 |
| Auditor General, Richard Quartey |
Millions of
Ghana Cedis that should have been used by the Government of Ghana to finance
infrastructure and other government projects have been embezzled in the public
sector. Although several contractors engaged by the Government have not been
paid since October 2012, because of lack of funds, the Auditor-General has
catalogued massive amounts of state funds that have either been stolen, or made
untraceable. In his report on the Public Accounts of Ghana for 2011, the
Auditor expresses grave frustration about the fact that those who embezzle
state funds are left to go scot-free.
He states in
paragraph 24 of his 2011 report: “The cataloguing of financial irregularities
in my Report on MDAs and Other Agencies
has become an annual ritual that seems to have no effect because affected MDAs
are not seen to be taking any effective action to address the basic problems of
lack of monitoring and supervision and non-adherence to legislation put in
place to provide effective financial management of public resources”.
In 2011 alone,
Ghana lost a whopping GH¢173,174,541 because of financial irregularities alone.
These do not include losses arising out of inefficiencies, maladministration
and sheer incompetence on the part of public officers. According to the
Auditor-General, laments about “poor cash management practices resulting in
failure to pay revenue collected into the Consolidated Fund, tax irregularities
and un-authorised payments as well as non-availability of adequate records on
revenue collected”.
The report also
covers numerous instances of inadequate
controls over the administration of procurement, payroll and contracts.
It was reported
that in the Internal Revenue Services, various taxes due for payment to
IRS/CEPS & VAT, Divisions under the Ghana Revenue Authority, which remained
uncollected during the period being reported on stood at GHC52,807,322.72 and
GBP13,824.11 respectively. In addition, cash irregularities caused in some 15
Ministries resulted in the loss of GH¢ 33.9 million.
The
Auditor-General was scathing about the failure (or reluctance?) of Chief Tax Directors to apply necessary
sanctions against offending officers and clients/organizations that default in
settlement of their tax obligations. For example, it was noted that VAT revenue
totaling GHC56,290.36 and $25,351.35 were not receipted and accounted for by Ms. Naa Shorme
Ocquaye, an Assistant Revenue Officer of Adabraka LVO.
Again, the
report revealed that at the Adabraka tax office
(Accra) alone, although 242 traders owed a total of more than GHC6.1 as
at 30 December 2010 distress action had not been initiated to prosecute these
traders for recovery of the unpaid taxes.
It is
distressing to note that all that the management of the Adabraka office could
say in response was that all their efforts to recover the debts had been to no
avail. This is in spite of the fact that there is adequate legislation that
empowers the IRS to apply the necessary sanctions to recover the taxes.
The incidence of
cash irregularities was more pronounced in the following Ministries: Justice
and Attorney General- (GHC16,375,045.05);
Health -(GHC12,089,459.63); Education -(GHC 2,621,482.63); MoFEP -(GHC
2,004,238.00); Employment and Social Welfare (GHC 276,723.53); Youth and Sports
-(GHC 237,864.70); Defence - (GHC 81,039.61); Other Agencies - (GHC 84,758.12)
Other losses include: Stores/Procurement
irregularities — GHC780,027.67; Outstanding loans — GHC5,709,276.16; Payroll
overpayments — GHC1,021,062.77; Contract irregularities — GHC24,946,637.32;
As part of his
conclusion, the Auditor-General stated: “I am not satisfied with the
performance of some Chief Executives and other responsible officials in the
management of public resources and safeguarding of public property and I call
for more effective action from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning,
as the lead Agency of Government in the administration of the public purse, to ensure
that MDAs comply with the Financial Administration Act, the Financial
Administration Regulations, the Public Procurement Act as well as the Audit
Service Act which calls for the establishment of Audit Report Implementation
Committees”
Editorial
What Is Happening At Fda?
If
the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) had not been entrusted with our health and
security in relation to food products, it would have been safe to consider them
as a joke.
The
Food and Drugs Authority is happy that foreign Frankenstein foods, in the form
of Genetically Modified (GM) Food, are imported into our food chain without
labeling. However, they would seize drugs, which in previous years, they had
allowed into the country, with the excuse that the same drugs are now considered
as fake. They would claim to have burnt
GHS2 million worth of drugs without indicating where that large consignment was
burnt.. When the Ministry of Health tried to intervene in the drug importation
issue, the FDA accused the Ministry of importing fake condoms although they had
allowed the condoms to be supplied to the public.
It
appears that the FDA prefers to defend the economic interests of rich
multinational companies, instead of protecting the interests of Ghanaians,
including Ghanaian businesses.
Regarding
the importation of GMO foods into the country, the FDA employs every excuse to justify their importation and
non-labeling.
A
very senior member of the FDA is reported to have stated on radio: “GM foods are already here. You cannot wish
it away. It is in force and you cannot
wish it away” although the FDA is not in a hurry to enforce the requirement
that they should be labeled as such.
In
a loose talk the FDA official stated “Anybody who is eating soya oil or rice is
eating GM food”. So why is the FDA not insisting that importers of such items
label them as the law requires?
They
appear to be more interested in throwing their weights about rather than
ensuring that we are safe. If the current FDA bosses are allowed free reign,
very soon we shall all die from their misbehavior. Someone should stop them
before they put the whole country at risk.
War
Of Liberation Or A Naked Armed Robbery?
By
Peter Kofi Amponsah.
The
events that we are witnessing now are signs of things to come. The
Anglo-American world domination is now coming to an end. The US dollar is about
to collapse. The shock wave that I referred to in my article on the Golden
Share in the Ashanti Goldfield Corporation published in the Daily Graphic of 19th
February 2002 is what is taking place at the moment. The inevitable replacement
of the US dollar with a collective reserve currency such as the Euro as the
world’s ultimate reserve currency with a consequential push of the US dollar
into a second-class status overnight is the real cause of this war.
In
the article in question, I said: “What is happening therefore, is a clear
manifestation of an impending movement from a lower level to a higher level of
international monetary relations, which will involve a transition from the US
dollar’s domination to a collective reserve currency domination during the next
few years. It is likely to be preceded by a major upheaval, or a shock wave,
similar to the one which takes place during the transition from subsonic to
supersonic motion in aerodynamics”.
RESERVE CURRENCY
The
dollar has been the world’s reserve currency for over half a century and has
been the only currency in history to hold this prestigious position. The
postwar world monetary system was shaped at the Bretton Woods international and
financial conference in 1944. This system was based on a number of principles,
which included the following: broad use of the US dollar and pound sterling as
reserve currencies in addition to gold; convertibility of national currencies
among themselves, and into gold through the dollar; control by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) over its members maintenance of official
parities and exchange rates; coordination of the monetary policy of the Fund’s
members through the IMF.
SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS
The
world monetary system later underwent a serious reconstruction that can be
characterized as the West’s policy of containing the forces of the market. The
creation in 1969 of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and their injection into the
Channels of international monetary relations in 1970 can be considered the
first step towards developing an improved system.
The
Special Drawing Rights is a special form of credit money which is based on the
collective credit of the governments of many countries. This international
credit money was first introduced in 1969 as a result of protracted and
difficult negotiations.
An
American expert who took part for many years in the international negotiations
on the reform of this system said : “the technical aspects are so complicated
that one could not expect most of the ministers of finance officially
representing their countries in the negotiations to understand them”. “I do not
know about the ministers, but for the general public and even for professional
economists who do not make a special study of the international monetary
problems, SDR are certainly still something of an enigma”.
The
SDR system bears the mark of compromise. The USA was seeking to create
international money that would have extensive money functions and could
seriously oust gold as a means of reserves and settlements. France,
traditionally attached to gold, did not want this and tried to reduce the
matter to the creation of another IMF. And SDR proved to be such a monetary
credit hybrid. As experts put it, the SDR is like a zebra: you can say it is a
black animal with white stripes, or a white with black stripes. The SDR created
in this way played a very modest role in the turbulent period of the
mid-seventies, when balance of payments experienced great changes owing to the
rise in the price of oil and for other reasons.
In
these conditions the modest use of the SDR whose use by deficit countries was
restricted, since they were not completely money but also credit sums, could
not play any real role in the balancing of payments. For six years there was no
new issue of SDR. But in 1979 the issue of SDR was renewed, and in 1979-1981
another 12 billion units were distributed among the member countries in
proportion to their quotas.
IMF’S ARTICLE OF AGREEMENT
The
next measures to overhaul the system included the United States’ termination of
the exchange of dollars for gold in 1971; the introduction of floating exchange
rates in 1973; the change in the status of SDRs in 1974 (the “basket” of SDRs
became a new standard of value of Western currencies); and finally the
formation of the Jamaica monetary system in 1976-78 (the second amendment to
the IMF’s Article of Agreement), which differs essentially from the Bretton
Woods one.
It
will be seen from this that the problem of revision of the principles of the
Bretton Woods system arose at the end of the 60s, and that several of the
above-mentioned measures of the 70s were the result of decisions to reform the
system taken both by developing countries (for example, at the 1st
session of UNCTAD) and by the industrially developed Western countries (in
particular the setting up of the Committee of Twenty within the IMF, and of the
Fund’s Interim Committee).
The
new (Jamaica) monetary system consolidated the transition to the multi-currency
system based on SDRs, and strengthened the role of this collective currency of
the IMF. In spite of a trend toward monetary polycentrism, and of the allotting
of reserve functions (along with the US dollar or) to the West German Mark, the
Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc, the dollar remained the leading currency of
the world, to whose share around 70 per cent of international currency
transactions fall (according to Western estimates). And for a long time there
was no real alternative to the dollar in the sphere of international monetary
relations.
Although
there had been an increase in the use of the above-mentioned currencies as
reserves, they could not be serious rivals of the dollar, mainly because of the
smaller economic potential of the issuer countries and the comparative
narrowness of their capital markets.
FLOATING EXCHANGE RATES
The
Jamaica system legalized the principles of floating exchange rates and
sanctioned the use of fixed rates in principle. The reconstruction of the system
of exchange rates had a substantial effect on the machinery of the Western
countries’ domestic economics and on their external economic relations.
A
distinguishing feature of the system was the setting up, in addition, of closed
monetary blocs (areas of currency stability) within the system, based on a more
reliable currency. An example is the creation of the European Monetary System,
with its anti-dollar bias, and the introduction of a European Currency Unit,
ECU.
THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY RELATIONS
The
role of the IMF has grown within the Jamaica system, and is to strengthen
interstate control in the sphere of the world monetary relations. The Jamaica
system however, has not solved the main problems of international monetary
relations (the finding and introduction of a really international currency
capable of performing the function of universal money, solution of the problems
of balance of payments, exchange rates, and other components of the set of
monetary instruments; matters of perfecting the institutional foundations).
Therefore, the problem of reform of the world
monetary system and the holding of an international conference for that purpose
on current problems of monetary and financial relations (including the further
development of their organizational and legal mechanism) began to be widely
discussed in the early 80s.
A
decision on the urgent convening of this forum was taken in Delhi in 1983 at
the Seventh Conference of Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned
Countries. Prominent leaders of a number of industrially developed Western
countries have also come out in one way or another in favour of holding a
conference on problems of today’s monetary relations.
HEADS OF
STATE
At
the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Seven major Western
countries (USA, West Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, and Japan),
held in Williamsburg in 1983, President Mtterand of France proposed a reforming
of the world monetary system (a new Bretton Woods) and the convening of a
summit international monetary conference to that end.
The
question of preparing the reform and holding of an international conference was
discussed in 1985 at the Bonn meeting of the Seven, at the meeting of the Group
of Ten in Tokyo, and at the IMF session in Seoul.
THE EURO AND SEPTEMBER 11
The
events enumerated above clearly demonstrate the determination of the rest of
the world to throw away the international monetary system based on the hegemony
of the US dollar and the US itself is very much aware of this fact. Therefore,
as soon as the process of introducing the Euro as a new reserve currency became
irreversible, the September 11 had to be staged to provide excuse for war.
According
to a study made by Milan Technical University, “the war in Afghanistan had as a
main purpose, the installation of a pawn government that would agree to the
construction of an American pipeline of 2.500 km length that would run across
its territory. This strategically important pipeline, has as unique
alternative, the construction of another one of 5,500 km length, much more
costly to construct and maintain, due to the taxes that would be imposed on the
USA by the countries through which it would run. It is much easier to reduce to
dust a country already tormented by 30 years of war and turn it into your
annex, with the possibility of constructing and managing the shortest pipeline
without any trouble at all”.
The
Euro is now going to take the place of the dollar in oil pricing and other
world indexing. The US government’s propensity to freeze other people’s assets
for political reasons is likely to encourage many nations to hasten the dumping
of the dollar for the Euro.
This
will affect the present situation in which about 70 % of international trade
transactions are in US dollars and the US paying for its foreign trade deficit
in its own currency.
In
the wake of this impending calamitous change in the status of the dollar, two
powerful groups that are united by greed and an incredible amount of self-
interest have come together to make war in the hope of preventing the
inevitable. There are hidden financial interest groups waiting to make huge
profits from war, and countries such as the USA and Britain, which are driven
by greed, hegemonic aspirations and economic desperations to seize other
people’s resources as the only way to retain their present global influence.
INTERNATIONAL
BANKERS AND WAR
A
painstaking research into the predictions of Doug Clark has so far revealed
that the owners of some major banks, it is still not known whether the owners
of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks of the USA, which collectively play the
role of the Central Bank of the United States of America, are believed to be
pushing for war, even a Third World War in order to make profit from such a
terrible situation.
THE FRACTIONAL RESERVE SYSTEM
They
are also seeking to inflate the economy and make a huge profit by the use of
what is known as the Fractional Reserve System existing in that country. By
creating something out of nothing, they can earn millions of interest payment
on money that does not exist.
In
a war situation, governments need more money than that which is coming into the
government through taxes. A government then issues bonds that normally attract
the largest share of the country’s investment money. It is called monetization
of the government debt. The money is turned over to the banks, and then the
banking establishment, operating on the Fractional Reserve System, can make
millions in profits for themselves by multiplying the usage of the money seven
times over. They by this method create something that in reality does not
exist.
The
Fractional Reserve System is a system in which the banks, upon receiving your
$5000 deposit in your savings account, can create on paper $35000 more dollars
that do not exist at all. But they can say they exist for all intents and
purposes, and loan that money (on paper only) out to borrowers at a great rate
of interest. They are by this method making interest on money that does not
exist. This is inflationary to the superlative degree.
Printing more money with government
authorization and cooperation is the need of wartime supplies and equipment. If
war is looming on the horizon, they print the money to buy weapons, and pay the
soldiers along with equipping them, feeding them, and transporting them. War is
costly, and the international bankers are happy about war. It causes money to
be printed and thus more government bonds with interest in exchange for the
money printed for them.
They
know they have subsidiary companies that will supply the weapons, money for the
necessities of war for all nations involved. They will finance both sides.
Only
a handful of families are involved in the global conspiracy of banking and oil
monopolies who, through their multinational corporations and vast powerful
political machinery, have manipulated the entire world into the palms of their
hands.
INTERNATIONAL BANKING
How
international banking itself began is difficult to trace, but we know that one
Mr. Meyer Amchel Rothschild, founder of the Bank of England, France, and
Germany was known to have been involved in across-the-border international
banking. He placed his son Carl over the Bank of Naples, James over the Bank of
France, Edmund over the Bank of Germany, Solomon over the Bank of Vienna, and
Nathan over the Bank of England.
From
this tiny beginning, according the report, the international bankers took hold,
and then burst forth with greed to control the politics of the world. The
extent of their control of corporations across the globe is unbelievable. They
own stock in thousands of companies and hold controlling powers by the amount
of stock they own. They also encourage affiliations with large corporations
abroad, and exercise a powerful influence in what those businesses decide with
respect to the coming new world order.
ECONOMIC SUPERPOWER
China
is emerging as the next economic superpower. It has global trade, production,
and the necessary scientific and technological infrastructure of a big power.
These are the statistics of a potential super power. However, with the leaders
of the banking, industrial, and business world of Japan tied in with the
international banking establishment, they still have the capacity to control
what goes on in the entire Far East.
In
the history of every war it was the international banks and bankers that came
on top by lending money to both sides – money with which to provide armaments
for the war and to generally finance the entire conflict.
Economic
and banking history is full of how this happened many times. It was banking
money from England and France from the House of Rothschild’s banks that
financed the war between the North and the South in the US in the 19th
century. You will be amazed to know that
international banking money financed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
At
the head of the British Banking system is the Bank of England, nationalized in
1946, which is charged with managing the system, including making rules binding
on national and foreign banks doing business in Great Britain, and with
exercising control over their business. According to reports, there were 430
foreign banks operating in London alone by 1984.
TRUST AND CONFIDENCE
The
international trust and confidence in the United States government has been
seriously shaken because of its reckless misuse of its military power for
selfish economic reasons. It is sad that international public mistrust for
America is now beyond recovery. It is sad for two main reasons: firstly,
because the US is a country with the greatest opportunities in the world, and
secondly, because the US is also a home of almost every single race on this
planet.
I
personally do not believe that any other country in the world can take its
place in these two areas mentioned above. For this reason, one may say that the
Bush administration has been a terrible disappointment to humanity.
Masking
global expansion under the guise of global security interests cannot conceal
the pernicious nature of the hegemonic policy of US imperialism.
THE TARGET RESOURCE
The
target resource at the moment is oil which is black gold and which has produced
more real gold for its owners than any other element created by God except
water. 5000 years of maritime history, involving commerce, trade and incredible
amounts of money making would never have taken place without water. The entire
international economy largely depends on the sea communications. More than 75
percent of the world’s industrial potential and population is concentrated
within 500 kilometers of a coastline.
Oil
too has changed the entire business complexion of the world since its discovery
in the Middle–East. It has more vastly affected transportation, energy
necessities for nations, business development and the entire economics of
continents than any other element. Economic interest is therefore the principal
motive behind the current war with Iraq. It has got nothing to do with any
weapons of mass destruction. Neither has it got anything to do with restoration
of democracy for the people of Iraq. What is really taking place in Iraq now is
the highest form of armed robbery in disguise.
The
truth is that America’s capacity to sustain her present standard of living by a
competitive economic means is now in doubt. A dubious method now has to be found.
Besides, there is now a worldwide suspicion that the US has in fact, printed
too much dollar without adequate cover.
MONETARY RESERVES
The
United States debts to other countries are of a specific nature. They are
simultaneously monetary reserves, reserves of international means of payment
accumulated by other countries. Just as any bank account looks different
depending on whether you regard it from the angle of the depositor (creditor)
or from that of the bank (debtor). Both these aspects constitute a single
whole, but at any given moment and from any given point of view one of them can
be of predominant importance.
Before
this war the reserve aspect was at the fore and it was somehow forgotten that
these were also American debts. Now that America had gone to war for a dubious
economic reasons, the debt aspect has become the main one overnight, because
the solvency of the US has begun to be doubted. We have to remember that this
“transformation” of reserves into debts was the most important factor of the
monetary crisis in the seventies.
A
new loss of confidence in the dollar as a result of “transformation” of
reserves into debts could lead to an increased investment in gold. At the
moment, contradictory and complex tendencies are developing in the field of
application of gold in the international monetary system. Gold cannot
objectively be the basis of the modern monetary system. But whether this system
can exist without gold is not yet proven. There can hardly be any doubt that
the future evolution of the system will be linked with gold in some way or
other.
INDEX TO THE FUTURE
However,
gold is still an index to the future. When you see gold price rising faster
than usual, then you know that the insiders realize there is panic coming in
the monetary system.
This
is because there is no better way to hedge against inflation to be completely
prepared for financial emergencies nationally and to gain money in the world of
economic investments today than to own gold bullion or coins.
Gold
reserves of the USA was like the reserve which any bank must have in order to
be able to pay cash to its clients at any moment. In normal conditions some
depositors take out their money and others pay money into the banks, so that it
can manage with fairly small reserves. But when confidence in the bank has been
undermined and depositors become anxious about their money, a massive
panic-stricken withdrawal of money known as “run on the bank” begins.
THE CASHIER’S WINDOW
In
the first few post-war years the USA had no cause to fear such a development of
events. In 1950 its gold reserves was almost seven times higher than the dollar
assets of foreign powers. But in 1967 it was already only 78 percent of the
assets the owners of which could demand gold at any moment. In 1971 this
percentage dropped to 22. It had reached a critical point, and at this stage
the government of the USA closed the cashier’s window. For a private bank this
would have meant bankruptcy and selling up.
The
collapse of the gold-dollar standard was preceded by some dramatic events that
had important political aspects. 1.France began to pursue a far more
independent foreign policy 2.It withdrew from the NATO military structure
3.Stopped the colonial war in Algeria, and 4. Improved its relations with the
socialist countries. In addition, France refused to follow obediently the lead
of US policy.
These
changes were closely associated with Charles de Gaulle, the distinguished
statesman who led the country from 1958 to 1969.
After
the Second World War US monopolies engaged in fantastic financial ventures and
started buying up enterprises and even whole industries in all continents.
Transnational
capital is still playing a special role
in increasing pressure on the developing countries. It takes over and
monopolises entire sphere of production and exchange of individual countries as
well as of the world capitalist economy as a whole. By the early 1980s,
transnationals accounted for more than one-third of the capitalist world’s
industrial production, over half its foreign trade and about 80% of its patent
for new techniques and technologies.
They
have established control over commercial infrastructure of the world capitalist
economy(funding, insurance, shipping, and communication) which enables them to
control directly or indirectly most of the batches of basic export items of the
developing countries
The financial strangulation of the vast
majority of the world population by a small group of advanced “states” are as
relevant today as they were decades ago. This insatiable appetite of the
transnational corporations has given rise t o a persistent tendency of profit
exceeding investment many times over in the developing countries.
THE UNITED STATES DOLLAR
To
understand what is happening and follow its trend, it is important to
understand how the US dollar has been used for over the past half of a century.
The
exchangeability of the dollar for gold, which the US Treasury maintained for
the central banks of other countries, naturally pushed the dollar into second
place (after gold), giving full domination of the dollar in international
settlements, as an asset of international monetary system. All these factors
also largely determined the fact that the Bretton Woods system was founded on
“gold-exchange” or “gold-dollar” standard based on a preponderance of gold and
dollars in world reserves, which enabled the dollar to occupy a unique position
as “first reserve currency”.
Nothing
could have suited the hegemonic drive of American finance capital better, and
gave it the chance to practice “dollar diplomacy” based on principles of
financial blackmail and aimed at ensuring conditions needed for US world
economic expansion.
US
imperialism has always been known for its financial manipulations and total
disregard for national interests. Today its financial manipulations have grown
into unprecedented plunder of countries and peoples, including well-developed
western states.
The
large-scale purchases of whole industries abroad by American Multi-millionaires
in 1944 – to1976 were facilitated by the forcible establishment of the US
dollar as the world currency, the basis of the international system of
financial accounts and monetary relations.
When
foreign financial centers became fed up with the green sheets of paper, and
demanded gold, the Americans were unable to satisfy the demand. As a result,
the US dollar was pronounced non-transferable into gold currency, and the IMF
replaced it by a transnational “account unit”.
But
the dollar’s cheapening was to the benefit of the US transnational corporations
because they were interested in getting more cheap dollars from the products of
their foreign affiliates sold in the USA. In fact, this strengthened the
positions of the transnational corporations, which continued penetrating other
countries and industries. Another form of financial manipulations.
But
on the whole US financial capital faced more formidable tasks than just
supporting the foreign TNC affiliates. A new problem came to the fore – how to
revive the fixed assets devalued by the crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, and how
to pay for the enormous military programmes of the Administration.
A
tricky way out was found again through another financial manipulation. American
transnational capital drew its foreign partners’ resources into financing these
strategic projects. And this was done through inflating bank interest rates.
Thus the US government met practically all its 1,200 billion dollar expenses on
the arms race in 1981-1985 through credits and to a large extent from foreign
sources.
EUROPE AND THE VIETNAM WAR
Again,
Europe financed the US war in Vietnam, when President Johnson ordered the
printing of green banknotes-Eurodollars – to circulate them in Europe.
Then again, under the pressure of the dollar
and because of higher bank rates Europe had to pay for the US deficit. Nothing
could have prevented the US government from doing the same in the case of its
present gambles in Afghanistan and other projects, were it not for the fact
that now, there is a new collective reserve currency in the form of the Euro,
which has placed an effective limitation on the US dollar’s ability to play its
former role.
INTEREST RATES
At
the moment the US Federal Reserves Board has cut interest rates to the bone,
but numerous highly critical situations, both short-term and chronic, domestic
and international, have tangled together into a single knot, that has the
potential to force the present US administration to print more money, which
will be inflationary for the country and a tragedy for the dollar.
An
important feature of the present stage of development of inter -imperialist
conflict is the division of the industrially developed Western countries into
three major centres of power, viz, the USA, Japan, and Western Europe.
The
increase in the production, trade, economic, and financial potential of the
Western European countries and Japan since the war, and the simultaneous
weakening of the position of the USA, have become the reason for a review of
the forms and conditions of their relations, established between these centres
in the most varied spheres (including the monetary one), in which the system
based on hegemony of the dollar has ceased to suit the USA’s rivals.
In
1985 the United States became, for the first time since 1914 a debtor country.
Again, in the same year, the ten biggest Western banks included as few as two
US banks (first and ninth biggest) and as many as five Japanese banks (second,
third, fourth, fifth and seventh, correspondingly). Again, in 1985 the Japanese
banks’ foreign assets accounted for 25 per cent of the assets of the Western
banks (the figure for the US was 18 per cent).
Even
before these divisions came into being certain complex circumstances had
created a situation in which national economies had been intertwined into a
single fabric of the world economy and not a single one of them was any longer
able to function in isolation. This situation compelled capitalism to acquire
elements of inter-state regulation of
the world economic links in order to soften the extremes of the anarchic forces
of the market.
The
increased importance of the monetary relations evoked a drive among the
imperialist powers for fuller involvement of this sphere in state-monopoly
regulation of production, and to strengthen the won out monetary machinery by
collective measures.
The
complicated, contradictory combinations of private property forces and the
regulating principles of state-monopoly capitalism are particularly clearly
manifested in the field of monetary relations. Infact, the whole course of the
development of the monetary system in recent decades is an unbroken chain of
conflicts and compromises between the tendencies to maximum liberalization of
the regime of international monetary relations and trends toward their
regimentation and state-monopoly control.
STATE MONOPOLY
REGULATION AND MARKET FORCES
The
struggle between the elements of state-monopoly regulation and market forces
has been the decisive factor in the post-war evolution of the world monetary
system. The whole situation has therefore become like the particle-wave
dichotomy in elementary particle physics.
But
each time the state-monopoly trend in the sphere of international monetary
relations comes up against insurmountable, elemental market forces. Because
with the swift expansion of the international corporations, which created a
huge demand for loan capital in any part of the world, and with the enormous
growth of inter-dependence of national credit markets, this system proved to be
helpless and fraught with serious danger to the economies of individual
countries.
We
are now talking about credits torn away from the international streams of material
values and existing autonomously that have become a formidable anarchic force
in recent years. The structure of national and international credit markets is
tilting sharply in the direction of short-term funds as a result of the general
instability of the market and the floating of currencies.
THE EURODOLLAR
As
they moved these funds multiplied over and over again without expressing any
reinforcing real value. The world is therefore filled with gobs of fake money.
A particularly large role is played among this fake money by international, or
to be more exact, extra-national credits initially called Eurodollars.
Expressed in the currency of one country but transferred from its national bank
to some foreign bank, they have some exceptional peculiarities that enable them
to circumvent any currency control and national credit regulations.
Analogous
markets mushroomed in other regions of the world economy, in particular, the
Asiadollar markets with their centre in Singapore. The superfluous mass of
settlement instruments inevitably leads to the inflation of prices not only
within national boundaries but also in the world market, where formerly this
was extremely rare. Huge reserves of manoeuvrable short-term deposits have
become the source of so-called hot money that wanders from country to country,
in search of profiteering investment.
When
this money floods a given country, the credit instruments of that country are
reduced to state of shock. Today any major attack of currency fever sets in
motion huge masses of hot money which,
hit a country with a “promising” currency within hours, putting its
credit-finance mechanism out of commission.
INTERDEPENDENCE
The
present interdependence devalues the role of central banks as an instrument
regulating the national credit-finance sphere by changes in bank rates. If the
government of some country raises the bank rate of the central bank in an
effort to halt inflation and improve the market situation this may lead not so
much to the removal of surplus credits from circulation as to the attraction of
such credits from abroad. Conversely, if this government reduces the bank rate
in order to stimulate economic growth and diminished unemployment it risks not
so much attracting new investments into production as causing a drain of
capital abroad.
Everything
depends on the correlation of the bank rate levels in the given country and in
other countries. National measures aimed at regulating the credit-finance
sphere and through it, the entire economy are proving to be less and less
effective.
However,
by means of even more costly measures to stave off growth of the crisis into a
collapse of the system, such an outcome remained inevitable, and in the final
count the whole accumulated load of contradictions had to “spill over” making
the consequences of the catastrophe even more destructive.
A
natural result of the whole complex of capitalist business, fully reflect its
inherent contradictions, and deepen the chaotic nature of the development of a
society based on principles of “free competition”.
THE ‘SACRED COW’
Now,
common sense keeps stumbling across the “sacred cow” of free market. To be
sure, the free market has proved its worth, but blind abidance by its laws
could easily be carried beyond the point of common sense. It is therefore not
surprising that the market has never existed in its pure form, and that
built-in dams and sluice-gate have been used to keep its elemental forces under
control.
It
was the dogmatic attitude to the “sacred” principles of private enterprise that
prevented its advocates from responding in time to the formation of huge
imbalances and disaster areas in the world economy. As it turned out, such an
attitude is not only bond to hurt everyone, but inflicts the greatest economic
damage on those who stick to these dogmas.
FIXED PRODUCTIVE STATE ASSETS
Therefore,
in our hurry to dismantle our fixed productive
state assets in favour of the so-called free enterprise, we should not
underestimate the complexity of the situation
we are walking into.
The
High Priests and advocates of the capitalist system in this country who make an
icon of the free market should now read what C. Bradford, US economist and head
of the World Bank’s Strategic Planning Department, said in this context:
“US
insistence that free enterprise, free markets and free trade as the ’only true
way’ is an ideological postulate which is ever more at odds with the experience
of other countries; it not only misinterprets the constituents of the success
of the newly industrialising countries, but misdirects the US response to the
challenges of international competition and its approach to development
strategies.”.
“Since
the Pacific rim challenge is based on development determined by strategy rather
than on a free market economy, the best response on the part of the USA would
be a competitive strategy, and not only a demand to open up foreign markets”.
See Shaping an American Approach to the
1990s: Reading Reality Right, by C. Bradford, Jr. Yale, May 1989 pp. 5-6.
Our
government in which the people of Ghana have invested their hopes, must give
serious thought and attention to what is happening in the world today and to
try to find out the extent to which external factors become key catalysts of
internal process.
The
basic requirements of the study of a situation of this nature scientifically is
the investigation of social and economic, political and military factors in
their close association and interaction. Ability to take into account, the
specific tasks of the given period, to pick out the main link in the chain of
events and to center efforts on this link and to secure the settlement of
fundamental problems.
A DANGEROUS GLOBAL
CONSPIRACY
From
what is taking place in Iraq at the moment, the present surreptitious struggle
for the control of the entire world gold reserves which began in 1994, the
civil wars in Africa, to the present proposed sale of the Ghana Commercial Bank
are all an interconnected programme and their execution is being carefully
teleguided from one source.
By
controlling its banks for example, and creating inflation, the international
bankers acquire a terrific leverage by which to cripple a country through its
currency. They want to establish control over every profitable venture and
deprive the country of its ability to provide for its citizens.
By
making money very expensive to borrow because of exorbitant prime interest
rates, they stagnate business with the consequential rise in unemployment
statistics.
THE BANKS IN THIS COUNTRY
The
banks in this country are now making so much money from high-rated government
bonds and therefore seem to have very little interest in the commercial and
industrial sectors of the economy. This situation clearly curtails development
of the country, but puts so much money into the hands of the banks, and that is
why they can afford to treat their customers with such contempt.
For
example, the private businessmen who need more money to expand their production
facilities cannot afford to borrow at the going high interest rate, they are
forced to cut production and lay off workers. This is happening right now in
Ghana. A number of factories have been closed down in this country to the
extent that churches have virtually taken over factory buildings at the
industrial area in Accra.
PROFESSIONAL APPROACH
The
extreme complexity of the situation requires a well organized and purposefully
directed professional approach before its true meaning can be revealed and
understood.
Two
departments of state that must be relied upon to protect our vital national
interests in this area are the Research Bureau and the Defense Intelligence.
These institutions have the capacity to follow and appropriately interpret the
interconnection of events as they occur. The officers in these institutions are
as capable as their counterparts anywhere in the world and can do the job
provided the appropriate instructions are given and the political leadership
demonstrate the necessary commitment to that effect.
ECONOMIC SECURITY
Their
involvement has become necessary, because what is taking place across the world
has a serious security implication for our country as well, and also because
economic security is now a material foundation of comprehensive security.
Economic security in
this context should be defined as a state of the national economy that persists
as long as the economic well-being of the nation and the stability of the
domestic market are unaffected by the operation of external factors, which
means that negative influence from without is neutralized by compensative
economic reserves of the country enabling it to preserve economic, social and
political stability.
The challenges hampering
Ghana’s industry
By Annette Theron
The
Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU) in Ghana expressed their concern about challenges the
industrial sector faces in a statement this week. According to Solomon Kotei,
General Secretary of the union, “the problems bedeviling the private sector now
are enormous and reveal gloomy picture”. If left unchecked, the ICU warns, the
economy and private companies in particular, will suffer.
The
ICU is the largest industrial labor union in Ghana and organizes over 75 000
employees in various occupations within Ghana’s formal and informal economy.
The ICU warned that since 2010 several companies have faced difficulties
surviving in the economic situation, and that often these companies close down
or lay off several employees. The redundancy measure is often the first measure
applied by companies in an effort to stay afloat. According to the ICU,
notifications of layoffs from businesses range from three to 70 workers in the
industry. The statement from the ICU noted that the layoffs are the indirect
result of the challenges that the local industry face in the open market
economy.
These
challenges are a combination of adverse conditions in the economy. Of note is
the import of cheaper products, which makes it difficult for Ghanaian
industries to compete with their product prices. Owing to the open borders and
liberal policies, foreign goods are easily imported into Ghana. Many businesses
feel that the open trade and borders are negatively impacting Ghana’s economy,
while the use of foreign companies for projects is also impairing economic
growth in the country. For example, many feel that companies such as Akosombo
and Volta Textiles are going under as a result of the imports in the market
from China. Over the past few years some companies such as PZ and BAT have
closed down their manufacturing plants or moved to Nigeria, and then started importing
their goods to Ghana.
In
an economy where GDP growth is mostly driven by oil revenues, the service
sector and the large investments in the extractive industries and agriculture;
local industries face a falling cedi, low energy availability, high fuel costs
and rises in taxes that are often increased without prior consultation or
notification. Businesses also need to survive several levies and fees worsened
by a stifling and often inefficient bureaucracy. Laxity in the application of
business laws has created the perception that smaller businesses in the
informal sector, or those businesses acting through acts of omission and
commission, are better off. Many businesses also struggle in the face of the
unfair and corrupt practices at ports relating to demands for bribes, which
cannot be avoided due to the weak infrastructure of roads and the rail system.
In the face of weak infrastructure and the evasion of the taxes and levies the
government will lose out on revenue.
Due
to the failure and lack of government capacity in the industry sector, many
businesses fail to survive in the economy, which in turn will lead to more
layoffs. The Institute of Chartered Marketing (CIMG) in Ghana has called for
government to cooperate with the various sectors of the economy to create a
business and regulatory environment in which the private sector can grow and
survive. To ensure growth and development, people participating in a recent
workshop on Promotion of the Cultural Industrial sector in Ghana highlighted
the need for development strategies and policies based on local culture and
aspiration, rather than on foreign ideas and policies. A new policy on
development would mean government’s economic measures will have to take into
account measures that allow for the development of the private sector and
industry sector in Ghana.
If
the industry sector continues to face the current challenges, several more
businesses will lay off employees, resulting in higher poverty and unemployment
in the country. Several businesses will also be forced to close or move to a
neighboring state, unless it implements a system to fight bribery or
commissions in order to avoid some of these challenges. This will result in
lower revenue for government. There is thus a need to find suitable policy to
address industry challenges within Ghana’s open economy.
Polisario Congratulates European Parliament
 |
| Mohammed Abdelaziz President of Saharawi Republi |
The
European Union has taken a stand against the acts of brutality of the Moroccan
regime on the people of Western Sahara. The following is a statement
attributable to the Minister Delegate of the Polisario Front to Europe, Mohamed
Sidati, published unedited;
This
morning the European Parliament adopted Dr Charles Tannock's report on human
rights in the Sahel and the Western Sahara. This is an extensive and detailed
report, which addresses the concerns of the Saharawi people, particularly as
regards human rights.
Presenting
his report, Dr Tannock said that self-determination is as central as human
rights to finding a solution to the Western Sahara conflict.
Responding
on behalf of Baroness Ashton, Commissioner Neven Mimica underlined the EU's
support of the UN's efforts to reach a peaceful political solution to the
problem of Western Sahara, and said that the Commission would take the findings
of Dr Tannock's report into consideration.
The
report describes Morocco's continuing policy of human rights violations, as
observed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and numerous NGOs:
kidnappings, arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearances, to which the
Saharawi people and in particular those who advocate Western Sahara's
independence have been subjected; not forgetting the constraints on their
freedom of movement, of association and of speech. The report demands
The
report regrets that the UN has not yet been able to set up an independent and
credible human rights monitoring mechanism in Western Sahara, and reaffirms the
right to self- determination of the Saharawi people. It also highlights
Morocco's expulsion of MEPs travelling to Western Sahara in March 2013, and
demands that the Moroccan authorities give full and free access to members of
parliaments, journalists and independent observers who wish to investigate the
situation on the ground.
The
report demands that the European Union and other international actors should
actively support the UN's efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Western
Sahara conflict, and calls for support for improving the living conditions of
Saharawi refugees. It also recognises the progress made by the Polisario Front
on education and public health, and in particular salutes the energy and
engagement of Saharawi women.
The report as passed supports the creation of
a joint mission of MINURSO and ICRC to exhume and return to their families the
Saharawi victims discovered in the mass grave of Fadret Laguiaa The Polisario
Front congratulates the European Parliament on resisting the efforts of Morocco
to delete Saharawi issues from this report.
Increasingly,
Morocco faces diplomatic isolation; there is no international support for its
occupation of our territory, or for its repression of our people. The European
Parliament's strong criticism of Morocco comes at the moment when the EU is
again attempting to conclude an illegal fisheries agreement with Morocco.
Although
Morocco-continues its policy of repression (between 18 and 20 October, peaceful
Saharawis demonstrating in EI Moun and Smara were brutally attacked by police
during the visit of Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the UN
Secretary-General), the Parliament has reinforced the importance of human
rights, and of Saharawi rights. The Polisario Front is delighted with the support
for its people shown by the European Union's democratically elected
representatives. The mood is changing in Europe.
Joyce Banda fires cabinet
 |
| Malawi President Joyce Banda |
By Chadwin Harris
Malawian
president, Joyce Banda, took the unprecedented and drastic step of firing her
entire cabinet in response to an outbreak of reputation-damaging corruption
scandals in her government. She made the announcement last week while
addressing the nation about what has come to be known as the cash gate scandal,
details of which are becoming public in the wake of the attempted assassination
attempt on Malawi’s Budget Director, Paul Mphwiyo, last month.
Malawi
is one of the poorest and most food insecure countries in the world, with the
result that it relies heavily on aid in order to survive. It is estimated that
foreign donations account for close to 40 percent of Malawi’s national budget.
The future of the aid has been compromised recently when it emerged that large
sums of money being donated as aid had been embezzled from Malawi’s Ministry of
Finance by members of President Banda’s government. The country’s
Anti-Corruption Bureau, aided by corruption fighters like Mr. Mphwiyo,
discovered that government officials created ghost firms and other strategies
to embezzle money meant as aid funding.
It
is estimated that Malawi loses up to 30 percent of its budget every year to
ghost firms and ghost workers set up be government officials who steal this
money for themselves. Norway announced, in the wake of the scandals, that it
was suspending aid to Malawi. Norway is one of Malawi’s biggest donors and has
already given over US $40 million in aid to Malawi this year. The European
Union (EU) also threatened to withhold the US $ 39 million in aid due to be
released to Malawi in December unless the government takes action to deal with
the fraud and corruption surrounding its aid funding.
President
Banda promised to tackle corruption as a priority during her presidency, and
this latest move serves as a signal of her continuing commitment to rooting out
bad practices in her government. It will also bolster her popularity with
ordinary Malawians who will vote in next year’s elections. Banda stated her
loss of confidence in her cabinet in the wake of the revelations of fraud and
corruption, as the reason for their sacking. Besides the announcement that
cabinet had been dissolved, Malawi’s law enforcement agencies have also been
cracking down on government officials implicated in fraud and corruption. At
least ten government officials have been arrested in connection with the cash
gate case and last month a group of police officers was also arrested in
connection with fraud. Investigations are also continuing into the attempted
murder of Mr. Mphwiyo. It is believed that he was targeted in order to silence
him and prevent his campaign to expose further corruption and fraud in
government circles. The latest corruption scandal also resulted in a peaceful
march of protestors in the capital, Lilongwe last week. The protestors are
demanding an independent forensic audit to investigate the scourge of
corruption and fraud in Malawi’s government. So far President Banda has been content
to use her own anti-corruption agencies to tackle corruption, but calls are
growing for her to import foreign expertise to deal with the issue.
The
extent of Malawi’s corruption and fraud problem in government is finally coming
to light, and it is fortunate timing that the rot is being exposed during the
presidency of a leader who is serious about rooting out corrupt practices.
While the decision to fire an entire cabinet shocked many, it is exactly the
right message for Malawi at present. President Banda has signaled that it
cannot be business as usual for the government, and that Malawi has to
radically change the way it functions if it is to make any progress. Starting
from scratch with a new cabinet provides a new opportunity for fresh thinking
and fresh ideas in its battle to survive.
Angola to implement new consumption tax on oil
companies
 |
| Angola Oil Minister Botelho de Vasconcelos |
By Chadwin Harris
Angola is about to implement a new consumption tax on oil companies
operating in the country. The tax will result in a cost escalation of up to 10
percent for active petroleum companies in Angola. Up to now oil companies have enjoyed tax
exemptions and a relaxed attitude from government when it comes to extracting
revenues from the oil industry.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) estimates that oil alone accounts for half of Angola’s GDP and 90
percent of its exports. Angola has been producing 1.74 million barrels of oil
per day, according to estimates, and this figure is set to increase to 2
million barrels per day by 2015, according to the Angolan government. This
makes Angola the second largest oil producer in Africa after Nigeria. Earlier
this month Angola’s Minister of Oil, Botelho de Vasconcelos, announced that
after new discoveries, Angola’s oil reserves are estimated at 12.667 billion
barrels. This estimate is 4 billion barrels more than Opec’s 2012 estimate for
Angola of 9.1 billion barrels.
The
new tax on oil companies is part of a broader reform of Angola’s tax system,
led by a tax reform branch set up in 2010, which is aimed at making it easier
for the government to collect revenues through taxation. Foreign companies are
estimated to spend US $ 20 billion per year in Angola’s oil industry, making
the new tax regime a potential windfall for Angolan coffers. The newly
implemented tax schedule increases the percentage charged for services,
supplies and equipment rentals. The major international oil companies affected
by this new tax include BP, ConcoPhillips and and Argentina’s Plus Petroleum,
which has started, together with Angola’s state oil company Sonangol, jointly
operating oil wells in Cabinda province. By November the project will be
producing 5000 barrels per day. Sinopec, a Chinese oil company, is at the
forefront of investment in and exploitation of Angolan crude oil. Earlier this
year Sinopec agreed to pay US $ 1.5 billion for a 10 percent stake in an
Angolan oil field sold off by Marathon Oil, a US energy company.
In
2006 Angola surpassed Saudi Arabia as China’s biggest supplier of crude oil,
and China is closing the gap on the US as the biggest consumer of Angolan oil.
Chinese media sources claim that at least 40 percent of the oil Angola produces
and exports is destined for China. Conversely, Angolan oil accounts for 16
percent of China’s hydrocarbon imports.
Meanwhile
the Angolan Industry Association (AIA) is calling for government to cut fuel
subsidies and take steps to diversify the economy away from its reliance on
oil. According to the IMF Angola spends about US $ 5 billion per year on
gasoline and diesel subsidies; money which would be better spent on the
country’s health, education and agriculture according to Jose Severino, AIA’s
president in a Reuters interview. The country’s Economic Commission is
implementing the National Plan on Geology and Mining, which they adopted
earlier this year. The plan commits government to exploring the entire country
to ascertain the extent of Angola’s mineral wealth, excluding traditionally
exploited sectors like oil, and develop plans for the extraction and exploitation
of the minerals where economically feasible. Angola’s economy is underpinned by
its strong hydrocarbons sector but the Angolan government has decided to
diversify away from those resources and look for alternative sources of income
for the future.
The
new attitude towards taxation of the oil industry from Angola’s government is
well timed and well intentioned. The country’s potential oil wealth is massive,
provided it puts in place an efficient and corruption-free mechanism for
collecting the country’s revenue from the industry. With its vast untapped
reserves, investors will still be interested in Angola’s oil industry. The
country’s leaders need to exploit this opportunity for the benefit of Angola’s
future economic health.
Nigeria, winning
the war on terrorism?
 |
| Nigerian President Jonathan Goodluck |
By Annette Theron
During
the weekend of 21-22 September in Nigeria 16 soldiers and 150 sect members were
killed in a clash between the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram
terrorists along the Baga-Maiduguri Road in Borno State. There are sources
suggesting the casualty figure is in fact much higher, with at least 40
soldiers killed, while about 65 soldiers remain missing. The military denied
the reports of heavier casualties, saying reports were exaggerated and should
be discountenanced. The attacks form part of government’s war on terrorism, a
war that government claims it is winning.
During
the latest attacks, army troops launched an attack on a well-fortified Boko
Haram camp. The attack lasted several hours, and resulted in heavy casualties
on both sides. The commanding officer responsible for the unit was dismissed
from his post, though it is unknown what steps will be taken against the
official who cancelled the arterial support at the last minute, leaving the soldiers
without assistance. Government launched an investigation to find the reason for
the heavy casualties on the army’s side, to prevent operational failures in
future attacks. In spite of the casualties, the army spokesman highlighted the
successes of the attacks. Apparently Abba Goroma, one of the insurgent leaders
with a N10-million bounty on his head, was killed in the attack. Furthermore,
the Nigerian Army was able to dislodge the sect from the Kafiya Forest camp
bases, reportedly one of Boko Haram’s last safe havens.
The
attacks are not isolated events in a wave of Boko Haram related incidents
during the past month alone. Four Boko Haram militants were killed by
vigilantes of the Civilian Joint Task in the eastern state of Adamawa, and
there have been attacks on the vigilante youths during retaliatory attacks,
killing at least 20 members in the past month. Earlier in September 50
insurgents were killed by the army after the sect stormed Gajiram and Ngabura
communities in Nganzai LGA and Bulabulin Ngabura in Damboa LGA, killing about
15 people. There were also at least 35 civilians killed in other isolated Boko
Haram attacks in past few weeks. Besides the attacks on Nigerians, Boko Haram
also recently bombed three major buildings in Abuja, including a UN building
and police headquarters. The THISDAY complex was also bombed, after which the
company was informed they require a war-risk insurance to cover against
terrorist attacks. This confirms the widely held perception that Nigeria is at
war with terrorists.
Boko
Haram which aims to overthrow the Nigerian government, is responsible for
several attacks in various parts of Nigeria happening since 2009. Including the
killings by the security forces, more than 3 600 people have been killed. The
government and military are taking several measures against the Islamist
extremists, which has according to President Goodluck Jonathan, been successful
in limiting the threat from terrorism and improving Nigeria’s security
situation in general. In fact, according to a recent statement by Jonathan, the
country is winning the war against terrorism through the military action and
through dialogue with the insurgents willing to discuss peace. Jonathan stated:
“More than winning the war, we are also winning space for peace and stability –
the daily routine of worship, businesses, farming, schooling, and social
networking. We are a society of peace. No religion or culture preaches violence
and mindless killing.”
In
spite of Jonathan’s optimism, the recent wave of Boko Haram attacks do not seem
to be the actions of a defeated enemy. Even if Boko Haram is slowly being
neutralised, the cost is high, considering the continued loss of civilian lives
and the lives of soldiers. Neither did Jonathan mention the impact of the
vigilante groups in fighting Boko Haram, nor the attacks vigilantes and
their families have come under for supporting the ‘government’s war’. The war
on terrorism in Nigeria will continue to claim the lives of soldiers and
civilians, while the company infrastructure, and thus economy, also suffers
from the war.
MDC-T, Morgan
Tsvangirai: So what is the way forward?
 |
| Morgan Tsvangarai weds another woman |
By Chadwin Harris
Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition MDC-T and former Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe, has finally come out with a plan on the way forward for his embattled
political party. The party was handed a heavy defeat in the 31 July polls which
Tsvangirai labelled a farce and whose outcome he rejects. However, up to now
Tsvangirai has failed to come out with a clear statement about what action, he
and his party will take in response to the election.
This
week, at the party’s 14th anniversary celebrations, Tsvangirai announced that
he had a dossier of evidence proving that the election was rigged and detailing
how it was done. He promised the party faithful attending the event that he
would take the evidence to the African Union (AU) and Southern African
Development Community (SADC), both of which sent observer missions to oversee
the polls and endorsed them despite reservations about their fairness, as well
as heads of state on the continent. Tsvangirai also explained why the party
decided to withdraw an election petition immediately after the polls. He claims
the petition was doomed to fail because the party was denied crucial evidence
such as election material and figures. The party was also denied access to key
witnesses.
Tsvangirai
also addressed issues of intimidation and militarization of the elections,
where he detailed how senior military personnel were deployed to act as
election co-ordinators for Zanu-PF and how Zanu-PF youth went about
manipulating the voters’ roll. According to him about 750 000 urban voters were
disenfranchised as a result, and given the MDC’s popularity in the big cities,
this resulted in a skewed outcome. Earlier this month, the MDC-T was also
scathing about the composition of the new cabinet appointed by President Robert
Mugabe. The party bemoaned the fact that at a time when Zimbabwe needs new
ideas and a fresh outlook, the new government is composed of Zanu-PF veterans
and Mugabe loyalists who were responsible for the problems the country finds
itself in. Tsvangirai’s statements come at a time when his position as MDC-T
leader has come under scrutiny. His perceived weakness and poor handling of the
election have resulted in calls for him to be replaced.
This
long-overdue reaction and statement of intent from Zimbabwe’s main opposition
group is promising. The party’s lack of a coherent and effective response after
the elections cost MDC-T and its leadership credibility in the eyes of the
people who voted for them, and the people who wanted to vote for them but were
prevented from doing so. The fall from grace (and power) of the party’s top
leadership, who just a couple of months ago held senior positions in
government, has been quick. They now find themselves in the same position they
were in before the last two elections: on the outside looking in.
Furthermore,
their intention to appeal to regional bodies and foreign governments does not
seem to be too promising either. If there is one thing, the world has learnt
about Robert Mugabe and the senior leadership of Zanu-PF it is that outside
opinion is not high on their list of concerns. Even economic sanctions have not
deterred them in their quest to repress dissent and rule Zimbabwe with an iron
fist. Their stubbornness in pursuing superficially popular but damaging
economic policies is also an indication of their lack of concern. Patrick
Chinamasa, who speaks for that leadership, just this week brushed off the
international community’s negative perception of Zimbabwe, and defiantly stated
that Zimbabwe would develop with the help of new friends like China. With this
kind of a mood inside the ruling party, it is difficult to see how Tsvangirai’s
sympathy diplomacy will have any effect.
Elite Insurgency
The
real threat to the national interest comes from the rich and powerful
By
George Monbiot
Subversion
ain’t what it used to be. Today it scarcely figures as a significant force.
Nation states are threatened by something else. Superversion: an attack from
above.
It
takes several forms. One is familiar, but greatly enhanced by new technology:
the tendency of spooks and politicians to use the instruments of state to
amplify undemocratic powers. We’ve now learnt that even members of the Cabinet
and the National Security Council had no idea what GCHQ was up to. No one told
them that it was developing the capacity to watch, if it chooses, everything we
do online. The real enemies of state (if by state we mean the compact between
citizens and those they elect) are people like the head of MI5, and Theresa
May, the Home Secretary, who appears to have failed to inform her Cabinet
colleagues.
Allied
to the old abuses is a newer kind of superversion: the attempts by billionaires
and their lieutenants to destroy the functions of the state. Note the current
shutdown – and the debt ceiling confrontation scheduled for Thursday – in the
United States. The Republicans, propelled by a Tea Party movement created by the
Koch brothers and financed by a gruesome collection of multi-millionaires, have
engineered what in other circumstances would be called a general strike. The
difference is that the withdrawal of their labour has been imposed on the
workers.
The
narrow purpose of the strike is to prevent the distribution of wealth to poorer
people, through the Affordable Care Act. The wider purpose (aside from a
refusal to accept the legitimacy of a black president) is to topple the state
as an effective instrument of taxation, regulation and social protection. The
Koch shock troops in the Republican party seem prepared to inflict almost any
damage in pursuit of this insurgency, including – if they hold out on Thursday
– a US government default, which could trigger a new global financial crisis.
They
do so on behalf of a class which has, in effect, seceded. It floats free of tax
and the usual bonds of citizenship, jetting from one jurisdiction to another as
it seeks the most favourable havens for its wealth. It removes itself so
thoroughly from the life of the nation that it scarcely uses even the roads.
Yet, through privatisation and outsourcing, it is capturing the public services
on which the rest of us depend.
Using
an unreformed political funding system to devastating effect, this superversive
class demands that the state stop regulating, stop protecting, stop
intervening. When this abandonment causes financial crisis, the remaining
taxpayers are forced to bail out the authors of the disaster, who then stash
their bonuses offshore.
One
result is that those who call themselves conservatives and patriots appear to
be deeply confused about what they are defending. In his article last week
attacking the Guardian for revealing GCHQ’s secret surveillance programmes,
Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail, characterised his readers as
possessing an “over-riding suspicion of the state and the People Who Know
Best.” Strangely, this suspicion of the state and the People Who Know Best does
not appear to extend to the security services, whose assault on our freedoms
Dacre was defending.
To
the right-wing press and the Conservative party, patriotism means standing up
to the European Union. But it also means capitulating to the United States.
It’s an obvious and glaring contradiction, which is almost never acknowledged,
let alone explained. In reality the EU and the US have become proxies for
something which transcends national boundaries. The EU stands for state control
and regulation while the US represents deregulation and atomisation.
In
reality, this distinction is outdated, as the handful of people who have heard
of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will appreciate.
The European Commission calls it “the biggest trade deal in the world”. Its
purpose is to create a single transatlantic market, in which all regulatory
differences between the US and the EU are gradually removed.
It
has been negotiated largely in secret. This time, they’re not just trying to
bring down international trade barriers, but, as the commission boasts, “to
tackle barriers behind the customs border – such as differences in technical
regulations, standards and approval procedures.” In other words, our own laws,
affecting our own people.
A
document published last year by two huge industrial lobby groups – the US
Chamber of Commerce and BusinessEurope – explains the partnership’s aims. It
will have a “proactive requirement”, directing governments to change their
laws. The partnership should “put stakeholders at the table with regulators to
essentially co-write regulation.” Stakeholder is a euphemism for corporation.
They
want it; they’re getting it. New intellectual property laws that they have long
demanded, but which sovereign governments have so far resisted – not least
because of the mass mobilisation against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect
IP Act in the US(11) – are back on the table, but this time largely
inaccessible to public protest. So are data protection, public procurement and
financial services. You think that getting your own government to regulate
bankers is hard enough? Try appealing to a transnational agreement brokered by
corporations and justified by the deemed consent of citizens who have been
neither informed nor consulted.
This
deal is a direct assault on sovereignty and democracy. So where are the Mail
and the Telegraph and the other papers which have campaigned so hard against
all transfers of power to the European Union? Where are the Conservative MPs
who have fought for an EU referendum? Eerie silence descends. They do not
oppose the TTIP because their allegiance lies not with the nation but with the
offshored corporate elite.
These
fake patriots proclaim a love for their country, while ensuring that there is
nothing left to love. They are loyal to the pageantry – the flags, the coinage,
the military parades – but intensely disloyal to the nation these symbols are
supposed to represent. The greater the dissonance becomes, the louder the
national anthem plays.
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