African agenda 10 2

AFRICAN AGENDA VOL.10 NO.2

ISSUE Vol 10 No.2 2007 US$5.00 GB£3.00 Û5.00

• DOHA WAS NEVER ABOUT DEVELOPMENT

• TWN-Africa & OXFAM PUT EU’S POLITICAL WILL TO TEST

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page 12 Photo: Nkrumah and Haile Sellasie - pioneers ofAfrican Unity

African Agenda is published six times a year by Third World Network (TWN) Africa.TWN is an international network of groups and individuals who seek greater articulation of the needs and rights of the peoples of the Third World, especially marginalised social groups,

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CoverGhana, a contested model ...........................................................................5

Continental unity and social justice are the legacy of Nkrumah .………....9

Nkrumah’s ambition was the full realisation of the dignity of the African, says daughter…......…………….………..…..............……...11

US $20 million indece celebrations budget sparks controversy ................14

Women side-stepped in anniversary celebrations .....................................17

DevelopmentDoha was never about development …………..................................……20

Poor need more than a declaration ………………………...................….21

Beef up budget allocation to achieve MDGs ……...........................…......23

TradeEPAs must be subjected to electoral test …………………...............……25

Oxfam & TWN-Africa put EU’s political will to test ....…...............……26

Serious threat to producers ………….....................………...............……28

WomenProposed UN women’s agency gains key ally .....………...............……...29

Women stuck at the small-scale level .....………...............….............…...31

InternationalSecurity Council accused of overstepping bound ..…...............…………33

RightsPrivatisation violates right to health, say activists .....……...............…….35

SocietyRemember Benjamin Zephaniah ........................…………..............…….37

Contents

4 AFRICAN AGENDA VOL.10 NO.2

The turn out for the 50th anniversaryof Ghana’s independence was a trulypan-African affair. There were offi-

cial delegations from about 30 Africancountries. The proximity of the 6th Marchdate to the 200th anniversary of the Britishabolition of their transatlantic Slave Tradehelped swell the numbers of Africans fromall over who came to Ghana around thetime. Alongside those who came to cele-brate Ghana’s place in history were manywho proclaim today’s Ghana as a model forthe rest of the African continent. Theseincluded the disgraced warmonger PaulWolfowitz, at the time President of theWorld Bank and British Deputy PrimeMinister John Prescott.

There was no mistaking the mood ofnational celebration among ordinaryGhanaians during the period around March6th, comparable only to the excitement gen-erated by the Black Stars qualifying for thesecond round of the last FIFA World Cup.Ghanaians had a lot to celebrate. The coun-try has enjoyed a generation of political sta-bility and economic growth after the 15years of decline that followed Nkrumah’soverthrow in 1966. Despite the persistenceof authoritarian reflexes in state culture thepolitical system is fairly open; fifteen yearsafter the start of the 4th Republic the coun-try has seen an alternation of power amongparties and the media is not repressed.

The anniversary however was not onlyabout the present but also about that historicmoment 50 years ago. The majority of thenon-Ghanaian African visitors came to con-nect with the golden jubilee of an event thathad so influenced their own struggles andthe memory of a man, Kwame Nkrumah,who has had such a profound impact onblack history. Sadly, just like a substantialsection of the Ghanaian population, theyfound the official celebrations to be acutelylacking in a sense of history. The protests ofGhanaian women’s groups about the machobias of what little historical thread that wasin the official programme was just one ofmany such expressions. Some of the visitorsfrom the Caribbean and the USA voicedtheir disappointment.

The anaemic sense of history in theofficial programme was more design thanaccident. This was highlighted by PresidentKufuor’s scandalous failure, during hisanniversary speech, to acknowledge theConvention People’s Party (CPP),Nkrumah’s party, as the organisation thatled Ghana to independence. It is one ofthose ironies of history that the 50thanniversary celebrations took place under

the rule of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)the prime identity of whose lineage is thenegative of being the ‘other’ to the CPP.This political tradition has clung onto a par-tially fictionalised version of anti-colonialhistory that has failed to see that Ghana’sindependence was substantially more thanthe CPP defeating their domestic politicalopponents and was an achievement of pro-found global import which Africans all overthe world see as theirs. The blinkered per-spective led to the bathos of the NPP seeingthe 50th anniversary as a chance to settlescores by diminishing Nkrumah and theCPP rather than as a moment in world andAfrican history to be truthfully celebrated.

The concerted effort to diminishNkrumah, as well as what was played up bythe official programme underlined some ofthe flaws in the African model that Ghana istoday, as did some of the issues that pro-voked public outrage. What Bush,Wolfowitz, Blair and the Queen toast abouttoday’s Ghana contrast sharply with whyAfricans idolise Nkrumah. The Ghana thatBush and Blair hold forth for Africa is asymbol of the continent’s aid dependenceand lapse back into the primary export andimported consumer goods economy. Thiscontrasts with the early post colonial yearswhen Nkrumah and co were concerned witheconomic transformation and independ-ence. The current extent of Ghana’s importdependence has produced a nationalistbacklash that cuts across very broad sectors.That the government chose to order the offi-cial anniversary textile from China illustrat-ed the current state of things and provokedconsiderable outrage.

The outrage was not simply about pro-duction and income lost to the Ghanaianeconomy but was also from a feeling thatcorruption may have been a factor in thedecision to import. Just like in most Africancountries the government in Ghana is per-ceived by a substantial section of the publicas corrupt. The same suspicion of corruptbenefit coloured public criticism of how$20m voted by the government for the cele-brations was spent. Quite a number of peo-ple felt this was wasted money for a countrythat has been in the throes of an energy cri-sis since August 2006, and in which there isan extensive lack of social infrastructuresuch as potable water, roads and schools.Many citizens were particularly angered bythe proportion of the money used to buyluxury cars (Mercedes, Chrysler, Jaguar andBMWs) to ferry VIPs for the celebrations(See page 14).

Ghana’s democracy offers many strongpoints for the rest of Africa. Kufuor’s choiceof a guest of honour for the anniversary,Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo,who had tried to extend his rule and wasembroiled in a very public spat with hisestranged Vice as to which of them wasmore corrupt hardly counts as a celebrationof African excellence. The invitation waswidely seen as an act of gratitude for thesupport that made Kufuor’s 2000 electoralvictory possible. The questions the invita-tion raised about where Kufuor stoodbetween cronyism and principle wereanswered by his reaction to the fraudulentNigerian elections that Obasanjo presidedover soon after Ghana celebrations. Kufuorwas quick to offer his support to the succes-sor Obasanjo has imposed on the Nigerianpeople.

While the Ghana government saw the50th anniversary as a chance to rewrite his-tory the rest of the continent, in a negationof the NPP’s negation of history, has situat-ed the regime in the frame of historical con-tinuity and treated Kufuor as Nkrumah’sheir, thereby puffing up his place in Africanhistory. South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki explic-itly referred to Ghana’s 50th anniversaryand Nkrumah’s pan-African hero status as areason for supporting President Kufuor as acompromise chairperson of the AfricanUnion (AU) when Sudan was rejectedbecause of the government’s violenceagainst its own people in Darfur. In JulyGhana will host the AU at which the mainitem on the agenda is a grand debate aboutwhether or not and how to speed up theachievement of Nkrumah’s burning drive,African union.

President Kufuor’s hosting of the eventis laden with many ironies. He has consis-tently declared Nkrumah’s pan-Africanvision to be impractical. Furthermore hisfirst taste of government (1969-72) was asdeputy foreign minister in a regime that,with parochial Cold War zeal, opposed thewishes of the South African people and thecurrent of African liberation, by seekingfriendship with apartheid South Africa.When Kufuor opens the July Summit manygathered will see him under Nkrumah’s haloand he will hear speaker after speaker paytribute to Nkrumah’s vision and work forAfrican liberation and unity. At the pinnacleof his standing as an African leader Kufuor,despite his desires to the contrary, will bestanding in Nkrumah’s shoes and shadowand affirming his pre-eminent place inGhanaian and African history and therebysymbolising that ‘Nkrumah never dies’.

Editorial

Ghana in African history

5

Leaders of states and soci-ety from across Africaand the pan-African dias-

pora turned up in large numbersin Ghana in March to mark thecountry’s fiftieth independenceanniversary. The end of colonialrule in the then Gold Coast wasa defining moment with eventu-al significance well beyond itbeing the first in sub-SaharanAfrica. Kwame Nkrumah,leader of the triumphantConvention People’s Party(CPP), was formed by the anti-colonial, anti-racist and pan-African movement during hisyears in the USA and Britain.He therefore understood the linkbetween the wider African anti-colonial struggle and Ghana’sfortunes and underlined the con-nection in his speech declaring independence.

From 1957 till his over-throw in 1966, in a CIA backedcoup, Nkrumah attracted the ireof the West as he placed Ghanain the eye of the anti-imperialiststorm and proceeded to whip upthe tide of anti-colonial andpan-African struggle acrossAfrica and of Third World non-alignment beyond. At homeNkrumah inherited an economydominated by smallholdercocoa production and extractiveexport enclaves of minerals andtimber. This confronted himwith what became commonchallenges for all post-colonialAfrica. How do you re-structure

an underdeveloped economy,dominated by a small basket ofprimary mineral or agriculturalcommodities with unstableprices? How do you transformand raise output in a low pro-ductivity small holder basedagricultural sector? How do youindustrialise a country with asmall home market whose for-eign trade patterns were heavilylocked into those of a fewWestern economies? How doyou generate resources for asteady improvement in the living standards of a people

whose expectations have been greatly fuelled by independence?

These questions are aspressing today as they were fiftyyears ago. In the interveningperiod Ghana’s economy andpolitics have run the gamut ofthe African experience. Fromthe Nkrumah years of state ledeconomic development, withaccelerated achievements in thesocial sectors, import substitut-ing industrialisation and heavyinfrastructural investments, theeconomy went through a long

period of decline accompaniedby political instability (includ-ing several coups d’etat). Theups and downs of commodityprices as well as the misman-agement and corruption of theelite combined with the struc-tural limitations of the economyto wreak havoc. Since the mid1980s a far reaching programmeof free market reforms, heavilyfunded by the IMF and WorldBank and bilateral creditors, hasdelivered steady economicgrowth. From being a model ofattempts at post colonial trans-formation during the Nkrumahyears Ghana today is a model ofneo-liberal economic policies.

African excellenceThe theme for the official

celebration of Ghana’s goldenindependence anniversary is“Championing AfricanExcellence”. If the bland fluffi-ness of the theme was intendedto avoid controversy it has, notsurprisingly, failed. What andwho in Ghanaian history exem-plify “African excellence”? OnGhana’s airwaves and in news-papers the issue has intensifiedlong running debates and dis-putes and re-opened dormantones.

Cover

The 50th anniversary of Ghana’s independence has focused atten-tion on the country’s status and role in Africa and the world,writes *Yao Graham.


Ghana –A contestedmodel

March 6, 1957, Nkrumah declares independence

AFP

Evaluation of the firstdecade of independence and thecontribution of the country’sfounding leader KwameNkrumah have been the primaryfocus with a secondary disputeabout the more recent 18-yearrule of Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlingswhich ended in 2000. Officialnarratives rarely escape thestamp of those in power and fewin the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) have any doubt that thesix years of President JohnKufuor represent the yardstickagainst which all else have to bemeasured.

When Kufuor’s term endsin 2008 he would have been thethird longest serving Ghanaianleader, after Rawlings andNkrumah. Among his eightpredecessors the eras of the twostand out as the moments of sus-tained economic policy making,infrastructural development andinstitution building. Nkrumahwas, in the words of AmilcarCabral, ‘the strategist of geniusin the struggle against classiccolonialism’. Rawlings’ is thearchitect of the present phase ofGhanaian history within whichKufuor’s presidency falls. Hislong rule (1982-2000) restoredeconomic growth and political

stability (while effectivelyabandoning an objective ofstructural transformation).Having started off an autocratRawlings exited as a twiceelected President who handedover power to a bitterly hostileopposition.

Nkrumah and Rawlings arehowever the two Ghanaian lead-ers that Kufuor and his support-ers find most difficult to digestseeing both of them as antitheti-cal to the NPP’s political tradi-tion and beliefs. Many NPPtypes see Nkrumah andRawlings as upstarts who intheir time disturbed the naturalorder of power and rule by thesocial forces represented by theNPP and its political lineage.

Kufuor’s party sees itself asthe successor to the elitealliance of traditional chiefs,merchants and lawyers whodominated colonial politics andbelieved in a ‘property owningdemocracy’, including a consti-tutional role for traditionalrulers. It was they who broughtNkrumah back to the GoldCoast in 1947 to organise theanti-colonial movement aroundthe United Gold CoastConvention (UGCC) so theycould succeed the colonialists.

Nkrumah stole their thunder byleading the formation of abreakaway mass party, theConvention People’s Party(CPP) which trounced his erst-while benefactors and thrusthim into power as Ghana’sfounding leader.

MisrepresentationSo deep is the antipathy to

the CPP that even with theworld’s eyes on him at the 50thanniversary parade PresidentKufuor engaged in a shamefulbit of mis-representation. Notonly did he pointedly fail tomention and acknowledge theCPP as spearheading the attain-ment of independence but gavethe credit to the UGCC! Currentrevisionism insists thatNkrumah’s ‘socialist policies’retarded economic growth andalso blame him for the politicalviolence unleashed by the suc-cessors of the UGCC and denyhow the violence contributed tothe development of the authori-tarian political culture of theNkrumah years.

Rawlings is the Janus fig-ure of Ghanaian politics, thebridge from Nkrumah to Kufuorwho briefly served as his

Minister of Local Governmentin 1982. A populist autocrat, heharnessed the hopes and trust ofthe masses to the execution of aproject of elite advancement.His popular appeal and aspectsof early years – recognition ofthe need for structural transfor-mation, social equity and anti-imperialist foreign policy -harkened back to the days ofNkrumah and engendered desta-bilisation plots in Washingtonand allied capitals. The elitewere alarmed by his messageand terrified by the assault oncorruption, while his repressivemethods cowed rich and pooralike.

However by the time he leftoffice in 2000 the liberalisedeconomy was a pin up modelfor the Bretton Woods institu-tions and the Ghanaian elitewere enjoying their best eco-nomic period since independ-ence within an economic strate-gy which offered a leading roleto foreign capital, public andprivate. Rawlings’ two con-vincing electoral victories in1992 and 1996, the latter overhis eventual successor Kufuor,testified to his national appeal.

Sadly for Rawlings impor-tant sections of the Ghanaianelite refuse to acknowledge hisobjective role as their bestleader since independence. Hispolicies - presiding over theimplementation of the harsheconomic reforms as well as therestoration of the legitimacy ofthe State and its institutions -have made their present pros-perity possible. Those who hadfinanced Ghana’s economicrecovery adopted a more prag-matic approach.

Both Bill Clinton andQueen Elizabeth came visiting,to express their gratitude toRawlings for bringing Ghanaback into the orbit of the West.Right till the end of Rawlings’rule there were elements in hisparty, the National DemocraticCongress (NDC), and widermass base who never fullyaccepted the free market poli-cies. This, combined with hisunpredictable personality,meant Rawlings remainedsomeone the West appreciatedbut did not fully trust.

Cover


AFP

Rawlings and former US president Clinton in Accra in March 1998

7

Fantastic jobKufuor and his supporters

revel in his status as one of theAfrican rulers regularly held upby the Bush-Blair axis and theG-7 generally as a model ofwhat is good for Africa. Theycite his easy access and sum-moning to the White House andDowning Street as signalling hissuperior standing compared toRawlings. For Kufuor, whosepresidential style is that of a tra-ditional Ghanaian chief, andmany of his supporters the highpoint of the 50th anniversary ofindependence celebrations andhis presidency was his receptionat Buckingham Palace byBritain’s Queen Elizabeth.

US President George Bush,who has met Kufuor severaltimes, has commended him as“a man of vision and strengthand character” who “has done afantastic job for Ghana”.

Kufuor’s ‘fantastic job’ hasa number of elements. At a sys-temic level his succession toRawlings meant an alternationof power between competingfractions of the elite whichstrengthened the legitimacy ofthe constitutional arrangementsof the Fourth Republic. Inrespect of policy, Kufuor hascontinued and deepened the freemarket policies initiated byRawlings while serving as amore predictable political rally-ing point for the local elite aswell as a much more compliantand enthusiastic partner for theWest.

What gives Bush most sat-isfaction about Kufuor is theleast publicly acknowledged -the dramatic expansion ofGhana-US/NATO military andintelligence cooperation since2001. These developments aredriven by the War on Terror andUS concern to secure oil sup-plies from the Gulf of Guineawhich are expected to accountfor 25% of US imports by 2015.The US State Department web-site describes relations betweenthe two countries as ‘strongerthan at any other time in recentmemory’. In 2003 mostGhanaians were disgusted whenthe NPP dominated Parliamentapproved a Bilateral NonSurrender Agreement with theUS in respect of theInternational Criminal Court onwhich a Ghanaian sits as vice-

president. The government’sargument was that it was vital toprotect military cooperation and$4m of associated aid.

There have been regularjoint exercises onshore Ghanaand on the high seas. In October2005 for example, more than1,000 Ghanaian and NATOtroops held a joint training exer-cise in Ghana. The governmenthas denied that the US is build-ing a base in the country butGhana does serve as a stagingpoint offering some facilities foruse by the US military. Ghanahosts a US-European Commandfunded ‘Exercise ReceptionFacility’, meant to facilitatetroop deployments.

When in May 2004 a jour-nalist asked General JosephRalston, then Supreme AlliedCommander of Europe, why somany senior US military offi-cers were visiting Ghana, hefrankly replied: ‘we have a lotof interest. And the basic inter-est is: security, peace, economicinvestment and economic devel-opment for all of the countriesof Africa. Ghana happened to bea center of stability that wewanted to make sure that wecould reinforce that, and if therewere operations that needed tobe conducted in less-stable partsof Africa, at least we had anopportunity to go to Ghana andwe could work with thenations.’

Informed Ghanaiansexpress concern about the scopeof Ghana-US security coopera-tion making the country a targetfor terrorist attacks. Residentsof Accra’s upmarket EastCantonments area haveexpressed anxiety about a hugenew US embassy-intelligencefacility being constructed in theneighbourhood. Security rela-tions with the US is howeverunlikely to affect the govern-ment’s political fortunes.

Peaceful transitionThe defeat of the ruling

National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the 2000 elections byKufuor and the NPP and thesubsequent peaceful transitionwas an important positivedevelopment for Ghana’s young4th Republic. The NDC’s defeatwas the product of a number offactors. Internally the party wasweakened by strife over the suc-cession to Rawlings. Growingcorruption within the regime aswell as the persistence ofauthoritarian practices hadalienated growing numbers ofthe population; the regime hadhardly any sympathy in the pri-vate media. The decisive factorin the defeat however was theeconomic crisis of 1999-2000which inflamed long simmeringmass dissatisfaction with theeconomic deprivations and

growing inequalities. The crisishighlighted the enduring fragili-ty of the economy, the deepflaws in economy policy, theheavy dependence on aid andthe debt crisis it had created.Between 1983-1994 the WorldBank alone committed $2.4 bn.By 2000 Ghana external debthad reached more than $6 bn.from over $1bn in 1983.

The primary trigger of thecrisis was dramatic falls in theprices of gold, cocoa and tim-ber, the main export earnersalongside a big jump in theprice of oil. The prices of cocoafor example dropped by a thirdbetween 1998 and 2000 whilethe cost of petroleum importsalmost doubled from 1999 to2000.

Two decades of trade liber-alisation had undermined pro-duction for the home market inboth agriculture and manufac-turing and worsened the coun-try’s historic import depend-ence. The foreign exchangecrunch associated with the1999-2000 crisis was aggravat-ed by donors withholding sub-stantial amounts of aid in a dis-pute with the government overpolicy. Inflation rocket as thevalue of the cedi collapsed andimports contracted. Many in theNDC continue to believe thataid was deliberately withheld soas to engineer an NPP electionvictory.

Cover


AFP

Kufuor visited the British Queen on 50th anniversary

The Kufuor regime’sacceptance of the HighlyIndebted Poor Countries (HIPC)Initiative in 2001 was an effec-tive admission that the muchlauded free market reforms hadbankrupted the country andmade it even more vulnerable todonor conditionality. Kufuor’sreadiness to deepen and widenneo-liberal policies has pro-duced substantial debt reliefunder both HIPC and theMultilateral Debt ReliefInitiative (MDRI).

Aid recoveryAid inflows have recovered

since 2001 and remain substan-tial and the prices of Ghana’sexports have been relativelygood. The economy has grownsteadily, from 3.2% in 2001 toaround 6% in 2006. This togeth-er with the funds freed up bydebt relief have enabled thegovernment to increase fundingto primary education and infra-structural expansion. TheKufuor government haswidened access to primary edu-cation through a capitation grantbut critics point to the failure toprovide for adequate numbersof teachers and enabling inputs.At the same time secondaryschool enrolment is droppingamong the poorer sections ofthe population while the qualityof tertiary education is droppingas a result of phenomenalexpansion of public and privateuniversities without requisiteinvestment in staff or facilities.The regime has replaced thecash and carry system in healththat it inherited, which requiredup front payment for healthservices, with a national healthinsurance scheme.

According to 2006 figuresfrom the Ghana StatisticalService numbers of the poorhave dropped significantly since1998/99 but inequality has beengrowing significantly. Theunequal distribution of the ben-efits of growth, the underlyingweaknesses of the economy andthe fault lines along which trou-ble could break out in the futureremain tangible.

Six years into Kufuor’sannouncement of a ‘Golden Ageof Business’ indigenous privatecapital, especially in manufac-turing, continue to complain the

government is too focused onpleasing foreign capital and thata focus on exports and importtrade liberalisation is undermin-ing the development and trans-formation of the country’s pro-ductive capacities. Even thenthe inflow of foreign directinvestment to sectors other thanmining has been disappointing.In Accra’s industrial zonesincreasing numbers of derelictfactories are being converted towarehouses for imports orchurch halls for the increasingnumbers of evangelicalChristian churches.

UnemploymentOverall the economy, dom-

inated by revived exportenclaves of cocoa and mineralsand new so-called non-tradi-tional goods is not creatingenough jobs and offering fewwhich are well paid. This hasgenerated substantial internaland cross border migration. Themost noted exodus, which hasattracted some policy response.is of trained professionals, espe-cially medical personnel. It ishowever arguable that for mostfamilies the economically mostsignificant trekking out is thatof the tens of thousands of notso highly skilled but educatedyoung Ghanaians who con-tribute the bulk of the remit-tances which are keeping manyfamilies above the poverty line.Speaking to Parliament onFebruary 8 President Kufuorpointed to the growing remit-tances as a sign of confidence inthe economy.

In the main urban areas fewof the tens of thousands whosejobs were destroyed by the eco-nomic reforms and public sectorrestructuring have found newjobs. The ranks of these long-term unemployed have beenswollen by those fleeing therural areas to escape the miseryof food crop farming ruined byimports or landlessness or fromsmall towns dying from lack ofeconomic opportunities. Thereis substantial internal migrationfrom the parts of the country-side outside the export enclavesto Accra whose population hasnot only swelled but also seen amarked jump in the proportionof the poor in its population.While the top end of Accra’s

housing market is in the grip ofa building frenzy and is litteredwith empty properties, workersand informal economy actorsare required to pay three yearsrent in advance for unhygienichovels with the state showingno interest in their fate.

Currently over 80% of thelabour force is in the informaleconomy. In all the major citiesthe local authorities are at theirwits end about how to cope withthe sprawl of the informal econ-omy. This expresses itself in thearmies of petty traders chokingstreets, artisans setting up shopat unauthorised sites and squat-ter settlements. By and largewhat is an economic problem istreated as a problem of law andorder.

Economic insecurityA 2003 study showed that

the numbers of the poorest 20%of the population had increasedby a third percentage over sixyears. The poorest 20 percentenjoyed only 8.4 percent of thenational income, whilst the rich-est 20 percent enjoyed as muchas 41.7 percent. In 2002 a sur-vey by the Ghana Centre forDemocratic Development(CDD), a policy think tank,found “a frightening picture ofmass formal unemployment andunderemployment” and a per-ceived widening of the gapbetween rich and poor”. Almosttwo thirds of those interviewedfor the report described theireconomic conditions as bad.The need to create jobs and thereduction of poverty and mar-ginalisation ranked as the high-est priorities of respondents inthe survey. Three years later theCDD found even more econom-ic insecurity and anxiety aboutunemployment.

In recent times there hasbeen a rash of strikes overincomes and living conditionswhich have ended without theworkers receiving satisfaction.Piece meal responses to the exo-dus of skills from the countryhave produced irrationalitiesand extreme inequalities in pub-lic sector pay policy which theGhana Trades Union Congresshas complained about. A specialpackage for doctors has not onlyfailed to stem exodus but pro-voked demands from other

health workers as well as otherpublic sector workers such asteachers. On May Day the lead-ers of Ghana’s unions warned ofmore industrial unrest.

In the rural areas, where themajority of Ghanaians as wellas the overwhelming majorityof the poor lives, economicinsecurity in the country has animportant specific dimension:growing landlessness and inse-curity of tenure. A 2001 studyconcluded that: “insecurity of tenure affects agreater proportion of societythan is generally recognizedand probably the majority. Thisextends beyond the economicpoor and those who hold deriv-ative rights – that is, those whoaccess land held to belong toothers: tenants and sharecrop-pers, youth and women…Those with least status, knowl-edge or means are least wellserved”. Loss of rights is widelyoccurring. Given the centralityof secure access to the socialand economic fabric of society,instability threatens and in someparts of the country has alreadyspilled into violence.”To date state policy has failed torespond adequately to the inse-curity engendered by land rela-tions.

The persistence of the prob-lems faced by ordinary peopleand a perception of growingofficial corruption has erodedconfidence in the NPP govern-ment. In 2002 only 38% ofthose interviewed by the CDDbelieved the President and histeam to be corrupt. By 2005 thishad risen to almost 60%. Kufuorhas himself been directly shak-en by allegations of corruption,symbolised by a hotel right nextto his private residence. TheMinister for Transport had toresign in the wake of a scandal.

At 50 the openness ofGhana’s political system issomething majority ofGhanaians are keen to upholdand advance but with respect tothe economy the fundamentalissue remains the country’s fail-ure to carve a path to self sus-taining growth and socio-eco-nomic transformation.

* Yao Graham is Editor-in-Chief of African Agenda

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A. G: Kwame Nkrumah helped usher in anera of independence for Africa after cen-turies of invasion, slavery and colonial rule.But in 1966, while he was away on a statevisit to China, Nkrumah was overthrown ina CIA-sponsored coup. He never returned toGhana and died in exile in Guinea in 1972.Can you begin by talking about the signifi-cance of this day? [Ghana’s 50thIndependence anniversary!] G. N: This day is of tremendous signifi-cance. It symbolizes the end of colonial rulein Africa, and it ushers in a new era. It wasan era full of hope. The aspiration of the peo-ple of Africa was about to be realized.Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed a fewyears after that, symbolized again by the 24thof February, 1966 coup d’etat that overthrew my father’s government.A. G: Before we get to the coup in 1966, theday you also left Ghana, could you trace thefreedom struggle of your father, PresidentKwame Nkrumah, and, before that, the free-dom leader? Talk about where he was born,how the independent struggle was formed,and how Ghana became an independentnation. G. N: My father was born in the WesternRegion of Ghana, the coastal region near theborder with Ivory Coast. He was educatedin Ghana and then left the country to studyin the United States. And in the UnitedStates, he met with many influential Pan-Africanists, and he had imbibed the spirit ofPan-Africanism. The likes of Marcus

Garvey greatly influenced KwameNkrumah’s thinking, but also W.E.B.DuBois, whom he invited later to move toGhana, and he conferred on him Ghanaiancitizenship, where he died, of course. Andso, it was in the United States and later on inBritain, where he was very active with thePan-African movement in establishing thefifth Pan-African Congress. So, in a way,my father was the first link between conti-nental Africa and Africans in the diaspora.And that greatly influenced his ideas lateron and his vision. After independence, hewas convinced that the only way forwardfor Africa is African continental unity.

He was also for social justice at home.So he was a great believer in the free educa-tion and free healthcare, which was essen-tial at the time for the people of Ghana, andit was unprecedented on the African conti-nent. Hundreds of schools were built, andhospitals, across the country for the firsttime in the rural areas, as well as in theurban centers. He laid the foundations forthe industrialization of Ghana. He built theAkosombo Dam to generate electricity. Healso built the Tema Harbour, which was adeepwater harbour, immediately after inde-pendence. So he was laying the foundationfor the industrialization of Ghana. However,his dreams, his visions for Ghana were cutshort by the 24th of February, 1966 coup.And today, we suffer in Ghana from theconsequences of that coup. Over the years,there were successive military regimes --

A. G: Today, mass celebrations are beingheld in Ghana on the fiftieth anniversary ofthe independence of Ghana from Britain.Gamal Nkrumah, can you talk about howyour father came back to Ghana -- called theGold Coast then -- and organized, and howhe ended up in prison? G. N: Well, Nkrumah returned to Ghanaafter being very active in the Pan-Africanmovement in Britain. He was mobilizingmany of the African students who were inBritain at the time. He mobilized their sup-port for a Pan-African organization, and,sure enough, they organized the fifth Pan-African Congress.

After that, he was asked to return toGhana by the ruling -- the educated elites atthe time who had formed a party, and theyasked him to be the secretary general of thatparty, because of his activism in Britain thatthey had heard about. And, sure enough, heorganized. However, he quickly realizedthat they had a vested interest in not gainingindependence from Britain, because as theeducated elite, they wanted to retain whatlittle power the colonial administration gavethem.

It was after that that he formed his ownparty, the Convention People's Party (CPP),and broke away from the established elitistparty, the UGCC. And with the CPP formed,he galvanized the young and the masses ofAfrican people in Ghana at the time, and hisrallying cry was “Independence now!” Andhe realized that the people of Ghana wantedindependence at that particular moment.

After that, the colonial authoritiesimprisoned him, but he continued leading,even from prison. And the colonial authori-ties had to organize elections, because thecountry was in such a state of unrest then.And, sure enough, Kwame Nkrumah wasdemocratically elected as prime minister,but the country still remained under theBritish Crown. In ’57, however, Ghanaiansvoted to have independence, and Ghana wasthe first African country south of the Saharato gain independence from Britain, or fromany European colonial power, for that mat-ter. However, on the day of independencefifty years ago, Kwame Nkrumah stressedthat the independence of Ghana was mean-ingless without the total liberation of thecontinent of Africa.

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Continental unity and social justice are the legacy of Nkrumah

GAMAL NKRUMAH ON HIS FATHER'S LEGACY

Gamal Nkrumah

On Tuesday, March 6,2007, the 50th

anniversary of Ghana’sindependence,

Democracy Now’sAmy Goodman talksto Gamal Nkrumah,

son of Ghana’s founding father,

Dr. Kwame Nkrumahand foreign editor ofthe Egyptian English-language newspaper

Al-Ahram Weekly.

A. G: What does Pan-Africanism mean toyou, Gamal Nkrumah, and what did it meanto your father? G. N: Much the same thing. I believe in myfather's vision of Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism, as Kwame Nkrumah saw it,was continental African unity. That is, thewhole continent would be united into theUnited States of Africa. And that includesboth North Africa and Africa south of theSahara. It also means that the African dias-pora would have the right to return and tohave African citizenship, if they so wish.

It also means that Africa, as an impov-erished continent, as a continent that suf-fered from 500 years of slavery and colo-nialism, that it needs to redress thesewrongs done its people. And so, the onuswould be on social justice, that those whosuffered the most, the masses of Africa,would have access to free healthcare andfree education. These are essential parts ofNkrumah's Pan-Africanist vision. And thisis precisely the Pan-Africanism that Ibelieve in. A. G: Gamal Nkrumah, can you talk aboutthe day of the coup in 1966? Who wasbehind it? You were six years old at thetime? G. N: Yes. This is the only day that perhapsI remember from dawn to dusk. It was a ter-rible experience for a child of six. My sisterwas five at the time, and my younger broth-er was two. My younger brother, Sekou, didnot realize what’s going on. My sister wascrying. I remember she was crying thewhole time, very distressed. My mother wasvery courageous.

And very early on in the morning atdawn, about 4:00 or so, she phonedPresident Gamal Abdel Nasser, after whomI was named, of Egypt, and told him thatthere is artillery fire and there is a coup d’e-tat, what appears to be a coup. And Nasser

promised to send an Egyptian plane to comeand take us as a family to Egypt.

In the meantime, there was fightingbetween the presidential guard, who wereloyal to my father, and the army and policewho had plotted the coup with the help ofthe CIA. And there was much fighting in thegrounds of the presidential palace. It wascalled Flagstaff House. It still stands inGhana in Accra today.

And we vacated the building at about6:00 in the morning. And we went first tothe Egyptian embassy in Accra, and then wewent to the police headquarters, where mymother was interrogated. After that, wewere taken to the airport, where theEgyptian plane had just landed. At first, thecoup plotters did not want to release us chil-dren. They wanted my mother to travelalone. And she refused point blank. She saidthat she has to have her children with her.And we did eventually board the plane. Andwe arrived in Egypt the following day atdawn. It was a very difficult day. It is per-haps the only day that I remember fromdawn ’til dusk. A. G: How do you know that the CIA wasbehind the coup in Ghana? G. N: Well, it is no secret that George Bush,the father, was behind that particular projectto topple Kwame Nkrumah. And surelyenough, he was rewarded after the coup bybeing made director of the CIA, and hispolitical career took off after that day. Andthe papers and documents of the time thatwere embargoed are now -- anybody canhave access to those papers in Washingtonin the Library of Congress. Any serious stu-dent of history who’s interested in this par-ticular episode would find ample evidencein those documents in Washington. It'savailable for all today.

A. G: Let me ask you about what KwameNkrumah was criticized for toward the end,

before the coup, when he had declared him-self president for life; Preventive DetentionAct, which allowed Nkrumah to hold any-one for up to five years without trial; theTrade Union Act, which made strikes ille-gal. Your comments on these! G. N: Well, I think we have to put that in thecontext of Ghana at the time. The situationwas that all the left-leaning presidents inAfrica, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser inEgypt or Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana andothers were under tremendous pressure. InEgypt, there was the Israeli aggression, theTripartite aggression in ’56, the Suez Canalcrisis. And after that, Israel was always hav-ing wars and launching wars on the Arabcountries, including Egypt, the largest one. In Ghana the pressures were also there --Ghana was being sanctioned -- and espe-cially after Nkrumah wrote his book, Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialismin 1965. After that, in which -- in this bookhe exposed the neo-colonial -- in fact, hecoined the term. He said that an Africancountry might be independent and have allthe trappings of independence -- a govern-ment and currency, etc. -- but that in realityits economy is controlled by foreign capital.He explained that in his book, Neo-Colonialism. And I believe that it was afterhis publishing that particular book that theCIA decided they have to get rid of him.And so, Ghana was sanctioned, and the eco-nomic situation in the country began to beshaky.

Of course, Nkrumah's detractors saidthat his programme of free education andfree healthcare led to economic disaster. Butthat was not the case. The case was thatNkrumah was laying the foundations forGhana’s industrialization and that whattopped the top of his agenda was social jus-tice and social rise. And I think it is impor-tant in the context of the Cold War at thetime, in the context of underdevelopment, torealize that at the time people -- leaders likeNkrumah and Nasser in Egypt had stressedsocial rights, as opposed to individualhuman rights today, not that they underesti-mated individual human rights, but, to them,social rights, which means social welfare,which means free education and free health-care, were vitally important. And so, theirpriorities were a little bit different thansome of the democratic democrats today,whether in Africa or elsewhere. AndNkrumah stressed that his people's welfarewas of utmost importance.

A. G: Gamal Nkrumah, why [did] yourfather, after the coup, choose to go toGuinea, where he died years later.

G. N: He chose to go to Guinea, because itwas the nearest base to Ghana at the time.

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(L-R) Nehru of India, Nkrumah, Nasser of Egypt and Sukarno of Indonesia

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He had dreamt of returning to Accra, Ghanaand making Ghana the headquarters of aUnited States of Africa and inviting Pan-Africanists from all over the continent andfrom the United States, the Caribbean andthe whole of the African diaspora to come toGhana and make it their base. And so, hechose Guinea, because it was geographical-ly closest to Ghana, and he had a specialfriendship with its president, Ahmed SekouToure. A. G: In this last minute, your final com-

ments, Gamal Nkrumah, on this fiftiethanniversary of the founding of Ghana, yourbirthplace, your original home. G. N: I would appeal to all Pan-Africaniststhe world over, not just in Africa, to stick toNkrumah's vision of continental Africanunity and social justice, the welfare of thepoorest and most vulnerable sections ofsociety. This was Nkrumah's legacy, andthis is the only way forward for the peopleof Africa. And it is only when Africa standstall among the nations of the world that peo-

ple of African descent everywhere wouldalso be proud. As long as Africa remainsimpoverished, as long as it remains divided,susceptible to civil wars, then Africans andpeople of African descent the world overwould never feel fully free or their aspira-tions fully realized.

* Excerpts from interview by DemocracyNow on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007.The whole interview is available onhttp://www.democracynow.org/articles

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Nkrumah’s ambition was the full realisation of the dignity of theAfrican says daughter

Nkrumah’s ambition was the full realisation of the dignity of theAfrican says daughter

RT: Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a greatpolitician how did he mix his politicalduties with family life at home?

Samia: My father’spriority was hiswork. We got tounderstand this at anearly age. And wealso understood thathis life was in dan-ger on many occa-sions and this neces-sitated a differentkind of family rela-tionship. A manwho has had toendure half a dozena s s a s s i n a t i o nattempts on his life,and some of themwith lasting physi-cal damage, musttake certain precau-tions even if theseincluded being sep-arated from his fam-ily.

Aside from thequestion of danger,there was very littletime at hand. Therewere many prob-lems confrontingearly independentGhana. If you read

his book, Africa Must Unite, you under-stand that the newly independent Ghana didnot have a single industry, no infrastructure

whatsoever, no skilled labour, no educatedworkforce, after years of colonial rule, thecountry had nothing. Everything had to beconstructed from scratch. RT: Tell me something about the family inyour early years as you grew up.

Samia: When I was younger it felt that we,Nkrumah’s immediate family, had to takesecond place in his life. We did not seemuch of our father and we did not spendmuch time with him. But as I grew, I sawthat in a sense his presence with us has beenconstant and powerful and his influence onus has been understandably huge.

I have said before that while he left usno material inheritance, he left us a richconsciousness that continues to guide us inour lives. We have a solid understandingthat we Africans hold the key to solving ourproblems. I have no doubt that as he oncesaid, when Africa becomes a strong andunited nation, Africans will respect them-selves and everyone will respect Africans.When you are serving a big cause, a causethat concerns many people, you do not see adifference between the personal and thepublic. Personal sacrifices are not regardedas losses but as great gains because yourhappiness is linked to many others. That ishow Nkrumah lived his life up till the veryend and that is what he has transmitted to ushis children.

Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, talks to * Reggie Tagoe,on her father and his life.

Nkrumah the family man

RT: Was he in contact with the familywhilst in exile and did he mention anythingabout the coup and the people who oustedhim from power? Samia: Father spoke to us on the phone onvery few occasions. We corresponded on aregular, if not frequent, basis. He did nottalk to us about his plans and work.Nkrumah, however, detailed all his experi-ences and thoughts in the various books hewrote after the coup while living in Guinea.Nkrumah wrote some 14 books on varioussubjects ranging from the African unityproject to specific problems in certainAfrican countries at the time, see Challengeof the Congo and Rhodesia. Many of thebooks were completed while he was inGuinea after 1966. In his book, Dark Daysin Ghana, he talks exhaustively about thecoup. RT: In cases about some former AfricanPresidents or Heads of State forced out ofpower they tried to get back to powerthrough any means, did Dr. KwameNkrumah plan to get back to be President ofGhana after the Feb. 24, 1966 coup, wasthere any desire in him for power in Ghana?

Samia: Nkrumah never lost sight of Ghanaand never gave up on his dream and socialdevelopment. One could not happen withoutthe other. He certainly wanted to get back to

Ghana and never lost hope of doing so. If hehad returned to Ghana, there would havebeen fundamental changes. For example, hehad said that the coup had made plain thatthe CPP could not longer follow the old lineand it had to develop and reform.

At the same time, he was equally con-cerned with diffusing his ideas on Pan-Africanism because he was convinced thatthey would outlive him anyway. RT: What do you think were Dr. KwameNkrumah’s ambitions? Samia: In a nutshell, his only ambition wasthe full realization of the dignity of theAfrican wherever he or she might be in theworld. To realize this, he championed anAfrican solution in the form of the Pan-African Project and within this project hecalled for the economic, social and politicaldevelopment of the continent along conti-nental lines. To Nkrumah, the optimumzone of development for Africans is thewhole continent. He believed that if theresources and population of African Stateswere pulled together, development plannedand executed continentally, Africa would befar ahead. Nkrumah was convinced thatonly a strong, economically viable AfricanNation, or a United States of Africa, wouldaddress the continent’s problems.

He also understood that a stable, peace-ful African continent would contribute to

world peace and advancement. Ghana washis starting point, however. With the variousdevelopment plans in place at the time,Ghana was to become a model of economicadvancement and freedom and from thereable to safeguard its political freedom.

RT: He was talking of Nkrumaism when hiscountrymen and women did not even clear-ly understand what democracy is all about.What’s your take on that?

Samia: I would urge you to read Nkrumah’sbooks to get an idea of what he was about.Let’s not forget that a relentless characterassassination was carried out against him.He couldn’t have got everything right, I’msure, but in the 15 years he was in power,1951-1966, Ghana had made great socialand economic leaps. By 1966, there werefactories, roads, railways, radio and TV sta-tions, telephone services, the AkosomboDam. The list is endless. It was important tomake accessible the African Unity ideas tothe people of Ghana. You cannot rely oneconomic unification only, you have tounderstand why the call for unity and backit with political will. To do so, you needpeople’s acceptance and understanding ofthe concept of unity. Unity is a culture thatmust be understood and not imposed onpeople and therefore it had to be explained.

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Nkrumah and Haile Sellasie - pioneers of African unity

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It is telling that 40 years on, the sloganon the official site of the African Union(AU) is Africa Must Unite, which is one ofthe titles of Nkrumah’s books and his mainthesis. It is interesting that the AU is cham-pioning many of the steps that were recom-mended by Nkrumah in the early sixties. Itis also interesting that some great Africanleaders, like the late Julius Nyerere ofTanzania, who at the time were not totallyconvinced of Nkrumah’s Pan-African proj-ect eventually came to understand and agreewith it. RT: He imprisoned his political opponentsagainst the backdrop of freedom, justice andindependence. What was he aiming toachieve? Samia: Let me first say that I wish to sin-cerely apologize to any Ghanaian who wasimprisoned in the name of Nkrumah. It sad-dens me to know that anyone suffered fortheir political beliefs. I am an advocate offreedom and democracy and human rights.And I am strongly opposed to violence as away of reacting to any problem.

But before answering your questionfully, we have to examine the context inwhich those actions were taken. At a timewhen the new Ghanaian government wasbusy laying the foundation for the industri-alization of the country, laying plans foreducation, medical services, utilities, facto-ries, road networks, etc. Nkrumah’s govern-ment was subjected to untold economic andpolitical pressure and external interference.Just to give a few examples on the econom-ic level, the cocoa price was forced down,and promptly raised after the 1966 coup.Investment and credit guarantees were can-celled. On the domestic political level,Nkrumah and his colleagues were subjectedto violence in the form of assassinationattempts on his life and a relentless charac-ter assassination campaign. The pressure onNkrumah professionally and personally wasbeyond anything you might imagine.

Despite this, no one was ever executedfor attempting a coup against Nkrumah’sgovernment or for attempting to murderNkrumah. And this was because Nkrumahwas strongly opposed to this.

I believe there has been a big campaignto taint Nkrumah’s name and reputation.Nkrumah is not here to defend himselfagainst those accusations. Like you, I amasking questions concerning the curb offreedom: Was he mislead by certain advi-sors? Did he get distracted and not controlwhat some of those around him were up to?

But what I do know is that Nkrumahwas not interested in power for its sake.Neither was he a man who amassed person-al wealth at the expense of his country.

Why do I say all this in connection with

these accusations?Because, most dictatorsare all those things: cor-rupt, violent and onlyinterested in securingpower. Nkrumah was notany of these.

RT: Do you think herushed Ghana intoIndependence too early? Samia: Political inde-pendence was not regardedas an end in itself but themeans to achieve econom-ic freedom and advance-ment. After years of colo-nialism, Ghana had noindustries, no skilled workforce, and no infrastruc-ture. Only after independ-ence did the full truthabout the extent of oureconomic backwardnessbecame known. A colonized State is devel-oped in a way that serves the colonizer.Colonialism was not only economic, butcultural and social. Why would any onewant that for themselves?

The struggle for political independenceis not putting the whole blame on the colo-nizer. Slavery and colonialism, like all thepresent ills of our society, could not havehappened without the consent of some of us.

Likewise, our most intractable prob-lems would never be solved, and here I’mthinking of long-term solutions and not justquick relief, without an African solution.This is not because we don’t respect peo-ple’s advice, but because the best solutionshave to be specific to a certain context andborn out of real life experience. RT: Do you feel any resentment against thepeople who overthrew your father frompower? Certainly life wasn’t the same isn’tit? Samia: You are right. Life was never thesame. But I strongly believe things happenfor a reason, and if you keep an open mind,the reason is always a good one. BeingNkrumah’s daughter has taught me a greatdeal about humility. We are not talking hereabout a mere sentiment. I can sincerely saythat the pain and confusion have served mevery well. I had to wipe the slate clean. Ihave made an effort to understand whatNkrumah tried to do and that has led me toembrace all Ghanaians and Africans in mythoughts.

Understanding his ideas led me to thosethoughts and that cancelled all the resent-ment. I understand clearly that we are aninseparable part of a whole nation. BeingKwame Nkrumah’s daughter means being a

daughter of Ghana and Africa and having aresponsibility to Africans everywhere.

We worked hard and tried to make endsmeet like most ordinary people and I amvery grateful for that. How else could I real-ly understand people who are struggling if Ihad an easy time myself?

I have not found to date any solutionthat is better articulated and that makesmore sense than the Pan-African project ashe explains it. At the same time, I fullyrespect those who might not agree withNkrumah’s ideas.

I do not condone violence in any formbut I respect differing opinions. RT: Do you think Dr. Kwame Nkrumahwould have achieved his objectives onAfrica if he’d not been overthrown. Africais a continent with diverse languages, tribes,cultures etc.? Samia: Nkrumah is quoted as having said,‘I have often been accused of pursuing thepolicy of the impossible but I cannot believein the impossibility of achieving Africanunity any more than I could ever havebelieved in the impossibility of attainingAfrican freedom’.

Just consider this: By 1963, around 44years ago, Nkrumah had called for an all-African Commission to take steps to set upa common market for Africa, an Africanmonetary zone, an African Central Bank, aContinental Communications System, anAfrican common currency, a Commissionfor a common citizenship. Today theEuropean Union is implementing theseplans. What does that tell us?

* Reggie Tagoe is Ghanaian journalistbased in Italy.

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Nkrumah and President Tito of Yugoslavia

Awash in the national(Pan-African) coloursof red, gold and green

with the black star and scentedair of excitement, the breezyGhanaian capital of Accraopened its arms to welcome therest of the world to celebrate thecountry’s golden jubilee onMarch 6, 2007.

Over 60 official delegationsfrom around the world includ-ing two dozen African heads ofstate and prime ministers – fromAlgeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflikato Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe– descended to savour withGhana’s 20 million populationtheir hard-won freedom.

Fifty years ago, on March6, 1957, the tiny West Africannation of Ghana blazed the trailof what heralded the beginningof the end of colonialism inAfrica. And in less than adecade large parts of the patch-work of colonial dominionscarved up by European powersin 1884 became a constellationof new states. Indeed, within thespace of three years followingGhana’s independence, not lessthan 10 African states had alsothrown out the colonialists andthe shackles.

Ushering in the brave newnation at the beachfront thenknown as Old Polo Grounds,

Ghana’s first President KwameNkrumah, whose mortalremains are buried at the samespot today (and renamed theKwame Nkrumah Mausoleum),declared that: the independenceof Ghana is meaningless unlessit is linked with the total libera-tion of the African continent.

A reenactment of that dec-laration on the eve of independ-ence last March served as agreat start to official activities tomark the country’s goldenanniversary celebrations.

First controversyBut the national jubilation

has not been without controver-sies. Perhaps most controversialof all is President John Kufuorgovernment’s allocation ofUS$20 million for the year-longindependence celebrations.

The US$20 million budget,which trickles down to each ofGhana’s 20-million populationcontributing a dollar to the cele-bration expenses, could havebeen invested in more criticalbut failing areas of society suchas education, health, sanitationand housing, sections of thepublic including oppositionleaders, rights activists and aca-demics argue.

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Ghanaians celebrated the country’s golden independence anniversary with pomp and pride. But that was not all. The celebration has touched off controversies of its own reminiscent of the days and months leading to the declaration of independence

50 years ago, writes * Kwesi W. Obeng.


US$20 millionindece celebrations budget

sparks controversy

AFP

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Many opponents of themulti-million dollar budget forthe celebrations admit the self-confidence, liberty, socio-eco-nomic and political develop-ments Ghana’s independenceunleashed across the continentand much of the black world iscause to celebrate. Their beef isthe huge budget and over suchtrivial ventures as parties forvisiting heads of state whileordinary Ghanaians suffer theindignities of poverty, jobless-ness and lack of basic servicesas water and electricity.

True the country is one ofthe politically most stabledemocracies in Sub-SaharanAfrica with a fairly strong econ-omy – growing at an average of5.5 per cent over the last decade– and a decent human rightsrecord.

But a third of Ghanaianslive below the poverty line. Aneven higher number do not haveaccess to treated water, sanita-tion and decent housing. Itcouldn’t have been worse. Thecountry is currently in throes ofan acute energy shortage. TheAkosombo Dam, Ghana’slargest power supply complexcommissioned in 1966, is one ofthe most endearing infrastruc-tural legacies of KwameNkrumah.

Ghana has been rationingpower to both homes and indus-tries since August 2006.

That is precisely one reasonwhy critics of the governmentargue that the US$20 milliongolden anniversary budgetcould have been put to betteruse other than partying and buy-ing of luxury cars to drivearound visiting heads of state.

‘How do you waste US$20million on luxury cars and par-ties and go to the World Bank togive you money to providewater for your own people whodon’t have potable water’, a for-mer ally of the President andparliamentary candidate of theruling party, Kofi Wayo asked.

According to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, CEO of the Ghana@50celebrations secretariat, theUS$20 million was used forinfrastructural developmentwhile public donations amount-ing to about 20 billion cedis

went into organising events tomark the anniversary.

Luxury carsThe disbursement of the

Ghana@50 budget makes aninteresting reading. It includesthe acquisition of 241 new vehi-cles – Mercedes, BMWs andJaguars – for the golden jubileecelebrations. This amounted toUS$5 million. These vehicles,officials claim are also meant tobe used during seven otherinternational events Ghana willplay host to over the next twoyears such as AU Summit,AGOA meeting and CAN 2008.The President’s term of officeends in December 2008.

A further US$5 million ofthe budget was said to havebeen used on renovation worksof such monuments as theIndependence Arch and theLiberation Square. Anothersixty (60) billion cedis wasreportedly sunk into the prepa-ration of durbar grounds in theregions and construction of pub-lic toilets in some parts of thecountry.

In reaction to public outcryabout the size of the budget andthe potential for its misuse,Parliament summoned thePresident’s Chief of Staff andhead of the Ghana@50Secretariat to explain how theUS$20 million was being spent.“The secretariat will submit itsaccounts to the Auditor-Generalfor audit at the end of the year asall public organizations do”, thePresident’s Chief of Staff, Mr.Kwadwo Mpianim, toldParliament.

Rawlings disappearanceAbsent at the jubilee cele-

brations was Ghana’s only liv-ing ex-President, JerryRawlings. His spouse, NanaAgyemang Rawlings also didnot attend any of the functionsbut leaders of Rawlings’ party,the opposition NationalDemocratic Congress (NDC)did.

Prof. John Atta Mills,Rawlings’ Vice President andflagbearer of the NDC in twoprevious general elections ledthe opposition party to partici-pate in the celebrations. A stab

in the back of the leader andfounder of the NDC someclaimed. Others chastisedRawlings on the airwaves forfailing to attend the celebra-tions. Some sympathizers of theruling party dismissedRawlings’ absence at the cele-brations as ‘good riddance’explaining off that the ex-President’s presence could have‘complicated’ matters for thesitting President to handle.

By far the fiercest critic ofthe current government, formerpresident Rawlings who ruledGhana for nearly 20 of thecountry’s 50 years, turned downan invitation from PresidentKufuor to participate in thegolden jubilee festivities.

‘My conscience and princi-ples will not permit me to joinKufuor and his government forthis anniversary,’ Rawlings said.

Thabo Mbeki of SouthAfrica and African-Americancivil rights campaigner, Rev.Jesse Jackson, who were at thecelebrations, observed that ‘theindependence of Ghana was alandmark event with globalimpact.’

But Rawlings like manyother Ghanaians wondered what

was being celebrated. ‘Ghana isfaced with pervasive corruptionat all levels, missed opportuni-ties for genuine progress, nepo-tism, tribalism and known casesof political torture and killings.There is also decay of our localindustry, the breakdown of oureducational system, and anempty façade of good gover-nance which earns the applauseof those who seek to control us’,Rawlings charged.

Rawlings accused the NPPgovernment of seizing everyopportunity to criminalize hisadministration. ‘I cannot sharethe same platform with the samepeople who have taken everyopportunity to denigrate us forthe last seven years and see nogood in what we did for thiscountry. And I cannot be part ofpart of a cover-up for the defile-ment and violations of the prin-ciples of self-respect, pride andhope that underlie 6th March,1957.’

Rawlings handed overpower to then newly electedPresident Kufuor after servingtwo four-year terms in 2001.That handing over marked thefirst peaceful transition ofpower in Ghana from one elect-ed president to another electedpresident since the country’sindependence.

No boycottAlthough, Rawlings’ party

backed his decision to stay outof the celebrations, the NDCissued a statement in which itsaid it would be foolhardy forthe country’s largest oppositionand former ruling party to boy-cott the anniversary.

It said the party had to be atthe celebrations because itoffered ‘a political platform atwhich the imagery of ournational symbols, heroes andconsciousness take the centrestage’. Even more, the NDCneeded ‘to show up at theparade to signal its patrioticspirit, its avowed intention tokeep the independence flameburning, its resolve to resist theoppressors’ rule, its commit-ment to ensure that multipartydemocracy works and its tenac-ity to hold neo-colonialism inwhatever form in check’.

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‘How do youwaste US$20 mil-lion on luxurycars and partiesand go to theWorld Bank togive you money toprovide water foryour own peoplewho don’t havepotable water.’


Kwesi Pratt Jnr a leadingmember of the CPP, Nkrumah’sparty and publisher of theWeekly Insight newspaper dis-missed the NDC hierarchy’spresence at the celebrationsafter it had publicly supportedRawlings’s stance not to attendthe anniversary celebration, asan act of hypocrisy.

The Ghana Bar Association(GBA), a strong voice for rightsin the post colonial periodwaded into the controversy andcondemned Rawlings forabsenting himself from the cele-brations. Kwami Tetteh, presi-dent of the association told anaudience at a lecture co-organ-ised by the GBA and theAmerican Bar Association(ABA) in Accra that ‘we’ll cele-brate whether there is divisionor no division’.

For keen followers ofGhanaian politics this is reallyno surprise. Since Kufuor tookover power the bad bloodbetween him and Rawlings hasdeteriorated. Attempts by bothreligious and traditional leadersin the past have failed to healtheir differences.

There’s even an antecedentto Rawlings’ boycott of thenational jubilee celebrations inthe annals of modern Ghana’sshort history. The decade lead-ing to independence and the onefollowing March 6, 1957 weremarked by sharp divisionsamong leading independencepoliticians with the Nkrumah’sConvention People’s Party onone side and the United GoldCoast Convention on the other.

IronyThe irony is that fifty years

ago, the predecessor politicalparty of the current Ghanaiangovernment, the United Party,boycotted the independence cel-ebration. Leading figures of thiselite party (whose mother partyUGCC Nkrumah broke awayfrom in 1949 to form the massfollowing CPP) accusedNkrumah of being in too muchhaste to set Ghana free fromcolonial rule.

Historically, as PatrickSmith of African Confidentialnotes, ‘the political divide inGhana has always been ideolog-ical – between left and right’.

And it would appear that theclash between Rawlings andKufuor even on the issue of thecountry’s golden jubilee cele-brations is both ideological andpersonal. Kufuor and his NPPare avowed right of centre whileRawlings prefers to pose as cen-tre of left revolutionary.

But it was not only themulti-million dollar anniversarybudget and Rawlings’ involve-ment or non-involvement in thecelebrations that proved contro-versial in the jubilee festivities.

A mass protest planned bythe Committee of Joint Action(CJA), a group of oppositionelements, rights activists andNkrumaists, through the princi-pal streets of Accra to mark theIndependence Day on March 6,ostensibly to draw attention tothe plight of ordinary Ghanaiansand the failings of the establish-ment, cropped up as one of themost contentious issues in themonth of the country’s goldenjubilee.

First came police threat tothe protesters not to embark onany demonstration because thecountry was playing host tointernational guests. An AccraHigh Court waded in anddeclared the march illegal.Eventually, however theMinister of Interior, Albert Kan-

Dapaah, and the InspectorGeneral of Police in a last-minute marathon meeting onMarch 5 prevailed on the CJAleadership to reschedule theprocession for another date toallow the Independence Daycelebrations to proceed peace-fully at the IndependenceSquare.

The CJA climb-down ran-kled their supporters whopoured scorn on the leadershipof the group in radio phone-inprogrammes.

President’s clothesSo what has what a presi-

dent wears got to do with inde-pendence celebrations?Ghanaians are renowned world-wide for their pride in their tra-ditional fabrics and clothes likethe kente, smock, the hand-woven striped cloth and batik.

A day after the celebrationsit was not the colour, pomp andpageantry nor the message thePresident read that grabbed pub-lic attention. Rather, it was whatthe president wore, better still,what the president failed towear. President Kufuorappeared at the celebrations in aWestern suit. Public outcry wasunrelenting and uncompromis-ing prompting the President tojump on air to explain why he

dumped ubiquitous Ghanaiancloth for a suit.

The president’s explanationthat he chose suit over a localwear because he had to dealwith a large number of guestsand had so many programmeslined up was hardly enough toassuage the public’s anger.

‘I accept the president'sposition on not wearing kentecloth for that epic momentousparade. What I don't accept isthat, he seems to think kentewrapper cloth is all there is, asto wearing Ghanaian traditionalcloth’, Eric Kwasi Bottah post-ed on a blog.

Kufuor’s predecessorsnotably Dr. Nkrumah, Dr. HillaLimann and Rawlings regularlywore the smock for high profilestate functions.

With the year long celebra-tions set to climax on December31, 2007, there can only bemore of such controversies evenas Ghanaians hoist their nation-al colours on their roof tops,cars, lamp posts and everyavailable space across the coun-try and the nation hots up forgeneral elections in December2008.

* Kwesi W. Obeng is AssistantEditor, African Agenda.

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Accra’s Liberation Square: Celebrating the founding members of African unity

17

Accra was a loud, busy,sweaty and choked butprim city on Monday,

March 5, 2007, which was theeve of Ghana’s IndependenceDay.

The tree-lined streets, cars,schools right through to thesprawling markets were alldecked in the national coloursof read, gold, green and theblack star. At the markets in par-ticular, traders, largely women,wore necklaces, wristbands andheadgears of the nationalcolours or wrapped the nationalflag around their waist or neck.Some partially covered theirwares with the national flagostensibly to entice buyers.

It is generally believed thatwomen outnumbered their mencounterparts who took part inthe celebrations at theIndependence Square onIndependence Day even thoughfewer women were on thePresidential dais.

This is hardly differentfrom what the situation was dur-ing the actual independence cel-ebration 50 years ago.Television footage of the eventdepicts a lot of women cheeringalong their men and dancing onthe night of the declaration ofindependence.

Media reports further indi-cate that women of theConvention People’s Party(CPP), Ghana’s first ruling partyplayed a central role in thestruggle for independence asthey travelled the length andbreadth of the new country,spreading the message of "free-dom" and educating citizens-to-be for nationhood.

But the official year-long

national 50th anniversary pro-gramme for the celebrationshardly reflects the remarkablecontribution of women to theemergence of modern Ghana.

Fast forwardBy the time this edition of

African Agenda comes outGhana would have installedJustice Georgina Wood, as thecountry’s first female ChiefJustice, fifty years after inde-pendence.

Is this a mere coincidencegiven that 2007 marks the coun-try’s golden independence

anniversary? Probably not butthe failure of the official nation-al anniversary programme forthe celebrations to recognize the significant role women playedin the struggle for independenceand the thereafter has arousednationwide uproar.

It is against this backdropthat women’s rights groupsnotably Network of Women’sRights (NETRIGHT), theNational Coalition on DomesticViolence and the Women’sManifesto Coalition questionedthe apparent relegation ofwomen in the anniversary cele-brations. At several fora they

organized to celebrate the livesof the many women who playedcritical roles in the country’smarch out of bondage into free-dom, they expressed their mis-givings.

In apparent response to thepublic outcry against the exclu-sion of women in the celebra-tions, the Ministry of Womenand Children’s Affairs held anexhibition of photos on theachievements of Ghanaianwomen and announced the insti-tution of a hall of fame forwomen who meritoriouslyserved the country, both pastand present.

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March 6, 2007 marked the 50th independence anniversary when Ghana broke free from thechains of British colonization. But the lack of recognition of the pivotal role women played inthe independence struggle and after has touched raw nerves, writes *Isabella Gyau Orhin.


Women side-stepped inanniversary celebrations

Ready, capable and on the go - women


But women were largelyinvisible in the official activitiesfor the celebrations. Somewomen’s rights groups havealso questioned the mannerwomen have been treatedthroughout the fifty years ofGhana's independence.

According to the protesters,women in the country have notbeen given equal treatment asaccorded their male counter-parts and that they are alwayscelebrated negatively, if cele-brated at all.

FacelessAt a press conference to

highlight the contributions ofwomen over the past 50 yearsand to outdoor activities to com-memorate the golden jubileeindependence anniversary,women's rights activistsresolved to bring women's par-ticipation in the development ofGhana, especially the activecontribution of women in thecountry's independence struggleto the fore.

NETRIGHT said that somewomen's rights groups had sent

proposals to the Ghana @50Secretariat, the main organisa-tion set up by government toorganize and co-ordinate theyear-long celebrations, for sup-port in organizing activities toshowcase women's participationin the independence struggle butwere refused.

They expressed discontentat the authority’s apparent side-stepping of the role of women inthe liberation struggle and theinsignificant inclusion ofwomen in the anniversary cele-brations.

"We would like to note withdisappointment that while thereis much recollection of the roleof certain key figures and vari-ous social groups in our inde-pendence struggle, women'scontributions to the founding ofGhana have not been adequatelyrecognized and honoured", saidDr. Dzodzi Tsikata, a leadingmember of the women's group.

She said while the contribu-tion of men is always celebrat-ed, those of women are alwaysleft out hence the male domi-nance of the country's history.

Dr. Tsikata said for history to becomplete, it should encompassthe contributions of both malesand females as "partial recollec-tions are harmful in that theydistort our future plans and poli-cies."

The coalition was of theview that women not only formhalf of the population of thecountry but also had a specialrelationship with the anti-colo-nial struggle which formerPresident Nkrumah recognizedin his autobiography and forwhich their contribution mustbe fully acknowledged.

Significant roleRuth Botsio, wife of one of

Ghana’s founding fathers, KojoBotsio, remembers how she andother women decided they weregoing to wear local clothes withpride and style against the wish-es of the colonialists and somelocal elites. Ghana's brilliantlycoloured, hand-loom wovenkente cloth became a fashionstatement. The women attractedsignificant attention whereverthey travelled.

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‘We would like tonote with disap-pointment thatwhile there is muchrecollection of therole of certain keyfigures and varioussocial groups in ouri n d e p e n d e n c estruggle, women'scontributions to thefounding of Ghanahave not been ade-quately recognizedand honoured.’

19

According to Mrs. Botsio itwas important for her and othersto let the colonial British admin-istrators – and everyone else –know that Ghana had its owncustoms, traditions and heritage.

Women were largely dis-criminated against in the politi-cal, social and economic struc-tures of the colonial state whichhad stiff opposition fromwomen with the formation ofvarious women's groups to fightfor women's rights at the time.

The coalition thereforecalled on government to honourwomen, some of who are stillalive, for their immense contri-bution to the anti-colonial strug-gle and building a post inde-pendence Ghana by erecting amonument in their memory.

In spite of the numerous

contributions of women in thecountry, the coalition noted thatwomen are still experiencinglivelihood insecurities, harass-ments and continue to demandfor things that were demandedin the colonial era.

RepresentationThey also spoke against the

insignificant representation ofwomen in the current parlia-ment and local administrationsystems, making politics andgovernance a preserve of menwith gender equity not seen as apriority.

In real terms there has beena decline in women MPs overthe decades. Women constitutednearly a third of the members ofthe first Republican Parliament.Today, only 25 women are serv-ing as parliamentarians as

against 205 men. Studies show that since the

inception of the local govern-ment system, women’s partici-pation as elected members hasbeen fewer than 10 per cent.

Critics say the highest num-ber of women District ChiefExecutives (DCEs) that thecountry had between 1998 and2000 was eleven (11). The peri-od 2001 to December, 2004 hadseven (7) women DCEs.

In spite of the creation of28 new districts, the process ofnomination and appointmentpromises only a marginalimprovement in the proportionsof women as Chief Executives.It is only in 2006 that a femalewas elected Metropolitan ChiefExecutive of Ghana’s secondlargest city, Kumasi.

The women's rightsactivists therefore called ongovernment to lend support tothe demands of womenespoused in the Women'sManifesto as the country cele-brates its Golden JubileeIndependence anniversary

But the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Ghana@50 secre-tariat Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey admits that womenhave played a leading role in thenation’s development.

“Ghana’s whole economyand drive is led by its women,”he says “it’s time we celebratethe contributions of women inour lives.” An after thought,perhaps.

*Isabella Gyau Orhin writes forPublic Agenda in Accra, Ghana.

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Hoisting the flag of Ghana

AFP


The Doha Round waslaunched on false pre-tences, including calling

it a development round, and theability of developed countries tomake it a development round is"absent", according to formerUnited States TradeRepresentative, CharleneBarshefsky.

In a recent interview, shealso said that the Round wouldalmost certainly not have beenlaunched as there was no enthu-siasm for it, but the September11 incident changed thatbecause countries had to showsolidarity with the US.

Barshefsky also remarkedthat the Round's conclusionwould be hailed as a victory butthe result would be "far less"than it should be if rich coun-tries genuinely pursued a"development round."

These are perhaps the mostfrank comments made by a sen-ior member of the trade estab-lishment of the US on how theDoha talks were launched andhow development was used as a"false pretence" to get develop-ing countries on board.

The remarks of the formerUSTR seem to be in line withrecent independent analyses ofthe main proposals on the table,that there is little pro-develop-ment content. These includeanalyses by several academics(including Joseph Stiglitz ofColumbia University, RobertWade of the London School ofEconomics, Sandra Polaski ofthe Carnegie Endowment forInternational Peace, and KevinGallagher of Tufts University)and development groups (suchas Oxfam, ActionAid and ThirdWorld Network).

NegativeMany of the analyses also

show that in many ways the pro-posals on agriculture, non-agri-

cultural marketaccess and serv-ices, if accepted,would have neg-ative effects onthe developmentprospects ofd e v e l o p i n gcountries, asthey would haveto open theirmarkets throughvery significanttariff reductionand the localfarmers andindustries wouldnot be able tocompete.

Barshefskywas USTR whenthe UruguayRound agree-ment was signedand who repre-sented the US at the first twoWTO Ministerial conferences in1996 and 1998. She is currentlysenior international partner atWilmerHale, a Washington lawfirm, and she is also a businessleader, sitting on the boards ofAmerican Express, EsteeLauder, Intel and StarwoodHotels.

She was giving her views ata question-and-answer sessionin a "business blog" of theInternational Herald Tribune.The interview took place on 31January at a blog site entitled"Managing Globalisation" runby Daniel Altman.

Barshefsky was askedwhether there was hope for theWTO's Doha negotiations. Shesaid that "given the reticence ofmost of the trade ministers inscoping out the odds of Dohabeing reinvigorated, and giventhe fact that several ministershave now become reasonablyvocal with respect to movement,I suspect that the round willmove forward fairly soon."

She was then asked if theconclusion of the round will liveup to any of the original expec-tations.

False pretencesBarshefsky replied: "The

round was launched on essen-tially false pretences, in tworespects.

"First, it was launchedalmost immediately in the after-math of 9/11. I believe that butfor 9/11, it almost certainlywould not have been launched.As the six-year delay since thenshows, but for 9/11 there wasalmost no enthusiasm for theround.

"September 11 changedthat. Countries believed thatthey needed to show solidaritywith the United States and makea statement about the globaleconomy and the importance ofeconomic growth. So the roundwas launched.

"Second, the round wascalled a development round.Again, as the six-year delay

shows, there may have been thebroad "intention" on the part ofthe wealthy nations to make thisa development round, but theirability to execute has always, inimportant respects, been absent- something clear from the out-set, rhetoric aside.

"At the end of this process,what will undoubtedly be por-trayed as an important victorywill, I believe, be far less thanwhat it should have been hadthe wealthy nations genuinelypursued a development round."Barshefsky added that the USand Europe are "working hard",and that the developing coun-tries are under enormousdomestic political pressure notto make further large conces-sions, particularly in agricul-ture.

"It's understandable thateveryone's domestic politicsplays perhaps the most criticalrole in what ends up on the tablein negotiations. But this reallyclashes with the notion that theDoha Round is genuinely adevelopment round."

Development

Former US trade Representative Barshefsky has admitted that the Doha Round could nothave been launched but for the post 9/11 sympathy enjoyed by the US as the Round wasnever about development, writes * Martin Khor.

Doha was never about develop-ment, says former USTR Barshefsky

Trickery of the North robs the poor in the South of a livelihood

21

Good wishesAsked what she thought

about the reported change in thenegotiating strategy for Doha,with not so much stress onmodalities, Barshefsky said,"It's the only place negotiatorshad left to go." Discussions ofprinciples resulted in nothingconcrete other than good wish-es. Discussion of modalities inthe abstract is fraught withdelay and difficulty, and hadbeen tried already, twice.

"The only place left to go isto say, All right, let's simply

take a look at the specific issueson the table and resolve them,one way or another. That'swhere the negotiators have toturn, because there is no othermeans at this point to reinvigo-rate the round."

Barshefsky also said that ifthe Doha Round were not toconclude, "I don't believe therewould be any short-term nega-tive effect. Medium-term, Ibelieve there could be more ofan effect if countries believethat they have more manoeu-vring room to protect domestic

industries than they would haveunder a more robust internation-al system of rules."

Asked about the role ofbilateral and regional tradeagreements, Barshefsky saidtheir number, now in excess of200 globally, will, with or with-out Doha, only increase.

Besides economic advan-tage, these agreements "speak tothe building of politicalalliances. Free trade agreementsare a means by which countriessolidify their global positionand global influence. You see

this with every major player,except perhaps Japan, whichhasn't engaged much in freetrade agreement negotiations.You also see this in every regionof the world as countries viewith one another not just in aneconomic sense, but in the pro-jection of power."

* Martin Khor is Director ofThird World Network

(The interview can be read athttp://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk/business/globalization/?p=342)

The 50th anniversary ofthe European Union hasbeen marked by a decla-

ration committing the 27-coun-try bloc to "drive back poverty,hunger and disease" throughoutthe world.

But will this statement inthe two-page BerlinDeclaration, signed by GermanChancellor and head of theUnion's rotating presidencyAngela Merkel, usher in a set ofnew EU policies that displays agenuine desire to further theinterests of the poor?

The 1957 Treaty of Rome,which led to the EU's founding,was drawn up at a time whenEurope's colonial powers faceda changing relationship with theterritories they controlled. Some23 countries in sub-SaharanAfrica won independence in1956-60. Against this back-drop, the treaty contains apledge to pursue a developmentpolicy.

Before long, however, itwould become apparent that anygood which the EU's develop-ment aid activities did could beundermined by how some of itsother policies were inimical to

poor countries.The lavish subsidies paid

out under the CommonAgricultural Policy have beenblamed for imperiling the liveli-hoods of farmers in poor coun-

tries by flooding their marketswith cheap imports. The fish-eries agreements signedbetween the EU and Africa havebeen accused of plundering akey source of protein in many

coastal countries and threaten-ing the local fisheries sector onwhich many communities relyfor employment.

And EU officials continueto face allegations that they areusing aggressive tactics in tradenegotiations with a range ofdeveloping countries.

To address claims that theUnion is giving with one handand stealing from poor countrieswith the other, the EU's maininstitutions approved a new

'consensus for development' in2005. It undertook to iron outthe so-called incoherencebetween the EU's developmentpolicy on one side and its eco-nomic policies on the other.

Development


POOR NEED MORE THAN A DECLARATIONThe European Union’s declaration on its 50th anniversary promising to

help the poor remains at best mere words, writes * David Cronin.

Declarations are not shelter from poverty

AFP

Rob van Drimmelen fromAprodev, a network of anti-poverty groups linked toProtestant churches, says thatthe EU's executive arm, theEuropean Commission,deserves credit for putting thecoherence question underscrutiny.

But he said that the com-mitment is not being reflectedin the Economic PartnershipAgreements (EPAs) which theCommission is negotiatingwith 75 African, Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP) countries.

EU trade officials are usingthese talks to seek the scrap-ping of ACP tariffs on a largenumber of imports, leading tofears that they could reduce thecountries' scope for economicdevelopment.

"The EU can make loftystatements but it is discourag-ing and disappointing that theCommission is not paying

more attention to the develop-ment dimension in the EPAtalks," van Drimmelen toldIPS.

The EU Civil SocietyContact Group, which bandstogether environmental, anti-poverty, human rights, tradeunion and public healthactivists, had urged that theBerlin Declaration should bindthe Union to several concretemeasures. In particular, itasked that the EU's trade andagriculture policies bereformed by 2009.

Ten years ago, theCommission issued a publica-tion boasting that Europe'scolonial era is "behind us".

Marjorie Lister, a lecturerin European studies inBritain's University ofBradford, regards that state-ment as misleading. Shepoints out that severalEuropean countries still have

'dependent' territories outsidetheir own borders.

Twenty such territories arecovered by the CotonouAgreement. Signed in Benin,West Africa, in 2000, thisaccord underpins relationsbetween the EU and the ACPgrouping. It replaced theYaounde and Lome conven-tions, which, according tomany EU officials, keptEurope's relations with Africato the purely economic.

"Links between Europeand the ACP were always post-colonial and political links,despite the convenient fic-tions often invoked by theEuropean Commission thatthe conventions were solelyeconomic, neutral or non-political," said Lister.

Andrew Mold, an econo-mist with the United NationsEconomic Commission forLatin America and theCaribbean, says that theeffects of colonialism can stillbe seen from East Timor toDarfur.

Although colonialism hashampered economic develop-ment in poor countries and cre-ated a legacy of failed statesand horrific conflicts, "there isno objective reason why theEU as an institution shouldfeel prisoner to the history ofits member states," he added.

In his new book 'EUDevelopment Policy in aChanging World', Mold notesthat the Union has tended tosee its links with poor coun-tries as "more enlightened"than the foreign policy of theUnited States.

"One particularly reveal-ing fact is that while the EUspends the equivalent of 20%of its combined defence budg-ets on development aid, theequivalent figure for the US isonly 3.5%," he said.Nonetheless, he warns thatthis should not give the EUany grounds for complacency.

"The damage done throughpolicy coherence in otherareas - such as requestingexcessively onerous conces-sions in trade deals or condon-ing abusive fishing policies ofmember states - can potential-

ly far outweigh the benefitsaccruing from developmentaid," Mold added.

"The first developmentrule should be 'do no harm'.And, regrettably, on a numberof scores, the EU does not cur-rently pass this test."

Whereas development wasfor decades the EU's main poli-cy towards the wider world, theUnion's decision-makers havespent much time since the endof the Cold War consideringhow they can have more far-reaching foreign policies,with a strong security dimen-sion.

These policies have led tothe Union commanding peace-keeping missions in Congoand the Balkans. Yet, theyhave not yet enabled it toapply effective pressureagainst mass violators ofhuman rights.

Some commentators havenoted how a European commu-nity formed in response to thecarnage that the continent wit-nessed in the 1940s is todayfailing to take robust actionagainst the alleged genocidebeing carried out in Sudan.

Although the EU's foreignministers have expressed con-cern about events in the westSudanese province of Darfurmore than 50 times since2004, they have not imposedtough sanctions against theKhartoum government such asan oil embargo or asset freez-ing.

"While the 50th anniver-sary is surely a time for cele-bration, it is also a time toreflect on one of the underly-ing reasons for the formationof the EU: the commitment ofthe nations of Europe to theprevention of genocide andcrimes against humanity," saidLotte Leicht, the EU directorwith Human Rights Watch.

"After the horrific crimesof the Holocaust, the worldvowed 'never again'. But thatvow seems terribly empty inview of what is happeningtoday in Darfur."

* David Cronin writes for theIPS from Brussels.

Development


AFP

23

In 2000, African states, along with mostof the world, agreed to meet the UnitedNations' Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) by 2015. African heads ofstate also committed their countries toimproving health care across the continentby 2010 at a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in2001.

Of the eight MDGs, three relate direct-ly to health. One calls for reducing childmortality, the other for improving maternalhealth and the last one is aimed at combat-ing HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Campaigners are concerned that themajority of African nations will not achievethese MDGs.

Therefore, representatives from 143member organisations of the African CivilSociety Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Alliescame together in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, from April 9-13 to lobby Africanhealth ministers who were meeting at thesame time to draft the Africa HealthStrategy 2007-2015.

The coalition urged African govern-ments to allocate 15% of national budgets tohealth care, as per the Abuja commitment of2001. It also urged governments to engagecivil society and ministries in mobilisingresources for tuberculosis (TB).

Funding gapMember states should work towards

closing the TB funding gap of nearly $11billion over the next decade, the coalitiondemanded. It organised a demonstration on11 April. About 1,000 people participated.

''Eight million Africans are dying fromHIV/AIDS, TB and malaria every year. Wewant to stop this,'' Regis Mtutu of theTreatment Action Campaign (TAC) told IPSin an interview. TAC is a pressure groupbased in Cape Town, South Africa, whichseeks access to drugs for people living with

HIV/AIDS.''We cannot meet the MDGs at this

pace. We need to double up our effortsthrough some extraordinary work, particu-larly in the areas of HIV/AIDS, TB andmalaria,'' said Mtutu.

Regarding the commitment to set aside15% of national budgets for health services,''only Botswana and The Gambia have metthis promise'', Mtutu said.

Following the demonstration inJohannesburg, the coalition presented itspetition to the African Union (AU) commis-sion for health. ''We hope that they will lis-ten to us. We are not fighting them. We aresending our message robustly,'' Mtutu said.

Development

Campaigners have called on African states to put in place sufficient budget allocations andthe right policies if the continent is to meet the global and regional health care targets that governments have committed themselves to, writes *Moyiga Nduru.


Beef up budget allocationsto achieve MDGs

‘We cannot meet the MDGs at this pace. We need todouble up our efforts through some extraordinarywork, particularly in the areas of HIV/AIDS, TB andmalaria.’

Can she keep smiling into adulthood?

Pharmaceutical plantsPart of the African health ministers' dis-

cussions included a plan to set up pharma-ceutical plants for producing life-prolong-ing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). Mtutupointed out that ''the ministers for financeand industry were not part of the discussion.To succeed, the health ministers need man-dates from their finance and industry coun-terparts.

''If we are to achieve the MDGs, thekey ministerial clusters need to meet in thenext six to 12 months,'' Mtutu said.

Some campaigners say that meeting thehealth MDGs cuts across other areas such ascombating poverty, improving sanitationand infrastructure. Eve Edete, policy officerat Oxfam Kenya office, told IPS that the'MDGs' is just a label. It is a brand.

''HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other dis-eases are really the issue. It is about systemsto deliver health care. This should be thestarting point to meeting the MDGs,'' saidEdete.

Although governments have committedthemselves to the MDGs and the Abuja tar-get, some prefer to move at their own pace.

Kenya's government, for example, saysthat it will commit 12% of its national budg-et to health by 2008, according to RuthCharo of Kenya's Health Non-governmentalOrganizations Network based in the capital

Nairobi.''It should be a step-by-step approach.

Each country has its own strategy. If you seta time frame, it might not work. For exam-ple, you cannot expect (strife-torn) coun-tries like Somalia, Zimbabwe and theDemocratic Republic of Congo to reach the15% target. It is not practical,'' she told IPS.

The coalition said in a state-ment that ''the political andeconomic crisis in Zimbabwedeserves special mention as itis also a health crisis forAfrica. People living withHIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe can-not obtain the care they needand the climate of violence isperpetuating the epidemics ofHIV and TB.''Civil society groups put thenumber of Zimbabweans whohave fled their country sincethe crisis began in 2000 to 5million, with 2.5 million ofthem believed to be living inSouth Africa. Others have fledto Botswana, Zambia,Namibia, Britain and theUnited States.

Inadequate staffIn a new report, ''Paying

for People'', published thismonth, Oxfam estimates that$13.7 billion must be investedevery year to appoint an addi-tional 1 million teachers and2.1 million health care work-ers urgently needed to break

the cycle of poverty in Africa.''Today, in too many of the world's

poorest countries, health and educationservices are dependent on a handful ofworkers struggling heroically to do theirjobs on pitiful wages and in appalling con-ditions. Becoming a doctor, nurse or teacheris like signing a contract with poverty,''Oxfam's Elizabeth Stuart wrote in thereport.

According to the report, ''Africa has13% of the global population and 25% ofthe global burden of disease but only 1.3%of the global workforce.''

The report cites Tanzania as an exam-ple. This southern African country produces640 doctors, nurses and midwives eachyear. But to reach the World HealthOrganisation's recommended staffing levelswithin 10 years, it would need to produce3,500 such health workers each year.

Another example is Malawi where onlynine percent of health facilities have ade-quate staff to provide basic health care. Thecountry loses around 100 nurses each year''who emigrate in search of a better wage'',according to the Oxfam report.

* Moyiga Nduru writes for the IPS fromJohannesburg.

Development


Making a living on the street: what difference can MDGs make to her life?

‘Today, in too many of theworld's poorest countries,health and educationservices are dependenton a handful of workersstruggling heroically to dotheir jobs on pitiful wagesand in appalling condi-tions. Becoming a doctor,nurse or teacher is likesigning a contract withpoverty.’

AFP

25

“Here is a free trade agree-ment between rich and poorcountries in which the for-

mer is trying to impose a recip-rocal system of trade on the lat-ter, with major consequencesfor poor people.” This is thetrue picture of the economicpartnership agreements (EPAs),according to Resistance andAlternative, a small Mauritianpolitical party. The EPAs arecurrently being negotiatedbetween the European Union(EU) and the African, Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP) countries toreplace the existing preferentialtrade agreements.

Resistance and Alternativehas appealed to parliamentari-ans to put an end to the negotia-tions because, as spokespersonAshok Subron said, "it is for thepeople to decide such an agree-ment by way of a referendum.

They will be the first to beaffected."

Subron believes that theEPAs will be detrimental to eco-nomic and social development,peace and security, democracyand regional integration amongACP countries.

Explaining the conse-quences for the population,especially poor people, he saidconsumption would shift awayfrom local producers to EUimports when the EPAs are fullyimplemented.

ConsequencesSubron cited research

which predicted that local pro-duction for the domestic marketwill fall by 24 percent after theEPA is instituted. This will leadto jobs being cut by 12 percent,particularly in the manufactur-ing sector, affecting mostly

women. Customs revenue willdecrease by 54 percent.

Eric Mangar from theMouvement AutossuffisanceAlimentaire (MAA), a non-gov-ernmental organisation workingwith local farmers, agreed withSubron. The EU will benefitmostly from the EPAs, he toldIPS.

"I have a few questions butI do not know who will reply tothem. For example, Mauritius is

presently self-sufficient inchicken production. What willhappen if EU chicken is import-ed here? Will it not affect thefood security of the island?What will happen if we do notsign the EPAs? We shouldknow," he pointed out.

Both Subron and Mangarmaintained that Mauritius willbe a great loser if the EPA issigned and implemented.

Government approvesHowever, the Mauritian

government does not see theEPAs that way.

The government expectsthe EPA arrangements to sup-port its new economic trajectoryand programme of reforms thatwill put the island on the path tosustainable development andglobal competitiveness.

"Mauritius is committed tothe EPA and to economicreforms. But we need to ensurethat there is a balance betweenwhat is given and what isreceived," Mauritius foreignand international trade ministerMadan Dulloo said.

He proposed that adequateflexibilities and safeguardmeasures be built into the EPAfor Mauritius, following theprinciple of special and differ-ential treatment.

Trade

As the deadline for signing the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific region looms in December, some have called

for a referendum on the issue, writes *Nasseem Ackbarally


EPAs should be subjectedto electoral test

‘I have a few questions but I do not know whowill reply to them. For example, Mauritius ispresently self-sufficient in chicken production.What will happen if EU chicken is imported here?Will it not affect the food security of the island?What will happen if we do not sign the EPAs? Weshould know.’

The people’s verdict on EPAs


African, Caribbean andPacific (ACP) countriesdo not have to sign

Economic Partnership

Agreements (EPAs) with theEuropean Union to retain cur-rent access levels to the EUmarket, says a joint Third World

Network-Africa (TWN-Africa)and Oxfam International report.

These countries couldrather adopt the General Systemof Preference plus (GSP+) toaccess the European marketwhile EPA negotiations contin-ue even beyond the December2007 deadline.

Launching the report inAccra, Ghana, Mr. TettehHormeku, head of programmesat TWN-Africa, said with someminor tinkering and at aninsignificant cost to Europe, theEU could apply GSP+ to contin-ue current levels of marketaccess for all ACP countries.Critically, GSP+ would alsoprevent disruption in trade.

The EU proposed EPAs areessentially free trade agree-ments that Europe is seeking tosign with the ACP group ofcountries. Under the deal, ACPcountries would be required to

open their economies evenwider for EU imports.Specifically, the EU proposalswill remove tariffs on Europeanproducts imported into ACPmarkets, allow European com-panies and investors to enterany sector of local economy anddemand to be treated equal, ifnot better, than domestic enter-prises.

Impact

The EPAs will also preventthe ACP governments fromadopting policies to promoteand support domestic investors,businesses and farmers.Over twenty years of unbridledliberalization coupled with tariffreductions in most ACPeconomies has led to the col-lapse of sectors such as poultry,textiles, tomatoes, rice, fisheriesand cotton.

Within the World TradeOrganisation system, specialand differential treatment isapplicable to poor states inrecognition of their lower devel-opmental status when comparedto industrialised states.

The island state wants tomaintain the ACP-EU sugarprotocol which gives it prefer-ential access to the EU market.It is also seeking more flexiblerules of origin.

Rules of origin in tradeagreements determine whereproduct inputs can be sourcedfrom. Sometimes these meas-ures are so restrictive that devel-oping states are unable to utilisepreferential access to the EU orUS markets.

In negotiating the EPA,Mauritius also wants the neces-

sary funding to develop trade-related infrastructure and boostsupply capacity.

The current non-reciprocaltariff preferences that Mauritiusenjoys under the Cotonouagreement will be maintaineduntil December 31 2007. TheEPA will kick in at the start of2008.

PhasesThe EU is proposing that it

phases out the duty and quotaregime on sugar from the ACPcountries by 2015. Until 2015,volume-based safeguards willbe applied to the stronger sugarproducing ACP countries.Furthermore, its proposal alsoincludes subjecting ACP sugaraccess to the EU market to a

protective safeguard after 2015. On this issue, Mauritian PrimeMinister Navin Ramgoolamwarned that Mauritius will notbe able to compete with coun-tries like Swaziland, Sudan andBrazil when the EU cuts sugarprices by the planned 36 percentby 2009.

This is the reason why theisland state, the biggest exporterof sugar from ACP countries,wants this product to be includ-ed on the list of sensitive prod-ucts. "Lobbying is continuingon this issue," agro-industryminister Arvin Boolell told IPS.

But this promises to be adifficult task for Mauritiannegotiators after the EU'sannouncement that the EU-ACPsugar protocol will end inSeptember 2009.

"This shows that there is noacquired right in this world,"Ramgoolam commented,adding that Mauritius has failedto design a strategy to face thetransition from a protected to anopen economy.

Earlier this month inWashington, finance ministerRama Sithanen said "besides thefiscal revenue loss, we have alsothe painful social costs ofadjustment". In the textile andclothing industry 30 percent ofpeople have lost their job inrecent years, 85 percent ofwhom are women. Thousandsof others are facing the samefate in the sugar industry.

* Nasseem Ackbarally writesfor the IPS from Port Louis,Mauritius.

Trade

TWN-Africa & Oxfam put EU’spolitical will to test

A joint Third World Network-Africa and Oxfam International report concludes that ACPcountries can retain their current market access levels without Economic PartnershipAgreements with the European Union, writes Kwesi W. Obeng*.

EC President Barroso and Germany’s Merkel

27

Contrary to EU/EC claims,the EPAs would deepen thisanomaly by eliminating tariffscompletely, for most agricultur-al and industrial goods, key for-eign exchange earners of ACPeconomies.

In addition to eliminatingtariffs, which constitute a sub-stantial chunk of governmentrevenue, the EPAs will elimi-nate government discretion inrelation to public policy.

For example, in the areas ofgovernment procurement(which refers to the markets cre-ated by public expenditure), theEPA will take away the right ofACP governments to give pref-erence to sourcing local sup-plies over European suppliers.This effectively will shackleACP governments from pursu-ing policies which will promotedomestic industry, suppliers andjobs.

EPAs by their nature arecostly. However, the GSP+ is acost free alternative as thescheme does not entitle the EUto demand any extra liberalisa-tion of ACP economies. Again,GSP+ is both compatible withWorld Trade Organisation(WTO) rule and equivalent tocurrent market access prefer-ence scheme under Cotonou.

According to Mr. Hormeku,who is also co-author of thereport, with appropriate adjust-ments the GSP+ could even pro-vide a long-term alternative tothe contentious EPAs.

ThreatsThe EU is threatening the

76-member ACP group, whichis made up of some of the poor-est countries in the world, tosign up to free trade deals underthe EPAs by the end of 2007.

These countries, mainly inAfrica, risk significantly loweraccess to the EU market if theyfail to sign on to the EPAs. TheEU insistence comes against abackdrop of the fact that ACPdomestic businesses, workers,farmers and citizens have notbeen consulted about thesemajor changes underway.

Under the pretence of find-

ing a long-term alternative tothe imminent expiration of thecurrent market access prefer-ences ACP countries enjoy inthe EU market, the Europeansproposed the EPAs. But the EPAin sum is a hardnosed free tradedeal that will inevitably leavethese poor countries worst off ifever signed in their currentform.

Indeed, according to theEuropean Commission’s (EC)own Sustainable ImpactAssessment of EPAs on ACPs,West Africa for example wouldlose at least a billion euros intrade. A quarter of Ghana’sexports (240 million euros) forexample would face a tariff of27 per cent against zero per cent(0%). For La Cote d’Ivoire, itrises to about 36 per cent ofexports (700 million euros). InCentral Africa, about 360 mil-lion euros of exports would alsobe lost.

The EC’s assessment alsofound that EPAs would ‘acceler-ate the collapse of the modernWest Africa manufacturing sec-tor’ and ‘further discourage thedevelopment of processing andmanufacturing capacity in ACPcountries in export-oriented andother industries’.

Market accessThe TWN-Africa Oxfam report,which examined EconomicCommunity of West AfricanStates (ECOWAS), the East andSouthern Africa (ESA) negotiat-ing blocs and Papua NewGuinea in the Pacific bloc saidthat for these nations GSP+would offer a level of marketaccess comparable to what theycurrently enjoy.

ACP countries’ currentmarket access preferences to theEU market expire at the end ofthis year.

EU’s adoption of the GSP+would predictably afford ACPcountries in particular a muchneeded respite to re-organise tonegotiate for a better and fairerEPA.

But to make the transition,the report suggests EU grants allACP countries which are not

least-developed countries theright to join GSP+ this year.Overall, this would have theeffect of ensuring that themajority of current ACP exportswould continue to benefit fromduty-free access into theEuropean market after CotonouPreferences expires and in theevent that the EU fails to extendcurrent preferences.

GSP+ was originallydesigned to replace the previouspreferential scheme (anti-nar-cotics crops). But the EuropeanCommission has however said itwould apply standard-GSP toACP exports if the December2007 deadline slips by withoutan agreement on EPAs. TheGSP+ or ‘Special IncentiveArrangement for SustainableDevelopment and GoodGovernance’ scheme providespreferential access that is sub-stantially higher than standardGSP. The standard-GSP is ineffect insufficient and wouldprove counter to the develop-ment needs and aspirations ofACP countries.

GSP+ vs standard GSPAgain, the cost of switch-

ing to standard GSP tariffs fromCotonou would be costly toACP countries, the report states.

The standard GSP tariffswould also fall on a few butvery sensitive export sectors. InGhana and La Cote d’Ivoiremore than two-thirds of thecosts of trade disruption underthe standard GSP would fall onthe fish, wood and horticulturesectors.

In Kenya, fish and horticul-ture exporters would be hitalmost exclusively. The patternis hardly any different for thePacific, where tuna is one of theregion’s greatest sharedresources. The region’s fledg-ling canning and processingindustry relies on tariff-freeaccess to the EU market.

The GSP+ scheme does nothowever cover sugar andbananas (these are exportedunder the CommodityProtocols). But for all other cur-rent exports from these coun-

tries, GSP+ would provideduty-free access to the EU mar-ket to a degree that is compara-ble to Cotonou.

Significantly, the keyexport sectors of horticulture,fisheries and wood which arethe sectors of greatest concernto many ACP countries wouldhave duty-free access into theEU market under GSP+.

Admission of all ACPcountries into the GSP+ in 2007would thus provide exportersand investors in these vitalexport sectors the certainty theyrequire to continue exports.This will invariably lighten thehuge pressure on EPA negotia-tors and enable ACP countriesto continue negotiations beyond2007 with negligible interrup-tion of current trade.

But GSP+ has some draw-backs, the report admits. Keylimitations of GSP+ include anarrower scope of coverage andtighter rules of origin. Somegoods such as fresh oranges, thereport points out, may facehigher tariffs than at present.These weaknesses, Mr.Hormeku said, could beaddressed if the EU musteredthe political will.

As the EU tightens its gripon securing a deal in its favourcome December 2007, itremains to be seen how force-fully ACP negotiators wouldpush for the adoption of GSP-plus to protect their policy spaceand populations the EUonslaught.

Already, the EU has dis-missed a legitimate demand byWest African governments, oneof the six ACP negotiatingblocs, for an extension of nego-tiations by three years, until2010, to enable them undertakefurther studies regarding thelikely impact of the EPAs ontheir economies. The EU insistsvia a punishing timetable thatthe first draft of the agreementmust be ready in July, and finalagreement signed by end of thisyear.

* Kwesi W. Obeng is AssistantEditor, African Agenda.

Trade


Onana is a small-scalebroiler breeder fromMbankomo, a small

locality about 30 km fromYaounde, the capital ofCameroon. He has been in thisbusiness for 17 years.However, for five years,between 1998 and 2004, hisbreeding business was nolonger profitable and he had toabandon it, thus plunging hisfamily into indescribablepoverty. “For all these years, Iwas unable to feed my family,educate my children, and evenoften treat them when they fellill. Besides, I lost one of mydaughters as I was unable topay the amount demanded bydoctors for her treatment …”,he recollects, suppressing atear. For the record, it was theunfair competition from themassive importation of frozenchicken parts from Europewhich forced Onana to aban-don his breeding business.Cameroon imported yearly22,154 tonnes of frozen chick-en, valued at F CFA 10.5 bil-lion. Because of these imports,more than 111,000 operators inthis sector, like Onana, hadstopped their business. At thattime, frozen chicken waslevied 23 % tax and customsduty for entry into Cameroon.

For two years now, fol-lowing the ACDIC campaign,the government has increasedtaxes and customs duty onfrozen chicken imports to 46 %

and reduced the volumeimported. By so doing, the sell-ing price of a kilogramme offrozen chicken increased fromF CFA 900 to F CFA 1,700.Onana has resumed his breed-ing business and successfullymanages four flocks of 1,000chickens a year. With this busi-ness, he has rediscovered anemployment that provides himincome to feed his family andeducate his children. “I ammarried with seven children;all my children have reachedschool-going age, but only fourare in school, the other threehave had their education cutshort through poverty whichhit us some years ago”.

Like him, over 250,000people have rediscoveredemployment in the poultry sec-tor in Cameroon.

Onana in dangerThe on-going negotiations

on the Economic PartnershipAgreement (EPA) betweenCEMAC (Central AfricaEconomic and MonetaryCommunity) and the EuropeanUnion (EU) is a real threat tothe new-found prosperity ofOnana and his family. This isbecause if the EPAs are signedon 31 December 2007, thegovernment of Cameroon willbe compelled to remove the 46% taxes and customs duty aswell as the quota restrictionsimposed on frozen chicken

imports from Europe. If, with20 % customs duties, theimportation of 22,154 tonneshas destroyed 110,000 jobs,what will the situation be with0 % customs duty? Certainly itwill be more catastrophic!Subsidized products fromEurope will kill all productionsectors in the country.

If such an agreement issigned between CEMAC andthe EU, the situation portrayedfor Onana and his colleagues inthe poultry sector will be thesame for all sectors of thecountry’s economy. This isbecause the agreement willinclude all aspects: services,public procurement, agricultur-al and non-agricultural goods,etc. An EPA impact study onthe agricultural sector ofCEMAC, undertaken by theExecutive Secretariat ofCEMAC concluded that:“Whatever the method used tooffset the loss of fiscal rev-enue, … liberalization willlead to a fall in the prices ofcommodities which will causea general fall in the priceindex; an increase in cash cropproduction (for export) to thedetriment of production for thelocal market; a fall in the pro-duction of agro-industrieswhich will not be able to copewith competition from import-ed food products; an overallfall in household consumption,as the fall in income is greaterthan the fall in consumer

prices; worsening of poverty,particularly in rural areas, andworsening of inequalities bothin the urban and rural areas”.

Yet, despite this unam-biguous warning, theCameroonian Ministers incharge of negotiations(Ministers of Finance andTrade) insist on signing anagreement with the EuropeanUnion on 31 December 2007.Besides, they are putting pres-sure on the other countries inthe sub-region, who havereservations because of theenormous risks that weigh onthe lives of millions of people,to conclude negotiations by theend of this year, with theexcuse that if an agreementwere not signed by 31December 2007, there wouldbe a legal vacuum in trade rela-tions with the EU. Should it beunderstood in this context that,in place of the legal vacuumwhich could be negotiatedbefore the end of the year, it ispreferable to sign an agreementthat would generate poverty?… It is like saying that, for thegovernment of Cameroon, onlythe interests of others matter!

* Culled and translated fromthe April 7, 2007 edition ofL’Appel Citoyen published byL’Association Citoyenne deDefense des Interets Collectifsof Cameroun, (www.acdic.net)

Trade

The livelihood of small businesses is at stake as the European Union pressures the Africa,Caribbean and Pacific group to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement by end of

December 2007 as this story from Cameroun depicts.


Serious threat to producers

29

“We believe [that] the public support ofthe secretary-general is a very impor-tant step in moving closer towards the

implementation of this new women's enti-ty”, June Zeitlin, executive director of theNew York-based Women's Environment andDevelopment Organisation (WEDO) toldIPS.

She said that the secretary-generalcalled on member states to take up this pro-posal, as did women from around the worldwho were in New York for the UNCommission on the Status of Women(CSW), which concluded a two-week ses-sion.

The proposal for a new UN women'sagency was made last November by a 15-member "High-Level Panel on UN System-

Wide Coherence", comprising heads of gov-ernment, former world political leaders andsenior government and UN officials.

On International Women's Day, whichwas commemorated at the United Nationsand around the globe, the secretary-generalsaid that such a new body should be able tocall on all of the UN system's resources inthe work to empower women and realisegender equality worldwide.

"I encourage member states to study thepossibility of replacing several currentstructures with one dynamic UN entity."

New architectureThe proposal for the creation of a new

gender architecture includes the consolida-

tion of three existing UN entities - the UNDevelopment Fund for Women, the Officeof the Special Adviser on Gender Issues andthe UN Division for the Advancement ofWomen - under a single new UN agency tobe headed by an under-secretary-general,the third highest ranking post in the worldbody.

But its implementation will require theblessings of the 192-member GeneralAssembly, which has not given any indica-tion of how it will respond.

Asked if she was confident that mem-ber states would support the proposal,Zeitlin said that women who spoke to theirgovernment representatives here at theUnited Nations will continue these discus-sions back at home in their nation's capitals.

Women

A coalition of over 140 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women'sgroups is gratified that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expressing public

support for the creation of a new UN agency for women, writes *Thalif Deen.


Proposed UN women'sagency gains key ally

"To date, we have heard of no opposi-tion by member states to strengthening thegender equality architecture," she added.

"However, we do understand that coun-tries have questions and want more infor-mation on a number of issues, includingabout how the new entity will operate, par-ticularly at the national level, and where the

new resources will come from."In a letter to the secretary-general, the

coalition of over 140 NGOs said: "We callupon UN member states and the secretary-general to take swift actions to initiate andsupport efforts to strengthen the architecturefor women's equality in the GeneralAssembly deliberations during its (current)61st session," which ends in earlySeptember.

The coalition says that the upgrading ofwomen's equality work within the UN sys-tem is long overdue. "It is imperative at thiscritical juncture that member states and theUN system take bold action - and providethe leadership and resources required - tomake these recommendations a reality," thegroups said.

SupportThe 140 NGOs, spanning all of the con-

tinents, included Asia Pacific Women's

Watch, Canadian Federation of UniversityWomen, Centre for Women's GlobalLeadership, European Women's Lobby,African Centre for Democracy and HumanRights Studies, International Federation ofWomen's Lawyers and the World Federationof UN Associations.

Charlotte Bunch of the Centre for

Women's Global Leadership said that theletter signed by all of the NGOs was deliv-ered to the secretary-general onInternational Women's Day.

"It is our hope that this will get theprocess moving again among govern-ments," she told IPS.

Bunch pointed out that the coalitionwas also successful in getting the issue dis-cussed at the General Assembly's specialthematic session on gender, and with gov-ernments around the CSW session.

"While we do not know exactly whatwill be the next stage in the process, the ideais gaining momentum and has been widelysupported by NGOs at the CSW," sheadded.

The letter sent to the secretary-generalalso calls for a commitment "to significantand sustained funding of the new women'sentity and the gender equality and women'srights/empowerment work of the whole UN

system, including gender main-streamingwithin all UN policies and programmes."

The coalition also seeks "meaningfuland ongoing civil-society participation, par-ticularly of women's groups, in the consid-eration and implementation of the (High-Level) Panel's recommendations at thenational, regional and global levels."

The letter says that structures andavenues for such participation should bebuilt into the gender equality architecture ofthe United Nations at all levels to ensurethat women's voices, and especially those atthe grassroots, are heard and that women'sconcerns are effectively addressed in sus-tained ways.

Zeitlin said that the three existingwomen's units have a total budget of about$65 million, compared to $450 million forthe UN Population Fund and about $2 bil-lion for the UN children's agency, UNICEF.

"These recommendations present thebest opportunity to reduce the gap betweenthe rhetoric on gender equality at the UnitedNations and the reality of women's lives,"she added.

She also pointed out that the panel hadrecommended an initial target of some $200million for the proposed new women'sagency.

"We understand [that] this number wastaken out (of the panel's report) becausesome panel members believed [that] it wasfar below what was needed for the UnitedNations to deliver on gender equality andwomen's empowerment."

* Thalif Deen writes for the IPS from NewYork.

Women


"We call upon UN member states and the secretary-general totake swift actions to initiate and support efforts to strengthenthe architecture for women's equality in the General Assembly

deliberations during its (current) 61st session,"

Just give us the space, we are able

31AFRICAN AGENDA VOL.10 NO.2

African women are not caught in atrap that would not allow them tomove into business.

According to a study published by theAfrican Development Bank in 2004, thecontinent's women own and operate manymicro, small and medium enterprises. Infact, female ownership of such businessesranged from a low of 46 per cent in coun-tries like Kenya and Malawi to as much as84 per cent in Swaziland. So we need notwaste time worrying about how to getAfrican women into busi-ness, they arealready there.

What we, however, need is to helpwomen escape another trap. Businesses runby women tend to be so small that they sim-

ply can neither be as successful as theydeserve to be, nor have the economicimpacts on employment and incomes theyshould have. We must therefore strengthenwomen's abilities to run and expand theirbusinesses.

Smart economicsThree distinct elements constitute the

trap that keeps women entrepreneurs stuckat the small-scale level. First, there is a lackof access to finance. Second, women needbetter advice and business services. Third,national and international regulations oftenstand in the way of growth. The World Bankis right in arguing that "gender equality is

smart economics". But Africa must not waitfor donors to become active. The onus is onus, and civil society should exert pressureon governments to rise to the challenges.

Micro-lending is something that canhelp. Access to such loans is very important,particularly in rural areas. The work of theGrameen Bank, BRAC and others inBangladesh is providing wonderful exam-ples for us. However, it is not enough tofocus on micro-credit. There is a great num-ber of women whose businesses are too bigto have much use for micro loans. In princi-ple, they would be ready to expand andemploy more staff, but they cannot do so forlack of funds.

Women

Many women run enterprises of their own in Sub-Saharan Africa. All too often, however, they find it difficult to expand their business, generate more income and create additionalemployment, they are neither given full access to all financial services, nor provided with adequate professional advice, or supported by overall favourable regulatory environments,

writes* Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Women stuck at thesmall-scale level

Masai women with wares


R i s k - a d v e r s ebehaviour is typical ofmost African banks, andtheir stance makesfinancing investmentsdifficult for most maleentrepreneurs too. Butfor women, the chal-lenge to provide somekind of security, forinstance, is particularlydaunting. More oftenthan not, land is legallyowned by male familymembers – and that isthe kind of collateralmost bankers want tosee.

Surely, there mustalso be other ways toleverage and guaranteeresources to women. InIran, women use beauti-ful Persian rugs as col-lateral. Gold, silver orjewellery in general areother options. Anythingthat can be given a papervalue can, in principle, serve as a security infinancial deals. We need to stimulatethought on these issues in Africa, we needinnovative approaches.

In Nigeria, we have laid the base for abrighter future. We have gone through aprocess of consolidation in the financialsector. Instead of formerly 89 banks thereare now 25. Competition has becometougher. Banks will have to move on frommerely trading assets to investing in produc-tive businesses if they want to thrive. Inother words, the banks will have to becomemore innovative, and that should make themmore in-terested in doing business withwomen too.

However, we should not confine our-selves to thinking only in terms of credit.There is a need of other mechanisms to openup funds for women as well. It would makesense to establish venture-capital funds forwomen's businesses. Donors, governmentsand the private sector should pull togetherand cooperate on that matter. In a similarsense, it would be worthwhile to have insur-ances cover relevant business risks. In otherwords, the entire range of financial servicesmust become available to women entrepre-neurs if we want to see them rise to their fullpotential.

However, financial bottlenecks are onlyone cate-gory of constraints that preventwomen's businesses from expanding moredynamically. They need other services as

well. Too often, owners of small enterpriseslack the capacity to systematically draft abusiness plan. Too often, they do not knowhow to do a cash-flow analysis in order toreally understand how their busi-ness isdoing. Obviously, they need competentadvice from professional consultants onsuch matters.

StandardsIn particular, it is important that they

learn to think in terms of supply chains. It isnot enough to consider what women canproduce and how they can do that. Market-ing matters too, the products must be sold. Itis one thing to grow flowers and quiteanother thing to auction them inAmsterdam. In Uganda, I saw an examplewhere advisers, with very good results,accompany flower growers from the pro-duction all the way through to marketing,including assuring quality.

That approach could work out well inother sectors too, textiles and clothing, forin-stance. Once a company becomes part ofan internation-al supply chain, the chancesfor it growing steadily and generating moreincome multiply. But for that to happen,production must meet certain quality stan-dards. Female entrepreneurs need assistanceto move up that ladder.

Finally, regulations matter. Nationalpolicy, for instance, may block businesseseven if it is well intended. In Nigeria coun-

try, an attempt to protect the textile industryactually ended up harming many womenworking as fashion designers and producers.Nigeria simply banned the import of' all tex-tiles. Accordingly, some imports that thesewomen needed to produce the clothes theywere exporting elsewhere were banned too.These women brought the problem to gov-ernment’s attention, and we had to deal withit.

This example shows that national poli-cies matter -but so do international regimes.Today, we are noticing that Chinese compa-nies are copying traditional Niger-ian tie-dye designs. Their products are flooding ourmarkets at very low prices, increasinglydriving local competition out of business.These designs, however, are not patented.So intellectual property from Nigeria isbeing used now in a way that is detrimentalto our economy, and that is not an accept-able institutional setting – even if the per-sons who do that kind of work in China hap-pen to be women.

* Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a fellow at theBrookings Institution in Washington D C.Before, she was finance minister and thenforeign affairs minister of Nigeria.

This article culled from Third WorldNetwork Features (June 2007), alsoappeared in Development and Cooperation,Vol. 35, 2007.

Women

Lady in the market


The Security Council's primaryresponsibility is for the maintenanceof international peace and security as

set out in the UN Charter, according to theG77.

All other issues, including those relat-ing to economic and social development,are assigned by the Charter to the Economicand Social Council (ECOSOC) and theGeneral Assembly.

The G77's strong reaction to theupcoming Security Council meeting is

expected to be reflected in a letter toAmbassador Emyr Jones Parry of Britain,current president of the 15-memberCouncil. The decision to send a letter toParry Jones was taken at a closed-doormeeting of the G77.

The letter is expected to say that theever-increasing encroachment by theSecurity Council on the roles and responsi-bilities of other principal organs of theUnited Nations represents a distortion of theprinciples and purposes of the UN Charter,

and also infringes on their authority andcompromises the rights of the general mem-bership of the United Nations.

Beyond mandateAmbassador Munir Akram, current

G77 chair and permanent representative ofPakistan to the United Nations, said thatsome of the G77 members feel that theSecurity Council has gone beyond its man-date. He said that issues such as nuclear

International

The 130-member Group of 77, the largestsingle coalition of developing countries, has lashed out at the Security Council, accusing

the UN's most powerful political body of violating the organisation's charter by

planning an open debate on energy, securityand climate, writes *Thalif Deen.

Security Council accused of overstepping boundsSecurity Council accused of overstepping bounds

Security Council in session


"The concept of the Security Council,as I read the UN Charter, is that the Councilcomes into action when there are actualthreats to peace, and breaches of the peace,"Ambassador Akram told IPS.

On earlier occasions, the SecurityCouncil had also "encroached" intoECOSOC and General Assembly territoryby holding meetings on gender rights,HIV/AIDS, terrorism and UN procurementand peacekeeping.

Last year, the Group of 77 under thechairmanship of South Africa protested thedebate on UN procurement. But USAmbassador John Bolton, then president ofthe Security Council, refused to remove theitem from the agenda and continued withthe one-day discussion despite protests fromthe G77.

Akram said that some of these thematicissues are not threats to peace or breaches ofthe peace. But, of course, it is a matter ofinterpretation. Terrorism may be a threat topeace, he argued, but the Security Council isnot dealing with an actual situation when itis involved in setting norms and creatinginternational laws.

General Assembly"Law-making powers, according to my

interpretation of the charter, are clearlyassigned to the General Assembly, not to the

Security Council,"he added.

At a press con-ference, Parry Jonestold reporters thatthe very fact ofholding a meetingon climate changeand highlighting itwas important.

The meeting isto be chaired byBritish ForeignSecretary MargaretBeckett, but thereare no plans eitherto issue a presiden-tial statement oradopt a resolutionon climate change,the British envoysaid.

Meanwhile, the117-member Non-Aligned Movement(NAM) has alsocriticised the Britishproposal to hold ameeting on climatechange.

Ambassador Ileana Nunez Mordocheof Cuba, current NAM chair, has expressedNAM's concerns "regarding the continuedand increased encroachment by the SecurityCouncil on the functions and powers of theGeneral Assembly and the Economic andSocial Council and other organs throughaddressing issues which traditionally fallwithin the competence of the latter organs."

China, which is a veto-wielding perma-nent member of the Security Council, is akey member of the Group of 77, along withGhana, Indonesia, the Republic of Congo,Panama, Peru, Qatar and South Africa - all

rotating non-permanent members of thesame Council.

Challenge

Akram said that individual membershave the full right to speak in their nationalcapacities.

"Some of them have said they willspeak at the Security Council meeting whileothers have said they will not speak becausethey are challenging the authority of theCouncil to take up this issue," he told IPS.

The issues of energy and climatechange, which will be discussed at the meet-ing, are considered vital for sustainabledevelopment.

But the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment, which took place inJohannesburg in September 2002, assignedresponsibilities in the field of sustainabledevelopment to the General Assembly,ECOSOC, the Commission on SustainableDevelopment, the UN EnvironmentProgramme, the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change and theKyoto Protocol.

Conflict

But "no role was envisaged for theSecurity Council," Akram said. An Asiandiplomat, whose country is a member of theG77, told IPS that intuitively, there wouldseem to be a nexus between environmentaldegradation brought about by climatechange and the advent of conflict.

This is clear to anyone who thinks thatconflict is often about securing resources,for example, scarce water resources. But,the problem that one has in making an intel-lectual argument - as to why the SecurityCouncil should discuss this - is that one can-not seem to point conclusively to any oneconflict as being an example, he said.

"Why is it a threat to internationalpeace and security?" he asked. There seemsto be no conclusive study that makes theargument based on scientific research orexhaustive data.

"This has given rise to the perceptionthat this debate is being held either simplyfor the sake of having a debate or just topublicize the issue," he added.

Otherwise, Britain should have intro-duced this as a formal agenda item for theSecurity Council to discuss. The fact thatthey are not planning follow-up meetingsreaffirms this perception, he noted.

* Thalif Deen writes for the IPS from NewYork.

International

‘Law-making powers,according to my

interpretation of thecharter, are clearly

assigned to the GeneralAssembly, not to the

Security Council.’

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon


Four groups are opposinga plan to break up theNepal Water Supply

Corporation (NWSC) in theKathmandu Valley and disperseits work and assets among threenew agencies, one of which willhire the British firm SevernTrent to manage water deliveryin the Valley's five municipali-ties for six years.

The scheme, which hasbeen approved by Nepal's newlegislature, is a condition tied tobuilding the huge Melamchiproject that will divert river

water to the capital. It is led bythe Asian Development Bank(AsDB).

"Health is a fundamentalright. When you say health, thatincludes water," says GopalSiwakoti 'Chintan', legal advisorat Water and Energy Users'Federation-Nepal WAFED)."What is the guarantee thatSevern Trent will continue thesupply in a free and affordablemanner?" he added in an inter-view.

The organisations thatlaunched the court challenge

also contend that the manage-ment contract should have beenawarded to a local company andthat NWSC should have beengiven a real chance to reform.

AsDB counters that its planwill devolve responsibility forsupplying drinking water andmanaging wastewater to Nepal'smunicipalities, where itbelongs, and that the NWSC is not being priva-tised because 80% of the sharesin the new utility operator willbe held by the central and localgovernments, making Severn

Trent a "private sector partici-pant". That firm was hiredbecause its expertise is unavail-able in Nepal, adds the Bank.

Poor supplyWater supply in the

Kathmandu Valley, home toclose to two million people, isnotoriously poor. Roughly 30-40% of people are not connect-ed to the NWSC system,according to Chintan, relying onpublic water taps, which areunreliable, and springs andother surface water sources.

Rights

Hiring a private firm to manage the drinking water system in Nepal's capital violates theright to health guaranteed in the country's interim constitution, activists are set to arguebefore the Supreme Court, writes *Marty Logan.

'PRIVATISATION' VIOLATESRIGHT TO HEALTH, SAY ACTIVISTS

AFP

Water is life: figthing for his life


Many homeowners whohave connections supplementthe piped supply by tappinggroundwater, which supplies60-70% of the Valley's demandduring the dry season. In 2004,the NWSC was supplying only145 million litres a day to meeta demand of 294 million litres,according to the corporation.

Nor is the piped waterpotable in many areas. One-halfof households tested in theValley were receiving water thatcontained no chlorine, the sim-plest method for disinfectingwater, according to a study doneby the government and NGOs inAugust 2006.

One of the first tasks forSevern Trent will be installingwater meters where none nowexist, says AsDB Senior UrbanDevelopment Specialist KeiichiTamaki. That includes at themore than 1,000 public tapswhere locals now often collectwater for free.

NWSC currently chargesthose with meters 50 rupees($0.71) for the first 10,000 litresof water and 15 rupees for every1,000 litres above that. Thatbase rate will remain unchangeduntil delivery is improved, saysAsDB, but the charge for watersupplied beyond 10,000 litresneeds to increase by 50% tofinance operating costs, capitalinvestment and professionalmanagement of the new compa-ny.

IncreaseThe tariff rose 15% in

September 2004 and will "like-ly" increase once this year andagain in 2008, Tamaki said in aninterview. "People are alreadypaying much more than expect-ed in the form of tankers (todeliver water), diseases and bot-tled water. When you add upthese 'coping costs', the increaseis easily affordable," he added.

The Nepal Governmentsays it is too soon to predict ifthe review board that will becreated from splitting theNWSC's Valley business intothree - including the utilityoperator and management board

- would approve an increase."If the operator wants the

tariff raised they will have tomake a request to the manage-ment board, which will make arequest to the Tariff FixationBoard, which is independent,"said Krishna Prasad Acharya,joint secretary at the Ministry ofPhysical Planning and Works.

"It's not like AsDB has rec-ommended a 50% raise so it hasto go up by 50%. It could bedone like that in the past butnow you'll have to go step-by-step," Acharya told IPS.

What is certain is that thoseusing public taps will have tostart paying a monthly tariff,and that they will not benefitfrom what the bank calls the"generously subsidised" first10,000 litres of water. Tap userswill pay 70% of what home-owners pay for their non-sub-sidised water, at today's rates10.5 rupees for each 1,000litres.

By 2008 that would rise toalmost 14 rupees, slightly morethan a packet of milk inKathmandu, according toTamaki's projected rate hike.

"In our visits and surveys(to lower income areas) a fami-ly is using 15-30 litres a day fordrinking and cooking. That's450-900 litres a month," saysDivas B Basnyat at theMelamchi project's Low IncomeConsumer Support Unit. "Theylaugh when we tell them howmuch that will cost becausethey'd rather pay than get upearly in the morning to stand inline for water," he added.

Other sourcesAt the same time, the Unit

has also found that low-incomepeople now use other watersources, like spring water, forwashing and bathing, but wouldprefer to use piped water. If theywere to start doing that, thentheir monthly bills would rise.

The Unit is planning torehabilitate most of the publictaps in the Valley. The work willbe free but the community willhave to set up a users' group tomanage the water. Water in the

first year after a meter isinstalled will be free and it willbe piped for half-price in thesecond year, added Basnyat.

'Chintan' asks why suchimprovements could not bemade by the existing NWSCworking with Severn Trent.Alternatively, "Hand the operat-ing system to the municipalitiesso they own the board, the man-agement and the profit. Thenthey will have the incentive" toprovide quality service, he sug-gests.

"In all legal, political andtechnical terms, (the plan) is aprivatisation," he adds. A publicinstitution will be de-authorisedand all its wealth and functionstransferred to a Nepali privatecompany and ultimately toSevern Trent."

According to Tamaki, "Anumber of (reform) modelswere tried by the World Bankfrom the late 1970s to the early2000s and failed...in the eyes ofthe donor community, theNWSC is a non-starter."

No opportunityWater expert Ajaya Dixit

disagrees. "It was never givenan opportunity to reform," hetold IPS. "Its creation (as aboard to usher in a World Bankwater supply project) was great-ly flawed. It ended up basicallybecoming a procurementagency. The law said it had tofollow central government

directives and a minister sat onthe board."

"You can do things whenyou've been given responsibilitybut responsibility must begiven," added the founder of theNepal Water ConservationFoundation.

In an email, a Severn Trentemployee told IPS that he couldnot discuss the managementcontract now. Media here havehighlighted the UK firm's recentovercharging of customers,which led to a probe by utilityregulator Owfat.

It found, "Severn TrentWater had provided regulatorydata that was either deliberatelymiscalculated or poorly sup-ported". The firm must refundcustomers 42 million poundssterling ($82.2 million) by2009.

The investigation intoSevern Trent's "customer serv-ice performance failures is stillcontinuing", Peter Mandichfrom Ofwat's press office toldIPS via email.

The AsDB is unconcerned,says Tamaki. "Disputes betweenoperators and regulators are notuncommon at all...Severn Trentwas very cooperative in the firstinstance - they realised (the mis-calculation) themselves andreported it."

*Marty Logan writes for the IPSfrom Kathmandu

Rights

‘What is certain is that those usingpublic taps will have to start paying amonthly tariff, and that they will not benefit from what the bank calls the

"generously subsidised" first 10,000 litresof water. Tap users will pay 70% of

what homeowners pay for their non-subsidised water, at today's rates 10.5

rupees for each 1,000 litres.’

37

It was Sunday and as usual, the crowdat Prodigal Spot was larger than usual.

The bar consisted of a large, bluekiosk, fronted by a wide, leafy neem tree.

On Sunday, even people who ownedradios preferred to listen to football com-mentary at the bar where the arguments,jubilation and taunting was loud and fes-tive. Besides, it was the end of the month,when most people had received their pay.Among the gathering were some of themore regular patrons, people who werelikely to be found there any day, no matterthe hour.

There was Two Sure the lottery agent,as usual making calculations on his lotterysheet.

There was Veteran, a returnee fromthe recent conflict in Liberia. Even thoughthat conflict had ended long ago, Veteranhad a way of relating stories as if he hadreturned just the previous day. “Liberiawill never know peace,” he used to saywith incontestable certainty.

Akos the owner of the bar was herselfno less loquacious than her patrons. Shewas an inquisitive woman who involvedherself in all the private affairs of her cus-tomers. Often, in the course of pouring adrink for a waiting customer, she wouldsuddenly stop, bottle in mid air, staringintently at the speaker until the buyerwould remind her of her duty. “Sorry, howmuch did you say?” she would then askapologetically.

The most conspicuous absence thisSunday was that of Concoction, so-namedbecause of his habit of drinking an impos-sibly outlandish combination of drinks.For all that, he commanded a lot of respectbecause working at the National ArtCenter where he sold artifacts he had arange of foreign contacts and was oftenvisited by foreign tourists who brought awelcome air of novelty to Prodigal Spot.

The match had not yet started and afurious argument was raging. It was aboutthe president’s recent award of the Orderof the British Empire. The contending fac-tions were divided, almost strictly accord-ing to whether they supported the ruling

party or belonged to the opposition.“What is so unheard of about an

award from the queen?” Two Suredemanded. “Tell me. We have got our ownOrder of the Volta, don’t we? What’s thedifference?”

A wiry old specimen, obviously theworse for wear, got up from his chair.“Always against,” he said, pointing ashaking finger at Two Sure.

“Always against.” said another man insupport. It was Prof. the mason who hadmore facts than anybody else. He boughtnewspapers regularly and his informationwas always fresh. He was fond of bigwords which raised him in the eyes of theothers especially as they did not under-stand them. “Hit that point again. Tellthem.”

Invigorated, the thin man said, “Thisgovernment has received more foreignheads of state than any other governmentsince we attained independence.” He triedto get up but his state of inebriation madehim succumb back into his chair.

“It’s true,” said another man. It wasTetteh Couple, a policeman. The ‘couple’in his name was a vulgarization of theword ‘corporal.’ “And it has received moreexternal loans than any other govern-ment.”

“You mean your party has plunged usinto more indebtedness than any otherparty.”

“Even a debtor must eat!” TettehCouple shouted. He had shouted so muchhis voice was now hoarse. “After all we’regoing to pay back.”

“It is our regular payment of debtsthat has made it impossible for us to devel-op,” Two Sure informed him.

“You are simply stubborn,” said Prof.What do you say about the Queen herselfawarding the president the Order of theBritish Empire?”

“You know what I find so patheticabout the whole of your arguments?”asked Veteran. “First of all, there is noBritish Empire to even talk about an awardin its name. And then all the people whoseem to admire your president so much areforeigners. What has he ever done to

improve the livelihood of his own peo-ple?”

“If he never did anything for a people,why should they vote for him another fouryears?”

“Misguided voters!” Two Sure shout-ed, stretching his neck combatively.“Fools!” he concluded.

“The misguided fools seem to be inthe majority in this country!” Proflaughed.

“With you gracing their ranks, Prof.”He pronounced the ‘Prof’ with a sneeringemphasis.

Just then, Concoction entered. He wasaccompanied by a stranger whose arrivalgave the gathering a pause. He was a tall,muscular man with a mane of lustrousdreadlocks.

“This is my friend Braxton Cudjoe,”said Concoction, from Jamaica.”

“May I?” said the new arrival in adeep baritone, indicating an empty chair.“Feel free,” said Veteran.

“Here,” said Two Sure, “we’re allprodigals.”

“Go deh,” said Braxton Cudjoe.“Rastafari!” shouted Veteran. One

thing about Veteran was that he was thelocal guru on all things Jamaican especial-ly their music and their patois.

“Forgive me for asking,” said Akos.”No sweat,” said the Rastaman. ”Why, if you are from Jamaica, are

you called Cudjoe?” Akos asked.Braxton Cudjoe cleared his throat.But before he could speak, Veteran

got up. With an open palm he signaledBraxton Cudjoe to hold his peace. “Whenwe talk about the true liberators ofJamaica, we are talking about Kojo, Tachieand Kwao. True or false?”

“Hey, man” growled Braxton Cudjoe,“where did you learn that?”

“You are in Kwame Nkrumah’sGhana.” Veteran informed him. Cudjoetwirled his locks in the air several times.When he finally brought himself undercontrol, he said to Akos, “Madam couldyou please give us all a bottle of beereach.”

Society

By Kwao Tordzro


REMEMBERBENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

Soon they were all drinking happilyaway. Under the instruction of Veteran,Akos had put on reggae music.

Two gentlemen walked in. Theylooked like twins, except that one worespectacles and was taller than his compan-ion. From their dressing it was clear theywere returning from church.

The shorter of the two who did notwear spectacles, had a clean-shaven head.He had a regal bearing. He raised his palmin general greeting to the gathering.Snapping his fingers, he said to Akos,“Two Stars.”

Akos served them with deference,seating them in the shadiest corner underthe tree.

Bald Head lifted one end of his cloth,revealing a pair of baggy shorts. From thishe took out a newspaper and handed it tohis companion “It’s on page two,” he said.

The other settled back comfortablyand proceeded to read. Throughout thereading there was a smile of contentmenton his face.

When Bob Marley’s War started play-ing, several of the regular customers, ledby Veteran, joined in.

Until the philosophy which holds one race superior And another inferiorIs finally and permanently discredited and abandonedUntil the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes,Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to raceEverywhere is war Me say war!The bespectacled man pushed his

glasses down his nose, his upper lip curledup in disdain. Crooking his thumb in thedirection of the singers, he said in a whis-per to his companion, “just look at that,Prince.” Then he put a thumb and forefin-ger together and put them at the corner ofhis lips as if to say ‘A bunch of ganjasmokers.

Veteran saw it all. He signaled Akos tostop the music.

The bar became ominously quiet.Veteran stood up. Pointing a finger at

the two beer drinkers, he said, “What is ityou are reading that gives you the right tocast aspersions on our character?”

“Aspersions?” asked the bespectacledone, clearly shaken by the fact that a manlike that could use such expressions.“Aspersions,” cried the others who werehearing the word for the first time. “Yes,aspersions! Casting aspersions!”

All the while, Prof and his group were

gigging superciliously.Finally, a small

smile at the corner of hislips, the shorter man said,“I can summarize it foryou. This is an articleabout a speech given by awhole professor. Theprofessor spoke abouthow the president haswon the respect ofAmerican and Europeaninvestors; how he has gotthe country back into thegood books of the IMF,the World Bank and otherwestern financial institu-tions; how he is the mostimportant African leadertoday, President of theAfrican Union. Above allhe has won the muchcoveted Order of theBritish Empire.

Braxton rose up tohis full height. Gesturing toward the beerdrinkers, he asked very politely, “What doyou think of that?”

“The learned professor knew what hewas talking about,” said the shorter man.A professor of economics, no less,”Spectacles concurred.

“A shameless Uncle Tom,” Two Surespat out.

“African boot lickers”“A damnable lot!” shouted Veteran.Now Spectacles, turning to face

Braxton Cudjoe, said, “What is your ownopinion?”

Braxton Cudjoe faced the two square-ly. He spread his fingers wide. He put themthrough his locks and pushed the locksback, “Have you two heard aboutZephaniah Benjamin?”

Veteran allowed them enough time toreveal their ignorance before he said, “TheRastafarian poet?”

“Exactly!” Braxton Cudjoe exclaimedin admiration.

Veteran beamed in satisfaction.Clearly, the two beer drinkers had been cutdown to size.

”I bet his poetry is all about the pleas-ures of ganja smoking,” Spectacles said, acrooked smile on his face.

“The Queen would hardly award himthe OBE for that,” said Braxton Cudjoe,looking steadily at him.

“She did?”“Yes, she did.”“And how do you rate this man, what

do you call him?”“Benjamin Zephaniah.”“A great man indeed!”

“So you agree that it is an award givenonly to great men.”

“Benjamin Zephaniah displayed hisgreatness by rejecting it.’

After he recovered from his shock atthis revelation, the shorter man scoffed,“No wonder. A marijuana-smoking revolu-tionary!” He loaded the word ‘revolution-ary’ with as much derision as he could.

“I don’t know about that,” saidBraxton Cudjoe. Zephaniah’s explanationis instructive and I think “your presidentwould do well to take a leaf out ofZephaniah’s book. You know, he explainedthat several people have rejected thataward without making a public issue of itbut he had to go public for a good reason.He is well known for his stand againstimperialism view, of which the Britishcrown and the Order of the British Empireare symbols. To accept that award wouldhave been a negation of all that he standsfor.”

“Yesterday, I saw a very huge bill-board prominently saying, ‘Welcome,President, from your historic trip to theUK.” It is enough to make anybody ofAfrican descent weep.”

The shorter man lost all his self con-trol. “Who are you a foreigner to…to…”“Cast aspersions,’ said Tetteh Couple help-fully.”

“What work do you do?”“I’m a professor of African history in

Kingston University.”The whole gathering was incredulous.

With dreadlocks? They seemed to be won-dering. Even his friend Concoction had notknown this.

Society


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Fireworks marking Ghana’s 50th independence anniversary in Accra.

African agenda 10 2

Documents

Transcript of African agenda 10 2