Greenstreet: He Lashes at NDC and NPP

Ivor Greenstreet, CPP Presidential Candidate

Presidential candidate for the Convention People Party (CPP), Ivor Greenstreet, has criticised both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) for failing to provide safe drinking water for the people of Salaga Constituency.

He said it was unfortunate that for more than two decades, governments of the two main political parties have failed to provide the basic social need for residents of the Northern Region constituency.

“For 24 years, NDC and NPP have made us slaves. Because for 24 years how is it possible that in this your area here you have no water at all?,” he asked supporters of his party at rally in the Northern Region town.

Ivor Greenstreet is on tour of the region and was speaking at Kuwani, a community in the Salaga Constituency.

He said it was wrong that residents of Kuwani, for instance, have to travel long distances to get clean drinking water.

He pledged that a CPP government would ensure all communities in the country have access to clean and safe water.

Editorial

CONGRATULATIONS

The Insight unhesitantly commends the University of Ghana for being adjudged the best University in West Africa.

According to Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Vice Chancellor of the University, its strongest pillar this year was research.

This is happy news and we want to believe that Ghana’s Premier University is busily looking for solutions to the numerous problems confronting our people.

The University of Ghana has undoubtedly made Ghana proud by its achievement.

Our prayer is that the research findings by the University should be put to good use in order to solve the problems of the people.

Well done, University of Ghana.

The ICC is fit for the Waste Basket

Chief Prosecutor at the ICC, Fatou Bensaouda

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has equated Russia's reunification with the Crimea to a military action, in which Russia appeared as an aggressor.

The report from ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, in particular, said: "According to the information received, the situation in the Crimea and Sevastopol is equivalent to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The given international armed conflict started not later than on February 26, when the Russian Federation involved its armed forces to gain control over parts of the territory of Ukraine without the consent from the government of Ukraine. "

The first question that arises in connection with the "military conflict" - were there any shootings, explosions or tanks involved? If there was a military action in the Crimea, was there any landmark battle, like, for example, the battle for Sevastopol, the siege of Koktebel, Yalta or anything else?

The second question that one may ask themselves in this connection is as follows. If the events in the Crimea were an act of military confrontation, what is happening in the Donbas then? Why doesn't the ICC give its assessment to the conflict in the Donbas, even though the number of victims continues growing there like in a full-fledged military conflict? Does the International Criminal Court believe that the conflict in the Donbas is an "anti-terrorist operation" as the Ukrainian authorities put it?

These are narrow-minded questions, of course. Legal aspects of the recent move of the ICC are much more interesting. Here is what the head of Pravda.Ru Internet Media Holding Vadim Gorshenin has to say on the subject: Interestingly, the investigation is conducted at the request of the government of Ukraine, even though Ukraine, just like Russia, has not ratified the status of the ICC. Moreover, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the statute of the International Criminal Court as an institution inconsistent with the Constitution of Ukraine.

Curiously, the sitting Ukrainian authorities do not even intend to ratify the agreement on the accession to the International Criminal Court, because in this case the ICC would be able to initiate and conduct investigations into the war crimes that the Kiev authorities commit in the Donbas.

The most recent decision from the ICC does not surprise Russia in light of the current anti-Russian hysteria. Yet, the decision poses the question of "two chairs" for Ukraine. Ukraine will have to recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC if the country wants to give this decision a legal status. Otherwise, it does not mean anything. Does Ukraine want the ICC to look into the killings of women and children in the Donbas?

The Ukrainian Armed Forces commit acts of terrorism in the Donbas. Noteworthy, the new US administration may forget about Ukraine once and for all, if the ICC finds that the Kiev government commits war crimes against its own citizens in the south-east of the country. The USA does not negotiate with terrorists. Previous US administrations were very good at breaking this rule, but the new America would probably want to take full advantage of it.

Polionline

AFRICAN EXODUS FROM ICC MUST BE STOPPED- KOFI ANNAN

Kofi Annan, an enemy of Africa and secret agent of the West!

The apparent African exodus from the international criminal court must be stopped or the most heinous crimes will be allowed to go unpunished, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general and one of the ICC’s chief architects, has warned.

Burundi, Gambia and South Africa said this year they would no longer recognise the court’s jurisdiction and announced their intention to quit. They claim the ICC disproportionately targets African leaders. Nine of the 10 cases taken by the court have involved former African rulers.

State impunity is back in fashion – we need the international court more than ever

Annan’s intervention is designed to influence the annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties, whose members are signatories to the ICC. He warned the actions of the three African countries risked giving the false impression the entire continent was hostile to the court.

Annan was pivotal to the court’s creation when he was UN secretary general, hosting the inaugural conference in Rome in 1998.

Writing in the Guardian, he says: “Most of the continent’s democratic governments stand by the ICC. I stand by the ICC, because the most heinous crimes must not go unpunished.”

He says Africa “was [the court’s] most enthusiastic supporter” at the ICC’s inception. “Memories of the horrors of the Rwandan genocide were still fresh in our minds. In fact, the first signatory of the treaty was an African country, Senegal. Africa remains the single largest regional bloc, with 34 states party to the Rome statute out of 124,” he writes.

Annan said the focus of the ICC’s work in Africa did not indicate any bias but rather Africa’s willingness to refer cases to it. “Of the nine investigations on the African continent, eight were requested by African states. Six African states referred their own situation to the ICC, and African states voted in support of the UN security council referrals on Darfur and Libya,” he writes.

“Kenya was the only case in Africa opened independently by the court, but it enjoyed the enthusiastic support of a majority of Kenyans. They wanted justice for the 1,300 people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in election-related violence.”

Annan said Africa was not the sole subject of international justice, pointing out that criminal tribunals were first set up after the second world war, at Nuremberg and Tokyo. After the cold war, more international or mixed tribunals were launched for crimes in Lebanon, Cambodia and Yugoslavia. The ICC has opened investigations in Georgia and is conducting preliminary examinations in Afghanistan, Columbia, Ukraine, Iraq and Palestine.

He said the “ICC remains the continent’s most credible court of last resort for the most serious crimes … [It] does not supplant national jurisdictions; it only intervenes in cases where the country concerned is either unable or unwilling to try its own citizens.”

University Of Ghana Is West Africa's Best

Prof. Ebenezer Owusu

By Iddi Yire

The University of Ghana (UG) is the highest ranked university in West Africa and the seventh in Africa.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Vice Chancellor of the University, said the 2016 Times Higher Education World Rankings once again placed the UG ahead of its peers in Ghana and West Africa.

"The UG was ranked in the fifth decile of this year's ranking; and our strongest pillar this year was research.

"This is definitely a great achievement, given that we were ranked in the fourth decile in 2015, with our strongest pillar that year being international outlook," Prof Oduro Owusu stated at the November Congregation of the University.

This Congregation covers the second batch of students, who completed their programmes of study in the 2015/2016 Academic year; the first batch having graduated in July this year.

"It is worthy of note that our efforts at becoming a world class research intensive university is well on its way," he said.

He said the enviable feat chalked by the UG could not have been achieved without the concerted efforts of the staff, students and stakeholders of the University.

The Vice Chancellor said he was grateful and confident that with the establishment of their Strategic Teams and with the continued support of all and sundry, their rankings would soar at both the continental and international levels.

The Strategic Teams include: Institutional Advancement Team, Agriculture Centres Commercialization Committee, UG Rebranding and Marketing Team, and the Medical and Dental School Expansion Team.

The rest are UG Regional/World Ranking Team, Vice Chancellor Green Team, Independent Power Supply Team and the Laboratory Modernisation Team.

The Strategic Teams have been charged with the responsibility to position UG as a "Go to University".

Prof Oduro Owusu, in his report to the congregation, said the security situation on the University campus had witnessed tremendous improvement.

He said the University had also put together a strategic document to combat security challenges on its other campus; declaring that, "A major constraint, however, has been the fact that the security office was greatly understaffed.

He said the Management was, however, working assiduously to find avenues to improve the current staffing situation.

"We have also organised face-to-face discussions to educate students on the need to be security conscious.

"The goal is to create individual and ultimately a holistic awareness of the necessity to be security conscious on campus," he said.

"Let me take this opportunity to thank the Regional and District Police Command as well as National Security for beefing up our security efforts, volunteering security briefs, and helping maintain law and order on campus," he stated.

He urged the graduating students to understand that education was expected to continue beyond the walls of the lecture hall into the community and work place and into adulthood.

"As you enter the job market, I urge you to continue to improve upon these critical skills,” he advised. “Remember that it is a competitive world and to be in the lead, you need to always strive to make a difference; just a one degree shift from the norm and you will be in the lead."

The congregation for the undergraduate students of the College of Humanities was held at the Great Hall, while that of its graduate students was held at the R. S. Amegashi Auditorium simultaneously.

The Vice Chancellor delivered his speech at the Great Hall, while the Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Samuel K. Offei delivered it on his behalf at the Amegashie Auditorium.

A total of 300 graduate students from the College of Humanities graduated, of which Mrs Linda Asante Agyei, an editor with the Ghana News Agency, graduated with a Master of Arts in Public Affairs.

GNA

MALARIA 

The world’s first malaria vaccine immunization campaign is to commence in 2018 and funds for the phase one of the pilot deployment of the vaccine in Sub Saharan Africa had been secured.

A release by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the assurance comes after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had approved 15 million dollars for the malaria vaccine pilot, assuring full funding for the first phase of the programme.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix or RTS,S and developed by the British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, is only partially effective and needs to be given in a four-dose schedule.

It was developed in partnership with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and part-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The WHO said while the new vaccine was promising it should be deployed only on a pilot basis before any wide-scale use was given its limited efficacy.

Pedro Alonso, the Director of the WHO’s Global Malaria Programme, said: “Securing funding and being able to trial the vaccine in Africa would be a milestone in the fight against malaria.

“These pilot projects will provide the evidence we need from real-life settings to make informed decisions on whether to deploy the vaccine on a wide scale”.

Earlier this year, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and UNITAID announced commitments of up to 27.5 million dollars and 9.6 million dollars respectively for the first four years of the programme.

Malaria infects around 200 million people a year worldwide and killed an estimated 440,000 in 2015. The vast majority of malaria deaths are among babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Guilty By Suspicion: SA Finance Minister’s High Noon Moment

Parvin Gordan

By Dhiru Soni

Minister Pravin Gordhan is a man of unshakeable will – one of the very few people within ANC family whose integrity is untouched - and sincerely believes that as a public servant he is obligated to fight for the soul of the nation.

Given the continuous drama and debates about ‘state capture’ South Africa has been treated to over the last few months, I reminisced about watching a movie some four score and five years ago, a western at that, in one of my famous childhood movie houses in Durban called The Royal. The movie was titled High Noon and was produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starred Gary Cooper. Basically the film tells the story of a town marshal forced to confront a gang of killers by himself. The similarity between the movie and the current South African ‘state capture’ saga is that in both instances the fate of innocent people is dependent on the outcome of a battle between good and evil.

Besides its historical significance, High Noon is a heroic struggle for justice against the backdrop of crime, hatred and retribution. It is one of the best westerns ever made. Although the storyline of the movie is quite simple, it has deep underlying symbolisms. The marshal of a small rural town (Hadleyville) in the movie represents the righteous man who is willing to stand up to the wrongdoers. The story is universal and has enduring relevance. Even in South Africa, to boot.   

In juxtaposing the position of Marshal Will Kane against the heroic stand taken by Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, in our own drama of State Capture, I am fondly reminded of the historical significance of High Noon and the compelling story of personal courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

In South Africa, the political narrative leading to the corresponding poignant moment of the movie High Noon, the marshal is represented by Pravin Gordhan - the righteous man who is willing to stand up to wrongdoers. The wrongdoers are represented by all those who are allegedly involved in the process of ‘state capture’, draft and corruption – many of them from the ‘house of cards’ are his former comrades, led by narcissistic leaders and psychopaths parading as legitimate and progressive representatives of the people of South Africa. A far cry from the likes of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and Govan Mbeki who literally sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The new hombres, some of whom have been caught with their proverbial hands in the cookie jar have summoned Marshal Gordhan to a momentous confrontation for ‘attempting to run the country properly’ – to borrow the words from Zapiro’s most recent hilarious cartoon.

The majority of these selectmen who pretend to be Marshal Gordhan’s amigos are his ‘comrades’ from days gone by, especially when it was politically correct to fight for freedom and the overthrow of a pernicious system called Apartheid. To add salt to Marshal Gordhan’s wounds, his adversaries are political brethren from within the ANC family. They pretend to be the upholders of the law and view Marshal Gordhan as the arch villain – someone, whom they consider a spoilsport that did not play along with their game of dice called ‘Let’s Loot the Nation’s Purse’.

Marshall Gordhan is resolute and is not deterred by their veiled and unsubstantiated threats. After spending months in attempting to frame a propped-up-charge, these namby-pamby individuals have through sinister motives found Marshal Gordhan guilty by suspicion of re-hiring a former employee of the Treasury on a contractual basis. Indeed, the act of framing a nebulous charge against a trusted comrade is in itself a serious problematic. It gives credence to an old saying – “weak men cannot handle power. It will either crush them, or they will use it to crush others”. 

   

Similar to Marshal Will Kane in the movie, Minister Pravin Gordhan is a man of unshakeable will – one of the very few people within ANC family whose integrity is untouched - and sincerely believes that as a public servant he is obligated to fight for the soul of the nation. He wants his day in High Noon.

In the movie, the majority of the townsfolk for fear of retribution from the outlaws decide to do nothing in the face of evil. In a similar fashion the majority of Marshal Gordhan’s ‘amigos’ have decided to do nothing to protect their comrade.  Some of the ‘amigos’ claim that the ‘fight’ between Marshal Gordhan and his persecutors is a personal matter and that he is ‘not above the law’. The critical question is whose law? It would seem that many of his so-called amigos are failing to protect Marshal Gordhan because they are extremely vulnerable in a system where coercion dictates their futures. They use selfish and shortsighted rationalisations to avoid confronting the ‘gangsters’ within government.

In recent weeks, however, senior members of the ANC family have decided that in the interest of the future of the country they have to make a stand against the perpetrators of scandalous crimes against the state - notable amongst these have been Trevor Manuel, Cyril Ramaphosa, Jackson Mthembu, Enoch Godongwana, Joe Phaahla, Max Sisulu and Derek Hanekom. Former colleagues and members of the judiciary and the legal profession have also joined the chorus in supporting Marshal Gordhan because they believe that the evidence against him is exculpatory.   

Finally, there are lessons to be drawn from the movie High Noon. In the first instant Marshal Will Kane stays true to his principles even though it means that he must face adversity alone, outnumbered and risking death in the process. Despite the betrayals of the townsfolk of Hadleyville, he succeeds.  Secondly, the principle that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. The town had the good fortune to have a Marshal with the integrity of Will Kane. We have Pravin Gordhan. It is time for the silent majority to rise for a noble cause.  Patriotism towards our beloved land demands it.  

* Professor Dhiru Soni is an academic, researcher and policy analyst and writes in his personal capacity.

How To Boost Local Participation In Ghana’s Oil And Gas Sector

FPSO Prof Atta Mills swallows barrels oil from Ghana's oil fields for foreigners

By Godwin Akweiteh Allotey

Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities offshore along the Cape Three Points in the Western Region in 2007 after years of prospecting.

Production in the Jubilee Field started with 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day and has currently reached a production level of 110.000 barrels per day. It is expected to peak at 120,000 barrels per day in the years ahead.

A number of institutions sprung up at the time offering a number of oil related programmes in in a bid to position Ghanaians strategically to take up jobs in the sector. Several other companies and consultancy firms also cropped up providing varied services in the field.

Though the resource is in Ghana, the countries stake in the sector is less than 20 percent. The country is still prospecting for new oil fields with recent discoveries pointing to oil resource in parts of Keta in the Volta Region.

Experts believe the Voltaian Basin hold oil and gas reserves which government through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is seeking to fully explore. Government has also expanded the country’s oil resource with arrival of the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) John Evans Atta Mills for the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) Fields which is expected to produce about 23, 000 barrels of crude a day.

In a bid to ensure that Ghanaians are not sidelined however, Parliament passed the local content and local participation regulation (L.I. 2204) in 2013 to put indigenous Ghanaians at the forefront of all petroleum activities.

The L.I. sought to achieve the following:

(a) Promote the maximization of value-addition and job creation through the use of local expertise, goods and services, businesses and financing in the petroleum industry value chain and their retention in the country;

(b) Develop local capacities in the petroleum industry value chain through education, skills transfer and expertise development, transfer of technology and know-how and active research and development programmes;

(c) Achieve the minimum local employment level and in-country spend for the provision of the goods and services in the petroleum industry value chain as specified in the First Schedule;

(d) Increase the capability and international competitiveness of domestic businesses;

(e) create petroleum and related supportive industries that will sustain economic development;

(f) Achieve and maintain a degree of control for Ghanaians over development initiatives for local stakeholders;

(g) Provide for a robust and transparent monitoring and reporting system to ensure delivery of local content policy objectives;

(h) Provide for the submission of the local content plan and related sub-plans by contractors, subcontractors, licensees and any other allied entity involved in the petroleum industry including

(i) The provision of goods and services;

(ii) The transfer to the Corporation or the Commission and Ghanaians of advanced technology and skills related to petroleum activities;

(iii) A recruitment and training programme; and

(iv) Supervision, coordination, implementation and monitoring of local content.

Despite the passage of the local content regulation analysts believe that the quantum of local participation, as well as the extent to which local people can participate in the oil and gas sector is limited with regards to technology, finance and human resources. The onus however lies on the government to invest massively in building the capacity of its citizens to enable them occupy vantage positions in order to ensure that the oil resource benefits Ghanaians and not only the foreign investors.

Negotiation of better oil deals
Going forward, government must negotiate new oil deals in a better way and must have a lot of components for Ghanaians. Unlike the Jubilee Fields, government is said to have negotiated for more Ghanaian components in the TEN project but much more is required to enable Ghanaians have more stake in the sector. Government must negotiate in a way that allow Ghanaians to increase their stake in the sector as this will go a long way in improving the economy.

Better governance and full implementation of local content law

There is also the need for government to ensure that the local content law is implemented to the latter. For instance the regulation states that for any contract be awarded to any company, if foreign, “there shall be at least a five percent equity participation of an indigenous Ghanaian company other than the Corporation to be qualified to enter into a petroleum agreement or a petroleum license.”

Per the regulation any petroleum agreement that forfeits the above will not be granted but I believe it will be in order for the indigenous participation to be further increased to 20 percent or more. This will enable Ghanaians to be at the forefront of the sector, they must be involved in every aspect in the sector –from fixing of pipelines to managerial positions. The regulation further states that “Where an indigenous Ghanaian company has the capacity to execute a job, that indigenous Ghanaian company shall not be disqualified exclusively on the basis that it is not the lowest financial bidder. “

“Where the total value of the bid of a qualified indigenous Ghanaian company does not exceed the lowest bid by more than ten percent, the contract shall be awarded to that indigenous Ghanaian company. Where during an evaluation of bids, the bids are adjudged to be equal; the bid containing the highest level of local content shall be selected.” Though captured by law, if the above regulation is not adhered to, Ghanaians will surely be ripped off in the sector. Government must immediately set up a taskforce to enforce the regulation at every point.

Training
Government must also create schemes to train locals to take advantage of opportunities in the downstream sector and if possible the upstream sector. For instance government can train more fuel tanker operators [or purchase fuel tankers for them on credit to help in the transportation of oil and gas or train more people to work in local refineries and in the extraction process. Others can be trained to market petroleum products either wholesale or retail. This will generate more jobs to boost economic growth and also ensure a fair representation of Ghanaians in the sector.

Train students for jobs in oil & gas sector

Government must be able to capture data on citizens studying oil and gas related programmes in school and ensure that they are connected to companies in the sector after school. Others should also be encouraged to study such courses at the tertiary level. This will reduce the unemployment rate in the country which analysts say has reached frightening levels. Scholarship packages should be given to students to study oil and gas related courses and absorbed by the companies after their course of study. More IT experts must be encouraged to take up jobs in the sector as well.

Transparency on how oil cash is expended

There should also be transparency on how revenue generated from the sector is expended. For this to be successful, there is however the need for the passage of the Right to Information Bill. This would make access to information easy to bring to book corrupt companies who could either face sanctions or have their licenses revoked.

Reversing Ageing

Injecting blood from young people into old mice improves the mice’s brain power and leads to increased physical activity, according to new research. The finding could lead to breakthroughs for people suffering from degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

The findings, which have yet to be peer-reviewed, were presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego, California on Monday, the New Scientist reports.

Researchers from anti-ageing research company Alkahest took blood samples from 18-year-old humans and injected the plasma into 12-month-old mice twice a week for three weeks.

A one-year-old mouse is roughly equivalent to a 50-year-old human, and by that age mice have already started to show signs of ageing such as deteriorating memory and being less physically active.

When injected with human plasma, the old mice began to behave like younger mice, running around in open spaces. Their memory also showed improvements when tested in a special maze that measures spatial learning and memory.

The elixir of youth appears to be in the blood plasma. A previous study had involved surgically conjoining young mice with old mice so that they shared a blood supply for several weeks. Older mice received the younger one’s blood and vice versa.

Old mice that received young blood experienced a boom in the growth of brain cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a key role in memory. Meanwhile, receiving old blood had the opposite effect on the brains of young mice.

When researchers at Alkahest examined the effect on the mice’s brains after receiving human blood they also found evidence of new cells being created in the hippocampus.

The team believes that the young plasma appears to be the key factor in reversing the effects of ageing and says their method has the potential to be developed into a treatment for human patients. A trial is already underway with people suffering from Alzheimer’s.

“There’s anecdotal evidence that people experience benefits after blood transfusions,” Sakura Minami, a neuroscientist with the company, told New Scientist.