And would embarking on such a housing initiative not    boost the construction sector's contribution to Ghana's GDP -  and create more jobs for artisans amongst  Ghana's teeming unemployed youth, I ask?


So why is there no advocacy by political parties for  a national consensus on ending fuel subsidies - and focusing instead on using less fuel as a nation by,  amongst other strategies,   encouraging the importation and use of   hybrids  and more fuel efficient vehicles, as well as  LPG gas-powered vehicles?


Would it also not  be refreshing, dear reader,  to  hear our nation's politicians urging Ghanaians, for example,  to embrace  ideas that will make our country more competitive than our neighbours -  such as abolishing personal income tax and   making this the nation with the lowest corporate tax rate in Africa?


And why not resource it,  and ask the Ghana Navy, for example,  to operate  hovercraft on the Volta Lake - so that  whiles making lake transportation safer, it would, at the same time,  generate funds to help the navy improve the lot of our gallant sailors?


Instead of continuing to be a source of corrupt practices that enrich  crooked businesspeople and corrupt customs officials, if our ports were made free zones, would that not make them the leading ports along the West African coastline, and generate  more income for our nation in the long-term, I ask?


And rather than  continuing to export cocoa beans, why not earn more for Ghanaian cocoa farmers,  and our nation, by attracting Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian and other Asian as well as North American and European   chocolate companies,  to manufacture chocolates here  for their home markets, as fair-trade confectionery?


Instead of devoting their energies to endless propaganda and exchanging  personal insults, it is time  members of Ghana's political class (across the spectrum) focused on what will raise the living standards and  improve the quality of life of ordinary Ghanaians  - whether they are in power or in opposition.


If we are to become a more prosperous society, our politicians need to  end their negativity -  and think more positively.  A word to the wise...


Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

Ghana Is Slowly Being Ruined By An Elite-Rip-off-Culture - Underpinned By Unfathomable Greed

The phenomenon that is Martin Amidu, Ghana's former Attorney General, offers patriotic Ghanaians (of every imaginable  political hue), a tantalising view of what Ghana would be like, under a truly principled  and fearless anti-corruption-crusading president.



Thanks to Martin Amidu, the   outrageous,  nation-wrecking  Alchemist's-fool's-gold attempt,  by Zenith  Bank Ghana Limited,  to turn a toxic loan to  Balkan Energy into  a balance-sheet asset,  at Ghana's expense, is now public knowledge.



It will make it that much harder for the powerful crooks in the Mills administration, to allow  Ghana to be short-changed by Zenith  Bank Ghana Limited and its roguish rip-off-merchant clients,  that sodden Balkan Energy.



Their nearly-successful  behind-the-scenes sleight-of-hand manoeuvre,  using an  unpatriotic National Democratic Congress (NDC)  lobbyist, to try and get the government of Ghana to agree to an out of court settlement,  of an attempted  rip-off of Mother Ghana (of gargantuan proportions)  by Balkan Energy - in which the government  had an "iron-clad case" (to quote Martin Amidu) - will now almost certainly fail.




And it is thanks to the brave and principled  Martin Amidu. (God bless him - and protect him from his enemies.)



That is how things ought to be in our country - which is slowly being ruined by an elite-rip-off culture:  underpinned by unfathomable greed.



And that is   why we must all join Martin Amidu's anti-corruption crusade.



Alas, it is pretty obvious,   reading between the lines in his press releases,  that he is being put under tremendous pressure,  to keep quiet, by senior Establishment figures whom he obviously respects. Heaven help our country.



Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 23 27 745 3109.

Why Nana Akufo-Addo & The NPP Do Not Yet Deserve To Come To Power Again

Now that Martin Amidu has raised the honest-stewardship bar for Ghanaian politicians,  in  protecting the national interest at all material times,  and being non-partisan in fighting corruption, we must not allow any group of  politicians to ride to power, merely on the  back of a tide of public disenchantment with a serving regime -  without them showing and proving beyond all  reasonable doubt,  that indeed they do truly  merit the people's mandate. Otherwise, why change?

Yes, there has been a great deal of disenchantment with President Mills' leadership style, and speculation that he is not in charge of his own regime.

Indeed, many are those who believe that  some of the people around the president are arrogating powers to themselves that are ultra vires and unconstitutional.

As an example, one needs look no further,  than the most recent example - the   weasel words of Kokou Anyidoho's confession that President Mills had nothing to do with the  public 'dismissal' of the Ashanti regional director of the Electricity Company of Ghana.

 The fact that that serial-bungler is  still at post, despite this being the umpteenth PR debacle he has been involved in, speaks volumes about Mills' leadership style.

And it  settles that particular  matter finally - so we can all  say with a degree of confidence that President Mills is not really in charge of his own regime, in that sense. That is why the people whose PR genius unfairly destroyed his hard-working regime's image in the eyes of ordinary Ghanaians, still cling to their cushy sinecures at the Osu Castle. Pity.

In the same vein, if anyone doubted the total unsuitability of a still un-reformed and unrepentant New Patriotic Party  (NPP),  being allowed to return to power again, they must look no further than  the NPP's leading-lights' responses to the various acts of omission and commission,  committed by errant members of the Mills administration.

However much  we may be disenchanted with Mills' NDC regime,  it does not follow,  a priori, that we are going to welcome a return of yet another NPP regime with open arms. Those knee-jerk musical-chairs-style regime-change days are gone for good - thank goodness.

There are many  questions that those   sections of  the Ghanaian media, which  are underpinned by ethical journalism,   and take their watchdog role in Ghanaian society seriously,  ought to be asking  and demanding answers to, from Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP.

Such close scrutiny will  ensure that the corruption we saw during the Kufuor-era does not return with the advent of any  new NPP regime led by Nana Akufo-Addo.

Ghana cannot afford another bout of -  in the words of  one of  its sternest,  independent-minded and patriotic critics I know  - "the  milking  dry of Ghana,  in yet another golden age of business,  for that mostly-greedy, ruthless  and selfish lot". Ouch.

What, for example,  will  Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP do,   about the leading cause of high-level  corruption in Ghana - the continual refusal of  our political class,  to accept  that publicly publishing the assets of the president and those he appoints to his government, as well as their spouses - immediately before assuming office, and immediately after their tenure -  is a convention that must quickly be established in our nation's politics, if the fight against high-level corruption is to succeed?

Clearly, the deafening silence from  Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP on this matter,  can only mean that they are accepting of  the totally unacceptable status quo.

That, clearly,  is not a very good sign,  in an oil-rich Ghana  - from a political party with  a murky honest-stewardship past, and at the doorstep of which those inimical oil production agreements Ghana entered into,  much to its detriment, can squarely be laid.

As I have always said, President Kufuor is the greediest,  most dishonest and corrupt individual ever elected to rule Ghana,  thus far, since the overthrow of President Nkrumah in February 1966.

(Incidentally, I am still waiting for Mr. Kufuor  to sue me for regularly  saying that about  him - whereupon he will  promptly  realise that his brilliant friend Kweku Baako,   is not the only journalist in Ghana,  who possesses   secret and highly sensitive documents, as well as  digital forms of incontrovertible evidence,  proving those damning assertions. But I digress.)

Amidst the public outrage about the sale of state lands to politicians and their cronies, under the so-called Accra Re-Development Plan, there has neither been a whimper of  condemnation of that iniquitous self-serving policy initiative, nor  an emphatic declaration of ending the  immorality of what is merely a convenient legal-cloak designed to hide the redistribution of  what belongs to all Ghanaians,  to a well-connected,  powerful and greedy few.

With Jake Obestebi-Lamptey as its chairperson, and President Kufuor as its Godfather, perhaps it will be business as usual on that front too, one wonders?

Alas, dear reader,  clearly,  there is also  nothing thus far, in their  many campaign rally speeches  and endless press conferences, to  indicate that there will not be a repetition of the   incidence of fraud and immorality,  seen during the golden age of business  for the perfidious Kufuor & Co.

The question then is, why has anyone not  yet heard a direct assurance from  either Nana Akufo-Addo  or those silver-tongued dissemblers known collectively as the "NPP Communications Team", that the outrageous Kufuor-era unspeakable frauds  committed against Ghanaians, will not be repeated when they return to power? Just saying Woyomegate will not occur in an NPP regime, is not enough.

An egregious example of those aforementioned frauds, was  the railroading through Parliament - under the present Minority Leader in Parliament, the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bosu's active  leadership -  of the   sale and purchase agreement for  the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO).

That purported sale of VALCO,  was   to a   so-called International Aluminium Partners (IAP),  a non-existent entity,  said to be a joint-venture partnership between VALE of Brazil and Norske-Hydro of Norway -  both of whom yet strenuously denied ever agreeing to purchase VALCO.

 And we are told that vital documents said to be missing,   were last  known to have been in the possession of the late Hon. Baah-Wiredu -  pure slander against an honest man now deceased and unable to defend his honour. Amazing.

The question is, how do we know that such wheezes will not be repeated in an NPP regime,  under Nana Akufo-Addo's leadership - a gentleman whose gargantuan family tree is crowned by a tribal Chieftain and  branch members  a zillion times more sophisticated than that of President Kufuor's? Heaven help us.

In all their many references to the activities of the powerful crooks,  who lurk in the shadows in the corridors of power,  in the Mills administration,  we are  yet to hear what guarantees, if any, Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP are prepared to give  Ghanaians that similar crimes,  such as high-level insider-dealing and the exploitation of  insider-information for private gain,   will not occur  in an NPP regime under Nana Akufo-Addo,  too.

There has also been a great deal of noise about the so-called "social interventions" initiated by the Kufuor regime - most  of which did not have a sustainable funding source. But they were launched nonetheless to court cheap popularity for his regime.

That is not the sort of 'achievement' likely to impress discerning minds today, is it? The curing of  that   crippling budgetary  equivalent of a viral  illness,  by the Mills regime,  one ought to note, is nothing short of  miraculous.

Yet, instead of acknowledging the hard work involved in  resuscitating  the national economy that  Kufuor & Co. had brought to its knees,  by the end of their regime's tenure, Dr. Bawumia -  apparently the NPP's last-word in economics -   has chosen to bury  his head in the sand,    and more or less implies,   as he goes around the country in Nana Akufo-Addo's company, that  nothing much has been done  thus far,  in the economic sphere,  by the present government. Incredible.

Is that a  sign of sincere and responsible leadership - something that  Ghana desperately needs today,  in an age of austerity?

Given the obvious lack of a clear sustainable source of funding for Nana Akufo-Addo's free high school educational policy, and the astonishing   and brazen decision to fund "Zongo development"  from the consolidated fund (imagine that - how reckless and irresponsible can one get, I ask, dear reader?), how are we to know that a developmental strategy, which is the  economic equivalent of starting to build a house with no income and only a fraction of its cost saved up - and hoping that the building will somehow be completed on a wing-and-a-prayer basis -  will not also become  a regular feature   of  a Nana Akufo-Addo administration?

What are we also to conclude then, when instead of calling for a reform of the outrageous,  pigs-snouts-in-the-trough compensation packages, which are  paid to members of the boards of state-owned entities, for example, Nana Akufo-Addo seems to favour a business-as-usual approach?

Nana Akufo-Addo  merely signals instead that he will use that area of our national life  that desperately needs reforming as a form of  pork-barrel political leverage,  to keep those delegates who elected him to be his party's candidate for the presidential election in check, and prevent them from rocking the boat (presumably before and after the December elections)  - by reminding  them that there are many posts and appointments to public-sector entity  boards, within the gift of a serving president.

No sign there of any  reform agenda  too,  alas, dear reader, is there? Well, if it is  going to be business as usual there too, then  why should we allow members of what many independent-minded and patriotic Ghanaians say was the most corrupt regime ever elected to rule Ghana,  since independence, to be returned to power again,  after the December polls, I ask?

Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP need to  do better than they have done to date, to convince those in Ghana who can think, and also always take into account the words,  deeds and misdeeds of politicians. To be credible, they must    assure  and convince such Ghanaians that they will carry out a root-and-branch  reform,  of a corrupt and cancerous system. And roll out a detailed plan for same too. Nothing short will do.

That is the only way to proceed,  if they want to win over the sceptical and discerning Ghanaians,  whose   independent-mindedness and sense of   patriotism underpins their   passionate love for  Mother Ghana  - the floating-voters whose crucial swing-votes now decide who becomes Ghana's president.

President Mills and Vice-President Mahama might have failed us as leaders - but that should not mean that Ghanaians must automatically hand power to the NPP,  on a silver platter. That  no longer  makes  sense in the oil-rich Ghana of today.

As things currently stand,  virtually nothing Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP  have said or done thus far, assures   independent-minded patriots in our country,  that the NPP is  deserving of being returned to power again to rule  Ghana.

The good people of Ghana must not be beguiled by the sugar-coated words  they hear from them, during  stops made in their localities,  by  the NPP's leaders' in their   "restore hope" campaign trips across Ghana. A word to the wise...

Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.