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Thursday, August 18, 2011

A simple Request - taken from GLU

Kwaku,

These 3 days have been interesting.
However, friends, let us remember that we can easily be distracted and take our eyes off the ball, so to speak.
The President's staff or campaign has released an interesting 25 minute Youtube video showing him commissioning, opening new classroom blocks in the North, and lots of fanfare to demonstrate his love and hard work.
Some of us think it is the job of the President to manage the huge amounts of loans incurred in just over 2 years, doubling the national debt in 2 years, from $8.1 billion to what I have been told is now close to $20 billion.
I would love for us to demand and insist that the President share with the public, as an obligation and duty to the nation, the list of the loans and grants, the targeted Projects, How much money, who the Project Managers are to hold responsible, how long, and Payment terms for the loans.
A simple Spreadsheet table from the office of the President or the Ministry of Finance to the Media will suffice.
I consider it our constitutional duty for the government to release this information, our duty to demand it.
Obviously we don't want the Presidents security urinating in the street around his house at Regimanuel, and defecating around the Presidents or Regimanuel Grays residence should be against the law! If the CEO of the company has made an offer of a gift in rental and/or estate property for the President or to the government, it is fine, provided there is full transparent disclosure and there is a leadership guideline on such matters.
It is my feeling that the transition from Chieftaincy to Presidency has not been clearly explained to our people, and a friend told me of how many Chiefs would arrive at Kufuor's residence every morning, some with goats and sheep as gifts.

Folks, what makes me sad is the possibility that our seniors who have attained the status of President seem to have closed their minds as to their responsibility to set guidelines, rules, laws, for our people who seem lost in the wilderness of modern global jungle.
In the year of our Lord 2011, electricity, water, phone lines, Internet service are being rationed, and no new road designs are in the plan while a typical worker takes 4-6 hours daily in city traffic.
Such things os social neglect and negligence in the duty of our Presidents to set new guidelines to bring our nation at par with the world needs to be our emphasis.
Whether Colonel Koku Anyidoho got his tight muscles by sparring with Arnold Schwarzenegger or from his previous job at a block factory should be totally irrelevant, let alone whether he know the difference between rental and purchase, gift or deed.
Folks, please let us jointly hold the President responsible for ensuring the delivery of the needed basic human needs such as water, roads and transportation for our people and communication
And other services for us to conduct business.
We have another 4 months to see results or find another President. This is very critical. Please let us make our President aware the status quo will not suffice and he owes us all as a people a duty to tell us what he doing with and how he is managing the loans, grants, toll collections, duties and taxes, NHIL levies.

Thank you.
PS - I wanted to donate some shirts but can somebody tell me the size for Colonel Anyidoho?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Ivory Coast to disarm, demobilize 10,000 fighters

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A minister in Ivory Coast says the government plans to disarm and demobilize some 10,000 fighters in the wake of postelection violence earlier this year.

Minister of Defense Paul Koffi Koffi said Tuesday that the process should be completed by the end of the year and will increase security in the West African country.

People across Ivory Coast took up arms and battled during the six months of postelection violence sparked by strongman Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to cede power after losing a November poll. Gbagbo was arrested in April by forces loyal to President Alassane Ouattara.

US general sees Nigeria terror link

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect responsible for assassinations and bombings across northern Nigeria may be trying to link with two al-Qaida-linked groups in other African countries to mount joint attacks in this oil-rich nation, the commander for U.S. military operations in Africa said Wednesday.

Gen. Carter Ham told The Associated Press that "multiple sources" indicate the Nigerian sect known as Boko Haram made contacts with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in northwest Africa, and with al-Shabab in Somalia.

"I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us as well," Carter said.

Ham said there is no specific intelligence suggesting the groups plan attacks against U.S. or Western interests in Nigeria, but the nation is a major supplier of crude oil to the U.S. and is an economic hub drawing foreigners from across the world.

Ham's comments were the strongest official remarks on fears privately held by Western and Nigerian officials. However, it remains unclear what formal links, if any, exist between Boko Haram, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab. The three organizations have different ethnic roots and their objectives are not the same, but they are all Islamist militant groups.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, came to prominence in 2009 when sect members attacked local police stations and government buildings throughout northeast Nigeria. The riots and ensuing security crackdown left 700 people dead.

Last year, the group began assassinating clerics and police officers. It also has engineered spectacular attacks, including the June bombing of Nigeria's federal police headquarters, the assassination of a prominent politician and a prison break that freed more than 700 inmates.

Boko Haram seeks the implementation of strict Shariah Islamic law in the country. Nigeria, a nation of 150 million people, is largely split between a Christian south and Muslim north, where 12 states have a version of Shariah in place.

Ham said it appears Boko Haram may be splitting with one section focused on domestic issues and another on violent international extremism.

"What is most worrying at present is, at least in my view, a clearly stated intent by Boko Haram and by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb to coordinate and synchronize their efforts," the general said. "I'm not so sure they're able to do that just yet, but it's clear to me they have the desire and intent to do that."

Ham said that a "loose" partnership also would include al-Shabab. A suspected al-Shabab bombmaker now facing terrorism charges in New York was at one point detained by secret police in Nigeria. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, also known as AQIM, has issued statements in support of Boko Haram, and both use similar logos in communiques.

A recent video indicates that two men, a Briton and an Italian who were kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria, are being held by AQIM.

Ham met this week with Nigerian military and security officials during his first visit to the country as the head of the U.S. Africa Command, known as Africom and which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Ham said the U.S. would be willing to share intelligence and offer training to Nigerian security forces.

"We have a lot of folks who are pretty good about taking multiple pieces of apparently disparate information and putting that in a way that can be useful to operational commanders in a very short period of time," the general said.

That assistance also could be used in Nigeria's south, if the country requests it, Ham said. There, criminal and militant gangs kidnap oil workers and middle-class Nigerians, while pirates attack vessels off the coast.