Agyemang Konadu will contest 2012 elections. Her campaign posters are out!

The Konadu poster A group calling itself Foot Soldiers of the ruling National Democratic Congress has started a campaign to put forward former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings as presidential candidate for the party. To ensure that their plan materializes, the group has started posting campaign materials of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings around the metropolis. Two of the posters are posted on a pole in front of Joy FM. The 20'X 10' poster has at the top the inscription: FOOT SOLDIERS! FOOT SOLDIERS! FOOT SOLDIERS CALLING! There is a bold picture of the former first lady occupying almost half of the poster; with the caption NANA KONADU, HOPE FOR GHANA 2012. The poster also has pictures of other women leaders globally; like Benazir Bhuto of Pakistan and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. There was a question mark beneath these pictures with an arrow pointing towards the former Ghanaian first lady. The group championing the campaign would not disclose the names of any of their regional representatives though their telephone numbers are available on the posters. The Central Regional organizer who spoke to Joy News said Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings will be the best person to manage the party and seek the interest of the foot soldiers. He suggests a betrayal of the party by the ruling government, reminding President Mills he did not win the presidency as an independent candidate. He said the party's control must revert to its rightful founders to ensure they have real leadership, and woe betides the Rawlingses if they refuse the offer. They should retire from politics and remain silent forever then. Spokesperson for the Rawlingses, Kofi Adams expressed their innocence of the posters but said the development should inure positively to the party. Listen to Kofi Adams He explained that the group's concerns over the need for the NDC's leadership is in the right direction and commendable but said the party would stick to its principles, regulations and timetables. Asked if Nana Konadu would support the action of the group, Kofi Adams said "...these are party people, not enemies speaking, they are party people that are speaking so if you have party people endorsing the ideals of a party member who is at the very top, you don't come out and condemn them, what you do is to encourage them to hold up the values. At the end of the day if they speak good of the leader of the party, it is for the good of the party..." Source: Joy News/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Nana Konadu more qualified to lead NDC than Mills - Obed Asamoah

A former Attorney General and veteran politician, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah says Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings is more qualified to be the flagbearer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) than President Mills.



The astute lawyer and immediate past chairman of the NDC believes the former first lady has contributed more to the development of the party and the nation than the sitting president



Dr. Asamoah who was speaking to Adakabre Frimpong Manso on Adom FM at his residence Wednesday, said Mrs. Rawlings’ role in Ghanaian politics and the NDC’s political development has been crucial to the sustenance of the party.



He refused to make a definite statement on whether or not the former first lady will defeat the sitting president during the election of the next flagbearer of the party as she has not declared her intention to contest for the position yet.



The founder of the Democratic Freedom Party, who spoke on a wide array of issues touched on President Rawlings’ position as the founder of the NDC.



He said “at the time that the NDC was formed he was still in the army and under the constitution he could not have been the founder of the party. So he was not a founder of the party. In fact his name being linked with the founding of the party did not arise until later, after his term of office was coming to an end and we felt that [look] let’s find a role for him after he left office… He cannot claim to be a founder as per the Political Party’s Law”



He explained that the constitution of the party was amended to indicate that the party was founded on the ideals of former President Rawlings, adding that “it was founded to promote his ideals. But he [Rawlings] was not a founding member in the sense of the political party’s law.’



Obed Asamoah said Mr. Rawlings and other elements in the PDNC were not in favour of the establishment of a party. “Some elements did not want a party to be formed. But people like myself felt that we should form a party…NDC was formed largely through the ideas of some of us. The question arose as to whether we should just leave the scene and allow political parties to be formed or whether, infact, there was something in the revolution itself which needed to be preserved.”



“There was therefore a justification for setting up the party to promote some of those ideals of the revolution. This became a matter of disagreement among members of the government of the day.” he added.



Dr. Asamoah says while in office he maintained a professional relationship with the former president as they both had mutual respect for each other. He said his influence on the party was great. As such, ”I was virtually in charge of the party even though there were officials occupying various positions.”



Dr. Asamoah indicated that he fell out with Mr. Rawlings because the former president did not like the idea of another person standing against Mills as he chose to support Dr. Kwesi Botswey. He stressed that he supported Mills’ candidature when Mills was chosen as the running mate to Rawlings in 1995 and therefore has no problem with him.



He said his tenure as the chairman of the NDC was difficult because he was constantly under attack by opponents. “People who did not want to see me as the chairman of the party were doing anything to undermine my authority”, he lamented.



Dr. Asamoah gave President Mills a thumbs up for managing the economy well under difficult conditions but pointed out that the macro economic stability is not reflecting in the pockets of the Ghanaian populace. He urged president Mills to spend on the productive sectors of the economy to create more jobs and to stimulate economic growth as has been done in some countries.



He added that President Mills should be given time to complete his projects: “Lets wait until after the four years to see if we can qualify him [President Mills] as a failure.”



On the issue of the performance of the Attorney General, Dr. Asamoah who occupied the position longer than any other minister stated that “all governments have lost cases. Even when Rawlings [be]came [president] in 1992 we lost a number of cases.”







Story by: Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Somalia Is A Dangerous Place…Deserves A Dangerous Person Like Rawlings -NPP MP

The NPP Member of Parliament for Fanteakwa, Hon. Kwabena Amankwah Asiamah, believes the AU appointment given to ex-president Jerry John Rawlings is suitable for a man of his caliber. He said Somali is a ‘dangerous place’ and deserves an equally ‘dangerous person’ like ex-president Rawlings who can bring about consummate peace in that country.

According to him, ex-president Rawlings, having successfully staged two coup d’états and becoming president in the process through the ballot box for eight years, has a lot of experience to share on his new appointment to bring peace in Somali.

“Ex-president Rawlings has played major roles in all the two coups in Ghana, so if we want consummate peace in Somalia, then ex-president Rawlings is the best person to bring that peace in Somali where anybody does whatever he likes and there's no rule of law,” he said.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Jean Ping in a statement on Friday, October 8, announced the appointment of President Rawlings as the Commission's High Representative in Somalia.
The statement said the appointment is a follow-up to decisions taken on the report of the Peace and Security Council of the AU. It is also a follow-up to the decision on the state of Peace and Security in Africa adopted by the Assembly of the Union at its 15th ordinary session in Kampala.
As the AU Representative, Ex President Rawlings would undertake advocacy to further mobilise the continent and the rest of the international community to the quest for peace, security and reconciliation in Somalia. "He will work in close co-ordination with the countries of the region, the UN, including the Security Council and its members, the EU, the league of Arab States, the OIC and other bilateral and multilateral partners", it stated.

The AU chairperson, therefore, urged the Somali parties and other AU partners to extend their full co-operation to Flt Lt Rawlings to enable him accomplish his mission.

Contributing to a panel discussion on PeaceFM’s flagship programme, “Kokrokoo”, the Fanteakwa NPP MP light-heartened explained that Mr. Rawlings has a lot of experience as far as coup-d’états and its usefulness are concerned, and believes that he can do a good job because when the Somalians realize Ghana’s former President is a no-sense individual, they will have no choice but to allow peace to prevail.

“Iron sharpeneth iron, he came from fire (coup-d’état) so if there is a fire outbreak and he is going to quench it; he will do a good job,” he said.

“Mr. Rawlings has a high rate of conviction that his decision is the best so when he tells you something and you don’t listen, he will want to force it down your throat, but he has to be careful with his insults and the kind of examples he gives,” he warned.

“Africa needs peace, Somalia needs peace so we are happy that after a thorough assessment, the AU appointed ex-president Rawlings. He has been given a job to do on the international front and we know that he is mostly successful in whatever he does, so we know that he will fix things there and make Ghana proud,” he surmised.

Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana

NDC Dares Mrs. Konadu Rawlings

A national vice chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress has challenged Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings to come public on her presidential ambition instead of hiding behind other people to engage in subtle campaign for the party’s 2012 presidential slot.



According to Danny Annang, the NDC is a true democratic party that allows competition in the selection of its officers, and so if the former first lady who is a strong member of the Party is interested in the presidency she must let the public and party members know it.

“Few people are going round in her name campaigning for her; we don’t know if indeed she has instructed them to do so and I think she must come public,” he stressed. The Rawlingses and their cronies within the NDC have been very critical of the 20 month old administration of President Mills who came into the political limelight courtesy Mr. Rawlings.



Speaking to The publisher newspaper about Mrs. Rawlings’ alleged campaign for the NDC’s 2012 presidential slot, Mr. Annang, a confidant of President Mills, pointed out that the president was not worried about activities of Mrs. Rawlings. He confirmed that President Mills would seek re-election and is ready for any challenge, expressing the hope that NDC delegates would support the President’s second term bid.



He urged NDC followers to remain calm, assuring them that the President was in firm control of affairs.Mr. Annang condemned the needless attacks and name-calling often engineered by some leading gurus, stressing that the practice would not help the party in anyway.

He admitted that the confidence of the government was being undermined by people campaigning to become the party’s presidential candidate.



Mrs. Rawlings’ presidential ambition is no longer a secret even though she is yet to make public whether she is interested in vying for the presidential slot of the NDC for the next general election.

Current developments in the country, as well as her activities, clearly point to the fact that the former first lady is interested in the presidency.



The long-nursed presidential ambition of the former first lady who has always been projected by the husband as a political colossus, something some political pundits see as a myth was highlighted by a support group loyal to her at the 31st anniversary of the June 4 uprising held at Tamale.



And since then, she has remained firmly on the grounds galvanizing grassroots support for her ambition, under the guise of resuscitating the activities of her 31st December Women’s Movement.

Mr. Danny Annang indicated that if Mrs. Rawlings is indeed interested in contesting the flagbearership then she must conduct herself within the ambit of the party’s constitution.The NDC constitution says if any office holder of the NDC wants to contest another position that officer must resign the position she/he occupies.



Mrs. Rawlings got overwhelming endorsement at the NDC congress in Tamale early this year to become a national vice chairperson. But some within the NDC say the former first lady should not consider her massive endorsement at the Tamale congress to mean that party people would support her presidential bid.



She has been meeting women groups and party functionaries across the country while embarking on the assignment of commissioning projects undertaken by the 31st December Women’s Movement. She is the life president of the once powerful Movement.



Mrs. Rawlings’ name has come up on the list of people interested in vying for the flagbearership of the NDC. A spokesperson for Mr. Rawlings, Kofi Adams, always insists Mrs. Rawlings stands tall among those who are interested in leading the NDC.



Vice president John Dramani Mahama and Agric Minister Kwesi Ahwoi are also said to be nursing presidential ambitions. The NDC will go to congress in December 2011 to elect a presidential candidate for the 2012 election, in line with the new constitution of the party which states that when the party is in government, a presidential candidate shall be elected 12 months to the general election.













Source: The publisher

The Americans may finally get Viktor Bout. But what will he tell them?

A STREAM of foreigners trickles in, and usually out, of the fetid jails of Bangkok. Rarely is such a big fish seen as Viktor Bout, a former Russian military-intelligence officer turned arms trader, who faces an extradition hearing on October 4th that could send him to New York to stand trial.



Mr Bout’s business was extraordinary and his protectors a mystery. Now his future is the subject of a diplomatic spat. He was lured to Bangkok in 2008 in an American sting operation. Mr Bout insists that he is a legitimate businessman framed by Russia’s enemies. His loyal wife has insisted that he went to Thailand to take a cooking course. The foreign ministry in Moscow says that the extradition could bust the “reset” in Russian-American relations.



How much backing Mr Bout had from Russia, from whom, and when, is unclear. In general, says Simon Taylor of Global Witness, a campaigning group, it “beggars belief” to imagine that Russia’s security apparatus did not know what he was up to. Mr Bout’s old connections certainly helped him build a global empire in the 1990s, trading the surplus armouries of the Soviet empire for cash and minerals.



Critics say he stoked the fires of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars: a British government minister once dubbed him the “merchant of death”. He showed a remarkable ability to dodge UN sanctions and evade investigators. His exploits were loosely portrayed by Nicholas Cage in the film “Lord of War” (Mr Bout took a dim view of this).



America has been on Mr Bout’s case for years. Before the September 2001 terrorist attacks, American agents plotted to snatch him and hand him to the authorities in South Africa or Belgium to face criminal charges, according to the New York Times. But when Washington’s priorities changed, Mr Bout breathed more easily. His planes, some say, ran supplies to American troops in Iraq. How much of this is bravado, how much rumour and how much fact is hard to say. Mark Kramer, a Russia-watcher at Harvard University says that Mr Bout has deliberately fostered “mythology” about his actions.



A trial in America may not illuminate such shadows. Mr Bout may strike a deal with America’s spooks, or with prosecutors, perhaps to expose other countries’ dirty secrets, or to conceal America’s.



So far, even the extradition has proved surprisingly tricky. The Thai government has squirmed under arm-twisting by Russia and America, involving offers of weapon sales and cheap oil. A parliamentarian from the governing party tried to persuade Mr Bout to implicate an exiled former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in his dealings. Judges have struggled with the political nature of the case. The first verdict in August 2009 went Mr Bout’s way, stunning American officials, who thought they had “home field advantage” in Thailand, says Paul Quaglia, a former CIA officer who is now a security consultant.



Even after the Department of Justice won an appeal on August 20th, Mr Bout has stayed put. His lawyers argued that the court must rule on two other charges filed against him at the behest of American prosecutors who feared a defeat on the conspiracy charge. Eager American officials had already sent a plane to Bangkok’s military airport to collect Mr Bout. After a few days on the tarmac it turned tail for Washington. Mr Bout was moved from a relatively lax remand prison to Bangkok’s more secure central jail. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the appeal-court verdict was politically motivated.



Some think more legal chicanery may be in store. Mr Bout has slipped out of tight corners before. His cargo business ran on quicksilver changes of aircraft names, registration and ownership, usually one step ahead of investigators, says Alex Vines at Chatham House, a London-based think-tank, who served on UN panels dealing with sanctions in Africa.



Mr Bout’s latest troubles started in March 2008 when he flew to Bangkok to meet Drug Enforcement Administration officials disguised as representatives of Colombia’s FARC guerrillas. He was caught on tape allegedly offering to sell them hundreds of missiles that could shoot down American aircraft, plus other weapons. The indictment alleges that Mr Bout conspired “to kill Americans” and supply arms to a “terrorist organisation”.



Selling missiles to the FARC so they can shoot down American aircraft would seem attractive to hardliners in Russia, even if not to the present Russian government. It also chimes with Russia’s efforts to help Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela, a foe of both America and Colombia.



Mr Bout may be past his prime. Some question his judgment in falling for America’s trickery; greed or boredom do not really explain why he took the bait. Others say that his cargo business thrived during anarchic wars of plunder that have, thankfully, subsided. That at least should be cause for celebration, not regret.



International

Government must probe NPP for "chopping" Eurobond cash: Kweku Baako

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako         The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has challenged the government to probe and sanction past officials believed to have squandered the Eurobond cash if there is evidence to that effect. The erstwhile Kufuor administration has been accused of squandering a $750 million it raised after it issued Ghana's first Eurobond in 2007, approved by Parliament. Various government officials have claimed the receipts were squandered, however the government has so far not announced any plan to deal with those past officials who allegedly squandered the money. Mr Kweku Baako is therefore drawing the attention of the government to the seriousness of the issue, saying “that’s criminality of the highest order and it is incumbent on this government … [to] interrogate [it], investigate it and make sure you sanction the perpetrators of that kind of crime.” He added that the issue “ought not to become a running propaganda battle in the media.” Kweku Baako who was speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme Thursday, however doubted the ability of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to institute any such investigations because its communications outfit deliberately threw out "such lies" to discredit the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which he said is seen even by the NDC as an alternative government in waiting. “I don’t mind if newspapers and serial callers are engaged in [propaganda] … I only get worried when members of government, ministers of state, deputy ministers of state and top government functionaries also join that fray … because in your case you’re not entitled to do propaganda continuously, yours is to enforce the laws to ensure accountability …,” he noted. Kweku Baako assured that the government would get embarrassed again if it proceeds to court on this issue because the NDC is still wallowing in the kind of propaganda it used during the 2008 elections. He stated, “Those whole things they said about NPP ministers and president Kufuor and all the rest - [that they] have chopped left, right, centre, they believed those things they were saying whiles in opposition, they’ve come into government and they continue using those things and sometimes they end up in court with some of those cases only to get embarrassed in a very abysmal manner and I can predict that if they proceed in this direction relative to the Eurobonds, that’s the same thing that will happen to them.” Dr Omane Boamah, Deputy Minister for Science and Environment, contributing to the discussion, said the Finance Ministry is dealing with the issue and at the appropriate time investigations would be conducted. By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana

CID questions ex-minister over 'dubious deal'

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei         Ex-Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei was yesterday invited by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and subjected to rigorous interrogations in respect of his alleged involvement in the bizarre sale of government's interest in Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC). According to an investigative report seen by The Enquirer, Akoto Osei led the sale of government's 20% interest in GOPDC at a residual price of US$2,315,946 even though the shares had been valued at$18,083,802. Worse still, the report revealed that, in the middle of efforts to offload the shares of government, one Mr. Albert Osei, said to be a brother of the minister, was tactically appointed as the country director of "SIAT s.a., with authority to negotiate with the minister, his brother, for the acquisition of GOG's 20% shares in GOPDC." Insiders familiar with the workings of the investigators hinted The Enquirer that aside all the under valuation of the company, "Dr. Akoto Osei should have excused himself as the minister with the assumed direct responsibility of overseeing the divestiture of GOG's 20% share in GOPDC, when his brother Albert Osei was appointed Resident Representative of SIAT s.a. and Director of GOPDC and SIAT Ghana Ltd. with a responsibility to negotiate for the sale of GOG's 20% shares in GOPDC." "With such irresponsible behavior, Dr. Akoto Osei must be held responsible for the loss incurred by the state in not selling 20% shares for US$18,083,802 but instead settling for a residual value of US$2,315,946. He must be held culpable," the report said. Enquirer sources say the ex-Finance Minister was evasive during interrogations yesterday and has been booked to re-appear before the CID on Thursday. The report has also recommended that the indecent haste with which government’s 20% shares in GOPDC was sold in December of 2008 "must be annulled" and a new and a more transparent sale procedure set in motion. The promoters of SIAT s.a., especially one Pierre Vandebeeck, who is blamed to have set in motion to corrupt the system, is also recommended to be charged for fraudulently orchestrating the bizarre sale of GOPDC. "Pierre Vandebeeck must be charged under Section 1, 2 and 5 of the Public Property Protection Act of 1977 (SMCD 140)" for causing the Ghana government to lose "US$13,364,779 which represent the fraudulently suppressed value of the GOG's 20% share" Even though GIMPA Consultancy Services had been engaged to value the shares of GOPDC, the Board of Directors of the company objected to their use and at a meeting on July 28, 2004 resolved to invite new entrants to put in proposals to undertake the valuation exercise. The Acting Executive, Secretary of DIC, on October 30, 2006 terminated the appointment of GIMPA Consultancy and invited selected consultants to submit their proposals to undertake the exercise to value the GOPDC shares. It was around this time that Mr. Albert Osei, the minister's brother, was appointed member of the Board of Directors of GOPDC. Notwithstanding, concerns, raised by a Mr. Walter Awuku of the DIC in an internal memo to the DIC boss, pointing out that a proposal submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) did not meet the terms of reference that invited the proposals in the first place; GOPDC awarded them the consultancy on January 4, 2007. Again, whereas GIMPA's scope of work had involved a complete due diligence, for which it was paid US$65,000.00, PWC, for its limited scope asked for a fee of ¢1,172,455,000 (US$126,687) which it was paid. Amidst protests by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana Juaben Boateng Siriboe and the Acting Executive Secretary of the DIC, Mr. J.K.A. Wiredu, whose outfit is the statutory body mandated to undertake the exercise, PWC undertook the valuation exercise in a limited scope, thereby not giving the government shares its real value before the purported sale to GOPDC. By a letter dated October 23, 2008 Dr. Akoto Osei had informed the Executive Director of the DIC that "After negotiations, SIAT (Gh) has indicated that it will accept GOG's offer ofGHC5.0 million for its 20% shareholding," and that "The Government has however, decided its shareholding in GOPDC should be offered to SIAT (Gh) Ltd for GH¢5.5 million." It is not clear yet where the value of GH¢5.5 million cited by Dr. Akoto Osei for the 20% government shares was arrived at or whether it was approved. However, from the trend of turnover and assets of the company over the four-year preceding the sale of the 20% shares to SIAT (Ghana), it has emerged that the state did not get value for its 20% shares. Source: The Enquirer

Opinion: Say NO to Protectionism, Dr. Kwesi Nduom!

Franklin Cudjoe         By Franklin Cudjoe Dr. Kwesi Nduom, former presidential candidate of Ghana's socialist party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and now “Shadow Finance Minister” in the newly created CPP think tank, pledged to Ghanaians this morning on TV3,a private Ghanaian television station that he will “bring Ghana's [wandering] economy home”, by having the state support the private sector, decentralise economic decision to regions and districts, all very noble ideas, but sadly, he also wants the state to impose heavy tariffs on imports Ghana can’t even compete with, as if the current ones are business and consumer friendly. Ndoum is not the only one to hold this view. There are many think tanks and activist organisations here in Ghana and across Africa who share the view that Africa’s rice, tomato, and poultry farmers need to be protected from cheap imports. Yet the problems of African farmers lie elsewhere: they and other entrepreneurs are stifled by punitive tax regimes and the high cost of capital, not to mention our disarrayed land tenure systems which lead to low crop production. Seems to me, creating local champions is fine, but not at all cost, when the local costs outweigh international ones? Not even for patriotic reasons else we will end up with the likes of the defunct Ghanaian carrier, Ghana Airways - whose oversight employs more cooks and crooks than pilots, with a single but usually faulty aircraft that occasionally spins its passengers in the air with careless abandon, whilst maintaining its political status as “strategic national asset”. Arguably, the main reason the likes of Dr. Nduom support protectionism is the very offensive farm subsidies in western countries, whose abolition would indeed help to achieve a level playing field for agricultural producers around the world. Yet this view is rife with hypocrisy: the same organisations and activists promote subsidies (what they call "fair trade") for farmers and businesses in poor countries to shield them from the effects of competition. If we in Ghana did ban rice, poultry and tomato imports, just how would we feed ourselves? Ghanaians depend on rice as a major staple in our diets, yet local production caters for only 30 percent of the rice we consume, partly due to higher costs of production, poor storage and transport facilities. But the real problem is not "rigged" trade rules. The problem lies with us as Africans and especially our leaders, to improve our own wellbeing, and to encourage economic growth through political and institutional reforms. Intra-African trade is less than 10% - still a pale shadow of the numerous trade treaties signed in almost all the regional economic blocs. The solution to all that ails us is not protectionism, not even aid, debt relief or "fair trade". It is to adopt institutions to harness the entrepreneurial spirit that exists in every African country, to enable Africans to trade with each other and anyone else in the world. Establishing property rights would be an important first step; an effective, transparent and accountable legal system is another. Combined with respect for private property and the rule of law, LOWER TAXES and decentralised decision making, these broad reforms would encourage entrepreneurship, trade, innovation and even environmental protection because they empower people - rather than politicians. Franklin Cudjoe is Executive Director of IMANI, a Ghanaian think tank adjudged the 5th most influential in Africa by the Foreign Policy Magazine and Editor of AfricanLiberty.org.

Hannah Bissiw dodges Newsfile in protest against Ras Mubarak

Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Bissiw         A Rawlings loyalist and an avowed critic of the Mills-government has claimed that the ruling National Democratic Congress has threatened to sanction him for his vitriol against the government. In furtherance of this, Ras Mubarak said the party attempted to prevent from appearing on Joy FM’s news analysis programme, Newsfile Saturday. Consequently, he claimed the Deputy Minister for Water Resources Works and Housing Dr Hannah Bissiw who was billed to appear on the programme refused to, in protest against his (Mubarak’s) appearance on the show. Dr Hanna Bissiw was invited by the station to participate in the discussion particularly because the postponement of a planned signing of the STX deal was one of the topics to be treated. As Deputy Minister of the Works and Housing, she was expected to give impetus to the discussion, but as the programme wore on, the minister, it became apparent, was not attending. Then, surprisingly, Ras Muburak disclosed that Dr Bissiw’s absence was in protest against his presence on the show. Delving into the substance of the topic, he expressed regret that the governing party was not living up to its promise of being a transparent and open government. In his opinion, the people of Ghana deserve to be told in plain language the reasons that necessitated the postponement of the signing ceremony to which journalists had been duly invited. Mr Mubarak accused the government of lacking coherence in its management of the country’s affairs and that the NDC was now beginning to behave like the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, who was also on the show, said the sudden stalling of the signing ceremony coupled with the government’s inability to give reasons for its actions smacked of gross incompetence. He speculated that STX Korea were unhappy about the arrangements for revenue inflows, the oil option having been taken out of the agreement. Initially oil revenues were slated to be used to pay $10 billion loan but civil society organization vehemently opposed it leading to an amendment of the agreement that took out that payment option. This, Gabby claims, is what STX Korea is unhappy about and that that was why the agreement could not be signed. He challenged the government to contradict him. The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako who was also a panelist said he was embarrassed by the turn of events because he had supported the project right from day one. He also maintained that the issues that warranted to withholding of the signing of the deal must be disclosed. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

NDC government lacks direction - Nana Addo

NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo         The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has criticized the NDC government for what he says is lack of direction for the country. He says several social intervention programmes started by the Kufuor administration have been rejected by the NDC. Nana Addo was speaking at the start of a two day tour of the Upper West region. Joy FM’s Upper West Regional Correspondent Rafik Salam reports that the NPP flagbearer maintained that the governing party rode on the backs of propaganda to come to power and was now finding it difficult to live up to its standards. The 2008 presidential candidate of the NPP also expressed concern about the president’s aloofness to topical issues in the country citing the raging controversy stirred by the ruling party’s Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei who called on the Chief Justice to purge the judiciary of corruption and bias or have the party do that for her. Nana Addo believes the taciturn comment – The judiciary is independent and I have no such intention – by the president in response to a question as to whether he intended to purge the judiciary, was not good enough. In his view, the president ought to have exacted his authority and spoken clearly on the issue to clear all doubts and reassure the judiciary, emphasise its sanctity and court public trust for the institution. Nana Akufo-Addo dispelled suggestions the opposition party was an Akan party, reminding residents of the Upper West Region that the NPP has its roots in northern parts of the country. Source: Joy News/Ghana

Kotoka is Ghana's hero - Mike Ocquaye

Prof. Mike Oquaye, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament         Political Scientist and 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Oquaye has defended Ghana’s first coup maker, the late Lt. General Emmanuel Kwesi Kotoka, after whom Ghana’s only International Airport has been named. Professor Ocquaye’s defense follows heightened calls on government by avowed Nkrumaist, Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, for Government to scrap Kotoka’s name from the Airport. Professor Akosa argues that naming such an important national asset after a coup maker is a slap in the face of democracy and an affront to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s First President and Founder. Lt. Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was a member of the National Liberation Council (NLM) which overthrew Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on February 24 1966. He was subsequently killed a year after the coup at the forecourt of the country’s Airport. Although Professor Mike Ocquaye admits that Dr. Nkrumah deserves a national holiday for his great deeds, he told Citi News that Dr. Nkrumah had assumed too much power for himself becoming a 'dictator' in a one party state, which Ghanaians at the time did not support. “Nkrumah deserves a public Holiday because he was a great man nationally and internationally, but I want us to know that he was not the only founder of Ghana. There is the other side of Nkrumah which we don’t ever want to see again in Ghana". "Under Article 55 of the 1960 Constitution for example, we had a clear constitutional provision whereby the President had special powers to suspend the Constitution, suspend parliament, to rule by presidential fiat if he alone thought it was in the national interest and definitely we don’t want that again but he did it. There was also a one party state officially decreed. Do we want that again today?" he queried. “There was also power given to him by constitutional amendment to dismiss Supreme Court judges and many other powers. So people must not think that this was a man who did everything right and then some people conspired and removed him,” he said. “In fact so many aspects of the 1992 Constitution came because of the experiences under Nkrumah’s regime. Nkrumah did not even allow a Vice-President to be elected because he didn’t want anyone to contest him for power. The fact remains that his removal by Kotoka was not just something that came. Ghanaians were fed up with that same ‘good man’. So Kotoka’s removal of him from power and by his statue being at the Airport, is to remind us forever that no matter what good work any president may forever do for us here in Ghana, we Ghanaians are not going to accept autocracy, dictatorship, abuse of human rights and those kind of things". "Kotoka is a hero in his own right because today, what Kotoka stood for is what we are holding in the 1992 Constitution. We said we want fundamental human rights, we said we don’t want people to be arrested without trials, separation of powers, Independence of the judiciary and that Parliament cannot be abrogated by one man, and these are the things Nkrumah stood against, so it means that there is another side of the coin somewhere, and Kotoka represents that side which is epitomized in the 1992 Constitution," he emphasized. In a sharp rebuttal to Professor Ocquaye’s position, Professor Akosa told Citi News the Danquah-Busia Dombo Tradition which conceived the NPP, has a generational hatred for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. Mike Ocquaye is no exception. He said Professor Ocquaye had dented his democratic credentials by approving a coup-d’état. Professor Akosa further argued that Lt. General Kotoka’s coup was meaningless because it yielded no results but only deprived Ghanaians of better development by Dr. Nkrumah. Source: citifmonline.com

Court throws out Gbevlo Lartey

Lt. Col. Gbevlo, Lartey (Rtd.), National Security Coordinator         The Human Rights Court in Accra has thrown out a legal objection raised by Lt. Col. Gbevlo, Lartey (Rtd.), National Security Coordinator in a case in which Shirley Ayorkor Botch way, Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija is seeking to enforce her fundamental human rights under the 1992 Republican Constitution. The NPP MP, who doubles as a former Deputy Minister under the President Kufuor, is currently battling the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in the law courts in relation to a piece of land (Plot No. 12A) she acquired at Ridge, Accra in 2007. She has jointly sued Brig. Gen. Joseph Nunoo Mensah Rtd, National Security Advisor, Lt. Col. (Rtd) Larry Gbevlo Lartey, and the Attorney-General, claiming that the first and second defendants are using security operatives to take the land which she has started developing on the basis that the land belongs to the state. The plaintiff's affidavit in support of her application said she leased a plot of land from the President of the Republic of Ghana in 2007 but on April 15, 2010 while her workers were busily at work, some group of men who said they were coming from the National Security and had been sent by the first and second defendants ordered the workers to stop work immediately. The security operatives, the plaintiff averred, then erected a signboard with the inscription 'Government Property. Stop Work. Keep Off, By Order' and left telephone numbers for her to call and find out. "'On April 16, 2010, the next day, the National Security operatives claiming to be acting on the instructions of first and second defendants visited the land again and took away various construction tools belonging; to her workmen with orders to stop work." She said she reported the matter to the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department on April 16,2010. Asa result she sought "a declaration that the respondents' interference with her right to develop, use and enjoy her land is wrong and an unlawful interference with her right to property and constitutes a violation of her fundamental human rights." She also wants damages for wrongful and unlawful interference and violation of the applicant's human rights and an order for perpetual injunction to prevent her from developing the land. As a result both the first and second defendants were served on April 28, 2010 and the third defendant was served on April 21, 2010. However, on May 11, 2010, Lt. Col. Gbevlo Lartey, through his solicitors, filed a notice to raise legal objection to the Weija MP's motion. The security capo contended that the applicants lease upon which she relies to enforce her alleged rights is ineffective as an instrument affecting the land. "It violates Section 24(1)of the Land Registry Law, 1962 .(Act 122) under which every instrument affecting land is considered ineffective until registered." The defendant contended that if the MP's lease were effective, the applicant would have been in breach of the covenant and would have failed to show that within three years of execution she has built a house to the value of the amount specified in the lease or has built a surrounding wall around the area to which the site plan attached to the lease relates. "The motion with the supporting affidavit raises so many terrible issues that cannot be appropriately resolved by an affidavit. A writ of summons would provide an appropriate remedy, not a motion." Dismissing the legal objection, the court, presided over by UP Derry said from the affidavit in support of the application there is no doubt that the MP is invoking article 18 of the Constitution adding "if any person's right to property is violated he is entitled to protection by this court by virtue of Article 33 (1) of the 1992 Constitution." The court said there arc no competing interests and the fact that the applicant has not yet registered her land does not bar her from taking steps to enforce under Article 18(1) Of the Constitution. The court also held that Mr. Gbevlo Lartey's argument that the MP should have issued a writ Instead of a motion is misplaced saying "by Article 33 (1), a person has a choice to take any action." The court therefore said the legal objection is misconceived adding that "the case should proceed." Source: Daily Guide