 |
| Dr Yao Graham |
Nana
Akufo-Addo made a clever revisionist 60th independence anniversary speech. It
was revisionist about the role of Nkrumah and the CPP in our history but he
cleverly avoided the crass revisionism that has characterised attempts to
diminish Nkrumah and the CPP’s leading role in the attainment of independence
by correctly pointing to the long history of anti-colonial struggles.
He
started with the Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS) of 1897
who organised against the Land Bills. With this starting point a long list of
leading figures could be invoked and in the process also raises the role of his
close relation JB Danquah and the UGCC in the final defeat of colonialism. In
talking about the CPP keeping the word ‘Convention’ in its name the CPP is summarized
as an extension of the UGCC. Several points about this.
Most
importantly the litany of great men in this version of history failed signally
to acknowledge the key role of ordinary people in the attainment of
independence. This incidentally repeats an important difference between the CPP
and the UGCC. More important than the CPP retaining the word 'Convention' was
the inclusion of 'Peoples' in its name. This reflected the key role that mass
mobilisation and struggle under the leadership of the CPP played in
transforming the dynamics of the anti-colonial struggle (from appeals to the
monarch to pressure on power) and the attainment of independence. Farmers,
workers, youth, market women, ex-servicemen, unemployed, traders, verandah
boys, etc. made the CPP and were the engine of the overthrow of British rule.
At times even the CPP leadership had to be dragged along. Also not all
opposition to the policies and practices of the British were demands for an end
to colonial rule, even if those protests contributed to consciousness about
colonialism as foreign domination. The defeat of the Land Bills was an
important anti-colonial act and the role of the ARPS was important but ARPS was
also interested in loyalty to the British Crown and increasing elite representation
in the government of the colony.
 |
| President Nana Akufo Addo |
The
focus on leaders and big men means that the most important mass anti-colonial
protest in our history with a direct bearing on the defeat of British colonialism
is rarely mentioned by many. I’m talking about the cocoa hold up and goods
boycott of October 1937 to April 1938 which involved hundreds of thousands of
people across the Gold Coast, took on the combined might of the British
merchant capital and the colonial state and eventually had a direct bearing on
the attainment of independence. Faced with price fixing collusion among the
merchant firms, cocoa farmers under the leadership of the Gold Coast and
Ashanti Cocoa Federation organised and sustained a hold up of cocoa and boycott
of most goods being sold by the firms. There were sympathy strikes and protests
by market traders, surf-boat workers and lorry drivers and even some hold ups
in Nigeria. British dockers were laid off because of the slump in trade with
the Gold Coast expressed their support. The success of the protest depended on
the depth of popular organisation and readiness to sacrifice and this drew in
the support of many chiefs. The networks and cadre built up during the boycott
and the organisational and mobilisational experiences gained came to be useful
for the mass organisation and mobilisation by the CPP for the final push against
colonialism.
I
recommend Bertolt Brecht’s poem ‘Questions from a worker who Reads’ to all who
think history is made by big men. The
CPP’s own detachment from its historic mass base and the construction of a
personality cult around Nkrumah made it an easy prey for the CIA front men who
carried out the 1966 coup.
QUESTIONS FROM A
WORKER WHO READS
Who
built Thebes of the 7 gates?
In
the books you will read the names of kings.
Did
the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
And
Babylon, many times demolished,
Who
raised it up so many times?
In
what houses of gold glittering Lima did its builders live?
Where,
the evening that the Great Wall of China was finished, did the masons go?
Great
Rome is full of triumphal arches.
Who
erected them?
Over
whom did the Caesars triumph?
Had
Byzantium, much praised in song, only palaces for its inhabitants ?
Even
in fabled Atlantis, the night that the ocean engulfed it,
The
drowning still cried out for their slaves.
The
young Alexander conquered India.
Was
he alone?
Caesar
defeated the Gauls.
Did
he not even have a cook with him?
Philip
of Spain wept when his armada went down.
Was
he the only one to weep?
Frederick
the 2nd won the 7 Years War.
Who
else won it?
Every
page a victory.
Who
cooked the feast for the victors?
Every
10 years a great man.
Who
paid the bill?
So
many reports.
So
many questions.
Editorial
USELESS ENTERPRISE
It
is difficult to understand why the Akufo-Addo Government wants to stir a debate
over whether or not Dr J. B. Danquah and a few others were co-founders of the
modern republic of Ghana.
If
the people of Ghana came to the unlikely conclusion that Danquah is the founder
of Ghana, how would that be to the benefit of an Akufo-Addo government in the
year 2017?
The
Insight believes that the task ahead of the Akufo-Addo government is a
herculean one requiring massive national mobilisation.
That
project is not helped by what Dr Yao Graham has described as “clever
revisionism”.
Ghanaians
want to be masters of their own destiny. They want to own their own resources
and to exploit them for their own benefit.
Let
Nana Akufo-Addo get on with the job and stop stirring up these unhelpful
debates especially as Nkrumah will always tower over all his political
opponents.
THE 2017 CONSENSUS OF
THE LEFT
 |
| Lang Kojo Nubuor Ababio |
By Lang T. K. A. Nubuor
This
year’s Public Forum on Ghana’s Day of Shame successfully took place at the
Teachers Hall in Accra on February 24 2017, with the panel of three strong
socialist advocates and activists in a show of unanimity on the need for
socialists to be independent of the Establishment parties of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Comrades
Albie Walls of the All-Africa People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), Barzini
Tandoh of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) and Yao Enya Graham of
the Third World Network (TWN), as the panellists, spoke on the topic ‘The Role
of Socialists in the Struggle for Democracy’. In the Chair was Comrade
Kyeretwie Opoku of the Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG).
Organized
by the SFG, the Public Forum attracted ambassadors or their representatives
from Algeria, Palestine, Cuba and the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. Also
in attendance were Professors Francis Nkrumah, Akilagpa Sawyerr and Atukwei
Okai as well as NDC personalities Kofi Attoh and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah,
these latter two being affable friends of the SFG.
Unlike
last year’s Public Forum, which saw the larger auditorium of the College of
Physicians full to capacity with a heavy presence of some NDC leaders and
members, attendance at this year’s event saw half of the smaller auditorium of
the Teachers Hall full.
In
his contribution to the Forum, Comrade Albie Walls expressed the role of
socialists in the struggle for democracy in terms of independent organization
of socialists and education of the masses within structures of the Left. He
operated within the definitional framework of a democracy that went beyond
participation in elections involving the NDC and NPP whose names he religiously
avoided in direct reference.
On
his part, Comrade Barzini Tandoh was robustly expressive in his now familiar
stance that the role of the Left (socialists) in the struggle for democracy
consists in their involvement in the daily activities of working people
independently of the Establishment political parties. His presentation was
unfortunately placed under stress with the Chair’s reminders of time limits.
Visibly then he left out some points he had wanted to make.
Comrade
Yao Graham was equally anxious to belabour the point about the need for the
Left to be independent of the Establishment political parties. His major
concern, however, dwelt on the role of chiefs in the country’s political
economy. He insisted that the chieftaincy institution, based on blood lines,
had evolved and was a contradiction to the spirit of the Republican
Constitution and must be abolished.
The
heavy and concentrated criticism of the NDC, based on its unconvincing social
democratic claims, in contrast to assertions of the New Patriotic Party being
honest about its criminal capitalist orientation certainly projected no comfort
for the tiny NDC presence. For, the audience received such criticisms in
rapturous applause standing in contrast to the spirit of last year’s event.
That
reception appeared to reflect the true spirit of the Left in an atmosphere
devoid of NDC/NPP partisanship on the part of the audience. The question,
however, arises as to whether this consensus within the Left could now be
consciously nurtured to forge Left unity on the basis of a National Democratic
Revolution under the banner of Revolutionary Pan-Africanism – projecting a
Socialist United Africa.
This
is where the insistence of Comrade Barzini Tandoh on the Left’s involvement in
the daily activities of working people comes in handy. For, the only place to
uncover the current spirit of the working people and to utilise it in concrete
organizational endeavours is among the working people themselves. Petite-bourgeois
pontification outside the daily practical concerns of working people restricts
Left horizons in revolutionary practice.
The
‘new’ voices being heard from the platforms of the SFG bid well for the
reinvigoration of that Forum. And reinvigorate it must for the greater interest
of the Left. But let it not be a mere tactic to revive archaic practices that
lent themselves to being directed toward the return of the NDC in power. Let
the NDC fight for its own return! In this light, the return of the absent face
of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah at SFG gatherings raises eyebrows.
The
independent organization of the Left, reflecting the spirit of the audience,
cannot be sacrificed on the altar of Establishment political party support that
naturally compromises the forward move of the Left. Already some elements
within the Left are expressing a need for patience in the Left’s attitude
toward the capitalist NPP. That is an expression of lack of perspective
directed by focus, determination and boldness.
In
boldness must Left forces stick to the spirit of independence that emerged from
this year’s Forum and develop it in co-operation among anti-imperialist and
anti-neo-colonial socialist oriented organizations towards a united Left.
Call
it ‘The 2017 Consensus of the Left’ and the spirit of independence at the 2017
Day of Shame Forum would have been excellently captured.
Let’s
Remain Focused, Determined and Bold! Forward Ever! Onward to the African
Revolution!
Road crashes kill 16
in 20-days in Eastern Region
By Neil
Nii Amatey Kanarku
The
Eastern Regional Fire Service Commander, ACFO Joshua Nguah, has expressed worry
about the recent increase in vehicular accidents recorded in the Eastern
Region, even before the end of the first quarter.
About
11 accidents have occurred in some parts of region in the month of February
alone, with over 32 casualties and 16 deaths, including the death of the former Member of Parliament for the Akwatia
Constituency.
In
the early hours on Tuesday, February 28, three persons lost their lives with 9
others injured at Omenako, a town in the Suhum Municipality, when the vehicle
they were travelling in ran into a parked articulated truck by the roadside.
Speaking
to Citi News, the Eastern Regional Fire Service Commander said “these
recent accidents are a major worry for us. I am personally not happy at
all about the happenings on our roads. The number of deaths we have recorded so
far is very alarming and it’s high time we work assiduously to stop the
carnage.”
“Between
February 9th to 28th alone, we have recorded more than 11 accidents in the
region on the Kpong -Akosombo road, Nkawkaw0Kumasi road, Suhum-Nsawam
road, and the suhum kibi Anyinam road where more than 32 casualties were
recorded and over 16 on the spot deaths, those who may have lost their lives on
admission at the various hospitals are not even included.”
Issue with road
markings
ACFO
Nguah blamed some of these accidents to the absence of white markings on the
road, which he said makes it difficult for drivers at night, and the failure of
heavy trucks to use triangle reflectors to caution other road users.
“What
I have noticed is that, the markings on the main Kumasi highway is not visible
enough, in some cases there are no markings at all and drivers plying the route
face difficulties in staying in their designated lanes, others who drive with
their highlights on also impair the sight of the opposite drivers making it
difficult for them to see clearly.”
“Secondly,
bigger trucks who faces challenges and suffer breakdowns in the course of their
journey leave their trucks at the edge of the road without using reflective
triangles to warn approaching vehicles. The recent accident which led to the
death of the former member of parliament for Akwatia is as a result of
somebody’s negligence; it could have easily been avoided if the truck which was
parked at the roadside had triangular reflector warning sign displayed,” he said.
Nguah thus
called for a collaborative effort from the Police service, the National Road
Safety, Ghana Highways Authority, and other stakeholders to reduce the carnage
on the roads.
“Going
forward, I believe one of the measures we can employ to avert the carnage on
our roads is that we should collaborate with all the stakeholders. The Police
needs to inform us the fire service; give details on broken down trucks parked
on sides of the roads; we have machines we can use to tow these trucks from the
roadside to safer places.
Was Russia's
Ambassador to UN Churkin poisoned?
 |
| Vitaly Churkin |
US
media stir up rumours about the poisoning of Russian diplomat
Vitaly Churkin.
Reportedly, there was poison found in the kidneys of Russia's late Ambassador
to the UN.
According
to ABS-CBN, a post-mortem examination of Churkin's body showed the presence of
poison in his kidneys.
Allegedly, the diplomat had had late supper, at around
midnight, hours before his death. Perpetrators could have added an unknown
substance in his food.
For
the time being, heart attack remains the official cause of his death.
Chief
editor of Echo of Moscow radio station Alexei Venediktov said that Vitaly
Churkin had diplomatic immunity, which means that his autopsy contradicted the
norms of diplomacy. Venediktov, with reference to American press, also said
that there was a medical report that said that Churkin had been poisoned by the
food that he took at midnight.
Pravda.Ru
Canada’s Role in the Overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah
By
Yves Engler
Friday,
February 24 is the anniversary of the 1966 coup against leading Pan-Africanist
Kwame Nkrumah. Canada played a key role. Following the coup, the Canadian High
Commissioner in Accra C.E. McGaughey, wrote that “a wonderful thing has happened
for the West in Ghana and Canada has played a worthy part.”
A
half-century and one year ago this Friday, Canada helped overthrow a leading
Pan-Africanist president. Ghana’s Canadian-trained army overthrew Kwame
Nkrumah, a leader dubbed “Man of the Millennium” in a 2000 poll by BBC
listeners in Africa.
Washington,
together with London, backed the coup. Lester Pearson’s government also gave
its blessing to Nkrumah’s ouster. In The Deceptive Ash: Bilingualism and
Canadian Policy in Africa: 1957-1971, John P. Schlegel writes: “the Western
orientation and the more liberal approach of the new military government was
welcomed by Canada.”
The
day Nkrumah was overthrown the Canadian prime minister was asked in the House
of Commons his opinion about this development. Pearson said nothing of
substance on the matter. The next day External Affairs Minister Paul Martin Sr.
responded to questions about Canada’s military training in Ghana, saying there
was no change in instructions. In response to an MP’s question about
recognizing the military government, Martin said:
“In
many cases recognition is accorded automatically. In respective cases such as
that which occurred in Ghana yesterday, the practice is developing of carrying
on with the government which has taken over, but according no formal act until
some interval has elapsed. We shall carry on with the present arrangement for
Ghana. Whether there will be any formal act will depend on information which is
not now before us.”
While
Martin and Pearson were measured in public, the Canadian High Commissioner in
Accra, C.E. McGaughey, was not. In an internal memo to External Affairs just
after Nkrumah was overthrown, McGaughey wrote “a wonderful thing has happened
for the West in Ghana and Canada has played a worthy part.” Referring to the
coup, the high commissioner added “all here welcome this development except
party functionaries and communist diplomatic missions.” He then applauded the
Ghanaian military for having “thrown the Russian and Chinese rascals out.”
 |
| Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah |
Less
than two weeks after the coup, the Pearson government informed the military
junta that Canada intended to carry on normal relations. In the immediate
aftermath of Nkrumah’s overthrow, Canada sent $1.82 million ($15 million today)
worth of flour to Ghana and offered the military regime a hundred CUSO
volunteers. For its part, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had
previously severed financial assistance to Nkrumah’s government, engaged
immediately after the coup by restructuring Ghana’s debt. Canada’s contribution
was an outright gift. During the three years between 1966 and 1969 the National
Liberation Council military regime received as much Canadian aid as during
Nkrumah’s ten years in office with $22 million in grants and loans. Ottawa was
the fourth major donor after the US, UK and UN.
Two
months after Nkrumah’s ouster the Canadian High Commissioner in Ghana wrote to
Montréal-based de Havilland Aircraft with a request to secure parts for Ghana’s
Air Force. Worried Nkrumah might attempt a counter-coup, the Air Force sought
parts for non-operational aircraft in the event it needed to deploy its forces.
Six
months after overthrowing Nkrumah, the country’s new leader, General Joseph
Ankrah, made an official visit to Ottawa as part of a trip that also took him
through London and Washington.
On
top of diplomatic and economic support for Nkrumah’s ouster, Canada provided
military training. Schlegel described the military government as a “product of
this military training program.” A Canadian major who was a training advisor to
the commander of a Ghanaian infantry brigade discovered preparations for the
coup the day before its execution. Bob Edwards said nothing. After Nkrumah’s
removal the Canadian High Commissioner boasted about the effectiveness of
Canada’s Junior Staff Officers training program at the Ghanaian Defence
College. Writing to the Canadian Under Secretary of External Affairs, McGaughey
noted, “All the chief participants of the coup were graduates of this course.”
After
independence Ghana’s army remained British dominated. The colonial era British
generals were still in place and the majority of Ghana’s officers continued to
be trained in Britain. In response to a number of embarrassing incidents,
Nkrumah released the British commanders in September 1961. It was at this point
that Canada began training Ghana’s military.
While
Canadians organized and oversaw the Junior Staff Officers course, a number of
Canadians took up top positions in the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence. In the
words of Canada’s military attaché to Ghana, Colonel Desmond Deane-Freeman, the
Canadians in these positions imparted “our way of thinking”. Celebrating the
influence of “our way of thinking”, in 1965 High Commissioner McGaughey wrote
the Under Secretary of External Affairs: “Since independence, it [Ghana’s
military] has changed in outlook, perhaps less than any other institution. It
is still equipped with Western arms and although essentially non-political, is
Western oriented.”
Not
everyone was happy with the military’s attitude or Canada’s role therein. A
year after Nkrumah’s ouster, McGaughey wrote Ottawa: “For some African and
Asian diplomats stationed in Accra, I gather that there is a tendency to
identify our aid policies particularly where military assistance is concerned
with the aims of American and British policies. American and British objectives
are unfortunately not regarded by such observers as being above criticism or
suspicion.”
Thomas
Howell and Jeffrey Rajasooria echo the high commissioner’s assessment in their
book Ghana and Nkrumah: “Members of the ruling CPP tended to identify
Canadian aid policies, especially in defence areas, with the aims of the U.S.
and Britain. Opponents of the Canadian military program went so far as to
create a countervailing force in the form of the Soviet equipped, pro-communist
President’s Own Guard Regiment [POGR]. The coup on 24 February 1966 which
ousted Kwame Krumah and the CPP was partially rooted in this divergence of
military loyalty.”
The
POGR became a “direct and potentially potent rival” to the Canadian-trained
army, notes Christopher Kilford in The Other Cold War: Canada’s Military
Assistance to the Developing World, 1945-1975. Even once Canadian officials in
Ottawa “well understood” Canada’s significant role in the internal military
battle developing in Ghana, writes Kilford, “there was never any serious
discussion around withdrawing the Canadian training team.”
As
the 1960s wore on Nkrumah’s government became increasingly critical of London
and Washington’s support for the white minority in southern Africa. Ottawa had
little sympathy for Nkrumah’s pan-African ideals and so it made little sense to
continue training the Ghanaian Army if it was, in Kilford’s words, to “be used
to further Nkrumah’s political aims”. Kilford continued his thought, stating:
“that is unless the Canadian government believed that in time a well-trained,
professional Ghana Army might soon remove Nkrumah.”
During
a visit to Ghana in 2012 former Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean laid a
wreath on Nkrumah’s tomb. But, in commemorating this leading Pan-Africanist,
she failed to acknowledge the role her country played in his downfall.
* Yves Engler’s latest book
is, A Propaganda System: How Canada’s government, corporations, media
and academia sell war and exploitation. His previous book is, Canada
in Africa: 300 years of aid and exploitation.
Source: Pambazuka
FOR A NATIONAL
DIALOGUE TOWARDS A SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONSTITUTION
 |
| Explo Nani Kofi |
By Explo Nani-Kofi
(Advocate
for Constitutional Review and Grass Root Popular Participation in Governance)
The
move from military regime to the present constitutional dispensation has
encountered problems of (1) Democratic Deficit and (2) Uncompleted Transition
Tasks.
If
these are not consciously addressed sporadic eruptions from the population in
response to this dissatisfaction will arise from time to time. At present this
manifests itself when one of the major political parties loses elections.
Opponents of the party previously in government seize control of public
facilities which they feel that the previous regime had had unjust control of.
The
problem is rooted in the transition from military. Although, Ghana was ruled by
a military administration from 31st December 1981 to 1992, there wasn't a
sovereign national conference to develop a transition programme but the
military regime supervised the transition and even reconstituted itself into a
political party to contest the elections. Hence, the authoritarian structures
remain in the constitutional era with some others created as front for the
apparently departing military government.
In
2000, as the regime which emerged didn't arise out of a sovereign national
conference it was difficult to take bold decisions for total transition as the
authoritarian structures which had been institutionalised as part of the
constitutional dispensation could be used to subvert or sabotage the new
regime. It was felt that what was necessary was a sort of national
reconciliation. The National Reconciliation Commission therefore was convened
to look at human rights issues since the independence era.
With 24 years of successful and peaceful constitutional
dispensation with the two main political parties swapping government twice, we
can now go further to deepen the constitutional democratic culture.
The
election manifesto commitment by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and
Progressive People’s Party (PPP)
for the direct election of District and Municipal Chief Executives
contributes to addressing this democratic deficit. However, there is need for
an analysis and a public discussion on a holistic approach to deepening the
constitutional and democratic culture in the country which should a
constitutional review beyond what the military supervised process has put on
offer.
It
is through elections, that the population or electorate participates in the
setting up structures of governance and this is provided for by Article 42 of
the Fourth Republic Constitution that "Every citizen of Ghana of eighteen
years of age or above has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as
a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda."
Parliament
is one body in which its entire membership, except maybe the Speaker of
Parliament, is directly elected by the electorate and so is highest forum of
the people's representation. It therefore deserves to play a central role in
expressing the will of the nation and oversight of various bodies.
There
are hurdles to be cleared for constitutional governance to be popularly
accessible. The important role of Parliament in curbing corruption is referred
to in a World Bank study. In the report, 'The Role of Parliament in Curbing
Corruption' edited by Rick Stapenhurst, Niall Johnston and Riccardo Pellizo, it
stated "Presidential Democracy. Because the legislatures in parliamentary
systems can remove the leaders of the executive branch more readily than
presidential systems, we expect this variable to have a positive impact on
corruption, especially after accounting for the control of the legislature by
the political party of the executive." Taking this into consideration should
initiate a dialogue for a general overhaul of our system of governance whether
Parliamentary or Presidential is suitable for us. We can also study other
functioning democracies and see what we can pick from them to help us.
Under
the Fourth Republic, parliament cannot initiate any bill which may involve
taking money from the Consolidated or public fund but in practice there are
events occurring from time to time which need action to be taken on by the
police, district assemblies, district security councils, regional security
councils, for example, drawing attention to flash points which will need public
funds.
A
major deficit in the oversight functions of parliament, for example, is that
Parliament does not have financial autonomy.
Other constitutional structures like the Electoral Commission, National
Commission for Civic Education, Statistical Service should also have financial
autonomy so they are not tempted to constitutionally it is only the President
who has the mandate to draw the attention of the Auditor General even though
the Auditor General's department is supposed to be a tool for Parliament.
The
Fourth Republic Constitution vests so much power in the President in making
appointments to the Electoral Commission, Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice, National Commission for Civic Education. There is need
for a clear ceiling on what number of judges on the Supreme Court should be.
There
is need for a public intervention from civil society so that succeeding regimes
do not use tenure of office to balance manipulation differences or gaps.
Despite the fact that there was no Sovereign National Conference to guide
transition from military rule to the Fourth Republic, the biggest political
party to emerge from the pro-democracy struggle has been able to stand up to
the successor structure to the military regime in electoral strength, hence the
alternative eight years for the past 24 years.
An
area in which there are danger signals is the adjustment of constituency
boundaries and number of constituencies. The arbitrariness with which the
constituencies have been increasing with regimes has to be looked at seriously.
Under the 3rd republic, we had 140 constituencies and this was increased to 200
at the birth of the 4th Republic. This was increased to 230 during the Kufuor
era and later to 275 during the Atta Mills regime. There could be a great
temptation for the present regime to consider catching up with the number
constituency number increase of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The
Article 71 emoluments need some clarity. Should we just allow various
Presidents to set up this remuneration or that some formula be devised in
reaching the amounts? The present dispensation seems open the gate for
uncontrolled increases.
It
is not enough to provide that recruitment to public service should not
discriminate on the grounds of sex, religion, ethnicity or race but there must be a test of how it stands in practice.
How
do we address issue of monetary influence in elections? What influence does the
financial contribution have on the award of contracts so that the nation will
not be short changed? Martin Amidu's allegation on implied corruption in the
work of committees in parliament has to be looked at.
Decoupling
of the offices of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice is needed to
avoid conflict of interest. The appointment of majority of Ministers from
Parliament and the fact that majority of Parliamentarians are likely to be from
the President's political party creates a condition for remote control of
Parliament by the Executive.
Whilst
constitutionally, traditional chiefs are not supposed to be involved in
partisan party political politics then is no provision for sanctions. As such
when when they go against this provision nothing happens and it is dangerous.
There ia also the issue of Asset Declaration which has to be approached more
seriously.
The
process of amending entrenched clauses of the Constitution is cumbersome and
has to be examined. There is also the controversial Transitional Provisions which has been a no
go area that raised a lot of concern at the birth of the Fourth Republic. Given
the level of illiteracy bits and pieces cannot be addressed through referenda.
In
the President's State of the Nation address, His Excellency called for some
issues to be brought up for national dialogue. The whole of our Constitution
also needs to be brought to such a platform of national discourse and possible
Sovereign National Conference.
FURTHER
DETAILS:
Explo
Nani-Kofi (Advocate for Constitutional Review and Grass Root Popular Participation in Governance)
Tel.
0241498912.
Regular
weekly guest : Kpeve-based Look FM 98.5 FM
Guest
also on Press TV (Iran) and TVC
International (Nigeria)
pander
to manipulation of the Executive.
The
Auditor-General's department is a necessary tool for Parliament to oversee the
Executive in case of any malfeasance. Parliament is not in the position to play
this oversight role effectively because
Earl of Balfour
Calls for Palestinian State to Honour Ancestor’s Declaration
The
current Earl of Balfour has called on Israel to comply with his ancestor’s
1917 Declaration and give Palestinians their own state.
In a letter to the
New York Times the
5th Earl, Roderick Balfour (pictured right), acknowledged that while
one part of the Balfour Declaration, which gave Jews a
homeland in Palestine, had been fulfilled, the other, respecting the rights of
the native Palestinian population, had not.
“In
1917, my forebear Arthur Balfour, as British foreign secretary, wrote the
Balfour Declaration, a great humanitarian initiative to give Jews a home in
their ancient lands, against the background of the dreadful Russian pogroms,”
the Earl writes. “We are conscious, however, that a central tenet of the
declaration has all but been forgotten over the intervening decades: respect
for the status of (Arab) Palestinians.”
Balfour
goes on to argue that Israel’s inability to abide by UN
resolutions to cease building illegal settlements and withdraw from
the Occupied Territories is a key factor behind growing anti-Semitism
around the world.
“The
increasing inability of Israel to address this condition, coupled with the
expansion into Arab territory of the Jewish settlements, are major factors in
growing anti-Semitism around the world,” he says. “Nevertheless, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu owes this to the millions of Jews around the world who
suffer essentially because of the results of internal Israeli politics, as well
as to the unenfranchised Palestinians.”
The
Earl says that to achieve peace Israel “must respect the United
Nations resolutions (the same United Nations that gave Israel legitimacy 70
years ago) and look to allow the Palestinians their own state”. He says he
believes the centenary of the Balfour Declaration cannot be properly celebrated
this year without progress on a two-state solution and a simultaneous push toward
making Jerusalem “an internationally protected capital for all three Abrahamic
faiths”.
The
Earl’s letter is a response to recent comments by US President Donald
Trump in which he said he would not necessarily push for a two-state
solution to the Israel/Palestine problem. In a reference to the two-faced Roman
God, Balfour describes Trump as looking “more like Janus on the issue”.
The
original source of this article is Sarum Concern For Israel/Palestine
Copyright © Sarum Concern For Israel/Palestine, Sarum Concern For Israel/Palestine, 2017
Copyright © Sarum Concern For Israel/Palestine, Sarum Concern For Israel/Palestine, 2017
Malcolm X and Human
Rights in the Time of Trumpism
 |
| Malcolm X |
By Ajamu Baraka, Global Research
52
years-ago on February 21st, the world lost the great anti-colonial fighter,
Malcolm X. Around the world, millions pause on this anniversary and take note
of the life and contribution of Brother Malcolm. Two years ago, I keynoted a
lecture on the legacy of Malcolm X at the American University in Beirut,
Lebanon. While I had long been aware of the veneration that Malcolm inspired in
various parts of the world, I was still struck by the love and appreciation
that so many have for Malcolm beyond activists in the black world.
There
are a number of reasons that might explain why 52 years later so many still pay
homage to Malcolm. For those of us who operate within context of the
Black Radical Tradition, Malcolm’s political life and philosophy connected
three streams of the Black Radical Tradition: nationalism, anti-colonialism and
internationalism. For many, the way in which Malcolm approached those elements
account for his appeal. Yet, I think there is something else.
Something
not reducible to the language of political struggle and opposition that I hear
when I encounter people in the U.S. and in other parts of the world when they
talk about Malcolm. I suspect it is his defiance, his dignity, his courage and
his selflessness. For me, it is all of that, but it is also how those elements
were reflected in his politics, in particular his approach to the concept of
human rights.
The
aspects of his thought and practice that distinguished the period of his work
in that short year between his break with the Nation of Islam (NOI) in 1964 and
his assassination in 1965 included not only his anti-racism and
anti-colonialist stance but also his advocacy of a radical approach to the
issue of human rights.
Human Rights as a
De-Colonial Fighting Instrument
Malcolm
– in the tradition of earlier black radical activists and intellectuals in the
late 1940s – understood the subversive potential of the concept of human
rights when philosophically and practically disconnected from its liberal,
legalistic, and state-centered genesis.
For
Malcolm, internationalizing resistance to the system of racial oppression in
the U.S. meant redefining the struggle for constitutional civil rights by
transforming the struggle for full recognition of African American citizenship
rights to a struggle for human rights.
This
strategy for international advocacy was not new. African Americans led by W.E.
B. Dubois were present at Versailles during the post-World War I negotiations
to pressure for self-rule for various African nations, including independence
from the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. At the end of the World War
II during the creation of the United Nations, African American radicals forged
the possibilities to use this structure as a strategic space to pressure for
international support for ending colonization in Africa and fight against
racial oppression in the United States.
Malcolm
studied the process by which various African American organizations – the
National Negro Congress (NNC), National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) and the Civil Rights Congress (CRC), petitioned the UN
through the Human Rights Commission on behalf of the human rights of African
Americans.
Therefore,
in the very first months after his split with the NOI, he already envisioned
idea that the struggle of Africans in the U.S. had to be internationalized as a
human rights struggle. He advised leaders of the civil rights movement to
“expand their civil rights movement to a human rights movement, it would
internationalize it.”
Taking
a page from the examples of the NNC, NAACP and CRC, The Organization of
Afro-American Unity (OAAU), one of the two organizations Malcolm formed after
leaving the NOI, sought to bring the plight of African Americans to the United
Nations to demand international sanctions against the U.S. for refusing to
recognize the human rights of this oppressed nation.
However,
there was something quite different with Malcolm’s approach to human rights
that distinguished him from mainstream civil rights activists. By grounding
himself in the radical human rights approach, Malcolm articulated a position on
human rights struggle that did not contain itself to just advocacy. He
understood that appealing to the same powers that were responsible for the
structures of oppression was a dead end. Those kinds of unwise and potentially
reactionary appeals would never result in substantial structural changes.
Malcolm understood oppressed peoples must commit themselves to radical
political struggle in order to advance a dignified approach to human rights.
We have to make the world see that the problem that we’re
confronted with is a problem for humanity. It’s not a Negro problem; it’s not
an American problem. You and I have to make it a world problem, make the world
aware that there’ll be no peace on this earth as long as our human rights are
being violated in America.
And
if the U.S. and the international community does not address the human rights
plight of the African American, Malcolm is clear on the course of action: “If
we can’t be recognized and respected as a human being, we have to create a
situation where no human being will enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
Malcolm’s
approach to the realization of human rights was one in which human agency is at
the center. If oppressed individuals are not willing to fight for their human
rights, Malcolm suggested that “you should be kept in the cotton patch where
you’re not a human being.”
If
you are not ready to pay the price required to experience full dignity as a
person and as members of a self-determinant people, then you will be consigned
to the “zone of non-being,” as Fanon refers to that place where the
non-European is assigned. Malcolm referred to that zone as a place where one is
a sub-human:
You’re an animal that belongs in the cotton patch like a horse
and a cow, or a chicken or a possum, if you’re not ready to pay the price that
is necessary to be paid for recognition and respect as a human being.
And what is that price?
The price to make others respect your human rights is death. You
have to be ready to die… it’s time for you and me now to let the world know how
peaceful we are, how well-meaning we are, how law-abiding we wish to be. But at
the same time, we have to let the same world know we’ll blow their world
sky-high if we’re not respected and recognized and treated the same as other
human beings are treated.
People(s)-Centered
Human Rights:
This
approach to human rights struggle is the basis of what I call the
People(s)-Centered approach to human rights struggle.
People(s)-Centered
Human Rights (PCHR) are those non-oppressive rights that reflect the highest
commitment to universal human dignity and social justice that individuals and
collectives define and secure for themselves through social struggle.
This
is the Black Radical Tradition’s approach to human rights. It is an
approach that views human rights as an arena of struggle that, when grounded
and informed by the needs and aspirations of the oppressed, becomes part of a
unified comprehensive strategy for de-colonization and radical social change.
The
PCHR framework provides an alternative and a theoretical and practical break
with the race and class-bound liberalism and mechanistic state-centered
legalism that informs mainstream human rights.
The
people-centered framework proceeds from the assumption that the genesis of the
assaults on human dignity that are at the core of human rights violations is
located in the relationships of oppression. The PCHR framework does not pretend
to be non-political. It is a political project in the service of the oppressed.
It names the enemies of freedom: the Western white supremacist, colonial/capitalist
patriarchy.
Therefore,
the realization of authentic freedom and human dignity can only come about as a
result of the radical alteration of the structures and relationships that
determine and often deny human dignity. In other words, it is only through
social revolution that human rights can be realized.
The
demands for clean water; safe and accessible food; free quality education;
healthcare and healthiness for all; housing; public transportation; wages and a
socially productive job that allow for a dignified life; ending of mass
incarceration; universal free child care; opposition to war and the control and
eventual elimination of the police; self-determination; and respect for
democracy in all aspects of life are some of the people-centered human rights
that can only be realized through a bottom-up mass movement for building
popular power.
By
shifting the center of human rights struggle away from advocacy to struggle,
Malcolm laid the foundation for a more relevant form of human rights struggle
for people still caught in the tentacles of Euro-American colonial dominance.
The PCHR approach that creates human rights from the bottom-up views human
rights as an arena of struggle. Human rights does not emanate from legalistic
texts negotiated by states—it comes from the aspirations of the people. Unlike
the liberal conception of human rights that elevates some mystical notions of
natural law (which is really bourgeois law) as the foundation of rights, the
“people” in formation are the ethical foundation and source of PCHRs.
Trumpism
is the logical outcome of the decades long assault of racialized neoliberal
capitalism. Malcolm showed us how to deal with Trumpism, and the PCHR movement
that we must build will move us to that place where collective humanity must
arrive if we are to survive and build a new world. And we will – “by any means
necessary.”
Ajamu
Baraka was
the 2016 candidate for vice president on the Green Party ticket. He is an
editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and contributing
columnist for Counterpunch magazine. His latest publications include
contributions to Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence
(Counterpunch Books, 2014), Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA (HarperCollins,
2014) and Claim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral ( CODESRIA,
2013). He can be reached at www.AjamuBaraka.com
The
original source of this article is Ajamu Baraka
Colombian Drug King
Worked for CIA
 |
| Pablo Escobar |
In
a brand new book, the son of Medellín drug king Pablo Escobar says that his
father worked for the CIA (English translation).
Sound
crazy? Maybe …
The
U.S. government allowed the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel to carry out its business
unimpeded between 2000 and 2012 in exchange for information on rival cartels,
an investigation by El Universal claims.
Dr.
Edgardo Buscaglia, a senior research scholar in law and economics at Columbia
University, says that the tactic has been previously used in Colombia,
Cambodia, Thailand and Afghanistan.
“Of
course, this modus operandi involves a violation of public international law,
besides adding more fuel to the violence, violations of due process and of
human rights,” he told El Universal.
Myles
Frechette, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, said while that the problem of
drug trafficking in Colombia persists, the tactic of secret agreements had
managed to reduce it. The period when the relationship between the DEA and
Sinaloa was supposed to have been the closest, between 2006 and 2012, saw
a major surge of violence in Mexico, and was the time when
the Sinaloa cartel rose significantly in prominence.
There
have long been allegations that Guzman, considered to
be “the world’s most powerful drug trafficker,” coordinates with
American authorities.
But
the El Universal investigation is the first to publish court documents that include corroborating testimony
from a DEA agent and a Justice Department official.
According
to the motion, the deal was part of a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, where the
U.S. helped finance and arm the Sinaloa cartel, through Operation Fast and
Furious, in exchange for information that allowed the D.E.A. and FBI to destroy and
dismantle rival Mexican cartels.
“Under that agreement, the Sinaloa Cartel,
through Loya, was to provide information accumulated by Mayo, Chapo, and
others, against rival Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations to the United States government. In
return, the United States government agreed to dismiss the prosecution of the
pending case against Loya, not to interfere with his drug trafficking
activities and those of the Sinaloa Cartel, to not actively prosecute him,
Chapo, Mayo, and the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel, and to not apprehend
them.”
The
motion claims Mayo, Chapo and Zambada- Niebla routinely passed information
through Loya to the D.E.A. that allowed it to make drug busts. In
return, the U.S. helped the leaders evade Mexican police.
It
says: “In addition, the defense has evidence that from time to time, the
leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel was informed by agents of the DEA through Loya
that United States government agents and/or Mexican authorities were
conducting investigations near the home territories of cartel leaders so that
the cartel leaders could take appropriate actions to evade investigators– even
though the United States government had indictments, extradition requests, and
rewards for the apprehension of Mayo, Chapo, and other alleged leaders, as well
as Mr. Zambada-Niebla.”
Under
the remit of the War on Drugs, millions of U.S. citizens have faced arrest and
jail time for minor, nonviolent charges. All the while, it has been revealed,
the U.S. government has been enabling billions of dollars worth of drugs to
flood into the country from Mexico because of shady deals with the notorious
Sinaloa cartel.
Sinaloa
(believed to supply 80 percent of Chicago’s street drugs) has been working with
U.S. authorities since 2000 to provide information in return for immunity and
undisturbed drug trafficking. Court documents obtained by El Universal show
testimony from DEA and DOJ officials affirming the relationship.
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