THANKING TSIKATA: Nana Akufo-Addo’s Smart Move or?

President Elect of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo

By Ekow Mensah

Since Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo –Addo was declared winner of the 2016 presidential elections he has singled out some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for public mention either as friends or close advisors.

In his very first speech after the declaration he expressed profound gratitude to Captain Kojo Tsikata, former head of national security and a member of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) for offering him useful advice over the years.

Two day later, Mr Ato Ahwoi, a former Minister and a stalwart of the NDC was put on the spot light by an excited Nana Akufo-Addo who described him in church as a long standing friend.

These developments have led to some speculation as to the exact nature of the relationship that exist between these NDC gurus and Nana Akufo –Addo.

Some have even gone as far as to suggest that leaders of the NDC betrayed their own Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama.

Captain Kojo Tsikata

The truth is that Nana Akufo Addo did not lie when he said that both Captain Tsikata and Mr Ato Ahwoi had been his friends for a very long time.

Mr. Ato Ahwoi studied economics with Nana Akufo-Addo at the University and some close friends say that it was Mr Ahwoi who taught Nana Mathematics.

Their friendship dates back many years before the advent of the Provisional National Defence Council.

They all go to the same church and have been having conversations every Sunday when they meet at the Ridge Church to praise God.

Captain Tsikata has also been a close friend of Nana Akufo-Addo for more than 50 years.

Some reports say that Captain Tsikata was extremely helpful to Nana Akufo-Addo when he served as a member of the PNDC in charge of Foreign Affairs and National Security.

However the question on many lips is why Nana Akufo Addo decided to make these relationships public soon after he had won the 2016 presidential elections.

It would appear that Nana wanted to demonstrate his very broad connections in the Ghanaian political establishment and to send a signal to NDC members and supporters that they have nothing to fear from his presidency.

Ato Ahwoi

His assertion that he would be a president for all Ghanaians was effectively buttressed by his public display of friends who are leading members of the NDC.

Indeed, Nana Akufo- Addo made it a point to list many key figures in Ghana and to thank them profusely for their guidance.

These included, former Presidents John Agyekum Kufour, Jerry John Rawlings, Priests, Journalists, family members and friends.

Could this be a master stroke from an incoming President who yearns to end the acrimonious relationship between his party and his main opposition?

Is it true that Nana Akufo-Addo will be President for all Ghanaians and not an NPP President?

Well time will tell.

Editorial

IRAN

What is happening to Iran is simply incredible.

The country was accused of preparing to produce nuclear weapons and it vehemently denied the allegations and opened its gates for very vigorous inspection.

All the inspectors came to the same conclusion that Iran did not have the capacity for producing nuclear weapons and had not embarked upon any such adventure.

Meanwhile the Western countries led by the United States of America had imposed very serve sanctions on Iran based on the strange allegations.

Iran agreed to go into talks with the so-called international community to negotiate a deal which will facilitate the lifting of sanctions.

The international community including the United States of America and its allies, Russia and others signed on to the deal.

In spite of this, the United States of America insists that the sanctions should not be lifted and it is making all kinds of threats against Iran and it’s people.

We are not happy about this situation because it is apparent that the imposition of sanctions is aimed only at bringing Iran to its knees and has nothing to do with the nuclear programme.

The Insight affirms the principle that all nations have a right to determine their own destiny and Iran cannot be an exception.

KEN KLEVOR IS GONE

Comrade Ken Klevor

Mr Ken Klevor, Production Manager of The Insight has died after a protracted illness.

He joined the company as a circulation assistant in 1993 and worked diligently throughout his stay.

During the period he developed other interest and became very active in the Asante Kotoko Supporters Union whose newspaper he edited.

Mr Klevor also managed several entertainment spots and was an astute businessman.

Family sources say that he will be buried on January 27, 2017 at his home town, Anyako in the Volta Region after burial service at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Accra.

Friends and family members are expected to meet next Sunday afternoon at Agboba in Accra to plan the funeral.

The Insight extends its condolence to the bereaved family.

PROFILE OF NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF GHANA

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was born and raised in Ga-Maami (Accra Central) and in the Nima area of Accra. 

His father’s residence, Betty House at Korle Wokon in Accra, was effectively the headquarters of the country’s first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), after it was formed at Saltpond on 4 August 1947. 

Three of the ‘Big Six’ – the founding fathers of Ghana – were his relatives: J.B. Danquah (grand uncle), William Ofori-Atta (uncle) and Edward Akufo-Addo (the third Chief Justice of Ghana and later ceremonial President of the Republic from 1969 to 1972), (his father).

Akufo-Addo received his primary education first at the Government Boys School, Adabraka, and later at the Rowe Road School (now Kimbu), both in Accra Central.

He went to England to study for his O-Level and A-Level examinations at Lancing College, Sussex. He returned to Ghana in 1962 to teach at Accra Academy Secondary School, before going to read Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1964, earning a BSc(Econ) degree in 1967. He subsequently studied law in the UK and was called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971. Akufo-Addo was called to the Ghana bar in July 1975.

LEGAL AND BUSINESS CAREER

Akufo Addo meets Dr Kwame Nkrumah

Akufo-Addo stayed in France for five years as a lawyer at the now-defunct New York-based international law firm, Coudert Brothers. Apart from the welcome exposure to the dynamics of international corporate transactions, his stay in France also made him fluent in French.

In 1975, he returned home to Accra to continue with his legal career. He joined the chambers of U.V. Campbell from 1975 to 1979, and in 1979 co-founded the law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., which has become one of the prominent law firms in Ghana. Some Ghanaian lawyers who passed through his law firm are among the most outstanding lawyers at the Ghanaian bar today. They include Sophia Akuffo, Justice of the Supreme Court; Joyce Darko; Daniel Afari Yeboah; Philip Addison; Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice; Alex Quaynor; Frank Davies; Kweku Paintsil; Ursula Owusu; Atta Akyea, Akufo-Addo’s successor as MP for Abuakwa South constituency; Akoto Ampaw; Yoni Kulendi; Kwame Akuffo; Kwaku Asirifi; and Godfred Dame.

Like the “Doyen of Gold Coast politics”, J. B. Danquah, and others before him, Akufo-Addo used his law practice to champion the cause of human rights, rule of law, justice, freedom, and democracy. He was well known for giving free legal assistance to the poor and fought for the rights and liberties of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, many of the important constitutional cases of the modern era, which, inter alia, protected the independence of the judiciary, the right of the citizen to demonstrate without police permit, and the right of equal access of all political parties to the State-owned media, were undertaken by him.

Akufo-Addo has served on the boards and committees of a number of political, legal, commercial, and social organizations in the country. He was the first Chairperson of DHL (GH) Ltd; Chairperson, Kinesec Communications (Co) Ltd., publishers of The Statesman; and the first Chairperson of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He was responsible, through his association with the US company, Millicom, for introducing mobile telephony into the country.

POLITICAL CAREER

In his early thirties, Akufo-Addo was the General Secretary of the broad-based People’s Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ), which was composed of political stalwarts such as Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, William Ofori-Atta, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Albert Adu Boahen, Sam Okudzeto, Obed Asamoah, Godfrey Agama, K. S. P. Jantuah, Jones Ofori-Atta, Johnny Hanson and Nii Amaah Amartefio ("Mr. No"). This group led the "NO" campaign in the UNIGOV referendum of 1978, designed to solicit popular support for a one-party military-led State. The “No” campaign ultimately brought about the downfall of the Acheampong military government on 5 July 1978, and the restoration of multiparty democratic rule to the country in 1979. Akufo-Addo had to go briefly into exile after the referendum, when his life was in danger. But, from Europe, he could be heard constantly on the BBC World Service, fighting against the military rulers back in Ghana and calling for a return to democracy. He is acknowledged as one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in Ghana.

In 1991, Akufo-Addo was the chairman of the Organising Committee of the Danquah-Busia Memorial Club, a club dedicated to the preservation of the memory and ideals of the two great advocates of Ghanaian democracy, J. B. Danquah and K.A. Busia, Prime Minister of the Progress Party government of the 2nd Republic of Ghana. Akufo-Addo travelled throughout Ghana to establish branches of the Club all over the country in the grassroots style for which he is known. These branches eventually transformed into local organs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) prior to the elections of 1992, which heralded the reintroduction of democratic governance under the 4th Republic.

In 1992, he was the first national organiser of the NPP and, later that year, campaign manager of the party's first presidential candidate, Prof. Albert Adu Boahen, the man of courage who broke the “culture of silence” in Ghana, and played such a crucial role in the reintroduction of democracy.

In 1992, Akufo-Addo set up and financed The Statesman newspaper, which has become the unofficial mouthpiece of the NPP.

Akufo Addo stands next to Wereko Brobbey in the Kumepreko demo

In 1995, he led the famous “Kume Preko” demonstrations of the Alliance For Change (AFC), a broad-based political pressure group, which mobilised millions of people onto the streets of Ghana to protest the harsh economic conditions of the Rawlings era. Some pundits in Ghana believe that this was instrumental in re-establishing the NPP as a more formidable force after Prof Adu Boahen.

Akufo-Addo was elected three times between 1996 and 2008 as Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern region of Ghana. From 2001 to 2007, as Cabinet Minister, first as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice for two years, and later as Foreign Minister for five years, Akufo-Addo served in the government of President Kufuor with distinction.

As Attorney-General, he was responsible for the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which, hitherto, had been used to intimidate the media and criminalise free speech. The repeal has enabled the Ghanaian media become one of the most vibrant and freest in Africa. Under his chairmanship of the Legal Sector Reform Committee, the implementation of the court automation programme was initiated.

As Foreign Minister, he was fully involved in the successful Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peace efforts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Guinea Bissau, and was chairman of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council in 2003.

In 2004, Ghana was elected one of the 15 pioneer members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council, a mandate which was renewed at the AU Summit in Khartoum in January 2006. Akufo-Addo was chosen by his peers on the AU Executive Council to chair the Ministerial Committee of 15 that fashioned the Ezulwini Consensus, which defined the African Union’s common position on UN Reforms. He negotiated for the 2007 AU Summit to be held in Accra as part of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, and chaired the AU Executive Council in 2007.

Ghana was elected by her peers to take the non-permanent West African seat on the UN Security Council for 2006-07. In August 2006, Akufo-Addo chaired the meeting of the Security Council which took the decision that halted Israel’s massive incursions into Lebanon. Again, Ghana was elected to the new UN body, the Human Rights Council, with the highest number of votes—183 out of 191—of any country, and as a pioneer member of another UN body, the Peacebuilding Commission.

PRESIDENTIAL BIDS

In October 1998, Nana Akufo-Addo competed for the presidential candidacy of the NPP and lost to John Agyekum Kufuor, the man who eventually won the presidential election in Ghana in December 2000 and assumed office as President of Ghana in 2001. Akufo-Addo was the chief campaigner for candidate Kufuor in the 2000 election and became the first Attorney General and Minister for Justice of the Kufuor era.

Akufo-Addo resigned from the Kufuor Government in July 2007 to contest for the position of presidential candidate of his party, the NPP, the then ruling party of Ghana, for the 2008 elections. Competing against 16 others, he won 48% of the votes in the first round of that election, but was given a unanimous endorsement in the second round, making him the party’s presidential candidate.

In the 7 December 2008 presidential race, he received, in the first round, more votes than John Atta Mills, the eventual winner. In the first round, Akufo-Addo received 4,159,439 votes representing 49.13% of the votes cast, placing him first, but not enough for the 50% needed for an outright victory. It was the best-ever performance for a first-time presidential candidate in the Fourth Republic. In the run-off, Mills received 4,521,032 votes, representing 50.23%, thus beating Akufo-Addo by the smallest margin in Ghana’s, and, indeed, in Africa’s political history. 

Akufo-Addo accepted the results without calling even for a recount, thereby helping to preserve the peace, freedom and stability of Ghana. Akufo-Addo again contested in the 2012 national elections against the NDC candidate, the late Mills’ successor as President, John Mahama, and lost. That election generated considerable controversy, and was finally decided by the Supreme Court in a narrow 5/4 decision in favour of John Mahama. Akufo-Addo is credited with helping to preserve the peace of the country by the statesmanlike manner in which he accepted the adverse verdict of the Court, at a time of high tension in the country.  

In March 2014, Akufo-Addo announced his decision to seek his party’s nomination for the third time ahead of the 2016 election. He secured an unprecedented, landslide victory of 94.35% of the votes in the party’s presidential primary in October, 2014, in a contest of seven competitors. Akufo-Addo also took time off to serve as Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Mission for the South African elections in 2014, building on his reputation as Ghana's Former Foreign Minister.

Credit: www.nanaakufoaddo.org

A SILLY JOKE IN ACCRA

Mr Asiedu Nketsia, General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress

By Ekow Mensah

I was driving home in the evening of last Tuesday and my car radio was blaring.

The female presenter said “Anytime the Democrats win in the US, the NDC wins in Ghana and when the Republicans win, the NPP wins”. 

I could not believe my ears. What could this be? Voodoo political analysis or what?

I found comfort in the fact that this was coming from only a radio presenter who may have gotten her job on account of her fantastic voice.

I was terribly mistaken.

Within 30 minutes, my own idol and General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Aseidu Nketia was repeating that verbiage.

By the next morning when Donald Trump had won the elections, it got worse.

Does Donald Trump's victory means Akufo Addo is winning Ghana's elections?

Some elements from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also started claiming that because Donald Trump had won the election in the United States of America, Nana Akufo-Addo will also win in Ghana.

Some of them went as far as pointing out that the Republican Party and the NPP use the same symbol, the elephant.

Who wants to be a Donald Trump in Ghana?

Does the NPP really want their candidate to be the Ghana version of Donald Trump?

God, please help them.

All of these NDC and NPP chaps perhaps don’t know that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are or were the most unpopular Presidential candidates in all of the history of the USA.

Clinton and Trump are all not fit for Ghana’s Presidency and I just wonder why the NPP and the NDC want to turn their Presidential candidates into unpopular chanced candidates.

Perhaps this is just another silly joke in Accra.

Editorial

WHERE IS THE TRUTH?

Ghana has once again entered the campaign season and the truth is getting sacrificed on the alter of political partisanship.

Last week the media was awash with reports that the Mahama administration has decided not to pursue, businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome for monies he allegedly fraudulently obtained from the Government of Ghana.

The story is that the Attorney-General has abandoned the case for fear that Mr. Woyome will mention the names of Government official implicated in his fraud in open court.

What is the truth in this matter?

The Attorney –General has only decided not to examine Alfred Agbesi Woyome in court and this means that the Attorney –General does not consider his oral evidence as crucial to the case.

At no point has the Attorney –General decided to abandon the case against Woyome and to chase him for the money he allegedly fraudulently obtained.

We must not sacrifice the truth in election year for the sale purpose of winning election because the untruths we peddle will catch up with us.

Monsanto Merges with Bayer, “Their Expertise is War”. Shady Historical Origins, IG Farben, Part of Hitler’s Chemical Genetic Engineering Cartel

Dr Vandana Shiva, the greatest humanist and environmental activist of the 21st century

By Dr. Vandana Shiva

India is steeped in synthesised controversy, created by Monsanto on the first GM crop supposedly-approved for commercialisation in India. Engaged in litigation on many fronts, Monsanto is trying to subvert our Patent Law, our Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Act, our Essential Commodities Act , our Anti Monopoly Act (Competition Act). It is behaving as if there is no Parliament, no Democracy, no Sovereign Laws in India to which it is subject. Or, it simply does not have any regard for them.

In another theatre, Monsanto and Bayer are merging. They were one as MOBAY (MonsantoBayer), part of the Poison Cartel of IG Farben. Controlling stakes of both Corporations lies with the same private equity firms.

The expertise of these companies are those of war. IG Farben – Hitler’s economic power and pre-war Germany’s highest foreign exchange earner – was also a foreign intelligence operation. Herman Shmitz was President of IG Farben, Shmitz’s nephew Max Ilgner was a Director of IG Farben, while Max’s brother Rudolph Ilgner handled the New York arm of the ‘VOWI‘ network as vice president of CHEMNYCO.

Paul Warburg – brother of Max Warburg (Board of Directors, Farben Aufsichsrat) – was one of the founding members of the Federal Reserve System in the United States. He was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Max Warburg and Hermann Schmitz played a central role in the Farben empire. Other “guiding hands” of Farben Vorstand included Carl Bosch, Fritz ter Meer, Kurt Oppenheim and George von Schnitzler. Every one of them were adjudged ‘War Criminals’ after World War II, except Paul Warburg.

Monsanto and Bayer have a long history. They made explosives and lethally poisonous gases using shared technologies and sold them to both sides in both  World Wars. The same war chemicals were bought by the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers, from the same manufacturers, with money borrowed from the same federated reserve bank.

MOBAY (MonsantoBayer) supplied ingredients for Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. 20 million gallons of MOBAY defoliants and herbicides were sprayed over South Vietnam. Children are still being born with birth defects, adults have chronic illnesses and cancers, due to their exposure to MOBAY’s chemicals. Monsanto and Bayer’s cross-licensed Agent Orange Resistance has also been cross-developed for decades.

Wars were fought, lives were lost, countries carved into holy lands – with artificial boundaries that suit colonisation and resource grab – while Bayer and Monsanto sold chemicals as bombs and poisons and their brothers provided the loans to buy those bombs.

More recently, according to Monsanto’s website Bayer CropScience AG and Monsanto Co. have “entered into a series of long-term business and licensing agreements related to key enabling agricultural technologies”. This gives Monsanto and Bayer free access to each other’s herbicide and the paired herbicide resistance technology. Through cross licensing agreements like these, mergers and acquisitions, the biotech industry has become the IG Farben of today, with Monsanto in the cockpit.

The Global Chemical and GMO industry – Bayer, Dow Agro, DuPont Pioneer, Mahyco, Monsanto and Syngenta – have come together to form Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII)  to try and become bigger bullies in this assault on India’s farmers, the environment , and democratically framed laws that protect the public and national interest.This is in addition to the lolly-group ABLE, the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises, which tried to challenge India’s Seed Price Control order issued under the Essential commodities Act, in the High Court of Karnataka. The case was dismissed.

The new Group is not “seed Industry”, they produce no seeds. And they try to stretch patents on chemicals to claim ownership on seed, even in countries where patents on seeds and plants are not allowed by law. This is the case in India, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and many other countries.

All the Monsanto cases in India are related to Monsanto un-scientifically, illegally and illegitimately claiming patents on seed, in contempt of India’s laws, and trying to collect royalties from the Indian seed industry and Indian farmers. The FSII is an “IG Farben 100 Year Family Reunion”, a federation is a coming together of independent and autonomous entities.

The Farben family chemical cartel was responsible for exterminating people in concentration camps . They embody a century of ecocide and genocide, carried out in the name of scientific experimentation and innovation. Today the poison cartel is wearing G-Engineering clothes, and citing the mantra of “innovation” ad nauseum. Hitlers concentration camps were an “innovation” in killing. 100 years later, the Farben Family are carrying out the same extermination, silently, globally, much more efficiently.

Monsanto’s “innovation” of collecting illegal royalties and pushing Indian farmers to suicide is also an innovation in killing without liability, indirectly. Just because there is a new way to kill does not make killing right, or a right. “Innovation” like every human activity, has limits – limits set by ethics, justice, democracy, the rights of people, the rights of nature.

I G Farben was tried at Nuremburg. We have national laws to protect people, their right to life and public health, and  the environment.India’s Biosafety laws and Patent, and Plant Variety Act are designed to regulate greedy owners of corporations – with a history of crimes against nature and humanity.

Industry is getting ready to push its next “gene” the  GM-Mustard (DMH-11). The GM mustard being promoted as a public sector “innovation” is based on barnase/barstar/ gene system to create male-sterile plants and a bar gene for Glufosinate Resistance.In 2002 Pro-Agro’s (Bayer) application for approval for commercial planting of GM Mustard based on the same system was rejected.

Although banned in India, Bayer finds ways to sell Glufosinate, to the tea gardens of Assam and the apple orchards of Himachal Pradesh, illegally. Sales agents show the Glufosinate sales under the ‘other’ category to avoid regulation. These chemicals are finding their way into the bodies of our children without government approval. Essentially all key patents related to the bar gene are held by Bayer Crop Science which acquired Aventis Cropscience, which itself was created out of the Genetic Engineering divisions of Schering, Rhone Poulenc and Hoechst. Then Bayer acquired Plant Genetics Systems, and entered into cooperation agreement with Evogene – which has patents on genome mapping.

Before any approval is granted to the Genetically Engineered Mustard, the issue of limits to patentability needs to be resolved on the basis of Indian law, patents on plants and seeds and methods of agriculture must not be allowed, because they are not allowed.

Pental, a retired professor and GM-Operative, will not commercialise GM Mustard seed. His Commanding Officers at Bayer/Monsanto/MOBAY will.

Given our experience with GMO cotton, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is considering the option of putting in place guidelines for socio-economic assessment to judge proposed GM varieties on the basis of factors such as economy, health, environment, society and culture.

At the core of socio economic assessment is the issue of monopolies and cartels and impact on small farmers. Even though patents on seeds are not allowed, for more that one and a half decade Monsanto has extracted illegal royalties from Indian farmers, trapping them in debt, and triggering an epidemic of farmers suicides. Monsanto’s war on India’s foot soldiers – farmers – is a war being waged by the Farben Family, on our Earth Family.

The original source of this article is Global Research

"I AM NOT AN NPP MAN”- Kwabena Kwabena

Kwabena Kwabena

By Ekow Mensah

Hip life Superstar, Kwabena Kwabena has joined the list of celebrities who have distanced themselves from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the last months.

Black star Captain, Asamoah Gyan was the first to distant himself from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He denied rumours that he was a financier of the NPP and described them as “wicked stories” calculated to destroy his image.

Highlife Musician Amakye Dede has also strongly denied reports that he is a member or sympathizer of the NPP following his appearance on an NPP campaign platform.

He said he performed at an NPP rally as professional musician and not a member or sympathiser or the party.

Amakye Dede later performed at the campaign launch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Cape coast to make his point.

Kwabena Kwabena has also said that he is not a member of the NPP although he composes songs for Nana Akufo Addo, the party’s presidential candidate.

Speaking to Nii Ardey Clegg, on the Morning Star’s “Adult Music “ he insisted that he is apolitical and does not support any particular party.

Kwabena Kwabena said he was not contracted by Nana Akufo –Addo to compose songs for him.

“I did it out of my own free will” he said.

He said “I don’t belong to any political party, I am a Ghanaian and I will endorse any Ghanaian I believe is ready to do something or has something to offer this country……..”

Editorial

Musical Politics

Musicians appear to be playing a very large role in the 2016 election.

Politicians are falling over themselves to win over the most popular musicians in the false hope that their fans will accept their political choices.

The fact that one accepts Amakye Dede’s rendition of life does not mean that his prescription for improving access to education will be acceptable.  

Musicians may be popular because of the quality of their voices or the rhythms they pour out.

 They may even be popular because of the themes they sing about.

 The point is that musicians are also Ghanaians and entitled to participate fully in the political process but they have no special role in choosing our leaders.

The politicians must do what is correct. They must address the felt needs of the masses and stop playing to the gallery.

Musical politics will not solve the problems of Ghana. 

REMEMBERING: Jake Obetsebi –Lamptey

The Late Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey

“The Insight” is perhaps one of the many institutions which ought to pay special tribute to Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, business executive and former national Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This is because Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey had a very special relationship with the newspaper.

Apart from the fact that he relaunched the newspaper in 1998, five years after “The Insight” was born he offered professional advice on several occasions.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey was the person who suggested the relaunching of the newspaper with changes in its logo and other details.

Relaunching the newspaper at the Old International Press Centre in Accra, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey praised  “The Insight “ and its editorial staff for their steadfastness in the struggle to democratize  Ghana.

 He described them as “gallant”.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey was undoubtedly an astute advertising executive who took his skills to the political stage and helped to get Mr. J.A. Kufuor elected as President of Ghana twice.

He had served as Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for at least two terms.

He is credited with making the NPP the dominant political party in the Greater Accra Region during his term even though he didn’t speak a word of Ga.

He served as Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City and Minister of Information.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey lost his bid to become the Presidential Candidate of the NPP.

 He also lost a bid to retain his position as National Chairman of the party to Mr. Paul Afoko.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey worked very closely with Professor Albert Adu Boahen, former President J.A Kufour and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, the current presidential candidate of the NPP.

The Insight extends its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

May his good deeds continue to inspire current and future generations and may his short comings be seen as just manifestations of human weakness.

AKUFO - ADDO DENIES

Nana Akudo Addo

By Ekow Mensah

Nana Akufo-Addo, the Presidential Candidates Of The New Patriotic Party (NPP) denied flatly that he had an interest in undermining the Chairman and General Secretary of his party.

The Nana Ohene Ntow Committee Report, a copy of which has been obtained by The Insight claims that Nana Akufo  Addo made the denial in an interaction with the Committee.

 The Report said “Towards the closing stages of its deliberations, the Committee moved to the flag bearer ‘s office to interact with him and to seek his views on the issues being investigated by the Committee .

“The committee brought to his attention the General Secretary’s earlier report to the committee in which he (General Secretary)said he had sighted a document prepared by certain close associates of the Flag bearer, detailing how national officers perceived not to be loyal to the Flagbearer should be undermined.

“ Asked whether he has any knowledge of such a document, the Flag bearer responded in the negative, stressing thus; what will be the benefit to me if the National Chairman and the General Secretary were undermined and prevented from working”

On the General Secretary’s suggestion that a public declaration by the Flag bearer of a vote of confidence in General Secretary and the 2nd vice chairman and the National Chairman as a means of discouraging those who are undermining the three national officers, the Flag bearer said he did not think that was a solution to the  current impasse.

“The flag bearer, however, stressed that what he thinks is that the principle of group decision making which underpins the party’s constitution should be respected and upheld by all leaders of the party; that this is the surest way of curing the current ills of the party”

The full text of the Ohene Ntow report will be published in the next issues of “The Insight”

Editorial

Why the silence?

Chief Benny Wenda, the leader of the independence movement in the West Papua claims that Indonesia has killed more than 500,00 of his people for daring to protest against their colonial status.

 He speaks of many atrocities against the indigenous people of the Island, which is full of riches.

The Island is reported to have the world’s largest deposit of gold and there are credible reports that it  is laden with oil and gas.

West Papua was initially a Dutch colony and it was claimed by Indonesia in the late 1960s.

The Insight is shocked by the world’s silence in the face of all the atrocities allegedly committed against the Islanders.

We urge the United  Nations and all international Human Rights Organisation to pay attention to what is happening in West Papua and to investigate these grave allegations.