I was having a little conversation with Mr. Justice Sarpong of Texas on the arrest of Nana Darkwa on Ghanaweb the night of the 15th Delegates Conference of the New Patriotic Party at Kumasi on Satuarday, 27th February, 2010. As I had not heard the news about the results of the vote, I asked him if he could confirm my suspicions:
"Do you know the results of the vote? I suspect Jake won but just like Nana Darkwa, I have no proof! Hahahaha!"
Sarpong was kind enough to confirm as follows:
"YES, JAKE WON AND YOUR PART-TIME PARTY NDC WOULD BE VOTED OUT IN 2012. HAVE A GOOD WEEK END."
Even though the style of this article is a reply to Justice Sarpong in order to stimulate a debate on this very important issue directly on the Ghanaweb forum, the contents are a matter of urgent concern for all Ghanaians, Africans and all the peoples of the world who support peace and justice on our one and only planet.
My response to Sarpong at the news of the election of Mr. Jake Obetsebi Lamptey as the Chairman of the NPP was thus:
"Thanks Mr. Sarpong!
I am going to write an article immediately! Can you guess what it is going to be about?
Guess Number One:
It is about his acquisition of state property as personal property being the central tenet of his personal contribution to the property owning democracy of the NPP!
Answer: WRONG!
Guess Number Two:
I suppose he is going to drive and have a peep at the coveted house to see if it may require some maintenance services, and how much the renovations would cost, etc., etc., ...
Answer: WRONG!
Guess Number Three:
There is no doubt he would be hinting his contractor to get ready for the works....
Answer: WRONG!
Guess Number Four:
It is about the Ga lands, and how Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is going to hide behind the Bible to dupe his own people, "It is written in the Bible", I can almost hear him say: "that, 'Even the little that you have shall be taken away from you!'"..... Hahaha hahahaha! This is also wrong!
I am going to do none of those! I am sure to hell people are going to write better on these subjects than I possibly can! One issue which is of extreme national importance, which the Akufo Addo team must be forced to come out clean with Ghanaians is their position on US Africa Command. For reasons of national security, it is not important whether the US states they want to establish bases in Ghana or not. If they have reasons not to let us know, they will not let us know. What is important is what our own elected leaders' position on the matter. This is an area where some of us want to see more transparency from the NPP, rather than the opaque manner ex-President Kufour was dealing in. There shall be no escape, as we are going to insist upon it until we get the answers. If he fails to respond, we shall accompany him with the issue right up to December 2012. It is therefore in the interest of Nana Akufo Addo must come out very clearly on this, in order not to look funny.
With the election of Jake Obetsebi Lamptey as the Chairman the issue even becomes more than urgent. I met Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. in London during the last Presidential campaigns. As usual, we were very worried about the way President Bush was able to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians with his Baloney!" speech, and how all of a sudden, the talk of Africom became what Asare-Ochere Darko of the Danquah Institute calls "high-powered secret meetings with the President, Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff" with the Ghanaian public completely left in the dark!
I asked Kwesi if he had managed to ask Akufo Addo to commit himself, and he told me he had been looking for the opportunity but he had not yet succeeded. The he recounted to me when he had the chance he asked Jake Obetsebi Lamptey. And his response was something to this effect: "Well, you know, America is a very big and powerful country, so if they want to establish a base here we can do virtually nothing about it!"
I have been trying to get the Akufo Addo team to respond to these alarming declarations by one of his closest of allies and propagandist-in-chief, Asare Ochere Darko. He has kept an extraordinary silence on the matter. Mr. Gabby Asare Ochere-Darko tells us: 'in August 2007 Major-General Ward, who was later confirmed as AFRICOM’s first commander, visited Accra. He held discussions with President Kufuor on “ways of strengthening military cooperation.” His high-powered secret meetings with the President, Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff triggered huge speculation. Much was made of Maj Gen J B Danquah’s public statement about the visit when he said Maj Gen Ward had ‘done enough to resolve’ Ghana’s concerns about AFRICOM, adding, “I have had the chance to hear [Ward] explain what is the reasoning behind the command, and it’s all about partnership.”'
What was after former US President George W. Bush had declared publicly in Accra on the 20th of February 2007, that "Some people say I am here to kind of looking for bases. That is baloney!" President Kufour was happy that the declaration by the visiting US President "would pay put to the speculation, and enable the US-Ghana relations to flourish." Upon second thoughts, I suspect they did not find it a very brilliant idea to go into elections with such a sell-out hanging on their necks. Thus they cleverly made public pronouncements to fool the population whilst they clandestinely continued what Maj Gen J B Danquah vaguely tells us: "it’s all about partnership.”
Ochere Darko explains the nature of the "partnership". He says exactly the same thing we hear from the US Africa Command:
"At the moment the Americans say they are happy to keep the U.S. Africa Command headquarters in Germany, to coordinate all U.S. military and security interests throughout the African continent. But any reasonable assessment must conclude that this can be nothing but a temporary address and arrangement."
What I find even more alarming is this attempt by the Akufo Addo chief propagandist to sell the idea of Africom to Ghanaians:
"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."
Ochere Darko, the Executive Director of the Akyem Mafia neocolonialist think-tank known as the Danquah Institute now shows us how they hope to move Ghana forward:
"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."
I am sure it shall not harm our democratic process if Nana Akufo Addo would come out clearly to distance himself with the position of his right hand man or be honest enough to tell us BEFORE he is elected, whether or not he endorses the "brilliant ideas" of the Danquah Institute neocolonialist think-tank.
They seem to know more than the average Ghanaian concerning the goings-on:
"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."
Is Nana Akufo Addo saying that his boys know more than he does? Is he cleverly keeping that up his sleeves only to spring the surprise once elected into office? I think that it is about time that he came out clean and state his policy on Ghana as the headquarters of the US Africa Command NOW! I know not what course my countrymen and women may take, but as for me, I want to hear a clear "NO TO AFRICOM" from him! If he intends to go ahead with the Kufour-Bush plans, he has to make it clear before the elections, for Ghanaians to decide whether or not such a human being is fit to be a president. I have every reason not to trust him one bit!
PLEASE READ ASARE OCHERE-DARKO'S ARTICLE HERE:
Source: See Ghanaweb Archives, Feature Article of Monday, 25 May 2009
"Obama’s Visit – What’s In It For Us And U.S.?" Columnist: Otchere-Darko, Asara
This article has just nee published on www.modernghana.com/
Comment repeated under: General News of Sunday, 28 February 2010, Source: GNA
Northern Region marks Veterans Day here Comment: Akufo Addo Must Come Out On USAfriCom
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ILLEGAL FUND-RAISING ACTIVITY BY THE NPP OF GHANA IN THE UNITED STATES Check out this discussion -
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ILLEGAL FUND-RAISING ACTIVITY BY THE NPP OF GHANA IN THE UNITED STATES
Check out this discussion - Please click here
Check out this discussion - Please click here
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
AFRICA@COP 15 What At All Is This Conference About? By Nana Akyea Mensah, TheOdikro.
I think that what we do now, or fail to, in this moment will be humanity’s defining legacy."
ROBBY ROMERO,
Ambitious Legal Treaty Now!
The United Nations Conference, dubbed COP 15, that is currently under way at the Bella Center, Copenhagen in Denmark, must certainly be important, even from mere appearances. There are more than 15,000 participants from over 190 countries. I am sure if you asked any of the overwhelming numbers of thousands of humanity from all over the world who were demonstrating in Copenhagen this week-end, nay, I do know their answer! Ask them what the conference is all about, and they would respond with one voice in a tremendous and musical unison: "Ambitious legal treaty now! Treaty now! Legal treaty now! Legal treaty now! Legal treaty now! Legal treaty now! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!" Hundreds of times over until the chant assumes a magical appeal and a sense of power and determination to save our planet, never seen before in the history of the human race.
Meanwhile, a report released by the UN's World Food Programme said "the number affected by hunger could rise by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent without action to tackle global warming, with two thirds of the increase concentrated in Africa."
Their views about the urgency of the situation have a striking corroboration from almost every angle you turn, even in the United States, which appears to be holding the world back.. On the November 25, 2009, the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine, Connecticut, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] wrote: "The upcoming COP15 meeting in Denmark—so named because it is the 15th such international gathering of the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—is the world's next big chance to take decisive multi-lateral action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions substantially enough to ward off cataclysmic climate change"
"The world has just ten years to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control before the damage they cause become irreversible, warns Dr Jason Lowe, Head of Mitigation Advice, Met Office and AVOID Chief Scientist. "Government policies are based on robust, up-to-date evidence, and the AVOID .. (See also: Copenhagen climate change conference: world 'has 10 years to reverse trends)
"Should nations fail to tackle the issue, giant mirrors in space, artificial trees and other so called “geo-engineering solutions” will be the only way to prevent disastrous overheating of the planet, the researchers warned."'Pollution from cars and factories will have to be declining at a rate of five per cent a year by 2020,' reports telegraph.co.uk, 'the Met Office said, "World emissions are currently growing at around three per cent per annum and it will take massive investment in renewable energy, electric cars, nuclear and other green technologies to stop the growth. It is estimated it would cost the world around 2.5 per cent of GDP or £150 for every person on the planet to make such massive cuts."
Now, just a step away from the main streets and into the Bella Centre we have our groups of designated representatives as delegates. One fundamental problem with this conference is the simple lack of agreement about what this particular conference is all about. From people from poor islands like Tuvalu and the Maldives who are already experiencing dramatic rises of sea levels and internal migration onto higher lands, it is very normal that anything short of an ambitious legal treaty out of the conference renders it a horrendous failure. The leading industrialised countries, led by the Obama Administration are thinking otherwise. The problem is that those who pollute the most tend not to feel the need to reduce, whilst those who are suffering already the ravages of droughts, floods, and other natural disasters want a firmer action.
"the largest climate summit in history."
"Over the next two weeks, a hundred world leaders are expected to
attend the UN conference that’s been described by some scientists as
the most important the world has ever seen." Reports Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Little wonder it has been described as "the largest climate summit in history."
"To stress the significance of the summit," Amy Goodman goes on, "fifty-six newspapers in forty-five countries are taking the unprecedented step of publishing the same editorial today. The editorial reads, quote, “Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security…Climate change has been caused over centuries, has consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming it will be determined in the next 14 days,”
"The next speaker of the welcoming ceremony was Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Pachauri warned of the dangers of unmitigated global warming:
”In the twentieth century, average global temperature increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius, while sea level rise resulting from thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of ice across the globe amounted to seventeen centimeters. With this increase, the Maldive Islands, several other small island states, and low-lying coastal nations like Bangladesh, with land surface barely a meter or two above sea level, would find that every storm surge and major upwelling of the seas represents a serious danger to life and property. The global community thus has a moral and material responsibility to do all it can to limit the growing impacts of climate change on these and other vulnerable societies across the globe.
Indeed, we need to give practical expression to the provisions of Article 2 of the UNFCCC, which defines the ultimate objective of the convention as the achievement of—and I quote—“stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” end of quote.
On the basis of the AR4, we know that climate change, in the absence of mitigation policies, would in all likelihood lead to, one, possible disappearance of sea ice by the latter part of the twenty-first century; two, increase in frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation; three, increase in tropical cyclone intensity; four, decrease in water resources due to climate change in many semi-arid areas, such as the Mediterranean basin, western United States, southern Africa and northeastern Brazil; five, possible elimination of the Greenland ice sheet and a resulting contribution to sea level rise of about seven meters—without mitigation, future temperatures in Greenland would compare with levels estimated 425,000 years ago, when paleoclimate information suggests four to six meters of sea level rise; six, approximately 20 to 30 percent of species assessed so far being at increased risk of extinction, if increases in global average warming exceed 1.5 to 2.5 degrees Celsius.
May I mention that climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and economic and land use change, including urbanization? Available research suggests a significant future increase in heavy rainfall events in many regions, including some in which the mean rainfall is projected to decrease. The resulting flood risk poses challenges to society, physical infrastructure and water quality. It is likely that 20 percent of the world population, which, as a fraction, could exceed two billion people, will live in areas where river flood potential could increase by the 2080s. In Africa, by 2020 between 75 and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to water stress due to climate change. And in some countries on that continent, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent.
Another area facing serious impacts of climate change are the oceans, where the uptake of anthropogenic carbon since 1750 has led to the ocean becoming more acidic, with an average decrease in pH of 0.1 units. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations lead to further acidification, the consequences of which could be serious for all forms of marine organisms.”
Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Please note that the AR4 - Rajendra Pachauri, is referring to is the The Fourth Assessment Report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published in 2007. The report is an assessmenet and summary of the climate change situation worldwide. It concluded that activities by man was mainly responsible for at least 90% likely that the increase of the global average temperature since the mid-20th Century was mainly due to man's activity. BBC climate change glossary adds, "The report assessed and summarised the climate change situation worldwide. It concluded that it was at least 90% likely that the increase of the global average temperature since the mid-20th Century was mainly due to man's activity."
December 07, 2009
Climate Countdown: Largest Climate Summit in World History Opens in Copenhagen
African nations make a stand at UN climate talks
¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido! ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!
The last important formal expression of the agreement "that the average temperature rise since pre-industrial times should be limited to 2C (3.6F). "What this logically implicit in this is a search for a treaty in Copenhagen to curb the growth in greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the world within that limit."
In the meantime, many countries, most of them very poor, who are already bearing the brunt of climate change, and who are also the least polluters, are thinking about how to prepare for the impacts of climate change. The questions they are asking are such as - "what sorts of adaptation will be necessary?" They are there fore asking for climate reparations. "They are therefore looking for substantial and reliable finance to help them adapt. Their argument is that as the industrialised world has caused the problem, it must pay to sort it out."
The industrialised countries claim to have agreed in principle to help developing countries, constrain their greenhouse gas emissions, but in the absence of a treaty, the mechanisms that can speed up this technology transfer is a far way cry! The urgency of the situation rests upon the fact that these include measures such as "building sea defences, securing fresh water supplies and developing new crop varieties." And time does not seem to be on the side of the victims in the near futre because the negotiations are stalling.
On Tuesday 3 November 2009 23.26 GMT, John Vidal reports from Barcelona in the guardian.co.uk,, "African countries have said they are prepared to provoke a major UN crisis if the US and other rich countries do not start to urgently commit themselves to deeper and faster greenhouse gas emission cuts."
This powerful call by Africa in Barcelona where UN officials were putting up finishing touches to the COP 15, which was the just a few weeks away, gives me a lot of hope and confidence in our negotiators. The tactic forced the UN chair to abandon two working groups after the Africa group refused to take part. "The African countries were supported by all other developing country blocks at the talks." The Guardian reported, "In a series of statements, the G77 plus China group of 130 nations, the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, as well as Bolivia and several Latin America countries, all broadly backed the African action."
Since the African countries complained in Barcelona, there has been very little movement. As Bruno Sekoli, chair of the LDC group, said then: "Africa and Africans are dying now while those who are historically responsible are not taking actions."
The same Guardian report of Tuesday 3 November 2009 23.26 GMT, and included:
"In a press conference, the poorest countries demanded that the rich adopt the science-backed target of a 40% overall cut on emissions on 1990 levels. So far, rich countries have pledged an aggregate of less than 10%. The US, the world's second biggest polluter, has pledged to cut around 4% on 1990 levels, or 17% on 2005 levels."
December 08, 2009
Nigerian Environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey: The Global North Owes a
Climate Debt to Africa.
To gain an insight of what is really going on today, I think this part of the conversation is worth repeating:
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Nnimmo Bassey, what do you want to happen out of
here, when you have world leaders like our own President Obama saying
there will not be a binding agreement coming out of COP15, this
summit?
NNIMMO BASSEY: It’s really shocking that Obama would say a thing like
that, before even coming down here. It’s like telling us that we’ve
come here to waste our time. I mean, that kind of statement means to
me that we have a lot of time to play around with politics of climate
change. But indeed, the world has no time. We’ve run out of time. We
are not even in injury time. We’ve gone to the brink. And the United
States—President of United States, Obama, has a responsibility to take
this matter seriously. It’s an issue of justice. And it’s completely
unethical to play politics or play under the table. To make some
private secret deals among presidents about climate change, that is
totally unacceptable."
UN negotiators have said they are looking to achieve an interim pact
in Copenhagen with more negotiations for a possible binding agreement
next year. "Today is Tuesday, 15 December, 2009, and as I write we are going through the same motions over and over again. As Amy Good man puts it, "Tuvalu delegate Ian Fry said Senate actions will determine whether endangered island nations survive."
Ian Fry: “It appears that we are waiting for some senators in the US Congress to conclude before we can consider this issue properly. It is an irony of the modern world that the fate of the world is being determined by some senators in the US Congress.”
Amy Goodman adds:
"Fry’s plea came after architects of the main Senate climate and energy bills unveiled new, weaker proposals aimed at attracting Republican support. Democratic Senator John Kerry, Independent Senator Joe Lieberman and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham released a new “framework” for the Senate climate bill. Their proposal would reduce US emissions cuts to 17 percent of 2005 levels, down from 20 percent in Kerry’s initial bill with Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. The 17 percent cut amounts to just a four percent reduction when adopting the 1990 levels used by the rest of the world. The new Senate “framework” also includes major financial incentives for nuclear power plants and expanded opportunities for offshore drilling."
"African countries have shown they are not going to sit back and accept a bad deal in Copenhagen," said a spokeswomen for Oxfam international.
"The poorest countries say they are dying now and the rich are just sitting back doing nothing. Hopefully they will take action now," said Asad Rehman, head of international climate with Friends of the Earth.
"The world's largest historical emitter, the US, is missing in action during the climate negotiations, on its targets, on its finance – and the developing world is rightfully calling them out on it," said Greenpeace USA climate campaign director Damon Moglen.
"It is clear that for many countries, enough is enough. The fact that this has come today from countries including Kenya, President Obama's ancestral home, should be his wake-up call. Obama can no longer hide behind failed congressional legislation. He must provide ambitious, science-based emissions reductions targets and come to table in Copenhagen." Source: The Guardian
December 15, 2009
The Climate Divide: Dispute Between Rich and Poor Nations Widens at UN Copenhagen Summit
Nana Akyea Mensah, TheOdikro.
Get the latest on twitter:
http://twitter.com/TheOdikro
CHAPTER ONE :
"WE SHALL NOT DIE QUIETLY!"
What At All Is This Conference About?
This article is a part of:
A Grammar of Pan-Africanism, and its manners of articulation in today's world series,
PART ONE: AFRICA@COP 15
Reflections on the the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - COP 15, 7 Dec - 18 Dec 2009 in Copenhagen, And A Call For Action In support Of On-going Struggle Against The Emerging Challenges To Peoples' Power.
Read also on Ghanaweb:
AFRICA@COP 15 INTRODUCTION: CLIMATE CHANGE, WHEELING AND DEALING?
"Well, today is the opening day of the summit, and Democracy Now! is
the only daily global TV, radio news hour broadcasting from right here
inside the Bella Center for the next two weeks, bringing you this
exclusive coverage from inside the conference with delegates and
organizers, from outside on the streets where thousands of activists
are converging to call for real solutions to combat global warming. As
one sign outside the Bella Center said, “Politicians talk. Leaders
act.” - Amy Goodman.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
"WE WILL NOT DIE QUIETLY!."
A Grammar of Pan-Africanism, and its manners of articulation:
Part One: FOCUS ON COPENHAGEN:
# 1 "WE WILL NOT DIE QUIETLY!."
"Today, while big NGOs bit their tongues, Lumumba Di-Aping, the Sudanese chairman of the G77 group of developing nations, greeted the news that rich countries will spend a mere $10-billion helping poor states cope with climate change by saying that it was "not enough to buy us coffins." And when the Danish draft of the final agreement was leaked to The Guardian-incorporating much of Washington's destructive wish list-it was the Africans who were out protesting it first.
Obama, the son of a Kenyan man, still inspires a great deal of pride among African delegates here, and rightfully so. But the louder message we are hearing is that that the continent has a great many sons and daughters and our collective failure to address the climate crisis is an immediate threat to their survival. As the African delegates chanted at the Bella Center tonight: "We will not die quietly." Read moreClimate betrayal--Africa cooling on Obama after secret 'Danish Text' leak
by: Paul Rosenberg Wed Dec 09, 2009 at 15:15
What I find very interesting about this part is where it began: The Official Joy 99.7 FM Facebook Group
Nana Akyea Mensah ii. VOICES OF OUR TIMES!
This is to help focus public attention and stimulate informed debates
about what is clearly a serious matter that is literally a life and
death issue, but hardly discus...sed enough at the grassroots. This
article has been written, thus in the view to help focus attention and
encourage grass-root discussion on what Amy Goodman aptly describes as
"depicted by scientists as "the most important the world has ever
seen." 'To stress the significance of the summit,' Amy Goodman goes on,
'fifty-six newspapers in forty-five countries are taking the
unprecedented step of publishing the same editorial today. The
editorial reads, quote, “Unless we combine to take decisive action,
climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and
security…Climate change has been caused over centuries, has
consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming
it will be determined in the next 14 days,” as goes the editorial.'
December 08, 2009
Nigerian Environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey: The Global North Owes a Climate Debt to Africa
Nnimmo Bassey, founder of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, and he serves as the international chair of Friends of the Earth.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Nnimmo Bassey, what do you want to
happen out of here, when you have world leaders like our own President
Obama saying there will not be a binding agreement coming out of COP15,
this summit?
NNIMMO BASSEY: It’s really shocking that Obama would say
a thing like that, before even coming down here. It’s like telling us
that we’ve come here to waste our time. I mean, that kind of statement
means to me that we have a lot of time to play around with politics of
climate change. But indeed, the world has no time. We’ve run out of
time. We are not even in injury time. We’ve gone to the brink. And the
United States—President of United States, Obama, has a responsibility
to take this matter seriously. It’s an issue of justice. And it’s
completely unethical to play politics or play under the table. To make
some private secret deals among presidents about climate change, that
is totally unacceptable.
www.democracynow.org
We turn now to one of Nigeria's best-known environmental leaders, Nnimmo Bassey. He is the founder of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, and he serves as the international chair of Friends of the Earth. ...
December 09, 2009
Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the Sudanese chair of the group of 132 developing countries known as G77.
“This Text Is an Extremely Dangerous Document for Developing Countries”: G77 Chief Condemns Secret US-Danish Climate Deal
The UN climate talks are in disarray here in Copenhagen after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN’s role in all future climate change negotiations. Moments before we went on the air, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, the Sudanese chair of the group of 132 developing countries known as G77, condemned the leaked document. [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting live from Copenhagen. This is Climate Countdown.
- YVO DE BOER: Time is up. Over the next two weeks, governments have to deliver a strong and long-term response to the challenge of climate change. MOHAMED AXAM MAUMOON: All those countries are suffering to the point that we can’t see the end of it, because the mistakes other countries are making, for the mistakes that you are—that many people don’t try to redeem themselves from. And it’s as good as killing us off.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Climate Countdown. We’re broadcasting live from Copenhagen. I’m Amy Goodman, joined by Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat.
ANJALI KAMAT: Welcome, everyone. We’re here in the Bella Center in Copenhagen.
The UN talks here are in disarray after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders next week will be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN’s role in all future climate change negotiations.
The secret draft agreement was leaked to The Guardian newspaper, which broke the story yesterday afternoon. The document also sets unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050, meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much as those in poor countries.
The Guardian reports the document, known as the “Danish text,” was worked on by a group of individuals known as the “circle of commitment.” It is understood to include the Britain—to include Britain, the United States and Denmark and has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalized this week.
The head of the UN climate talks, Yvo de Boer, downplayed the significance of the leaked document, saying, quote, “This was an informal paper ahead of the conference given to a number of people for the purposes of consultations. The only formal texts in the UN process are the ones tabled by the Chairs of this Copenhagen conference at the behest of the Parties.”
Moments before we went on the air, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping addressed the controversy. He is the Sudanese chair of the group of 132 developing countries known as G77 and China.
- LUMUMBA STANISLAUS DI-APING: …is that this text, the Danish text, is an extremely dangerous document for developing countries. It is a total violation of the principles of transparency and openness. It is a rejection of the fact that the UNFCCC is the only legitimate forum for conducting negotiations by parties to the convention. And in terms of substance, it is a fundamental rejection and reworking of the [UNFCCC] balance of obligations between developing and developed countries. Not only that, it’s our humble view it’s equally an insult to the elected president of COP15. This text comes from the office of the Prime Minister of Denmark. It’s overreaching. The strategic goal is to destroy the balance of obligations between developing and developed, industrialized Western countries. And this is done by and with a zealous rejection of the notion of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. And further, it denies the fact that developed countries have a historical responsibility for damaging the atmospheric space, which is something started and has been continuing for the last—over last 200 years.
AMY GOODMAN: Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping addressing the controversy of the so-called Danish text.
Monday, December 7, 2009
A Grammar of Pan-Africanism, and its manners of articulation: Part One: FOCUS ON COPENHAGEN: A CLIMATE CHANGE DEALING AND WHEELING?
A Grammar of Pan-Africanism, and its manners of articulation:
Part One: FOCUS ON COPENHAGEN: A CLIMATE CHANGE DEALING AND WHEELING?
WATCH THE HISTORIC EVENTS HERE!
Climate Countdown: Largest Climate Summit in World History Opens in Copenhagen
INTRODUCTION
For once in the history of the African continent, there is the possibility of an overwhelming consensus in a vital international issue which finds both our civil society and governmental representatives singing as though they know their copies of the environmental hymn book "by heart"! Yet, strangely enough, there is no room for complacency, we still keep our fingers crossed. Too much is at stake here and those responsible most for this problem have decided to adopt some of the most irresponsible positions that would make this important conference, a success.
This is to help focus public attention and stimulate informed debates about what is clearly a serious matter that is literally a life and death issue, but hardly discussed enough at the grassroots. This article has been written, thus in the view to help focus attention and encourage grass-root discussion on what Amy Goodman aptly describes as "depicted by scientists as "the most important the world has ever seen." 'To stress the significance of the summit,' Amy Goodman goes on, 'fifty-six newspapers in forty-five countries are taking the unprecedented step of publishing the same editorial today. The editorial reads, quote, “Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security…Climate change has been caused over centuries, has consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming it will be determined in the next 14 days,” as goes the editorial.'
This is "literally a matter of life and death". The level of attention being given to this in the media is almost scary, even more alarming is the lack of a grass root discussion of an issue of such a magnitude. The import of this conference could not have been stated better than Rajendra Pachuri, the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As Amy Goodman reminds us, "the group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Pachauri warned of the dangers of unmitigated global warming"
Above everything else, we need to remain focused. The issue is before our elected representatives, and we welcome and support their positions. It is very important that we show this in every creative way possible! Particularly, inside the negotiations halls, we need to mobilize maximum support for the The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which on Tuesday rejected calls by some world leaders, including the biggest polluters, "to stall a legally binding outcome at next month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen." The grouping of most vulnerable states instead maintained that "the developed nations should continue to build on actions already undertaken."
“We must protect the most vulnerable, not the most powerful,” said Grenada’s Environment Minister Michael Church at the end of a two-day PRE-COP Consultation in the Danish capital.
“We must come out of Copenhagen with confidence that we (Ministers) have been able to bring the concerns of our people unto the platform of COP 15, to be integrated into the main agreement,” said Sherry Ayittey, Ghana’s Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.
“We have noted the reiteration of commitments to a legally binding outcome. We want and expect nothing less,” said Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary, Mohamed Mijarul Quayes.
He said that there must be clear, predictable commitments for cuts, financing and technology transfer “not as an expression of nicety, or the spirit of a Good Samaritan, but as an acknowledgement of responsibility and a commitment to secure the common future of all of us.”
“AOSIS still insist and maintain that there are all the ingredients for us to arrive at an international legally binding outcome in Copenhagen in December and that continues to be our position,” said Church who also chairs the 42-island grouping of small states.
These developments are against a backdrop of what Naomi Klein recently described in the Rolling Stone Magazine as "Climate Rage". In a response to Amy Goodman this is what she sees at stake at Copenhagen from the African perspectives. How far do we identify, support, and seek to further that? Aparently, the message from Africa is going through:
"AMY GOODMAN: Talk specifically about the countries that are raising these concerns and saying we shouldn’t have to pay. For example in Africa.
NAOMI KLEIN: Well, the African Union, the coalition of African states, have been very clear that their primary demand out of Copenhagen are these deep emissions cuts and serious funding for adaptation to climate change. In eastern Africa right now, you have massive, you have serious droughts affecting millions of people. That is just one example of the kind of costs that are being incurred because of climate change already. So, we’re not talking about projecting into the future, some hypothetical future, we are talking about right now.
The main push, as I said, is actually coming from Bolivia. And Bolivia has an extraordinary climate negotiator, who I quote in the Rolling Stone piece, named Angelica Navarro, who I first met in Geneva. She was actually Bolivia’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization. She’s very clear, very tough, multilingual. It takes a lot of strength to stand up to the sort of pressure that a small country like Bolivia faces, whether at the World Trade Organization or now in the climate negotiations. And Angelica Navarro is really up to the task and she has been giving these really inspiring speeches, at summits in the lead up to Copenhagen. And has really been an galvanizing force for other developing countries.
But also, you know she is taking a demand that is coming from groups like the third World Network, Focus on the Global South, Jubilee South, coalitions of NGOs and climate justice groups, that have been making these demands on the outside of summits. But, what is interesting now is that these demands have entered inside the summit, they are at the negotiating table. And of course there is extraordinary resistance from the United States, and the European Union, Canada, Australia, to the idea that they shouldn’t just be giving money to the developing world to adapt to climate change, to deal with climate change, out of the goodness of our hearts, out of a sense of charity, but actually out of a legal obligation. This is a frightening concept as you can imagine." You may watch the entire interview here
Here is what Naomi Klein says in a recent interview as a guest on Democracy Now:
"In Copenhagen, it’s a different dynamic, because the fact is that the people in the streets overwhelmingly support the mission of the meeting in Copenhagen. And, so, they’re not saying “no” to the idea of a climate summit. In fact, they’re saying “yes,” and they’re revealing, highlighting that, in fact, it is the world leaders, particularly world leaders from the heavy-emitting countries, like the United States and Canada, who are the naysayers, who are the ones who are saying, “No, we don’t actually want to tackle the climate crisis, we don’t want to make the emissions cuts that are needed, that are required by science.”
So, in a sense, it’s an inversion where it’s the activists who are saying, “Yes, we believe in this mission.” And it’s the politicians, really, who we need to reveal as being the ones who are actually saying, ‘no,’ even as they claim to be saying ‘yes,’ and even as they claim—even as they sell failure as ‘success’.”
So, it’s really tricky for activists in terms of figuring out how you interact with a summit like this. So, there’s one day, for instance, the 18th—December 18th, where activists are going to be kind of storming the conference center, nonviolently, but using civil disobedience. But their goal, they say, is not to shut down the meeting, but to open up the meeting and to have a forum inside the meeting to talk about real climate solutions, like leaving fossil fuels in the ground—dirty fossil fuels, particularly things like the Alberta tar sands—talking about solutions like climate debt that we’ve been discussing, and exposing the fallacies of the claims that the market can solve the climate crisis.
Because, of course, that’s what we’re going to be hearing a lot of in Copenhagen, market-based solutions: cap and trade, emission trading, carbon sinks, basically creating a huge market in pollution. And you have many of the same players that crashed the global economy, like Goldman Sachs, salivating over the idea of being able to have a speculative bubble over carbon.
So, that’s the dynamic. It’s not saying “no,” not saying “shut down,” but saying, “Open up. Let’s talk about real solutions.” And another example of this is that, actually, there will be an attempt to shut something down in Copenhagen, but that is focused on shutting down the port for a day—Copenhagen’s port—to highlight the corporate side of this equation, the shipping industry and how emissions-heavy it is. And, so, not to shut down a meeting that actually the activists believe in, but to go after industry itself. So, there’s going to be a lot of actions like that. A lot of thought and debate is going into how to craft actions that are really consistent with the goals of this movement."
(Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the bestseller, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” It’s also the 10th anniversary of the publication of her first book “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.” (Related Links: *NaomiKlein.com *Naomi Klein: "Climate Rage" *Naomi Klein: "Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up")
"RAJENDRA PACHAURI: In the twentieth century, average global temperature increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius, while sea level rise resulting from thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of ice across the globe amounted to seventeen centimeters. With this increase, the Maldive Islands, several other small island states, and low-lying coastal nations like Bangladesh, with land surface barely a meter or two above sea level, would find that every storm surge and major upwelling of the seas represents a serious danger to life and property. The global community thus has a moral and material responsibility to do all it can to limit the growing impacts of climate change on these and other vulnerable societies across the globe.
Indeed, we need to give practical expression to the provisions of Article 2 of the UNFCCC, which defines the ultimate objective of the convention as the achievement of—and I quote—“stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” end of quote. "
This on-going publication of an on-line responses to the Copenhagen Conference is intended to be interactive and invite concerned individuals to link up with all the groups on the ground and help them develop their collective voices in any way you possibly can for the goodness of all, after an informed reflection. We need to link up individually with active representatives of the people on the ground. For example today's guests on Democracy Now! They all have very interesting ideas about how and why you and I can and shoud get involved:
Saleemul Huq, Bangladeshi-born scientist who now heads the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development. He was a lead author on parts of the last two reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Lidy Nacpil, International Coordinator of Jubilee South and vice president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition of the Philippines;Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Isabella Masinde, African Wildlife Foundation; Chikondi Juma, Malawian journalist, Titus Dlamini, Swaziland National Trust, Samwel Naikada, Indigenous activist from Kenya; Iyabo Onibokun, International Alliance for Indigenous People; Yinka Adeyemi, Economic Commission for Africa; Timothee Kagonbe, Activist from Cameroon, and the many more earth-and-people friendly faces as and when they show up!
I find it extremely amazing that these same countries expressing extreme unwillingness to part with a what has been pegged by the experts to a paltry $200bn. The offer of $10bn on the table, cmpared to the trillions of dollars that were recently paid to big private capitalist ventures responsible for the economic crisis in the first place, or the other trillions of dollars that are being spent on wars triggered by a phenomenon described by ex-President George Bush himself as "the American addiction to oil" in an era of global warming, the two hundred billion dollars being demanded by the experts, is peanuts, $10bn an insult and a slap in the face!
“$200bn could trigger off a chain reaction that delivers more ambitious emissions reductions and helps the world’s poorest people adapt to a changing climate.”
“Rich countries are mistaken if they think that less than a half of the emissions cuts demanded by the science and $10bn in re-packaged aid promises can be spun as a success in two weeks time. It underestimates the real needs of billions of poor people and overestimates the patience of poor countries who have clearly signalled their preference for no deal over green wash.”
Antonio Hill Senior Climate Change Advisor, Oxfam International
Cheers!
--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
I wish to invite interested parties who want to alert, share or participate in these discussions with me not to hesitate to contact me at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: /nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro
E-mail: nanaakyeamensah at gmail dot com
Most Popular News
Obama joins UN conference at crucial moment
The essentials in Copenhagen
Cabinet meeting at Mt. Everest
Indian target may help negotiations
Top scientist hopes that the Copenhagen negotiations fail
Latest news
COP15 – day 1 roundup
07/12/2009
US body aids Copenhagen conference
07/12/2009
Countries’ positions at a glance
07/12/2009
Obama and Gore to meet on climate change
07/12/2009
EU rumoured to provide “one-three billion euro”
07/12/2009
EU keeps world in suspense on 30 percent vow
07/12/2009
Hope for deal at conference
07/12/2009
South Africa: Aid needed to reach target
07/12/2009
G-77 wants further commitment
07/12/2009
192 nations at UN climate conference in Copenhagen
07/12/2009
Recommend it for other websites to integrate and focus more attention on this than they do with the World Cup.
Thank you for your interest in bringing Democracy Now! to your community. One of our most important goals is to bring the voices on Democracy Now! to new audiences. From calling your local radio or public access TV station, to mobilizing your community, EVERY PERSON can make a difference.
Often, stations add Democracy Now! to their programming schedules simply in response to requests from the community. CALL TODAY!
After you have contacted a station, please be in touch no matter what happens to let us know about your experience. Email DEMOCRACY NOW! or Call: 212-431-9090 x802.
Democracy Now!
A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 800 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Cop15logo WATCH THE EVENT HERE!
Climate Countdown: Largest Climate Summit in World History Opens in Copenhagen
Democracy Now! broadcasts live from Copenhagen from inside the Bella Center, where thousands of delegates from over 190 countries are gathering for the largest climate summit in history. Over the next two weeks, 100 world leaders are expected to attend the UN conference that has been described by some scientists as the most important the world has ever seen. We play highlights from the opening ceremony with the mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard; Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaking on Sunday. [includes rush transcript]
Related stories
* Amidst Uncertainty on US Role in Upcoming Climate Talks, 350.org Holds International Climate Action Day in 170 Nations
* Climate Change and the Global South: A Roundtable Discussion
* Naomi Klein on Climate Debt: Why Rich Countries Should Pay Reparations To Poor Countries For The Climate Crisis.
Voices from Africa: Drought, Crop Shortages, Deforestation and Increasing Number of Climate Refugees Linked to Climate Change*
* Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai: If US Moves Forward on Climate Change, Rest of World Will Follow
What Kind of Event Should I Have?
The sky is the limit on events you can organize. Just use your imagination and have fun. Below are some tried and true suggestions:
Have a House Party:
* Invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, or whoever you like over for a potluck dinner and screening of your favorite DN! episode. Have a follow-up discussion and debate over dessert. Raise funds, conciousness, and enlist their help in your efforts to get DN! on a local station or spread the word about the stations and times it already plays on.
Organize a Screening at Your College Campus:
* Organize regular screenings of DN! programs followed-up by debates/discussions on your campus. We may be able to help you get credit for organizing such a series from your school’s debate club.
Start a DN! Cafe:
* Supporters in Germany wrote to tell us about the DN! Cafe they started by having regular monthly screenings at a local cafe with a video screen. They posted signs and invited friends, introducing many new people to the program. The cafe was also happy as they got many new customers.
If you are going to table or organize an event you can download some sign-ups and have people fill them out and send them back to us.
Download: Daily Digest Sign-Up Sheets
Outreach Department, Democracy Now!, 207 W. 25th St., Floor 11, New York, NY 10001
Part One: FOCUS ON COPENHAGEN: A CLIMATE CHANGE DEALING AND WHEELING?
WATCH THE HISTORIC EVENTS HERE!
Climate Countdown: Largest Climate Summit in World History Opens in Copenhagen
Please help the world - COP15 opening film
INTRODUCTION
For once in the history of the African continent, there is the possibility of an overwhelming consensus in a vital international issue which finds both our civil society and governmental representatives singing as though they know their copies of the environmental hymn book "by heart"! Yet, strangely enough, there is no room for complacency, we still keep our fingers crossed. Too much is at stake here and those responsible most for this problem have decided to adopt some of the most irresponsible positions that would make this important conference, a success.
This is to help focus public attention and stimulate informed debates about what is clearly a serious matter that is literally a life and death issue, but hardly discussed enough at the grassroots. This article has been written, thus in the view to help focus attention and encourage grass-root discussion on what Amy Goodman aptly describes as "depicted by scientists as "the most important the world has ever seen." 'To stress the significance of the summit,' Amy Goodman goes on, 'fifty-six newspapers in forty-five countries are taking the unprecedented step of publishing the same editorial today. The editorial reads, quote, “Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security…Climate change has been caused over centuries, has consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming it will be determined in the next 14 days,” as goes the editorial.'
This is "literally a matter of life and death". The level of attention being given to this in the media is almost scary, even more alarming is the lack of a grass root discussion of an issue of such a magnitude. The import of this conference could not have been stated better than Rajendra Pachuri, the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As Amy Goodman reminds us, "the group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Pachauri warned of the dangers of unmitigated global warming"
Above everything else, we need to remain focused. The issue is before our elected representatives, and we welcome and support their positions. It is very important that we show this in every creative way possible! Particularly, inside the negotiations halls, we need to mobilize maximum support for the The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which on Tuesday rejected calls by some world leaders, including the biggest polluters, "to stall a legally binding outcome at next month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen." The grouping of most vulnerable states instead maintained that "the developed nations should continue to build on actions already undertaken."
“We must protect the most vulnerable, not the most powerful,” said Grenada’s Environment Minister Michael Church at the end of a two-day PRE-COP Consultation in the Danish capital.
“We must come out of Copenhagen with confidence that we (Ministers) have been able to bring the concerns of our people unto the platform of COP 15, to be integrated into the main agreement,” said Sherry Ayittey, Ghana’s Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.
“We have noted the reiteration of commitments to a legally binding outcome. We want and expect nothing less,” said Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary, Mohamed Mijarul Quayes.
He said that there must be clear, predictable commitments for cuts, financing and technology transfer “not as an expression of nicety, or the spirit of a Good Samaritan, but as an acknowledgement of responsibility and a commitment to secure the common future of all of us.”
“AOSIS still insist and maintain that there are all the ingredients for us to arrive at an international legally binding outcome in Copenhagen in December and that continues to be our position,” said Church who also chairs the 42-island grouping of small states.
These developments are against a backdrop of what Naomi Klein recently described in the Rolling Stone Magazine as "Climate Rage". In a response to Amy Goodman this is what she sees at stake at Copenhagen from the African perspectives. How far do we identify, support, and seek to further that? Aparently, the message from Africa is going through:
"AMY GOODMAN: Talk specifically about the countries that are raising these concerns and saying we shouldn’t have to pay. For example in Africa.
NAOMI KLEIN: Well, the African Union, the coalition of African states, have been very clear that their primary demand out of Copenhagen are these deep emissions cuts and serious funding for adaptation to climate change. In eastern Africa right now, you have massive, you have serious droughts affecting millions of people. That is just one example of the kind of costs that are being incurred because of climate change already. So, we’re not talking about projecting into the future, some hypothetical future, we are talking about right now.
The main push, as I said, is actually coming from Bolivia. And Bolivia has an extraordinary climate negotiator, who I quote in the Rolling Stone piece, named Angelica Navarro, who I first met in Geneva. She was actually Bolivia’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization. She’s very clear, very tough, multilingual. It takes a lot of strength to stand up to the sort of pressure that a small country like Bolivia faces, whether at the World Trade Organization or now in the climate negotiations. And Angelica Navarro is really up to the task and she has been giving these really inspiring speeches, at summits in the lead up to Copenhagen. And has really been an galvanizing force for other developing countries.
But also, you know she is taking a demand that is coming from groups like the third World Network, Focus on the Global South, Jubilee South, coalitions of NGOs and climate justice groups, that have been making these demands on the outside of summits. But, what is interesting now is that these demands have entered inside the summit, they are at the negotiating table. And of course there is extraordinary resistance from the United States, and the European Union, Canada, Australia, to the idea that they shouldn’t just be giving money to the developing world to adapt to climate change, to deal with climate change, out of the goodness of our hearts, out of a sense of charity, but actually out of a legal obligation. This is a frightening concept as you can imagine." You may watch the entire interview here
Here is what Naomi Klein says in a recent interview as a guest on Democracy Now:
"In Copenhagen, it’s a different dynamic, because the fact is that the people in the streets overwhelmingly support the mission of the meeting in Copenhagen. And, so, they’re not saying “no” to the idea of a climate summit. In fact, they’re saying “yes,” and they’re revealing, highlighting that, in fact, it is the world leaders, particularly world leaders from the heavy-emitting countries, like the United States and Canada, who are the naysayers, who are the ones who are saying, “No, we don’t actually want to tackle the climate crisis, we don’t want to make the emissions cuts that are needed, that are required by science.”
So, in a sense, it’s an inversion where it’s the activists who are saying, “Yes, we believe in this mission.” And it’s the politicians, really, who we need to reveal as being the ones who are actually saying, ‘no,’ even as they claim to be saying ‘yes,’ and even as they claim—even as they sell failure as ‘success’.”
So, it’s really tricky for activists in terms of figuring out how you interact with a summit like this. So, there’s one day, for instance, the 18th—December 18th, where activists are going to be kind of storming the conference center, nonviolently, but using civil disobedience. But their goal, they say, is not to shut down the meeting, but to open up the meeting and to have a forum inside the meeting to talk about real climate solutions, like leaving fossil fuels in the ground—dirty fossil fuels, particularly things like the Alberta tar sands—talking about solutions like climate debt that we’ve been discussing, and exposing the fallacies of the claims that the market can solve the climate crisis.
Because, of course, that’s what we’re going to be hearing a lot of in Copenhagen, market-based solutions: cap and trade, emission trading, carbon sinks, basically creating a huge market in pollution. And you have many of the same players that crashed the global economy, like Goldman Sachs, salivating over the idea of being able to have a speculative bubble over carbon.
So, that’s the dynamic. It’s not saying “no,” not saying “shut down,” but saying, “Open up. Let’s talk about real solutions.” And another example of this is that, actually, there will be an attempt to shut something down in Copenhagen, but that is focused on shutting down the port for a day—Copenhagen’s port—to highlight the corporate side of this equation, the shipping industry and how emissions-heavy it is. And, so, not to shut down a meeting that actually the activists believe in, but to go after industry itself. So, there’s going to be a lot of actions like that. A lot of thought and debate is going into how to craft actions that are really consistent with the goals of this movement."
(Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the bestseller, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” It’s also the 10th anniversary of the publication of her first book “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.” (Related Links: *NaomiKlein.com *Naomi Klein: "Climate Rage" *Naomi Klein: "Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up")
"RAJENDRA PACHAURI: In the twentieth century, average global temperature increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius, while sea level rise resulting from thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of ice across the globe amounted to seventeen centimeters. With this increase, the Maldive Islands, several other small island states, and low-lying coastal nations like Bangladesh, with land surface barely a meter or two above sea level, would find that every storm surge and major upwelling of the seas represents a serious danger to life and property. The global community thus has a moral and material responsibility to do all it can to limit the growing impacts of climate change on these and other vulnerable societies across the globe.
Indeed, we need to give practical expression to the provisions of Article 2 of the UNFCCC, which defines the ultimate objective of the convention as the achievement of—and I quote—“stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” end of quote. "
This on-going publication of an on-line responses to the Copenhagen Conference is intended to be interactive and invite concerned individuals to link up with all the groups on the ground and help them develop their collective voices in any way you possibly can for the goodness of all, after an informed reflection. We need to link up individually with active representatives of the people on the ground. For example today's guests on Democracy Now! They all have very interesting ideas about how and why you and I can and shoud get involved:
Saleemul Huq, Bangladeshi-born scientist who now heads the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development. He was a lead author on parts of the last two reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Lidy Nacpil, International Coordinator of Jubilee South and vice president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition of the Philippines;Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Isabella Masinde, African Wildlife Foundation; Chikondi Juma, Malawian journalist, Titus Dlamini, Swaziland National Trust, Samwel Naikada, Indigenous activist from Kenya; Iyabo Onibokun, International Alliance for Indigenous People; Yinka Adeyemi, Economic Commission for Africa; Timothee Kagonbe, Activist from Cameroon, and the many more earth-and-people friendly faces as and when they show up!
I find it extremely amazing that these same countries expressing extreme unwillingness to part with a what has been pegged by the experts to a paltry $200bn. The offer of $10bn on the table, cmpared to the trillions of dollars that were recently paid to big private capitalist ventures responsible for the economic crisis in the first place, or the other trillions of dollars that are being spent on wars triggered by a phenomenon described by ex-President George Bush himself as "the American addiction to oil" in an era of global warming, the two hundred billion dollars being demanded by the experts, is peanuts, $10bn an insult and a slap in the face!
“$200bn could trigger off a chain reaction that delivers more ambitious emissions reductions and helps the world’s poorest people adapt to a changing climate.”
“Rich countries are mistaken if they think that less than a half of the emissions cuts demanded by the science and $10bn in re-packaged aid promises can be spun as a success in two weeks time. It underestimates the real needs of billions of poor people and overestimates the patience of poor countries who have clearly signalled their preference for no deal over green wash.”
Antonio Hill Senior Climate Change Advisor, Oxfam International
Cheers!
--
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
I wish to invite interested parties who want to alert, share or participate in these discussions with me not to hesitate to contact me at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: /nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro
E-mail: nanaakyeamensah at gmail dot com
Most Popular News
Obama joins UN conference at crucial moment
The essentials in Copenhagen
Cabinet meeting at Mt. Everest
Indian target may help negotiations
Top scientist hopes that the Copenhagen negotiations fail
Latest news
COP15 – day 1 roundup
07/12/2009
US body aids Copenhagen conference
07/12/2009
Countries’ positions at a glance
07/12/2009
Obama and Gore to meet on climate change
07/12/2009
EU rumoured to provide “one-three billion euro”
07/12/2009
EU keeps world in suspense on 30 percent vow
07/12/2009
Hope for deal at conference
07/12/2009
South Africa: Aid needed to reach target
07/12/2009
G-77 wants further commitment
07/12/2009
192 nations at UN climate conference in Copenhagen
07/12/2009
SUPPORT THE FOCUS, SUPPORT DEMOCRACY NOW!
Bring Democracy Now! to a Station in YOUR Community
Thank you for your interest in bringing Democracy Now! to your community. One of our most important goals is to bring the voices on Democracy Now! to new audiences. From calling your local radio or public access TV station, to mobilizing your community, EVERY PERSON can make a difference.
Often, stations add Democracy Now! to their programming schedules simply in response to requests from the community. CALL TODAY!
After you have contacted a station, please be in touch no matter what happens to let us know about your experience. Email DEMOCRACY NOW! or Call: 212-431-9090 x802.
Democracy Now!
A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 800 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Cop15logo WATCH THE EVENT HERE!
Climate Countdown: Largest Climate Summit in World History Opens in Copenhagen
Democracy Now! broadcasts live from Copenhagen from inside the Bella Center, where thousands of delegates from over 190 countries are gathering for the largest climate summit in history. Over the next two weeks, 100 world leaders are expected to attend the UN conference that has been described by some scientists as the most important the world has ever seen. We play highlights from the opening ceremony with the mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard; Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaking on Sunday. [includes rush transcript]
Related stories
* Amidst Uncertainty on US Role in Upcoming Climate Talks, 350.org Holds International Climate Action Day in 170 Nations
* Climate Change and the Global South: A Roundtable Discussion
* Naomi Klein on Climate Debt: Why Rich Countries Should Pay Reparations To Poor Countries For The Climate Crisis.
Voices from Africa: Drought, Crop Shortages, Deforestation and Increasing Number of Climate Refugees Linked to Climate Change*
* Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai: If US Moves Forward on Climate Change, Rest of World Will Follow
What Kind of Event Should I Have?
The sky is the limit on events you can organize. Just use your imagination and have fun. Below are some tried and true suggestions:
Have a House Party:
* Invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, or whoever you like over for a potluck dinner and screening of your favorite DN! episode. Have a follow-up discussion and debate over dessert. Raise funds, conciousness, and enlist their help in your efforts to get DN! on a local station or spread the word about the stations and times it already plays on.
Organize a Screening at Your College Campus:
* Organize regular screenings of DN! programs followed-up by debates/discussions on your campus. We may be able to help you get credit for organizing such a series from your school’s debate club.
Start a DN! Cafe:
* Supporters in Germany wrote to tell us about the DN! Cafe they started by having regular monthly screenings at a local cafe with a video screen. They posted signs and invited friends, introducing many new people to the program. The cafe was also happy as they got many new customers.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: DAMPTEY IS A HYPOCRITE!
By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
A Rejoinder to: Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
"This Danquah Damtey is not a serious minded person. You should have started this crusade when NPP was in power. Now that you are out of and you mow seem to know the right thing, nobody will take you serious not even your own party members.If you are working, I will urge you to work hard but if you are not, then I will ask you to look for work."
- Ghanaweb Comment: Hypocrite, Author: Ishimoto, Date: 2009-11-11 09:12:47, Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
The question as to the whereabouts of Mr. Daniel Danquah Damptey when President Kufour was in power, is a very legitimate one indeed because under the NPP Administration of President Kufour, the perception was very much rife like today, if not worse, as the records indicate that Kufour loaded his administration with as much as 85% Akans! At that time, we did not hear from the holier-than-thou Church-fund-raising Dampest to alert us "on a very dangerous precedent or agenda". It was very much OK for our friend who, all of a sudden, now seems to have had a very fresh understanding of the constitution, to keep quiet then.
There is this "Author ..." whose insightful message needs to be relayed:
"Master, listen to yourself. only small minded people will take what this damptey wrote seriously. when ku4 loaded his administration with 85% ashanti/akans, it was ok for damptey, he saw nothing wrong with it. but he's crying wolf at attah mills because he's administration doesn't have exactly equal ethnic representation even though it's 1000 times better than what happened in ku4's administration, which had only one ewe minister.
That is the hypocrisy on damptey's part that kwesi pratt and co were talking about. it is ok for ku4 to have 85% ashanti/akan ministers but wrong for mills to have 20% ewes, 20% northners, 15% gas and 45% all other tribes (ashanti/akans).
If this is not a change from ku4's 85% ashanti/akan ministers i wonder what kind of change you want.
KWESI PRATT AND CO WERE RIGHT. DAMPTEY IS HYPOCRITE. WHEN IT WAS KU4, HE DIDN'T COMPLAIN BUT SINCE IT IS MILLS, IT WRONG. IF THAT IS NOT BEING A HYPOCRITE, I WONDER WHAT THAT IS?"
Ghanaweb Comment: THEN WHY SHD DAMPTEY COMPLAIN, Author ..., 2009-11-11 04:11:11, Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
DAMPTEY IS A SPOILT CHILD!
I am surprised that Mr. Damptey admits that he handed over an article, as a known columnist, to an editor of a newspaper that is a personal friend. The article is quite naturally published in his name. Instead of calling his friend to correct the anomaly, he remains silent for weeks. And after receiving a good bashing from the press and the general public for the uncouth language in the article,as well as its complete and generalised stupidity, he is now looking for a way out to save his face. He himself seems to agree with some of the criticisms:
"While I associate myself with most of the sentiments expressed in the write up. I would like to state that I take strong exception to reference to President Mills as “simpa panin”as “Rawlings poodle”. Mills is our President and we should accord him the respect he deserves. The Lord says we should not touch his anointed and this also applies to President Mills. Even though the NDC denigrated the presidency under Kufuor by calling him unprintable names with even ex President Rawlings calling him ‘Atta Ayi, a thief and a murderer, I have decided since the election of Mills as President not to tread such a path. I will give respect to whoever respects should be accorded. And this principle I will try to uphold no matter the circumstances and as long as the Good Lord gives me breath. This much I pledge."
How was he expecting the panellists who discussed the article know of this pledge of his in the first place?
How many times do we go to Ghanaweb to research into the original writers of published articles when the name of the writer clearly published in the by-line? He could not even make a simple phone call to his own editor-friend to correct his own mistake, but he childishly expects Kwesi Pratt to surf on the Internet to visit Ghanaweb in order to ascertain the name of the original writer of an article published and furnished with a name on it!
"If Kwesi Pratt and his fellow pretenders had read the article with a fine toothcomb," he stupidly writes, "they would straight-away have known that such an article did not originate from my end. I have my own peculiar style of writing and any commentator on national issues must be discerning enough to get to the truth before passing judgments. Is Kwesi Pratt telling us that, inspite of all his bravado and ‘paa-paa’ he has never visited Ghanaweb before? Wonders, they say will never end."
I think we are dealing with a spoilt child here! What kind of nonsense is this? This spoilt child also admits that:
"I had some discussions with Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch about appointments by the Mills administration. I told him somebody had compiled a list of such appointments which seem to tilt in favour of a particular tribe. I told him I would send a copy for his perusal and necessary action and this was exactly what I did. And up till the time the programme was being aired, I did not know it had been published with me as the author. I believe Baby Ansabah decided to use my name because I was the one who sent it to him and what I sent to him did not include the name of the author and so would not blame him much. I would not like to take credit for what is not entirely my own. But let it be noted that I am not the author of the script."
And he did not even bother to correct his own mistake of not including the name of the original writer, that is if we must even believe his version of the story, yet he wants us to go to Ghanaweb each time we see an article published under his name for verifications!
DAMPTEY IS A HYPOCRITE!
Daniel Danquah Damptey makes a lot of accusations of "hypocrisy" against Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., but comes strangely short of the facts, when it comes to the business of substantiation. First of all, he himself admits that Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch published the offensive article in his name. Why does he not blame the Punch?
Of course, Mr. Damptey, "and so would not blame him [Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch] much" is all you can say! Blame your hypocritical self! Even if one were to be a regular visitor to Ghanaweb, does it mean we know what each writer is saying? Let alone all the commentaries? The kind of lame questions he asks shows that quite probably, we have an idiot on our hands here. Instead of blaming the Punch, he rather prefers to ask:
"Is Kwesi Pratt telling us that, inspite of all his bravado and ‘paa-paa’ he has never visited Ghanaweb before? Wonders, they say will never end."
Why the attack on Kwesi by this Church Harvest-and fund-raising Christian when he himself admits that:
"Any moderator worth his sauce on a very sensitive national issue would have made attempts to call me for clarification."
Was Kwesi the moderator?
The obvious hypocrite here is our so-called Christian who chairs the
annual Harvest and Thanksgiving Service Committee of the Church where he claims to worship, but would lie about his love for Ewes! It is so ridiculous to read the childish "evidence of love":
"I hold Ewes in very high regard, for they are very nice people and I value their friendship. Three of my brothers are married to them and my father’s nephew who is the chief of my father’s village is also married to an Ewe."
There is no ring of truth to such a stupid assertion. I do believe that there are nice people in all the ethnic groups of this world, but only a hypocrite can make such a sweeping generalisation about Ewes: "they are very nice people"! Even the Ewes themselves shall be the first to say that not all Ewes are nice people, just as not all Gas or Ashantis are nice people! This so-called "Christian" is telling lies already!
Mr. Damptey is actually looking for non-existent facts to "prove" his love for Ewes and even begins to sound absurd:
"Three of my brothers are married to them"! Is he saying that the very fact of a brother's marriage to another person is proof of the in-law's love for the other's ethnic group? How much more stupid must he try to be in order to insult our intelligence!
To make his nonsense complete like a "talented" fool, he added:
"my father’s nephew who is the chief of my father’s village is also married to an Ewe..."
SO DANIEL LOVES ALL EWES! AND KWESI IS A HYPOCRITE BECAUSE HE SAID NOTHING WHEN KUFOUR APPOINTED HIS RELATIVES AS MINISTERS!
There are even many more of his relatives that the public is still not aware of who were in the Kufour Administration. Few people knew for instance that Asamoah Boateng and Joe Baidoo Ansah, J. H. Mensah's nephew, are both related to Kufour by marriage through Madam Theresa, Kufour's wife!
"I owe nobody any apology. I stand for the truth and I shall utilize every atom of energy in me to do what is right for my country. I shall not kowtow to any earthly power, no matter how intimidating that power might be. And if, because I am saying the truth, someone wants to eliminate me, let the one go ahead. We shall all appear individually before the judgement throne of the Living God one day." (see: last, but one paragraph)
He is a very opportunistic and dishonest character. His talk of church harvest and fund-raising only qualify him for another vice: hypocrisy! And there are a lot of that here: his attitude to Ewes, his pledges of objectivity, and any sense of decorum. He has the nerve to call Kwesi a hypocrite six good times in one article:
1. "You see how hypocritical Kwesi Pratt and his colleagues could be."
2. "But today, such hypocrites and unpatriotic elements in the country have got back their voices to speak as if they had just come down from outer space "
3. "Hypocritical Kwesi Pratt and his likes should tell Ghanaians whether President Mills has not breached the Constitution by appointing more people from one ethnic group "
4. "The hypocritical stand taken by Pratt and his panelist has exposed the chameleonic nature they are hiding beneath the mask of patriotism which they have used into deceiving or hoodwinking the vulnerable people of Ghana for long. "
5. "Let Kwesi Pratt and his group of hypocrites be sincere with the truth for once, because what goes up must surely come down."
6. "It surprises me that hypocritical Kwasi Pratt who has arrogated to himself the mandate to make disparaging remarks about those of different ideological persuasions and the so-called ‘enlightened” panelist who descended to the gutter and bashed me from all angles could not fathom the true identity of the author. "
Just as a mere repetition of the phrase, "Nana Akuffo Addo is a tall man!", one million times do not make the Akyem dwarf any taller, so in the same way, the accusations of hypocrisy against Kwesi here do not in any way affect this gentleman's integrity!
What has his failure to come out to distance himself from an article whose language even he himself considers to be offensive, got to do with this message to Kwesi that concludes the article?
IF HE HIMSELF COULD DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM SUCH A STUPID PIECE OF WRITING, WHY CONDEMN ANOTHER PERSON FOR CONDEMNING IT?
ARE WE NOT CLEARLY DEALING WITH A LARGE ADULT WITH A MENTAL AGE AND MANNERS OF AN EIGHT YEARS OLD SPOILT CHILD?
BUT THIS SPOILT CHILD WOULD RATHER HAVE KWESI SILENCED!
HM, NKYE! IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!
FORWARD EVER, BACKWARDS NEVER!!!
Cheers!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: http://nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheOdikro
Twitter Updates:
* Stopping smoking in Africa, How should the continent best tackle its rapid rise in smoking? BBC World Service Newshour, www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console about an hour ago
* Filmmaker Philippe Diaz on “The End of Poverty?” WATCH INTERVIEW: about 21 hours ago
* The Global Economic Crisis and the Imperialist Quest for Africa's Resources 1 day ago
* The Black Is Back Coalition Rally: Allow Us to Reintroduce Ourselves!: via @addthis 2 days ago
* BusinessDay: Africa must transcend its farcical, nation-state system 4 days ago
A Rejoinder to: Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
"This Danquah Damtey is not a serious minded person. You should have started this crusade when NPP was in power. Now that you are out of and you mow seem to know the right thing, nobody will take you serious not even your own party members.If you are working, I will urge you to work hard but if you are not, then I will ask you to look for work."
- Ghanaweb Comment: Hypocrite, Author: Ishimoto, Date: 2009-11-11 09:12:47, Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
The question as to the whereabouts of Mr. Daniel Danquah Damptey when President Kufour was in power, is a very legitimate one indeed because under the NPP Administration of President Kufour, the perception was very much rife like today, if not worse, as the records indicate that Kufour loaded his administration with as much as 85% Akans! At that time, we did not hear from the holier-than-thou Church-fund-raising Dampest to alert us "on a very dangerous precedent or agenda". It was very much OK for our friend who, all of a sudden, now seems to have had a very fresh understanding of the constitution, to keep quiet then.
There is this "Author ..." whose insightful message needs to be relayed:
"Master, listen to yourself. only small minded people will take what this damptey wrote seriously. when ku4 loaded his administration with 85% ashanti/akans, it was ok for damptey, he saw nothing wrong with it. but he's crying wolf at attah mills because he's administration doesn't have exactly equal ethnic representation even though it's 1000 times better than what happened in ku4's administration, which had only one ewe minister.
That is the hypocrisy on damptey's part that kwesi pratt and co were talking about. it is ok for ku4 to have 85% ashanti/akan ministers but wrong for mills to have 20% ewes, 20% northners, 15% gas and 45% all other tribes (ashanti/akans).
If this is not a change from ku4's 85% ashanti/akan ministers i wonder what kind of change you want.
KWESI PRATT AND CO WERE RIGHT. DAMPTEY IS HYPOCRITE. WHEN IT WAS KU4, HE DIDN'T COMPLAIN BUT SINCE IT IS MILLS, IT WRONG. IF THAT IS NOT BEING A HYPOCRITE, I WONDER WHAT THAT IS?"
Ghanaweb Comment: THEN WHY SHD DAMPTEY COMPLAIN, Author ..., 2009-11-11 04:11:11, Feature Article, Kwesi Pratt should be the last person to ..., By: Damptey, Daniel Danquah, (2009-11-11)
DAMPTEY IS A SPOILT CHILD!
I am surprised that Mr. Damptey admits that he handed over an article, as a known columnist, to an editor of a newspaper that is a personal friend. The article is quite naturally published in his name. Instead of calling his friend to correct the anomaly, he remains silent for weeks. And after receiving a good bashing from the press and the general public for the uncouth language in the article,as well as its complete and generalised stupidity, he is now looking for a way out to save his face. He himself seems to agree with some of the criticisms:
"While I associate myself with most of the sentiments expressed in the write up. I would like to state that I take strong exception to reference to President Mills as “simpa panin”as “Rawlings poodle”. Mills is our President and we should accord him the respect he deserves. The Lord says we should not touch his anointed and this also applies to President Mills. Even though the NDC denigrated the presidency under Kufuor by calling him unprintable names with even ex President Rawlings calling him ‘Atta Ayi, a thief and a murderer, I have decided since the election of Mills as President not to tread such a path. I will give respect to whoever respects should be accorded. And this principle I will try to uphold no matter the circumstances and as long as the Good Lord gives me breath. This much I pledge."
How was he expecting the panellists who discussed the article know of this pledge of his in the first place?
How many times do we go to Ghanaweb to research into the original writers of published articles when the name of the writer clearly published in the by-line? He could not even make a simple phone call to his own editor-friend to correct his own mistake, but he childishly expects Kwesi Pratt to surf on the Internet to visit Ghanaweb in order to ascertain the name of the original writer of an article published and furnished with a name on it!
"If Kwesi Pratt and his fellow pretenders had read the article with a fine toothcomb," he stupidly writes, "they would straight-away have known that such an article did not originate from my end. I have my own peculiar style of writing and any commentator on national issues must be discerning enough to get to the truth before passing judgments. Is Kwesi Pratt telling us that, inspite of all his bravado and ‘paa-paa’ he has never visited Ghanaweb before? Wonders, they say will never end."
I think we are dealing with a spoilt child here! What kind of nonsense is this? This spoilt child also admits that:
"I had some discussions with Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch about appointments by the Mills administration. I told him somebody had compiled a list of such appointments which seem to tilt in favour of a particular tribe. I told him I would send a copy for his perusal and necessary action and this was exactly what I did. And up till the time the programme was being aired, I did not know it had been published with me as the author. I believe Baby Ansabah decided to use my name because I was the one who sent it to him and what I sent to him did not include the name of the author and so would not blame him much. I would not like to take credit for what is not entirely my own. But let it be noted that I am not the author of the script."
And he did not even bother to correct his own mistake of not including the name of the original writer, that is if we must even believe his version of the story, yet he wants us to go to Ghanaweb each time we see an article published under his name for verifications!
DAMPTEY IS A HYPOCRITE!
Daniel Danquah Damptey makes a lot of accusations of "hypocrisy" against Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., but comes strangely short of the facts, when it comes to the business of substantiation. First of all, he himself admits that Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch published the offensive article in his name. Why does he not blame the Punch?
Of course, Mr. Damptey, "and so would not blame him [Baby Ansabah, Editor of the New Punch] much" is all you can say! Blame your hypocritical self! Even if one were to be a regular visitor to Ghanaweb, does it mean we know what each writer is saying? Let alone all the commentaries? The kind of lame questions he asks shows that quite probably, we have an idiot on our hands here. Instead of blaming the Punch, he rather prefers to ask:
"Is Kwesi Pratt telling us that, inspite of all his bravado and ‘paa-paa’ he has never visited Ghanaweb before? Wonders, they say will never end."
Why the attack on Kwesi by this Church Harvest-and fund-raising Christian when he himself admits that:
"Any moderator worth his sauce on a very sensitive national issue would have made attempts to call me for clarification."
Was Kwesi the moderator?
The obvious hypocrite here is our so-called Christian who chairs the
annual Harvest and Thanksgiving Service Committee of the Church where he claims to worship, but would lie about his love for Ewes! It is so ridiculous to read the childish "evidence of love":
"I hold Ewes in very high regard, for they are very nice people and I value their friendship. Three of my brothers are married to them and my father’s nephew who is the chief of my father’s village is also married to an Ewe."
There is no ring of truth to such a stupid assertion. I do believe that there are nice people in all the ethnic groups of this world, but only a hypocrite can make such a sweeping generalisation about Ewes: "they are very nice people"! Even the Ewes themselves shall be the first to say that not all Ewes are nice people, just as not all Gas or Ashantis are nice people! This so-called "Christian" is telling lies already!
Mr. Damptey is actually looking for non-existent facts to "prove" his love for Ewes and even begins to sound absurd:
"Three of my brothers are married to them"! Is he saying that the very fact of a brother's marriage to another person is proof of the in-law's love for the other's ethnic group? How much more stupid must he try to be in order to insult our intelligence!
To make his nonsense complete like a "talented" fool, he added:
"my father’s nephew who is the chief of my father’s village is also married to an Ewe..."
SO DANIEL LOVES ALL EWES! AND KWESI IS A HYPOCRITE BECAUSE HE SAID NOTHING WHEN KUFOUR APPOINTED HIS RELATIVES AS MINISTERS!
There are even many more of his relatives that the public is still not aware of who were in the Kufour Administration. Few people knew for instance that Asamoah Boateng and Joe Baidoo Ansah, J. H. Mensah's nephew, are both related to Kufour by marriage through Madam Theresa, Kufour's wife!
"I owe nobody any apology. I stand for the truth and I shall utilize every atom of energy in me to do what is right for my country. I shall not kowtow to any earthly power, no matter how intimidating that power might be. And if, because I am saying the truth, someone wants to eliminate me, let the one go ahead. We shall all appear individually before the judgement throne of the Living God one day." (see: last, but one paragraph)
He is a very opportunistic and dishonest character. His talk of church harvest and fund-raising only qualify him for another vice: hypocrisy! And there are a lot of that here: his attitude to Ewes, his pledges of objectivity, and any sense of decorum. He has the nerve to call Kwesi a hypocrite six good times in one article:
1. "You see how hypocritical Kwesi Pratt and his colleagues could be."
2. "But today, such hypocrites and unpatriotic elements in the country have got back their voices to speak as if they had just come down from outer space "
3. "Hypocritical Kwesi Pratt and his likes should tell Ghanaians whether President Mills has not breached the Constitution by appointing more people from one ethnic group "
4. "The hypocritical stand taken by Pratt and his panelist has exposed the chameleonic nature they are hiding beneath the mask of patriotism which they have used into deceiving or hoodwinking the vulnerable people of Ghana for long. "
5. "Let Kwesi Pratt and his group of hypocrites be sincere with the truth for once, because what goes up must surely come down."
6. "It surprises me that hypocritical Kwasi Pratt who has arrogated to himself the mandate to make disparaging remarks about those of different ideological persuasions and the so-called ‘enlightened” panelist who descended to the gutter and bashed me from all angles could not fathom the true identity of the author. "
Just as a mere repetition of the phrase, "Nana Akuffo Addo is a tall man!", one million times do not make the Akyem dwarf any taller, so in the same way, the accusations of hypocrisy against Kwesi here do not in any way affect this gentleman's integrity!
What has his failure to come out to distance himself from an article whose language even he himself considers to be offensive, got to do with this message to Kwesi that concludes the article?
IF HE HIMSELF COULD DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM SUCH A STUPID PIECE OF WRITING, WHY CONDEMN ANOTHER PERSON FOR CONDEMNING IT?
ARE WE NOT CLEARLY DEALING WITH A LARGE ADULT WITH A MENTAL AGE AND MANNERS OF AN EIGHT YEARS OLD SPOILT CHILD?
BUT THIS SPOILT CHILD WOULD RATHER HAVE KWESI SILENCED!
HM, NKYE! IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!
FORWARD EVER, BACKWARDS NEVER!!!
Cheers!
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blog: http://nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheOdikro
Twitter Updates:
* Stopping smoking in Africa, How should the continent best tackle its rapid rise in smoking? BBC World Service Newshour, www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console about an hour ago
* Filmmaker Philippe Diaz on “The End of Poverty?” WATCH INTERVIEW: about 21 hours ago
* The Global Economic Crisis and the Imperialist Quest for Africa's Resources 1 day ago
* The Black Is Back Coalition Rally: Allow Us to Reintroduce Ourselves!: via @addthis 2 days ago
* BusinessDay: Africa must transcend its farcical, nation-state system 4 days ago
Sunday, November 8, 2009
REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATIONS INTO SUSPECTED ILLEGAL FUND-RAISING ACTIVITY BY THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP) OF GHANA IN THE UNITED STATES
For a Price
Former senator Fred Harris (D-New Mexico) reports on comments made by a colleague of his, Senator Russell Long, who once chaired the Senate Committee on Finance and now is a prominent lawyer/lobbyist in Washington:
The colorful Democratic senator from Louisiana, Russell Long, used to tell a humorous story on himself that contained more than a kernel of truth about the effect of money in Senate campaigns. He said that in one of his reelection races, a union group brought him a cash contribution of $5,000. “When he handed me the money,” Long related,” the leader of the group said, ‘All we want, Senator, is good government.’ And I told him, I said, ‘For a thousand dollars, you could have had good government; for five thousand dollars, you can have any kind of government you want!’”
Source:
Based on information from Fred R. Harris, Deadlock or Decision: The U.S. Senate and the Rise of National Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 80.
The principal issue that was facing the New Patriotic Party of Ghana was to overwhelm the country with bill boards, "empower" foot-soldiers, distribute party shirts, and a host of campaing activities that called for a lot of money.
The trip to the USA was criticised by party loyalists as uncalled-for as "the voters were here in Ghana" The only justification was the need to travel abroad to raise funds.
In a very detailed programme, it was announced that the presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akuffo Addo was to tour Norht America. Other branches elsewhere were craving to see him.
“Seriously if money is an issue we are ready to support but even more than that we have been able to negotiate with some companies and institutions here who are ready to support the campaign financially which is why it is critical for Nana at least to pay us a visit.”
- Kobby Annan, Chairman of the Holland branch of the New Patriotic Party,
Conspiciously absent in the detailed schedules was a controversial luncheon held at the Hotel Hyatt & Resorts, located on 24 M Streets, Nw, Washington, DC 20037 on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. The meeting was not announced, and the press was not invited. It is the secrecy surrounding this meeting that arose the suspicions of the Enquirer newspaper that raised the first alarm.
"In downtown Washington DC, two luxurious black Cadillacs, belonging to the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, pulled up in front of Hotel Hyatt & Resorts, located on 24 M Streets, Nw, Washington, DC 20037 on Wednesday, June 4, 2008. In the first car, three well-dressed men in suit, namely Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA and Alan Kyeremanten, an ex-Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA, who was also an NPP Flagbearer-aspirant, popped out of the vehicles.
Moments later, another Embassy car pulled up in-front of Hotel Hyatt. This time NPP General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow, Ex-Finance Minister and later Education Youth and Sports Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, and Dr. Konadu Apraku arrived in tow.
The occasion was a fund-raising luncheon hosted by The Whitaker Group, a company owned by Rosa Whitaker, the new wife of Bishop Duncan Williams of Action Chapel International, who was recently introduced to church members in Accra. Rosa Whitaker, who served as a Deputy Trade Secretary for Africa under both President Bill Clinton and Bush administrations respectively is a registered lobbyist for the Ghana government.
When lady Rosa arrived at the occasion, she spotted a blue African dress and set the ball rolling with an introduction of Nana Addo, explaining to the gathering that the reason why they had been invited was to help elect Nana Addo by helping him with financial contributions."
- The Enquirer
Coming to think of it, it looks clear nothing was left on a hazard. The very selection of June 4, was significant since it is a very important day in the calender of the then major oppositin party, the National Democratic Congress, as the day on which the founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings, staged his first successful coup d'etat against the corrupt Supreme Military Council, and launched a house cleaning excercise which led to several executions and abuses of human rights by the miltary.
Recent pronouncements by the ex-president John Agyekum Kufour in a meeting with members of NPP-USA at the office of Mr. Kofi Boateng, the immediate past chairman of NPP-USA, in New York on September 22, 2009, also gives credence to the fact that there have been illegal fund-raisng activities in the past:
"He said hypocrisy has prevented Ghanaians from talking about politics as a business and that any need for fundraising has been deemed as corruption. He advised that we should come up with creative methods to raise funds that are legal." (Please see: Kufuor Meets NPP-USA in the stories below.)
The fact the the meeting was held in communicado between a money-hungry presidential candidate and what Dr. Arthur Kennedy describes as a "group .. made up of people with substantial investments in Ghana and also of others who have an interest in investing in Ghana", made it all the more suspicious.
It is obvious that, unlike the misguided chairman of the Holland branch of the NPP who made no bones to hide the contacts made with business community in a flagrant violation of the laws governing the funding of political parties in Ghana, the event in the USA was much more sophisticated and cleverer in hiding the illegal fund raising activity with a cover-up.
The dangers associated with big multinational corporations in the USA financing political parties in a poor third-world country like Ghana cannot be under-estimated. The selection of so-called "business-friendly" governments by these corporations to help them win power are translated often in lower labour standards, a blind eye on vital environmental protection measures, and generally sacrificing the common good for special interests.
We call on the independent media in the USA to follow up these leads and do their own independent investigations and give the appropriate coverage to this scandal.
If you want to know more, please click on SPECIAL BRIEFING AND BACKGROUND COMPILATION
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