MAHAMA: He May Contest The 2020 Presidential Election

Former President John Dramani Mahama

By Ekow Mensah

For those who are in a hurry to rule out former President John Dramani Mahama as a presidential candidate in the 2020 elections, they may soon realize that they could be mistaken.

There are very strong indications that the former President could very easily bounce back as a formidable candidate in the 2020 elections.

The speculation that President Mahama had finally thrown in the towel intensified when his younger brother, Ibrahim Mahama allegedly disclosed that his family has decided that he should not run again.

Last Monday, Mr Randy Abbey, host of the “Good Morning Ghana” newspaper review segment poured cold water on the speculation when he said that the former president had told him (Randy) that he has not made any decision on his political future.

Sources close to the parliamentary caucus of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have also confirmed that the former president has said in clear terms that his family cannot determine his political future.

These leave the issue of whether or not the President will contest the 2020 elections widely open.

Insiders say that a number of leading members and associates of the NDC have began polishing their boots for the race for the presidential candidature of the party.

Ekwow Spio Gabrah

The most prominent of these is Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah, who served as Minister of Trade in the Mahama administration.

Other names which have been thrown up include that of a former Metropolitan  Chief Executive of Kumasi and a former Chief Executive of a state run institution

It is suspected that Mr Goosie Tandoh, a former heavy weight of the NDC may also be nursing an ambition to become the party’s presidential candidate.

Many party leaders at all levels of organisation say openly that they will prefer a Mahama candidature because of his remarkable achievements in infrastructural development.

They are also hoping that President Nana Akufo Addo will not be able to keep the  numerous promises he made to the people of Ghana.

Goosie Tandoh

One of the strong points favouring the return of President Mahama is that there is nobody in the NDC who has achieved his level of visibility.

It is also claimed that he is in the best position to mobilize much needed resources for a comeback.

Even if former President Mahama decides not to contest again, the NDC will have to campaign for 2020 on his record.

Some party insiders say that they will only accept the return of the former President if he removes some unpopular personalities from his immediate circles.

Already, some of his staff whiles President, including Dr Clement Apaak, have started a campaign to return the former President to the Flagstaff House in 2021.

Mahama for president in 2020 still remains an option.

Editorial

WE AGREE

Last Thursday, the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held a press conference in Accra to denounce the mindless violence that has been unleashed by persons claiming to be members or sympathizers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Before the press conference both the majority and the minority sides of Parliament had come together to strongly condemn the acts of impunity by the hoodlums.

The Chairperson of the Ghana Peace Council has also condemned the actions of the misguided elements that see the victory of the NPP as their own.

The Insight is however surprised that the police administration has flatly refused to act, as hooligans move around the country terrorizing innocent citizens and vandalizing state property.

Strangely, one of the victims of these mindless attacks is a Police Officer.

Our question is, if the Police cannot protect their own from attacks by the political gangsters, then how safe can ordinary citizens be?

We join in the condemnation of these blatant acts of violence and their perpetrators and call on the Inspector-General of Police to act with dispatch.

This madness cannot and should not be tolerated.

Taking ‘forward ever’ to another level, Ghana has done it again, Ayekoo!

By Samwin Banienuba

On December 7^th, 2016 Ghanaians pulled off yet another peaceful election almost on the blind side of the world as many remained fixated on the thunderbolt of the American election before it and the embarrassing confusion in the Gambian election next door. The 8^th quadrennial affair in Ghana passed off without hiccups as if the exercise of this democratic principle of changing their leaders through the ballot box has always been indigenous.

At the end of the day, the NDC sitting President John Mahama and his party lost and graciously conceded defeat. The NPP opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo won and was conciliatory in victory. They both called the elections a Ghanaian victory. Even before this laudable patriotic exercise of exchanging acknowledgements and pleasantries went to press, the two parties quickly teamed together to agree the transition process and handover of power in accordance with relevant laws of the land. Seminal, isn’t it?

In the run up to December 7^th, there was of course the not too unusual hype of a nation in tension as with many national elections elsewhere. The candidates crisscrossed the country to sell their wares as it were, and did slip on more occasions than one into personality attacks or ethnic goofs. Some institutions including the Electoral Commission were not spared their share of lashing tongues and criticisms. But the rivalry was largely respectful if not friendly, and campaign rallies were not without the typical African fanfare.

Although a total of seven parties presented presidential candidates including an independent candidate, all eyes were on the NDC and the NPP, the two parties which have dominated the 4^th Republican political landscape by virtue of their resources, but also by their broad base and possible appeal. Respectively, they represent the left and right of Ghana politics or the social democrats and conservatives whatever that means today. All other parties have often been dismissively described as the ‘small parties’, incapable of providing a third force between the two. They proved their bidding yet again in this election.

Inasmuch as voter turnout may have dipped slightly when compared with turnouts in 2012 and the years before, 68.62% would still make older democracies green with envy. The appetite for democracy is without shadow of doubt great in Ghana, and likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. It behoves the incoming government, as with all successive governments, to sustain the momentum with an increasing supply of all the other tenets of democracy that should make it a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

It is for instance not lost on Ghanaians and Africans as such that one of the key issues in the campaigns was corruption, satirically also known as the African disease. It is not as if it is a new issue; it has always been there, but it was pivotal this time. The opposition alleged governance at all levels amounted to loot and share. The government begged to differ and instead pointed similar accusing fingers at the opposition when they were in power some eight years ago. Whoever is more culpable is neither here nor there for the ordinary Ghanaian struggling to get by. The equalisation must stop.

The very perception that public officers dip their hands into the public kitty unaccountably suggests the supply of democracy by elected officials is not matching the demand for democracy by the electorate and citizens at large. The economy is not stupid and the new government scheduled to take office have their work cut out. In addition to their own expressed promises, they will have to quickly respond to nagging youth unemployment, erratic power supply, inadequate drainage systems, high inflation, an increasing public debt and a myriad of many others to justify their election.

Certainly, Ghanaians will be keen to see evidence of significant difference in status quo as regards equal opportunity, equality before the law and accountability in governance as key benchmarks of their democracy moving forward. But governments, they say, are products of society, and currying favours from them promotes patronage which in turn enhances the very corruption society wants to see mitigate. Indeed, civil society organisations should not sit idly by for voter power to do the right thing at the next quadrennial. Citizen vigilance and media scrutiny should hold all arms of government truly accountable until then.

President Akufo Addo in a handshake with former President John Mahama

At independence in 1957, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and father of the nation declared that Ghanaians were going to create their own African personality and identity. Knowing this was not going to be easy sailing for any new nation, especially as it was in the days of the East / West divide, otherwise known as cold war, he quickly added that Ghanaians should be allowed to make their own mistakes. And mistakes there have been one too many, but clearly the country has gotten its act in place in the 4^th Republic and is staring the waves of democracy and good governance throughout Africa and across. ‘Forward ever’ was the battle cry of the Osagyefo and ‘forward ever’ it is as the country inches gracefully towards its 60^th anniversary in March 2017. The proud African personality and identity may have finally docked.

Humanitas Afrika believe this new brand of Ghana recasts the country in pole leadership role of the early independence years of Africa, and raises the bar for governance and higher values to which all other Africans can aspire. We take this opportunity to congratulate the NPP and wish Nana Akufo-Addo great success in his tenure for the benefit of Ghana and the pride of Africa. We also thank the NDC and John Mahama for superintending peaceful, fair and credible elections in accordance with law and expectations of country and continent. More importantly, we salute Ghana and the Ghanaian people for their exemplary resolve to chart a course of freedom, unity and peace through democracy and constructive elections. Well done! Or better still, Ayekoo as they say in Ghana!

The writer is the International Spokesperson for Humanitas Afrika

Profile of last batch of ministers nominated by President Akufo-Addo

Prof Gyan Baffuor

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday announced the last batch of ministerial nominees.

The Ghana News Agency hereby submits the brief profiles of the 11 nominees:

PROF. GYAN BAFFOUR – MINISTER FOR PLANNING

Professor George Gyan-Baffour is 65 years old, and is currently a Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi.

From July 2002 to December 2004 he was the Director General of The National

Development Planning Commission (NDPC) of the Republic of Ghana where he oversaw the preparation of the first Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (2003-2005) Paper. He introduced the first Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism for assessing the progress of national development called the Annual Progress Report, which is still the monitoring and evaluation tool of the national development Agenda of Ghana. He supervised the preparation of the Coordinated Program for the Economic and Social Development of

Ghana (2002-2012), which is a constitutional requirement of the President of the

Republic of Ghana. He led the team that prepared the first compact of the Millennium

Challenge Account. Before he left for the USA for academic pursuit he worked at the Ministry of Industries Science and Technology from 1974 to 1984 and rose to the rank of Senior Industrial Promotions Officer.

In December 2004, he contested and won the parliamentary election to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi. He later became the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning from March 2005 to December 2008.

Catherine Afeku

Since January 2009 he is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Wenchi Constituency.

He holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Industrial Relations; a Post

Doctorate diploma from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government; an

MA in economic policy from University of Wisconsin, Madison; a BSc. (Hons) degree in

Economics from the University of Ghana.

HON. CATHERINE AFEKU – MINISTER FOR TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE

Catherine Afeku is 49 years old, and our Member of Parliament for Evalue-Gwira-Ajomoro – her 2nd term in parliament. She hails from Axim, and holds Bachelor of Science and Master’s Degrees in Business Administration. She has worked with the

World Bank, with Stico Petroleum in Kenya as a Business Development Consultant, and a bilingual instructor at the Inlingua School of languages, Brescia, Italy. Between 2006 and 2008, she was the NPP government spokesperson on infrastructure.

She is married with 3 children.

Mavis Hawa Koomson

MAVIS HAWA KOOMSON – SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

Mavis Hawa Koomson is 51 years old, holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the

University of Education, a Postgraduate Certificate in Public Administration from GIMPA, and is due to obtain a Master’s degree in Public Administration, with a specialization in international relations and diplomacy, after the completion of the programme in January 2017.

She has been a Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East constituency from 2012 to date. Whilst in parliament, she has served as a member of the committees on land and natural resources, and women and gender.She is married with 3 children.

Mohammed Ibrahim Awal

IBRAHIM AWAL MOHAMMED – BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Awal Mohammed is 55 years old, an entrepreneur and a marketer. Awal, who was adjudged the Marketing Man of the year, ‘2009’ holds three master’s degrees in various disciplines from different universities. He has Masters in Applied Business Research - Swiss Business School, Switzerland; Executive Masters in Business Administration from the University of Ghana Business School, Legon; and a Masters in International Journalism from the University of Wales, UK. He is also at the tail end of his doctoral program at the Swiss Business School pursuing doctorate in Business

Administration.

Ibrahim Mohammed Awal is the former Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited and Chase Petroleum. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of

Marble Communications Group Limited, publishers of The Finder Group of Newspapers, HMW printers, Marble Consultants and Marble Developers. He has worked closely with many companies, particularly, with Small and Medium Enterprises, where he offered consultancy services in the areas of business strategy, management, marketing and communications. He has also consulted for diplomatic Missions, international development partners as well as state institutions.

He is married with four children and is also a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

Mustapha Abdul Ibrahim

MUSTAPHA ABDUL-HAMID - INFORMATION

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid is 45 years old. He holds a Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies and a Master of Philosophy Degree, also in Religious Studies, all from the University of Cape Coast. He is presently a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Cape Coast, where he specializes in the areas of

Islam & Gender and Political Thought in Islam. Prior to take up teaching, he worked in the media in various capacities as Editor of the High Street Journal, Editor of the Statesman newspaper, News Editor at the then Choice FM and Strategy Planning Manager at Media Majique & Research Systems.

He has published widely in many prestigious academic journals around the world.

In politics, he was National Youth Organiser of the NPP from 2002-2005. He has been

Spokesperson for the President from 2007 to date. He is married with five children.

Isaac Kwame Asiamah

ISAAC KWAME ASIAMAH – YOUTH & SPORTS

Isaac Kwame Asiamah is 42 years old. He is a Graduate of University of Ghana, Legon with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Resource Development with Political Science.

He holds executive Masters in Governance and Leadership. He entered Parliament in January 2005 at age 29, then as the youngest MP in Parliament on the ticket of the NPP for the Atwima Mponua Constituency in the Ashanti region, and is still the MP. He was a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture, rising to become Vice Chairman of the same Committee, and later became the Chairman of the same Committee in his 1st term in Parliament. He has also served on the following Committees: Public Accounts Committee, Finance Committee, Poverty Reduction Committee and Mines and Energy Committee Parliament of Ghana. He is married with four children.

Kofi Dzamesi

KOFI DZAMESI – CHIEFTAINCY & RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS

Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi is 57 years old. He has a first degree in Engineering and holds a diploma in Marketing. 

He was a former Minister of the Volta Region under the government of President Kufuor, and is National Council member of the NPP. 

He was the Chairperson of the NPP Campaign Sector Committee on Chieftaincy.

Cecilia Dapaah

HON. CECILIA DAPAAH – AVIATION

Cecilia Abena Dapaah is 62 years old, and is a leadership development specialist. She is a product of the University of Ghana Legon. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Lingusitics in 1979, and also holds a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School in leadership. She also holds a postgraduate certificate in International Development Studies from the University of Oslo in Norway.

Between 2001 and 2006, she was the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Cocoa Processing Company. 

She was deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing under President Kufuor’s government, from 2005 to 2006, and became the substantive Minister from 2007 to 2008. Whilst in parliament as MP for Bantama, she served on various committees such as Works and Housing; Advisory Committee to the Speaker; Employment, Social Welfare and Youth; Foreign Affairs; and Special Budget.

BONIFACE ABUBAKAR SADDIQUE – INNER CITY & ZONGO DEVELOPMENT

Boniface Abubakar Saddique

Boniface Abubakar Siddique is 56 years old. 

He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Essex, MBA in Financial Management from the University of Exeter, MA in

Conflict, Peace and Security from the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Center and a BA in Social Sciences from the KNUST. 

He worked in the Ministry of Finance for 14 years as an Economic Officer, eventually becoming a Senior Finance Officer. 

In politics, he has been a two time MP for Salaga from 2001-2009. 

He also served as Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment and Northern Regional Minister. He is married with three children.

Naa Afoley Quaye

NAA AFOLEY QUAYE – FISHERIES & AQUACULTURE

Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye is 47 years old, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in

Agribusiness from the Central University College. 

She also obtained a National Diploma in General Agriculture from the University of Ghana, and a certificate in General Agriculture from the Kwadaso Agricultural College. 

For over a period of 20 years, she worked as the Principal Production Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. She is currently the Member of Parliament for the Krowor. 

She is married with 4 children.

Osei Kyei Mensa Bonsu

OSEI KYEI-MENSAH-BONSU – PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is 59 years old and is an urban planner by profession. He been a Member of Parliament for the Suame Constituency since 1997, and has held several positions in the House, including Secretary to the Minority Caucus (1997-2000); Deputy Majority Whip (2001-2002); Majority Chief Whip (2002-2007); Deputy Majority Leader (2007-2008); and a Minister of State (Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2007 to 2008). He has chaired the Advisory Board on Water Restructuring at the Ministry of Works and Housing; was a Member of the Board of Directors of the Cocoa Processing Company for 8 years.

He is currently the Chairman of the African Parliamentarians Network against

Corruption; and is Vice President for the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against corruption.

He has also served on various committees in parliament, namely the Business

Committee, Committee on Selection, Committee on Works and Housing, Committee on

Youth and Sports, Committee on Lands and Forestry, Committee on Subsidiary

Legislation; Special Budget Committee; Appointments Committee, and the Standing Orders Committee.

THE CLASS STRUGGLE

Karl Marx

By Matthew Culbert 
The Class Struggle! When this term crops up one almost feels the vibrations as the neighbourhood shudders and the heads plunge into the sand. “There ain't no such animal!” reports a muffled voice from the gritty depths. “Figment of a distorted imagination!” proclaims an indignant variant. How often have we heard these thoughtful pronouncements levelled at those who think there are lions among the lambs on this gentle planet!

Yet there is a class struggle in society, right here and right now. What's more, the world has been witnessing the spectacle of classes in conflict for a long, long time. 

It first came about in remote times, back some 6000 or more years ago. Man had expanded and developed his methods of obtaining the requirements of life to the point where it was possible for him to produce more than his own needs, a condition that led to the division of society into classes. These classes were made up on the one hand of those whose function it was to produce wealth and perform useful services, and on the other hand of those, at first assigned functions considered to be useful or desirable, who finally developed into a class with no function other than to surround themselves with wealth and privileges and means for protecting these conditions.

Men at this time stood in the relation to one another of master and slave and the earliest societies in which slavery prevailed were known as Chattel Slave societies. The Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon of Athens, The Colosseum of Rome, all were built during a period when slave society had reached a high degree of development, the slave states of Egypt, Greece and Rome being among the greatest in the ancient world.

Where there are classes there is servitude, and where there is servitude there is conflict. No account of early slave society is complete without reference to the struggles of the slaves to gain their freedom, struggles that sometimes reached massive proportions. Amongst the most noted of these struggles were those led by the slave, Spartacus, who rallied 100,000 of his followers in a bid for freedom against the Romans, to be finally killed in battle, his followers captured, 6000 of whom were crucified.

The slave states of antiquity were succeeded by feudalism, which spread through Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire. Feudalism was also a class society, but the basic division was between serf and lord rather than between slave and slave owner as formerly.

The serf was bound to the land, part of which he cultivated for himself and family and part for the lord. The shackles of this form of servitude were no less binding than were those of the chattel slaves and no less productive of rebellion amongst the victims, as shown by the peasant revolt in England under Wat Tyler in 1381 and the peasant war in Germany under Thomas Muenzer in 1525. These and other outbreaks in various parts of Europe during this period were crushed, often with great brutality.

We no longer live under Chattel Slavery or Feudalism, but mankind has not yet rid itself of classes. The society of today is a capitalist society and the classes that face one another are the capitalist class and the working class. The form of bondage is different from the forms that prevailed formerly, but it is still bondage.

The wealth producers of today are not bound to a lord or master as were the serfs and slaves. They may refuse their services to this or that capitalist. But they cannot escape from the capitalist class. They must deliver their abilities to some member or members of that class. In no other way do they have access to the things needed to preserve life.

And in spite of the often repeated claim in various circles that the classes of today have mutual and harmonious interests, the facts show a struggle between these classes as grim as any that preceded it. From the beginning of the existing form of society down to the present day there has been a never-ending conflict between the capitalists and the workers: on the part of the capitalists to squeeze every possible ounce of energy from the workers at the lowest possible cost; on the part of the workers to check these efforts and to try in turn to gain bearable living and working conditions for themselves. The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and the British General Strike of 1926 are among the more noted evidences of this conflict in past decades, and the miners strike indeed any major confrontation between capital and Labour in recent ones, although there have been far more bitter manifestations in many parts of the world.

The class struggle has a very real existence in modern society. By means of the class struggle the capitalists rid themselves of the restraints of Feudalism and became the dominant class in society. By the same means will the workers rid themselves of the restraints of capitalism - when they have come to know that efforts directed solely to easing the hardships of their own subservience are not sufficient and that they must, in their own interest and in the interest of all humanity, do away with all forms of human bondage, by doing away with the thing that divides humans into classes - the class ownership of the means of life - and transforming the means of life (the mills, mines, factories and so on) into the common property of all, operated for no other purpose than to bring security and happiness to the human race.

EU Member States Agree To Normalize Relations With Cuba

A representative of EUMognerini with Cuba Foreign Minister Rodriguez

By Cubaminrex 

28 countries of the European Union (EU) have approved the signing, at the level of their ambassadors, of a political and cooperation agreement to normalize relations with Cuba, PL reported.

According to the official EU website, the decision to sign the agreement — which is still pending a further approval process — was taken by European officials in the Belgian capital and is expected to be ratified shortly by the European Council.

As such, EU member states confirmed their support for the three initiatives put forward last September by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.

Mogherini insisted that these measures will be taken to “formally repeal” the so-called Common Position (a policy adopted in 1996 by the European bloc to regulate its ties with Cuba) and thus encourage better relations between the EU and the Caribbean nation.

The EU Council of Ministers must approve the decision, which also requires the subsequent agreement of the European Parliament in order to be implemented.

The official signing of the document by Mogherini and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez will be held next Monday, December 12.

Cuba and the EU began the process of negotiating the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) in April 2014, which was signed on March 11 this year, during a ceremony in Havana attended by Mogherini.

STATEMENT BY DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER ABELARDO MORENO

Cuba welcomes the decisions taken by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union on December 6, 2016, in Brussels, with which the bloc concluded the process of internal consultations and decisions regarding the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba, on the one hand, and the European Union and its Member States, on the other.

Cuba recognizes in particular the political significance of the decision that definitively repeals the so-called Common Position of 1996, which since its adoption was firmly rejected by our country due to its interventionist, selective and discriminatory nature. This unilateral policy had been de facto superseded, as evidenced by the positive evolution in recent years of Cuba’s ties with the European Union and its member states.

For Cuba it was imperative that such a vestige of the past, contradictory to the bases of equality, reciprocity and respect, on which relations with the European Union have developed since 2008, be completely removed.

The decisions adopted by the EU create the conditions for the signing of the Agreement, which will for the first time provide a reciprocal, respectful and mutually advantageous contractual framework for relations between the two parties, for the development of political dialogue and cooperation, including trade facilitation.