MPs Express Opposing Views On Prez Address

MPs and some ministers have expressed their views on President J.E.A Mills’ State of the Nation Address to Parliament today. The reactions can best be described as mixed feelings. The Majority side MPs of Parliament lauded President Mills’ statement especially his announcement of Housing Projects, Reconciliation of the Nation, Plans to manage Revenue from Oil find judiciously to the benefit of the masses, Agricultural policies to boost Agric and the move to ensure Good Governance among others. On the other hand, the Minority side said the President did not come out clear with the State of the Nation but rather rained a litany of promises. Our correspondent Bernard Quanson interviewed the MPs from both sides of Parliament. The First to speak to our reporter was the NDC MP for Awutu-Senya constituency, who noted that the President’s state of nation address is good due to the President’s intention to complete Housing Projects started by the previous governments but could not be completed. He said the directive by Prez for District Assemblies to build low cost rental Apartments for Ghanaians is also welcoming. The MP for Ayawaso East, Hon. Mustapha Ahmed, on his part, said the President’s intention to come out with an integrated aluminium industry based on bauxite and a petro-chemical industry based on salt and Natural gas, a fertilizer industry to give impetus to agro development and allied consumer products and exports based on oil and gas among others is a positive development. The next to speak on this subject was Hon. Kobena Mensah Woyome, MP for south Tongu Constituency. He said it had not been easy for the government last year due to global economic crisis so it was difficult for the government to achieve much. He said now that things are stabilizing this year will be better. On his part, the NPP MP for Subin, Hon. Isaac Osei said the President did not present the real state of the nation but rather he chronicled a number of promises. He however, said that he hopes government will fulfil promises it made on oil and gas management. NPP MP for Ablekuma North, Hon. Joe Appiah also noted that President Mills did not say much about Health but he should fulfil his promise to build offices for MPs.

Source: Bernard Quanson/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

Massive Demo To Hit Mills’ Government

Over 2,500 people in the Eastern Region and its environs are expected to march though some principal streets to register their dissatisfaction about the management of affairs of the county by the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration. Members of the Committee for Democratic Movement (CDM), a pressure group in the region which is organising the demonstration told The Ghanaian Observer (GO) newspaper that the participants of the demonstration would mainly be students, market women, traders, drivers, hawkers and people from all walks of life who believe that there is economic hardship in the country and want drastic transformation. A spokesperson of CDM, Mr. Justice Obour, told GO that over 2500 people who are expected to participate in the demonstration would converge at the Koforidua Jackson’s Park and march through the principal streets of the town and finally present a petition to the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, which would be copied to President Mills. According to Mr. Obour, the possible date for the demonstration would be between March 17 and 25, 2010. He continued that the demonstration was meant to register CDMs disapproval of the imposition of taxes on some basic commodities which had resulted in the high cost of living Ghanaians are facing currently. Mr. Obuor noted that if the demonstration did not yield any positive result, the group would continue to pile pressure on the government until the issue of high cost of living had been addressed. A leading member of the group, Mr. Annoh Dompreh Jnr. Also told GO that the current tax ratio to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 23%, which is affecting the ordinary Ghanaian negatively. He said the NDC government, which assumed power on the wings of creating “A Better Ghana” and prosperity for all Ghanaians, “has ended up making lives better for themselves as they are now living in luxurious houses to the detriment of the ordinary Ghanaian. According to him, President Mills who claims he believes in transparency, probity and accountability, is now watching his appointees spending billions of cedis on refreshment and other unnecessary things. He mentioned the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) boss who was reported to have spent billions of cedis on accommodation and purchase of cars among other superfluous spending, in this government, “but nothing has been done about it. He called on all Ghanaians to join them in their quest to ensure that President Mills’ administration pursues policies which will improve the lives of the people.

Source: The G. Observer

Ghana: Abuse Of Process

“It is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.” Acts 25:27.

At dawn on a Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14 this year, fire razed down the official residence of former President Jerry John Rawlings. It is by divine intervention that Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings and one of their daughters, who were asleep, escaped death.

Since the tragedy, Ghanaians from all walks of life have proffered goodwill and sympathy to the former first family. Indeed, it was a noble sight when the four major political parties in the country sent a common delegation to sympathise with the Rawlingses, underlining the Akan saying that it is when you are involved in a tragedy that you see your genuine friends.

We all agreed that the tragedy was unfortunate and, therefore, everything must be done to resettle the family as early as possible. All those who have commented on the tragedy had done so convinced that the catastrophe could have happened to any other person.

However, the goodwill and the sense of purpose that the tragedy engendered had evaporated when it emerged that the police had acted disproportionately in arresting a radio commentator, alleged to have made an irresponsible statement in his reaction to a newspaper publication, which had brought up three theories as the possible sources of the fire.

The newspaper had claimed that some of the people it had interviewed had suggested that the former President Rawlings himself could have set the fire to his residence, but added that it had no independent source to confirm the allegation.

In his comments, an over-zealous party activist, 27-year Nana Darkwa Baafi, stated that he would go with the theory of self-inflicted tragedy and could confirm that he was convinced Flt Lt. Rawlings committed that crime of arson to see the house rehabilitated or get his family relocated.

Before majority of the people could even hear what exactly the boy said, an aide to the former President, Kofi Adams, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is said to have made a report to the police. However, the police also claimed that they had information that a group was massing up to attack Top Radio, because of comments made by Nana Darkwa and, therefore, rushed there to give him protection.

The next was that the young man was brought before a judge, who ordered him to be remanded and to reappear on March 3, 2010, and since then, the whole country has been in turmoil as everything had been directed at this single incident, which touches at the core of fundamental human rights, the rule of law, due process, constitutionalism and separation of powers.

Indeed, the Minority in Parliament resolved to boycott proceedings in the House until the right thing was done. Expectedly in a partisan manner, the Majority denounced the boycott as unconstitutional, although they did not cite the specific provisions the Minority breached.

The President justifiably issued a statement decrying the abuse of process and system. Equally, an executive member of the NDC has also denounced the police action, which has overnight turned Nana Darkwa, whose irresponsible comments could not be supported by any well-meaning Ghanaian, from a villain to a hero.

The National Media Commission and the Ghana Journalists Association, as well as the Committee for Joint Action, have all expressed their position on the matter.

Whereas almost every well-informed and objective Ghanaian has condemned the irresponsible comments by Nana Darkwa, they are also at ad idem that the police reaction and proceedings in court undermine the rule of law and democracy.

The point is that the young man was charged under Section 208(1) of the Criminal Code 1960 (Act 29), which states that, “Any person who publishes or reproduces any statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace, knowing or having reason to believe that the statement, rumour or report is false is guilty of a misdemeanour.”

What investigations did the police undertake to come to the conclusion that the statement is false and that the boy has committed a crime? For, whilst we all agree that the statement was irresponsible, that does not mean that he has committed a crime.

Again, since the matter is a misdemeanour, it means that it is not a grievous crime. More important, when the courts were called upon to decide on such matters in Adusei II v The Republic and Ayeh v The State, it was held that the mere making of a false statement was not the crux of the offence, but its publication to the public in such a way as to cause alarm and fear. It was held that the essence of the offence was to protect the body of the public from unnecessary fear and alarm.

For all intents and purposes, if one alleges that a certain person is about to cause a coup d’etat in the country, just as the hoax about the earthquake, that is more likely to cause alarm and fear rather than the reaction of individuals massing up to assault another for expressing an opinion they do not like.

Turning to the judge, since Nana Darkwa was charged with misdemeanour, that is not a major crime. Therefore, he should have been summarily tried. In that wise, in the opinion of A.N.E. Amissah, former Director of Public Prosecutions, Justice of Appeal, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana and Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in his book “Criminal Procedure in Ghana,” the “Court has power in its discretion to adjourn hearing of a case to a time and place to be appointed and stated in the presence of the parties or their respective advocates present.

The Court may, in the meantime, let the accused go at large, or on bail or commit him to prison. Such an adjournment must not be for more than 15 days, but if the accused is committed to prison, the adjournment shall not be for more than seven days. In either event, the day following that, on which the adjournment is made, is counted as the first day.”

It is, therefore, good news that Nana Darkwa has been granted bail, but he must be advised not to think that what he did was just. He is no hero, except that the desire of some overzealous public officials to please rather ended up subverting the system and abusing processes.

Those who have been entrusted with national responsibilities and clothed with discretion must understand that under Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution, it is provided that, “Where in this Constitution or in any other law discretionary power is vested in any person or authority, that discretionary power shall be deemed to imply a duty to be fair and candid and that the exercise of the discretionary power shall not be arbitrary, capricious or biased either by resentment, prejudice or personal dislike and shall be in accordance with due process of law.”

It appears to me that in the handling of the affairs of the irresponsible statement, we have failed in exercising discretion the way our constitution wants us to act. We need to guard and guide against a repetition of a similar incident, and this must be seen from a Ghanaian perspective, and not from the NDC nor NPP perspective.

Source:Daily Graphic

AFRICA DEVELOPMENT

William Russell Easterly

It was the year that the West tried harder than ever to save Africa -- 2005. At the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland , last January, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for "a big, big push forward" to end poverty -- to be financed by an increase in traditional foreign aid. He put that cause at the top of the agenda of the Group of Eight summit in Scotland in July. The G-8 agreed to double foreign aid to Africa , from $25 billion a year to $50 billion, and to forgive the African aid debt incurred in previous years to fund previous (unsuccessful) "big pushes." Rock celebrity Bob Geldof assembled well-known bands -- virtually none from Africa -- for "Live 8" concerts in nine countries around the world to urge G-8 leaders to "Make Poverty History."

Jeffrey Sachs and Angelina Jolie toured the continent on behalf of MTV, with Jolie asking how we can stand by and let it be destroyed. The world's leaders gathered at theUnited Nations in September to further discuss ending poverty in Africa , apparently unfazed by yet another voluminous U.N. report highlighting the failure of the grand plans (the "Millennium Development Goals") to make any progress. They repeated a familiar refrain: If aid efforts aren't producing the desired results, then redouble those efforts. The year closed with the rock star Bono being named Time magazine's person of the year (along with the rather more constructive Bill and Melinda Gates) for his efforts to save Africa .

Meanwhile, for a Ghanaian man named Patrick Awuah, 2005 was the fourth year of running a successful private university that he started with his own money: Ashesi University , the "Swarthmore of Ghana." The university reserves half the spaces in its entering class for poor students on scholarship. "We want to train people as critical thinkers," Awuah says. One of his most satisfying moments came when a student sent him an e-mail: "Mr. Awuah, I am thinking now."

Awuah says that he could do more, but like some other enterprising individuals in Africa I know of, he has been turned away by official aid agencies. Everyone, it seems, was invited to the "Save Africa" campaign of 2005 except for Africans. They starred only as victims: genocide casualties, child soldiers, AIDS patients and famine deaths on our 43-inch plasma screens.

Yes, these tragedies deserve attention, but the obsessive and almost exclusive Western focus on them is less relevant to the vast majority of Africans -- the hundreds of millions not fleeing from homicidal minors, not HIV-positive, not starving to death, and not helpless wards waiting for actors and rock stars to rescue them. Angelina, the continent has problems but it is not being destroyed.

Kenyan Robert Keter, a former world-class runner, is busy investing the proceeds of the telecom venture CDR, which he co-founded in 2000 and ran profitably until the Kenyan government abruptly shut him down for no apparent reason. Keter was recruited into business by Monique Maddy, a Liberian entrepreneur with a Harvard MBA (who is now offering advice to Google on global anti-poverty programs). CDR was offering customers voice over Internet protocol long before the service was made mainstream by Skype and Vonage. The company did so well during its brief operation that Keter and his U.S.-based partners decided to raise money to help rebuild a school in his home village of Kericho , located in the tea-growing region of the Kenyan highlands. Keter also used part of his earnings to purchase a tea farm, where he employs more than 400 workers.

The West's focus on sensational tragedies obscures the achievements of people such as Patrick Awuah and Robert Keter, who are succeeding even against tremendous odds.Economic development in Africa will depend -- as it has elsewhere and throughout the history of the modern world -- on the success of private-sector entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs and African political reformers. It will not depend on the activities of patronizing, bureaucratic, unaccountable and poorly informed outsiders.

Development everywhere is homegrown. As G-8 ministers and rock stars fussed about a few billion dollars here or there for African governments, the citizens of India and China (where foreign aid is a microscopic share of income) were busy increasing their own incomes by $715 billion in 2005.

This is not to say that all Western aid efforts in Africa are condemned to fail. Aid groups could search for achievable tasks with high potential for poor individuals to help themselves. To do so, they would have to subject themselves to independent evaluation and be accountable to the intended beneficiaries for the results. Such an approach would contrast with the prevailing norm of never holding anyone individually accountable for the results of traditional government-to-government aid programs aimed at feeding the hubristic fantasies of outside transformation of whole societies.

An example of such achievable and accountable programs can be found in western Kenya , where work by nongovernmental aid organizations to get meals and textbooks to schoolchildren raised attendance and test scores, according to careful subsequent evaluation. Perhaps these well-nourished and well-educated children will be tomorrow's leaders and entrepreneurs. Aid could also be used to support the efforts of promising local social and business entrepreneurs who already have a successful track record, people like Awuah, Keter and Maddy -- letting locals take the lead with their superior motivation and inside knowledge.

Dare one hope that in 2006, it will finally be understood that Africa's true saviors are the people of Africa , and that those who would help them in their task must also be accountable to them?

The writer is a professor of economics (a joint appointment with Africa House) at New York University and author of "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good," to be published next month.

Mills: Ghanaians will vote NDC back into power

President John Evans Atta Mills President John Evans Atta Mills says for all who think he has proceeded with his prosecution of the national development agenda at an undesirable pace and therefore call him “Go Slow”, must also do him a favour by adding two important words; but sure. He said So far, the health of the national economy and general well being of the nation since he assumed power has been much better than he inherited and was sure that at the end of his tenure, Ghanaians will vote the National Democratic Congress party back into power. The President is in Parliament to present, in keeping with Articles 2 and 36 (5) of the 1992 Constitution, a report of steps taken to ensure the realization of national development goals – basic human rights, a healthy economy, the right to work, the right to good health care and the right to education. Stressing his desire to make informed choices, the president said he will strive to make the right decisions rather than make quick decisions. He said Ghana’s democratic practice has become an example for African democracy and for which all Ghanaians should be proud. President Mills welcomed criticisms of his administration and explained that he does not see criticisms as enemy action, but rather as serious alternative views for consideration. None therefore should be taken aback by criticism even by NDC members of their own government just as opposition supporters would do. He is also happy for the unfettered freedom of speech enjoyed by the citizenry, however he cautioned that it be exercised responsibly. Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Mills outlaws Kufuor’s national award

Former President J.A. Kufuor It is a matter of fact that the exclusive national honours class of the Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana available only to presidents, is both inappropriate and discriminatory. President J.E.A. Mills President John Evans Atta Mills has repealed the newest national award category of the Grand Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana, instituted in July of 2008 by former President John Agyekum Kufuor, exclusively for presidents of the Republic of Ghana. President Mills who announced the repeal in his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Thursday, said the award category is both inappropriate and discriminatory. It is to be replaced with the original national honours warrant executed on the first of July 1960. “It is a matter of fact that the exclusive national honours class of the Order of the Star and Eagles of Ghana available only to presidents, is both inappropriate and discriminatory. I have therefore decided to repeal the instrument which introduced this class and replace it with the original national honours warrant executed on the first of July 1960 by the founder of our nation. “I believe however that any persons who received those honours under the 2008 instrument acquired vested rights and therefore will not be required to return them,” he told the house. Former President J.A. Kufuor on July 3, 2008, institutionalized the Order of the Star and Eagles as the highest order of the nation to be conferred on the president on successful completion of a term of office by the Chief Justice. Every new president was to be given the colour of the order as he or she is sworn into office, to be worn on all formal national occasions. Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

I did not promise to put money in people's pockets - Mills

President JEA Mills says he did not make a promise to put money in people’s pockets. He said he however knows some people – he will not name them – who did during the last electioneering campaigns. Delivering his second sessional address since coming into office in January last year, the president told Parliamentarians he had been inundated by complaints from people that he was not putting money in their pockets, contrary to his campaign promise. President Mills said regardless of the fact that he did not make the promise, he was committed to implementing programmes and policies that will put money in people’s pockets. Amidst thunderous heckling by mainly the minority side of the House, the president said despite inheriting “a run-down economy characterized by unbridled spending,” the prudent management had put the economy on sound footing, enough to radiate hope for the future. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Govt Plans Sea Port, Railways to Aid Oil Industry

GOOD IDEAS LET US IMPLEMENT AND BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURES

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Ghana will build a deep sea port and rehabilitate its railways as the West African nation prepares for production in its oil sector, President John Atta Mills told lawmakers.

Oil revenue will “change the country’s economic paradigm” as it develops infrastructure and other industries, Mills said today in his State of the Nation speech to Parliament.

Mills didn’t say where the port would be built. The country now has a port at the industrial hub city of Tema, 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Accra, the capital, and a smaller port in Takoradi, 250 kilometers from the capital in the Western region, where much of the offshore oil exploration has taken place. Ghana is “laying the foundation” for the development of industries including petrochemicals, fertilizer and integrated aluminum, Mills said.

A bill on how revenue from the nascent oil and gas sector will be managed is still being drafted and will go to Parliament for approval, Mills said, without providing a date. Revenue will be used to build roads and improve electricity and water utilities, he said.

Ghana will start earning revenue when oil production at the offshore Jubilee field begins in the fourth quarter of this year. The revenue from the sector could account for 6 to 7 percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product, the International Monetary Fund’s First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said on Feb. 17. He didn’t say when that may occur.

AFRICOM will not take over any African country

General William E. Ward, the Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) based in Stuttgart, Germany, has said the Command would continue to work closely with the navies of African countries and would not take over any African country. He said the United States will not establish a military base in Ghana neither is there any intention to hijack Ghana's oil and natural resources for the sole benefit of the USA. These were contained in a presentation made on his behalf at a briefing at the AFRICOM Headquarters on Monday. Gen Ward said the increasing suspicion of AFRICOM activities in Africa as a "cover-up" for negative American activities were unjustified. "Our activities are transparent and most African armies request for support from AFRICOM for joint naval training and various other forms of support and we willingly provide them. He said it was efficient, cost effective to maintain the current AFRICOM in Stuttgart instead of establishing new military bases in other parts of Africa which will be expensive. Gen Ward said the United States saw peace and security as critical ingredients for national development and urged African navies to work closely together to safeguard their maritime interests. He said the USA, through AFRICOM, will assist African nations to use their navies to protect their interests and overcome their numerous challenges. From George Naykene, GNA Special Correspondent, Stuttgart, Germany. Coutesy US Government

Small Arms in Africa: Where Does the Buck Stop?

The US is undoubtedly the biggest arms exporter to Africa contributing to about 50% of all arms export to the continent. It is an understatement to say that arms exports to Africa and political instabilities, armed conflicts, economic underachievement and poverty are closely linked

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The continent today is littered with hundreds of millions of small arms and light weapons that fuel conflicts and instabilities, making it difficult for any economic development to take place. Tens of millions of Africans have died from the export of arms to the continent and several millions others injured. About 90% of all civilian casualties in the wars come from the use of small arms and light weapons.

Besides, billions of dollars meant for economic and social development have been squandered on arms procurements to fund the instabilities while poverty is swallowing the people. It is estimated that the continent has lost about 500 billion dollars to arms imports alone while children have no access to education, medicines, water, shelter, food and clothing.

Thousands of 'illegal' firearms are destroyed by Kenya government

For decades, we have witnessed the tragic and the devastating effects of wars in Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Angola, Ivory Coast fuelled by arms imports from US, UK, France, Russia, North Korea, China, former Soviet and Eastern European nations. Most of the arms exports to Africa are used for internal repression as seen in Zimbabwe, Guinea, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea where ordinary citizens and opposition party members are arrested, tortured and killed. These totalitarian regimes have used the weapons to hold back development and critical thinking in their countries turning their people into modern day slaves.

The arms are also used for external aggression as is evidenced by the involvement of Rwanda, Angola Uganda and Zimbabwe in DR Congo’s internal affairs. Some of these arms have found their way into rebel hands, organised criminals and bandits. Despite the billions of dollars in aid from US, Europe and Japan and several billions of dollars in loans from IMF and World Bank over the years; poverty, malnourishment and disease are still endemic in African societies with children and women bearing the brunt.

The failed state of Somalia where armed groups have been battling one another for nineteen years should inform the president of the dangers of small arms and light weapons sales to the continent. Today in Somalia, pirates have succeeded in disrupting the international shipping route in the Indian Ocean with daily hijackings and kidnappings. The cost of the piracy to international trade runs into several hundreds of millions of dollars and with the everyday security risk that the pirates continue to pose, the cost could soon reach billions of dollars. Piracy has become possible due to availability of small arms and light weapons shipped to the horn of Africa region by Western defence contractors and their counterparts in Asia.

In Nigeria, armed bandits continue to disrupt the international oil market with constant kidnappings and destruction of oil installations while the federal government has used arms to kill about 20,000 of her mostly unarmed civilians, thanks to the steady flow of arms to the West Africa sub-region.

The continued instabilities in the Great Lakes Region and the constant arm struggles in Burundi, northern Uganda and the Rwanda genocide should inform President Obama about the dangers arms shipments from America and Europe are posing to the continent.

The genocide in Darfur cannot stop unless there are concrete efforts to obtain an international arms ban against the Sudanese government and the rebel groups. Almost two million Darfurians are now refugees with little or no shelter, food, water and are under constant threat of attacks from the Janjaweed militia. These refugees were at the mercy of International Aid Organisations who recently have been kicked out by Omar Al Bashir.

In Ethiopia, millions of people face starvation every year while hundreds of millions of dollars are used to import arms. The active but widely forgotten wars in the Casamance Province of Senegal, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Niger, Chad and Burundi will negate any economic aid to these countries and territories unless arms shipments to both the governments and the rebels are ceased. The wars in Chad will not stop unless the flow of arms to the government and the rebels are cut.

President Obama ought to use his good office to help ban the sale of small arms that have been used to terrorise Africans. He should encourage western countries notably the UK and France to ban arms sales to the continent. The UK and France together account for 10% of the total arms market in Africa.

The US should prevail upon China which has continued to export arms to Sudan despite mounting evidence that the arms are being used to commit genocide in Darfur. In 2008, when the people of Zimbabwe were starving and undergoing election tensison, China shipped arms to the country. Such actions by China, North Korea, Russia and other undemocratic nations must stop. They should be made to sign up to international laws banning and criminalising the sale of small arms and light weapons to the continent.

President Obama should know that the waves of civil wars that hit and devastated Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Angola, Niger and Guinea were made possible through the sale of small arms and light weapons to governments and rebels alike by western defence contractors and arms companies including those from the US.

A report published by the UN in October 2002 accused 85companies most of them Western companies of directly financing the war in DR. Congo in order to have free access to the minerals and other resources located in the East of the country. These companies have been accused of arming the armies of Uganda and Rwanda to go to war in DRC so that they could exploit the rich mineral wealth for them. Of the 85 companies named in the October 2002 report, eight, including Cabot Corporation, Eagle Wings Resources International, Trinitech International, Kemet Electronics Corporation, OM Group (OMG); and Vishay Sprague, are U.S.-owned.

A document prepared by Amnesty International entitled “Our Brothers Who Kill US” that when read will chill you to the bone has also detailed the atrocities committed by Rwandan and Ugandan troops in Congo as they battle each other for control and in the process killing many of the unarmed civilian population in Eastern Congo. An excerpt of the report could be found below.

In a six-day battle in June 2000, more than 1,200 civilians were killed and many thousands wounded as Rwandese and Ugandan forces fought for control of Kisangani. Scores of civilians had died in earlier battles in August 1999 and May 2000 for Kisangani, with its strategic position on the river Congo and its diamonds, coffee and timber. As Ugandan forces tried to seize control of the city centre, the two sides poured indiscriminate fire into houses, schools, churches and workplaces. The death toll was highest in the residential districts to the north, especially the communes of Tshopo, Makiso and Mangobo. In July 2001, a local human rights organization, Groupe Lotus, named 253 civilians who were killed during the battle: they included 106 children.

Senior Ugandan officers effectively cornered the market in diamonds, entering into deals with a number of trading houses (maisons d’achat or comptoirs). In one incident on 25 December 1999, Ugandan soldiers beat and detained customs officials at Kisangani’s Bangboka airport who attempted to seize part of a consignment of US$600,000 in Congolese francs, escorted by Ugandan soldiers on an aircraft from Kampala and destined for a diamond trading house. Deus Kagiraneza told the Belgian Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry: "We were outraged to see the Victoria Company, sponsored by the Ugandans, sign contracts without the Rwandese. That’s the sole reason we went to war against the Ugandans, because we alone wanted to control the diamonds."

“The battles for Kisangani ultimately left the city of Kisangani in the hands of RCD-Goma. But most diamond mining zones in the north of Kisangani were left in the hands of the Ugandan army and the MLC. This and the steep levels of taxation levied by RCD-Goma authorities in Kisangani encouraged most diamond traders to export their production through the Central African Republic and Uganda. It is estimated that in 2001 US$3.8 million worth of diamonds were exported to Antwerp, Belgium, from Uganda, which has no domestic diamond production. The RCD-Goma authorities in Kisangani have since concentrated on other commodities such as palm oil to supplement their income”. (Source: McCamy Taylor in an article entitled “Dear Mr. President: Only YOU Can Stop the World’s Longest, Bloodiest War...And It's NOT Iraq” and http://www.democraticunderground.com/.)

It is clear from the above reports and indeed many others that the beneficiaries of the wars are the western companies, rebel groups, army generals, a shadow economy, corrupt politicians in Rwanda, Uganda, DR. Congo and their allies in Europe, North America, China and Japan who enrich themselves while the people face death, famine, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, diseases, starvation, have no access to health, education and are refugees within and outside their countries. As of 2008, the war and its aftermath had killed 5.4 million people most of them Congolese civilians. These wars apart from its human cost have contributed to the destruction of roads, harbours, airports, railway lines, telecommunications, hospitals, schools and the livelihoods of the people. The wars have decimated regions, countries, communities and families. It has brought poverty, hunger and misery to the people on the continent. It may be right for these companies to get rich on the back of dead Africans but it should not be right for your government.

On democracy, there are few places in Africa today where people could choose their leaders freely without fear of intimidation, harassment or arrest. The people in Libya, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sudan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Tunisia, Cameroon, Guinea, Mauritania and Uganda cannot democratically change their leaders.

The continent is full of tyrants, dictators and kleptocrats whose grip on power has enslaved the people and put them in perpetual bondage. These largely corrupt and undemocratic leaders have prevented genuine democracy, freedom of speech, assembly, association and other freedoms from gaining root. As a result, there is constant threat of wars and instabilities in these countries and the desire by the people to overthrow their undemocratic leaders is growing by the day. This is not good for economic, social and political development and will make nonsense of any economic package you may have in mind to help the people. How on earth should a person continue to rule for 40 years when he is not a monarch? Even monarchs sometimes abdicate in favour of change.

Why has Omar Bongo of Gabon been in power for 42 years now? Gaddafi of Libya has ruled for 39 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan 19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia 14 years. Tunisian president has just announced that he is going to rule for life. Are these tyrants monarchs?

The aforementioned heads of state ought to peacefully give up their hold on power, unban opposition parties, free political prisoners, organise free and fair elections and understand that politics is about winning and loosing. It should be possible for opposition parties to win elections as happened in Ghana, without hell breaking loose.

What Africa needs is economic development- not guns and weapons. President Obama ought to urge African leaders to choose democracy and economic development over dictatorship, armed conflicts, corruption and political repression. It is time the US, Europe, Russia and China acted together, called their defence contractors and defence companies to order and gave Africa peace to develop.

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Lord Aikins Adusei politicalthinker1@yahoo.com is a Ghanaian based writer.

Nigerian President Returns Home, But Uncertainty Continues

Gilbert da Costa | Abuja24 February 2010

Photo: AFP

Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua (file photo)

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Nigeria's acting leader will run state affairs while President Umaru Yar'Adua recovers after three months' medical treatment abroad. The president returned to Nigeria on Wednesday.

The 58-year-old's surprise return from Saudi Arabia comes two weeks after Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan took over, amid fears of a power vacuum. The entire presidential wing of the Abuja airport was cordoned off by soldiers hours before the president's plane touched down. Two planes arrived at the airport, and one of them was met by an ambulance which left under heavy military escort.

A Lagos-based political analyst, George Orji, says the manner of the president's arrival suggest he was far from well. "If the president is up and doing, you will see him exchanging pleasantries, throwing banters and greeting people," he said.

"There will be no doubt, there will be no conjectures about his health, it will be apparent. Normally, if he had come back from Saudi Arabia hale and hearty, a spectacle will be made of it. So it is not going to soldiers cordoning off the plane landing in an unusual place in the airport and then people saw ambulances," he added.

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Jonnie Carson, has welcomed Mr. Yar'Adua's return to Nigeria. "We hope that President Yar'Adua's return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisors to upset Nigeria's stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process," he cautioned in a statement.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan canceled Wednesday's weekly cabinet meeting.

Many Nigerians are skeptical about President Yar'Adua's state of health. He is also known to have a chronic kidney condition.

Orji predicts a split within the presidency and a power struggle. "The intrigue is going to be more interesting and it will intensify. Between the two forces we are going to see attempts to take over the government, this country, by either of the two groups, either pro-Jonathan or pro-Yar'Adua. But the question we should ask ourselves is, where does this leave the country? The country is drifting," he said.

The president's return was greeted with wild jubilation in his home state of Katsina. Hundreds of his supporters marched through the streets shouting Mai Matawalle. Mr.Yar'Adua holds the traditional title of Matawallen Katsina, meaning "Kingmaker of Katsina."

Source:VOANEWS