It is bad enough that across our homeland Ghana, there are still pockets of groups of tribal-supremacist individuals, who, incredibly in 21st century Africa, actually believe that their particular tribe, is somehow superior to all other tribes in Ghana - but worst still is it, dear reader, when individuals of that ilk (with such backward and divisive beliefs!) seek to rule today's oil-producing Ghanaian nation-state.
Luckily for Mother Ghana, however, there is now abundant scientific evidence that clearly show that we are all essentially the same - and that it is only cultural differences, which for centuries, have made fellow Africans, in this corner of the continent's land-mass, delude themselves into thinking that we are different peoples.
In terms of our DNA, there can be no doubt that we are basically one people. That cannot be disputed, and explained away, by clever arguments to the contrary, by the tribal-supremacist sophists in our midst.
(Incidentally, it is for that reason that some of us can never forgive Kufour & Co.'s treasonable activities, whiles in power - literally putting the whole machinery of state at the disposal of a cabal of tribal-supremcist individuals, whose sole purpose, was to impose their tribal Chieftain on our nation as its de facto monarch. It was part of a secret agenda to revive an absurd dream of ancient tribal glories - in the modern African nation-state Nkrumah founded: the unitary Republic of Ghana. Imagine that.)
And that is why those tribal-supremacist individuals in our political class, who are now vying to lead our nation yet again, and are said to have struck secret alliances with their tribal Chieftains (by definition, tribal-supremacist megalomaniacs, to a man!) - to use the power of the Ghanaian nation-state, after the elections, to advance that selfsame hidden agenda, meant to revive those absurd ancient glories - must never be allowed to succeed in their aim.
It is that imperative, dear reader, which unfortunately makes it necessary that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in its present form, is prevented from returning to power again in our homeland Ghana, at all costs - until the baleful influence of the perfidious Kufuor & Co., eventually wanes.
It is a known fact that Kufuor & Co., continue to have a vice-like grip on the NPP. And that makes that party - despite the many good, honest, patriotic and nationalistic individuals in it - a rather dangerous political entity, which actually poses an existentialist threat to Nkrumah's Ghana.
The fact of the matter, is that this is a modern African nation-state of diverse-ethnicity, in which no one tribe is superior or inferior to the other. So despite what the NPP's "real owners" think - including the tribal-supremacist tribal Chieftains in their midst - a majority of ordinary Ghanaians will always continue to remain true to Nkrumah's vision of a united nation, with one people, sharing a common destiny, till the very end of time.
The sad reality for our nation, is that Kufuor & Co., still have a hold on millions of poor and malleable Ghanaians, of whom, a wag I know once remarked: "They are individuals, who, as a result of the misfortune of having the mentality of serfs written into their political DNA, literally believe in that revival-of-ancient-glories pure nonsense on bamboo stilts. The question is: Even if their tribal Chieftains' predecessors' once ruled the whole world, and conquered all the peoples on the surface of the planet Earth, in battle after battle ad infinitum, so what? That is history and this is today's world - in which all human life in the Republic of Ghana, is of equal value. Period."
And with such a large base of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon-types, to count on for support, it is important, in order to counter that grim NPP reality, that those independent-minded individuals, for whom the continued existence of Nkrumah's Ghana matters (and whose crucial swing-votes now actually decide who becomes president), clearly understand one crucial thing, going forward, this year.
It is vital that in December they adopt a lesser-of-two-evils attitude for the polls - and vote en masse for the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) candidate in the presidential election. Whatever the sins of individuals in that party might be, they pale into insignificance, compared to Kufour & Co.'s brutal and repeated gang-rape of Mother Ghana.
The important thing, from a protection-of-national-interest point of view, is that it is a party that believes in a united Ghana of equal tribes.
And above all, as he has demonstrated so clearly, time and time again, President Mills is a committed and dedicated Ghanaian patriot, as well as devoted nationalist, beholden to no one - be it former coup-makers breathing down his neck because he won't be their puppet; or tribal-supremacist tribal Chieftains seeking to lead the asset-stripping of Ghana by stealth; ditto cabals of super-wealthy Ghanaian stooges for neo-colonialism and imperialism, working hard day and night, to advance foreign interests here, at Mother Ghana's expense - none can manipulate him. And as others too have found out to their cost, he is very much his own man - and works and stands solely for a united Ghana, and the ordinary people of iur country.
Ghana needs a non-politician like him - someone thrust unto the national stage, but who never actually sought to lead Ghana. President Mills was chosen to lead our country, nonetheless, because Providence knew that a moment would come in our history, when such an honest and humble individual, would be needed to protect our oil and natural gas revenues, for the benefit of all the people of Ghana.
That is why swing-voters need to heed the call and do their patriotic duty for Mother Ghana in the December polls - by voting en masse for the NDC's presidential candidate: who, in an imperfect world, definitely is the lesser-of-two-evils choice to make: in the supreme national interest! A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Will The Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Protection Agency Enforce All Its By-Laws?
When I finally found a place to rent in McCarthy Hill, alas, it turned out to be a quintessential Ghanaian middle-class domain - a street lined on each side by expensive homes, making up a typical dzi-wu-fia-asem neighbourhood.
Unfortunately, as is often the case in such places, this road to the environmental equivalent of hell on earth, paved with good intentions, and literally a stone's throw from Jayee University College, is totally bereft of any sense of community.
Indeed, it is an each-one-for-self-and-God-for-us-all oasis, of wealth-secured-behind-high-walls, which is actually turning out to be a tone-deaf irritant, whose unimaginable apathy really jars - which is why I spent most of last night awake, wondering how it came about, in this bastion of middle-class-correctness, that part of the back of my new home's fence-wall, ended up serving as the neighbourhood rubbish dump (and has apparently done for the nearly six or so years that the wealthy owners' have allowed their beautiful property to remain unoccupied).
Populated by very respectable and decent middle class people - the type that is so good they would rather keep to themselves: in order not to cause any offence to their neighbour - the area is a living example of the Ghanaian maxim, "When good people remain aloof from others, in the area they live, many untoward things are liable to happen there."
And the list of things going in the wrong direction in this oasis of wealth, is rather long. I have mentioned the back of my fence-wall serving as the local rubbish dump - where no one is ever seen actually dumping any rubbish, but rubbish nonetheless keeps piling up. It is apparently done surreptitiously deep into the night.
And to worsen matters, now there is even a smell of a decaying dead animal (a red-rag-to-a-bull sort of provocation to a strict-vegetarian like me!) of some kind, emanating from the piled-up rubbish - in an area served by a waste management company. Incredible.
Then there is the monstrosity of someone's household waste-water that suddenly emerges like underground spring water, from the buried pipe (through which it is supposed to be discharged into the main drainage system on our portion of the Accra-Cape Coast highway), flowing languidly bang past the front entrance of someone's gated-driveway, and is eroding that section of the untarred dirt road that leads to the houses at the end of the top part of the gradient of what is a sloping road.
On the opposite side of the part of the road, where that dreadful stream-of-shame flows, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has fenced off part of the back of the selfsame fence-wall - to protect a transformer serving our part of McCarthy Hill.
Perhaps infected by the virus-of-apathy, endemic in the neighbourhood, the ECG also neglects to have the small area it has fenced off, weeded regularly. Only heaven knows what is harbouring in the overgrown area behind the chain-link fence the ECG has put up. And it doesn't bear thinking, what would transpire, if the stream-of-shame, were to flood the area, which the sodden transformer is located in.
So I have had enough. And starting from this Monday, I am springing into action - and will probably end up being referred to, by all my very nice and respectable new neighbours, as: "Saa akorkura tuu-know-yi". But I can live with that - as long as the people from the Weija sub-district of the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency can put an end to the outrage that confront's one daily here.
A last example, dear reader: I am all for the live-and-let-live philosophy of peaceful co-existence between neighbours.
However, kiosk-owners, whom the uncharitable would probably describe as, veritable squatters-who- shouldn't-be-here-in-the-first-place, who behave unreasonably (littering the place with discarded empty sachet-water plastic waste and discarded black polythene bags - that are carried all over the place when the wind blows), by burning man-made hair and other discarded hairdressers' floatsam and jetsam, which give off acrid-smelling smoke that most probably is carcinogenic, really is the limit.
So, to maintain my sanity, and working through officials of the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency, I intend to badger (on a one-step-removed basis!) those decent people in the neighbourhood, who keep to themselves, behind their high fence-walls - until the makings of a pro-active community that takes pride in its public spaces and makes an effort to ensure they are always kept clean, hopefully takes root.
The question is: Will the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency ensure that its environmental by-laws are obeyed by all and sundry, in this typical Ghanaian middle class neighbourhood?
One certainly hopes so - and for their own good, they had better enforce all their sodden by-laws, in this particular instance: for the common good of all who live in this confounded dzi-wu-fia-asem neighbourhood of extremely nice folk who are loathe to upset others, and therefore mostly keep to themselves.
Tel: (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Unfortunately, as is often the case in such places, this road to the environmental equivalent of hell on earth, paved with good intentions, and literally a stone's throw from Jayee University College, is totally bereft of any sense of community.
Indeed, it is an each-one-for-self-and-God-for-us-all oasis, of wealth-secured-behind-high-walls, which is actually turning out to be a tone-deaf irritant, whose unimaginable apathy really jars - which is why I spent most of last night awake, wondering how it came about, in this bastion of middle-class-correctness, that part of the back of my new home's fence-wall, ended up serving as the neighbourhood rubbish dump (and has apparently done for the nearly six or so years that the wealthy owners' have allowed their beautiful property to remain unoccupied).
Populated by very respectable and decent middle class people - the type that is so good they would rather keep to themselves: in order not to cause any offence to their neighbour - the area is a living example of the Ghanaian maxim, "When good people remain aloof from others, in the area they live, many untoward things are liable to happen there."
And the list of things going in the wrong direction in this oasis of wealth, is rather long. I have mentioned the back of my fence-wall serving as the local rubbish dump - where no one is ever seen actually dumping any rubbish, but rubbish nonetheless keeps piling up. It is apparently done surreptitiously deep into the night.
And to worsen matters, now there is even a smell of a decaying dead animal (a red-rag-to-a-bull sort of provocation to a strict-vegetarian like me!) of some kind, emanating from the piled-up rubbish - in an area served by a waste management company. Incredible.
Then there is the monstrosity of someone's household waste-water that suddenly emerges like underground spring water, from the buried pipe (through which it is supposed to be discharged into the main drainage system on our portion of the Accra-Cape Coast highway), flowing languidly bang past the front entrance of someone's gated-driveway, and is eroding that section of the untarred dirt road that leads to the houses at the end of the top part of the gradient of what is a sloping road.
On the opposite side of the part of the road, where that dreadful stream-of-shame flows, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has fenced off part of the back of the selfsame fence-wall - to protect a transformer serving our part of McCarthy Hill.
Perhaps infected by the virus-of-apathy, endemic in the neighbourhood, the ECG also neglects to have the small area it has fenced off, weeded regularly. Only heaven knows what is harbouring in the overgrown area behind the chain-link fence the ECG has put up. And it doesn't bear thinking, what would transpire, if the stream-of-shame, were to flood the area, which the sodden transformer is located in.
So I have had enough. And starting from this Monday, I am springing into action - and will probably end up being referred to, by all my very nice and respectable new neighbours, as: "Saa akorkura tuu-know-yi". But I can live with that - as long as the people from the Weija sub-district of the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency can put an end to the outrage that confront's one daily here.
A last example, dear reader: I am all for the live-and-let-live philosophy of peaceful co-existence between neighbours.
However, kiosk-owners, whom the uncharitable would probably describe as, veritable squatters-who- shouldn't-be-here-in-the-first-place, who behave unreasonably (littering the place with discarded empty sachet-water plastic waste and discarded black polythene bags - that are carried all over the place when the wind blows), by burning man-made hair and other discarded hairdressers' floatsam and jetsam, which give off acrid-smelling smoke that most probably is carcinogenic, really is the limit.
So, to maintain my sanity, and working through officials of the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency, I intend to badger (on a one-step-removed basis!) those decent people in the neighbourhood, who keep to themselves, behind their high fence-walls - until the makings of a pro-active community that takes pride in its public spaces and makes an effort to ensure they are always kept clean, hopefully takes root.
The question is: Will the Ga South District Assembly's Environmental Agency ensure that its environmental by-laws are obeyed by all and sundry, in this typical Ghanaian middle class neighbourhood?
One certainly hopes so - and for their own good, they had better enforce all their sodden by-laws, in this particular instance: for the common good of all who live in this confounded dzi-wu-fia-asem neighbourhood of extremely nice folk who are loathe to upset others, and therefore mostly keep to themselves.
Tel: (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Friday, 6 January 2012
MEMBERS OF GHANA'S MEDIA MAFIA MUST REDEEM THEMSELVES - BY BEING MORE HONEST THIS NEW ELECTION YEAR!
Apparently, a number of journalists and politicians in Ghana, have vowed to find a way to kill off my ghanapolitics google blog.
They are labouring under an illusion - and they will fail: just as that shameless spoiler-website, www.ghanapolitic.net has failed miserably to stop traffic from flowing to my wwwghanapolitics.blogspot.com google blog.
Their plans don't surprise me in the slightest. For exactly the same reasons, I am unable to publish my "Thoughts of a native" blog on www.ghanaweb.com - because some politicians did not like that blog's harsh criticisms of some individuals in the communications team of the present administration, anymore than their political opponents' did its harsh criticism of the perfidious Kufuor & Co., who used to rule Ghana, once upon a time. But it is Ghanaweb's loss, not mine - and in any case Ghanaweb isn't Google.
It is a sad fact that Ghana is a nation in which there is a dearth of professionals, prepared, on principle, to refuse to be part of anything detrimental to the well-being of our nation, in their work, and which also impacts negatively on the quality of life of ordinary people. That is why this is such a corrupt society - and individuals of integrity so few and far between.
The most egregious example of the unprincipled Ghanaian professional - actively working on behalf of the high net worth individuals engaged in round-the-clock elite-rip-off activities harmful to the national interest, which also impact negatively on the quality of life of ordinary people - must be the hacks-without-conscience who litter the media landscape in our homeland Ghana.
If only they would understand that in the digital world of the internet-dominant times we live in, Ghanaian journalists on the wrong side of history, in as far as guarding the national interest, working to ensure the protection of the freedoms of ordinary people and the sustenance of Ghanaian democracy are concerned, are easily and quickly identified, by the very nature of their work.
They may think they are frightfully clever at hiding their perfidy from ordinary people in Ghana - but the world constantly judges them through very clear lenses, alas.
And it is clear that instead of being watchdogs for the whole of Ghanaian society, they have elected to be the well-compensated guard-dogs, of the oligarchs, who perversely have turned Ghanaian democracy into a plutocracy - in their quest to ensure that their net worth rises to stratospheric heights: at lightening speed.
That is why, for example, an arrogant and oh-so-very-ordinary hack, who apparently is said to think hosts a world-class evening current affairs televison programme, was recently confronted by a Swiss film-maker - who demanded that the telecasting of his intellectual property, without prior permission, ceased being telecast immediately. World class?
It is also the selfsame reason why so many media houses in our country are deliberately inserting the words "Ghana politics" into the opening sentences of their oft badly-written online content, no matter how inappropriate. Poor sods.
(Take those pretentious Kokomlemle-poseurs for example, dear reader - who have also joined the insert-the-words-ghana-politics-into-your-first-sentence-brigade for google search.
Those poor souls are so in love with the sound of their own voices - on what is said to be the leading radio station in Accra (which also doubles as a TV company, one gathers): and whose mostly-pedestrian programmes are said to be targeted at our capital's share of Ghana's clever educated urban elites.
If they only knew how absurd, irritating and flat those inanities - many puerile barbs unfairly aimed at the present regime - which they think are witticisms, were, perhaps they would cease inflicting them on their early morning audience.
And as s a wag I know said of them: "They are the world of radio broadcasting's equivalent of the overdressed and narcissistic dandy - forever admiring himself in the mirror, alas. Poor sods.)
It is typical of these provincial minds that they delude themselves into thinking that somehow they bestride the globe. What hubris.
For daring to be critical of the perfidious Kufuor & Co., and Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, chairperson of the National Media Commission (NMC) - said to be their godfathers, incidentally - as we speak, there is apparently a scheme afoot, on the part of this mafia of shameless rogue-journalists cum allies-of-perfidious-politicians, to find a way to ensure that whenever the word "ghanapolitics" is googled, their media outlets' online content, rather than my ghanapolitics blog, show up in all the top spots, in the search results. Amazing.
For those Ghanaian journalists and politicians who are part of this disgraceful example, of the fruitless game-of-losers, otherwise known as muzzle-a-free-thinker-by-remote-control, let me make a smallish point.
Surprising though it might be to them, there actually is a critical worldwide audience out there, judging them on a daily basis - and it is a far bigger space than the public space they have apparently succeed in controlling in Ghana.
They may be masters of the universe here - but if truth be told, this is nothing more than a backwater, in the digital world's scheme of things.
Alas, they may be successful at manipulating public opinion in Ghana, for the wealthy crooks in our political world, whom they are beholden to - but doubtless, they will soon discover, that it is indeed a tad more difficult to muzzle Kofi Thompson's ghanapolitics google blog.
I am a mere simple soul, who is tenacious by nature - and never gives up: no matter what the odds are. Far cleverer people than they, have tried, and failed, in what they seek to do, I'll have them know.
With respect, my humble advice to them, is: Let them redeem themselves this Ghanaian election year - by, for once, being honest and principled professionals working (in altruistic fashion!) for Mother Ghana, Ghanaian democracy, and all the people of Ghana, without exception. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
They are labouring under an illusion - and they will fail: just as that shameless spoiler-website, www.ghanapolitic.net has failed miserably to stop traffic from flowing to my wwwghanapolitics.blogspot.com google blog.
Their plans don't surprise me in the slightest. For exactly the same reasons, I am unable to publish my "Thoughts of a native" blog on www.ghanaweb.com - because some politicians did not like that blog's harsh criticisms of some individuals in the communications team of the present administration, anymore than their political opponents' did its harsh criticism of the perfidious Kufuor & Co., who used to rule Ghana, once upon a time. But it is Ghanaweb's loss, not mine - and in any case Ghanaweb isn't Google.
It is a sad fact that Ghana is a nation in which there is a dearth of professionals, prepared, on principle, to refuse to be part of anything detrimental to the well-being of our nation, in their work, and which also impacts negatively on the quality of life of ordinary people. That is why this is such a corrupt society - and individuals of integrity so few and far between.
The most egregious example of the unprincipled Ghanaian professional - actively working on behalf of the high net worth individuals engaged in round-the-clock elite-rip-off activities harmful to the national interest, which also impact negatively on the quality of life of ordinary people - must be the hacks-without-conscience who litter the media landscape in our homeland Ghana.
If only they would understand that in the digital world of the internet-dominant times we live in, Ghanaian journalists on the wrong side of history, in as far as guarding the national interest, working to ensure the protection of the freedoms of ordinary people and the sustenance of Ghanaian democracy are concerned, are easily and quickly identified, by the very nature of their work.
They may think they are frightfully clever at hiding their perfidy from ordinary people in Ghana - but the world constantly judges them through very clear lenses, alas.
And it is clear that instead of being watchdogs for the whole of Ghanaian society, they have elected to be the well-compensated guard-dogs, of the oligarchs, who perversely have turned Ghanaian democracy into a plutocracy - in their quest to ensure that their net worth rises to stratospheric heights: at lightening speed.
That is why, for example, an arrogant and oh-so-very-ordinary hack, who apparently is said to think hosts a world-class evening current affairs televison programme, was recently confronted by a Swiss film-maker - who demanded that the telecasting of his intellectual property, without prior permission, ceased being telecast immediately. World class?
It is also the selfsame reason why so many media houses in our country are deliberately inserting the words "Ghana politics" into the opening sentences of their oft badly-written online content, no matter how inappropriate. Poor sods.
(Take those pretentious Kokomlemle-poseurs for example, dear reader - who have also joined the insert-the-words-ghana-politics-into-your-first-sentence-brigade for google search.
Those poor souls are so in love with the sound of their own voices - on what is said to be the leading radio station in Accra (which also doubles as a TV company, one gathers): and whose mostly-pedestrian programmes are said to be targeted at our capital's share of Ghana's clever educated urban elites.
If they only knew how absurd, irritating and flat those inanities - many puerile barbs unfairly aimed at the present regime - which they think are witticisms, were, perhaps they would cease inflicting them on their early morning audience.
And as s a wag I know said of them: "They are the world of radio broadcasting's equivalent of the overdressed and narcissistic dandy - forever admiring himself in the mirror, alas. Poor sods.)
It is typical of these provincial minds that they delude themselves into thinking that somehow they bestride the globe. What hubris.
For daring to be critical of the perfidious Kufuor & Co., and Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, chairperson of the National Media Commission (NMC) - said to be their godfathers, incidentally - as we speak, there is apparently a scheme afoot, on the part of this mafia of shameless rogue-journalists cum allies-of-perfidious-politicians, to find a way to ensure that whenever the word "ghanapolitics" is googled, their media outlets' online content, rather than my ghanapolitics blog, show up in all the top spots, in the search results. Amazing.
For those Ghanaian journalists and politicians who are part of this disgraceful example, of the fruitless game-of-losers, otherwise known as muzzle-a-free-thinker-by-remote-control, let me make a smallish point.
Surprising though it might be to them, there actually is a critical worldwide audience out there, judging them on a daily basis - and it is a far bigger space than the public space they have apparently succeed in controlling in Ghana.
They may be masters of the universe here - but if truth be told, this is nothing more than a backwater, in the digital world's scheme of things.
Alas, they may be successful at manipulating public opinion in Ghana, for the wealthy crooks in our political world, whom they are beholden to - but doubtless, they will soon discover, that it is indeed a tad more difficult to muzzle Kofi Thompson's ghanapolitics google blog.
I am a mere simple soul, who is tenacious by nature - and never gives up: no matter what the odds are. Far cleverer people than they, have tried, and failed, in what they seek to do, I'll have them know.
With respect, my humble advice to them, is: Let them redeem themselves this Ghanaian election year - by, for once, being honest and principled professionals working (in altruistic fashion!) for Mother Ghana, Ghanaian democracy, and all the people of Ghana, without exception. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
IS THERE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WHO WILL DARE PUT FORWARD A RADICAL AGENDA?
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
- Winston Churchill
The success of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's mixed-economy model, proves that it is actually possible to avoid the classic economic ills, associated with capitalism and socialism, pointed out so succinctly above, in that quotation by Sir Winston Churchill.
Nearly 46 years after the overthrow of Nkrumah, today, it will require another visionary leader prepared to use Ghana's oil and natural gas revenues, if, and where necessary, to do the following - which the pragmatic Nkrumah would probably have done, were he alive:
(1) Use the power of the Ghanaian nation-state to ensure that our country ends its days as a plutocracy masquerading as a democracy - serving the interests of a powerful few, with greedy ambitions (to paraphrase Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah).
2) Empower our nation yet further, and unleash the creative energy of Ghanaian women, for nation-building, by initiating the processes that will lead to a constitutional amendment, which will reserve half of the total seats in Parliament for women.
(3) Make it compulsory for serving presidents to appoint cabinets, which have a membership that has an equal number of both sexes.
It simply does not make sense for an identifiable group of Ghanaians that is in the majority, population wise, not to have the opportunity to participate fully in the governing of our nation, and in other areas of our national life.
More so in a country where misogyny is rife amongst males of all social classes - which is why so many important men get away with sexual harassment and rape, incidentally. It is pernicious sexism to continue denying Ghanaian women an equal place at the high table in society, as it were.
(4) Change the constitution to make it compulsory for the president and all his appointees, as well as their spouses, to publicly publish their assets.
After all, Ghana is now an oil-producing nation. We must not end up as Nigeria has - with its ruling elites grabbing oil-blocs in oilfields like confetti. It is a moral imperative that this is done quickly.
Never again must we have a moral and political climate that enables sitting presidents to use legal-fronts to purloin part of our oil and natural gas deposits, through sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, with the connivance of foreign oil companies.
Let the E- O. Group be the last entity to acquire a stake in oilfields - off our shores or inland - without paying even a pesewa upfront, for such valuable and highly sought after assets.
(5) Provide every Ghanaian with the aptitude to study (up to tertiary level, if need be) with fee-free education - because that visionary leader will understand that a poor developing country with aspirations, cannot afford not to provide fee-free education for all its citizens.
(6) Ensure that no Ghanaian is without shelter - by making it an obligation for the Ghanaian nation-state to provide affordable rental accommodation for all those families or individuals that cannot afford to build or purchase their own homes. Ditto making the rental income, for those in the private sector who provide well-designed and well-built affordable rental accommodation for low-income families, tax free.
(7) Help spread the tax net, by making Ghana the nation with the lowest corporate tax rates in the world - and get Parliament to pass draconian laws making tax evasion a crime punishable by a mandatory prison sentence and a hefty fine.
(8) Encourage hard work by abolishing personal income tax. It is pernicious to tax hard-working people in the formal sector of the economy, whiles millions in the informal sector who earn far more, get away with virtually paying nothing.
(9) Make all types of farming tax-free businesses - to ensure food security and sustainable rural development, throughout Ghana.
(10) Create tax-free shops for personnel of the security services nationwide - as well as enable each of them to purchase one family car tax free, every five years.
(11) Guarantee 25 years of tax-free revenues for the 10 investors who are prepared to self-finance the building of railway lines to all 10 regional capitals in Ghana, on a build, operate and transfer basis.
(12) Initiate the processes leading to passage of legislation that ensures that oil companies, not the Ghanaian nation-state - and at the pain of having their agreements with Ghana automatically abrogated, if they fail to do so - pay for all the clean-up costs resulting from oil spillages; pay full compensation to all those affected by such spillages; and above all, pay fully to restore the natural environment, both offshore and on polluted coastal lands, to a pristine state again.
(13) Get London's Metropolitan Police to collaborate with the Ghana Police Service to re-investigate the murder of the Ya Naa - and bring all his murderers to book.
The question, is: which party's presidential candidate today, will have the moral courage, to have such a platform? As a wag I know, said to me, when I showed him my wish-list for presidential candidates, in the December 2012 election: "Kofi, this is wishful thinking - it won't happen, not in cynical Ghana. Period." More's the pity, say I, dear reader.
Hopefully, at least one candidate amongst those who will be in the December 2012 presidential race, will be bold and courageous to adopt some of the above, if not all of them. May Providence bless and protect our homeland Ghana, in this most crucial of election years.
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
- Winston Churchill
The success of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's mixed-economy model, proves that it is actually possible to avoid the classic economic ills, associated with capitalism and socialism, pointed out so succinctly above, in that quotation by Sir Winston Churchill.
Nearly 46 years after the overthrow of Nkrumah, today, it will require another visionary leader prepared to use Ghana's oil and natural gas revenues, if, and where necessary, to do the following - which the pragmatic Nkrumah would probably have done, were he alive:
(1) Use the power of the Ghanaian nation-state to ensure that our country ends its days as a plutocracy masquerading as a democracy - serving the interests of a powerful few, with greedy ambitions (to paraphrase Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah).
2) Empower our nation yet further, and unleash the creative energy of Ghanaian women, for nation-building, by initiating the processes that will lead to a constitutional amendment, which will reserve half of the total seats in Parliament for women.
(3) Make it compulsory for serving presidents to appoint cabinets, which have a membership that has an equal number of both sexes.
It simply does not make sense for an identifiable group of Ghanaians that is in the majority, population wise, not to have the opportunity to participate fully in the governing of our nation, and in other areas of our national life.
More so in a country where misogyny is rife amongst males of all social classes - which is why so many important men get away with sexual harassment and rape, incidentally. It is pernicious sexism to continue denying Ghanaian women an equal place at the high table in society, as it were.
(4) Change the constitution to make it compulsory for the president and all his appointees, as well as their spouses, to publicly publish their assets.
After all, Ghana is now an oil-producing nation. We must not end up as Nigeria has - with its ruling elites grabbing oil-blocs in oilfields like confetti. It is a moral imperative that this is done quickly.
Never again must we have a moral and political climate that enables sitting presidents to use legal-fronts to purloin part of our oil and natural gas deposits, through sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, with the connivance of foreign oil companies.
Let the E- O. Group be the last entity to acquire a stake in oilfields - off our shores or inland - without paying even a pesewa upfront, for such valuable and highly sought after assets.
(5) Provide every Ghanaian with the aptitude to study (up to tertiary level, if need be) with fee-free education - because that visionary leader will understand that a poor developing country with aspirations, cannot afford not to provide fee-free education for all its citizens.
(6) Ensure that no Ghanaian is without shelter - by making it an obligation for the Ghanaian nation-state to provide affordable rental accommodation for all those families or individuals that cannot afford to build or purchase their own homes. Ditto making the rental income, for those in the private sector who provide well-designed and well-built affordable rental accommodation for low-income families, tax free.
(7) Help spread the tax net, by making Ghana the nation with the lowest corporate tax rates in the world - and get Parliament to pass draconian laws making tax evasion a crime punishable by a mandatory prison sentence and a hefty fine.
(8) Encourage hard work by abolishing personal income tax. It is pernicious to tax hard-working people in the formal sector of the economy, whiles millions in the informal sector who earn far more, get away with virtually paying nothing.
(9) Make all types of farming tax-free businesses - to ensure food security and sustainable rural development, throughout Ghana.
(10) Create tax-free shops for personnel of the security services nationwide - as well as enable each of them to purchase one family car tax free, every five years.
(11) Guarantee 25 years of tax-free revenues for the 10 investors who are prepared to self-finance the building of railway lines to all 10 regional capitals in Ghana, on a build, operate and transfer basis.
(12) Initiate the processes leading to passage of legislation that ensures that oil companies, not the Ghanaian nation-state - and at the pain of having their agreements with Ghana automatically abrogated, if they fail to do so - pay for all the clean-up costs resulting from oil spillages; pay full compensation to all those affected by such spillages; and above all, pay fully to restore the natural environment, both offshore and on polluted coastal lands, to a pristine state again.
(13) Get London's Metropolitan Police to collaborate with the Ghana Police Service to re-investigate the murder of the Ya Naa - and bring all his murderers to book.
The question, is: which party's presidential candidate today, will have the moral courage, to have such a platform? As a wag I know, said to me, when I showed him my wish-list for presidential candidates, in the December 2012 election: "Kofi, this is wishful thinking - it won't happen, not in cynical Ghana. Period." More's the pity, say I, dear reader.
Hopefully, at least one candidate amongst those who will be in the December 2012 presidential race, will be bold and courageous to adopt some of the above, if not all of them. May Providence bless and protect our homeland Ghana, in this most crucial of election years.
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
NATIONAL MEDIA COMMISSION: LET US HEAR THE AUTHENTIC VOICES OF GHANAIANS ON OUR AIRWAVES NATIONWIDE!
It is obvious that the vast majority of ordinary people in Ghana, believe in peaceful coexistence - between neighbour and fellow citizen: in all their day to day interactions.
Invariably, their main concerns are how families can put food on dining tables, pay for the education of the younger generation and be able to meet the cost of day to day living - including paying for unforeseen emergencies.
Yet, those authentic voices-of-reason-and-tolerance, Ghana's silent and peaceful majority, are seldom heard on the airwaves of radio and television stations across our country.
The overly-passionate (often feigned, incidentally) and mostly cynical voices that one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, often give one the rather false impression, that somehow, there is great tension in a nation that is also deeply divided. Luckily, that false picture doesn't actually reflect the reality on the ground.
The intolerant and often abusive submissions one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, come mostly from the opposing cabals of selfish active-self-seekers, amongst our educated urban elites.
Those cabals are made up of individuals who either are no longer in a position to milk the system - because their parties are no longer in power - or conversely, those who benefit from maintaining the status quo: because they belong to the ruling party.
That is why one seldom hears arguments based on principle and conviction, in such discussion programmes. It would appear that hypocrisy and cynicism, rule OK, on the airwaves, in Ghana.
So, although ultimately the verbose-hot-air that one often hears in such programmes are damaging to, and detrimental, for the nation they say they are so concerned about - and whose citizens' welfare they claim to seek - if truth be told, dear reader, those mostly-selfish individuals who benefit materially from the false impression that there is tension in a divided Ghana, clearly have an incentive to continue keeping that illusion alive.
Sadly, it does our country great harm, indeed. The outrage, is that it is simply a cynical propaganda tactic - literally designed to enable the divide-and-rule agenda of a few ruthless individuals, who seek to control the destiny of teeming millions in Nkrumah's Ghana, because they think they were born to rule others, to have traction nationwide.
It would appear, dear reader, that a ruthless mafia, made up of cynical politicians and mercenary journalists (the hacks-without-a-conscience!), has succeeded in hijacking access to the airwaves in Ghana.
And on a daily basis, they and their paid hirelings work energetically full time, either hopping from electronic media outlet to electronic media outlet, to participate in live programmes, or calling into radio and television stations during current affairs discussion programmes, to make contributions that help spread even wider, the miasma of negativity that is slowly enveloping our homeland Ghana - giving the unfortunate impression to the world that somehow we are a deeply divided people.
The question is: How did we come to such a sorry pass, that today, it is only those who gain materially from the system, or seek to milk the system someday when the party they support finally comes to power, who are mainly the ones with constant access to radio and television stations, and have now ended up literally taking over the airwaves in our country completely - to fight a no-holds-barred propaganda war, which they hope will ultimately enable their party to either continue holding on to power, or if they happen to be in the political wilderness, hope will return their party to power again, after the next presidential elections?
It would appear that there is a conspiracy between the media and the self-seeking empty-talking-heads, for whom political power is a personal wealth-creation tool. And it is for such base reasons, dear reader, that ordinary people and Mother Ghana are being held to ransom, alas. Imagine that.
It is such an intolerable situation for anyone who believes in democracy. Surely, the time has come for ordinary folk in our democracy to be allowed to speak freely, in the parliament-of-the-airwaves - and in what is an election year, is it not vital that institutions like the National Media Commission (NMC), act to ensure that ordinary people too can exercise their right to freedom of expression freely on the airwaves?
Radio and television stations ought to be compelled to do precisely what they were given licenses to operate for - provide a platform for a series of meaningful national conversations that educate and entertain their audience - as well as help move the Ghanaian nation-state forward.
With respect, they were not given licenses to become the propaganda outlets of political parties and politicians - and useful tools of same. They need to be reminded that they have an important role to play in entrenching democracy in our country.
It is time they engaged the general public in public spaces - seeking the opinions of ordinary people on farms in hamlets and villages - if need be; in towns and cities - even talking to them on pavements in urban areas; ditto markets and lorry stations nationwide, for example, in order to take the pulse of the nation from the people they chance upon during such on-location outside broadcast outreach programmes.
The question, dear reader, is, what exactly is the NMC doing about this unedifying situation? We must not allow the professional cynics and doom-sayers in our midst to continue to infect our nation with their poisonous negativity.
In this crucial election year, radio and television stations must be prevailed upon to enable the authentic voices of the masses in Ghana, to be continuously aired and heard nationwide.
That, not forever seeking yet more funding and extending their sodden influence in society, by stealth, is what ought to be the concerns of Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere's confounded NMC. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Invariably, their main concerns are how families can put food on dining tables, pay for the education of the younger generation and be able to meet the cost of day to day living - including paying for unforeseen emergencies.
Yet, those authentic voices-of-reason-and-tolerance, Ghana's silent and peaceful majority, are seldom heard on the airwaves of radio and television stations across our country.
The overly-passionate (often feigned, incidentally) and mostly cynical voices that one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, often give one the rather false impression, that somehow, there is great tension in a nation that is also deeply divided. Luckily, that false picture doesn't actually reflect the reality on the ground.
The intolerant and often abusive submissions one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, come mostly from the opposing cabals of selfish active-self-seekers, amongst our educated urban elites.
Those cabals are made up of individuals who either are no longer in a position to milk the system - because their parties are no longer in power - or conversely, those who benefit from maintaining the status quo: because they belong to the ruling party.
That is why one seldom hears arguments based on principle and conviction, in such discussion programmes. It would appear that hypocrisy and cynicism, rule OK, on the airwaves, in Ghana.
So, although ultimately the verbose-hot-air that one often hears in such programmes are damaging to, and detrimental, for the nation they say they are so concerned about - and whose citizens' welfare they claim to seek - if truth be told, dear reader, those mostly-selfish individuals who benefit materially from the false impression that there is tension in a divided Ghana, clearly have an incentive to continue keeping that illusion alive.
Sadly, it does our country great harm, indeed. The outrage, is that it is simply a cynical propaganda tactic - literally designed to enable the divide-and-rule agenda of a few ruthless individuals, who seek to control the destiny of teeming millions in Nkrumah's Ghana, because they think they were born to rule others, to have traction nationwide.
It would appear, dear reader, that a ruthless mafia, made up of cynical politicians and mercenary journalists (the hacks-without-a-conscience!), has succeeded in hijacking access to the airwaves in Ghana.
And on a daily basis, they and their paid hirelings work energetically full time, either hopping from electronic media outlet to electronic media outlet, to participate in live programmes, or calling into radio and television stations during current affairs discussion programmes, to make contributions that help spread even wider, the miasma of negativity that is slowly enveloping our homeland Ghana - giving the unfortunate impression to the world that somehow we are a deeply divided people.
The question is: How did we come to such a sorry pass, that today, it is only those who gain materially from the system, or seek to milk the system someday when the party they support finally comes to power, who are mainly the ones with constant access to radio and television stations, and have now ended up literally taking over the airwaves in our country completely - to fight a no-holds-barred propaganda war, which they hope will ultimately enable their party to either continue holding on to power, or if they happen to be in the political wilderness, hope will return their party to power again, after the next presidential elections?
It would appear that there is a conspiracy between the media and the self-seeking empty-talking-heads, for whom political power is a personal wealth-creation tool. And it is for such base reasons, dear reader, that ordinary people and Mother Ghana are being held to ransom, alas. Imagine that.
It is such an intolerable situation for anyone who believes in democracy. Surely, the time has come for ordinary folk in our democracy to be allowed to speak freely, in the parliament-of-the-airwaves - and in what is an election year, is it not vital that institutions like the National Media Commission (NMC), act to ensure that ordinary people too can exercise their right to freedom of expression freely on the airwaves?
Radio and television stations ought to be compelled to do precisely what they were given licenses to operate for - provide a platform for a series of meaningful national conversations that educate and entertain their audience - as well as help move the Ghanaian nation-state forward.
With respect, they were not given licenses to become the propaganda outlets of political parties and politicians - and useful tools of same. They need to be reminded that they have an important role to play in entrenching democracy in our country.
It is time they engaged the general public in public spaces - seeking the opinions of ordinary people on farms in hamlets and villages - if need be; in towns and cities - even talking to them on pavements in urban areas; ditto markets and lorry stations nationwide, for example, in order to take the pulse of the nation from the people they chance upon during such on-location outside broadcast outreach programmes.
The question, dear reader, is, what exactly is the NMC doing about this unedifying situation? We must not allow the professional cynics and doom-sayers in our midst to continue to infect our nation with their poisonous negativity.
In this crucial election year, radio and television stations must be prevailed upon to enable the authentic voices of the masses in Ghana, to be continuously aired and heard nationwide.
That, not forever seeking yet more funding and extending their sodden influence in society, by stealth, is what ought to be the concerns of Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere's confounded NMC. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Monday, 2 January 2012
AN EMAIL TO STEVEN TUINISTRA
Happy New Year, Steven. I do hope you are well - and happy.
I had a conversation with a leading politician from the north of Ghana, yesterday.
I mentioned the fact that you and your boss had designed what is the most modern shea butter factory in West Africa, to him. In both our view, it is a perfect SADA public private partnership project.
The government recently gave the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), some US$18 millions. SADA is a national development organisation charged with bridging the gap in wealth between the north of Ghana and the southern half of the country.
Would either you or your boss be interested in a turnkey project in the north of Ghana - to replicate your Togo project there?
If yes, I shall e-introduce you to a consultant, Dr. Baezie, who is the right-hand man of the politician I mentioned earlier - so you can liaise with him to set the ball rolling for collaborating with the relevant people and organisations. Interested?
As usual, let me state that I do this only for altruistic reasons - and want and expect nothing from either you or your boss.
My satisfaction and reward, will be to see something I played a small part in initiating, eventually creating jobs and wealth for people in a poor part of Ghana.
Best wishes,
Kofi.
I had a conversation with a leading politician from the north of Ghana, yesterday.
I mentioned the fact that you and your boss had designed what is the most modern shea butter factory in West Africa, to him. In both our view, it is a perfect SADA public private partnership project.
The government recently gave the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), some US$18 millions. SADA is a national development organisation charged with bridging the gap in wealth between the north of Ghana and the southern half of the country.
Would either you or your boss be interested in a turnkey project in the north of Ghana - to replicate your Togo project there?
If yes, I shall e-introduce you to a consultant, Dr. Baezie, who is the right-hand man of the politician I mentioned earlier - so you can liaise with him to set the ball rolling for collaborating with the relevant people and organisations. Interested?
As usual, let me state that I do this only for altruistic reasons - and want and expect nothing from either you or your boss.
My satisfaction and reward, will be to see something I played a small part in initiating, eventually creating jobs and wealth for people in a poor part of Ghana.
Best wishes,
Kofi.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
MUST ALL PRESIDENTIAL & PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES FOR GHANA'S DECEMBER 2012 ELECTIONS SIGN A NON-VIOLENCE PLEDGE?
Ghana's international reputation as a stable, peaceful and democratic African nation, widely regarded as a beacon of hope for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, is priceless - and must be jealously guarded, at all costs.
Well-meaning Ghanaians want this new year, 2012 - during which crucial elections are to be held in December - to be a happy and peaceful one. A peaceful outcome, for what we all hope will be free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, this December, will further enhance our nation's standing, in the international community.
It is therefore vital that all those standing as candidates in the December presidential and parliamentary elections, put that bigger picture (Ghana's reputation as a peaceful and stable multi-party democracy), at the forefront of their thinking - when fashioning their campaign tactics and formulating what they hope will be winning-strategies.
Perhaps the time has come for all candidates in the December elections to sign individual pledges, promising the good people of Ghana, that they will commit their parties - and themselves, individually - to ensuring that this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, are devoid of violence: and are fraud-free too.
Alas, if we were to lose Ghana's international reputation as a haven of peace and stability in Africa, it will drive away scores of potential foreign tourists and investors - courageous enough, at a time of great economic uncertainty globally, to want to visit Nkrumah's Ghana or invest in our resource-rich country's future.
So, peaceful elections (in each one of the 21,004 or so polling stations nationwide), in December, are a must. We must show the world that we are indeed a truly civilised people, by making sure that all Ghana's political parties understand clearly, that Ghanaians expect them to ensure that all their followers, get the message - loud and clear - that the law courts are the only places where electoral disputes are resolved. No one need resort to violence because of disputed election results.
A violence-free poll in December, will, for example, further boost confidence levels, in Ghana, amongst overseas fund managers who concentrate on emerging markets.
And that is no small matter in a world reeling from yet another financial crisis arising largely from the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis - and saddled with an economic downturn in many nations; turmoil in markets across time zones and the beginnings of a new global credit crunch. Our financial services sector needs to attract such funds - if players in the sector are to continue growing.
Members of our political class must not fail Mother Ghana, at this critical juncture of our nation's history. After all, they are fond of frequently making the claim that they are in politics, simply because they want to better the lot of ordinary people - and make our nation prosperous, are they not?
Well, any prolonged violence during the December elections, which leads to widespread chaos, destruction of property and pointless deaths-of-innocents, will rather do the opposite - and only end up impoverishing the Ghanaian nation-state and its citizens, will it not, dear reader?
The good people of Ghana therefore demand politicians' signatures on those individual pledges, to ensure nationwide violence-free polls, and a free and fair electoral process - and they must do so as soon as it is practicable for the National Peace Council of Ghana - and other civil society organisations with similar objects - to organise ceremonies nationwide, for that purpose. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Well-meaning Ghanaians want this new year, 2012 - during which crucial elections are to be held in December - to be a happy and peaceful one. A peaceful outcome, for what we all hope will be free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections, this December, will further enhance our nation's standing, in the international community.
It is therefore vital that all those standing as candidates in the December presidential and parliamentary elections, put that bigger picture (Ghana's reputation as a peaceful and stable multi-party democracy), at the forefront of their thinking - when fashioning their campaign tactics and formulating what they hope will be winning-strategies.
Perhaps the time has come for all candidates in the December elections to sign individual pledges, promising the good people of Ghana, that they will commit their parties - and themselves, individually - to ensuring that this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, are devoid of violence: and are fraud-free too.
Alas, if we were to lose Ghana's international reputation as a haven of peace and stability in Africa, it will drive away scores of potential foreign tourists and investors - courageous enough, at a time of great economic uncertainty globally, to want to visit Nkrumah's Ghana or invest in our resource-rich country's future.
So, peaceful elections (in each one of the 21,004 or so polling stations nationwide), in December, are a must. We must show the world that we are indeed a truly civilised people, by making sure that all Ghana's political parties understand clearly, that Ghanaians expect them to ensure that all their followers, get the message - loud and clear - that the law courts are the only places where electoral disputes are resolved. No one need resort to violence because of disputed election results.
A violence-free poll in December, will, for example, further boost confidence levels, in Ghana, amongst overseas fund managers who concentrate on emerging markets.
And that is no small matter in a world reeling from yet another financial crisis arising largely from the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis - and saddled with an economic downturn in many nations; turmoil in markets across time zones and the beginnings of a new global credit crunch. Our financial services sector needs to attract such funds - if players in the sector are to continue growing.
Members of our political class must not fail Mother Ghana, at this critical juncture of our nation's history. After all, they are fond of frequently making the claim that they are in politics, simply because they want to better the lot of ordinary people - and make our nation prosperous, are they not?
Well, any prolonged violence during the December elections, which leads to widespread chaos, destruction of property and pointless deaths-of-innocents, will rather do the opposite - and only end up impoverishing the Ghanaian nation-state and its citizens, will it not, dear reader?
The good people of Ghana therefore demand politicians' signatures on those individual pledges, to ensure nationwide violence-free polls, and a free and fair electoral process - and they must do so as soon as it is practicable for the National Peace Council of Ghana - and other civil society organisations with similar objects - to organise ceremonies nationwide, for that purpose. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
WILL PRESIDENT MILLS SEIZE THE LAST CHANCE TO SAVE HIS PRESIDENCY - & GET RE-ELECTED IN DECEMBER 2012?
It is often said, that perception is everything, in the fractious and byzantine world, of Ghanaian politics. Perhaps that is why, sadly, despite the fact that President Mills has done a yeoman's job as president thus far, so many ordinary people in Ghana continue to feel that precious little has been achieved, since he came to power.
Yet, the reality is that not only has President Mills led a regime that has successfully stabilised the national economy - which was literally near-collapse when his regime assumed power in January 2009: with a huge and burdensome deficit - indeed, it has also actually been very successful in inducing some growth in the non-oil sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Then there are the many projects executed in all the districts of Ghana, since the Mills regime came to power - but again, it would appear that even those don't seem to count for much too, as far as most ordinary Ghanaians are concerned: and that is evident when one listens to our nation's many radio stations.
On top of all those achievements mentioned above, luckily for Ghana, this is also a regime that is led by the most honest individual to lead our nation, since the overthrow of President Nkrumah, in February 1966 - in what has unfortunately become one of the most corrupt societies anywhere in Africa.
Surely, that ought to count for something in the minds of discerning, patriotic and independent-minded individuals, who actually care about Mother Ghana - especially as President Kufuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime was so incredibly corrupt: with kickbacks being marshalled and distributed at the Osu Castle, with Kufuor himself acting as the kingpin of that egregious crime-against-Ghanaians?
Furthermore, during the campaign for the December 2008 presidential election, the NPP's propaganda machine claimed that if elected, a President Mills would be a mere puppet of Flt Lt Rawlings. As we are all aware, it simply hasn't happened: because Mills is very much his own man. Yet, even that important fact doesn't seem to count for much too - as far as most ordinary people are concerned, it would appear.
Clearly, the many positive stories that make up the narrative of the Mills presidency, don't seem to have made much of an impact on the ordinary people of Ghana. So, obviously, this regime has not been very successful in connecting with the masses of the Ghanaian people - and making them identify with it.
It has also become obvious that in order to win the all-important 2012 presidential election, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will have to find the political equivalent of a mobile smartphone's 'killer-application' - and pretty fast too.
In that regard, they need not look too far, luckily for their party - for it can be found in the contents of the very sensible and restrained speech, delivered by ex-President Rawlings, in a public lecture organised to commemorate his 31st December 1981 military coup, at the National Theatre on 28 December, 2011.
If President Mills and the more honest individuals in his administration, are guided throughout the year 2012, by the contents of that politically important Rawlings speech, it will enable them put clear blue water between their NDC regime and the opposition NPP.
Like many Progressives who don't want the NPP to return to power again, any time soon, I have often been very critical, of what I consider to be unwarranted public criticism of President Mills, by President Rawlings. Indeed, I have even gone as far as accusing him of being disloyal to the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and undermining him unjustly - and suggested that that is totally uncalled for: especially coming from a retired officer and gentleman who has also been Ghana's president before.
However, even I, have to admit, that few can fault this particular Rawlings speech. It gives the Mills administration very useful guidelines, which if followed to the letter, will enable the NDC win back the trust of ordinary people in Ghana, again.
Above all, it is important, if he wants to leave behind a good legacy as president, that President Mills does not make the same mistake President Kufuor made, when he first came into office.
For, alas, unlike the perfidious, sly and utterly ruthless President Kufuor, Mills will not survive, if he fails to seize the historic opportunity Providence has now given him (amounting to a second chance for him, more or less), to make a real difference, in the fight against corruption in Ghana. Rawlings' latest speech, will help him do so, if he has the wisdom to follow the advice it gives him and his hard-of-hearing regime.
As Rawlings reiterated in that speech, it is still not too late for President Mills to put the negatives of the past behind him - but he must accept the former president's very useful guidelines, and move quickly to take all the necessary steps, which will enable our nation to finally begin dealing effectively with ending endemic corruption amongst public officials, in our country.
As a first step, and to establish a convention in Ghanaian politics, which will be followed by all successor-presidents who follow him, President Mills must now publicly publish the assets of both himself and those of the First Lady, Naadu Mills, as soon as it is practical to do so. It may not be a constitutional requirement, but it has now become a moral obligation, for our elected leaders to do so, in what after all is now an oil-producing African nation.
After that, he must make doing same a precondition for anyone wanting to continue serving in his administration, in 2012. Ditto any new appointments he makes, going forward. There are far too many doubtful characters in his administration, riding on his coattails.
The time has now come for him to rid his regime of all those dubious individuals. Closing down the so-called Brand Ghana Office, must be a priority in that regard, in what one hopes will be a new era of positive action.
This really is President Mills' last chance to save his legacy as president - and win re-election to a second term in office, in the December 2012 presidential election.
In the past, the rogues who lurk in the shadows in his administration, have invariably deployed faint-heartedness and procrastination, as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to kill off anti-corruption measures. Alas, time is not on his side - so he must be bold and decisive in this instance. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Yet, the reality is that not only has President Mills led a regime that has successfully stabilised the national economy - which was literally near-collapse when his regime assumed power in January 2009: with a huge and burdensome deficit - indeed, it has also actually been very successful in inducing some growth in the non-oil sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
Then there are the many projects executed in all the districts of Ghana, since the Mills regime came to power - but again, it would appear that even those don't seem to count for much too, as far as most ordinary Ghanaians are concerned: and that is evident when one listens to our nation's many radio stations.
On top of all those achievements mentioned above, luckily for Ghana, this is also a regime that is led by the most honest individual to lead our nation, since the overthrow of President Nkrumah, in February 1966 - in what has unfortunately become one of the most corrupt societies anywhere in Africa.
Surely, that ought to count for something in the minds of discerning, patriotic and independent-minded individuals, who actually care about Mother Ghana - especially as President Kufuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime was so incredibly corrupt: with kickbacks being marshalled and distributed at the Osu Castle, with Kufuor himself acting as the kingpin of that egregious crime-against-Ghanaians?
Furthermore, during the campaign for the December 2008 presidential election, the NPP's propaganda machine claimed that if elected, a President Mills would be a mere puppet of Flt Lt Rawlings. As we are all aware, it simply hasn't happened: because Mills is very much his own man. Yet, even that important fact doesn't seem to count for much too - as far as most ordinary people are concerned, it would appear.
Clearly, the many positive stories that make up the narrative of the Mills presidency, don't seem to have made much of an impact on the ordinary people of Ghana. So, obviously, this regime has not been very successful in connecting with the masses of the Ghanaian people - and making them identify with it.
It has also become obvious that in order to win the all-important 2012 presidential election, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will have to find the political equivalent of a mobile smartphone's 'killer-application' - and pretty fast too.
In that regard, they need not look too far, luckily for their party - for it can be found in the contents of the very sensible and restrained speech, delivered by ex-President Rawlings, in a public lecture organised to commemorate his 31st December 1981 military coup, at the National Theatre on 28 December, 2011.
If President Mills and the more honest individuals in his administration, are guided throughout the year 2012, by the contents of that politically important Rawlings speech, it will enable them put clear blue water between their NDC regime and the opposition NPP.
Like many Progressives who don't want the NPP to return to power again, any time soon, I have often been very critical, of what I consider to be unwarranted public criticism of President Mills, by President Rawlings. Indeed, I have even gone as far as accusing him of being disloyal to the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, and undermining him unjustly - and suggested that that is totally uncalled for: especially coming from a retired officer and gentleman who has also been Ghana's president before.
However, even I, have to admit, that few can fault this particular Rawlings speech. It gives the Mills administration very useful guidelines, which if followed to the letter, will enable the NDC win back the trust of ordinary people in Ghana, again.
Above all, it is important, if he wants to leave behind a good legacy as president, that President Mills does not make the same mistake President Kufuor made, when he first came into office.
For, alas, unlike the perfidious, sly and utterly ruthless President Kufuor, Mills will not survive, if he fails to seize the historic opportunity Providence has now given him (amounting to a second chance for him, more or less), to make a real difference, in the fight against corruption in Ghana. Rawlings' latest speech, will help him do so, if he has the wisdom to follow the advice it gives him and his hard-of-hearing regime.
As Rawlings reiterated in that speech, it is still not too late for President Mills to put the negatives of the past behind him - but he must accept the former president's very useful guidelines, and move quickly to take all the necessary steps, which will enable our nation to finally begin dealing effectively with ending endemic corruption amongst public officials, in our country.
As a first step, and to establish a convention in Ghanaian politics, which will be followed by all successor-presidents who follow him, President Mills must now publicly publish the assets of both himself and those of the First Lady, Naadu Mills, as soon as it is practical to do so. It may not be a constitutional requirement, but it has now become a moral obligation, for our elected leaders to do so, in what after all is now an oil-producing African nation.
After that, he must make doing same a precondition for anyone wanting to continue serving in his administration, in 2012. Ditto any new appointments he makes, going forward. There are far too many doubtful characters in his administration, riding on his coattails.
The time has now come for him to rid his regime of all those dubious individuals. Closing down the so-called Brand Ghana Office, must be a priority in that regard, in what one hopes will be a new era of positive action.
This really is President Mills' last chance to save his legacy as president - and win re-election to a second term in office, in the December 2012 presidential election.
In the past, the rogues who lurk in the shadows in his administration, have invariably deployed faint-heartedness and procrastination, as weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to kill off anti-corruption measures. Alas, time is not on his side - so he must be bold and decisive in this instance. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Protecting Ghanaian Smartphone Users From Ghana's Large Army Of Online Fraudsters - Who Have Made Ghana A Global Power In Online Fraud!
As the use of smartphones become more popular in our country - thanks to the efforts of companies like Techno and RLG, which assemble them locally - and the number of social media users in Ghana increases, so does the number of victims of online fraudsters.
An excellent article, by Rosie Murray-West, which appeared in today's edition of the online version of the UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, gives smartphone users useful tips on how to avoid being victimised by online fraudsters.
I am reproducing her culled article, in today's blog, in the hope that it will save some Ghanaian smartphone and social media users, from ending up as victims of Ghana's many online fraudsters - who, sadly, have turned our nation into a global power in online fraud.
Unfortunately, many Ghanaians are in denial about it - and don't want to believe that Ghana is actually now one of the world's superpowers in online fraud: known locally as Saakawa. Rosie Murray-West's article is entitled, "Smartphone and social media users: beware a new type of fraudster". Please read on:
"Smartphone and social media users: beware a new type of fraudster
New technology such as iPhones means there are new ways of swindling you.
By Rosie Murray-West
1:04PM GMT 27 Dec 2011
This will be the year of the hi-tech fraudster, experts have said, and households are warned to be on their guard against new tricks aimed at parting them with their cash. "When times are tough, fraud increases," warns the anti-fraud group Cifas. "Individuals in desperate straits sometimes turn to desperate measures in order to make ends meet."
Cifas says that targets will include Government services, as more and more are delivered online, and ATMs. The Olympics are also likely to be a focus for scams, so sports fans should be wary. Here are some fraud trends to look out for in 2012, and tips on how to avoid them.
Facebook fraud
With more of us using Facebook, Twitter and other networking media, fraudsters are using "social engineering" to extort money. Once a virus infects a user's computer, it will, when they next visit a site such as Facebook, raid the user's "friends" list. The virus then sends an email to each friend asking them to click on a link to view a photo or video. The friends trust the name of the sender, click on the link, and in doing so their computer becomes infected.
"[The emails] might look like they come from a friend," Neil Fisher, head of global security systems at Unisys, says. "But click on them and they contain a hidden 'package'. This could contain keystroke-logging software that will find your passwords and other details.
Alternatively, you may end up with a man-in-the-browser virus. When a user logs on to specific online banking sites, the virus, or Trojan, is activated and intercepts banking data.
What can you do to stop it?
Make sure your Facebook is ''locked down'', and do not allow random people to view your list of friends or other personal details, even if these seem fairly innocuous to you. Remember that information such as your birthday could be valuable to a fraudster – your date of birth, for example, is a routine security question.
Do not click on strange attachments in your email – even if they purport to come from friends. If the text of the email sounds wrong in tone for a friend of yours, then think before you click.
iPads and Smartphones
Many people will have got shiny new media items for Christmas, including iPads and smartphones. For those who are new to the world of mobile internet browsing and apps, the devices could represent a gateway for attacks.
Neil Fisher warns about text message scams and "too good to be true" apps. People with Android phones have been particularly vulnerable to this in recent weeks. The Android Market store, operated by Google, had a number of seemingly legitimate ''free'' versions of premium titles. However, the downloads contained malware that sent premium-rate text messages to users. The apps were downloaded more than 10,000 times.
What can you do about it?
Check any apps you download onto new devices carefully for legitimacy and check your mobile phone bill regularly
Don't respond to texts that are not from people you know.
Card not present fraud
With more and more of us shopping online, so-called ''card not present'' fraud is a big risk. You'll realise that you've been a victim of this type of fraud either when you receive a huge credit card bill, or large debit card purchases that you don't recognise push you into overdraft.
This type of fraud can be perpetrated over the internet, by mail or on the phone – and in the majority of cases all the fraudster needs is your card number and sometimes the three digits on the back.
The number of people affected by this type of fraud is falling, but it is important to be on your guard. Martin Warwick, fraud expert at analytics provider Fico, says that Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode – whereby customers enter a password when shopping online – are meant to protect consumers. However, he added that these systems were "static rather than dynamic", meaning that fraudsters could easily gain access to them.
What can you do to stop it?
Keep your card data safe and do not give out Pin numbers on the phone. Legitimate inquiries from your bank will not ask you for your entire Pin – only for selected digits.
Make sure your secure codes are truly secure: don't give them out, and make them as complex as possible.
ATM issues
Martin Warwick points out that the increase in security online means that traditional methods of illegally obtaining money, for example from customers at cashpoints, are on the rise.
The ''Lebanese loop'', for instance, is a scam which makes it appear as if your card has been swallowed, but the fraudster will be able to retrieve it later. He or she will have been standing behind you, watching as you enter your Pin number. They will then retrieve your card using the "loop", and start using it themselves.
What can you do about it?
Make sure no one can see you typing in your Pin, and do not interact with seemingly well-meaning Good Samaritans who offer to help you if your card does get swallowed.
Look at the machine carefully before you use it – if you see anything that looks odd, do not use it.
Money mule cons
Money mule cons begin with a job being advertised, often involving "working from home". Once recruited, "money mules" receive cash into their bank accounts which will have been stolen from another compromised account. The mule is then asked to wire these funds overseas (minus a commission payment). In reality, this is money laundering. This process may continue smoothly for some time, until your bank account becomes compromised because you have clicked on infected emails from the fraudsters. Your bank account might then be emptied.
When the money laundering is discovered by police, often the ''mule'' is the only identifiable link in the chain, and you might face prosecution, with your bank account frozen.
Other versions of this include the often badly spelt emails from foreign ''dignitaries'' who ask you to send or receive money from them in exchange for a fee.
What can you do about it?
Do not respond to attractive-looking ''Work from home'' opportunities unless you are sure they are legitimate.
Read emails carefully and do not offer to use your account to send and receive money for other people.
Olympic cons
The Olympics will be a particular target for fraudsters, experts have warned. While there will be attempts to hack the main Olympic ticketing systems, they are unlikely to be successful, so watch out instead for activity around the edges. Neil Fisher at Unisys warns that ''packages'' offering tickets plus extras will be a particular focus for fraud.
What can you do about it?
Make sure that you are particularly careful with all Olympics-based transactions and check that the people you buy from are listed as legitimate."
End of culled Daily Telegraph article written by Rosie Murray-West.
Well, dear reader, I do hope that someone somewhere in Ghana, will learn something positive that will help protect them, when they venture online with their mobile device, after reading the Daily Telegraph's Rosie Murray-West's very useful article about fraud. Not being tech-savvy myself, I find such articles immensely useful.
To the many who interact with me daily by email, let me say that I am a rather-starve-than-beg type of person, so if any of you ever receives a begging email, or Facebook message that purports to be from me, appealing for financial help to save me from some calamity that has befallen me, please ignore it. I am a firm believer in the tough-love doctrine of friendship and parenting - and begging others simply isn't written into my DNA.
In any case, a phone call to my Tigo mobile number (+ 233 (0) 27 745 3109) will always quickly establish the fact that one isn't stranded in some distant and obscure corner of the planet Earth - having given up the globe-trotting of my youthful days, years ago.
A phone call to me, will also establish the fact that one is most definitely not in dire need of cash, either - having learnt to live a more or less cashless existence for decades now: after mastering the art and science of meeting most of one's basic material needs, by leveraging the green barter-economy (and long before it became fashionable, incidentally).
I shall end today's blog posting, by wishing all who read my ghanapolitics blog, a Happy New Year. One hopes that the year 2012 will bring peace to all nations in desperate need of it - and may the new year also see many more oppressed people around the world throwing off the shackles of tyranny: by overthrowing their cruel and brutish tyrants!
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
An excellent article, by Rosie Murray-West, which appeared in today's edition of the online version of the UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, gives smartphone users useful tips on how to avoid being victimised by online fraudsters.
I am reproducing her culled article, in today's blog, in the hope that it will save some Ghanaian smartphone and social media users, from ending up as victims of Ghana's many online fraudsters - who, sadly, have turned our nation into a global power in online fraud.
Unfortunately, many Ghanaians are in denial about it - and don't want to believe that Ghana is actually now one of the world's superpowers in online fraud: known locally as Saakawa. Rosie Murray-West's article is entitled, "Smartphone and social media users: beware a new type of fraudster". Please read on:
"Smartphone and social media users: beware a new type of fraudster
New technology such as iPhones means there are new ways of swindling you.
By Rosie Murray-West
1:04PM GMT 27 Dec 2011
This will be the year of the hi-tech fraudster, experts have said, and households are warned to be on their guard against new tricks aimed at parting them with their cash. "When times are tough, fraud increases," warns the anti-fraud group Cifas. "Individuals in desperate straits sometimes turn to desperate measures in order to make ends meet."
Cifas says that targets will include Government services, as more and more are delivered online, and ATMs. The Olympics are also likely to be a focus for scams, so sports fans should be wary. Here are some fraud trends to look out for in 2012, and tips on how to avoid them.
Facebook fraud
With more of us using Facebook, Twitter and other networking media, fraudsters are using "social engineering" to extort money. Once a virus infects a user's computer, it will, when they next visit a site such as Facebook, raid the user's "friends" list. The virus then sends an email to each friend asking them to click on a link to view a photo or video. The friends trust the name of the sender, click on the link, and in doing so their computer becomes infected.
"[The emails] might look like they come from a friend," Neil Fisher, head of global security systems at Unisys, says. "But click on them and they contain a hidden 'package'. This could contain keystroke-logging software that will find your passwords and other details.
Alternatively, you may end up with a man-in-the-browser virus. When a user logs on to specific online banking sites, the virus, or Trojan, is activated and intercepts banking data.
What can you do to stop it?
Make sure your Facebook is ''locked down'', and do not allow random people to view your list of friends or other personal details, even if these seem fairly innocuous to you. Remember that information such as your birthday could be valuable to a fraudster – your date of birth, for example, is a routine security question.
Do not click on strange attachments in your email – even if they purport to come from friends. If the text of the email sounds wrong in tone for a friend of yours, then think before you click.
iPads and Smartphones
Many people will have got shiny new media items for Christmas, including iPads and smartphones. For those who are new to the world of mobile internet browsing and apps, the devices could represent a gateway for attacks.
Neil Fisher warns about text message scams and "too good to be true" apps. People with Android phones have been particularly vulnerable to this in recent weeks. The Android Market store, operated by Google, had a number of seemingly legitimate ''free'' versions of premium titles. However, the downloads contained malware that sent premium-rate text messages to users. The apps were downloaded more than 10,000 times.
What can you do about it?
Check any apps you download onto new devices carefully for legitimacy and check your mobile phone bill regularly
Don't respond to texts that are not from people you know.
Card not present fraud
With more and more of us shopping online, so-called ''card not present'' fraud is a big risk. You'll realise that you've been a victim of this type of fraud either when you receive a huge credit card bill, or large debit card purchases that you don't recognise push you into overdraft.
This type of fraud can be perpetrated over the internet, by mail or on the phone – and in the majority of cases all the fraudster needs is your card number and sometimes the three digits on the back.
The number of people affected by this type of fraud is falling, but it is important to be on your guard. Martin Warwick, fraud expert at analytics provider Fico, says that Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode – whereby customers enter a password when shopping online – are meant to protect consumers. However, he added that these systems were "static rather than dynamic", meaning that fraudsters could easily gain access to them.
What can you do to stop it?
Keep your card data safe and do not give out Pin numbers on the phone. Legitimate inquiries from your bank will not ask you for your entire Pin – only for selected digits.
Make sure your secure codes are truly secure: don't give them out, and make them as complex as possible.
ATM issues
Martin Warwick points out that the increase in security online means that traditional methods of illegally obtaining money, for example from customers at cashpoints, are on the rise.
The ''Lebanese loop'', for instance, is a scam which makes it appear as if your card has been swallowed, but the fraudster will be able to retrieve it later. He or she will have been standing behind you, watching as you enter your Pin number. They will then retrieve your card using the "loop", and start using it themselves.
What can you do about it?
Make sure no one can see you typing in your Pin, and do not interact with seemingly well-meaning Good Samaritans who offer to help you if your card does get swallowed.
Look at the machine carefully before you use it – if you see anything that looks odd, do not use it.
Money mule cons
Money mule cons begin with a job being advertised, often involving "working from home". Once recruited, "money mules" receive cash into their bank accounts which will have been stolen from another compromised account. The mule is then asked to wire these funds overseas (minus a commission payment). In reality, this is money laundering. This process may continue smoothly for some time, until your bank account becomes compromised because you have clicked on infected emails from the fraudsters. Your bank account might then be emptied.
When the money laundering is discovered by police, often the ''mule'' is the only identifiable link in the chain, and you might face prosecution, with your bank account frozen.
Other versions of this include the often badly spelt emails from foreign ''dignitaries'' who ask you to send or receive money from them in exchange for a fee.
What can you do about it?
Do not respond to attractive-looking ''Work from home'' opportunities unless you are sure they are legitimate.
Read emails carefully and do not offer to use your account to send and receive money for other people.
Olympic cons
The Olympics will be a particular target for fraudsters, experts have warned. While there will be attempts to hack the main Olympic ticketing systems, they are unlikely to be successful, so watch out instead for activity around the edges. Neil Fisher at Unisys warns that ''packages'' offering tickets plus extras will be a particular focus for fraud.
What can you do about it?
Make sure that you are particularly careful with all Olympics-based transactions and check that the people you buy from are listed as legitimate."
End of culled Daily Telegraph article written by Rosie Murray-West.
Well, dear reader, I do hope that someone somewhere in Ghana, will learn something positive that will help protect them, when they venture online with their mobile device, after reading the Daily Telegraph's Rosie Murray-West's very useful article about fraud. Not being tech-savvy myself, I find such articles immensely useful.
To the many who interact with me daily by email, let me say that I am a rather-starve-than-beg type of person, so if any of you ever receives a begging email, or Facebook message that purports to be from me, appealing for financial help to save me from some calamity that has befallen me, please ignore it. I am a firm believer in the tough-love doctrine of friendship and parenting - and begging others simply isn't written into my DNA.
In any case, a phone call to my Tigo mobile number (+ 233 (0) 27 745 3109) will always quickly establish the fact that one isn't stranded in some distant and obscure corner of the planet Earth - having given up the globe-trotting of my youthful days, years ago.
A phone call to me, will also establish the fact that one is most definitely not in dire need of cash, either - having learnt to live a more or less cashless existence for decades now: after mastering the art and science of meeting most of one's basic material needs, by leveraging the green barter-economy (and long before it became fashionable, incidentally).
I shall end today's blog posting, by wishing all who read my ghanapolitics blog, a Happy New Year. One hopes that the year 2012 will bring peace to all nations in desperate need of it - and may the new year also see many more oppressed people around the world throwing off the shackles of tyranny: by overthrowing their cruel and brutish tyrants!
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Sunday, 25 December 2011
HAS THE HON. OSEI KYEI MENSAH-BONSU, THE MINORITY LEADER IN GHANA'S PARLIAMENT, EXPERIENCED A ROAD-TO-DAMASCUS MOMENT, YET?
Not too long ago, the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the leader of the Minority in Parliament, made a statement, during a press conference, claiming that the judgement-debt payment, which a legally constituted court of law had ordered be paid to Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, was the single biggest loss of money, suffered by the Ghanaian nation-state, since independence.
Actually, that is not factual, dear reader. It needs to be pointed out - to each one of those hypocrites, who occupy most of the seats on the side of the Minority in Parliament, and all of whom, incidentally, knew exactly how dishonest and crooked Kufuor & Co., were, during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, from January 2001 to Junuary 2009 - that as a matter of fact, the cause of the single biggest loss of money to the national treasury, since Ghana gained its independence in March 1957, is not the relatively paltry sums a properly constituted court of law ordered be paid to Woyome, as judgement-debt.
If truth be told, the single biggest instance of loss of money, suffered by the Ghanaian nation-state, since independence, are the billions of dollars of revenues that should rightly be coming the way of our nation and all its people, but are not - as a result of high-level sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, which gave a stake in oilfields off our nation's shores, to two well-connected Ghanaians, who did not even pay a pesewa upfront for same.
Does the US$350 million-plus, for example, which should have been paid into the national kitty, but was not, and went instead to that opaque "front" (to use a word from the erstwhile crook-in-chief's own lips, once upon a time, in a Freudian-slip on national television!) for Kufuor & Co., the E. O. Group, when Tullow Oil acquired some of that nebulous entity's interest in the Jubilee oilfield, not too long ago, not make Woyome's GHc 52-plus millions, pale into insignificance, I ask, dear reader?
Did we hear a whimper from those hypocrites-in-Parliament, expressing disquiet, that private individuals from our country, should get away with such obscene sums - which rightly should have come to all Ghanaians: if Nkrumah's vision of a caring and sharing society guided our leaders and informed government policy today, instead of the rip-off culture and ethos of private greed at public expense, which, alas, now underpin virtually everything our ruling elites do?
How Kwame Nkrumah must be turning in his grave - that what he abhorred most: that a powerful few with greedy ambitions, could succeed in hijacking Ghana's natural resources, at the expense of the rest of us, with complete impunity, is now the reality of our times. O, how one weeps for Mother Ghana - now dominated mostly by super-ruthless blackguards. Pity.
If the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu - who now appears so solicitous about Ghana's well-being - will continue being so quick to act to protect the interests of our country and all its people, should his party win power in the December 2012 elections (God forbid!), then there's hope yet, for Mother Ghana.
One certainly hopes he has now turned over a new leaf, and that if the NPP were to return to power again (God forbid!), he will never aid and abet the asset-stripping of Ghana's accumulated wealth, by those who will then be running Ghana.
Going forward, he must never compromise himself again, by repeating the pivotal role he played, in the speedy passage, by Parliament, during the Kufuor-era, of that fraudulent sale and purchase agreement for the purchase of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO), by a non-existent company, grandly named International Aluminium Partners (IAP).
Now, that, dear reader, definitely was fraud specifically designed to rip-off the Ghanaian nation-state - as both the Norwegian headquartered Norske Hydro, and the Brazilian-domiciled VALE, who it was purported were partners in IAP, strenuously denied ever agreeing either to purchasing VALCO or being in partnership as IAP.
That outrageous example, of the sanctioning, by Parliament, of gargantuan fraud, the sale and purchase agreement for VALCO, by a non-existent entity, is a classic example of how during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co., Ghana was constantly short-changed - by those in the tribal-supremacist cabal, which dominated and controlled a regime elected by Ghanaians, ostensibly to protect the national interest.
Naturally, the many oh-so-arrogant NPP self-seekers, who now have the gall to engage in endless criticism of the honest and selfless President Mills, 24/7, on the airwaves and in the print media, and virtually all of whom took part in the brutal and repeated gang-rape of Mother Ghana, when the NPP was in power, and prospered so mightily individually - but no longer have access to easy money, because the era of pork-barrel politics is finally over: consigned to history by the principled and incorruptible President Mills - have all now conveniently forgotten what an actual threat, the unfathomable greed that underpinned the Kufuor-era, posed to the stability and well-being of our nation.
(The confounded Gabby Asare Otchere-Darkos; the perfidious John Boadus; the dissimulating Samuel Awukus; the supine Ken Kuranchies and the many mercenary-hacks of his ilk in the Ghanaian media landscape - jam-packed with third-rate individuals who have failed to master even the basic tool of their profession, the English language - all come readily to mind.)
No one who actually cares about Mother Ghana, must forget those dark days of high-level corruption, in Ghana - when the African sun used to shine only on: the favourites amongst members of the family clans of Kufuor & Co.; ditto the many regime-golden-princes of the era - that super-arrogant high-net-worth-brat, the verbally-aggressive and uncouth Kennedy Adjapong, being a prime example, incidentally; sundry bottom-power girlfriends of the confounded Big-men-with-big-bellies of the time, and above all, on the crony-capitalists of the Kufuor regime - a majority of whom were experts at dodging taxes and, in the end, succeeded in turning our second city, Kumasi, into the smuggling capital of West Africa, no less.
Let no one who truly loves Ghana, forget those forlorn days of infamy - when a fortunate few, ruthlessly exploited our national economy, for private gain, at public expense. So rotten were the Kufuor-era rogues, that they make even the crooks who lurk in the shadows, in the Mills administration, look like veritable saints.
That is why the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, must let us all know, whether he has now suddenly experienced a road-to-Damascus moment - just like St. Paul did in the Holy Bible: and is thus a changed man and now happens to be a politician who will never allow the Ghanaian nation-state (and all its citizens, without exception!), to be ripped-off, by the powerful and crooked elements, who, though small in number, still dominate his party so completely.
Still, despite our political differences, and in the spirit of the season, I do wish him, all his colleagues in Parliament - on both sides of the chamber - and the aforementioned oh-so-arrogant NPP self-seekers above, as well as all the readers of my Ghanapolitics blog, a happy holiday season. May 2012 be a peaceful and joyous year for all of us, and for Mother Ghana, above all!
Finally, and at the risk of sounding presumptuous, my humble advice to the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, is that he must weigh his words carefully, whenever speaking to the good people of Nkrumah's Ghana - for they are not fools, at all. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Actually, that is not factual, dear reader. It needs to be pointed out - to each one of those hypocrites, who occupy most of the seats on the side of the Minority in Parliament, and all of whom, incidentally, knew exactly how dishonest and crooked Kufuor & Co., were, during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, from January 2001 to Junuary 2009 - that as a matter of fact, the cause of the single biggest loss of money to the national treasury, since Ghana gained its independence in March 1957, is not the relatively paltry sums a properly constituted court of law ordered be paid to Woyome, as judgement-debt.
If truth be told, the single biggest instance of loss of money, suffered by the Ghanaian nation-state, since independence, are the billions of dollars of revenues that should rightly be coming the way of our nation and all its people, but are not - as a result of high-level sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, which gave a stake in oilfields off our nation's shores, to two well-connected Ghanaians, who did not even pay a pesewa upfront for same.
Does the US$350 million-plus, for example, which should have been paid into the national kitty, but was not, and went instead to that opaque "front" (to use a word from the erstwhile crook-in-chief's own lips, once upon a time, in a Freudian-slip on national television!) for Kufuor & Co., the E. O. Group, when Tullow Oil acquired some of that nebulous entity's interest in the Jubilee oilfield, not too long ago, not make Woyome's GHc 52-plus millions, pale into insignificance, I ask, dear reader?
Did we hear a whimper from those hypocrites-in-Parliament, expressing disquiet, that private individuals from our country, should get away with such obscene sums - which rightly should have come to all Ghanaians: if Nkrumah's vision of a caring and sharing society guided our leaders and informed government policy today, instead of the rip-off culture and ethos of private greed at public expense, which, alas, now underpin virtually everything our ruling elites do?
How Kwame Nkrumah must be turning in his grave - that what he abhorred most: that a powerful few with greedy ambitions, could succeed in hijacking Ghana's natural resources, at the expense of the rest of us, with complete impunity, is now the reality of our times. O, how one weeps for Mother Ghana - now dominated mostly by super-ruthless blackguards. Pity.
If the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu - who now appears so solicitous about Ghana's well-being - will continue being so quick to act to protect the interests of our country and all its people, should his party win power in the December 2012 elections (God forbid!), then there's hope yet, for Mother Ghana.
One certainly hopes he has now turned over a new leaf, and that if the NPP were to return to power again (God forbid!), he will never aid and abet the asset-stripping of Ghana's accumulated wealth, by those who will then be running Ghana.
Going forward, he must never compromise himself again, by repeating the pivotal role he played, in the speedy passage, by Parliament, during the Kufuor-era, of that fraudulent sale and purchase agreement for the purchase of the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO), by a non-existent company, grandly named International Aluminium Partners (IAP).
Now, that, dear reader, definitely was fraud specifically designed to rip-off the Ghanaian nation-state - as both the Norwegian headquartered Norske Hydro, and the Brazilian-domiciled VALE, who it was purported were partners in IAP, strenuously denied ever agreeing either to purchasing VALCO or being in partnership as IAP.
That outrageous example, of the sanctioning, by Parliament, of gargantuan fraud, the sale and purchase agreement for VALCO, by a non-existent entity, is a classic example of how during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co., Ghana was constantly short-changed - by those in the tribal-supremacist cabal, which dominated and controlled a regime elected by Ghanaians, ostensibly to protect the national interest.
Naturally, the many oh-so-arrogant NPP self-seekers, who now have the gall to engage in endless criticism of the honest and selfless President Mills, 24/7, on the airwaves and in the print media, and virtually all of whom took part in the brutal and repeated gang-rape of Mother Ghana, when the NPP was in power, and prospered so mightily individually - but no longer have access to easy money, because the era of pork-barrel politics is finally over: consigned to history by the principled and incorruptible President Mills - have all now conveniently forgotten what an actual threat, the unfathomable greed that underpinned the Kufuor-era, posed to the stability and well-being of our nation.
(The confounded Gabby Asare Otchere-Darkos; the perfidious John Boadus; the dissimulating Samuel Awukus; the supine Ken Kuranchies and the many mercenary-hacks of his ilk in the Ghanaian media landscape - jam-packed with third-rate individuals who have failed to master even the basic tool of their profession, the English language - all come readily to mind.)
No one who actually cares about Mother Ghana, must forget those dark days of high-level corruption, in Ghana - when the African sun used to shine only on: the favourites amongst members of the family clans of Kufuor & Co.; ditto the many regime-golden-princes of the era - that super-arrogant high-net-worth-brat, the verbally-aggressive and uncouth Kennedy Adjapong, being a prime example, incidentally; sundry bottom-power girlfriends of the confounded Big-men-with-big-bellies of the time, and above all, on the crony-capitalists of the Kufuor regime - a majority of whom were experts at dodging taxes and, in the end, succeeded in turning our second city, Kumasi, into the smuggling capital of West Africa, no less.
Let no one who truly loves Ghana, forget those forlorn days of infamy - when a fortunate few, ruthlessly exploited our national economy, for private gain, at public expense. So rotten were the Kufuor-era rogues, that they make even the crooks who lurk in the shadows, in the Mills administration, look like veritable saints.
That is why the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, must let us all know, whether he has now suddenly experienced a road-to-Damascus moment - just like St. Paul did in the Holy Bible: and is thus a changed man and now happens to be a politician who will never allow the Ghanaian nation-state (and all its citizens, without exception!), to be ripped-off, by the powerful and crooked elements, who, though small in number, still dominate his party so completely.
Still, despite our political differences, and in the spirit of the season, I do wish him, all his colleagues in Parliament - on both sides of the chamber - and the aforementioned oh-so-arrogant NPP self-seekers above, as well as all the readers of my Ghanapolitics blog, a happy holiday season. May 2012 be a peaceful and joyous year for all of us, and for Mother Ghana, above all!
Finally, and at the risk of sounding presumptuous, my humble advice to the Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, is that he must weigh his words carefully, whenever speaking to the good people of Nkrumah's Ghana - for they are not fools, at all. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
THE WOYOME AFFAIR: WHO IN THE KUFUOR CABINET OF 2005/2006 WILL EVENTUALLY BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR WILLFULLY CAUSING FINANCIAL LOSS TO GHANA?
It will not be far fetched, dear reader, to say that the whole of Ghana, literally awaits the denouement of the Woyome judgment-debt payment saga. Naturally, because of its impact on the nation, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) propagandists see it as a golden opportunity to maul the Mills administration mortally - and have been quick to make political capital out of it, using the electronic media, mostly.
In so doing, the NPP is plumbing new depths of hypocrisy, as it is a fact that it was the arrogance and irresponsibility of Kufuor & Co., in the first place - in abrogating a legally binding contract - which has resulted in Ghanaian taxpayers losing such huge sums: through a judgment-debt payment to Alfred Agbesi Woyome and as a result of an arbitration award, paid out to Waterville BVI.
The capacity for self-delusion amongst members of our political class is breathtaking: Let the NPP continue to think that this is a perfect big-stick to beat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime with.
What they seem to forget, is that President Mills is the most honest (and humblest!) individual to lead Ghana, thus far, since the overthrow of President Nkrumah, in February 1966. It is not as if he and his regime and are involved in some fraud with Woyome - to rip-off the Ghanaian nation-state and the people of Ghana. Far from it!
When those notorious dream-killers and illusion-shatterers-supreme, the infamous gang-of-brutal-facts, and their hard-nosed side-kicks, the plain-truth-posse, eventually ambush them, and reality finally hits them in the face, perhaps they will then realise just what a grave error of judgement, latching on to the Woyome judgement-debt saga, so quickly, was. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem oo: asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa!
To those discerning, independent-minded and patriotic individuals, who always put Mother Ghana first, and whose crucial swing-votes now determine the outcome of presidential elections in Ghana (thank goodness - as opposed to the teeming millions of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon-types, many of whom put party and tribe before loyalty to Mother Ghana, and whose blinkered support for the NPP and NDC, is slowly destroying those two parties, alas), who may be wondering who to believe, in this most extraordinary of murky-affairs, let me simply say this: let them ponder why the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Minister for Education, Youth and Sports at the material time now under scrutiny, cautioned his colleagues in the Kufuor administration - in a cabinet memo, dated 27th July 2005, about the implications of abrogating a legally-binding contract.
Furthermore, they must also ask themselves, why none of the NPP's handsomely-paid mercenary-apologists in the Ghanaian media, happens to be addressing the issue of why a foreign legal firm would take it upon itself, to write to threaten a government of Ghana with future legal action, if contracts duly awarded to their clients were illegally terminated - which is precisely what Colin Russell, lawyers for Waterville BVI/Vamed Engineering did, on August 27, 2005.
Now, whiles we may all be entitled to our opinions, facts, however, are sacrosanct - and there can only be one set of facts in this shabby affair. The question is: is it factual, that the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo and the legal firm, Collin Russel, did write to caution the NPP regime of President Kufuor about the implication of abrogating the Waterville BVI/Vamed Engineering contract, on the said two dates stated above: 27th July 2005 and August 27, 2005 - and if so, why?
Doubtless we will all soon know what bearing those letters have on the truth about who is really responsible for the hapless taxpayers of Ghana losing so much money, through the payment of a judgement-debt of such magnitude, to Woyome, and as a result of an arbitration award, paid out to Waterville BVI.
At that juncture, perhaps instead of focusing exclusively on Alfred Agbesi Woyome, we will all be wondering who exactly in the Kufuor regime at the time, will be charged, prosecuted and jailed, for wilfully causing financial loss to the Ghanaian nation-state.
I must confess, dear reader, that it is exactly that deeply-satisfying prospect, of finally seeing the swindlers and thieves in that profligate and perfidious regime, finally being charged, prosecuted and jailed, for the brutal and repeated gang-rape of Mother Ghana, which makes this whole affair so riveting for me. The chickens may finally be coming home to roost for Kufuor & Co., who always thought that somehow they led charmed lives - and were beyond the reach of the laws of Ghana.
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
POST SCRIPT: Let me point it out, dear reader, to each one of those ace-hypocrites, who fill most of the seats on the side of the Minority in Parliament - and all of whom knew exactly how dishonest and crooked Kufuor & Co. were - that as a matter of fact, the cause of the single biggest loss of money to the national treasury, since Ghana gained its independence, is not the relatively paltry sums a court ordered be paid to Woyome as judgement-debt, but are the billions of dollars of revenues that should rightly be coming the way of our nation and all its people, but are not, as a result of high-level sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, which gave a stake in oilfields off our nation's shores, to two well-connected Ghanaians, who did not even pay a pesewa upfront for same.
Does the US$350 million-plus, for example, which should have been paid into the national kitty, but was not, and went instead to that opaque "front" (to use a word from the erstwhile crook-in-chief's own lips, once upon a time, in a Freudian-slip, on national television!) for Kufuor & Co., the E. O. Group, when Tullow Oil acquired some of that nebulous entity's interest in the Jubilee oilfield, not too long ago, not make Woyome's GHc 52-plus millions, pale into insignificance, I ask, dear reader?
Did we hear a whimper from those ace-hypocrites from the Minority in Parliament - expressing disquiet that private individuals from our country should get away with such obscene sums, which rightly should have come to all Ghanaians: if Nkrumah's vision of a caring and sharing society guided our leaders and informed policy today, instead of the rip-off culture and ethos of private greed at public expense, which, alas, now underpin virtually everything our ruling elites do?
Kwame Nkrumah must be turning in his grave - that what he abhored most: that a powerful few with greedy ambitions, could succeed in hijacking Ghana's natural resources, at the expense of the rest of us, with complete impunity, is now the reality of our times. O, how one weeps for Mother Ghana - now dominated mostly by super-ruthless blackguards. Pity.
In so doing, the NPP is plumbing new depths of hypocrisy, as it is a fact that it was the arrogance and irresponsibility of Kufuor & Co., in the first place - in abrogating a legally binding contract - which has resulted in Ghanaian taxpayers losing such huge sums: through a judgment-debt payment to Alfred Agbesi Woyome and as a result of an arbitration award, paid out to Waterville BVI.
The capacity for self-delusion amongst members of our political class is breathtaking: Let the NPP continue to think that this is a perfect big-stick to beat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime with.
What they seem to forget, is that President Mills is the most honest (and humblest!) individual to lead Ghana, thus far, since the overthrow of President Nkrumah, in February 1966. It is not as if he and his regime and are involved in some fraud with Woyome - to rip-off the Ghanaian nation-state and the people of Ghana. Far from it!
When those notorious dream-killers and illusion-shatterers-supreme, the infamous gang-of-brutal-facts, and their hard-nosed side-kicks, the plain-truth-posse, eventually ambush them, and reality finally hits them in the face, perhaps they will then realise just what a grave error of judgement, latching on to the Woyome judgement-debt saga, so quickly, was. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem oo: asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa!
To those discerning, independent-minded and patriotic individuals, who always put Mother Ghana first, and whose crucial swing-votes now determine the outcome of presidential elections in Ghana (thank goodness - as opposed to the teeming millions of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon-types, many of whom put party and tribe before loyalty to Mother Ghana, and whose blinkered support for the NPP and NDC, is slowly destroying those two parties, alas), who may be wondering who to believe, in this most extraordinary of murky-affairs, let me simply say this: let them ponder why the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Minister for Education, Youth and Sports at the material time now under scrutiny, cautioned his colleagues in the Kufuor administration - in a cabinet memo, dated 27th July 2005, about the implications of abrogating a legally-binding contract.
Furthermore, they must also ask themselves, why none of the NPP's handsomely-paid mercenary-apologists in the Ghanaian media, happens to be addressing the issue of why a foreign legal firm would take it upon itself, to write to threaten a government of Ghana with future legal action, if contracts duly awarded to their clients were illegally terminated - which is precisely what Colin Russell, lawyers for Waterville BVI/Vamed Engineering did, on August 27, 2005.
Now, whiles we may all be entitled to our opinions, facts, however, are sacrosanct - and there can only be one set of facts in this shabby affair. The question is: is it factual, that the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo and the legal firm, Collin Russel, did write to caution the NPP regime of President Kufuor about the implication of abrogating the Waterville BVI/Vamed Engineering contract, on the said two dates stated above: 27th July 2005 and August 27, 2005 - and if so, why?
Doubtless we will all soon know what bearing those letters have on the truth about who is really responsible for the hapless taxpayers of Ghana losing so much money, through the payment of a judgement-debt of such magnitude, to Woyome, and as a result of an arbitration award, paid out to Waterville BVI.
At that juncture, perhaps instead of focusing exclusively on Alfred Agbesi Woyome, we will all be wondering who exactly in the Kufuor regime at the time, will be charged, prosecuted and jailed, for wilfully causing financial loss to the Ghanaian nation-state.
I must confess, dear reader, that it is exactly that deeply-satisfying prospect, of finally seeing the swindlers and thieves in that profligate and perfidious regime, finally being charged, prosecuted and jailed, for the brutal and repeated gang-rape of Mother Ghana, which makes this whole affair so riveting for me. The chickens may finally be coming home to roost for Kufuor & Co., who always thought that somehow they led charmed lives - and were beyond the reach of the laws of Ghana.
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
POST SCRIPT: Let me point it out, dear reader, to each one of those ace-hypocrites, who fill most of the seats on the side of the Minority in Parliament - and all of whom knew exactly how dishonest and crooked Kufuor & Co. were - that as a matter of fact, the cause of the single biggest loss of money to the national treasury, since Ghana gained its independence, is not the relatively paltry sums a court ordered be paid to Woyome as judgement-debt, but are the billions of dollars of revenues that should rightly be coming the way of our nation and all its people, but are not, as a result of high-level sleight-of-hand manoeuvring, which gave a stake in oilfields off our nation's shores, to two well-connected Ghanaians, who did not even pay a pesewa upfront for same.
Does the US$350 million-plus, for example, which should have been paid into the national kitty, but was not, and went instead to that opaque "front" (to use a word from the erstwhile crook-in-chief's own lips, once upon a time, in a Freudian-slip, on national television!) for Kufuor & Co., the E. O. Group, when Tullow Oil acquired some of that nebulous entity's interest in the Jubilee oilfield, not too long ago, not make Woyome's GHc 52-plus millions, pale into insignificance, I ask, dear reader?
Did we hear a whimper from those ace-hypocrites from the Minority in Parliament - expressing disquiet that private individuals from our country should get away with such obscene sums, which rightly should have come to all Ghanaians: if Nkrumah's vision of a caring and sharing society guided our leaders and informed policy today, instead of the rip-off culture and ethos of private greed at public expense, which, alas, now underpin virtually everything our ruling elites do?
Kwame Nkrumah must be turning in his grave - that what he abhored most: that a powerful few with greedy ambitions, could succeed in hijacking Ghana's natural resources, at the expense of the rest of us, with complete impunity, is now the reality of our times. O, how one weeps for Mother Ghana - now dominated mostly by super-ruthless blackguards. Pity.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Statement by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde - at the Conclusion of her Visit to Nigeria
Lagos, December 20, 2011 - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, made the following statement today in Lagos, at the conclusion of her visit to Nigeria:
“It has been a pleasure to visit Nigeria on my first trip to Africa as Managing Director. I came here primarily to listen to our African members, and to find out how we can better tailor support to countries in this region in the current difficult global environment.
“I have had very productive discussions with President Goodluck Jonathan, Federal Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. They, along with their colleagues, play a key role in economic transformation here in Nigeria — a country of abundant resources, wealth of people, and vast potential. I also had the privilege of meeting representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector, including many women business leaders. All in all, this visit has been a wonderful chance for me to witness first-hand the spirit of opportunity and leadership that befits Africa’s most populous country.
“Nigeria recognizes the need to maintain the reforms and policy implementation that helped it weather the crisis of 2008-09. Nigeria’s own Transformation Agenda presents a worthy platform to guard against risks and promote shared growth. Most importantly, it is an agenda for Nigeria, driven by Nigerians.
“Three aspects of the government’s agenda strike me as crucial. First, it is vital that natural resource revenues be channeled more effectively toward the infrastructure investment needed for growth and jobs. Second, promoting a more diversified economy will help Nigeria better withstand shocks and provide for more broad-based growth, again with opportunities and jobs for the entire population being the priority. Thirdly, continued financial sector reform should build on the impressive progress in resolving the recent banking crisis by further strengthening regulation and supervisory practices, and increasing access to credit. The IMF will do all it can to help support Nigeria in achieving its objectives.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Nigerian authorities for their warm welcome and generous hospitality.”
End of statement by Ms. Christine Largarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.
“It has been a pleasure to visit Nigeria on my first trip to Africa as Managing Director. I came here primarily to listen to our African members, and to find out how we can better tailor support to countries in this region in the current difficult global environment.
“I have had very productive discussions with President Goodluck Jonathan, Federal Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. They, along with their colleagues, play a key role in economic transformation here in Nigeria — a country of abundant resources, wealth of people, and vast potential. I also had the privilege of meeting representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector, including many women business leaders. All in all, this visit has been a wonderful chance for me to witness first-hand the spirit of opportunity and leadership that befits Africa’s most populous country.
“Nigeria recognizes the need to maintain the reforms and policy implementation that helped it weather the crisis of 2008-09. Nigeria’s own Transformation Agenda presents a worthy platform to guard against risks and promote shared growth. Most importantly, it is an agenda for Nigeria, driven by Nigerians.
“Three aspects of the government’s agenda strike me as crucial. First, it is vital that natural resource revenues be channeled more effectively toward the infrastructure investment needed for growth and jobs. Second, promoting a more diversified economy will help Nigeria better withstand shocks and provide for more broad-based growth, again with opportunities and jobs for the entire population being the priority. Thirdly, continued financial sector reform should build on the impressive progress in resolving the recent banking crisis by further strengthening regulation and supervisory practices, and increasing access to credit. The IMF will do all it can to help support Nigeria in achieving its objectives.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Nigerian authorities for their warm welcome and generous hospitality.”
End of statement by Ms. Christine Largarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund.
Africa's Future: Responding to Today's Global Economic Challenges - By Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Today, dear reader, I am posting a speech delivered to participants at a roundtable discussion, with stakeholders, by the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Largade, at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, on December 20, 2011. Please read on:
"Good morning. It is a privilege to be here with you today. My thanks goes to the Nigerian Government for arranging this event, and to you all for taking the time to join us.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, and Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Both have been instrumental in pursuing Nigeria’s economic transformation.
This is my first official visit to Nigeria — indeed my first visit to Africa — as IMF Managing Director. I can think of no better place to begin my discussions with the region and to work toward a stronger partnership.
To borrow some words from Ngozi:
This is the Africa of opportunity... the Africa where people take charge of their own futures... the Africa where people are looking for partnerships…
Nigeria — with its abundant resources, its wealth of people, and its vast potential — embodies this spirit of opportunity and Africa leadership.
Yet, these are challenging times for the global economy. The dark clouds of risk are gathering, and Nigeria and others in Africa will need to watch them carefully.
So, let me talk about four things today:
• First, the state of the global economy and the policies needed by countries at the heart of the crisis.
• Second, the growing risks for Nigeria and the region.
• Third, the importance of pursuing Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda both to guard against these risks and to promote shared growth for all Nigerians.
• And, fourth, how the IMF can help Nigeria and Africa face these challenges.
1. Global Outlook and Policies
As I have said many times, the world economy has been poised in a dangerous phase. In our last forecast, we still saw global growth at 4 percent for this year and next. But, today, the growth outlook is much dimmer. And, worse, there are severe downside risks.
A collective crisis of confidence is at the heart of the problem.
Adverse developments in the real economy and the financial sector keep feeding off each other, propelling each other down. And, as we have seen in Europe, there has been a loss of market confidence in both governments and banks.
Governments have been adjusting — in some cases with the help of IMF programs — but some not convincingly enough to regain market confidence. On top of this, unemployment remains unacceptably high in too many countries.
What does this mean for the policy path forward?
The advanced countries, especially those in the Euro Area, are at the center of the crisis. And they must be at the center of any solution.
In recent months, eurozone leaders have started to outline the key pillars of a solution. But, what is needed now is implementation.
Policies also need to focus on the bigger picture — the need to restore stability and growth, lasting growth.
The advanced economies need to strike an appropriate balance between fiscal and monetary policy to promote growth and stability. It means forging ahead with structural policies that focus squarely on boosting competitiveness, growth, and jobs. And, it means strengthening financial sector regulation to ensure a safer and more stable financial sector that is better able to support growth.
While these problems might seem a world away, without action, the world economy could be swept into a downward spiral of collapsing confidence, weaker growth, and fewer jobs.
And in today’s interconnected global economy, no country and no region is immune to these risks.
2. Implications for Nigeria and the Region
This brings me to my second point: how might these escalating global risks affect Africa and Nigeria?
Let me first acknowledge the progress in Sub-Saharan Africa, and here in Nigeria, over the past decade. Naturally, challenges remain. But the starting point for our discussion has shifted — shifted for the better.
Good economic policies have provided a platform: for higher growth, for more investment, for less poverty. Growth across the region averaged 5-6 percent or more over the past decade and, although it varies from country to country, this is significant. And the poverty rate declined from nearly 60 percent to just over 50 percent in the 10 years up to 2005.
That’s not to say the crisis didn’t hurt. The food and fuel crisis of 2008, and the global financial crisis that followed, took a toll on efforts to reduce poverty.
But, when the crisis hit, policymakers responded effectively. Most countries were able to maintain critical spending on health, education and infrastructure. And we saw countries in the region recover quickly, with growth rates now returning to levels enjoyed in the mid-2000s.
This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of policymakers and people across the region. Before the crisis, they reduced budget deficits and public debt; they brought down inflation, and built up foreign exchange reserves. In short, they put their economies on a fundamentally stronger footing.
Nigeria is no exception. Reforms initiated 6-7 years ago helped mitigate the impact of the global crisis. Nigeria’s economy continued to grow by 6 percent despite the crisis — and above the current regional average.
Growth looks set to continue at a healthy pace into next year. But, spillovers from the advanced economies threaten that outlook. Nigeria’s resilience is being tested again.
The trade and financial links, so critical to moving the economy forward in good times — ironically — become the interconnections that carry today’s escalating economic risks.
A sustained slowdown in advanced countries will dampen demand for Africa’s exports. And, together with continued financial market uncertainty, this will likely inhibit private financing flows, remittances, and concessional financing.
The potential for greater volatility in commodity markets could cause further disruptions, with winners and losers within the region. The risk of a drop in world oil prices if global demand weakens is the key watch point for Nigeria.
Faced with these risks, my main worry is that many countries do not have as much capacity to absorb shocks as they did three years ago. Added to that, the global slowdown could be more pronounced this time around.
Policies need to tread a fine line between defending against the global slowdown in the near-term, while also preserving fiscal resources for investment in much-needed infrastructure that will help promote employment and growth.
But, for the main part, policymakers need to focus on restoring the fiscal buffers that served the continent and Nigeria so well during the last downturn. It will be important to be prepared.
As Ben Okri, the Booker Prize-winning Nigerian novelist and poet, once said: “Life throws stones at you, but your love and your dream change those stones into the flowers of discovery.”
With the right vision, the right actions, today’s global risks need not become Nigeria’s reality.
3. Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda
Which brings me to my third point: how reforms underway in Nigeria are the key to guarding against risks, and securing more inclusive and lasting economic growth. At the outset, let me say that I am confident that Nigeria is on the right track.
Earlier this year, President Goodluck Jonathan described the goals of the government’s Transformation Agenda: “Nigeria needs to build a more inclusive society where every Nigerian would have equal access to economic and developmental opportunities.”
These echo the goals for many other countries in the region.
Yet this is not an easy task. In addition to growing global risks, the reform agenda also must contend with some serious local challenges.
Infrastructure gaps, particularly in the power sector, are also holding Nigeria back from its full growth potential. Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity, for example, is just 10 percent that of South Africa’s, while Nigeria’s population is more than 3 times greater.
And high unemployment is also a critical economic and social issue. This is especially true for Nigeria’s young people for whom the rate of unemployment is over 35 percent.
So, economic growth alone will not suffice. Job creation will be critical to ensuring that growth is both economically and socially sustainable.
There are three aspects of the government’s agenda that I see as crucial to this endeavor.
One, better managing Nigeria’s vast natural resource wealth.
Establishing the Sovereign Wealth Fund and emphasizing the use of oil revenues for stabilization and investment are important advancements. Pressing ahead with these reforms is particularly important given the external environment — namely, the need to rebuild fiscal buffers.
It will also help ensure that natural resource revenues are channeled more effectively toward the infrastructure investment needed for growth and jobs.
But, prudent management of natural resource revenues will also create room for other critical public spending. Given the distance still to go to reach the Millennium Development Goals, increasing the resources available to build stronger social safety nets is particularly important, including in areas such as maternal and child care.
Two, structural transformation.
Promoting a more diversified economy will help Nigeria better withstand shocks. It will also provide for more broad-based growth, with opportunities and jobs for the entire population.
There is huge, untapped potential here. Nigeria is an enormous market for investors. A market where telecommunications grew, with the explosion of mobile phone subscribers, from 60,000 in 2000 to 125 million today.
But much could still be done to improve Nigeria’s business environment. This will require investment to address infrastructure bottlenecks, to raise education levels, and to help development the agricultural sector.
It also means more reliable policies that can help promote macroeconomic stability and investor confidence.
Three, financial sector reform.
Nigeria’s banking system experienced a severe crisis in 2009, as over one third of banks became insolvent or seriously undercapitalized. But there has been an impressive record of reform. And actions to resolve the banking crisis are nearly complete.
Looking ahead, continued refinements in regulatory and supervisory practices should focus on preserving financial stability and improving access to credit.
This is a broad and challenging agenda. And, perhaps, what is most impressive is that it is an agenda for Nigeria, driven by Nigerians.
4. Role of the Fund
The IMF is here to support you and be a better partner for you. This is my final point.
I am committed to a deeper, more fruitful dialogue, with the IMF listening even more carefully to your needs. This will help us serve you even more effectively.
Nigeria is a thought leader in the region. And I am here to listen.
We have also been working hard to reform the IMF’s governance structure so that emerging market and developing countries have a greater voice in the institution. And, so we can be truly representative of our membership.
For those countries that need it, we have boosted our concessional lending capacity and made our lending instruments more flexible, with greater protections for social spending.
We are also redoubling our efforts to provide quality technical advice. The IMF has technical expertise to offer, expertise that can help African countries achieve their social and economic objectives; we have an active program of technical assistance with Nigerian public institutions. We can also play an important role, through our four, and soon to be five, regional technical assistance centers in Africa, of facilitating a sharing of expertise between countries.
Conclusion
Let me conclude with a thought from renowned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. In Things Fall Apart, he wrote: “The sun will shine on those who stand, before it shines on those who kneel under them.”
There are challenges ahead. And this is the time for policymakers to stand up. To turn away from the global economic storm clouds and turn to the sun.
It is a time for action; a time for African leadership, Nigerian leadership. With continued action, Nigeria can be a source of growth, for itself, for the continent, and for the world.
Thank you."
End of Ms. Christine Largarde's speech - delivered to participants at a roundtable discussion at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, on December 20, 2011.
"Good morning. It is a privilege to be here with you today. My thanks goes to the Nigerian Government for arranging this event, and to you all for taking the time to join us.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, and Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Both have been instrumental in pursuing Nigeria’s economic transformation.
This is my first official visit to Nigeria — indeed my first visit to Africa — as IMF Managing Director. I can think of no better place to begin my discussions with the region and to work toward a stronger partnership.
To borrow some words from Ngozi:
This is the Africa of opportunity... the Africa where people take charge of their own futures... the Africa where people are looking for partnerships…
Nigeria — with its abundant resources, its wealth of people, and its vast potential — embodies this spirit of opportunity and Africa leadership.
Yet, these are challenging times for the global economy. The dark clouds of risk are gathering, and Nigeria and others in Africa will need to watch them carefully.
So, let me talk about four things today:
• First, the state of the global economy and the policies needed by countries at the heart of the crisis.
• Second, the growing risks for Nigeria and the region.
• Third, the importance of pursuing Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda both to guard against these risks and to promote shared growth for all Nigerians.
• And, fourth, how the IMF can help Nigeria and Africa face these challenges.
1. Global Outlook and Policies
As I have said many times, the world economy has been poised in a dangerous phase. In our last forecast, we still saw global growth at 4 percent for this year and next. But, today, the growth outlook is much dimmer. And, worse, there are severe downside risks.
A collective crisis of confidence is at the heart of the problem.
Adverse developments in the real economy and the financial sector keep feeding off each other, propelling each other down. And, as we have seen in Europe, there has been a loss of market confidence in both governments and banks.
Governments have been adjusting — in some cases with the help of IMF programs — but some not convincingly enough to regain market confidence. On top of this, unemployment remains unacceptably high in too many countries.
What does this mean for the policy path forward?
The advanced countries, especially those in the Euro Area, are at the center of the crisis. And they must be at the center of any solution.
In recent months, eurozone leaders have started to outline the key pillars of a solution. But, what is needed now is implementation.
Policies also need to focus on the bigger picture — the need to restore stability and growth, lasting growth.
The advanced economies need to strike an appropriate balance between fiscal and monetary policy to promote growth and stability. It means forging ahead with structural policies that focus squarely on boosting competitiveness, growth, and jobs. And, it means strengthening financial sector regulation to ensure a safer and more stable financial sector that is better able to support growth.
While these problems might seem a world away, without action, the world economy could be swept into a downward spiral of collapsing confidence, weaker growth, and fewer jobs.
And in today’s interconnected global economy, no country and no region is immune to these risks.
2. Implications for Nigeria and the Region
This brings me to my second point: how might these escalating global risks affect Africa and Nigeria?
Let me first acknowledge the progress in Sub-Saharan Africa, and here in Nigeria, over the past decade. Naturally, challenges remain. But the starting point for our discussion has shifted — shifted for the better.
Good economic policies have provided a platform: for higher growth, for more investment, for less poverty. Growth across the region averaged 5-6 percent or more over the past decade and, although it varies from country to country, this is significant. And the poverty rate declined from nearly 60 percent to just over 50 percent in the 10 years up to 2005.
That’s not to say the crisis didn’t hurt. The food and fuel crisis of 2008, and the global financial crisis that followed, took a toll on efforts to reduce poverty.
But, when the crisis hit, policymakers responded effectively. Most countries were able to maintain critical spending on health, education and infrastructure. And we saw countries in the region recover quickly, with growth rates now returning to levels enjoyed in the mid-2000s.
This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of policymakers and people across the region. Before the crisis, they reduced budget deficits and public debt; they brought down inflation, and built up foreign exchange reserves. In short, they put their economies on a fundamentally stronger footing.
Nigeria is no exception. Reforms initiated 6-7 years ago helped mitigate the impact of the global crisis. Nigeria’s economy continued to grow by 6 percent despite the crisis — and above the current regional average.
Growth looks set to continue at a healthy pace into next year. But, spillovers from the advanced economies threaten that outlook. Nigeria’s resilience is being tested again.
The trade and financial links, so critical to moving the economy forward in good times — ironically — become the interconnections that carry today’s escalating economic risks.
A sustained slowdown in advanced countries will dampen demand for Africa’s exports. And, together with continued financial market uncertainty, this will likely inhibit private financing flows, remittances, and concessional financing.
The potential for greater volatility in commodity markets could cause further disruptions, with winners and losers within the region. The risk of a drop in world oil prices if global demand weakens is the key watch point for Nigeria.
Faced with these risks, my main worry is that many countries do not have as much capacity to absorb shocks as they did three years ago. Added to that, the global slowdown could be more pronounced this time around.
Policies need to tread a fine line between defending against the global slowdown in the near-term, while also preserving fiscal resources for investment in much-needed infrastructure that will help promote employment and growth.
But, for the main part, policymakers need to focus on restoring the fiscal buffers that served the continent and Nigeria so well during the last downturn. It will be important to be prepared.
As Ben Okri, the Booker Prize-winning Nigerian novelist and poet, once said: “Life throws stones at you, but your love and your dream change those stones into the flowers of discovery.”
With the right vision, the right actions, today’s global risks need not become Nigeria’s reality.
3. Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda
Which brings me to my third point: how reforms underway in Nigeria are the key to guarding against risks, and securing more inclusive and lasting economic growth. At the outset, let me say that I am confident that Nigeria is on the right track.
Earlier this year, President Goodluck Jonathan described the goals of the government’s Transformation Agenda: “Nigeria needs to build a more inclusive society where every Nigerian would have equal access to economic and developmental opportunities.”
These echo the goals for many other countries in the region.
Yet this is not an easy task. In addition to growing global risks, the reform agenda also must contend with some serious local challenges.
Infrastructure gaps, particularly in the power sector, are also holding Nigeria back from its full growth potential. Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity, for example, is just 10 percent that of South Africa’s, while Nigeria’s population is more than 3 times greater.
And high unemployment is also a critical economic and social issue. This is especially true for Nigeria’s young people for whom the rate of unemployment is over 35 percent.
So, economic growth alone will not suffice. Job creation will be critical to ensuring that growth is both economically and socially sustainable.
There are three aspects of the government’s agenda that I see as crucial to this endeavor.
One, better managing Nigeria’s vast natural resource wealth.
Establishing the Sovereign Wealth Fund and emphasizing the use of oil revenues for stabilization and investment are important advancements. Pressing ahead with these reforms is particularly important given the external environment — namely, the need to rebuild fiscal buffers.
It will also help ensure that natural resource revenues are channeled more effectively toward the infrastructure investment needed for growth and jobs.
But, prudent management of natural resource revenues will also create room for other critical public spending. Given the distance still to go to reach the Millennium Development Goals, increasing the resources available to build stronger social safety nets is particularly important, including in areas such as maternal and child care.
Two, structural transformation.
Promoting a more diversified economy will help Nigeria better withstand shocks. It will also provide for more broad-based growth, with opportunities and jobs for the entire population.
There is huge, untapped potential here. Nigeria is an enormous market for investors. A market where telecommunications grew, with the explosion of mobile phone subscribers, from 60,000 in 2000 to 125 million today.
But much could still be done to improve Nigeria’s business environment. This will require investment to address infrastructure bottlenecks, to raise education levels, and to help development the agricultural sector.
It also means more reliable policies that can help promote macroeconomic stability and investor confidence.
Three, financial sector reform.
Nigeria’s banking system experienced a severe crisis in 2009, as over one third of banks became insolvent or seriously undercapitalized. But there has been an impressive record of reform. And actions to resolve the banking crisis are nearly complete.
Looking ahead, continued refinements in regulatory and supervisory practices should focus on preserving financial stability and improving access to credit.
This is a broad and challenging agenda. And, perhaps, what is most impressive is that it is an agenda for Nigeria, driven by Nigerians.
4. Role of the Fund
The IMF is here to support you and be a better partner for you. This is my final point.
I am committed to a deeper, more fruitful dialogue, with the IMF listening even more carefully to your needs. This will help us serve you even more effectively.
Nigeria is a thought leader in the region. And I am here to listen.
We have also been working hard to reform the IMF’s governance structure so that emerging market and developing countries have a greater voice in the institution. And, so we can be truly representative of our membership.
For those countries that need it, we have boosted our concessional lending capacity and made our lending instruments more flexible, with greater protections for social spending.
We are also redoubling our efforts to provide quality technical advice. The IMF has technical expertise to offer, expertise that can help African countries achieve their social and economic objectives; we have an active program of technical assistance with Nigerian public institutions. We can also play an important role, through our four, and soon to be five, regional technical assistance centers in Africa, of facilitating a sharing of expertise between countries.
Conclusion
Let me conclude with a thought from renowned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. In Things Fall Apart, he wrote: “The sun will shine on those who stand, before it shines on those who kneel under them.”
There are challenges ahead. And this is the time for policymakers to stand up. To turn away from the global economic storm clouds and turn to the sun.
It is a time for action; a time for African leadership, Nigerian leadership. With continued action, Nigeria can be a source of growth, for itself, for the continent, and for the world.
Thank you."
End of Ms. Christine Largarde's speech - delivered to participants at a roundtable discussion at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria, on December 20, 2011.
Monday, 19 December 2011
MUST ALL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WATERVILLE/VAMED JUDGEMENT DEBT BE PROSECUTED?
If actually true, the gripping story of the chronology of events, which eventually led up to the GHc 52 millions judgement debt, paid to Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, and the twenty five million Euros (€25m) awarded after arbitration, and paid to Waterville (BVI), as a result of the abrogation, by the Kufuor regime, on August 22, 2005, of a contract awarded to Waterville (BVI) and Vamed Engineering, both companies he was apparently associated with, is a truly fascinating one.
The said contract was apparently awarded to Waterville/Vamed Engineering on August 5, 2005, in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), by the Central Tender Review Board.
If the Kufuor regime indeed acted in arbitrary fashion, in abrogating the said contract, then, alas, it would appear that the chickens have finally come home to roost, for those who became so power-drunk, during the New Patriotic Party's tenure in office.
The Alfred Woyome story, if true, illustrates perfectly, how some of the most powerful individuals in the Kufuor regime, forgot that they did not actually own the Ghanaian nation-state - and consequently made them fall into the trap, of thinking, that somehow they were invincible: and beyond the long arm of the law.
It was therefore easy for them to make the grave error of judgment, of ignoring the fact that all governments in power at any given point in time, in Ghana's history, are mere tenants of the Ghanaian people at the Osu Castle - with a full-repair lease, subject to renewal once every four years: with a maximum occupation period of eight years.
Why else, dear reader, would such highly intelligent individuals, some with legal backgrounds, apparently choose to ignore perfectly sound advice, from not only one, but from a number of sources, not to proceed along the dangerous path they had decided to trod on - including that allegedly of Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo, who warned his cabinet colleagues, of the dire legal consequences, of abrogating a contract duly awarded by the Central Tender Review Board: in a cabinet memo said to have been dated 27th July 2005?
The question is: Did they unilaterally decide to abrogate the Waterville/Vamed Engineering contract, and allegedly give the job to the Shanghai Construction Group, because they stood to personally benefit, either directly, or indirectly, through third parties, from so doing?
Furthermore, who was the well-connected and wealthy Ghanaian "connection man/woman" (or group of individuals) who allegedly brought the Shanghai Construction Group into the picture - who doubtless used clout available to them at the Osu Castle, to obtain the contract through back-door channels?
The financial package said to have been outlined in the Waterville/Vamed Engineering bid offer, was said to be far better value for Ghana, and was clearly superior to that which the Shangai Construction Group eventually leveraged, and was said to have apparently financed the construction of the stadia with.
If so, did Ghana end up having to pay substantially more than it needed to, simply because some powerful and influential individuals, would benefit from that relatively more expensive loan - which in the end the Chinese company is alleged to have utilised, to finance the construction of the stadia?
It is such a pity that those power-drunk individuals ignored those of us, who kept on reminding them, that since no condition is permanent, a time would come when they would finally be turfed out of power - when they would eventually end up having to pay for their crimes against the Ghanaian people.
If they are really guilty of wilfully causing such huge losses to the Ghanaian nation-state, then despite the propaganda of their handsomely-paid hirelings-without-conscience, in the Ghanaian media (who conveniently forget, that Mother Ghana was indeed a gang-rape victim - brutally assaulted many times over, by Kufuor & Co.), this is one case of abuse of office, which the perfidious Kufuor & Co., must not be allowed to wriggle out of, under any circumstances.
Above all, the honest and patriotic individuals in the Mills regime, must ensure that the deliberate and self-serving tactics of inertia and procrastination often employed to kill such cases, by the crooks in the administration of the honest President Mills, are not allowed to be deployed to prevent the prosecution of those in the Kufuor-era, responsible for such egregious examples of: impunity; arbitrary exercise of power; abuse of office and grand corruption, at the highest levels of government.
If the Woyome story is true, then on behalf of the hapless taxpayers of Ghana, the Mills administration must ensure that all those whose actions resulted in the alleged payment of a judgment debt of such magnitude - approximately fifty two million Ghana cedis (Ghc 52m) to Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome and over twenty five million Euros (€25m) paid to Waterville (BVI) after arbitration - are prosecuted. Simply put, they will be failing Mother Ghana, if their regime fails to do so. 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 said contract was apparently awarded to Waterville/Vamed Engineering on August 5, 2005, in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), by the Central Tender Review Board.
If the Kufuor regime indeed acted in arbitrary fashion, in abrogating the said contract, then, alas, it would appear that the chickens have finally come home to roost, for those who became so power-drunk, during the New Patriotic Party's tenure in office.
The Alfred Woyome story, if true, illustrates perfectly, how some of the most powerful individuals in the Kufuor regime, forgot that they did not actually own the Ghanaian nation-state - and consequently made them fall into the trap, of thinking, that somehow they were invincible: and beyond the long arm of the law.
It was therefore easy for them to make the grave error of judgment, of ignoring the fact that all governments in power at any given point in time, in Ghana's history, are mere tenants of the Ghanaian people at the Osu Castle - with a full-repair lease, subject to renewal once every four years: with a maximum occupation period of eight years.
Why else, dear reader, would such highly intelligent individuals, some with legal backgrounds, apparently choose to ignore perfectly sound advice, from not only one, but from a number of sources, not to proceed along the dangerous path they had decided to trod on - including that allegedly of Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo, who warned his cabinet colleagues, of the dire legal consequences, of abrogating a contract duly awarded by the Central Tender Review Board: in a cabinet memo said to have been dated 27th July 2005?
The question is: Did they unilaterally decide to abrogate the Waterville/Vamed Engineering contract, and allegedly give the job to the Shanghai Construction Group, because they stood to personally benefit, either directly, or indirectly, through third parties, from so doing?
Furthermore, who was the well-connected and wealthy Ghanaian "connection man/woman" (or group of individuals) who allegedly brought the Shanghai Construction Group into the picture - who doubtless used clout available to them at the Osu Castle, to obtain the contract through back-door channels?
The financial package said to have been outlined in the Waterville/Vamed Engineering bid offer, was said to be far better value for Ghana, and was clearly superior to that which the Shangai Construction Group eventually leveraged, and was said to have apparently financed the construction of the stadia with.
If so, did Ghana end up having to pay substantially more than it needed to, simply because some powerful and influential individuals, would benefit from that relatively more expensive loan - which in the end the Chinese company is alleged to have utilised, to finance the construction of the stadia?
It is such a pity that those power-drunk individuals ignored those of us, who kept on reminding them, that since no condition is permanent, a time would come when they would finally be turfed out of power - when they would eventually end up having to pay for their crimes against the Ghanaian people.
If they are really guilty of wilfully causing such huge losses to the Ghanaian nation-state, then despite the propaganda of their handsomely-paid hirelings-without-conscience, in the Ghanaian media (who conveniently forget, that Mother Ghana was indeed a gang-rape victim - brutally assaulted many times over, by Kufuor & Co.), this is one case of abuse of office, which the perfidious Kufuor & Co., must not be allowed to wriggle out of, under any circumstances.
Above all, the honest and patriotic individuals in the Mills regime, must ensure that the deliberate and self-serving tactics of inertia and procrastination often employed to kill such cases, by the crooks in the administration of the honest President Mills, are not allowed to be deployed to prevent the prosecution of those in the Kufuor-era, responsible for such egregious examples of: impunity; arbitrary exercise of power; abuse of office and grand corruption, at the highest levels of government.
If the Woyome story is true, then on behalf of the hapless taxpayers of Ghana, the Mills administration must ensure that all those whose actions resulted in the alleged payment of a judgment debt of such magnitude - approximately fifty two million Ghana cedis (Ghc 52m) to Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome and over twenty five million Euros (€25m) paid to Waterville (BVI) after arbitration - are prosecuted. Simply put, they will be failing Mother Ghana, if their regime fails to do so. A word to the wise...
Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana, that actually works!):+ 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
FOOD FOR THOUGHT FROM THE UK FOR GHANA'S FORMER PRESIDENT RAWLINGS?
When Britain's Queen Elizabeth11, last visited Ghana (7–9 November, 1999), the then elected leader of Ghana, President Rawlings, asked her to help Ghana fight corruption.
From what he is said to have told visitors who accompanied soccer legend, Samuel Osei Kufuor, to pay a courtesy call on him, at his Ridge office recently, he seems to be labouring under the illusion that the Establishments of the wealthy nations of the West, have kept their values intact, and haven't allowed "money" to corrode those values - unlike "present day Ghana". He may be in for a rude shock.
Whiles agreeing with most of Mr. Rawlings' concerns that corrupt elements in our country seem to be escaping from paying for their crimes against Ghana, I will also quote, for the benefit of Mr. Rawlings, the reaction of a wag I know, when he saw a photograph of Mrs. Rawlings dancing (at a K. K. Fosu concert, if I remember correctly!) with President Kufuor, not too long ago.
Former President Kufuor, as we all know, is a man, who Mr. Rawlings used to condemn President Mills strongly, for not prosecuting him - and ensuring that he ended up being jailed for corruption.
That is why, upon seeing that astonishing photograph, the wag I know, asked the rhetorical question: "Kofi, who would be Mrs. Rawlings' dancing partner today - if Mills had gone ahead and prosecuted and jailed Kufuor, as she and her husband had wanted?"
Well, dear reader, I do hope that somehow, someone will draw President Rawlings' attention, to the culled Daily Telegraph article, which I am reproducing below. It was written by the Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator, Peter Oborne.
Alas, Mr Rawlings' illusion about the moral values of Britain's politicians, may be shattered for good, after he reads that brilliant piece. As we say in local parlance in Ghana: "Massa, nowhere cool!"
Mr. Rawlings has railed against corruption in Ghana since 1979. He has also ruled our nation for a combined total of over some twenty odd years. He did not bring an end to corruption in Ghana, in all those years he was in office for.
President Mills has only been in office for a little under four years. There are those who will say, that it is totally unrealistic, and most unfair, to expect him to have succeeded in rooting out corruption in the country, within that relatively short period, he has been in office, as Ghana's president.
With respect, Mr. Rawlings must stop undermining President Mills, so - a man of undoubted integrity, respected by all decent and fair-minded Ghanaians. An officer and a gentleman must not be so publicly disloyal to the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces - particularly at this critical juncture of our nation's history. Not when there is no real justification for it - and there isn't, if truth be told.
President Mills does not run a military dictatorship - he is an elected executive president, in a nation that, at least, on paper, is a constitutional democracy, with inbuilt checks and balances: which place limitations on his powers. It is important that Mr. Rawlings never forgets that. Period. Please read on:
"This sorry display of self-interest brings shame on the Commons
By Peter Oborne Politics Last updated: December 14th, 2011
Even after the expenses scandal, many of our MPs are still putting greed before duty
I have relatively few political heroes, but one is Elizabeth Filkin, who briefly served as parliamentary commissioner for standards a decade ago. She was appointed to her post in the wake of a wave of notorious financial scandals, mainly involving Conservative politicians. Her job was to clean up politics.
Filkin’s mistake was to take her job description literally. She exposed an appalling pattern of bullying, arrogance and greed at the heart of Westminster. MPs were appalled.
However, instead of punishing the malefactors, they turned their fire on Filkin herself, using threats, malicious gossip and a campaign of media vilification in order to rub her out. It was an all-party effort – the Labour, Tory and Lib Dem whips offices were all gleeful participants – that soon made sure she was out of a job.
In retrospect, Elizabeth Filkin was the canary in the mine – an advance signal that British politicians were bent. Years were to pass before, thanks to the vigilance of The Daily Telegraph, voters learnt the hideous truth about the lies, thievery and moral corruption of so many MPs.
Today, history is repeating itself. Shamed by the expenses scandal, Parliament was forced to create an external body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), to regulate the payments. From the start, MPs bitterly resented having to submit their claims to it for authorisation, just as a decade ago they hated Filkin.
Their assault on Ipsa, which began within weeks of it starting operations in May last year, has taken place on a number of levels. First, in an echo of the vindictive campaign of character assassination aimed at Mrs Filkin, senior Ipsa personnel have been targeted. Both the chairman, Sir Ian Kennedy – a hard-working and decent man, committed to public service – and his admirable chief executive, Andrew McDonald, have been the subject of vicious attack.
In an especially shameful act, Labour’s Ann Clwyd took advantage of parliamentary privilege to accuse Ipsa’s spokesman of leaking details of MPs’ expenses to the press. Clwyd furnished no evidence of her assertion, which has been convincingly denied, and she must have known that a public official was in no position to answer back. Clwyd has never had the guts to repeat her inflammatory accusation outside the Commons.
Even worse than this flagrant abuse of privilege, however, have been the verbal assaults and bullying aimed at ordinary Ipsa staff. Within days of the opening of Parliament in May last year, MPs were being openly resentful when asked to provide evidence that they incurred expenses, and became verbally aggressive when they were not paid at once. At least one resorted to foul language, reducing the very junior official he was dealing with to tears. While there were teething problems – as with any organisation – this behaviour was unforgivable.
Bad though they were, these venomous assaults played a relatively small part in Parliament’s campaign to discredit Ipsa. In the short time that this tiny quango has existed, it has been obliged to endure no fewer than five external reviews and audits: two from the National Audit Office, separate reviews from the Public Accounts Committee and Office of Government Commerce, and a fifth from the Committee on Members’ Expenses. The second of the NAO examinations was a so-called “value for money” audit. I have found no precedent for such an examination taking place of an organisation that had not even presented its first-year accounts.
It is obvious that something very fishy is going on. The level of attention paid to Ipsa would be appropriate – desirable, even – if it was a major government department. It is a minute quango.
Here is the truth. MPs are deeply interested in how Ipsa works because it affects them in the pocket. They passionately resent its existence, and their real ambition is revealed in a report this week by the Committee on Members’ Expenses. It is a disreputable piece of work, full of errors and inconsistencies. It claims to support independent regulation of MPs’ expenses, but close examination reveals a completely different agenda.
The committee is urging a return to flat-rate allowances, which means effectively no accountability to the taxpayer. Worse still, it demands that administration of expenses should return to the House of Commons, recreating the old Fees Office, which allowed MPs to get away with pretty well anything. These proposals are to be discussed today in a debate that has been called with suspicious speed: normally it takes ages to arrange such an event in the Commons.
Something very sad is going on here. Many backbench MPs and ministers are indeed honest and decent people, dedicated to public service. But a sizeable minority of legislators are in politics for what they can get, as the expenses scandal proved.
Today’s debate is being called at a time of unprecedented national austerity, when the average living standards of ordinary people are being sliced away at a rate unprecedented since the Second World War. As a result, there are many more profound and urgent issues, yet today Parliament is setting aside valuable time to debate the terms and conditions of just 650 fairly well-paid and middle-class people.
The paradox is that Parliament is just beginning to regain the trust of voters after the appalling abuses of recent years, with the recent intake the most public-spirited and brilliant in living memory. So I hope that readers of The Daily Telegraph will take a close look at the Members who gather today.
I daresay they will find that the Commons chamber will be fuller than usual, as public duty takes second place to private gain. This spectacle is disastrous for our politics, and now is surely the moment for the three party leaders to show leadership by bringing this sorry display of self-interest to an end.
The trouble is that David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg are all terrified of their own backbenches. It is worth remembering that the Prime Minister’s initial instinct was to prevent the Committee on Members’ Expenses forming at all, but changed his mind after one of his periodic maulings by the 1922 Committee. Cameron was presumably told by his Whips that one way of buying off angry backbenchers was by holding out the prospect of an improvement in the rations.
It is exactly 100 years since the decision was made to award MPs an annual stipend, then worth some £400 a year. It is still interesting today to read the debate at which the sum was agreed. The dominant assumption that informed this debate (which had been spurred by the election for the first time of Labour MPs, who lacked independent means) was that there exists a firm distinction between private interest and public duty.
The chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd George, summed up this mood when he told the Commons the sum was simply an allowance to cover expenses and explicitly not intended to be “a recognition of the magnitude of the service”. Sadly, this sense that the job of an MP was its own reward, measured in honour, has long since vanished. Today’s Commons debate marks a reminder of the tragic abyss which divides so many members of the political class from mainstream standards of decency and restraint."
End of culled article from the Daily Telegraph.
From what he is said to have told visitors who accompanied soccer legend, Samuel Osei Kufuor, to pay a courtesy call on him, at his Ridge office recently, he seems to be labouring under the illusion that the Establishments of the wealthy nations of the West, have kept their values intact, and haven't allowed "money" to corrode those values - unlike "present day Ghana". He may be in for a rude shock.
Whiles agreeing with most of Mr. Rawlings' concerns that corrupt elements in our country seem to be escaping from paying for their crimes against Ghana, I will also quote, for the benefit of Mr. Rawlings, the reaction of a wag I know, when he saw a photograph of Mrs. Rawlings dancing (at a K. K. Fosu concert, if I remember correctly!) with President Kufuor, not too long ago.
Former President Kufuor, as we all know, is a man, who Mr. Rawlings used to condemn President Mills strongly, for not prosecuting him - and ensuring that he ended up being jailed for corruption.
That is why, upon seeing that astonishing photograph, the wag I know, asked the rhetorical question: "Kofi, who would be Mrs. Rawlings' dancing partner today - if Mills had gone ahead and prosecuted and jailed Kufuor, as she and her husband had wanted?"
Well, dear reader, I do hope that somehow, someone will draw President Rawlings' attention, to the culled Daily Telegraph article, which I am reproducing below. It was written by the Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator, Peter Oborne.
Alas, Mr Rawlings' illusion about the moral values of Britain's politicians, may be shattered for good, after he reads that brilliant piece. As we say in local parlance in Ghana: "Massa, nowhere cool!"
Mr. Rawlings has railed against corruption in Ghana since 1979. He has also ruled our nation for a combined total of over some twenty odd years. He did not bring an end to corruption in Ghana, in all those years he was in office for.
President Mills has only been in office for a little under four years. There are those who will say, that it is totally unrealistic, and most unfair, to expect him to have succeeded in rooting out corruption in the country, within that relatively short period, he has been in office, as Ghana's president.
With respect, Mr. Rawlings must stop undermining President Mills, so - a man of undoubted integrity, respected by all decent and fair-minded Ghanaians. An officer and a gentleman must not be so publicly disloyal to the commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces - particularly at this critical juncture of our nation's history. Not when there is no real justification for it - and there isn't, if truth be told.
President Mills does not run a military dictatorship - he is an elected executive president, in a nation that, at least, on paper, is a constitutional democracy, with inbuilt checks and balances: which place limitations on his powers. It is important that Mr. Rawlings never forgets that. Period. Please read on:
"This sorry display of self-interest brings shame on the Commons
By Peter Oborne Politics Last updated: December 14th, 2011
Even after the expenses scandal, many of our MPs are still putting greed before duty
I have relatively few political heroes, but one is Elizabeth Filkin, who briefly served as parliamentary commissioner for standards a decade ago. She was appointed to her post in the wake of a wave of notorious financial scandals, mainly involving Conservative politicians. Her job was to clean up politics.
Filkin’s mistake was to take her job description literally. She exposed an appalling pattern of bullying, arrogance and greed at the heart of Westminster. MPs were appalled.
However, instead of punishing the malefactors, they turned their fire on Filkin herself, using threats, malicious gossip and a campaign of media vilification in order to rub her out. It was an all-party effort – the Labour, Tory and Lib Dem whips offices were all gleeful participants – that soon made sure she was out of a job.
In retrospect, Elizabeth Filkin was the canary in the mine – an advance signal that British politicians were bent. Years were to pass before, thanks to the vigilance of The Daily Telegraph, voters learnt the hideous truth about the lies, thievery and moral corruption of so many MPs.
Today, history is repeating itself. Shamed by the expenses scandal, Parliament was forced to create an external body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), to regulate the payments. From the start, MPs bitterly resented having to submit their claims to it for authorisation, just as a decade ago they hated Filkin.
Their assault on Ipsa, which began within weeks of it starting operations in May last year, has taken place on a number of levels. First, in an echo of the vindictive campaign of character assassination aimed at Mrs Filkin, senior Ipsa personnel have been targeted. Both the chairman, Sir Ian Kennedy – a hard-working and decent man, committed to public service – and his admirable chief executive, Andrew McDonald, have been the subject of vicious attack.
In an especially shameful act, Labour’s Ann Clwyd took advantage of parliamentary privilege to accuse Ipsa’s spokesman of leaking details of MPs’ expenses to the press. Clwyd furnished no evidence of her assertion, which has been convincingly denied, and she must have known that a public official was in no position to answer back. Clwyd has never had the guts to repeat her inflammatory accusation outside the Commons.
Even worse than this flagrant abuse of privilege, however, have been the verbal assaults and bullying aimed at ordinary Ipsa staff. Within days of the opening of Parliament in May last year, MPs were being openly resentful when asked to provide evidence that they incurred expenses, and became verbally aggressive when they were not paid at once. At least one resorted to foul language, reducing the very junior official he was dealing with to tears. While there were teething problems – as with any organisation – this behaviour was unforgivable.
Bad though they were, these venomous assaults played a relatively small part in Parliament’s campaign to discredit Ipsa. In the short time that this tiny quango has existed, it has been obliged to endure no fewer than five external reviews and audits: two from the National Audit Office, separate reviews from the Public Accounts Committee and Office of Government Commerce, and a fifth from the Committee on Members’ Expenses. The second of the NAO examinations was a so-called “value for money” audit. I have found no precedent for such an examination taking place of an organisation that had not even presented its first-year accounts.
It is obvious that something very fishy is going on. The level of attention paid to Ipsa would be appropriate – desirable, even – if it was a major government department. It is a minute quango.
Here is the truth. MPs are deeply interested in how Ipsa works because it affects them in the pocket. They passionately resent its existence, and their real ambition is revealed in a report this week by the Committee on Members’ Expenses. It is a disreputable piece of work, full of errors and inconsistencies. It claims to support independent regulation of MPs’ expenses, but close examination reveals a completely different agenda.
The committee is urging a return to flat-rate allowances, which means effectively no accountability to the taxpayer. Worse still, it demands that administration of expenses should return to the House of Commons, recreating the old Fees Office, which allowed MPs to get away with pretty well anything. These proposals are to be discussed today in a debate that has been called with suspicious speed: normally it takes ages to arrange such an event in the Commons.
Something very sad is going on here. Many backbench MPs and ministers are indeed honest and decent people, dedicated to public service. But a sizeable minority of legislators are in politics for what they can get, as the expenses scandal proved.
Today’s debate is being called at a time of unprecedented national austerity, when the average living standards of ordinary people are being sliced away at a rate unprecedented since the Second World War. As a result, there are many more profound and urgent issues, yet today Parliament is setting aside valuable time to debate the terms and conditions of just 650 fairly well-paid and middle-class people.
The paradox is that Parliament is just beginning to regain the trust of voters after the appalling abuses of recent years, with the recent intake the most public-spirited and brilliant in living memory. So I hope that readers of The Daily Telegraph will take a close look at the Members who gather today.
I daresay they will find that the Commons chamber will be fuller than usual, as public duty takes second place to private gain. This spectacle is disastrous for our politics, and now is surely the moment for the three party leaders to show leadership by bringing this sorry display of self-interest to an end.
The trouble is that David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg are all terrified of their own backbenches. It is worth remembering that the Prime Minister’s initial instinct was to prevent the Committee on Members’ Expenses forming at all, but changed his mind after one of his periodic maulings by the 1922 Committee. Cameron was presumably told by his Whips that one way of buying off angry backbenchers was by holding out the prospect of an improvement in the rations.
It is exactly 100 years since the decision was made to award MPs an annual stipend, then worth some £400 a year. It is still interesting today to read the debate at which the sum was agreed. The dominant assumption that informed this debate (which had been spurred by the election for the first time of Labour MPs, who lacked independent means) was that there exists a firm distinction between private interest and public duty.
The chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd George, summed up this mood when he told the Commons the sum was simply an allowance to cover expenses and explicitly not intended to be “a recognition of the magnitude of the service”. Sadly, this sense that the job of an MP was its own reward, measured in honour, has long since vanished. Today’s Commons debate marks a reminder of the tragic abyss which divides so many members of the political class from mainstream standards of decency and restraint."
End of culled article from the Daily Telegraph.
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