Friday, August 27, 2010

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

Feature Article, by Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

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

HELLO MY DEAR GRANDSON!

You ask:

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

My Answer:

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

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

OKOAMPA, PATRIOTISM AND OUR PRECIOUS OIL!

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

Okoampa continues:

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

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

OKOAMPA, PATRIOTISM, AND THE US AFRICOM

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

"In a 2007 interview he said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Cheers!
–
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

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

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

Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi: Prikus Kufuorus Non Conscientum Habet!

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

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

Hi grandson,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Listen to your ridiculous self:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

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

Gizelle Yajzi/Yadzi: Prikus Kufuorus Non Conscientum Habet!

Feature Article of Wednesday, 25 August 2010

Columnist: Mensah, Nana Akyea

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Okoampa Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination!

Feature Article | By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.*

A rejoinder to: "Quashigah Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination!" by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Feature Article | Sunday, 1 August 2010

Full Title: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination If Not Already Certified As A Raving Lunatic!

Preliminary Remarks:

As Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., calls for the immediate psychiatric examination of the Propaganda Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Mr. Richard Quashigah in his latest article, I invite the Ghanaian public to find out if such a call has any merit, and to share my very profound indignation and revulsion at the casual impertinence of an unintelligent hypocrite whose notoriety as the most unpatriotic Ghanaian on the world wide web is more than legendary! On the 29 of July, 2010, the Propaganda Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Richard Quashigah told Joy FM the that “NPP’s harsh hostilities towards the STX project though unfortunate, is understandable.” He was also quoted as saying '"the intransigent position of the NPP on the STX deal is consistent with the party's philosophy - opposing anything that is good for Ghana... The NPP has an attitude and that attitude is to oppose anything that is good for this country,” he added.' (See: NPP Are Enemies Of Progress: NDC Propaganda Secretary, 29-Jul-2010, Peacefmonline.com)

Is my grandson now parading in Ghana as a patriot? Wonders will never end! In the first place, I am very remarkably surprised to read the latest article by my grandson. Why this surprise is very remarkable is because it comes at a time I was beginning to naively believe that my grandson has ran out of any possibilities of pulling surprises as the most despicable commentator on the web. Having known no Ghanaian on the world wide web who is as unpatriotic and equally busy working on a daily basis to bring his own country on its knees at the feet of his imperialist owners, than Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., I was almost certain he could no longer surprise me! I mean what I am saying. I cross my heart. I am going to drop a few hints about this before I end this article, so please, bear with me. I even thought it was very clear that in my bid to identify, defend, and advance the interests of main-street Africans, I have clashed enough with Okoampa to enable him to do a soul-searching safari on his own, repudiate and ran away from his current as a pawn of Wall Street, and come back to join our very decent society as a changed person!

But no, Okoampa has not changed one bit! This leaves me with no choice other than to focus again on some of the areas he needs to urgently work on before he even qualifies for the attention of peace-loving, patriotic and proud Ghanaians! He owes the people of Ghana very serious apologies before he can even comment on sensitive issues such as patriotism in Ghana! I thank my God I did not get a heart-attack out of the shock, when I saw Okoampa pretend to be the patriot in any Ghanaian situation. It would have been "the most unkindest cut of all" I he had succeeded to literally kill me with his lies! I find the level of nonsensical lies and hypocrisy extremely severe, dangerous, and suffocating, even by Okoampa's own awful standards! The real alarm lies in the fact that whenever a traitor puts on the clothes of a patriot, it is the responsibility of all real patriots to expose such a fellow immediately and irrespective of the consequences! I wrote in my comment under this article on Ghanaweb: "My dear grandson, ...I found your place in this debate to be rather incongruous. Particularly when the issue involves patriotism, you and I know very well that you are the last person whose opinion should matter to the ordinary Ghanaian." This article attempts to explain what I meant.

Kwame Okoampa, A Ghanaian Patriot?

Fellow Ghanaians, I write this article to off-load a burden on my conscience and expose a villain. I cannot simply remain silent over this. It is not necessarily my primary objective to catalogue the political sins of Okoampa against the good people of Ghana. I simply cannot stand the ugly histrionics of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., going scot-free after presenting himself to Ghanaians as a fellow patriot in his latest article! That is not acceptable. Hence this article has been written with the intention to make sure that Okoampa receives the rebuttal he requires to enable him undertake appropriate self-censorship without any further external stimulus from friends and foes alike. Please read on, you will not be disappointed!

My first significant experience of Okoampa's quisling status was upon reading an article of Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe, Jr., over a tactical retreat manoeuvre by the US Embassy in Accra concerning the establishment of US Africom headquarters in Ghana and other military bases including an air force base at Tamale and a naval base somewhere along the coast. Guess where I got these gruesome details from? Asare Gabriel Ochere-Darko, the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute! In Obama’s Visit – What’s In It For Us And U.S.?, Ochere Darko argues:

"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."

"Kwesi Pratt was one of the first to raise the alarm about oil and US military bases in Africa." Crossedcrocodiles writes in Ghanaians Discuss AFRICOM & Obama’s Visit. He continues:

"In a 2007 interview he said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The real problem is that it seems the Danquah Institute has accepted some money to sell the US Africom project to Ghanaians! Okoampa should have been dismissed from any self-respecting Institute. On the contrary, we saw the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute doing his own article to promote the US Africom project. He even cleverly made it to look as though it was irreversible because the Kufour Administration had gone very far with it already. In US MILITARY BASE IN GHANA: From "Baloney!" To "What’s In It For Us"? Part One, Saturday, May 30, 2009, I argued that:

"I feel greatly incensed by the casual manner Mr. Ochere-Darko breaks this news as though it is simply a matter of business, and not even making any attempt to explain the basis of the conspiracy that he confesses in the article. What does this mean? According to Asare Ochere Darko, even though the NPP government did not allow Ghanaians to have a say in whether or not they want a US military base on our soil, it is too late for the Atta-Mills government to say “No”! In other words, without any national debate, whether we like it or not the process has already been started and they cannot be reversed, so we are as good as being already occupied by a foreign power!"

Ochere Darko's never answered my questions:

"Is this supposed to mean that the NPP government was simply throwing dust into our eyes whilst plotting secretly to undermine our national independence and sell us to the Americans? Fortunately for Ghana and Africa, the elections did not go their way. From the article under discussion, it seems to me that with Obama and Atta-Mills in power, the same special interests behind the establishment of the military base in Ghana, the military industrial complex of the USA, are acting as ventriloquists, using their local stooges, to revive their diabolic plot, and rope the two newcomers into the deal. Who else could fit better in the role of selling Ghana to the imperialists more than the very right hand man of Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, the great Asare Ochere-Darko, himself? If you should ask me what it was that worried me most in the article, I believe I would put my finger on the following seven words written by Mr. Ochere-Darko: “After all, the process has already started.” Most of us are still dazed by the question. What this man is virtually telling Ghanaians is that for months, the NPP has been secretly plotting with foreign powers to establish military bases on our lands without letting out a word about it to the Ghanaian public. " (See: US MILITARY BASE IN GHANA: From "Baloney!" To "What’s In It For Us"? Part One, Saturday, May 30, 2009, see also on Ghanaweb: US Military Base In Ghana, Feature Article of Wednesday, 3 June 2009, Columnist: Mensah, Nana Akyea)

This publication and others provoked a reaction by Mr. James Victor Gbeho, ex-diplomat and adviser to President J.E.A. Mills on Foreign Policy. Under the caption, Gbeho: US can’t force AFRICOM on Ghana, (Monday, I June 2009. Myjoyonline.com) which proved to be enough to dispel the silly effects of the Ochere-Darko's stupid article. Mr. Gbeho "assured the public that government has its head properly screwed on and will not enter into any agreement with the United States of America if the people do not approve of it." "Ambassador Gbeho" was obviously reacting to the implications in the Mr. Ochere Darko's article, that the "process" of establishing the Africom headquarters and US military bases in Ghana "had already started" secretly under the Kufour NPP Administration, and was culminating with the planned visit of US President Barack Obama to Ghana on July 10 and 11, 2009, and therefore felt the need to clear the air on what the visit portends for the nation:

"Sections of Ghanaians have publicly objected to the US government’s desire to base its continental military force, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), in Ghana." Mr. Gbeho was reported to have said on Citi FM’s breakfast show Monday, that "Ghanaians have some justification to be apprehensive about the country’s relations with the United States, given the way the latter has conducted its affairs in Latin America, in Asia and other parts of the world. …there is a genuine fear; a fear that came to the forefront just before the visit of President Bush to this country recently; a fear that was articulated not by government but by the Ghanaian people through the media and so on; and which forced President Bush to deny a few things.” Assessing public dissent against the AFRICOM project, he said "far from being a done deal, the people can rest assured that the government has its head properly screwed on and would not betray the people’s trust." (See: Gbeho: US can’t force AFRICOM on Ghana, (Myjoyonline.com, Monday, I June 2009.)

Are You Talking About Patriotism And The Judicious Use Of Our Newly Found Oil Wealth?

To begin with, why are you so concerned about the judicious use or otherwise of the newly found wealth, if one could link the use of the sovereign guarantee behind the contentious Ghana-South Korean STX deal, to nothing else other than that? The very oil wealth about whose judicious use this debate is all about has been a subject of your jealousy and extreme chagrin that Ghana seems stands to boost her economy by the billions of dollars with this discovery! You have even gone as far as expressing your happiness at the news that the Ivory Coast was claiming our jubilee oil field in the heat of the recent boarder dispute between Ghana and La Côte d'Ivoire! How this makes you a patriot worthy to be listened to by "the diligent but woefully underpaid Ghanaian worker" needs to be properly explained to me. In any case, what is your beef here? You are happy at the prospects the Ivory Coast even claiming by force of arms, an oil discovery well into 60 kilometres away from the nearest landmass of the Ivorian border, and you want people to go and examine their minds when they say that you are not patriotic!

Listen to Kwame Okoampa himself:

"I am glad that, finally, the Ivorians are beginning to assert their right of access and enjoyment of Ghana's purportedly new-found oil wealth... It also didn't quite make a lot of sense to me that an oil find that lay so dangerously close to Ghana's border with Côte d'Ivoire would also have been so [godlessly] uncharitable as to neatly parcel itself out for the exclusive benefit and enjoyment of Ghanaians while the war-seasoned Ivorians continued to languish in penury.... What is also wickedly fascinating is the sudden fit of alarm that seems to have gripped the hitherto light-headed Ghanaians. All of an auspicious sudden, it is beginning to home-in to these soft-headed, happy-go-lucky and good-natured “Niggers” that premature gloating over a pure gift of nature may yet turn out to be too good to be true." (See: "Who Are These “Parliamentarian Drivers”? By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., Feature Article of Tuesday, 16 March 2010.

I have already complained about this before, but I was more concerned with the lack of courtesy rather than patriotism as Okoampa has long ceased to surprise me. I have to confess that reading from a Ghanaian openly supporting La Côte d'Ivoire and even suggesting war was a little bit surprising, even by Okoampa standards. But even more surprising is the sheer impudence of such an individual taking upon himself to lecture anyone about patriotism and the judicious use of our oil wealth!

The question I want to primarily ask Okoampa is why does he pretend to be bothered about the judicious use of our oil wealth when he himself wanted the Ivorians to take it away from our hands? What I want to make clear to Okoampa is that without the oil remaining in the hands of Ghana, the debate about its judicious use would not even be on the horizon. I raise this issue in order to put it to you that you are clearly equivocating and engaged in Orwellian double-talk to facilitate the sale of your extremely nefarious political wares. And whilst I am at it, I shall find time to expose some of them, particularly as they bear on sovereignty and patriotism and imperialist designs on our oil and its security implications for the people of Ghana.

Suffice it to say for the time being that, as I wrote in a previous article:

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

The Danquah Institute, The NPP, And The STX Deal

The first time I heard about the STX contract was on the website of the Danquah Institute: "Press Release: DI Raises Redflag on $1.5B STX Korean Credit Plus Oil Deal from Equitorial Guinea". It might be necessary to dedicate another piece to do justice on the substantive issues of the STX deal. My objective here is to simply challenge Okoampa and the Danquah Institute that they are not the patriots that they want unsuspecting ghanaians to believe! It is not surprising that Ochere-Darko has been able to mobilize the entire party structure behind this campaign. The STX deal is not the only thing the think tank has been thing about and making their thoughts public. One issue that has bothered me has been the way people associated with the Danquah Institute has been promoting the US Africa Command Headquarters project. The easy influence of a major political party by such vipers is a serious source of concern.

It must be noted that the level of the NPP, this is the third time party is towing the line of the Danquah Institute within a very short time! Some worried observers see this as a drill or a rehearsal of the shape of things to come should Akufo Addo be elected the President of this country. Considering the type of noises coming from this group, it is very important to raise the alarm that they are up to no good! Ant that the wheeler and the dealer at the centre of it all, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo must of necessitate not up to any good!

The reason why my grandson needs to see a psychiatrist is therefore, also because it is very important for the Akufo-Addo busy-bodies like him not to give the game away so soon! If he does not see a psychiatrist, Okoampa would open the eyes of Ghanaians so wide to what the Akufo Addo camp has been up to, ever since Bush said "Baloney!" to the US Africom Headquarters rumour in Accra. Right now, my own real fear in all this, is that considering the unprecedented leverage the Danquah Institute now wields within the NPP, particularly the current Akufo-Addo-led National Executive committee of the NPP, exemplified in the speed by which the NPP has proved to be extremely susceptible to the negative influences of the Danquah Institute, the question that every concerned Ghanaian must be asking ought to be, "Are we safe?" Kwame Okoampa and the Ochere-Darkos are just a tip of the iceberg! My real worry is why has Akufo Addo surrounded himself with a lot of people of doubtful intentions and abilities and what does this say of this man's own intentions and abilities? The only known Ghanaians who embraced the US Africom project are all to be found in the Danquah Institute! Is this a co-incidence?

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

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

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Monday, July 12, 2010

Master J. John Rawlings, A Problem Child Of Ghana's Politics?

By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.*
There is an insufferable sense of injustice going on in Ghana, and right in the eye of this storm, is Jeremiah John Rawlings. Young Master Jeremiah John Rawlings, a veritable spoilt child who started smoking pot smuggled to school from cadet connections in Koforidua, at a very tender age, has grown up to become a problem child of our precious democratic dispensation. It may be very instructive to go down the memory lane and analyse how we as a people came to this, and what is the way out of this national political quagmire. I shall find enough time and space for this in my next article on this subject. This would definitely help to buttress my general point that somehow, the NPP could also be a part of the Rawlings problem, instead of being systematically a part of the solution, but I must confess my haste: I am more anxious to bring to the fore, some of the urgent contradictions that help to strengthen the Rawlingses, in spite of ourselves. The Rawlingses enjoy their notoriety through the exploitation of the energies of even their political adversaries. For, just as the strength of the park is the wolf, the strength of the wolf is the park. A divided opposition to the Rawlingses play to their advantage. Even at a time where they appear to be at their politically weak point in their chequered carriers as neocolonialist fascists dressed in revolutionary garbs, they seem to thrive on the suicidal stupidity of some of the NPP leading members and supporters. The Rawlingses have been the beneficiaries of cowardly, hypocritical, and ill-considered rounds of applause, when it suited these politically naive individuals. Words from Rawlings such as "go slow", "greedy bastards", "Team B", "Konongo Kaya", etc have taken the centre-stage of the political diction of most NPP supporters, as if they are not creative enough to make their own slogans. (But, hey, this is a democracy, do what you want, but do not complain when the guy feels too proud for your liking. This is just my humble thought.) As they recite and parrot the Rawlingses with glee, they become surprised at the level of confidence of the Rawlingses and the impudence which comes with this.

As though this was not enough, people who should know better, prominent among them, is the Honourable Dan Botwe, who even accuses the government of not treating the Rawlingses well. Unless, he had his tongue in the cheeks, such a development is extremely unfortunate. I think it is very important for Dan to extract his tongue from his cheeks and come out in clear everyday language, what he wants the Mills Administration to do with the Rawlingses. I personally find the Mills Administration treatment of the Rawlingses is quantum levels far better than the way the Rawlingses treated former heads of state in this country. Apart from ex-President Hilla Liman, who was allowed to live in poverty and relative peace, (albeit, amidst pushing his wonky and rickety Toyota pick-up truck often on the busy Teshie-Nungua road!) the rest were all literally tied to the stake and shot until dead by firing squad, and without the slightest resemblance of due process or even a semblance of a trial. Even the death of the former president Liman could be blamed squarely on their shoulders, as the failure and or refusal by the Rawlings-led PNDC to pay for medical expenses and prescriptions of the poor man, did nothing to improve his health. Dan Botwe was very comfortable with the treatment meted to the Rawlingses by the NPP Administration, which was even harsher than what the NDC appears to be doing, so where is Dan coming from? My own worry in all this is who benefits from this nonsense? I have a lot of respect for Dan, and I am sure he will not hesitate to correct himself if he actually said so.

There is not doubt that some NPP sympathisers anxious to clinch victory in the 2012 elections have been unable to hide their pleasure at the developing rift within the NDC. This is normal. The same applies to the NDC attitude towards the Akufo-Addo Versus Alan Kyeremanteng rift, otherwise known as the Titanic Akyem-Ashanti Mafioso Conflict. As one commentator put is, Konadu is going to make the Akufo Addo victory look like another operation cold chop. The metaphor sent some shivers down the spine. One rule of the great fictional detective which hardly fails, when resolving crimes, is to ask the question, who benefits? Are the Rawlingses now ready to mortgage a run-away party to their arch-rivals and land their buttocks in butter? Sounds like a reasonable deal, if they know what they are doing. Is the NPP capitalizing on the controversy between Rawlings and Mills? Of course, who would not do that? A strategic and opportunistic support for the Rawlingses may sound attractive to those in the NPP who cannot see beyond their very flat noses. What they face in the long run is the risk of legitimizing a fascist dictator who has lost all legitimacy, and sending the wrong signals for posterity. At a time when what is needed is more pressure on them to shut up and remove themselves from the public space and allow Ghanaians to use our precious national attention on more pressing issues, it is very wrong to urge them on in their stupidities in any way!

Who is benefiting from this criminal inferno with specific plans for a new construction? Instead of joking about the credit ratings of the Rawlingses and which house suits them better, has any one thought of a maximum security jail? I wonder why it has not occurred to any one that perhaps the reason why they have no home is because they belong to nowhere other than prison? Why should a couple that must have every reason to be ashamed of themselves, have the guts to take the centre-stage at will, like spoilt children of Ghanaian politics? What do you say to a thug and a bastard who refers to people more decent than himself as bastards and dogs? And to think that they can even entertain hopes of perpetuating such a dynasty! What do they take Ghanaians for? What I wish to make clear is the fact that my political opposition to Dr. J.J Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has nothing to do with their ethnic origins, Ewe or Ashanti, as this might be the case of some people. My opposition to the Rawlingses is to uphold the need for our history to teach the appropriate lessons to others like them who, in the future might want to swindle the nation by violent means and get away with it, murder, grievous and systematic human rights abuses, hypocrisy and corruption, and to help render justice.

I think it is very important to uphold the principles that make these people the political monsters that they are, rather than reducing the entire affair into some personality and ethnicity-based one. We are building the foundations of our democracy by the choices we make in our daily political lives. If care is not taken, the message we would be sending for posterity could be a blurred one because there are so many undercurrents, negative forces with special-interest agendas, so much so that, there is always a need to be circumspect before making public pronouncements on a subject in which people have invested a lot of emotion already. Why should we even bother with their accommodation? Who is complaining about our horrible prison conditions where this couple really belong? Maybe, it is a good idea to charge at them from all angles. I guess the Rawlingses deserve all the charge they can get, enough for them the get the message clear: that they have their heads close to the clouds up there on the Sugarcandy Mountains! That whilst no one grudges them for having grandiose illusions about themselves, a normal long-term effect of drug abuse, my own very profound distress about their level of confidence, unbelievable sense of moral uprightness, outrageous claims to be providing democracy and the respect for human rights, etc., etc... As they wax rhetoric on their achievements, those of us who should know, and do know better, are painfully reminded by this impudence: the way the PNDC and their agents covered every square inch of their disgusting behinds with entrenched constitutional indemnity clauses before handing over power to themselves!

In fact, in plain everyday language, we were very lucky as a nation that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, did not bolt away with all our money, gold deposits, or whatever national assets he could have laid his hands on, as is often the case in other places where dictators flee from their palaces and out of their countries. There could have legally been nothing that anyone could do to bring such a thief to justice, because the Rawlings indemnity clauses in the Transitional Provisions of the 1992 Constitution of the 4th Republic of Ghana, even indemnifies the agent of the PNDC from the legal consequences of such obvious crimes in this scenario. We were lucky that the ministers did not decide to physically eliminate people they did not want to see alive. They could have legally gotten away with it. Any way, so far, I have been imagining the scenarios. I wish to apologize to all the victims of the bloody PNDC dictatorship for this apparent gross indiscretion and insensitivity on my part. I most certainly did so not for the want of examples, but to illustrate and explain how nonsensical and intrinsically evil, the Indemnity Clauses are.

I believe that whenever our history is not teaching the appropriate lessons, it simply means there is something wrong with us. As a people, we do not like thieves, and even though I do not condone mob-justice, the lessons we give to thieves all over the country when they are caught are not of the types that encourage stealing, as the people seek to convince future thieves to beware of the fate awaiting them when caught. With the Rawlingses, it looks as though our history is teaching the wrong lessons. The Nkrumah era was marked by remarkable political tensions and violence in the country which led to the passage of the Preventive Detention Act, 1958. Naturally, as one listens to the perceived pains of the victims, on both sides, it was a very sad and sorry part of our history that we must all come to terms with and move forward.

As if that were not enough, Ghanaians have been treated to all sorts of stupid ideas and experiments that met the fancy of a very well-known dull individual whose academic records demonstrate a consistent pattern of an educable mentally-retarded person. Quite literally under gun-point, the people of Ghana had to live under the whims and caprices of the raving and ranting Rawlingses for almost two decades. A pilot who failed his map reading examination and current affairs, inserted himself in the seat to pilot our common destiny, without the permission of anybody. Within these two decades, they recorded the most barbaric and insanely brutal repression ever known in our history. To add insults unto injuries, having conducted their military campaign under the slogans of probity and accountability, the only activity they reserved for this was the arrest and torture of those who demanded of them the same standards of probity and accountability. And to eternally silence the tax payer on whose sweat they base their arrogance, and so that their victims shall never have a right to seek justice, they introduced the indemnity clauses into the constitution of Ghana.

It is already difficult enough to live with the thought that a gang of people could just take arms, just like regular armed robbers do, except that, this time around, they took the entire destiny of the nation exclusively in their hands and made those who disagreed face what they called "revolutionary consequences". These thugs had a vocabulary that they could conveniently use to kill, main, beat and torture countless number of innocent citizens. They have made sure they would not be punished for any of their crimes. The least one could have expected of them would have been a respectable distance from the seat of power. I am slowly transforming all the sentiments that passed through me when it became apparent that the Rawlings so-called impatience with the Mills Administration and extremely damaging criticism were not only as non-constructive as we thought them to be right from the beginning, but in addition to that, it was also opportunistic. These feelings have ranged from shock, disgust, frustration and anger. But we must use our brains. We are one step ahead of them because this time around, more people see them clearly as opportunists.

This is the most opportunistic phase of the Nana Konadu campaign. And they should not be allowed to get away with it with the ease being currently associated with it. It stinks to the high heavens, so much so that even Nana Konadu herself seems embarrassed by her own campaign. She hails the black stars like a front-runner in a race, she is making statements traditionally reserved for Rawlings the man of the house. Even on the blog of her husband, she seems to drown him with almost all the latest posts exclusively dedicated to her. Yet, these little political never-do-wells have been careful to hide their real intentions from the public right from the very beginning. She seems even ashamed to admit the fact that, she also wants to become a president. She is campaigning without saying what it is she wants. In Accra, where people are used to traders shouting and selling their wares, the Gas have identified prostitution as the only trade in the street where the sellers do not shout out their wares like for example, the way kenkey sellers do. Thus whilst it is normal and expected to hear for example, "hot kenkey for sale", one does not hear "hot pussy for sale", even though there are sex workers all over the place! The relevant question that arises here is: What is Konadu selling that she does not want to say publicly? At least, not for now, and why not now? Is it because her husband has failed to sufficiently undermine the Mills Administration? Is she waiting for more of those before?

Ghanaians are peace-loving and a forgiving population. That does not mean they are the kind of fools that the Rawlingses seem to think they can take for a jolly ride at will. There are limits to everything. Nana Konadu has the right to present her candidacy. So do the people also have the right to find out whether or not she was an accomplice to the murder of the three high court judges, and a retired army officer on the night of June 30th 1982? And, more importantly, does the role she played in this affair qualify her for the high office of the president of the Republic of Ghana, with all the trust and responsibilities associated with such an office? In other words, the recent forages towards the seat of power must amount to nothing more than the unravelling of the indemnity clauses in the constitution. For, as Rawlings himself must know, there are a thousand ways to kill a cat and his wife, Konadu may also hold in her hands, another key to open up the indemnity clauses. Just mark my words...

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!
--
* Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.
Twitter: /twitter.com/TheOdikro
E-mail: nanaakyeamensah at gmail dot com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Nana-Akyea-Mensah
Blogs:
Articles: /nanaakyeamensah.blogspot.com/
Comments: theodikro.blogspot.com/

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Justice For Kofi Adu-Brempong From The Hands of A Racist Police Officer!

"The state attorney's office has finished it's investigation into in the March 2, 2010 shooting of University of Florida graduate student Kofi Adu-Brempong and the officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing."

Officers Cleared in Shooting by Robert Bradfield · May 21st 2010 · See more Local News

"First, I believe that the decision to enter Adu-Brempong's residence was legally justified by legitimate concerns for his well-being."

- Statement from William P. Cervone, State Attorney, Eighth Judicial Circuit, Friday, May 21, 2010.

COMMENT:

That is why those "legitimate concerns for his well-being." is expected of them under the law. Surely William P. Cervone, State Attorney, Eighth Judicial Circuit is not trying to suggest that the best way to ensure his purported "well-being" is to shoot at him in the face in close range with an M-4 Bushmaster, a military assault rifle, and blow away a good part of his jaws, the roof of his mouth, explode his nasal cavity and cut his tongue into two? That this act was committed by a certain University Police Department (UPD) Officer Keith Smith, who had "previously been reprimanded for an incident in which he allegedly harassed and threw eggs at African Americans while off-duty", according to press reports should have made the point more pertinent.

Kofi Adu-Brempong, a 35-year-old Ghanaian post-graduate student pursuing a Ph.D degree in Urban Geography, and working as a teaching assistant at the University of Florida, USA, who could barely walk without the aid of a walking cane, was shot with a bean bag gun three times, and shot in the face at close range with an M-4 Bushmaster, a military assault rifle, by the University Police Department (UPD) in his own apartment at Cory Village, on the campus of the University of Florida (U-F) reportedly for "resisting arrest" in an ordinary noise ordinance violation. All these occurred within 40 seconds of entry into the premises of a mentally distressed and physically disabled, 5 foot 4 inch person by five able-bodied and supposedly "well-trained" police officers.
Adu-Brempong's research areas include urban geography, urban and regional analysis and planning and spatial analysis and modeling with a research topic in urban spatial change in Ghana and implications for environmental sustainability, according to UF's Web site. On the professional network LinkedIn, Adu-Brempong lists his education at UF from 2005 through 2009. Another site where students rate professors is complimentary of Adu-Brempong. One entry from November 2009 said he likes to be called "The True Son of Africa" and is "an amazing guy." "He's a really great guy to just talk to after class and he really enjoys teaching," the entry stated.

Police Chief Linda Stump said officers had also been in contact with Adu-Brempong on Monday, but details on that contact were not immediately available. Stump said the incident began at 8:17 p.m. and marked the first time in at least a quarter century that a campus office had fired on someone on campus. "I do know that our officers had an on-again, off-again dialogue with him until about 10 p.m.," Stump said. "When we lost contact with him, our officers made the decision to enter his apartment." Once inside, officers said they found Adu-Brempong wielding a pipe and a large knife.

Adu-Brempong had difficulty walking and used a cane, according to his neighbors and students. One neighbor said Adu-Brempong parked his car in the grass next to his apartment because he had problems carrying groceries from the nearby parking lot. One student who took his geography class last semester, Daniel Lynch, said Adu-Brempong suffered from ailments related to a childhood bout of polio. He said Adu-Brempong was hunched over when he walked and relied on the cane to get around. "He called himself the three-legged son of Africa," Lynch said.

The police had been informed of Kofi's mental problems the previous day, March 1st, 2010. According to a police report issued after the shooting, Geography Professor Peter Waylen contacted police to say that Adu-Brempong had sent an e-mail with troubling statements, which were redacted in the police report. Waylen told police Adu-Brempong had been having delusional thoughts for at least a year and that he had previously received help from a UF counselor because he was upset over a belief that the U.S. government was not going to renew his student visa, the report stated. Waylen and an officer spoke with Adu-Brempong at his apartment Monday. University of Florida police released a report from a police visit on Monday to the student and graduate assistant.

In a related article published on Monday, March 15, 2010, Nathan Crabbe of the Gainsville asks: "Was UF shooting avoidable?" and answers it in the subtitle: "Mental health experts: If police had used Baker Act, things may have ended better". Betty Strayer, who deals with Baker Act admissions as vice president for emergency services at Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, said she sees a difference in officers who receive the training. Those officers tend to show more knowledge about the Baker Act and mental illness, she said. She said law enforcement need to be aware that they can use the act without threat of lawsuit or repercussions. "If we decide after the evaluation that they don't meet the criteria, then we release them," she said.

"I asked Adu-Brempong if he had any concerns that I could help with. Adu-Brempong advised that he was fine and did not need anyone's help," Officer Gene Rogers wrote in the report. "I advised him that Waylen and I were concerned for his safety and were there to assist him any way we could." The report states Adu-Brempong refused help from a counselor and stated several times that he was fine and that the group was bothering him. On March 2, 2010 was apparently having a nervous breakdown (due to visa renewal worries) in his apartment at UF's Corry Village housing complex. His shouting and other erratic behavior brought members of the UF campus police to Corry Village, where they surrounded his apartment and evacuated his neighbors.

After about two hours of oral negotiations (in which UF's understaffed mental health counselors were not involved), during which they confirmed that Adu-Brempong was alone and threatening no one, the police kicked down his door. Five officers entered the apartment. In less than half a minute (21 seconds!), they shocked Adu-Brempong three times with a taser, shot him twice with a beanbag shotgun, and blasted him in the face with an M4 military assault rifle. An ambulance took him to UF-affiliated Shands Hospital, where he remains with a bullet lodged dangerously near his spinal cord and unable to speak due to mouth injuries.

Dispatcher calls show that officials requested an ambulance at Corry Village just before 10 p.m. and that the incident initially reported stated the patient had shot himself and had facial wounds, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office reported. The call then stated that a knife and a gun were involved. Another call came in two minutes after 10 p.m. and was listed as an assist another agency with university police requesting that Sheriff's Office forensics investigators respond to the scene. This call reported that the patent had a gunshot and stab wounds and that this was believed to be a suicide attempt, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Art Forgey. However, the call taker later amended the report saying that this was an officer-involved shooting.

Adu-Brempong has been charged with aggravated assault on an officer and resisting an officer with violence. For over three weeks, he was under continuous guard by two county deputies before his family posted a $10,000 bond to prevent him from being transferred to the overcrowded local jail. Reported medical costs already approach $300,000.

As UF Student Fernando Figueroa stated during a recent demonstration on Democracy Now!: “We’re demanding that all charges be dropped against Kofi, because they’re trying to do, you know, kind of something what’s called extortion. Like they’re saying, ‘Oh, we’ll drop the charges if you don’t file a lawsuit.’ And so, we’re demanding that all the charges be dropped and that more severe action be taken against the offending officer, Keith Smith.”

Media reports include: "The officer who shot Kofi Adu-Brempong has been identified as Keith Smith. He has previously been reprimanded for an incident in which he allegedly harassed and threw eggs at African Americans while off-duty." Three Gainesville police officers received written warnings for their actions in these incidents, according to the city police department. Smith, hired in November 2005, received a verbal warning for his involvement and was removed from his recently assigned position to the narcotics task force, university police reported at the time.

Meanwhile instead of compensating Kofi for his totally undeserved and avoidable injuries, they have proceeded to charge Kofi! Keith Smith had one month of leave of absence and is back to the police force since 2nd April! Adu-Brempong is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and five counts of resisting an officer with violence, according to Alachua County court records. Police, in their arrest report, alleged Adu-Brempong threatened officers, both verbally and by his actions. Officers who were involved were Keith Smith, William Sasser, James Mabry, Stacy Ettel, and William Ledger, the report stated.

According to Brandon Kutner, the President of PBA, says the police did nothing wrong even though they knew about Kofi's mental condition the previous night!

Jamel Lanee: "David, the Police Benevolent Association is representing the five officers who were involved in the shooting on March 2nd. The investigation was in the hands of the F-D-L-E but was completed on Friday and turned over to the State Attorney. PBA members say they believe the results in the investigation in a comment Adu-Brempong made to a local newspaper will show the officers acted accordingly and by the book!"

Brandon Kutner: "Reference was made to the metal rod being a cane he used, errh, to walk possibly, urh, because of his, errh, childhood disease with polio, errh, by his own admission and by his own statement given to the Sun, he was lucid that night, urrhm, he knowingly pulled off that, errh, rod off his computer desk and swung it on the officers." Click here to: Watch Video

As Fernando Figueroa, of Gainesville SDS noted: “We will not let up until we gain justice for Kofi. We are taking a stand against police brutality and racism on our campus and throughout the country... It is astounding to see so few reporters covering the point blank shooting of an African man in the face here. This is the same campus where you could not walk ten feet without bumping into a reporter or TV crew following a white student’s famous ‘Don’t tase me bro!’ incident.”

With the latest statement form the State Attorney Bill Cervone, it means Officer Keith Smith is off the hook. It means a lot of work to reverse this dangerous travesty of justice. The students who have been the principal motor of the resistance to the shielding of the police officers and pressing charges against Kofi Adu-Brempong are going down on Summer recess. This is a very crucial moment, and the students themselves know the authorities have been waiting for this. Soon in a matter of days, we are going to be told by Bill Cervone whether or not he is going to press charges against Kofi Adu-Brempong.

The use of excessive force by the police is illegal under the law. It is not a subject of public debate. That is why "the legality of the course of action that was chosen" is not merely a matter of public debate. The police must be given the opportunity to contest this before a Grand Jury and be seen to be openly restoring its shattered image, as a result of this incident. The police had been informed of Kofi's mental problems the previous day, March 1st, 2010. According to a police report issued after the shooting, Geography Professor Peter Waylen contacted police to say that Adu-Brempong had sent an e-mail with troubling statements, which were redacted in the police report. Waylen told police Adu-Brempong had been having delusional thoughts for at least a year and that he had previously received help from a UF counselor because he was upset over a belief that the U.S. government was not going to renew his student visa, the report stated. Waylen and an officer spoke with Adu-Brempong at his apartment Monday. University of Florida police released a report from a police visit on Monday to the student and graduate assistant.

"The defendant still remains under charge. We don't want to do anything that will violate the rights that he has invoked so we're hopeful that situation can be resolved within the next several days."

- State Attorney Bill Cervone

Officers Cleared in Shooting by Robert Bradfield · May 21st 2010 · See more Local News

TAKE ACTION!
Please, join the Coalition Against Police Brutality, Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong to demand:

UPD drops all charges against Kofi
An Independent Grand Jury investigations into the shooting.
Implementation of an independent review board for the UPD
Indefinate unpaid suspension for the shooter, Keith Smith, pending investigation.
Improvement of mental health and crisis services on campus to prevent future incidents.
Elimination of UPD's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT).

Coalition members include Students for a Democratic Society, African Student Liason, Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), NAACP, Graduate Assistants United (GAU), International Socialist Organisation (ISO), Amnesty International. There have been three on-campus protests and marches. The first one was on Tuesday April 6th, the second 16th March, the last one was on Tuesday 20th March, 2010. The students of the University of Florida just returned from spring break (when the shooting occurred).

Updates on further organizing, Adu-Brempong's condition, and more are regularly posted at the "Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong" Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=336549896343 (Facebook membership not required to view).

For More Information:
Dave Schneider- (407)-267-1419;
Justin Wooten - (352)-213-6519

Further reading, Sources and references:

Letters for Kofi, Documentation, community building, justice, and history www.professorevans.com: http://bit.ly/bhZ48G
Officers Cleared in Shooting - WCJB TV-20: http://bit.ly/bxEYwU
UF responds to State Attorney’s decision to clear UPD officers: http://www.zikkir.com/index/279364
Surprise, Surprise: UPD Ofc. who shot student in the face won't be prosecuted - GatorCountry.com Swamp Gas Forums: http://bit.ly/ci0QAJ
University of Florida officers will not be prosecuted in shooting of Kofi Adu-Brempong | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/9cJPVq
College students more likely to report campus threats if 'connected' to school—UF study | : http://news.education.ufl.edu/node/488
The Independent Florida Alligator: News - Graduate student still in hospital: http://bit.ly/cG8SMZ
RALLY AND SPEAKOUT FOR AN INDEPENDENT CIVILIAN POLICE REVIEW BOARD THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010: http://bit.ly/bb1OBZ
Facebook | Messages - Gainesville City meeting regarding a review board THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2010.: http://bit.ly/b8rJbt
YouTube - Student shooting protesters march to State Attorney's Office: http://bit.ly/9BDsTS
Facebook |Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong Messages - Meeting on Monday, May 10th at 7:30 in Anderson: Organize 4 Summer! http://bit.ly/9uLx6w
What's next in UF shooting case hinges on report | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/95Br4Q
State Attorney Bill Cervone meets with protesters over shooting, needs at least 30 days | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/cg6syW
State attorney meets with UF student protesters | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/90g6Pn
Facebook | Meet Mr. Mann and demand Justice for Kofi!: http://bit.ly/aRWYTr
Police standoff ends with dog bites, Tasering | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/bjXiE0
Protest of UF police shooting incident of Kofi Adu-Brempong | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/bVfcAC via @addthis6:25 AM Apr 26th via web Retweeted by JUSTICE4KOFI
Battle to get justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong continues | Diaspora (USA) | ModernGhana.com News: http://bit.ly/bQAXEd via @addthis6:36 AM Apr 22ndRetweeted by JUSTICE4KOFI
theodikro.blogspot.com: JUSTICE4KOFI NOW!!! NEWS UPDATES: http://bit.ly/d0bKyQ
fightbacknews Video of Kofi shooting finally released http://goo.gl/fb/oF6GT3:40 PM Apr 20th via GoogleRetweeted by JUSTICE4KOFI
Protest of UF police shooting incident of Kofi Adu-Brempong | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/bVfcAC
Battle to get justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong continues | Diaspora (USA) | ModernGhana.com News: http://bit.ly/bQAXEd
theodikro.blogspot.com: JUSTICE4KOFI NOW!!! NEWS UPDATES: http://bit.ly/d0bKyQ via @addthis8:43 PM Apr 21st
fightbacknew Video of Kofi shooting finally released http://goo.gl/fb/oF6GT
Video of UF police shooting incident posted on Youtube, Kofi Adu-Brempong can be heard | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/aXVq56
Solidarity With Kofi Adu-Brempong/Latest development: PBA Supports Officers Involved In Adu-Brempong Shooting: http://bit.ly/9uiv8K
Comment: One Response to “Groups demand justice for shot Ghanaian student in US”: http://bit.ly/a3ZG1R
PBA Supports Officers Involved In Adu-Brempong Shooting - WCJB TV-20: http://bit.ly/bwAndA via @addthis5:52 AM Apr 20th
We Shall Never Give Up On Kofi, So Better Give Him Justice NOW!!!: http://bit.ly/9OO5p9 via @addthis1:05 PM Apr 18th
Facebook | Rally at Turlington! Justice for Kofi!: http://bit.ly/bWL532
UF student Kofi Adu-Brempong shot | Gainesville.com: http://bit.ly/bTS0RF
Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong, Phd student shot by US police: http://bit.ly/d4Lezn
Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong - http://bit.ly/bUoOO6 #ireport
Democracy Now! | Headlines for March 17, 2010Mar 17, 2010 ... Follow us on Twitter .... University of Florida Students Protest Police Shooting of African Graduate Student: Kofi Adu-Brempong: http://bit.ly/9bbV4o
Justice for Kofi Adu-Bremoubg on Facebook. Updates on further organizing, Adu-Brempong's condition, and more are regularly posted at the "Justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong" Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=336549896343 (Facebook membership not required to view).

CORRECTION:

I sent the draft of this article for comments by UF students directly involved in this struggle before the publication. My attention has been drawn to the following facts concerning Kofi's waling cane. In the original article published in ModernGhana.com, a categorical statement was made that "The "pipe" in question was his walking cane!" The error is deepmy regretted! Here is the correction:

Jeremiah Tattersall: "This looks really good. A few things. Kofi said in a Sun article that the metal pipe was the leg of a chair, not his cain. But he still did not come at the officers with a knife. I also question how fast he could have moved considering his condition. A theory is that he was using the metal rod as a cane, but I can't substantiate this. When the officers said they lost contact with Kofi it was because Kofi told them to go away and finally that he was going to stop talking with them. He did not fall silent randomly."

Friday, August 27, 2010

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Okoampa Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination!

Feature Article | By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.*

A rejoinder to: "Quashigah Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination!" by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Feature Article | Sunday, 1 August 2010

Full Title: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Requires Immediate Psychiatric Examination If Not Already Certified As A Raving Lunatic!

Preliminary Remarks:

Kwame Okoampa, A Ghanaian Patriot?

Listen to Kwame Okoampa himself:

Suffice it to say for the time being that, as I wrote in a previous article:

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

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JUSTICE FOR KOFI ADU-BREMPONG

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