RAWLINGSES BREAK UP?

Mr and Mrs Rawlings

By Ekow Mensah

There are very strong indications that Mr and Mrs Jerry John Rawlins have fallen apart politically.

The indications are that Nana Konaku Agyemang Rawlings will continue to lead the National Democratic Party (NDP) she founded with her husband while Mr Rawlings will play his official rule as the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The first sign of a possible break up came when Mr Rawlings publicly declared support for President John Mahama even as his wife continues criticising the new government.

Mr Rawlings has urged Ghanaians to support the Mahama administration even as he insists that he is surrounded by incompetent and corrupt officials.

The signal that former President Rawlings sends out is that he intends to stay in the NDC and to play a key role.

On the other hand Mr Josiah Arye, National Chairman of the NDC has announced that Nana Konadu will lead the NDP into the 2016 elections.

Significantly, leading members of the NDP have stopped referring to Mr Rawlings as a co-founder of their party.

They now say that the NDP was founded solely by Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings who undoubtedly would be the Party’s presidential candidate for 2016.

When current President Mahama was chosen as the running mate for the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Nana Konaku expressed outrage at the choice.

Nana Konadu openly flirted with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the run up to the 2012 elections.

Mr Rawlings refused to campaign for President John Mahama in the last elections.

However, soon after President Mahama won the elections, Mr Rawlings started warning his way into the heart of his administration.

Editorial

Fare Thee Well!

The mortal remains of Madam Adeline Afua Afriyie Akoto Ofori Atta will be laid to rest at Kyebi in the Eastern region this week- end.

Auntie Akoto as she was popularly known was an activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and before then a keen supporter of the broad pro-democracy movement.

 She was active in the Adu Boahen led Movement for Freedom and Justice (MFJ) and she also participated actively in the work of the Co-ordinating Committee of Democratic Forces (CCDF).

After the 1992 elections, Auntie Akoto became a founding member of the broad opposition alliance know then as the Joint Action Committee.

In that capacity she worked very closely with such personalities as Dr Sekou Nkrumah, Kofi Baako, Jnr. Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. Allen then of the PNC and an activist called Michael from the NPP.

She took part in all the public manifestations including demonstrations to press home the need for democratic reforms.

She has paid her dues to society.

The Insight sends its condolences to the bereaved family and say may her soul rest in perfect peace.  

MAJOR EVENT FOR AFRICA

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah Woaye Ade!

The official opening of the Hydro - Electric Project at Akosombo is a fulfillment of a cornerstone of our party’s manifesto. Ghana’s greatest economic victory so FAR ON the road to socialism, is an event of major importance not only for Ghana but for Africa as a whole.

Ghana today requires power to provide adequate standing of life for her people. The industrialization of Ghana which has already begun requires electricity. Akosombo is a venture which, like the Aswan Dam in the UAR is an inspiration to Africa, for these two great Dams both built under governments which have adopted a Socialist outlook, are but the beginning of the electrification of the Continent of Africa.

Akosombo may be for Ghana, the largest electrification project possible for this single independent African country. But with African unity it would fall into its proper perspective like the Dnieper Hydro - electric scheme in the USSR or the Tenesse River Project as the first of a great series each one larger than the one before.

The Volta Project has even impressed the imperialist world on January 20th 1964, the New York Times in an African Business Review wrote as follows;

“Ghana has the highest living standards of any African people today”

These tributes from the New York Times may arouse some doubts in some minds as they are obviously tributes from a mouthpiece of neo-colonialism which calls for additional vigilance and extra insistence not to be lured into complacency. But talking business, the New York Times in that issue found that “Ghana is one of the most attractive investment opportunities in Africa”.

Does such a view clash with that of Osagyefo as expressed in NEO- COLONIALISM?

No, it does not. For one of the thesis of NEO-COLONIALISM deals precisely with this very point.

The policy of non-alignment, writes Osagyefo, “involves foreign investment from capitalist countries but it must be invested in accordance with a national plan drawn up by the government of the non-aligned State with its own interests in mind.

The issue is not what return the foreign investor receives on his investments.

He may, in fact, do better for himself if he invests in a non-aligned country than if he invests in a neo-colonial one. The question is one of power”.

In the case of Akosombo, Osagyefo at the launching of the Seven-Year Development Plan pointed out how this project fitted “into our chosen combination of a mixed economy with socialist and co-operative goals. A major part of this scheme is being financed by the Ghana Government” with “careful and proper planning together with foreign investment, public control and participation and the devoted endeavors of the people, who skilled and unskilled but experienced in construction and reliable are the most important factor in all economic effort.

Now Akosombo scheme has become a reality. Thanks to Kwame Nkrumah and the people’s C.P.P.

Our people can see for themselves that Nkrumaism is not just words. Here is the surest guarantee that the Work and Happiness Programme of our Party will be achieved as surely as Kwame Nkrumah promised political freedom and won it through sweat and tears.   

(First published in the Evening News of Saturday, January 22, 1966)

Face reality in solving economic hardship; not spiritual intercessions - Hare Krishna

The Communications Director of the Hare Krishna Movement in Ghana, Jnana Chaksus Das has cautioned government to face reality and implement policies in solving the economic hardship facing the country, rather than believing in spiritual intercessions.

According to him, it is time Ghanaians stopped the blame game and work together to achieve a common purpose.

The Presiding Bishop and General Overseer of the Christian Action Faith Ministries (CAFM) Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams recently led a prayer and commanded a halt, to the depreciation of the Ghana cedi. 

But speaking Tuesday on Pampaso on Adom TV, Jnana Chaksus Das warned that until politicians stopped being hypocritical, “Lakshmi” which in the Hindu religion is the name of the female deity in charge of money, will continue to elude Ghanaians.

Speaking on the same platform, the presiding pastor of the Freedom Chapel, Apostle Amoako Atta rubbished remarks by the National Women's Organizer of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Anita Desooso that the steep depreciation of the cedi is as a result of black magic or vodoo.  According to him, the country needs discerning and wise leaders.

“Leadership is the ability to achieve extra ordinary from ordinary resources and people” he said.

He noted that, tithes and offerings at the church have also depreciated alongside the cedi and needs urgent remedy.  

My victory will erase Akan tag - Afoko says

Paul Afoko

National Chairman aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, Paul Afoko says electing him will go a long way in erasing the perception that the NPP only accommodates people of Akan extraction at its top echelon.

The party’s opponents have always claimed it is averse to non-Akans.

Though he described it as a mere perception, Mr. Afoko told Moro Awudu on the XYZ Breakfast show Thursday that selecting a Northerner like him will help fight the tribal tag.
“It would go a large extent to set aside this perception. You cannot also blame the party because for all these years we have not really had somebody coming from the Dombo tradition stepping forward to say I want to be the leader of the party.

“I stand as a party candidate who will serve the party, who is going to unite this party and I will be neutral in all aspects and I want to change that tag that we have branded by our opponents”.

Mr Afoko added that his election, coupled with the decision to hold the conference in the Northern regional capital Tamale will help the party renew itself spiritually.

Paul Afoko is contesting incumbent Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, first Vice Chairman Fred Oware and two-time failed Chairman Aspirant Stephen Ntim.

World’s first’ farmer trial over GM crop contamination

A landmark legal battle between two farmers over alleged GM contamination has started in the Western Australian Supreme Court. The case is expected to determine GM farmers’ liability if their crops affect neighboring territories.

The globally monitored legal battle involves local farmer Steve Marsh who sued his neighbor Michael Baxter for negligence over the alleged contamination of the land that Marsh used for growing organic oat and wheat crops at Kojonup, 250 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia.

Lawyers say it is the world’s first trial over GM contamination and will set a precedent for future cases. 

“As far as we know, this is the first court case of its type anywhere in the world,” said Marsh’s representative Mark Walter, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon's Commercial and Project Litigation. The case could have an impact on the conventional farming industry and consumers, he said, as cited by the WAtoday news website.

It will test the legal rights of farmers to choose how and what they farm on their land, Walter pointed out. 

“It is important that farmers retain their rights to farm GM-free food as this in turn will protect consumers' ability to purchase GM-free food,” he said. 

The trial is expected to last for three weeks and is likely to lead to regulations outlining boundaries between GM and organic farms, potentially reducing the land available for cultivation, experts said. It could also change Australia’s zero tolerance policy for contamination of organic crops. 

Organic farmers fear this could lead to a lose-lose situation for them. If the zero tolerance policy remains in place, they risk being stripped of their organic certification because of contamination as GM crops production increases. If the policy is eased, Australia would lose its position as a strict organic producer amid the growing popularity of GMO-free food across the globe. 

For the season 2013, West Australia’s growers bought a record 416 tonnes of Roundup Ready canola seed, which is 38 percent more than the previous year. 

‘Reckless’ farming blamed for contagion

Marsh, 49, claims that back in 2010, Baxter’s Roundup Ready canola seed and swathes were blown by the wind onto his farm, causing him to lose organic certification on 70 percent of his land. This cost him an estimated $ 85,000 (about US $76,000) in financial losses.

At the time of the alleged canola drift, Marsh's farm was certified organic by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA), which has a zero tolerance for GM material. 

Richard Niall, a barrister for Marsh, told the court on Monday that the situation had had a devastating effect on his client’s livelihood and that it was Baxter’s fault. 

Marsh’s neighbor “was completely indifferent and reckless by planting genetically modified canola in adjoining paddocks,” Niall said, as quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP). The famer failed to contain the GM seeds, and “thousands of them” escaped in the wind onto Marsh’s property, he said. The lawyer claimed that at the time Baxter planted the canola he knew the seeds would escape since that was “plainly foreseeable.” 

Baxter, 48, maintains that he observed all the requirements regarding the buffer zone and informing neighbors when planting the GM canola – shortly after the Western Australian government allowed its commercial cultivation in 2010. 

The farmer bought the seeds from biotech giant, Monsanto. Marsh’s supporters also allege that the American corporation is providing financial aid to Baxter in the legal action – something the company declined to comment on, saying only that it was not a party to the case, Reuters reported. 

The organic farmer dropped his plans to sue the US firm because of non-liability contracts it signs with all farmers who buy its seeds, said Scott Kinnear, director of the Safe Food Foundation, an organic farming advocacy group which is collecting donations to help fund Marsh's suit. 

‘Grow a heart, Monsanto!’

An emotional debate around growing GM crops has been going on in West Australia ever since the first such commercially grown crop was allowed about four years ago. 

The legal battle between the two farmers has added fuel to the fire, with Marsh’s supporters rallying on Monday outside the court. A bunch of protesters carried placards that read ‘No to GMO,’ ‘We want 100 percent organic food,’ and ‘Grow a heart, Monsanto!’ 

Supporters of GM farming, such as the Western Australian Pastoralists and Graziers Association, say that Baxter did nothing wrong. Just as opponent groups backing Marsh, they are also collecting donations to cover the GM farmer’s legal costs.

John Snook, Chair of PGA's western growers, said he was frustrated by the lack of public support for choice in agriculture and the advantages of new technologies, reported Radio Australia. 

“When you push the alarmism aside, the case is very clear that Steve Marsh is trying to impose unnecessary conditions on his neighbor and trying to stop him growing GM canola,” he was quoted as saying. “So we feel we are on very principled and solid ground. A legal precedent will be set.”

Price of Privatisation in South Africa

The impact of privatisation is worst in developing countries. In South Africa, the World Bank prepared the ANC even before it came to power with “reconnaissance missions” to promote privatisation and “full cost recovery”. Nelson Mandela embraced privatisation when he became president in 1994 saying “Privatization is the fundamental policy of our government. Call me a Thatcherite, if you will.” Then ensued a bevy of consultants and advisors from the US, the UK, the World Bank and the IMF which helped the government put together a Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy in 1996 which was essentially a voluntary structural adjustment program. It included a policy of full cost recovery. Thabo Mbeki, who became president in 1999, continued with these same policies.

George Monbiot reported in The Guardian:

The corporations loved it. KPMG told its clients that if they went to South Africa, they’d ‘find a major business opportunity about to burst forth in a country where there is a lot of good will towards UK’… The agency keeping the South African government on track is Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID). This year it  is giving £6.3 million to the Adam Smith Institute – the ultra-rightwing privatisation lobby group – for ‘public sector reform’ in South Africa. Staggeringly, the Institute has been given its own budget – £5m of British aid money – to disburse as it pleases.

As a result thousands have lost their jobs, increasing unemployment from 17 percent in 1995 to 30 percent in 2002 and deepening poverty. People who managed to hold jobs during apartheid, have found that privatisation has taken their jobs, increased their electricity bills, and then cut them off when they couldn’t pay. According to a South African government study, ‘full-cost recovery’ for water and electricity services, in preparation for and as a consequence of privatisation, has resulted in more than 10 million people, 25% of the population having these services disconnected since 1998.

Although water meters were ruled illegal in the UK in 1998 because they deprived people of their right to water, they were subsequently installed in South Africa. Even communal taps were equipped with meters that required a prepaid water card for people to get water from them. Two million people have been forced out of their homes for not paying their water or electricity bills. When 30% of the state-owned telecommunications company, Telkom, was sold, the cost of local calls increased dramatically and phone lines in poorer households had to be disconnected.

This policy of ‘full cost recovery’ or user pays, was introduced under pressure from the World Bank which maintained that there needed to be a “credible threat of cutting service”. The idea was that the money collected from this cost recovery could be used to improve the infrastructure. Yet full cost recovery in essential services is not expected in many of the more affluent countries, including the US. In a country that could afford to supply everyone with water, the imposition of market rules in South Africa prevents the cross-subsidisation that would be necessary to achieve this.

The result in South Africa was that water bills alone came to 30 percent of average family incomes (40% with electricity). Those who were disconnected from the water supply because they couldn’t afford it were forced to use contaminated sources of water, causing the spread of cholera and gastrointestinal diseases. More than 140,000 people have had cholera since 2000 and millions suffer diarrhoea. The government ended up having to spend millions of dollars trying to control South Africa’s worst outbreak of cholera which killed hundreds of people between 2000 and 2002. Yet the same water policies continue and prepayment meters have since been installed in Johannesburg.

  

Opposition to privatisation became the focus of a new struggle for poor South Africans. At one protest march a banner read: “We did not fight for liberation so we could sell everything we won to the highest bidder.” 

In 2004 South Africa halted electricity privatisation and introduced subsidies for poor households, so that they received 50 kWh per month for free.

Impacts on Employment

Cost savings in privatised utilities are often made by lowering rates of pay and conditions for workers or cutting the full-time workforce. Thousands of jobs are normally shed ahead of, and just after, privatisation of government enterprises and services. Full-time permanent employment in privatised enterprises is increasingly replaced by part-time and temporary work. Direct employment is steadily replaced by contract employment and contract workers tend to be non-unionised, poorly paid, with little employment security and no access to benefits such as sick leave, holidays and pension contributions. There is even a trend to employ contract workers on a self-employed basis, to avoid having to pay any statutory benefits.

Electricity

In the US electricity deregulation has led to 150,000 people losing their jobs, including those who were responsible for safety and reliability of electricity supplies, as private deregulated utilities shed staff so as to cut costs. The Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) and the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (DOE EIA) estimate that utilities now employ less than two thirds of the workers they did in the early 1990s. The UWUA claims that cost-cutting has led to the less frequent inspections, deferred repairs and less training, which threaten worker and public safety as well as system reliability.

In Australia employment in the electricity sector fell from about 83,000 in the mid-1990s to 33,000 workers in 2003. The State Eelctricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) shed 11,000 jobs before privatisation but the government still felt the need to put the retail price up ten percent to make its enterprises attractive to buyers (and perhaps to give the impression that privatisation caused prices to fall). Another 2,200 jobs were subsequently shed by the privatised companies in their efforts to become more efficient. In all, thousands of jobs were lost but electricity prices were no lower than in neighbouring NSW where electricity was not privatised. 

Some 66,000 jobs were lost in the UK electricity industry and pay and conditions were undermined. In Europe, as profits of the large multinational energy companies have increased (see graph below), wages declined and 300,000 jobs were lost in the gas and electricity sector over ten years.