PNC WILL WIN ELECTION 2016

Eugene Bashiru

By Duke Tagoe

A teacher and an aspiring National Youth Organizer of the Peoples National Convention, Eugene Bashiru, has predicted a land slide victory for the PNC in the 2016 general elections.

The popular PNC activist is also left without doubt that the PNC will take the majority of seats in Parliament.

For this reason, Mr Bashiru, currently on a tour of the country has called on the rank and file of the party to vote massively for him in the upcoming congress of the party to be held at Wa on the 27th of November.

He says the PNC must be subjected to scientific transformation and organization in order that it could get battle ready to successfully challenge the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the 2016 elections.

“A very youthful population dominate the demographics of Ghana today and I promise to put in place a credible and practicable policy that can attract a majority of the youths of this country to the PNC and I have already hit the road running” he said.

Mr Bashiru has also expressed frustration about how stalwarts of the party have been treated since the overthrow of the PNC thirty one years ago and has promised to revive the grassroots and bring dignity to the PNC.

According to him, Dr Hilla Limann is the only president since independence to have followed in the footseteps of Kwame Nkrumah pointing out that the Limann government was in the process of continuing the Nkrumah legacy when the coup against the PNC occurred. 

He credits Dr Hilla Limann as being a young diplomat recognized within and outside of Ghana for his sterling performance and his unprecedented foreign policies that made him command respect from within Ghana and abroad adding that he was particularly loved in all of Francophone countries  but Ghana he said, has failed to recognize him.

He also described Limann as an intellectual who taught in France and elsewhere and carried the story of Africa and the independence struggle everywhere he went. Dr Hilla Limann is very popular in Togo and in the whole of Francophone world From 1971-1981.

The aspiring National Youth Organiser considers the NDC and the NPP as having failed woefully during their terms in office and is assuring the electorate that the PNC will pursue a radical structural transformation of the country when voted into office.

Once elected into office, Eugene Bashiru has promised to set up what he calls “Schools of Nkrumaism” in all ten regions of the country to train young people and equip them with the right tools necessary for nation building adding that PNC is an Nkrumaist party that pursues Nkrumaism and the Imoro Igala tradition and every student must be encouraged to study these giants because they laid the foundations of this country.

PANIC GRIPS NPP AS APPIAH KUBI STORMS AKROPONG

Captain Kojo Tsikata with Yaw Appiah Kubi

 By Duke Tagoe

Yaw Appiah Kubi, a Social Democrat and an aspiring Member of Parliament is causing waves in the Akropong constituency of the Eastern Region amongst both the NDC and NPP supporters. Indeed the young political activist who served as an assemblyman in the Osaebrom electoral area is seen as a fresh entrant into the political scene whose exploits as a clean, honest and ''can do politician has been unparalleled in the district since the inception of the District Assembly concept.

The aspiring parliamentary candidate for the NDC slot has promised to deliver the constituency to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming general elections of 2016, a feat which has never happened since 1996 when the NPP first took part in the parliamentary election in that constituency

Big wigs of the party are believed to be gearing up to put their weight behind his candidature should he win the primaries of November 7.

Mr Appiah Kubi has followed the party since his days at the Central University College and is believed to have studied at the feet of giants like Captain Kojo Tsikata, Dr Omane Boamah, Mr Ato Ahwoi, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Mr Kojo Twum Boafo and the late Professor Ansa Asamoah.

According to the former Assembly Member, he would exploit the huge potential of the Public-Private Partnership initiatives of government as well as the potential of the community to bring potable water to Akropong and its surrounding environs and this he started as an Assemblyman when he mobilized the community and private sector to bring cheap water to the people of Akropong.

Mr Appiah-Kubi has called on the teeming youths of the NDC across the country to mobilize an unprecedented number of votes to knock out the NPP’s flag bearer in the elections of next year.

In an interview with this reporter, he explained that the World Bank and other development partners of Ghana have absolute confidence in the administration of President John Dramani Mahama adding that the foundations have been laid for the take off and the absolute transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

“The Mahama fever has not only caught Ghana but the entire region of West Africa. President Mahama has become a beacon of hope for young men and women in Ghana and in Africa” he said.

According to the NDC parliamentary aspirant President Mahama is at the forefront in the fight against terrorism and was instrumental in bringing peace to La Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia and in Burkina Faso following the ouster of Blaise Campoare and the recent attempted coup by the Presidential Guards. He revealed that the Ghanaian President led the way in drafting a road map for peace in that country.

Asked about his stance on the recent bailout of the government by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) he explained that “Europe was bailed out after the Second World War for infrastructural development and it continues to do so.”

According to him even Portugal and Greece have all been bailed out adding that Ghana is a member of the IMF in good standing and nothing must prevent the Mahama administration from seeking a bailout from them.

In reference to some historical event in Ghana he said that “Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, founder of the Republic of Ghana, borrowed from International banks to build the Akosombo Dam in order to kick start the industrial revolution that was bitterly truncated by the predecessors of NPP and even more disturbing, in spite of the fifty percent increment in the price of fuel, water and electricity tariffs and the privatization of strategic national assets in the first year of the Kufuor government in which Akufo Addo served as Attorney General and Foreign Minister, the NPP still managed to hang a chain of HIPC around the neck of Ghana”

In a sharp rebuttal to claims made by the NPP that the NDC has borrowed excessively from the World Bank and the IMF, he said that although the NPP are quick to refer to the United States as an economic power house, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has warned that the United States will not be able to pay its bills and to provide water and electricity for its people if the US Congress does not increase the country’s debt ceiling by November 3.

He argued that in spite of the assurances by the NPP to wean off its mouth from the breast of the World Bank, it still took loans from them and had nothing to show for until it left power.

He made reference to the construction of school buildings, major road networks, the development of the agricultural sector and a stable economy as some of the aims of the recent bailout sought by the Mahama administration.

Nana Yaw is believed to be entering the race with an immense knowledge and experience in Local Government and grassroots mobilization.

Little doubt remain that Yaw Appiah Kubi is on his way to winning the parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Akropong constituency on November 7.

IVORIAN OPPOSITION BOYCOTTS ELECTION

Officials of the FPI mmets in Accra

By Duke Nii Amartey Tagoe

Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), the largest opposition party in La Cote d’I voire, has called for a boycott of the general elections scheduled for 25^th October.

They are also calling for an end to the state of terror and tyranny by the Western backed regime of Alhassane Quattara, the immediate release of all political prisoners and a halt to the detention of President Laurent Gbagbo.

On the 11^th of April 2011, rebel groups loyal to Ouattara supported by a combined team of French and UN soldiers and some armed mercenaries from Burkina Faso kidnapped President Laurent Gbagbo at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan.

A few days before Gbagbo was abducted, more than 1000 people in Duekoue had been slaughtered by the by Alhassane Quattara’s armed rebel group, The New Forces, as they moved from the North to South.

The abduction of the Ivorian President was followed by a series of demonstrations in many West African states with many human right campaigners calling for an end to the persecution and human right violations.

Speaking at a forum held in Accra, Emile Guirieoulou, a former minister of Public Service and Employment and Chairman of FPI coordination in Exile explained that credible elections could not be held when more than a hundred thousand (100,000) Ivoirians are spread across refugee camps in the sub-region with another thousand supporters of the FPI believed to be languishing in gaols across Ivory Coast.

According to Damana Picas, Vice President of FPI in charge of Youth, “credible elections cannot take place whilst genuine reconciliation has not been achieved. He cautioned that “Majority of Ivoirians recognize Gbagbo as their leader and it is impossible to achieve genuine reconciliation in La Cote d’Ivoire under the given circumstances so as long as peace talks have not started and Gbagbo is being held in The Hague against the wishes of the people.”

A former Finance minister, Kone Katina bemoaned the crackdown of press freedom and condemned the privatization of state banks to French finance corporations. He is convinced that the privatization of state owned institutions will only create troops of jobless youth and deepen the poverty of the indigenous people.

The Ivorian people have also suffered shocking exploitation of their resources under the regime of Alhassane Quattara. Former Minister of Forest and Water, Lazare Kofi, has revealed that more than 125,000 acres of land cultivated by farmers have been grabbed or taken over by foreign multinational corporations.

Kwesi Pratt Jnr

Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr. Editor of The Insight and Convener of the Socialist Forum assured the FPI of the full solidarity of progressive forces in Ghana.

He said the struggle of the FPI is a continuation of the African revolution which was initiated by great Africans like Amilcar Cabral, Sekou Toure, Patrice Lumumba and Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

“We are fully conscious of the consequences the people of La Cote d’Ivoire are facing and we are aware that these conditions have been imposed on the people of La Cote d’Ivoire by the French colonialist and other imperialist forces acting in collaboration with the local forces of reaction in La Cote d’Ivoire.

“Your struggle is like our struggle and it is like the struggle of the patriotic forces in Africa. It is a struggle to assert our sovereignty. It is a struggle to assert the fact that African resources ought to be exploited to the benefit of all African people,” he pointed out.

He said President Laurent Gbagbo is not facing trial because he is a criminal, but because he is an African patriot who dedicated his entire life to the liberation of African people from poverty and squalor.

“This is a struggle for the freedom of President Laurent Gbagbo, it is a struggle for the freedom of all those who have been unjustly imprisoned by the reactionary forces in La Cote d’I voire adding that he continued detention of President Laurent Gbagbo is intrinsically liked with the attempt of foreign forces to take control of African resources and to exploit those resources for the benefit imperial power,” he added.

According to him, so many things which are strange have happened in La Cote d’Ivoire. He explained that although all the human rights organizations in the world testify to the fact that the rebel forces ( New Forces) led by Alhassane Quattara committed heinous atrocities, it is rather the  legitimate government of La Cote d’I voire and it leaders who have been arrested and imprisoned and not the rebel forces.

 Mr Pratt said that the continuing trial of President Laurent Gbagbo by the International Criminal Court when the court itself had come to the conclusion that there is no evidence to warrant the trial and conviction Gbagbo is a travesty of justice.

Editorial

EBOLA

Newly confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus disease has been reported in Liberia claiming one life and leaving two others in severe conditions.

Between the years 2014 and early 2015 the virus has claimed the lives of more than eleven thousand people in West Africa.

We are deeply worried that in spite of the assurances from the Ministry of Health of Liberia and the World Health Organisation, the virus can still be found lurking in the dark.

Hundreds of cattle have also been reported dead in remote areas of the country raising suspicion that the virus can be transmitted through other agents.

We call on health authorities in West African states and in Ghana especially to maintain vigilance and monitor the situation in order to avoid any major outbreaks.

We acknowledge the contributions of Cuba and several other countries which are in the forefront in the struggle to rid Africa and West Africa from the scourge of the Ebola virus.

The struggle is not over but we shall surely win.

GREENSTREET: WILL HE JUMP INTO THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE?

Ivor Greenstreet

Asks Ekow Mensah

All eyes are on Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, immediate past General Secretary of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) because his decision to contest the presidential race for 2016 could have earth shaking consequences within the party.

There can be no doubt that even if Greenstreet does not win the race, his participation would make a substantial difference about who will win.

Three people have already thrown their hats into the ring and are expected to begin vigorous campaigns across the country.

They are Dr. Abu Sakara Foster, the presidential candidate for 2012, Onzy Nkrumah, whose claim to being Nkrumah’s son is still being contested and Samia Yaba Nkrumah, immediate past National Chairperson.

The strength of Greenstreet is that he appears to have an extraordinary big war chest and has personally visited all the branches of the party and relates on first name basis with organizers at the grassroots.

Sources within the party say that Greenstreet initially wanted to contest for the position of National Chairman and leader of the party but had to abandon that contest on account of the overwhelming popularity of  Dr. Edmund Delle.

The CPP got less than one percent of popular votes in the last general election and observers insist that the party would have to rebrand itself to gain relevance.

This is a problem which Samia Yaba Nkrumah appears to recognize.

 In her handing over speech, Samia said the CPP would have to move further to the left and take a firm stand against the prescriptions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for national economic revival.

Onzy Nkrumah’s claim to the presidential candidature of the CPP is simply just based on the unproven claim that he is the son of the first President of Ghana.

 He has said that he wants to be the Presidential candidate so that he can finish the good work started by his “father”.

 Informed observers say that the CPP can be positioned as the third force in Ghanaian politics to attract persons who are disillusioned about the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

 At the time of going to press, Dr Sakara had allegedly told the “Daily Dispatch” that he may not run for the presidential candidature of the party.

 There are no indications as to what will make him run.

Editorial

TROJAN HORSE?

 This must be very strange but it is happening in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) currently led by President John Dramani Mahama.

Ezanator Rawlings, daughter of Ghana’s longest serving President has refused to rate the sitting President insisting that she is not a rating agency.

The truth is that Ezanator can’t say that the President is doing well and she is also sure that if she condemns President Mahama  she would lose the contest for the Parliamentary seat at Korle Klottey.

 The real question is why Ezanator Rawlings is finding it very difficult to say that the President and therefore her own party is doing well?

 Could it be that she shares the criticism of the president by her dear mother and is only keeping quiet to enable her sneak through the Parliamentary primaries?

This question gains more relevance when she sets conditions for the return of her mother to the NDC.

Is she getting into the NDC to finish what her mother started?

Could her father’s endorsement of the NPP position on the voters’ register mean anything?

Somebody may be pushing a Trojan horse right into the very centre of the Mahama Administration.

Unfortunately the President cannot see what is happening and by the time he opens his eyes it may well be too late.

2016 ELECTIONS; NO CHANGE WILL COME NO MATTER WHAT

President John Mahama

By Aidan Adongo Avugma

It would not be too long. I mean in about eighteen months time, and Ghanaians would be called upon to perform a ritual. They will be called upon to form long queues to vote. They will elect a new President- John Mahama, Nana Akuffo Addo,  Abu Sakara,  Samia Nkrumah, Ayariga or somebody else, we do not know. What we do know however is that the Ghanaian Presidency embodies the roles of chief executive legislator, head of the state commander-in-chief, and party leader. Beyond this however, and more importantly, the Ghanaian presidential office also embraces two other roles which the media either prefers to maintain a conspiracy of silence on, or is completely ignorant of. The first is as guardian of Ghanaian neo-colonial capitalism ie the role fulfilled by advancing of the wealth and power of giant corporations from Europe, America and Japan, and wealthy investors as well as their Ghanaian front men and women. The second is that of protector of the wider economic system based on individual ownership and the extraction of surplus value.

Opposition Leader, Nana Akufo Addo

So what fundamental difference would Nana Addo’s victory over John Mahama make to the common man on the street or the work places in Ghana? The answer should be simple and to the point. ZILCH. In practice the coming elections in 2016 is little more than a public relations gimmick, when Ghanaians would be given at least a few hours of democracy when they are on the long queues to elect an emissary of the owning class in Ghana and abroad to safeguard; and if possible to expand their class interest in another four years. Whether it is party A,B or C that wins the election or Mr X,Y,Z that becomes the president , their function would be one and only one-pursue policies that stimulates profit regardless of the hardships that this may visit upon the wider  population.

 At the same time they must put up a political garb that gives them the appearance of representing the interest and welfare of the broad masses. This profit imperative that drives them, seem to be a calling from an irresistible force ie the world‘s dominant economic system- capitalism. So any election to government in society as presently constituted must bow to the calling of this irresistible force by the choosing of one of the political parties or presidential candidates that embrace the ideology of capitalism. 

Akua Donkor, Founder of Ghana Freedom Party

Government has a class character. It is not the even handed arbiter between the business man and the ordinary workers as most of us think; but the champion of the owners of the means of production with its boundless constitutional right to exploit ordinary working people. The function of government is to defend the property right of this owning class- investors, giant corporations and front men, to perpetuate their dominance over society, and correspondingly increase the misery of the people and their impoverishment. Adam Smith was blunt about this. He said “this necessity of civil government grows up with the acquisition of valuable property…..Till there be property there can be no government, the very end of which is to secure wealth, and to defend the rich from the poor”

The owning class because of its monopolistic control over society’s means of production and distribution, has overwhelming dominance over ;politics in society; and because of this moulds all institutions customs and social behavior to give expression to its own interest. Under these circumstances the meaning of democracy has metamorphosed from what we understand to be the “rule of the people” to a device that elects “a safe pair of hands” to protect private property and control social and political life of the people. As a result they put up a pretence that government represents workers while actually pursuing an agenda that is anti-worker.

Abu Sakara Foster, Convention Peoples Party (CPP)

In order to maintain this pretence, control of public opinion is essential. The media therefore is used to peddle lies and distortions to blur reality to ensure the docility of workers and make them ineffective,. Their propaganda is awash with praises for the virtues of the free market system designed to perpetuate the falsehood that capitalism and democracy are synonymous. Whether the Ghanaian electorate in 2016 will vote for Mahama , Nana Akuffo Addo or Abu Sakara at this stage is difficult to see through the crystal ball. What is incontestable however is that the outcome will not benefit the Ghanaian wage and salary earning class.

In fact, all the signs are that things will get worse. Whoever takes power in 2016 is going to engage in the further dismantling of the welfare mechanisms for the poorest; and organized labour would be further weakened. The IMF and the World Bank which represents Western business interest will surely certainly demand the elimination of everything that interferes with the ruthless pursuit of profits.

Editorial

Eurobond and All

There is so much noise about the Eurobond for Ghana being oversubscribed that one would be tempted to think that an event of life changing proportions has taken place.

The truth of the matter is that once again Ghana has borrowed one billion Euros from the European Market.

 What is so special about borrowing that our media is awash with positions for and against the so-called Eurobond?

Should a country like Ghana with resources such as gold, diamond, gas, oil, forests, twenty five (25) or more million people, rivers and so on be borrowing all the time?

 Our view is that if national resources are properly harnessed and their theft by the giant corporations of the West prevented, Ghana would not have to borrow.

It is time for the people of Ghana to take their destiny into their own hands and exploit their own resources for their own benefit.

This is the way forward.