By Kofi Akordor
IN a small remote community in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region, a young man has initiated a journey that promises to leave his footprints in the sands of history. Without necessarily making a deliberate and conscious attempt to make history, Mr Wisdom Deku Apedo, who is doing national service at Barimayena in the district, is brightening his small corner and illuminating the way for children who, through no fault of theirs, have found themselves in a part of the country many see as forbidden territory.
Mr Apedo is not destined to suffer the same fate as others whose good deeds only come to light and are acknowledged long after they are gone. The 24-year-old service person has already won commendation from the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS) for the transformation he is bringing to the small community where he is doing national service.
More significant are the kind words the Barimayena Unit Committee Chairman, Mr Stephen Agyapong, and the Chief of Barimayena, Nana Kofi Mensah, have for Mr Apedo for his self-less devotion to the progress of the small community.
Mr Apedo, an HND (Marketing) graduate from the Cape Coast Polytechnic, by some design or fate, found himself posted first to the Ashanti Region for his national. I believe he was excited that being a Marketing graduate, he was going to be assigned to a commercial firm where he would put his marketing skills to practice.
He might have got his first jolt when he was posted to the Atwima Mponua District where his initial expectations fizzled out. He was in a bigger shock when his final destination was Barimayena, which the chief of the place himself described as remote and not attractive to all the trained teachers posted there.
According to the Ashanti Regional Director of the NSS, Mr Kwesi Quainoo, Mr Apedo was tempted to follow others to abandon the people of Barimayena for obvious reasons. Mr Apedo said apart from the remoteness of the place, there was a serious handicap in the form of a language barrier. He is from Battor in the Volta Region and speaks Ewe, while his hosts are Asante Twi-speaking people.
Whatever made him to change his mind, only Mr Apedo will narrate it one day in a more vivid manner, but he told a reporter of the Daily Graphic that he saw his posting as a challenge to build the capacity of the pupils and the people of the community.
The most important thing is that good judgement prevailed and Mr Apedo decided to pitch camp at Barimayena and he is already enjoying doing real national service. He can see his efforts bearing fruits right before his eyes.
Mr Apedo’s story became public when officials of the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the NSS, led by Mr Quainoo, visited the district to acquaint themselves with the challenges facing national service persons posted to some of its remotest parts.
They heard the account of Nana Mensah himself, who said the local school which started with only 25 kindergarten pupils had seen tremendous growth and improvement since Mr Apedo’s arrival in the community. He said the school had now grown to Primary Two, bringing current enrolment to 83.
More startling was the revelation by the chief that through Mr Apedo’s personal initiative, the community had been able to raise GH¢1,700 to build additional classrooms and expressed the hope that very soon the school would expand intake to Primary Six to have the full complement of a primary school.
Mr Apedo’s case is edifying and worthy of mention because over the years the philosophy of the NSS has been diluted, making mockery of the vision of the founders and making it look as if the scheme is a big shade under which people will take rest while thinking of what to do next.
Some people even think that it is an extension of the political apparatus where they could exercise their pastime as party activists, collecting their allowances without rendering service to the people the way Mr Apedo and others are doing.
In the latter part of last year, a group of young men and women belonging to the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), the students wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), subjected Mr Vincent Kuagbenu, the Executive Secretary of the NSS, to bouts of embarrassing heckling when he tried to address them in Winneba.
Mr Kuagbenu’s crime was that he had not pandered to the wishes of the young graduates by posting them to their preferred places to do national service.
Most of them complained that Mr Kuagbenu had posted them to remote parts of the country, instead of allowing them to enjoy the spoils of victory in the general election by posting them to juicy places.
These were youthful members of the party who are aspiring to become future leaders who thought certain parts of the country are too remote to deserve their skills and talents; people who, in the not-too-distant future, will mount platforms and tell Ghanaians to vote for them because they know their problems, care for them and are even prepared to die for them if only they (Ghanaians) will give them their votes.
What many of those who made those ugly noises that day did not know was that many years ago, between 1982 and 1984, many young men and, to a smaller extent, young women, broke their backs carrying cocoa which was getting rotten on the farms to the ports. Others turned themselves into human cranes to load cocoa onto ships at the Tema Port.
If those young people want to know the real story, the origins of the party called the NDC, they will come to realise why former President Jerry John Rawlings is still the toast of many: He was seen as a symbol of humility, dedication, selflessness and devotion to the national cause.
With such characteristics, he was able to convince students to abandon the lecture halls for the bush, the villages and the remotest parts of the country to do national service.
Those shouting youth should find out why national service became two years instead of one year and why even Sixth Formers joined the scheme. It was to clear the backlog of students who piled up when the universities were closed down for one full academic year.
Those days, the students did not have the luxury to indulge in noise-making but went into the bush to replant burnt cocoa farms. That was how the National Farmers Day started when, after a long and severe drought, the first harvests were made and the government felt there was cause to celebrate and reward the farmers who had brought food production to normalcy.
Some of the students went chasing cocoa smugglers on dangerous grounds. Some lost limbs; some even paid the supreme price in the service of mother Ghana. Some could not make it back to their universities and other institutions.
It was the efforts of those unsung heroes which culminated in the formation of the NDC. If, therefore, any young member of the NDC sees service in certain parts of this country as punishment, then that person, instead of exhibiting that with ugly noises in public, should rather bow his/her head in big shame.
The national service concept was not mooted to give employment to young graduates in the banks, hotels and cosy offices in Accra, Kumasi and other urban centres. If somewhere along the line the concept was abused and prostituted, it was not because the managers were doing the right thing.
It is imperative that before young graduates blossom into mature officers, they should render service without calculating the returns. In that case, they will be in a better position to appreciate the real problems confronting this country. They will know the beauty of this country and its people. When the time comes for them to assume leadership roles, they will know that Accra is only a minute fraction of the land mass called Ghana.
Many of the shortfalls the country is experiencing in the educational and health sectors in particular, especially with regard to posting to the rural areas, could be effectively addressed if the NSS operated true to the philosophy behind it. In that case, no service person will be in Accra or the regional capitals.
If today there are still poverty, disease and squalor in the rural areas; if today most of the rural schools are in dilapidated structures and without trained teachers, it is because most often our leaders behave like those TEIN members who are quick to disengage themselves from the reality on the ground through ignorance or criminal negligence.
It is time the youth wings of all the political parties were made to appreciate the problems of this country. It is time they were made to understand that no part of this country is a wasteland. It is time we considered service in the rural areas as a prerequisite for appointment to national offices.
The people of Barimayena are reaping the fruits of true national service, just as people such as Mr Apedo are proving to those who were heckling Mr Kuagbenu for the simple reason that he did not allow them to stay in Accra or Kumasi for their national service that there is great honour and self-satisfaction in serving the people with devotion and commitment.
Mr Apedo may finish his service and move on to pursue his ambitions elsewhere but the people of Barimayena will not forget his contribution any time the issue of education is brought up. Who knows — many decades to come some ministers and Members of Parliament will come out from that small village, thanks to national service rendered by one person when others saw the place as hell and abandoned the people to their fate.
Changing the fortunes of a people whose situation looks hopeless is what true national service means. This is a challenge to the youth of this country. Of course, the managers of the NSS should also do the right things which will motivate the youth and challenge them to plunge into national service wholeheartedly.
Mr Apedo and all others who are serving the people of this country in the remotest parts, at the expense of their comfort, deserve commendation and encouragement. The state must exhibit appreciation which will send the signal that service to one’s nation will not be in vain.
fokofi@yahoo.couk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A capital in distress
By Kofi Akordor
FOR well over a week Tema, the country’s industrial and port city, and the eastern part of Accra, the national capital, were without water. Ours is not about the lack of water which God has generously provided in abundance. In other places, people have to dig the bowels of the Sahara Desert for water. In other places, people have to settle for sea water using desalination plants.
In our situation, there should not have been any problem but for our inability to convert raw water which is in abundance into potable water for human consumption. In the latest episode, consumers have been told that the pipe taking raw water from the Volta River to the treatment plant is broken, spilling water freely on the main Accra-Akosombo road. So the wise thing to do was to stop the flow of water until the broken pipe was repaired.
According to officials of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the 63-inch pipeline buried 15 feet underground had not seen any maintenance for the over 50 years of its existence. That is typical of us — always waiting for disaster before setting in motion remedial measures. Otherwise, the big question is, why should our national capital, after 54 years of independence, continue to rely on the sole treatment plant at Kpong for water supply?
Apart from technical failure, such as the one we are experiencing now, reliance on one source of water supply, and for that matter all other services, has other dangers, one of which is sabotage which cannot be ruled out. That was why, over the years, we should have taken steps to build more treatment plants at strategic places and properly inter-connected to avoid situations such as the one residents of Tema and Accra East have been going through for more than a week now.
Unfortunately, this type of thinking never occurred to us. Instead, we preferred signing a management contract with a foreign firm to collect tolls for a system it never built and take hefty sums in consultancy fees, while the main problem of inadequate infrastructure in the water sector remained with us.
As stated earlier, ours is not about lack of resources but more about our inability to harness those resources. In fact, the gift that God has given us in the form of the River Volta and the lake formed after the construction of the Akosombo Dam has been woefully under-utilised.
The water downstream of the Kpong Dam flows wastefully into the sea, while we continue to suffer water shortage, not only in Accra and Tema but also other places that are within the Volta Basin. Strangely, the idea to build a treatment plant at Sogakope to transport water from the Volta River to Togo, which is not fortunate like Ghana in terms of water resources, for cash was mixed up by some people, out of ignorance, who talked as if someone was carrying the Volta River away.
The truth is, downstream Sogakope, until we find a better way of using the water, it is a waste because we do not even do irrigation farming with the waters of the river. So any investment that will enable the country to supply its less fortunate eastern neighbour, not for free, while at the same time addressing the water needs of the coastal towns along the route, will not be misplaced. That plant could also have been connected to the existing distribution system, so that on bad days such as what is happening at Kpong, industrial and commercial activities in Accra and Tema will not come to a halt, let alone bring untold hardship to millions of residents.
It is sad to say that we are behind time when it comes to long-term planning. We seem to be putting all our eggs into one basket. Take the case of the Tema Oil Refinery. This was a facility built in the 1960s by the man whose name some people do not want to hear but whose legacy, whether we admit it or not, continues to keep this country going on all fronts. I am talking about Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the man who, in all things, thought beyond his time.
Even before oil and gas was discovered, the man knew that the best way to assert one’s independence was to be free of external control as much as possible. Today, the irony is that we have oil and gas in abundance but the only refinery cannot refine crude or extract gas because it is old and weak. So, as we have done in the cocoa industry, exporting the raw beans and importing finished cocoa products such as chocolate and beverages, we are exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products at great cost. That partly explains why we have been experiencing periodic shortage of gas, a waste material in the oil production chain, on the market.
What prevented us from encouraging the establishment of more refineries which have more advantages than disadvantages, if any. Apart from being avenues for the employment of skilled personnel in the petro-chemical industry, more refineries mean more tax revenue. And, very importantly, we will not be held to ransom by a monopoly.
Until recently, there was only one cement manufacturing factory in the country and the consequences were quite obvious. The monopoly is now broken and the consuming public will agree that they are better off.
Many of the roads in Accra epitomise our short-sightedness. They were not designed and constructed with the future in mind. That is why we speed on the Accra-Tema Motorway, only to be trapped in heavy traffic at a point described as an interchange.
Accra is no where near most capitals in terms of road infrastructure and it will need a massive dose of funds to raise the status of our national capital. That could have been avoided if we had been proactive and planned 50 or even 100 years ahead. This year’s heavy rains have exposed how miserable our city roads are.
In all cases, we wait until the damage is done, and then suddenly we begin to talk reasonably. In the recent Kpong problem, the minister was fast to reach Kpong when the situation was critical and he was heard saying what all rationale thinking people should have known long ago — that it was unwise to rely on one source of water supply.
The situation could have been avoided if there had been more than one treatment plant and there was a system that could feed, say, the Weija Dam water into the Kpong system. Why should this simple fact be lost on us all these years?
Instead of using precious time to think and plan, our leaders prefer using all the time to talk and make wild promises, knowing very well that a greater part of the population cannot remember the last time they heard similar promises.
In his time, Dr Nkrumah thought of what he described as the Golden Triangle. That was the road network linking Accra to Kumasi, Kumasi to Takoradi and Takoradi to Accra, forming a triangle. That was in the 1960s. Today, after 54 years of independence, we cannot drive on an expressway between Accra and Kumasi, our two major cities. That explains why, out of desperation, drivers are compelled to do wrong overtaking which brings with it the danger of accidents.
Apart from the road, water and petroleum sectors, all other areas have similarly been overtaken by population growth and increased demand. The springing up of mushroom tertiary institutions with dubious credentials is the price we are paying for not planning for our children’s education over the years. These institutions may appear to be filling the gap but are actually destroying the human resource of this country. This is a reality that will dawn on us in the next 10 to 20 years when we will have illiterate graduates parading the streets or even the corridors of power with pieces of paper called university degrees.
We may have been sleeping for far too long. Our handicap at Kpong should be a wake-up call for better planning and thinking into the future.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
FOR well over a week Tema, the country’s industrial and port city, and the eastern part of Accra, the national capital, were without water. Ours is not about the lack of water which God has generously provided in abundance. In other places, people have to dig the bowels of the Sahara Desert for water. In other places, people have to settle for sea water using desalination plants.
In our situation, there should not have been any problem but for our inability to convert raw water which is in abundance into potable water for human consumption. In the latest episode, consumers have been told that the pipe taking raw water from the Volta River to the treatment plant is broken, spilling water freely on the main Accra-Akosombo road. So the wise thing to do was to stop the flow of water until the broken pipe was repaired.
According to officials of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the 63-inch pipeline buried 15 feet underground had not seen any maintenance for the over 50 years of its existence. That is typical of us — always waiting for disaster before setting in motion remedial measures. Otherwise, the big question is, why should our national capital, after 54 years of independence, continue to rely on the sole treatment plant at Kpong for water supply?
Apart from technical failure, such as the one we are experiencing now, reliance on one source of water supply, and for that matter all other services, has other dangers, one of which is sabotage which cannot be ruled out. That was why, over the years, we should have taken steps to build more treatment plants at strategic places and properly inter-connected to avoid situations such as the one residents of Tema and Accra East have been going through for more than a week now.
Unfortunately, this type of thinking never occurred to us. Instead, we preferred signing a management contract with a foreign firm to collect tolls for a system it never built and take hefty sums in consultancy fees, while the main problem of inadequate infrastructure in the water sector remained with us.
As stated earlier, ours is not about lack of resources but more about our inability to harness those resources. In fact, the gift that God has given us in the form of the River Volta and the lake formed after the construction of the Akosombo Dam has been woefully under-utilised.
The water downstream of the Kpong Dam flows wastefully into the sea, while we continue to suffer water shortage, not only in Accra and Tema but also other places that are within the Volta Basin. Strangely, the idea to build a treatment plant at Sogakope to transport water from the Volta River to Togo, which is not fortunate like Ghana in terms of water resources, for cash was mixed up by some people, out of ignorance, who talked as if someone was carrying the Volta River away.
The truth is, downstream Sogakope, until we find a better way of using the water, it is a waste because we do not even do irrigation farming with the waters of the river. So any investment that will enable the country to supply its less fortunate eastern neighbour, not for free, while at the same time addressing the water needs of the coastal towns along the route, will not be misplaced. That plant could also have been connected to the existing distribution system, so that on bad days such as what is happening at Kpong, industrial and commercial activities in Accra and Tema will not come to a halt, let alone bring untold hardship to millions of residents.
It is sad to say that we are behind time when it comes to long-term planning. We seem to be putting all our eggs into one basket. Take the case of the Tema Oil Refinery. This was a facility built in the 1960s by the man whose name some people do not want to hear but whose legacy, whether we admit it or not, continues to keep this country going on all fronts. I am talking about Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the man who, in all things, thought beyond his time.
Even before oil and gas was discovered, the man knew that the best way to assert one’s independence was to be free of external control as much as possible. Today, the irony is that we have oil and gas in abundance but the only refinery cannot refine crude or extract gas because it is old and weak. So, as we have done in the cocoa industry, exporting the raw beans and importing finished cocoa products such as chocolate and beverages, we are exporting crude oil and importing refined petroleum products at great cost. That partly explains why we have been experiencing periodic shortage of gas, a waste material in the oil production chain, on the market.
What prevented us from encouraging the establishment of more refineries which have more advantages than disadvantages, if any. Apart from being avenues for the employment of skilled personnel in the petro-chemical industry, more refineries mean more tax revenue. And, very importantly, we will not be held to ransom by a monopoly.
Until recently, there was only one cement manufacturing factory in the country and the consequences were quite obvious. The monopoly is now broken and the consuming public will agree that they are better off.
Many of the roads in Accra epitomise our short-sightedness. They were not designed and constructed with the future in mind. That is why we speed on the Accra-Tema Motorway, only to be trapped in heavy traffic at a point described as an interchange.
Accra is no where near most capitals in terms of road infrastructure and it will need a massive dose of funds to raise the status of our national capital. That could have been avoided if we had been proactive and planned 50 or even 100 years ahead. This year’s heavy rains have exposed how miserable our city roads are.
In all cases, we wait until the damage is done, and then suddenly we begin to talk reasonably. In the recent Kpong problem, the minister was fast to reach Kpong when the situation was critical and he was heard saying what all rationale thinking people should have known long ago — that it was unwise to rely on one source of water supply.
The situation could have been avoided if there had been more than one treatment plant and there was a system that could feed, say, the Weija Dam water into the Kpong system. Why should this simple fact be lost on us all these years?
Instead of using precious time to think and plan, our leaders prefer using all the time to talk and make wild promises, knowing very well that a greater part of the population cannot remember the last time they heard similar promises.
In his time, Dr Nkrumah thought of what he described as the Golden Triangle. That was the road network linking Accra to Kumasi, Kumasi to Takoradi and Takoradi to Accra, forming a triangle. That was in the 1960s. Today, after 54 years of independence, we cannot drive on an expressway between Accra and Kumasi, our two major cities. That explains why, out of desperation, drivers are compelled to do wrong overtaking which brings with it the danger of accidents.
Apart from the road, water and petroleum sectors, all other areas have similarly been overtaken by population growth and increased demand. The springing up of mushroom tertiary institutions with dubious credentials is the price we are paying for not planning for our children’s education over the years. These institutions may appear to be filling the gap but are actually destroying the human resource of this country. This is a reality that will dawn on us in the next 10 to 20 years when we will have illiterate graduates parading the streets or even the corridors of power with pieces of paper called university degrees.
We may have been sleeping for far too long. Our handicap at Kpong should be a wake-up call for better planning and thinking into the future.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The congress that was
By Kofi Akordor
IT was very beautiful seeing former President J.J. Rawlings raise the hands of President John Evans Atta Mills after the verdict of the delegates had given the latter a massive approval to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to Election 2012. That symbolic gesture has its psychological and soothing effects which the party can build on.
The post-election speech delivered by President Mills was quite reconciliatory and accommodating and reached out to all factions to mend fences, something which is very necessary at this critical moment.
It was unfortunate Mrs Konadu Agyeman Rawlings could not deliver any post-election speech, as should have been the case. Instead of taking it as a snub, people should understand and appreciate her situation. Not many people can stand defeat, more so when it is unexpectedly overwhelming. But it also means that to be a leader and aspire to be the president of this country require no faint heart.
It is too early yet, but many expect that Nana Konadu and her supporters will take a few days to lick their wounds in silence, after which they will bounce back into mainstream politics. There should be no acrimonious statements, no insinuations nor victory parties.
To some of us watching from the fringes, the congress was a good exercise. The attempts to discourage Nana Konadu could not have solved the problem, since there would have been some lingering doubts to impede President Mills and undermine the authority of his presidency. Those doubts are gone forever.
It is, therefore, important that he takes the few months ahead of him to focus seriously on governance, so that he can gather the moral strength to appeal to Ghanaians to give him another chance.
Life is all about learning and there are many lessons to be learnt from the Sunyani congress. There is always a difference between what people say and what they do. There are always the cheerleaders and the praise singers, as against the pragmatists and realists. Sometimes the two merge, but very often they take different routes.
The truth is that removing an incumbent, even in a general election, is a Herculean task. That is why it has become an unwritten law that parties support their presidents to complete their full terms if the electorate so wish.
The NDC was not going to be the first party to go for a challenge on the incumbent. During the Kufuor administration, there were some feeble voices calling for a congress to endorse or change the President as part of democratic norms. Those voices of dissent were quickly suppressed.
The NDC can, therefore, console itself that it has opened up to voices of dissent and allowed its democratic ramifications to take its full course.
What the leadership must do now is quickly start a healing process. Pretending everything is okay can be hypocritical and dangerous. The things that were said and done during the campaign cannot be swept under the carpet easily.
Former President Rawlings played a key role in the whole exercise and he has a bigger role to play to bring affairs within the party back to normalcy. He started very well by raising President Mills’s hand in victory. He must continue on that path.
The former President should realise by now that public condemnation of President Mills may affect the government generally but will not make things better for him as founder and former president, as the results of the Sunyani congress have shown. That is why it will be better for him to play a statesman and elder opinion leader’s role than that of an opposition leader. There are still many who have great respect and admiration for him across the political divide and it is to his advantage to do everything to sustain that image.
It is good the congress itself went on without incident and that should be a starting point for any internal healing process. Democracy is not only about choosing leaders but also choosing people who can meet the aspirations of our people. Sunyani is another monumental bridge crossed in the country’s journey to true democracy.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
IT was very beautiful seeing former President J.J. Rawlings raise the hands of President John Evans Atta Mills after the verdict of the delegates had given the latter a massive approval to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to Election 2012. That symbolic gesture has its psychological and soothing effects which the party can build on.
The post-election speech delivered by President Mills was quite reconciliatory and accommodating and reached out to all factions to mend fences, something which is very necessary at this critical moment.
It was unfortunate Mrs Konadu Agyeman Rawlings could not deliver any post-election speech, as should have been the case. Instead of taking it as a snub, people should understand and appreciate her situation. Not many people can stand defeat, more so when it is unexpectedly overwhelming. But it also means that to be a leader and aspire to be the president of this country require no faint heart.
It is too early yet, but many expect that Nana Konadu and her supporters will take a few days to lick their wounds in silence, after which they will bounce back into mainstream politics. There should be no acrimonious statements, no insinuations nor victory parties.
To some of us watching from the fringes, the congress was a good exercise. The attempts to discourage Nana Konadu could not have solved the problem, since there would have been some lingering doubts to impede President Mills and undermine the authority of his presidency. Those doubts are gone forever.
It is, therefore, important that he takes the few months ahead of him to focus seriously on governance, so that he can gather the moral strength to appeal to Ghanaians to give him another chance.
Life is all about learning and there are many lessons to be learnt from the Sunyani congress. There is always a difference between what people say and what they do. There are always the cheerleaders and the praise singers, as against the pragmatists and realists. Sometimes the two merge, but very often they take different routes.
The truth is that removing an incumbent, even in a general election, is a Herculean task. That is why it has become an unwritten law that parties support their presidents to complete their full terms if the electorate so wish.
The NDC was not going to be the first party to go for a challenge on the incumbent. During the Kufuor administration, there were some feeble voices calling for a congress to endorse or change the President as part of democratic norms. Those voices of dissent were quickly suppressed.
The NDC can, therefore, console itself that it has opened up to voices of dissent and allowed its democratic ramifications to take its full course.
What the leadership must do now is quickly start a healing process. Pretending everything is okay can be hypocritical and dangerous. The things that were said and done during the campaign cannot be swept under the carpet easily.
Former President Rawlings played a key role in the whole exercise and he has a bigger role to play to bring affairs within the party back to normalcy. He started very well by raising President Mills’s hand in victory. He must continue on that path.
The former President should realise by now that public condemnation of President Mills may affect the government generally but will not make things better for him as founder and former president, as the results of the Sunyani congress have shown. That is why it will be better for him to play a statesman and elder opinion leader’s role than that of an opposition leader. There are still many who have great respect and admiration for him across the political divide and it is to his advantage to do everything to sustain that image.
It is good the congress itself went on without incident and that should be a starting point for any internal healing process. Democracy is not only about choosing leaders but also choosing people who can meet the aspirations of our people. Sunyani is another monumental bridge crossed in the country’s journey to true democracy.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Voice of defiance at Malabo
By Kofi Akordor
When the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) decided to transform itself into the African Union (AU) questions were raised as to whether it was going to be a mere change of name or a change in direction.
When the baptism which transformed the OAU into the AU came in July, 2002 in Durban in the Republic of South of Africa, many Africans welcomed the birth of the new union, more so, when it made democratisation , good governance and economic development its cardinal objectives.
With the mandate of ridding the continent of the last vestiges of colonialism and dismantling apartheid in South Africa accomplished, many were of the opinion that the new challenges confronting the continent were the consolidation of democracy and the setting of a development agenda to move the continent from its under-development status to a more prosperous one to reflect its abundant natural resources.
There were doubts, however, in the ability of the AU to live up to its objectives, taking into consideration the fact that it had and still has on its roll leaders who were not democratically elected and who have been in power for decades.
One prominent name is that of Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, the man who came to power in 1969 through a coup d’état but was instrumental in the transformation process. Others were Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Omar Bongo of Gabon who are now history and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Paul Biya of Cameroun who are still in the saddle.
With such characters still at the helm of affairs, there were serious doubts about the union’s ability to fulfil its mandate of building a strong democratic system on the continent.
So the immediate challenge was how the AU could phase out the old dictators and supplant them with new democratically elected leaders. Granted that this could not be achieved overnight since the AU was up to overthrowing governments, the benefit of doubt had to be ruled in its favour.
However, what was expected immediately of the AU was strength of power to give Africa a voice in the international community. The continent had remained a pawn in the super-power rivalry for a very long time and it was the wish of many that with the end of the Cold War and the realignment of powers, the continent will have its own voice heard on major international issues, especially those that concern it directly.
Unfortunately events following the transformation proved that the continent was not ready to speak with one voice or act decisively on matters that undermine its democratic principles, if any.
More dangerous was the AU’s continued subservient role in international affairs, especially when it needs to assert its independence and choice of direction.
In August, 2003 West African leaders, under the auspices of ECOWAS, the sub-regional body, brokered a peace deal for Liberia, under which the then President, Mr Charles Taylor, was to vacate the Executive Mansion in Monrovia and take a diplomatic refuge in Nigeria.
Charles Taylor, it must be understood, was not a fugitive, neither was he a criminal but, as a matter of principle and mutual arrangement, was to step aside if that would pave the way for peace in Liberia.
True to expectation, Liberia enjoyed relative peace after 14 years of civil war and created the platform for the establishment of an interim government under Mr Gyuda Bryant. This was followed by a general election in which Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was declared the winner.
In June, 2003 the UN Special Court on Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor for his role in that country’s civil war. On March 17, 2006, President Sirleaf, who benefited most from Charles Taylor’s resignation and going into exile, made a formal request for his extradition, which was granted by the Obasanjo administration on March 25, 2006.
On March 29, 2006, Charles Taylor was arrested while trying to cross the border into Cameroun and flown to Freetown and later handed over to the UN Special Court on Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor is still on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity among other charges.
That singular betrayal has exposed AU’s weakness and undermined its capacity and ability to handle affairs of the continent and give any form of respectability to a continent that had remained an appendage of foreign powers.
Having been emboldened by the Charles Taylor case, the UN International Criminal Court again indicted Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, and issued an international warrant for his arrest. Nobody will praise Charles Taylor for the role he played in the conflicts in both Liberia and Sierra Leone; neither shall any close observer gloss over President al-Bashir’s handling of the Darfur conflict, but should that be the business of foreign powers to stay aloof and only criminalise African leaders.
In January there was a stand-off in Cote d’Ivoire, when incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to hand over to Alassane Ouattara, who was declared the winner of the November polls by the international community.
Again both ECOWAS and the AU failed to act decisively, paving the way for foreign powers, led by France, to push aside Gbagbo by use of force.
In March, when internal discontent started to mount in Libya, one would expect the AU to step in and take control of affairs. Again it failed and allowed France and the US to marshal their NATO members to launch an attack on Libya on the pretext of protecting civilian lives.
One would ask: Are those dying every day through the bombardment of Tripoli and other Libyan towns and cities, in the definition of NATO, camels or sheep? NATO and France in particular have succeeded in dismembering Libya because the AU failed to act with authority when it mattered most.
With similar impunity, the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for al-Gaddafi for genocide. Gaddafi and all other dictators on the continent have outlived their usefulness and the earlier the AU is bold to say so and dismantle them the better.
But until we do that, it is not the business of any foreign power to fight its own battles on the continent on the pretext of fighting for the interest of Africans.
The atrocities of the US and its allies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot be described and if leaders should be punished for bringing untold hardships to many civilians without any justification, the Presidents of US and other NATO countries should all be in The Hague by now.
The choice of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, whose dictator, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been ruling since August 1979, as the venue for this year’s AU Summit speaks volumes of the continental body’s inability to pursue its own agenda of democratisation of the continent.
But that should be our choice and the hypocrisy of the western powers should be snubbed. That was why if nothing at all, the call on AU members to disregard the ICC’s arrest warrant for Muammar al-Gaddafi is welcome news.
Some of us agree with AU’s Jean Ping, who told reporters that the ICC is “discriminatory” and only goes after crimes committed in Africa, while ignoring those committed by western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The only way to avoid interference in what is purely regional matters is for the AU and other sub-regional bodies such as the ECOWAS to assert their independence and authority on continental matters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
When the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) decided to transform itself into the African Union (AU) questions were raised as to whether it was going to be a mere change of name or a change in direction.
When the baptism which transformed the OAU into the AU came in July, 2002 in Durban in the Republic of South of Africa, many Africans welcomed the birth of the new union, more so, when it made democratisation , good governance and economic development its cardinal objectives.
With the mandate of ridding the continent of the last vestiges of colonialism and dismantling apartheid in South Africa accomplished, many were of the opinion that the new challenges confronting the continent were the consolidation of democracy and the setting of a development agenda to move the continent from its under-development status to a more prosperous one to reflect its abundant natural resources.
There were doubts, however, in the ability of the AU to live up to its objectives, taking into consideration the fact that it had and still has on its roll leaders who were not democratically elected and who have been in power for decades.
One prominent name is that of Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, the man who came to power in 1969 through a coup d’état but was instrumental in the transformation process. Others were Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Omar Bongo of Gabon who are now history and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Paul Biya of Cameroun who are still in the saddle.
With such characters still at the helm of affairs, there were serious doubts about the union’s ability to fulfil its mandate of building a strong democratic system on the continent.
So the immediate challenge was how the AU could phase out the old dictators and supplant them with new democratically elected leaders. Granted that this could not be achieved overnight since the AU was up to overthrowing governments, the benefit of doubt had to be ruled in its favour.
However, what was expected immediately of the AU was strength of power to give Africa a voice in the international community. The continent had remained a pawn in the super-power rivalry for a very long time and it was the wish of many that with the end of the Cold War and the realignment of powers, the continent will have its own voice heard on major international issues, especially those that concern it directly.
Unfortunately events following the transformation proved that the continent was not ready to speak with one voice or act decisively on matters that undermine its democratic principles, if any.
More dangerous was the AU’s continued subservient role in international affairs, especially when it needs to assert its independence and choice of direction.
In August, 2003 West African leaders, under the auspices of ECOWAS, the sub-regional body, brokered a peace deal for Liberia, under which the then President, Mr Charles Taylor, was to vacate the Executive Mansion in Monrovia and take a diplomatic refuge in Nigeria.
Charles Taylor, it must be understood, was not a fugitive, neither was he a criminal but, as a matter of principle and mutual arrangement, was to step aside if that would pave the way for peace in Liberia.
True to expectation, Liberia enjoyed relative peace after 14 years of civil war and created the platform for the establishment of an interim government under Mr Gyuda Bryant. This was followed by a general election in which Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was declared the winner.
In June, 2003 the UN Special Court on Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor for his role in that country’s civil war. On March 17, 2006, President Sirleaf, who benefited most from Charles Taylor’s resignation and going into exile, made a formal request for his extradition, which was granted by the Obasanjo administration on March 25, 2006.
On March 29, 2006, Charles Taylor was arrested while trying to cross the border into Cameroun and flown to Freetown and later handed over to the UN Special Court on Sierra Leone. Charles Taylor is still on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity among other charges.
That singular betrayal has exposed AU’s weakness and undermined its capacity and ability to handle affairs of the continent and give any form of respectability to a continent that had remained an appendage of foreign powers.
Having been emboldened by the Charles Taylor case, the UN International Criminal Court again indicted Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, and issued an international warrant for his arrest. Nobody will praise Charles Taylor for the role he played in the conflicts in both Liberia and Sierra Leone; neither shall any close observer gloss over President al-Bashir’s handling of the Darfur conflict, but should that be the business of foreign powers to stay aloof and only criminalise African leaders.
In January there was a stand-off in Cote d’Ivoire, when incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to hand over to Alassane Ouattara, who was declared the winner of the November polls by the international community.
Again both ECOWAS and the AU failed to act decisively, paving the way for foreign powers, led by France, to push aside Gbagbo by use of force.
In March, when internal discontent started to mount in Libya, one would expect the AU to step in and take control of affairs. Again it failed and allowed France and the US to marshal their NATO members to launch an attack on Libya on the pretext of protecting civilian lives.
One would ask: Are those dying every day through the bombardment of Tripoli and other Libyan towns and cities, in the definition of NATO, camels or sheep? NATO and France in particular have succeeded in dismembering Libya because the AU failed to act with authority when it mattered most.
With similar impunity, the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for al-Gaddafi for genocide. Gaddafi and all other dictators on the continent have outlived their usefulness and the earlier the AU is bold to say so and dismantle them the better.
But until we do that, it is not the business of any foreign power to fight its own battles on the continent on the pretext of fighting for the interest of Africans.
The atrocities of the US and its allies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot be described and if leaders should be punished for bringing untold hardships to many civilians without any justification, the Presidents of US and other NATO countries should all be in The Hague by now.
The choice of Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, whose dictator, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been ruling since August 1979, as the venue for this year’s AU Summit speaks volumes of the continental body’s inability to pursue its own agenda of democratisation of the continent.
But that should be our choice and the hypocrisy of the western powers should be snubbed. That was why if nothing at all, the call on AU members to disregard the ICC’s arrest warrant for Muammar al-Gaddafi is welcome news.
Some of us agree with AU’s Jean Ping, who told reporters that the ICC is “discriminatory” and only goes after crimes committed in Africa, while ignoring those committed by western powers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The only way to avoid interference in what is purely regional matters is for the AU and other sub-regional bodies such as the ECOWAS to assert their independence and authority on continental matters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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