Maadwen Corner---CONNECTING CULTURES

Traditional culture is still a huge part of many African societies

by Giftypearl Abenaab

Contributing Columnist

Culture by nature is very dynamic and goes beyond music, dance, food and clothes. It encompasses people's values, beliefs, attitudes and perceptions. In today's era where the world is now a global village and 'Global partnership for development' i preached, there is the need to connect cultures.

Connecting Cultures is a current phenomenon where people from different backgrounds are linked together with the aim of exploring the different cultures. The British Council coined a project “Belongings”- a cultural exchange project which seeks to explore culture, identity and to build understanding between Africa and the UK.

I got the opportunity to gather the thoughts, feelings and experience of some of the young people who participated in this cultural exchange project and i thought i could share it with “Maadwen” readers.

“As i said goodbyee to my parents at Glasgow airport tears filled my eyes and i was not really sure of the journey i was going to take. it was not just a physical journey..in other words, i was not only leaving one country and continent to another but i was going on a cultural voyage. a self discovery journey. When i alighted at Kotoka International Airport, everything seemed so different! the people, the language, the weather etc even the air felt different!. i wondered if i could survive because it was the very fiirst time i was going to leave away from my family and close pals and it was my first time i was going to see Africa! After my two week stay with my colleagues in Ghana i learnt some values- hopsitality and politeness which i am taking home as my belongings. i can now boldly boast that i have had a practical experience of the Ghanaian culture which is quite different from what the media portray. I now appreciate culture and i think it is very important to explore each other's culture” Sarah from Glasgow.

I copied this from Maj's journal:

“My name is Majid Bashir and I am 22 years old studying in Business in Paisley University.
I came to Ghana as the 2nd part of the Belongings Project with a group of eight other young people. I cannot explain how much I have enjoyed myself and how much I miss the country and my family in Ghana. We were taken care of very well and we met with chiefs from different villages and districts and we also got to play football against the Obracherie team, which we won 2-1!!
I had various meetings with local and national radio stations and even had the opportunity to be interviewed by GTV live on the breakfast show!
We visited various schools Cape Coast, Obracherie and others where we had the chance to work with young people and also share some conversations.

I have had the best experience of my life in Ghana, staying there for two full weeks and having the chance to understand, see, hear and being part of different cultures is one of the things I will always remember. Ghana is a country full of love and peace and is a place where people are always smiling. The warmth I felt from the people is unexplainable and also unforgettable. My family in Ghana taught us everything there is to know in Ghana and also taught me some Pigeon English! This is still something I try and practice in the UK.

Mepa chaow, ye fremi Maj Kofi Baboni Baku! As you can see I also learnt a little of the Ghananian language. It is very difficult to explain my experience as everything was so very new to us and different, I have forgot to mention the weather, which I absolutely loved! The sunshine, the warmth, the humidity was just truly amazing. Never say that Africans are underdeveloped. To me you are developed because of your attitude and beliefs.

I am going to finish with something I learnt from my brothers Gideon and Prosper in the Ghananian Language:
“Ghana Yeme krome, Meya Ghana Ni”


One participant from Africa had this to say “ i was wondering what the English culture-people, food, whether accent etc was like as i sat in the plane headding towards the west. i wonder if discrimination and racism really still exist and how i was going to cope with white young people i never seen or met. After two weeks, my colleagues from Africa and those from the west had glued to each other. i experienced sweet friendship, learnt warm attitude and caring hearts. Almost every minute i hear some one ask me “are you okay?'. Their culture of neatness, punctuality is what i took home as my belongings.

Dear Maadwen reader, wouldn't it be wonderful if we connect local cultures to bridge the gap between the various ethnic groups in Africa which breeds conflict on our dear continent?

News Analysis: Zimbabwe risks falling into Kenya-style

Harare, ZIMBABWE: The MDC MP for Harare North Trudy Stevenson writhes in agony on her hospital bed at the Avenues Clinic after being allegedly assaulted with a machete in political violence that flared up in Mabvuku during the weekend. AFP PHOTO/STRINGER (Photo credit STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.chinaview.cn/index.htm

Tensions in Zimbabwe escalated on Sunday after announcement of a recount of the March 29 general elections' votes, raising fears that the South African nation may fall into Kenya-style post-election chaos.

State media reported that 23 out of 210 constituencies will be recounted next Saturday.
As news of the recount came, leaders of Southern African countries convened in the Zambian capital of Lusaka on Saturday for an emergency meeting to break the impasse in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was absent from the regional meeting.

The African nation held elections for parliamentarians, local councilors and president on March 29, but the failure to release presidential results has triggered a serious crisis.

Chairman of the Southern African Development Community and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who called the Lusaka summit several days ago, said the delay in announcing the presidential race result has evoked "a climate of tension" in the Zambian neighbor.

After the March 29 elections, Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claimed its leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won outright in the presidential race.
However, there were also reports indicating that neither incumbent President Mugabe nor Tsvangirai has secured enough votesfor an outright victory.

While Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front envisions a run-off, the opposition has ruled out Tsvangirai's participation, saying that a second round would be undemocratic due to Mugabe's intimidation tactics.

"What the war veterans are doing is preparing for a re-run because Mugabe realizes that an announcement that he has won outright will not be believed," said political analyst Lovemore Madhuku.
Madhuku was referring to the independence war veterans that the opposition said Mugabe had sent out to ensure a second round victory.

"You will get the war veterans again on the war path. If there is a runoff the war veterans would make it difficult for some people to turn out to vote," said Madhuku, a critic of Mugabe and chairman of pressure group, the National Constitutional Assembly.

The opposition has also called for a general strike to be launched from Tuesday, the day after a court is due to rule on its bid to force the publication of the election result.

The political turmoil has added insult to injury for a nation which is deeply trapped in an economic crisis.

With inflation raging at higher and prices soaring irrationally, the government introduced earlier this month a 50-million-dollar Zimbabwe note, which could only buy three loaves of bread then and is depreciating quickly.

The International Monetary Fund said Saturday that even before the disputed March 29 election, things were bad in Zimbabwe.

It added that independent finance houses calculated inflation at around 290,000 percent in Zimbabwe compared to the official figure of 100,500 percent.

If not properly handled, the crisis in Zimbabwe has the risk of escalating toward the style of the deadly riots in Kenya, which was once one of Africa's most stable countries. The recent clashes in Kenya left more than 1,000 people killed and 350,000 others displaced.

Cameroon: Another Failed State? Cameroon's Descent

Relatives gather on February 24, 2008 in the Madagascar district of Douala in front of the house of Raoul, a 20-year-old man who was reportedly shot dead by police trying to disperse during a demonstration after protestors erected barricades on the eve. Police in Cameroon fired tear-gas and water cannon at a crowd of several hundred gathered for an outlawed demonstration against President Paul Biya's constitutional reform plans here yesterday. But opposition politicians behind the protest said police acted despite the rally being postponed at the last minute amid efforts at getting the state to overturn a ban its officials said was to avoid another 'Kenyan scenario'. A 20-year-old man was reportedly shot dead by police trying to disperse during the demonstration after protestors erected barricades. AFP PHOTO / FANNY PIGEAUD (Photo credit should read FANNY PIGEAUD/AFP/Getty Images)

By Ozong Agborsangaya-Fiteu

Unless there is clear political reform that will allow citizens to finally enjoy basic civil liberties - including full freedom of expression, free elections and the rule of law - a crisis is inevitable. But within days of our arrival in my country, riots and protests ignited by the rising costs of fuel and food resulted in a nationwide lockdown.

Much of the public's frustration is due to the stark need for political reform. Cameroon's 75-year-old president, Paul Biya, suggested in his New Year's address that he intended to modify the Constitution to extend his term in office beyond 2011.

Biya has been in power almost as long as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Under his rule, Cameroon has endured endemic corruption, weak institutions, official impunity and fraudulent elections. During our trip, I found the presence of armed security forces across the capital's hilly landscapes frighteningly reminiscent of the atmosphere in Rwanda and Burundi in the mid-1990s.

Thousands of ordinary citizens suspected of participating in the protests were arbitrarily rounded up and detained, subjected to summary trials and harsh sentences, some for up to six years in prison. Witnesses reported that many people in custody were beaten, tortured and abused.

There were also reports of dead bodies floating on the Wouri River in Douala, the country's economic capital, although it is unclear how many people died. Even more disturbing is the inflammatory and divisive rhetoric by some high-level government officials seeking to incite hatred and manipulate ethnic differences. In a country with over 125 different ethnic groups, this is a sinister game that could trigger inter-community conflict. The president recently made good on his New Year's promise.

The ruling party has formally introduced a bill that would amend the Constitution to allow Biya to run for another seven-year term after his current mandate ends in 2011. It is unclear what may happen next. Resentments were simmering long before Biya's New Year's speech - resentments that could have been addressed, but weren't. Instead, the president ignored all warnings in his bid for increased power.

The outcome could be very scary indeed. Although calm appears to have returned, for now, the human rights situation is seriously deteriorating. The few human rights lawyers in the country are overwhelmed. Intolerance and hate speech are rising. Campaigners for a civil society report that the government has them under surveillance and that their family members do not feel safe. There also are reports of increased arms trafficking into the country, with ordinary citizens buying and burying guns in their backyards - "just in case." The international community could take steps to help prevent a crisis.

Unfortunately, promises of preventive measures and "never again" rhetoric regarding Africa rarely translate into action on the ground. I fear that the international community will wait until it is too late to prevent a major conflict in Cameroon - and will then have to spend massive resources in response to a humanitarian crisis. Today, many people are trying to leave the country. But most of Cameroon's neighboring countries are themselves collapsing states and cannot provide a safe haven.

Unless there is clear political reform that will allow citizens to finally enjoy basic civil liberties - including full freedom of expression, free elections and the rule of law - a crisis is inevitable. Cameroon is another Central African country where time is running out.

What’s up in Kenya?

Kibaki and Odinga have taken tea and watched golf since the peace deal was signed

Nearly three months after the worst massacre of Kenya's post-election violence, children's shoes and charred clothes remain in the ashes of a rural church where about 30 people were burned to death.

Wreaths of dried-out flowers lie where a mob set fire to the Assemblies of God building with 100 or so terrified villagers cowering inside. A cow nibbles grass around a fallen yellow tape reading: "Crime Scene, Do Not Cross."

All around the church, torched and trashed homes litter countryside outside the western town of Eldoret, one of the epicentres of violence that killed at least 1,200 people and uprooted 300,000 others after Kenya's December 27 election.

President Mwai Kibaki and his main challenger, Raila Odinga, have since made their peace, burying their dispute over who won in a power-sharing agreement. They have taken tea and even watched golf together at a colonial-era country club.

But on the ground, wounds from the worst bloodletting in the east African nation since independence in 1963 remain sore and many fear violence could erupt again if the deeper roots of the troubles are not tackled.

Communities are suspicious of one another. Tens of thousands of people still live as refugees. And there has been a massive population shift as Kenyans from different tribes return to the safety of their ancestral heartlands.

Less than a mile from the burnt church in Kiambaa village, police are building a new base to prevent repetitions of the attacks by Kalenjins -- who are in the majority in the Eldoret area -- on Kikuyus, members of Kibaki's ethnic group.

"We will hold the peace, and we will catch the perpetrators," one policeman said, nailing planks to new huts.

NERVOUS
A few nervous-looking Kikuyus are back to check their plots.
"Some fear to return, some want to sell their land, some might come back and re-settle here if there is peace," said Francis Waweru, 23. His sister scorched her arm escaping from the church and has gone far away to the Kikuyu town of Limuru.

"It is hard to forget," he said, standing next to the church and describing how hundreds of Kalenjin warriors barred the refugees inside before burning the building and hacking those who tried to escape with machetes.

Down the road, locals have daubed a new name in their tribal language -- Kipnyiket -- over the Kikuyu word Kiambaa. Authorities say the perpetrators are among hundreds they have arrested nationwide. They plan a memorial at the church site.

On another side of Eldoret, scores of houses and shops are reduced to blackened rubble in scenes more reminiscent of war-riven neighbours Somalia and Sudan.

Huge boulders beside the highway also bear witness to the gangs who took over the area in January. Armed with machetes and bows-and-arrows, they had set up roadblocks to hunt Kikuyus.

"Of course we were angry. They stole the election in front of our eyes," one jobless 28-year-old Kalenjin man said.

"Now power is supposed to be shared 50-50 but they are not willing to share really," he added, echoing a widespread accusation among Kenya's non-Kikuyus that Kibaki's community has monopolised power and wealth.

Another Kalenjin man chided a visiting reporter, saying the media -- like Kibaki and the police -- had focused on deaths of Kikuyus around Eldoret, but not the killing of members of other communities elsewhere around Kenya.

"What about the house burned in Naivasha with 15 people inside? You don't talk about what the Kikuyus did," he said.

"There are no Kikuyus living round here any more. If they come back, it will depend on the 50-50 deal, if it works. Then if they return and are friendly with us, it will be OK."

UNDERLYING PROBLEMS

According to the power-sharing deal, Odinga is set to become prime minister although wrangling remains over other posts.

Further down the line, Kenya's politicians will also have to overhaul the constitution and discuss underlying problems such as land and inequality that were laid bare by the dispute over Kibaki's re-election last December.

At Eldoret showground, 15,000 refugees -- almost all Kikuyus -- live in tents crammed together on the field.

They are either too scared to return home, have nothing to go back to, or are waiting for some way of travelling to their community's heartland in central Kenya.

"Power-sharing has brought peace to the people above, but not to us," said pastor Gideon Mwangi, whose house in Eldoret was torched and whose family fled to Naivasha.

"We are willing to go back, but only when there is real peace. There are still threats going on in the villages."

Refugee leaders are petitioning for compensation for destroyed properties, stolen livestock and lost crops.

Some Kikuyus in the Eldoret area have, however, returned to their former lives. In the centre of town, several dozen stick together for security in streets where they work as mechanics and labourers fixing minibuses.

Joseph Gitau, 23, was born in the area, saw his father killed with a poisoned arrow during inter-ethnic fighting in 1997, and admits taking up a machete to face Kalenjin gangs in January. One day, he saw seven fellow Kikuyus decapitated.

Yet he has returned to work to help feed his mother, and ten brothers and sisters. And he has no intention of returning to a tribal homeland he does not know.

"There, I have no job, no land, nothing. What could I do?" (Editing by Daniel Wallis) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)

ANALYSIS-Seeds of class war sprout in Kenya's crisis

By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

Kenya is a land of stark contrast: the rich drive gleaming luxury cars, can afford to enrol their children in top British schools and in the case of one local magnate, send suits to London for dry cleaning.

But most live a hand-to-mouth existence and some Kenyans believe the bloody post-election crisis that has exposed the east African country's tribal divisions could also inflame the gulf between classes and further exacerbate instability.

Although long seen as one of Africa's most promising economies, Kenya has a huge wealth gap, with 10 percent of people controlling 42 percent of the economy and the poorest 10 percent holding less than 1 percent, according to U.N. figures."If this issue is not resolved, the worst thing we would hear or see is a class war where these people, men and women, say they have nothing to lose," Abbas Gullet, secretary general of the Kenya Red Cross, told business leaders recently.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga used the argument that many Kenyans have not shared in economic growth under President Mwai Kibaki -- averaging 5 percent a year -- to win support in impoverished areas ahead of the election in December.The dispute over Kibaki's re-election, in a vote that Odinga says was stolen, became the spark for bloodshed that has killed at least 1,000 people in ethnic clashes and battles between police and poor slum dwellers.

Chief mediator Kofi Annan, the former U.N. Secretary General, hopes for a political solution this week but nobody expects the wounds opened by the crisis to heal so soon.While Kenya's most obvious divisions follow tribal lines, those killed on both sides tend to have much more in common as peasant farmers or slum dwellers than they do with the ultra wealthy Kibaki and Odinga.

Struggle to survive

Almost half of Kenya's 36 million people live on a dollar a day and most struggle to put their children through school or pay for decent health care. Cabinet ministers take home more than 1 million shillings ($13,820) a month.

"All these politicians are using us. We fight one another and die like animals but their children are not on the streets like other Kenyans," said Ouma, a security guard in a middle-class Nairobi suburb. "The people dying are young men who should be working not dying."During the worst fighting, ethnic gangs erected roadblocks and beat up or killed those they caught from rival communities.

But some of the thugs also harassed or robbed people from their own ethnic groups if they seemed wealthier.Around 500,000 young Kenyans join the job market each year, but many fail to find work, swelling the number of disaffected youths ready to seize on any chance they can to profit."Some of them see us riding in our Mercedes or in our Hummers and they want that, just as we want the same thing for our children. T

his is the reality we are dealing with today," Steven Smith, chairman of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, told the meeting of business leaders.Aid workers in Kenya's slums say they have to consult with so-called "emerging informal leadership" for their safety. Simply put, they have to deal with ethnically-based gangs that control slums where police and other normal government services rarely reach.

Poverty is a driving force behind high levels of crime that affect both rich and poor Kenyans.In Nairobi's Mathare slum, the murderous Mungiki criminal gang has long ruled, carrying out extortion rackets and providing illegal water or electricity connections.

Politicians have long used such groups as campaign muscle-for-hire, and did so during the election violence."They have a huge say and sway on the ground in these major slums and they are establishing their own leadership," Gullet said. "I say to many politicians ... today it is quite clear that they do not have the proper control over these people."

A local daily columnist wrote recently that it was naive to expect that pro-Kibaki and pro-Odinga gangs would only fight against each other forever."If there's no political settlement soon, at some point, the gangs will unite ... together attacking, without discrimination, the homes of Kibaki and Raila's middle-class supporters," Charles Onyango-Obbo wrote in the Daily Nation

He cited the example of rival gangs fighting for political godfathers in Congo Republic in the 1990s who sometimes called a temporary truce when their battles led them to a rich suburb. They would then loot it together, before going back to war. (Editing by Bryson Hull and Matthew Tostevin)

Can Kenya happen in Ghana?

The upheaval in Kenya has shocked many observers

Link: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/200802/13805.asp

by Etse Sikanku

Ever since the Kenyan crisis erupted many have expressed surprise about how easily one of Africa’s exemplar nations could be dogged into such morass.

The question has been asked many times-in private and in public-if such a situation could happen in Ghana.

In as much as I’d hate to be the doom monger I sincerely believe Ghana is way past the question of ‘if’ to ‘when’. It is not so much a matter of if it will happen but when it will.

This may be a hard pill to swallow but take this: Ghana is sitting on a time bomb.

P.V Obeng in his lecture to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has said exactly what has been on my mind for quite a while now.

Let’s take a step back and reflect folks, if conscious efforts are not made to address the political, tribal and economic hotspots in Ghana the consequences will be too ghastly to contemplate.

I have covered some of the most violent demonstrations in Ghana and I think the notion that the country can never be plunged into chaos is an invention of a nomadic imagination.

What is more it is not difficult to point to any one region in Ghana which does not have its own land, chieftaincy or some form of conflict or the other.

Indeed I have ceased to delude myself in the notion that Ghana will never be Rwanda or Kenya.
The other thing that makes things worse is Ghana’s willingness to rather shut off any discussion of such notions than address the issues head on.

In truth the Ghanaian state has everything going for it and the people have done well to keep sway for past decades till now.

But the seeming peace may soon fade into oblivion and many Ghanaians will be shocked beyond belief if they choose to play the ostrich while it’s still daylight.

Africa: America’s flop

There will be no such 18 fighter jet aerobatic displays in Africa by the United States

by Etse Sikanku

The definite resistance by African countries to the hosting of the United States’ so called Africa Command is no proof that Africa has come of age-but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Since the early post colonial days the people of Africa had been imbued with a false sense of hope that the new Africa will go on to become prosperous. But that dream has only remained short lived-a pipe dream-if you want.

With the progression of time many African nations have failed the basics of the governance test and thus became far too weak to resist the pressure of neo-colonialism. Soon western powers were predictably meddling in the affairs of the continent albeit through surrogates.

It sometimes seems as if the rest of the world is playing a cruel joke on Africa. They grant our nations independence but through imperialism, the insidious effects of the slave trade, a shameless exploitation by multi-national corporations and an unjust world order, the west continues to strangle Africa for their selfish gains.

Prof George Ayittey writing on the African paradox cannot hide this perplexity when he says “Africa's deteriorating economic situation is baffling”.

Every foreign policy neophyte knows the hidden agenda behind Bush’s Africom agenda. It is more about protecting American interests than supporting Africa.

Professor Ali Mazrui a reputable African scholar in his book The Africans claims that almost everything that has gone wrong in Africa can be attributed to Western colonialism. An extremist view one might say but certainly something worth considering.

But did Africa really misunderstand Africom and its mission? Can we trust Gen Ward when he says “The key aim of Africom is to build the capacity of African countries for security and peacekeeping”

Why did most African countries resist Africom? Was it the right way to go? Will Africa really come under threats from Al Qaeda if it accepted to host the US military base?

Or have we missed a great opportunity to develop our military and defense capabilities as well as improve peacekeeping missions around the continent.

Is Africa up for the toss?

The decisive stand of African leaders is commendable. This is a good day for African patriotism but will we live to regret it?

The African Cup of Nations-Did Hayatou cheat?

Hayatou is a typical 'big man' in Africa

by Kojo Asiedu

The African Cup of Nations has come and gone but the recriminations, rumor mongering and celebrations will continue for some time to come. One of the subtle yet loud “hear-says” going around is that some ‘big men’ at CAF had attempted to influence the outcome of the tournament.

It is no secret that Issa Hayatou the imperious CAF boss has an unshakable iron grip on CAF. After the Ghana-Cameroon match, according to Allafrica.com, “Mrs Janet Ofosuhene, a physical education instructor, who was visibly angry while she was leaving the stadium, accused the CAF Executives of belonging to a conclave that decided, which country should win the African Nations' Cup, and asked why referees were not selected through open balloting but was done in secret."
Sour grapes you might say but every street playing soccer kid in Ghana knows Hayatou is not completely blameless.

Has the ‘big man’ phenomenon eaten too deep into CAF? Has the time come for Hayatou to go before he turns CAF into a laughing stock and a continental disgrace?
What is even more embarrassing is the way the organization side stepped Ivorian star Didier Drogba for Kanoute in awarding the African Player of the year award simply because Drogba was not physically present-and for a good reason.

Should football fans sit and allow a small band of self serving mob to destroy such a beautiful game.

This is sheer abuse of power.

African soccer has been living under a groundless illusion that the game is on an upward ratchet all over the continent but may wake up one day to find out that Hayatou and his French speaking gang have plunged us into a total mess.

What do you think? Should Hayatou be given the sack? Did he really cheat for Cameroon?

It is Bush who desperately needs us

Ghana and the United States have a fairly good relationship


by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

As president Bush of the United States of America arrives in Ghana on Tuesday in his on-going tour of Africa, it is important for the Ghanaian people to be told the pure and simple truth.

Contrary to the propaganda from the Whitehouse, their embassy in Accra and their surrogates in the Osu Castle that President Bush is here as the benevolent father who cares about us and is here to show concern about malaria, HIV/Aids and his Millennium Challenge Account – all these are but a smoke screen.

Another interesting angle pushed in President Kufuor’s State of the Nation address last week, was that President Bush’s intention to visit us is manifestation of how well we are doing as a country.

Even the reasons coming from officialdom in the Whitehouse and the Osu Castle are beginning to laughably contradict themselves. If President Bush is coming here to check up malaria and HIV/Aids interventions then how can these same officials tell us in the same breath that President Bush comes here as proof of how well we are doing.

Funny isn’t it?

But you see, it is my mum who told me when I was a little child that I should never take to lying because when you tell one lie you must tell several lies in order to cover your tracks and that makes you soon get miserably exposed.

First of all, we must tell our people that America’s foreign policy is and has always been this – “permanent interest and no permanent friends.” Before President Bush visit to Africa was endorsed by those really in charge of the American system, they would have convinced themselves without a shred of doubt that it is their interest that will be served. President Bush is here for our oil, nothing more nothing less!

At this material moment, President Bush is the singular most unpopular American citizen both in the world and in his own country. Aside the low approval ratings he suffers in America, the current political season in America has emphasized one important point- the farther your policies and philosophies are from Bush, the clearer your chances.

This is why even in Bush’s Republican Party the two remaining aspirants distance themselves from Bush. As for the Democratic Party nomination, both aspirants are preaching change and it has been observed that because Barack Obama represents a more sincere change since he voted against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that is why he is doing better than Hillary Clinton.

In all Bush’s life, he has represented the American ruling and rich business elite. He only became president because they needed him to get there and guarantee their interest. (Michael Moore has a better substantial evidential proof of this), it is this hegemony Bush seeks to further perpetrate in his new found role as the Father Christmas of Africa. Americans themselves are suffering under Bush.

Over two million Americans are about to lose their entire live savings due to the mortgage crisis. The American economy is on the brink of recession. Americans both home and abroad don’t feel safe anymore because of the recklessness of Bush.

I recall as a summer visitor to the States, how Bush exploited 9/11 to instill fear in the American people to secure his second term of office. If President Bush wasn’t President of America he would have been standing trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity.

The hundreds of women who are raped in Iraq and Afghanistan, the thousands of children and innocent civilians whose lives don’t matter to Bush as they are buried in mass graves in Iraq and Afghanistan and those bodies who cannot be identified because American bombs have tore them into pieces.

This also includes the young soldiers who are children of ordinary American citizens who continue to die in the senseless war of Iraq that has still not found Bush’s so-called weapons of mass destruction though it has paved the way to establish a US military base that protects Dick Cheney’s oil company and other US business interests as they milk Iraq dry, the revealed torture including ‘water-boarding’ in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay continues– all these under his supervision as Commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

As Bush comes for our oil, he has the added PR advantage with the huge CNN and Fox networks behind him of being portrayed as the Bush who has a human side and cares about victims of malaria and HIV/Aids as he attempts a last minute face saving.

The gullible ones may believe this PR stunt but not the majority of people around the world who have now read through the lines of America’s selfish foreign policy and will take to the streets in wild jubilation the day President Bush hands over not only as president of America but also as the tormentor-in-chief of our world.

As for those groups in Ghana who have organized special prayer sessions for an incident free arrival of Bush into Ghana, I will only remind them that Ghanaians are being killed in the Gambia, in Libya and other parts of this world as they travel in search for greener pastures, maybe they too deserve prayers even if to these groups Bush has a special blood running through his veins.

For at least throughout the Bible God has rather been sympathetic to the poor, the vulnerable and the wretched of the earth.

If Bush couldn’t save his own people, let my folks know, he cannot save Ghanaians. Under the circumstance, it is he who needs us badly. Help will only come from within when we take the right decisions, break off from our present neo-colonial mentality and demand of our leaders not to sell us to the highest bidder.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is the author of the book, A State of Coma; he has several other publications to his name. He was National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) President and is currently a leading member of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA). He welcomes your comments.

Kibaki must step aside

When the ailing gentleman took office a couple of years ago, who would have thought he will be the supervisor of yet another African embarrassment in this modern age?

Yet as unbelievable as it may seem the aspiring septuagenarian has managed to plunge a once shinning Kenya into the darkest pits of politics.

The glory days are no more and Kenya’s future now more than ever looks so bleak.

Surely this is criminal and he must be given the boot.

Mwai Kibaki before January 2008 had a fairly impressive record. He campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket offering visions of real change for Kenya. His tramp card was to bring about economic growth by promising to rescue a failing economy.

Back then Kibaki said this will help bring equal opportunities to a nation which had been divided on tribal lines. Huge investments have been made in the education sector. Currently over 7.6 million children are enjoying primary education countrywide because of President Kibaki’s policy of Free Primary Education.

His spokesperson Dr. Alfred N. Mutua, E.B.S. says “President Kibaki has a vision that touches on every Kenyan's life.” He argues in the magazine “Truth be told” that the president has a “vision of economic growth, of supporting Kenyans of all walks and equity. “ It is a vision that he has implemented.” he argues.

The plan then had been to thrust Kenya further into the global spotlight by making it an African model. If you ask me these were laudable ideas by all standards.

Surely he has managed to thrust Kenya somewhere but not quite what voters asked for. The East African nation is now the centre of discussions on conflict, war and civil strife in Africa. And to think that all this happened because of one man and his team of power drunk hot heads is simply incomprehensible.

When the majority of Kenyans voted for him five years ago, this is not what they asked for. I’ve been speaking to a colleague of mine who’s from Kenya about the current crisis. She’s as shocked as anybody else. She told me as a kid she used to measure the stability of a nation by how often it appeared on the major news networks such as CNN. The more often a country was in the news the more unstable it was. Looking back now, she says the attention that Kenya is getting from the rest of the world was the final confirmation that all is not well at home.

Indeed all is less than well at home. Annan has described the scene at the conflict ridden Rift valley as “heart wrenching”. Thousands of Kenyans have been orphaned and left homeless. Rape is being used as a tool of war. Thousands more have died and about 600,000 people have been displaced. In Naivasha Kenya now has its own version of ‘camp Darfur’. These were scenes that were unthinkable even in the terror days of Arap Moi.

It’s an understatement to say that his political stock has immeasurably reduced ever since the crisis started no matter how bad his main challenger Raila Odinga looks.

I suppose I have some sympathy for the president on account of his past record but any such consideration begins to fade looking at the enormity of his crime. Others are not so considerate and maintain that he is fully deserving of the abuse and opprobrium that he is facing nationally and internationally.

He turned his back on a country that had so much faith in him. Consider the countless number of Kenyans who entrusted their lives and that of their children-including the unborn-to his care. He was the chief executive of one of Africa’s most promising nations.

When it came down to it, Kibaki was woeful, clueless and simply inept. He has proved that he is totally incapable of ruling a nation. Isn’t this the most important duty of any leader?

Mwai Kibaki is a managerial disaster.

His laissez faire fair attitude is a typical reflection of the African “big man” and “big boss”. Not quite what Kenya needs.

Kibaki has dashed everyone’s expectations and he must step down. Now.

Share your view: What is the best solution to the current crisis in Kenya?

Are we really in Control?

Robert Mugabe is one of Africa's most notorious dictators

by William Ntim-Boadu

Have you been interested in recent developments in Africa? Then I guess you would know by now what is happening in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, then man’s cruelty against his fellow man in the Darfur region of Sudan, Nigeria’s unstable oil industry where the spate of recent kidnappings would make your pulse race and more positively, I am sure you would certainly know about Ghana’s recent golden jubilee anniversary celebrations.

As an African and more specifically a Ghanaian growing up in my country’s capital, Accra, I always got this impression that the foreign media- both print and electronic, preferred carrying African news that played us out as a very backward people until I got religion a few years back.
Not that we are backward in every sense of the word, but sometimes some of the things that happen here on the continent will make your jaw drop in marvel.

Let us look at one subtle but very important resource that my compatriots and I allow to run waste annually. My country has been on tremendous economic recovery since 2002 and we have managed some how to slow this recovery for the best part of this year due to water. Do you think it strange? What connection has water got with economic recovery? My country runs mainly on hydro-supplied electricity and the rains did not come in early this year.

Our major hydro dam-the Akosombo Dam- reached its record lows. Industry has suffered greatly as a result and Databank Group, a reputable Corporate and Public Finance Advisory provider in Ghana with operations in the Gambia put an estimate on the annual cost to Industry at about US$60,000. That is costly given that this was an avoidable cost as all prior years’ national rainfall forecast reports pointed to this crisis at about this time.

Well, so the rains have started and heavily at that and this is where my surprise lies. There have been the usual floods which my countrymen and I have become used to over the years and the equally harsh critique of government for its slow response to provide relief for flood victims.

My surprise? how more than half of the twenty and over million population in my country do not have access to portable treated water and yet each rainy season- as you may already be aware, we have two seasons; the dry and the wet seasons- we are showered with water for close to five months intermittently and virtually all the rain run into streams, rivers and of course some get absorbed deep into the ground without trapping much or any at all for treatment and use or for direct domestic use while we buy treated bottled water for drinking.

Rain water may rank next or for want of a better word, second to treated portable water. A farmer in rural Ghana will be so thankful to have such clean water to help with domestic chores; specifically as drinking water.

Government does not have facilities that trap rain water for recycling and for use by the citizenry and government is not my target here; it is the individual home owners. Take the capital city Accra; the real estate industry has been one of the fastest growing that my fear sometimes is that land in the capital is off the sales market.

The development has fast out paced the extension of social services such as provision of portable water be it provided by a government organisation or by a private provider as is the case in Ghana to all newly developed areas. I marvel at how we have been able to build splash homes on usually large sized plots thanks to the trendy architectural designs of highly skilled Ghanaian architects.

How we have acquired empty water reservoirs both dug-outs (underground concrete reservoirs) and mounted ones in our homes but buy treated water that is carted in mobile water trucks to our homes once about every forty-five (45) days, when rain water runs off our roofs into street gutters where they are available or unto our streets in most newly developed areas a little over one hundred and fifty (150) days- 5 months- each year. Though the rains may be delayed but they certainly come pouring.

Thanks to developments in architecture, roofs gutters can be fitted unto the edges of a building’s roofing to ensure 100% collection of rain water into underground concrete reservoirs. How these gutters even enhance the trendy looks of these properties.

Are roof gutters really a recent development? Not really. I recently visited a church in one of the suburbs of Cape Coast- the former capital of Ghana, then Gold Coast. This Methodist Church was built in late 19th century and guess what, it has roof gutters that collects rain water into reservoirs that I believe was used by the early Christian Missionaries all year round when research about the provision of treated water was still being explored in Africa I would want to believe.

This water continues to be used by the local church’s administrative staff for all their relevant utility purposes.

If this technology has been around this long, why are we not fully utilising it? Is it that knowledge about roof gutters with the accompanying reservoirs is not wide spread in my country?
Is it due to poverty? - the easiest targeted excuse for failing to do anything meaningful for our lives-in a country where recent reforms in the Banking and Financial services sector have seen banks chasing customers into their homes to offer credit facilities? or that we are looking up to Government as we sadly do always, to extend infrastructural facilities for the distribution of portable water to our homes.

Most homes in rural Ghana have makeshift roof gutters though without large storage facilities. So I am shocked when citizenry in urban Ghana complains and criticizes government over issues such as water provision when rain water runs off our roofs for five (5) months each year.

Probably we have not yet considered how self sufficient each individual home will be by exploring this rather cheap technology and indeed the free natural resource-rain water.

The African Culture and Women

Should such African dances such as this be thrown out?

by Sharon Daplaah

The African Culture is a way of life. Africa is rich in colour, social values, social norms and that which is also firmly rooted in other cultures around the world due the dark days of slave trade.

Culture according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is “the customs and beliefs, art, way of life and social organization of a particular country or group.” The African culture in the mist of its great customs, beliefs, beautiful art, and rich social organization is also one culture whose proponents are the “gods of the land”.

These gods have curved out a way for our women which are very unsuitable for the fast growing trend of the world’s modern development.

In the mist of this culture that is set to seem “holy” and cannot be altered except the gods, is African women who are full of energy and strength yet are limited in expressing themselves to the benefit of society because culture is holy, it’s sacred and cannot be changed.

Ironically her meager achievements within her strict culture seem to be getting the world’s attention. Conversely in her stricken poverty which can be attributed to the African social restrictions and some world politics she knows nothing about she is still firm and manages to survive in the messed world created without any reverence to her very existence.

In today’s fast growing world, a large chunk of African women are still lacking behind for no good reason but on the basis of cultural practices and sometimes denied their basic fundamental right to be educated. For many who have no choice settle for an early marriage of which usually they have no interest or whatsoever in. She has to bear the burden of becoming (if lucky) the 7th wife to an old, frail and feeble man who’s almost near his grave yet is expectant of his teenage wife to bear for him children to that of a size of a football team only to boost his meager ego of being the wealthiest in his village (size of a man’s family is a measure of his wealth).

Alas, the old, frail and feeble man gives up to the waiting darkness and what’s next? He leaves his teenage wife to cope with a life which is not her calling. So what kind of society will deprive her women of all the care, will-power to make her own choices?

Our traditions, culture, beliefs define us and make up our total being leaving us with a sense of identification so that one can say she’s an Ashanti, an Ibo, a Soso, a Fulani etc. Our cultural traditions are good and must be held in high esteem at all cost.

However culture is dynamic and so should the traditions in our cultures. Some of these traditions should be subject to the changes that takes place over time periods, more especially when they have proven to retard development.

African practices such as trokosi (girls given up to the gods in a atonement of the sins committed by a dead relative), early marriages, female circumcision and infibulations, polygamy, forced marriages and many more all affect women adversely and subsequently affecting development since women are key partners in development.

All these practices should be eschewed from our way of live and new cultures
should be embraced.

Embracing other traditions of the world does not mean we as Africans should doubt our traditions and beliefs. Lets look deep into ourselves, lets look at how far our cultural traditions have brought us in the light of development and lets rebuild ourselves with what I will term as “a holistic culture” i.e., the culture of the world, without getting rid of our culture totally but rather those figments of practices that have forestalled the development of women and hence Africa as a whole.

We should also fuse into other ways of life that encourage the development of women in Africa.

The Future of Africa Lies With Its Young Leaders

by Dainty Jughead

The concept of age is a tricky thing, particularly when it comes to leadership. Indeed, for years, I have been grappling with the question that plagues many young, powerful and articulate African leaders ‘What is the right age to become a political leader in Africa?’

Most traditional African societies had distinct social and political structures that were based on significant stages of life. African people be it men or women underwent different rites of passages as the years passed by. From childhood to adolescence, to young adulthood, to warrior hood and finally to ‘elder hood.’ At each stage of life, people were entrusted and expected to perform certain responsibilities and a rites of passage involved acquisition of wisdom, power, knowledge and decision making capabilities.

The whole process of molding a person into a leader rendered one a sacred imprint in the history of the society with an individual’s soul exposed to spiritual, cultural, social and political ideologies. Despite societal variation, and especially in tribal- traditional societies, young men and women in their thirties and early forties could be entrusted with power to govern the society. Rites of passages were at the nucleus of every socio-cultural, spiritual and political dynamism; obstinately expressed and accepted, and persistent throughout society. The old respectfully gave way to the young to lead, to protect and govern the next generation of the society.

In current African social and political system, leaders are redefining the meaning and business of becoming old (by old, I refer to any person above the age of sixty years). As Africans are grappling with democracies across the continent, leadership and politics have become intertwined and has been espoused as an act of cunningness and outmaneuvering. Social and political leadership has shifted gear and become a playing field for those who selfishly pursuit power and control of resources. Young people eager for social and political leaderships at all levels of administration depart with traumatic experiences. Most of them go through a series of emotional turmoil, from shock to anger to disbelief and eventually acceptance….that political leadership is held by old leaders who suffer from a famine of bold and novel ideas.

As he celebrated his 89th birthday recently, former South African president Nelson Mandela launched “the Elders”, a group of leaders who have a combined 638 years of collective experience to deal with world issues. This included former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (76 years) who is the chairman of the “Elders”, former US president Jimmy Carter (83 years), former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan (69 years), Indian social activist Ela Bhatt (74 years), former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland (67 years), former Irish president Mary Robinson (63 years), Bangladeshi economist and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus (67), former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing (77 years) and the Burma pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi (62 years). It is with melancholy, as I reflect on the population age structure of Eastern African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi). Collectively, the population age distribution is 44.6% (0-14 years), 53.3% (15-60 years) and 2.1% (over 61 years). Nelson Mandela’s “Elders” all fall under the 2.1% category and there are entrusted to find solutions for the rest of the 97.9% of the people. How is a 65 year old diplomat expected to shape the life of a 12, 25 or even a 35 year old, when we take into consideration the rapidly technologically developing world? It is not only impractical, but laughable.

The “Elders” are supposed to draw on their immense skills and collective wisdom and find solutions for HIV/AIDS, climate change and conflicts, problems that not only haunts the continent of Africa and but sends cold shivers down the spine of its inhabitants. I read through these names with sadness. This “Elders” who have held key leadership position and during their reign did not solve the problems of Africa are expected to find global solutions. The question then is; can we use the above “Elders” to nurture and develop liberal young leadership that should take control and govern Africa? To many young people of Africa, the above “Elders” do not contain bold new thinking on the most crucial ingredient that is required to transform the face of Africa: young age, energy, visionary leadership quality and the best strategies to sustain such leadership.

Currently most African countries have or are undergoing a second reign of liberation. The first liberation was the fight for freedom from the colonial rule and credit is bestowed on such leaders Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Patrick Lumumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, Colonel Gamal Abd al-Nasir and Sekou Toure, to name but a few . Some seating presidents fought during this first liberation. The second liberation is happening as new but elderly presidents take the political reign. Unfortunately, this second liberation is more painful than the first, because many young potential leaders are sidelined and thought of as immature and incapable of ruling a country. Instead of building on first presidential liberators started, current leaders are busy waging internal wars, propelled by vengeance they are busy blocking politics of reason from maturing.
African leaders are advocating for a continental body referred to as United States for Africa. Indeed, it is a noble idea to dissolve the social, political and economic boundaries that have encapsulated the African people who were divided in the 19th century when Europeans partitioned Africa. However, a continental body might not solve Africa’s leadership woes. What do we need to do to move forward and encourage young leaders like President Kabila of DRC? It is time for young leaders to step into the political limelight and change the thinking of old leaders and the way they regard politics.

First, the young are told that politics is dirty and should be left to the elderly. The upshot of this direction of thinking is that we continue to harbor distrust. And t will only get worse as long as we treat political leadership as a game of astuteness. Young leaders have superior skills in effective communication, valuable compassion, collaboration and partnerships and conflict resolution. Second, old African leaders do not have respect for the political institutions they allege to belong to. We need to draw upon young leaders whose thinking go beyond tribal, country, regional but embrace continental boundaries. We have to pull on these young men and women, who will transform Africa from the continent scale. We need such young minds to tread on corridors of power, in front of or alongside the Mandela “Elders” and other political giants. It is only by including the above two suggestions, that we might encourage young and bright Africans to stay in the continent.

Indeed, we should not be perplexed and shocked at the extent at which young African leaders are escaping the confines of old politicians and hoping to find recognition outside the continent of Africa. For some, it might be the lure of better education and promising financial opportunities. But for most young people, it is the desire for recognition, the desire to lead