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.

 

Ghanaian Politics: Hello, Nyaho-Tamakloe! By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

His consanguinary – or blood – connection to President Mahama ought to be very well known by now to necessitate any further expatiation here, except for the imperative need for me to emphatically point out that the Supreme Court battle over the 2012 Presidential Election is squarely about the struggle for democratic power short of a logically justified armed struggle; and Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe had better be mindful of the same (See “NPP Focusing Too Much On Election Petition – Nyaho-Tamakloe” TV 3 News/Ghanaweb.com 7/13/13).

And so to expect the bulk of the New Patriotic Party leadership to sit back and be clinically aloof while a handful of lawyers battle it out at the Supreme Court is rather insulting; and that is being extremely polite about it. But, of course, if one were related to President Mahama and comfortably located like Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, stealthily and steadily and shamelessly undermining the NPP petitioners would be the fetching and/or prime choice for an avocation.

You see, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe poignantly approximates that old pidgin-English maxim that runs as follows: “Country broke or no de broke, I dey inside.” Ghana’s former ambassador to Serbia and Croatia clearly has nothing to lose. To be certain, he actually has far more to gain with one of his kinsmen being at the helm of our national affairs, than having a bunch of people with whom he only tenuously and blearily share ideological suasion. Remember the age-old maxim of “Blood is thicker than water”? That is glaringly what is at stake here in the shameless imagination and personal political fortunes of the former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GBA).

Of course, none among the topmost executive ranks of the New Patriotic Party is deceived by the pompous moral pretensions of Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe. Not too long ago, for instance, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey squarely put Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe where he belongs vis-a-vis latter’s relationship with the NPP, when the National Chairman of the country’s largest opposition party – at least for now – bitterly complained about the increasing liability that Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe was becoming to the party.

I have warned in these very pages that his claim to being a founding member of the New Patriotic Party ought not to give Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe the license or right to feel that he has any inalienable right to facilitate the party’s disintegration, even as he passionately let on to TV 3’s Mr. Kenneth Osei-Ampofo. But that his sentiments unabashedly and fanatically reside with his kinsman, the man who unconscionably colluded with Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan to criminally rig Election 2012 cannot be gainsaid.

Now, it is up to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party to boldly and frankly conduct Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe out of its fold and into the sunsplashed nirvana of political tolerance that he claims to be the hallmark of the Rawlings-minted National Democratic Congress. You see, you don’t want these forensically provable outsiders to be smugly telling the rest of us where the current pulse and center of party leadership ought to be located. That is simply not a salient characteristic of an authentic team player.

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

EXCLUSIVE: Tatu Msangi’s story of hope – Proof of The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s work towards an AIDS-free generation

Tatu Msangi, a HIV-positive woman from Tanzania was still able to deliver a healthy HIV-negative baby. She named the baby FAITH. Thanks to the work of organizations such as the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), Msangi was taken onboard a preventive program called PMTCT (Prevention of Mother-to-child Transmission) sponsored by the foundation.

The EGPAF, a global leader in the fight against pediatric HIV/AIDS has reached more than 16 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. It currently works at more than 5,500 sites and in 15 countries to implement prevention, care, and treatment services; to further advance innovative research and to execute global advocacy activities that bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children and their families worldwide.

One of the lucky women is Tatu Msangi, now EGPAF HIV-positive ambassador. Msangi is, today, ambassador of HOPE to millions of HIV-positive women.

Msangi, as US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a recent event to honor the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was a “living example of the impact and meaning” of the work institutions such as EGPAF was doing.

She is, today, tirelessly championing the cause and highlighting the plight of women living with HIV in her home country of Tanzania.

The impact of HIV infection is devastating. The disease has robbed children of their parents, some at a very early age of their life. Tanzania has fought the AIDS epidemic for 30 years, says Msangi in a piece she wrote recently.

“But in 2004, the challenges we faced seem insurmountable. Almost no one in Tanzania received the antiretroviral medications they needed to stay healthy. Between 1996 and 1999, the number of children who lost both parents to AIDs-related complications doubled. Though milions of people needed to be tested for HIV and receive counseling, there were only 527 testing and counseling sites in the entire country. But thankfully, KCMC (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center) – supported by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) – had the resources needed,” Msangi wrote on her blog.

Speaking in an exclusive telephone interview from Washington with ANA’s Musah Ibrahim Musah in Berlin, Msangi, now 41, spoke about the challenges faced by HIV-positive women in Tanzania and her role as EGPAF’s HIV-positive ambassador.

She mentioned access to antenatal services to women in the early stages of their pregnancy. “Most of them,” she says, “come to the clinic late. They are not taken in early sometimes they come after several months into their pregnancy. So, it is late.

“But we are still educating them on early attendance at the antenatal clinic so that they can get the services in the early stages of their pregnancy. But, it is really also a challenge”.

Asked about the stigmatization often faced by HIV-positive women in Tanzania, Msangi said: “We are trying to educate them (women) at the clinic and to encourage them to form support groups of HIV-positive women. We are also working to get them as counselors to counsel other women to make them aware that they are not alone; that there are also other women who are HIV-positive like them. Also, to assure them that it is not a problem for one alone.”

On matters confidentiality among health workers and how to address the issue to attain public confidence in the privacy of HIV testing, the EGPAF ambassador agrees that the “problem of confidentiality” was crucial in Tanzania where she works at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) as a nurse.

“Our clients are complaining now and then about the issue of confidentiality. But we are busily educating the health workers about the problem. Because if there is lack of confidentiality, our clients would not ‘walk-in’ and, sometimes they leave the nearby health facilities to go far away to attend a clinic. So, it is an issue that we are working to educate the counselors on confidentiality.

Asked about men’s attitude towards women infected with HIV, Msangi stressed that “one of the biggest challenges in the fight against HIV is male attitudes.”

She urged women, girlfriends, wives, and mothers to keep trying to encourage men to come to “their senses” and learn about HIV.

“Once a man gets involved with his partner in the PMTCT process, it makes a big difference—not just to that man but to the men around him. Men will listen to another HIV-positive man more than they will a woman. That’s our culture,” she adds.

Adult HIV prevalence (ages 15 – 19) in Tanzania, estimated at 5.6% in 2009 has declined slightly from 6.5% in 2005. HIV prevalence is much higher in urban (8.7%) than rural (4.7%) areas, and females are more likely to be HIV positive than males (6.8% vs. 4.7% respectively). Prevalence is higher among adults from the richest economic quintile as compared with the poorest economic quintile. Between 2009 and 2011, Tanzania has seen a 19% decline in new pediatric HIV infections – from 26,900 to 21,900. HIV prevalence among pregnant women was 5.5% in 2009.

Tanzania is scaling up its PMTCT program, mainly through integrating PMTCT services into MNCH services. By 2010, the majority (90.4%) of ANC facilities had integrated PMTCT services. HIV testing among pregnant women increased from 14% in 2005 to 86% in 2010[10], and 74% of pregnant women living with HIV received ARVs for PMTCT in 2011.

Tanzania has adopted WHO Option A regimen for prophylaxis and a costed national PMTCT scale-up plan (2011-2015) is in place. Given the high level of PMTCT service coverage in Tanzania, the country is well placed to achieve Global Plan targets by 2015.

Analysis: As the Supreme Court cracks the whip… Fear looms – By Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

The writer, Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

My good friends, I am glad that the Supreme Court has begun exercising its powers to deal with those letting their tongues loose and crossing the line. We are all aware of how the Supreme Court has dealt with the NPP’s Sammy Awuku and we can tell from the circumstances that indeed a stream of very cold shiver went down Awuku’s spine. Of course, at this point, it is clear to him that “Man pass man!”

Though spared custodial punishment, his being banned from attending the Court’s proceedings is enough to clip his wings. He may be making some ugly noises of faint defiance at the political fringes; but he knows deep down him that a severe punishment awaits him if he falls out of step—or that “steel can cut steel” (“Dadie betwa dadie”).

One immediate fallout of the Supreme Court’s cracking the whip is that the NPP’s Chief Comedian (Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie) has also sensed danger and is declaring that the NPP functionaries will henceforth cease making defamatory utterances. He knows that he may be the next in line to be dragged before the Supreme Court and is trying to be smart.

The Supreme Court’s order for three others (the NDC’s Atubiga, Kweku Boahen and the Searchlight editor, Ken Kuranchie) to appear before it on July 2 has further confirmed that the Court is determined to go to any distance to clamp down on unsavoury comments being made here and there by just anybody who thinks that he has the forum to enjoy his so-called freedom of speech.

Even before July 2 dawns, those summonsed by the Court have begun quivering with fright. A member of the communications team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Atubiga, has rendered an unqualified apology to the Supreme Court and Ghanaians as a whole over comments he describes as “irresponsible”.

Speaking on TV3’s News 360 on Thursday, June 27, 2013, Mr Atubiga said he considers his action inappropriate and contemptuous of the court. “I apologise from the bottom of my heart,” he stated.
Ken Kuranchie may be attempting to come across as bold in asking that his summons should have been in a written form but he knows deep down what is already eating away his “heart.”

Why is he dancing himself lame before the actual dancing begins? The bell is tolling loud to instill fear; not so?

I suppose that the Supreme Court will take prompt steps to deal with anybody it considers as falling out of step as far as public comments on the hearing of the NPP’s petition is concerned. Good job!!
Some have, however, been quick to isolate Justice Atuguba for personal attacks, describing him as autocratic, dictatorial, or stifling freedom of expression; but the truth is that he is doing what is long overdue to ensure that public discourse on the proceedings at the court doesn’t catalyze needless tension to deepen antagonism along partisan political lines. Or to suggest that the judges are impartial, which in itself is dangerous because of its becoming the main cause of dissension and resistance for the party that loses the case.

I see nothing wrong with how Justice Atuguba and his team are handling the matter. They are not intimidating anybody but making sure that nobody abuses the process. What is wrong about that?
But some questions have arisen about how we should position ourselves as we comment on issues concerning the Court’s hearing of the petition in order not to be roped in too as culpable for committing “contempt of court”. I have nothing to fear and will continue to make my voice heard for as long as I know my limits.

Those appearing on the airwaves and other media and letting their tongues loose for mere political capital should blame themselves for being incontinent and imprudent in their language use and the angle from which they discuss issues. And they should brace themselves up for the Supreme Court’s summons.
I won’t be deterred by current happenings because I have been one of those ardently asking that the Supreme Court crack the whip; and it has begun doing so to my satisfaction and approbation. What should I fear when I wade into the matter? Why should I even be concerned? For as long as I know how to navigate the legal and political terrain, I will play it safe as I choose issues to comment on. That’s how to avoid the wrath of the Supreme Court.

Already, some have begun complaining that by its action, the Supreme Court is curtailing freedom of speech. This accusation is baseless and unwarranted. The Supreme Court is only ensuring discipline and restricting public pronouncements on a matter before it.

That is why those latching on to the fate of Sammy Awuku to indulge in their anti-Atuguba vicious campaign won’t turn my crank.

One of such people is a Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare (alias Kwaku Azar) who has come out to say that he has sent a petition to the Chief Justice concerning the Supreme Court’s action to stem wanton public comments on the NPP’s petition before it.

I have already commented elsewhere on this petition for all that it entails to suggest that the Supreme Court is right in moving forward to clamp down on the reckless public utterances regarding the case that it is sitting on. If it can’t take on people on the basis of “contempt of court,” what else can it do to prevent all manner of comments being made on a case that is “sub judice”?

The mere fact that the constitution guarantees freedom of speech doesn’t mean that the petition hearing should be prejudged by all manner of people rabble-rousing in the society for cheap political capital. If the Supreme Court cannot restrain people from judging the case at the bar of public opinion, what else should it do to ensure that the matter before it is not prejudiced and poisoned by those with loose tongues?

Of course, one can comment on a case after judgement has been given, not when the case is in the middle of being heard. I see this petition as part of the rabble-rousing anti-Atuguba campaign by those who feel uncomfortable by what the Supreme Court has begun doing.

In any event, it is the Supreme Court that is mandated to hear the case to its logical conclusion and give a ruling on it, based on whatever evidence/facts adduced before it by all the parties. What is currently going on in the public domain won’t serve any useful purpose but create conditions for tension and needless mayhem. The Supreme Court is right and should be left alone to do its work.

I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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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: Zip It, Segbefia! – By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jnr., Ph.D.

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

The decision by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to organize and host a forum geared towards finding lasting and constructive solutions to the electoral snags occasioned by the use of biometric voting machines, is a salutary intellectual exercise that could not have come at a more opportune moment (See “Alex Segbefia Cautions IEA Over ‘Contemptuous’ Forum To Review Electoral System” Modernghana.com 6/28/13).

It is not as if the key operatives of the IEA have been going around insisting on only one form of an acceptable verdict, as President John Dramani Mahama has been widely reported to be doing. And so it is not clear precisely what he means, when Mr. Alexander Segbefia cautions the think-tankers of the IEA about their risk of judicial contempt if they decide to go ahead with their forum, even while the unnecessarily snail-paced Atuguba-presided Supreme Court hearing of the Akufo-Addo/New Patriotic Party (NPP) Election 2012 presidential petition direly threatens to virtually halt any progressive discourse on how to run a legitimate constitutionally democratic political culture in the country.

You see, cynics like the former deputy chief of staff of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills are deathly afraid that most Ghanaians are enlightened enough to fully appreciate the fact that the Supreme Court exists fundamentally to interpret laws that are already on the books, or in operation, as it were, rather than legislate for Ghanaian citizens how to determine the details of the kind of constitutional democracy they deem to be the most progressive and efficient.

Maybe what political miscreants like Mr. Segbefia ought to be doing is advising Justice William Atuguba to stop playing Minister of the Interior or the Inspector General of Police by indiscriminately and erratically rounding up any citizens who appear to be aptly impatient with his indisputably amateurish handling of the Election 2012 petition hearings.

Significantly, Mr. Segbefia appears to be in wholehearted agreement with the IEA forum on the country’s new-found biometric electoral protocol. His only qualm is that such forum or workshop be delayed until the Atuguba Court has handed down its decision on the Election 2012 petition.

Well, maybe those politically comfortable Ghanaians with Mr. Segbefia’s mindset ought to be reminded of the fact that the well-being and destiny of the country are far more important than the unduly drawn out deliberations of the Atuguba Court. Come on, let the forum go on!!!

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 of have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of http://www.africanewsanalysis.com, http://www.africa-forum.net and http://www.wapsfeatures.wordpress.com

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

The writer, Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

I return to the two main religious camps (Christian and Muslim) that the NPP has concentrated attention on for political capital.

That was even why the NPP’s official national campaign for Election 2012 was launched with a non-denominational church service at Essikado, near Takoradi, which immediately drew the parameters for the incorporation of religion into the agenda for hardcore politics.

We saw how Dr. Bawumia criss-crossed the country, entering mosques and commiserating with his fellow Muslims during prayers and celebration of Muslim festivals. We also read news reports on how Akufo-Addo had targeted the Muslim community and even declared his intention to establish a “Zongo Development Fund” for the Muslim communities.

Even though Akufo-Addo concentrated his outreach efforts on the Christian community, he beefed up his running mate’s campaigns among the Muslim community by ingratiating himself to Muslim leaders and rank and file, especially when he visited Northern Ghana.

We are aware of the dangerous rumours about his urinating on a mosque in Damongo, which turned out to be an expensive prank played on him by his detractors. But that prank did point something out to suggest that his tapping into the Muslim community for political advantage was being closely watched.
Then again, we recall how Akufo-Addo visited Jerusalem and did acts, one of which was photographed and circulated as he went through the motion near the Wailing Wall.

Back home, all manner of church leaders congregated around him, taking him through unceasing rounds of spiritual cleansing and exhortations so he would be touched by the Hand of God and favoured to win the elections. The posture adopted was encapsulated in the Biblical vein: “The battle is the Lord’s”.

We were bombarded with prophecies from the so-called “men-of-God” to whom Akufo-Addo had endeared himself. The Rev. Owusu Bempahs and many others hijacked the airwaves to prophesy a “one-touch victory” for him on December 7, which message was blared all over to pump up Akufo-Addo’s ego and heighten the optimism of the NPP supporters.

Come December 7 and the wailing from the Akufo-Addo camp was audibly clear that something was amiss. Come December 8 when voting was completed and the gnashing of teeth began. Come December 9 when the Electoral Commissioner announced the outcome of Election 2012 and the flexing of muscles began.
There and then, rancour took over. Threats against the Electoral Commission and its Chair (Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan) dominated the political landscape as things fell apart for Akufo-Addo and the centre of the NPP’s political edifice couldn’t hold anymore. Their swan song couldn’t be missed.

Spurred on by this electoral defeat, the tune changed: “To the Supreme Court we will go to seek justice… We have been robbed… There can be no peace without justice…!”

The consequence is what has happened over 33 days of sitting by the Supreme Court to hear their petition.

Although the so-called “Men-of-God” whose predictions buoyed up Akufo-Addo’s expectations have receded to the background after their self-fulfilling prophecies exploded in their faces, the attempt to exploit religion hasn’t abated.

Akufo-Addo has gone to all lengths and breadths to virtually institutionalize prayer-and-fasting sessions at home and abroad. I hear his immediate family members can’t cease doing so, believing that their vanguard role was the impetus for all others in their circles to seek the face of God for Akufo-Addo’s benefit.

The man himself has turned to anybody or any group that professes to be using religion to fight his cause. We have seen pictures of him at a candlelight prayer vigil with JSS graduates whose hope was that he would eventually become Ghana’s President to fulfill his promise of fee-free senior high school education for them to move on.

The role of the Muslim community in Akufo-Addo’s post-Election 2012 politico-religious escapades cannot be missed. We have read news reports about prayer sessions organized for his cause by Muslims in some parts of the country.

What has just been reported is the culmination of such efforts. Clearly, the Free Education Now Prayer Group (FENPG), a pressure group with links to the NPP, must be carrying their efforts to the extreme, hoping that they could sustain the atmosphere of religiosity for political purposes. But therein lies their problem.

A dangerous precedent is being set with this recourse to religious sentiments to whip up political activism. Not intending to impute any wrongdoing to these Muslims, though, I want to say that they have set in motion an event that will likely become the incubator for fundamentalism/extremism in our political affairs.

I know how dangerous religious fundamentalism (especially by indoctrinated Muslim youths) can be. The world already has evidence of such a problem, and I need not dilate on it.

Undoubtedly, doctrinal differences have been the catalysts for such fundamentalism. Add to that the religious differences (as it would be between Christians and Muslims, for instance) and you have too much in hand to contend with. Dogmatism is a major distasteful ingredient in this potpourri of faith.
Worse still, add antagonistic political inclinations (as we have in the case of the NPP and the NDC) to this religious acrimony and you have a mountain of trouble to flee from. What I am saying is that we already have too much antagonism at the political front and need not sit down unconcerned for religious sentiments to be injected into the bloodstream. Militancy in religion and politics is bad; worse still is the danger that the society faces when the militancy at both fronts is amalgated and condensed as a weapon of choice to fight political opponents.

Only a sick mind will discount the danger portended by this whipping up of sentiments at the religious front for political leverage. I am foreseeing danger ahead, especially because those youthful elements being mobilized to use their religious fervour to prop up a disappointed politician’s dogged stance against reality constitute a rapid deployment force at the beck-and-call of their manipulators.

That is why it is important for us to point out this danger at this stage. Who knows what else is being done to prepare the minds of these malleable politico-religious elements for any future assignment or engagement?

We note here that little drops of water make a mighty ocean. What we see emerging from all these isolated events are clear warning signals to act on.

I am not against any politician’s effort to mobilize support from all segments of the society; but I decry the extent to which these aggrieved NPP people are pushing themselves. They seem to be calculating and using religion as a subtle means to prosecute their grand agenda.

The sharp disappointment at Election 2012 has bitten deep into their affairs, but it has only helped sustain the religious fervour. What for, I don’t know. But they know it, which is to appeal to God to intervene in the affairs of the 9 Supreme Court judges hearing their appeal so that they would overturn the outcome of Election 2012 to put Akufo-Addo in power.

Why waste energy closing the stable doors after the horses have long run out into the wilderness?

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