GHANA’S DAY OF SHAME: VEEP To Open Freedom Bookshop

As part of activities marking Ghana’s Day of Shame, Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah – Arthur will open The Freedom Bookshop at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle on Monday, February 25, 2013.
 

The bookshop established by the Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) will sell books on Nkrumah and other progressive books as well as paintings of revolutionary leaders.

The Day of Shame is a commemoration of the February 24, 1966 overthrow of the Nkrumah Government by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Of the United States of America and reactionary elements in the Ghana Armed Forces and Police.

It has been observed every year for the last 10years by the SFG and other progressive organizations.

At the event a booklet on Nkrumah authored by a Commander of the Cuban revolution Jorge Risket Valdes would be launched.

A special magazine on the life and time of Nkrumah would also be launched.

Over the last three years the SFG has published three books on Nkrumah and they would also be put on display.

As part of the commemoration, Comrade Kyeretwie Opoku, Convener of the SFG will deliver a lecture on the life and time of Nkrumah at the Freedom Centre on Wednesday February 20, 2013.

A special film on Nkrumah will also be screened at the Freedom Centre on Friday/ March 1 2013.

Mr.  Duke Tagoe, a Member of the SFG says all progressive organizations in the country are being invited to take part in the activities.

The Vice Presidents acceptance of the invitation to open the bookshop is seen as an appreciation of the tremendous contribution of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to the national Liberation Struggle in Africa and elsewhere.

EDITORIAL

Please Help The President

President John Dramani Mahama needs a lot of help in his effort to tackle the multi-dimensional problems confronting the people of Ghana.

Unfortunately for the President, he has assumed office at a time when life is very difficult for most simple Ghanaians.

Many of the people have no place to sleep, they have problems with nutrition and health, their access to health and jobs are limited and their aspirations are becoming meaningless dreams.

Under these circumstances the usual praise-singing that the sychophants in our society indulge in can be very harmful to the President and his team.

The Insight believes firmly that this is the time to tell the President the truth even if it is bitter.

Hiding the truth from the President and urging him on to step out in the Kings’ new cloths can be extremely harmful to even the sincerest of leaders.

The President will be greatly helped if all of us will tell him the truth all the time.

This must be a very difficult task for those who seek favours from the President and the Government but it is a task which must be done.

PUBLISHED UNEDITED

Below is the full text of an article posted on the net by somebody who claims to be a friend of President John Dramani Mahama. We dare ask if this is how friends of the President intend to defund his actions? Please this intends to defend his actions? Please read on;

President Mahama

HEY KWESI PRATT, SHUT UP OR SHIP OUT AND LEAVE PRESIDENT MAHAMA ALONE TO MAKE WISE APPOINTMENTS FOR GHANA, FOR GOD’S SAKE!!!

Folks, wake up to the destructive machinations of Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi Brothers. The most stupid and most confused mind I have ever known is Kwesi Pratt, who said “Mahama is confused and sloppy with appointments”.

Kwesi Pratt, let me tell you something. There is a new era in Ghana, the Mahama Era. Kwesi Pratt, there is a new dawn in Ghana, and it is the Mahama Dawn. If you have not recognized it Mr. Pratt let me tell you and your AWHOI BROTHERS that the new Mahama era has swept you into oblivion. The Mahama era has swept you into the archives of political mischief, and you will remain there forever.

You Mr. Pratt and the Awhoi brothers have had your share of and your chance of misleading Mills and you will not get the same opportunity to blind fold John Mahama. John Mahama is fully awake, tuned to every whisper in Ghana coming from both foes and friends. He has your number and knows you and your many master maneuvers to derail this government, defame this government so as to become the center, front and back of decision making in an NDC government. No, no, no!! The time has come for new ideas, new faces on the scene, new brains and intellect like Atuguba, new vision for Ghana like the one John Mahama has for Ghana.

John Mahama told the country, including you, that the touch has been passed on, and that means all the old guards, all the Awhoi Brothers, all the idiots like you Kwesi Pratt and your political intrigues have been swept away. The NDC is a new party today with a new Leader. The NDC today is John Mahama’s NDC to run, to direct, to lead, to overhaul and to remold in his image; in his vision and to move the Party forward not turn back to buffoons like you Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi brothers.

Whether you like it or not, John Mahama has taken over the reins of the NDC for the next eight years. John Mahama is the new kid in town. John Mahama is now in the driver’s seat. Kwesi Pratt, don’t even try to touch the steering wheel. John Mahama did not win elections to appoint your appointees, or to be dictated to by the Awhoi brothers or to be advised by the Awhoi brothers. The Mills era is dead; it died with Mills and the Awhoi brothers place in history and NDC died with Mills. Until a new leader is elected after eight years, John Mahama is the leader of this party. After eight years there will be another leader, and Kwesi Pratt it will not be you or the Awhoi Brothers.

Since this glorious son of Gonjaland took office, since this true son of change took over the reins of government in Ghana, you Kwesi Pratt and your henchmen or masters in the being of the Awhoi Brothers have tried every trick in the book to cloud this regime with false accusations, stupid suggestions, idiotic criticisms of his appointments and all the false pretenses to spear head the fight against the fall and disappearance of the Awhoi brothers from the Ghana political scene. You Kwesi Pratt and your rouge Awhoi brothers have tried every maneuver to mislead, to obstruct, `to cloud and drag the character and dignity and experience, and vision and above all the qualifications of John Mahama’s appointees for so many weeks now.

If the Awhoi brothers have purchased your services and loyalty, if the Awhoi brothers have enslaved you, or even if you have lost your senses and dogmatically alter and push into the media what the Awhoi brothers dictate to you to spread and falsify John Mahama’s agenda, or even to ridicule John Mahama’s appointees, it’s time you are told in your face to shut up and listen to or watch what big brains can do. Dr. Atuguba is more qualified than you and your Awhoi Brothers together; he is more read, he has better experience, and he has researched Ghana and produces documents relevant to Ghana’s development and has contributed more to the intellectual growth of Ghana than you and Awhoi brother can ever deem about or even start to do. Your petit minds arena match to Atuguba\’s and his advice to President Mahama will not be diminished by feeble e minds and liars and crazy warriors of destruction and intrigue like you and Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi brothers.

Who dare you Kwesi Pratt to say that John Mahama is confused? Who dare you challenge THE CHOICES OF John Mahama for his cabinet? Who dare you argue with John Mahama on the wisdom and merit of his appointments?

Kwesi Pratt, let me tell you something: It is time the NDC communication officials come out boldly and swiftly to silence Kwesi Pratt and his nonsense. It is time for the NDC youth to come out and silence Kwesi Pratt and his little minds of the Awhoi Brothers. It is time the Zongo for Mahama brigade come out in defense of John Mahama’s appointees. Kwesi Pratt, listen me again: Mills is dead. The Mills regime and era died with him. So, the Awhoi brother’s time and fame in the castle died with Mills. It is not difficult to understand.

The New King is John Mahama, and the new King is making his appointments and does not need you Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi brothers. John Mahama is the new King and he will rule according to his vision for Ghana and will appoint his cabinet according to his own vision for Ghana.

Once again, where are the NDC youth? Where are the NDC party officials, secretaries, regional chairpersons and leaders and MPs? Where are the members of the “Zongo for Mahama” hierarchy and officials who worked so hard to elect their president? Where is the rank and file of the NDC who worked so hard to elect their President?

This is the time to govern, NDC! Don’t allow buffoons and rogues like Kwesi Pratt and his henchmen or masters in the beings of their Awhoi brothers cloud your efforts, or dominate the media with their poison and arrogance, or get the free pass whenever they alter pure nonsense on the air, or go on TV to thrash your Ministers and the President’s appointees. It’s your government and it’s your Ministers and it’s your President, John Mahama, making the decisions and making the appointments.

NDC, don’t give in to the buffoons like Kwesi Pratt and his Awhoi brothers hiding behind the scenes to drown your voices and diminish your hard fought gains in the elections to elect your President. NDC, stand up to Kwesi Pratt in your rallies, match on the streets to protest Kwesi Pratt’s and the Awhoi brother’s nonsense to diminish your President. Let your views and voices be heard on the TVs and radios and newspapers and the bulletins around the country, condemning Kwesi Pratt and his conniving Awhoi brothers to take the shine off this President. Let every village and town know the machinations and lies of Kwesi Pratt and his Awhoi brothers. Expose Kwesi Pratt and his hidden agenda to nullify your efforts, and make sure your President’s decisions are respected, effected, supported and advanced to move Ghana forward, not to listen to idiots and buffoons like Kwesi Pratt who only want some selfish greedy and narrow agenda for control and domination by the Awhoi brothers. No, NO, NO!!! Ghana is moving forward not backward.

The touch has been passed on, the playing field has been leveled, the New Ghana is born and the old guards and old defamed and outdated ideas represented by Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi brothers are no more; they are history, they are no more, and they have been swept away by the high tides of history and will never surface again. Bury these forces of evil and destruction exhibited in Kwesi Pratt and the Awhoi Brothers; destroy their intrigues.

LONG LIVE JOHN MAHAMA, LONG LIVE JOHN MAHAMA’S VISION, AND LONG LIVE JOHN MAHAMA’S APPOINTEES.
To Kwesi Pratt and Awhoi Brothers:

SHUT UP OR SHIP OUT AND LEAVE JOHN MAHAMA ALONE TO MAKE WISE DECISIONS AND WISELY APPOINT HIS WISE CABINET AND OTHER WISE APPOINTEES.

U.S. troops set up on Syrian border

By David Sole

The first contingent of up to 400 U.S. troops arrived in Turkey on Jan. 4 according to the Pentagon. (CBSnews.com) Their mission is to set up two Patriot missile batteries 31 miles north of the Syrian border in the city of Gaziantep. The soldiers are being airlifted from Fort Sill, Okla., and will be joined in Turkey by troops and missiles from Germany and the Netherland.

The missile batteries are expected to be operational by the end of January and represent a serious escalation in the threat against the Assad government of Syria. The U.S. and NATO have given open and covert support to the Syrian and mercenary contra-rebels for the past 22 months, trying to effect regime change and install a compliant puppet government.

Technical reports on the Patriot missile batteries describe them as “highly mobile” with all components mounted on trucks and trailers. The batteries can be moved and set up “in less than an hour” (http://bit.ly/SiDCBy).

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNACpeace.org) recently issued an alert against the growing likelihood of a direct U.S.-NATO invasion of Syria. The imperialist powers are losing hope for the success of the rebellion they have armed, encouraged and diplomatically recognized. The so-called “National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces,” created under Hillary Clinton’s tutelage this past November, appears unable to rally wide support inside Syria.

The New York Times of Jan. 5 complained: “Rebellion at Stalemate.” This organ of Wall Street capitalism found widespread dissatisfaction and disillusionment across Syria with the contra-rebels. “Doubts … about the direction of the revolution and how a rebel-ruled Syria would look” have led businesspeople, intellectuals, government officials and soldiers to keep from embracing the armed rebellion, even though many who were interviewed did not support the Assad government. One soldier told the Times that he had defected to the contras, and then left the country in disgust with their behavior and policies.

Syria Stands Still for Assad

Other forces inside Syria, however, are not sitting on the fence. A statement from the Syrian Communist Youth Union appeared on redyouthuk.wordpress.com on Jan. 2. The Youth Union strongly denounced the anti-Assad rebellion as a product of “the world imperialist attack … using most reactionary forces with full support and funding of the Arab reactionary regimes.”

The communist youth warn that “the treason forces who are call[ing] themselves ‘the Syrian opposition’ are asking for external intervention on Syria by NATO,” citing “the criminal imperialist model that we witnessed in Libya and Iraq.”

US War Monger President Barack Obama

The Syrian Communist Party has a long history inside Syria, sometimes suppressed and other times legalized by the ruling Baathist regime. However both the Party and its youth arm call for “supporting the Syrian national steadfastness” aware that “Syria is the stronghold facing the imperialist plans and projects in the region … caus[ing] it to win the hostility of imperialists, Zionists, reactionaries and their traitors.”

But the youth also show that the Assad regime made itself vulnerable to attack and criticize “neo-liberal economic policies that have been applied in recent years [that] led to impoverish the masses of people,” more unemployment, cuts in nationalized production and public services. “This is what Syrian communists have warned and struggled against.”

These communist youth, however, are rallying to the defense of their nation against foreign domination. Their slogans include “Syria will not kneel down” as well as a call for reinforcing the public sector, national production and maintenance of “the social rights of Syrian people and youth, especially free education, free health care and to find work opportunities, adequate housing … [and] to widen the democratic freedoms.”

 They end with the call: “No revolution with world imperialism! No revolution with NATO!”

AKUFO ADDO: ACCUSED MUST PROVE INNOCENCE

Nana Akufo Addo

Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP are calling on the Electoral Commission to prove its innocence that the Commission did not skew the December 7 2012 Presidential election results to favour President Mahama and the NDC. The normal legal requirement is that the one who makes an allegation should prove that the accuser is guilty. On this occasion, Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP are attempting to put the law on its head by claiming that the onus lies with the accused to prove that he/she is innocent.

In an affidavit to the Supreme Court dated January 23 2013, Nana Akufo Addo says he is opposed to the request by the Electoral Commission (EC) for further documents in the petition contesting the results of the December 7 2012 presidential elections.

 

In his original application asking the Supreme Court to annul the results and declare him winner of the elections, Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP alleged among other things that the Electoral Commissioner allowed voting in several polling stations without verification. In his response, the Electoral Commissioner asked the court to request Nana Akufo Addo to provide details of which polling stations where this took place. However, Nana Akufo Addo, the accuser is saying that he does not have to provide the details. 

Again he alleged that in some 4,709 polling stations, different results were allocated to candidates on the pink sheets. Here too, the Electoral Commissioner is asking the court to request Nana Akufo Addo to provide particulars where those practices occurred. Here too, Nana Akufo Addo says that he does not have to indicate them. 

Electoral Commissioner, Afari Gyan

Furthermore, Nana Akufo and the NPP alleged in their petition that in some polling stations, the votes in his favour were reduced while those for President Mahama were padded to give him a majority. However, when the Electoral Commissioner asked that the NPP should name those polling stations, Nana Akufo Addo says that he does not have to show because the Electoral Commissioner has the originals of the results.

This twist in the litigation is similar to a person who accuses another person of stealing his fowl but he does not want to show evidence to that effect. Rather, the accuser claims that the person he is accusing must prove that he has not stolen the fowl. 

This makes nonsense of the long-held principle that “he who alleges must prove”. This principle, which in the Latin language states:   “maxim semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit” means that “the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges” In the current case before the Supreme Court, it is Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP who are charging the Electoral Commission of manipulating the electoral process to favour President Mahama and the MDC. Yet paradoxically, the Nana Akufo Addo, the self-avowed lawyer, who claims decades of experience in human rights cases, does not want to prove their charges with clear supporting evidence.

It is an incontrovertible principle of law that “Burden of Proof is the legal obligation on a party to prove the allegation made by him against another party. The burden of proof in a case lies with the plaintiff unless defendant counter with a factual claim based on the allegation, that is, when categorical acceptance is made by the defendant and he is disputing a factual position.”

NPP Logo

It is mind-boggling that the Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP who are asking the Court to give judgment as to their legal right or liability dependent on the existence of facts which he asserts, does not want to prove that those facts exist. This spoilt child posture is what Nana Akufo Addo is adopting in this case.

The absurdity of Nana Akufo Addo’s claim can be compared to a situation in which Mrs. A is asking a court to give judgment that she is entitled to certain land in the possession of Mrs. B, by reason of facts which Mrs. A asserts, and which B denies, to be true. However, Mrs. A. the accuser is not willing to prove the existence of those facts supporting her claim to the land.

In all disputed cases, it is only fair that the accused is presumed innocent unless evidence is adduced by the accuser to show that the accused is guilty. 

 

Unless Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP are able to produce evidence to show how election figures were skewed in the over 4,000, it is difficult to establish why they brought this matter to court in the first place.

2013: The year that defeated gender violence

Wouldn't it be a fitting statement for the end of this year, if the world could use the title of this piece as a statement, an affirmation than gender violence is very much on the decrease and wouldn't that be a fitting epitaph to respect the memory of the 23-year-old Indian medical student who was gang-raped?

Gang-raped, thrown off a moving bus and then gang-raped by yet more "men" as she lay critically injured by the roadside. What happened in India at the end of last year has not only shocked Indian society but has brought the country, its caste system and its sexist male chauvinist population under the world spotlight.

Therefore what better chance than to use 2013 as the year in which collectively, humankind made serious inroads against gender violence? The attack in the rape capital of India, New Delhi, on December 16, left a 23-year-old medical student, with a brilliant life ahead of her, fighting for her life with brain damage, and later on, abdominal infection before she died in a Singapore hospital.

In 2012, there were 256,329 recorded violent crimes against women, a drop in the ocean, however significant and unacceptable, when compared with the world statistics, which indicate that between 15 to 75% of women in every community suffer from some sort of violence during their lifetimes. Up to 70% of these violent acts are perpetrated by intimate partners. And globally, seven out of ten women have suffered some sort of gender violence.

Three million girls a year in Africa are submitted to female genital mutilation; 100 to 140 million women and girls live with the scars of this practice; 60 million children a year are forced to make commitments in marriage ceremonies; 80% of human trafficking is committed against women and girls.

Two women are murdered every day in Guatemala, on average; in India, there are many thousands of dowry-related deaths every year; in so-called developed nations such as the USA, Canada and Israel, 40 to 70% of women were murdered by intimate partners; on a worldwide basis, 50% of sexual assaults are committed against children under 16; up to 150 million women and girls suffer some kind of violence yearly; 30% of first sexual experiences are rapes or attempted rapes.

Three million girls a year in Africa are submitted to female genital mutilation; 100 to 140 million women and girls live with the scars of this practice; 60 million children a year are forced to make commitments in marriage ceremonies; 80% of human trafficking is committed against women and girls; 79% of these, or 632,000 women and girls a year, are trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation. 379,200 women and girls are subjected to conditions of sexual slavery every year.

In parts of Europe, between 40 and 50% of women are subjected to unwanted sexual advances; in Asia, up to half the women suffer sexual harassment at work.

Fundamental in the fight against gender violence - a shame for men - is the participation of male members of communities to uphold women's rights to live as equals and free from the horrific crimes mentioned above. UN Women sponsors actions across the globe and explains in its website how men can get on board.

Fundamental also is the growing participation of women at all levels of governance and society, and as Michelle Bachelet, the Executive Director of UN Women, states: "We know that with women's growing political and economic roles, women will not stay silent about violence".

If 70 per cent of our women have suffered some sort of gender violence, it doesn't say much about the men, now, does it?

Not the Messiah: Ivory Coast Is Not Making Much Progress under Ouattara

By Ajong Mbapndah

Mamadou Koulibaly has emerged as a leading critic of President Ouattara

He fought tooth and nail to be President of Ivory Coast. Created a party, fought with three Presidents, allied himself with an armed rebellion and for two years now he is in power with a score card which impresses neither his opponents, nor some in the international community who were among his ardent supporters.

 Ivory Coast under President Alassane Ouattara has not made much progress says Former National Assembly President and head of the Lider Political party Prof Mamadou Koulibaly. With his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo facing trial at the ICC, Prof Mamadou Koulibaly  has emerged as the most acerbic critic of Ouattara and spares no efforts in painting him as a leader who is incapable of resolving the complex problems facing Ivory Coast. The security problems are acute, the reconciliation process is stalled, unemployment is high, former elements of the rebellion are holding Ouattara hostage and the human rights situation is not good, says Koulibaly in his assessment of President Ouattara. Koulibaly who was victim of an accident under questionable circumstances in the course of last year, lashes out at Ouattara for double standards with a justice system that turns a blind eye to excesses of his partisans. Coming out of a crisis, the foundation of the Ivorian state is weak and if President Ouattara continues to act as a leader who lives in fear and unable to control his armed militias, the country runs the risk of degenerating into more chaos says Prof Koulibaly.

Q: Prof. Koulibaly, It is two years now with Alassane Ouattara as president of the country, may we have an idea about how Côte d’Ivoire is doing politically, socially and economically?

Presidential Claimant Alhasan Quattara

PK: Almost two years in fact since Ouattara came to power. Confidence is still not restored between him and the opposition, between him and the people who did not vote for him, between him and the army, the gendarmerie, between him and all the components of the FRCI (military) he has put in place and who have not stopped attacking his regime and harassing him to the point of forcing him to be defense minister. There is also a disappointment in him from the international community which has not seen any improvement in the democracy his leadership was expected to bring. So far, he has not yet established reconciliation, which has been shifted to the back burner as he pursues the utopia of the emergent Ivory Coast in 2020.

Economically, the crisis is only getting worse. Direct foreign investment has reduced and promises of development assistance that were made while he was still secluded at the Golf Hotel have not been met with the arrival of fresh funds. Domestic and foreign private investors are skeptical because of insecurity and corruption in the upper levels of government. The jobs he promised are nowhere. In the face of rising unemployment, Ouattara has resorted to catering more and more to the needs of his ethnic base. It is true that there are a few public projects on infrastructure, but these are at outrageous costs and in scandalous conditions.

Socially, numerous professional bodies are waiting for Ouattara to fulfill his promise of higher wages. Students, who saw the rehabilitation of their universities at exorbitant and outrageous costs, are waiting to see the libraries open and equipped, as well as restaurants and laboratories of science and technology. In the meantime, they just look at the cafeterias and bars mounted by Ouattara’s friends on campus, where sandwiches and lunches are sold at unaffordable prices, which brought about strikes by students, preceded by that of teachers who are still waiting for the payment of their entire overtime. The social atmosphere is especially marked by insecurity brought about by the FRCI, the high cost of living, racketeering and criminalization of the state.

Q: Security remains a big challenge and there are reports of human rights violations, where is the violence coming from and what is the purpose?

Violence today is essentially caused by the FRCI. They are the only ones who carry weapons and occupy the national territory, but normally are in control of the areas of influence. Factions are fighting against each other for control of sinecures, because the state does not pay them salaries. Left to themselves, these fighters must survive by extortion, theft, assault and violence. In order to have them with him during his ascension to power against Gbagbo’s troops, Ouattara promised them jobs in the army, the gendarmerie and the police. However these troops from the same ethnic groups have not been successful, and lest they turn their arms against him, Ouattara asked them, as well as supplementary Dozos (traditional hunters), to redeploy across the country, in all the cities and villages, to ensure security. But instead, we note that with their presence, theft and insecurity are rather on the rise. These militias demand support from the people and are violent when people do not respond favorably to their grievances. Côte d’Ivoire is living in fear.

Q: What about efforts towards reconciliation, there is supposed to be a reconciliation committee headed by Charles Konan Banny, has it served any purpose?

PK The CDVR of Charles Konan Banny is run by people of good faith, but who alas work under the authority of Ouattara himself. He does not give the financial and political means to the commission to make it effective. He gives the commission a two-year agenda for a reconciliation, which a year and a half after, has not yet begun its work seriously. The CDVR speaks of reconciliation while Ouattara promotes injustice, impunity and the violence by FRCI continues unabated. The reconciliation process is not credible and is thwarted by Ouattara himself who does not seem in any hurry to get there.

We have also heard you decry the corruption that is taking place under the present government, what facts do you have to back your accusations?

Corruption is rampant under Ouattara although it has always existed in the various regimes that preceded his in Côte d’Ivoire. First of all the justice system is totally corrupt while Ouattara has changed all the main leaders of the judiciary and he himself is chairman of the Judiciary. He can in this way pursue his main opponents of yesterday for economic crimes or murder, but condones the crimes committed by his own men and the FAFN which has since become the FRCI.

Ouattara undertakes numerous infrastructure projects, but has never made public tenders for the award of contracts. Projects are announced at an initial cost and then, month after month, we see the costs increase without explanations. The most obvious is the rehabilitation of universities, whose initial cost was about forty billion francs CFA, which then increased to sixty and a hundred billion. At

this stage of a hundred billion, and with his council of ministers, Ouattara discovered that the project had been over priced by at least forty billion. As punishment, he dismissed the Director of Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Higher Education, without touching the minister himself who did not resign either. A few weeks later, the same minister informs us that the actual cost of the project is rather one hundred and seventy-five billion francs CFA and nothing was done to him. There is the case of this other Minister, who is suspected of embezzling more than four billion francs CFA destined to the victims of the toxic waste dumped in Abidjan by the Probo Koala ship Trafigura a few years ago. The minister was ousted from government, but no action taken against him, justice having found nothing to reproach him. They are both members of parliament and want to become mayors of different cities in Côte d’Ivoire. Cases of this kind exist in abundance.

Q: Despite your strong criticisms against President Ouattara, just to be fair to him, are there things you think he has done right to move Côte d’Ivoire forward?

PK: Yes, you are right. Abidjan became a little cleaner than under the previous regime. It is true that the proposed third bridge in Abidjan, which was dragging from the time of Houphouët-Boigny, saw its construction undertaken by Ouattara. It is also true that in the city of Abidjan, holes in the roads were clogged, especially in the upscale neighborhood of Cocody. It is also noteworthy that Ouattara, after having started his reign with forty government ministers, now scaled it down to 28 ministers. You see, he has worked and we do not forget it. But remember anyway, in short, that the contract for the third bridge was concluded in totally obscurity. Nobody knows what the exact cost is, or what financial and economic guarantees the state is committed to for the next forty years. Neither the public nor parliament was informed of these public contracts. In addition, the roads in Abidjan are not the only roads in Côte d’Ivoire. There is the interior of the country, for example the cocoa producing areas that have no roads and yet strongly finance the state budget.

You now head your own party, LIDER which did not do so well in the last elections, how is the party doing and what role do you expect to play in shaping a better future for Côte d’Ivoire?

LIDER went to the parliamentary elections in difficult conditions on which we will not dwell. We left these elections without a single elected candidate, even though we presented twelve candidates and we had just arrived on the political scene for just four months. We saw and warned Ouattara against the violation of Additional Protocol No. 2 of the ECOWAS Treaty prohibiting all member governments of the organization from changing the rules of the electoral process less than 6 months before the election date, no matter the type of election, without a broad consensus with the entire political class. Ouattara has shamelessly violated with impunity this provision of ECOWAS.

LIDER, in a responsible way, continues its ascent through the installation of party bases around the country and without great means for the moment. We aim to build a real opposition to challenge the power of Ouattara. We believe that people must understand that democracy is not multipartism and elections. Democracy is first of all a state of law, not in the sense of a government emerging from elections, a legal government, but a state, a situation in which the law applies to everyone, starting with the state itself and its leaders. We explain to people that multipartism does not mean having parties that act as unions for ethnic groups. We explain to politicians and our activists that democracy is first of all to recognize the inalienable rights of the private ownership of land in their country, and the freedom to exchange these lands. We believe that if LIDER succeeds in being heard on these issues, then we will have achieved our goal of education about democracy, social harmony and peace.

Q: In the course of last year you were a victim of several accidents etc. Were these just routine accidents or you read something behind this since you are a strong opponent of the regime?

PK: I still cannot explain the cause of this accident, but I find it curious that the government of Ouattara, which divided the country into official military zones controlled by the informal com-zones and com-sectors, goes to attack my family, my farm and my workers under the pretext that there was a training camp of anti-Ouattara militias in my village. I find it curious that there has been no serious investigation after these events and that the police and the Chief of General Staff of the armed forces have refused to receive complaints from my parents against the warriors of the pro- Ouattara militia called the FRCI. I find it disturbing that at the same time, the government is trying to portray me as a criminal, when I am the victim.

President Laurent Gbagbo

Q: Former President Laurent Gbagbo is due for trial at the ICC but we have not heard about warrants for those who were in the rebellion, what is your take on this as well as the continuous detention of many high profile activists and government officials?

PK: Ouattara applies a justice of variable geometry. A justice system which imprisons criminals of the defeated side and demands accounts and one that promotes criminals in his own camp and condones their wrongdoing. It is difficult in these conditions to build a nation, to reconcile and to build confidence in Côte d’Ivoire. By this attitude, Ouattara ensures the criminalization of the state. And our eyes are turned towards the ICC, to know whether it will be an accomplice or not in this local justice which is more of revenge than justice.

Q: You have written  in the past about defense accords between African countries and the French, can you talk about this briefly especially in light of the crisis in Mali, and most recently Central Africa? How relevant are these accords?

PK: In modern economies, when states engage in this type of international agreements, people are informed of the content of these treaties and conventions. Civil society and parliamentarians discuss about them, so that people know what their government is engaged in. Sometimes we proceed by referendum to ratify such an agreement. This is the procedure in place in developed societies. But in African societies, only the President of the Republic and sometimes some members of the government are contacted and informed about the content of these agreements. The public remains in ignorance, parliament also, as well as the press. These are societies of distrust, patrimonial societies. And when a shock happens and the agreements must be implemented, the people do not understand it. Mali, like most African states is not viable individually. Our countries would be stronger and more viable if they were integrated into a federal structure. Each country would have a head of state elected according to the parliamentary system, and all states would be subject to a federal government which is also a product of a parliamentary system, following parliamentary elections after a one round majority vote, according to the Westminster model in Great Britain. Without this reform, there is no happy and harmonious future for African countries. Mali is a case study which shows that, despite all our elections, our governments, our armies, our narrow nationalism, all our countries and their institutions can collapse overnight without any internal forces capable of remedying the situation. We also see the same scenario in Côte d’Ivoire, where there is no more a state. It is a potential risk for all African countries. You saw what happened with President Bozizé’s call for help to Paris, and the response of President Hollande. We must become free men and regain confidence in ourselves and our neighbors and proceed with the construction of this African federalism. It is in the interest of our collective security, development, prosperity and peace. These defense agreements are nothing but loosely tied trade agreements. They serve as something else other than the defense of countries and their populations. We can do without them, if we reduce the risk of conflict in our countries. And for that, we have great untapped potentials.

Q: We know it is still very challenging for Côte d’Ivoire, what are some of the reasons that should give people a reason to hope and what is your prediction for the future?

PK: I have no crystal ball to predict the future of Côte d’Ivoire, but if the criminalization of the state remains the trend that we see right now, I fear that the year 2013 is going to be more difficult than 2012. If reconciliation does not make progress, if justice is not restored, if Ouattara continues to take people hostage with his armed tribal factions deployed throughout the country, I fear that economic activity will remain stifled and unemployment and difficulties of all kinds will increase. If the regime’s corruption continues to grow, and if impunity continues to be the norm, I fear that the foundations of our nation which are still fragile will cave to violence and chaos. But at the beginning of 2013, I wish that Ouattara would become aware of his responsibilities and fully assume them ,without presenting himself to us as someone who is unable to control his armed militia and who lives in perpetual fear, even though he is the President of the Republic. 

The Wandering Passport & Facebook
Fill them Spirit, Lord I thank you
Feel alright now, good Lord hear me Anytime, anywhere, good Lord help me

No more crying, Lord I thank you
Bob Marley

How would you react if a total stranger called you one day with news that she had your passport which as far as you could tell, was not missing! The above high-speed drama was my lot on Monday this week.

A well-spoken lady was on the other end of the line. Was I Mr. Son of Man? Had I lost my passport? Had it been stolen? Doesn't it contain some valid visas? And on and on she grilled me. Well, the document was safe, to the best of my knowledge, tucked in a corner somewhere in my bedroom.

Fortunate enough to be home that morning, I quickly dashed to the last alleged location of the document - zilch! At that point, my confidence suffered a bad hit and began to wane. A couple of questions from my end later— is it a two-in-one document?— I was struck with cold comfort that the passport, last used two weeks ago, was truly in the possession of the lady at the other end.

They had found the document very close to where I live. Had there been a break- in and we hadn't even noticed, did we have any other missing property, had it fallen mysteriously out of the car unto the road? Had it … The questions were endless. Nevertheless, the stranger and I arranged a pick up that very morning at her office.

Enter Awoyo and Sandra.
Facebook and Google do indeed play tricks. On first meeting, Awoyo smiled like an old friend. 'This is the face', she declared as if in confirmation to herself and later to the accompanying Missus, she asked, 'Are you the one in Dzodze?'

Thanks to the Internet and Google, our lives were very much there for the taking. Not sure whether to be frightened or amused. The latter, perhaps, given the happy ending to this story.

My great relief aside, I couldn't help appreciating the sleuthing skills of Awoyo in tracking me down with the full benefit of modern technology aka Face book. First, she mounted a vigorous search for me on the ubiquitous Facebook where as some may be aware, the son of man by some wicked twist of fate, operates two accounts.

There, she found 'our mutual friend' called OB. Not having OB's telephone number, she called another friend of hers whose cousin OB is who then supplied his number. And by the way, this friend happens to be in Liberia currently.

And since the mutual friend is a really old friend, he just happened to have my old MTN number which is fate would have it, has been successfully stolen by a thief a couple of years ago and appears to be back in full use and circulation. Incidentally, the thief is not courteous.

Rude to the core, many have reported receiving crude insults upon calling me on the old stolen MTN number 0244723909 to ask of the Son of Man, much to my embarrassment.

'I spoke to someone who was very rude. I later had to call back and apologize for bothering him but that there was a problem, at which point he said he was not the one! Using the same channels, I managed to get your Vodafone number, which is when I called you!'

As it turns out, Awoyo is a supervisor of sorts to Sandra who actually found the document. Sandra, the story unfolds, lives across the street opposite my house. There, she had chanced upon a conversation by a group of 'area boys' in which they were talking about having found someone's passport but not knowing what to do with it.

When she pressed further, they released it to her, ostensibly to have it announced in the media but with the caveat that she not relate their role in finding the document. Their hypothesis was that being probably stolen, suspicion may naturally fall to them once the link was made.

Before our thank you-s and goodbyes to our inauguration day angels, the accompanying Missus and I shared our own hypotheses. We had had a number of workers in the house over the holidays and especially in the preceding week, two of whom had had access to the bedroom. Perhaps? Perhaps! Driving home, the Missus would be sure to point out my apparent lack of sufficient security awareness.

In moments like this, when the son of man is fully cornered, man's response can hardly be robust, except in the not so small matter of expressing my copious thanks to Awoyo and Sandra of Ghana Revenue Authority, Spintex Road Branch.

Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey 

2013: What is the United Nations Organization for?

The United Nations Organization was founded in 1945 to stop conflicts and provide a forum for debate, discussion and dialogue for crisis management. It costs around 15 billion USD a year to run, so in indexed terms has already spent some one thousand billion dollars of taxpayers' money. On...er...?

Ban Ki Moon

The basic question is, what is the UNO for? If the answer is a repetition of the paragraph above, then the response is that it has failed miserably and that it is an absurdly expensive waste of time and space. If it costs around 15 billion USD annually to run, that is getting on for two dollars per person per year, every year, and for what?

Did the United Nations Organization provide a basis for debate before the invasion of Iraq? No, because the United States of America, the United Kingdom and a handful of NATO countries simply decided to sidestep the Organization, avoiding the UN Security Council because it would have voted against an invasion. The USA and UK therefore rendered it useless back in 2003. Since then, the UNO has spent an additional 150 billion dollars doing what exactly?

Did it stop the war in Libya? No, it stood back as the aforementioned demonic duo, now joined by France (to form the FUKUS Axis - France, UK, US) ran amok, supporting terrorist groups on their own lists of proscribed groups, placing boots on the ground, despite being bound not to by UNSC 1970 and 1973 (2011) and yet again breaking every law in the book. If the British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of State, William Hague, is still sitting smugly in his job despite breaking the law of his own country, then it becomes patently obvious that the United Nations Organization has as much clout as a squashed, syphilitic slug lying under a tonne of sea salt.

However, the slug doesn't spend one thousand billion dollars and certainly doesn't cost fifteen billion a year.

Let us now move on to Somalia: this conflict started back in the early nineties (more precisely in 1991). What has the United Nations done? What has the United Nations done to stop al-Qaeda, apart from allowing al-Qaeda into Iraq, from which it was barred by Saddam Hussein, and allow al-Qaeda into Libya, from which it was barred by Muammar al-Qadhafi?

Did the United Nations stop the conflict in the Balkans, as the West moved in to stir up hatred among Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Macedonians? Did the UNO stop al-Qaeda moving into the Balkans? Did the UNO stop the Albanian terrorist movement Ushtria Çlirimtare ë Kosovës (Kosovo Liberation Army) perpetrating civil unrest attacks in Kosovo? Did the UNO stop the illegal declaration of independence of the Serbian Province of Kosovo and its subsequent (illegal and inconsequential) "recognition" by FUKUS poodle states?

UN Security Council

And what has the UNO done to prevent the bloodshed in Syria, where once again the FUKUS Axis has sided with terrorists, is sending in its own special forces and is making the conflict bloodier, the more the Syrian Government resists this demonic scourge?

True, the UNO does some excellent humanitarian work, clearing up the mess it has failed to prevent; yet, if it did its job properly in the first place, there would be no need for the fire engine. True, UN Women does some excellent work against gender violence and towards women's rights; UNESCO does a lot to protect world heritage, register languages and so on, António Guterres does a superb job in helping refugees at UNHCR and true, UNICEF does some excellent work in protecting and educating children.

As for the World Health Organization, it is useful as a research facility and reasonably good at distributing medicines and mosquito nets; as a disease prevention organism it is as risible as the crisis management arm - after all, during the Swine Flu crisis in 2009 it limited itself to informing us as to what Phase the new potentially fatal virus was reaching as the WHO sat back and watched Influenza A H1N1 go globe-trotting.

If this is where the UNO is at after sixty-seven years, then let us conclude it is a useful humanitarian organization but would be rendered useless if an effective United Nations Organization was to do the job the UN was set up to do in the first place.

Let us be honest, if any manager of any company had spent a thousand billion dollars over 67 years producing the same sort of ineffective results the UNO has presented, then (s)he would be crucified. As for the UNO, this year it is set to waste another 15 billion USD...of OUR money.

Give me ten valid professionals, a fraction of the money the UN has spent and seven years, not 67, and I can state publicly I would do a far better job myself.