Did you watch world news on television on Sunday? Dear oh dear. You may have missed out on the most exciting spectacle of the Bush presidency if you did not watch it. An Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at US president George W. Bush at a gathering of the press in Iraq. It was really amusing to see Uncle George dodging to fend off the shoes.
George Bush does undertake regular exercises but I could not imagine he had that quick reflexes.
Perhaps if one lost their family and friends in a useless war, kidnapped and beaten by militants, one could be traumatised into throwing shoes at the world´s most powerful leaders, more so when he lies about making the lives of Iraqis better than it were under Saddam Hussein. More than 4000 American soldiers have been killed, it is not clear how many Iraqi men, women and children have been killed or maimed for life and a whopping $600 billion has been wasted on this war in Iraq.
Whilst Iraqis were having their set of drama with the "shoe throwing incident, a handful of reckless officers of the Ghana police were busy trying to break bones and skull.
It is 2:15 AM at the time of writing this feature and the date is Monday December 15, 2008. I am sitting in my bed on my second floor apartment in Glasgow, Scotland. The weather looks ok as the weather man had predicted. I have a window that gives me a good view into the quiet Glasgow night. My laptop is tune to Joy FM in far away Ghana, which like many radio stations streaming online, would not break in connection when music is being played or at this time of the night. Have you noticed how the link kept breaking when you were listening to the news or tried to follow the vote counting during the elections? It was heartbreaking, nonetheless gratifying to get an uninterrupted 3minutes of online streaming. My own Uniiq FM was worst.
Don´t be surprised if by the time you read this feature the press in Ghana is replete with reports of a brutal assault on a photo journalist covering Jerry Rawlings, by some police officers accompanying the presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party, which is going into a second round run-off with the opposition National Democratic Congress.
Not surprisingly, a henchman of the NPP and close associate of Nana Addo has said the incident happened at the "blind side of Nana Addo". How incredible? For Nana Addo not to have seen a loud incident that had disturbed the serenity of a rather quiet City Hotel when he was reportedly standing just a few feet away?
Babs Hammer was not only beaten up and left with a deep cut to his head, his equipment was smashed and destroyed, and the candidate of the ruling party did not see or hear what was going on? A commotion that was loud enough to attract the attention of guests on the 3rd and 4th floors according to witnesses?
And since when did taking footage of a public figure in a public place and in the public interest become an offence, and one that required instant justice by a bunch of ignorant police officers who are ostensibly not interested in keeping the peace but doing the biding of a hawkish clique of the ruling party? Since when did the police got the mandate to determine what picture taking constituted a breach of privacy?
The arguments put forth by NPP party stooges that Babs was not an accredited photographer is ridiculous. Since when did they know every member of the journalism association?
And have they ever heard of the word "Freelance"? Assuming the victim was not a freelancer, did the police action meet 21st century policing? Why do we have courts and a justice system?
This certainly raises questions about the self professed human rights records of candidate Nana Addo, whose government arguably has presided over the worse human rights abuses under any democratically elected government in Ghana.
Let´s not forget it was under the NPP with Nana Addo as Attorney-General that the overlord of Dagbon, Ya Na Yakubu Andani was assassinated along with 40 members of his staff and family and yet not a single person has been brought to account even in the face of the huge body of evidence. An incident that undoubtedly was orchestrated overtly or covertly by an NPP inspired faction.
It is under the NPP, which professes democratic credentials, that a civilian politician was beaten to death by armed military men.
Let´s not forget it is under a democratically elected NPP regime that a National Security Advisor was intimidated and forced into a self imposed exile.
There is a litany of cases of abuse of the human rights of Ghanaians under the Kuffour administration, which Nana Addo has praised as the best thing to happen to Ghana than in any administration.
What happened on Sunday simply bore the hallmark of a political tradition that has used violence to intimidate Ghanaians. The forbearers of the NPP in their incessant attempts to oust Kwame Nkrumah went as further as planting a bomb in a bouquet of flowers and offered it to an innocent Ghanaian school girl to present to President Nkrumah with the view to blowing him off and causing extensive damage and terror.
This level of terror in the NPP was manifest again in the way they conducted themselves in their primary elections.
As if that were not enough, the party caused confusion in certain parts of the country including the Akwatia Constituency where ballot boxes were destroyed, opponents beaten and an activist of the government turning up in a police station with a box containing ballots and no one arrests him or questions where he got them from, Bawku Central Constituency where NDC agents and electoral officials were made to sign results under duress with a lone security officer intimidated and cowed into silence, Weija Constituency where disputed material where taken away in the cover of dark to the District electoral office and reportedly have been swapped en route with collaboration from elements of the military and police and Krachi West Constituency where members of the opposition have been terrorized.
The ruling party is in a state of panic but Ghanaians have spoken and the will of the people shall prevail. The way the National Democratic Congress beat the ruling party in Greater Accra and the Central regions, which are swing regions by all standard, is a clearer indication of where things are going.
Well meaning Ghanaians should resist any attempt to use harassment to subvert the will of the people. Any Ghanaian who loves to preserve the sanctity of our electoral process and "baby democracy" must not allow a power drunk, aloof, very corrupt, divisive, bunch house slaves and highly inept few to intimidate us using the police and military.
There are elements in the Western media who report inaccurately without an informed knowledge of the things they are talking about. A guest on BBC TV Sunday December 7 sought to give the impression that it was the ruling NPP that brought democracy to Ghana. This assertion is inaccurate and only makes hazier the already hazy the political dynamics in Africa.
Democracy, it must be said was not brought to Ghana by the NPP as the BBC TV guest sought to indicate. Indeed it was the forbearers of the NPP who extinguished the first democratic process in our country when they collaborated with aliens to overthrow Nkrumah and ostracised the government and members of the Nkrumah administration, the CPP.
Democracy was brought on in Ghana as most readers would be aware by the collective voices of Ghanaians when in 1992 we opted to end military rule in a referendum. And that democratic space was entrenched and made more credible when Jerry Rawlings, unlike most of his compatriots on the continent, handed over power when his party lost. Hitherto, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah was voted to office by the people of Ghana, the administration of Dr. Liman also was ushered into office in an election following a period of military intervention.
What the NPP has done in the last eight years certainly does not epitomise a government that wants to entrench democracy. We must endeavour to tell our own story accurately.
Most of the Western media and observers will close their eyes to abuses and attempts to intimidate the people by the authorities as long as those in control of power are their friends. It has happened in Rwanda, it is happening in Egypt under their noses, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and so on.
I am sure observers and the media found it most convenient to ignore drawing attention to an attempt by the Kuffour regime to disenfranchise and deny eligible voters, most of whom NDC supporters who were away on business or family visits to Togo after it had assured the world that Ghana´s borders shall remain open before, during and after the voting. An action that had the potential of undermining our democracy. The government had announced two weeks before voting that Ghana's borders shall remain open but did otherwise two days before the polls without forewarning travellers under the cover of "threats to national security" which they always used whenever they wanted to cow people into fear.
What has happened elsewhere on the continent is atrocious and an embarrassment unto all Black people, it has made us a laughing stock and most importantly threatened the lives, now or in the future, of our wives and children as they are the worst victims. Ghanaians are trying to show Africa the way. We must not allow any retrogressive administration to hold us back.
Credit: Ras Mubarak [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
Saturday, August 7, 2010
what is Haruna up to?
There´s slowly a natural mystic blowing through the air and those who see it are those who look carefully as Bob Marley said.
The political landscape of many countries of the world has witnessed sweeping changes in the personalities who run it. Former Prime Minister or rather `Crime Minister´ as Peter Tosh put it - Anthony Blair of the UK took over the Labour party at a time when the party badly needed a new leader with winning ideas to bring it back to office. Indeed Robin Cook who looked a likely contender for the job of Labour leader when the post became vacant after John Smith´s death ruled himself out for the post because he did not consider himself attractive enough to bring Labour back into power.
The Labour Party had been in opposition for 14 years when Tony Blair took over. He was just what the party needed, even though many people at the time saw him as a firebrand when he made suggestions to change the party´s constitution. Tony Blair wanted to expunge clause 4 of the Labour party constitution. It was a tough decision for Blair and it was harder trying to convince Labour members to accept his new vision and re-branding of the party. People like John Prescott and Jack Straw haggled about clause 4 and the re-branding. Mr Blair eventually convinced the party of his grand ideas.
He drew on the experience of veteran politicians like Robin Cook who became his Foreign Minister, David Blunkett - Home Secretary, George Robertson - Defence Secretary and Clare Short.
In the case of Barack Obama, another young and shrewed politician and arguably the most exciting politician of our time, he is counting on the expertise of very experienced hands to run his government. He has chosen John Pedosa - former Clinton Chief of Staff as a top adviser, Nobel prize winning physicist Steven Chu as Energy Minister, until his resignation Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary and Tom Daschle. These are men with a Sterling reputation in politics.
The leader of the opposition Conservative party in the UK David William Donald Cameron is another name that quickly springs to mind as far as `youngsters in leadership´ are concerned. World politics is still run by old but agile politicians and it´s going to remain so for a very long time to come. People like Dr. Manmohan Singh of India born 1938, Robert Mugabe born 1924, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt born 1928, Abdoulayi Wade born 1926 and Raul Castro of Cuba who was born in 1931 and interestingly shares the same birth date with me - June 3, may not be around in the next decade or so, but they surely would be replaced by equally old but agile colleagues.
In politics the stakes are very high and one needs experienced people to steer the affairs of nations. Leaders have the economy, security, foreign affairs, science and technology and a host of very critical portfolios to fill. That is not to say it is not welcoming to have young men and women in very high profile cabinet positions. As a matter of fact, more and more young men and women in politics simply means perhaps a meteoric rise to public office for most talent and dedicated young men and women. The youth are getting weary of the old guards.
I must say however that I was extremely appalled by comments made by NDC Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu. His comments were simply treacherous, overly ambitious and unreasonable. In less than 48 hours after President Mills was sworn in, Haruna is sowing seeds of confusion in the party he helped into office. Haruna is also the National Youth Organizer of the NDC and has studiously worked in his capacity as MP and Youth Organizer to see the NDC back into office. He has brought a lot of youthful touch to the rank and file of the party. He makes brilliant contributions in parliament and certainly has a bright future as a politician.
It's a pity Haruna claims he has received complaints already (barely 48 hrs after Mills was sworn in) from party youths who are not too pleased because they are being snubbed by President Mills. He claims he has had numerous complaints from all over the country already - just under 48 hours - Haruna is telling us that the youth in the party are expecting and restless for jobs?
I have no doubt whatsoever that these so called concerns Haruna claims to have received are stage managed aimed at unnecessarily drawing attention unto himself. The honourable member should know better than to engage in this rather cheap stunt to perhaps lobby for a job for himself. It is rather unfortunate and might be the beginning of the end for him. Politics requires shrewdness, patience and more patience.
PRESIDENT Mills is not going to ignore the youths. His transitional team is an indication of the many good things to come for the young men and women who have played a pivotal role in the party's return to power. The good signs are on the wall. We now have a woman speaker of parliament and the inclusion of youthful faces - Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, Fifi Kwetey and Ludwig Hlodze in the transitional team is superb.
There are also people like Dr. Nii Moi Thompson- CPP, Dr. Sulley Gariba - PNC, and Dr. Kwabena Duffour -CPP in the team which is also an indication of bringing every Ghanaian on board irrespective of party affiliation. I would personally love to see capable and loyal NPP members in some outfit in government. People like William Ampem Darko of the GBC and Kan Dapaah have not done badly at all.
As of the time Haruna made his foot shooting statement, President Mills had released names of only 6 persons, namely Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni for Interior, Vice Admiral E.O. Owusu Ansah for Defence, Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah as National Security Adviser, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Moses Asaga and Togbe Afedze XIV making up the temporary team in charge of the economy. Is Haruna telling us he is best suited for any of the posts released thus far or better still the people named are not best qualified to handle the portfolios they've been assigned? Even senior members of the party like Dr. Tony Aidoo, Dr. Spio Garbrah, Dr. Ben Kumbour and Kofi Attor have not been named yet, so what is Haruna´s rush?
This kind of a complete lack of cool headedness and overly ambitious attitude are some of the reasons the NPP lost the elections. The NDC has come very far and should not put up with the perfidy of Haruna Iddrisu, a rather young and potential member, who when he bid his time could reap sweet benefits for his hard work. What he is doing right now is pissing on everything that every member of the NDC has work for to bring the party back into power. I worry about him because he does not come across as someone who can be trusted.
Nations are built on loyalty and not perfidy and I hope Haruna puts his ego in a back stage for the interest of the nation and party. It is too early to put pressure on the President and he would be better off politically if he bottled up his ego and waited for his turn which would not be too long in coming.
Credit: Ras Mubarak [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
The political landscape of many countries of the world has witnessed sweeping changes in the personalities who run it. Former Prime Minister or rather `Crime Minister´ as Peter Tosh put it - Anthony Blair of the UK took over the Labour party at a time when the party badly needed a new leader with winning ideas to bring it back to office. Indeed Robin Cook who looked a likely contender for the job of Labour leader when the post became vacant after John Smith´s death ruled himself out for the post because he did not consider himself attractive enough to bring Labour back into power.
The Labour Party had been in opposition for 14 years when Tony Blair took over. He was just what the party needed, even though many people at the time saw him as a firebrand when he made suggestions to change the party´s constitution. Tony Blair wanted to expunge clause 4 of the Labour party constitution. It was a tough decision for Blair and it was harder trying to convince Labour members to accept his new vision and re-branding of the party. People like John Prescott and Jack Straw haggled about clause 4 and the re-branding. Mr Blair eventually convinced the party of his grand ideas.
He drew on the experience of veteran politicians like Robin Cook who became his Foreign Minister, David Blunkett - Home Secretary, George Robertson - Defence Secretary and Clare Short.
In the case of Barack Obama, another young and shrewed politician and arguably the most exciting politician of our time, he is counting on the expertise of very experienced hands to run his government. He has chosen John Pedosa - former Clinton Chief of Staff as a top adviser, Nobel prize winning physicist Steven Chu as Energy Minister, until his resignation Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary and Tom Daschle. These are men with a Sterling reputation in politics.
The leader of the opposition Conservative party in the UK David William Donald Cameron is another name that quickly springs to mind as far as `youngsters in leadership´ are concerned. World politics is still run by old but agile politicians and it´s going to remain so for a very long time to come. People like Dr. Manmohan Singh of India born 1938, Robert Mugabe born 1924, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt born 1928, Abdoulayi Wade born 1926 and Raul Castro of Cuba who was born in 1931 and interestingly shares the same birth date with me - June 3, may not be around in the next decade or so, but they surely would be replaced by equally old but agile colleagues.
In politics the stakes are very high and one needs experienced people to steer the affairs of nations. Leaders have the economy, security, foreign affairs, science and technology and a host of very critical portfolios to fill. That is not to say it is not welcoming to have young men and women in very high profile cabinet positions. As a matter of fact, more and more young men and women in politics simply means perhaps a meteoric rise to public office for most talent and dedicated young men and women. The youth are getting weary of the old guards.
I must say however that I was extremely appalled by comments made by NDC Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu. His comments were simply treacherous, overly ambitious and unreasonable. In less than 48 hours after President Mills was sworn in, Haruna is sowing seeds of confusion in the party he helped into office. Haruna is also the National Youth Organizer of the NDC and has studiously worked in his capacity as MP and Youth Organizer to see the NDC back into office. He has brought a lot of youthful touch to the rank and file of the party. He makes brilliant contributions in parliament and certainly has a bright future as a politician.
It's a pity Haruna claims he has received complaints already (barely 48 hrs after Mills was sworn in) from party youths who are not too pleased because they are being snubbed by President Mills. He claims he has had numerous complaints from all over the country already - just under 48 hours - Haruna is telling us that the youth in the party are expecting and restless for jobs?
I have no doubt whatsoever that these so called concerns Haruna claims to have received are stage managed aimed at unnecessarily drawing attention unto himself. The honourable member should know better than to engage in this rather cheap stunt to perhaps lobby for a job for himself. It is rather unfortunate and might be the beginning of the end for him. Politics requires shrewdness, patience and more patience.
PRESIDENT Mills is not going to ignore the youths. His transitional team is an indication of the many good things to come for the young men and women who have played a pivotal role in the party's return to power. The good signs are on the wall. We now have a woman speaker of parliament and the inclusion of youthful faces - Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, Fifi Kwetey and Ludwig Hlodze in the transitional team is superb.
There are also people like Dr. Nii Moi Thompson- CPP, Dr. Sulley Gariba - PNC, and Dr. Kwabena Duffour -CPP in the team which is also an indication of bringing every Ghanaian on board irrespective of party affiliation. I would personally love to see capable and loyal NPP members in some outfit in government. People like William Ampem Darko of the GBC and Kan Dapaah have not done badly at all.
As of the time Haruna made his foot shooting statement, President Mills had released names of only 6 persons, namely Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni for Interior, Vice Admiral E.O. Owusu Ansah for Defence, Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah as National Security Adviser, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Moses Asaga and Togbe Afedze XIV making up the temporary team in charge of the economy. Is Haruna telling us he is best suited for any of the posts released thus far or better still the people named are not best qualified to handle the portfolios they've been assigned? Even senior members of the party like Dr. Tony Aidoo, Dr. Spio Garbrah, Dr. Ben Kumbour and Kofi Attor have not been named yet, so what is Haruna´s rush?
This kind of a complete lack of cool headedness and overly ambitious attitude are some of the reasons the NPP lost the elections. The NDC has come very far and should not put up with the perfidy of Haruna Iddrisu, a rather young and potential member, who when he bid his time could reap sweet benefits for his hard work. What he is doing right now is pissing on everything that every member of the NDC has work for to bring the party back into power. I worry about him because he does not come across as someone who can be trusted.
Nations are built on loyalty and not perfidy and I hope Haruna puts his ego in a back stage for the interest of the nation and party. It is too early to put pressure on the President and he would be better off politically if he bottled up his ego and waited for his turn which would not be too long in coming.
Credit: Ras Mubarak [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
Lawyer Okudzeto's argument is flawed
Ghanaian legislators, criminal and constitutional lawyers may be scratching and pouring their heads over dusty law books and court rulings following the challenge to the authority of the Bureau of National Investigation, BNI by lawyer Sam Okudzeto.
In citing instances of legal precedence, Mr. Okudzeto invoked the 1996 – 97 ruling of Edusei v. Attorney General - SCGLR at 1-62 and questioned the powers of the BNI or any state security agency to revoke a Ghanaian passport or question a suspect in the absence of their attorney.
Interestingly, it is clearly stated in page one of Republic of Ghana passport that a Ghanaian passport “is the property of the government of Ghana and must be surrendered on demand by an authorised representative of the Ghana government.”
Contrary to what the learned Mr Okudzeto said, the BNI or Police do not have to go to court to get a ruling before the government can revoke a passport. There’s nowhere in the Edusei v Attorney General case which says you have to go to court to get an order. The ruling says if there are sufficient grounds to seize a passport, so be it.
I am sure MR. Okuzeto has a Ghanaian passport and has seen page one of the passport. Why has the learned lawyer not questioned the disclaimer in the passport until now? It has been more than ten years since the Edusei v Attorney General ruling, are we to believe that the entire legal community in Ghana deliberately kept quiet over an illegality?
Perhaps Mr Okuzeto can institute a legal action to seek further clarification on the matter and if the Supreme Court ruled that no state authority can seize a Ghanaian passport, then the NDC government should resort to parliament to pass legislation that will nullify the ruling.
We are treading on very dangerous grounds if we seek to cripple institutions of state in the name of human rights. We are faced with unprecedented challenges in matters of security and are threatened by drug lords thanks to the Kufour government; if we cared so much about the security of our country then we must collectively endeavour to empower the BNI to do any and everything as long as they do not torture or kill suspects. No serious nation takes its security lightly – it is therefore very dangerous at this point of global insecurity to demonise and weaken the morale of our security agencies.
The powers of the police in the US were enhanced just recently (25th May 2009) when the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to OVERTURNED a long standing “ruling that stopped the police from initiating questioning unless a defendant’s lawyer was present.” That is America, a country with an impeccable human rights record, a country we are so quick to look up to for direction; well here’s the direction now, let’s follow.
Presently, the only Western leader with any sense of integrity and respect for human rights is Barrak Obama. But it is the Obama government which asked the courts to overrule the 1986 Michigan v Jackson case where a security officer couldn’t question a suspect in the absence of a lawyer. What would the self righteous human rights activists in Ghana say about that?
If Mr. Okuzeto wants a legal precedence, that is a good one, but since a US Supreme Court ruling is none binding on Ghana, we might as well push for an anti terror and state fraud legislation that would seek to give the BNI overriding powers to squeeze the truth out of suspects without recourse to torture and if picking them up from the church or departure lounge is what would do the trick so be it.
The former minister of Information – Asamoah Boateng was right about one thing when he gave an interview on joy fm’s morning show – “Ghana is in trouble”. Our dearest Ghana is certainly in trouble if obstructing the BNI is what some politicians and citizens want. But we are in more trouble if the wives of footballers and politicians can brazenly assault, obstruct justice and get away with it.
We must get serious in Ghana – if this is how things would remain then I’m afraid it won’t be long before the wife of a taxi driver marches to the police headquarters and starts slapping officers because her husband had been fined by a motor traffic officer.
The Ghanaian idea of justice is the antithesis of what we are trying to learn from the West. Politicians are investigated all the time by the police and other investigative bodies in the West. Political prosecutions in the US dates back to early 19th century when Eugene Schmitz, the Mayor of San Francisco was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 5years in Prison in 1907.
The FBI investigated and arrested Rod Blagovich, former governor of Illinois in December 2008 and indicted him recently for trying to auction Barrack Obama’s senate seat. His immediate predecessor as governor, Ryan George is currently languishing in jail after being found guilty of issuing license to unqualified drivers, lying to investigators, tax fraud and other federal crimes.
Any attempts to stymie the work of the BNI in the name of human rights are dangerous. We have damaged the BNI enough by the daily comments we make and attacks on its personnel. What the country needs from legal luminaries like Mr. Okudzeto is to help insulate state security from politics. National interest takes precedence over anybody’s human rights, and if restraining people from travel is the way to unravel questions over suspicious fraudulent deals then thumps up to the bureau.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
In citing instances of legal precedence, Mr. Okudzeto invoked the 1996 – 97 ruling of Edusei v. Attorney General - SCGLR at 1-62 and questioned the powers of the BNI or any state security agency to revoke a Ghanaian passport or question a suspect in the absence of their attorney.
Interestingly, it is clearly stated in page one of Republic of Ghana passport that a Ghanaian passport “is the property of the government of Ghana and must be surrendered on demand by an authorised representative of the Ghana government.”
Contrary to what the learned Mr Okudzeto said, the BNI or Police do not have to go to court to get a ruling before the government can revoke a passport. There’s nowhere in the Edusei v Attorney General case which says you have to go to court to get an order. The ruling says if there are sufficient grounds to seize a passport, so be it.
I am sure MR. Okuzeto has a Ghanaian passport and has seen page one of the passport. Why has the learned lawyer not questioned the disclaimer in the passport until now? It has been more than ten years since the Edusei v Attorney General ruling, are we to believe that the entire legal community in Ghana deliberately kept quiet over an illegality?
Perhaps Mr Okuzeto can institute a legal action to seek further clarification on the matter and if the Supreme Court ruled that no state authority can seize a Ghanaian passport, then the NDC government should resort to parliament to pass legislation that will nullify the ruling.
We are treading on very dangerous grounds if we seek to cripple institutions of state in the name of human rights. We are faced with unprecedented challenges in matters of security and are threatened by drug lords thanks to the Kufour government; if we cared so much about the security of our country then we must collectively endeavour to empower the BNI to do any and everything as long as they do not torture or kill suspects. No serious nation takes its security lightly – it is therefore very dangerous at this point of global insecurity to demonise and weaken the morale of our security agencies.
The powers of the police in the US were enhanced just recently (25th May 2009) when the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to OVERTURNED a long standing “ruling that stopped the police from initiating questioning unless a defendant’s lawyer was present.” That is America, a country with an impeccable human rights record, a country we are so quick to look up to for direction; well here’s the direction now, let’s follow.
Presently, the only Western leader with any sense of integrity and respect for human rights is Barrak Obama. But it is the Obama government which asked the courts to overrule the 1986 Michigan v Jackson case where a security officer couldn’t question a suspect in the absence of a lawyer. What would the self righteous human rights activists in Ghana say about that?
If Mr. Okuzeto wants a legal precedence, that is a good one, but since a US Supreme Court ruling is none binding on Ghana, we might as well push for an anti terror and state fraud legislation that would seek to give the BNI overriding powers to squeeze the truth out of suspects without recourse to torture and if picking them up from the church or departure lounge is what would do the trick so be it.
The former minister of Information – Asamoah Boateng was right about one thing when he gave an interview on joy fm’s morning show – “Ghana is in trouble”. Our dearest Ghana is certainly in trouble if obstructing the BNI is what some politicians and citizens want. But we are in more trouble if the wives of footballers and politicians can brazenly assault, obstruct justice and get away with it.
We must get serious in Ghana – if this is how things would remain then I’m afraid it won’t be long before the wife of a taxi driver marches to the police headquarters and starts slapping officers because her husband had been fined by a motor traffic officer.
The Ghanaian idea of justice is the antithesis of what we are trying to learn from the West. Politicians are investigated all the time by the police and other investigative bodies in the West. Political prosecutions in the US dates back to early 19th century when Eugene Schmitz, the Mayor of San Francisco was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 5years in Prison in 1907.
The FBI investigated and arrested Rod Blagovich, former governor of Illinois in December 2008 and indicted him recently for trying to auction Barrack Obama’s senate seat. His immediate predecessor as governor, Ryan George is currently languishing in jail after being found guilty of issuing license to unqualified drivers, lying to investigators, tax fraud and other federal crimes.
Any attempts to stymie the work of the BNI in the name of human rights are dangerous. We have damaged the BNI enough by the daily comments we make and attacks on its personnel. What the country needs from legal luminaries like Mr. Okudzeto is to help insulate state security from politics. National interest takes precedence over anybody’s human rights, and if restraining people from travel is the way to unravel questions over suspicious fraudulent deals then thumps up to the bureau.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
Mills must lead Ghana out of the commonwealth
On 20th January 2009, history would be made as Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States - Wow, Black man in the White House? Black First Lady in the White House? Black children in the White House? My gosh! What a long story!
History is made and the story will be told to many generations, of how a young Black man mesmerized the world and gave hope to his people, a people who have suffered some of the world’s most vicious treatment. The savagery of slavery and events thereafter are too chilling for me to write about.
The Democratic Party in America as you may be aware by now is in total control of the US Congress, The Senate and the White House, or perhaps the "Black House" now that Obama is going to be in charge. 52 per cent of Americans voted for Mr. Obama which gave him 364 electoral colleges whilst magnanimous grandpa John McCain got 46 percent of the total votes and 174 Electoral College votes.
Did you see the display of wisdom in McCain’s concession speech? Whew, the man was magnanimous to a fault - Wicked and very inspiring speech. He almost stole the show with his speech. It is the kind of speech you only get to hear from exceptional politicians. He must have inherited his pearls of wisdom from King Solomon of Biblical days.
Politics elsewhere is so pregnant with bitterness and a lack of good will to concede defeat and have nicer things to say about one’s opponent. Akufo-Addo’s concession speech to President John A. Mills was virtually a litany of complaints. But that is what American politics is NOT about. Analysts who have lived long enough and observed so many elections say Americans always put the acrimonious campaigning behind them once it is said and done.
Good for democracy and good for the rest of the world. There is undoubtedly so much the world can learn from US elections, though that is not to say they don’t have pockets of difficulties in their system. I’m sure you are aware how several Black people were reportedly denied the opportunity to vote thanks to Jeb Bush, brother of president Bush and the rigging machine of the Republicans.
The outpouring of support that greeted Obama’s victory was incredible. From Africa through to the Middle East and the Latin American region. The voices from Latin America were very strong. Congratulations with conditions from foes and allies - Alvaro Uribe, Raffael Correa, Lula, Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez. Not surprising huh? Well Obama had said during the campaign he will sit down with Mr. Chavez. Chavez sees Obama’s election as positive because the president elect appears to be a good break from the past ways of doing things. His victory undoubtedly would raise America’s battered image brought on by the war and largely by the isolationist and half-hearted tactics of Bush in the last 8 years. It is already apparent in the places and countries support is coming from. Even the Taliban have made conditional overtures, albeit an overture.
But guess who else is on the list of the good boys club? President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad of Iran, whose country has not had any high level diplomatic relations with the US since April 1980 after Iranian students seized 63 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
And oh, Uncle Bob. Yes, our own uncle Bob. He has sent Barack a note of compliment. I love this man. Uncle Bob of Zimbabwe is anxiously awaiting the renewal of relationship with his country whose economy had been damaged like a rag doll.
I am not sure why Robert Mugabe kept his country in the Commonwealth until he was kicked out? The writings were on the wall that his country was going to be suspended. But the Commonwealth is of no use to him and his people anyway. There is nothing common about the wealth of Zimbabwe and the UK or Australia.
I’m really looking forward to the day when all these so called Pan-African leaders of the continent would sever ties with the Commonwealth league of nations. The institution has lost its usefulness and offers nothing extraordinary to member countries, particularly those from Africa. It has in fact not been useful in the first place at all.
We got our independence with a fight from an institution whose head was reluctant to grant independence in the first place. It had to take courageous leaders like Nkrumah of Ghana and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya to get us where we are. They fought for it, blood was shed and many lives perished in the process. Countries whose leaders have not been bold enough are virtually still ruled by The Queen - Why should countries such as Barbados and Jamaica proclaim INDEPENDENCE and still have the Queen as Head of State? Wake up Jamaica! Wake up Barbados. Even the British are debating the usefulness of the Monarchy, and she is their Queen. We are still reeling from the exploitation of slavery and Britain has not even had the decency to apologize to a people whose trust and confidence it breached. Excitingly, the Queen will not miss us if you all left, would she? She gets very good company from the many royal activities and charities she presides over, plus her beautiful pets.
Africa is ensnared in bilateral trade agreements and we are at the receiving end of this so called special treatment for commonwealth member countries. Citizens of member states are no different from non-member countries and the same very humiliating and funny visa procedures apply to everyone else from Africa or Jamaica. Britain after all trades with `non commonwealth´ members so what’s the point?
The 21st century poses new challenges and requires cooperation from the nations of the world in confronting these challenges - terrorism, finance, health, agricultural, climate change, peace and security. It is therefore very important and in the interest of developing nations particularly those in Africa to support and help strengthen institutions like the UN, the African Union and ECOWAS. Britain may be an indispensable partner in Africa’s development, but Commonwealth members from Africa do not have to be members of a group that reeks of colonial mentality.
It is a myth to continuously live in the belief that we have to be a member of the commonwealth in order to favorably trade with Britain. Britain will trade with us anyways if we had something it needs and that is a fact. The crimes of slavery are so grave that some African nations cannot continue to hold on to being members of the commonwealth. And like Kwame Nkrumah said, we should "prefare self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility." Nkrumah’s statement sums up the feelings of many young men and women from Africa today who do not see any real benefits from resources plundered out of the continent by greedy and corrupt leaders and their western collaborators.
We may not be able to live in isolation in the 21st century, but the time has come to throw into the dustbins of history institutions that do not promote social justice, equality and fairness. Nkrumah may have been the one who signed us up to the Commonwealth, but the time has come for us to quit. The Barack Obama victory should spur Africans into believing in themselves.
We have so much talent and abundant natural resources, we have to put them to use in the interest of our people. Let us give our children the hope that someday we shall overcome our difficulties and prove the world wrong. And indeed - YES WE CAN!
Credit: Ras Mubarak. [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
History is made and the story will be told to many generations, of how a young Black man mesmerized the world and gave hope to his people, a people who have suffered some of the world’s most vicious treatment. The savagery of slavery and events thereafter are too chilling for me to write about.
The Democratic Party in America as you may be aware by now is in total control of the US Congress, The Senate and the White House, or perhaps the "Black House" now that Obama is going to be in charge. 52 per cent of Americans voted for Mr. Obama which gave him 364 electoral colleges whilst magnanimous grandpa John McCain got 46 percent of the total votes and 174 Electoral College votes.
Did you see the display of wisdom in McCain’s concession speech? Whew, the man was magnanimous to a fault - Wicked and very inspiring speech. He almost stole the show with his speech. It is the kind of speech you only get to hear from exceptional politicians. He must have inherited his pearls of wisdom from King Solomon of Biblical days.
Politics elsewhere is so pregnant with bitterness and a lack of good will to concede defeat and have nicer things to say about one’s opponent. Akufo-Addo’s concession speech to President John A. Mills was virtually a litany of complaints. But that is what American politics is NOT about. Analysts who have lived long enough and observed so many elections say Americans always put the acrimonious campaigning behind them once it is said and done.
Good for democracy and good for the rest of the world. There is undoubtedly so much the world can learn from US elections, though that is not to say they don’t have pockets of difficulties in their system. I’m sure you are aware how several Black people were reportedly denied the opportunity to vote thanks to Jeb Bush, brother of president Bush and the rigging machine of the Republicans.
The outpouring of support that greeted Obama’s victory was incredible. From Africa through to the Middle East and the Latin American region. The voices from Latin America were very strong. Congratulations with conditions from foes and allies - Alvaro Uribe, Raffael Correa, Lula, Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez. Not surprising huh? Well Obama had said during the campaign he will sit down with Mr. Chavez. Chavez sees Obama’s election as positive because the president elect appears to be a good break from the past ways of doing things. His victory undoubtedly would raise America’s battered image brought on by the war and largely by the isolationist and half-hearted tactics of Bush in the last 8 years. It is already apparent in the places and countries support is coming from. Even the Taliban have made conditional overtures, albeit an overture.
But guess who else is on the list of the good boys club? President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad of Iran, whose country has not had any high level diplomatic relations with the US since April 1980 after Iranian students seized 63 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
And oh, Uncle Bob. Yes, our own uncle Bob. He has sent Barack a note of compliment. I love this man. Uncle Bob of Zimbabwe is anxiously awaiting the renewal of relationship with his country whose economy had been damaged like a rag doll.
I am not sure why Robert Mugabe kept his country in the Commonwealth until he was kicked out? The writings were on the wall that his country was going to be suspended. But the Commonwealth is of no use to him and his people anyway. There is nothing common about the wealth of Zimbabwe and the UK or Australia.
I’m really looking forward to the day when all these so called Pan-African leaders of the continent would sever ties with the Commonwealth league of nations. The institution has lost its usefulness and offers nothing extraordinary to member countries, particularly those from Africa. It has in fact not been useful in the first place at all.
We got our independence with a fight from an institution whose head was reluctant to grant independence in the first place. It had to take courageous leaders like Nkrumah of Ghana and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya to get us where we are. They fought for it, blood was shed and many lives perished in the process. Countries whose leaders have not been bold enough are virtually still ruled by The Queen - Why should countries such as Barbados and Jamaica proclaim INDEPENDENCE and still have the Queen as Head of State? Wake up Jamaica! Wake up Barbados. Even the British are debating the usefulness of the Monarchy, and she is their Queen. We are still reeling from the exploitation of slavery and Britain has not even had the decency to apologize to a people whose trust and confidence it breached. Excitingly, the Queen will not miss us if you all left, would she? She gets very good company from the many royal activities and charities she presides over, plus her beautiful pets.
Africa is ensnared in bilateral trade agreements and we are at the receiving end of this so called special treatment for commonwealth member countries. Citizens of member states are no different from non-member countries and the same very humiliating and funny visa procedures apply to everyone else from Africa or Jamaica. Britain after all trades with `non commonwealth´ members so what’s the point?
The 21st century poses new challenges and requires cooperation from the nations of the world in confronting these challenges - terrorism, finance, health, agricultural, climate change, peace and security. It is therefore very important and in the interest of developing nations particularly those in Africa to support and help strengthen institutions like the UN, the African Union and ECOWAS. Britain may be an indispensable partner in Africa’s development, but Commonwealth members from Africa do not have to be members of a group that reeks of colonial mentality.
It is a myth to continuously live in the belief that we have to be a member of the commonwealth in order to favorably trade with Britain. Britain will trade with us anyways if we had something it needs and that is a fact. The crimes of slavery are so grave that some African nations cannot continue to hold on to being members of the commonwealth. And like Kwame Nkrumah said, we should "prefare self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility." Nkrumah’s statement sums up the feelings of many young men and women from Africa today who do not see any real benefits from resources plundered out of the continent by greedy and corrupt leaders and their western collaborators.
We may not be able to live in isolation in the 21st century, but the time has come to throw into the dustbins of history institutions that do not promote social justice, equality and fairness. Nkrumah may have been the one who signed us up to the Commonwealth, but the time has come for us to quit. The Barack Obama victory should spur Africans into believing in themselves.
We have so much talent and abundant natural resources, we have to put them to use in the interest of our people. Let us give our children the hope that someday we shall overcome our difficulties and prove the world wrong. And indeed - YES WE CAN!
Credit: Ras Mubarak. [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
don't politicise the army
The Professional Journal of the US Marine Corps underlines the word Military, as a term derived from the French word Militaire, which was also derived from the Latin word Militaris, meaning "of soldiers or war."
One of the most agonizing and hazardous jobs on earth is the Armed Forces. Mostly very noble men and women of individual nations put their lives in harms way just to fend off, protect and secure the lives and properties of citizens.
The training is rigorous and extremely life threatening. I write with a lot of pride and exaltation for the men and women in uniform. I lived in NORRRIP Village and went to elementary school in the early 80s in Kamina Barracks, Tamale, which is just a fence away from NORRIP. As a child, I watched officers train every morning and relished the panache and aplomb our officers exhibited. I convinced myself that one day, just one day, I would enlist in the armed forces.
The military is such a wonderful place to work in, in spite of the hazards that come with the job. What is life when you can’t live for others? Our officers live for us whilst we are about our daily and nightly exigencies, oblivious to the threats that these unknown men and women intercept and crush, 98 per cent of which never even come out in the public domain.
I would have been in the army but for my height. Recruitment procedures may have changed in the Ghana Armed Forces, but the last time I tried to enlist - some 15 years ago, I was told I was too short to fit in. How shameful that was. I guess they needed men and women who could break bones with their bare hands, menacing looking officers, officers who are so huge they can frighten any adversary just by the size of their stature. They may have been right then, after all it was Okonko who said in Things Fall Apart, (a book by Chinua Achebe) that a man must be hugely built and ugly. I am not hugely built and i am not ugly, at least that is what my fans tell me when they see me on national television, GTV. I have heard comments like - "oh Mubarak, you are such a handsome young man, why are you wearing dreadlocks?"
The years of using the muscle in the military are long gone. People are looking for strategists and creative thinkers who can device lethal weapons and precision missiles for wars. No disrespect to heavily built persons but wars are won by highly skilled and sophisticated generals. Science and intelligence is the name of the game today. And that is why consistently, advanced nations are engaging stakeholders to deal with threats.
The Armed Forces have become very central in almost everything. At a World Trade Centre meeting in Brussels, Belgium in 2001, the theme adopted for the conference was - "the importance of Military Organisations In Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Protection". The programme which was jointly organised by the United Nations Environmental Programme, United States Department of Defence and the United States Environmental Protection Agency amongst other things discussed Military strategies to reduce Greenhouse Emissions, the significance of the Climate and Ozone layer protection to environmental security, Fire and Explosion Suppression, Bullet-proof and Ballistic Shields, biological and chemical decontamination, Military Emissions and Armed Conflict and their impact on the environment.
The long and short of this story is that, military science is the order of the day and successful militaries of the 21st century would have to conform to the demands of the times or you expose your citizenry to annihilation from aggressive governments. I am sure Israel would not even dream about invading Palestine if the Palestinians had a deterrent like Pakistan.
Elsewhere in the World, Armed Forces personnel are glorified for their courage and given heavy defence budgets to help them assemble the best minds, boost morale and acquire the most sophisticated military gadgets. The defence budgets of serious nations are so huge it can blow your mind to bits. A nation cannot compromise on the security of its people, otherwise you expose them to danger from rogue states. As individuals we would not care so much about buying dogs, alarms and unassailable gadgets to secure our homes and offices if the protections of our lives and property were not important to us. Take a look at any shop or store in your town and you would see the sizes of padlocks and lock systems people put in place.
The story of the Ghana Armed Forces is pathetic. In spite of the enormous sacrifices by our military officers, we are always so quick to excoriate them. Any form of excesses by the military is unacceptable. Very innocent people have been killed or harassed in the past. Families have been left bereft because of the indiscipline of some young officers and we have a right to call the attention of the generals to keep their boys in check. Indisciplined elements in the military have in the past behaved like barbarians and I think the High Command would have to do a lot of work in ensuring discipline. What happened at the forecourt of the 37 Military Hospital in Accra where alleged offending taxi drivers were rounded up by soldiers, given military drills and taken to the mortuary to fondle corpses is outrageous. The brutality meted out to Issah Mobilla till he died in the hands of the military is savagery. We cannot condone such crude behaviour.
Unfortunately, we in the civilian community are equally not doing things right. When the boys in the barracks get out of hand, and like in every institution, there are procedures of bringing people to justice. Nana Oye Lithur is one of the human rights activists I respect and hold in very high esteem.
But I was very disappointed when she sought to suggest that two weeks was long enough for the military to come out with a statement on the death of a Ghanaian-American tourists who was killed by an alleged military officer on January 2. As a seasoned lawyer, I expect Nana Oye to know that the case is an alleged murder and that murder cases required thorough investigation. Impatience would not solve any murder allegation. We are not even sure if the alleged persons accused of murdering the tourist are members of the Armed Forces. To seek to rush the army into coming out quickly is very unfortunate.
I would never seek to justify the arbitrary execution of Ghanaians or law abiding foreigners in Ghana by the military, but to suggest that the entire military establishment is trigger happy is treachery. In any case, I would be expecting to hear her tell Ghanaians more than 5years is too long a time to bring to justice persons who assassinated the King of Dagbon and 40 of his subjects in broad day light at a time when Ghana is not under military rule. These were civilians killed by civilians and Ghana’s so-called most outspoken human rights activists have been quiet.
We have seen cases of indiscipline exhibited even by the most sophisticated armed forces in the world. We are witnesses to how American and British soldiers tortured innocent Iraqis and Afghans. The US is arguably the world’s topmost democracy where rights and liberties are respected by institutions of state, yet we saw chilling images of the barbarity of some elements of the US Army, largely young officers who don’t even know why they were in Iraq.
It is very dangerous the way we are too quick to denounce the Military. The media is not helping much because you have all sorts of poorly trained journalists running commentary on the behaviour of the Armed Forces of Ghana and instigating hatred for the officers in uniform. The now opposition New Patriotic Party is also not helping much. Some leaders of the party including its defeated presidential candidate in the last elections have at any given opportunity tried to drag the military into politics by calling the NDC "solja foor aban - military people’s party." The Armed Forces is there for all of us and have conducted themselves fairly well in the last 17 years or so.
We don’t even care what difficulties confront the military. We are not even talking about the problems of the Armed Forces yet expect them to live beyond reproach. For the record, the Ghana Armed Forces is one of the most under-funded armies in Africa. The Ghana Armed Forces is nowhere in comparison to countries like Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Botswana and Cameroon.
Cote D’Ivoire for example has a population of 18 million plus people. It has 17,050 personnel in its military. It also has 10 main battle tanks, 10 armoured infantary fighting vehicles, 41 armoured personnel carriers, 3 patrol and coastal combat vessels for the Navy, 6 combat capable aircrafts for the Air Force and spent $US 300M in 2007 on military budget.
A tiny country like Botswana spent $US 283M in 2007 on military budget. In the same year, Burkina Faso spent $US 101M and it has 10,800 personnel in their military, Cameroon has 14,100 personnel in its military. Her population is 18 million plus, and Cameroon´s defence budget for 2007 is $US324M. The country has 22 armored infantry fighting vehicles and 33 armored personnel carriers. Whilst Ghana’s Navy has 6 patrol and coastal combatant vessels at 2 bases, Cameroon has 11 patrol and coastal vessels at 3 bases. Cameroon´s Airforce has 15 combat capable aircrafts and 7 armed helicopters. The Ghana Airforce only 9 combat capable aircrafts.
Our defence spending for the same year as the above countries - 2007 -is $US104M. Even very tiny looking Jamaica, whose population is less than 3million spends more on the country’s defence than Ghana. Jamaica´s defence spending in 2007 was $US 105m, and guess how many armoured infantry fighting vehicles Ghana has? Just 19 and 50 armoured personnel carriers. We are no where near our own peers in Africa in terms of military might - countries whose GDP is nearly the same as ours or slightly ahead of Ghana’s. Our boys and girls in the garrisons are overstretched and under resourced. It was dancehall singer Rodney Pryce, aka Bounty Killer, who asked in his song how governments expect a frustrated security force to keep the peace, couldn’t they understand that "a hungry man is an angry man and we’ve been telling you this from 19....how long?"
The NPP has to stop its propaganda of disrespecting the very men and women who in times of trouble they would be quick to call upon to save us all. We keep hearing all manner of very stupid stories put out in the media just to discredit the Armed Forces because the NDC enjoys some perceived support in the military. Our Generals and Officers are loyal only to Ghana and no one else. We should stop this shameful attitude of claiming the military is back in power because the NDC is the military and the military is the NDC.
What the military needs now is support to execute its duties and not denunciations from people who cannot even handle a gun let alone fire it.
redit: Ras Mubarak [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
One of the most agonizing and hazardous jobs on earth is the Armed Forces. Mostly very noble men and women of individual nations put their lives in harms way just to fend off, protect and secure the lives and properties of citizens.
The training is rigorous and extremely life threatening. I write with a lot of pride and exaltation for the men and women in uniform. I lived in NORRRIP Village and went to elementary school in the early 80s in Kamina Barracks, Tamale, which is just a fence away from NORRIP. As a child, I watched officers train every morning and relished the panache and aplomb our officers exhibited. I convinced myself that one day, just one day, I would enlist in the armed forces.
The military is such a wonderful place to work in, in spite of the hazards that come with the job. What is life when you can’t live for others? Our officers live for us whilst we are about our daily and nightly exigencies, oblivious to the threats that these unknown men and women intercept and crush, 98 per cent of which never even come out in the public domain.
I would have been in the army but for my height. Recruitment procedures may have changed in the Ghana Armed Forces, but the last time I tried to enlist - some 15 years ago, I was told I was too short to fit in. How shameful that was. I guess they needed men and women who could break bones with their bare hands, menacing looking officers, officers who are so huge they can frighten any adversary just by the size of their stature. They may have been right then, after all it was Okonko who said in Things Fall Apart, (a book by Chinua Achebe) that a man must be hugely built and ugly. I am not hugely built and i am not ugly, at least that is what my fans tell me when they see me on national television, GTV. I have heard comments like - "oh Mubarak, you are such a handsome young man, why are you wearing dreadlocks?"
The years of using the muscle in the military are long gone. People are looking for strategists and creative thinkers who can device lethal weapons and precision missiles for wars. No disrespect to heavily built persons but wars are won by highly skilled and sophisticated generals. Science and intelligence is the name of the game today. And that is why consistently, advanced nations are engaging stakeholders to deal with threats.
The Armed Forces have become very central in almost everything. At a World Trade Centre meeting in Brussels, Belgium in 2001, the theme adopted for the conference was - "the importance of Military Organisations In Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Protection". The programme which was jointly organised by the United Nations Environmental Programme, United States Department of Defence and the United States Environmental Protection Agency amongst other things discussed Military strategies to reduce Greenhouse Emissions, the significance of the Climate and Ozone layer protection to environmental security, Fire and Explosion Suppression, Bullet-proof and Ballistic Shields, biological and chemical decontamination, Military Emissions and Armed Conflict and their impact on the environment.
The long and short of this story is that, military science is the order of the day and successful militaries of the 21st century would have to conform to the demands of the times or you expose your citizenry to annihilation from aggressive governments. I am sure Israel would not even dream about invading Palestine if the Palestinians had a deterrent like Pakistan.
Elsewhere in the World, Armed Forces personnel are glorified for their courage and given heavy defence budgets to help them assemble the best minds, boost morale and acquire the most sophisticated military gadgets. The defence budgets of serious nations are so huge it can blow your mind to bits. A nation cannot compromise on the security of its people, otherwise you expose them to danger from rogue states. As individuals we would not care so much about buying dogs, alarms and unassailable gadgets to secure our homes and offices if the protections of our lives and property were not important to us. Take a look at any shop or store in your town and you would see the sizes of padlocks and lock systems people put in place.
The story of the Ghana Armed Forces is pathetic. In spite of the enormous sacrifices by our military officers, we are always so quick to excoriate them. Any form of excesses by the military is unacceptable. Very innocent people have been killed or harassed in the past. Families have been left bereft because of the indiscipline of some young officers and we have a right to call the attention of the generals to keep their boys in check. Indisciplined elements in the military have in the past behaved like barbarians and I think the High Command would have to do a lot of work in ensuring discipline. What happened at the forecourt of the 37 Military Hospital in Accra where alleged offending taxi drivers were rounded up by soldiers, given military drills and taken to the mortuary to fondle corpses is outrageous. The brutality meted out to Issah Mobilla till he died in the hands of the military is savagery. We cannot condone such crude behaviour.
Unfortunately, we in the civilian community are equally not doing things right. When the boys in the barracks get out of hand, and like in every institution, there are procedures of bringing people to justice. Nana Oye Lithur is one of the human rights activists I respect and hold in very high esteem.
But I was very disappointed when she sought to suggest that two weeks was long enough for the military to come out with a statement on the death of a Ghanaian-American tourists who was killed by an alleged military officer on January 2. As a seasoned lawyer, I expect Nana Oye to know that the case is an alleged murder and that murder cases required thorough investigation. Impatience would not solve any murder allegation. We are not even sure if the alleged persons accused of murdering the tourist are members of the Armed Forces. To seek to rush the army into coming out quickly is very unfortunate.
I would never seek to justify the arbitrary execution of Ghanaians or law abiding foreigners in Ghana by the military, but to suggest that the entire military establishment is trigger happy is treachery. In any case, I would be expecting to hear her tell Ghanaians more than 5years is too long a time to bring to justice persons who assassinated the King of Dagbon and 40 of his subjects in broad day light at a time when Ghana is not under military rule. These were civilians killed by civilians and Ghana’s so-called most outspoken human rights activists have been quiet.
We have seen cases of indiscipline exhibited even by the most sophisticated armed forces in the world. We are witnesses to how American and British soldiers tortured innocent Iraqis and Afghans. The US is arguably the world’s topmost democracy where rights and liberties are respected by institutions of state, yet we saw chilling images of the barbarity of some elements of the US Army, largely young officers who don’t even know why they were in Iraq.
It is very dangerous the way we are too quick to denounce the Military. The media is not helping much because you have all sorts of poorly trained journalists running commentary on the behaviour of the Armed Forces of Ghana and instigating hatred for the officers in uniform. The now opposition New Patriotic Party is also not helping much. Some leaders of the party including its defeated presidential candidate in the last elections have at any given opportunity tried to drag the military into politics by calling the NDC "solja foor aban - military people’s party." The Armed Forces is there for all of us and have conducted themselves fairly well in the last 17 years or so.
We don’t even care what difficulties confront the military. We are not even talking about the problems of the Armed Forces yet expect them to live beyond reproach. For the record, the Ghana Armed Forces is one of the most under-funded armies in Africa. The Ghana Armed Forces is nowhere in comparison to countries like Kenya, Cote D’Ivoire, Botswana and Cameroon.
Cote D’Ivoire for example has a population of 18 million plus people. It has 17,050 personnel in its military. It also has 10 main battle tanks, 10 armoured infantary fighting vehicles, 41 armoured personnel carriers, 3 patrol and coastal combat vessels for the Navy, 6 combat capable aircrafts for the Air Force and spent $US 300M in 2007 on military budget.
A tiny country like Botswana spent $US 283M in 2007 on military budget. In the same year, Burkina Faso spent $US 101M and it has 10,800 personnel in their military, Cameroon has 14,100 personnel in its military. Her population is 18 million plus, and Cameroon´s defence budget for 2007 is $US324M. The country has 22 armored infantry fighting vehicles and 33 armored personnel carriers. Whilst Ghana’s Navy has 6 patrol and coastal combatant vessels at 2 bases, Cameroon has 11 patrol and coastal vessels at 3 bases. Cameroon´s Airforce has 15 combat capable aircrafts and 7 armed helicopters. The Ghana Airforce only 9 combat capable aircrafts.
Our defence spending for the same year as the above countries - 2007 -is $US104M. Even very tiny looking Jamaica, whose population is less than 3million spends more on the country’s defence than Ghana. Jamaica´s defence spending in 2007 was $US 105m, and guess how many armoured infantry fighting vehicles Ghana has? Just 19 and 50 armoured personnel carriers. We are no where near our own peers in Africa in terms of military might - countries whose GDP is nearly the same as ours or slightly ahead of Ghana’s. Our boys and girls in the garrisons are overstretched and under resourced. It was dancehall singer Rodney Pryce, aka Bounty Killer, who asked in his song how governments expect a frustrated security force to keep the peace, couldn’t they understand that "a hungry man is an angry man and we’ve been telling you this from 19....how long?"
The NPP has to stop its propaganda of disrespecting the very men and women who in times of trouble they would be quick to call upon to save us all. We keep hearing all manner of very stupid stories put out in the media just to discredit the Armed Forces because the NDC enjoys some perceived support in the military. Our Generals and Officers are loyal only to Ghana and no one else. We should stop this shameful attitude of claiming the military is back in power because the NDC is the military and the military is the NDC.
What the military needs now is support to execute its duties and not denunciations from people who cannot even handle a gun let alone fire it.
redit: Ras Mubarak [mmubarak79@yahoo.com]
Arrest Kufuor, Malik and others
I am enraged by reports that the opposition New Patriotic Party, NPP is contemplating hitting the streets to demonstrate against what they call “harassment of its members” over the seizure of vehicles. This is a typical case of “the pot calling the kettle black.”
Our constitution guarantees the rights of every individual to freely take part in processions and demonstrations and I absolutely support this wise provision in our constitution. The opposition and indeed every Ghanaian must be encouraged to demonstrate and organise processions to highlight or draw attention to matters they are aggrieved about if all avenues for redress fail. I am therefore not opposed to any form of peaceful demonstrations by any group including the NPP.
What I am against is self righteous hypocrisy. To paraphrase a paragraph from Mr. Obama’s 2002 speech against the Iraqi war, “what I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Nyaho Tamakloe, Asamoah Boateng, Nana Akomea and other armchair, weekend warriors in the NPP to shove their warped ideologies about rule of law down our throats.”
Indeed I am opposed to attempts by political hacks like Nana Ohene Ntow to distract us from the filthy corruption that engulfed our country whilst they were in power over the last eight years.
Since when did it become harassing for the state to reclaim what belonged to the state? How many people returned their vehicles after the Deputy Information Minister issued his fatwa to former ministers who were still holding on to their vehicles? In less than a week after the ultimatum to return the vehicles that were less than two years old, sixteen vehicles were returned. Why were so many ex-ministers holding on to their cars if they weren’t entitled to them?
There are prescribed procedures for the acquisition of vehicles by former officials. The law is that the acquisition does not apply to saloon cars under two years old. So anyone who was holding on to a vehicle under two years is required to return them. But what did we see – many of them greedily held on to vehicles they had no authorisation to keep. But for the ultimatum would they have returned them?
This is a party that oppressed its own members and appointees. Under the NPP, the national security advisor, Frances Poku had to flee into exile. Their own Nana Frema Busia, a lady Kufuor appointed to various posts called for his impeachment.
Well, Frema Busia, Frances Poku and anyone who fled into exile can return home because Ghanaians have rescued the nation from the claws of a grossly incompetent upper crust. This is a party that stripped Chairman Rawlings of his privileges as enshrined in our constitution; went to a church service and arrested an opponent who was worshipping with his family and had no intentions to flee out of the country; forcibly and without due recourse to law removed many government appointees and civil servants from their posts.
Where were the Ohene Ntows when Issah Mobila, an opposition politician, was beaten and tortured to death by security officials? Did the courts under the NPP give Tsatsu Tsikata “adequate time for the preparation of his defence” before they jailed him?
All governments have a responsibility to protect their nationals especially the most vulnerable of all citizens, but certainly not for the government Ghana had from 2001-2008. They came to power on the wings of positive change, and instead of being a catalyst for change and became a roadblock for change. When the call came for the Kufuor-led government to protect the overlord of Dagbon and his counsel, they facilitated and covered up their assassinations.
To even begin to talk about harassment is so repulsive. The NPP left office leaving in their trail the unforgivable destruction of the heritage of the Dagbon people. Their record of human rights violations and harassment in 8years is worse than all the military juntas of our country put together.
Under a constitutional democracy, we had the figure head of the Dagbon people and his retinue assassinated whilst security officials looked away. A very important person is murder in the afternoon, by evening his head and limb are hacked off under the watchful eyes of police and military officers and nothing happens?
Imagine if this had happened to even a sub chief from the Ashanti region? I can guarantee they would have smoked out and disowned the architects.
The trauma that the people of Dagbon have been subjected to under the New Patriotic Party would take a long time to heal, and perhaps never. The only thing that might assuage the pain of loss - not just the loss of a father, a King and an embodiment of the authority of Dagbamba, but of a very long tradition and culture of the Dagbon people – is FINAL JUSTICE. The suspected architects and accessories are still walking free -the entire NPP gang of bad and dishonourable security agents.
We can now only take consolation and pleasure in news of imminent prosecution of suspected criminals within the NPP. They would indeed spare us this display of hypocrisy when President Mills starts “cracking the damn whip.”
The New Patriotic party should spare Ghana the diversionary and self righteous stunts. They owe Professor Mills a debt of gratitude for the temporary reprieve that criminal elements in their party enjoy.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
Our constitution guarantees the rights of every individual to freely take part in processions and demonstrations and I absolutely support this wise provision in our constitution. The opposition and indeed every Ghanaian must be encouraged to demonstrate and organise processions to highlight or draw attention to matters they are aggrieved about if all avenues for redress fail. I am therefore not opposed to any form of peaceful demonstrations by any group including the NPP.
What I am against is self righteous hypocrisy. To paraphrase a paragraph from Mr. Obama’s 2002 speech against the Iraqi war, “what I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Nyaho Tamakloe, Asamoah Boateng, Nana Akomea and other armchair, weekend warriors in the NPP to shove their warped ideologies about rule of law down our throats.”
Indeed I am opposed to attempts by political hacks like Nana Ohene Ntow to distract us from the filthy corruption that engulfed our country whilst they were in power over the last eight years.
Since when did it become harassing for the state to reclaim what belonged to the state? How many people returned their vehicles after the Deputy Information Minister issued his fatwa to former ministers who were still holding on to their vehicles? In less than a week after the ultimatum to return the vehicles that were less than two years old, sixteen vehicles were returned. Why were so many ex-ministers holding on to their cars if they weren’t entitled to them?
There are prescribed procedures for the acquisition of vehicles by former officials. The law is that the acquisition does not apply to saloon cars under two years old. So anyone who was holding on to a vehicle under two years is required to return them. But what did we see – many of them greedily held on to vehicles they had no authorisation to keep. But for the ultimatum would they have returned them?
This is a party that oppressed its own members and appointees. Under the NPP, the national security advisor, Frances Poku had to flee into exile. Their own Nana Frema Busia, a lady Kufuor appointed to various posts called for his impeachment.
Well, Frema Busia, Frances Poku and anyone who fled into exile can return home because Ghanaians have rescued the nation from the claws of a grossly incompetent upper crust. This is a party that stripped Chairman Rawlings of his privileges as enshrined in our constitution; went to a church service and arrested an opponent who was worshipping with his family and had no intentions to flee out of the country; forcibly and without due recourse to law removed many government appointees and civil servants from their posts.
Where were the Ohene Ntows when Issah Mobila, an opposition politician, was beaten and tortured to death by security officials? Did the courts under the NPP give Tsatsu Tsikata “adequate time for the preparation of his defence” before they jailed him?
All governments have a responsibility to protect their nationals especially the most vulnerable of all citizens, but certainly not for the government Ghana had from 2001-2008. They came to power on the wings of positive change, and instead of being a catalyst for change and became a roadblock for change. When the call came for the Kufuor-led government to protect the overlord of Dagbon and his counsel, they facilitated and covered up their assassinations.
To even begin to talk about harassment is so repulsive. The NPP left office leaving in their trail the unforgivable destruction of the heritage of the Dagbon people. Their record of human rights violations and harassment in 8years is worse than all the military juntas of our country put together.
Under a constitutional democracy, we had the figure head of the Dagbon people and his retinue assassinated whilst security officials looked away. A very important person is murder in the afternoon, by evening his head and limb are hacked off under the watchful eyes of police and military officers and nothing happens?
Imagine if this had happened to even a sub chief from the Ashanti region? I can guarantee they would have smoked out and disowned the architects.
The trauma that the people of Dagbon have been subjected to under the New Patriotic Party would take a long time to heal, and perhaps never. The only thing that might assuage the pain of loss - not just the loss of a father, a King and an embodiment of the authority of Dagbamba, but of a very long tradition and culture of the Dagbon people – is FINAL JUSTICE. The suspected architects and accessories are still walking free -the entire NPP gang of bad and dishonourable security agents.
We can now only take consolation and pleasure in news of imminent prosecution of suspected criminals within the NPP. They would indeed spare us this display of hypocrisy when President Mills starts “cracking the damn whip.”
The New Patriotic party should spare Ghana the diversionary and self righteous stunts. They owe Professor Mills a debt of gratitude for the temporary reprieve that criminal elements in their party enjoy.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
GNA embarrassed the nation
It wasn’t surprising to many observers when the GJA (Ghana Journalists Association) at its last awards night failed to find a deserving winner of the ‘Journalist of the Year Award.’ They blamed low standards. Journalism in our country is in a sorry state. We have a handful of very good journalists, but that’s just about it.
There’s an old time saying that ‘’if you don’t stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.’’ And so when officials of Yahuda Security Management Consulting walked into the GNA (Ghana News Agency) and told them they were one of the top security consultants from the UK, the GNA swallowed it, rolled out the red carpet, gave them an interview and subsequently passed a report on to the gullible lot.
Can you believe this? Anybody can walk into a major news organisation, claim to be something and get an interview. No one bothered to run checks on the authenticity of the claims; no one sought to probe ‘who owned the company, what they’ve achieved to be one of the top, how a bunch of Ghanaians became one of the top security firms in Britain; no one asked them ‘how long they’ve been enjoying a top spot in areas of security in Britain, when they were established, and so on.’ What has happened to the cardinal rule of interviewing – RESEARCH? Even on the spur of the moment, a couple of phone calls and search on the internet can produce something. Even if you didn’t research, your basic five W’s and one H (what, who, why, when, where and how) should get you a lot of insight. Yet the GNA desecrated the profession and failed the nation.
Many of our journalists can’t differentiate between news and PR garbage. It is rather pathetic for staff at the GNA to get overwhelmed by people from “abrokyere.” What happened at the GNA is inexcusable and must be condemned in the strongest of terms. It is embarrassing to the nation and the art of journalism. It is unacceptable for a wire service like the GNA to entertain workers who are lethargic.
There are so many pressing issues screaming for attention, yet the sloppiness at the GNA has left us where we are. There’s simply no place for mediocrity in journalism and like many professions, it is an art – you either learn to do it or get out. The recklessness of a driver or a doctor can cost lives; a careless lawyer can send an innocent man to jail, likewise the journalist. Journalist can destroy a nation, rubbish someone’s career or bring down a government, so they must be very meticulous and act in a manner that is beyond reproach. The GNA and the rest of the nation’s media have a chance to reform. This is an opportunity to clean up the mess, retrain people who are lagging behind or simply ask them to make way for people who are up to the task and challenges of the profession.
To quote Dr. Kwesi Aning of KAIPC, the behaviour of the security company in question “whilst seemingly patriotic is driven by opportunistic tendencies and a desire to exploit the president’s visit to the UK.” This is a company which doesn’t have any track record yet had the audacity to run their mouths about coming to town to advice national security officials on how to secure our country from crime.
If all the reports are anything to go by, this company did not come to Ghana at the invitation of the government. There is absolutely no wrong committed on the part of government and attempts to compare the infamous Osafo Marfo’s saloon loan debacle to this are most unfortunate.
It is also unfortunate if reports of scheduled meetings with national security officials are true. How did they manage to secure appointments with our national security gurus? Are our security capos also wet behind the ears just like the folks at the GNA?
There are serious concerns within security circles about the safety of our president and if a company that was formed less than a week ago can secure appointments with our security capos with the view to advising them on the rather complex issues of security, then we are in deep trouble.
Ghana’s security agencies have had a long standing relationship with their foreign counterparts, especially Britain and the US and any requests for assistance have always been between federal agencies. Whenever our agencies have required help, they sought it from agencies of state and not private security firms. This is not the moment to get into agreement with some opportunists.
Ghana has to be very careful in the manner we roll out red carpet for anyone from “abrokyere” and the government has to be especially cautious. The ruling NDC has the benefit of history and would not be forgiving by Ghanaians if they exhibited gullibility in the running of the country.
We must applaud the courage of Timothy Afful, the patriotic Ghanaian resident in the UK who got the courage to call the GNA and challenge the credibility of Yahuda Security Management Consulting, and like Mr. Timothy, we must all be “deeply concerned” about the security of our country and the seriousness of our journalists.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
There’s an old time saying that ‘’if you don’t stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.’’ And so when officials of Yahuda Security Management Consulting walked into the GNA (Ghana News Agency) and told them they were one of the top security consultants from the UK, the GNA swallowed it, rolled out the red carpet, gave them an interview and subsequently passed a report on to the gullible lot.
Can you believe this? Anybody can walk into a major news organisation, claim to be something and get an interview. No one bothered to run checks on the authenticity of the claims; no one sought to probe ‘who owned the company, what they’ve achieved to be one of the top, how a bunch of Ghanaians became one of the top security firms in Britain; no one asked them ‘how long they’ve been enjoying a top spot in areas of security in Britain, when they were established, and so on.’ What has happened to the cardinal rule of interviewing – RESEARCH? Even on the spur of the moment, a couple of phone calls and search on the internet can produce something. Even if you didn’t research, your basic five W’s and one H (what, who, why, when, where and how) should get you a lot of insight. Yet the GNA desecrated the profession and failed the nation.
Many of our journalists can’t differentiate between news and PR garbage. It is rather pathetic for staff at the GNA to get overwhelmed by people from “abrokyere.” What happened at the GNA is inexcusable and must be condemned in the strongest of terms. It is embarrassing to the nation and the art of journalism. It is unacceptable for a wire service like the GNA to entertain workers who are lethargic.
There are so many pressing issues screaming for attention, yet the sloppiness at the GNA has left us where we are. There’s simply no place for mediocrity in journalism and like many professions, it is an art – you either learn to do it or get out. The recklessness of a driver or a doctor can cost lives; a careless lawyer can send an innocent man to jail, likewise the journalist. Journalist can destroy a nation, rubbish someone’s career or bring down a government, so they must be very meticulous and act in a manner that is beyond reproach. The GNA and the rest of the nation’s media have a chance to reform. This is an opportunity to clean up the mess, retrain people who are lagging behind or simply ask them to make way for people who are up to the task and challenges of the profession.
To quote Dr. Kwesi Aning of KAIPC, the behaviour of the security company in question “whilst seemingly patriotic is driven by opportunistic tendencies and a desire to exploit the president’s visit to the UK.” This is a company which doesn’t have any track record yet had the audacity to run their mouths about coming to town to advice national security officials on how to secure our country from crime.
If all the reports are anything to go by, this company did not come to Ghana at the invitation of the government. There is absolutely no wrong committed on the part of government and attempts to compare the infamous Osafo Marfo’s saloon loan debacle to this are most unfortunate.
It is also unfortunate if reports of scheduled meetings with national security officials are true. How did they manage to secure appointments with our national security gurus? Are our security capos also wet behind the ears just like the folks at the GNA?
There are serious concerns within security circles about the safety of our president and if a company that was formed less than a week ago can secure appointments with our security capos with the view to advising them on the rather complex issues of security, then we are in deep trouble.
Ghana’s security agencies have had a long standing relationship with their foreign counterparts, especially Britain and the US and any requests for assistance have always been between federal agencies. Whenever our agencies have required help, they sought it from agencies of state and not private security firms. This is not the moment to get into agreement with some opportunists.
Ghana has to be very careful in the manner we roll out red carpet for anyone from “abrokyere” and the government has to be especially cautious. The ruling NDC has the benefit of history and would not be forgiving by Ghanaians if they exhibited gullibility in the running of the country.
We must applaud the courage of Timothy Afful, the patriotic Ghanaian resident in the UK who got the courage to call the GNA and challenge the credibility of Yahuda Security Management Consulting, and like Mr. Timothy, we must all be “deeply concerned” about the security of our country and the seriousness of our journalists.
Credit: Ras Mubarak
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