Analysis: The battle lines are drawn for Election 2016 – By Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

Folks, I have been monitoring happenings on the political scene and noting salient points/issues that are gradually emerging to shape the strategies that the various political parties will use in their electioneering campaigns for Election 2016.

Without belabouring any point, let me say upfront that the battle lines have already been drawn: The NPP is poised to do all it can to drag the NDC down. From how it has been doing things all this while, it is clear that it will use any means available to it to undermine President Mahama. What does he and his government/NDC have to counteract such detraction?

On the surface, the picture is clear. The incumbent administration will dig in and present itself as championing the cause of Ghana and its citizens, citing development projects and national stability as its main accomplishments. In truth, the government has done a lot to prove that it is using the mandate given John Mahama at Election 2012 to keep the country together despite biting challenges that its opponents are quick to cite as instances of its incompetence. Unfazed by such detraction, President Mahama and his team think that they can pull together, solve pertinent problems (especially the energy crisis) and move on to justify why they should be retained in office.

But will that be enough to assuage doubts, fears, and concerns about the future? No!! A government that deserves a renewal of its mandate is expected to do more to assure the citizens that its handling of affairs will endure beyond its tenure in office. If it lays or consolidates the political structure and builds a strong foundation for the economy, it needn’t fear losing the people’s mandate. is that what the government is doing? Answers differ. The “Dumsor” crisis is a major negative for it to contend with; and those suffering from the scourge won’t forgive it at the polls!! A lot is going on, which its opponents are glibly talking about but not offering any solution to, knowing very well how to whip up mere sentiments for political expediency!!

On the other hand, opponents of the government are up in arms, doing everything they think will undermine it and saying just anything to reinforce their bitter opposition against it. They are led by the NPP and its legion of nay-sayers who are hell-bent on putting Akufo-Addo in office at all costs. And from how they have started doing things, we expect a lot from them to push the government to the wall. How will it rebound to reassert its influence?

A careful appraisal of the situation has revealed a lot to me, especially considering the current stentorian demand for a new voters register for Election 2016. The NPP has been abroad with its claims of that register’s being bloated, flawed, and unsuitable for Election 2016. And its main architects have drawn one conclusion: unless the register is changed, there will be violence in Ghana. A scary proposition!!

Interestingly, it was this same register that has been used for bye-elections after Election 2012 that the NPP actively participated in. Could the register be regarded as flawed on a global scale but accepted by the NPP on a local scale for bye-elections that it participates in? The Talensi bye-election was held with that register. The NPP had hopes of retaining that seat but lost even though its Akufo-Addo and all those who matter in the NPP actively campaigned in the area. When there is no basis for an electoral victory, no amount of singing “Halleluia” all over the place will make any difference.

The scenario will likely be repeated in the Amenfi West Constituency where the NDC’s MP has passed on. Will the NPP participate in the bye-election with the very register that it is raising hell about? If it does, what does it say about it?

We can tell from what the NPP is doing that it is already geared up for Election 2016, using any means to push its case and relying on its lackeys in many sectors of national life. It considers Election 2016 as a “do-and-die” affair. What for, I don’t know. What I know is that by being so grounded, it is creating the impression that it will be nothing in the absence of Akufo-Addo. What happens if Nature calls him unto its own before Election 2016?

And in its pursuits, it is bent on mobilizing support from just any constituency that it thinks can help it prevail over the Electoral Commission to renew the register. We already know of all that has happened, including the activities of its surrogates (Let My Vote Count Alliance and others in responsible positions all over the country) and the comments of notable Ghanaians—the clergy (Christian Council of Ghana, especially), Jerry Rawlings and his wife and former President Kufuor. The impression created by all of them is that the voters register has to be changed for Election 2016. Otherwise….

(As Dr. Amoako-Baah foolishly put it, the EC should declare President Mahama the automatic winner of Election 2016 even without any elections being held. Eventually, then, if the voters register is renewed, the EC should automatically declare Akufo-Addo as winner of Election 2016; not so? Such a lazy, lousy, and clumsy political thinker and lecturer at the KNUST!!).

We don’t want to bother our heads over such inane comments (or threats) from Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and Dr. Amoako-Baah. They have openly predicted WAR in Ghana if the voters register is not changed for Election 2016 and come across as overly misguided. I wish they knew what WAR really is!!

To land, let me say that the NPP is already mobilizing support for its cause and doing all it can, using every means available while the Mahama-led administration and the NDC sit at the back burner. The NDC had initially made its position clear that it doesn’t support such a move but has softened that stance. Others like Dr. Nduom and his PPP are not keen on a complete renewal of the voters register but the use of a consistent and foolproof national identification process to forestall electoral malpractices. The PNC and CPP are neither here nor there. As for the other political mushrooms, nothing has come from them worth commenting on.

So, folks, we are where we are now. The NPP seems to be raking up much dust; the NDC has taken the back stage, and the political environment remains agitated. And it will be more agitated as time flies without the NPP’s demand being met. Although Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings thinks that the EC doesn’t have the sole responsibility regarding the voters register, there is nothing anybody can do if the EC doesn’t act on the NPP’s demand.

For war, we may not be prepared; but if it has to be fought, it will be fought.

I can tell from how the NPP is doing things that it is poised and determined to use whatever it considers as an opportunity to push the government to the wall. From all the criticisms levelled against the government so far, it is clear that the NPP is implementing a strategy that will make the Mahama-led administration an underdog. The private media are more than eager to support it in this bid.

Meantime, the government remains lamely reactive instead of being proactive. Why is it so? Apparently, the very problems that it needs to solve to claw back public goodwill are either worsening or remain intractable. Unless it moves fast to deal with what is already angering the people, it risks being further torn apart, especially now that its critics have found a way to use the voters register as their main trump card to fight it. Credibility counts.

Folks, as public intellectuals, we will continue to comment on what we see and hear about happenings that affect our country’s interests. No matter how we position ourselves, we know that we have a stake in our country’s future and will ensure that our voices are heard.

So far, the government that is to provide funds for any exercise to renew the voters register hasn’t bowed to the NPP’s pressure. Already, the country’s coffers aren’t strong enough for such a venture. So, what can anybody do to “force the there to be there”? If only the NPP and all those calling for a replacement of the register can raise funds for that purpose, there will be good news to celebrate. But is anybody really thinking outside the box?

Kufuor’s opinion that the country can borrow money to renew the voters register is as lame as coming from someone who ruled Ghana for 8 years but didn’t do anything to reform the electoral process or retool the EC. Lousy talker!!

For now, let us be reminded that a renewal of the voters register cannot necessarily assure victory for those calling for it. Victory at the polls calls for more than the ugly noise that we hear from the anti-Mahama camp. My thoughts!!

I shall return…

• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.

 

The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com, www.africa-forum.net and www.wapsfeatures.wordpress.com

 

Feature: Does President Mahama Know What He Is Talking About? – Asks Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

It is a human system all right, so none of us have to expect our judicial process to be totally devoid of any fraudulent dealings. Nevertheless, it would be tantamount to playing a very dangerous game with the lives of Ghanaians for President John Dramani Mahama to assert that the country’s judicial system is pretty intact, in spite of the apocalyptic judicial travesty unearthed by renowned investigative journalist Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas. All in all, some 34 judges and magistrates have been magnetically captured on audio- and videotape eagerly negotiating for kickbacks in order to skew their verdicts in favor of criminal suspects and other litigants, who would otherwise have been found either guilty or liable for the offences for which they had been duly charged and arraigned before these officially inducted and publicly sworn administrators of justice and / or the law.

You see, the administration of justice in our country, for the most part, is not dependent on the question of precisely what percentage of high court judges and magistrates were caught in the documentary mesh or investigative net of Mr. Anas and his collaborators of the Tiger-Eye PI network. The sampling is statistically significant enough to be scientifically or objectively appropriated in drawing credible conclusions about the unacceptably corrupt nature of the country’s judicial system. And so, yes, the judicial system, as it institutionally stands, presently, is the only legitimate instrument of justice that we have. However, contrary to what President Mahama would have the rest of the world believe, the country’s judicial system is anything but intact. And it is very disheartening that as Chief State Minister, Mr. Mahama would presume to make light of this most serious canker.

You see, we have always known that the country’s judicial system was among the most corrupt on both the continent and around the globe, except that unlike Mr. Anas and his associates of Tiger-Eye PI, we neither had the skills nor resources to produce forensically sustainable evidence to back up our suspicions. And this is also the reason why I vehemently disagree with those who would have Mr. Anas unmasked as he appears in court to serve as prime witness to his epic and yeomanly exposé of perennial judicial scam-artistry. I shall more expansively delve into this aspect of our subject in another column. For now, suffice it to observe that the personal security and safety of Mr. Anas is far more significant than the vanity of the judges whom he has admirably and heroically exposed for being the reprobate scam artists that they almost incontrovertibly appear to be.

We can also indulge the “Mahamian” luxury of affording the indicted judges the due legal process. But even more significantly, we also need to wonder why the likes of Justices Logoh and Dery have been desperately using legal technicalities to stall the condign administration of justice and fair play. The abrupt suspension of the activities of the five-person investigation team established by Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood and the Judicial Council, on grounds of lawsuits filed by the indicted judges seeking to impugn the legality and authority of the players involved to sanction or discipline them, ought to give pause and cause to powerful and influential Ghanaians like Mr. Mahama to ponder the question of whether, indeed, our judicial system is as functionally sound, or intact, as the President would have the rest of the world believe.

In principle, I agree with Mr. Mahama that some of the snagged or indicted judges may not be guilty. But the reality of the desperate attempts by some of these indicted judges to stall the judicial process, ought to clearly and unmistakably inform Mr. Mahama that we are not dealing with people interested in justice and the rule of law here, as ironic as this may seem. The President says our judicial system is intact; but Chief Justice Wood says that some judges have turned their courtrooms into business enterprises. Now, who is telling the truth here? Dear Reader, you be the judge. Your guess is as good as mine!

The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com, www.africa-forum.net and www.wapsfeatures.wordpress.com

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Analysis: Ironic Kwesi Pratt – By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

He has gained quite a bit of notoriety for feeding fat on successive governments, especially the most grossly incompetent ones, while affording the latter prime and mendacious publicity; and so Mr. Kwesi Pratt, Jr., must know what he is talking about when he rapturously commends Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his associates of the Tiger-Eye private investigations team for exposing some 12 high court judges and some 22 magistrates in the nation-wrecking habit of accepting kickbacks in order to distort the integrity of justice (See “Anas Has Shed Light on Ghana’s Democracy – Pratt” Modernghana.com 9/26/15).

It is not clear to me whether it was Fourth Republican Ghanaian democracy upon which Mr. Anas and Tiger-Eye PI shed a light on, rather than the cross-epochal rot that has veritably been the fabric of the entire judicial system of the country. For nobody can gainsay the fact that virtually every Ghanaian government since 1957 has been characterized by rank corruption. And the judiciary, of course, is only the third and, perhaps, also the weakest of the nation’s three branches of government. The other two are, of course, the executive and the legislature.

With the obscene level of judgment-debt incidents that has robbed the country of humongous amounts of development capital, as well as the precipitous loss of our reputation and dignity as a nation among the international community, it is equally clear that whatever level of rank and abject corruption scandals the Ajet-Nassams have been involved in, or found to be criminally culpable of, has equally criminally involved members of the executive branch of government who are constitutionally charged with national policymaking and contractual decisions.

And so the likes of President John Dramani Mahama had better be on the lookout against being logically roped into the ongoing epic excavation of rank judicial corruption by Mr. Anas and his Tiger-Eye PI team. It would be even more edifying if and when the time comes for Justice Ajet-Nassam to reveal the identity of his collaborators in the GHC 52 million Woyome racket. We already know that the active complicity of several of the most highly positioned members of the executive took the form of this epic heist’s being authorized by extant Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu and her deputy, Mr. Ebo Barton-Oduro.

Now, I find this organic and justifiable linkage between the executive and the judiciary to be more fascinating and legally sounder or more constructive than merely isolating and making scapegoats of only members of the judiciary. And, of course, since most of the executive operatives, or ministers, named in the judgment-debt scandals also doubled as Members of Parliament, or the legislature, it stands to reason to assume that all the three branches of our government are deeply implicated in the acts of judicial travesty recently unearthed by Mr. Anas and his Tiger-Eye team of crackerjack investigators. It is only at this expansive and more accurate level that Mr. Pratt’s observation of Mr. Anas’ having shed an instructive light on Ghanaian democracy becomes incontrovertible.

I, however, do not necessarily believe that this particular expos has shed for us any more light than past ones that did not involve the judiciary but the other two branches of government. We know quite well that President Nkrumah did a seismic lot to effectively undermine the integrity of the country’s judicial system. A typical example was Nkrumah’s decision to summarily dismiss then-Chief Justice Arku Korsah and Associate Justices Van Lare and Akufo-Addo in the Kulungugu Affair. The verdict had not gone the manner expected by the President, who had proceeded to obtain a blanket authority to both appoint and dismiss Supreme Court judges at his pleasure. This is the one aspect of the untold and primitive corruption of the judiciary that the Nkrumacrats would rather not discuss.

And so, yes, Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas has done quite a bit to expose rank corruption in government, as Mr. Pratt would have the rest of the country and the world believe, but it is only déjà-vu, or merely more of the same.

The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com, www.africa-forum.net and www.wapsfeatures.wordpress.com

 

Freedom Ride and Road Safety Family Day close the first week of the EcoMobility Festival

Over 4000 cyclists rode through the streets of Johannesburg yesterday as part of the Freedom Ride, one of the mass participation events of the EcoMobility World Festival 2015.

Cyclists of all ages attended the Ride on a 27 km route around the city, celebrating the memory of Nelson Mandela and the experience of enjoying a ride around the city.

The Ride was started by the Mayor of Johannesburg Mpho Parks Tau and it was attended by MEC Ismail Vadi. West street, the main axis of Sandton CBD, came alive with the Road Safety Family Day. Music lovers sat on their camp chairs under the shade of several gazebos in the middle of the closed-off road, and enjoyed the tunes provided by Zahara and Maleh.

During the morning 24 bikes from ICLEI and the City of Kaohsiung, host of the next EcoMobility Festival, were donate to a small bike sharing start up, Iboni. The new enterprise has taken temporary office at the Gautrain station in Sandton, where the bikes will be available for commuters and citizens to move around Sandton.

What is EcoMobility?

EcoMobility is a term used to describe travel through integrated, socially inclusive, and environmentally friendly options namely walking, cycling, wheeling and public transport options.

It is a mobile transport choice that has low to no emissions compared to the personal automobiles powered by fossil fuels.

EcoMobility denotes a new approach to mobility that highlights the importance of public and non-motorized transport and promotes an integrated use of all modes in a city.

 

Demonstration in Berlin: Etwa 250.000 fordern “Stoppt TTIP und CETA – Für einen gerechten Welthandel”

Unter dem Motto „TTIP & CETA stoppen! Für einen gerechten Welthandel“ haben heute 250.000 Menschen gegen die Freihandelsabkommen zwischen der EU und den USA (TTIP) sowie Kanada (CETA) protestiert. Nie zuvor sind in Europa mehr Menschen zu diesem Thema auf die Straße gegangen. Die Zahl der Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer übertraf die Erwartungen der Veranstalter deutlich. Zur Demonstration aufgerufen hatte ein breites zivilgesellschaftliches Bündnis.

“Heute ist ein großer Tag für die Demokratie“, erklärten die Organisatoren. Von der Demonstration gehe eine klare Botschaft aus: „Wir stehen auf gegen TTIP und CETA. Gemeinsam verteidigen wir unsere Demokratie und gehen für gerechten Handel auf die Straße. Die Verhandlungen zu TTIP auf Grundlage des jetzigen Mandates müssen gestoppt werden. Der vorliegende CETA-Vertrag darf so nicht ratifiziert werden“, hieß es weiter.

Auf der Berliner Kundgebung forderten Redner die EU-Kommission, Bundesregierung, Bundestag und die anderen EU-Mitgliedsstaaten auf, die Forderung der Demonstranten aufzugreifen. Internationale Verträge müssten transparent verhandelt werden und den Schutz von Demokratie und Rechtsstaat gewährleisten. Sie dürften sich nicht an Konzerninteressen ausrichten. Gemeinsam forderten die Demonstrierenden die Sicherung und den Ausbau von Arbeitnehmerrechten, sowie von Sozial-, Umwelt- und Verbraucherstandards. Nur mit einem fairen Welthandel könnten ein sozialer Ausgleich, umweltgerechtes Wirtschaften und kulturelle Vielfalt durchgesetzt werden.

Von 25 Motiv- und Lautsprecherwagen begleitet, bewegte sich ein bunter Demonstrationszug mit phantasievollen Losungen, Transparenten und Fahnen vom Hauptbahnhof, am Reichstagsgebäude vorbei bis zur Siegessäule. Bei der Schlusskundgebung sprachen u.a. Reiner Hoffmann, DGB-Vorsitzender, Gesine Schwan, Präsidentin der Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform, Hubert Weiger, Vorsitzender des Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland, BUND, Christian Höppner, Präsident des Deutschen Kulturrates sowie Ulrich Schneider, Hauptgeschäftsführer des Paritätischen Wohlfahrtsverbandes.

Ein breites Bündnis von mehr als 170 Organisationen aus fast allen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen hatte zur Demonstration aufgerufen: Umwelt-, Entwicklungs- und Sozialpolitik, Demokratie, Kultur, Bürger- und Verbraucherrechte und Gewerkschaften. Zum engeren Trägerkreis zählen u.a. der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund, der BUND, Attac, der Deutsche Kulturrat, Campact, der Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband, foodwatch, Mehr Demokratie, Brot für die Welt, Greenpeace, der WWF und die NaturFreunde Deutschlands.

Bereits am Mittwoch wurden der EU-Kommission mehr als drei Millionen Unterschriften übergeben, die im letzten Jahr europaweit gegen TTIP und CETA gesammelt worden waren. Die Unterschriftensammlung erfolgte im Rahmen der Europäischen Bürgerinitiative “Stop TTIP”. Sie war eigenständig organisiert worden, nachdem die EU-Kommission eine offizielle Europäische Bürgerinitiative abgelehnt hatte. Mit drei Millionen Unterschriften hat “Stop TTIP” mehr Unterzeichner als jede andere Europäische Bürgerinitiative.