DO SOME OF GHANA’S PARLIAMENTARIANS NEED TO BE MORE HONOURABLE?

In a nation in which a majority of the male population is made up of philanderers, it is little wonder that misogyny is alive and well in Ghana. How else, dear reader, can one explain the astonishing news Ghanaians woke up to, one morning, not too long ago – when they learnt that the lady partner of a member of Ghana’s Parliament, who had gone to the police to lodge a complaint against him for repeatedly raping her at gun-point, had somehow ended up being charged by the police for deceiving a police officer? This was apparently shortly after the gentleman she had accused of raping her, appeared at the police station where she had gone to lodge the complaint against him. It was later reported that some members of parliament had “intervened” in the matter. The long and short of it is that yet another of Ghana’s many “big” men has been able to escape being prosecuted for rape – yet our prisons are full of ordinary men who are serving long jail sentences for rape. It appears that important personages in our democracy are above the law in certain circumstances. Whatever happened to the rule of law, one wonders?



This lack of principle amongst some of the members of our political class is one of the reasons why truth has more or less disappeared from our public life. An example is the outrageous way the murder of a father and husband who also happened to be the traditional ruler of the Dagomba people of Northern Ghana, is callously being treated as political football, by politicians in Ghana. How can any decent human being insist, for example, that those responsible for the gruesome murder of a fellow human being, somehow ought to escape being prosecuted for his murder: because he was killed during a “war” between Dogambas who belong to the same family tree – and top that outrage by going ahead to call a press conference to condemn the arrest and arraignment before the law courts, of a number of individuals suspected of being his killers? Surely, the time has come for those members of Ghana’s Parliament, who are wont to seize every opportunity that comes their way to score political points, to stop being so cynical? Do they not realize that it is losing them the respect of decent and independent-minded Ghanaians – who want our political class to be honourable individuals: not cunning hypocrites who will stop at nothing in their quest for power? The time has come for those members of Ghana’s Parliament, whose actions are so dishonourable at times, to be more honourable in what they say and do – if they want to retain the respect of discerning Ghanaians. A word to the wise…



Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.

OIL: INSTEAD OF HEDGING, NEGOTIATE WITH VENEZUELA FOR CHEAP OIL!

The geniuses asking the government to use hedging to insure Ghana against high future oil prices are asking for trouble for our country – and the government should ignore their dangerous advice. Perhaps it would have made sense to do so when the price of oil went as low as a little under US$ 40 per barrel. As it is doubtful if oil will ever go below US$ 30 per barrel, the downside of such a policy will not be so disastrous, at that price. Apart from China, India and Brazil, which of the leading economies is experiencing anything like the high growth rate figures we saw during the boom years before the global financial meltdown occurred? Zilch. As we all know, consumer spending in almost all the major Western economies and Japan is still pretty weak – so where will the demand for oil come from to push up oil prices to the highs we saw when it passed the US$ 100 mark, I ask, dear reader?


Why do we not negotiate with Venezuela instead – and get her to agree that Ghana will be supplied with oil from Venezuela at special prices: should oil prices reach levels that we cannot afford? Will that not be far better than hedging – which will only benefit the fat cats from our financial services sector? Are they not the same bloodsuckers who profited mightily from the Kufuor regime’s daft forays into the piranha-infested waters of the capital markets of the West (when they were piling up debt like there was no tomorrow!) – so why give them yet another opportunity to make huge profits at our expense? Did our politicians not learn anything from the troubles Ashanti Goldfields had – when it was brought to its knees by hedging? They are welcome to gamble with their own personal fortunes – but they must not endanger our nation’s financial well-being by using hedging as an insurance policy against high future oil prices. Talking to Venezuela with that aim in mind is a far better proposition than the lunacy of hedging. A word to the wise…




Tel(powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone smartfone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.

An Open Letter To Ghana's National Security Coordinator

Sir, I shall go straight to the point. Whiles being interviewed on Radio Gold FM not too long ago, you said you had your “eyes on the prize.” Given the context within which you made that statement, one presumes that you meant that you are focused on what will get the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills re-elected, in December 2012.

As a gentleman with a distinguished military background, I am sure you do not need an ignoramus and an old fool from Civvy Street like me, to tell you how to achieve that objective. More so, when like the New Patriotic Party (NPP), your NDC party too can rely on its share of Ghana’s teeming “My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong” myrmidon-types –– who support political parties blindly: because so many of them are incapable of independent-thought.

However, at the risk of sounding presumptuous (and perhaps raising your ire!), may I humbly point it out to you that the outcome of the December 2012 presidential election, will hinge, once again, on the way a relatively small number of independent-minded Ghanaians decide to vote?

The real kingmakers in that election, will be the seventy-thousand or so fair-minded Ghanaians whose crucial votes were cast in favour of the then candidate Mills – and won him the presidency in December 2008. 

Alas, Sir, if those selfsame decent-minded and patriotic individuals were to gain the unfortunate impression, however, that the brutality, impunity, and abuse of power, associated with much of the Rawlings era, are resurfacing again in our national life, then even if the regime of which you are such an important member, succeeds in turning Ghana into Africa’s most prosperous nation by the end of its tenure, they will still vote it out of power in 2012.

Please, always bear in mind that discerning Ghanaians prefer living under the rule of law to being trampled on under the jackboots of lawless and tyrannical mobs. 

Consequently, you and your team must take the necessary steps, to ensure that those orchestrating the acts of lawlessness being carried out across the country; end their perfidy – before they do permanent damage to your regime. Whatever happened to discipline, I ask, Sir?

Or, more to the point, perhaps the question we must ask is: Do the so-called “foot soldiers” of political parties not know the meaning of personal sacrifice in the national interest – particularly at times of extreme difficulty for Mother Ghana? Sir, if it is any consolation to you, there is one simple thing, which if done, can guarantee the re-election of President Mills’ regime – even it does not succeed in turning Ghana into paradise by the end of its tenure in December 2012.

If you can persuade President Mills and all his appointees (from the president himself down to the very last district chief executive!) to make public the assets they declared to the Auditor-General, it will put clear blue water between the present NDC regime and that of the regime of the profligate President Kufuor.

It will be a clear signal to Ghanaians that unlike all the past administrations of the 4^th Republic thus far, members of President Mills’ administration did not come to power to line their pockets at Ghana’s expense. It is still not too late for the president to make such a bold move.

The added bonus is that were that to happen, it will permanently silence yesteryear’s silver-tongued white-collar criminals within the NPP (those past masters of the nation-wrecking art and science of creative-accounting – which made it possible for them to milk our country dry whiles they were in power!).

They are the same cynics who are funding and directing the “enkoyie” propaganda war being waged against the honest and principled President Mills. Their aim is to create disaffection in the minds of Ghanaians against the Mills administration – in the hope that it will result in the NPP returning to power 2012: thus enabling them to hold on to their ill-gotten wealth. 

Do not let them succeed in their aim, Sir: persuade President Mills and the members of his regime to publicly publish their assets. It may not be a constitutional requirement – but there is nothing in the constitution that prevents them from doing so either. 

The president will be on the right side of history if that were done – and posterity will commend him for establishing such a good governance convention: as his contribution to the fight against the insidious corruption that is slowly destroying our democracy.

WHEN WILL GHANA’S POLITICAL ELITE CEASE THEIR NEGATIVITY?

No educated and sincere Ghanaian who has any real knowledge of economics can fail to acknowledge the undoubted skill with which the government’s economic management team, has succeeded in stabilizing the Ghanaian economy, up to this juncture, in the tenure of President Mills’ National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime. Perhaps one can be charitable and forgive the mostly-clueless individuals (the so-called “serial callers”) who daily phone-in to contribute to interactive current affairs radio programmes on Ghana’s over one hundred and twenty FM radio stations: giving opinions that in effect amount to self-serving and one-sided contributions to their own political party’s propaganda war effort.

Luckily for Mother Ghana, however, dear reader, even little primary school children across our nation realize that in a debt-ridden economy, throughout which resources from the productive sectors have to be marshaled to service a mountain of debt, fiscal discipline (and its attendant initial period of enforced austerity!) is a sine qua non for a prosperous tomorrow. They understand perfectly that things have, of necessity, to worsen before they can get better. They are also aware that even relatively better off nations such as: the US; the UK; France; Italy; Spain; Portugal; Iceland; Greece, etc., etc., are all experiencing economic difficulties that have resulted in their governments’ becoming deeply unpopular with their citizenry.

That is why it is a tad baffling for many of Ghana’s independent-minded and discerning citizens (the seventy thousand or so swing-voters whose crucial votes determined the outcome of the run-off of the December 2008 presidential election – and will make a similar difference in the December 2012 elections too!) that the politicians who sit on the minority benches in Parliament (as well as the Rawlings wing of the NDC, incidentally) take the rather jaundiced view that tackling the budget deficit in the debt-ridden economy, which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) handed over to the NDC regime of President Mills, and putting in place the building-blocks for sustained growth, going forward, amounts to a failed economic policy of an incompetent and laggardly regime. Do they not even understand the true significance of the payment by the government, only a few days ago, of a substantial part of the gargantuan debt owed by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), to Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), one wonders, dear reader?

Perhaps the question we must ask the doubting Thomases within our political class, is: Can one describe as incompetent, a government that inherits an economic legacy amounting to a poisoned chalice, which does the following at the initial stages of its four-year tenure: puts in place policies that will ensure plentiful harvests of traditional staples, as well as an increase in local production of rice; succeeds in reducing the budget deficit, whiles at the same time paying outstanding sums owed by the state to local contractors who executed government projects during the NPP era, but were never paid by that most profligate of regimes; and on top all of that, dear reader, successfully lowering inflation and putting our nation on a path of sustained growth, going forward into the future?

Well, the cynics amongst our political class must realize that Ghana’s patriotic swing- voters are watching their mischievous activities across our nation, and listening to their one-sided pronouncements on national issues – and will decide how to cast their votes in the December 2012 election, accordingly. Ghana’s power-hungry and self-seeking politicians may count on the loyalty of the millions of the “My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong” myrmidon-types (the so-called “foot-soldiers” who do not know the meaning of personal sacrifice in the national interest!) whose blinkered support of our political parties is gradually destroying them – but let them always remember that there are thinking Ghanaians who will actually determine who rules Ghana, at the end of the day. Let them end their endless negativity – and say and do things that will bring our country together and help move it forward for our common good.

They must not think for a moment that Ghanaians are a gullible people who are easily fooled. Discerning Ghanaians (as opposed to the zillions of the “My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong” party fanatics – most of whom are too thick to think for themselves, sadly for Mother Ghana!) are aware that they are micro-managing their nation-wrecking political strategy of “sabotage-by-remote-control”: fine-tuning it on a daily basis, in close collaboration with the mercenaries in the Ghanaian media, whose consciences they bought whiles in power (and continue paying for by installments with their ill-gotten wealth!). We are also aware that they are all working in tandem with their well-placed fellow rapists (guilty to a man, of taking part in the gang-rape of Mother Ghana, during the NPP era!) in the upper echelons of the public sector agencies, to wreck the better Ghana agenda of President Mills: in the hope of returning to power again in 2012 – to enable them “chop Ghana small” again. Well, they will all realize in 2012 that they were on the wrong side of history. Let them redeem themselves now by ending their endless carping and negativity – if they want to be on the right side of history, that is. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.

GHANA’S TRADITIONAL RULERS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT YESTERDAY’S BATTLES TODAY!

Having bequeathed an economic legacy amounting to a poisoned chalice to his successor, it appears that we are experiencing yet some more negative fallout from President Kufuor’s divisive presidency. Throughout his tenure, our former president worked tirelessly to give the world the unfortunate impression that somehow his tribal Chief was the de facto sovereign of a nation within the Ghanaian nation-state.  

 In furtherance of that destabilizing agenda, the entire machinery of state was mobilized, to promote that absurd legal-fantasy of the former president’s tribal Chiefs. Thus emboldened, many of them conveniently forgot the fact that Ghana happens to be a unitary republic and a nation of diverse-ethnicity – in which all the nation’s ethnic groups have an equal stake.

Sadly, unfathomable greed made many of them strike an unholy alliance with Kufuor & Co in the eight years that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) held power for – and together, they exploited our national economy for their own benefit: with a degree of ruthlessness seldom seen in Ghana’s chequered history, thus far. 

Now that they no longer call the shots in the affairs of our country, it appears that some of them are prepared to hold our newly-elected leaders to ransom – and have chosen their moment in a matter full of the most egregious of falsehoods: which is now being deliberately used by them as a trial of strength, to see what they can get away with and precisely how far they can go in confrontations with the incumbent president.

 That outrage must not be allowed to succeed – and all the parties involved in both outstanding matters in the Tuabodom case must be tried in the law courts in Sunyani.

The outstanding matter from the NPP era involving the Tuabodom Chief, and the matter that took him to Manhyia recently, must both be heard in the law courts without any interference whatsoever from outside parties. Perhaps some Chiefs might have been able to get Regional Police Commanders and Regional Ministers removed from their positions in the past – but they must never be allowed to do so under this regime too. Period.

With respect, our elected leaders must not allow traditional rulers in Ghana to destabilize our country under any circumstances. Chiefs in our country must be made to understand clearly that the Ghanaian nation-state is a Leviathan with the power of life and death over all who reside within its borders – and that those who defy its laws do so at the pain of imprisonment or death.

Should a Chief boldly informing the world through the media that he will kidnap a fellow Chief – if his unreasonable demands are not met by the government in power – not be charged with making unlawful demands likely to cause fear and panic in the general public, dear reader?

The fact of the matter is that Chiefs in Ghana owe their exalted positions in Ghanaian society solely to the fact that they are the lucky beneficiaries of inherited privilege – in a nation aspiring to be a meritocracy: And as even little primary school children in Ghana are aware, inherited privilege is the biggest enemy of meritocracy.

Over the years, we have seen savage tribal conflicts erupting across Africa from time to time – in which millions of our fellow Africans have been permanently maimed and others killed. Our elected leaders must not allow Chiefs, who were not elected to their elevated positions in society by ordinary people, to throw Ghana into chaos under any circumstances – and attempt to hold our elected leaders to ransom on top of that too.

In case it escapes some of our Chiefs, let us remind them that were those of their pre-colonial predecessors from our feudal past, whose battlefield acts of savagery won them such renown in the slave-raiding days, to repeat those abominable acts of cruelty today, they would be candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

What is the difference between those callous historical figures that some of our Chiefs are so proud of, and present-day monsters like the Joseph Koneys of Ugandan infamy, I ask, dear reader?

This is the 21^st century ICT age, not the dark days of our feudal past. Chiefs in Ghana must not think that just because our nation is a society full of moral cowards who are afraid to criticize important personages who act recklessly and foolishly, it means that no one will dare criticize them when the cohesion and the stability of the enterprise Ghana is at stake. Enough is enough.

Not all Ghanaians are like those spineless and sycophantic individuals (with a serf-mentality!) who daily fan the egos of the megalomaniacs and tribal-supremacists who live and work in Chiefs’ palaces across our country (in all the ten regions of Ghana!).

Ghana’s independent-minded and de-tribalized citizens are thoroughly fed up with the absurd antics of Chiefs in our homeland Ghana. If we must tolerate them for cultural reasons, why on earth do we not simply then decide that henceforth, we will assume that all Ghanaians are “royals” – and proceed to change the position of president into that of an elected “monarch” of Ghana (Ghana Omanpanin or Ghana Omanobaapanin), in our constitution?

Would that not put all those tiresome megalomaniacs, who think that their birthright is to rule Nkrumah’s Ghana till the very end of time, in their proper place, finally, I ask, dear reader? Our elected leaders must understand that if we are to have peace in our country, they must always deal firmly with errant Chiefs who break the law, in our homeland Ghana. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

WHY GHANA’S ATTORNEY GENERAL CANNOT POSSIBLY PROSECUTE CORRUPT NPP MEMBERS QUICKLY!

The frustration felt by the ruling National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) hardliners, many of whom are disappointed that two years into their government’s tenure, the Attorney General has still not prosecuted any of the powerful crooks, who once dominated the Kufuor regime (and exploited our nation’s economy for their private benefit!), is obvious to all Ghanaians. In a sense, their frustration with the Attorney General, illustrates perfectly, their lack of appreciation of the fact that democracies, are by definition, ponderous systems of government – resulting from the many limitations the constitution places, at every turn, on the actions of those who hold power in our country today. The painful truth is that those who took part in the brutal gang-rape of Mother Ghana during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), are past masters of the art and science of the manipulation of the law – and will use their ill-gotten wealth to exploit every legal loophole there is, to ensure that they protect and hold on to the huge ill-gotten wealth that remains hidden in the many offshore entities they set up whiles in power. They will continue using legal proxies to enable them successfully hide their fortunes from prying eyes, till the law eventually catches up with them.

Clearly, it must be doubly irritating for the NDC’s hardliners that the powerful crooks from yesteryear are also using that self-same ill-gotten wealth to make sure that the many dishonest journalists, whose consciences they bought whiles in power, continue to remain firmly on-side – and willingly help them to successfully fool Ghanaians about the real nature of their illegal activities whiles in power. My humble advice to the hardliners in President Mills’ party, is to rather use their abundant energies to do some creative thinking – and get President Mills to set up a special fund: from which Ghanaians providing information that will lead to the unraveling of the many crooked deals from which the powerful crooks from yesteryear made their fortunes (and which will lead to their successful prosecution!), will be amply compensated.

They will find that it will bring a rush of individuals with valuable information from the woodwork – all looking for some easy money their greedy paymasters will now not give them as willingly as they used to do in the past. The painful truth, is that, sadly, under our present system, there is no way the Attorney General can rush to prosecute a gang of super-clever white-collar criminals, who have judges, whom when they thought no one was listening in to their little conspiracy to deny Ghanaians their vote during the December 2008 run-off for the presidential election, the Atta Akyeas and Malik Alhassan Yakubus referred to as the “right judges” (members of the judiciary who presumably can always be relied on by the NPP to make the right kind of judgments in their hour of need!) ”) still firmly on-side, without thorough investigations. Thorough investigations as we all know, dear reader, do actually take a fair bit of time – so let the NDC’s hardliners be a little bit more patient! A word to the wise….

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartphone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.

The NDC Must Return Sudan’s Cash Donation Immediately!

It is hard to fathom why a Ghanaian political party that says it is guided by social democratic principles, accepted a cash donation of a little over half a million US dollars from Sudan (one of the most despotic regimes in Africa today), to help it put up a permanent headquarters building. 

The question is: Are we to assume that the Mills regime is not aware of the fact that the regime of President Al Bashir treats its black African population as second-class citizens – and that millions of black Africans in that country have had their lives turned upside down in Darfur and in parts of Southern Sudan, under the cruelest of circumstances? 

Does the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) not know that mass-murder; brutal gang-rapes; unprecedented maiming of scores of innocent men, women, and children; are the abominable methods used by the regime of President Al Bashir to achieve its ethnic-cleansing agenda in Western Sudan? 

Are they not aware that the fence-mending exercise President Bashir’s regime is currently engaged in the areas of Sudan where its black African population is in the majority, is mere window-dressing by a cynical regime led by Africa’s equivalent of Adolf Hitler – to help it win the impending elections in Sudan?

The question we must ask, dear reader, is: Just who in the National Democratic Congress regime was the conduit for the cash donation from Sudan – and precisely what was the quid pro quo for the money?

The Mills regime must not associate our country with regimes in Africa which are despotic in nature – and where black Africans are treated as less than human in the continent of their birth. 

Does the government of Ghana not know that the members of the ruthless regime now in power in Sudan regard themselves as “Arabs” and superior beings – who ought to be allowed by the world to dominate Sudan’s black African population till the very end of time?

Has it not struck the NDC regime that if its own ministers had had the misfortune of being born in Southern Sudan or in Darfur, they would be treated as inferior beings by the evil rulers of Sudan, on account of their dark hues? 

 Let us be brutally frank, the Sudanese regime of the indicted war-criminal Al Bashir, is not the sort of regime a civilized nation like Ghana ought to be dealing with. Period. 

Why associate our nation with a reprehensible regime responsible for some of the most egregious human right abuses, committed anywhere on the surface of the planet Earth, I ask, dear reader?

 President Mills must ensure that the cash donation to his NDC party from the Sudanese regime is returned immediately – if he does not want his regime and his party to be forever associated with this odious and monstrous regime whenever the history of 21st century Africa is recounted by future generations of pan-Africanists. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!)+ 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

Is Press Freedom Really Under Attack In Ghana?

It is a real pity that the over-zealousness of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, which in the short space of a few hours, questioned; took a statement from; processed for court; and got him remanded in prison custody; succeeded in turning a self-confessed liar into a "free-speech-hero."

It is an outrage that an insensitive young man, whose foolish allegation that a loving father and husband who was nowhere near the scene of a fire, had deliberately set his own home, in which his wife and daughter were asleep, alight, has been embraced by those hypocritical politicians who occupy the minority benches in Parliament: on the basis that his arrest for the monstrous lie he told during a radio broadcast, meant that freedom of speech in Ghana was under threat.

What utter rubbish. What decent human being can fail to sympathize with even an enemy who had just experienced such a terrible tragedy, I ask, dear reader? That young man certainly deserves everything that is coming to him.

The real issue at stake, and what we all ought to be concerned about, is the unfortunate impression created by the unholy rush by the police, to have that silly young man prosecuted and remanded in prison custody.

It made many independent-minded Ghanaians (as opposed to the “My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong” myrmidon-types whose blind support of political parties is slowly destroying them!) feel that somehow they were acting with dispatch merely to please some influential individuals in society – when they should have been professional enough to demonstrate to the world that they are not mere tools of our ruling elite, but impartial enforcers of the law, and independent keepers of the peace: who had gone to a radio station to stop a mob from attacking it because a section of society felt affronted by the abominable statement it broadcast that a former president of Ghana had deliberately set fire to his own home.

Naturally, we must also condemn those brutish individuals who are wont to assemble at radio stations with (evil-intent), on such occasions.

There are some Ghanaians, including me, who loathe and despise former President Rawlings for continuing to insist that democracy is alien to Africa – when the yearning for freedom is no less strong in the hearts of ordinary Africans, than it is in the hearts of individuals from other races.

Yet, even I, and many who feel like I do about him, feel deeply for him and his family, for their terrible loss: and can empathize and share their plight on a purely human level.

What decent human being will play politics with the personal tragedy of a fellow human being? The real threat to press freedom in Ghana is the illegal use of zillions of cedis of taxpayers’ money by dishonest and crooked politicians to corrupt journalists and compromise the independence of media houses in Ghana, to stop them from playing their watchdog role in society, as the fourth arm of government.

That is what we ought to be outraged by. That, and the hypocrisy of the politicians who sit on the minority benches in Parliament – who put themselves beyond the pale in embracing a self-confessed liar: callous and insensitive to the extent that he was even prepared to falsely accuse a man who had just suffered a personal tragedy, when his family’s home was burnt completely in a terrible fire, of deliberately setting his own home alight.

Perhaps they can justifiably condemn the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, for their over-zealousness and lack of professional judgment (in the way they rushed that foolish young man to court with such indecent haste, without thinking of its political repercussions) – but they must never give anyone the impression that the Mills regime in any way represents a threat to freedom of expression in Ghana.

The bald truth is that neither freedom of expression nor press freedom is under threat in the Ghana of today. Period. Those who are on the minority’s side in Parliament ought to end their unjustifiable boycott of the proceedings of the house immediately, and go back to do what ordinary Ghanaians pay them so handsomely to do: represent them in the legislature. A word to the wise…

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

President Mills Must Scrap The "Brand Ghana" Office!

I felt like weeping for Mother Ghana, when I heard the chap who is apparently in charge of the “Brand Ghana” office at the presidency, on Radio Gold FM’s popular “60 Minutes” current affairs programme, which was broadcast on the morning of 2 February, 2010. 

Hapless taxpayers’ funds must not be dissipated in an enterprise that amounts to a mug’s game. Surely, even little primary schoolchildren in Ghana know that a carefully crafted image for any nation in Africa today, is a pretty ephemeral thing – that could easily be ruined by just one negative event?

Perhaps the geniuses in the presidency who dreamt up this scheme for the wonton dissipation of Ghanaian taxpayers’ money, should ask some of those who went to Angola to support the Black Stars in the recent Confederation of African Football (CAF) tournament, just what they think about Angola: which spent tens of millions of dollars “rebranding” itself – and hear their negative comments about what many of them say is a fly-infested nation, afflicted by the most aggressive mosquitoes they have ever encountered; and the rudest and meanest security and immigration officials they have ever had the misfortune of having to deal with, on a trip outside our shores. 

Do the "Brand Ghana" chaps at the Osu Castle not know that neighbouring Nigeria also spent tens of millions of dollars “rebranding” itself not too long ago? 

The question is: What have they got to show for it today – thanks to negative reports in the international media about the recent tragic events in Jos, and the shenanigans of devious election officials and the corrupt, power-hungry politicians that that nation is awash with, in the just-ended gubernatorial election in Anambra State?

Ghana already has a good image abroad – and if anyone in the present regime wants to “rebrand” our nation and boost its image further, why do they not volunteer to do so themselves: using their own funds instead of public funds? 

Or, are the cynics amongst us right, perhaps, dear reader, when they ask if the office in the presidency responsible for “Rebranding Ghana” is simply a clever conduit for transferring taxpayers’ funds to: politically well-connected advertising agencies in Ghana and elsewhere; sundry public relations consultants worldwide; and the Ghanaian business cronies of the more dishonest officials in the presidency? 

Why do those who dreamt up that daft idea not simply volunteer their services to our nation for free, if they insist on rebranding a nation with a perfectly acceptable international image, I ask, dear reader?

For what it is worth, here is my own two-pesewa contribution they can have for free: Let the current government earmark some of the money it has put aside for the development of the three northern regions, and use it to construct an all-weather first-class road, from Tamale to the Mole National Park – and invite travel writers from leading newspapers from the US, the UK, and the EU, to visit what is one of Africa’s leading elephant wild-life parks, and write about their experiences there in their newspapers. 

Years ago, I helped Ghana's leading green travel and tour company, M&J Travel and Tours, to make the visit of a travel writer to Ghana possible, during the CAF 2008 tournament – despite the unfortunate attempt by fellow media professionals to make out to the UK newspaper concerned that I was some kind of a con man (whiles we were actually busy trying to make the visit happen - and despite the fact that I was doing so for no financial gain!). 

Perhaps if they care to, the “Rebranding Ghana” chaps in the presidency can look up the resulting article in the UK newspaper the Independent on Sunday here (they should cut and paste link to their web-browsers!): http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/africa/see-the-action-in-ghana-on-and-off-the-pitch-780345.html

Instead of spending zillions of cedis of taxpayers’ money paying adventurous para-gliders from wealthy nations to come to Ghana, so that a few politically well-connected travel agents and tour companies will make money at the expense of ordinary Ghanaians, why does the tourism ministry not rather convince mobile phone companies in Ghana to put up US $100, 000 as prize money, to stage an African para-gliding competitive event at Abetifi – to which those wealthy adventurous souls from the developed world can pay their own way to, to compete in for the US$ 100,000: and put Abetifi and the Kwawu Ridge on the eco-tourism map of Africa, that way? 

Will that not give us a good image for free, too? Is that not what one means when one talks about creative-thinking, dear reader? 

Finally, if we were to get our military to design an off-roader 4x4 safari-rally course around Ghana, could we not stage a world military safari-rally successfully in Ghana: to which civilian competitors too could compete in, for generous prize money donated by oil marketing companies in our country? 

Would that not help put Ghana on the world eco-tourism map too, dear reader? “Rebranding” Ghana at public expense is a mug’s game, and President Mills must not allow public funds to be spent on such a futile exercise: particularly at a time when ordinary Ghanaians are facing such hard times. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

BRANDING GHANA: THE MOTHER OF ALL DAFT IDEAS!

A government that says it wants to cut unnecessary public expenditure must never use public funds for a venture as daft as "branding Ghana". Ghana's already good image globally, will only be further enhanced, if our government does good deeds in the real world - such as the president and his spouse publicly publishing their assets before and after our head of state's tenure.

Have nations like Angola and Nigeria not spent zillions of dollars fostering a good image overseas for themselves in so-called "branding" schemes? Was their collective-folly not terribly exposed when the Nigerian would-be Christmas day airline-bomber was thwarted last December, and Cabindan rebels decided to make a complete nonsense of the Angolan government's massive efforts at boosting their country's overseas image, by shooting at and killing three individuals on the Togolese team's buses, shortly after they exited a Cabinda border post to enter Angola proper, just before the start of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) tournament this month?


If our political class is tolerant and honest on a permanent basis, that will do wonders for our country's image overseas. Did the world not sing our praises to the rafters when the ruling party lost the December elections and handed over power to the then opposition party? Instead of building expensive presidential palace complexes to "dignify" our nation and its presidency (in a cash-strapped nation in which millions go to bed on empty stomachs because they are too poor to have three square meals, what sort of dignity is that?), our nation's image overseas will be boosted when instead of such profligacy, our politicians act to ensure that the living standards of Ghanaians go up: to such an extent that their quality of life is improved to the same level as that of the citizens of nations in Scandinavia. Surely, that is how to sensibly boost Ghana's image abroad without paying the earth for it?

"Branding Ghana" is simply throwing good money down the financial equivalent of a black-hole. It is a pretty daft idea - and not worthy of a regime whose leader never ceases to remind all that he is interested in the well-being of ordinary people. Branding Ghana is a wheeze thought up by clever self-seekers in the NDC regime. Period. President Mills must close down the office in the Osu Castle that was set up to brand Ghana - for, it is his regime's good work in the real world that will enhance our nation's image overseas: not endless clever marketing strategy sessions by world-class prattlers, and expensive advertising campaigns Ghana that can hardly afford! A word to the wise...


Tel (powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 900 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartphone: + 233 (21) 976238.

DO NOT DISHONOUR THE LATE BAAH-WIREDU'S GOOD NAME!

I was astonished to learn that the former finance minister in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, the late Mr. Baah-Wiredu, is apparently being blamed for the disappearance of the sale and purchase agreement document covering the purchase of Kaiser Aluminum’s stake in the Volta Aluminum Company
Limited (VALCO), by the government of Ghana. How absurd. No one must be allowed to dishonour the good name of a man who is no longer alive to fight to protect his good name. The late Baah-Wiredu was a meticulous gentleman, who was well-known for scrupulously following the rules governing society – so why would he take such an important document out of his office: and presumably arrange for copies of the document to disappear from the surface of the planet Earth as well, I ask, dear reader? Those who have reason to want the said document to disappear permanently must bow their heads in shame for their perfidy.


Perhaps if the president were to quickly order the Serious Fraud Office and the secret services to do an audit of the assets (including the residential properties!) of VALCO, to find out if there has been any asset-stripping there that has led to some of its assets being sold to third parties, that might shed some light on the motivation of those who want that document to be lost till the end of time. Another thing the current government could do to help it unravel this particular mystery, would be to ask the present parliament’s minority leader to outline the processes that led to the railroading through parliament of that mother of all frauds, the sale and purchase agreement for VALCO by the grandly named consortium, International Aluminum Partners (put together by the powerful and greedy crooks who dominated the previous regime). At the time, Mr. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu (who was then the Majority Leader of Parliament), told the media, when it emerged that Norske Hydro and VALE, the two international metals conglomerates that were said to be buying VALCO, were strenuously denying ever agreeing to purchase the company, that the majority benches in parliament had done what was required of them, and that they were not to blame when those who were supposed to “deliver” had "failed to do so.”


Precisely what did he mean? Who were those who had failed to “deliver” and had been unable to inveigle Norske Hydro and VALE into agreeing to the terms offered by the crooks who were seeking to personally benefit from the sale of VALCO to International Aluminum Partners? The question that many of the independent-minded Ghanaians known as “floating voters” would like to ask the Mills regime is: What is a more clear-cut case of criminality waiting for prosecution, than the gigantic fraud against the Ghanaian nation-state by the powerful crooks who dominated the previous NPP regime, that the railroading through parliament of the sale and purchase agreement for the purchase of VALCO by that legal fiction known as International Aluminum Partners, represents? The Mills regime must never forget that those who are behind the disappearance of important documents from sensitive government departments, are driven by the same base motives that drove the ruthless politicians, who happen to be the political forebears of the present NPP – those well-educated and violent disciples of that odious Akan tribal-supremacist organization known as the National Liberation Movement (NLM).


The present regime must never forget the fact that a powerful cabal made up of a few greedy and ruthless individuals, dominated the NPP regime throughout its tenure, and used their period in office to exploit our nation’s economy for their personal benefit. It enabled those callous individuals; the members of their family clans; and their cronies; to increase their net worth to stratospheric heights. Many of them are now using some of that same wealth to frustrate the current government – through a combination of clever manipulation of the legal system to protect their ill-gotten wealth, and winning the sympathy of the Ghanaian public, through the zealous agency of the many mercenaries who people the Ghanaian media world: who sold their individual consciences to them for zillions. President Mills must understand that those types of Ghanaians are ruthless and amoral individuals who are determined to use every weapon available to them to destroy his regime – so that the NPP is returned to power again in 2012. He and the members of his government must be equally ruthless in dealing with the very real threat they pose to his regime. Above all, the president must not be fooled by their hypocritical smiles and the empty platitudes they employ to hide their real intentions from him. He must never allow them to dishonour the good name of the late Baah-Wiredu, who was a good and honest human being who served his homeland Ghana faithfully. A word to the wise…



Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartphone: (0) 21 976238.

IN JUDGING OTHERS, ARE THE WORLD’S JIHADISTS AND OTHER SELF-RIGHTEOUS RELIGIONISTS BLASPHEMING, PERHAPS?

As a result of the Jihadist death-wish and foolishness of that wealthy young Nigerian would-be suicide bomber, who flew from Lagos to Detroit last Christmas, Africans will now have to endure further indignities – in addition to the daily humiliations they suffer at the hands of the many racially-prejudiced non-African people they happen to come into contact with, daily. Alas, the rest of humankind wishing to travel to the United States of America, henceforth, will also have to suffer in similar fashion – and have to put up with the indignity of airport security officials worldwide checking them out: by peering at images of their naked bodies on the screens of “full-body” scanning machines. God help us all.


When will those fanatical cretins (who incredibly think that killing their fellow human beings will buy them passage to heaven!) get it into their pea-sized brains that contrary to what that liar, mass-murderer, and blasphemer, Osama bin Laden, and his abominable Al Qaeda terrorist-lieutenants tell them, Allah and the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) actually disapprove of the murder of innocents by suicide-bombers? In the early days, during the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), when Islam and Moslems were being persecuted by pagans in Arabia, perhaps Jihad could be justified – and the killing of ‘infidels’ was, in a very real sense, a necessary and last-resort-end, which ensured the survival of Islam. Now (more so than at any time, since the adoption by the UN on 10 December, 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) that most of humankind has come round to the view that every human being on the surface of the planet Earth has an inalienable right to enjoy basic human rights, the killing of innocents in the name of religion cannot be justified under any circumstances.


In the supposedly civilized age of the internet, surely, one has to assume that every human being somehow has direct access to Allah/God? Is it not time for true-believers of all the major religions of the world, to stop arrogating the right to judge and punish their fellow human beings to themselves, in the name of religion – and leave such sinners and blasphemers to the wrath of the Almighty Allah/God himself? Surely, if it will bring about peace on earth, ought not the religious world’s many self-righteous Mullahs (and sundry nutcases like the Osama bin Ladens of this world!); ever-wise Eastern Gurus; and the leaders of the various Christian denominations, who seek to punish others for various “sins” committed on this earth, in the name of religion, to trust in Allah/God to deal with such “sinners” himself, and in his own time: either here or in the hereafter? Why, do they not believe in his mighty power, one bit, at all? Surely, no one should presume to speak on Allah/God’s behalf – since that actually is blasphemous? A word to the wise…


Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartphone number: + 233 (0) 967238.

Will The Mills Regime Act To Rid Ghana's Public Sector Of Saboteurs In 2010?

I had to laugh when a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) recently asked me if I was now in the happy position, which the NPP’s many praise-singers in the media were, when their party was ruling Ghana.

I made it plain to the gentleman concerned that I was not writing critical articles about the NPP regime during its tenure, because I was being paid to do so, by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

One did so simply because one happens to be a patriot. I am a nationalist, a pan-Africanist, and an Nkrumaist – who believes in the enterprise Ghana.

I also told him that I was of the opinion that his party was now showing the same degree of ruthlessness that made its political forebears engage in the bomb-throwing and other acts of terrorism it engaged in, in order to destabilize the regime of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), after Ghana gained its independence in 1957.

The endless negativity of many of the NPP members and sympathizers who take part in current affairs discussion programmes, which are broadcast by Ghana’s many FM radio stations, is that party’s modern-day substitute for the bomb-throwing of its political antecedents in the Akan tribal-supremacist National Liberation Movement (NLM).

That, and the many acts of quiet-sabotage now being carried out daily, by its sympathizers and members in the public sector, is at the heart of the NPP’s grand-strategy for regaining power.

If the Mills regime is to succeed in its aim of creating a better Ghana for all Ghanaians, the president needs to make it plain, in the new year, that his administration expects all the NPP’s sympathizers and members, whom the new government decided not to remove from their positions in the public sector, when it assumed office in January 2009, to reciprocate that gesture by continuing to remain loyal to the government of the day.

If the Mills regime wants to succeed, it needs to be creative in dealing with those disloyal public servants, who so regret the defeat of the NPP in the December 2008 elections that they are prepared to help the NPP return to power in 2012, by sabotaging the present administration.

Perhaps employing creativity in dealing with a number of businesses owned by certain powerful and wealthy individuals in some of the sectors in the Ghanaian economy, which are defying the authority of the Ghanaian nation-state, and have refused to halt their operations, in spite of the fact that they have been ordered to do so by the relevant state organs, will give the Mills administration the opportunity to effectively deal with NPP saboteurs in the Minerals Commission; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana.

The question, dear reader, is: At a time of global climate change, when we need to protect Ghana’s natural heritage, how come that an illegal surface gold mining operation is being carried out at Akyem  Juaso, despite attempts by a deputy minister of environment, science, and technology, to halt that outrage?

If action is not taken by the Mills administration in this particular instance, they will wake up to discover that irreparable damage has been caused to part of Ghana’s natural heritage: that provides valuable ecosystem services to our nation, by the illegal actions of certain wealthy individuals, who were untouchable during the Kufuor era, because they were politically well-connected.

The president must get the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to investigate the actions of Sola Mining, the surface gold mining company currently operating illegally in Akyem  Juaso without a valid EPA mining permit, and using the concession of Kibi Goldfields as legal cover.

In so doing, the government will be able to use a creative method to kill two birds with one stone – and enable it to remove those recalcitrant individuals in the Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the Minerals Commission, whose continuing perfidy is allowing the illegal surface gold mining and massive illegal logging being carried out in that part of the Atiwa Range upland evergreen rain forest to go on - which enables a few wealthy individuals who acquired their vast fortunes simply because they were politically well-connected during the Kufour era, to continue defying the laws of Ghana and damaging the well-being of our country and its people.

A similar investigation by the BNI to discover how come that at a time of global climate change, the fragile ecology of the three northern regions was ignored, when a wealthy and ruthless individual (who so clearly does not care one jot, about the effects of her actions on the natural environment, or on the quality of life of the inhabitants of the three northern regions!), was given the sole right to fell trees in a part of our country, which is suffering the most from the effects of global climate change, will also enable the Mills administration to make the necessary changes in the management of the Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission.

Incredibly - just as  is the case in the illegal surface gold mining going on at Akyem Juaso - even though the sector minister is aware of her defiance, the said individual (who was “allocated” the sole right to fell trees in the three northern regions in the dying days of the Kufuor regime!), is carrying on regardless: although all timber firms have apparently been asked to cease felling logs temporarily whiles a review of timber permits is undertaken.

If the government heeds the advice to get the BNI to investigate the actions of this arrogant and ruthless lady in the three northern regions, it will enable it to remove the NPP saboteurs still lurking in the Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission.

Finally, I suggest that the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, contacts his counterpart in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – and review the investigation of the infamous case in which a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer was asked to assist the police as a result of an allegation of the illegal production of cocaine, with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

He will find such collaboration very fruitful indeed – as it will provide the Ghana Police Service with institutional knowledge that will enable it deal effectively with the overseas drug barons who are rumoured to be using entities in the Ghanaian pharmaceutical manufacturing sector to hide the production of illegal synthetic drugs in Ghana.

The Mills regime needs to use creativity in dealing with the NPP saboteurs in various sectors of Ghana’s public sector as it enters its second year in office – and enable our nation to finally rid the public sector of the unpatriotic public servants who are impeding our country’s forward march. President Mills will not achieve his goals if his regime does not remove such individuals from the public sector. A word to the wise…

Tel (powered by Tigo – Ghana’s most reliable mobile phone network!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

FOSTERING A BETTER IMAGE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA IN 2010!

When the BBC (its world service network, i.e.!) broadcast a news item on Christmas day that Ghana’s President John Atta Mills was refusing to accept gifts of Christmas hampers, because he felt that some of them might have been sent with a view to influencing him, the source of the story, his press secretary, Mr. Ayariga, must have felt that he had pulled off the mother of all public relations coups. However, sadly for him, the quick thinking of the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government minister, Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, exposed the absurdity of anyone thinking that mere Christmas hampers could possibly influence any public official in today’s Ghana. She was able to get an interview with the BBC’s correspondent in Ghana, on the same day, who got her to reveal to listeners, the contents of her own Christmas hamper gift – and Mr. Ayariga’s fifteen minutes of fame was promptly turned into ignominy by the clever Ms. Ohene.


Ms Ohene’s little coup, encapsulates perfectly, the ineptness of the government’s public relations team, thus far. It is an unfortunate situation, which has enabled the opposition NPP to run rings around the Mills regime: thus empowering the opposition party to set the political agenda – and successfully giving ordinary Ghanaians the unfortunate impression that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime is incompetent. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. For, the fact of the matter, is that the Mills administration has indeed performed wonders: in being able to stabilize an economy that was suffering from an acute form of the economic malaise, which the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) often refer to euphemistically (for diplomatic reasons) as “debt distress” in order to spare the blushes of developing world regimes that the two multilateral institutions happen to be doing business with, at any given point in time. In reality, the NDC regime actually inherited the theoretical-economics equivalent of a poisoned chalice, from the previous NPP regime, if truth be told.


Clearly, the Mills administration must be a great deal more creative in 2010: if it wants to set the national agenda and win the battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Ghanaians – especially if it wants to hold on to the independent-minded and discerning voters whose crucial votes won it the run-off of the December 2008 presidential election. To do so, it must do certain things. To start with, it must promote the minister for information to the cabinet – and disband the communications team at the presidency. An articulate president and his vice president do not need press secretaries and a head of communications, at the seat of government. Mr. Ayariga’s boss, the president, does sound, and is, far more sincere, than his press secretary – so what is the point of keeping him on, I ask, dear reader? Ayariga does a nice line in insincerity – and will serve Ghana brilliantly abroad, as an ambassador. As a wag once said (when giving the job description of an ambassador!): “An ambassador is a man sent abroad to lie for his country.” Ayariga’s verrissimulitudes will work a treat abroad for Ghana.


Then there is the curious situation, dear reader, which we are now witnessing, and which has resulted in the vice president being saddled with a press secretary whom he is far more articulate than. It really is an intolerable situation – and must be swiftly brought to an end. No doubt, the vice president’s press secretary, John Jinapo, will make a perfect deputy minister for the new region that the vice president wants created (at God knows what cost to Ghana!). Perhaps the head of communications at the presidency can also be given a new job at the presidency as a "special aide" to the president – so that he can keep his pay, as well as the perks and other freebies, which he too has no doubt become accustomed to. Such is the ever-belligerent Kokou Anyidaho’s finesse that he is able to alienate even the most ardent supporters of the regime he is apparently such an important part of. Painful and unpalatable though many of the things said above about the three gentlemen might be to the Mills administration, they are things that need to be said plainly, at this point in the regime's tenure – and some of us are happy to say them: as we are neither looking for posts in the government, nor interested in accompanying the president on his trips abroad, and are definitely not frightened of any of the three gentlemen concerned, too.


Hopefully, someone close to the president, will print this out and let him read it – and if he wants his regime to rid itself of the negative image it currently has, let him act to disband the communications team in the presidency, swiftly. Any Ghanaian regime which has the foresight to focus on local rice production, deserves to succeed and must never be regarded as an incompetent one: especially when the price of rice is predicted to go as high as US$ 800 per tonne next year, as a result of adverse weather conditions in South East Asia. Finally, and lest I forget, dear reader, perhaps Ayariga & Co. might do us all a favour by suggesting to the president that he should publicly publish the assets of himself and his dear wife – as that will make all Ghanaians, and the rest of the world, understand that Ghana’s president means business, when he says he is serious about fighting corruption. There is also the added bonus that it will make the president occupy the high moral ground in Ghanaian politics, and make his position virtually unassailable. That is a more worthy gesture from a gentleman, whom the vast majority of Ghanaians accept, happens to be the most honest Ghanaian leader ever elected to occupy the presidency, since the overthrow of the selfless Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in 1966. A word to the wise…


Tel (powered by Tigo – the most reliable mobile phone network in Ghana!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.