UK Cameron's disastrous Foreign Policy

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. David Cameron was given a vicious dressing down by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy on October 23, 2011 as tensions reached boiling point. "Britain is now one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights, and that includes how people treat gay and lesbian people. "British aid should have more strings attached, in terms of do you persecute people for their faith or their Christianity, or do you persecute people for their sexuality. We don't think that's acceptable."  The President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, has officially responded to threats by UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron saying would not accept any aid that has homosexuality strings attached. He said Britain cannot tell Ghana, a sovereign nation, what to do, adding that the country would not in any way legalize homosexuality. Ghana’s constitution like many African countries frowns on homosexuality, but the UK PM has threatened to cut aid to African countries whose laws are stiff on gays.
The 45-year-old Cameron is the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier. This factor alone to me seems to be his achilles heels. Youthful exuberance. Although Cameron headed the policy co-ordination of the Conservative Party during the 2005 general election campaign, his unguarded foreign policy pronouncements since becoming PM leaves much to be desired. It is quite obvious that he does not understand the current global geopolitics. He is still living the BE era when the UK could virtually and literally make laws based on Britcentric values without any questioning or eyebrows being raised. The world has moved on and today all nations, rich and poor aspire to establish value deemed fit for their cultural settings. The earlier some adviser point this position out to Cameron, the better it would be for his image and the UK.  
Boldly inscribed on Ghana's Cedi notes is Gye Nyame (except God). This is ample testimony of the country and her peoples value and faith in the supremacy of God and his ordination over their lives and values. Only last week, I wrote about the possibility of a legal showdown on the status of the law regarding homosexuality in Ghana following the arrest of three suspected gays by the Sakumono Police in Community 13 of Tema Municipality.I also did mention a report by the British Press regarding the stance or foreign policy direction of the UK government towards nations that ban the practice of the evil act. Even before the noise could die down, the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron acting in a true neocolonialism posture, has granted interview to BBC 1 that nations that receive British aid will have to bend backwards to accept his evil ideology of so-called gay rights. David Cameron's assertion is that all British aid must have more strings attached. This brings to mind Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. Famished Esau traded his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. Strangely enough, bigamy is still a crime in the UK even though we know that Prince and his late wife broke that law and yet the British taxpayer continues to shoulder the lawbreaker's expenses.

The most amazing thing about this whole saga is that he counts on the support of these same nations to fight drug use at his backyard. He is relying on these countries to help curb the greedy users in his own backyard. Perhaps, it is time maybe the 41 countries within the Commonwealth that still have laws banning homosexuality, should consider the option exercised by the African branches of the Anglican Church on the homosexuals. What is it that David Cameron seeks to achieve? It is not far fetched, he is the Devil reincarnate. There is nothing right about homosexuality. Thus there can't also be gay rights. If David Cameron could marshal all the arsenals at his disposal to ride of Muammar Khadhafi and that makes him feel superior, he should rethink his position again. This road he will travel it alone without the support of Barack Obama.     

The moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Professor Emmanuel Martey, has in unequivocal terms condemned the British Prime Minister, David Cameron for his threat to cut aid to anti-gay countries.

All right thinking people should stand up and tell their governments to stop accepting ODA from the UK and mobilise their own resources. The suffering of the descendants of Esau is still on our minds for us to follow his path. We must never accept any aids with foolish and immoral strings attached. We need to tell the British to deal with the pervasive lawlessness and decadence prevailing in their society as we all witnessed last Summer. Cameron and his evil empire while encouraging Arab citizens to use social media to pursue the Arab Spring, he labelled the same medium bad when his citizens rose up against his evil stances and social injustices. Do we see his double standard at work? If bigamy is a crime in the UK, why must homosexuality be legal in other jurisdictions? If it is wrong for Blackberry users to message each other on how to fight the evil social order in the UK, why must the British government encourage same in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen? David Cameron must now understand that the evil empire called the British empire is dead and buried and it is now a poodle of its own former colony. Very soon just as Italy (Roman empire), Greece, Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia) and Egypt civilisations have all collapsed, and they are bowing to other nations, Britain will in the not too long distant future be begging for bail out like Greece.   

I'm the 3,768,525,838th person alive on Earth.!

The world is at seven billion persons today October 31, 2011 and so what? That was exactly my reaction! At least until I saw a little click on BBC home page. Maybe it was not the first time I was seeing it, I had previously ignored it. Although I had been keenly following the issues relating to the debate including writing one article on this site earlier,(The World awaits the birth of the seven billionth baby on Hallowe'en Day), it made no sense to me. It read 'the world at seven billion'Population control, what's your number?, how many more? and Seven stories. However as I scroll down the pages of BBC this dawn in search of information on the CAN 2012 draw held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, I had a very strong urge to check this small click and see whatever it contained.Just out of curiosity, I chose to press the button that says 'what's your number?' Wow! I could not believe the amount of demographic information has there. It said 'the world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years'. It has a Population calculator designed by the United Nations Population Fund.It asked the question 'where do you fit into this story of human life'? The system required me to fill in my date of birth to find out and then I thought what the heck, this might seem quite exciting and so why no get in there and check it out. 

More babies are being born into the world today than ever and which of these babies was me or you? If that is more important, how about how many more will you add to the population! I mean not just the number of direct children you have given or will give birth to, but your descendants

It said when you were born, you were the:3,768,525,838th person alive on Earth. How do you read that? Please check it out on Google translator.Even Google read the figure wrongly. I was the three billion, seven and sixty-eight million, five hundred twenty-five thousand, eight hundred and thirty-eightieth person. Google, please the figure is not three million. When I was born, even the population in Ghana was over seven million and so how much more the whole world! Then it goes on to generate more astonishing information on me as 77,949,983,711th person to have lived since history began. Ok, factor in the prehistoric period which might have been far more lengthier, and draw your own conclusion. How big is Ghana's population where I was born? You are a male and living in Ghana. 

This is my personal population data

What's next? The global population will continue to increase during your lifetime and beyond, reaching 10 billion by 2083. However, the rate of growth is expected to slow. Most of the current growth is happening within your group of countries, or the developing world. 

Population data on longevity in Ghana relative to the highest and least in the world.

Longer lives: Death rates and birth rates are falling in your area. This means working-age people like you will be supporting increasing numbers of older people during the next decades. By 2050, there will be just 4.6 working-age people for every person aged 65 or above in your area - a decrease of 63% from 2000.

Ghana at birth on 6th March 1957 and today thru to 2050

Battle for resources: It is estimated that the richest group of countries consumes double the resources used by other areas of the world - including yours. The UN estimates that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the 2030s we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us.
Did you know? Children born in rural areas across the world are nearly twice as likely to be underweight as urban children.

7,906 people

the amount the population has grown while you've been on this site 

Sources:

All population data are based on estimates by the UN Population Division and all calculations provided by the UN Population Fund. The remaining data are from other sections of the UN, the Global Footprint Network and the International Telecommunications Union. 

Notes on the data: Only birth dates after 1910 can be accommodated and only countries with populations of more than 100,000 people are included. Where available, the UN's medium variant and average figures from 2005-2010 have been used. World and country population clocks are estimates based on the latest UN figures and growth rates. They may not tally precisely with other clocks because of the way this application is configured.

Three country groupings - developed, developing and least developed - featured in the conclusions are those referenced by the UN for assessing the Millennium Development Goals. The transition countries of Eastern Europe have been grouped with developed nations.

Sushil Kumar translates 'Slumdog Millionaire' intto reality (Wins India's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire)

Click on the video player above to watch a news report about Sushil Kumar's win.

The 2008 Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was about a man from a poor background who hits the jackpot on the show, which is hugely popular in India. The film made international stars out of British actor Dev Patel and co-star Freida Pinto, picking up eight Oscars in 2009.

Three years on, a poor government clerk from eastern India has become the first person to win the jackpot on the Indian version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' Sushil Kumar earns £75 a month working in a government office in the state of Bihar before he gave all the right answers on the popular TV show.

The fairytale win will be used wisely by Sushil, who already has plans what to do with the money.

Mr Kumar told show host and Indian movie hero Amitabh Bachchan that he was thrilled he could now afford to pay for a preparatory course so he can take India's civil service exam.

He said he also planned to use some of his winnings to build a library in his home town.

He also wants to buy a home for his wife and give his brothers money so they can set up small businesses.

Ghana Integrity Initiative Exposes Corruption In Water Sector

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) the local chapter of the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International (TI) has uncovered corrupt practices in the country’s water supply sector.

The findings of the three-year research and advocacy programme, are expected to promote access to basic services in Ghana.

Vitus Adoboo Azeem, Executive Secretary of GII told journalists in Accra that bribery and corrupt practices were exposed in six communities including Madina, Abokobi and Nima in Greater Accra region, Ahoe and Adaklo in the Volta region and Bekwai in the Ashanti region.

Some of the corrupt practices involved pricing of bidding documents, and award of many contracts to the same contractor under different names.

There were also reports of procuring entities making payment before due dates, over-invoicing, poor contract management, shoddy work and tempering of metres.

Metre readers were also accused of receiving direct payment, which should have been made to the Ghana Water Company Limited while vendors under-reported daily sales.

He recommended the streamlining and strengthening of anti-corruption tools and building of the capacity of agencies in the sector to implement such tools.

“There is the need to create anti-corruption awareness and systems within public organisation so that they can cooperate with civil society effectively to ensure that corruption can be prevented from occurring or dealt with adequately when it occurs.”

He called for the involvement of representatives of civil society groups at various levels.

Access to information by the public to the GII should also be increased to equip them on the operations of utility providers by publicizing utility accounts, public expenditure reviews and audit information, budgets, contract arrangement and annual reports.

It was also discovered that residents in rural areas, who are mostly poor, pay more tariffs for water than urban dwellers.

Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Programmes Manager at the GII noted that the aim of the project, which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, was to achieve greater integrity and transparency in the provision of basic services. The three-year project will end in December 2011.

Ghana's homosexual debate to be tested in court

Following a report by the national daily, Daily Graphic newspaper that an NGO has registered over 8,000 gays largely young men from SHS in just the Western and Central regions of Ghana, hell broke loose. The identity of the NGO has never been known and the story has not been verified. However, it highlighted what many people all along suspected. Without doubt many people in Ghana believe that there are a number of homosexuals in Ghana. It is common knowledge, for example, that in our secondary schools many females are indulging in the act of homosexuality in the name of what is called supi or my dear. There are also rumours of powerful people in positions of trust in Ghana involve in the practice of homosexuality. Some of these powerful and influential people are indeed supposedly family men but that is largely a cover up. They are found in politics and some people have indeed pointed to Ambassadors, Ministers, members of Parliament, media men, among others. This has resurrected the issue of the position of the law on homosexuality in Ghana. Ghana is seen largely as a religious country with some 69% of the population professing to be Christians, 15% Muslims, and 8% practising African traditional religions according to the 2000 Population and Housing Census.

The current debate in Ghana regarding the existence of laws governing the practice or otherwise of gays and lesbians took a new twist on 21st October 2011 with the arrest of three suspected gay men by the Sakumono Police in Tema.With the arrest of 3 suspected gays by the Sakumono Police in Tema, all is now set for a legal battle to determine the legal standing of Ghana's criminal code on the issue of homosexuality. The ongoing debate as to whether homosexuality is a human right or individual, can't get any better but even richer. Let us all keep our fingers crossed  and await the outcome of this interesting legal minefield developing story. If, and I dare say if, the powers that be do not abruptly curtail this case before its logical conclusion, I pledge to update you on interesting and exciting angles as it keeps unfolding. Some legal experts and human rights activists have in recent past argued that Ghana's criminal code only prohibits 'unnatural carnal knowledge'. In their view, this law is unclear about the status of homosexuality since unnatural carnal knowledge per se does not refer to homosexuality specifically. According to them, homosexuality may not necessarily involve unnatural carnal knowledge hence cannot in all instances fall under the prohibition of the criminal code. Further more, proponents of this school of thought have advanced the question of human rights. A former Presidential Advisor on HIV/AIDS during the Kufuor reign, Professor Fred Sai was quoted as saying what people do in their bedrooms including suspected gays and lesbians is their own business. For him, unnatural carnal knowledge is superfluous and not practical to enforce as he felt any act(s) other than normal male and female sex using the known and accepted 'crevices' amounted to unnatural carnal knowledge.

Controversial Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe; is he preaching the virtue but practising the vice?

On the other side of the fence, almost all the religious groups in Ghana have condemned the emergence of the practice. Recently, the General-Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe organised a press conference and declared their vehement opposition to the practice. He stated that God loves the sinner but hates sin and that the Council is not against gays and lesbians but detests the act of homosexuality since it is an abomination to the Lord. He further urged all Christians to vote against any politician who supports the practice of homosexuality. (Ironically, soon after his admonition to Christians, the Ghanaian Times reported that President Mills had condemned the practice at a thanksgiving service at the Sunyani Ebenezer Presbyterian Church after his re-nomination by the National Democratic congress. The Times was forced by the President to retract and apologise to him as he claimed he never condemned the practice. Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe is a member of the Council of State advising the President. He has remained silent till date. Is Rev. Dr. Deegbe telling Christians to practise the virtue he preaches and not the vice he practises? How can he ask Christians to vote against politicians who support homosexuality while he works with a politician who for lack of appropriate description can be said to be neutral to the practice of homosexuality? Is Rev. Dr. Deegbe saying in Christianity we have lukewarm claimants?) Muslims and other faiths have similarly condemned the practice. In fact, just last week, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Accra, Rev. Father Charles Palmer Buckle asked Ghanaians to condemn the act of homosexuality. He argued that people should not confused individual rights with human rights. In his view, homosexual practice is individual right since the practice does not enhance the good of any other persons other than those indulging in it. 

The political angle lately has assumed an international dimension following publication in the British press that the UK government may cut ODA to Ghana as result of pronouncement by the Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo that people should report homosexuals. Thus with this arrest, it will be very interesting to see how the Attorney-General will behave in relation to this prosecution. From all accounts, there seems to be some amount of incriminating evidence against the three folks. I urge the media to follow this case. Let us if the homosexual advocates will jump to the aid of the suspects or will shy away. If they choose the latter option, will it be because these culprits are not among the big fishes or because they won't want to contest the state.

Please read the full report on the arrest by the Daily Guide newspaper below.  

Friday 21, October 2011

The Sakumono District Police station on Friday witnessed the Ghanaian version of the famous American TV programme ‘The Jerry Springer Show’, where guests openly fight others in the name of reclaiming their loved ones from snatchers, when three young men suspected to be gay openly expressed jealousy by castigating each other for partner-snatching.

Gay suspects: Inusah Issifu (left) and Kingsley Quansah (right)

The police, who were shocked at what transpired, quickly apprehended the three suspects without hesitation, as their several pleas to the senior police officers for pardon after their quarrels landed them in trouble.

Gay suspect: Samuel Lartey

The suspects were Inusah Issifu, 27, pork dealer, Samuel Lartey, a 19-year old student and Kingsley Quansah, a 25-year-old caterer.

Two other persons also believed to be gay and connected to the arrested persons were currently on the run. 

One was named Charles and the other Obolo. All three arrested persons were said to be residents of Tema.

Some of the items retrieved from them at the time of the arrest were water-based lubricant suspected to be used for penetration, petroleum jell, dressing mirror, tooth brush and paste and dresses among others.

Superintendent Alex C. Wowolo, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, noted that on October 19, 2011, one of the arrested persons, Samuel, reported a case of unnatural carnal knowledge against Inusah and alleged that he suspected Inusah of lacing his drink with tranquilizers which made him fall asleep. 

He told the police that while he was asleep, he felt some heaviness on him and woke up only to see Inusah sodomizing him and even though he wanted to free himself, he could not because his assailant was too heavy for him to overpower.

The Commander stated that while investigations were underway about the alleged sodomy, Samuel, the complainant, was issued with Police Medical Report Form to attend hospital for examination and treatment, and later Inusah was arrested.

The police boss said that it came to light at some point of the investigations that the two were suspected homosexuals, adding that the case of sodomy was reported to cover up their true identities.

Superintendent Wowolo said Inusah and Samuel later admitted to being gay partners and pleaded with the police for mercy.

He said Inusah mentioned to the police that it was Kingsley who introduced Sammy to him as his (Kingsley’s) partner during police interrogation.

He said investigations revealed that Kingsley, who felt jilted and jealous, lured his ex-partner, Samuel, who was having rashes under his manhood and around his anus, to report a case of sodomy against Inusah, who was also suffering from the same disease. It was suspected that Inusah had infected Samuel with the disease.

A few minutes after the arrest of the two partners, Kingsley was said to have appeared at the police station to visit Samuel when he was also arrested. A search in his bag revealed some water-based lubricant, dresses, mirror, toothbrush and paste and condoms among others.

Superintendent Wowolo said the three suspects would be arraigned after investigations into the matter were concluded, adding that a search for the said Obolo and Charles was also on course.

Ghana: A distant harmony or mirage?

Introduction

There is a Ghanaian proverb which states in Akan that ‘abusua te se kwae. Wowo akyire a, ebo mu. Woben ho a na wohunu se edua biara si dee esi’. To wit 'the clan is like a forest. When you are far away, you think it is crammed together. When you get closer then you will realise that they are individual and separate trees’. People who are not members of the clan and who observe from a distance may jump into conclusion that there is a very degree of unity in the clan. It is only when one gets to know the social dynamics in the group that he would know that the perceived unity observed from a distance is only a mirage.

The human person for a long time has been described as a social being. No one person is an island. For this reason, human beings often bond together. In spite of this, the relationship that exists between the individual and the community is unpredictable. However, one’s existence is always linked with the existence of others (Ikuenobe, 2006, Addai-Mensah, 2009). Similarly, the relationship among social groups, such as clans, communities and ethnic groups in a nation is interdependent but could be capricious.

Ghana's Coat of Arms and Flag inserted in the Map

It is true and an undeniable fact that all human beings are born free and deserve equality in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (UN, 1948). Ghanaians are also citizens of the world.  They are therefore expected to uphold, cherish and treat each other in accordance with the spirit of this United Nations declaration to which she is a signatory. It is necessary to consciously encourage a spirit of brotherhood among Ghanaians. The 1992 Fourth Republic Constitution of Ghana dedicated the whole of Chapter Five to Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. In those pages are found enshrined the true meaning of Human Dignity. The critical question to ask is: how real in practice attitudes and utterances manifest themselves to give credence and meaning or otherwise to the aspirations of these fine and colourful words engraved in gold?

Ghana has been praised internationally for her tenacity of purpose and attainment of a seeming semblance of unity and peace in a very volatile and turbulent West African sub-region. As a matter of fact, she is described and seen as an oasis of peace in the midst of conflicts of varying nature across countries including her neighbours such as Togo and La Cote D’Ivoire. This is apparently the result of the constant observance of democratic practices especially at the ballot, where different political parties are changed either from power or into power. What makes a lot of people feel confident of the sustainability and absorptive capacity of the Ghanaian democracy is the cliff-hanger election of 2008. After two rounds of presidential elections, the opposition party leader was declared victorious in a winner take-all poll with just zero point four-six percentage margin (0.46%) or a mere forty thousand votes (40,000) with over ten million voters. The incumbent party candidate gracefully conceded defeated.

However, underneath the facade are real worries of polarisation along ethnic/regional lines, religious affiliations, and partisan political discriminations. Experts estimate that there are as many as 74 flash points or hot spots across the country often underpinned by chieftaincy disputes as well as political, ethnic and religious conflicts. Why is there so much intolerance among Ghanaians of different persuasions? In what forms do these differences manifest themselves? Are Ghanaians living and behaving like the proverbial ostrich putting their heads in the sand and believing their whole body is hidden from present and clear danger? Why is there lawlessness all over there place as typified by reports of mob actions and instant ‘injustices’? Is the clear political dichotomy seen in the media reportage and programming a dangerous threat to national unity? Is the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality an outward exhibition towards only foreigners while there is serious internal haemorrhage? Can it be said that Ghana is on the verge of caving in under her own carrying capacity? Is the acclaimed unity and peace in Ghana a distant harmony or a mirage?

Political and religious ideologies are the choices we make as people, especially as adults, which are supposed to be based on intelligent reasoning devoid of emotional attachments or sentiments. Tribal affiliations are purely based on the accidents of our births and there was nothing we could have done to influence it. Out of the two choices, religion is the only one that is connected to eternity. Many who are religiously inclined consider that religion is the only thing that should engross people’s passion on earth as opposed to earthly choices as political ideology and ethnicity.

It is indeed a complex matter comprising all the three elements. Our place of birth although to a large extent is a matter of chance influences or imposes on us the religious faith or otherwise that we ascribe and exercise or practise. Likewise, many Ghanaians today generally align themselves to political thinking and are manipulated by political groups mainly along ethnic lines as if some rocket science is at work in them. Thus for majority of Ghanaians, political ideologies, religious affinities and ethnic allegiances are symmetrical and symbiotically twined. I dare say that the ethnico-politico religious opium of the masses is at work in Ghana. This phenomenon is more of emotional manipulation by the middle class than rational analysis.

This paper examines the often sensitive, no-go-area and intricate symbiotic relationship existing along political ideology, ethnicity and faith/religion among Ghanaians. Party affiliation, tribal heritage and religious association have a common passion to drive people to the edge beyond rationality and the article seeks to find out which of these affinities most defines who one chooses to befriend  or otherwise. Do Ghanaians really choose friends or disengage from friendship based on any of these three parameters or they are intertwined? Lately it is common to observe a lot of verbal exchanges and naked insults on a number of social network sites and on radio phone-in programmes among Ghanaians purely based on political and inter/intra religious differences and along tribal lines. Are Ghanaians getting more parochial and petty on trivial and non-essential issues of life?

Ideally, rationally, and scientifically, people should be judged based on the contents of their minds and hearts and not merely based on which tribe they belong or which political colouration they flirt with. Regrettably however, political affiliation, tribal allegiance and religious inclination are somehow intricately meshed together in this part of the world in the twenty-first century to the extent that once you identify with one of the trigonometric lines, you are unmistakeably and inexorably linked to the others. There are reports of some employers taking on new hands based on all or some of these elements other than competence. When it comes to relationships which must solely be based on love and understanding, sadly all these elements intertwine and only a few people make choices based on what is right and not what the norm is today.

In recent times too, the trend has extended to even sports, especially football or soccer which aim to foster peace, understanding and togetherness among all humanity irrespective of gender, sex, religion, ideology, creed, race, ethnicity and such other considerations. The dimension of sport has been added to the linkages as it is not difficult to tell whether one supports Accra Hearts of Oak or Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

If you pick any average Ewe or Ga-Adangbe person today, you can safely extrapolate and find the person being an National Democratic Congress political party (NDC) and most likely an Accra Hearts of Oak supporter or sympathiser with a margin of error plus or minus two (2). Likewise, any typical Asante or Akan person you voix pop on a Ghanaian street today is a sympathiser of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and most probably a Kumasi Asante Kotoko supporter with a margin of error of plus or minus two (2). Why is this so in our society today? Has it always been like that?

One would have assumed that, with the ease with which people move away or travel outside their place of birth, negative ethnocentrism would have been relegated to the minimum. There is this popular saying in Ghana: “travel and see”. It simply means that one’s horizon is broadened by travelling. Many people today have been born outside their ancestral homes and are expected to accept others, but even some these succumb to these irrational parameters of judgement. Indeed, ethnocentric feeling is a pre-industrial phenomenon where the security of the individual is limited to his immediate family members. Where people find themselves in urban anonymity away from their place of birth and upbringing, they seek to cluster around people who speak the same language where they come from. People coming from the same area clustering around themselves in itself is not wrong, but the non-acceptance of other people because of their place of origin is not acceptable. For this reason, every responsible Ghanaian must condemn and shun ‘all-die-be-die’ and ‘the great Ashanti project is terrifying’ mantras.

    

References

Addai-Mensah, P. (2009). Mission, communion and relationship: a Roman Catholic response to the crisis of Male youths in Africa. 2009 Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York p. 109.

Ikuenobe, P. (2006). Philosophical Perspectives on Communalism and Morality in African Traditions (New York: Lexington Books, 2006), 51 - 91. 

UN (1948). The United Nations (UN) Charter on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 1. The United Nations General Assembly, New York. http://www.un.org/en/rights/ (accessed on April 1, 2011).

Salaries of 'Castle Boys Leaked

 
"The Presidency will ensure that expenditure at the Presidency does not unduly add on to the burden to the taxpayer" - President JEA Mills in address to Parliament in 2009

Salaries of Castle Boys

Medical practitioners are among the most revered professionals all over the world, but, the recent decision of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to embark on an industrial action has elicited some propaganda noises from government and its sympathizers with some christening the Doctors as criminals, armed robbers, and murderers.
To make matters worse, pro-government propagandists have been spewing some figures as reflecting the levels of Doctors’ monthly salaries, but, The New Crusading GUIDE can authoritatively report that according to documents at the Controller and Accountant General’s Office and the Ministry of Finance, Presidential Aides at the Office of the President receive three times the salary of a Medical Officer.
While a Presidential Aide receives a monthly salary of GHc3,882.86, Medical Officers’ salary is Ghc1,269.24.
Uncharacteristically, the state-owned newspaper, The Daily Graphic of Thursday 21 October, 2011, published the salaries of serving Doctors. The Doctors immediately refuted the publication.
Immediately the publication hit town, various local radio stations were inundated with telephone calls virtually blaming the Doctors and accusing them of being greedy.
Other callers also urged the media to publish the salaries of serving Ministers of State and other government appointees; a challenge The New Crusading GUIDE accepted and set out to hunt for the figures.
The documents, this paper intercepted between the offices of the Controller and Accountant General and the Finance Ministry, reveal salaries of Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Presidential Aides, Board Chairmen, Board Members and Presidential Advisors, etc.
Dr. Hardi Abdullah, a former President of Junior Doctors’ Association in an interview, told The New Crusading GUIDE :“my brother, as I have always insisted, this matter is not about money, so that publication was meant to incite the public against us (Doctors) but, I am very happy that could not wash and the truth has come out”.
He therefore urged his colleague Doctors to stand firm and support the President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Adom Winful and his team “in these trying times”.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Health, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, according to www.myjoyonline.com, had given the strongest indication that government was not prepared to yield to the demand of the Doctors and has dared them to take the government’s offer or leave it.
He also stated - now that the Ghana Medical Association and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission would undergo a compulsory arbitration - the Doctors had no choice but to call off the strike, since their resolve would amount to flouting the rules of engagement of arbitration.
“The rules of engagement of arbitration are very clear; that the parties, before arbitration can be empanelled, cannot continue with the lockout action, and cannot continue with the strike action. And that it behoves on them (Doctors), if they want to prepare themselves for arbitration, to go back to work immediately. It is not an option that is available to them”, he observed.
According to www.myjoyonline.com, Mr Mettle-Nunoo minced no words when he challenged the Doctors to advise themselves, and if possible, resign from government health facilities and resort to their private practice.
“The options are clear…the reason for establishing the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was to establish fair wages. They are free to advise themselves if, they think the employer, which is government, is unable to meet their demand; I think they have an option of going to private practice.”

US gagging tactics on Wikileaks biting

The announcement today by the investigative and whistle blowing website, Wikileaks that will temporarily suspend publishing operations in order to raise much-needed funds blaming the US government and financial institutions leaves has great repercussion for freedom of information. We are witnessing a scenario where interest is competing against avowed tenets. 

For decades, at least during the era of the cold war, the capitalist bloc led by the US trumpeted from the roof top the right of citizens to information and freedom of expression. This tenet was used to justify the support for campaign against socialist and communist governments. Well, today the very weapon used to dismantle communism is turning round against the interest of the west especially the US.WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange and his organisation have since faced all forms of hate tactics to scare them from divulging secret diplomatic cables.

The organization caused international controversy last November when it began the release of more than 250,000 confidential U.S. diplomatic cables. The site recently published the entire catalog of files, with the names of sources included. WikiLeaks claims the aforementioned financial firms yanked support last year at the urging of the U.S. government, which is actively pursuing an investigation against it.

Financial woes began for WikiLeaks last December when Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Bank of America all ceased processing donations to the whistle-blowing site, which is supported entirely by donations. WikiLeaks said this effectively cost it “tens of millions of dollars” in funding.
WikiLeaks said the “unlawful financial blockade” has “destroyed 95 percent of [WikiLeaks’] revenues, and has caused it to almost empty its bank account.
Now, to ensure its future, WikiLeaks will “aggressively fundraise in order to fight back against [the] blockage] and its proponents.”
“The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process,” WikiLeaks continued. “It is without democratic oversight or transparency. Our scarce resources now must focus on fighting the unlawful banking blockade.”
WikiLeaks said it has begun to pursue legal action against the blockade in the U.S., Iceland, Denmark, the U.K., Belgium, and Australia. It also on Monday launched its own site where people can make donations.
The question is 'is the US gagging tactics beginning to bite and what will be the implications for the freedoms we all so much cherish and aspire for?
 

The Ghana angle @Old Trafford humiliation

The match had been labelled variously including a measure of Man City's progress against the 19-time champions. At the end of the game, Manchester City stunned city rivals United in their 160th derby with a victory that takes them five points clear at the top of the Premier League. The match played at United home turf, Old Trafford recorded a bewilding scoreline Man U 1 - 6 Man City. This goes down as Manchester United's worst home defeat since 1955. This humiliation at the hands of their city rivals also happened to be the first time United had conceded six goals at home since 1930, and in a second half that turned into a scene of carnage at the so-called "Theatre Of Dreams" the eventual margin of victory could have been even more convincing.



The coup de grace began with the sent off of United's Jonny Evans. With only ten men against Maccini's Blue war machine, Sir Fergie's Red Devils were in complete disarray. Then a certain controversial character born to Ghanaian parents but adopted by an Italian set the "Theatre Of Dreams" agog. He is Bawua but better known in soccer circles as Mario Balotelli. 

Mario Balotelli scored twice as Manchester City humiliated United at Old Trafford's Theatre of Dreams

Mario Balotelli, in the headlines for accidentally setting his house ablaze with fireworks, put City on their way with goals either side of the interval as United struggled to contain the array of attacking talent in front of them. As controversial as he is, the young Ghanaian gave the morale boast that his team mates so much needed and deservedly so. He played his part in the historic whitewashing of the toothless Red Devils. Take it or leave it, Bawua set up the messy black day for United.

Aguero added a third, and even though Darren Fletcher pulled a goal back this was only the signal for a late surge by City that brought three more goals and a result that will have sent shockwaves through the Premier League.

Substite Edin Dzeko scrambled in a fourth, the magnificent David Silva ran clear to add another another before the Bosnian striker inflicted the final would seconds from the end.

As Ferguson strode briskly towards the Stretford End at the final whistle, he was reflecting on the brutal reminder of the challenge now facing him from the club he branded "noisy neighbours" on a day when the entire Premier League landscape may have finally, and permanently, altered.

Balotelli's excellent performance capped a productive weekend for two other Ghanaians in two other top notch European leagues. Kelvin Prince Boateng sparked an AC Milan second half revival with a 14-minute span hat-trick away at Lecce in the Italian Serie A. Prince Boateng's first hat-trick helped his side bounce back from first half three-nil down and win 4-3 against Lecce on Sunday.



Kelvin Prince Boateng scored his first Serie A hat-trick at Lecce

Andre Dede Ayew scored twice as Olympique Marseille finally found some form in a 2-0 victory over promoted Ajaccio on Saturday. The Ghana international's double handed under-pressure coach Didier Deschamps some breathing space and lifted Marseille to 12th in the French Ligue 1



Andre Dede Ayew

The grim eccentric 112 possible spellings of Muammar Muhammad Al-Gathafi's name

Yes he was famously labelled the "mad dog of the Middle East" by former US president Ronald Reagan, was the uncontested ruler of oil-rich Libya for a full 42 years. But his iron-clad grip on the country had other sides as well. His rule was neither not only grim and eccentric nor just the Arab world's and Africa's longest-serving ruler, in fact he also holds another record; most variations in the spellings of his names. Alternative spellings for each part of his name identified 112 possible spellings of the Arabic verb قَذَفَ qaðafa which has various meanings centering on "he threw". 

Wikipedia produced the following transliteration of his Arabic name. 

Because of the lack of standardization of transliterating written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in many different ways. Even though the Arabic spelling of a word does not change, the pronunciation may vary in different varieties of Arabic, which may suggest a different romanization. In Literary Arabic, the name مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي can be pronounced /muˈʕammaru lqaðˈðaːfiː/. Geminated consonants can be simplified. In Libyan Arabic, /q/ (ق) is replaced with [ɡ]; and /ð/ (ذ), as "th" in "this", is replaced with [d]. Vowel [u] often alternates with [o] in pronunciation in other regions. Thus, /muˈʕammar alqaðˈðaːfiː/ is normally pronounced in Libyan Arabic [muˈʕæmmɑrˤ əlɡædˈdæːfi]. The definite article al- (ال) is often omitted.

"Muammar Gaddafi" is the spelling used by Time, Newsweek, Reuters, BBC News, the majority of the British press, the English service of Al-Jazeera, ^[348] as well as this Wikipedia page on Gaddafi. The Associated Press, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, PBS, and the majority of the Canadian press use "Moammar Gadhafi". The Library of Congress uses "Qaddafi, Muammar" as the primary name. The Edinburgh Middle East Report uses "Mu'ammar Qaddafi" and the U.S. Department of State uses "Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi", although the White House chooses to use "Muammar el-Qaddafi".^[349] The Xinhua News Agency uses "Muammar Khaddafi" in its English reports.^[350] The New York Times uses "Muammar el-Qaddafi". The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times of the Tribune Company, and Agence France-Presse use "Moammar Kadafi".^[351][352]

In 1986, Gaddafi reportedly responded to a Minnesota school's letter in English using the spelling "Moammar El-Gadhafi".^[353] Until that point, his name had been pronounced with an initial 'k' in English.

The title of the homepage of algathafi.org reads "Welcome to the official site of Muammar Al Gathafi".^[354] A 2007 interview with Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi confirms that he uses the spelling "Qadhafi",^[355] and Muhammad al-Gaddafi's official passport uses the spelling "Al-Gathafi".^[356]

An article published in the London Evening Standard in 2004 lists a total of 37 spellings of his name, while a 1986 column by The Straight Dope quotes a list of 32 spellings known from the Library of Congress.^[357] ABC identified 112 possible spellings.^[358] This extensive confusion of naming was used as the subject of a segment of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update on 12 December 1981.^[359] In short, the alternative spellings for each part of his name are shown in brackets:

Not all are possible, as some alternatives are most probably combined with others, or even impossible with others (for example, simplification of geminated /mm/ usually implies simplification of /aː/). He was captured and killed on October 20, 2011. RIP