MORE TAXES: Some Civil Society Groups Say it is The Way Forward

President Nana Akufo Addo

By Mercy Hededzome

A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations from the Northern Sahara Ecological Zone (NSEZ) have called for the imposition of levies on all non-petroleum imports as one of the surest means of mobilizing the needed resource for the one million dollar per constituency promise of the New Patriotic Party in the 2016 elections.

According to the group, the imposition of such levies will also help finance development programmes in the Northern Sahara zone and alleviate the shocking poverty spread among the people of the area.

It has also called on the newly elected government led by President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, to respect the SADA law passed by parliament in 2010 by making budgetary allocation of at least Ghc 54 million to SADA in its first budget statement.

The group also revealed that the NPP administration under Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2008, secured a loan facility of US$ 500million (US dollars) for the construction of two strategic and life-transforming development projects in the northern savannah area namely the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam in the Upper East Region and another in Juale in the Northern Region.

The construction of the two dams, Bismark Ayorogo, Executive Secretary of the coalition said, was aimed at boosting Ghana’s agriculture and for the improvement of the livelihood of farmers who formed the backbone and ensured the food security of the country.

The coalition argued that although the loan was received by the Ghanaian government in 2009, the construction of the dams didn’t take place. They therefore called on the Akufo Addo led government to probe the matter in demonstration of his leadership of transparency and accountability and recover all monies that may have been lost to the state.

In a separate development, the Coalition condemned the illegal seizure and occupation of the SADA Headquarters by people he described as “hooligans” purported to be members of the New Patriotic Party on the 6^th of February 2017 and called on the Police to “arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of this act” and urged the New Patriotic Party to call the members of the party involved in similar cases of vandalism across the country to order.

Editorial

MORE TAXES?

That the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in power today is not a flipping accident of history.

It is because the people of Ghana voted for it as a demonstration of their preference for a party whose philosophy is anchored on “Property Owning Democracy”.

We believe that the promises made by the party went a very long way to influence the people of Ghana to vote for it.

One of the promises made by the NPP in the 2016 election was that it would significantly reduce taxes.

It is now clear that, the promise was not realistic and that the NPP cannot and should not be expected to significantly reduce taxes at least in the short run.

We can understand this but the people of Ghana have every right to be very angry if the NPP imposes new taxes.

If the Government cannot reduce taxes immediately, we can live with that but they should not push Ghanaians too far by imposing more taxes on an over taxed population.

A word to the wise can sometimes be enough!

NGGA Inaugurates Women In Agriculture Platforms

By Prosper K. Kuorsoh

Three out of six Women in Agriculture District Platforms have been inaugurated in Nadowli, Jirapa and Nandom Districts of the Upper West Region with a call on members to rise up and advocate the improvement of agriculture in their districts.

The platforms are formed under the Northern Ghana Governance Activity (NGGA) which is a five-year initiative being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ghana.

The project is targeted at 28 districts in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions with CARE International Ghana, Action Aid Ghana, SEND Ghana and the West Africa

Network for Peace-building (WANEP-Ghana) serving as the implementing partners.

Madam Ruby Wuni, NGGA Women in Agriculture Coordinator called on members to rise up and advocate the improvement of agriculture in their districts.

She cited lack of access to inputs, farm land and reliable agriculture information as some of the challenges that confronted women in agriculture.

Madam Ruby said the negligence of women at decision making levels explained the importance of the NGGA which would put all women in agriculture in the three beneficiary regions on a common platform to give them a stronger voice that would enable them to articulate their views in agriculture.

Mr Malik Gbene, NGGA Monitoring and Evaluation Officer said the project’s primary focus was on agriculture and would seek to partner with the District Assemblies, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and other NGOs in the sector in order to turn around the dwindling fortunes of agriculture in the three selected regions.

He said the essence of the NGGA was to establish strong and vibrant platforms of women in agriculture at the district and regional levels that would serve as platforms for active participation in local governance and also to ensure gender responsiveness in district agricultural policies and programmes.

Mr Gbene said it would also help build the capacity of women networks to empower them to effectively engage government authorities and other agriculture sector actors for improved livelihoods and food security.

He added that the platforms would also facilitate the incorporation of gender issues into district Assembly annual and medium term development plans and budgets.

IAEA ENCOURAGES GHANA

By Christabel Addo

Ghana has already completed a significant number of studies involved in the development of its nuclear power infrastructure, but must finalise key analyses on its energy and the grid.

These observation was included in the conclusions of the holistic peer review of the 19 nuclear power infrastructure issues required in the development of the country’s Nuclear Power Programme (NPP), by the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The INIR team, comprising of international experts from Germany, Morocco, the United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as IAEA staff, at the conclusion of its eight-mission in Ghana, admitted that considerable progress in the development of the require nuclear power infrastructure had been made.

These they said included the establishment of the effective mechanisms to involve a wide range of national stakeholders in the relevant activities, as well as the establishment of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation, to coordinate all the governmental activities prepared to make an informed, long-term commitment to developing an NPP.

The INIR team encouraged the country to complete all impending studies including the update of the national energy planning projections on schedule, to enable government to make a knowledgeable decision on a nuclear power programme.

It said analysis of the feasibility of incorporating an NPP into the national and the West African electric grid must also be completed, while ensuring the identification of candidate sites, and making available appropriate resources to complete all the remaining activities.

It also stressed on the need for further assessment of the legal framework to ensure its adequacy for nuclear power, while ensuring the preparation for an early commencement of its second Phase activities including discussions with vendors and their potential partners.

The INIR team suggested that a swift analysis and development of a broader range of options for financing, nuclear fuel cycle and industrial involvement in order to be well informed during discussions with vendors and other potential partners.

It further suggested that in the contest of these options, there was the need to strengthen the national human resource strategy for the NPP, and develop a structured stakeholder engagement plan while continuing to implement its short term activities.

Professor Benjamin J. B. Nyarko, the Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, welcomed the outcome of the INIR mission, giving the assurance that Ghana remained committed to the step-by-step development of its nuclear power programme, and would take earnest steps to address the identified gaps.      

The INIR mission, which is a service provided by the IAEA, was upon an official request made by the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), acting on behalf of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO), to review the status of the development of the country’s 19 nuclear power infrastructure issues.

The results of the INIR mission are expected to help the Member State to develop an action plan to fill any gaps, which would in turn help the development of the national nuclear infrastructure.

Missing Numbers In Ghana’s Election 2016

Charlotte Osei, Ghana's Electoral Commissioner

By Alexander Afram and Kafui Tsekpo

Ghana’s national election in 2016 was hailed as a success. It was the seventh poll since the birth of the Fourth Republic in 1992. But according to the results, nearly 5 million voters did not turn up to cast their ballots. What accounted for this situation? Voter apathy or there was a problem with the voters roll?

Introduction

Elections are a test of a country's democratic robustness and offer the citizenry an opportunity to participate in the selection of local and national leaders. In Africa, elections have in some cases been characterised by suppression of opposing parties through intimidation, puffed electoral rolls, opaque electoral processes, rigging and instances of vote buying by contending parties. This has resulted in post-election violence in many African countries - recent examples can be cited in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo. Moreover, in some cases this resulted in situations of power-sharing governments - such as in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Another uncertainty that mars African elections is the possibility of incumbents failing to concede defeat and handover power should they lose the elections, or incumbents circumventing the constitution to stay in power beyond the constitutional term limits. The sum total of these multiple factors has culminated into cases of post-election violence and heightened confrontations in many African countries, which sometimes require international mediation from within and without Africa. Immediate reference can be made to the recent post-election impasse in The Gambia, in which incumbent Yahya Jammeh a few days after conceding defeat made a u-turn to say that the election was rigged and declared the results null and void. It should be noted that, there are no perfect electoral registers or elections mechanism anywhere in the world.

However, it is not all dark and gloomy for African democracy as some countries like Botswana, South Africa and Ghana present real hope for the future of competitive democracy in Africa. In the case of Ghana, very significant strides have been chalked in democratic practice, having conducted relatively free and fair elections, including the 2016 general elections and producing three turnovers. These notwithstanding there have been claims and counterclaims of irregularities and malpractices in the electioneering processes. Topmost of these allegations in the lead up to the 2016 election was a bloat of the voters register. Analysts have argued that the turnout of 68.62% was quite disappointing considering the euphoria preceding the elections and the fact that nearly 5 million voters failed to cast their ballot. In addition, this is largely being attributed to either the register being stuffed with names of unqualified persons or people just did not vote. This analysis looks further into both arguments and draws conclusions based on supportive evidence.

Electoral register and voter turnout in the Diaspora

The processes governing elections determine the validity and acceptability of the election outcome. One of the key variables in ensuring elections are fair and the outcomes reflect the will of the people is the electoral roll. Credibility of the register comes from institutionalised mechanisms that allow only qualified voters to have their names in the voters register. In almost every country around the world, the minimum qualification age for voting is 18 years. It is therefore quite straightforward to forecast the percentage of the population who should appear on the electoral roll, given a country's population census and demographic profile.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015), the top 5 ranked democracies in Africa are Botswana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ghana and Tunisia. In these democracies, the average number of people registered to vote barely exceeds 50% of national populations. In Ghana, the situation is different - it has the highest percentage of the population - 55% on the electoral role. For instance, in South Africa, 26,333,353 representing about 47% of its approximately 55.9 million population are registered voters. Whereas, the World Population Review estimates Botswana's population to be 2,308,524 in 2016 (annual growth rate 1.73), out of this figure 824,073 (36%) appeared on the electoral roll for the last elections in 2014.

Election turnout in Ghana 1992 to 2016

Ghana has conducted seven successive elections since 1992 when it ushered in the Fourth Republic. Turnout at these elections has been encouraging with average of about 71% of all eligible and registered voters voting. Specifically, the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 elections registered a total voter turnout of 53.75%, 78.20%, 60.40%, 85.10%, 72.90%, 79% and 68.62% respectively. The highest voter turnout in Ghana since 1992 was the 2004 general elections when 8,813,908 of 10,354,970 registered voters, representing 85%, cast their ballot. So, generally, Ghana has had considerably high voter turnout for all but 1992 and 2000 election.

It is therefore premature to think that the 2016 election recorded relatively low turn because Ghanaian voters have grown tangential to political activism, including voting in presidential elections. At best, the argument of voter apathy may account for just a fraction of a rather bigger issue. The following table gives a summary of voter turnout against registered voters from 1992 to 2016.

Voter turnout in the Fourth Republic (1992-2016)

Year	Registered voters	Total votes cast	Gap	Voter turnout (%)
1992	7,401,370	3,978,070	3,423,300	54
1996	9,279,606	7,256,582	2,023,024	78
2000	10,698,652	6,459,003	4,239,649	60
2004	10,354,970	8,813,908	1,541,062	85
2008	12,472,758	9,094,364	3,378,394	73
2012	14,158,890	11,246,982	2,911,908	79
2016	15,712,499	10,781,609	4,930,890	69

Apathy or a bloated register?

People's decision to vote in elections may be influenced by several factors. In Ghana's 2016 elections, there were concerns about the turnout which many considered as low, considering the massive number (4,930,890 million) that failed to cast their ballot on polling day. A number of competing explanations have been put forward to account for this. The first possible explanation is voter apathy. In other words people have grown discontent with the political system and have decided to withdraw their participation to register their fatigue and anxiety.

Voter apathy mainly occurs when voters are required to vote too often or the electorate feel disengaged, or both. The former is less likely in the Ghanaian situation since elections are called not too frequently on a national scale. The latter makes a lot of sense considering the enormity of socioeconomic challenges faced by the outgoing government and the subsequent public outcry for change. However, voter apathy may work best in a scenario where the electorate have no alternative candidate to vote for and where they will have only one candidate to endorse. In that case, people may simply decide not to vote if they feel the government will not work to serve their interest. In the case of Ghana, where multiple candidates contest the elections and where all have a fair chance of winning, dissatisfaction or disengagement of the previous administration is likely to serve as an incentive for people to come out in their numbers to vote out the perceived non-performing government. It therefore weakens the argument that disengagement from government may have angered the electorate from voting. We must look further in our attempt to trace source of this voter absenteeism.

The next possible explanation is electoral fraud. The issue of vote rigging or what we term as ‘paper vote’ – the illegal interference with the polling process to increase the vote share of a favoured candidate and reduce that of the rival candidates, or both - could account for the huge gap in the figures of 2012 and 2016. This is made possible due to a probable bloated electoral roll that made it seem like more people did not vote, though in reality, turnout was not low. To think that an election has received low turnout, we must first compare eligible and registered voters to the actual number that turned out to vote. In 2016, there were 15,712,499 people on Ghana's electoral register. Out of this, 10,781,609 in 271 of 275 [1][1] constituencies voted on Election Day December 7, 2016, representing 68.62% of registered voters.

It is important to draw attention to the fact that this voter population of 15,712,499 is largely based on the 2010 population and housing census which reported Ghana's population as at September 16, 2010  as 24,658,823 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012). This register was also used for the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections. In 2012, the voter population was 14,158,890 out of which 11,246,982 voted, representing 79% voter turnout. The 2012 elections also recorded the second highest turnout in the history of elections under the Fourth Republic. Figure 1 gives a visual impression of registered voters versus voter turnout from 1992 to date. From this, while registered voters continue rising, voter turnout has generally been inconsistent with a peak in 2012, after which it has taken a nosedive.

Figure 1: registered voters versus voter turnout 1992-2016

So why is there a 10% gap in voter turnout between 2012 and 2016 elections. Multiple answers are possible. One school of thought is that some voters have grown indifferent to politicians in Ghana and decided to withdraw from voting in 2016. Nevertheless, as explained earlier, it is difficult to sustain this argument generally without concrete proof in an open democracy like ours, as dissatisfied voters are more likely to vote against the non-performing government than to refrain from voting. Additionally, there are some individuals and groups in Ghana who register merely to have access to the voter's identification card for private uses such as opening a bank account among others. Typical example is the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW). They have their names in the voters register yet their belief bars them from voting; so definitely they are part of the absentee voters. However, the JWs have been on the electoral roll since 1992 without voting, therefore, we cannot simply ascribe this turnout difference to them even though they might definitely be part of it, perhaps marginally.

Another school of thought explaining the 10% shortfall in 2016 turnout is a possible tightening of the Electoral Commission's voting procedures and improved checks and balances. This might have prevented the possibilities of double and/or over-voting from occurring substantially which could have swelled the turnout figures. While this may be a problematic argument, the overall improvement in the 2016 voting and results tallying procedures over that of 2012 cannot be denied. 

Critics have argued that Ghana's voters register relative to its current population is on the high side, given the voter population as a percentage of total adult population. In 2010, Ghana had a population of 24,658,823 with average annual growth rate estimate of 2.3%, putting the estimated total population in 2016 at about 28,263,513. With this, 55.60% of the current estimated total population are registered voters in Ghana. This is relatively high given the indicative adult population (18+) of 13,632,299 in the 2010 census. Judging from the 2010 census, the adult population was 55.28%. At an annual average growth rate of 2.3%, the eligible voter population is estimated to be in the region of 15,625,103 as at  2016, which translates into 0.56% less than the current number of eligible voters on the electoral register. This means the current voters register is 100.56% of the estimated current adult population, or there are 0.56% more persons on the voters register assuming the voter register has all eligible adults on it. This suggests that all eligible voters in Ghana are registered on the electoral roll, a fact that is rare.

Two factors are likely to account for this: First, it should be noted that the possible blowing up of the register may be traced to its original compilation in 2012. Second, the 2010 housing and population census was fraught with numerous administrative and enumeration challenges capable of affecting the final figures.

In 2012, 14,158,890 were registered to vote, representing 54.87% of the 2012 estimated total population of 25,806,173, and 99.25% of the estimated adult population of 14, 265,652. Elsewhere in Africa, electoral rolls hardly exceed 50% of total population and 80% of the adult population. For instance, in South Africa, with a relatively higher adult population than Ghana, the voters register, as a percentage of total population, is 47%. In Botswana, 36% of its population are on the electoral register representing 77% of eligible adult or voter population.

Comparison of votes gained or lost by NDC and NPP, 2012 and 2016

Region	NDC		Change in NDC votes 2012-2016	NPP		Change in NPP votes 2012-2016
	2012	2016		2012	2016
Ashanti	612,616	503,368	-109,248	1,531,152	1,642,288	111,136
Brong Ahafo	511,244	442,789	-68,455	469,909	531,147	61,238
Central	492,374	403,199	-89,175	430,135	494,473	64,338
Eastern	485,187	355,798	-129,389	641,074	626,893	-14,181
Greater Accra	1,125,751	912,216	-213,535	1,009,787	988,844	-20,943
Northern	570,602	569,123	-1,479	383,263	424,108	40,845
Upper East	274,019	272,260	-1,759	120,814	157,398	36,584
Upper West	186,134	167,483	-18,651	83,098	102,483	19,385
Western	582,193	455,838	-126,355	468,517	526,159	57,642
Volta	734,641	613,205	-121,436	111,149	133,349	22,200
Total	5,574,761	4,695,279	-879,482	5,248,898	5,627,142	378,244

Generally, the 2016 elections recorded low numbers across all the regions for the two major political parties (NPP and NDC) when compared with their recorded figures for the 2012 general elections. However, while the NDC had net losses in all the ten regions in the 2016 elections, the NPP recorded modest gains in their votes across all the regions but Greater Accra and Eastern regions. The loss in NDC votes in the regions especially Brong Ahafo, Western, Central, Upper East and Upper West regions can conveniently be traced to the likelihood of floating voters. This is because, in these regions, as the NDC loses votes the NPP gains in similar proportions. For example in the Brong Ahafo region, the NDC lost 68,455 votes in 2016 compared with 2012 figures, while the NPP gained 61,238 in 2016 from 2012. Similarly, in the Upper West Region, NDC lost 18,651 votes in 2016 while the NPP gained 19,385 additional votes in 2016 from the 2012 figures. Again, in the Ashanti region, as the NDC lost 109,248 votes in 2016, their NPP counterpart got additional 111,136 votes in 2016. Operating on the assumption that majority of the people who voted in 2012 are the same people who voted in 2016, we can largely attribute the loss in NDC votes in these regions to the gains in NPP votes in those regions.

However, there is an interesting twist to this given the voter numbers in the Western, Eastern, Northern, Volta and Greater Accra where the NDC lost heavily. Figures suggest the defeat of the NDC did not significantly reflect in the votes gained by the NPP. In the Eastern and Greater Accra regions, for instance, the NPP also lost votes in 2016. A number of competing explanations can be put forward in attempting to account for the missing voters in 2016, particularly the close to one million votes that the NDC lost between 2012 and 2016. The first plausible explanation is apathy in NDC strongholds, ghost names (dead, foreigners, double registration) or tightening of th electoral process that prevented rigging.

In democracies, voting during elections is one way to measure political participation and gives a signal of the public's approval and support or otherwise specifically of the government of the day, but more generally of the system of governance. Voter apathy or eligible voters not coming out to vote on Election Day is a regressive revolt against the broader interest and aspirations of democracy. It is also signals that people are voting with their feet to register their discontent with government and the general direction of governance of their country. The lack of interest among eligible voters to come out and cast their votes especially in the strong-hold of the NDC and the swing regions was as a result of the perceived lack of development in the region or poor living conditions. A party in government has the enormous responsibility of ensuring that development is equitably distributed across the country. However, if a region or group feels they don’t have their fair share of the development projects, they tend to vote against the ruling party.

The effect of this is twofold: First, people will not turn out to vote at all, and second, the ruling party (in this case the NDC)  is more likely to have lost more votes as a result of voter apathy than the NPP. From the above data, it can be argued that the NDC lost the 2016 elections because of apathy in its strongholds, especially the Volta Region where the party lost 121,436 votes in 2016. What makes this important to probe further is the fact that the loss of votes by the NDC in the Volta region did not translate into gains for the NPP. Thus, it is tempting to conclude that potential NDC voters just decided not to vote because they were dissatisfied with the performance of the NDC government. At the same time, while they failed to vote massively for the NDC, they did not also vote for the NPP.

For instance in the Ketu South constituency, the NDC got 81,880 votes in 2012 but that figure was slashed to 50,648 in 2016 representing 38% lost between the two elections. Yet, the over 30,000 people in the Ketu South who did not vote for the NDC did not vote for the NPP either. The NPP got 5,165 and 5,885 votes in 2012 and 2016 respectively. Similar thing occurred in Ho Central constituency where the NDC got 62,363 votes in 2012 but that figure was reduced to only 24,363 in 2016.

This relates to two of the proposed explanations to the missing vote - either those voters genuinely exist but failed to vote in 2016 as a sign of dissatisfaction with the government's performance, or they are ghost names or foreigners who could not find their way into the ballot box in 2016 due to the strengthening of the electoral processes. Whatever the true cause, such significant reduction in votes in a four-year period should be a source of worry to the NDC party considering the high approval rating the party has enjoyed in Volta Region generally and specific constituencies like the Ketu South since 1992.  

However, the NDC did not only lose significant votes in the Volta Region but also in other regions such as Greater Accra, Western and Ashanti. Even the NDC lost more votes in the Western and Greater Accra than the Volta Region.  Though the NPP also lost about 20,000 votes in the Greater Accra region in 2016, the NDC lost over 213,000 votes in Greater Accra. Those voters did not necessarily vote for the NPP or other smaller parties. Again, in the Western Region the NDC lost over 126,000 votes in 2016 while the NPP got additional 57,000 votes. Whichever way you look at it, some votes in 2016 still remain unaccounted for from the 2012 turnout figures. An isolated reason which is very often not considered in such analysis is death - though there is little statistical data on the death rate in Ghana to buttress this point. 

Conclusion

The 2016 general elections has by far been one of the fairest elections in Ghana since 1992. This can largely be attributed to the reforms instituted by the Electoral Commission before the elections. The results of the elections suggest about five million voters did not turn out to vote, a phenomenon which suggest some form of anomaly occurred during the compilation of the electoral register. However, the number of registered voters as a percentage of the adult population +18 is not very abnormal compared to other democracies on the continent. In other words, although there are challenges with the electoral register in Ghana, it is premature to narrow the challenge to a bloated register, especially as Ghana has a challenge with data generation or gathering.

However, from the foregoing analysis, it is suggestive the nearly five million voters who did not vote on Election Day can be accounted for by apathy and electoral fraud such as cases of multiple registration.

[The authors acknowledge Mr Tony Dogbe, Principal Consultant, PDA, and Mr Clement Sefa-Nyarko Research Manager, PDA, for providing useful information and comments on earlier drafts of this article.]

* Alexander Afram is Assistant Program Coordinator – Research and Kafui Tsekpo is Coordinator Advocacy and Communications at Participatory Development, a social development enterprise with over 15 years of organisational experience in research, facilitation, organisational development, policy analysis and advocacy.

References

GSS (2012). 2010 Population and Housing Census Final Results; available at http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010phc/2010_POPULATION_AND_HOUSIN...

http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=8176

http://www.elections.org.za/content/Voters-Roll/Registration-statistics/

World Population Review (2016). Botswana population 2016. http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/botswana-population/

The Economist Intelligence Unit (2016). Democracy Index 2015: Democracy in an age of anxiety. http://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2015

Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr: A tribute

By Cameron Duodu, Nov 24, 2016

Mild-mannered and almost self-effacing, the son of the renowned Nigerian environmentalist was yet the owner of a sharp intellect that was not afraid to adopt and keep positions that seemed right to him. What the rest of the world thought was not that relevant to him.

November has proved to be a very terrifying month for the Saro-Wiwa family.

Exactly 21 years ago – on 10 November 1995 – the head of the family, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was gruesomely thrown into an unmarked grave by murderers acting on behalf of one of Africa’s worst dictators, General Sani Abacha, then ruler of Nigeria.

Saro-Wiwa’s family heard the unbelievable news at the same time as the rest of the world heard it. Brutal, callous and insensitive to the demands both of common decency and African tradition – as enlightened well as world opinion – the Abacha dictatorship did not even give the family the opportunity of gazing for the last time upon the remains of a man who had been husband, father and kinsman to them. It was as if the Abacha gang did not regard them as human beings endowed with the same emotional and psychological demands as themselves.

Where, in their heartless actions, was to be found the much talked about fellow-feeling among Africans that had given birth to such concepts as “Ubuntu”?

And now, in November 2016, even as we recall those evil days of man’s inhumanity to man, our loss is multiplied by one of those cruel coincidences with which fate is sometimes pleased to mock us. For who would have imagined that after the unspeakable events of 10 November 1995, Ken’s eldest son and heir; Saro-Wiwa’s baby who, for the past 21years, had been thrust forward to stand in shoes too big for his feet, would, at the tender age of 47, also be lying dead in a grave?

Yes, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr; was taken from us this November and was buried on 11 November 2016, in London; his life unceremoniously cut short in its prime!

It is wicked!

It is unconscionable!

But what does fate care?

As the poet Matthew Arnold put it:

In vain our pent wills fret

And would the world subdue

Limits we did not set

Condition all we do!

Born into the world we are

And the world must be our mould.

Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. was moulded by events to live, as he described it himself, “In the Shadow of a Saint”; that is, his father.

Now, it is no easy task living in the shadow of a normal father, let alone a canonised campaigner; a brave martyr whose name is known the world over. At best such a shadow can – as the Americans would put it – “cramp one’s style.” At worst, it can stifle one’s need for self-realisation; stunt one’s growth to one’s full capabilities, as one’s consciousness is constantly dogged by self-pity and even possible depression.

Ken’s singular achievement in life was that he rose above it all. He found and used his own voice. His book, “In the Shadow of a Saint”, [ISBN 00-552-998191-5] shows us that he was so brave intellectually that he confronted and defeated his own demons, and despite all odds managed to evolve a personality that was both warm and cheerful.

He was very empathetic to others, even though the suffering he had endured would have left many individuals with a cold heart. Here is just one example:the last time I saw him, he was walking at the side of a friend in a church in Kensington, London; a friend who happened to have lost his mother. The lady in question was a cousin of mine from Ghana and I asked Ken in surprise (because Ghanaians and Nigerians in London are not known for being close) — “How do you know them?”

He answered ”Oh we’re childhood friends!” Childhood friends! How many of us can say that our childhood friends will come and walk with us, when such an act will really count with us?

If you read his book you will appreciate that Ken had to fight hard to create this personality of his; to be the man he was born to be, not the man he was expected to be. And he did succeed. Marvelously. Mild-mannered and almost self-effacing, he was yet the owner of a sharp intellect that was not afraid to adopt and keep positions that seemed right to him. What the rest of the world thought was not that relevant to him.

For instance, in recent years, he accepted an invitation to work with the Nigerian Government, where a lesser man would have emotionally spurned the advances of any regime from that country. After all, there was a real possibility that the mere mention of the term, “Nigerian Government” could remind him of the trauma that one of its predecessors had inflicted upon him and his family by murdering his father in cold blood.

Yet if one applies a little common sense to the matter, one should face this question squarely: was it not sensible to be pragmatic enough to work with the most powerful entity in one’s country of birth to try and end the desecration of the environment in Ogoniland that had so enraged his father that he had sacrificed his very life to try and stop it? If his son had got the opportunity, under changed circumstances, to carry on the campaign from within the Nigerian Government, was that not a gain for his people who had suffered for so long with their voice unheard or distorted if and when it was given any attention?

Had Ken been one of those creatures whose thinking is done with a finger wagging arrogantly in the face of the opposition, he would have built an impenetrable wall between himself and Nigerian governments of any hue. But he did not do so, and thanks to his efforts and those of others, although the evils of the past have still left their horrific scars on the Ogoni environment, a beginning has been made to put things right. At the very least, the parameters of full restitution have now been determined and Ogoniland shall –hopefully – be spared from further distress from the destruction of its people’s livelihood through blatant environmental degradation.

Apart from his cold intellect or perhaps because of it, Ken possessed a prodigious energy that enabled him to produce journalism of a very impressive quality, both in Britain and in Canada. He also enjoyed teaching at the University level. His students must have been very lucky indeed for he was so honest that I have no doubt he would have shared with them, experiences that would have been completely out of their reach but which he thought would enrich their thinking.

Alas, we cannot hear his measured tones any longer. Nor can we bask in the warmth of his brilliant smile and good humour. But we shall always never forget him. I wish his wife Olivia and two sons well. And I salute his brave mother and his siblings. All of them should be comforted by the fact that their loss is also the loss of the whole continent of Africa. For ours is a continent that needs multiple examples of the type of courage that enabled the Ogoni people not to flinch when faced with the ruthless “kill-and-go” mobsters of one of the world’s most powerful corporations and its governmental henchmen.

The Ogoni will go down in history for ever as a people who were prepared to give their lives to protect the environment bequeathed to them by their ancestors; an environment which Nature gifted to them; an environment that is fit to live in; to love in; and to prosper in. All people everywhere have the right to protect and preserve such an environment and Africans everywhere owe it a duty to the Ogoni to thank them for showing them how it can be done.

* Cameron Duodu is a veteran Ghanaian journalist and author.

The Dirty Truth Behind the World Bank’s “Commitments” on Climate Change

By Bretton Woods Project

The negative development impact of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC, the World Bank’s private sector arm) investments in financial intermediaries (FIs) has once again been brought to light (see Observer Spring 2014). An October 2016 report, Disaster for us and the planet, by US-based NGO Inclusive Development International (IDI) and partners, provided evidence that  “IFC-supported financial institutions have funded at least 41 new coal projects …  since the World Bank announced its coal ban in 2013”. While the IFC has claimed that the concerns of civil society organisations have largely been addressed through its response to previously highlighted harmful projects that it funds, the report demonstrates that the IFC remains exposed to highly damaging projects.

The report highlighted the IFC’s involvement in the Mahan plant in India, where it provided millions of dollars in funding to two banks, IDFC and ICICI, which are “major players in India’s infrastructure and industrial sectors”. It noted that “in total, these two IFC-supported banks helped provide approximately $1.9 billion in financing to build the Mahan coal plant”. The report also disclosed that “the IFC’s support for the project did not end there” as it enabled the development of a nearby mine which Greenpeace found “would displace or otherwise harm 50,000 people who lived in the forest or depended on it for their livelihoods”.

The report also detailed IFC’s involvement in Rampal in Bangladesh, which it calls “one of the most potentially destructive coal plants in the world”. The plant sits very close to the world’s largest mangrove, which supports the lives of two million people in India and Bangladesh, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to numerous endangered and threatened species. The report stressed that “the World Bank was initially approached to fund Rampal. However, the Bank declined … Three French banks, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, were also approached but refused to get involved”. In April 2016, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund placed the company charged with building the plant, the National Thermal Power Corporation, on its exclusion list.  The report emphasised that while “these institutions distanced themselves from the projects, six IFC-funded commercial banks arranged billions of dollars in financing for the National Thermal Power Corporation”, noting that “between 2005 and 2014, the IFC provided $520 million in funding to the six banks”. Considering the impact of IFC’s involvement in these and other similar projects, the report stressed that “these projects have also decimated the world’s forests. Coal plants, and the mines that feed them, are a leading cause of deforestation globally, further contributing to climate change.”

The World Bank Group has ended up fuelling and profiting from business activities responsible for enormous human suffering, environmental devastation and in some cases serious crimes -
DAVID PRED

Behind the fumes – the hidden story of IFC’s investment in coal

IFC’s involvement in coal power generation lies in stark contrast to the World Bank Group’s (WBG) position on coal, as outlined in its 2013 Energy sector directions paper, which states that “the WBG will provide financial support for greenfield [new] coal power generation projects only in rare circumstances”(see Bulletin December 2013). The Bank’s position was reiterated by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim in November 2016 when, in celebration of the entry into force of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, he stressed that “without climate action at scale, more than 100 million people could fall back into extreme poverty by 2030”, and that “we need to focus special attention and action on Asia, where energy demand is growing and some countries continue to look to coal as the solution.”

IDI’s report forms part of a four-part series titled Outsourcing development: Lifting the veil on the World Bank Group’s lending through financial intermediaries and contributes to evolving evidence of the negative development impacts of IFC investments in FIs. During a months-long investigation following the trail of IFC money, IDI uncovered 121 harmful projects that the IFC is funding through FIs. Despite some positive initiatives taken by the IFC, such as the disclosure of it private equity investments and a stated commitment to “strengthen and deepen the quality and coverage of IFC’s E&S [environmental and social] risk management of FIs”, the report demonstrated that the opaque nature of IFC investments in FIs and its inability or unwillingness to adequately screen and monitor FI sub-projects persist to the detriment of communities and the environment (see Observer Summer 2015).

The report’s reliance on expensive proprietary market information, unavailable to often marginalised communities affected by IFC-funded projects or their supporters, demonstrates that concerns about the lack of disclosure of sub-projects funded by IFC FI clients remain unaddressed (see Bulletin Nov 2014). The lack of disclosure prevents communities and CSOs from holding the IFC to account by bringing cases to light and accessing the IFC’s grievance mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO). This contravenes the IFC’s performance standards which oblige the IFC to ensure that communities are aware of the existence of the CAO.

An October letter to the IFC’s CEO Philippe H. Le Houérou, sent by six organisations, including the Philippines Movement for Climate Justice, a coalition of 130 environmental groups in the Philippines, and Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti (MASS), pleaded with him to respond to the call of those working to avoid a “climate catastrophe by ensuring that the IFC’s new FI investments are coal-free”.

Meanwhile, Owning the outcomes, a joint briefing by Oxfam and IDI also released in October 2016, challenged five arguments that the IFC has put forward to repudiate responsibility for harms caused by its financial-sector investments. David Pred, Managing Director of IDI commented “While the IFC has tried to distance itself from the projects funded by its intermediaries, the fact is that these banks are brazenly disregarding the IFC’s environmental and social requirements. As a result, the World Bank Group has ended up fuelling and profiting from business activities responsible for enormous human suffering, environmental devastation and in some cases serious crimes”.

CIVILIZATION AT A STANDSTILL

By John Kozy

In 1620, Puritans landed in Massachusetts and established the Plymouth Colony in North America. They came to America ostensibly to escape from religious persecution which was pervasive in England at the time. Apparently English Christians were unable to live together peacefully. No matter where the Puritans went to elude persecution, dissatisfaction followed. They went to Amsterdam then to Leiden before sailing to New England. In America, they routinely banished unorthodox believers. Quaker women, Roger Williams, and  Anne Hutchinson are cited most often. They also executed members of their own community who were accused of witchcraft. Given how they acted, most would say the Puritans were not “nice people.” But like all whose lives are guided by a creed, the strength of their beliefs is the measure of their creed’s “truth.” The stronger the belief, the truer the creed. Consequently intolerance and discrimination are fundamental characteristics of such creedal cultures.

Forty years later, the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge was founded. Its motto is Nullius in verba which means something like “take nobody’s word for it.” The motto expresses the determination to withstand the domination of creedal cultures and to verify all claims by appeals to facts determined by experience. The Enlightenment had dawned in England. The establishment of this society bifurcates human beings into a mass of believers and a class of knowers.

But the Enlightenment did not cast a wide beam. Believers do not need evidence to support the claims of their creeds. Even seeking such evidence exhibits “bad faith” and in the seventeenth century would have occasioned the expulsion of the seeker from the culture. Although expulsion is no longer a cultural practice, a strong belief still obviates the need for evidence to support its claims. So believers can routinely be expected to ignore anything that might cast doubt on the creed’s “truth.”

Evidence that shows that Americans and perhaps Europeans and other peoples of the world are creedal is easy to cite. Human beings are essentially incorrigibly anti-intellectual, so the Enlightenment didn’t enlighten many.

In America, ideas, practices, and policies continue to be implemented long after being discredited by experience. The War on Drugs is a notorious example. Its failure has been so evident that many states now are openly defying the federal government and legalizing the use of banned substances. But the federal government continues to ban them. American economists continue to promote free market capitalism even though it has failed to produce a single prosperous culture in more than two hundred years and has never even provided for the needs of people. Get tough on crime practices such as harsh and long prison sentences have not reduced crime; yet they continue to be utilized.  The application of economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy is another egregious example. America’s guiding principle seems to be “if at first you don’t succeed, do what you did over and over.” Getting it wrong is the American way.

This principle is so pervasive in America, even institutional groups have adopted it. The Congress and the mainstream press both have approval ratings that are shamefully low, but no one in either group has suggested doing things differently.

But there is another phenomenon taking place that’s ever worse, and it has been going on for a long time. America’s college graduates, even those who graduate from America’s elite institutions, graduate while believing the same dogmas and holding the same attitudes they held when they matriculated. Ted Cruz, the Koch brothers, and Franklin Graham are obvious examples but others are easy to cite. Apparently professors no longer (perhaps never did) make any attempt to teach students how to evaluate ideas or even the importance of doing so.

Education has become merely vocational training. Any ideas taught are those which are conventionally believed. The result is that no new ideas can emerge from this culture, and human progress is impossible. Americans are trapped in trivia–entertainment, sports, baubles, bangles, trinkets, and technological toys. Some have called this an addiction to materialism, but they are wrong. The addiction is to ignorance, especially ignorance expressed as belief, and the addiction goes all the way back to 1620.

The consequence of this addiction is a political process that has been described as pendular. A group gains political power and implements seventeenth century ideas which have long been discredited by experience. When the results do not meet expectations, another group gains political power and implements nineteenth century ideas which have also been discredited by experience. The eighteenth century’s enlightenment ideas play no role in the process because they have never been adopted by any group of believers. So when the implemented nineteenth century ideas also fail to meet expectations, the only alternative available is a return to the previously discarded seventeenth century ideas. Back and forth the process goes without ever advancing. Civilization is at a standstill. No problems are ever solved and no conflicts are ever avoided. The ancient Greeks fought Persian hoards. Western nations fight Near Eastern ones. See how much more civilized human beings are today that they were in 400 B.C.E.! The more things change, the more they remain the same, because the enlightenment has gone dark. In the absence of new ideas, the dialectical process never advances, and it won’t until believers repudiate their creeds, and people see the value in the maxim, Nullius in verba. No mere claim, no matter whom it is made by, has any value.

John Kozy is a retired professor of philosophy and logic who writes on social, political, and economic issues. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he spent 20 years as a university professor and another 20 years working as a writer. He has published a textbook in formal logic commercially, in academic journals and a small number of commercial magazines, and has written a number of guest editorials for newspapers. His on-line pieces can be found on http://www.jkozy.com/ and he can be emailed from that site’s homepage.

The original source of this article is Global Research