Nature abhors vacuum, so says philosophers, and scientists postulate that air occupies space. Similarly, a leadership vacuum must and will be filled at any given time by an individual or a state to help create order and an enabling environment for development, as we have learnt from ancient and recent history: The Roman empire (27BC - AD 1453), the United Kingdom (18th and 19th Centuries) and the United States (20th and 21st Centuries) have all played crucial global economic, political and military leadership roles, sometimes at heavy human toll and substantial fiscal costs, in maintaining order through minimizing conflicts between societies or states in the natural pursuit of resources, power and dominance. A nation’s leader sets the moral tone (e.g. the rallying of the world against Nazism and Fascism by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill), backed by economic muscle to drive a nation toward that moral imperative (e.g. building a democratic and free world where the rights of sovereign nations are respected).
In the post-World War II era, America has been the moral impetus crusading for the spread of democracy, freedom and human rights. America's foray into Vietnam (1965-1975, combat operation), Korea (1950-1953) and the Gulf (1991 and 2003-present) were inspired primarily by the economic, cultural and moral incentive to fight against communism, dictatorship, terrorism, oppression and the need to spread freedom and democracy. Whilst a nation may pursue global and regional geopolitical interests (e.g. the U.S. removal of Saddam’s forces from Kuwait), such leadership sometimes turns out to advance the interest of a region or the world (relatively unrestricted flow of oil from the Gulf).
West Africa and Ghana lack the leadership that existed in the days of Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah set the moral tone on why Africa needed independence and why the whole continent ought to pursue that objective with deliberate haste. Such impetus helped speed up the independence movement, and within just three years after Ghana's independence, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and others successfully wrested political power from the British and the French in their respective countries in 1960.
Kwame Nkrumah coined the term the Black Star to refer to the leadership of Ghana on the continent of Africa. Ghana was indeed a star of Africa, being the first Sub-Saharan nation to achieve independence and advocate for full economic, cultural and political self-government in Africa. In effect, Nkrumah created a Ghana that took a leadership role in foreign policy. That leadership position was relinquished after Nkrumah's overthrow in 1966 when Ghana was plunged into political and economic upheaval.
Today, Africa lacks continental leadership. South Africa has the economic muscle but lacks the will and the moral tone necessary to foster that kind of continental leadership. We see chaos and disorder in African foreign policy. Civil wars have thrived for years in West Africa (Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, etc), in the horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia), in Central Africa (Zaire, C.A.R) and in the Southern African region (Angola, Mozambique). In the last 40 years, we have witnessed virtually no regional or continental leadership in Africa. In the face of this leadership vacuum, minor disagreements or skirmishes can easily spiral out of control. Liberia's troubles started as resentment by a segment of population over the perceived dictatorship and political and economic dominance by President Doe’s Krahn ethnic group, which eventually escalated into a full-blown civil war. Similar trends and sequence follow most of the other trouble spots on the continent.
Ghana undoubtedly has the brain power, the moral rectitude and, to a lesser extent, the economic power to reassert itself as a regional and continental power on the foreign policy front. On brain power, Ghana is one sub-Saharan country with a pool of competent leaders with extensive intellectual pedigree, including Kwame Nkrumah (Penn, doctorate), second president Kofi Busia (Oxford, doctorate), Kofi Annan (MIT, management), John Kufuor (Oxford, law), Attah Mills (Stanford Law School, Fulbright scholar), to name a few. The nation's emphasis on education early on in its history has paid off big time. No wonder it can boasts of such intellectual powerhouses. Not only can Ghana claim bragging rights for giving impetus to the independence movement in Africa, it now currently stands as Africa's most successful democracy. It has recorded four successive transparent elections since 1992 and twice has successfully transferred power from an incumbent party to an opposition party. The country has a robust and competitive media industry that enjoys relative freedom with virtually no government intimidation or intervention.
The case for financial power is harder to make given the relatively small size of Ghana’s economy compared to countries like South Africa and Nigeria. Nevertheless, Ghana has the best-performing economy in West Africa (annual GDP growth rate of 6% in the last 6 years) and is among the top five in sub-Saharan Africa (in the league of South Africa, Botswana, Gabon, Angola). The country can boast of a robust economy that has expanded or registered higher growth than the previous year consistently in the last 10 years. Without doubt, Ghana's economy is one of the fastest-growing and most stable in Africa. The discovery of oil resources has led to diversification of the economy and a burgeoning new petrochemical sector, which will undoubtedly boost the Ghana’s quest to become a regional and continental economic and political power.
West Africa needs a regional leader and Africa needs continental leadership. Ghana aptly filled those roles in the 60's, thanks to the vision and charisma of Kwame Nkrumah and his young team of men and women inspired to help secure a rightful place for Africa in the modern community of nations. Given Ghana's current economic resurgence and flourishing democracy, the nation is ripe again to claim that leadership mantle.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
AFRICA'S BEST CHANCE
In the early 1990s, shortly after the end of the Cold War, I wrote a paper, arguing that the moment of Africa's economic and political resurgence had arrived. Why? The conventional wisdom was that the end of the Cold War also marked the end of Africa's victimhood as pawns in the proxy wars between the United States and the then-Soviet Union.
The Cold War’s ending was so abrupt; nobody expected it to end the way it did. Even though Africa is geographically far removed from the US and the former USSR, the continent provided such a fertile ground politically as well as economically for the superpowers to tussle in our backyard. This tussle between two elephants on the world’s second largest continent played a major role in civil wars (for example in Congo, Angola, and Sudan), rampant coup d’états (Ghana 1966, Congo 1960) and accentuated ethnic rivalries. The political, economic and security rift between the United States and the Soviet Union was very ideological and tense, and in Africa (as in Central America and South Asia), the struggle for American and Soviet influence contributed to a series of factors (e.g. colonialism, “artificial” national borders, African rivalry over land and dominance, etc) that pit one ethnic group against another, and black nation against fellow black nation (Angola vs. South Africa vs. Namibia).
With this ideological war's end in the early 60's, the stage seemed to be set for Africa to concentrate on creating a better world for its people and securing its rightful place in the world. But strangely enough, the war's ending unleashed the worst nightmares for Africa's: it marked the breakout of even more civil wars and political chaos. West Africa in particular literally went up in flames: Liberia burned; Sierra Leone imploded; Ivory Coast went helter smelter. In the Eastern and Central Africa, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi were consumed by conflagration. The Southern region saw escalation of wars in Angola and Mozambique, whilst fighting escalated in the perennial hotspot in the horn of Africa—Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia.
Apparently, the Cold War heightened already existing rivalries in Africa: ethnic and religious differences were more deeply drawn as geopolitical strategies in the East and West sought to promote their self-interest in the proxy war. The falling of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum that oiled the flames of war on the continent. Thus, the optimism that greeted ending of the Cold War and the hope that the decade of the 90s was the beginning of great things to come for Africa turned out to be a mirage.
Can we get it wrong again? This time the spread of democracy and fall of military juntas and dictators—long the scourge of Africa's progress—marks a new turning point for the better. More African nations, including Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Mozambique, etc, are democracies than ever before. This has already reaped huge economic benefits for the continent as many African countries (Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, etc) are registering economic growth rates of 5% or higher. The fall of military dictatorships means that African nations are now better governed and are more transparent.
Now the fear is can democracy take root in Africa without some resistance and ultimate cost? There are still pockets of resistance to new phenomena as hold outs from the old era that benefit from the corruption of dictatorships are resisting the new winds of change. Togo’s Eyadema resisted change till his death in 2005 after almost 38 years in office, whilst Ghana’s Rawlings and his followers continue to celebrate the coups of 1979 and 1981. Such elements are always fomenting trouble to bring back the old system.
Moreover, the system of democracy has its flaws and tends to accentuate already existing differences. A lot of this will depend on leadership; responsible leaders can always avoid such pitfalls by putting the interest of the people ahead of their own deep-seated tendencies to gain or perpetuate power by any means.
In the end, the new prognostication for Africa's success following the winds of democracy blowing over the continent sounds plausible. Already countries like Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda have shown great strides the hope is that more African countries will follow in their stead.
The Cold War’s ending was so abrupt; nobody expected it to end the way it did. Even though Africa is geographically far removed from the US and the former USSR, the continent provided such a fertile ground politically as well as economically for the superpowers to tussle in our backyard. This tussle between two elephants on the world’s second largest continent played a major role in civil wars (for example in Congo, Angola, and Sudan), rampant coup d’états (Ghana 1966, Congo 1960) and accentuated ethnic rivalries. The political, economic and security rift between the United States and the Soviet Union was very ideological and tense, and in Africa (as in Central America and South Asia), the struggle for American and Soviet influence contributed to a series of factors (e.g. colonialism, “artificial” national borders, African rivalry over land and dominance, etc) that pit one ethnic group against another, and black nation against fellow black nation (Angola vs. South Africa vs. Namibia).
With this ideological war's end in the early 60's, the stage seemed to be set for Africa to concentrate on creating a better world for its people and securing its rightful place in the world. But strangely enough, the war's ending unleashed the worst nightmares for Africa's: it marked the breakout of even more civil wars and political chaos. West Africa in particular literally went up in flames: Liberia burned; Sierra Leone imploded; Ivory Coast went helter smelter. In the Eastern and Central Africa, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi were consumed by conflagration. The Southern region saw escalation of wars in Angola and Mozambique, whilst fighting escalated in the perennial hotspot in the horn of Africa—Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia.
Apparently, the Cold War heightened already existing rivalries in Africa: ethnic and religious differences were more deeply drawn as geopolitical strategies in the East and West sought to promote their self-interest in the proxy war. The falling of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum that oiled the flames of war on the continent. Thus, the optimism that greeted ending of the Cold War and the hope that the decade of the 90s was the beginning of great things to come for Africa turned out to be a mirage.
Can we get it wrong again? This time the spread of democracy and fall of military juntas and dictators—long the scourge of Africa's progress—marks a new turning point for the better. More African nations, including Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Mozambique, etc, are democracies than ever before. This has already reaped huge economic benefits for the continent as many African countries (Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, etc) are registering economic growth rates of 5% or higher. The fall of military dictatorships means that African nations are now better governed and are more transparent.
Now the fear is can democracy take root in Africa without some resistance and ultimate cost? There are still pockets of resistance to new phenomena as hold outs from the old era that benefit from the corruption of dictatorships are resisting the new winds of change. Togo’s Eyadema resisted change till his death in 2005 after almost 38 years in office, whilst Ghana’s Rawlings and his followers continue to celebrate the coups of 1979 and 1981. Such elements are always fomenting trouble to bring back the old system.
Moreover, the system of democracy has its flaws and tends to accentuate already existing differences. A lot of this will depend on leadership; responsible leaders can always avoid such pitfalls by putting the interest of the people ahead of their own deep-seated tendencies to gain or perpetuate power by any means.
In the end, the new prognostication for Africa's success following the winds of democracy blowing over the continent sounds plausible. Already countries like Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda have shown great strides the hope is that more African countries will follow in their stead.
Friday, April 3, 2009
WHY PRESIDENT MILLS IS FAILING HIS FIRST TEST
Alexandria, April 3 – With all its touted numerous virtues, democracy can be a very imperfect political system with serious flaws, especially when demagogues and selfish leaders are allowed to have their way. For one, democracy can be very polarizing, especially during the two quarters following a hotly-contested election. Political campaigns are about winning and can produce tons of toxic and divisive rhetoric, as most campaign gurus and political leaders would do or say anything to win –sometimes splitting their countries along ethnic, racial or religious lines --regardless of the long-term consequences for a nation. But once elected, many leaders prudently spend time to clean up the noxious waste they spewed on the campaign trail, and immediately seek to unify their countries shortly after a new leader is sworn-in. Ghana’s new President, John Mills is failing this critical and important test.
Ghana’s 2008 presidential election was the closest and most polarizing in its history –and arguably the most competitive in Africa’s history, with barely 40,000 votes separating the victor from the loser out of over 10 million votes cast. There is no question the campaign often got testy and dirty, with both major parties clearly guilty of ethnic demagoguery. The National Democratic Convention (NDC) played on the subliminal anti-Ashanti sentiment ever present in Ghana politics and the New Patriotic Party was just as guilty pounding away on anti-Ewe rhetoric also all too common in Ghana. The result is that we have a Ghana that is now the most ethnically polarized in our history.
All this make it very disconcerting that President John Mills is acting like a stone deaf leader at the ugly, new political climate that is threatening Ghana’s stability. He sits idly by whilst unscrupulous elements in his party are busy harassing opposition leaders, particularly, the ex-President John Kufuor and NPP leader Nana Addo. President Kufuor has endured unwarranted verbal abuse and ill-conceived property seizures from the NDC, presumably as cover for protecting state property and as retaliation for similar actions by the NPP in the last 8 years.
The world economy is experiencing the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression and whilst Washington, Johannesburg, London, Beijing, and other centers of power are busy brainstorming solutions to combat the global recession, it is comic hour in Ghana—with politicians fighting over state vehicles, houses and other properties. That is democracy in Ghana and Africa –it is all about who gets to enjoy the spoils of state property and money.
President Mills ought to promote unity and project an assertive presence that he is in charge at this social and economic turning point in the nation’s history. President Mills cannot continue to look weak and helpless whilst his cronies are busy creating chaos and discord. We are seeing a level of lawlessness unhealthy for the unity and stability of our nation. The worst of the government officials committing such wanton acts is ex-aide to former President Jerry Rawlings, Victor Smith. Accompanied by armed commandos he has been the main leader going after ex-government officials to seize properties in often confrontational and demeaning manner, rather than follow legal or appropriate channels. And thugs from the Ga Adangbe Youth are out there threatening ex-President Kufuor. The stone deaf silence of the president in the midst of the gangster abuse of state office by low-level staff and acts of lawlessness by the governing party-affiliated interest groups that can ignite civil strife is quite disappointing.
The President must lead by reining the so-called Ga-Adangbe Youth. He must use the bully pulpit to unite and encourage Ghanaians to desist from acts that would foment tension and conflict. Setting such a positive tone would create the right atmosphere for serious policy discussions that the nation currently and desperately needs. We are not immune from the global economic breakdown and we need to seriously debate our way forward. In the past, we sit lazily for the IMF and World Bank to lecture us on restructuring our economic and financial systems, even writing our budgets. Whilst their recommendations are often well-intended, they are not always right as the global institutions often employ foreign experts who often do not have full grasp of our cultural, political and socio-economic systems. As a result, the international consultants often make recommendations that seldom help to curb inflation, stabilize our currency or strengthen our export-driven industries. It would be more effective if we take the lead to drive our own destiny and tell these institutions what we need and the direction in which we want to go. Such a proactive effort will more effectively complement the efforts of these donor institutions to help us.
President Mills must lead and at the moment he is failing his first test of setting a unifying tone for the nation. He is tight-lipped on a very polarizing climate unleashed by elements from his party –a situation that is counter-productive for our democracy and a distraction for national progress. The President must also lead by setting in motion serious policy debates on urgent matters facing the Republic of Ghana.of Ghana.
Ghana’s 2008 presidential election was the closest and most polarizing in its history –and arguably the most competitive in Africa’s history, with barely 40,000 votes separating the victor from the loser out of over 10 million votes cast. There is no question the campaign often got testy and dirty, with both major parties clearly guilty of ethnic demagoguery. The National Democratic Convention (NDC) played on the subliminal anti-Ashanti sentiment ever present in Ghana politics and the New Patriotic Party was just as guilty pounding away on anti-Ewe rhetoric also all too common in Ghana. The result is that we have a Ghana that is now the most ethnically polarized in our history.
All this make it very disconcerting that President John Mills is acting like a stone deaf leader at the ugly, new political climate that is threatening Ghana’s stability. He sits idly by whilst unscrupulous elements in his party are busy harassing opposition leaders, particularly, the ex-President John Kufuor and NPP leader Nana Addo. President Kufuor has endured unwarranted verbal abuse and ill-conceived property seizures from the NDC, presumably as cover for protecting state property and as retaliation for similar actions by the NPP in the last 8 years.
The world economy is experiencing the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression and whilst Washington, Johannesburg, London, Beijing, and other centers of power are busy brainstorming solutions to combat the global recession, it is comic hour in Ghana—with politicians fighting over state vehicles, houses and other properties. That is democracy in Ghana and Africa –it is all about who gets to enjoy the spoils of state property and money.
President Mills ought to promote unity and project an assertive presence that he is in charge at this social and economic turning point in the nation’s history. President Mills cannot continue to look weak and helpless whilst his cronies are busy creating chaos and discord. We are seeing a level of lawlessness unhealthy for the unity and stability of our nation. The worst of the government officials committing such wanton acts is ex-aide to former President Jerry Rawlings, Victor Smith. Accompanied by armed commandos he has been the main leader going after ex-government officials to seize properties in often confrontational and demeaning manner, rather than follow legal or appropriate channels. And thugs from the Ga Adangbe Youth are out there threatening ex-President Kufuor. The stone deaf silence of the president in the midst of the gangster abuse of state office by low-level staff and acts of lawlessness by the governing party-affiliated interest groups that can ignite civil strife is quite disappointing.
The President must lead by reining the so-called Ga-Adangbe Youth. He must use the bully pulpit to unite and encourage Ghanaians to desist from acts that would foment tension and conflict. Setting such a positive tone would create the right atmosphere for serious policy discussions that the nation currently and desperately needs. We are not immune from the global economic breakdown and we need to seriously debate our way forward. In the past, we sit lazily for the IMF and World Bank to lecture us on restructuring our economic and financial systems, even writing our budgets. Whilst their recommendations are often well-intended, they are not always right as the global institutions often employ foreign experts who often do not have full grasp of our cultural, political and socio-economic systems. As a result, the international consultants often make recommendations that seldom help to curb inflation, stabilize our currency or strengthen our export-driven industries. It would be more effective if we take the lead to drive our own destiny and tell these institutions what we need and the direction in which we want to go. Such a proactive effort will more effectively complement the efforts of these donor institutions to help us.
President Mills must lead and at the moment he is failing his first test of setting a unifying tone for the nation. He is tight-lipped on a very polarizing climate unleashed by elements from his party –a situation that is counter-productive for our democracy and a distraction for national progress. The President must also lead by setting in motion serious policy debates on urgent matters facing the Republic of Ghana.of Ghana.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
AFRICAN ROUND UP
AFRICAN UNION
The African union seems to be in disarray and cannot put up a united front on almost any issue. To promote democracy and political stability, the union has put in place resolution to reject any government that comes to power by the barrel of the gun. But the chairman of the African Union, an autocrat who usurped power through a coup d’état is against this resolution and has voiced his displeasure saying that democracy is an alien concept to the African and should not imposed on African nations. The African Union is sending mixed messages to new coup makers. Whilst many African leaders condemned the junta in Guinea, others like Kaddafi and Senegal have fully embraced the regime.
What is more, when Robert Mugabe went to the African Union meeting, he received a standing ovation. Mugabe has been the scourge of his 10 million plus countrymen. As a result of the political crisis he has unleashed by brazenly overturning an election result that he lost, Zimbabwe has been plunged into the worst economic and political chaos since the founding of that country. Several thousands are starving and dying, and the entire economy is in complete paralysis. Nevertheless, many in the African Union, particularly South Africa, continue to support Mugabe. The African Union's failure to sing with one voice undermines and undoes everything it stands for and tries to do. And that disharmony is definitely making it impossible for the African Union to promote political stability and rein in on coup d’états, which for decades have been the bane of continental progress. Nation after nation was plunged into political chaos and economic mismanagement by military juntas.
SENEGAL
This nation for decades has been the beacon of political stability and democracy in a region often mired in political chaos and civil wars. It is therefore disconcerting that the highly respected octogenarian ruler, Abdoulaye Wade, has led Senegal into economy abyss and political chaos. On Mr. Wade's watch, corruption has thrived in Senegal and the economy is very weak, leading to political unrests. The man once the perennial opposition leader for over two decades and often arrested and brutalized by the incumbent government at that time is today harassing and arresting political opponents. And worse, he has sent a clear signal that he is trying to pass on the mantle of leadership to his son Karim Wade. No wonder his party got spanked in the just ended local elections.
SOUTH AFRICA
There has been global outrage at South Africa for the last several months --most notably for its soft treatment of Robert Mugabe in the face of the gross abuse and torture of his political opponents, plunging his country into a stage of political anarchy and economic calamity.
But the latest scorn and rebuke at the ex-apartheid nation is the result of its denial of visa for the Dalai Lama, following threats from South Africa's major trading partner, China. Even though the African National Congress vehemently denies any connection to China in its decision to refuse visa to the venerated Tibetan leader, it is conspicuous that fear of angering China and hurting its business interest with that Asian economic giant was the sole consideration.
It is extremely disappointing that a regime that for decades had to rely on from help the international community to topple the racist apartheid regime, would give fodder to autocrats to oppress their own people. The African National Congress should be the regime that should be most sympathetic to groups or leaders fighting oppression. So for the South African regime to be putting loyalty to Mugabe and business interests to China ahead of assisting victims of oppression is morally reprehensible and politically dumb. South Africa has invited the scorn and ire of nations that have supported them in the past and should be their friends. So pursuing this ill-advised and imprudent narrow self interest hurts South Africa politically. No wonder condemnation from the global media and political leaders has been swift and universal.
GHANA
Reports of unusually high incidents of child labor abuse should be worrying to the leadership of the country. The future of any nation rests on the development of its young generation. With so many documented cases of children out of school and performing economic activities for their parents, the nation risks losing its potential potent labor force. Law makers must ensure that the laws on the books against child labor abuse are enforced.
KENYA
Still is still reeling from the near civil war caused by election rigging by the incumbent government; the nation has suffered more setbacks on two fronts: Corruption is thriving under the unity government of Kibaki and Odinga, and is threatening to bring Kenya to near economic paralysis. And worse, Kenya is experiencing a drought that could lead to starvation. Kenya is on the brink and its leadership must rise to the challenge: first, the leadership reins in on corruption, and second, it must fully assess the food situation and call for donor help now than later, if need be.
NIGERIA
The huge drop in oil prices is hurting the super eagle nation's revenue. And worse, Nigeria's failure to rein in on political violence around the oil producing Nile Delta area is hurting the nation's oil production --Angola has overtaking Nigeria as the biggest oil producing nation in Africa. To compound the problem of shrunk revenue for the federal government, Nigerian banks have also been hit hard by the global financial collapse and have drastically curtailed lending. In effect, Nigeria risks sinking into a deep recession, given these outlined problems.
The African union seems to be in disarray and cannot put up a united front on almost any issue. To promote democracy and political stability, the union has put in place resolution to reject any government that comes to power by the barrel of the gun. But the chairman of the African Union, an autocrat who usurped power through a coup d’état is against this resolution and has voiced his displeasure saying that democracy is an alien concept to the African and should not imposed on African nations. The African Union is sending mixed messages to new coup makers. Whilst many African leaders condemned the junta in Guinea, others like Kaddafi and Senegal have fully embraced the regime.
What is more, when Robert Mugabe went to the African Union meeting, he received a standing ovation. Mugabe has been the scourge of his 10 million plus countrymen. As a result of the political crisis he has unleashed by brazenly overturning an election result that he lost, Zimbabwe has been plunged into the worst economic and political chaos since the founding of that country. Several thousands are starving and dying, and the entire economy is in complete paralysis. Nevertheless, many in the African Union, particularly South Africa, continue to support Mugabe. The African Union's failure to sing with one voice undermines and undoes everything it stands for and tries to do. And that disharmony is definitely making it impossible for the African Union to promote political stability and rein in on coup d’états, which for decades have been the bane of continental progress. Nation after nation was plunged into political chaos and economic mismanagement by military juntas.
SENEGAL
This nation for decades has been the beacon of political stability and democracy in a region often mired in political chaos and civil wars. It is therefore disconcerting that the highly respected octogenarian ruler, Abdoulaye Wade, has led Senegal into economy abyss and political chaos. On Mr. Wade's watch, corruption has thrived in Senegal and the economy is very weak, leading to political unrests. The man once the perennial opposition leader for over two decades and often arrested and brutalized by the incumbent government at that time is today harassing and arresting political opponents. And worse, he has sent a clear signal that he is trying to pass on the mantle of leadership to his son Karim Wade. No wonder his party got spanked in the just ended local elections.
SOUTH AFRICA
There has been global outrage at South Africa for the last several months --most notably for its soft treatment of Robert Mugabe in the face of the gross abuse and torture of his political opponents, plunging his country into a stage of political anarchy and economic calamity.
But the latest scorn and rebuke at the ex-apartheid nation is the result of its denial of visa for the Dalai Lama, following threats from South Africa's major trading partner, China. Even though the African National Congress vehemently denies any connection to China in its decision to refuse visa to the venerated Tibetan leader, it is conspicuous that fear of angering China and hurting its business interest with that Asian economic giant was the sole consideration.
It is extremely disappointing that a regime that for decades had to rely on from help the international community to topple the racist apartheid regime, would give fodder to autocrats to oppress their own people. The African National Congress should be the regime that should be most sympathetic to groups or leaders fighting oppression. So for the South African regime to be putting loyalty to Mugabe and business interests to China ahead of assisting victims of oppression is morally reprehensible and politically dumb. South Africa has invited the scorn and ire of nations that have supported them in the past and should be their friends. So pursuing this ill-advised and imprudent narrow self interest hurts South Africa politically. No wonder condemnation from the global media and political leaders has been swift and universal.
GHANA
Reports of unusually high incidents of child labor abuse should be worrying to the leadership of the country. The future of any nation rests on the development of its young generation. With so many documented cases of children out of school and performing economic activities for their parents, the nation risks losing its potential potent labor force. Law makers must ensure that the laws on the books against child labor abuse are enforced.
KENYA
Still is still reeling from the near civil war caused by election rigging by the incumbent government; the nation has suffered more setbacks on two fronts: Corruption is thriving under the unity government of Kibaki and Odinga, and is threatening to bring Kenya to near economic paralysis. And worse, Kenya is experiencing a drought that could lead to starvation. Kenya is on the brink and its leadership must rise to the challenge: first, the leadership reins in on corruption, and second, it must fully assess the food situation and call for donor help now than later, if need be.
NIGERIA
The huge drop in oil prices is hurting the super eagle nation's revenue. And worse, Nigeria's failure to rein in on political violence around the oil producing Nile Delta area is hurting the nation's oil production --Angola has overtaking Nigeria as the biggest oil producing nation in Africa. To compound the problem of shrunk revenue for the federal government, Nigerian banks have also been hit hard by the global financial collapse and have drastically curtailed lending. In effect, Nigeria risks sinking into a deep recession, given these outlined problems.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
GHANA THE MIDDLE AGE TODDLER
At 52 years old, Ghana remains a struggling, incipient sub-Saharan African first born nation state. The country’s performance to date since 1957 is arguably mixed –some successes and failures. However without question, you read more disappointments than successes in our results. Given the fact that we started off with a huge promise and potential, one can only weep at how low we have descended.
At independence, we had an infrastructure that was the envy of developing countries. Road network was relatively good and we had a solid bank account for a developing country, to the tune of over 400 million pounds sterling. Even though the Ghana’s illiteracy rate was high, the people were relatively well fed and access to health care was better than we have today. Our cities and towns were better planned and law and order was more elaborate and efficient than today.
But Ghana’s founding father became a poor manager of the nation’s resources. Within a decade after independence, our reserves had evaporated and we had already incurred a huge debt, thanks to Nkrumah’s quixotic quest to establish the United States of Africa. Decades following the mid 60’s, Ghana was plunged into political chaos following successive coup d’états in 1972, 1978, 1979 and 1981. Ghana’s national debt ballooned while productivity took a steep decline. Given this political and socio-economic malaise, every single indicator of the quality of life index took a nose dive. Today, unemployment hovers around 50% and majority of the population have limited access to quality medical care. Preventable diseases such as cholera, dehydration and malaria remain major killers. No wonder current estimates for life expectancy in Ghana has hovered around 59 (Source: Human Development Index 2007) in the past decade, in an era where that number is inching towards 80 years in Japan, United States and Western Europe.
Political independence from the United Kingdom was supposed to free us from the shackles of poverty and economic dependency, but it has brought us more misery and economic dependency. Our economy is heavily financed by loans and grants; in many ways we have failed to live up to the high expectation bestowed on us following independence.
On the plus side, we have many reasons to celebrate March 6th and be grateful to the leaders that led that effort. At independence, Ghana did not have a single university –the University of Ghana, Legon was a university college, the equivalent of a community college in the United States. The deliberate policy of the colonialist was to deny us college education. Formal education, particularly, university education is always a threat to any form of illegal domination. To his credit, Kwame Nkrumah was aggressive in accelerating access to education for the Ghanaian masses. In a short time, he built three universities, including the University of Ghana, which was upgraded to university status. Nkrumah made education free and compulsory at the elementary level.
Kwame Nkrumah promoted African and national pride which helped the nation heal from psychological damage from centuries of seeing ourselves as second class citizens in our own land. Ghanaians assumed positions of authority in large numbers and enjoyed higher salaries and greater benefits. That sense of pride and sense of driving our own destiny that had eluded us for decades and centuries was indeed refreshing and invigorating. Toddlers often insist on doing things even when they have no clue. In their haste and zeal, they learn to do things in the crude and the most expensive way, often committing costly mistakes or even hurting themselves in the process. But in the end, they become better and devise their own means of doing things very effectively. We should pad ourselves on the back in fighting for and successfully achieving independence. As a young independent nation, we have waffled and made costly mistakes out of ignorance and ineptness. The result has been punishing for our economy, social structure and political system. Ghanaians have suffered severe economic hardships for decades and have seen our quality of life plunge decades after independence. Not only are our children malnourished, but our schools are of low quality. According to a 2007 report by The International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Ghana scored higher than only Morocco out of 60 countries at the 8th Grade Level in Science. Despite the not-so-inspiring record on human development index, I believe we’re better off for making the effort to run our own government, economy, education and healthcare system.
For even if toddlers are intrepid enough to hasten their learning process and become independent quickly, our leaders were right in demanding self-government. Despite the hefty price we’ve paid for our rookie blunders that have weakened our economy and made the country less competitive globally, we should feel no remorse for attaining self-government -- when the colonialist cynically told us we not ready. Some apologists for colonial rule make mockery of March 6th by pointing to the misery index that we have suffered in our inchoate exploration. But such cheerleaders of colonialism forget that we have made some gains: we have a new sense of pride as Sub-Saharan Africa’s first nation state free of foreign domination. We have expanded educational opportunities to our citizens to stimulate a sense of creativity, private ownership and wealth creation. We can now proudly proclaim the beautiful name Ghana, not the British Gold Coast. Our progress has been slow, but we have made the effort and in the end the toddler will become an adult who is fully independent.
The trouble is that at 52, we are a middle age still behaving like a toddler. National leaders often have no sense of patriotism or sympathy or loyalty to their subjects whom they serve. Rather than having a sense of urgency towards accelerated development to crawl us out of our 19th Century development level, their first instinct is to plunder our meager resources at will, like a starving toddler would ravenously consume at will any food at his reach, notwithstanding whether it is good or bad, or whether he has ownership of the food or not. Our culture has retrogressed to a point where corruption is at an intolerable level that cannot sustain any meaningful development. Africa loses approximately $148 Billion annually, according UN and World Bank estimates. Our overall moral decadence portends doom for our future if we do not reverse course from this perilous path.
On this our 52nd anniversary of the birth sub-Sahara’s first nation state, we should ponder over the miseries of the last 52 years, the abject poverty of our people, curable diseases that afflict and kill our people, high illiteracy rate and say it is time for a change. Toddlers we are no more. We ought to assume a new national character: the sane, sound, middle age adult who has acquired wisdom from years of suffering and difficulties, and who has put her dignity over her instant gratification, who has placed the well-being of her posterity above her own.
At independence, we had an infrastructure that was the envy of developing countries. Road network was relatively good and we had a solid bank account for a developing country, to the tune of over 400 million pounds sterling. Even though the Ghana’s illiteracy rate was high, the people were relatively well fed and access to health care was better than we have today. Our cities and towns were better planned and law and order was more elaborate and efficient than today.
But Ghana’s founding father became a poor manager of the nation’s resources. Within a decade after independence, our reserves had evaporated and we had already incurred a huge debt, thanks to Nkrumah’s quixotic quest to establish the United States of Africa. Decades following the mid 60’s, Ghana was plunged into political chaos following successive coup d’états in 1972, 1978, 1979 and 1981. Ghana’s national debt ballooned while productivity took a steep decline. Given this political and socio-economic malaise, every single indicator of the quality of life index took a nose dive. Today, unemployment hovers around 50% and majority of the population have limited access to quality medical care. Preventable diseases such as cholera, dehydration and malaria remain major killers. No wonder current estimates for life expectancy in Ghana has hovered around 59 (Source: Human Development Index 2007) in the past decade, in an era where that number is inching towards 80 years in Japan, United States and Western Europe.
Political independence from the United Kingdom was supposed to free us from the shackles of poverty and economic dependency, but it has brought us more misery and economic dependency. Our economy is heavily financed by loans and grants; in many ways we have failed to live up to the high expectation bestowed on us following independence.
On the plus side, we have many reasons to celebrate March 6th and be grateful to the leaders that led that effort. At independence, Ghana did not have a single university –the University of Ghana, Legon was a university college, the equivalent of a community college in the United States. The deliberate policy of the colonialist was to deny us college education. Formal education, particularly, university education is always a threat to any form of illegal domination. To his credit, Kwame Nkrumah was aggressive in accelerating access to education for the Ghanaian masses. In a short time, he built three universities, including the University of Ghana, which was upgraded to university status. Nkrumah made education free and compulsory at the elementary level.
Kwame Nkrumah promoted African and national pride which helped the nation heal from psychological damage from centuries of seeing ourselves as second class citizens in our own land. Ghanaians assumed positions of authority in large numbers and enjoyed higher salaries and greater benefits. That sense of pride and sense of driving our own destiny that had eluded us for decades and centuries was indeed refreshing and invigorating. Toddlers often insist on doing things even when they have no clue. In their haste and zeal, they learn to do things in the crude and the most expensive way, often committing costly mistakes or even hurting themselves in the process. But in the end, they become better and devise their own means of doing things very effectively. We should pad ourselves on the back in fighting for and successfully achieving independence. As a young independent nation, we have waffled and made costly mistakes out of ignorance and ineptness. The result has been punishing for our economy, social structure and political system. Ghanaians have suffered severe economic hardships for decades and have seen our quality of life plunge decades after independence. Not only are our children malnourished, but our schools are of low quality. According to a 2007 report by The International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Ghana scored higher than only Morocco out of 60 countries at the 8th Grade Level in Science. Despite the not-so-inspiring record on human development index, I believe we’re better off for making the effort to run our own government, economy, education and healthcare system.
For even if toddlers are intrepid enough to hasten their learning process and become independent quickly, our leaders were right in demanding self-government. Despite the hefty price we’ve paid for our rookie blunders that have weakened our economy and made the country less competitive globally, we should feel no remorse for attaining self-government -- when the colonialist cynically told us we not ready. Some apologists for colonial rule make mockery of March 6th by pointing to the misery index that we have suffered in our inchoate exploration. But such cheerleaders of colonialism forget that we have made some gains: we have a new sense of pride as Sub-Saharan Africa’s first nation state free of foreign domination. We have expanded educational opportunities to our citizens to stimulate a sense of creativity, private ownership and wealth creation. We can now proudly proclaim the beautiful name Ghana, not the British Gold Coast. Our progress has been slow, but we have made the effort and in the end the toddler will become an adult who is fully independent.
The trouble is that at 52, we are a middle age still behaving like a toddler. National leaders often have no sense of patriotism or sympathy or loyalty to their subjects whom they serve. Rather than having a sense of urgency towards accelerated development to crawl us out of our 19th Century development level, their first instinct is to plunder our meager resources at will, like a starving toddler would ravenously consume at will any food at his reach, notwithstanding whether it is good or bad, or whether he has ownership of the food or not. Our culture has retrogressed to a point where corruption is at an intolerable level that cannot sustain any meaningful development. Africa loses approximately $148 Billion annually, according UN and World Bank estimates. Our overall moral decadence portends doom for our future if we do not reverse course from this perilous path.
On this our 52nd anniversary of the birth sub-Sahara’s first nation state, we should ponder over the miseries of the last 52 years, the abject poverty of our people, curable diseases that afflict and kill our people, high illiteracy rate and say it is time for a change. Toddlers we are no more. We ought to assume a new national character: the sane, sound, middle age adult who has acquired wisdom from years of suffering and difficulties, and who has put her dignity over her instant gratification, who has placed the well-being of her posterity above her own.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Pope Benedict's African Tour
The pope’s African tour was significant for several reasons. It was the pontiff's first since he succeeded the charismatic John Paul II. The pontiff's success on this tour was mixed. On the question of corruption, the pontiff was on target, chastising African leaders for amassing wealth at the expense of the misery of their people. Corruption is pervasive throughout the continent and has contributed to the economic miseries of the world's poorest continent.
The pontiff was also eloquent in promoting sexual morality. Today the proliferation of western music, movies and other cultural norms has led to the breakdown and decadence of traditional African family values. Many young Africans indulge in pornography and school age children are pursuing prostitution. Consequently, the future looks bleak for many African girls, who have fallen prey to the pressures of the new materialistic culture that permeates Africa through Hollywood. Many of these girls are often victims of abject poverty, and can only keep up with the newfound materialistic culture by selling their bodies to sugar daddies or rich western tourists, who like to indulge in underage sex and other decadent acts prohibited in western countries.
What is more, the pontiff also hit the right nodes on the issue of Africans' obsession with superstition and sorcery, as he admonished the church's faithful to put their ultimate faith in God, not sorcerers. Many Africans, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, religious and secular are deeply superstitious and live in fear of evil spirits and witches. Such individuals often seek the help of sorcerers to protect them against the attacks of evil spirits. This issue has far reaching economic and social consequences. First many sorcerers falsely accuse innocent women of being witches and being responsible for the difficulties and calamities of close relatives. Such wild accusations sometimes cost these innocent victims (mostly older, wretched looking women) their lives. Besides, sorcerers manipulate their clients for their own selfish economic gain. This money incentive and need to please their clients is so intense, sorcerers would say anything to convince their clients that the sorcerer is the panacea to all their problems. African sorcerers often sow seeds of social discord, pitting families against each other, co-worker against co-worker.
However, pontiff was off target on the issue of the HIV epidemic in Africa. Africa has the worst HIV epidemic of any continent and for the pontiff to discourage condom use, which to date has been the most successful form of HIV prevention program was disturbing if not outright irresponsible. Of course we understand the pontiff has a responsibility to uphold the catholic doctrine of zero tolerance for family planning methods. But for the pontiff to tell Africans that condom use could lead to HIV spread was downright demagogic and shameful, deservedly, pundits around the world rebuked the pope.
The pontiff was also eloquent in promoting sexual morality. Today the proliferation of western music, movies and other cultural norms has led to the breakdown and decadence of traditional African family values. Many young Africans indulge in pornography and school age children are pursuing prostitution. Consequently, the future looks bleak for many African girls, who have fallen prey to the pressures of the new materialistic culture that permeates Africa through Hollywood. Many of these girls are often victims of abject poverty, and can only keep up with the newfound materialistic culture by selling their bodies to sugar daddies or rich western tourists, who like to indulge in underage sex and other decadent acts prohibited in western countries.
What is more, the pontiff also hit the right nodes on the issue of Africans' obsession with superstition and sorcery, as he admonished the church's faithful to put their ultimate faith in God, not sorcerers. Many Africans, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, religious and secular are deeply superstitious and live in fear of evil spirits and witches. Such individuals often seek the help of sorcerers to protect them against the attacks of evil spirits. This issue has far reaching economic and social consequences. First many sorcerers falsely accuse innocent women of being witches and being responsible for the difficulties and calamities of close relatives. Such wild accusations sometimes cost these innocent victims (mostly older, wretched looking women) their lives. Besides, sorcerers manipulate their clients for their own selfish economic gain. This money incentive and need to please their clients is so intense, sorcerers would say anything to convince their clients that the sorcerer is the panacea to all their problems. African sorcerers often sow seeds of social discord, pitting families against each other, co-worker against co-worker.
However, pontiff was off target on the issue of the HIV epidemic in Africa. Africa has the worst HIV epidemic of any continent and for the pontiff to discourage condom use, which to date has been the most successful form of HIV prevention program was disturbing if not outright irresponsible. Of course we understand the pontiff has a responsibility to uphold the catholic doctrine of zero tolerance for family planning methods. But for the pontiff to tell Africans that condom use could lead to HIV spread was downright demagogic and shameful, deservedly, pundits around the world rebuked the pope.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Rejoinder: “Is the IEA an Arm of the NPP?”
On the Sunday, June 29, 2008 edition of Ghanaweb news, Kojo Poku posed a cynical question: "Is the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) an arm of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)?” Kojo Poku's issue with the nonpartisan IEA was that the foundation's recently sponsored forum for the presidential candidates to lay out their positions was skewed to favor Nana Akuffo Addo, the NPP presidential candidate.
The author's vituperative assault was based on three specious arguments: First, Nana Akuffo received more minutes than his competitors; second, Nana received very soft questions; and third, the silliest of them all, that Nana Akuffo Addo showed up late.
A review of the recorded videos of the IEA discussions of the presidential candidates Akuffo Addo, Mills and Nduom, shows that each was allotted an equal amount of time. Approximately, thirty five minutes was given to each presidential candidate for their address to the gatherings. Also, each candidate received about the same number of questions, which were of a similar degree of difficulty and conducted in a non-partisan and evenhanded manner. Furthermore, how does a participant being late for an event constitute partisan bias on the part of the organizer of the event?
In an objective review of the video tapes, it is evident IEA strived to present a forum devoid of partisanship. Organizing a presidential forum that seeks to highlight the nation’s economic and social problems deserves commendation not condemnation. It’s easy to conclude that Opoku based his opinions on evidence that at best is highly suspect and malicious.
One would expect that after several years of democratic dispensation, Ghanaians would lose taste for the kind of petty politics that is so typical about African politics. Not so fast. Mr. Opoku’s attack in which he raises the issue of the number of questions asked of each candidate as well as the number of minutes allotted to each candidate is trivial, and that it takes attention away from what is really important – the messages of the individual candidates. What is even more disturbing is that the author twists facts to support his case in a hideously disingenuous manner to politicize the noble effort of IEA to help Ghanaians make the right choice in December 2008.
Instead of discussing the fruitful issues raised in this forum and leading a healthy discussion to help educate voters, this author elected instead to politicize the whole exercise under the specious excuse of the NPP candidate getting fewer and softball questions.
Such blindly partisan attacks on an exercise intended to promote and enhance our democracy are misguided and counter- productive and characterizes the kind of gutter politics that has helped fuel cynicisms and chaos, which in turn has retarded our nation's journey towards democracy.
It is commendable that under the regime of the NPP, more Ghanaians than ever before are fully engaged in the political process without any sort of restriction, fear or intimidation whatsoever. Today, the Ghanaian democracy is being touted as a shining example in a region more familiar with despots than democracy and chaos than order.
Our nation will be better served if people channel their energies towards giving constructive criticisms when they disagree, help generate creative ideas, and contribute effectively to a nonpartisan dialogue offered by the IEA in a manner sanguine for a democracy.
The author's vituperative assault was based on three specious arguments: First, Nana Akuffo received more minutes than his competitors; second, Nana received very soft questions; and third, the silliest of them all, that Nana Akuffo Addo showed up late.
A review of the recorded videos of the IEA discussions of the presidential candidates Akuffo Addo, Mills and Nduom, shows that each was allotted an equal amount of time. Approximately, thirty five minutes was given to each presidential candidate for their address to the gatherings. Also, each candidate received about the same number of questions, which were of a similar degree of difficulty and conducted in a non-partisan and evenhanded manner. Furthermore, how does a participant being late for an event constitute partisan bias on the part of the organizer of the event?
In an objective review of the video tapes, it is evident IEA strived to present a forum devoid of partisanship. Organizing a presidential forum that seeks to highlight the nation’s economic and social problems deserves commendation not condemnation. It’s easy to conclude that Opoku based his opinions on evidence that at best is highly suspect and malicious.
One would expect that after several years of democratic dispensation, Ghanaians would lose taste for the kind of petty politics that is so typical about African politics. Not so fast. Mr. Opoku’s attack in which he raises the issue of the number of questions asked of each candidate as well as the number of minutes allotted to each candidate is trivial, and that it takes attention away from what is really important – the messages of the individual candidates. What is even more disturbing is that the author twists facts to support his case in a hideously disingenuous manner to politicize the noble effort of IEA to help Ghanaians make the right choice in December 2008.
Instead of discussing the fruitful issues raised in this forum and leading a healthy discussion to help educate voters, this author elected instead to politicize the whole exercise under the specious excuse of the NPP candidate getting fewer and softball questions.
Such blindly partisan attacks on an exercise intended to promote and enhance our democracy are misguided and counter- productive and characterizes the kind of gutter politics that has helped fuel cynicisms and chaos, which in turn has retarded our nation's journey towards democracy.
It is commendable that under the regime of the NPP, more Ghanaians than ever before are fully engaged in the political process without any sort of restriction, fear or intimidation whatsoever. Today, the Ghanaian democracy is being touted as a shining example in a region more familiar with despots than democracy and chaos than order.
Our nation will be better served if people channel their energies towards giving constructive criticisms when they disagree, help generate creative ideas, and contribute effectively to a nonpartisan dialogue offered by the IEA in a manner sanguine for a democracy.
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