Feature: To obey is still better than sacrifice Part I – By Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

The writer, Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

Clearly, there is much shouting of “Halleluia” all over the place. Unfortunately, doing so doesn’t necessarily ensure or confirm piety.

All over the world, politicians do all they can to draw support from diverse constituencies, especially the religious community. So is it in Ghana too. However, the impact of any support from the religious community is felt on Election Day, not after it. Whether the religious community can help a politician win power or not doesn’t come after the fact. Not so in Ghana for Akufo-Addo and his NPP.

I continue to marvel at the extent to which the NPP is desperately fixated on exploiting religious fervour in pursuit of its political aspirations, especially at a time that its sad fate at Election 2012 has already been sealed and President Mahama continues to consolidate his hold on power.

The news is that a “blood sacrifice” has been done for its Akufo-Addo and prayers offered to God to help him win the Election 2012 Petition now before the Supreme Court so that he can become Ghana’s President.

According to the report on the ceremony, Mallam Olu led the prayers at the Nasariyya Mosque at Aboabo Number Two in Kumasi, which were “intermittently laced with recital of the Holy Qur’an”. Then, a fat sheep (should it not have been a RAM instead?) was slaughtered at the forecourt of the mosque and the meat distributed to the people to thank Allah for His mercy.

The event was sponsored by Dr. Amoako Tuffuor, a leading member of NPP. We are told that Nana Antwi, the defeated NPP parliamentary candidate for Asawase, and other influential officials in the Ashanti Region graced the occasion. So also did ardent NPP members at Asawase and other parts of Kumasi.

There we go, folks. The odd admixture of religion and politics is in full view. And a “blood sacrifice” to confirm it! The big picture is clear: exploitation of Muslim religious fervour on this occasion, which worries me—and must worry all others too—for what it portends. Is someone cunningly exploiting religion to set up a time-bomb?

My study of “Qur’anic Hermeneutics” and the “Hadiths/Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad” in courses on “Religious Studies” in my undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Coast taught me a lot to admire about Islam.

No wonder, in a national essay competition conducted by the Iranian Embassy in Ghana in 1998, I won the third prize, which amazed the organizers because I was a Christian, not a Muslim to persuade them in my essay on “The significance of the Hajj”.

I have just blown my own horn to launch my examination of why I consider the exploitation of the religious fervour of the Muslim community for petty political jingoism is not only dangerous but is also an extreme instance of desperation on the part of Akufo-Addo. By this statement, I don’t mean to suggest that it is only Muslims who can be exploited to this extent; but I have a good cause for zeroing in on this area, considering what I have noticed unfolding.

I know much about Islam and its underpinnings as far as its precepts, injunctions, and prohibitions concerning the totality of human existence are concerned.

I know also that when unsuspecting religious zealots become politically proselytized, they constitute a huge burden for the system. If you doubt my claim, look no further than the involvement of the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria in politics.

Of course, we acknowledge the fact that in politics, numbers count; and any politician who has eyes to see and ears to hear what is doing the rounds will snatch at any opportunity to snuggle to potential voters.

We also acknowledge the strategy used by the NPP in its outreach programme to capitalize on the religious fervour of the people. That was why the party’s leaders spread their tentacles far to reach the two main religious communities in Ghana—Christian and Muslim.

At a larger level, narrowing this outreach to the Christian and Muslim segments of the Ghanaian populace and exploiting their religious fervour this way has its disadvantages, probably one of which might have influenced heavily the electoral decision made by voters not subscribing to Christianity or Islam.

In all their outreach efforts, the Akufo-Addo camp has been silent on how to deal with adherents of the African Traditional religions that constitute a huge chunk of the Ghanaian citizenry. Whether they reach out to them “Nicodemously” or not can’t be confirmed; but the obvious silence on how the NPP relates to such elements can’t be missed.

Are they saying that they don’t need the electoral advantage from these African Traditional religionists? Why are they also not the focus of their attention?

You see, because they have skewed their outreach efforts to sideline those sections of the religious community, they can’t appeal to their conscience for votes. And in democracy, numbers count. So, there is a dark side to all that has been happening; and the NPP is paying a big price at that front. Any doubt?

Indeed, as I have said several times and will continue to say, God is not in the habit of coming down from the heavens to help men solve their problems of existence. He has already endowed us with the faculty to know how to handle our affairs and live our lives before we account for our stewardship when he calls us unto himself.

That is why it is important to know that physical problems must be solved physically and spiritual ones, spiritually. The general elections are not spiritual problems. They are physical issues. Prayers are good for whatever they are but it takes more than mere prayers to win general elections. What is happening now (after the elections have been held and the results declared) is misplaced. The time for prayers is long gone, if anything at all.

More importantly, if prayers can redeem Akufo-Addo, why is he in London to have a “routine medical check-up” instead of sitting back in Ghana to be prayed for or to pray for himself to know what is happening in his system? His is a physical problem, which is why he has dashed off to see his doctor in London; not so? If prayers were enough to tackle such a physical problem, why hasn’t he sat back to pray for relief?

Voting is a physical act, not a spiritual one to warrant this flight into the transcendental. So is it with the election petition that he has placed in the dark chambers of the Supreme Court.

That problem is a physical problem, which no amount of wailing, gnashing of teeth, sacrificing of all manner of animals, or dipping into the River Jordan can solve (with particular reference to Naman’s experience with Prophet Elijah). No amount of howling day and night at prayer-and-fasting sessions can solve that problem.

It is only the physical element (EVIDENCE/FACTS) to be adduced that can determine how the pendulum swings at the end of the Supreme Court’s work. Why then will anybody remain fixated on all these shows of religious fervour?

Indeed, blood sacrifice—or any sacrifice of anything at all to the Supreme Deity or any other spiritual entity—has its implications. It is a ritual that may make or mar one’s aspirations. If you doubt it, read about Cain and Abel and you will realize that in our time, the Cains outnumber the Abels.

What I see happening in the Akufo-Addo camp is nothing but an attempt to force God to undo what he has already done and blessed. Somebody is testing God’s patience and has to beware of the wrath of God!!

More importantly, exploiting the religious sentiments of unwitting people this way is dangerous for the country. Ghana is an oasis of peace and stability in a sub-region of political turmoil and should remain so. That is why I advise the youths, especially, to shy away from politicians desperately seeking their support to achieve their morbid political objectives.

General elections are cyclical and one should adopt the attitude that will not foreclose anything but ensure that a loss in one doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road. Election 2012 is gone, making room for Election 2016 and beyond. The loss of one animal in the forest doesn’t mean the death of all other animals there.

Those who refuse to accept the fate that Election 2012 wrought for them and are running around in circles—trying to turn every stone to use in challenging reality—are doing nothing but digging their own graves. And we shall help them lie therein.

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

Ghanaian Politics: President Mahama Is In Contempt Of The Supreme Court – Argues Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

Now we know exactly what he means, when Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama asserts that he will abide by any verdict delivered by the Atuguba-presided Supreme Court hearing the Election 2012 petition brought before it by last December’s presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

As Mr. Samuel Okudzeto, the distinguished former president of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) carpingly observed recently, it is disturbingly clear that Mr. Mahama is hell-bent on contemptuously prejudicing the Supreme Court’s petition hearings in his favor (See “Okudzeto Jabs Mahama Over Election Victory Comment” Radioxyzonline.com/ Ghanaweb.com 6/13/13).

Indeed, President Mahama cannot pretend not to appreciate the rather tired judicial terminology of “Sub-Judice,” or the imperative citizenship obligation not to publicly comment on any controversial case being deliberated upon by any legitimately constituted court of the land. And so we all know now that Mr. Mahama is both a compulsive and a congenital liar who ought not to be ruling our country. And this is precisely the sort of consternation so poignantly, albeit curiously diplomatically, expressed by Mr. Okudzeto, when the veteran statesman and former GBA president regretfully noted that the frenziedly embattled Mr. Mahama ought not to have moved so drastically away from his earlier “noble” public assurance that “he would abide by whatever verdict the [Supreme] Court reaches.”

We have decided to let the Ghanaian electorate and the citizenry at large decide on the “noble” dimension of the attitude taken by Mr. Mahama towards the ongoing Election 2012 presidential petition hearings. And, of course, on the latter score must be promptly recalled the fact that during festivities marking the 21st anniversary of the mischievously suave morphing of the erstwhile Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) into the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Mahama was widely reported to have declared to party members, supporters and sympathizers as follows: “Our victory was won cleanly and fairly…. Justice will be served and cannot come to any other conclusion than acknowledging the very transparent, free and fair victory that we won at the elections [polls?].”

That the preceding quote is the kind of rhetorical belligerence that provoked such apocalyptic infernos as Rwanda, Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone can hardly be gainsaid. As well, Mr. Mahama’s pronouncement seriously undermines the integrity of Ghana’s judicial system, and one fervidly hopes that the operatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC)are paying sedulous attention.

Needless to say, it is this kind of entrenched intolerance that makes the National Democratic Congress immitigably and inexcusably dangerous and inimical to the salutary development of Ghanaian democracy. There is, however, one positive corollary to this patently intemperate and bratty tantrum expressed by President Mahama; and it is the fact that his grossly contradictory and entrenched position, vis-a-vis the Election 2012 petition hearings, puts his political opponents under no bounden obligation, whatsoever, to accept an unfavorable decision by the Atuguba-presided Supreme Court.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

Analysis:Justice Atuguba here, contempt of court there – By Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

The writer, Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

As is to be expected, the NPP’s machinery of calumny and intimidation is running at full throttle, churning out lies, pure hatred, and concentrated chaff against Justice William Atuguba, the president of the 9-member panel of Supreme Court judges hearing the NPP’s petition regarding Election 2012.

We are aware of the brains behind this campaign and have read opinion pieces and comments in several forums to that effect. The latest one is from a Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare (popularly known on Ghanaweb’s SIL as “Kwaku Azar). (See: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=276871)

His opinion piece, entitled “The Justice of Intimidation,” clearly epitomizes the mindset of the anti-Atuguba elements in the ranks of the NPP. The basis of this Atuguba-loathing is the misperception that he is “biased” in his conduct of affairs at the ongoing petition hearing.

Such opinion pieces and comments against Justice Atuguba and others on the panel clearly confirm the demonstrable insidious nature of these NPP characters. I laugh them to scorn and reassure them that their vain words of intimidation are like mere water that will drip off Justice Atuguba’s body as soon as splashed. It won’t stick!! Nor will it help reverse their sad electoral fate. What is written is written.
In fact, I blame the Supreme Court judges themselves for what is happening. They failed to establish firm control over the matter right at the very beginning and left the floodgates open for all manner of sludge to run through into the public sphere to infest public opinion about their integrity and work.

They could have set the tone for public interest in their work had they been long-sighted enough to see the drift of the matter before them. They could have foreseen the degree to which public discourse concerning this petition would go and could have known how to control it so that their integrity and manner of handling the case won’t be impugned.

Unfortunately, they didn’t. They appeared not to know that the high public interest in the matter would reach a point when those desperately fighting to win political power in the chambers of the court and not in the polling booths would not hesitate to isolate them for calumny at the least prompting.
Justice Atuguba and his co-panelists failed to stamp their authority on the case right at the beginning and are now suffering the scourge of personal attacks.

Knowing full well how desperate and determined the petitioners and their followers are to use the Supreme Court to advantage, it was only commonsensical that the judges would enforce measures to curtail wanton public discussion of the matter once it had been lodged before them for adjudication. Such discussions have virtually become the means for poisoning public opinion.

In press law, the ubiquitous monster called “sub judice” scares all journalists because once a matter is before court, it becomes an instance of contempt of court for anybody to comment on it in the open, especially in writing. Anybody who flouts this press law knows what awaits him/her.

Thus, there exists an inherent constraint that the Supreme Court judges could have invoked to stop public discussion of the petition; but they failed to do so. The consequence is what now prevails with anybody—just anybody at all, but mostly those in the camp of the NPP—saying anything at all about the case and calumniating the judges, especially those seen as “biased” just because of their interventions during proceedings (which the NPP followers consider to be against their interests).

We have been given too much to know about the damage being done to the integrity of those judges, especially Justice William Atuguba, Presiding Judge of the nine-member panel.

Some flashback. When the petitioners’ legal team protested against the constitution of the panel, speculation was rife that their main target was Justice Atuguba whom they perceived as sympathetic to President Mahama and the NDC, apparently because his nephew (Dr. Raymond Atuguba) had been appointed by President Mahama as his Executive Secretary. So, the issue of blood ties quickly became the catalyst for the anti-Atuguba agitation right from scratch. Commonsense prevailed for the legal team to eat back their own vomit, although the cloud of suspicion that they created didn’t disperse or evaporate.

The dynamics of the proceedings have revealed that the suspicion against Justice Atuguba has festered, calcified, and metamorphosed into hatred and a strong determination to paint him black. Of course, as the President of the panel of judges, Justice Atuguba has been prominent in controlling the ebb-and-flow of the proceedings.

His stern warnings are evident, especially at times when the line of questioning by counsel fell out of control. He did so to Tsatsu Tsikata and Tony Lithur at several times when Dr. Bawumia was being cross-examined. Even then, his detractors felt he was “pampering” Tsatsu and Lithur.

Then comes in Philip Addison. Justice Atuguba’s stern order to him to “shut up” and to know that the Bench would not budge to the whims and caprices of the Bar seemed to have triggered this loathing and pointing of gossipping fingers at him. Of course, he has explained that the Bench would not take instructions from Addison and acted strongly to confirm that stance. Is that a crime for which he should be on the NPP followers’ lips for the wrong cause? I don’t think so.

That is why I strongly condemn these NPP people busily bad-mouthing him as “biased” and setting him up for needless public contempt.

The truth, however, is that it will take more than a mere condemnation for them to end their treachery, chicanery, and trickery. Now that they have set their machine of calumny in motion, they will not readily stop insulting, threatening, and impugning the integrity of Justice Atuguba (or any other member of the panel that they perceive as sympathizing with the respondents).

They have a sinister objective and are using this mechanism to create the condition for implementing their grand agenda of refusing to accept the verdict of the court when it goes against them. And that verdict will definitely go against them because they have not adduced any convincing evidence to support their allegations. They know it themselves but will dig in and pretend that they still have a water-tight petition with which to win the case. Such characters!!

There are several reasons why they will intensify their campaign of Atuguba-loathing. First, it is the foundation of their grand agenda of manipulating public opinion regarding their petition. They have a sinister plan to approach the petition hearing with only one mindset—a win-win scenario (to win it at all cost just as they did for Election 2012 only to be torn apart).

This mindset has no room for any confutation. That is why they have shifted attention from the real substance of the proceedings in terms of EVIDENCE to support their allegations to personalizing issues. Relying on their hearts (sentiments/emotions) and not their heads (reason—as will be supported by facts and evidence) is the main weapon of choice to prosecute that agenda. What we see coming from them is in conformity with the tenets of that sinister agenda.

Second, they need to sustain that campaign and can do so only through emotions. That is why they have been quick to raise issues concerning ethnicity, particularly in the case of Justice Atuguba, to say that because he is a Northerner, he will toe President Mahama’s line.

That is also why they have begun spreading rumours that a group of chiefs from Northern Ghana have visited him to impress on him the need to use his position on the panel to retain president Mahama in office at the end of the petition hearing.

Worse still, they have deployed all their propaganda arsenal to intensify their campaign of lies, vituperation, and vilification just to sustain the climate of hatred for Justice Atuguba. Within the context of such vain propaganda stunts, it is obvious that the tension will not lessen; but in the end, all their anti-Atuguba campaign will amount to naught.

I want to say at this juncture that the negative attitude being displayed toward Justice Atuguba isn’t unexpected or anything out-of-the-way. It is an integral part of their “book politics,” traceable to their very roots in the pre-independence and immediate post-independence era. Their forebears did all they could to damage Dr. Nkrumah’s political interests in those days but suffered the negative backlash when he turned the heat on them. Were their Danquah and Busia to resurrect today to tell them their experiences, they would learn how not to inflate themselves too much and risk bursting.

What is happening now won’t twist anybody’s arms to suit their political agenda. The Supreme Court judges hearing their petition are Ghanaians with a vested interest in their own lives, career, and posterity. They are clearly aware of the enormity of the responsibility imposed on them to dispose of this petition and will be advised to act and perform their functions as constitutionally mandated. I am confident that they know the difference between narrow, selfish, and parochial political interests, on the one hand, and the wider national collective interests verging on peace, tranquility and stability to sustain Ghana, on the other hand. They will do themselves and the country a world of good if they listen to reason.

The basis for any judgement to be made by them is expected to be formed by nothing but FACTS (evidence to be adduced) and not personal or partisan political considerations. Of course, they are political and social animals too; they voted at Election 2012 and know deep down their hearts and minds whom their preferred candidates were. But we are long past that stage.

In the end, the totality of ballots proved who won the Presidential elections. The evidence was clearly established at the polls and the votes counted and announced in the open for voters at each polling station to know who won and who lost.

Basing arguments on errors in entries on pink sheets, bulldozing one’s way through the judicial labyrinth, and gearing up to gore any member of the panel misperceived as supporting President Mahama and the NDC won’t change the will of the electorate. That is why all these agitations against Justice Atuguba are pointless. Those deceiving themselves that they can intimidate him with such misplaced venom will be dealt with if they overstep bounds.

That is why I urge the panel of judges to sit up and invoke all the powers at their disposal to clamp down on the wanton open discussion of the case that is already before them. The principle of “sub judice” isn’t dead and must be enforced. It is high time some of those loud-mouthed elements spreading falsehood and casting insinuations about the court case, the Supreme Court itself, and the panel of judges were brought to book under the aegis of “contempt of court.” Once somebody is dealt with and punished as such, it will deter all others from pursuing that cause of calumny.

Until the judges do so, they will continue to be the butt of what the anti-Atuguba elements in the NPP have set in motion. The time to crack the whip may be long gone, but the judges shouldn’t continue to look on bemused when their integrity is dragged in the mud. Can these judges help enforce their own laws, especially that concerning contempt of court? We wait to see.

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

Ghanaian Politics: Too Stupid For Addison, Maybe – By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

I am actually beginning to like this pathetic cognitive basket-case called Johnson Asiedu-Nketia. In the latest of his characteristic comedic bouts, the general-secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) claims that he lasted only one day in the witness-box with Mr. Philip Addison, counsel for Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP petitioners, because so superbly had the garrulous NDC chief-scribe performed that Mr. Addison had almost immediately hit a brick wall in his cross-examination of Mr. Asiedu-Nketia (See “I Was Too Hot For Addison To Handle In Court” JoyOnline.com/Ghanaweb.com 6/7/13).

Of course, the facile assumption here is that the longer a witness lasts in the witness-box, the less difficult it must have been for the cross-examining counsel of the opposing party. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For in reality, the diametrically opposite is often the case; for instance, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the second petitioner and star-witness of the Election 2012 petitioners, spent about two weeks in the witness-box because the Oxbridge-educated and internationally renowned economist clearly appears to have been a rather too tough a nut for Mr. Tsatsu “The Thief” Tsikata to crack.

And to be certain, so frustrating had the former Deputy-Governor of the Bank of Ghana made matters for the NDC respondents that even Justice William Atuguba, a well-known ideological partisan of the National Democratic Congress, could not help but impatiently complain that Dr. Bawumia was making matters too hectic for the NDC legal wiz-kid by his deliberately convoluted answers to questions repeatedly posed him by the first convicted felon in postcolonial Ghanaian history to practice law before the country’s august Supreme Court.

In the case of Mr. Asiedu-Nketia, the petitioners’ attorney managed to readily stump him in a classical perjury fashion within a couple of hours of the NDC scribe’s mounting the witness-box. And this was done in the most fundamental manner, by simply replaying the digitized recorded voice of the obstreperously talkative Mr. Asiedu-Nketia to the witness, who almost immediately contradicted himself and effectively mangled his own credibility by sheepishly confessing to the same.

At any rate, two legally grievous incidents have occurred against the balance sheets of the respondents which Mr. Asiedu-Nketia and his supporters ought to be feverishly worrying themselves about. And this is, of course, the fact that both the NDC scribe and Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Ghana’s Electoral Commissioner, perjured themselves on the witness stand. In other words, both the second and third respondents took a solemn oath to tell the truth, and nothing but the unvarnished truth, and then like the congenital and pathological liars that they well appear to be, went right ahead and did exactly what they had sworn not to do!

In any democratically functional and robust and civilized political culture, both Messrs. Afari-Gyan and Asiedu-Nketia would be facing stiff and long prison jail terms. In Ghana, where high court judges have been summarily abducted and savagely assassinated, Mafia-style, under the cover of darkness on purely ethnic and ideological grounds by a government pontifically claiming to be about the laudable business of “probity and accountability,” the judicial sanction for perjury quizzically appears to be one of simply having brazen perjurers like Mr. Asiedu-Nketia thumb their noses at the Supreme Court.

Is this the Ghana in which I was born and raised? What a country “in which we live in it,” Uncle Atukwei!

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

New Advocates Join Global Effort to Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases

Former presidents of Guatemala and Chile and former PAHO director join forces with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases to eliminate diseases of poverty

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 7, 2013 – Today, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (Global Network), a major initiative of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, announced His Excellency, President Alvaro Arzú Irigoyen of Guatemala (1996-2000), His Excellency, President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile (2000-2006) and former Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago as the organization’s newest Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Special Envoys. They will join the efforts of current NTD Special Envoy, His Excellency, President John A. Kufuor of the Republic of Ghana (2001-2009), who was appointed in April 2012. The collaboration was announced at a panel hosted by the Global Network and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to welcome the new NTD Special Envoys.

The new NTD Special Envoys will focus primarily on the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. President Arzú, President Lagos and Dr. Roses will provide the political voice and the technical expertise needed to reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal to control or eliminate the most common NTDs by 2020. The NTD Special Envoys will encourage endemic country government officials to prioritize the development and implementation of national plans of action for NTD treatment and control and to increase resource allocation toward these programs. Additionally, they will work with key G8/G20 countries, such as Brazil, Canada and Japan, to increase their support for the prevention and treatment of NTDs through expanded technical assistance and increased investments across the region.

“We are thrilled to expand our team of NTD Special Envoys,” said Dr. Neeraj Mistry, managing director of the Global Network. “President Kufuor’s efforts have paved the way for increased NTD bilateral engagement and advocacy. With President Arzú, President Lagos and Dr. Roses joining him, I am confident that we will see increased commitment towards global NTD control and elimination efforts—particularly among health ministers and policy makers in endemic countries.”

NTDs cause blindness, massive swelling in appendages and limbs, severe malnutrition and anemia. They are a leading cause of pregnancy complications among women and are a key source of poverty, reducing school attendance among children and worker productivity for adults. In the LAC region alone, 100 million people are currently infected with one or more NTD, most of whom live in impoverished, rural areas.

“NTDs disproportionately affect marginalized groups, such as indigenous populations and people living in isolated, rural areas,” said President Arzú. “I am honored to be a part of the Global Network’s special envoy team and the global effort to improve the lives of billions of people currently living in poverty.”

NTD control and elimination programs are some of the most cost-effective public health interventions available today. For a cost of approximately 50 cents per person, a packet of pills administered once a year can treat and protect against these diseases. Pharmaceutical companies donate most of the treatments and many programs use existing infrastructure, such as schools and community centers, to administer them.
“Addressing NTDs today is a highly cost-effective investment in the region’s future,” said President Lagos. “NTD treatment programs help increase school attendance, improve maternal and infant health and support economic development. Eliminating or controlling NTDs will accelerate existing efforts to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The LAC region already has made significant progress towards NTD control and elimination. While serving as the Director of PAHO, Dr. Roses set the stage for the passage of the resolution, “Elimination of Neglected Diseases and other Poverty-Related Infections,” which was adopted by all of the PAHO Member States in 2009. This critical call to action set the goal of eliminating 10 neglected infectious diseases and drastically reducing the burden of two others by the end of 2015.

“The LAC region is poised to become a leader in the global movement to control and eliminate NTDs,” said Dr. Roses. “We have already seen unprecedented collaboration across governments, the private sector and civil society groups through the London Declaration and the 2009 PAHO resolution. In my new role as NTD Special Envoy, I will ensure these efforts are carried forward until we meet our elimination goals.”

In 1996, former President Arzú signed a peace agreement that put an end to the 36-year-long Guatemalan civil war. He is also credited with reducing crime rates, improving infrastructure, education, indigenous rights and health care in the country during his term. The dedication of former President Lagos has been instrumental to the economic, health care and educational development of Chile. Dr. Roses, a native of Argentina, recently concluded a widely successful two-term role (2003 to the beginning of 2013) as the Director of PAHO, the oldest international health organization and the regional office for the Americas of the WHO. Dr. Roses has shown a deep, unwavering commitment to achieving equity in the delivery of health care and has championed the cause of marginalized populations in the region who shoulder the greatest burden of disease.

For more information about today’s discussion and to learn more about the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, please visit http://www.globalnetwork.org.

About NTDs

NTDs are a group of 17 parasitic and bacterial infections that are the most common afflictions of the world’s poorest people. They blind, disable and disfigure their victims, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and disease. Research shows that treating NTDs lifts millions out of poverty by ensuring that children stay in school to learn and prosper; by strengthening worker productivity; and by improving maternal and child health.

About Sabin Vaccine Institute

Sabin Vaccine Institute is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization of scientists, researchers, and advocates dedicated to reducing needless human suffering caused by vaccine preventable and neglected tropical diseases. Sabin works with governments, leading public and private organizations, and academic institutions to provide solutions for some of the world’s most pervasive health challenges. Since its founding in 1993 in honor of the oral polio vaccine developer, Dr. Albert B. Sabin, the Institute has been at the forefront of efforts to control, treat, and eliminate these diseases by developing new vaccines, advocating use of existing vaccines, and promoting increased access to affordable medical treatments. For more information please visit http://www.sabin.org.

Ghanaian Politics: Asiedu-Nketia Wins One For NPP! – By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, jnr., Ph.D.

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

Finally, the truth must have begun to sink in, with both Messrs. Johnson Asiedu-Nketia and John Dramani Mahama desperately attempting to wriggle themselves out of traps which they mischievously set for their ideological nemeses and political opponents (See “I Stand By The Citi-Fm Interview – Asiedu-Nketia” Ghana News Agency (GNA)/ Ghanaweb.com 5/30/13).

I intend to deal with Mr. Mahama’s vehement denial that, indeed, he deliberately colluded with Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan to rig Election 2012 in a separate article.

Anyway, in the aforesaid interview granted Citi-Fm Radio by the general-secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and poignantly captured in the caption of this article, Mr. Asiedu-Nketia categorically called for the summary annulment of the results of any polling stations whose presiding officers were confirmed to have permitted voters to cast their ballots without biometric verification.

Interestingly, when he pompously and pontifically mounted the witness-box barely a week ago, the gaunt personality affectionately nicknamed “General Mosquito” vehemently insisted to the Atuguba-presided court hearing the Akufo-Addo/New Patriotic Party (NPP) Election 2012 presidential petition that, in fact, absolutely no voting had been allowed at any polling station in the country without biometric verification.

In laity terms, the preceding is called a factual contradiction. In other words, it is logically incongruous for the NDC general-secretary to, on the one hand, call for the summary annulment of the polling results of any polling station where voting was allowed to proceed without biometric verification by polling officials and then, on the other hand, assert imperiously from the witness-box in the Atuguba-presided court to Mr. Philip Addison, counsel for the petitioners, that he, Mr. Asiedu-Nketia, has absolutely no knowledge about the penalty exacted for biometrically unverified voting. In legal and judicial parlance, such deliberate and willful testimonial contradiction is called PERJURY.

Looked at another way, Mr. Asiedu-Nketia swore an oath to tell the Atuguba Court nothing but the unvarnished truth, “so help me God,” and then criminally violated his oath by lying before officers of the highest court of the land. In most civilized democratic national cultures, PERJURY is a felony punishable by a prison sentence or jail term. It is not clear whether, in fact, the NDC general-secretary fully appreciates the significance of the crime which he just committed before the highest court of the land.

At any rate, whether he willfully or inadvertently perjured himself is beside the point. For, as the age-old maxim goes: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”; more so when one is a prominent political figure like Mr. Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, and also President John Dramani Mahama, of course!

I am indescribably elated that finally, the petitioners are fast homing in by using the humongous corpus of unguarded media testimony of the respondents against the latter, as I had on occasion admonished several times in the recent past. What Mr. Addison so deftly succeeded in doing with the incontrovertible media testimony of Mr. Asiedu-Nketia’s is called a JUDICIAL-JUJITSU, that is, letting the unconscionable prevaricator literally stew in his own brine.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

Ghanaian Politics: Ben Ephson Is Just A Shameless Mischief-Maker – argues Kwame-Okoampa Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

He pontifically calls himself a pollster par-excellence; but even as former President Jerry John Rawlings had occasion to bitterly complain recently, there is a piddling little about Mr. Ben Ephson’s so-called periodic polling that is credible or could be said to be worthy of our attention and moral consideration.

In the latest of such mischief, the NDC-sponsored media hack claims, rather funnily, that most of the members and supporters of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have lost faith and confidence in the merit of the Election 2012 petition hearing before the Atuguba-presided Supreme Court (See “NPP Supporters Losing Faith In Election Petition – Ben Ephson” Radioxyzonline.com/Ghanaweb.com 5/31/13).

The first problem here is that Mr. Ephson does not tell his audience precisely how his polling was conducted, and the profiles of the subjects of his polling. For instance, how many respondents were polled, spread over how many regions of the country? What were the professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, as well as the gender description and/or orientation of those polled? And what kinds of questions were these respondents posed?

Of course, we also know that Mr. Ephson has absolutely no credible professional training in polling; and so all that one can logically conclude here is that maybe he just got a stipend and/or salary increase from his paymasters and decided to go to bat for them, by peddling such patent hot air. Needless to say, any discerning individual who has been studiously watching the Ghanaian political scene ought to be fully aware, by now, of the rank disaffection of an overwhelming majority of Ghanaian citizens for the Mahama government and, indeed, the decidedly outmoded pseudo-socialist policies of the so-called National Democratic Congress (NDC).

But even far more significant ought to be pointed out the fact that the Election 2012 petition is definitely not about whether anybody thinks or believes that the Akufo-Addo Revolution has merit. The latter has already been eloquently affirmed by the decision of the Supreme Court to hear the petition and make a critically considered pronouncement on the same. And so, really, other than seeking to make an abject nuisance of himself, it is not clear what Mr. Ephson is talking about.

And when he names Mr. Kwame Pianim, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe and that insufferably obnoxious odd-ball and butterball who virtually ran the Volta River Authority aground, as well as criminally pocketing at least half of the funding for the Ghana@50 independence anniversary celebration, as “hardcore supporters” of the NPP, one immediately begins to wonder whether it is not about time that Mr. Ephson checked himself into a mental asylum or seek psychiatric reevaluation and rehabilitation.

What I am increasingly beginning to admire about the man, though, is the fact that Mr. Ephson appears to be an indefatigable propagandist who takes himself and his politically-inflected opinions far more seriously than he obviously ought to.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

Ghanaian Politics: “A Renewed Sense of Potential”? Maybe! By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

I read Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama’s speech of the quoted title, presented at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and felt a dolorous sense of wistfulness (See the Opinions section of MyJoyOnline.com 5/26/13). I felt a palpable sense of wistfulness because the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) expediently sought to shortchange the facts of history by rather mischievously describing Ghana’s first Prime Minister and President, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah, as the “founder” of the erstwhile Gold Coast. The grim reality is that Mr. Mahama claims to be a remarkable historian in his own right.

His gaping failure, or even deliberate omission, to mention at least a couple of the Founding Fathers, and Mothers, of Ghana readily informed me that as a nation, we have a pretty long way to go, let alone to speak of a continent fervidly in search and in need of organic unification. The fact of the matter is that inasmuch as he is incontrovertibly regarded as a standout, or even foremost, among the ranks of the legendary and immortalized BIG SIX, Kwame Nkrumah is not the “founder” of Ghana in much the same way that Gen. George Washington is not the founder of the United States of America.

And until our leaders soberly come to terms with this objective and plain fact, the vigorous push towards African unification is unavoidably bound to be arduous and rancorous. I make the foregoing observation because recently, a young and apparently cynical reader of my columns wrote to demand why none of the African leaders celebrating the golden jubilee of the African Union, in Addis Ababa, had been heard to mention the name of Dr. J. B. Danquah, Ghana’s foremost constitutional lawyer and thinker of his generation and a fierce fighter for democratic governance.

Well, I don’t know that many staunch supporters of African Unification recognize the inescapable fact that without the democratic rule of law and order, the noble dream of a United Africa will continue to be a pipe dream. This is where the lofty democratic ideals of Drs. Danquah and Busia and Mr. Dombo come to the fore. In other words, it is absolutely nothing short of the unpardonably insulting for Ghana’s President Mahama to cavalierly presume to take for granted the high moral stance taken and hard fought by the putative Doyen of Gold Coast and Ghanaian politics to ensure that Ghana became the virtually unique and/or exemplary bastion of democratic culture and governance that leaders like Mr. Mahama proudly brag about today.

In the main, and predictably, Mr. Mahama’s Addis Ababa speech was fraught with platitudes. But it was his allusive and brief concluding paragraphs that piqued my attention and interest the most. In concluding his speech, this is what the electorally embattled Ghanaian president had to recall: “At that first African summit [in 1963] in Addis Ababa, Emperor Haile Selassie said[,] ‘May this convention of union last 1,000 years.’ With the renewed sense of potential on the African continent, indeed, it shall.”

It is not clear exactly how Mr. Mahama appreciates this memorable quote from Emperor Haile Selassie; but it clearly could be interpreted in two distinctive ways: Either the Ethiopian monarch meant to say that the annual talk-shopping festivities of the erstwhile Organization of African Unity were apt to last a thousand years, or that an organically and politically united African federation was being wished a millennial span of existence.

Linguistically speaking, the first interpretation, as logically superficial as it may seem, was clearly what Emperor Selassie meant. Indeed, had he meant the second interpretation, the Ethiopian potentate would have worded his speech the following way: “May this [present] covention [or gathering] lead us to 1,000 years of continental African unity.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail:okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

Ghanaian Politics: Asantehene Addresses The Wrong Audience – Observes Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

In the nation’s capital with a delegation of chiefs for a lecture on democratic political culture and governance, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, was reported to have paid a courtesy call on the 2012 presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and admonished Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his supporters to abide by any decision handed down by the Atuguba-presided panel of Supreme Court jurists hearing the NPP petition, vehemently challenging the legitimacy and integrity of both President John Dramani Mahama and the 2012 general election as a whole (See “Otumfuo Counsels Nana Addo to Accept Petition Outcome” JoyOnline.com/Ghanaweb.com 5/17/13).

Needless to say, the Asantehene was preaching to the wrong crowd and audience. First of all, the institutional sponsor of the democracy lecture being attended by Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), was founded by Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, one of the three pillars behind the ideological tenets and agenda of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and not by either Chairman Jerry John Rawlings, the founding father of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), or Mr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first postcolonial Ghanaian premier and founder of the so-called Convention People’s Party (CPP).

But even more importantly, the Asantehene ought to have conferred with the judges hearing the Election 2012 petition and admonished them about the fact that their conduct and decision were being sedulously watched by the global community; and also that the youths of today and posterity would not judge them kindly if their judicial performance is found to lack the highest level of integrity and professionalism. And maybe the operatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ought to dispatch a delegation to monitor the judicial proceedings, if they are not already doing so.

In other words, prevailing on Nana Akufo-Addo and the main opposition New Patriotic Party to preempt their righteous craving for justice, by vacuously undertaking to abide by any decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Ghana is grossly ill-advised. It is grossly ill-advised because the Asantehene has yet to significantly and publicly comment on the incontrovertible evidence of deliberate rigging of Election 2012 by Messrs. Mahama and Afari-Gyan. He needs to comment on this because he is the most powerful traditional ruler in the country and, therefore, cannot pretend to be totally unaware of the kind of political corruption and government-sponsored acts of mayhem and downright brutality that are the daily fare of the existence of the proverbial average Ghanaian.

Secondly, the sanguinary history of the National Democratic Congress and before the latter, the so-called Provisional National Defense Council (P/NDC) must not be either condoned or appeased, and the members and supporters of the P/NDC ought to be made to fully appreciate the fact that theirs is an unpardonably bloody political heritage.

Indeed, Nana Akufo-Addo demonstrates his enviable patriotism when he pledges to put the peace and political stability of Ghana above all else. Nevertheless, the NPP leader ought to be also reminded of the fact that the imperative need for democratic justice and accountability cannot be facilely sacrificed on the altar of bankrupt peaceability and/or tranquillity. The latter quality-of-life existential feature is what differentiates a civilized polity or society from a half-enslaved nation.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Department of English Nassau Community College of SUNY Garden City, New York

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

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

Women with advanced breast cancer feel left out of the breast cancer movement – new survey shows

A new global survey sponsored by Novartis Oncology of nearly 1,300 women in 12 countries finds that despite breast cancer being the most common cancer in women worldwide, women living with advanced or metastatic breast cancer feel isolated and left out of the broader breast cancer movement. The global “Count Us, Know Us, Join Us” (Count Us) survey shows that nearly two-thirds of women with advanced breast cancer (ABC) feel like no one understands what they are going through. In fact, four of 10 women surveyed feel isolated from the broader breast cancer awareness movement, which focuses primarily on early detection, prevention and possible cure[2].

“When first diagnosed with breast cancer, women are instantly part of a vibrant breast cancer support community,” said Maira Caleffi, MD, President of Brazilian Federation of Philanthropic Institutions to Support Breast Health (FEMAMA). “But when their cancer metastasizes or if they are first diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, it is no longer about becoming a survivor; it’s about surviving.”

In early stage breast cancer (stages I and II), cancer cells are confined to the breast or immediate lymph node area; the focus for the patient is to become a “survivor.” When cancer metastasizes, treatments that worked at the beginning may lose effectiveness over time[5]. The focus shifts to surviving, despite the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with disease progression and ongoing treatments[6]. The survey showed that these patients crave resources and support that are specific to their needs.

Along with key members of the global advocacy community, Novartis Oncology has created resources, support and education tailored to the ABC community on the newly launched http://www.advancedbreastcancercommunity.org. The website is a hub of resources for people living with ABC as well as their caregivers, supporters and loved ones. Such resources include a step-by-step guide to creating a personal plan after being diagnosed, videos that offer first-person accounts of life with ABC and lists of advocacy organizations, periodicals and medical journals that focus on the advanced forms of breast cancer.

The global survey also found that more than three in four women (77%) say they actively seek out information on their own; however, nearly half (45%) say it is hard to find information about ABC, and more than half (55%) say the information that is available does not address their needs[2]. This is likely because most of the information available is applicable only to those with early stage breast cancer.

In addition to lack of information and feelings of isolation, many women (41%) find that support from friends and family wanes over time[2]. Interestingly, all of this may motivate some women to create their own support networks. Nearly half of women (45%) say that being diagnosed with ABC has led them to volunteer or give back to the ABC community[2].

“These survey results give great insight into our global community and the reality of living with metastatic breast cancer, an incurable and deadly disease,” said CJ (Dian) M. Corneliussen-James, Director of Advocacy for METAvivor Research and Support, Inc., a nonprofit advanced breast cancer organization. “It is my hope that this ignites a movement of public recognition, understanding and outreach so that the isolation and rejection our community so often encounters might become a thing of the past.”

About the “Count Us, Know Us, Join Us” Survey

The Count Us survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Novartis Oncology between October 8, 2012 and March 15, 2013. A total of 1,273 women diagnosed with ABC (that is, breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body) completed the survey in 12 countries: US (n=349), Canada (n=55), Mexico (n=102), Brazil (n= 100), Argentina (n=100), UK (n=66), Germany (n=100), Russia (n=100), India (n=100), Taiwan (n=99), Hong Kong (n=52) and Lebanon (n=50). Total sample data are not weighted and therefore representative only of the individuals interviewed. A global post-weight was applied to ensure all countries received an equal weight in the global and regional data. No estimates of error can be computed.

Additional Count Us Survey findings:

Support and Information from Healthcare Providers:
– Most women (80%) say they get enough support from their oncologists[2].
– Three in four women (76%) would like their healthcare professional to address their emotional needs[2].
– One in three women (35%) say it is important to make information about decreased interest in sexual activity available to women with ABC[2].

Relationships and Marriage:

– Two in five women (40%) say their relationship with their spouse or partner has been negatively impacted a lot or a moderate amount by their ABC diagnosis[2].
– However, nearly all women (87%) say they receive sufficient support from their spouse/partner[2].
– Many women (41%) find that support from friends and family wanes over time[2].
Workplace:

– More than half of employed women (57%) say most or all of their co-workers know about their ABC[2].
– About seven in ten women (69%) say their ABC has interfered with their ability to work such that they suffered a loss of personal income[2].

About Count Us, Know Us, Join Us

The mission of Count Us, Know Us, Join Us is to recognize those living with ABC, their caregivers, supporters, friends and family members. This is a community that has different physical and emotional needs from those living with early stage breast cancer. Novartis Oncology has collaborated with leading members of the global advocacy community to create the program and corresponding website – http://www.advancedbreastcancercommunity.org.

About advanced breast cancer

Advanced breast cancer comprises metastatic breast cancer (stage IV) and locally advanced breast cancer (stage III)[7]. Metastatic breast cancer is the most serious form of the disease and occurs when the cancer has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body, such as the brain, bones or liver[7]. Locally advanced breast cancer occurs when the cancer has spread to lymph nodes and/or other tissue in the area of the breast, but not to distant sites in the body[7].

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of USD 56.7 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.3 billion (USD 9.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 129,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis.

References

[1] Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/cancer/events/breast_cancer_month/en/index.html. Accessed on March 15, 2012.

[2] Count Us, Know Us, Join Us Advanced Breast Cancer Survey, Harris Interactive, sponsored by Novartis Oncology (2013).
[3] Buckley N, Isherwood A. Breast Cancer. Decision Resources. March 2011:1-301.
[4] Forouzanfar MH, Foreman KJ, Delossantos AM, et a;. Breast and cervical cancer in 187 countries between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis. Lancet. October 2011;378(9801):1461-84.
[5] Gonzalez-Angulo AM, Morales-Vasquez F, Hortobagyi GN. Overview of Resistance to Systemic Therapy in Patients with Breast Cancer. In: Madame Curie Bioscience Database [Internet]. Austin (TX): Landes Bioscience; 2000-. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6306. Accessed on March 15, 2013.
[6] MBC Advocacy Working Group. Bridging gaps, expanding outreach: Metastatic Breast Cancer Advocacy Working Group consensus report. The Breast. 2009; 18:273-5.
[7] American Cancer Society. How do you determine the stage of breast cancer? Available at http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-staging. Accessed on October 9, 2012.