US AND EUROPE MUST PAY REPARATIONS TO VICTIMS OF SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM

The lack of development in Africa and the poverty of millions of African Americans have been blamed on a number of factors but the most serious of all are the evils of slavery and colonialism. There has been a number of voices in America, Europe the Caribbean, Latin America, Australia and Africa that the US and European nations should pay reparations to Africa Americans, Africa and the Caribbean Islands for the sufferings they endured under slavery and colonialism.

Very few will disagree on the negative impacts that slavery and colonialism have had on Africa, African Americans and the Caribbean Islands. Centuries of slavery and colonialism deprived the continent of her able human and economic resources. These able men and women who were carried away to work in the plantations of the Americas (in all about 30 - 40 million people) helped to make America and Europe what they are today. Millions of young Africans were forced to abandon the continent of their birth and were shipped several thousands of miles away to lands where they had no historical attachment with. They travelled in very deplorable conditions, often without adequate food, water and air. While in the New World they were made to work for centuries without pay. They were denied every right enjoyed by humans on the planet. Some even worked till they dropped dead. The slave trade deprived the continent of her energetic men and women a vital resource in any development process and sunk the continent into intellectual wilderness.

Colonialism

About the same time that slavery was being vigorously pursued, plans were hatched by the European powers made up of Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and others to carve Africa for themselves without consulting the Africans an act that can only be described as robbery. The Scramble for Africa as it is sometimes called gave the Europeans the legal power to do as they pleased in Africa. As a result, the natural resources including timber, gold, diamond, tin ore, ivory, bauxite, rubber and many more were systematically looted in large quantities from the countries they colonised. The irony is that virtually all the incomes from these resources were used to finance the economic, social and the infrastructural development of the European countries with little or nothing at all being used to develop the various countries where these resources came from.

A clear example is the case of Democratic Republic of Congo where King Leopold II of Belgium enslaved the Africans, forced them to work without pay, killed about 10 million and looted the country of her resources and virtually nothing was used to invest in the country except guns which the Belgium army used to terrorise and kill the Africans. Africans who could not meet their daily target of rubber supply had their wives ceased and their hands chopped off by Leopold's army officers. Leopold even went to the extreme to exhibit Africans in Belgium Zoos. When the DRC was transferred from Leopold II to the Belgium state, the looting and killing continued till DRC gained her 'independence' in the 1960s. In fact DRC (Congo Free State) was the main supplier of rubber a vital raw material for the tyre industry and all the money from the sale of the rubber went to Belgium. King Leopold II was able to transform Belgium as one of the poorest countries in Europe into one of the wealthiest, courtesy the enslavement and looting of Africans and their resources.

Belgium was not alone in what she did to the continent. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy all looted Africa of her gold, diamond, ivory, timber, cobalt, coltan, tin ore, bauxite, manganese and all the minerals you can think of. The Africans who resisted the illegal activities were killed in their millions as happened in South West Africa (now Namibia) where the Germans in 1904 to 1907 committed the first genocide of the 20th Century by killing the Herero and the Namaqua people. While Europe became richer Africa became poorer and the trend continued till the 1950s when the African countries started gaining their 'independence' beginning with Libya in 1951, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia all in 1956 and Ghana in 1957.

With little or no investment in the continent the various post colonial governments inherited countries with practically no infrastructure: roads, rails, harbours, airports, telecommunications, education, health and sanitation. The only areas which saw some few infrastructure investments during the colonial days were those where raw materials were heavily extracted. The attainment of independence did not come on silver Plata. Algeria, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Namibia and to some extent South Africa all attained their independence from their colonial masters through arm struggles.

This is why the call is growing for America and Europe to pay reparations to these countries for what they did to them.

However there are many who argue that such reparations are not necessary. They contend that African leaders wilfully cooperated with Europeans and also benefited in cash and kind from the slave trade. They argue that the slave trade was a mutual agreement between the buyers and sellers. On colonialism the argument is the same, that the European nations brought civilisation and development to Africa while they also benefited from the exploitation of the rich resources in Africa. So it was also a mutual agreement. They further argue that countries such as Britain, America and Australia have already issued apologies to the victims of slavery and that should be enough to pacify the situation.

I do not agree in any form or shape that slavery and colonialism were based on mutual benefit or agreement. What is so sad is that Africans never invited Europeans to Africa in the first place. Secondly, the artificial boundaries erected by Europeans without any input from Africans have divided tribes, destroyed cultures as well as social and economic cohesions that have existed for centuries. Such partition which was based on greed is partly to blame for the internal conflicts currently going in Africa. Thirdly, the wars, the ethnic divisions, and destructions that accompanied Europeans when they came were foreign to Africa. Africa is still suffering from their contacts with Europeans today. Besides, the abolishment of the slave trade itself is a proof that it was an evil trade perpetrated by Europeans for their own selfish gains. Furthermore, the fact that Europeans reluctantly gave up their political hold on power without relinquishing their economic interests is another proof that they only sought to enrich themselves at the expense of Africans.

If the slave trade and colonialism were based on mutual benefit then why did Europeans decide to abolish it? If the trade was based on mutual agreement between the buyers and sellers then how about those who worked for centuries in the plantations without pay was that a mutual agreement too? What civilisation and development did Europeans bring to Africa? It is the millions of people who could not read or write when Britain left Ghana or the complete lack of infrastructure in Congo when Belgium gave them 'independence'?

Are apologies alone enough to pacify the forceful deportation of millions against their will? How about the millions who died on the way to the journey of no return? How about the victims of slavery who endured humiliations, rape, torture and death on their way to the New World? Or the humiliations, rape, torture, death and the inhuman treatment of victims of slavery who were 'lucky' to get to the New World? How about the millions of children who lost their parents as a result of the forceful deportations and had to endure loneliness and neglect was that a mutual benefit too? How about the single mothers and fathers who were left to bear the hardship of caring for the children when their husbands and wives were taken away? Was that a mutual agreement too?

Evidence of exploitation, racism and extreme discrimination in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Algeria, Congo Free State (former Zaire) and now DR Congo point to the fact that colonialism was not based on mutual benefit but were rather an attempt by Europe and America to enrich themselves at the expense of Africans and people of colour.

The humiliations, torture, lynching, racism, Jim Crow segregation laws, economic and social discrimination and marginalisation meted out to African Americans even centuries after slavery was abolished is another evidence that Africa and people of African descent were victims of slavery and not beneficiaries. And therefore as victims they must be fully compensated for the unpaid labour as well as all the wrongs meted out to them. Apologies alone are not enough and cannot correct centuries of inhumane treatment of people who were also made in the image of God.

The huge benefits that slavery and colonialism brought to America and Europe, and the denial of such benefits to the very people who worked to bring the wealth is not only against natural law but is also against anything human.

There is no excuse for the inexcusable crime of slavery and colonialism. It is time for America and Europe to own their wrongful treatment of a section of the earth's citizens and pay reparations to the victims and their families and the countries who suffered directly or indirectly from such evils.

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Poverty, Africa's Modern Day Slavery

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Although slavery was abolished more than a hundred and forty years ago and all countries in Africa are now politically free, there is a new form of slavery in Africa today which is cruel, harsh and severe like the one which took place about five centuries ago. This new slavery is like unquenchable fire ravaging in a dense but dry forest consuming everything on its path. This new slavery which is consuming Africans and decimating them is poverty.

Despite decades of independence, availability of natural resources and existence of technology to make good these rich resources, Africa is still the poorest continent on earth. Today Africa is a continent where majority of the people live on one or two dollars a day. It is a continent where people die for lack of food, potable drinking water, and against common preventable diseases. It is a continent where malnutrition abounds and few children under the age of five survive the menace of the six killer diseases. It is a continent where child mortality is high and life expectancy is low. It is a continent where people walk several miles for water and children have no or limited access to education and medical care.

It is a continent where rural life is nothing but a condemnation to poverty, misery, desperation and hopelessness. It is a place where people live in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leafs as roofing sheets.

It is a continent characterised by instabilities, tribal and religious conflicts, and wars and armed conflicts over natural 

resources

. It is a continent where democracy and rule of law are a myth.

It is a continent full of dictators and kleptocrats; a continent where corruption is handsomely rewarded and achievement is shunned; a place where entry into public life/service is a means to acquiring wealth.

From Cape Town in South Africa in the south to Tunis in Tunisia in the north the story of poverty is the same. In all these countries there is lack of financial resources and economic opportunities for the masses. There is lack or shortage of food and potable drinking water; there is lack of health, housing and accommodation facilities; and there is the poverty of landlessness and employment. Access to education, health and other basic infrastructures is limited to just a few mostly the rich and their cohorts. In Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Mauritania, Sudan and Eritrea food insecurity is rampant and access to food and water is limited. In Ethiopia for instance over four million people are at the mercy of UN food aid. In Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Equatorial Guinea the people lack basic health services and 8 out of ten of the population have not seen a dentist before. People are landless; they have limited or no access to education, employment, housing and accommodation. They live in harsh and unforgiving political environment with limited access to freedom of speech, assembly and democracy. In Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Gambia, Angola and Ethiopia people go to prison for demanding democracy. The women and children face threat of viruses and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, ebola and malaria.

Africa today is the worst place for a child to be born or grow up due to poverty and lack of opportunities. There are many cities, towns and villages where children go to school without food or where children eat once a day. Due to poverty most children under five are malnourished and underweight. The children are not properly clothed or sheltered. They do not receive much attention from their parents. Due to the pervasive and extreme nature of poverty, children prematurely become adults at the age of ten sometimes even less. They take on the responsibility of adults; scavenge for food and work tirelessly to bring home income to support the family. As a result absenteeism in schools is high as many students swap their education for income generating activities such as fishing, farming and hawking, an act that continue to fuel and perpetuate the poverty cycle. The children suffer many abuses silently in the hands of those who employ them and many are maladjusted. In the villages and in the rural areas kids walk bare footed to school and even to church or mosque. In most rural areas students have to study with lantern because there is no electricity. In the rural areas children have no class rooms and have to study under trees. Today in Sierra Leone as in many places in Africa a child is more likely to die at birth or die before reaching the age of five.

Like their children, the existence of poverty and lack of economic opportunities make parents worry about what they and their family will eat especially as the evening approaches. Most parents struggle to feed their children and many have to credit food in order to feed their families. Parents are frustrated when they cannot cloth their kids or pay their fees and become more agitated when they cannot pay their rents and face ejection. There is nothing so humiliating and insulting than not been able to feed, cloth and provide accommodation for ones family, act which is exacerbated by the culture in Africa.

Life in an African city is a great struggle and a constant battle for both young and old. There are no safety nets like social security, unemployment benefits, health insurance, disability benefit, study stipends, fuel/energy allowance, council accommodation for homeless people and other safety nets. Many workers have no savings, and those without jobs are at the mercy of their distance families, friends and love ones. Slaved to poverty and helpless, these men and women have very few options: commit suicide in their own countries, or run away from their children or battle the seas to reach Europe. Many in Europe will now understand why men and women battle dangerous seas for days often without food and water to reach Spain, Malta or Italy to seek employment, something they have been denied by their slave masters in Africa. This also explains why Africans will offer their services for any type of work so far as they are paid. The disturbances that took place in Egypt, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast in 2008 over food shortages and price increases are just a tip of an iceberg.

There are many things that those in the West take for granted such as undisrupted and constant supply of electricity, water, availability of jobs and affordable food, clothing and council flats. In Africa items such as cars, fridges, flat screen TV, laptops, camcorders, cameras and most electronic gadgets is a luxury. When one does not know where the evening meal is coming from can he think about buying a TV set? That is how bad the situation is in many parts of the continent.

It is not only individuals who are poor but communities, villages, towns and cities as well. In some communities there are no schools and children have to walk several kilometres every school day in order to attend the nearest school which may be 5 or 10 kilometres away. In some communities you can only travel once a week as the only vehicle in the village leaves and comes once a week. There is no tap water. A town or village is lucky if there is a borehole. In most communities humans and animals share the same unprotected water source. Wells and streams are polluted and because the people have no alternatives they are forced to drink it. As a result water borne diseases are rampant, and deaths from such diseases are daily occurrence.

In some communities there are no hospitals, clinics, health centres or pharmacy and patients have to travel several kilometres to nearby towns before they can receive treatment or medical help. In these communities people always pray that nothing catastrophic happens in the night as that will mean automatic death. In these communities pregnant mothers are always at risk of death as there are no ambulances, and roads are poor and vehicles are scarce. This explains why child mortality is high. In the towns and villages there are no electricity and that means no economic activity that requires electricity can survive in that environment. Farmers have no place to sell their produce as there is no market infrastructure. They therefore rely on the ‘generosity’ of market women from the cities who troop the villages to buy the products at whatever price they want.

In cities where public services (utilities and amenities) are relatively available, there are always shortages of essential medicines, equipments, beds, vehicles and specialised professionals in the hospitals. It is common to find patients sleeping on bed mats on the floor of hospitals while nurses and doctors go about their normal duties. In the big cities it is common to hear news that patients have absconded from the hospitals before they are officially discharged because they are poor and cannot pay their bills. As a result patients are now detained after getting well till they pay their bills. Constant disruption of water and electricity supply is a headache for hospital officials, factories and households. It is common to find waste bins filled to the brim and tipping.

Almost all the open gutters are choked and anytime it rains flood begins to threaten the people. In these cities very few houses have their own toilet facilities as a result majority of the people rely on public toilets which are themselves very few and untidy. Some of these toilets stink so much so that one has to take a bath or shower immediately after use. Due to pressure on these few toilets they are always in poor shape. In Accra lack of toilet facilities especially along the coast have forced people to use the seashore as a place of convenience. A visit to Dutch Hotel in Nungua in the morning, afternoon or evening reveals a large army of men, women and children easing themselves not far from where this beautiful hotel is situated. In Nima, Ashaiman, Nungua and James Town all suburbs of Accra, it is common to find human excreta wrapped in polythene bags and thrown into gutters, bushes and onto the street. In the cities there is the problem of managing waste, sanitation and sewerage. All these impact negatively on the health of the people and explain why life expectancy is very low.

Shortage of accommodation means that people have to pay five times what their counterparts in the villages and towns are paying. People in the big cities always pray that rain does not fall in the evening or in the night as that will mean homeless people and hustlers will have to forfeit their sleep. In Accra, Lagos, Kano, Kampala, Nairobi and other major cities across the continent people live in the woods, sleep in metal containers, kiosks and makeshift structures and slum dwelling is very common.

High unemployment in the cities fuelled by rural-urban migration has forced people onto the street. In Accra you can find hawkers of all kinds taking advantage of the ever present traffic jam to sell bread, chewing gum, ice water, apple and those who have nothing to sell engage in crime, and other social vices. A walk through the major streets of Accra, Lagos, Kumasi, Lome, Conakry, Freetown, Abidjan, Nairobi, and Kampala, Arusha, Monrovia and major cities in South Africa reveal how poverty has forced millions of people to beg for food and money. The problem is very disturbing when one looks at the disabled community. Roughly more than half of the beggars in Accra for instance are people who are disabled. 


These problems ought not have happen giving that the continent is rich in oil, gold, diamond, timber, soil, and rivers, but thanks to the corrupt political and business elites and their counterparts in Europe the people have been reduced to beggars.

Who are the slave masters?

The slave masters in Africa today are the politicians, their cronies, the business elite and the well connected. Together they have hijacked and exercise full control over all the resources including land, labour, capital and revenues from all economic activities. They determine who should eat and who should not. They determine who should get a job and who should get sacked. They determine who gets a place to sell in the market and who should be kicked out. They determine who should get a contract and whose certificate should be withdrawn. They decide which roads should be constructed or resurfaced and which one should not. They determine which village or town gets connected to the national electricity grid. They determine which region or district receives funding for projects.

The slave masters determine who should own which business and who should have a share in that business. You cannot get a certificate to operate a business unless you grease the palm of a politician. You cannot get a contract unless you know a politician in the ruling government. You are treated differently if you know the regional minister, the governor or the district chief executive (DCE). As far as one knows a cabinet minister he can do whatever he likes and nobody dares question him. It is always the poor and the have nots who get prosecuted and jailed while the politicians and their cronies who commit atrocious crimes against the state live in their mansions to enjoy their booty. Contractors do substandard works, collect hundreds of millions of dollars, give politicians their share and that is all. So a road whose live span is twenty years has to be resurfaced after just two years. Like the slavery of old, the politicians, their families, the businessmen and the well connected are not hurt by the storm of poverty in the continent but their slaves who make up the majority of the population do. These corrupt politicians and their associates are holding the people captive with their ill-conceived economic policies and programmes thereby giving them no chance to develop. The politicians in Africa call themselves saviour of the people and have names and titles like Junior Jesus, Servants of the Poor, but they are all lies. None of them cares for the poor but their own stomach.

The people are poor because the slave masters have decided they should remain so, as monies meant for their development have been stolen and are sitting in Banks in Switzerland, Luxemburg, Jersey Island, and Britain.

What will you say when people have no access to food, water, electricity; have no access to education and health facilities; cannot pay their rents and fees for their kids; have no jobs and no savings; have no access to toilet facilities and have to put up with horrible smell everyday?

I have witnessed poverty in Africa and although I did not witness the slavery in the Americas, I have learnt enough about it and I can say with confidence that the poverty in Africa today is the modern version of the slavery that took place about five centuries ago.

Otumfo should lead the Charge to stop these practices

The Chieftaincy as an institution has played and continues to play important role in Ghana however there are certain aspects of the institution that needs modernisation to conform to the ideals aspirations and desires of the people in this 21st Century.

One such tradition that needs modernising is the bare footedness of the servants who serve the chiefs, the paramount chiefs and the Kings in Ghana. In all civilised societies the appearance of a King's subjects speaks volume of the wealth, richness, power, quality of life and the level of development of the King, his subjects and his kingdom and how his throne has evolved over time. Unfortunately it is common to see servants walking barefooted in front of the Kings, their paramount chiefs and sub-chiefs during festivals, funerals, durbars and other occasions.

Although such practices have been handed to us by our forefathers, I strongly believe that they are not consistent with the needs, aspirations and development of the people and need changing. Such practices have been misrepresented in the media around the world especially in Europe and America to portray us as backward, savage, illiterate, and people who are out of touch with time. These practices bring down people instead of uplifting them. They make those involve in it loose face and respect instead of honour. The black race is insulted and ridiculed because of such practice that is why I am calling on Otumfo to consider reforming it. The Kings could prescribe special footwear to be made for their servants who serve them in their kingdoms instead of allowing them to walk barefooted often on heated earth surface. Such modifications will not only add colour and richness to the institution but will also demonstrate how ready we are as a people for this 21st century.

I do not think the wearing of footwear will take away the servant status of those who serve the King, his paramount chiefs and sub-chiefs. On the other hand the opinion usually expressed by people who come to visit us from Europe and America and who are not familiar with our culture, customs and tradition is that of backwardness. Not only is the bare footedness of servants backward, archaic and unprofessional but it is also degrading and demeaning to our chieftaincy as an institution, to the people involved and to our race as black people. Such practices are often the subject of bad press in Europe and America, and are part of the reason why we are often caricatured and stereotyped. Black people are looked down upon by rest of the human race around the world because of such archaic and slavery practices.

Related to the above is the practice where both children and adults usually young boys are made to sit on the bare floor, sometimes on a mat right in front of a chief when he is sitting in state. Such practice is also demeaning not only to those who are made to do it, but also their families and to our culture and traditions.

Another aspect of the chieftaincy that needs modernisation is the practice whereby servants of Chiefs carry stools in front of them while they journey to festivals, funerals, durbar and other occasions and gatherings. We know the stools and chairs are of paramount importance to the chieftaincy institution but allowing people to carry them in front of paramount chiefs and their sub-chiefs bring into play the memory of slavery, forced labour and the mistreatment of ones subjects. I do not believe the power and authority of a paramount chief is diminished if nobody carries a stool in front of him while journeying to a durbar. What prevents the stool carrier from taken the stool direct to where the chief is going to sit instead of carrying it in front of him and walking barefooted on a heated earth surface? Are we happy to degrade our fellow human beings in the name of tradition and culture?

Often those who are made to carry the stools, or made to sit on the floor and walk barefooted are not respected by society at all as they are often regarded almost as slaves, good for nothing, and are subjected to all kinds of cat callings and are given several nicknames because of the nature of the work they do and how they are perceived by society. They are regularly insulted, humiliated, and despised by the public. They are often illiterate, penniless, alcoholic and unemployed and are unable to maintain a family. Almost all of them are poor and are hardly able to provide for themselves and their family if they happen to have a family at all. Such practices are partly to be blamed for our lack of development and advancement.

It is important to note that any attempt to modify or stop the practice will be resisted vehemently by the conservatives who always resist change because old traditions always die hard but we must recognise that there is no culture or tradition that is not susceptible to change and we must begin to modify our chieftaincy institution especially the issues raised so that the chieftaincy can be inline with the desire and aspirations of the people. Otumfo being the Ruler with the biggest Kingdom in Ghana must spearhead such changes and begin to modernise for the sake of the institution and the people caught in the practice.

An institution exists to make the people prosperous and does not make them poor, serfs and almost close to slaves. The support a king enjoys from his servants depends on how he is able to marry their aspirations, their development and desire for change with tradition and custom. All monarchies are aware of the need to change with time and the chieftaincy institution in Ghana is no exception.

God Bless the Chieftaincy Institution and God Bless Ghana.

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Why should one die for NPP or NDC? Do they Care?

Why should the residents of Akwatia have to suffer curfew for NDC and NPP? Why should Salifu Maikankan has to die for NPP and why should Danny Ofori Atta has to die for NDC? It still beats my imagination that someone will die for politicians who have kept them poor, uneducated and unskilled and who do nothing to help them.

You may be mad about NDC or NPP and will go heaven and earth to defend them but do you think these parties care about the plights of Ghanaians? NDC ruled Ghana for 8 years and NPP has also done the same. Did any of them help to make Ghana a developed country? Did any of them solve the unemployment problem in Ghana? How about education and health? Look at the poor nature of roads in Ghana. Do we deserve that? Can Ghanaians recall anything extraordinary that the NDC did before it was replaced by the NPP in 2000? Or anything remarkable that the NPP did before it was replaced by the NDC in 2008? And since taking office 7 months ago has the NDC done anything tangible to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians? Any person who has been to Europe, Asia or America can say for sure that both major parties have not done much for Ghanaians.

Look at the state of Ghana's manufacturing sector. What do we produce? Close to nothing. What do we do with the cocoa that we produce? Don't we export the raw beans for peanuts? How about the gold and the diamond and the many minerals we mine? Aren't they exported to Switzerland and Dubai before Ghanaians go there to buy the wedding rings and bracelets to sell to us? Computers, cars, mobile phones, fridges are made in Europe, Japan and the US and they are affordable but Ghanaians cannot buy common chocolate even though the vital raw material which is cocoa is produced here. And the same is true about gold and diamond. We cannot buy products made from them even though they are mined right here.

Look around yourself and see if any of the goods you see are made in Ghana. I mean the mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars and all the flashy things that Ghanaians are crazing for. It is sad to note that almost all the raw materials needed to build these phones, cars, plasma TVs, camcoders, satellite dish are obtained from Ghana and other African countries.

So do they care, I mean NPP or NDC? Look at their policies and see if they can even put Ghana on the level of Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong in the next 20 years. Ghanaian businessmen and women are frequenting Dubai and China importing every good you can think of. Investigate to find out how the Chinese and the Koreans did it and whether any of the parties can help Ghana do the same. Didn't the NPP throw the NDC Vision 2020 Document that was supposed to make Ghana a middle income country into a dust bin? And do you think the NDC is going to implement Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) prepared by the NPP? This is the politics that has brought us no development but unemployment, poverty, hunger, misery and hopelessness..

Look at the state of Ghana's infrastructure:energy, roads, harbours, telecommunication, health, education, rail system, market and airport. What are the records of the two major parties on infrastructure? Have they been able to add anything to what Dr. Nkrumah built? Haven't they even neglected the few that Nkrumah built to decay? If you think I am not making any point just look at the railway sector. Most of the tracks have been left to rot to the extent that there are no train services in many parts of the country which once relied on that vital important means of transport. For decades that sector received no investment and no modernisation to the extent that it now takes about 10 hours to travel by train from Kumasi to Accra, a mear 200km. Compare that with a train service in Japan where it takes one hour to cover more than 270km. Despite having the advantage of being cost effective, cheap, reliable and business friendly 11 years of PNDC plus 8 years of NDC and another 8 years of NPP did not help the rail sector and our country except turning former poor soldiers and politicians into billionaires.

Yet we have forgotten that no nation can develop without investing in infrastructure. That is why Democratic Republic of Congo has every mineral you can think of yet they are one of the poorest in the world. That is why Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong have developed and that is why President Obama is talking about building US infrastructures because they are the engines that run the economy. You cannot export if you do not have harbours and airports to support it. You cannot attract tourists if you do not have airport, hotels, well developed roads and other infrastructures that support it. You cannot move goods from centres of production to centres of consumption if you do not have roads, rail lines and inland water infrastructures to deliver it. You cannot supply the industries with doctors, architects, bankers, lawyers, planners, engineers, teachers, nurses if you do not have the educational infrastructure to deliver it. And you cannot run an efficient and vibrant economy if you do not have the energy and telecommunication infrastructures in place.

Ghana has been experiencing serious disruptions in the energy sector for years and no political party has seen any wisdom to solve it. As a result factories are folding up and are laying off workers and we are waiting for nature to help fill Akosombo Dam before we rectify the problem. Will this do nothing approache to problem solving help our nation? What are we doing with the abundance of sunshine in the country? We have not taken advantage of it, have we? We have sunshine 365 days and we have not tap into solar energy which is cheap and more reliable than hydro. Nations in Europe that are locked away for most of the year by cold winter take advantage of the short summer to tap into the energy potential of the sun while we have the sun throughout the year. It is another indication of the useless institutions that we have and lip service paid by the various political parties and their leaders to Ghana's development.

Look at the state of the agricultural sector. How many of our farmers have their own tractors and farming equipments to produce beyond the level of subsistence? Virtually all the important equipments needed to make the agric sector viable and productive have to be imported and how many of our farmers have their own resources to buy even the basic machinery to expand their farms? Today after 52 years of independence our farmers still depend on nature for their economic activities despite the availability of irrigation technology and what has the NDC and NPP done so far to help them? Aren't they still using cutlasses and hoes to plant and harvest their crops, technology our forefathers were used before they were colonised. Aren't they still relying on nature to plant their crops in this 21st Century? Aren't we still importing rice from India and China? We cannot even feed ourselves after 16 years of NDC and NPP rule. Where are the food sufficiency policy of the two major parties then? What are the many directors at the ministry of Agric who enjoy fat salaries and bonuses doing? Although we are in the 21st Century yet our farming practices indicate that we have still not moved beyond the 19th century.Fishermen are always faced with the constant shortage of premix fuel despite the pledge by both parties to help them. This is the more reason why we continue to hunger even though rich soils abound in Ghana. We under utilise our land for lack of political commitment.

It is common to hear Ghanaians say that 'Malaysians got their palm fruit seed from Ghana'. Well Malaysians use the oil they get from the palm fruit as fuel for a number of engines including cars, something they accomplished through research and we what do we use the oil for? It is sad to say that Malaysia got independence about the same time as Ghana but they have made great strides economically, while we have been marking time curtesy NDC and NPP. While the rest of the world is moving forward scientifically and technologically we are still marking time because of corruption, poor leadership, poor governance, bogus agricultural and economic policies, politicisation of every national issue, tribalism, ethnicity and military incursions into our social, economic and political life.

If Agriculture which provides us about 35% of our GDP is bad, then can our educational sector upon which the development of the nation rest be any better? Aren't the NDC and NPP toying and playing politics with our secondary school system. The SSS (now SHS) was a three year programme when it first started. When the NPP replaced the NDC in 2001 they changed it to four years and now the NDC is considering reversing it to three years. Who are they fooling? Is it not Ghanaians, our economy and the lives of our future leaders?

Is the entire educational system anything to be proud of? Just look at the world ranking of Universities and see where the first university falls. Of the about 9,760 Accredited universities in the World, Ghana's prominent universities including University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of 'Science and Technology' only managed to place 5,702 and 6,703 positions respectively in the World University Ranking. Even in Africa, our own backyard they only managed to secure 43rd and 63rd positions respectively. (Source: topuniversities.com/2008) Can we afford to develop the nation with ill-prepared graduates not to mention the millions of illiterates and semi-literates who roam around the cities and countryside?

It is abundantly clear that our education system is not producing the architects, engineers, planners, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, social workers, nurses and the scientists that we need in the 21st Century. That is why every major architectural and engineering activity in Ghana is undertaken by foreigners and foreign companies especially from USA, Japan, China, India and the European Union. The Universities lack well trained lecturers. They lack modern facilities such as state of the art libraries, laboratory simulation facilities, studios, computers, and books. They lack them because we cannot build them; we cannot build them because the curricula have not prepared our students to build them. As a result we have to import the equipments and books from countries that have done their home work well and have invested heavily in education notably in science and technology.

In many of our universities, Polytechnics and secondary schools lecturers/teachers are still teaching students the same way the 19th century academic institutions taught forgetting that we are in the 21st century. The same notes given a final year student four years ago are still being given to first year students with no addition or subtraction. Lecturers cannot write books for students because they do not have the resources to carry out research that form the basis of any academic material.

Whereas students in advanced countries get their hands on books immediately they are released those in Ghana have to wait 4 years or even more to get the same books. What is more the academic facilities including libraries are in a state too appalling to describe. Not a single of our universities can boast of a million volumes of books in their libraries. Even the few text books that they have are so old that information contained in them are useless. Very few books have been published by Ghanaians. Due to this most students have to rely on the notes that lecturers give them. This is state of our universities and the little I say about our Polytechnics and secondary schools the better.

The streets of Accra, Kumasi and other major cities in the country are swarmed with children selling ice water, bread, chewing gums and anything that can be hawked. Children head potters are visible every where in Kumasi, Accra, Tema and Koforidua, a clear manifestation of the misery and hopelessness that the NDC and NPP have brought to Ghanaians. These are the children who are supposed to be in the classroom and be trained as future leaders.

When they drive in their expensive tax-payers' landcruisers do the NPP and NDC MPs, ministers, Vice Presidents, the Presidents and their advisors see the children who live, sell, 'school' and do everything in the streets of Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Takoradi and Koforidua?

Do you know why NDC and NPP keep toying with Ghana's education? Because they want to keep the people in darkness like poorly cooked rice, so no one will rise up to challenge their corrupt and useless administrations. Ask your President or his vice or their ministers where their children are schooling now and you will understand why they don't give a damn about SHS, Poly or University education. Their children are schooling in expensive universities in Europe and North America. And as to how they pay for those expensive fees your guess will be as good as mine.

When their children finish their education overseas they stay there and work. They only return to Ghana when there is a big contract where they would make millions of dollars for staying away and doing nothing for the nation, and what do the poor Ghanaian who could not travel to study outside and had to pass through God knows what get? Nothing- no contract, no retirement packages, just poverty.

Our research institutions have achieved very little because they are underfunded and the researchers do not have the expertise and the facilities to carry out any meaningful research. A case in point is Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) located at New Tafo in the Eastern Region. Despite decades of its existence we still export raw cocoa beans for peanuts. No value has been added to the cocoa. CRIG has not been able to come up with other ways in which to use the beans to benefit Ghanaians despite the mounting evidence that the beans have several potential uses.

Have you visited Korle Bu or Komfo Anokye or any of our hospitals lately? Didn't you see patients lying on the floor even though they are sick and are suppose to be receiving care? If Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye hospitals are crying for resources then you can imagine the situation at Donkokrom. Where in Ghana are mosquitoes not widespread? Are we not still dying from mosquito bites and other minor and preventable diseases? Despite NDC and NPP pledges, our hospitals are without the basic essentials needed to run a hospital not to mention the advanced technologies that save millions of lives in Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe, Japan and America. And NDC and NPP what are they doing? According to pecefmonline "888 out of every 100,000 pregnant women in Ghana who visit the hospital, end up dying. Another expert, whose statistics were even more frightening said, out of every 1,000 pregnant women about 451 die". Source:peacefmonline.com,Thursday, 23 July 2009.

How about the state of the housing infrastructure? A visit to any village or town gives the same picture of poor housing and poor quality of public service. People are living in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leafs as roofing sheet with no electricity, potable water and clinics. They live in a subsistence environment without social security, health insurance and are condemned to poverty, desperation and hopelessness. Those living in urban areas are without jobs, without mortgage, and face high utility bills with poor public services. They face constant barrage of water and energy disruptions everyday. In every region the situation is not different. On the other hand our MPs, ministers, vice president, the president, their cronies and families live in total luxury with mansions, Sport Utility Vehicles, bodyguards, fat salaries, fat bonuses, house servants and they have all the resources of the state at their disposal. When they leave office they propose special emolument packages for themselves yet they claim to be serving the poor. How can it be?

I can continue all day but it is a fact that both the NDC and NPP are bunches of hungry politicians with no concrete economic and social agenda to move Ghana beyond the level of importing used computers, used cars, used televisions, used underwear and any used thing you can think of. What are all these telling you about Ghana, the NPP, and the NDC? Do we have any option not to vote for them? Why should Ghanaians continue to die and suffer for such people who only think about their stomach? Until we have leaders who have vision like Dr. Nkrumah and are committed to industrialise Ghana beyond agro raw material production and export, Ghana will continue to be classified as a developing and poor country and even though we will continue to vote we will continue to wallow in abject poverty as always before.

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Politicians: The New Slave Masters in Ghana

By Lord Aikins Adusei

They like to talk like sheep with humility but they act like wolves. Such is the description of politicians in Ghana. When they want power they would promise or say anything to get elected but when they get the power then they forget about the people. Today in Ghana people are so poor that they cannot even provide food for their families. But the politicians do not know what is called poverty.

Like the slave masters of the slave trade, the politicians, their cronies, the business elite and the well connected determine and control everything in Ghana. They decide which roads should be constructed or resurfaced and which one should not. They determine which village or town gets connected to the national electricity grid. They determine which region or district receives funding for projects. They determine who should get a contract and whose certificate should be withdrawn. Together they have hijacked and exercise full control over all the resources including land, labour, capital and revenues from all economic activities such cocoa, gold, diamond and timber exports.

They determine who should eat and who should not. They determine who should get a job and who should get sacked. Have you heard that 420 army recruits have been asked to go home? The slave masters determine who gets a place to sell at Makola market, Asafo market and all the major markets in the country. The slave masters determine who should own which business and who should have a share in that business. You cannot get a certificate to operate a business unless you grease the palm of a politician. You cannot get a contract unless you know a politician in the ruling government. You are treated differently if you know the regional minister, the governor or the district chief executive (DCE).

As far as one knows a cabinet minister he can do whatever he likes and nobody dares question him. It is always the poor and the have nots who get prosecuted and jailed while the politicians and their cronies who commit atrocious crimes against the state live in their mansions to enjoy their booty. If Mr. Bernard L. Madoff had come from Ghana he would have been a freed man by now as his political friends would have make sure he did not go to jailhijack, corruption,poverty,infrastructure,business elite,politicians,slave masters,Ghana,Africa,

Contractors do substandard works, collect hundreds of millions of dollars, give politicians their share and that is all. So a road whose live span is twenty years has to be resurfaced after just two years. For the past fifteen years Accra-Kumasi road alone has been resurfaced more than five times and even President Mills is considering another resurfacing. Big loans are contracted to build projects like presidential palace enjoyed only by the politicians and the poor are made to pay for it. Like the slavery of old, the politicians, their families, the businessmen and the well connected are not hurt by the storm of poverty in the Ghana but their slaves who make up the majority of the population do.

These corrupt politicians and their associates are holding the people Ghanaians captive with their ill-conceived economic and social policies and programmes thereby giving the people of Ghana no chance to develop. The politicians in Ghana call themselves saviours of the people and have names and titles like Junior Jesus, Servants of the Poor, Friend of the Poor, but they are all lies. None of them cares for the poor but their own stomach. Because they care for only their interests and not the people, that is why unemployment is high. That is why people have no access to water, food, health, education, electricity. That is why there are power shortages in Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Takoradi, Ho, Koforidua, Wa, Sunyani, Bolgatanga and most of our cities not to mention the rural areas.

Do you think the lights in Osu Castle will go off even if there is no water in the Akosombo dam? Because they care for only their interests and not the people, that is why people in Nima, Nungua, Ashaiman, Teshie and James Town have no access to toilet facilities and have to toilet at the seashore. That is why workers are poorly paid, have few rights and have no or little ESBs when they go on retirement. But the Slave Masters want to give their leaders like Kuffour and Rawlings 6 cars, 2 houses, 2 months holiday and a foundation all to be paid for by the poor in the country. Are you surprised? I am not because I know that is how slave masters behave. They have more and want more. The poor have none and they are denied even the little. My only worry is the number of Ghanaians who do not own even a single bedroom not to talk about owning a whole house.

Today, rooms that were once accommodating single students in KNUST, University of Ghana and Cape Coast University now houses at least four students that is when you are lucky to be placed on the accommodation list. Ask Totobi Kwakye, the Awhois, P.V. Obeng, Akuffo Addo how was their school days compared to today. It is pathetic isn’t it? But whose work it is to provide the academic facilities in our universities and polytechnics? Is it students, lecturers, or the vice chancellors? Isn’t it the politicians who exercise absolute control over all the financial resources in the country? But have they done it or do they care? Find time to go to Legon, KNUST or Cape Coast and see for yourself the living conditions of our university students and you may be tempted to think we are in the 19th Century. I will not even talk about the situation in our polytechnics for it is not worth mentioning. There are no breakthroughs in our universities because students are more concerned about what to eat, where to sleep and how to survive the harsh and the unforgiving conditions in our premier institutions than to engage in any serious academic study. Projects costs are inflated three or four times their normal cost by the slave masters and the poor people are made to pay for it. The cost of every single project in Ghana could provide three or four of the same project. Find time to ask your DCE how much did the new market, the toilet or the borehole cost. I bet you the figure he will quote for you will keep you wondering for years whether any normal human being will spend that much money on such a project.

If these “honourable” men and women are not slave masters then who are they? And if we are not their slaves then who are we? The difference between the slaves in Ghana today and those of the 18th and 19th centuries are that at least they did not worry about food and accommodation as their slave masters paid for them.

Democracy and Infrastructure Investment are what Ghanaians need

Do you think NDC or NPP care about Ghanaians look at their record? NDC ruled Ghana for 8 years and NPP has also ruled for 8 years. Did any of them help to make Ghana a developed country? Did any of them solve the unemployment problem in Ghana? How about education and health? Look at the roads in Ghana. Do we deserve that? Any person who has been to Europe, Asia or America can say for sure that both major parties have not done much for Ghanaians.

Look at the state of Ghana's manufacturing sector. What do we produce? Virtually nothing. What do we do with the cocoa that we produce? We only export the raw beans for peanuts. How about the gold and the diamond and the many minerals we mine? They are exported to Switzerland and Dubai before Ghanaians go there to buy the wedding rings and bracelets to sell to Ghanaians. Computers, cars, mobile phones, fridges are made in Europe, Japan and the US and it is affordable but Ghanaians cannot buy common chocolate even though the vital raw material which is cocoa is made here. And the same is true about gold and diamond. We cannot buy them even though they are mined right here.

Look at the state of the agricultural sector. How many of our farmers have their own tractors and farming equipments to produce beyond the level of subsistence? Virtually none. Virtually all the important equipments needed to make the agric sector viable and productive have to be imported and how many of our farmers have their own resources to buy even the basic machinery to expand their farms? Although we are in the 21st Century yet our farming practices indicate that we have still not moved beyond the 19th century. This is the more reason why we continue to hunger even though rich soils abound in Ghana. We under utilise our land for lack of political commitment.

Look at the policies of the two major parties and see if they can even put Ghana on the level of Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong in the next 20 years. Ghanaian business men are frequenting Dubai and China importing every good you can think of. Investigate to find out how the Chinese and co did it and whether any of the parties can help Ghana do the same.

Look at the state of infrastructure in Ghana: roads, harbours, telecommunication, health, education, market and airport. We have neglected the few that Nkrumah built yet we have forgotten that no nation no matter the size of the natural resources that she has can develop without investing in infrastructure. That is why Democratic Republic of Congo has every mineral you can think of yet they are one of the poorest in the world. That is why Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong have developed and that is why President Elect Obama is talking about building US infrastructures because they are the engines that run the economy. You cannot export if you do not have harbours and airports to support it. You cannot attract tourists if you do not have airport, hotels and other infrastructure that support it. You cannot move goods from centres of production to centres of consumption if you do not have roads, rail lines and inland water infrastructure to deliver it. You cannot supply the industries with doctors, architects, bankers, lawyers, planners, engineers, teachers, nurses if you do not have the educational infrastructure to deliver it. And you cannot run an efficient and vibrant economy if you do not have the energy and telecommunication infrastructures in place. Ghana has been experiencing serious disruptions in the energy sector for years and no political party has seen any wisdom to solve. As a result factories are folding up and are laying off workers and we are waiting for nature to help fill Akosombo Dam before we rectify the problem. Can these do nothing approaches to problem solving help our nation? What are we doing with the abundance of sunshine in the country? We have not taken advantage of it, have we? We have sunshine 365 days and we have not tap into solar energy which is cheap and more reliable than hydro. It is another indication of the useless institutions that we have and lip service paid by the various political parties and their leaders to development. Look around yourselves and see if any of the goods you see are made in Ghana I mean the mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars and all the flashy things that Ghanaians are crazing for. It is sad to note that almost all the raw materials needed to build these phones, cars etc are obtained from Ghana and other African countries.

How about the state of the housing infrastructure? A visit to any village or town gives the same picture of poor housing and poor quality of public service. People are living in mud/thatched houses with bamboo leaf as roofing sheet with no electricity, potable water and clinics. They live in a subsistence environment without social security, health insurance and are condemned to poverty, desperation and hopelessness. Those living in urban areas are without jobs, without mortgage, and face high utility bills with poor service. They face constant barrage of water and energy disruptions everyday. In every region the situation is not different. On the other hand our MPs, ministers, vice president, the president, their cronies and families live in total luxury with mansions, SUVs, bodyguards, fat salaries, fat bonuses, house servants and they have all the resources of the state at their disposal. Yet they claim to be serving the people. How can it be?

And how about our education sector upon which the development of the nation rest? It is nothing to write home about. Isn't it? Look at the world ranking of Universities and see where the first university falls. Can we afford to develop the nation with low quality graduates not to mention the millions of illiterates and semi-literates that roam around the country? Of the about 9,760 Accredited universities in the World, Ghana's prominent universities including University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of 'Science and Technology' only managed to place 5,702 and 6,703 positions respectively in the World University Ranking. Even in Africa, our own backyard they only managed to secure 43rd and 63rd positions respectively.(Source: topuniversities.com) It is abundantly clear that our education system is not producing the architects, engineers, planners, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, social workers, nurses and the scientists that we need in the 21st Century. That is why every major architectural and engineering activity in Ghana is undertaken by foreigners and foreign companies especially from USA, Japan, China, India and Europe. And any nation that depends on foreign expertise for her survival is doom to fail in the long run. The Universities lack well trained lecturers. They lack modern facilities such as state of the art libraries, laboratory simulation facilities, studios, computers, and books. They lack them because we cannot build them; we cannot build them because the curricula have not prepared our students to build them. As a result we have to import the equipments and books from countries that have done their home work well and have invested heavily in education notably in science and technology. In many of our universities, Polytechnics and secondary schools lecturers/teachers are still teaching students the same way the 19th century academic institutions taught forgetting that we are in the 21st century. The same notes given a final year student four years ago are still being given to first year students with no addition and subtraction. Lecturers cannot write books for students because they do not have the resources to carry out research that form the basis of any academic material.

Whereas students in advanced countries get their hands on books immediately they are released those in Ghana have to wait 4 years or even more to get the same books. What is more the academic facilities including libraries are in a state too appalling to describe. Not a single of our universities can boast of a million volumes of books in their libraries. Even the few books that they have are so old that information contained in them are useless. Very few books have been published by Ghanaians. Due to this most students have to rely on the notes that lecturers give them. This is state of our universities and the little I say about our Polytechnics and secondary schools the better. Our research institutions have achieved very little because they are underfunded and the researchers do not have the expertise and the facilities to carry out any meaningful research. A case in point is Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) located at New Tafo in the Eastern Region. Despite decades of its existence we still export raw cocoa beans for peanuts. No value has been added to the cocoa. CRIG has not been able to come up with other ways in which to use the beans to benefit Ghanaians despite the mounting evidence that the beans have several potential uses.

Apart from the few things Dr. Nkrumah did in his 9 years of administration virtually nothing has been added to it by the various governments who came after him neither the NDC, NPP nor PNC.

I can continue all day but it is a fact that both the NDC and NPP are bunches of hungry politicians with no concrete economic and social agenda to move Ghana beyond the level of importing used computers, used cars, used televisions, used underwear and any used thing you can think of. What are all these telling you about Ghana, the NPP, and the NDC? Do we have any option not to vote for them? Until we have leaders who have visions and are committed to industrialising Ghana beyond agro raw material production, Ghana will continue to be classified as a developing and poor country and even though we will continue to vote we will continue to wallow in abject poverty.

However, whoever wins the election should focus his attention on building the infrastructures of the country including education, roads, harbours, airports, health, markets, telecommunication which will serve as the stepping to propel Ghana to industrialise.

He should have aggressive, solid and sound policies and programmes with a clear cut targets that will transform the nation and push it to the middle income level. My only advice to whoever wins is that if he fails to develop the nation then he should be prepared to be booted out office.

Ghanaians want employment, they want world class education, they want better health care and sanitation facilities, they want the cycle of poverty defeated, they want corruption fought at every level of government and they want to live in peace.

The industrialisation of the nation can be done. It can be done because South Korea has made it, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan all have made it. Now Brazil, India and China (the BRIC nations) are on the path to make it. The question is how did they make or are making it? Investment in public infrastructure: telecommunication, technology, roads, airports, harbours and education with emphasise on science and technology. That is what is needed in Ghana.

His government should embark on large scale public infrastructure which will generate jobs and create the necessary environment for industrial take of. He should know that it is only by industrialising that he will be able to make Ghana the economic power house in Africa. He should revive most of the defunct industries Dr. Nkrumah created so that there will be jobs for Ghanaians. He should develop close economic ties with our neighbours in Africa. He should invest in education, establish exchange programmes for our students, give scholarships to students to study abroad, overhaul the entire education curricula from the universities to primary schools to meet the 21st Century challenges and demands, encourage the Ghanaian intelligentsia abroad to come home by offering them incentives and train and equip our teachers and lecturers so that they can deliver 21st Century education.

All ministries should be given a mandate to work to achieve results. Accountability in all government ministries should be pursued with vigour. The Auditor General Department should be strengthened It is only by pursuing aggressive economic policies that he can be sure of another victory in 2012. Otherwise his fate is sealed.

A word to the wise is enough.

By Lord Aikins Adusei