Nana Akyea Mensah's Corner

Richard Mahoney On Danquah's CIA Connections – Part One

2012-01-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

Richard Mahoney On Danquah's CIA Connections – Part One

Feature Article by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

A Rejoinder to: Richard Mahoney: On Danquah and Nkrumah – Parts One, Feature Article of Wednesday, 14 December 2011, by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame

For those of you who might not be following the politics of this debate, let me give a quick background to it. Dr. J. B. Danquah is considered “the doyen” of Gold Coast politics by the NPP in general, and particularly, by his handful of hard-core followers, mostly his blood relations, who also appear to be clearly and discernibly seeking to take advantage of his over-blown hero-status as a platform to launch their own personal political ambitions. Prominent among that group is Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Danquah's nephew and flag-bearer of the NPP, one such politician who has firmly hinged his overall political campaign strategy as a continuation of the promotion of the ideals and values of what J.B. Danquah represented. His speech announcing his intention to contest the presidency attests to this campaign packaging. More importantly, he even established the Danquah Institute, pushing his own nephew and a grandson of Danquah, Mr. Otchere-Darko, then Managing Editor of the Statesman to man it.

Akufo-Addo was hoping to ride on the back of Danquah's fame to the Presidency. Things seemed to go smoothly for some time, particularly when NPP was in power, and external funders of right-wing think-tanks have never been difficult to obtain. The growing public awareness of the scandal involving human sacrifice and ritual murder in which Danquah was more than a mere defence attorney led the first body-blow to the carefully crafted image of a “gentle Danquah, meek and mild”, instead of the shameless accomplice to a ritual murder and human sacrifice! The Danquah followers have already been having a hard time with this scandal involving the ritual murder of Nana Akyea Mensah, the Odikro of Apedwa in February 1944, which is beginning to be widely known. Thus an additional scandal exposing such a villain as a CIA agent is another body blow to the propaganda materials they have been churning out about Danquah as a selfless patriot and so on, for obvious reasons.

An exposure of Danquah as a CIA agent, is exactly the kind of thing the Akufo-Addo campaign can ill afford at this time. It throws the entire Akufo-Addo campaign, carefully planned over the years completely out of gear. This explains the deep sense of alarm we saw live on TV when the CIA status of Danquah was revealed by Dr. Boamah Omane. It was quickly understood that after having tied his fate to “the doyen of Gold Coast politics”, J. B. Danquah's fall from grace to grass cannot take place without some of the political consequences washing on the fortunes of Akufo-Addo in the context of the current electoral campaign. Suspicions have already been raised by the links between “all die be die” and the US Africa Command, with what Otchere-Darko calls “Washington’s strategy of working with its regional allies in West Africa to develop relationships that will secure its energy security in the long term.” See: “Obama’s Visit – What’s In It For Us And U.S.?”, by Otchere-Darko, Gabby Asare, Feature Article of Monday, 25 May 2009.

Even though Otchere-Darko's performance was a complete flop, he obviously had very little room to manoeuvre with lies. Let's face it, how can they possibly challenge Richard Mahoney when Okoampa himself is saying: “One source which the followers of Mr. Nkrumah, the so-called Nkrumaists, have consistently, persistently and perennially cited to cast both doubt and aspersions on the integrity of Dr. Danquah is Richard D. Mahoney’s quite authoritative treatise on United States’ foreign policy vis-à-vis Africa during the Eisenhower and the Kennedy years, titled JFK: Ordeal in Africa (New York: Oxford UP, 1983). But that the author’s father, William P. Mahoney, was the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana during the Kennedy years, has predictably served to further enhance the credibility and authority of his book in the opinion of these diehard Nkrumaists.”? See: “Richard Mahoney: On Danquah and Nkrumah – Part One" by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame, Feature Article of Wednesday, 14 December 2011. It is clearly a losing battle here. Perhaps this explains why Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe is so keen even to flog the dead horse with irrelevant tales! Perhaps he is being fooled by the Churchillian definition of success as “the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm”!

The incontrovertible fact that has remained equally unassailable to all attempts by Akufo-Addo handlers has been the revelation that point clearly to J.B. Danquah's involvement with the US Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA). The sad thing about this revelation is that the Akufo-Addo team appear to be fully aware of the damaging implications not only on Danquah's image, but also on Akufo-Addo's own political career, but appear to be caught off-guard and helpless. Their number one problem is that the facts are true, and they do not seem to have any intelligent response. It was simply disgusting to see Otchere-Darko going into tantrums at the mere mention of this on TV, and remaining conspicuously silent particularly after an article I wrote, “J. B. Danquah Was A CIA Asset!” Feature Article of Saturday, 1 October 2011, by Mensah, Nana Akyea. Otchere-Darko kept silent. I followed it up with “Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For 'Stupid' Insults!” Again there was dead silence. I wrote a Part Two and made sure that Otchere-Darko had a copy by e-mail. It was a shrivelled and completely flattened Otchere-Darko who responded:

“gabby@danquahinstitute.org via srs.bis7.eu.blackberry.com to me, 12/10/2011.

Re: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com has shared: Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part II

Thank you. Most thoughtful!

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Vodafone”

That was all. Your guess is as good as mine as to what explains such an inexplicable climb down. Qanawu, of all people, refused to “talk and die”! He has since been avoiding the topic like a plague! He knows in his own bones that there is no antidote to facts, and the best solution is to avoid the topic entirely. Which is understandable, even though it leaves the Akufo-Addo campaign politically orphaned and stranded in the wilderness of exposure of what they are capable of. Considering the facts, silence is perhaps the best solution to this problem. It is therefore clear that if Okoampa-Ahoofe had consulted Otchere-Darko before writing his article, Otchere-Darko would have told him to “let sleeping dogs lie”. But that is certainly the kind of advice Okoampa would misconstrue as an irritating indication of a lack of confidence in his ability to re-write history in his capacity as an Associate Professor of English, Journalism and Creative Writing at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City.

The funny thing here is that Okoampa probably thinks he is helping Akufo-Addo! I have often maintained, Okoampa always reminds me of the Roman general who said, I more fear a stupid ally than I fear a clever enemy”. With the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute on the run, it came as no surprise that Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., would naturally step in to save the situation. What we need to make clear is the fact that we know that there is hardly a Danquah follower who did not know that Danquah was a CIA agent, even though they would vehemently deny it in public, just as Danquah himself did in his time. The only hitch this time is that both in terms of content and author, they are finding it impossible to challenge Richard Mahoney's assertions that J. B. Danquah's family received CIA stipends when he was in prison. We are dealing with people who would ask you for the receipts to prove that the CIA was paying any money to Danquah. Thus, it is exceptionally fortuitous that the facts and the evidence came from a completely unexpected source.

It has not been easy since 1958 to lay hands on the hard evidence to categorically link and nail Danquah as a CIA agent, even though it was very clear to the Ghanaian intelligence that he was up to something. As Paul Lee explains in “Documents Expose the first evidence that emerged were anecdotal:

“While charges of U.S. involvement are not new, support for them was lacking until 1978, when anecdotal evidence was provided from an unlikely source - a former CIA case officer, John Stockwell, who reported first-hand testimony in his memoir, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story.

'The inside story came to me,' Stockwell wrote, 'from an egotistical friend, who had been chief of the [CIA] station in Accra [Ghana] at the time.' (Stockwell was stationed one country away in the Ivory Coast.)

Subsequent investigations by The New York Times and Covert Action Information Bulletin identified the station chief as Howard T. Banes, who operated undercover as a political officer in the U.S. Embassy.”

And perhaps that would have been all we would have ever known had Richard Mahoney not published his book. In 2002, John R. Stockwell, a former CIA officer who became a critic of United States government policies after serving in the Agency for thirteen years serving seven tours of duty explains in an interview:

“Howard Banes who was the CIA station chief in Accra engineered the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah. Now, obviously, you can look at it in different ways. A Ghanaian might say I thought we did it. Inside the CIA, though, it was quite clear. Howard Banes had a double promotion and an Intelligence Star for having overthrown Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana.

The magic of it, what made it so exciting for the CIA, was that Howard Banes had had enough imagination and drive to run the operation without ever documenting what he was doing, and to sweep along his bosses in such a way, they knew what he was doing, tacitly they approved, but there wasn't one shred of paper that he generated that would nail the CIA hierarchy as being responsible.”

As Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah, puts it:

“Danquah’s detention under the PDA resulted from his involvements in coup plots in collaboration with the CIA. During the first treason trial of Awhiatey-Amponsah-Apaloo conspiracy of November 1958, after the passage of the PDA, J. B. Danquah was heard assuring a foreign diplomat that Nkrumah’s government would be overthrown in December 1958 (Bing). But the security forces did not act on it. They kept close eyes on him and other enemies of the State in order to gather hard evidence.” See: "Fallacies of J. B. Danquah's Heroic Legacy (V)", Feature Article of Monday, 25 September 2006 Columnist: Botwe-Asamoah, Kwame Dr.

For those of us looking for evidence of “receipts” of CIA payments to Danquah before we can be convinced that J.B. Danquah was indeed a CIA asset, the “receipt” came in the form of a book. As we can see from Okoampa's accounts, Richard Mahoney was no admirer of Kwame Nkrumah, and he was obviously not writing to please Pan-Africanists, when he noted that:

“The matter concerned Dr. J. B. Danquah, Nkrumah's opponent in the Presidential elections of 1960, who had been released from prison a few months after Mahoney's arrival as ambassador. Danquah paid a visit one November day to the embassy to ask Mahoney why the funds his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut off after his release.

This was the first time Mahoney had heard of the arrangement. After Danquah left, he summoned the CIA chief of station to ask why he had not been advised by the agency's association with Danquah. Dissatisfied with the explanation, Mahoney flew to Washington two days later and personally informed Kennedy about the matter.” Read from page 184-185.

As I noted earlier in “J. B. Danquah Was A CIA Asset!”, Feature Article of Saturday, 1 October 2011 Columnist: Mensah, Nana Akyea:

“The story in the book, “JFK: Ordeal in Africa”, is very clear. According to Richard Mahoney, Danquah’s collaboration with the CIA became clear when he went to the US Embassy, after Nkrumah had pardon Danquah and other detainees on June 2, 1962, to ask “why the funds his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut after his release.” As Dr. Kwame Botwe-Asamoah, correctly recounts, “This caused Mr. Mahoney, the new US Ambassador to Ghana to summon “the CIA chief of station to ask why he had not been advised of the agency’s association with Danquah.” Displeased with the explanation, “Mahoney flew to Washington two days later and personally informed Kennedy about the matter” (Mahoney)." - Feature Article of Monday, 25 September 2006, Columnist: Botwe-Asamoah, Kwame Dr., Fallacies of J. B. Danquah's Heroic Legacy (V)”.

I think there is no easy way to deny a fact that is published by an authoritative source, but Okoampa's pathetic attempts to beat about the bush only helps Ghanaians to focus more on what he wants to divert our attention from. An ugly tactic that did not go down well was the attempt by Otchere-Darko to use insults and “takashi” or “all die be die” in response to these allegations. Since the event happened live on radio and TV programme on Joy FM and Multi TV, most Ghanaians did see, and most would easily recall the disgraceful manner the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute put up in the course of the discussion on the Founder's Day, last September. It was pathetic. Mr. Kweku Baako was talking about the need for a broad political consensus across Ghana's political spectrum.

“That will dilute the whole thing.” Dr. Omane-Boamah would not agree. In supporting his claim, he insisted that it would be wrong to include former “CIA agents like Dr. J. Danquah” as a founder of Ghana. It is precisely at this point that Otchere-Darko's misbehaviour began:

“Would you stop this stupidity?” Gabby asked angrily. “Would you stop this stupidity? Why is he so stupid? You are sitting here and accusing somebody of being a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is that? What is this stupidity? This is stupidity… you consider a founder of Ghana as a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is this? ...this is pure stupidity.”

Gabby Otchere Darko was then asked by the host of the show to apologize to listeners and Dr. Omane Boamah for the insulting language but Gabby would only apologize to listeners. He stubbornly refused to apologize to the deputy Minister. He rather chose the option of walking out of the studio than to apologize for the insults. He was subsequently asked to leave the studios for his refusal to apologize to Omane Boamah, since that was the rule. Gabby Otchere Darko accepted the option of not apologizing and walking out to apologize and stay, and walked off the live program stating:

“When you want us to have an intellectual programme like this, you don't bring people like this. I am not going to apologize, I can apologize to the viewers and listeners but not him. He insults J.B. Danquah and you want me to apologize to him? …I am not going to do that. Why should I do that? … If that is what you want I will walk out on your programme, I won't do it!”

I remember the reaction of Ekow Nelson: “Okoampa and Otchere-Darko are getting overly emotional about the wrong side of this issue. they are arguing that JB Danquah did not need any motivation from a foreign government to destabilize and overthrow the elected government of Ghana. He did what the CIA would have liked him to do but took no money for it! He did all of that pro bono! So why is that redeeming for Dr. Danquah?” And here was my own: “The only way out I saw for Gabby in this predicament was to have honestly admitted the fact that the CIA paid stipends to J.B. Danquah's wife whilst in prison, explained why this was so, and to have left the public in peace to go and find out for themselves! He could then have added, as he seems to explain so eloquently with his “friend of America” excuses, that even if Danquah was a CIA agent, he did it for the good of the nation but not for stipends. And he could have allowed the public to judge for themselves who is really stupid!” See: "Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part I", by Nana Akyea Mensah, Featured Articles | 7 October 2011.

Even Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe was embarrassed enough to confess that the reaction of the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko, to the allegations that “Danquah was a CIA agent”, was a "rather startlingly infantile reaction", even though he agrees with him! See: "Omane-Boamah Deserved that Bit of It", Feature Article of Friday, 30 September 2011. So I was completely taken aback, and could not believe my eyes at first, when I saw an article by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., on this topic. But even more shocking than the fool-hardy idea of commenting on what has apparently been declared “a lost battle” and is fast becoming a taboo topic in the Akufo-Addo campaign, is the manner with which he beats about the bush and begs the simple question of whether or not J. B. Danquah was a CIA spy!

What Ghanaians want to know are the facts. Did J.B. Danquah go to the US Ambassador to ask why the CIA had stopped paying stipends to his wife? That is the question! Okoampa should stop beating about the bush and tell us why the CIA was paying these "stipends" in question to his hero's wife when he was in prison! Did J.B. Danquah go to see the then US Ambassador to Ghana, after Nkrumah had pardoned him and other detainees on June 2, 1962, to ask “why the funds his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut after his release”? If you claim you read the book, then you ought to know that this very line is also in the book: “why the funds his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut after his release”?

Grandson, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that, Baby!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro, is a member of the Social Media Outreach Programme of the Pan-Africanist International - a grammar of Pan-Africanism and its manners of articulation! And is also known to Kwame Okoampa, the notorious assassin of character, as: "Ali Masmadi Sasabonsam Jehu Shoaboni Appiah, who now presumptuously and conveniently goes by the name of Nana Akyea-Mensah, the name of a historic man the likes of whose dignity and ineffable cynosure that SOB would never encounter among the male members of his largely pathologically skirt-chasing and pedophiliac family." See: A Typical Ghanaian Prophet, Feature Article | Thu, 21 Jul 2011, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

On Nana Akufo-Addo & The Wailers

2011-12-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

By Nana Akyea Mensah

Over the past couple of years, watching the countless spins and puerile campaign initiatives by Nana Akufo-Addo and his cheer-leaders, I have had the occasion to be reminded of Sir Walter Scott's “children” who “build statues of snow and weep to see them melt.” One feature of these bands of Akufo-Addo followers that is very difficult to get used to, is the fact that they are equally as noisy when they are building their statues as is their wailing, when these also begin to melt. This article is intended to bring the noise down to acceptable decibels. One of the most notorious of the Akufo-Addo “wailers”, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., a typical Akyem town-crier, whose “talents” include the ability to wail exactly like a baby, is under focus.

In the lead up to the 2008 general elections, it was pathetic to see Okoampa-Ahoofe taking a free-ride on the Akufo-Addo campaign-hype of “one-touch” victory, even though the NPP flag-bearer had been left in no doubt by Professor Larry Gibson concerning his own chances of winning against the then NDC candidate, Professor John Evans Atta-Mills. Thanks to the revelations in Dr. Arthur Kennedy's book, “Chasing the elephant into the bush”, we now know that even as Akufo-Addo was stubbornly refusing to concede defeat to the winning candidate, as expected of any decent politician, Akufo-Addo was already aware he stood no chance of winning the race in the first place!

The prognosis of his impending defeat did not stop him from using “one-touch” as his campaign slogan. It did not stop him from refusing to concede his obvious defeat. Akufo-Addo is therefore, himself, the spider at the centre of the yarn of lies being spun by the “wailers” around him, like Okoampa-Ahoofe. Akufo-Addo therefore needs to be dealt with in his own right, except that one of his wailers has developed some Dutch courage to disturb the peace of late, hence this focus on Okoampa-Ahoofe together with his uncle. Out of sheer desperation, and realization that Akufo-Addo is increasingly becoming the under-dog in the race, they are busy preparing the grounds to subvert the will of the people against their inevitable defeat at the 2012 polls.

I think two articles written by Okoampa-Ahoofe epitomize the phenomenon. In the first article, The Tribal Question: Why Akufo-Addo Must Handily Win the Ewe, Okoampa predicts a massive win for his uncle in the Volta Region in these terms, “Anyway, we know that Nana Akufo-Addo will handily win the Ewe vote in Election 2008, because the New Patriotic Party Presidential Candidate has guts and mettle for the fearless pursuit of unfettered democratic culture, whereas the nauseatingly timid Prof. Atta-Mills has always toadied up to the orgiastic butchery and immitigable savagery of the Dzelukope Mafia.” (See: The Tribal Question: Why Akufo-Addo Must Handily Win the Ewe, By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., ModernGhana.com, Featured Articles, 9 October 2008).

In the second article, Okoampa-Ahoofe is busily instructing the winning candidate and President-elect, Professor John Evans Atta-Mills, to concede defeat to his losing uncle! See: “Atta-Mills Must Concede Defeat!” By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., ModernGhana.com, Featured Articles, 31 December 2008. So there is nothing new about these wailers, and their “all-die-be-die” because “someone is desperate to cheat us” nonsense. The Busia-Danquah fraternity have never lost an election without crying foul. This they did, even when their own colonial Britain was overseeing the 1951 elections, jailing Nkrumah during the campaigns and financing them!

Try to find out how the Accra Sports stadium came into being, and you would be learning something about how the colonialists financed Danquah's initiative to use sports to attract the teaming Accra youth rallying behind Kwame Nkrumah They even cried foul after the 1951 elections when their own colonial patrons were in charge and had an obvious preference to them than to Kwame Nkrumah and his CPP!

Before the 2008 elections, even Akufo-Addo's own private pollsters predicted an Atta-Mills victory. The attempts to stem the tide with the Rawlings' Hitlist hoax only worsened matters, as President Mills emerged not only victorious but also to be “his own man”. On the other hand, Akufo-Addo's popularity, insufficient as it was in 2008, has been on the wane, as a result of reckless statements and a series of drug-related scandals and allegations.

As though that were not enough, his own lieutenants are at each others' throats. Herbert Krapa fights Otchere-Darko, Okoampa fights Ochere-Darko and Krapa, Otchere-darko fights Okoampa and Herbert Krapa. Even within the inner-circle of the so-called “Victory 2012 Campaign”, the constant strategic repositioning and jostling for power and attention has led to a complete breakdown of teamwork. It is even worse with the NPP as a party. Today, despite the obvious low-profile, the “Agenda 2016” is almost becoming a household word. The funniest thing about Okoampa-Ahoofe is that he even helped in putting words to the fundamental logic that has now developed into the full-blown “Agenda 2016”:

"...the fact that the timing of his premiership had far more to do with the widely perceived success of the suggested candidate than either his own proven managerial skills or his perceived ability to readily reach out to his internal political opponents..." - Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame. See: NPP Needs Functional structures and statesmen, not self-centered politicians, Ghanaweb, Feature Article of Thursday, 11 February 2010, Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame.

I take the contrary position. It is rather not only Akufo-Addo's “perceived inability to readily reach out to his internal political opponents”, coupled with “the timing of his [President Mills] premiership”, but also his inability to effectively respond to the allegations of substance abuse, perceived arrogance, a repetitive and intrusive sense of ideological and moral bankruptcy that exude from his discourses, that make Akufo-Addo the under-dog in this race in which President Mills is clearly the front-runner. It is therefore a ridiculously disingenuous mischief to begin to cry foul even before the vote as to call for bloodshed. I shall be discussing this in detail later on, but first, let's go back to the quotation from Okoampa above, and try to come to terms with it.

What Okoampa is saying in simple English, is that President Mills defeated Akufo-Addo, or the NDC defeated the NPP simply because the NPP had been in power for eight years, and Ghanaians were tired of them and wanted change. For Okoampa, it had nothing to do with any innate ability of Candidate Mills who won, because it was all a matter of timing! And I think he is statistically correct. An NPP candidate who contests an NDC President after the eight-year term had expired, stands better chances of winning against an NDC candidate, and vice versa, as we saw after the end of the Rawlings' eight year term that ushered in President John Agyekum Kufour of the NPP. The same can be said of the eight year term of NPP President Kufour, that ushered in the NDC President Mills.

You would all recall the grievances we heard from strategic NPP power brokers in the Ashanti Region, which included well-connected candidates vying for powerful seats in the party, such as National Chairman, National Secretary, etc., who did not only feel aggrieved for having been cheated in the elections, but also felt aggrieved as regards the manner the party handled their grievances. Add to that melting pot, a shrewd and calculating Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, also from the Ashanti Region, who must have thought of such dazzling arithmetic of timing, long before the implications of that, in terms of the internal politics of the NPP, dawned upon Okoampa-Ahoofe.

Add to that, Okoampa's own incessant attacks on President Kufour, which I described as “a state of cognitive dissonance” in an article on that subject when out of the blue Okoampa came to the defence of President Kufour over the Gizelle Yajzi scandal:

“Are we now seeing in full display the long-awaited problem of THE CONGNITIVE DISSONANCE OF THE AKYEM MAFIA? I know Kufuor is now like "Asantrofi Anoma" to you people, and you people are yet to make up your minds whether to like him or hate him! The problem is you would want to use his records to win votes, but at the same time you want to distance yourselves from the numerous scandals! Now, all of a sudden you appear to put a brave face on it because of the obvious repercussions on the integrity of Mr. Akufo-Addo, who may have to position himself on this scandal if it continues to grow. An uncomfortable situation indeed, so by all means Kufour has to be innocent!” See: Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi: Prikus Kufuorus Non Conscientum Habet! Feature Article of Wednesday, 25 August 2010, by Mensah, Nana Akyea.

Why so? Because, not long before this Okoampa had been on the back of President Kufour at the slightest pretext. It became so serious that I am sure many people tried to talk to him through various channels. For instance he complains that Otchere-Darko has forbidden him not to criticize a certain political enemy of Nana Akufo-Addo. He also reacts angrily to a wise counsel by Peter Owusu Boahene, in a rejoinder to Okampa's article, “Kufuor continues to campaign for Atta-Mills", to tone down his attacks on President Kufour and to plead for both Akyems and Ashantis to come together for the sake of Nana Addo, whom Okoampa also happens to support. The response from Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. to this appeal should explain to any doubting Thomases anywhere whether or not the Ashanti-Akyem divide in the NPP is a hoax as they say.

Under the title, "Comment: Did I Impress Your wife?" Okoampa charged:

"Man, are you good at spewing crap! All of a sudden, it is the fault of Owusu-Akyem Tenten Nana Kwame Okoampa-Agyeman! That I served as Local Government secretary under Rawlings when the judges you so much cared about went missing.

Yes, the Akyem-Mafia killed the judges!

Barima, ask those who went to secondary school with me: I was editing "The Mountaineer" when Kufuor was a Kwaku Baah lieutenant and B. B. Ofori was my genius Geography tutor!

In 1932, when the real Asante-Mafia ran my maternal grandfather, Rev. T. H. Sintim out of the Adum section of Kumasi and off his job as the first native-Ghanaian headteacher, for being criminally culpable of Akyem descent and heritage, as Justice Sarpong put it rather mildly a few days ago, Nana Yawbe Sintim-Aboagye was "acting high and mighty," as the expression is the exclusive behavioral preserve of Akyemfo.

Don't talk about Dr. Richard Anane now: I saw and read your large corpus of protest literature on Ghanaweb. Rather, let's talk about Mr. Osafo Maafo. Oh, no, no, no.... Why? Because he is only an
Akyem-Kotoku bastard!

My friend, where were you when the Ejisu-Piranhas ran me out of NPP-USA because I had dared to call Uncle Kofi Diawuo his real name?

And where were you when my own father, the founding-libator of the Amansie Society of New York was banished because one of your royal Asante-Angels suddenly discovered that his tabooed Akyem identity was stalling the progress of the organization?

My friend, you are lucky you are spewing such guff tens of miles away; else, I would strangle you and face execution by lethal injection!" - Author: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Date: 2010-08-12 23:48:31 (See: Comment to: "RE: “Kufuor continues to campaign for Atta-Mills" Feature Article of Friday, 13 August 2010, by Columnist: Boahene, Peter Owusu).

A similar scene was repeated the first time Asamoah Boateng attempted to pay a visit to the Akufo-Addo Victory 2012 office in Accra. This time he was not called an Ejisu piranha. Asmaoh Boateng, everybody knows hails from Mankesim in the Central Region, yet they screamed “Agenda 2016!” Here is a story that speaks for itself:

“The New Patriotic Party (NPP), even in opposition, is a house divided against itself where factionalism has taken over sense of strategic reasoning DAYBREAK has gathered.

Reports say some key persons who campaigned for Alan Kyerematen are not been tolerated at the Ridge campaign office of Nana Akufo Addo on suspicion that they have a 2016 agenda rather than a 2012 agenda.

So nasty is the development that former Information Minister, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, who supported the Alan Kyerematen flag-bearer bid, was recently booed, insulted and hooted at the front gate of the Nima residence of Nana Akufo Addo by some of his security details at the entrance.

Not only did they rain insults on Asamaoh Boateng but he was warned to leave the place and never return if he does not want to suffer a broken jaw. Some journalists who witnessed the nasty scene feared that the former Minister would be assaulted and they went to his rescue until an aide of Nana Addo intervened and whisked Asabee into the compound. The attackers were not even given a verbal rebuke.” (See: “Nana Addo Snubs Alan Boys” Ghanaweb, General News of Thursday, 30 September 2010, Source: DAYBREAK)

My point about the wailers is that these are the very same people who will wail the most, when the results turn out to confirm their stupidities! I would go as far as to say that apart from the cocaine scandal and marijuana fumes “first thing in the morning!”, which have completely shattered any chances of breaking through the competitive nature of Ghana's elections, the “Agenda '16” is yet another formidable challenge capable of delivering a deadly defeat to his presidential ambitions. At this juncture, one may ask, “What is Agenda 2016?” and it shall be treated as a genuine question. I shall try and give some insight into that question in this “dufument”.

This is my first major “dufument” of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., as we approach the 2012 electoral year, and he begins to churn out more nonsense, and playing the drum major in the drums of war in Ghana we shall have the time to explain that Nana Akufo-Addo chances of winning any elections were even brighter in 2008 than they are today. Independent predictions like UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit is predicting a slim victory for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), if the 2012 general elections were held today. This has sent the signals to the business community, effectively enhancing the authority and prestige of the man to deal with in the foreseeable future as far as Ghana is concerned.

This impression that President Mills is no lame duck administration probably explains some of the international curtsies and diplomatic strength the Mills Administration is enjoying currently. I was not surprised at the speed with which the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unanimously endorsed a limit of US$3.4 billion on non-concessional borrowing for Ghana, just as an example, to the utter shock and chagrin of Otchere-Darko and his friends, including Akufo-Addo. It is against this background that I wish to wonder aloud, just what does Akufo-Addo mean by all-die-be-die because, somehow, someone is determined to rig the elections to deny him of victory? Who born dog? Who dash frog coat?

You are even more unpopular than you were in 2008 when you lost. President Mills has even become more popular when it became apparent that he was not going to be a “poodle of Rawlings” as the Akufo-Addo camp had falsely predicted. He has the advantage of incumbency. He has a sounder academic background, and has displayed sound judgement in resisting Ghana being compelled into war with La Cote d'Ivoire, as Akufo-Addo and Okoampa and co stupidly insisted.

Akufo-Addo was not surprised that he lost the 2008 Presidential elections. He had already been warned about it by Professor Larry Gibson in advance! Yet he was able to pretend that he could have won if his "numerous" supporters in the Volta Region had been allowed to vote! I think there is no need to wait for Akufo-Addo to lose to find out whether or not he is going to accept the results. I think he is automatically going to cry foul, even though his chances this time are even slimmer than the last time around!

From their own admissions, the Akufo-Addo campaign is not going well at all. In his recent article, Gabby Asare, the author, who is also the Executive Director of the Akufo-Addo PR-team known as "the Danquah Institute" admits that the NDC deserves "some credit for even succeeding in putting the opposition on the defensive much of the time." See: "Negative Campaign In Ghana And Lessons From .....", Feature Article of Saturday, 8 October 2011, Otchere-Darko. So, how can a relatively unpopular candidate, doomed to lose to the incumbent, blame his obvious unpopularity and inevitable defeat to cheating? That is the million-dollar question!

Akufo-Addo's problems with the crucial Ashanti vote which can make or break is far from resolved. Apparently the "Agenda 2016" Team led by Kufour and Allan Cash is even more optimistic and better organized than the "Victory 2012" in the Ashanti Region. It is the group which controls the Ashanti Region that will decide the winner, and all the indications are that they do. And these are people who have their own agenda, “affectionately” called “Agenda 16” by Nana Akufo-Addo and the wailers.

Indeed, the only way Akufo-Addo can hope to win the election is through rigging, but there are even internal forces within the NPP which would sabotage that for the sake of the “Agenda 2016” so what is he talking about? Is it another way of preparing the grounds in order to refuse to concede his inevitable defeat as he did in 2008, after his so-called “one-touch” victory campaign? The only reason why he keeps shouting “all-die-be-die” is simply because he was overwhelmed by the scandal of drug abuse and enjoyed the distractions that this particular stupidity generated: “We Akans are not cowards!” Apart from counting on mercenaries who intend to be paid with our oil money, Akufo-Addo cannot even garner enough support to wage war on the will of the people and on our democracy!

Keep building your statues of snow, but wail not, and behave like adults when you see them melting! At the end of the day the NPP has more to lose from the "Agenda 2016" menace than the NDC has to lose from the Rawlingses threat. The percentage of constituency under Alan Cash's command is far greater than the percentage as demonstrated in their respective congresses where "President John Mills won the NDC's National Delegates' Congress in Sunyani by a whooping 96.09% as against Nana Konadu's 3.01%", whilst Nana Akufo-Addo obtained 78.89 per cent in his own party. Mr John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen polled 21,226 votes representing about 19.91 per cent. The dynamics do not bode well for the NPP, also because there is a frontal and direct contradiction between the Alan Cash "Agenda 2016" and the Akufo-Addo "Victory 2012".

"A wolf may eat a sheep now and then,
But thousands are killed by men,
An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse"!

The NDC now has the "open foe" under control, but can the NPP say the same thing about their "pretended friends"? Whilst the Rawlingses are already talking of forming another political party, with preferably, the NDC logo, Akufo-Addo recently included Alan Kyeremanten in his campaign team, despite the visceral hatred of the Alan Cash "Agenda 2016" underground commandos. Alan Cash believes strongly that 2016 is his time, given to him by God himself. The Akufo-Addo "Victory 2012" is a threat to this "God-given" hope of Alan Cash, as Akufo-Addo could extend his political expiring date beyond 2012 to two terms ending in 2020, and making nonsense of the "Agenda 2016"!

Attention! There is a good reason why this is not in the public domain. This shall never be an operation that will be played out in the open. Both sides have come to the selfish conclusion that they need a strong façade of unity, whether 2012 or 2016, if they are to make any impact. Thus publicly they are friends! They have agreed to disagree. They tell each other, "if you are pretending to be a friend, we shall also pretend to be friends!" This is a house irrevocably divided against each other as the Ashanti Region is the strongest base of the party, the "Agenda 2016" which needs a defeat of Akufo-Addo, to spring into action, gives the NDC a fortuitous advantage even if the Rawlingses were to break away from the NDC.

As you can see, the title is a bit misleading for those who were expecting me to talk of “the wiki-weed problem” rather than Okoampa. That shall come later. I just want to emphasise the fact that Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe is just a tip of an iceberg. The only person who can do something about this problem is the stolid and indolent Akufo-Addo, who is quick to bring to order, the non-Akyem members of the party who fall out of line, such as the recent rebuke of the Honourable P.C. Ofori-Appiah over his remarks on Alan Kyeremanten. Even though several voices have been raised in the past and continue to be raised by both NPP sympathisers and opponents alike, Mr. Akufo-Addo has remained strangely silent when it comes to calling his Akyem cousins to order!

Whom is he deceiving other than his own bloody-self as more and more NPP sympathisers begin to feel frustrated and pissed off by this sinful silence? This is a call for the first non-tribal political election campaign in our history, and it will pay a lot if Akufo-Addo saw the light and started his own anti-tribal campaign of his own and call some of his lieutenants like Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., to order! It would be a very small thing in itself, but certainly a good beginning. After all, as Kwame Nkrumah puts it, even though Rome was not built in a day, the building of Rome was started in a day This, Nana Akufo-Addo can do by first withdrawing the obnoxious statement, “We Akans are not cowards!” Otherwise, don't wail blaming “Antwi” when the inevitable happens!

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"To all men of goodwill, organize, organize, organize! The struggle is
far from over! We prefer self-government in danger, to servitude in tranquillity!

Forward ever, backward never"!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part II

2011-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part II

Feature Article,

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

There is no doubt that Mr. Ochere-Darko is feeling the heat and the fallouts of his extremely embarrassing behaviour. He has gone into damage control mode, short of doing the right thing. He even seems to be ready to tell any lie, rather than to apologize for the obvious misbehaviour in public. And he makes a mess of those lies too, just as he made a mess of the charge that J.B. Danquah was a CIA agent. He lied to defend Danquah, and he is lying to defend himself! A good reason why the current apologies of Ochere-Darko are unacceptable is simply because he even lies about the fact that he did not insult Dr. Omane Boamah, whilst we all see and hear Ochere-Darko clearly asking, “Why is he so stupid?”, amid the staccato of “stupidity,” and “stupid” per second, “Would you stop this stupidity? Why is he so stupid? You are sitting here and accusing somebody of being a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is that? What is this stupidity?” Gabby never explained why it is wrong to accuse "somebody of being a CIA agent"!

Even though we all hear Ochere-Darko insulting Dr. Omane Boamah is so stupid that he is even finding it difficult to fathom the reason why, he is still claiming that is not supposed to be taken as an insult! He still refuses to do the right thing and to apologize. He is growing more and more disgusting with each passing day without those apologies! Gabby Otchere Darko still maintains that stands by what he said even though he believes his choice of word was a bit harsh. He even denies the insult! For once, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe got it right. He described Ochere-Darko's behaviour as a “rather startlingly infantile reaction”! Coming from no less a person than the last remaining apostle of Dr. J. B. Danquah, a politically endangered species, Kwame Okoampa himself, this is serious. From the look of things, it even seems Okoampa-Ahoofe would have behaved better than Gabby! So, where is Gabby's defence? One would have thought that Gabby was a little less arrogant and sober of the two!

The strange “gift” Ochere-Darko appears to be endowed with, is his ability to lie about the obvious. I never stop to wonder why this man is constantly behaving as though he has the monopoly over the truth. After the ridiculous defence of Danquah's CIA past, and surreptitious attempts to replace “the American embassy” with “the CIA” which is published in a book widely in circulation, Gabby is again lying about a live radio and TV event watched by millions and of which the records are still freely available! He first lies publicly about the contents of a book that is no secret, then lies about his own public statements! Speaking recently said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday September 26, when he was again asked by the host, this time, Mr. Bernard Avle, whether he was ready to apologise to the deputy Minister, Gabby's answer was startling:

“I did not say that the man is stupid. I thought that the man insulted the memory of J. B Danquah when he reduced everything that J. B Danquah did for Ghana particularly from 1923 to when he died in prison in 1965 as betrayer of the Nationalist project and reduced him to being a CIA agent. I thought that was most insulting and I told him that such a statement was irresponsible and I used the word stupid and I still stand by what I meant to say”. See: , Gabby: I Won't Apologise To The Deputy Minister, Date: 26-Sep-2011, Source: Citifmonline.com.

Please Watch Video: “Gabby walks off Newsfile after 'stupid' insult Politics.flv,” and check it for yourself!

Perhaps, Gabby should have ridiculously said, “I did not say 'that the man is stupid', I only asked 'Why is he so stupid?'” That would be contradictory and illogical, but at least he would have perhaps been closer to what happened and his own regrets about it, and of course, the understandable need to lie about it all! After wondering aloud the fact that he was already looking for reasons why Dr. Omane Boamah was not just stupid, but “so stupid”, he even denies insulting him! Who said, “Why is he so stupid?” Is that not an insult? Hah? Gabby?

Is Gabby going to come and tell me that my feature article, “J. B. Danquah Was A CIA Asset!” is also “stupidity, nothing but stupidity! This is pure stupidity!”? Is that how to conduct “an intellectual discussion”? Or is it Okoampa who is going to bell the cat? Is it not strange that not a single disciple of Danquah has stepped forward in his defence since the publication of this article? Gabby was reported in the news as saying: “Gabby Otchere Darko added that intellectual discussions should not involve people like Dr. Omane Boamah.” I think it is about time that our media took a cue from Gabby's own words, except that the one to exclude ought not to be Dr. Omane Boamah, who was simply stating a fact, but the arrogant and insulting Ochere-Darko himself!

Gabby was reminded to use decent language, but he couldn't be bothered. He did not only repeat the insult, but he hits Dr. Omane Boamah. In answer to Dr. Omane Boamah's protestation, “You are even hitting me”, Gabby could not be bothered. He only responds, “No, what sort of stupidity is that?” He does not even excuse the physical aggression! No self-respecting studio will allow this guy to pass through their doors for any such event in the future! On the contrary, he probably offers an explanation for hitting a fellow panellist: “No, what sort of stupidity is that?” Calls by Dr. Omane Boamah to Ochere-Darko reminding him to ”Use decent language,” went unheeded.

The ball is now squarely in court of the producer of the programme, and the Ghanaian media in general to come out and pronounce on the behaviour of Mr. Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko. For those who do not know the background to this story, it is very simple. Discussing the third celebration of the Founder’s day marked on Wednesday September 21, deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Omane Boamah described Dr. J. B. Danquah, after whom the Danquah Institute is named, as a CIA agent. Dr. Omane Boamah’s description of the Dr. J. B Danquah as a CIA agent immediately got Gabby Ochere-Darko insulting the deputy Minister.

“Would you stop this stupidity? Would you stop this stupidity? Why is he so stupid? You are sitting here and accusing somebody of being a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is that? What is this stupidity? This is stupidity…you consider a founder of Ghana as a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is this? ...this is pure stupidity.”

“When you want us to have an intellectual programme like this, you don’t bring people like this. I am not going to apologise, I can apologise to the viewers and listeners but not him. He insults J.B. Danquah and you want me to apologise to him? …I am not going to do that. Why should I do that? … If that is what you want I will walk out on your programme, I won’t do it!”

One tactic adopted by the Danquah camp is an attempt to intimidate the press, especially the host of the programme. The host was fantastic. If anything at all, he was wrong for allowing Ochere-Darko to sit in whilst no apologies to Dr. Omane Boamah was forth-coming. Unsurprisingly, most of the Danquah fundamentalists have since not only leaped to the defence of Ochere-Darko, but they are blaming everybody else except the culprit. Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., for example puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the host of the programme:

“Personally, I feel that the host of the Newsfile program, if he already has no quick fact-checking research assistants, ought to be promptly provided with the same. For, in the cyber-tech culture of the twenty-first century, it is rather primitive for the host of any high-wire political program to let rhetorically uncouth and incontinently mendacious operatives like Dr. Omane-Boamah to literally get away with murder.” See: “Omane-Boamah Deserved that Bit of It”, Feature Article of Friday, 30 September 2011, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

I don't understand why some people think our media can be bullied so easily, but they must be fooling themselves. We shall never allow this to happen to our media because it is is the backbone of our democracy. I have confirmed those allegations in a feature article already. So, for his answer, I refer Kwame Okoampa to read: “J. B. Danquah Was A CIA Asset!”, Feature Article of Saturday, 1 October 2011, Columnist: Mensah, Nana Akyea, and leave “the host of the Newsfile program” in peace! If Okoampa has any sensible contribution to make to this debate, I openly invite him to respond to this article! As for Gabby, he must be made to retract his words. Why should he be allowed into such programmes again after refusing to apologize to Dr. Omane Boamah, saying, “I am not going to do that. Why should I do that? … If that is what you want I will walk out on your programme, I won’t do it!”

Gabby must be made to do it. I think that it is very important for our media to immediately place a “cordon sanitaire” (hygienic barrier) around this person and the Danquah Institute, until he does what he is supposed to do. If he refuses to listen to the media, the media has an obligation not to listen to him. This is not very complicated. Dr. Omane Boamah cites a book to make the allegation that Dr. J. B. Danquah was a CIA agent. The evidence collaborates what the records say of his arrest and detention. So what is it that makes Dr. Omane Boamah “so stupid”? And, by the way, shouldn't Gabby also apologize for all these publicly verifiable lies if he wants to restore the credibility of the Danquah Institute?

Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko is a long story to tell. Thus it is a pleasure to see him stubbornly refusing to apologize as quickly as possible, so that the long story I have been yearning to tell can be told. I shall bring out many uncomfortable facts of public interest as a way of piling pressure on him to do the right thing. I shall be focusing soon on Ochere-Darko and the canvassing for US military bases in Ghana, and how this connects with the Danquah tradition. It is OK if Gabby does not feel like apologizing for this “stupidity”. By the time I am through with him Ghanaians will be asking his boss, Mr. Akufo-Addo himself, to tell us all what he knows about secret plans by the NPP to establish a US military base in Ghana, and stop running away from the question!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro,
Member, Pan-Africanist International

-a grammar of Pan-Africanism and its manners of articulation!

http://www.panafricanistinternational.org

*(also known to Kwame Okoampa, the notorious assassin of character, as: "Ali Masmadi Sasabonsam Jehu Shoaboni Appiah, who now presumptuously and conveniently goes by the name of Nana Akyea-Mensah, the name of a historic man the likes of whose dignity and ineffable cynosure that SOB would never encounter among the male members of his largely pathologically skirt-chasing and pedophiliac family." See: A Typical Ghanaian Prophet, Feature Article | Thu, 21 Jul 2011, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.)

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Nana Akyea Mensah distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C ß 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this blog for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part I

2011-10-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part I

Feature Article,
By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Watch Video: Gabby walks off Newsfile after 'stupid' insult Politics.flv

A point of clarification. I take Ochere-Darko's insults to be sufficiently self-serving as to be anything but stupid. I have no intention of insulting him and have refrained from that effectively. Thus “'Stupid' Insults” here do not necessarily mean the insults were stupid. That is not what I meant in the title. The “stupid” is there only as a representative of Ochere-Darko's original insult. Personally, I think that, far from being stupid, the insults helped Ochere-Darko to wriggle himself out of a difficult situation, without needing to concede to the dreadful fact that Danquah was indeed an imperialist agent. For him, it seemed important that any proper debate be sabotaged. Bothering to comport himself in a civilized manner could have been too dangerous. The truth could have come out so easily! So, for me, he is probably congratulating himself and thinks he has been clever for misbehaving in this way.

What is therefore necessary now is, for those of us who think otherwise, to make sure that he does not get away with it! Ochere-Darko cannot decide for Ghanaians which traitors we are allowed to name, expose, and shame, and which ones we may not. Human rights, rule of law or other self-righteous motivations for Democracy or for CIA stipends notwithstanding! We all have a moral responsibility to denounce the agents of imperialist domination of the people of Ghana because it has a direct impact on the quality of our very lives. And the fact that one could have a personal relationship with any traitor, does not accord anyone any right or special privilege to misbehave publicly whenever those dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. So far as there is evidence from a credible source that J. B. Danquah's wife received stipends from the CIA to which he, Danquah completely felt entitled, to the extent of going to complain about “payment arrears” to the US Ambassador, instead of saying “thank you” to the CIA, the remarks by Dr. Omane Boamah can not be considered “stupid”.

On the contrary, some of us find it to be one of the wisest statements ever uttered on radio or TV in Ghana. This is very important in the light of the increasing lies and spin by the Danquah Institute which attempt to let Danquah pass as a national hero. The Ghanaian media needs to satisfy itself independently with the facts, determine for themselves on the basis of the evidence, whether or not one can safely argue that Dr. J. B. Danquah was a CIA asset. And if this is so, they should uphold the right to say so without being insulted in this way by a fellow panellist! Having satisfied themselves, our media practitioners will have to insist that Ochere-Darko apologized or finds himself ostracised. It would be repugnant enough if, after all this, without proper apologies, Ochere-Darko is to be invited once more to portray such an uncouth and arrogant character in public again. The media must take the bull by the horns and call a spade a spade, a hero a hero, and a spy a spy! He must be made to retract his insults, most especially because Dr. Omane Boamah was not just speaking an ordinary fact but an important truth and therefore did not deserve to be insulted for that.

The insult to person of Dr. Omane Boamah over this issue, is an assault to the persons of all the good people of Ghana. It is because of “stupid” intimidations such as these that they have managed to cover their evil tracks all these years. We need to fully expose them in order to be free. We need to grab this particularly stubborn cat by the neck and dip its nose into the offending material that is more than just familiar to it, until it learns "to do it" somewhere else! It is a good sign of the re-awakening spirit of Kwame Nkrumah surrounding the third anniversary celebrations of his centenary, to see the final episodes to the ignominious end of traitors, agents, and assets of the imperialists laid to rest. This is time to turn on the heat. I invite every right thinking Ghanaian to join in this campaign in their own creative ways, to put pressure on Ochere-Darko to do the right thing. And it is important that the contentious issues that rose up be settled dispassionately by our media practitioners. It has serious implications on what the Danquah tradition actually represents. Little wonder we see Ochere-Darko, the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, at the end of his wits.

It will be an important service our media practitioners will be doing to the good people of Ghana, to help them see the light and steer themselves away from their miserable hand-to-mouth existence. For Ghana to go forward, we need to begin from the beginning and find out what went wrong. It is often not easy to draw the line where one must begin. That is why I personally find this revelation as a key to understanding the modern history of Ghana, and in particular, the kind of forces represented by the Danquah Institute and their Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo. What is going on therefore can only be seen as a part of the very rare and precious historic “moment of truth” that periodically open the eyes of the people. It heralds the beginning of a new era, and a shift of political direction for the country of Teutonic proportions, it is not just a simple shift from the politics of lies and insults, to the politics of integrity and intelligently accounting for one's position instead of escaping debates through the use of lies and insults, but an irreversible shift independent of arrogant politicians because the public insists on it. This is why the Ghanaian media needs to take on Asare Ochere-Darko.

An important fact that publicly emerged in this year's celebrations is recent publications that have thrown further light on some of the darker pages of our history. As the new light focuses on their dastardly anti-people activities against the sovereignty and independence of Ghana, we see in the line-up to the entirely orchestrated attempt to reverse all the gains of our independence and to set the clock backwards into neo-colonialism, credible stories that help to figure out the heroes and traitors of this country. On the bloc is J.B. Danquah. As it turns out, a book published by Professor Richard Mahoney, a son of former US Ambassador to Ghana Mr. William Mahoney, 1962-1965. claims that Dr. J.B. Danquah went to the US Embassy, after Nkrumah had pardoned Danquah and other detainees on June 2, 1962, to ask “why the funds his family had been receiving during his imprisonment had been cut after his release.” It is strange that Ochere-Darko claims to have read the book and yet got the nerve to deny the accusations and call it “stupid”. Whatever the motivations of J. B. Danquah must have been is one thing, his closeness to the CIA is quite another thing, and Ghanaians must be able to let Ochere-Darko know clearly that talking about that is not stupid. And that he was wrong in the way he comported himself.

The book at the centre of the controversy, which came out at the debate has the title "JFK: Ordeal in Africa". In this book, for those who care to add one to two and arrive at the sum of three, it comes out clearly that J.B. Danquah was a CIA asset. Published in 1983, the book confirms what Nkrumah must have known all along and thus explaining not only why Danquah went to prison, but also gaining a deep understanding of the political orientation and the dark possibilities behind the Danquah Institute itself. It is therefore a fitting tribute to the memory of the great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, that one of his detractors gets exposed in no uncertain terms as a CIA asset. I am still waiting for a response from the Danquah Institute as regards the claims I made in a previous article: “J. B. Danquah Was A CIA Asset!” In that article, I argued that there is incontrovertible evidence to that effect that he knew and liked the stipends the CIA was paying to his wife, as to go ahead and to complain to US Ambassador William Mahoney, when Danquah was pardoned by Nkrumah on 02 June 1962, when this was cut. What was Danquah's state of mind, if he did not consider himself as an agent deserving of the stipend? You don't often see people complaining after such “generosity”, without even saying “thank you!”!

I am not going to go into all that again. So far as I am concerned, the issue has been settled that J. B. Danquah was a CIA asset. I have given myself enough room to respond to any challenges to this demand for proper apologies in the name of decency. It is not for nothing that this article is labelled “Part One”. I promise that the “temperature” in these series of articles is bound to rise with each subsequent article, until Ochere-Darko swallows his pride and apologizes for those insults. I know what this can do to the Akufo-Addo campaign, so it is fine with me if Gabby remains adamant! We are not going to succumb to insults and intimidations to keep our traitors under the carpet! If one feels very uncomfortable with the emerging facts, for any other reasons such as family ties, or personal estimation, etc., that is no reason enough to transform oneself into a maniac in a fit of temper tantrums during a live TV and Radio public debate. Mr. Ochere-Darko lost total control over his senses, including his sense of personal comportment, courtesy, Parliamentary language, public debate protocols, civil manners, and ordinary decency.

What makes this even more unacceptable is the fact that the allegations put forward have been proven to be accurate, and dead right on the mark! Why should Ochere-Darko get away with this? My focus now is on the uncivilized and extremely uncouth behaviour by Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko, and the challenges that this represents in our public discourses, and particularly the role of the media. The fact of the Danquah family receiving stipends from the CIA is public knowledge, thanks to Richard Mahoney. Ochere-Darko should fly to the US and scream “stupid” to Richard Mahoney, and not those of us who believe he has no reason to lie. The fact that Dr. J.B. Danquah was a CIA asset comes out clearly enough in the book. That he was most probably abandoned later on by the CIA is not our business. What right has Ochere-Darko to impose limitations on free speech over issues of serious public interest? This is a matter of public interest, and you do not pursue such a national discourse with insults. Now that we know that what Dr Omane Boamah said was not that stupid, but on the contrary, a statement of fact of immense importance to the discussion on the theme of the Founder's Day. Is it not about time for Mr. Ochere-Darko be asked to render unqualified apologies for comporting himself in a manner that qualified him as a public nuisance?

The media should be invited to put this rude individual's credibility to comport himself in a civilized manner on the line until he does the right thing. This must be done before they bring him again to comment on issues of national importance being debated live on radio and television. We are not asking him to be silenced. We are asking that Ochere-Darko be compelled to do what is proper. We are asking him to render unqualified apologies for his unjustifiable behaviour. Otherwise, it is the media, and not Ochere-Darko who must justify the inclusion of such a character in their programmes. It is no one's fault if someone happens to be a grandson of a CIA spy, and it should not warrant the barrage of insults in what Ochere-Darko himself called an “an intellectual programme”. It is precisely because it is an intellectual programme that Ochere-Darko needs to justify his future inclusion, in the light of such awful performance.

The main issue that is at stake is not just whether or not Ghanaians have a right to be allowed to discuss a matter as important as that without being insulted by Asare Ochere-Darko, but whether or not we need to draw the line as we enter in an electoral year, to ensure that irresponsible and uncouth individuals do not get the chance to inflame the already highly inflammable situation with unguarded statements. If he is not even sorry about this, what is the guarantee that he can not do something worse next time? Our media houses need to stand up to their responsibilities and challenge the use of intemperate language, insults, and encourage the appropriate decorum in our civil discourses particularly on live radio and TV discussions. This is fundamental to the peace and security of this country. Ochere-Darko must be made to apologize or face a media boycott. If he is unfit to meet acceptable standards and expectations of decent human behaviour, he must be barred from decent circles where decent humans congregate.

Let's see how long it takes to get the arrogant Gabby to come to his senses and apologize for his “stupid” insults! I wish to assure Gabby however, that it is in his own interest to do the right thing as quickly as possible, and as loud and as clear! We cannot afford to give up and we will not! Part II follows... And on and on it will go until we see an appropriate apology! I hope that from my own Facebook chat with Gabby in which he arrogantly asked me “Why are you so obsessed with the Danquah Institute?”, he shall not under-estimate the political energy behind such a simple request, in order to cut a long story short. The only way out I saw for Gabby in this predicament was to have honestly admitted the fact that the CIA paid stipends to J.B. Danquah's wife whilst in prison, explained why this was so, and to have left the public in peace to go and find out for themselves! He could then have added, as he seems to explain so eloquently with his “friend of America” excuses, that even if Danquah was a CIA agent, he did it for the good of the nation but not for stipends. And he could have allowed the public to judge for themselves who is really stupid!

At least, some of us could have understood where he was coming from. As matters stand, he does not only have to acknowledge the fact that there is nothing personal in raising an issue of such immense public interest and did not need to be silenced. The Human Rights that Ochere-Darko claims were championed by Danquah includes free speech. And this includes the fact that whether or not a particular spy happens to be anyone's grand-father, people must be free to talk about it in public without being insulted by the grandchildren of these spies. One can hold Danquah in high esteem and allow people to read the book and talk about it without the world coming to an end. So far as Dr. Omane Boamah did not err in calling J.B. Danquah a CIA agent, so far should Ochere-Darko retract. He owes us an apology for trying to suppress vital information by unorthodox means. He must be made to say “I am sorry” to Dr. Omane Boamah, in order to purge himself from the political pariah status he has automatically assumed with these insults!

Help move Ghana forward! Please join us in putting pressure on this stubborn individual to do the right thing!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro,
Member, Pan-Africanist International
-a grammar of Pan-Africanism and its manners of articulation!
http://www.panafricanistinternational.org

*(also known to Kwame Okoampa, the notorious assassin of character, as: "Ali Masmadi Sasabonsam Jehu Shoaboni Appiah, who now presumptuously and conveniently goes by the name of Nana Akyea-Mensah, the name of a historic man the likes of whose dignity and ineffable cynosure that SOB would never encounter among the male members of his largely pathologically skirt-chasing and pedophiliac family." See: A Typical Ghanaian Prophet, Feature Article | Thu, 21 Jul 2011, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.)

President Mills Puts Fear Into Akufo-Addo Camp!

2011-07-10T02:44:00.001-07:00

Feature Article by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

The news that "President John Mills has won the NDC's National Delegates' Congress in Sunyani by a whooping 96.09% as against Nana Konadu's 3.01%", is obviously good news for some of us, but not all of us. For the Akufo-Addo camp, this was a rude shock. They were predicting 75% for Professor Mills and explaining that to mean a vote of no confidence by his own party. I can already see President Mills being sworn in for a second time. It gives the Mills campaign a boost that even the Akufo-Addo camp will find very difficult to deny.

In the days leading to the Congress, Akufo Addo's Statesman published an article in which they sought to cast doubts on the obvious:

"Surveys, interviews, analyses and information gathered by the New Statesman indicate that President John Evans Atta Mills has been gripped by serious panic following the last minute realization that tomorrow’s presidential nomination of his party may not after all result in the kind of landslide victory he had been made to believe by his GAME (Get Atta Mills Endorsed) campaign team."

We now have something concrete to chew on concerning their so-called "surveys, interviews, analyses and information gathered by the New Statesman"! They could not have been more ridiculous:

"President Mills is said to be particularly worried by the fact that the GAME plan to antagonize and isolate former President Rawlings and his wife has angered many constituency delegates." The New Statesman went on, "Even more worrying for the President is the fact that for two years now his only challenger, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, cleverly maintained a close, caring and intimate contact with a sizeable majority of the ruling party’s constituency officers, of whom 1,433 (out of 1,900 total delegates) voted for her in Tamale on 17 January 2010 as NDC Vice Chairperson, a position from which she resigned recently to contest for the flagbearership."

I repeat the results for an effective comparison:

"President Mills polled a whopping 2,771 votes against Nana Agyemang Rawling's 90 votes.
President Mills took the lead in all ten regions of the country.
President Mill's vote represents 96.7% of the total votes cast, whilst Nana Konadu's votes represents a total of 3.14%."

The New Statesman also predicted tension and violence, but the entire even passed off in a festive mood:

"There are growing concerns that the insults, intimidation, threats, harassment and violence, including the Kumasi shooting, that have blighted the short campaign, could all come to a head at the Sunyani congress.

Officially more than 1,500 police personnel have been deployed to the Brong Ahafo capital. The NDC has also made arrangements for about 2,000 security personnel for the 3-day congress, in addition to the about 1,800 “Azorka Boys” who are storming Sunyani today.

There are concerns from the Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings camp that the security personnel are all part of the GAME plan to put their fear of the ballot (if not the bullet) into FONKAR. But, that appears not to be shaking FONKAR."

It is a great shame to our detractors that this congress has come off smoothly and the NDC has reposed an overwhelming confidence in the President. We must hit the ground running for them to know what running is! The congress has reduced the Rawlingses into an insignificant political nuisance which have no impact on the party. As I wrote earlier, "NDC should go ahead and elect President Mills to continue the good work he has started. There should be no worries about an open foe. The NPP has a hidden one!"

At the end of the day the NPP has more to lose from the "Agenda 2016" menace than the NDC has to lose from the Rawlingses threat. The percentage of constituency under Alan Cash command is far greater than the percentage as demonstrated in the vote. The dynamics do not bode well for the NPP, also because there is a frontal and direct contradictions between the Alan Cash "Agenda 2016" and the Akufo-Addo "Victory 2012".

"A wolf may eat a sheep now and then,
But thousands are killed by men,
An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse"!

The NDC now has the "open foe" under control, but can the NPP say the same thing about their "pretended friends"? Whilst the Rawlingses are already talking of forming another political party, with preferably, the NDC logo, Akufo-Addo recently included Alan Kyeremanten in his campaign team, despite the visceral hatred of the Alan Cash "Agenda 2016" underground commandos. Alan Cash believes strongly that 2016 is his time, given to him by God himself. The Akufo-Addo "Victory 2012" is a threat to this "God-given" hope of Alan Cash, as Akufo-Addo could extend his political expiring date beyond 2012 to two terms ending in 2020, and making nonsense of the "Agenda 2016"!

Attention! There is a good reason why this is not in the public domain. This shall never be an operation that will be played out in the open. Both sides have come to the selfish conclusion that they need a strong façade of unity, whether 2012 or 2016, if they are to make any impact. Thus publicly they are friends! They have agreed to disagree. They tell each other, "if you are pretending to be a friend, we shall also pretend to be friends!" This is a house irrevocably divided against each other as the Ashanti Region is the strongest base of the party, the "Agenda 2016" which needs a defeat of Akufo-Addo, to spring into action, gives the NDC a fortuitous advantage even if the Rawlingses were to break away from the NDC.

It would be worse than inordinate ambition if they did. At least, the CPP which is always first at the bottom, can have something to beat! What every decent citizen expects from the Rawlingses is a magnanimous acceptance of defeat and recoiling into their shells or crawl away and hide under their respective stones. They can now positively throw their weight behind the voices of their own people, or at least stop themselves from being on the way. The message is clear: they are going to change or they will be changed.

With the NPP as no-match, I think we are entering into this campaign with a strong foot forward.

Cheers to all of you!

We shall overcome!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Lack Of Leadership Materials In The NPP Is A Time Bomb! Part Two.

2011-07-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

NPP On Cocaine: Obetsebi-Lamptey Is Pathetic!

Feature Article,
by Nana Akyea Mensah

'Ghana's election campaign could be tarnished by money from West African drug trafficking, an official has said. Kwesi Aning, head of research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, said the "very fabric" of Ghanaian society was under threat.

- BBC. 'Drug money 'tainting Ghana poll', 28 October 2008 18:46 GMT

In a news story which first appeared on Joy Online and reported in the General News of Monday, 27 June 2011, on Ghanaweb, Name and shame politicians who use narcotic money - Dr. Aning, Dr. Aning, who is the Director of Research at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Centre says, the call by the Director of NACOB, Mr. Akrasi Sarpong, who in an interview told Joy FM’s Sammy Darko said that "if any politician dares us (NACOB) and uses narcotics money for politics, that person will be sorry. Whether you are an NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you will be sorry," is timely.

Dr. Aning appeared to be confirming what Mr. Akrasi Sarpong said. He was reported as saying "There is a long lasting relationship between narcotic money and the funding of political party activities in Ghana."

Dr. Aning said “Narcotics, whether it is Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, Ephedrine, Methamphetamine or [others] is beginning to pose both a political and security threat to this country. We are now internationally known not only as a traffic country or a transit country but as a country where the impact of these narcotics are beginning to have a cumulative negative impact.”

A narco-state is a clear nightmare. Apart from the direct devastations by the drug on families, they come in with guns. Mexico is as dangerous as Afghanistan, even though the war there is different. It is a war of drug cartels. There is not a single Ghanaian who will not be negatively impacted by a full-blown narco-state. That is why this is more than enough to deny the NPP at the ballot en masse. It behoves on each responsible citizen to compel all political parties to tow the line.

First, it will drive away good business. This simply means more and more mouths to feed and less and less food to put into those mouths. As our population increases, job opportunities would be decreasing, only to be replaced by criminality. Furthermore, this would also mean that Ghanaians would no longer be able to travel freely. The few who manage to get visas shall be subjected to some of the most humiliating searches, such as peeps into the anus by Customs officials, at international airports, simply because they are carrying Ghanaian passports! This is what happens to citizens of countries which are designated as transit points for illicit drugs. Who wants this to happen to our country?

And the threat is growing. According to Dr. Aning, "the trade is growing as it has been discovered that between eight and fifteen percent of the narcotics entering main land Europe come through Ghana." Clearly, something correct needs to be done, and every peace-loving Ghanaian must support the initiatives to get on top on the fight by drug barons to steal our sovereignty and peace from us.

I was therefore extremely surprised that instead of lending the necessary moral support and the boost that is needed to make Ghana clean, the Chairman of the NPP is the only leader of a political party in Ghana not to take kindly to the words of the NACOB capo. What even makes this extremely strange and unnecessary was the fact that the NACOB boss was absolutely non-partisan in his warning: he mentioned all the political parties:

"if any politician dares us (NACOB) and uses narcotics money for politics, that person will be sorry. Whether you are an NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you will be sorry!" He did not mention any goat. All he said was that "his outfit has information that some politicians are heavily funded by drug barons adding that NACOB will deal with any politician caught to be using proceeds from the illicit trade notwithstanding the party that the person belongs to."

Of course, he added that "as the 2012 general elections approaches, NACOB will be very vigilant and monitor the situation carefully to bring to book any culprit found."

Why should any one who has nothing to do with drugs have an issue with this? Instead of welcoming and declaring his support, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, reacting to the comments by the NACOB Boss on the Citi Eyewitness News, on Monday June 27, ordered Mr Akrasi Sarpong to "provide evidence to his claims and avoid speaking loosely."

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey complained:

“This is why people who are put in positions like this should not speak loosely, if things that you say, without providing any supporting evidence has the capacity to taint a person or a group of persons then you should avoid making certain comments at all."

This is in spite of the glaring fact that no goat has so far been mentioned! A fact which normally should make all goats comfortable, seems to irk some:

"If you really have any evidence that political parties are being financed by illicit drug whether from barons or not from barons then come out with evidence. But to come out to say generally that you are not going to allow political parities to be funded by drug money then straight away you are turning round to say that this is happening." Obetsebi-Lamptey is reported to have stated.

Indeed, the information concerning the names of the goats that the chairman of the NPP, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is publicly seeking from the NACOB boss, is the kind of information that any drug-pusher would pay huge sums of money to obtain: questions like, “what kind of leads do they have on me”? I was therefore amused to read Obetsebi Lamptey asking the NACOB boss to name politicians on the NACOB's list.

I was equally satisfied with the response from the NACOB boss to the NPP Chairman's call for the name of suspected politicians to be released, see: General News of Tuesday, 28 June 2011, NACOB boss refuses to name politicians on narcotic money list:

"The Executive Secretary of the Narcotic Control Board, Yaw Akrasi Sarpong has said he cannot be forced to disclose identities of suspected drug dealers on his watch list.

Defending his reason to issue the warning, Mr Sarpong said there are various ways to fight crime and the people who are involved need to know that they are being watched so that they can stay away from it."

Which makes complete nonsense of Obetsebi-Lamptey's rantings:

“If it is happening and you are in charge to make sure that it doesn’t happen then you should make sure that it doesn’t happen and not to generally castigate people in that light”.

And more so, when cast against a background where other experts have even been more categorical in the past:

"Some of these guys were my mates in school and they were not too successful, and they've been in politics for less than 10 years," Dr. Aning told the BBC in an interview on 28 October 08, "You don't make that kind of money in 10 years."

He said he was talking about people "running for parliament, who are ministers, wanting to run for president". This was in 2008.

"It's not only about politics or politicians, it's about the police service, it's about customs, it's about immigration, it's about the judiciary, it's about our traditional institutions," he said.

"What I'm saying is that the very fabric of Ghanaian society is under threat."

"Ghana's politicians say they are determined to fight drug trafficking, but many question whether the political will exists in a society where corruption is a major problem," BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross reported in 2008, when the NPP was in power.

What Obetsebi-Lamptey's reaction tells me is that there is no longer even such a determination in the leadership of the NPP, if any ever existed, and Obetsebi-Lamptey's reaction must be seen in terms of the level of the political will to fight the crime.

Mr Aning also said in the BBC story that "political rhetoric needed to be followed by action, suggesting there should be more sniffer dogs and better exchanges of intelligence."

From the hostile reaction of Jake to the very topic, we can not even talk about a "political rhetoric" to rid Ghana of narcotics, let alone to "follow it with action". It is simply no longer on the agenda of the NPP. What will happen now, since even at the time they were only at the level of "political rhetoric", they were actively assisting drug smugglers to evade the law? My real fear is what is going to happen should these people return to power!

We should not too soon forget the fact that Addo Kufour, the president's brother and then Minister of the Interior, run away from the then BBC's West African correspondent, Mr. Will Ross, because he was not prepared to answer questions about how he was fighting the drugs trade, after the arrest and subsequent release without charge or trial of five women of the Executive Committee of the Women's Wing of the Dzorwulu NPP were busted at the Kotoka airport whilst attempting to board an airline bound to the United States with large quantities of heroin.

This was the last straw that broke the camel's back, and Ghana's credibility in the fight against narco-trafficking, under the NPP Administration, came to its lowest point. It was a shame to read on BBC: "Ghana's interior ministry has so far declined to grant an interview on drug trafficking"! Indeed, if Obetsebi-Lamptey had not asked the NACOB boss to mention the goats, we would have missed the best part of the story. After declaring that he is keeping the names closely to his chest, Mr. Akrasi Sarpong further expressed disappointment in the manner in which the case involving the missing parcels of cocaine was handled in the past.

“In the past the police did a beautiful work. That work that was done by the police was not backed by the hierarchy of the police. It was done by officers who were down the line. Look we know what happened,” he said.

Security analyst, Dr. Kwesi Aning concurs:

"There is a long lasting relationship between narcotic money and the funding of political party activities in Ghana."

Our reputation as a narco-state would have been firmly established had the NPP won the 2008 Parliamentary and especially, the Presidential elections. Barely after two years of coming into power of President Mills, the tides changed. I was very relieved to read the General News of Thursday, 4 February 2010, U.S. Hails Ghana’s Track Record, The story read:

"The United States government has commented Ghana for the progress it has made in the fight against drug trafficking, saying the gains are impressive.

Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, at a meeting with President Mills at the Castle, Osu yesterday said the cooperation between Ghana and the US and other partners in the fight against drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes was yielding impressive results."
My reaction to the news on ghanaweb.com speaks for itself:

“Author: Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Date: 2010-02-04 09:43:42

Comment to: BYE-BYE TO BUSH AND HIS NARCOTIC FRIENDS

Hi NANA Ø !!.

One reason why I worked day and night to ensure the defeat of the NPP at the last polls was the danger they posed in the development of a narco state with all the attendant problems of violent crimes and the inconvenience of having our private parts including anus carefully screened at all international airports each time you travel overseas, all because of these greedy bastards! We were quite close to it! It was such a pity to see Addo Kufour, the president's brother and then Minister of the Interior, running away from the BBC's West African correspondent Mr. Will Ross because he was not prepared to answer questions about the arrest and subsequent release without charge or trial of five women of the Executive Committee of the Women's Wing of the Dzorwulu NPP were busted at the Kotoka airport whilst attempting to board an airline bound to the United States with large quantities of heroin. Rumours have it that it took the timely and personal intervention of the President's wife, Madam Theresa Kufour to get these drug barons off the hook! Oh Ghana! Even our First Lady became complicit in the narcotics business!

This reports coming from the USA makes me heave a big sigh of relief! I am happy I supported the NDC against the NPP! And it gives me so much pleasure as this piece of news encourages me to do so again come 2012!

We shall not sit down and allow the illicit business of a greedy and unconscionable few to put at risk a dignified flight through international airports without curious anti-drug enforcement officials peeping through your anus simply because you are carrying a Ghanaian passport!

Thank you very much President Mills! You are a President worthy of respect!

Have a nice day Nana O!!.”

The problem is not simply one of dry bones being mentioned in a proverb, and old people feeling unease; it is also about how this unease is expressed. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey got the most nonsensical set of words ever to be uttered by any politician in the NPP expressing such perfectly understandable unease! And this “style” of leadership looks certain to continue. A famous Roman general once said “I more fear a stupid ally than I fear a clever enemy”. How right he was! With problems of cocaine abuse of his own to deal with, and hanging like a dark cloud over the party's flag-bearer's head, Akufo-Addo must be savouring the simplicity of the truth of the Roman general's rather candid observation.

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!
--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Blog: /nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro

There are hypertext links to some of the news stories referred to in the article, which may not appear in this publication, interested readers who want to know more are invited to come to my blog: Feature Articles: http://nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/

Is the NPP An Integral Part Of Ghana's Drug Problems?

2011-07-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

I am very surprised that the NPP seems to be the only political party unilaterally feeling the heat of a declaration that was essentially meant for all the political parties in Ghana. All the other political parties have welcomed the declaration by the NACOB boss concerning the influence of drug barons on some politicians, and the threat that this represents to our body-politic. Why this is clearly amazing is the fact that the Executive Secretary of NACOB did not even single out a political party in Ghana. It was a general appeal or warning to all political parties.

Let us have another look of what Mr. Akrasi Sarpong said:

“if any politician dares us (NACOB) and uses narcotics money for politics, that person will be sorry. Whether you are an NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you will be sorry!”

He did not mention any goat. All he said was that “his outfit has information that some politicians are heavily funded by drug barons adding that NACOB will deal with any politician caught to be using proceeds from the illicit trade notwithstanding the party that the person belongs to.”

Is the NPP a part of the solution or a part of the problem? That is the question!

One of the latest attempts to deal with the issue comes from Dr. Arthur Kennedy, whose complaint is that "On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with the NACOB’S boss sounding the alarm on drugs." Dr. Kennedy then postulates: "However, a careful reading of Mr. Sarpong’s comments, together with comments by other government officials show clearly that Mr. Sarpong’s comments may be part of a public relations campaign to link the NPP to drugs and thus dent its reputation and support." See: "The use of narcotic money in our politics".

What we would like Dr. Kennedy to throw more light on is a statement attributed to him during his ill-fated bid for the flag-bearership of the NPP. Some of us would like to know if he did or he did not caution “NPP delegates who would be voting to elect their presidential candidate to be mindful of some of the aspirants who have been going round splashing money on them because the source of the money could be a questionable one.”?

I read the story from the following link, never saw the original news story, that is why I am asking! I got the story from here: “Tell them that they may know”, by FOKAA (FRIENDS OF KENNETH ASAFO-ADJEI), Feature Article | Sun, 21 Dec 2008:

“If we do not take our time, one cocaine dealer would just take his money and buy this country and put our lives in danger.” – Dr. Arthur Kennedy. “Dr Kwabena Arthur Kennedy also cautioned NPP delegates who would be voting to elect their presidential candidate to be mindful of some of the aspirants who have been going round splashing money on them because the source of the money could be a questionable one.”

Also, whilst at it, is it possible for Dr. Kennedy to kindly elaborate on how he managed to examine Akufo-Addo with your bare eyes and be able to claim, as a medical officer, that "Akufo Addo does not a drop of cocaine in his blood"? I read the following on Ghanaweb General News of Sunday, 28 November 2010, "Akufo-Addo Doesn’t Have A Drop Of Blood Tainted With Cocaine - Physician"

"A certified medical practitioner" the story began, "says he can officially state that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, flag bearer of the opposition NPP does not even have a minute drop of cocaine in his blood. He claims as a medical doctor who has handled several cases of drug abuse and addicts, he can attest to the fact that Nana Addo is not a drug addict."

Just by looking at him, "Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy says he is certain that Nana Addo has never been under the influence of drugs"!

I want Arthur Kennedy to answer the following:

"Is Arthur Kennedy telling us he has a medical laboratory attached to his eye sights?

Did he ask Mr. Akufo-Addo to even open his mouth for him to examine his teeth? You don't need to be a medical doctor to know that one of the symptoms of the premature loss of teeth is as a result of a long period of drug abuse.

Dr. Kennedy cannot tell an HIV infected blood from one filled to the brim with Plasmodium falciparum! What do we say when such a doctor wants to give a clean bill of health to a suspect with a toothless mouth and no hair on his head? We also know that in addition to the premature loss of teeth, the other visible symptom is the loss of hair?"

Kofi Wayo claims majority of the ‘cocaine politicians’ are within the NPP.

“A lot of these cocaine guys are in NPP, yes. I know the big men in NPP all knew about (jailed former NPP MP) Eric Amoateng. Now it comes out that Yaw Anfo-Kwakye, Akufo-Addo’s Chief of Staff (sic) was arrested before for drugs. So why does he still keep him? These are the questions that show we have no morals and ethics. And we suffer for it. Go to London or Paris and see how they search you because you are from Ghana."

The NPP has serious questions to answer Ghanaians about this, and I find the excuses they have been making extremely irresponsible!

Thank you for your attention.

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!

–

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro

Blog: http://nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/

NPP On Cocaine: Obetsebi-Lamptey Is Pathetic!

2011-06-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

There is a popular Ghanaian joke that almost every Ghanaian born in Ghana and growing up in Ghana is likely to come across before the teenage ends. It is about three people who went to steal a goat. The story goes this way: Three friends conspired to steal a goat. They were able to capture it undetected, killed it, cooked it, and ate it with fufu and light soup. This was done secretly in the bush, so by the time the cooking was over, there was hardly any water left to drink after the meal.

Thus upon arrival into the village, the first thing that they were looking for was some water to drink. They thus went straight to the first hut. It was a neighbour's home, who, in their absence, had been alerted by an alarm that a goat had gone missing. Unknown to the thieves, everyone in the village was on the alert.

"Can I please have some water to drink onto something good in my stomach?" The first thief asked politely.

"My friend! Did we not agree that we are not going to say anything about it?" The second thief asked the first thief.

"Stop that immediately! Did you hear him mention any goat?" The third thief scolded the second thief.
Thus it was, that as this neighbour enter his kitchen to fetch some water, he whispered into his wife's ears:

"Go and tell the chief that I have got some suspects in my house!"

Pretending not to have followed the conversation, he served them one after the other with water, which they thirstily drank. The second round of cups were deliberately delayed to facilitate their impending arrest. End of story, funny or not.

Indeed, Obetsebi Lamptey is not addressing his fellow NPP thieves, he is addressing the Executive Secretary of the Narcotic Control Board, Mr. Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, so instead of asking "Did you hear him mention the word 'goat'?" Here we see him asking the NACOP boss to mention the goat or goats involved in the narcotic business.

A news story which first appeared on Joy Online and reported in the General News of Monday, 27 June 2011, on Ghanaweb, Name and shame politicians who use narcotic money - Dr. Aning, Dr. Aning, who is the Director of Research at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Centre says, the call by the Director of NACOB, Mr. Akrasi Sarpong, who in an interview with told Joy FM’s Sammy Darko said that "if any politician dares us (NACOB) and uses narcotics money for politics, that person will be sorry. Whether you are an NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you will be sorry," is timely.

Dr. Anning appeared to be confirming what Mr. Akrasi Sarpong said. He was reported as saying "There is a long lasting relationship between narcotic money and the funding of political party activities in Ghana."

Dr. Aning said “Narcotics, whether it is Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, Ephedrine, Methamphetamine or [others] is beginning to pose both a political and security threat to this country. We are now internationally known not only as a traffic country or a transit country but as a country where the impact of these narcotics are beginning to have a cumulative negative impact.”

A narco-state is a clear nightmare. Apart from the direct devastations by the drug on families, they come in with guns. Mexico is as dangerous as Afghanistan, even though the war there is different. It is a war of drug cartels. There is not a single Ghanaian who will not be negatively impacted by a full-blown narco-state.

First, it will drive away good business. This simply means more and more mouths to feed and less and less food to put into those mouths. As our population increases, job opportunities would be decreasing. Furthermore, this would also mean that Ghanaians would no longer be able to travel freely. The few who manage to get visas shall be subjected to some of the most humiliating searches, such as peeps into the anus by Customs officials, at international airports, simply because they are carrying Ghanaian passports! This is what happens to citizens of countries which are designated as transit points for illicit drugs. Who wants this to happen to this country?

And the threat is growing. According to Dr. Aning, "the trade is growing as it has been discovered that between eight and fifteen percent of the narcotics entering main land Europe come through Ghana." Clearly, something correct needs to be done. and every peace-loving Ghanaian must support the initiatives to get on top on the fight by drug barons to steal our sovereignty and peace from us.

I was therefore extremely surprised that instead of lending the necessary moral support and the boost that is needed to make Ghana clean, the Chairman of the NPP is the only leader of a political party in Ghana not to take kindly to the words of the NOCOB capo. What even makes this extremely strange and unnecessary was the fact that the NACOB boss was absolutely non-partisan in his warning: he mentioned all the political parties:

"if any politician dares us (NACOB) and uses narcotics money for politics, that person will be sorry. Whether you are an NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you will be sorry!" He did not mention any goat. All he said was that "his outfit has information that some politicians are heavily funded by drug barons adding that NACOB will deal with any politician caught to be using proceeds from the illicit trade notwithstanding the party that the person belongs to."

Of course, he added that "as the 2012 general elections approaches, NACOB will be very vigilant and monitor the situation carefully to bring to book any culprit found."

Why should any one who has nothing to do with drugs have an issue with this? Instead of welcoming and declaring his support, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, reacting to the comments by the NACOB Boss on the Citi Eyewitness News, on Monday June 27, pleaded with Mr Akrasi Sarpong to "provide evidence to his claims and avoid speaking loosely."

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey complained:

“This is why people who are put in positions like this should not speak loosely, if things that you say, without providing any supporting evidence has the capacity to taint a person or a group of persons then you should avoid making certain comments at all."

This is in spite of the glaring fact that no goat has so far been mentioned! A fact which normally should make all goats comfortable, seems to irk some:

"If you really have any evidence that political parties are being financed by illicit drug whether from barons or not from barons then come out with evidence. But to come out to say generally that you are not going to allow political parities to be funded by drug money then straight away you are turning round to say that this is happening." Obetsebi-Lamptey is reported to have stated.

Indeed, the information concerning the names of the goats that the chairman of the NPP, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is publicly seeking from the NACOB boss, is the kind of information that any drug-pusher would pay huge sums of money to obtain: questions like, what kind of leads do they have on me? I was therefore amused to read Obetsebi Lamptey asking the NACOB boss to name politicians on the NACOB's list.

I was equally satisfied with the response from the NACOB boss to the NPP Chairman's call for the name of suspected politicians to be released, see: General News of Tuesday, 28 June 2011, NACOB boss refuses to name politicians on narcotic money list:

"The Executive Secretary of the Narcotic Control Board, Yaw Akrasi Sarpong has said he cannot be forced to disclose identities of suspected drug dealers on his watch list.

Defending his reason to issue the warning, Mr Sarpong said there are various ways to fight crime and the people who are involved need to know that they are being watched so that they can stay away from it."

Which makes complete nonsense of Obetsebi-Lamptey's rantings:

“If it is happening and you are in charge to make sure that it doesn’t happen then you should make sure that it doesn’t happen and not to generally castigate people in that light”.

And more so, when cast against a background where leading members of the party such as Dr. Arthur Kennedy, who is reported to have been shocked with the amount of money Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan were pumping into their primary campaign, that he said:

"If we do not take our time, one cocaine dealer would just take his money and buy this country and put our lives in danger." - Dr. Arthur Kennedy. "Dr Kwabena Arthur Kennedy also cautioned NPP delegates who would be voting to elect their presidential candidate to be mindful of some of the aspirants who have been going round splashing money on them because the source of the money could be a questionable one."

Indeed, if Obetsebi-Lamptey had not asked the NACOB boss to mention the goats, we would have missed the best part of the story. After declaring that he is keeping the names closely to his chest, Mr. Akrasi Sarpong further expressed disappointment in the manner in which the case involving the missing parcels of cocaine was handled in the past.

“In the past the police did a beautiful work. That work that was done by the police was not backed by the hierarchy of the police. It was done by officers who were down the line. Look we know what happened,” he said.

Security analyst, Dr. Kwesi Aning concurs:

"There is a long lasting relationship between narcotic money and the funding of political party activities in Ghana."

The clearest sign yet, that the NPP is connected to drug barons is coming from the NPP chairman himself.
I have never liked the NPP, even though, somehow, I thought they have had very reasonably intelligent people to lead the party, perhaps simply because I was younger and they looked wise and educated, like Kofi Busia. The late B.J. Da Rocha, with all his human frailties, was a big brain that I met a few times at the Ringway Hotel and other places during the joint struggle against the PNDC. Comparatively, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is pathetic, to say the least!

Nothing surprising at all in this, and we shall be seeing more of this. I know the man. That is why I was glad he was elected as NPP chairman. He has a reputation for causing electorally damaging blunders without even knowing what he had done, several weeks later. So far, only one political party has complained, even though Mr. Akrasi Sarpong mentioned all the political parties. Others have even praised the NACOB Executive Secretary. This is why I think Jake has used the "G-word", because the "g" is for the goats in the NPP whose names he wants to hear from the NACOB boss. Akrasi Sarpong did not mention any goat. Why should he?

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

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"JJ Rawlings, We are back! You can piss for trouser!"

2011-05-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

"JJ Rawlings, We are back! You can piss for trouser!"

Feature Article
by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Is Rawlings now complaining Nkrumahists want to take his NDC from under his feet? Who took what from under whose feet? The struggle Ghanaians and the rest of Africa are engaged in today is not about personalities nor any body's feet for that matter! This is a struggle which involve ideas, concepts and strategies that help us to identify, defend and advance our interests as a people. Among the babel of ideas for the emancipation of Africans from the stranglehold of imperialism and their local compradore bourgeoisie, Nkrumah's about this struggle is a 'nonpariel'! Nkrumah was by quantum levels a far-sighted leader in a class of his own. And I feel angry at the insulting self-comparison Rawlings has been making with himself and Kwame Nkrumah.

An admirable thing about Nkrumah was that he was always learning. Nkrumah even learned from his own mistakes and took the trouble to write extensively in exile to pass on the lessons from the experience of struggle. It takes a buffoon of the likes of Rawlings even to think about comparing himself with Kwame Nkrumah. So, for me, it is therefore good news that Rawlings is complaining. It is about time the chickens come back home to roost. Rawlings has sponged upon Nkrumahism for far too long! It is also about time someone gave him a little talk on this subject. I immensely enjoyed reading Comrade Kwesi Adu's recent article on the same subject: "Rawlings: In Search Of Enemies And Traitors, The Roll Call"

Here is another take on that same utterly exasperating subject matter. I hope this would not be the end. And that Ghanaians would once again rise up to oppose him in even greater numbers than when they hailed him on June 4, 1979. Has this man, all of a sudden, noticed that there are Nkrumahists in the NDC? If Rawlings wants to reduce the struggle between him and his wife, against President Mills as a choice between Nkrumahists and Rawlingstas, I thank God I supported President Mills against Akufo-Addo! I thank God that those Nkrumahists that Rawlings have been fooling all along, can now say, "We are Back!"

"I am back! I am back! I am back! I am back!!!" - Rawlings, Friday, 12 December 12, 2008.

In fact, this happened publicly in the presence of the diplomatic community. At a function organised by the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, attended by several diplomats and Ghanaian dignitaries. The NDC had not even won the elections yet. I was very surprised to read on ModernGhana: "I am back!!! Rawlings says to Diplomats, as he anticipates Mills victory", Source: The Statesman - The Statesman, Ghana Elections | Mon, 15 Dec 2008. The source is dubious, admitted with much pleasure, but the information appears verifiable and credible enough to me. This was even before the December 28 presidential run-off. The excitement of Rawlings was as palpable as it was unusual. "I am back! I am back!" he boomed into the hall upon his arrival, seeking maximum attention to himself. And he never stopped until he was gone, interrupting decent conversations with "I am back! I am back!" It always came in pairs or more. He never said it once. He had to repeat it ad nausaem. "I am back! I am back!" until he barked off.

Of course, Rawlings could be forgiven if he was drunk. Considering the mood of festivity in the air at the time, that the mere glimpse of returning to power gave, especially after eight good years on the hard "Opposition bench", it was even normal and expected that his excellency would be full of wine or something more potent. However, it looks like Rawlings was in for a very rude shock if those were his dreams. The contradiction was there right from the beginning, based upon his own personal expectations and the reasons why he was so excitedly screaming into the ears of the diplomats, "I am back! I am back! I am back!"

Rawlings said nothing intelligible or anything newsworthy, other than "I am back! I am back!" And so it was, that on the next day, quite naturally, this was his only quote in the news. To be frank, I found that odd and vicariously embarrassing not just for our democracy and its image, but at how petty this Rawlings could be! Why particularly "I am back! I am back!"? This is, without a doubt, a pre-occupation that speaks volumes, most especially at the time of celebrating an imminent victory of a Presidential race in which he was no longer the flag-bearer!

So, why "I am back! I am back!"?

I like this question. I think the answer to that might explain the reason why we see Rawlings besides himself with excitement and joy, and how quickly this transformed into bitterness. Apparently infallible and all-knowing Rawlings had realized a deeply grievous mistake on his part! So much for Rawlings' own sense of judgement after single-handedly "imposing" Atta-Mills as the NDC Presidential candidate! Now, we know he was fooling nobody other than himself! What does that tell us of Rawlings' own sense of judgement, if after two decades in power, he booms with such joy and relish only to scream like a baby, within a fortnight, and then turn around to come and tell us that he actually got his most important political appointment decision wrong?

The question to answer first though remains why "I am back! I am back I am back! I am back!!"? I think this is important because it is only through this approach that we could gain some insight into how and why Mr. Rawlings has become such a fierce and ferocious adversary of the President, and just how his own wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings fits into what, for the want of a better word, I simply call 'the "I am back! I am back!!" syndrome.'

Let's even assume that he was very drunk when he was making those statements, or much more probably, high on marijuana. I do not believe in the rumours that he sniffs coke, so let's rule that out. This leaves us with alcohol and his favourite leaves. But even assuming that he was drunk or stone high, why "I am back! I am back!" and not "We are back" for example? After all it is his party which was winning but the President was clearly a different person!

As a party chairman, Rawlings could have done better, and it would have been more fitting and appropriate to rally the party on with a good bellow: "We are back!' That slip of tongue, if ever it was one, irrespective of the inducing agent, was very revealing. And I think it holds the key to the psychological framework that has triggered his insane and intense hatred of President Mills. In the next part of this article, I want to explain why I think that President Mills has got nothing to do with it. Rawlings hates him simply because he is on the way to his quest for power, all he wanted was a pawn, not a President who thinks and has a conscience of his own. And that complement my answer to the question.

"Hand over to whom?"

In 1982, during the heat of the so-called 31st December Revolution, Rawlings made his first appearance at the Great Hall of the University of Science and Technology, now correctly called the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. It was to be a memorable occasion. After rumbling and making no sense for about an hour, came question time. A good friend of mine during the students "forced task" period, and a personal hero, now Dr. Joe Atta-Mensah, then a young student in his twenties, mounted the podium to pose the famous question:

"Mr. Chairman, I want to know, and please, let me know, one, when are you going to lift the curfew? And two, when are you going to hand over?" Atta-Mensah does not even smile at his own jokes, so you could imagine his serious face as he asked his question.

All hell broke loose! The question immediately wiped off the silly grin loitering on Rawlings face, as Atta-Mensah mounted the podium to ask his question. The PDC cadres moved quickly to restrain young Atta-Mensah from asking a third one, whilst others tried to prevent Rawlings and pleaded with him not to answer the question. But the harm had been done to what was billed to be a "conscientization" rally, for Mr Atta-Mensah got a standing ovation from the student body.

Finally, after some calm had been restored and Joe Atta-Mensah had managed to take to his heels to avoid instant lynching, by the PDC and security details, Rawlings cleared his throat to answer the question:

"Hand over to whom? That would be the return of the devil himself!"

Only the PDC cadres cheered whilst the general student body booed, and Joe Atta-Mensah became immortalised as a national hero for democracy, even though he had to flee the country immediately for his life, for just asking that question, and to complete his education in Canada. At least, it was thanks to this question that we got the early warning signals about the kind of beast we have in town.

And so it was, that throughout the rule of the PNDC, anyone who would call for the return to constitutional rule would be tagged "enemy of the revolution" with dire consequences to their persons. So, it is a little bit of an under-statement to simply state that Rawlings had no intention of handing over power and cede to a democratic form of governance. He had to be ejected from office under intense national and international pressure. Little wonder that he is scheming to come back! He is still not convinced that it is game-over.

It was not an easy struggle to get Rawlings to cede to the demands of Ghana's pro-democracy forces and to return the country to constitutional rule. It was equally not easy to get Rawlings to concede defeat to the NPP, had it not been the fact that his own flag-bearer was a gracious gentleman who would prefer to be known as "Asomdweehene". NDC Presidential candidate, Professor John Evans Atta-Mills conceded defeat to the chagrin of Mr. Jerry John Rawlings! It is thus against such a background that one should understand the basis of the "I am back! I am back!" syndrome, as nothing other than an inordinate and utterly disgusting lust for power.

"Traitor!", "Team B!", and "Go slow!"

Now, let's fast-forward to January 2011. A few weeks after the famous "I am back! I am back!" outbursts, President Atta-Mills did something that literally tingled violently in Rawlings' tympanic membranes. President Mills had wasted no time at all in making it clear to Rawlings that he was his own man, and would not be pushed around by anybody, not even Rawlings! The first issue on the table was about ministerial appointments. President Mills clearly had some ideas of his own but preferred to follow the laid down procedure. Rawlings did not only have a definitive list, but a comprehensive list of the entire cabinet to be appointed for the newly-elected Mills Administration. And contrary to his expectations, Atta-Mills, following the laid down procedure, would only pick and choose from the Rawlings list and not accept it hook, line, and sinker!

For the Rawlingses that was an unpardonable hubris. Thus an understandable reading into the "I am back! I am back" declarations of Rawlings translates into an expectation on his part to run the country by remote control. Indeed, there were rumours that he expected to literally make political appointments with simple SMS text messages to the President on his mobile phone! Thus for Rawlings, who left power reluctantly as a dictator, "I am back! I am back!" takes an ominous and familiar meaning. And the democratically elected Professor of law did very well to put this ignorant upstart who could not even pass his General Certificate of Examination, "O" Level, in his proper place!

If you want to see how an empty head that is full of himself looks like, never miss the opportunity to observe this man carefully whenever the occasion presents itself. Attention, if you are the expressive type, I recommend that you do so safely from a television screen. He can read your thoughts from the way you smile at him and react impulsively. And this could be dangerous. He once threw a heavy ashtray which narrowly missed the head of Professor Mawusi Dake, simply because he did not like the smile on his face!

So you can imagine the level of punishment Rawlings would have reserved for "the mortuary man", if he could have his way! That simply reminds me of the Ayatollah Khomeni fatwa on Salmon Rushdie: "He deserves, at the very minimum, a sentence of death"! It gives me shivers in the spine as my mind feebly wonders what the maximum sentence would look like. Rawlings, of course, did not use so many words. He used the code word: "traitor"! That was sufficient. Very few people lived to see the light of day with such a label, when Rawlings was the "monarch" of all he could survey in the heydays of the PNDC.

As for the ministers, as soon as the official list was published, Rawlings simply cross-checked with his own list, the "Team A", so those on the official list automatically became "Team B"! It is actually amazing how the Rawlingses replaced the opposition NPP to become the principal adversaries of the President at the very beginning of the Mills Administration over the issue of appointments. Even Akufo-Addo publicly chose not to criticize the President during his first hundred days in office. This would not be the case with the Rawlingses, who wanted the immediate imprisonment of all NPP officials for corruption, never mind the evidence!

Mills only fault was that he needed the evidence to prove the case in a court of law. Sooner than later, he would be nicknamed "Go slow" for not moving fast enough to jail those "corrupt politicians" in the NPP. To my eternal shock and amazement, I saw NPP supporters applauding Rawlings for calling President Mills "Go slow" because the President was insisting on the rule of the law and would not wrongfully jail them! It was a form of suicidal stupidity that made me feel very sad indeed for the future of our democracy, and the quality of the grey matter in the heads of some of these NPP supporters!

Now, Listen, You "Greedy Bastard", "We are back"!!!

There is something about "greedy bastards" that I find very curious, especially coming from the lips Rawlings. This is because in several interviews, Rawlings himself had made it clear that he is indeed a bastard whose Scottish father, Mr. John, did not even want to see for just an instant. He did not even want telephone calls from him! He says so himself, so we all know he is a bastard in the most classical sense of the word.

As for being greedy, what do you say of a poor Flight Lieutenant, who drinks "apio" on credit, eats "yore ke gari" on credit, smokes marijuana on credit, who suddenly finds himself with a free house, free booze, free Koforidua weeds (and sometimes from Tudu), free 555 State Express cigarettes, free car, free petrol, free driver, free eggs, and free akple and free okro soup with goat or cat meat as an option? And at the end of the month, a very fat salary on top of all that? if such a person does not want to relinquish power after misruling the country for nineteen good years, who do you think is the greedy bastard here? After killing people far less corrupt than himself, for being corrupt? How would you call such a genuine bastard, if not "a minimum" appellation of "a very greedy bastard indeed"?

The strange thing about all this insatiable desire for power is that the struggle is always about Rawlings. It is not that he has anything special to offer the nation. Rawlings is ever ready to try anything to get to power, or to stay in power, just for the sake of power. He could not even be bothered about an ideological orientation. Rawlings was ready to try everything from the most rabid of neo-liberal economic policies such as structural adjustment and deregulation to undigested revanchist revolutionary rhetoric.

Rawlings is a corrupt person who never stops complaining about corruption, a vote rigger who never stops complaining about vote rigging, a coup plotter who never stops complaining of coup plotters, a dictator who never stops complaining of dictatorship, a greedy bastard who never stops complaining of greedy bastards, and a murderer who never stops complaining of murderers! He is the only known Ghanaian with the greatest amount of Ghanaian blood on his hands than any individual in the entire history of the Ghanaian people! He has more blood of innocent Ghanaians on his hands than the average armed-robber! He surpasses the atrocities of slave traders centuries before! Yet, after a brutal misrule over this country for nineteen years, he wants his wife to be our President, and roam around again, throwing his pompous weight about, half stoned, half sane, as Ghana's First Gentleman, instead of spending time in prison for his heinous crimes!

I remember meeting one of the soldiers who took part in the operation to free Rawlings from the MI guardroom in the early hours of Monday, June 4, 1979 and transported him to the Achimota Forest where they had established a Command Post. It was at the Passport Office which had just then been moved to the Airport Residential Area, as a result of a fire outbreak in the old passport office. I met a fellow student-leader there, who was with him and he recognized me. This colleague introduced to him as a student leader fiercely opposed to the PNDC dictatorship. He gave me a hug and gave his name orally as "Bezenkyi". It was and not spelt to me, nor written down, so I wonder if I have the spelling right. He added however, that "Bezenkyi" means "black blood" in Hausa. (I wish a Hausa-speaking reader would be kind enough to correct the spelling for me!) I also learnt that he had just been released from prison where he underwent severe torture.

Bezenkyi told me he had been tortured in prison and he had his fingers and his skin to prove it. His skin was peeling off, and his fingers had been broken. He could not move them. He told me they did that to him because they wanted to make sure he could not handle a gun and shoot with it any more. But with a swing of his arm, with his broken fingers cupped together like a claw, he said to me, "I can still throw grenades!" That was the only time he smiled. One thing he told me, that made me chuckle, was that Rawlings did not know those who were sent to liberate him beforehand, they arrived unexpectedly and so it must have taken him by surprise and he mistook them for the authorities who had ordered for his execution, so early in the morning.

It should not be forgotten that Rawlings' revendez-vous with death had been poignantly brought home to him by no other person than General Ollesegun Obassanjo, who on a state visit to Ghana, had asked to see him on Friday, 1st June 1979, three days before the June 4 operation. Obassanjo had reportedly told Rawlings upon seeing him, in the pidgin English, "Ibi [Is it] you this fiangle [tiny] boy who dey cause trouble for your contrey [country]? Like you dey for my contrey, Satorday, [Saturday] Satorday self, no go reach you!" [you would be dead before Saturday!] Thus it was that when his liberators broke into the guardroom, a surprised and scared Rawlings clutched to the bars of the guardroom and would not allow himself to be taken away!

"I want to see my mother before I die!" Rawlings screamed. "I want to see my mother before I die!" He was crying hysterically like a baby, and actually pissed in his trousers like a baby. The noise he was making could have jeopardized the entire operation and endangered the lives of his liberators, so he was given some dirty slaps to shut up, as it was calmly explained to him that they were there to liberate him. The part of the piss in the trousers and the courage in the eyes of Bezenkyi was very contrasting. He was talking freely knowing very well that he was being followed by the BNI. He said when they even went to liberate Rawlings, he had been so scared that Rawlings pissed in his trousers. In fact, I still remember the way Bezenkyi narrated this part of the story:

"He even piss for trouser!", he said, still with an angry face.

It was just too difficult for me to keep myself from laughing as a sign of respect for his feelings, but I could not help laughing. I honestly did not want to laugh, at least, not at that time, but it was far too much more than my endurance level! I do regret that and I feel sorry about that. Please forgive my sinful sense of humour! I perfectly sympathize with Bezenkyi and the other Nkrumahists who freed Rawlings from the guardroom, most of whom were later intimidated to flee the land and go into exile, imprisoned, tortured, or simply killed.

The events that political analysts and historians refer to as the June 4 Uprising is a culmination of several historical processes which even pre-date Kwame Nkrumah and Wallace Johnson, even though these have been very instrumental in the development of working class consciousness among the mass of our population and mass agitations and popular struggle already had their symbols such as the Sekondi Railway workers' "Bottom Tree". Rawlings hi-jacked this struggle and bastardised it just for his own personal aggrandisement. This is my thesis.

This is not to say that I did not support Rawlings on June 4. I did. I would have been happy to have been a part of the team to liberate a man who is also fighting against military corruption which had become so obvious. I would not have risked my life just for Rawlings, but help to end the suffering of an overwhelming majority of Ghanaians, under an unelected, corrupt, and irresponsible military dictatorship, who cared less about the future of the country and the conditions under which people were living. I therefore salute all those who went and liberated him from prison. How could they have possibly known that they were making a mistake?

Rawlings is a political mistake that only Nkrumahists who helped him to power can correct, and I am happy that it is no person than Rawlings himself who is blaming Nkrumahists for trying to correct their own mistake! After so many years of betrayal, what does he expect? I salute all those Nkrumahists within the NDC who are keen on correcting this mistake! It makes the NDC very attractive and tempting to join; because of Rawlings, I have never found the NDC to be an option for me. He once angrily removed a badge with Nkrumah's head embossed on it, from the chest of Mr. Kojo Eshun, who used to run the Nsamankow Press, at North Kaneshi, Accra, and that was the last straw for me, even though he was no such great fan even much earlier than that for other mischiefs.

Nkrumahists in the NDC must tell the Rawlingstas that “Nkrumahists can also be Ababio! You are not the only Ababio in town. We are asking you to go and come no more!” If President Mills wins this contest, I might officially join NDC myself. And I wish someone would tell Bezenkyi to do the same if he is still alive, so that together, we can go and tell Rawlings: "JJ, We are back! You can piss for trouser"!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro
E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro
Blog: http://nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/

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2011-03-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Nana Akyea Mensah

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Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 3

2011-03-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 3 (Final)

by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

I read to my very profound amusement, the news caption, "Nana Addo hugs Mills as preacher man inspires", Ghanaweb General News of Monday, 14 March 2011. The story began with, "President John Evans Atta Mills and his political rival, Nana Akufo-Addo were on Sunday March 13, moved by a preacher man’s sermon to shake hands and hug each other to end what appears to be a frosty relationship between the two in the last few months."

There is a Akan proverb, which says, "When you see a frog hoping out of its hole on a sunny afternoon, you have to know immediately he is running away from something"! I knew Akufo-Addo was going to mellow down his "All-Die-Be-Die!" nonsense because it was politically toxic and extremely suicidal to launch a campaign platform in 2011 Ghana! They have insisted he would never apologize for the inward-looking, ethnocentric, and intellectually bankrupt slogan. We have been offered suggestions that by saying "We Akans are not cowards", Mr. Akufo-Addo was referring to the NPP, which is national in character and not necessarily a tribal Akan party!

In other words, the want to tell us that the "Akan" nature of the NPP is national in character! There is no way Akufo-Addo is going to get out of this hole without the ladder of "Excuse me, fellow countrymen, I was wrong to use the words "We Akans are not cowards... 2012 is going to be All die be die!" There is no amount of hugging that can doctor the image of a tribal warlord beating war drums even before the vote! Considering the fact that Akufo-Addo's own body guards have been very notorious in violently beating up the body guards of his principal opponent at Cape Coast in the last elections, the camera man of the ex-President Rawlings in Kumasi, he sounds like a mad person complaining about himself!

I was speaking to a friend six months before the elections, and I was told that the NDC was being increasingly perceived as aggressive, violent, and too-much warlike, and so they are not liked by many people. Then six months later, the same person told me the situation had changed and that the NDC's Presidential candidate has managed to keep his title of "Asomdweehene", the "King of Peace", and the NPP was losing because they have become too aggressive and some of them are even looking for a civil war.

This was not music only to my ears, it was a confirmation of my own thoughts. I knew instinctively when I heard Akufo-Addo on the radio, not even bothering to say "We NPP" but "We Akans are not cowards... All die be die!" , that he was finished, caput! Yes the Kapwewe is caput without the saving grace of opening his toothless mouth to say "I am sorry for threatening you with a tribal war instead of a right-wing political one from the NPP. I meant to say the NPP and not Akans who are the cowards! The error is deeply regretted!" Is this too much to ask?

This is the first sign that Akufo-Addo is feeling the heat of his pugilistic, ethnocentric and extremely stupid comments. I saw it coming. He now wants to present himself as a peaceful and reconciliatory individual by pretending to hug the President. This is the nearest any one can squeeze out of an arrogant individual of that calibre. It is comforting to note that not even the arrogant aristocratic and self-appointed elites can feel the heat of public disapproval. This is good news. How can any political leader in Ghana be able identity publicly with one ethnic group and threaten death and destruction to non-Akans, and get away with it?

As usual, he has shown no intention of rendering his unqualified apologies for this unqualified nonsense! The Akan-tribalist presidential candidate of the NPP is clearly retreating from the aggressive and warmongering image he has cut for himself. Like a beast that defecates in public places, and fails even to clean its own anus, Akufo-Addo fails to render apologies and resorts to hugging! Is this man too short to say "I am sorry"? Is it because of his arrogance that he is not able to come out to publicly say "I am sorry, what I said was a slip of the tongue, or in a bad taste!"?

Even if he had said, "We members of the NPP are not cowards", it would still have been a very low point in his political career! But coming out to say that "We Akans are not cowards" and promising hell fire and brimstones on innocent Ghanaians simply because it is his last chance at the presidential race is extremely disgusting! He should stop the hugging and apologize for the nonsense! Hugging President Mills shall never help, even though we know he is trying to beat a retreat!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Sincerely,
The Odikro, Nana Akyea Mensah

Twitter: / twitter.com/TheOdikro,
Blogs: Feature Articles: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com,
Comments: theodikro.blogspot.com)

See also;

Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 1

Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 2

2011-03-01T10:07:00.001-08:00

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

A Rejoinder to: '“All-Die-Be-Die” Clarion Bests Mills’ State-of-the-Nation Address' Part 2, by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame.

The more Okoampa writes on this subject, the angrier I become. I already feel angrier than the reader is going to discern from this article. This is because I am deliberately controlling myself. I just want to make it clear that where there are issues that involve the life and death of innocent people, I am in no mood to play ball! I have therefore decided to issue a very stern warning that Okoampa to end immediately the serialization of the current series of nonsense emanating from him, otherwise he and Akufo-Addo shall see the temperature rise in corresponding rejoinders to each article he writes on this subject.

I don't mind if Okoampa heeds this warning or not. It would be a pleasure to deal with both Akufo-Addo and Okoampa at the same time. This is going to be like killing two birds with a stone, or killing two goats with one kick! By this, I don't mean physically. I mean it politically. Akufo-Addo is going to remain alive but politically impotent because of his own stupid utterances, silly spin-doctors like Okoampa, coupled with the arrogance of the Akyem dwarf!

Since this is the first time I am issuing such a warning, I shall control myself with grace under pressure. But I do not warn people like Okoampa twice! I shall begin hostilities in the very next article. Suffice it to state once more that yet again Okoampa has left a hiatus between his topic and the content. I wonder if he has managed even to convince himself that the "all did be die" nonsense of Akufo-Addo "Bests Mills’ State-of-the-Nation Address'"!

In his latest article under review, here is one example Okoampa gives to show that Akufo-Addo's "We Akans are not cowards, ....Ghanaians want us to be in power, so all die be die! All die be die!" Okoampa writes:

“The Ministry of Education will be working in conjunction with the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture[,] as well as the relevant State and private entities[,] to reinforce Arts and Culture Festivals in second[-]cycle institutions.” If the preceding is not an epic disappointment of apocalyptic proportions, then we don't know what else it is!

If reinforcing "Arts and Culture Festivals in second[-]cycle institutions”, is an "an epic disappointment of apocalyptic proportions", then what about the spectre of an Akyem dwarf inciting his tribesmen to wage a tribal war in modern day Ghana?

Here is another gap Akufo-Addo has to mind. Okoampa sets out to correct the English of the President, even though I am yet to see him correct "All die be die", which is certainly not in regular English usage. Here is the correction he made to the President's speech:

“Madam Speaker, we are going to make an effort to reorient the psyche [sic] of our youth[s] towards what we consider to be Ghanaian values – especially on the issue of moral consciousness.”

Funny thing is that just in the next paragraph we see Okoampa himself using the same word he has corrected! Okoampa writes:

"Needless to say, we had anticipated the President to highlight the training of more indigenous language and culture teachers, such as has been done at the Ajumako School of Ghanaian Languages, in order to enhance the inculcation of positive Ghanaian/African cultural values into our youths." Please note his use of the word "our youths" and compare this with what he he highlighted as a mistake in the President's speech: "our youth[s]". Is this an English professor or just an ordinary idiot?

In all fairness, this article is a little bit better than the part one, for the simple reason that it attempts to raise some issues of relevance to the title. Okoampa writes:

'Ultimately, what was also interesting about President Mills' third “State-of-the-Nation Address” was the shockingly, albeit predictably, infantile manner in which Ghana's Chief-of-State attempted to impugn Nana Akufo-Addo's incontrovertibly apt call for members of the main opposition New Patriotic Party to vigorously defend themselves against executive-condoned, seasonal NDC assaults on Danquah-Busia-Dombo partisans. Once again, “take a reading”.

Here Okoampa is already rewriting a history that is less than two weeks old! Had Akufo Addo said "We the members of the NPP" instead of saying "We Akans", what Okoampa is writing would have held water. I would have been worried, but not horrified and shocked in this way. Akufo-Addo said "we Akans", not "we NPP", and that is specifically the reason why he owes Ghanaians an apology.

On the contrary, the text Okoampa cites to be worse than the "all die be die" nonsense is not very much different from the kind of sense I am busy pumping into his head:

“And let no one think that inciting or priming others for violence is the way to determine the outcome of elections.” And still further: “We will not sit idly by and allow some persons to throw this country into a state of chaos just to satisfy their self-centered and inordinate political desires.”'

In what way does "We Akans are not cowards" and we are ready to fight our way to power, "all die be die" bests the State of the Nation Address delivered by the President in Parliament recently? Ha? Did you hear the President uttering anything remotely resembling this nonsense?

In the first place, who told you that all die be die? You cannot compare the death of Jesus who was an innocent person, with the death of the two other murderers who accompanied him on his left and right on the cross! You cannot say that when someone dies from malaria it is the same as the ritual murder of Nana Akyea Mensah, the Odikro of Apedwa, whom the uncle of Akufo-Addo, Dr. J.B. Danquah, and his own father, Edward Akufo-Addo were fully apprised of the details and probably involved in the conspiracy to commit such a heinous human sacrifice!

There is a proverb which says, "a snake shall always give birth to something long!" And I suppose that in the case of dwarfs, a dwarf shall always give birth to something short! Ritual murderers like that! All die no be die! Walahi!

I end here because I do not want to lose my temper yet! Let me see a part three of the same nonsense from Kwame Okoampa, and he will begin to regret the day on which he was born! Who born dwarf? Sorry, who born dog?

Over to you Kwame Okoampa!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro,
Blogs: Feature Articles: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com,
Comments: theodikro.blogspot.com)

Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 1

2011-02-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Akufo-Addo, Mind The Gap! It is A Trap! Part 1

A Rejoinder to: '“All-Die-Be-Die” Clarion Bests Mills’ State-of-the-Nation Address', by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame, Feature Article of Sunday, 27 February 2011.

I suppose that Okoampa would argue that he writes out of his own volition and that Akufo Addo has nothing to do with it. I don't mind believing that. Trouble is, Okoampa writes for his cousin. He sits on his board as a governor of the Danquah Institute. So the association is there. Secondly, if Akufo-Addo does not agree with what his cousin writes, he should be able to tell him to cool it. Unfortunately anyone expecting Akufo-Addo to pump some sense into the head of Okoampa must be disappointed by the fact that Akufo-Addo himself is even talking more nonsense of late than Kwame Okoampa himself!

What we rather see Okoampa attempting to do is the political damage control of the stupid utterances made by Mr. Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the blood-thirsty presidential candidate of the NPP who is crying for the blood of non-Akans in Ghana! The only problem with this latest attempt at damage control lies in the fact that there is a wide dichotomy between what the title promised to deliver in the article and what the content of the article was about. It reminds me of London Underground Railway system and the constant admonishment to passengers to "Mind the Gap!"

Okoampa wrote an article which purportedly announces '"All-Die-Be-Die” Clarion Bests Mills’ State-of-the-Nation Address'. It was therefore not my fault that I was expecting to read a genuine comparative analysis of the two speeches which show which one of them was better and why. The essential elements in the Akufo-Addo's infamous "All die be die" slogan and speech was the simple fact that as a national leader leader of a political party in today's Ghana, he was caught on camera identifying himself with a particular ethnic group and asking them to wage war with other non-Akans, and is therefore unfit to be offered the job as the President of Ghana.

It is ethnocentrism in his speech which is unacceptable and completely repugnant. Contrary to the stated objective of President Mills to be a "father to all" Ghanaians, here, we have a political leader presenting himself as a tribal leader beating war drums mobilizing Akans against their imagined enemies:

"They have made up their minds that they are going to intimidate us in 2012." Akufo-Addo was caught on the microphone, speaking in Twi, an Akan language, 'I sometimes explain this as the claim that we Akans are cowards. They argue that if one is able wound one or two of us, then all the rest of us remaining take to our heels! Is that so? Well, We shall see! Atiwa for example, was a little illustration of this. During the by-elections at Atiwa we did "something small" that showed a little bit of this. And so we have to understand that this party was formed by brave men. Our elders who formed this party which is now the biggest political party in Ghana, were not people who were hiding under beds! The courage that is needed now to face the 2012 elections is 'All die be die! All die be die!' Nobody is a man more than his fellow! Nobody more manly than the other. No matter how tall you are, no matter how small you are in size, by God's plan, all of us are endowed with exactly the same thing. You cannot tell us that you have three inside yours. All of us have how many? Two! Ha! ha! ha! So we are going to pick up courage. Ghanaians need us to come back to power. Whatever courage we need to stand firmly and to ensure that we come back to power in 2012, we are going to have to do it!" (Transcription by the Office of the Odikro, from audio, source: @joyonlinenews: Listen to key voices on Nana Akufo-Addo's 'all die be die' http://dlvr.it/Gb2v7)

I have never heard of a divisive political speech in the history of the entire country by a leading political leader and aspirant that is so divisive, and so disgustingly ethnocentric! It is very obvious that Akufo-Addo has spoken absolute nonsense. I have seen attempts to beat around the bush and make this absolute bunkum look a bit presentable. A lot of spin has passed under the bridge since this nonsense was uttered. I particularly found the efforts of Justice Sarpong and Arthur Kennedy rather pathetic apologies which did nothing to help the Akyem dwarf out of his political predicament.

It is normal to see Justice Sarpong, a staunch supporter of Akufo-Addo, after two years of "treatment" by the Odikro in the forums of Ghanaweb.com, to be able to point out on his own what was exactly wrong with the speech and to distance himself accordingly:

"Let me make it crystal clear here that, I do not agree with the part of Nana's speech talking about the bravery of Akans and making it seem like NPP is an Akan party at war with the Ewe dominated NDC Party. Ghanaians are not going to war war with each other, we have come a long way in our democratic rebirth we will not resort to the Kenya or Ivory Coast examples but we will not allow any Party, either NPP or NDC to hijack any election in Ghana, that NDC should not try to rig the 2012 election." (See: 'NDC Dunderheads, Atta Mess "Threatened" Kenya On Ghana', by Sarpong, Justice, Feature Article of Sunday, 13 February 2011).

Quite unlike Sarpong who wanted to make it "crystal clear" that, "the part of Nana's speech talking about the bravery of Akans and making it seem like NPP is an Akan party at war with the Ewe dominated NDC Party" is wrong, Okoampa has always believed that the NPP is not just an Akan Party, but Christian. Advancing his reasons why the NPP should reject the candidacy of Hajia Alima Mahama, who was then the Kufour Administration's Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, Okoampa vehemently expressed his disagreement with Mr. Akilu Salisu, of the Nasara Club, who proposed Hajia Mahama as Akufo-Addo's running mate. First he stated the offence:

"Mr. Akilu Salisu, of the Nasara Club, stakes the unpardonably preposterous claim that “giving the position [of Vice-Presidential Candidate] to a Muslim woman would help remove the perception that NPP is an Akan party as well as help to promote gender balance” (see “FOMWAG ROOTS FOR ALIMA” Modernghana.com 7/10/08)."

The Okomapa passed his judgement:

"Indeed, as this writer stated quite awhile ago, in one of his columns, to describe the New Patriotic Party as an Akan party ought to give absolutely no occasion to invidious charges of ethnocentrism. For one, to be an Akan party simply means that democracy is active an alive in Fourth-Republican Ghana – for Akans, indisputably, constitute at least 50-percent of Ghana's electorate and citizenry. This means that no political party could be accorded an electoral mandate without having carried a sizable portion of the majority Akan vote; and so disingenuous and hollow attempts by the likes of Nasara Club's Mr. Akilu Salisu to politically malign the NPP are just that, totally hollow, disingenuous and practically unsound."

And as though that was not enough, Okoampa added:

"This writer personally believes that, indeed, Hajia Alima Mahama, given the chance, could well become one of Ghana's best Vice-Presidents. But this writer is also wary of the fact that Ghana and the NPP have just had a Muslim Vice-President for nearly 8 years now. And, indeed, it is an unprecedented and, perhaps, also an unbested first in Ghana's history, since no ruling party before the emergence of the New Patriotic Party had a publicly professing Muslim as Vice-President. Even more significant is the imperative need for Ghanaians to guard against the eerie possibility of setting an unsavory and morally unsound precedent of making a habit, or culture, of permanently reserving the Vice-Presidential spot in the NPP for Muslims and Northerners; for political entitlement, of the sort foolhardily championed by the likes of Mrs. Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has absolutely no place in a constitutional democracy. What must be done is to strongly encourage, as well as actively support, qualified Ghanaian women to enter mainstream politics, not create an unsavory political ghetto – or “tokenistic” entitlement institutions – such as the reservation of a certain number of parliamentary seats for women, as was wildly and vehemently advocated in the recent past."

(See: "Mr. Akilu Salisu Should Argue Sensibly", by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Feature Article | Sat, 19 Jul 2008).

Of course, I don't expect Okoampa who has already characterised the NPP as an "Akan Christian Party" to be bothered with, or see anything wrong with this declaration which sounds more of a tribal warlord than a decent political party candidate contesting for the high office of the President of the country! for a Presidential elections! There is no amount of comparisons with speeches made by President Mills that can wash away the spectre of a presidential candidate telling his tribesmen and women, 'I sometimes explain this as the claim that we Akans are cowards"! And calling for blood, anybody's blood, for the simple reason that according to him every death is the same!

Okoampa then raves and rants about the MV Benjamin cocaine episode, the President's "promise to round up, vigorously prosecute and severely punish the alleged killers of the Ya-Na", and "his strongman-mentor and his politically ambitious, erratic and ever-scheming wife". How any of these answer the silly tribal nonsense uttered by Akufo-Addo baffles me! The trouble is if you can not deal with your cousin's problem, you don't have to make it worse by thinking you can insult the intelligence of Ghanaians and get away with it. Perhaps if Akufo-Addo has been stupid enough to make the utterances, he would be stupid enough to believe that what Okoampa is doing would do the trick instead of coming out like a gentleman to apologize and promise to turn a new leaf.

There are gaping holes in the damage control articles being churned out in the support of Akufo-Addo. Those gaps represent insults to our intelligence. It can never produce anything positive in the long run. Indeed, what it can do, if this continues, in the absence of a clear apology, people are rather going to be infuriated, including myself, because we want peace in Ghana, and we are in no mood to countenance irresponsible statements that do nothing to promote peace and stability of the nation. You may not be able to stop Okoampa from writing. He seems to have a compulsive urge to write even when his head is empty, so no point to stop him. Just tell him to mind the gap!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro

Blogs: http://panafricanistgrammar.blogspot.com/

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An Exposure Of The Danquah Institute And Their So-Called “Chocolate Revolution”.

2011-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

An Exposure Of The Danquah Institute And Their So-Called “Chocolate Revolution”.

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

A Rejoinder: Cote d’Ivoire needs a chocolate revolution, by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Ghanaian Chronicle, Opinion | Fri, 04 Feb 2011

"The world can take a firmer decision on cocoa exports to gradually but speedily deny Gbagbo the oxygen of remuneration for the institutions that keep his intransigence fuelled. But, the people of Cote d’Ivoire should also be proactive in demonstrating their protests publicly like we have seen further north. This current situation of no war, no peace, no government is too dangerous and may end up costing more lives than a short, sharp, shock of public revolt. I call it a Chocolate Revolution. La Cote d’Ivoire needs it. Africa needs it. The Ivorians should not fail us. The UN, AU and ECOWAS can play their part by increasing the number of peace-keepers/makers in the country to enhance the public sense of security. Let the international peacekeepers offer the striking masses protection and let us see how many pro-Gbagbo civilians will come out with a counter demonstration. How I pray that the Molotovs of Mubarak’s violent counter demonstration burn him out of office. For this strategy of his to succeed would be highly counterproductive for Africa; only useful to the Gbagbos of a discredited status quo. Chocolate Revolution it must be. The author is the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, a policy think tank."

- Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, "Cote d’ivoire needs a chocolate revolution", Ghanaian Chronicle, Opinion | Fri, 04 Feb 2011

Introduction: A “Chocolate Revolution” Indeed!

For me, this is all about connecting the dots. Let's begin from the autumn of 1999, Cheney's speech at the London Petroleum Institute. In his first known comment on the subject of the “peak of petrol”, here is how Dick Cheney distinguished petrol from the ranks of products such as chocolates:

“Oil is unique in that it is so strategic in nature. We are not talking about soapflakes or leisurewear here. Energy is truly fundamental to the world's economy. The Gulf War was a reflection of that reality.”

Often, I am amazed at the paucity of references to Oil in the news stories covering the Ivorian crisis. I can understand that as the world's leading producer of cocoa, the story of La Cote d'Ivoire cannot be fully and completely be told without references to cocoa. I can understand a story which begins thus: “The world's top cocoa exporter is locked in a deadly presidential power struggle...“
The real danger here is that cocoa is not the only export commodity from La Cote d'Ivoire. And what is more, the key commodity that has energized all these frenetic diplomatic shenanigans, military preparations, and the beating of the drums of war, including the current Danquah Institutes's propaganda piece under discussion, is about the OIL. The very attempt to get the UN to authorize military action against Gbagbo, as well as the readiness of Russia to veto such a resolution, is all about the oil.
In what I can describe with ineffable sincerity as “the most brilliant work on the Ivorian Crisis to date and a must-read for all Peace Activists around the world, particularly West Africans”, is the latest work by Crossed Crocodiles. Here is his quote on the subject of oil and chocolates:
“In the western media you will not see much about oil being an issue in Ivory Coast. The news stories all talk about cocoa. But if you look at the map above you can see the significance. And no doubt the prospect of oil money makes the Ivorian presidential contenders more contentious. Oil is most certainly the reason AFRICOM’s General Hogg was seeking troop commitments in January for military intervention.” (See: Côte d’Ivoire – Military Intervention Vs Constitutional Legitimacy, by Crossed Crocodiles, February 22, 2011. http://crossedcrocodiles.wordpress.com/)
They do not fail to mention cocoa and chocolates, but inexplicably fail to mention oil and petrol. I believe that is an omission which speaks volumes. The strategic geopolitical decisions being made around the globe in respect of the Ivorian crisis is fundamentally over oil and not chocolates. It almost seems as though they want us to see what they want us to see, not necessarily what is there to be seen.

Ochere-Darko opportunistically dresses his pro-imperialist bait with the smells of the Jasmine Revolution of Algeria, and what the Egyptians stood for at Tahrir Square. By hailing the Egyptian revolution he cleverly tries to distance himself from what the Egyptians are opposed to: Young and old dictatorships, stooges of imperialism who cannot flourish under a democracy because of their anti-people policies.

Most knowledgeable Africans, including Ochere-Darko, know very well that the establishment of the US Africom was a part of what Dick Cheney's wrote in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Energy Policy Development Group, in the preface to his report that was handed to President Bush in May 2001:

“As you directed us at the outset of your Administration, we have developed a national energy policy designed to help bring together business, government, local communities and citizens to promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future.”

Indeed, it has been noted by Ochere-Darko himself that:

"The United States, in typical Dick Cheneyic oilthink, sees the Gulf of Guinea as offering the opportunity to break with the old politics which saw the U.S. at the mercy of the geostrategic pressure of unstable or unfriendly oil-producing states in the ‘old’ Gulf (Persian Gulf) and Venezuela."

Incidentally, there is one thing that Dick Cheney, J.B. Danquah, Houphet Boigny, K.A. Busia, and perhaps, Gabriel Ochere-Darko himself, share in common: they all actively supported the racist Apartheid regime of South Africa! Are these the kind of people to look up to for the well-being of the ordinary African? “Cheneyic oilthink” indeed! Cheney never even offered a single apology for his anti-African voting record in the Senate!

Here is an account of the last time someone tried to get him to retract:

'Dick Cheney was willing to negotiate with the Apartheid leadership that stole 83% of all the lands of South Africa, and unleashed a fascist and racist dictatorship which turned its thugs loose on the citizens who protested. He was one of the "big men" who tried to give legitimacy to a thoroughly illegitimate regime.

In an interview on Meet the Press on July 30, 2000, Cheney was asked about his vote in opposition to releasing Nelson Mandela from prison. Cheney answered, "Well, certainly I would have loved to have Nelson Mandela released. I don't know anybody who was for keeping him in prison. Again, this was a resolution of the U.S. Congress, so it wasn't as though if we passed it, he was going to be let out of prison."'

We also know that:

'In May 2001 the Cheney report warned that the U.S. would grow increasingly dependent upon foreign oil in the years to come and recommended that as a matter of policy the Bush Administration work to increase production and export of oil from regions other than the Middle East, noting that Latin America and West Africa were likely to be the fastest growing sources of future U.S. oil imports. ... Three months later, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner declared that African oil "has become a national strategic interest." This statement is particularly noteworthy in that it uses the language of the Carter Doctrine in the Middle East, in which President Carter went on to declare that the U.S. would intervene by any means necessary to protect its national interest in Middle Eastern oil. In April 2002, Donald Norland, former U.S. Ambassador to Chad told a Congressional subcommittee: "It's been reliably reported that, for the first time, the two concepts -- 'Africa' and 'U.S. National security' -- have been used in the same sentence in Pentagon documents." '

Letitia Lawson, "U.S. Africa Policy Since the Cold War", Strategic Insights, Volume VI, Issue 1

(January 2007),

We also know that:

“Few figures in American politics maintain a world view that is so consistently apocalyptic as does Cheney. Fewer still have allowed petty fears and profound ignorance to so dramatically warp their actions and public pronouncements.

Cheney's Cold War obsessions have frequently placed him on the wrong side of history, causing him to misread the geopolitical realities of regions around the world -- and of the key players within them. This is the man who was so certain that the African National Congress was a dangerous group that he regularly voted, as a member of Congress in the 1980s, against House resolutions calling for the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners in South Africa. While leading conservative Republicans such as Jack Kemp were hailing Mandela as an iconic fighter for freedom and racial justice, Cheney continued to decry the ANC as "a terrorist organization" and to dismiss its leaders as threatening radicals.
During the same period that Cheney was championing the imprisonment of Mandela, the Republican representative from Wyoming was one of the most prominent Congressional advocates for the Reagan administration's illegal war making in Central America. When the administration's crimes were exposed as the Iran-Contra scandal, former White House counsel John Dean notes, "Cheney became President Reagan's principle defender in Congress." Cheney argued that those who sought to hold the Reagan administration accountable for illegal acts in Latin America were "prepared to undermine the presidency" and the ability of future presidents to defend the United States. “

Ochere-Darko himself boasts on facebook, how close the Danquah Institute is with the most conservative of American “think-tanks”. It is the only think-tank in Africa I know, that ever accepted the establishment of US Africa Command on African soil, together with naval and air-force bases. We also know that in the case of war, it would be US Africom which would be running the show. We also know that since their complete and total rejection by African countries, they seem to have taken a low profile, preferring to use their local puppets to do their biddig on their behalf. Here is an abstract written by Ochere-Darko on the subject of establishing US military bases in Ghana, including the Headquarters of the US Africa Command or USAfricom:

"This article argues that in the excitement surrounding President Obama’s July visit to Ghana, what has been missing is an analysis of what is in it for the United States, an understanding of which is crucial for Ghana if it is to capitalise on the immense opportunity provided by this trip. Highlighting the significance of the deepwater oil find in 2007, the article sets out why Ghana is now the subject of strategic U.S. energy and military interests which, as far as the Obama administration is concerned, has raised the stakes considerably in Ghana–United States relations. As the potential gem in the crown of what Washington terms Africa's ‘New Gulf’, the article highlights how Ghana’s pending oil-rich status will shift the terms of negotiation during the trip. Furthermore, America’s preference for Ghana as the physical location for the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) headquarters, and its concern not to cede strategic ground to China in this region, mean that in 2009 Ghana has an unprecedented hand of cards to play in this game of international diplomacy. Our task as a nation – and the Government’s task as our representatives - is to make the strategic decisions to ensure that we aren’t simply the honoured recipients of President Obama’s first visit to Africa, but that we come away with more concrete deliverables to help us meet our own strategic goals."
The call for war is at the same time an acceptance of the essential traps behind the US Africa Command, which Africa has so roundly refused. It is against a background such as this one, that the artistic beauty of the propaganda by the Danquah Institute which is still instigating war for oil in the name of a “Chocolate Revolution” emerges. This is what some of the “other ranks” in the Ghanaian army may aptly refer to as “camouflage and total concealiament.” I guessed automatically, the first time I heard this, that “concealiament” was perhaps a military way of saying “concealment”.

Secret Report Ordered by Obama Identified Potential Uprisings

Ochere-Darko begins his article with the following:

“U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, gave a prophetic advice to Middle East leaders gathered in Qatar for the Forum of the Future on January 12 that their regimes should adapt or die. Reform or deform. A few days later, Ben Ali fell and, and scents from the Jasmine Revolution filling the air of Egypt, with Hosni Mubarak, misreading the mood and sacking his government and promising to step down at a future date when the demand of the masses are simply: ‘go and go now!’.”

Speaking at the "Forum for the Future: Partnership Dialogue" panel session today in Doha, Qatar, Secretary Clinton said:

"This is the last stop on a trip that has brought me from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Yemen, Oman, and now to Doha. On this short, but intense journey, I saw many signs of the potential for a new and innovative Middle East: a solar-powered city rising from the sands of the UAE; civil society leaders in Oman partnering with their government to improve education and create economic opportunities; a young Yemeni woman and a young Yemeni man, both of whom studied abroad and then returned to work for progress in Yemen. And of course, here in Qatar, the home of the 2022 World Cup, we see many examples of a commitment to innovation. Last year I visited Education City, which is connecting Qatar's young people to the global economy.

"...We all know this region faces serious challenges, even beyond the conflicts that dominate the headlines of the day. And we have a lot of work to do. This forum was designed to be not just an annual meeting where we talk with and at each other, but a launching pad for some of the institutional changes that will deal with the challenges that we all know are present. “

Perhaps Ochere-Darko, in his zeal to extricate himself and his owners from the potential blow-back from the 30 years of imperialist support genuinely confused science with prophecy. The impression he is giving that all of a sudden, the Americans realized that they have been dealing with dictators does not wash with the facts. A news story of the same title, published as recently as February 16, 2011 throws some light on this enigma. MarK Landler, writing in the New York Times, begins this way:

“WASHINGTON — President Obama ordered his advisers last August to produce a secret report on unrest in the Arab world, which concluded that without sweeping political changes, countries from Bahrain to Yemen were ripe for popular revolt, administration officials said Wednesday.

Mr. Obama’s order, known as a Presidential Study Directive, identified likely flashpoints, most notably Egypt, and solicited proposals for how the administration could push for political change in countries with autocratic rulers who are also valuable allies of the United States, these officials said.

The 18-page classified report, they said, grapples with a problem that has bedeviled the White House’s approach toward Egypt and other countries in recent days: how to balance American strategic interests and the desire to avert broader instability against the democratic demands of the protesters.”

Somewhere down the line we also read:

“By issuing a directive, Mr. Obama was also pulling the topic of political change out of regular meetings on diplomatic, commercial or military relations with Arab states. In those meetings, one official said, the strategic interests loom so large that it is almost impossible to discuss reform efforts. The study has helped shape other messages, like a speech Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave in Qatar in January, in which she criticized Arab leaders for resisting change.”

Thus, it is clear that Ochere-Darko is simply doing his job by putting a spin on it to look as if the Americans were really in the front-seat in the ongoing struggle in the Middle East and North Africa. Nothing could be further than the truth.

In a recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Professor Emeritus, Noam Chomsky debunked such propaganda is his comments on one of the White House declarations calling for an orderly transition in Egypt:

“Well, Obama very carefully didn’t say anything. Mubarak would agree that there should be an orderly transition, but to what? A new cabinet, some minor rearrangement of the constitutional order—it’s empty. So he’s doing what U.S. leaders regularly do. As I said, there is a playbook: whenever a favored dictator is in trouble, try to sustain him, hold on; if at some point it becomes impossible, switch sides.

The U.S. has an overwhelmingly powerful role there. Egypt is the second-largest recipient over a long period of U.S. military and economic aid. Israel is first. Obama himself has been highly supportive of Mubarak. It’s worth remembering that on his way to that famous speech in Cairo, which was supposed to be a conciliatory speech towards the Arab world, he was asked by the press—I think it was the BBC—whether he was going to say anything about what they called Mubarak’s authoritarian government. And Obama said, no, he wouldn’t. He said, "I don’t like to use labels for folks. Mubarak is a good man. He has done good things. He has maintained stability. We will continue to support him. He is a friend." And so on. This is one of the most brutal dictators of the region, and how anyone could have taken Obama’s comments about human rights seriously after that is a bit of a mystery. But the support has been very powerful in diplomatic dimensions. Military—the planes flying over Tahrir Square are, of course, U.S. planes. The U.S. is the—has been the strongest, most solid, most important supporter of the regime. It’s not like Tunisia, where the main supporter was France. They’re the primary guilty party there. But in Egypt, it’s clearly the United States, and of course Israel. Israel is—of all the countries in the region, Israel, and I suppose Saudi Arabia, have been the most outspoken and supportive of the Mubarak regime. In fact, Israeli leaders were angry, at least expressed anger, that Obama hadn’t taken a stronger stand in support of their friend Mubarak."

The claim that the US played any role worth writing home about is therefore extremely ridiculous. Indeed, it is as ridiculous as the claim by another member of the Governing Board of the Danquah Institute, Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. who argues that far from thanking Kwame Nkrumah for our independence, we need to thank President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill for signing the Atlantic Charter which called for the independence of colonized peoples!

Several of the NPP spin doctors who understand the import of this great sack of Arab dictators who have been in bed with the Americans, are trying to de-link the NPP as much as possible from the fall-out. They even admonish us to study Black History in order to understand what is going on. I think a recent comment I made on this issue shall be sufficient to “make my circle just”:

“We hear from our MOVE friends in the United States that the reason why February was chosen as the Black History Month in the United States is because it is the shortest month in the year! Perhaps this explains why people like you have so much undigested chunks of our history in your alimentary canals The people in the streets who are chasing away these bloody dictators and stooges of imperialism, know fully well what they are doing! If anything at all, what is happening is a threat to all those African leaders whose list of opinions are e-mailed to them from London, Paris and Washington!

We are getting rid of leaders who have systematically sided with the imperialists against the people, such as Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo and Alassane Ouattara who are known to ask "How high?" whenever their imperialist owners ask them to jump! Forget about your ridiculous spin and silly attempts to throw dust into our eyes! We see clearly what is going on! Thank you very much for the feedback that you are desperately trying to control the impending and inevitable damage coming your way by the current Peoples' Power Demonstrations!”

A War For Oil Or A Chocolate Revolution?

Estimated undiscovered and recoverable oil and natural gas off the coast of Ivory Coast, extending through Ghana, Togo, Benin, and the western edge of Nigeria.: 4,071 MMBO, million barrels of oil, 34,451 BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas, and 1,145 MMBNGL, million barrels of natural gas liquids, for the Coastal Plain and Offshore AU in the Gulf of Guinea Province, outlined in red. This does not include current existing discoveries, or fields already in production. Note that it extends along the entire coast of Ivory Coast.

Ochere-Darko writes:

“How does this apply to Laurent Gbagbo and the Ivorian crisis? If a solution is not found quickly enough for Cote d'Ivoire the rebels would strike and the consequences could be worse than the application of a surgical legitimate force by international forces.”

A friend of mine, commenting on Ochere-Darko's call for a “Chocolate Revolution” in La Cote d'Ivoire, was very laconic:

'Ochere-Darko lives in a fantasy land: "application of a surgical legitimate force by international forces"! Not legitimate, and there is no such thing as a surgical use of force. That is just a myth used by people trying to sell war.' I think he meant Ochere-Darko is being ridiculous if he thinks anyone is going to take him seriously, because this same friend once commented:

'The problem for Africa is the same as it was in the first waves of colonialism. Africa has too much that other people want. The western industrial world was built on wealth taken from Africa. Henry Stanley probably offered the best short explanation of the origins of the Anglo-Ashanti war, and this remains metaphorically true today. “King Coffee”, (Asantahene Kofi Kakari) he said, “is too rich a neighbour to be left alone with his riches.”

And that remains the problem for Africa, it is too rich in resources, and it has been carefully encouraged to remain politically poor and divided, the Cold War, the IMF, World Bank, structural adjustments, foreign aid, diplomatic advice, military assistance, etc., so that outsiders can continue to plunder the wealth. What I don't like about Mr. Ochere Darko is that he appears to recognize this, but seems perfectly willing to sell out his own people.'

And this is exactly Ochere-Darko and the Akufo-Addo's Danquah Institute is about. Here is how Ochere-Darko argued for the establishment of US military bases in Africa:

"Top on the list is the United States’ military and energy security agenda. Before the 9/11 bombing in 2001, conventional thinking in Washington perceived no vital strategic interests for the U.S. in sub-Saharan Africa. But this has changed. Today we can see a significant shift away from America’s traditional geopolitical calculations regarding oil production and supply. The U.S.’s National Intelligence Council (NIC) estimates that by 2015, 25 percent of American oil imports will come from West Africa, compared to 16% today – an estimate even considered as too conservative in some quarters. Already West Africa supplies as much oil to the U.S. as Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, our oil is light and sweet, making it easier and cheaper to refine than Persian oil. Plus its offshore location reduces transportation costs and minimises risk of political violence and terrorist attacks."

He therefore recommends:

"The way forward is a pro-active policy to build a new Gulf of energy security and prosperity in a part of the world that is relatively receptive to American presence. With significant discoveries being made in the Gulf of Guinea oil basin, off the coast of Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States will be importing in the year 2020 over 770 million barrels of African oil a year. And Ghana with its stability, notable responsiveness to America, deepening multiparty democracy and promising investment climate is seen as the perfect epicentre for the growth and fulfilment of this interest. In the eyes of America, geography, geology and ideology all favour Ghana as the gem in the crown of this new policy."

Mr Ochere Darko argues that:

"Furthermore, the U.S. is, understandably, bent on establishing a regional command for Africa, similar to U.S. Forces Korea, with a homeport situated on the African continent to protect their interests. West Africa is its natural home, given the need to protect energy interests in the Gulf of Guinea. Liberia has offered but simply cannot match the kind of convenience available in Ghana. It can be a win-win situation.”

One trick Ochere-Darko used which I have never forgiven was to make it look as though allowing our lands to be occupied by a foreign military power is a from of liberation! Here is what he wrote:

“Obama’s chief policy adviser assured Africans two months before the 2008 presidential race, “Barack Obama understands Africa, and understands its importance to the United States. Today, in this new century, he understands that to strengthen our common security, we must invest in our common humanity and, in this way, restore American leadership in the world.” Now is the chance for him to seek and effect the real change that will finally show the world that Africans are capable of more than managing their own affairs – but, crucially, Ghana must take up the opportunity provided by the state visit and the U.S.’s burgeoning strategic interest in us, to be the nation that demonstrates this. - Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko, " (Obama’s Visit – What’s In It For Us And U.S.?", Feature Article of Monday, 25 May 2009. "The author of the article is the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, a think tank based in Accra.”)

“Now is the chance for him to seek and effect the real change that will finally show the world that Africans are capable of more than managing their own affairs"? Does that sound familiar? It is obviously a sacrilegious reference to the Independence Eve declaration by the great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah:

“And as I pointed out, I made it quite clear that from now on, today, we must change our attitudes, our minds! We must realize that from now on, we are no more a colonial people but a free and independent people! But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work!

That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs! We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation! Our own African identity!”

I do remember very vividly a fellow Board Member of the Danquah Institutes's take on this speech:

“At best, it is a pleonastic declaration that Ghanaians would rather do without; for, ever since those of us who are about Mr. Mahama's age can recall, including the vice-president himself, March 6 has always been an invariably monotonous celebration of Kwame Nkrumah, almost as if the Nzema-Nkroful native was the only Ghanaian citizen who significantly contributed to both our beloved country's attainment of sovereignty from Britain and the massive decolonization of the African continent which latter landmark, by the way, had far more to do with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's “Atlantic Charter” than any single or even group of African leaders.” (See: March 6 has always been a one-man show, anyway, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Feature Article, Monday, 15 February 2010). I just wondered why Ochere-Darko did not allude to Roosevelt instead!

There is an African proverb which simply says, “a snake shall always give birth to something long!” This homage that we see the Vices of Danquah paying to the Virtues of Nkrumah, reminded me of Antonio's warning to Bassanio in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. You see, in the Holy Bible, it is written that the devil tempted Jesus by quoting from the Holy Scriptures! "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" ( Matthew 4:6). The King James Bible is what most of us are very familiar with. The response of Jesus must ring a bell:

"Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

Matthew 4:7

Which brings us to Shakespeare's warning about people like Ochere-Darko who is doing the dirty and stinking job for Akufo-Addo and his imperialist owners:

“ANTONIO: Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart...”!

The Danquah Institute Is A Neocolonialist Institute!

John Nichols rightly asks:

“But why would anyone else treat Cheney seriously? Why would the press repeat his over-the-top charges without noting that Dick Cheney has a track record of reading the world wrong, imagining threats where they do not exist and neglecting real dangers? Why would it go unmentioned that the man who is questioning John Kerry's judgement thought Nelson Mandela was a terrorist?” (See: Dick Cheney: Vice President of the Apocalypse, by John Nichols).

I have always loved this comment on Cheney:

“Well, the Cheneys of the world are just going to have to take stock of the new progressive tsunami in the making. There is no white, non-white divide. The divide is progressive, non-progressive. And Cheney and the likes of him are on the wrong side of the fence.”

The Danquah Institute is clearly an apparatus of the Cheneys of this world, and it is one of those intitutions whose propaganda must be thoroughly resisted. The reason has been eloquently given by Mr. Kwesi Pratt as: “That is why, it is important for us to resist all attempts to establish foreign military bases on African soil especially forces of the United States, must be prevented from establishing on African soil. Clearly because they are not on African soil to protect our interests, they are on African soil to facilitate the exploitation of our resources for the benefit of the tiny minority that controls the wealth of the American people and who are sitting on top of this world exploiting the Chicanos, exploiting the African Americans and exploiting all of the other independent and healthy forces in the United States on America. We have to resist all attempts to build U.S. military bases in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.

Nkrumah has taught us:

"IN order to halt foreign interference in the affairs of developing countries it is necessary to study, understand, expose and actively combat neo-colonialism in whatever guise it may appear. For the methods of neo-colonialists are subtle and varied. They operate not only in the economic field, but also in the political, religious, ideological and cultural spheres.

Faced with the militant peoples of the ex-colonial territories in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, imperialism simply switches tactics. Without a qualm it dispenses with its flags, and even with certain of its more hated expatriate officials. This means, so it claims, that it is ‘giving’ independence to its former subjects, to be followed by ‘aid’ for their development. Under cover of such phrases, however, it devises innumerable ways to accomplish objectives formerly achieved by naked colonialism. It is this sum total of these modern attempts to perpetuate colonialism while at the same time talking about ‘freedom’, which has come to be known as neo-colonialism."

Kwame Nkrumah, On The Mechanisms of Neocolonialism.

International Solidarity Committee
Pan-Africanist International
http://www.panafricanistinternational.org/

KWESI PRATT TO FONKAR: "The people of Ghana want some decency in our politics!

2011-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

KWESI PRATT TO FONKAR: "The people of Ghana want some decency in our politics!

Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., in an interview with Shamima Muslim on Citi Eye Witness News, Wednesday, 9 February 2011:

Kwesi Pratt, Jnr.: First and foremost, I am a citizen of this country. And every citizen of this country ought to have an interest in who becomes President of the country. This is not the preserve of the National Democratic Congress, or FONKAR, or any other political party. All citizens must have an active interest in who becomes President of this Republic! And I am a citizen of this country!

I have not said that Nana Agyemang Rawlings should not contest the elections. I have NEVER said so! Indeed, what I have said is that she is entitled to to contest the elections. She is a Ghanaian. She is qualified under the constitution and so on. But as a person, I feel frightened by the possibility of her becoming the President of Ghana. Now, that fear that I have expressed has been confirmed by this statement.

I mean, how can anybody issue such a vitriolic statement against another citizen simply for saying the he is not in support of one candidate? What is the crime I have committed? My crime is simply that I have stated publicly that I would be very frightened and uncomfortable about the candidature of Nana Konadu, and that I would not support her candidature, and that if I have my way, I will do whatever it takes to prevent her from becoming the President of this country. Is that a crime?

I have never insulted Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings. I have never made unfounded allegations against her. But listen to her supporters! Now, this is the kind of campaign they want to wage! Then my Goodness, they should not even start at all! Because they have lost ab initio! Because the people of Ghana are discerning!

The people of Ghana want some decency in our politics!

And the people of Ghana are not going to vote for a candidate whose supporters are out there raking mayhem on the people! And warning people not to talk about her! How can anybody make a statement to the effect that any Ghanaian journalist should not talk about any presidential candidate? Where is the democratic credential?

Shamima Muslim: They haven't quite made that, they think you, Mr. Pratt, do not have the moral authority, especially...

Kwesi Pratt, Jnr: No! And they made the statement that I should shut up about their preferred candidate, and that if I ever made any adverse comments against her, regardless of the fact that the statements I make would be founded on truth or not, they would draw blood!

Shamima Muslim: Because they think that they also have err, a filler on you?

Kwesi Pratt, Jnr.: No problem! You see, what is the problem? If there is any citizen operating in the public arena, who is as active as I am, and so on, and there is filth on that citizen, why would anybody hide that citizen? Why would anybody wait for that citizen to take a position against him, or his preferred candidate before he makes that information available?

(Transcription by the Office of the Odikro).

Akufo-Addo Is Rather Ghana's Hosni Mubarak!

2011-02-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah,

- a rejoinder to '“Osagyefo Dr.” Hosni Mubarak', Feature Article | by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

"Anyway, throughout his adult career as a journalist with an axe to grind with the perceived opponents and detractors of his father and his neo-Fascist CPP government, Mr. Nkrumah has preponderantly highlighted the pan-Africanist credentials of “Osagyefo-Dr.” Kwame Nkrumah. So, logically, one begins to wonder why the younger Mr. Nkrumah has, this time around, conveniently chosen not to equally highlight the positive aspects of the Mubarak government which, fundamentally, is not very different from that of the CPP."

- Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., '“Osagyefo Dr.” Hosni Mubarak', Feature Article | 6 hours ago.

It is very strange, even by the decadent Okoampa standards, that of all the monumental, unprecedented, and historic events currently unfolding in North Africa and the Middle East, his first shot at it is to disturb our sense of what is proper, by once more launching into yet another diatribe against Kwame Nkrumah and his family.

There is however a very simple explanation to this rather bizarre attack on Gamal. The puppets of US imperialism in Africa are having sleepless nights in the wake of what is happening in Egypt today. What better way of damage control than to deflect the puppet status that Akufo-Addo shares with Mubarak and replace that with the great Osagyefo himself? I am sure I am not the only person who is seeing through this. That is why we have so many people in Tahrir Square today!

In the first place, what is wrong with what Gamal said?

Okoampa opens his latest attack on Nkrumah and Gamal thus:

"I was quite amused to read about the recent interview that Mr. Gamal Nkrumah granted Mr. Paul Adom-Otchere of Ghana's Metro-TV (See “Gamal Nkrumah: Mubarak Must Go…But Power Should Not Be Given to ElBaradei” (Peacefmonline.com 2/2/11). What particularly amused me was the following quote from the half-Egyptian son of Ghana's flamboyant first president and self-knighted “Life-President”: “The West should…accept [the fact] that the people of North Africa and the Middle-East desire more democracy and desire to elect leaders of [their own] choice [choosing?] and not leaders that suit Israel or leaders that serve Israel's interest.”'

Gamal was expressing his personal opinion on what was going on in a country he knows well and loves as much as he loves Ghana. Indeed, the news story Okoampa is referring to, Gamal Nkrumah backs Mubarak's exit but not ElBaradei, begins this way:

"Gamal Nkrumah, son of Ghana's first president Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has backed calls for Egypt President Hosni Mubarak to resign but insists that the reigns of Egypt should be handed over to a more youthful person and not ElBaradei."

Strangely enough Okoampa did not give any explanations which made what Gamal is saying wrong! He rather resorts to a puerile character assassination in order to counter the political opinions of Gamal. J. B. Danquah used the same technique to a dramatic effect in the course of the Akyea Mensah Murder Trial. I know Okoampa is aware of the tactic because he has written extensively about it.

And before anyone is left with the impression that the criticism of ElBaradei, the man the US is probably hoping to take over from Mubarak, is only a forlorn thought by Gamal Gorkeh Nkrumah. it is because they have not been following what is going on very closely! He was under tremendous pressure before he decided to leave Vienna for Cairo. Those who watch Aljazeera are aware of the sentiments that are coming from the people in Tahrir Square even before he addressed them a few days ago. Democracy Now!'s senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous is in Egypt. According to Amy Goodman, his "round-the-clock tweets are being read around the world. Last night, CNN International highlighted one of them.

CNN INTERNATIONAL: Let’s go to a trends map here that we’re looking at to see the trending topics out of Cairo on Twitter. Now, still at the top here is Mubarak. But what’s interesting to note is how ElBaradei has come up in a popularity so much in the last few hours. That’s referring to Mohamed ElBaradei. Now, let’s see what some Twitter users there are saying about him.

"Baradei seen as non-corrupt, is respected. But he lived away too long, didn’t join earlier protests & this revolt was done w/o his help."

AMY GOODMAN: That was CNN International last night reading one of Sharif’s tweets. Sharif grew up in Mubarak’s Egypt. He was only three years old when the current regime came to power. He comes from a prominent Egyptian family with a long history in the arts, literature, film and politics."
I am personally very comfortable with these views! These are two young Egyptians that I personally admire a lot. I have Gamal on my mailing list, and I do follow Sharif on twitter. And they are very good examples of young and extremely brilliant and principled Egyptians untainted by imperialist flirtations that can rise to the occasion!
"If You Cannot Deal With The Testimony, Destroy The Witness":
Instead of dealing with the message Gamal is presenting, Okoampa resorts to invectives, name-calling, and character assassination, just as his mentor, Dr. J. B. Danquah, had done before him. It is a tactic Okoampa is very familiar with. He has even written about it concerning how Danquah used it to destroy the witnesses to the case in which Nana Akyea Mensah was believed to have been ritually murdered by eight of his own relatives. This is Okoampa's own account of the silly tactic:

"Consequently, it appears that the first major, modern Ghanaian playwright was forced by circumstances other than purely legal to proceed with his Herculean role as a Defense Maestro or Conductor, for Danquah does not appear to have personally mounted a spirited challenge against the prosecution. And, indeed, as Rathbone wanly recalls: Danquah, who watched the inquest proceedings which usefully rehearsed the prosecution evidence for the defence as they were also implicitly commital proceedings, wrote to the Okyenhene [- Nana Ofori-Atta II -] on 27 September 1944: The evidence against the accused is very strong particularly the evidence of Botwe, Fosu, Gyekye and Mireku. But I feel certain that very conclusive evidence is available both at Kibi and in Ashanti against all these witnesses (Murder And Politics 98; Ellipses appear in the original)." See: "The Enduring Legacy Of Dr. J. B. Danquah PART 9", Feature Article of Sunday, 8 May 2005, by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame.

If you cannot deal with the message, destroy the messenger. It did not work, even though Danquah tried very hard to destroy the reputation of many decent Ghanaians in order to save his brothers from the gallows! And it is not going to work today, simply because it is Okoampa and not J. B. Danquah doing a mischievous character assassination! I wish someone would be kind enough to help this tormented soul wake up from his self-inflicted nightmare, and smell the coffee! He must abandon the character assassination tactic.

Just as it did not save Asare Apietu, Kwame Kagya, Kwaku Amoako Atta, Kwadwo Amoako, Kwasi Pipim, Opoku Ahwenee, A. E. B. Danquah and Owusu Akyem-Tenteng, from being sentneced to death by hanging on the neck until pronounced dead, it will not help in distancing an imperialist puppet like Akufo-Addo from Mubarak.

I think it is about time that I take my grandson through some history lessons.

To begin with, I shall want to point out that there are significant differences that even a mentally retarded individual could see between Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Africa and Mr. Hosni Mubarak of Sharm el-Sheikh! What we see in Nkrumah, his life, political career, his goals for the rapid development of Africa, as well as the very manner of his overthrow are all very much different from the jaundiced picture my grandson Kwame Okoampa wants us to believe!

1966 Coup:
My grandson points out that the overthrow of Nkrumah was executed by "the gallant men of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service, led by [Messsrs.] Kotoka, Harlley and Afrifa." As to who engineered it, he was very economical with the facts. 'While charges of U.S. involvement are not new, support for them was lacking until 1978, when anecdotal evidence was provided from an unlikely source,' writes Paul Lee, '—a former CIA case officer, John Stockwell, who reported first-hand testimony in his memoir, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story.
"The inside story came to me," Stockwell wrote, "from an egotistical friend, who had been chief of the [CIA] station in Accra [Ghana] at the time." (Stockwell was stationed one country away in the Ivory Coast.)
Subsequent investigations by The New York Times and Covert Action Information Bulletin identified the station chief as Howard T. Banes, who operated undercover as a political officer in the U.S. Embassy"
There is definitely a big difference between a CIA-inspired coup d'etat and what we are seeing in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, and other major cities of Egypt today! This is not a coup d'etat resulting from a conspiracy between our security forces and foreign imperialist interests! Indeed, the Americans were very swift to recognize the National Liberation Council which replaced the CPP after the coup, and amazingly clueless as to how to respond to the on-going Egyptian Revolution. So, I am constrained to diagnose my grandson's problem, within a severely limited range of possibilities, as either as a result of political mischief, misanthropy, ignorance, naivety, and or he is probably writing in his capacity as a genuine fool.

What do we see as the US response to the will of the Egyptian people? We know from declassified documents such as the one compiled by Paul Lee. He talks about preparations that lasted for years! Here we are nine months before the coup:
'As it turned out, the coup did not occur for another nine months. After it did, Komer, now acting special assistant for national security affairs, wrote a congratulatory assessment to the President on March 12, 1966 (Document 260). His assessment of Nkrumah and his successors was telling.
"The coup in Ghana," he crowed, "is another example of a fortuitous windfall. Nkrumah was doing more to undermine our interests than any other black African. In reaction to his strongly pro-Communist leanings, the new military regime is almost pathetically pro-Western."
In this, Komer and Nkrumah were in agreement. "Where the more subtle methods of economic pressure and political subversion have failed to achieve the desired result," Nkrumah wrote from exile in Guinea three years later, "there has been resort to violence in order to promote a change of regime and prepare the way for the establishment of a puppet government."' See: Documents Expose U.S. Role in Nkrumah Overthrow, By Paul Lee, Special to SeeingBlack.com.
"Mubarak Is Not A Dictator"!
It is clear Mubarak is not only their man, but their main man in the Arab world. His dictatorship has been plodded on by a massive life-support of almost two-billion dollar aid each year, for the past thirty or so years he has been in power. Democracy Now! has an interesting interview with Chomsky. When asked about President Obama’s remarks the other night, February 02, 2011, on Mubarak, Chomsky said: "Obama very carefully didn’t say anything... He’s doing what U.S. leaders regularly do. As I said, there is a playbook: whenever a favored dictator is in trouble, try to sustain him, hold on; if at some point it becomes impossible, switch sides."
"NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, Obama very carefully didn’t say anything. Mubarak would agree that there should be an orderly transition, but to what? A new cabinet, some minor rearrangement of the constitutional order—it’s empty. So he’s doing what U.S. leaders regularly do. As I said, there is a playbook: whenever a favored dictator is in trouble, try to sustain him, hold on; if at some point it becomes impossible, switch sides.
The U.S. has an overwhelmingly powerful role there. Egypt is the second-largest recipient over a long period of U.S. military and economic aid. Israel is first. Obama himself has been highly supportive of Mubarak. It’s worth remembering that on his way to that famous speech in Cairo, which was supposed to be a conciliatory speech towards the Arab world, he was asked by the press—I think it was the BBC—whether he was going to say anything about what they called Mubarak’s authoritarian government. And Obama said, no, he wouldn’t. He said, "I don’t like to use labels for folks. Mubarak is a good man. He has done good things. He has maintained stability. We will continue to support him. He is a friend." And so on. This is one of the most brutal dictators of the region, and how anyone could have taken Obama’s comments about human rights seriously after that is a bit of a mystery. But the support has been very powerful in diplomatic dimensions. Military—the planes flying over Tahrir Square are, of course, U.S. planes. The U.S. is the—has been the strongest, most solid, most important supporter of the regime. It’s not like Tunisia, where the main supporter was France. They’re the primary guilty party there. But in Egypt, it’s clearly the United States, and of course Israel. Israel is—of all the countries in the region, Israel, and I suppose Saudi Arabia, have been the most outspoken and supportive of the Mubarak regime. In fact, Israeli leaders were angry, at least expressed anger, that Obama hadn’t taken a stronger stand in support of their friend Mubarak."
The current US Vice President, Mr. Joe Biden, even went as far as to say, in the face of the massive opposition to Mubarak's rule, that "Mubarak is not a dictator"! Here are his own words: "Look, Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things that he’s been very responsible on relative to geopolitical interests in the region, Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with Israel. And I think that it would be—I would not refer to him as a dictator."

I watch Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! every working day, and so naturally, I did not miss the brilliant comments of Professor Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan. Professor Cole writes regularly about Middle East issues on his blog, "Informed Comment," which is found on-line at JuanCole.com. His most recent book is Engaging the Muslim World. So, I believe he has one or two things to say the people like my grandson need to know:
"SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: That was Vice President Joe Biden. Juan Cole, your response?
JUAN COLE: Well, Vice President Biden seems to be wanting to define a dictator not with regard to domestic policy, but with regard to the responsible role the regime plays in the international world system, you know, from Washington’s point of view. But certainly, from the point of view of human rights activists in Egypt, there are strong dictatorial tendencies in the Egyptian government. It’s seen a lot of phony elections. It’s used repressive techniques..."

Indeed, the tergiversative proclivities being displayed by the Americans, the White House and the State Department is a clear indication yet, that far from being the instigators, the US has not even managed to have a clue, as to how to even respond to the popular demands of the Egyptian people. That in itself is no surprise at all. What is surprising is any comparison with Kwame Nkrumah!

Within a space of a week, the US policy on the Egyptian crisis has been nothing but pussyfooting. First, the only thing they could find to say was that there should be no violence on both sides. Then they quickly replaced that with "Time for Mubarak to initiate reforms". Then came the talk of the need for Mubarak to consider an orderly transition. If you add "Mubarak is not a dictator", we have four in a week!

One-Party State:
Okoampa writes as though the Danquah-Dombo-Busia puppets of imperialism and neo-colonialism played a passive role towards the evolution of one-party democratic centralism in Ghana. I once had the occasion to explain to him, that a political party is very different from a political army. Political Parties win votes. Political armies win wars. Ghana's constitution has never had a place for political armies. The United Party which was the mother of the Afrifa-Busia-Kufour tradition, also known as the "Mate Meho" meaning "I have broken away [from Ghana]". That was how they called themselves!

With the "Mate Meho" colonialist zombies throwing bombs day and night, they abondoned their role as a political party and became a political army. They transformed themselves into a political army after failing to win votes even when their colonialist owners had imprisoned Nkrumah and given them a free range to campaign with cash and logistics.

To win a war that they themselves had declared, Nkrumah had no choice other than chasing the elephant into the bush! Thus putting all the blame of Ghana becoming a one-party state is a completely insane distortion of our history. In fact, in other West African states, just like their support for Mubarak, the US support for the one-party states was very strong, especially the over one hundred years old one party state of William Tubman of Liberia.

Their current darling of West Africa, Alassane Ouattara was the last Prime Minister in the 33-year one-party rule of the Ivory Coast which ended with his death in 1990! Mrs. Sirleaf Johnson was also a Minister in the 100-year old one-party state of Liberia by the True Whig Party! These, of course, in Joe Biden's words, were not dictators simply because they were US allies! This is a history of an injustice that Liberians have paid dearly for and continue to pay to this day.

It takes two political party to make the two party state Ghana was on the eve of the First Republic. Just as if you are lucky enough to have a life-partner, you cannot be called "a single man", even though your partner might not necessarily be a man, you cannot call a state a two party state when one political party has vacated its post and turned itself into a political army! In other words, if your partner leaves you, you can then call yourself, a "one-party state", sorry, a single man!

This is what happened to President Nkrumah when the United Party abandoned all civilities and embarked upon a campaign of deadly hostilities, including bomb throwing, against a democratically and popularly elected President of the Republic of Ghana. The verandah boy who warned the chiefs they would "run away and leave their sandals behind" was not called "Osagyefo" for nothing. If you ask for it, he would give it to you roundly and squarely. He urgently had a nation to build. He did not have the time nor the choice. Hence the One-Party state!

The reason he would not tolerate such thugs was clear:

“We in Africa who are pressing now for unity are deeply conscious of the validity of our purpose. We need the strength of our combined numbers and resources to protect ourselves from the very positive dangers of returning to colonialism in disguised forms. We need it to combat the entrenched forces dividing our continent and still holding back millions of our brothers. We need it to secure total African liberation. We need it to carry forward our construction of a socio-economic system that will support the great mass of our steadily rising population at levels of life which will compare with those in the most advanced countries” - Kwame Nkrumah, "Africa Must Unite!", 1960.
The Osagyefo had the same dreams we see in the eyes of the demonstrators! And we hear them say just that! Mubarak and Akufo-Addo represent some of the "entrenched forces...
still holding back millions of our brothers"! Did you see the alacrity with which he was supporting the US-France led war effort on La Cote d'Iviore recently?
I rest my case!
Please let's stay in touch and on top of the NPP! Give me a follow on twitter! I shall give you a follow! Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro

"To all men of goodwill, organize, organize, organize! The struggle is
far from over! We need Tahrir Squares in all our cities to make them world banks for the Asomdweehehe! We prefer self-government in danger, to servitude in tranquillity!
Forward ever, backward never"!
--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Facebook: /www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro

ECOWAS Communique Was Calibrated To Lead Us To A Senseless War!

2011-02-02T18:01:00.001-08:00

...and those responsible for this must not be allowed to get away with it!

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

On the Thursday, 13 Jan 2011, I read to my horror, the news that a senior officer in the US Africa Command was already moving from country-to-country in West Africa "to officially find out whether or not [they] would commit troops to Cote d’Ivoire, should the need arise", and perhaps, to find out how many troops they would be contributing in order to facilitate the preparations for the war on La Côte d'Ivoire. I made that deduction when I read in the Daily Graphic, that a "Major-General Hagg was in the country to officially find out whether or not Ghana would commit troops to Cote d’Ivoire, should the need arise." In other words, if Gbagbo refuses to go. (See: "GAF Won't Commit Troops To Cote d'Ivoire", by Michael Donkor - Daily Graphic, Thu, 13 Jan 2011. I have been led to suppose that the Daily Graphic was actually referring to Major General David R. Hogg, "the Commanding General of United States Army Africa (USARAF).^[1] In his current assignment, Major General Hogg is the senior U.S. Army officer in Italy and commands the Army Component to United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM)". Source: from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then on 24 January 2011, I also read that the Nigerian "Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, has urged the United Nations to sanction the use of force to remove embattled President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire over his refusal to quit power after his political rival Allasane Ouattara was accepted by the international community as the country's president." (See: Côte d'Ivoire: Ajumogobia Seeks UN Resolution Against Gbagbo, by Paul Ohia, Thisdaylive.com, 24 January 2011. With Gbagbo showing no sign of respecting what he calls "an international conspiracy led by France and USA", the scene was set for a major confrontation, even before West Africans have had the time to apprise themselves of just what is going on!

In a BBC news story by Mark Doyle BBC News, Abidjan, "No rush to military intervention in Ivory Coast", he writes:

"West African nations, usually led by regional giant Nigeria, have mounted military interventions under the banner of "Ecomog" (Economic Community Monitoring Group) before. But they have always been in much smaller countries than Ivory Coast where the governments in place wanted the foreign soldiers to come.

In Sierra Leone and Liberia, for example, Ecomog troops arrived when the governments there were besieged by rebels - but, crucially, still in control of the main ports and airports so the outside forces could arrive and take up positions relatively easily.

In Ivory Coast, the man still in charge of the army, the main airports and the seaports, Laurent Gbagbo, is violently opposed to any intervention. And it seems most unlikely Ecomog would try to force its way in. The armies of the region don't have enough of the equipment or military intelligence necessary for such a "hot assault".

It is not that the skills of ordinary West African soldiers are in question. Many of the infantry (or ground troops) from Ghana, for example, or Senegal, are trained to world standards. But the kind of operation necessary to take control of a large country like Ivory Coast quickly would require sophisticated attack helicopters in big numbers, satellite tracking gear and highly mobile forces with state-of-the-art weapons systems."

Perhaps if we are looking for answers why it is not the French, but the Americans who are in charge, and why the French have taken a back-stage in the build-up to war, Mark Doyle also gave a very interesting answer:

"Most African countries also lack the special forces and on-the-ground military intelligence that would allow them to track and target the physical and personal centres of Mr Gbagbo's power base. In addition, Ecomog has only been successful in most of its operations when it has been supported by outside forces.The UN and Britain helped Ecomog in Sierra Leone, for example, and the United States assisted with training and equipment in Liberia.

The obvious candidate to help in Ivory Coast would be France, which has 900 highly trained soldiers based near Abidjan airport.The official role of these troops is to be the Rapid Reaction Force of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast.

However, if soldiers from the former colonial power France joined forces with anyone to take Ivory Coast by force it would be political dynamite.It would very likely cause an explosion of popular opposition in areas loyal to Mr Gbagbo and risk leading to the deaths of many thousands of people."

Reading between the lines, I suspected the first objective of the imperialist war-planners was to make the West Africans themselves own the initiative and not to show their hands first. It worked perfectly well, as Mr. Choi who helped in misleading ECOWAS would now turn around and urge the UN Security Council to listen to what ECOWAS is saying! As a West African, I do not feel very happy that I can say without any fear of contradiction that the Final Communique issued on the 24th of December, 2010 in Abuja after the Extraordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of state and Governments of the ECOWAS on La Côte d'Ivoire, was carefully calibrated and deviously crafted to lead the people of West Africa into an inevitable and completely senseless war against La Côte d'Ivoire, which would have negatively impacted on the entire region and greatly benefited France, the former colonial power and the newly formed US Africa Command also known as USAfriCom which was hoping to make itself "useful" and overcome the initial African resistance that greeted its attempts at penetration into the continent to secure our natural resources for the exclusive benefit of Western multinational corporations, particularly US Oil corporations.

This is so serious that there is an urgent need to name, shame and condemn those African merchants of death and mayhem behind the document, and those supporting it, and draw the appropriate lessons for the future. I intend to give a special focus on this. I might as well call that "The Satanic Verses of the ECOWAS" because they reflect the views of the former colonial ruler and its imperialist allies than those of Africa's independent observers at the elections. The greatest mischief in the document is the fact that it was designed to ensure an automatic deadlock in negotiations and make war the only viable and inevitable option.

Whilst ECOWAS does not provide any evidence to back their position, their communique itself acknowledges that they heavily depended upon Mr. Choi Young-jin, who briefed them. Interestingly enough, Mr. Choi claims he depended on his own monitors to arrive at his conclusions, even though ECOWAS countries also sent monitors who contradict the claims by Mr. Choi. Why could ECOWAS not depend upon their own monitors? The interesting thing about the ECOWAS Communique is its attempt to pay lip-service to peaceful negotiations and dialogue. At a time everyone seemed to be saying, "dialogue first, and possible military intervention later", what the ECOWAS Communique did was just the opposite.

Referring to the Christmas season when they met as a "Season of peace", whilst at the same time, firmly ruling out any form of meaningful negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement, they failed to offer the olive branch for peace to prevail beyond a lame call for the "peaceful exit" of President Gbagbo! The essential import of the ECOWAS communique was to set the time to tick inexorably towards war with La Côte d'Ivoire, a war effort deftly choreographed by France and the USA, using the representative of the Secretary-General of the UN to La Côte d'Ivoire, Mr. Choi Young-jin.

In "Kwesi Pratt to NPP: Do You Support War or You Don't", Feature Article, Thu, 27 Jan 2011, Mr Pratt, a key architect in the construction of the democratic dispensation in Ghana, is certainly not amused: "Right now, in front of me is a statement which was issued by the President of Angola, when he met the Diplomatic Community in Luanda. President of Angola, a key member of the African Union! Now listen to what he said:

"His Excellency, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, The President Of Angola, Says:

'We express however, our concern when military solutions are proposed to resolve crisis such as the one in Côte d'Ivoire. Ignoring the rules of international and domestic law and sometimes, the very evidence presented by the facts. The facts specifically tell us the following;

One: The president of the Electoral Commission released the results of the second round of the presidential election, when it was out of his competence to do so, since his time, for purposes defined by law, was expired and since the issue had been transferred to the Constitutional Council for due consideration and treatment.

Two: The United Nations representative in Côte d'Ivoire in a hastened move, certified and announced those results when the relevant UN resolution states that the certification should focus on election results validated by the Constitutional Council, which had not yet made a pronouncement.

Three: The declaration by the United Nations representative misled the whole international community.

The declaration by the United Nations representative misled the whole international community, since the Constitutional Council had not validated the provisional results released by the president of the Electoral Commission as a result of having accepted objections and complaints of serious irregularities and fraud which undermined these results.

Four: The Constitutional Council is in fact the only organ with the legal competence to validate and publish the final results of the elections.

Five: Under the law, The Constitutional Council should recommend the holding of new elections within 45 days, but it did not proceed in this manner and instead reported results that attributed the victory to another candidate.

Considering the above facts, it is difficult for Angola to accept that there is an elected president in La Côte d'Ivoire.

'We believe however, that there is a constitutional president, the current president of the republic, who happens to be Laurent Gbagbo, who must remain in power until the new election as established by the electoral law of that country. The greatest difficulty now is that the 45 days are not enough to create a favourable climate for elections, and the current crisis complicates the matter further.

We are therefore of the opinion that any military intervention in the particular case of Côte d'Ivoire would have an adverse effect, with serious consequences beyond its borders.

The Angolan Executive supports and encourages dialogue and negotiations to overcome the crisis in this brother country, and believes that by demonstrating political will, wisdom, and realism, it is possible to find a solution that focuses, first and foremost, on the legitimate interests of all the people of Côte d'Ivoire.

Through the competent institutions of the African Union, Africa must prove its maturity, experience, and ability to solve problems on our own continent, even the most complex and delicate, in lieu of waiting for inadequate solutions imposed from outside.'

"Now Let Us Come Back To The Facts.

"Now What Are The Essential Points That The Angolans Are Making? One, that Ouattara did not win the elections; that the election results were so fraught with violence and so on, that you cannot use that election result to declare a President of La Côte d'Ivoire. What the Angolans are telling all of us Africans, is that, look, we should be guided by law and constitutionality. And that you cannot have democracy outside the ambit of the constitution. What is democracy if you ignore what is provided for in the constitution? What is democracy if it is in violation of the law of the country and so on? This is the point that the Angolans are making.

I have taken the trouble to look at the election results. And the paper that I edit, has taken the trouble to publish the election results. The question I am posing to all these political parties in Ghana, and all of these African leaders, and ECOWAS leaders, is simply this: which one of them would accept election results such as the one which has been released in La Côte d'Ivoire?

You know, some of the facts I have repeated so many times over, I don't know why they are not sinking! You know, take the Vallée du Bandama region in La Côte d'Ivoire, the Electoral Commission comes up with votes, you understand, votes, for Ouattara, you add those votes, they come to one hundred and forty nine thousand votes, and yet the declaration of results gives Ouatarra two hundred and forty four thousand votes! Who would accept this? You go to some other constituencies, turn-out, eh? Is two hundred and fifty per cent of registered voters! Two hundred and fifty per cent of registered voters! Who would accept those results?

Indeed, I asked my colleague and friend, Comrade Kwesi Adu, to do an analysis of the election results, because he does these things. He was an election observer in Guinea and so on, so he is so good at it. And I asked him to do an analysis. In one constituency, Gbagbo won one hundred and eighty per cent of all the registered voters. In the same constituency Ouattara won one hundred and something per cent of registered voters. How do you accept these results? How can you say that these results represent the will of the Ivorian people? By what magic?

So, either people are deliberately lying, or they don't know the facts, or they are being insincere in the discussion of the Ivorian crisis. You understand? Now you put that aside.

What Does The Law Of La Côte d'Ivoire Say?

The law of La Côte d'Ivoire says it very clearly that the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire declares provisional results. That those provisional results ought to be validated by the Constitutional Council. That is what the law says. So, the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire, does not declare who a winner is. It only declares provisional results. It is only the Constitutional Council of La Côte d'Ivoire, which can declare a winner in an election.

Then you have some apologists of Ouattara, they come up and they say, look, the legal position is that that provision of La Côte d'Ivoire Constitution was suspended because an agreement was reached under UN auspices! My brother, this is a joke! Is anybody telling me that the UN, ECOWAS, AU, or any International organisation, can amend the constitution of a country, without reference to the people of that country? Does it make sense?

And yet, we are pushing this position that by virtue of an agreement which was reached under UN auspices, parts of the Ivorian constitution are no longer valid. Let us assume that even is true, eh? Let us assume that that position is true. Now, if you assume that that position is true, it would have meant that in the first round of elections, those provisions in the constitution of La Côte d'Ivoire Constitution, still remained suspended.

And yet in the first round of the elections, the Electoral Commission declared Provisional Results, they were validated by the Constitutional Council, before the UN endorsed them. Why didn't we apply the same formula which was applied in the first round in the second round of the election? Does it make sense? You understand what I am saying very clearly?

Now, there is also this problem. A lot of people assume that the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire, is the same as the Electoral Commission in Ghana Ghana. It is not true! The Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire, is made up of thirty two members. Those thirty two members, represent political parties, to the extent that the government of La Côte d'Ivoire has only five representatives on a thirty two-member Electoral Commission.

The Opposition has twenty seven members of the Electoral Commission. If you want to compare the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire with the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the equivalent of the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire is the IPAC [Inter-Party Advisory Committee] in Ghana! You understand, it is the IPAC in Ghana.

So when people say, that the "Independent Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire", what do they mean? When they say, that the "Independent Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire", what do they mean? When twenty seven members of that thirty-two member Commission is from the Opposition? And indeed, when the President of the Electoral Commission is from the Opposition and his deputy is also from the Opposition?

In any case, people should stop to consider the circumstances under which the election results were declared. The election result was not declared by the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire. It was declared by one member of the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire, in Hôtel du Golf, which is the Headquarters of the Opposition. He was accompanied to do that declaration by the Ambassador of France and the Ambassador of the United States of America.

Indeed, the declaration was not done before the Ivorian media. The declaration was done, exclusively before the French media. No Ivorian journalist was present when the declaration was made. And it was made in the Headquarters of the Opposition.

Now, all our friends from the NPP, NDC and so on, which one of them would have accepted election results, declared solely by Afari-Gyan? Even Afari-Gyan has the right, the Electoral Commission of Ghana has the right to declare final results! Now let us just imagine a situation in which Afari-Gyan, alone, without other members of his Commission, accompanied by the French Ambassador, the US Ambassador, goes to the NDC Headquarters to announce results, what would happen?

Now the President of the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire was interviewed on Radio France International, and he was asked this question: "How come that you went and declared the results in the Headquarters of the Opposition?" His first answer was that, look, the conditions in the Electoral Commission offices were not conducive to him announcing the election results there.

The questioner then said, "But did you know you were were announcing the results in the headquarters of the Opposition?" He says, "No, I don't know"! Then he said, "But everybody in La Côte d'Ivoire knows that that is the headquarters of the Opposition?" Then he says "I am not supposed to know what everybody knows"! Suhuyini, can you believe this? He says he is not supposed to know what everybody else knows in La Côte d'Ivoire! You understand? You put that aside.

Even if you accept that the Electoral Commission of La Côte d'Ivoire is an independent Commission, and you accept that the final constitutional authority for declaring results is the Constitutional Council, what you do have in La Côte d'Ivoire is a situation where the electoral Commission has declared one result, and the Constitutional Council has declared another result. What you do have is a political crisis! It is an issue of the legitimacy of two state institutions.

Do You Resolve That By Going To War?

Do you resolve this situation by declaring that Ouattara is the Head of State? Does it make sense? My goodness! I don't know what is happening to all of us! African leaders! West African leaders! UN, and so on! What is happening to us?

So, we have a political crisis resulting from the contestations over electoral results. Is La Côte d'Ivoire the only country in the world to have this situation? We just had elections in Belarus. You remember? The election was heavily disputed. The Opposition was on the streets. There was mayhem. The Head of State's reaction was to was to arrest two hundred members of the Opposition, including his opponents, and lock them up. They are still in jail. That is in the heart of Europe! Europe is quiet! Nobody is talking about military intervention! But when it comes to West Africa, they say our leaders should gather troops and go and kill themselves! We should send our soldiers to go and die! Why are they not sending their soldiers to go and die in Belarus?

Look at what has happened with the Egyptian elections! Who is talking about military intervention there? Who is talking about sanctions against Hussein Mubarak? They are not doing so because of vested interests in Egypt! Because of their support for the Zionist state of Israel, and the key role that Egypt is playing in that area! So they are acting clearly from a self-interest point of view! And we say, that our self-interest does not matter! So when the President says "Dzi wo fie asem", then there is a problem! But all of them, every one of them, France, the United States, Britain, all of them they are "dzing their fie asem"! All of them!

None of them is doing what they are doing because they love West Africans more than themselves! They are doing it because of their interests in the strategic resources of La Côte d'Ivoire! They are doing it because they don't want the example of Gbagbo to spread through the African continent. That is what they are doing! And that is why it is important for us to wake up to that reality and to begin to raise the fundamental questions of law and constitutionality. To begin to raise the moral question and so on."

Could our leaders have been more stupid than this?

The ECOWAS Communique issued by the Heads of state and Governments of the ECOWAS on the 24th of December, 2010 in Abuja, uncritically accepted hook, line, and sinker, the misleading conclusions of the UN Representative in La Côte d'Ivoire, who was there to brief them on the developments, and there is no indication that they paid any attention to what the African monitors had to say. The Communique did more to convey a wish-list of the Alassane Ouattara camp, rather than any serious undertaking to explore the route of a meaningful dialogue towards peace. Could our leaders have been more stupid than this?

With the exception of President Atta-Mills of Ghana, and President Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia who expressed caution and engagement, three heads of state, which included President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, in whose country the winner of an election has always been who cheated the most! Blaise Campoore of Burkina Faso, who came to power through a bloody coup d'etat in 1987, in which the then President of Burkina Faso, the late Thomas Sankara, was cut into two with a machine gun and buried in a mass grave, wanted to impose "democracy" on La Côte d'Ivoire!

Even before this awful communique was issued, the Socialist Forum of Ghana, in a statement issued and signed on behalf of the Convenor, by Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., had laid bare the complexities of the situation that buttressed the President's call for caution and engagement. I take the liberty to quote this very extensively and later ask the reader to compare the wisdom in this with the absolute non-wisdom found in the ECOWAS Communique:

"The Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) calls urgently on pan-African nationalists to challenge the dominant international narrative regarding the crisis in la Cote d'Ivoire (CI). Actions based on that narrative, driven as it is by deliberate misinformation, shallow analysis and chauvinism will push the country into prolonged conflict and its working people into even deeper misery. It will also ultimately undermine the credibility and efficacy of our regional institutions like ECOWAS and the AU. Progressives owe it to Africa and to the people of la Cote d'Ivoire to offer a factual, scientific, historical and constructive perspective on this crisis.Pan-African activists must challenge the false assertion that Alassane Ouattara won the November elections. This does not mean support for the opposing claims of Laurent Gbagbo.

"In Cote La d'Ivoire several factors allowed those identity divisions to take on a life of their own in the 21st century. These included the growing challenge to French neo-colonial hegemony in West Africa from the US and from certain regional interests. These also included the collapse of local elite coherence following the death of President Houphouet-Boigny. As neo-colonial power fragmented in the mid-2000s identity politics degenerated to militarisation and partition and a massive increase in the woes of the Ivoirian people. Obviously, the imposition by the international community of Alassane Ouattara on such a deeply divided society will not solve the La Cote d'Ivoire crisis. What it will do is however is advance the overall cause of neo-colonialism and set the scene for further conflict between France and the US and allied regional powers for control over La Cote d'Ivoire and regional resources in particular oil and gas.

The Socialist Forum of Ghana does not in any way seek to downplay the difficulties of making real progress in La Cote d'Ivoire. Nor do we pretend to have all the answers. We are however clear that the pseudo-answers being offered by the international community will lead only to disaster. What we seek is a fresh discourse amongst Pan-African activists regarding the best alternatives for La Cote d'Ivoire and the role of Africa in realising these. As part of that discourse the Socialist Forum of Ghana would like to put forward some ideas about an African platform for support to CI. We think Africa should commit diplomatic and other resources to demand:

a. respect for Ivoirian sovereignty and the exclusion of neo-colonial political and military interference and specifically the withdrawal of all French troops from Ivoirian soil;

b. phased disarmament of all irregular forces and unification of the entire country under an interim government preferably composed of national civil society leaders and statesmen willing to forgo participation in elections for at least 10 years;

c. a popular national political process that seeks to develop Ivoirian solutions including a democratic and inclusive national constitution, social reconciliation and stronger national institutions; and

d. a credible election system and fresh elections within a reasonable period. We have no illusions that this can be achieved overnight or without a major commitment of scarce financial resources.

We are clear however that the ultimate political, human and financial costs to Ivoirians and Africans of a complete breakdown in Ivoirian society or a return to conflict will be much higher than the costs of a protracted peace project."

What Exactly Did the ECOWAS leaders Say?

Now kindly compare the SFG position with the ECOWAS position:

"7. They [The Heads of State and Government] reiterated their position of 7 December 2010, especially on the status of Mr. Alassane Ouattara as the legitimate President of Côte d’Ivoire, which is non-negotiable. They demanded the immediate and peaceful handover of power by Mr. Laurent Gbagbo to Mr. Alassane Ouattara, in accordance with the expressed wishes of the Ivorian people.

8. The Heads of State and Government expressed their support for the travel ban, freeze on financial assets and all other forms of targeted sanctions imposed by regional institutions and the international community on the out-going President and his associates, and would support any future additional measures that may be taken in this direction.

9. The Heads of State and Government regret the fact that the message sent by the ECOWAS Chairman on behalf of the Authority on 17 December 2010 has not been heeded by Mr. Gbagbo. In this season of peace, the Summit decided to make an ultimate gesture to Mr. Gbagbo by urging him to make a peaceful exit. In this regard, the Authority decided to dispatch a special high-level delegation to Côte d’Ivoire.

10. In the event that Mr. Gbagbo fails to heed this immutable demand of ECOWAS, the Community would be left with no alternative but to take other measures, including the use of legitimate force, to achieve the goals of the Ivorian people.

11. Against the background of the parlous security situation, the Heads of State and Government hereby instruct the President of the ECOWAS Commission to convene without delay a meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of [Defense] Staff in order to plan future actions, including the provision of security along the Côte d’Ivoire-Liberia border, in the event that their message is not heeded."

There is enough food for thought for all West Africans and Africans in general! Tunisia has shown the way, Egypt is following suit and are holding His Excellency, Monsieur President Mubarak by the balls at the Tahrir square. How long has Monsieur Campoore been in power? Do they have an equivalent of a Tahrir Square in Ouagadougou? Why should Nigerians allow its current governing party to continue such a sloppy performance after their forth-coming elections? Why should Ghanaians allow the opposition NPP, and Akufo-Addo in particular, to even get near the seat of government after displaying such levels of incompetence and irresponsibility by attacking the President of Ghana for saying exactly what needed to be said at the time he said what he said which led to the African Union finally ruling out armed intervention?

See You At Tahrir Square!

We are getting rid of the imperialists and their local agents! This is the meaning of the winds of change currently blowing in the North of Africa. It is southwards bound. All the good people of West Africa must draw the appropriate lessons and act accordingly to their own consciences against these external threats to our peace and progress, and their local agents.

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro, a companion of the

black * star !!!
Give me a follow and let's exchange views on what I call "a grammar of Pan-Africanism and its manners of articulation in an ever-changing world"!
E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro

Breaking News RIP OFF- Foreign Ministry Studies Report On STL

2010-11-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Breaking News

RIP OFF- Foreign Ministry Studies Report On STL

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has began a comprehensive study of all reports on the operations of Superlock Technologies Limited (STL) an Israeli company which was awarded a contract for the renovation of three of Ghana's missions abroad.

The contract of US$16,746,682.00 was for the renovation of Ghana's missions in New York, Washington DC and Ottawa.

Interestingly, Superlock Technologies Limited has no construction experience.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Insight that the Don Arthur report on the renovation of the missions as well as all media reports are being studied for serious action.

A report prepared by a Ghanaian team headed by Dr Adu Arthur of the office of the President says the contract was awarded without regard to the Public Procurement Law (ACT 663).

There were no consultants engaged for the procurement of the works and no applicable contractor-selection procedure was adopted. The report claims that statutory processes and procedures were completely ignored and basic documents normally submitted for building works are not available.

Conspicuously absent from the contract documents are offer and acceptance correspondence, technical specifications, bill of quantities and activity schedules.
The scope of works for each contract was given only in narrative form without any Bills of Quantities specifying the exact quantum and quality of each item of work to be executed.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Kufuor and by extension the state was pushed into contracts the limits of which were not clearly defined.
The lump-sum quotations submitted by STL were accepted by the Ministry without any negotiations.

Payment schedules were exclusively time bound and did not take into account, quantum and quality of work done. Superluck Technologies Limited was incorporated in Ghana over 20 years ago to sell security locks and doors.
In 2003, the company was re-lunched with two Ghanaians, a man and wife listed as owners with Mr. Yaron Tal as Managing Director.

In June 2008, the Company's ownership changed. The Ghanaian couple sold their shares to a Swiss Company whose directorship remains undisclosed. An important event marked the change in the fortunes of STL. On Wednesday, November 11, 2003, Hajia Alima Mahama, then Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and PSI publicly announced that “Superlock Technologies Limited would serve as good ambassadors for Ghana and attract foreign investments from Israel and other developing countries.”

A strategic partnership had been established between the Kufuor administration and STL which has since reflected in the fortunes and influence of the Israeli company. Since then STL through a system of political patronage has become the largest single provider of Data Communication services and surveillance systems to public institutions in Ghana.

The institutions include, the Ghana Commercial Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, National Health Insurance Authority, the Electoral Commission and the National Security Council Secretariat. STL has carefully cultivated strategic relations with influential members of the dominant political parties in Ghana including the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Source:

The Insight Newspaper http://www.insightnewspaper.com/

Kwesi Pratt Causes Fear And Panic In The NPP! Part One

2010-11-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

Kwesi Pratt Causes Fear And Panic In The NPP!

Part One: What Exactly Did Kwesi Say?
Feature Article | by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro,

Introduction.

I wish to raise the following: US Military Bases In Ghana: Any Secret Deal Between The NPP And The Americans? Gabriel Asare Ochere-Darko, Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Says So! This also includes, quite naturally, a special treatment of the NPP-USA.
The latest twaddle of the NPP USA concerns three main issues:

The link between our oil and the US Military Bases in Africa
The GNPC-KOSMOS Dispute Over Violations Of the Laws Of Ghana.
Socialism and Capitalism

These are not subjects that one can treat exhaustively under one article unless one is full of wine, or beer, as it might be in the case of the scribes of the NPP USA. I am thus compelled to take them one after the other in subsequent feature articles. This permits me to deal effectively and fairly comprehensively.

Thus for now, our focus is on the first point:

The link between Africa's Oil and the US Africom: What Does The NPP Say About This?

What Exactly Did Kwesi Say About This Link?
A lot of people have heard of the strange and monumentally ignominious call by the USA-NPP for the arrest of Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. Whilst this marks a very extremely low point for our precious infant democracy. It is obvious from their press releases that the NPP USA are very adamant not to bite the finger that feeds them. This however should not prevent us to defend our own country, Ghana. What many people are unaware of is the question of what did Kwesi say exactly whilst contributing to a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji political programme, to incur the wrath of this group who now accuse Mr. Pratt for causing needless "fear and panic" in their hearts and are therefore calling for his arrest?

It is amazing the speed with which they are seeking refuge behind meaningless ideological debates instead of discussing real and present dangers facing our continent today, which could be worse than slavery and colonialism combined! It is the exposure of the NPP's involvement once again in a brutal mischief against the people of Ghana and Africa which is the source of the fear and the panic they are complaining of! By the time I am through with this article, I would have given enough hints to alert Ghanaians as to why they should be extremely careful about every single move of the dubious clique of treacherous elites and traitors of their own people who dare to call themselves "patriotic"!

"USA Is Ready To Kill And Destroy For Ghana's Oil... NPP Is Supporting Them!"

A Transcription of the Statement by Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., by the courtesy of the Office of the Odikro.

BEGIN QUOTE
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation has said that it is interested in buying the 23 per cent stake of Kosmos in the Jubilee Field. It is not, as it were, extracting that stake from Kosmos. Kosmos itself says, "We want out, we want to sell."

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation says, "We want to buy it."

Kosmos says, "We will not sell to Ghana. We will only sell it to another American company."

The whole of the US establishment is mounting monumental pressure on our government to cave in to US demands. Christian Council is quiet, Bar Association is quiet. New Patriotic Party is supporting Kosmos against Ghana. I mean, this is incredible! You cannot believe it my brother, it's incredible!

Kosmos has violated the laws of Ghana with impunity. They have made data, that we have paid more than 300 million dollars collecting - the GNPC expenditure on collecting seismic data and so on, cost the Ghanaian tax payer, more than 300 million dollars - Kosmos takes the data and distributes it free of charge in order to promote its interests, in order to ensure that it gets more money for its shares.

This matter is raised, and the very people who are making noises about our oil revenue, K.T. Hammond, New Patriotic Party, all these World-Bank-and-IMF-funded so-called NGOs! They are supporting Kosmos in this, against the people of Ghana. And they are the same people making noises about oil revenue. I mean, it is incredible!

I don't know how many people have read "The Cheney Report", the Cheney Report on America's strategic interests in West African Oil? I don't know how many people have read it. Now, if you have read the Cheney Report..., you know, when George Bush became President in 2001, one of his first acts was to establish a committee which would determine the US strategic energy interests and so on.

That committee was chaired by Dick Cheney, his Vice President, and they've written a very interesting Report. The Report says that, given all the turmoil, the social, political and economic turmoil in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf and other places, The Report said at the time that the US was importing around 11 per cent of its total oil requirements from West Africa. Eleven to twenty five per cent in ten years!

So let us open our eyes. Let us listen to the world - what is happening what is happening in the world! The major threat to us is the conspiracy by some of the Western powers, especially the United States of America, to control our oil resources. And don't you make a mistake, military bases are not established for picnics! Military bases are established for the purposes of killing and destruction, and not for organising picnics!

So what the US is saying is that they are ready to kill, to maim, and destroy, in order to control our oil resources. And our churches, our Bar Association, and the so-called elders in society are quibbling about whether we should put our money in the bank or spend it! They are not thinking about how to control the resource. The are thinking about what to do with the crumbs which fall from the table of the big powers. That is what they are thinking about!

I think that the first and most important thing that any citizen of Ghana who loves his country has to do is to ensure that the oil belongs to us, and we control it, and we exploit and utilize it on behalf of our people, especially the disadvantaged.

END QUOTE.

Click her to listen: Audio Attachment: Listen to Kwesi Pratt in his own voice, on why he thinks the USA is ready to kill for Ghana's oil; and the NPP's alleged support for KOSMOS

De-linking Oil From US Military Bases In Africa

It is very strange that the NPP-USA puts up such brave face with evident Dutch courage to make the fatuous claim that there is no link between US Militarisation of diplomacy and desire to establish military bases here in Africa has nothing to do with Oil!

Just listen to them:

"What makes this claim infantile is that in reality, Ghana’s proven oil reserves of 1.8 billion barrels, while contextually significant and greatly appreciated, constitute 0.17% of proven oil reserves on the African continent. Pratt would have us believe that the United States would spend $10 billion (the minimum spent on even the smallest of military bases) for that amount of oil? It is true that the United States does not build military bases for charity purposes, and that it does so to protect its interest. That said, a cost/benefit analysis does not support the puerile claims made by this third rate debater. What’s more, plans to establish a United States Military base in Ghana surfaced at least four years before the oil discovery, and it had more to do with the war on terrorism." See PRESS STATEMENT FROM NPP-USA – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, KWESI PRATT’S LIES ARE NOT RADIO WORTHY, Ghanaweb.com, Diasporian News of Thursday, 18 November 2010, Source: NPP-USA

Kwesi quite rightly reacts:

"The USA branch of the NPP does not deny that the United States of America intended or wished to establish a military base in Ghana. It stated inter alia that “….plans to establish a United States military base in the country surfaced at least four years before the oil discovery and that it has more to do with the war on terrorism than the control of oil resources in Ghana”. Clearly what this branch of the NPP seeks to do is to admit the intent to establish a US military base in Ghana but to delink it from the control of the country's oil. Unfortunately, the United States itself coupled its intention to establish a military base in Ghana with its control of the oil resources of West Africa.

When President George W. Bush became the President of the United States of America in 2001, he set up what has come to be known as the Cheney Committee, chaired by his Vice President good old Dick Cheney with a mandate to review US strategic energy requirements. The report of the Cheney Committee predicted that US oil imports from West Africa will rise from 11 per cent in 2001 to 25 per cent in 2015 as a result of several factors. The report recommended that as a measure to protect US interest in West African oil, military bases needed to established in West Africa. Following this recommendation the late president of Nigeria, Omaru Yardua stated that Nigeria will not allow the establishment of foreign military bases on its soil and will use all of her influence to prevent the establishment of US military bases in West Africa. See: NPP - USA: Attack dogs of Imperialism And Ignorant Noise Makers!

Other people, including scholars and US officials, including Donald Norland, former U.S. Ambassador to Chad told a Congressional subcommittee virtually the same thing:

"In May 2001 the Cheney report warned that the U.S. would grow increasingly dependent upon foreign oil in the years to come and recommended that as a matter of policy the Bush Administration work to increase production and export of oil from regions other than the Middle East, noting that Latin America and West Africa were likely to be the fasting growing sources of future U.S. oil imports.[48] Africa supplies about 15% of U.S. oil imports, but with African production growing at twice the global rate, it could be supplying the U.S. with as much energy as the Middle East within a decade.[49] Three months later, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner declared that African oil "has become a national strategic interest.[50] " This statement is particularly noteworthy in that it uses the language of the Carter Doctrine in the Middle East, in which President Carter went on to declare that the U.S. would intervene by any means necessary to protect its national interest in Middle Eastern oil. In April 2002, Donald Norland, former U.S. Ambassador to Chad told a Congressional subcommittee: "It's been reliably reported that, for the first time, the two concepts—'Africa' and 'U.S. national security'—have been used in the same sentence in Pentagon documents."[51] Having declared African oil to be of strategic interest to the United States, the Bush Administration has not taken the second step to actually apply the Carter Doctrine to Africa. This has left U.S. policy open to criticism from both sides. The Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. policy in Africa has criticized it for failing "to make a geopolitical shift to pay sufficient attention to West Africa's energy rich Gulf of Guinea,"[52] while others see a neo-imperial push unfolding in the sub-region.[53] " - Letitia Lawson, U.S. Africa Policy Since the Cold War, Strategic Insights, Volume VI, Issue 1 (January 2007) US Naval Postgraduate School.

When Kwesi Pratt Jnr., first broke the news in 2007 of the US intentions to establish its Africom headquarters in Accra with the connivance of the ruling NPP, my first reaction was "how are they going to pull that off? We were virtually in an electoral year and an overwhelming majority of Ghanaians would not approve of a party that brings in a foreign power to establish a military base on our territory!" Reading later on from an article written by Mr. Akufo-Addo's right-hand man, Gabby Asare Ochere-Darko, the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, all the denials and assurances given by Presidents Kufour and Bush in Accra during the latter's visit was nothing but the "Baloney!" itself!

Indeed, I suspected it as it was happening, that the NPP, particularly Nana Akufo-Addo must have prevailed with George Bush to defer public manifestation until after the elections, since the NPP was bound to lose the elections if this issue came up before the December 2008 elections. Ochere-Darko's article, "Obama's Visit, What Is In It For Us And The US?" confirmed my worst of fears! Both our own President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufour and Mr. George Bush lied publicly to the people of Ghana and the world at large, when Mr Bush declared to the media that the US was not interested in establishing military bases in Ghana. They were both aware that they were deceiving the public. Needless to say, that these lies must have been carefully discussed and rehearsed! In the next part we shall discuss a very closely related subject: "Bush And Kufour Working In Secret And Throwing Dust Into Our Eyes!" after the famous "Baloney!" Declaration. Please don't miss it! Give me a follow on twitter and I shall show you where I am coming from!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

The Odikro, Nana Akyea Mensah II,

E-Mail: nanaakyeamensah@gmail.com
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro,
Friendfeed: /friendfeed.com/theodikro

Blogs:

Feature Articles: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com,
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NPP - USA: Attack dogs of Imperialism And Ignorant Noise Makers

2010-11-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

By Kwesi Pratt Jnr.

The United States of America (USA) branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) does the electoral fortunes of the party no favours by its brazen defense of imperialism especially from the stand point of absolute ignorance.

This branch of a party which believes in “Property Owning Democracy” feels offended by my calling for the defence of the national interest in the exploitation of the natural resources of Ghana. It ignorantly tries to decouple the establishment of US military bases in Africa from US attempts to control West African oil resources and it claims that Ghana did not spend any resources to acquire valuable data which KOSMOS Energy distributed illegally to oil companies.

The USA branch of the NPP demands that the Ghana Police Service should pick me up and put me before court for daring to speak out against US interference in the management of our oil resources. Interestingly this is the same branch of the NPP which screamed loudly against the arrest and prosecution of Nana Darkwa for claiming that former President Rawlings burnt his own house. They claimed that the arrest of Nana Darkwa was a violation of his right of free speech. However their commitment to the right of free speech evaporates into thin air when the subject of criticism happens to be the Almighty United States of America.

Many of the claims of the USA branch of the NPP are completely false. It claimed that “The actual amount spent to collect 3D seismic data was just over $30 million and all that cost was borne by KOSMOS, not Ghana. “This is obviously meant to debunk my statement that Ghana has spent in excess of $300 million to collect relevant data which KOSMOS illegally made available to oil companies without the consent of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Perhaps the USA branch of the NPP needs to be reminded of the fact that data acquisition on Ghana's oil fields have a more than 100 year history. Indeed at the time that data acquisition began KOSMOS did not even exist. The Geological Survey Department, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the erstwhile Soviet Union, Romania under communist rule and several other entities have all contributed in varying degrees to the acquisition of data on Ghana's oil resources. As a fact between 1984 and 1994, Ghana spent in excess of $300 million on data acquisition and related projects. KOSMOS was itself attracted to Ghana after the data had been made available to it.

The USA branch of the NPP does not deny that the United States of America intended or wished to establish a military base in Ghana. It stated inter alia that “….plans to establish a United States military base in the country surfaced at least four years before the oil discovery and that it has more to do with the war on terrorism than the control of oil resources in Ghana”. Clearly what this branch of the NPP seeks to do is to admit the intent to establish a US military base in Ghana but to delink it from the control of the country's oil. Unfortunately, the United States itself coupled its intention to establish a military base in Ghana with its control of the oil resources of West Africa.

When President George W. Bush became the President of the United States of America in 2001, he set up what has come to be known as the Chenney Committee, chaired by his Vice President good old Dick Chenney with a mandate to review US strategic energy requirements. The report of the Chenny Committee predicted that US oil imports from West Africa will rise from 11 per cent in 2001 to 25 per cent in 2015 as a result of several factors. The report recommended that as a measure to protect US interest in West African oil, military bases needed to established in West Africa. Following this recommendation the late president of Nigeria, Omaru Yardua stated that Nigeria will not allow the establishment of foreign military bases on its soil and will use all of her influence to prevent the establishment of US military bases in West Africa.

The USA branch of the NPP states that ….”Ghana's proven oil reserves of 1.8 million barrels, whiles contextually significant and greatly appreciated, constitute only 0.17 per cent of proven oil reserves on the entire African continent” and therefore the US will not spend more than $10 billion to establish a military base in Ghana. The ignorance of the USA branch of the NPP is more than apparent. The US military base in Ghana was to serve the strategic interest of the US in the entire West African sub-region and beyond. Secondly, it is only the Jubilee Oil Field in Ghana which has been assessed to have reserves of up to 1.8 billion. There are several other fields with huge potentials and the US unlike the NPP branch knows this.

In attempting to refute my claim that the NPP has supported the KOSMOS – EXXON – MOBIL deal, the branch wrote “certain individuals who may be sympathetic to the NPP have expressed support for the deal, but the party itself has not made any declaration in support of it”. What a pity and who are these individuals who support the deal?

The loudest supporter of the KOSMOS – EXXON deal has been Mr. K.T. Hammond, former NPP Deputy Minister of Energy who has acted as the party spokesperson on Energy in many instances. Other persons with substantial influence in the NPP have also spoken out in favour of this rather dubious deal which frowns on the laws of Ghana. In any case the USA branch of the NPP leaves no doubt about what the party's position is, when it asks “…why would Pratt be so vehemently opposed to an American company buying out another American company, but demonstrates tacit support for the Chinese Company's purchase? Although it was supposedly a GNPC/CNOOC offer, with the Chinese putting up the entire $5 billion, who do you think would control the stake when purchased? Do not forget that when the opportunity presented itself for the Chinese to invest money to explore for oil in Ghana, they laughed at what they called the “oil graveyard”. Can the NPP's position on the KOSMOS-EXXON deal be more clearer?

Statements by the USA branch of the NPP which tend to glorify gold exploitation in Ghana are at best misinformed. As at today, Ghana gets only five per cent of the total value of gold it exports. Is the USA branch of the NPP happy with this situation too?

I am sick and tired of these imperialist attack dogs and their anti-national machinations and if these types get anywhere near power we might as well begin to sing the requiem mass for Nkrumah's Ghana.

Source: The insight Newspaper

Why Kofi Annan's "Green Wash" In Africa Does Not Wash! Part One

2010-10-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

"Father of GM Food" Receives a TKO on BBC's "One Planet"?

LISTEN BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
"The father of GM foods, bolivian seeds and wildebeest
Dr Roger Beachy, the father of GM foods on scientific ignorance and our moral obligations
Read full summary, ListenDuration: 28 minutes"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00b2rgn

By way of introduction, I would like very much to hurriedly draw your attention to this programme, and pray, you make it a point not to miss it, while it is available.The accuracy or otherwise of the following transcription is still verifiable. Currently running on the website of the BBC is an important humiliation of the arrogant "Monsanto scientists" President Obama seems to rely upon to take charge of US Department of Food and Agriculture. You may want to call it the most up-to-date public debate (last broadcast, Sun 10 Oct 2010, available to listen online for a few more days) on allowing genetically modified organisms into our food chain. Another claim one can successfully make about this debate is the fact that it brought together, some of the best brains on the opposing sides of the issue in a broadcast that was beamed to millions of people across the globe. I have decided to write about this as an introduction to a special focus on the threat of GMO invasion on the African continent. The reason why I urgently want to bring this out is because even though I have improvised a transcription, owing to the importance of the issue the debate covers, it is still possible to listen to the discussion online. It goes off forever after a few days!

On "One Planet", a BBC World Service "Factual and Science and Nature Programme", Dr. Roger Beachy, the man reputed to have made the first genetically food crop, also described by the presenter as "the father of GM Food", "the man appointed by Barack Obama to head the National Institute of Food and Agriculture" (www.csrees.usda.gov), answers the following question from BBC's Mike Williams. I like very much the style of the presenter. He takes his time to let his listeners know the experience and qualifications of the people he is interviewing. To Dr. Beachy he asks:

"You have been called 'the father of GM food' how does that feel like?", Dr. Beachy confirms with admirable humility, "But then so have a number of other people, I am one of the members of the club, I guess, of those of us who adopted the science nearly twenty five years ago. And I was privileged enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right idea."

"And with the help of the company, Monsanto, you made the first genetically modified food crop?" Mike wants us to know whom he is talking to,

"We did, successfully," Dr. Beachy's answer is in the affirmative, "and then had the first field trial of genetically engineered food plant, that was a tomato that was resistant to a virus disease. The field trial was held in 1987."

Then comes the long-awaited question:

"Does it bother you that there is resistance, people are scared, some people, are scared of this technology, concerned about it?"

Here is Dr. Beachy's answer:

"You know, there is a recent article that was published about why people make decisions about accepting cell-phone technology, or driving a fast car,, or GM crops, or having a vaccine for measles. And there are always some who will choose against all facts, against all knowledge, simply not to participate for some other reason, reason in their hearts, in their heads, in their souls, they choose not based on science. so, maybe you want to turn the question around. How have they taken those attitudes, where do those attitudes come from?

"If they hold those attitudes strongly and honestly," an obviously surprised Mike Williams would only mildly ask, "It's, I'm sure, you would accept that it's not your job, not trying to change that?"

"Exactly right," Dr. Beachy responds, "the job of the scientist is to discover new solutions. What we would hope is that decisions that are made by the public are based upon their knowledge and understanding of the science. And, clearly, we know that that is not happening in many cases. We know in the case of vaccines, that some people simply wont take vaccines for reasons that are not based on science but for something else."

"Forgive me, if I..." Mike tries to intervene without success.

"Then on the other hand, we know that people will not take new food, who will not accept a new food variety because they believe that it should be grown in a certain way. And I think those decision-making process is often in the absence of science. Now, one could say that, perhaps, we should have started fifty years ago, and maintained our level of science education, so that when new facts come along, it would be more understood and so forth, but we haven't done that."

At this stage, I simply can't wait to bring you with me to Mike, back in London, inside the laboratory of Dr. Michael Antoniou, as a molecular geneticist, surely a man no one can call a "scientific illiterate", whose opposition to GM food is not only "based on science", but also has a ring of credibility completely absent in Dr. Beachy's hocus pocus on the reasons why there is resistance to the attempts to impose GM crops on the world. What makes the rebuttal of Dr. Antoniou so sweet is not simply because he happens to be an expert in the field, but also the manner in which he tears the arguments of Dr. Roger Beachy and Mr. Jack Bobo, "Senior Advisor for Bio-Technology in the US Department of State.". So, I continue with the interview in Washington before we come back to London.

"Can I just bring you back to that reference to vaccines which the science shows to be beneficial to them? what you can then do is to put the vaccine in the water and I think one of those arguments people make about GM crops is that there are concerns that those genes would spread and end up ingesting genetically modified material. That is what they are concerned about."

"You know," Dr. Beachy replies, "I gave a talk in Dublin a number of years ago, and a young man was really, really concerned about potatoes. And we said we were mostly talking about corn and cotton. He said the corn pollen would contaminate the potato. He didn't know that the corn pollen couldn't pollinate potato. Which gets us back the issue of illiteracy about science. It is very easy to promote fear and distrust when there is lack of knowledge in those who are reading or listening. So in the case of cross-pollination as issue, if you had a guy who was exporting organic weet corn, and somebody next door is producing commercial corn for cows and other uses, the sweet corn has a different pollination time than does the commercial corn. So, the chances for contamination in that example are non-existent or can be managed very nicely. If the farmer, that is, one or the other, says I am going to plant my crop a little bit later, then, yes, there is no cross-pollination. My point is by knowing about the biology of organisms and how they are grown, one can find ways that side-by-side, we can have a safe organic production or commercial production and bio-tech,. It is straight science knowledge and the inability not to vilify but to get along with each other."

"Joining us here is Jack Bobo, Senior Advisor for Bio-Technology, US Department of State," Mike turns his attention to Jack Bobo, "Erm, Mr. Bobo," Mike asks, "can I just ask you about United States policy? I mean, it seems clear that the United States is interested in promoting genetically modified food world-wide, tell me why?"

"Actually, I would say that the United States is interested in promoting agriculture world-wide, and bio-technology just happens to be one of those. We promote organic agriculture, and bio-technology. But as an export issue and as a development issue, I think there is a particular importance though, trying to address the issue of acceptance of bio-technology both from a farmer perspective, and consumer perspective."

"I wonder whether you would agree", Mike fires, "that, we are, in the West, exporting Western consumerism to the rest of the world, and the GM crops is, perhaps, an attempt to export a solution to that particular problem?"

"The fact is, we need a double food production between now and 2050. that is a huge challenge." Mr. Bobo confidently explains, "Climate change means there is going to be a 27% decline in productivity. We need to double production and we have declining productivity. How are we going to do about that? And so we need all the technology that are available in order to do that, and so the developing world desperate need of technologies that are going to reduce the variability of yields, and that would allow them to produce their own food. this is not about exporting consumerism. This is about production and self-sufficiency."

"I would like to add," Dr. Beachy interjects, "that I think this is an area that the developed nations must collaborate on. This partnership in knowledge sharing and in building the ability of countries to feed themselves is our responsibility, it's your responsibility, and should be based on science. It should not be based on a demonization of technology per se. It should be based on the best science that meets the needs of the world. And I think that is a responsibility that goes beyond philosophy, whether it is GM, organic, or conventional. It becomes a moral obligation of not feeding people but educating them so that they can feed themselves."

"Do yo think that the technology has been demonized?" Mike asks.

"I think it has been, largely." Dr. Beachy replied. "In our country, it has been demonized because it is a way to value something else more. An organic product costs more than conventional product. That 20, 25, maybe even in a hundred per cent premium on an organic banana compared to conventional, allows somebody to make more money. It is about finances in that case. And I would like to see this come down to what is safer for the environment, safer for people, and more economic so that those who don't have as much as you and I have, sitting here around this table, with a biscuit and a cup of tea, can say that the woman who has less, has the same capabilities of feeding herself and her kids, as we do sitting around the table. And I think that's only going to come when we adopt the safest and best technologies of whatever type, to help to make things happen. And then we can put that responsibility behind."

"Some of the problems you are fighting to overcome through genetically modified food seem to many, to have come about because of monoculture and that monoculture has caused the problem and that GM monoculture isn't going to provide the solution."

"Modern agriculture is by definition a monoculture." Dr. Beachy would surrender no grounds, "You can drive around through - I love driving through - the southern parts of England and watching the fields of wheat. That is monoculture. Don't pretend it's not. But don't blame that on GM, blame it on modern, high output agriculture. The wheat is cheap because we grew them in the wheat fields. Our beef isn't expensive because they grow a lot of corn in large monoculture so that we can feed at lower cost than if we had it in small plots. So, it is agriculture that you are talking about. You are not talking about GMOs or conventional agriculture."

Thus it was that my hopes that this could be an opportunity to hear what I needed to know to understand the best and the most current argument making the case for GM food passed by in vain. Unfortunately, instead of squarely confronting the real issues surrounding the biology, politics, and the economics of GM technology the advocates only insult our intelligence. If I was looking for any insight or argument that would have effectively addressed my own apprehensions about GM crops, I was alarmingly disappointed. Dr. Beachy is no doubt a brilliant geneticist, but as an advocate of his wares, he is certainly not the best in town. The fundamental choice of ignoring the highly informed and science-based opposition to the current push to promote genetically modified organisms into our food chain with lower and lower restrictions, and the erosion of the precautionary measures installed to safeguard against possible hazards must be rightly considered a crime against humanity.

I call on all the people's of the world to uphold the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 of the "Rio Declaration on environment and Development" as relates to the current uncertainties surrounding GMOs. The principle states:

"Lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge regarding the extent of the potential adverse effects of an LMO on biodiversity, taking into account risks to human health, shall not prevent a Party of import from taking a decision, as appropriate, with regard to the import of the LMO in question, in order to avoid or minimize such potential adverse effects." Annex III on risk assessment, which notes that "Lack of scientific knowledge or scientific consensus should not necessarily be interpreted as indicating a particular level of risk, an absence of risk, or an acceptable risk." (Article 10.6 and 11.8).

I was expecting answers that go beyond questions raised by advocates of GMO particularly in Africa, such as summarized in the following abstract: "Even after more than 15 years of the emergence of modern biotechnology in agriculture, much of Africa remains reluctant if not hostile to it. Some view modern biotechnology as the new messiah to lift Africa from starvation and food insecurity while others hold the contrary view and advise Africa to stay away from the technology for reasons ranging from health and environmental concerns to economic considerations. They fear that the unfolding ‘gene revolution’ is destined to fail on its promises because of the existing complex economic, social, and political circumstances in Africa as was the case in the green revolution." (Presented at the SIEL 2010 Conference in Barcelona., Birhanu, Fikremarkos Merso, Biotechnology and the Future of Africa’s Agriculture (June 30, 2010). Society of International Economic Law (SIEL), Second Biennial Global Conference, University of Barcelona, July 8-10, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1633009)

In his response to the question, "Does it not bother you that there is resistance, people are scared, some people, are scared of this technology, concerned about it?" Dr. Beachy chose to blame the resistance to what he calls "scientific illiteracy". Said Dr. Beachy:

"You know, there is a recent article that was published about why people make decisions about accepting cell phone technology, or driving a fast car, or GM crops,or having a vaccine for measles, and there are some who wil choose against all facts, against all knowledge, simply not to participate for some other reasons, reason in their hearts, in their heads, in their souls, they choose, not based on science. So maybe, you want to turn the question around. How have they taken those attitudes? Where do they come from?"

It is a pity that Dr. Beachy had clearly not read Crossed Crocodiles, "Why Is Kofi Annan Fronting For Monsanto? GMO Assault On Africa". If he had done that, he would have been ably to give a more intelligent response, or at least one that is not as stupid and insultingly arrogant, as as this one. I am not a geneticist, and I do not cease to be amazed by the brilliant contributions to knowledge particularly in fighting disease, but I bet I know where my concerns about GM food are coming from! These have nothing to do with "scientific illiteracy"! They are coming from the bitter experiences of over twenty five thousand farmers in India who committed suicide with Monsanto''s pesticides after being misled into the believing that genetically modified cotton was the key to higher yields and bigger profits.

They are coming from reports that scientists working for Monsanto refused to drink the milk that they themselves had helped to invent. As Jeffrey M. Smith puts it, "former Monsanto scientist said that after company scientists conducted safety studies on bovine growth hormone, all three refused to drink any more milk, unless it was organic and therefore not treated with the drug. They feared the substantial increase of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the drugged milk. IGF-1 is a significant risk factor for cancer." - Monsanto: The world's poster child for corporate manipulation and deceit, Friday, July 30, 2010. http://www.naturalnews.com/029325_Monsanto_deception.html.

Our fears also come from the fact that GMOs remain inside of us. "The only published human feeding study revealed that even after we stop eating GMOs, harmful GM proteins may be produced continuously inside of us; genes inserted into Monsanto's GM soy transfer into bacteria inside our intestines and continue to function.(64) If Bt genes also transfer, eating corn chips might transform our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories."

"Un-recallable contamination: In spite of the enormous health dangers, the environmental impacts may be worse still. That is because we don't have a technology to fully clean up the contaminated gene pool. The self-propagating genetic pollution released into the environment from Monsanto's crops can outlast the effects of climate change and nuclear waste."

For Dr. Beachy to simply brush all these legitimate, and many more science-based concerns aside, with the ridiculous claim that opposition to the acceptance of GM crops in our food chain is largely based upon our ignorance is the cheapest way to avoid the hard questions which tip the debate against GMOs. What makes this particular programme very interesting is the fact that the "One Planet" also interviewed a molecular geneticist, Dr Michael Antoniou, Kings College London (www.kcl.ac.uk). The beauty of this lies in the fact that Dr. Antoniou is himself a genetic engineer and as such can not be deemed to be "scientifically illiterate".

"Dr. Antoniou, what is it do you do here?" The question was asked whilst inside a laboratory of King's College, where Dr. Antoniou works.

"What we do in my research group", Dr. Antoniou responds, "is to investigate fundamental mechanisms of how human gene systems are controlled, and then we exploit those discoveries to design safe and efficacious gene units to be used within a therapeutic context, within a human gene therapy context, for treating for example, inherited diseases such as immune deficiencies, thalassemia, sickle disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and so on."

"The people who create GM crops use very similar techniques to yours, different applications though, are you comfortable with that?"

"I am not comfortable at all with the way that GM is being used in agriculture". Dr. Antoniou answer categorically, "because compared to what we do in a clinical context, where not only research is done under contained genes, they are non-replicated. They can't reproduce and spread and cause harm. In agriculture the same technique is used in open fields, the organism can spread in an uncontrolled way and we suffer with the consequences of that forever."

"You use this technology to device medical therapy to help people to live longer and healthier lives, to keep more of us on the planet for longer, what is wrong with other scientists using these same techniques to fed those extra millions and billions? They say - you heard the argument - that there was a need, a moral moral obligation?", Dr. Antoniou responds:

"Indeed, the world has a moral obligation to feed itself. What is invariably ignored by advocates of GM crops in explaining why almost a billion of people in the world go to bed, each day, hungry, is that actually, we have more than enough food to feed everybody now. In fact, we have have doubled the amount of food to feed everybody in the world now, but people don't have access to food. And in terms of meeting future food needs, specifically in the face of climate change, then the latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation sponsored report clearly pointed that the future in meeting future food needs lie in applying agro-ecological methods. They said that genetic engineering would play little or no role in meeting immediate food needs of the world and future food needs of the world. Which is why the Americans were not signatory. But 62 other nations, actually signed up, including the UK, signed up to that report. We have to take on board, the report compiled by 400 independent scientists from around the world, in all manner of expertise and discipline, which said go forward with low-input, agro-ecological, sustainable agriculture, not GM, because GM simply does not fit the bill."

We shall be focusing on Bolivai and the GMO debate soon.

This is what I call, a "technical knock-out"!

And the winner is...

Bravo! Dr. Michael Antoniou!!!

Thanks, Mike, and the BBC for this eye-opener!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Nana Akyea Mensah distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C ß 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this blog for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Why is Kofi Annan Fronting For Monsanto? The GMO Assault On Africa

2010-09-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Why is Kofi Annan Fronting For Monsanto? The GMO Assault On Africa http://crossedcrocodiles.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/why-is-kofi-annan-fronting-for-monsanto-the-gmo-assault-on-africa/

Why do you bring your mistakes here?

Kofi Annan has joined with President Obama, Monsanto, AGRA, and the Gates foundation to promote and execute food aid that replaces bags of wheat, rice and corn (agricultural dumping) with bags of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and genetically engineered seeds. The end result will be to starve people in Africa and feed corporations in the US and Europe.

Kofi Annan and farmers

Under the guise of “sustainability” the [Gates] Foundation has been spearheading a multi-billion dollar effort to transform Africa into a GMO-friendly continent. The public relations flagship for this effort is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a massive Green Revolution project. Up to now AGRA spokespeople have been slippery, and frankly, contradictory about their stance on GMOs.
…
If you had any doubts about where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is really placing its bets, AGRA Watch’s recent announcement of the Foundation’s investment of $23.1 million in 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock should put them to rest. Genetic engineering: full speed ahead. (Eric Holt-Gimenez)

If you have questions about Monsanto’s agenda, here it is in brief:

At a biotech industry conference in January 1999, a representative from Arthur Anderson, LLP explained how they had helped Monsanto design their strategic plan. First, his team asked Monsanto executives what their ideal future looked like in 15 to 20 years. The executives described a world with 100 percent of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. Anderson consultants then worked backwards from that goal, and developed the strategy and tactics to achieve it. They presented Monsanto with the steps and procedures needed to obtain a place of industry dominance in a world in which natural seeds were virtually extinct. (Jeffrey M. Smith)

Kofi Annan is Chairman of the Board of Directors for AGRA. He is convening a conference in Ghana in the first week of September. As detailed in this blog, and by others, both AGRA and USAID top positions are filled with people that come from Monsanto and Dupont.
Kofi Annan Calls For United Effort To Accelerate African Green Revolution

African heads of state, industry representatives, the international donor community and farmers will meet in Ghana at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in the first week of September. Delegates will create an action plan on the acceleration of a Green Revolution in Africa.

Samuel Amoako has reported on this as well: Kofi Annan Hosts Forum On Africa’s Food Security in the Ghanaian Times on August 11.
It is worrisome that Kofi Annan is connected with AGRA. Maybe he believes that US mechanized and chemical agriculture work well. Most people in the US do, aside from family farmers who see the effects first hand. I have a good friend who works for the US Dept. of Agriculture and thinks this kind of big agriculture really is the best and that Monsanto is a boon to mankind. We have had several heated discussions. In fact Monsanto is destroying land, causing chemically induced human diseases, creating super weeds, super insect pests, and economic havoc in many parts of the US farming areas, particularly in the midwest and the south. There have been countless protests all over India and Brazil. I’ve read many heartbreaking stories, including this comment from Pearl on this blog:

The farmers of southern Kentucky have been enslaved by Monsanto. The previous generation fell for an ad campaign called “Hi-bred” or “High-Bred”, and the current generation is stuck with fulfilling the contracts their fathers signed. The chemicals that Monsanto has contractually required be applied to those fields have so damaged the soil that the only way to get anything to grow in the fields now is to keep applying more of those blasted chemicals. So even if a person who inherited a contract WANTS to discontinue the agreement with Monsanto when the contract expires, they are unable to do so unless they want to leave the land fallow for many, many, many years. Most farmers cannot afford to do this, as this would mean little to no income for their families for somewhere between 5 to 20 years, depending on how long it would take for the soil to renew itself.

I’ve always had enormous respect for Kofi Annan, I do not understand his participation in this and it bothers me a great deal. Even though I admire and respect him there are no free passes with a subject like this.
Genetically modified crops produce less, not more, than conventional crops.
Alexis Baden-Mayer points out in Dupont, Monsanto, and Obama Versus the World’s Family Farmers that AGRA is basing its programs on myth:

Most of the world’s food is not produced on industrial mega-farms. 1.5 billion family farmers produce 75 percent of the world’s food.
The hunger problem is not caused by low yields. The world has 6 billion people and produces enough food for 9 billion people.

And as I’ve discussed before, the smaller the farm the greater the yield.

There is an inverse relationship between the size of farms and the amount of crops they produce per hectare. The smaller they are, the greater the yield.
In some cases, the difference is enormous. A recent study of farming in Turkey, for example, found that farms of less than one hectare are twenty times as productive as farms of over ten hectares(3). Sen’s observation has been tested in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Java, the Phillippines, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay. It appears to hold almost everywhere. (Monbiot)

The key to true food security is food sovereignty, and the key to food sovereignty lies in who controls the land. The problems of both starvation and obesity stem from injustice in the way farmland and food are distributed. AGRA policies will poison the land and water, destroy local seeds and seed gene pools that provide the true hope for food sustainability. Local agriculture in most parts of the world has developed seeds that are tough and resistant to local pests, weeds, and local environmental dangers such as droughts or floods. AGRA wishes to replace these seeds with ones that need expensive, continuous, and ever expanding chemical coddling. These chemicals will poison the land, the water, and the people.
Additionally the Gates Foundation, Monsanto, and other corporate interests are investing in a doomsday seed bank, in which they will own the world’s agricultural gene pool. They are storing seeds from all over the world. In the event of genetic disaster, they will own the surviving gene pool.
Jonathan Weiner, in The Beak of the Finch describes how chemicals drive the destruction of land and the creation of super weeds and super insect pests:

Some of the greatest opposition to evolution comes from the farmers of the Cotton Belt, and that is where Taylor is seeing one of the most dramatic cases of evolution in action on this planet.
… in the year 1940, cotton farmers began spraying their fields with the chemical compound dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as DDT. These first insecticidal sprays killed so many insects, and killed so many of the birds that ate the insects, that in biological terms the cotton fields were left standing virtually vacant, like an archipelago of newborn islands – and out of the woods and hedgerows fluttered [the cotton destroying moth] Heliothis virescens.
In the next few optimistic years, pesticide manufacturers assaulted Heliothis with bigger and bigger doses of DDT. They also brought out more poisons from the same chemical family: aldrin, chlordane. The aim was nothing less than the control of nature, and pesticide manufacturers believed that control was within their grasp. The annual introduction of new pesticides rose from the very first product, DDT, in 1940, to great waves of chemical invention in the 1960s and 1970s. In those decades, dozens of new herbicides and insecticides were brought to market each year. Heliothis became on of the most heavily sprayed species in what amounted to a biological world war. Through it all, the moths clung to the cotton.
… The moths have become almost absolutely resistant to all pesticides, from your cyclodienes to your organophosphates to your carbamates, and most of your pyrethroids. …
“Its an extraordinarily potent example of evolution going on under our eyes,” Taylor says. “Visible evolution.”
A pesticide applies selection pressure as surely as a drought or a flood. The poison selects against traits that make a species vulnerable to it, because the individuals that are most vulnerable are the ones that die first. The poison selects for any trait that makes the species less vulnerable, because the least vulnerable are the ones that survive longest and leave the most offspring. In this way the invention of pesticides in the twentieth century has driven waves of evolution in insects all over the planet. Heliothis is only one case in hundreds. (from pp 251-255)

In short, pesticides and herbicides destroy most of the insects, plants, and often other animals in those fields where they are used. But nature fights back. Those insects and weeds that can resist the chemicals initially, breed and grow stronger. They have no competition except from the chemicals, and they quickly evolve immunity, even as the chemicals become stronger and more toxic. Stronger and more toxic chemicals are needed to fight the new insects and weeds, and the destructive cycle continues. The chemicals wind up in the food, and run off into the land and the water, creating an ever increasingly toxic environment for humans and many other plants and animals.
For the growth of super weeds world wide, see the following charts:

The vertical axis shows the number of species of weeds that have become chemical resistant, the horizontal axis shows the years. You can see the exponential increase starting about 1970 when Monsanto introduced Roundup, and continuing into 2010. (click to enlarge)

You can see the distribution, North America, Western Europe, and Australia have already been severely impacted. Africa is a huge new market that has not yet been ruined. You can see why it is so desirable, it is a huge wide open opportunity to Monsanto and other greedy chemical corporations. Most countries in Africa have not yet been touched or biologically recolonized by GMOs and agricultural chemicals. South Africa, which has allowed GMOs, is the most severely impacted to date. (click to enlarge)

Genetically modified seeds, GMOs, are designed to be used as part of a program involving chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Their effect on farmers is usually to lock them into a cycle of debt, as described by Pearl above, and as experienced and protested in many countries including India and Brazil, as mentioned above. Terminator seeds, also known as suicide seeds or homicide seeds, will not regenerate, so instead of saving seeds, farmers have to buy new seeds each year, as well as investing in more, and more toxic chemicals each year that are necessary to make the GMO seeds grow. This cycle has created death and destruction in many places, including hundreds of farmer suicides in India. More...

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Nana Akyea Mensah distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C ß 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this blog for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Who is/are this/these “New Patriot(s)”?

2010-08-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

A Rejoinder to: "Some Thoughts On Akufo-Addo's Acceptance Speech",
Feature Article of Sunday, 22 August 2010, Columnist: Okoampa-Ahoofe,
Kwame

HELLO MY DEAR GRANDSON!

You ask:

"The question now, therefore, becomes: Who is/are this/these “New
Patriot(s)”?" (See: Some Thoughts On Akufo-Addo's Acceptance Speech",
Feature Article of Sunday, 22 August 2010, Columnist: Okoampa-Ahoofe,
Kwame)

My Answer:

I do not even want to go into the merits and demerits of your
ridiculous answer to that question. You have such a back-log of
questions to answer and until you give the appropriate answers or
apologies, you are not going anywhere! Perhaps the last time I wrote
on this subject, it was too long so your attention span could be
blamed for this obvious lapse. This time, I shall try to make it short
to avoid such a situation next time! Are you trying to suggest that
you are now a patriot because Akufo Addo won the NPP primaries?
Whether you like it or not, you shall be going on earlier retirement
because your contributions extract rather than add votes to Mr. Nana
Akufo Addo.

I have already told you what a famous Roman general once said “I more
fear a stupid ally than I fear a clever enemy”. How right he was. I
have always considered Kwame Okoampa as the weakest chain in the NPP
propaganda machine as a result of his special skills in writing
prodigiously without thinking about the import of what he writes. If
you are not being haunted by your own unpatriotic and evil-meaning
writings, then you have probably changed tact just to pretend to be a
good Ghanaian for the sake of your cousin! But it is too late! We know
who you are!

OKOAMPA, PATRIOTISM AND OUR PRECIOUS OIL!

I shall continue to raise this issue until you come out to retract
those unguarded and extremely revealing comments! Okoampa begins an
article surreptitiously titled "Who Are These “Parliamentarian
Drivers”? with a shocker: "I am glad that, finally, the Ivorians are
beginning to assert their right of access and enjoyment of Ghana’s
purportedly new-found oil wealth... It also didn’t quite make a lot of
sense to me that an oil find that lay so dangerously close to Ghana’s
border with Côte d’Ivoire would also have been so [godlessly]
uncharitable as to neatly parcel itself out for the exclusive benefit
and enjoyment of Ghanaians while the war-seasoned Ivorians continued
to languish in penury." - "Who Are These “Parliamentarian Drivers”? By
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article of Tuesday, 16 March
2010.

Okoampa continues:

"What is also wickedly fascinating is the sudden fit of alarm that
seems to have gripped the hitherto light-headed Ghanaians. All of an
auspicious sudden, it is beginning to home-in to these soft-headed,
happy-go-lucky and good-natured “Niggers” that premature gloating over
a pure gift of nature may yet turn out to be too good to be true. It
was also rather fitfully amusing that some Ghanaians should already
begin to be angrily chary of the Ivorians; and, indeed, the irony of
it all is that these “Angernistas” are largely what one may aptly term
as diehard “Nkrumacrats,” the fanatical disciples of modern Ghana’s
first postcolonial premier. Dear reader, by now, it ought to be
obvious to you what “Sremu Sei Nana” (The King of the Savannah’s
Grandson) is getting at. And, of course, it is the stark fact that
where “Black Gold” is concerned, pan-Africanism is only the dream of a
hopeless lunatic."

As I wrote in a previous article, "Okoampa continues by making
demeaning remarks about his fellow countrymen. To use such language
indicates comtempt for Ghanaian men and women. Why would any Ghanaian
who consider his country's vital interests so dispensable, still
present himself as a member of a "Think Tank" and expect respect from
his fellow Ghanaians? What does it mean if this man presents Nana
Akufo Addo as his favourite candidate, and Akufo Addo approves of this
association with him? Is Akuffo Addo telling us that the Danquah
Institute "think tank" is fast becoming nothing but a nest of
politically virulent and toxic ideas contempt for the Ghanaian
people?" (See: Is It Not Time For Akuffo Addo To Distance Himself From
The Danquah Institute Altogether?).

OKOAMPA, PATRIOTISM, AND THE US AFRICOM

It is very important that Ghanaians do not forget so soon the kind of
role played by people like Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., vis-a-vis the
establishment of US military bases in Ghana, and judge for themselves
whether or not such a guy is a Ghanaian patriot or an American
patriot! "Kwesi Pratt was one of the first to raise the alarm about
oil and US military bases in Africa." Crossedcrocodiles writes in
"Ghanaians Discuss AFRICOM & Obama’s Visit." He continues:

"In a 2007 interview he said:

*Kwesi Pratt: I am very alarmed after reading what is called the
Cheney Report. When Bush came to power, he set up a committee chaired
by Dick Cheney his Vice President to assess America’s energy
requirements up to the year 2015. TheCheney Report actually says that
by the year 2015, twenty percent of American oil requirements will be
supplied by West Africa and therefore it is important to maintain a
foothold in West Africa in order to ensure that oil supplies from West
Africa to the United States of America will not be interr**upted*."
(See: Ghanaians Discuss AFRICOM & Obama’s Visit, by xcroc, June 3,
2009, crossedcrocodiles.wordpress.com)

It must be noted that even though Mr Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., was the first
to raise the alarm in Ghana, the US desire to capture the control and
use of the hydrocarbon materials from particularly our sub-region, if
need be, by the means of military action, has been beyond dispute:

'*In May 2001 the Cheney report warned that the U.S. would grow
increasingly dependent upon foreign oil in the years to come and
recommended that as a matter of policy the Bush Administration work to
increase production and export of oil from regions other than
theMiddle East, noting that Latin America and West Africa were likely
to be the fastest growing sources of future U.S. oil imports. ...
Three months later, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Walter Kansteiner declared that African oil "has become a national
strategic interest." This statement is particularly noteworthy in that
it uses the language of the Carter Doctrine in the Middle East, in
which President Carter went on to declare that the U.S. would
intervene by any means necessary to protect its national interest in
Middle Eastern oil. In April 2002, Donald Norland, former U.S.
Ambassador to Chad told a Congressional subcommittee: "It's been
reliably reported that, for the first time, the two concepts --
'Africa' and 'U.S. national security' have been used in the same
sentence in Pentagon documents.*" ('Understanding AFRICOM: A
Contextual Reading of Empire’s New Combatant Command, b real, February
2007,.moonofalabama.org,

Thus, not only were the denials by the US Embassy in Accra very
cynical, but sinister. It would not have bothered me too much if any
other person within the NPP had responded to Quashigah, other than
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.! After all, are we not talking about
patriotism now? If so, then what is the basis of the repugnant
histrionics by this famous political sell-out before he is allowed to
further throw dust into our very vigilant eyes? If the NPP really
needs someone to defend it from the unassailable truth of being a
neocolonialism entity, and by definition, an unpatriotic and
pro-Imperialist party established to see to the business interests of
their imperialist owners, Okoampa should be the last person to do so!
The very fact that none other than Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., should
respond to this issue of patriotism is not only significant, it is
also a sign that he requires an immediate psychiatric treatment for
thinking he can take Ghanaians for fools! If he does not get a
psychiatric examination, he shall continue to pile trouble after
trouble on his favourite candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo.

Mr. Kwesi Pratt's patriotism in the interview is clear:

Kwesi Pratt *: *Consequently, the United States is planning to
establish military bases across West Africa including Ghana. And I am
very worried that at a time when we are celebrating our national
independence we are going to tolerate the establishment of foreign
military bases, especially American military bases on our soil. The
great Osageyfo Dr. Nkrumah, Malcolm X, Kwame Ture, and all of them
emphasized that Africa ought to be free from foreign military bases
and weapons of mass destruction. We cannot allow that dream to die.
That is why, it is important for us to resist all attempts to
establish foreign military bases on African soil especially forces of
the United States, must be prevented from establishing on African
soil. Clearly because they are not on African soil to protect our
interests, they are on African soil to facilitate the exploitation of
our resources for the benefit of the tiny minority that controls the
wealth of the American people and who are sitting on top of this world
exploiting the Chicanos, exploiting the African Americans and
exploiting all of the other independent and healthy forces in the
Un**ited States of America. We have to resist all attempts to build
U.S. military bases in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.*" (See: Ron
Wilkins' Interview With Kwesi Pratt on the 50th Anniversary of Ghana
Independence,Pan-African News Wire, May 07, 2007,
panafricannews.blogspot.com.)

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., on the contrary, enters into this debate
like the goat recently nominated by Nana Akufo Addo to represent him
in the Upper East Region. Even the planners of US Africom have since
acknowledged that the initial approach was a mistake!Okoampa did not
mind whatever the Americans were willing to ram down our throats!
There he goes:

*In the lead-up to President George W. Bush's five-nation African
tour-of-duty," Okoampa laments, "the Director of Public Affairs at the
United States' Embassy in Accra was prompted to vehemently deny
widespread rumors and allegations regarding Mr. Bush's official visit
to Ghana, from February 19-21, climaxing with the bilateral
ratification of an agreement between the American leader and Ghana's
President John Agyekum-Kufuor allowing the establishment of an
American military base in the country.*" (See: U. S. Embassy has
Absolutely Nothing to Deny!!!, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.,
Feature Article | Mon, 18 Feb 2008)

It must carefully be noted that even though Okoampa himself accepts
and welcomes "Mr. Bush's official visit to Ghana, from February
19-21", as "climaxing with the bilateral ratification of an agreement
between the American leader and Ghana's President John Agyekum-Kufuor
allowing the establishment of an American military base in the
country," for some very strange reasons he still manages to refer to
the opposition to these bases as being based upon "vicious rumors and
allegations"! "Allegations" that are more or less his own! In U. S.
Embassy has Absolutely Nothing to Deny!!!, he writes:

"Indeed, one does not have to look far to conclude that such political
mischief is the incontrovertible brainchild of the so-called National
Democratic Congress (NDC), the pseudo-political party that militarily
occupied Ghana for nearly twenty years. Then also, this is not the
first time that the bugbear, or specter, of the establishment of a U.
S. military base is being bandied about. It is also significant to
observe that the NDC's ideological twin-sister, the so-called
Convention People's Party (CPP), has been in the thick of such vicious
rumors and allegations.*" (See: U. S. Embassy has Absolutely Nothing
to Deny!!!, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article |
Mon, 18 Feb 2008)

Okoampa concludes that nothing could be dumber than patriotism when
the USwants to be your master! For Okoampa, our country is not even
worth anything to die for! We can only develop in freedom when there
are US guns pointed on our heads! Listen to him:

*And so pretending to play dumb, in the dubious name of patriotism, is
absolutely no perspicuous demonstration of Ideological advancement as
these political nincompoops and outright charlatans would have
unsuspecting compatriots believe. And if these charlatans and
cognitively challenged rumor-mongers cared to know, they would have
since long discovered to their rude awakening, the fact that the
hitherto self-proclaimed inveterate enemy of U. S. “imperialism,”
Chairman Rawlings, educated all his three officially known children
right here in the United States, and not Cuba, Libya or
Russia."**...Indeed, it comes as great news to learn of the United
States having emplaced heavy military equipment in the country in
apparent, and auspicious, readiness for any barbaric, or troglodytic,
attempt by the enemies of constitutional democracy to reverse the
onward march of Ghana towards the Danquahist ideal of “Development in
Freedom.*” (See: U. S. Embassy has Absolutely Nothing to Deny!!!, by
Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article | Mon, 18 Feb 2008)

In the concluding paragraph to a recent article, "Okoampa Requires
Immediate Psychiatric Examination!*, Feature Article | By Nana Akyea
Mensah, The Odikro. A rejoinder to: "Quashigah Requires Immediate
Psychiatric I wrote:

"The reason why my grandson needs to see a psychiatrist is therefore,
also because it is very important for the Akufo-Addo busy-bodies like
him not to give the game away so soon! If he does not see a
psychiatrist, Okoampa would open the eyes of Ghanaians so wide to what
the Akufo Addo camp has been up to, ever since Bush said "Baloney!" to
the US Africom Headquarters rumour in Accra. Right now, my own real
fear in all this, is that considering the unprecedented leverage that
the Danquah Institute now wields within the the NPP, particularly the
current Akufo Addo-led National Executive Committee, as exemplified
with the speed by which the NPP has proved to be effectively and
extremely susceptible to the very negative influence of the Danquah
Institute, the question that every concerned Ghanaian ought to be
asking must be: "Are we safe?" Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. and Gabriel
Asare Ochere-Darko and co, are just a tip of the iceberg! My real
worry is now about Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, and why he has chosen
to be surrounded by the birds of the same feathers! These are clearly
people with doubtful intentions and abilities. Thanks for opening my
eyes to what Mr. Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo really represents! Is it
by accident or just a co-incidence that these two of the Danquah
Institute happen to be the only known Ghanaians campaigning for the
establishment of US military bases on our soil? The New Patriotic
Party seems to have a new concept of patriotism which is surely
bizarre!

Give me the old time patriotism any time, anywhere, any day!"

That's good enough for me! So good enough for me!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!
–
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro,
Blogs: Feature Articles: nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com,
Comments: theodikro.blogspot.com)

*(The original version of this and all other articles by me often
contain important links to the references made within. For further
information and follow-ups, I invite the interested reader to my blog.
I tweet some of my comments on facebookand on twitter. I am interested
in the political grammar of Pan-Africanism and its manners of
articulation. If you agree or disagree with me, you may follow my
thinking and reactions in a more comprehensive manner by coming to
theodikro.blogspot.com. I keep most of my comments in one place. You
may give me a follow on Twitter if you want to know "where I am coming
from": /twitter.com/TheOdikro, or check out my blogs: 1. Feature
Articles nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com, 2. Comments:
theodikro.blogspot.com) Thanks!

Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi: Prikus Kufuorus Non Conscientum Habet!

2010-08-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

A Rejoinder to: "Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi Is An Arrogant, Glorified ****",
Feature Article of Monday, 23 August 2010, Columnist: Okoampa-Ahoofe,
Kwame.

Hi grandson,

Your last article was pathetic! You like big words, eh?! I could not
help noticing that after my exposure of your unpatriotic and nefarious
activities, you have started using the words "patriotic" and
"progressive"! Do you understand what they mean at all? "Patriotic",
"Progressive"! Hmn! I can't help chuckling! Reading athese from a
quisling like you, using these words appear a bit Kafkasque! Are we
safe? Why have you all of a sudden, felt the need to prove your
patriotic credentials? We know you very, very well enough!

The only thing that is news-worthy in your article is the fact that
you now think Kofi Diawuo has anything resembling professional and
personal intergrity! That is new. What you ought to know is that you
put your own intergrity at stake in so doing! Yes, you cannot have
your cake and eat it! "Let Your Yea Be Yea; and Your Nay, Nay."
(Matthew 5:33). For someone who has done more than any member of the
NPP to help us understand how repugnant this president has been, we
are a bit taken aback by this sudden and absolutely meaningless
defence of a person you would also like to ! Have you seen something
that we might not be privvy to? This is certainly what, you yourself
would call 'a paradoxical oddity'. What happened?

What has happened since you wrote your last article on Kufour, "Kufuor
Continues to Campaign for Atta-Mills and NDC," (See: Feature Article
of Monday, 9 August 2010, Columnist: Okoampa-Ahoofe, Kwame) It is
laughable that you could be "glad that the Ivory Cost is claiming our
oil" as a Ghanaian and remain less dangerous that a lonely foreigner
who may be "in the pursuit of happiness"? What makes you change tact
even to defend the indefensible? I remember, not so long ago, someone
wrote a whole feature article addressed to you to tone down your
attacks on ex-President Kufour and your response was:

"My friend, you are lucky you are spewing such guff tens of miles away;
else, I would strangle you and face execution by lethal injection!" -
Author: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Date: 2010-08-12 23:48:31 (See
Comment to: "RE: “Kufuor continues to campaign for Atta-Mills" Feature
Article of Friday, 13 August 2010, by Columnist: Boahene, Peter
Owusu,)

Are we now seeing in full display the long-awaited problem of THE
CONGNITIVE DISSONANCE OF THE AKYEM MAFIA? I know Kufuor is now like
"Asantrofi Anoma" to you people, and you people are yet to make up
your minds whether to like him or hate him! The problem is you would
want to use his records to win votes, but at the same time you want to
distance yourselves from the numerous scandals! Now, all of a sudden
you appear to put a brave face on it because of the obvious
repercussions on the intergrity of Mr. Akufo-Addo, who may have to
position himself on this scandal if it continues to grow. An
uncomfortable situation indeed, so by all means Kufour has to be
innocent!

What kind of political opportunism is this? It is good that,
apparently, your attention has now been drawn to "moderate" your
criticism of the former president, but that in itself must not make
you swing to the other extreme end of the pendulum and begin to defend
even what he did when he was naked and alone with a woman and you were
nowhere around!! You are going too far, grandson, were you there in
the room with him? We all know you are a propaganda robot, but think
before you write, and for Heaven's sake be consistent. Which of the
Kufours you have been presenting do you want us to take?

Listen to your ridiculous self:

"In other words, our convicted contention here is that Ms. Yajzi is a
very dangerous woman who needs not be entertained by a progressive and
patriotic media."

Do you want me to laugh or cry? One never knows with you! By the way,
I choose to laugh! I have no choice! You are compelling! How sweet of
you for being a comic relief in these murky waters ahead of us!By the
way, what is your point? The fact that journalist are unable to
identify her nationality or spell her name differently, does not mean
that she did not have a vagina available for former President John
Agyekum Kufuor's penis! Most women, irrespective of nationality or the
spelling of their first names, have their genitals intact! Try a bit
harder, Monsieur Okoampa! You can do better than this! You write:

"She is, indeed, quite an interesting character, if also because she
does not appear to be even passably intelligent."

And the reason you give for this is because she fell in love with a
married man! Even if she is foolish as you want to suggest, what has
that got to do with falling in love? Since when did falling in love
become the exclusive preserve of the intelligent people only? You
write:

"there is absolutely no reason for anybody to believe that Ms. Yajzi,
when she decided to fall “madly” in love with Mr. Kufuor, did not know
that by getting sexually involved with a married Catholic, Christian
man and, perhaps, one who was old enough to be her own father, she
reserved the great negative potentiality of wrecking her lover’s
marriage. What with the grim and unsavory possibility of causing a
scandal of national proportions?"

You must be a shameless chauvinist! Why should it only be the woman
who must answer that and not Kufuor? Don't you know that for people
like Uncle Kofi Diawuo, the Akan-Latin "Prikus soribus non conscientum
habet", is the rule? (MEANING: translates roughly as "prikus" means
the prick or the penis, and "soribus" means "wake up" or "rise up" as
in a rebellion, insurrection or an errection, including presidential
ones! Thus it literaly means: "an errect penis has no conscience") All
the president needs is an errect penis! Damn the consequences! Never
blame the woman! She was lucky she was not raped by this bastard!

What makes you blame the woman instead of the "married Catholic,
Christian man and, perhaps, one who was old enough to be her own
father"? Did Kofi Diawuo give any hoots about what you call the "great
negative potentiality of wrecking [his own] marriage" or "the grim and
unsavory possibility of causing a scandal of national proportions?" If
the owner of the penis who is the president does not care, why should
the owner of the vagina who is a foreigner care? Is she the President
of Ghana?

And as though it were not enough, I know a thing or two which
collaborate the moral decadence of Kofi Diawuo; I know his morals at
close range through close associates. I was not in Washington with him
when george Bush organized a Banquet for Diawuo at the White House. To
the distaste of the "highly selected" presidential press corps that
was in his entourage including journalists like Mr. Malik Kwaku Baako
Jnr., I was reliably informed that the president came out of his
quarters to fratenize with the journalists, and the only thing that
came to his mind is to ask the press who felt they were on duty, "What
are you doing here? Mo mpe se mo be ko krom muo akope etwe bi ndie
anaa?" Meaning, "Don't you people want to go to town and get some
vagina to 'eat'?" My friend who was an admirer of the President was
horrified!

This was when I realised that probably most of the rumours of his
ecapades could be true! A real case of "Prikus Kufuorus Non
Conscientum Habet!" For those of you sensible to the classical Latin,
please beware, nominative "Kufourus" remains the same in the genitive
case in the Akan-Latin, and not 'Kufuori', the motive is to impress
the unsuspecting reader, just like Kwame Okoampa! And just in case
this is all about a competition of high-sounding words, I do not miss
out with my simple English! Hence the Akan-Latin: "Prikus Kufuorus Non
Conscientum Habet!"

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!
--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: /nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro
E-mail: nanaakyeamensah at gmail dot com

Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi: Prikus Kufuorus Non Conscientum Habet!

Feature Article of Wednesday, 25 August 2010

Columnist: Mensah, Nana Akyea