CANCER: Eating Contaminated Maize and Groundnuts Can Cause It

Kwaku Agyeman Manu

By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/ Florence Afriyie Mensah

Scientists are warning against high level consumption of contaminated maize and groundnuts, saying, that could lead to liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma).

People who ate such foods they indicated tended to have more aflatoxins in their blood and stood a higher risk of developing the cancer.

Aflatoxins are known to contribute to diseases like immune-suppression, Kwashiorkor, impairment of liver function and reduced growth rate in humans and animals.  

The warning followed a collaborative research carried out by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Professors William Otoo Ellis and Richard T. Awuah of the KNUST and Prof Pauline Jolly of the University of Alabama, led the study.

It identified the presence of aflatoxins in most Ghanaian staple foods - maize, millet, sorghum, groundnut and rice.

The disturbing revelation was that many of the people had neither heard of aflatoxins nor its harmful effects, something which is deeply worrying considering the fact that aflatoxins are natural occurring toxins found in the staple foods.

The study was titled “Association between aflatoxin B1 Albumin Adducts in Plasma and Health Characteristics, Liver function, Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and Malaria in Ghanaians”.

Its findings were published in the 2015 Research Report of the KNUST.

The scientists explored the determinants of aflatoxin levels in the people and considered socio-demographic factors, public knowledge of aflatoxins, food handling as well as consumption practices.

The study established that toxins found in aflatoxins are relatively stable and not destroyed by processing.

The extensive research work on aflatoxins has resulted in the selection of the laboratory of the Department of Food Science and Technology as one of the research laboratories under the “Feed the Future’s Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab”, sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Editorial

ELECTIONS AND PROMISES

All over the world, many politicians make election promises they knew they can’t keep just to win more votes.

The problem with this practice is that in the long run it erodes the confidence of the people in the political establishment and creates favourable grounds for all kinds of adventurism.

In the last elections, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made what some regarded as too many promises.

It is interesting that even after the election, Nana Akuffo-Addo, the President insists that all the promises will be kept.

We really hope that the promises will be kept at the very least to give some credibility to politicians and the political process.

We wish His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo well and may he keep all his promises to the people of Ghana.

 CADRES SUPPORT NEW GOVERNMENT

President Nana Akufo Addo

By Samuel Akapule,

The Upper East branch of the United Cadres Front (UCF), has appealed to Ghanaians to support the new government, to enable it implement its policies and programmes in order to improve upon the lot of Ghanaians.

The Cadres made the appeal in a release issued by the Regional Chairman, Mr Alagskomah Asakeya Noble and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga.

Whilst congratulating President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on winning the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections, the UCF paid tribute to former President John Dramani Mahama for his show of nationalism and patriotism by conceding defeat in the election.

It urged the new administration to work hard and deliver on its campaign promises, to help improve upon the living condition of the people, saying “the expectations of Ghanaians are high”.

The UCF called on the new administration to ensure that it paid special attention to the implementation of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) by resourcing it adequately to deliver efficiently on its core mandate.

It cautioned the New Patriotic Party Administration not to rush in changing the SADA to Northern Development Authority (NDA) as planned.

“Cadres believe that a lot of work and resources went into that project and more importantly the CEO, Dr Charles Abugre and his colleagues are in full possession of their faculties.

“No attempt should, therefore, be made to overhaul SADA now but rather to give SADA adequate resources to be able to deliver its mandate per the Act.”

It said the consequences of changing SADA now could not be underestimated and added that the change would have serious financial implications to the taxpayer.

The release said SADA had its new management just reconstituted.

They urged the new administration to work towards the maintenance of the current peace and tranquility the country was enjoying in order to attract more foreign investors.

The Cadres also reminded all public office holders that Probity, Accountability and Transparency were still as relevant as they were 35 years ago and should, therefore, remain the watchwords of all duty bearers since one day they would be either individually or collectively called upon to account for their stewardship.

The UCF proposed that in order to forestall future post-election violence, a stakeholders’ conference comprising Traditional Authorities, the Interparty Advisory Committee, Representatives from the Religious Bodies, the National Peace Council, Civil Society Organisations, Party Executives at all levels, Assembly Members, Youth Groups, Associations of Persons with Disabilities should be held as quickly as possible to address the perennial post-election violence.

More than 111,000 tourists visited Elmina/Cape Coast castles in 2016

Elizabeth Ofosu Ajare, former Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts

By Afedzi Abdullah

The Cape Coast and Elmina castles recorded a total of 111,297 foreign and local tourists from January to December last year as against 105,423 in 2015, an increase of 5,874.

The Cape Coast Castle recorded a total of 70,326 tourists last year as against 61,532 in 2015, an increase of 8,794 while the Elmina Castle received 40,971 tourists as against 43,891 in 2015.

The number of domestic tourists who visited the two castles increased to 87,655 in 2016 from 82,521 in 2015.

The number of foreign tourist also increased slightly from 22,827 in 2015 to 23,639 in 2016.

Mrs Martha Krah, the Assistant Administrative Secretary at the Cape Coast Castle, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said 9,525 of last year’s figure were foreign students, 1,702 foreign children whiles 12,412 were adults.

She said 39,888 Ghanaian children also visited the two castles.

The hitherto large numbers of foreign tourists who visited the Cape Coast Castle over the years was largely affected by the Ebola scare in 2015 but the situation had not changed much after the scare abated in 2016.

The Elmina Castle recorded a marginal increase of foreign tourists from 10,778 in 2015 to 11,206 last year.

This is despite the construction of the Benya Bridge at Elmina that leads to the Elmina Castle.

The construction works on the bridge also meant that tourists had to use the long distance Ataabadze road which, apart from its distance, was also in a very deplorable state compelling most tourists to walk to the castle.

A total of 458 VIPs also visited the castles last year as against 386 the previous year.

Though domestic tourism had increased slightly over the years, school children continued to be the major patrons with very little interest from adults.

Mrs Krah said Ghanaian adults were charged Gh¢5.00, foreign adults paid Gh¢40.00 and non-Ghanaian students with ID cards paid Gh¢30.00.

She said non-Ghanaian children paid GH¢5.00 and Ghanaian students in the primary and junior high school were charged GH¢1.00 each while senior high school students paid GH¢2.00 and tertiary students with ID cards paid GH¢3.00.

She, however, could not disclose the total revenue accrued from the visits but expressed the optimism that if the number of visitors continued to increase, it would benefit the Ghana Monuments and Museums Board and the nation at large.

Though pleased with the patronage of the facility, she appealed to Ghanaians to show interest in domestic tourism by visiting the tourist sites to have firsthand information on the slave trade.

GNA

Namibian Tribes Sue Germany Over 'Forgotten Genocide'

A victim of German genocide in Namibia

Descendants of two indigenous groups in Namibia have filed a lawsuit against the German government, seeking compensation for Imperial Germany's systematic campaign of genocide in the region that led to the deaths of 100,000 Herero and Namaquait people between 1904 and 1907.

The German authorities turned a blind eye to rapes by colonists of Herero and Nama women and girls during their occupation of the region.

The suit was filed by US-based non-profit groups the Association of the Ovaherero Genocide and the Nama Traditional Authorities Association. Vekuii Rukoro, chief of the Ovaherero people, is also named as a plaintiff.

Germany and Namibia have for many years discussed the prospect of Germany recognizing the genocide, but Berlin has so far refused to do so, much less pay reparations.

The dispute relates to Imperial Germany's management of what was then South West Africa, which today is known as Namibia. The territory was granted to Germany in the 1884-85 Berlin Conference, and marked the young country's first foray into overseas imperialism. Around a quarter of lands belonging to the Ovaherero and Nama tribes were taken without compensation by German settlers, with the explicit aim of creating German colonies.

In 1904, the Herero and Nama people rebelled against the brutal colonial authorities. German General Lothar von Trotha said in a letter that the appropriate response was to "annihilate" the nation, or "if this was not possible by tactical measures, have them expelled from the country."

In the subsequent Battle of Waterberg, German military forces pushed many Herero and Nama fighters into the Omaheke Desert. The German military then constructed a 200-mile fence around the fighters, locking them in a highly arid environment in which they quickly died of dehydration. Remaining Hereros were rounded up and placed in concentration camps, where they were used as slave labour, and even experiment upon.

​By 1908, 45% of the prisoners had died. The camps were eventually closed, and survivors were sold as slaves to German farmers. Estimates suggest only 15,000 Hereros in South-West Africa survived the campaign. A 1985 United Nations report referred to the events as "the 20th century's first genocide."

According to the complaint, Germany has excluded plaintiffs from talks with Namibia regarding what occurred, and publicly said any settlement will not include reparations to victims, even if compensation is awarded to Namibia itself. 

"There is no assurance that any of the proposed foreign aid by Germany will actually reach or assist the minority indigenous communities that were directly harmed. There can be no negotiations or settlement about them that is made without them," said the plaintiffs' lawyer Ken McCallion in a statement. 

In June 2016, a Turkish MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party introduced a bill to parliament that sought to recognise the genocide, in response to Germany's recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.

"First you need to answer for the Holocaust, then for the murder of 100,000 people in Namibia," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reported to have said.

WHO WANTS TO CRUSH VENEZUELA?

Nicholas Maduro

The Parliament of Venezuela has deprived President Nicolas Maduro of presidential powers illegally, similarly to the Ukrainian scenario. Not that long ago, outgoing US President Barack Obama declared Venezuela "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." It was a difficult year for Maduro, but he could cope with many problems, even though you will not be able to read anything about it in Western publications. 

How the Venezuelan economy works 

Before leaving the White House, Barack Obama does his best to harm as many countries as possible. On Monday, he cracked down on Venezuela. Venezuela is ruled by Chavistas - ideological heirs of Hugo Chavez, the founder of "socialism of the XXI century," which stipulates for  the consolidation of extracted fuel in the hands of the state before its equitable distribution. The essence of this system is as follows: no one is too rich, and there is no poverty either. The state finances health, education and subsidises producers of goods and services. The things that cost too much in the West are cheap in Venezuela.

In Venezuela, gasoline, even today, has the cheapest price in the world: a liter costs 1 cent in US dollars, according to Global Petrol Price. In Colombia, it costs 72 cents, which leads to speculative trade. The Bolivarian socialism can not be built in a separate country, if the border is open. This is the main disadvantage of the system, because the difference in prices leads to the creation of a huge black market, including the currency one. In Venezuela, there is a shortage of everything, but people have everything they need at the same time: they have food in their fridges and they receive apartments, cars, etc from the state. 

The crisis put economic model of Hugo Chavez on the brink of disaster 

The collapsed oil prices have aggravated the state of affairs in the Venezuelan economy, as oil is the main export product of the country that brings most of currency to the budget. In the wake of the snowballing inflation rate, accelerated with money-printing for social programs, the neoliberal opposition of Venezuela won the legislative elections in December 2015 and took control of the parliament. In January 2016, opposition leader Henry Ramos announced that he would remove Maduro from power within six months. 

Dilma Rouseff

Ramos was of course inspired by the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff's impeachment would have never been possible if the CIA had not taken active part in it. However, the Constitution of Venezuela does not provide for the removal of president from power through parliamentary impeachment. Ramos took up a referendum, but the Supreme Court did not approve the collected signatures to initiate the procedure. Maduro remained standing even when neoliberals arranged another attack - "removal from office." 

"How does this guy (Ramos) want to arrange the coup?" the head of Libertador municipality of Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez, a Chavista, wondered. "The statement about the removal from office is a verbal crime. His actions have killed 43 people [victims of riots in the autumn of 2016]," he added. 

Nicolas Maduro's success in 2016 

As we can see, 2016 was an extremely difficult year for Venezuela politically, but the country achieved certain economic progress at the same time. Maduro overcame the energy crisis associated with poor water supplies at El Guri hydroelectric power plant that accounts for 80 percent of generated electricity. An austerity program was introduced; outdated lamps and air conditioners were replaced with latest models. The subsidy assistance program was revised to support distressed consumers instead of producers; all others started buying goods and services on the market. Maduro managed to preserve the social security system: Venezuela spends 71.4 percent of the national budget on social programs. This is a world record, because no other country in the world dedicates nearly three-quarters of its budget to social investments.

A fundamental achievement, which also received no media attention in the West, was made for pensioners receiving old-age pensions. In 2016, their percentage reached 90 percent (16 percent in 1999). The construction of social housing continued: 359,000 apartments and houses (viviendas) were built as free property to the Venezuelans. La Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV) programme has yielded about 1.5 million social apartments in six years. Hospitals and schools were also built. Medical schools prepared 27,000 new doctors on a budgetary basis in 2016. The government purchased grain from Russia to solve the problem of grain shortage inside the country. 

Who writes about all these achievements? No one. On the contrary, Western media demonise Maduro's regime executing Washington's task to overthrow him. At the same time, mass media of the West praise the neighbouring Colombia, the economy of which remains in a more deplorable state than that of Venezuela (six million refugees from Colombia live in Venezuela).

The success of the Colombian government about the agreement concluded with FARC guerrillas is hailed as a success of a genuine democracy, even though this success exists only on paper. Food stores are full in Colombia, but children die in the streets from hunger. The country has no pension security, and drug crimes are rampant. 

To make the situation in Venezuela more unstable, the West tries to destabilise the financial system."The withdrawal of the bolivar from the liquidity market is worth 300 billion - the US Treasury Department ordered to withdraw that money with the help of non-governmental organisations to strangle the national financial system and leave our country moneyless," Venezuela's Minister for Internal Affairs, Nestor Reverol said. To prevent shadow cash turnover, Maduro decided to withdraw the bill of 100 bolivars to combat terrorism and crime. Noteworthy, Nareandra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, resorted to the same method, but can you read about  such a positive experience in Western media? 

President Nicholas Maduro stands in front of a portrait of  Hugo Chavez with a clenched fist

Why does the West want to crush Venezuela and remove Nicolas Maduro from power? In Colombia, all the wealth (coffee plantations, minerals, drug production and drug trafficking) has long been divided between American corporations, mobsters and local landowners. In Venezuela, though, there is still a lot of state-owned property that can be privatised. First of all, it goes about the oil industry and  millions of square meters of social housing. If neoliberals win in Venezuela, the lives of ordinary citizens will only worsen. Do people of the young generation of Hugo Chavez understand this?

The inflation rate will grow along with the level of crime, corruption and depression. The trend will continue during Trump's stay in the office, because American capital is always aggressive. American capital always absorbs economies of other countries that, as we know, can be successful when they have protectionist economies (Singapore, South Korea, and China). All leftist governments in Latin America try to maintain and use national resources for the benefit of their peoples. Yet, the USA knows its "backyard" very well. Let's see if the people of Venezuela are wise enough to know the USA. 

Maduro is not Yanukovych

On Sunday, President Maduro announced the establishment of special forces to struggle against potential putschists. These forces - Comando Antigolpe - will involve armed forces, police, central government and all revolutionary forces with Vice-President Tarek El Aissami in command, EFE wrote. The forces will take "preventive legal measures against all conspirators and terrorists inside the country to prevent the overthrow of the legitimate government, riots and chaos. Any revolution is worth it only when it can protect itself. 

Lyuba Lulko (Stepushova)

Pravda.Ru