Amandla News - March 2016

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Volume 15 Issue 3 Global African Commmunity Newspaper http://amandlanews.com Telephone: 201-704-5838 / 973-731-1339 March 15, 2016

PAM Takes ROPAA Case to US Congress

by Kofi Ayim

In its relentless effort to get Ghanaians living abroad to exercise their voting rights, the Progressive Alliance Movement (PAM), a New York-based non-religious, non-political, non-ethnic Ghanaian civic group has upped its ante and taken its case further to the United States Congress. After intense lobbying, U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel, (16th Congressional District), a Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee hosted a special meeting February 24, that comprised of Mr. Kofi Koranteng, Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Obed Danquah, Treasurer, both of PAM and Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA, Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Joseph Henry Smith and his Special Aide, Mr. Baah Duodu. The 16th Congressional District includes the Bronx, home to the largest number of Ghanaians in the United States.

In a post meeting interview, PAM’s CEO told this writer that he enumerated and told Congressman Engel, continued on page 2

Left to Right: US Congressman Eliot Engel, Ghana’s Ambassador Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) H.E. Joseph Henry Smith, Mr. Baah Duodu, PAM’s CEO Mr. Kofi Koranteng and Mr. Obed Danquah in Washington D.C. Feb. 24, 2016

Ghana is about to make Newark Unveiled: travel in Africa easier for ‘twas an exciting Place Africans

Hon. Mildred Crump and Hon. Sheila Oliver at the Newark Public Library Ghana is hoping to welcome more Africans than ever before. (Reuters/Luc Gnago)

by Yomi Kazeem

On Sunday (March 6), Ghana celebrated its 59th year of independence and John Dramani Mahama, the country’s president, came bearing gifts. During his speech, Mahama announced that the country will begin to offer visas on arrival to citizens of all 54 African Union (AU) member states starting in July. Ghana’s new

visa policy is big news in Africa where, according to the African Development Bank, only 25% of the countries offer visas on arrival to nationals of other African nations. Put another way, it is easier for North Americans to travel within the continent than it is for Africans.

Only the Seychelles is known to have an open access visa policy applicable to citizens of all AU member states. (Ghana

currently offers visa free entry for citizens of 15 countries within the Economic Community of West African States.)

As part of his independence day speech, Mahama also advocated more unity across the continent by urging his countrymen to learn French, continued on page 2

by Kofi Ayim Once upon a time, the city of Newark, New Jersey, was an exciting place to live. This assessment was made by two historic political figures with

insightful knowledge and un derstanding of New Jersey’s largest city. Hon. Mildred Crump and Hon Sheila Oliver made this remark in a chit chat session with Mr. Guy Sterling, a former New Jersey

Star Ledger Reporter, at the Newark Public Library March 10, as part of "Newark at 350" celebrations organized by the Newark Public Library. continued on page 6

Accra, Newark enter into sister-city page 6 relationship

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

EDITORIAL Ghana’s EC treading on dangerous path

page 2

PAM Takes ROPAA Case to US Congress

continued from front page the history behind ROPAA and the blatant discrimination perpetrated by the Two institutions that have recently scarred them- authorities in Ghana. selves but need to salvage their integrity in Ghana ROPAA (Act 699) is the Representation of the Peoples Amendment Act, a legisare the judiciary and the electoral commission.

While the former has started some bold initiatives lation passed Feb 24, 2006 by Ghana’s to reclaim its status and dignity, the latter seems to Parliament to allow Ghanaians Living Abroad (GLA), with sound mind and at be intentionally digging its grave in the soil of least 18 years old to register and vote public confidence. from where they live without having to Ever since Ms Charlotte Osei was appointed the Chair of the EC in June last year she has portrayed travel to Ghana. Ten years later ROPAA is yet to be implemented. naivety, ignorance, arrogance, or a combination Hitherto, per the quondam PNDC electhereof. She missed her very first unofficial goal toral law (PNDCL 284), only a small vis-a- vis, rebuilding of confidence in a hitherto distrustful agency left by its former boss. Thus far, number of Ghanaians Living Abroad she has thrown all caution to the wind and dances identified as employees (such as Emto her own rhythm, albeit in a slippery arena. Her bassy and UN staff) of the Ghana govsteps - reggae, waltz, cha cha - could tumble her ernment and special operations had the down and with the weight of the country crashing right to register and to vote. ROPAA on her. Females, more than average, are known to sought to extend voting rights to qualified Ghanaians living outside Ghana. be more methodical, patient, cautious, conscienMr. Koranteng said he pointed it out to tious and are wont to listen to good counsel. But Congressman Engel that there have not this one. She has simply drifted off course.

From simultaneously holding two public offices, to been national elections in 2008 and the call for a new voter register or the modalities of 2012 without ROPAA being implemented. A third election is in November consciously cleaning and validating the existing one, to the description of the NPP letter to her as 2016 but Ghana’s Electoral Commission has been silent on ROPAA. He "love letters,” the selection and setting up of a lamented that the Electoral Commissteering committee without the knowledge and input of IPAC, Ms. Osei has grossly miscalculated sioner, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, has not the power of her position. She has prevaricated at deemed it worth her time to respond to every turn. What would be the job description of PAM’s letter dated August 17, 2015, a copy of which was published in this the steering committee?

It looks as if the EC is swaying from strings being newspaper. manipulated by a savvy, albeit self-centered person Asked about the reaction of Congressman Engel, Mr. Koranteng observed or persons since she does not seem to be knowledgeable and is obviously not in total control of her that the U.S. Congressman showed concern and found it difficult to understand job. A former EC Director wonders aloud of her neutrality and alleges that Ms Charlotte Osei is chasing out experienced staff that are nearing their retirement age with elections barely eight months away. Is the steering committee replacing the chased officers?

All caution by religious, social and civic leaders have fallen on deaf ears. To the EC leadership, anyone who criticizes them must either be an NPP member or a sympathizer thereof.

We are afraid the November elections may not come off as planned. Groups, including adherents of ROPAA have either filed lawsuits or are in the process of doing so. If even all the lawsuits are dealt with before November, the public trust and confidence in the EC continues to erode, and given the fact that the NPP says it is no more interested in resorting to legal action, Ghana could be in very precarious situation, during and after the elections.

While at it we have one question we asked in our January editorial: How is the EC going to expunge the over 141,000 non - existent foreign service personnel that Dr. Afari Gyan claimed to have captured but could account for less than 5,000.

We think Ms Osei would surpass Dr. Afari Gyan in stubbornness and erode the last dignity left at the commission she inherited if the current trend continues. She still has the chance to salvage the most sensitive democratic institution in Ghana by doing the right thing. And quickly too.

the stalemate. He said Congressman Engel could not comprehend why Ghana uses its perceived internal peace and respect for human rights as arguments in its many quests for multilateral and bilateral aid and loans, but at the same time denies its growing GLAs their fundamental right to vote even when Ghana’s laws provide such a dispensation. Mr. Koranteng said Congressman Engel wanted Ghana’s Ambassador Smith to explain the rationale behind the non-implementation of a 10-year old ROPAA law for a group that is acknowledged to remit billions of dollars each year to support Ghana. Ambassador Smith, according to Mr. Koranteng, vowed to see to the implementation of ROPAA. ROPAA, the Ambassador was alleged to have said, has not been a priority in his discussions with Ghanaians in the USA. However, he realized the importance of Ghana living up to the dictates of its constitution and laws. After ten years and two elections, the sense of urgency to ensure that ROPAA is implemented has shifted into a higher gear. Amandla has sighted a petition being circulated and other measures being considered by PAM to get GLA exercise their franchise in the November 2016 elections.

PAM, in its effort to leave no stone unturned, had initially impressed their case upon New York State Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj (District 80) who moved up the matter to a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ghana is about to make travel in Africa easier for Africans

President John Mahama of Ghana continued from front page the official language of more than half of the countries in Africa. English is the official language of Ghana but it is bordered by francophone countries like Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Togo.

Opening its doors to other African nations could be crucial for Ghana. The travel

and tourism industry ac counts for 5.9% of its GDP. Mahama did not say whether the new policy would include business visas, but at a time when foreign direct investment on the continent is falling, the country could benefit from opening its doors. qz.com

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Community News City Hall Offers Free Legal Assistance for Undocumented Residents

By Juan Pablo Garnham

Patricia Rivera, a 33-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrant, remembers when she first began looking for a lawyer to help her resolve her status. “It was going to cost me $2,000 up front just to start looking at my papers, and then $10,000 to finish up the case,” said the mother of two U.S.-born children. “It meant taking the food out of my children’s mouths, their basic necessities, all without knowing if we would be approved or not.”

Obviously, this was not an option for Rivera, who instead found help in ActionNYC, a new City Hall program offering legal assistance to immigrants. “I only had to make a phone call, give them my name and be available for the appointment,” said Rivera. “We undocumented people do not have the high income required to hire a good lawyer. With this program, we no longer fear fraud because it is a reliable source that is offering us support.”

Funded by the city, ActionNYC is currently operating in the five boroughs and relies on 14 community organizations. Expert consultants offer assistance on all kinds of immigration procedures, from green cards to DACA and DAPA preliminary pa-

Patricia Rivera, at right, will seek help with preliminary paperwork for her DAPA application. (Photo by Gerardo Romo via El Diario)

Accra, Newark enter into sister-city relationship

By Zainabu Issah, Accra

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has signed a cooperative agreement with the City of Newark, New Jersey in the United States of America (USA), to study mutual opportunities in both cities that would facilitate the development of joint ventures and exchanges in the fields of industry and commerce, among others.

Under the agreement, the two cities would also do their utmost best to facilitate favorable conditions for cooperation in the areas of information and communication technology, environmental sanitation, energy, education, cultural and city management by establishing contacts between businesses and other organizations. $ewark and Ghana Newark is the largest city by population in the US state of New Jersey and one of the nation’s major air, shipping and rail hubs.

Also home to a lot of Ghanaians, the city in 2011 renamed one of its streets, Victoria Street, ‘Ghanaian Way’, after Ghana beat the USA in a soccer match in South Africa 2011.

Reports have it that Ghanaians who watched the match jubilated on the street in such a way that the police thought they were rioting and wanted to arrest them.

A phone call was made to the Mayor of Newark, Mr. Ras Jones Baraka about the situation and he ordered the road to be closed but the

Ghanaian fans continued jubilating throughout the night.

Later on Mr. Baraka followed up to the place and when he saw the street carnival he decided to name the street ‘Ghanaian Way.’ Signing Ceremony Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony in Accra last Monday, Mr. Baraka said his visit was intended to create a long, lasting relationship between the two cities for them to exchange ideas social customs and promote economic advancement.

He also said since his arrival, he had made some connections with Ghanaians and understands that ‘the water that divides us is not as strong as the blood that binds us.’ Therefore, he said, it was important for Africans all over the globe to see one another as brothers and sisters and use that bond to create opportunities that are mutually beneficial to them.

perwork.

“For many New Yorkers, the American dream is just that, a dream, but our job is to make that dream come true,” said Deputy Mayor Richard Buery. “New York must continue to be a beacon of hope for immigrants.

That is why we created ActionNYC.” The consultancy and education services provided by the program will cost the city $7.9 million, but the authorities explain that the money is being put to good use. “This will also prevent cases of fraud that we have seen against immigrants in the past,” said Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Nisha Agarwal, referring to unscrupulous people who offer unnecessary services. “Instead of saying: ‘Do not go to these providers,’ we can now offer people a concrete solution to their problems.”

One of the organizations providing these services is Make the Road New York (MRNY). “This program will not only connect New York’s immigrants with immigration experts but also connect them to other municipal services such as IDNYC, medical services and adult education,” said Yaritza Méndez, coordinator at MRNY. “Our outreach organizers have already been trained, as well as

our immigration experts.”

Aside from legal counseling, ActionNYC will feature legal clinics, the first of which is already full after more than 100 people signed up. The program will also work in community schools throughout the city. “A group of attorneys and paralegals will visit schools in the afternoons to make diagnoses, hold consultations and take up cases,” said Mario Russell, director of Catholic Charities Immigrant and Refugee Services.

“Eventually, they will be redirected to the community centers or the legal clinics.”

MOIA believes that the system will allow people to make use of ActionNYC periodically as an immigration “checkup” of sorts, the same way they do with the doctor.

“To me, this could be useful, it gives me hope (…),” said Rivera. “But we also have a responsibility to spread the word among fellow immigrants and let them know that this is reliable and good for all of us. The only thing we need to do is take the help.”

Voices of !Y

Newark Unveiled: ‘twas an exciting place

continued from front page

Hon. Mildred Crump who arrived in Newark from Detroit in 1965, already a political and community activist, said she initially thought of Newark as a concrete jungle but later realized that it was a city worth living in. "Bergen Street was bustling and alive with

Demonstration of commitment businesses and activities" she The Chief Executive Offi- said. cer of AMA, Dr. Alfred She said that attempts in 1978 Okoe Vanderpuije, said the and 1982 to elect a black presence of Mr. Baraka was woman to city government were a demonstration of his com- not successful because of fierce mitment to strengthen the resistance and competition from relationship between the the wholly male establishment. two cities.

She then decided to run for He also said the assembly office in 1986 but was not looked forward to collabo- successful. It was not until 1994 rate with some companies that she made history by being in Newark, such as a water sworn in as the first female and purification company, to African American woman to be use their expertise to trans- elected to the Newark City form and filter some water Council. In 2006 she became bodies in Accra and make the first female Council Presithem safe for drinking. dent and again elected to the

presidency in 2013. Hon. Crump made no apologies in pointing out that when she first arrived in City Hall in 1994, there was more respect for women outside City Hall than inside.

Hon. Sheila Oliver on her part, said Newark was the place to live when bus fare was fifteen cents. She said generationally,

first top notched teachers, most of whom could have been college presidents but for discrimination and racism that existed at the time.

Hon. Sheila Oliver, an East Orange resident said she worked for the City of Newark after high school in 1970 and later in 1999 worked her way up to become the President of the Board

can female Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly in November 2009. Nationwide, she's the second African American woman to hold the position of a State Assembly Speaker.

Both Mildred Crump and Sheila Oliver share some parallel backgrounds and traits.

Brought up in Detroit and Newark respectively with doses

high school students in Newark were more conscious and enlightened about issues within and outside their communities than most other high schoolers elsewhere. She remarked that the aftermath of the 1967 riots of Newark facilitated Black Topological Libraries not only in Newark, but in other cities to re-educate people of color through symposia, seminars and forums. Historians believe that the Newark riots of 1967 impacted the City. She added that Weequahic High School, was one of the best to attend with

of Education for the City of East Orange. She eventually run for Mayor in East Orange in 1997 where she learnt her first political hard lessons. She said after happily retiring to bed with a presumed 1200 lead over her closest competitor, she woke up the next day to learn that she had lost the elections by 51 votes. She also served on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. She was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 2004, representing the 34th Legislative District, and became the first African Ameri-

of civic and community activism, and described as "a rebel with a cause" these fearless and non-manipulative female lawmakers are fiercely grounded in their convictions as fighters for social justice and common causes, helping to empower and speak for the poor and the voiceless.

The !ewark at 350 event moderator Guy Sterling has published a book The Famous, the Familiar, and the Forgotten: 350 !otable !ewarkers that was on sale at the event.

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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Your kidney and blood pressure specialist Incompetence and poor grammar feature in Ghana @ 59 fete

By Kwabena Opong

In spite of the fine display of military and para-military discipline as well as a march past of school children and other civilian groups in addition to entertainment by some hilarious actors and comedians, the program of events for the 59th anniversary of Ghana’s independence was found to be a complete syntactical flop. Not only that: mistakes by the state protocol at the end nearly marred the positive impressions garnered by invited guests Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Jose Mario Vaz of Guineas Bissau.

The brochure for events such as independence celebrations is a rather very important document whose significance cannot be over looked. It details the course of events of the celebration while it is laced with some useful information, notably history that relates to the event. It could be a significant keepsake.

Ghanaians, already questioning the significance of this celebration were angrily surprised to learn of a brochure riddled with grammatical errors, poor syntaxes and inaccurate information. To worsen matters further, some of the information was about Kenya, whose president was invited as a guest by the Mahama administration. Characteristically the issues raised by the errors provided fodder for media discussions on radio, television and print not only in Ghana but in Kenya and possibly in other African countries. And as usual the political divide featured prominently as na who cause am assumed a political flavor.

In an election year such as this, the errors have stirred the cynicism of the opposition to ascribe incompetence to everything that happened on Independence Day and to impress on Ghanaians the truth in Nana Addo

Dankwa Akufo Addo’s real state of the nation address.

Details Among some of the errors in the brochure is the listing of Uhuru Kenyatta as the president of Ghana.

The program also states “Ghana is now recognized as having attained low-income status in the world,” the brochure states in part. The West African country is actually considered a middle-income economy. It goes further as follows: Coat of Arms was misspelled “Coat of Arm.” “Ghana has a checkered but interesting history in the true sense of the word. As if by divine designed, Ghana is strategically positioned on the equator, making her

by Ukachi Uwadinobi

the centre of the globe. And like the sun she radiates light to all parts of the world.” In reality Ghana is four degrees north of the Equator. It is rather the Greenwich Meridian that passes vertically through the country.

The syntactic and informational errors in the above are not only clear but strange at a time when Ghanaians are supposed to be better educated. If indeed we are better educated it does not reflect in the brochure of events for the independence anniversary. So many Ghanaians, especially the literati are not surprised and ashamed at the turn of events. It is not unusual to find similar mistakes in the media, both print and electronic. Movie subtitles and

credits are similarly riddled with errors in grammar and spelling of names. But it is hardly questioned.

The importance of proofreading is obviously overlooked. But this one is especially grave because of the international implications and the shame it brings on the country.

The acting director of Information Service Department, Francis Kwarteng Arthur is alleged to have admitted at a press conference that just hours to the event he found the mistakes in the brochure but he could not do anything to stop it from being distributed because of the large number of brochures that had already been printed. He is reported to have accepted full responsibility

for the errors.

Rather unfortunately and adding insult to injury, grammar was not the only culprit on March 6. An unpardonable error in protocol occurred when at the end of the parade, the two august visitors from Kenya and Guinea Bissau specially invited for the event, had to wait in the scorching sun for 15 minutes for their rides. Ex-President Jerry Rawlings saved the situation by engaging a clearly angry and confused Uhuru Kenyatta in a conversation until his car arrived.

“Enti Ghana paa nie?” are the words on the lips of many Ghanaians.

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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Some hosts of Jersey Ghana Radio

Nana Konadu: Morning drive: M - F 11 am - 1 pm-

Akwasi Addae Munumkum: Ghana’s Agenda M-F 9 a.m - 11 am

Opanin Papa: Anopa Bosuo M-F 5 am. - 6 am etc

Amansa Kyeame:Ma Ye Nka Nsem Tues & Sat 7pm - 9 pm

Kofi Ayim: Anything African:Sat 2 pm. to 4 pm.

Kwame Akonor: Anything African:Sat 2 pm. to 4 pm.

Dosso Kassimou: Africa & You Tues 9 pm - 10 pm

Swanzybella: You & Your Family Health Wed 7 p.m. - 9 pm

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

Three women forced hitchhiker to have sex in order to collect his sperm

by Michael Morrow THREE female ‘sperm collectors’ are on the run from police after they allegedly picked up a man and raped him in a bid to ‘harvest’ his DNA. The Chronicle reports that authorities are searching for the trio after they allegedly abducted the hitchhiker from a park in the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo earlier this month.

During the incident, it’s alleged that only one of the three women used a condom, while the others had unprotected sex.

They then took away his semen before leaving him on the side of the road.

“They picked their victim at an illegal hiking point,” Bulawayo police spokesman Inspector Precious Simango said.

“Their victim was travelling to Cowdray Park and while on their way they changed the route prompting him to inquire where they were taking him.

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continued from page 15

It is our contention that government can recover trillions of naira from anti-corruption campaign, if the right and radical approaches are taken, as will be shown subsequently. Ironically, “They told him they were the 2016 budget itself is already tainted with corruption as sevtaking a short cut,” eral fraudulent allocations and Simango added.

The attack allegedly hap- votes have been and are being discovered from the budget. Acpened soon after. cording to BudgIt, a budget She urged any members of tracking non-governmental orthe public who have infor- ganization, over N111.3 billion has been discovered as hidden mation to come forward and said people shouldn’t and fraudulent allocations in the take lifts from strangers. 2016 budget According to local media (www.yourbudgit.com). Also, as against the previous posture of reports, victims are drugged or threatened with the government, the 2016 weapons, given a sexual budget and the burgeoning political population in the federal stimulant and forced to have sex repeatedly before government, shows that there being dumped on the side will be little change in term of reducing wasteful spending, of the road.

It’s not the first time this even if more revenue is made.

All of these government’s polikind of crime has been committed in the southern cies in the monetary and fiscal areas will do little to lift Nigeria African nation.

In 2011, three women were out of economic quagmire it is, neither will it engender longarrested after they were caught at a roadblock with term development of the coun31 sperm filled condoms try. More than this, it is our contention that the new governand last year a man alment had the ample opportunilegedly collected sperm from a homeless 18-year- ties to make significant old after offering him ac- improvement in the economic situation of the country within commodation. the last 6-7 months, which could have raised the productive canews.com.au pacity of the country, improve the purchasing power of the majority poor and reduce inequality. However, the government is still committed to pro-rich policies that have held the country down, while launching austerity for the working and poor people. Of course, some minimal

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Nigeria’s Economic Crunch structural changes like the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA), and removal of monopoly of some import licence by big businesses have been carried out. However, these are too little for any major positive change. In fact, these piecemeal and minimalist reforms have the capacity to create bigger problems that the previous ruinous policies of the Jonathan government. Neither moving forward nor moving back can be more disastrous than either of the two directions.

Ample example is the Treasury Single Account (TSA) implementation.

While government claim to be saving money through TSA and Zero Budgeting by centralizing revenue collection and disbursing expenditure centrally, the 2016 budget and all the crazy allocations and votes tend to encourage pilfering of public till.

This shows the limitations of piecemeal reforms. Politicians, contractors and senior technocrats, while accepting TSA and Zero Budgeting found another route through bogus allocations to circumvent the policies and continue with the past. Without total and radical anti-corruption reform at all levels, no amount of piecemeal reforms can make serious change.

Interestingly, it was the National Assembly, generally adjudged as the most wasteful of the government’s three arms that exposed the frauds in the 2016 budget. Even if government implements the TSA and Zero Budgeting, politicians and contractors will find limitations in the policies to sabotage any gain that can accrue from it. For instance, with the sluggishness

and tardiness in policy implementation, TSA can be used to slow down government’s revenue collection effort, by ensuring that revenue generating agencies that draw their expenses from revenue they collect are starved of fund which will stunt their activities.

5. What can be done?

Government should invest in social and public infrastructures in order to raise purchasing power.

For instance, massive investment in education, healthcare, road, mass housing, etc. will lead to employment of millions, reduce cost of accessing social services (with government subsidizing social services) and by extension raise purchasing power. This will spur economic activities that can raise government revenue and reduce pressure on forex. Unfortunately, the much-touted ‘expansionary’ 2016 budget contains arguably the worst capital allocations to education, health and housing.

For instance, according to president of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), just 3.65% of the budget is for health as against expected 15%; while less than 10% of what teaching hospitals needed to operate is given to them (Punch, 20/02/2016).

This means further commercialization of health, collapse of health facilities, inadequate medical staff and expected industrial crisis. According to university lecturers’ union, ASUU, “the total capital appropriation to each of the federal ministry of education headquarters and 19 federal secondary schools is more than the capital vote of the 39 federal universities, 24 polytechnics and 21 colleges of edu-

cation” (Thisday 24/03/2016).

The special fund for universities, agreed to by Jonathan government in 2013, which requires government spending N200 billion each year for the next 5 years, was not included in the 2016 supposedly ‘expansionary’ budget. It was only in 2014 that the agreement was implemented. Government should directly invest in mass production of exportable goods, and imported products that can be produced locally. For instance, specific agro-products can be mass produced locally by government. Also, imported food items like rice and fish can be mass produced locally. Government can directly invest in large scale farming and/or provide inputs (seedling, fertilizer, etc.), machineries, market and extension services to farm cooperatives comprising mostly small farmers, under cost/profit sharing or equity arrangements.

With this, forex will be saved, millions of direct jobs will be provided and economy boosted.

Government should also renationalize privatized public assets like power companies and others that control the mainstay of the economy, as a way of planning a serious economic revival programmes for the country. All companies that have been involved in shortchanging the country and participated in looting of public funds should also be nationalized. There is no way the country can develop when her economic mainstay are in private hands, where the rule of profit maximization prevails. continued on page 17

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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Council Of Ghanaian Associations - $ew Jersey (COGA-$J) celebrated Ghana @ 59 in a colorful ceremony at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, $ewark March 12. We bring you some photos of the capacity-filled Dinner Dance.

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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H.E. Martha Akyaa Pobee (in Kente) Ghana’s Permanent Rep. to the UN with Hon. Mildred Crump, Newark City Council President (2nd left) & Hon. Ugo Nwaokoro, Dep. Mayor, Diapora & International Affairs City of Newark (2nd right) and other dignitaries Lucky recipients of $250.00 scholarships per student courtesy of COGA-NJ

Some members of COGA-NJ

Dr. & Mrs Yamba

These dancers from Montclair University stole the show

Nananom, as usual graced the occasion.

All smiles

GAMA was well represented

(left to right) Jim Nance, Barbara King & Kwame Gyan

In party mode and mood - the smiling ones

Evelyn Latse esq. (left) represented AGLA

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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OP-ED

By Osmond Ekwueme

A lot has been said about Pope Francis questioning Trump’s faith. The controversy over whether Trump is a Christian or espouses Christian values, however, is legitimate because he and virtually every other candidate proclaim that Christianity is their guidepost for public service. As I listen to their racist, sexist, xenophobic and elitist proclamations I harkened back to the once popular bracelets, WWJD (What Will Jesus Do). Do they really believe that they represent what Jesus would do? I shudder to think so.

Donald Trump was right when he said that no one should question another person’s faith or religion in politics. Of course, it’s enormous hypocrisy on his part, since he is so negative toward Muslims, but he makes a very good point in saying it.

However, if there is anyone whose actual job it is to make a ruling on whether something is consistent with Christian morals and ethics or not, it’s the Pope. If am reading this right and in context, the Pope did not say that trump is not “a” Christian. He alluded that Trump’s behaviors are

By Désiré !imubona Samuel Okiror BUJUMBURA/KAMPALA,

Building walls or bridges: The paradox of faith, politics not Christian. Isn’t it about time that Christian leaders started pointing out blatantly unchristian behavior by their followers? Isn’t this one of the actual responsibilities of Christian leadership?

He was set up by a journalist who asked a “Christian or not a Christian” sort of question, about a Trump political idea. Trump wasn’t mentioned by name. The Pope’s answer was a criticism of a behavior or attitude not consistent with the human compassion expected of a Christian person. Trump doesn’t have to agree with him politically, but His Holiness wasn’t out of line to make the call. The Pope wasn’t questioning anyone’s faith, he was just saying that anyone who is into building walls and not bridges, metaphorically speaking, is not a Christian.

Many politicians pay lip service to Christianity, but in their deeds they are not Christians. There is no equivalency between Pope Francis and Trump. It is sweet irony that some politicians are criticizing the Pope for saying that such and such behavior is not Christian way of behaving when for seven years they have been saying Obama is not a Christian.

I am a lifelong Roman Catholic Christian of almost more that 5 decades and I pray that the Good Lord will continue to protect and bless Pope Francis. Catholics everywhere and especially here in USA should not be in a fetal position but instead say something when His Holiness is being vilified.

Some people posted a photo of Vatican City with encircled wall inside the city of Rome and that as a head of State he should keep his opinion out of American politics. I don’t know about the emphasis on the wall surrounding Vatican City…suppose to be insulting to the Pope. Arguing and splitting hairs, about a Wall built centuries ago (circa, ninth century ago). Just like every city in medieval period London, Paris and Jerusalem comes to mind. This is not the same as building a wall in this 21st century between USA and Mexico. Is this a discussion on the validity of the 200 year old Constitution? Pope Francis did not build it in the 21st century as Trump plans to do, so it is just red herring. It is true that the Pope is a head of State but he is also the head of the Catholic Church, and a moral authority, in addition to

being the head of a city-state. Since some politicians are requiring the insertion of Christianity in American politics and the Constitution, then they also invite the Pope to weigh in with the 70 million Catholics in this country. I am a Catholic, but personally I would prefer to keep religion out of politics, however I do love having a moral leader help read the Bible to those, who twist it and use it to abuse others, or for their own personal gain. They deserve to have the Pope call them out for the hypocrites they are.

Some even questioning if Catholics are Christians…you can’t make this stuff up. This is sadly true. I had to tell my ‘Christian’ friend that Catholics were the first Christians.

The very simple litmus test is this, are you a follower of Christ in words and more importantly in deeds?

Clarifies: Do you love in all that you say and do? Are you striving to love with every breath and every step?

These are the actions of a Christian.

The Sermon on the Mount, in the Bible, Matthew 5 is very useful in guiding those who would strive to follow Christ. I pray that we will ALL love the way Christ did.

Osmond Ekwueme MD., PhD Knight of Columbus, Wisconsin (USA)

Burundi power struggle outlasts diplomatic flurry

As meaningful talks elude the troubled east African nation, war fears grow. There’s been a flurry of highprofile visits to Burundi designed to find a settlement to the political crisis but little evidence yet that anything has been achieved.

First came UN Security Council members, followed by US President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the Great Lakes Region. Then, last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dropped in; and finally there was a visit from five African heads of state.

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza welcomed Ban with a promise to free 1,200 political prisoners (later extended to 2,000), and to reopen two independent radio stations.

The African Union delegation, led

by South African President Jacob Zuma, won a commitment for the deployment of 100 military monitors and 100 human rights observers to help reduce the political violence that has claimed more than 400 lives since April, when Nkurunziza sought to extend his term in office.

But in reality, critics argue, the government is stalling.

On the critical issue of negotiating with the opposition coalition known as CNARED, which the government describes as “terrorists” and “coupplotters”, Nkurunziza didn’t budge.

Instead, the authorities have unilaterally set up a National Commission for inter-Burundian Dialogue, known as the CNDI, to negotiate with people it finds more palatable.This effectively involves “engaging factions that broke away from mainstream parties to join what was left of Nkurunziza’s governing coalition” before last year’s election, said Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University, Washington.

The opposition and key sections of civil society argue that negotiations can only be meaningful if they bridge the divide between the government and an armed opposition, a

The Pope has not been building walls; he has been traveling around the world building bridges between faiths and nations. He has been advocating issues of interest to the poorest people across the world. He has challenged his own church (Roman Catholic Church) to embrace reform and evolve in its thinking. Yes indeed, Pope Francis is an example of a strong, principled man who has demonstrated what it means to be a Christian. If a wise and holy man were to tell me that I was heading in the wrong direction…I would at least shut my mouth and look in the mirror. Picking a fight with the leader of one of the world’s largest Christian denominations, doesn’t seem like a smart idea.

Never was the truth more told, verified by the first Epistle of John : viz “If anyone says, I love God, but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he does not love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen” 1 John 4:20.

World Economic Forum/Eric Miller growing chasm that threatens all-out civil war.

“One can’t be a political party and judge,” said Leonce Ngendakumana, president of opposition platform ADC Ikibiri. “The negotiations must include those who are armed, including exiled coup-plotters.”

CNARED, many of whom are in exile, is recognised as the main opposition umbrella by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, appointed by the East African Community to mediate in the dispute.

Alex Fielding, senior analyst at Max Security Solutions, a geopolitical risk consulting firm, is also unimpressed with the government’s commitment on political prisoners. He regards it as a sop, to avoid the real issue of all-inclusive talks.

“When you read the presidential de-

cree about the prisoner release, it excludes all those accused of treason as well as those who committed crimes ‘in organised groups’,” he told IRIN. The opposition held out little hope of a robust position from Zuma and the AU visitors after a January summit chose not to back an earlier commitment by its Peace and Security Council to send 5,000 peacekeepers to Burundi. The government’s acceptance of military observers needs to be seen in the context of the AU’s failure to fully deploy since July last year. Only 32 observers have been allowed into the country, and only after much haggling over memorandums of understanding.

“Given this history, it's important to note that the observers will not be able to do their job properly unless the Burundi government grants them

the legal freedom of movement to travel and the political freedom to write independent reports,” said Paul Williams, associate professor at George Washington University.

“My questions would be: what use are observers if they are not deployed in the full authorised numbers and they are not granted the legal mandate and political freedom to travel as they wish and do their jobs independently?”

What then is next for Burundi?

“In my view, the best prospects for peace in Burundi will require sustained regional and international engagement. At this point, the Nkurunziza government does not feel the need politically to engage the genuine opposition,” said Siegle.

“While most regional and interna-

tional diplomacy up to this point has been aimed at accommodating the Nkurunziza government, there is insufficient appreciation of the growing resignation among many Burundian citizens that armed opposition is the only way to be heard,” Siegle added.

“This means the time window for reaching a political resolution is limited and shrinking.” Fielding, at Max Security Solutions, called for “a more active presence and forceful response by the AU and UN, with a credible threat of sanctions and peacekeeper deployment if the regime fails to engage in genuinely inclusive dialogue talks, rein in the arbitrary arrests that have become commonplace, and reopen the political space for dissident groups and independent media organisations.

“That said, I remain sceptical about the success of such talks as the main opposition and rebel demand remains that Nkurunziza steps down, something that he will refuse to consider as long as he retains support in rural areas and the security establishment,” Fielding added.

Steve McDonald, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, did see a possible path out of the crisis.

“For a breakthrough to occur, there needs to be a frank conversation between Nkurunziza and selected opposition members, facilitated by a trusted third party – which does not include Museveni – out of the public eye and with no press coverage,” McDonald told IRIN. “To date, the international community, including the AU, have been telling Nkurunziza who he needs to engage and what the outcome is to be, i.e. an abrogation of his third term as president. That is a nonstarter,” he said.

“I do not think that Nkurunziza's goal is a return to mass, inter-communal violence. So he can be engaged. But how that is done is the critical element.”

IRI!

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

page 13

Get a copy of one of the most-researched books of the Akan People of Ghana. Go to amazon.com

But before you buy it, watch a brief interview of the Akan culture at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed4XXJytUo4

Before you buy it, watch the 4 segmented interviews on the Akan royal who was sold into slavery and ended up as one of $ewark’s prominent citizens. Go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zJ$tU$KqZg, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ugep6zTDXo, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDJsil-D8vw, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG00iHyKtio

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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African News

By Justin Lynch A new humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Malakal, South Sudan, just days after an attack by government soldiers on a camp sheltering displaced people – the challenge of caring for tens of thousands of survivors.

Around 18 people died in the violence that began on Wednesday night following growing ethnic tensions between Dinka and Shilluk communities in the camp. Government soldiers broke into the UN-administered Protection of Civilians (PoC) facility and were involved in the fighting that intensified on Thursday, sending people fleeing the wild gun battles and a fire that destroyed half the camp. Some 15,000 people, mostly Nuer and Shilluk, have taken shelter in a small, narrow strip of land near the UN Mission in South Sudan peacekeeping base, 500 meters from the PoC. Around 5,000 mainly Dinka have fled into nearby Malakal town and the protection of the largely Dinka army.

Around 25,000 people are still living in parts of the PoC that escaped destruction.

It has created an alarming humanitarian situation that asks aid workers to do the near impossible — provide immediate services for 20,000 people suddenly displaced from their original site of refuge, and to plan the rebuilding of the camp.

“There is a general sense of insecurity so people have moved outside of the Protection of Civilians site,” said John McCue, head of operations for the International Organization for Migra

Survivors of violence in Malakal face new crisis

Photo: IOM/Gonzalez Palau 2016 tion in the capital, Juba.

“It’s completely untenable, it’s too small, it’s too crowded… there is nothing that can be done, the priority needs to be on UNMISS showing the population that they are able to provide security within the PoC. It’s the only solution. Otherwise we are looking at a major health risk.”

Some people have returned to the camp – even the sections that were torched – regarding it as a better option than the overcrowded, squalid conditions outside the UNMISS base.

“That place was not good,” said one man, who gave his name only as Hassan, indicating where thousands of displaced are building temporary shelters.

“No food, no water,” said his col

league, Emmanuel. “All of the food was here, but the violence (destroyed it)”.

A new humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Malakal, South Sudan, just days after an attack by government soldiers on a camp sheltering displaced people – the challenge of caring for tens of thousands of survivors.

Malakal town, where mainly Dinka fled to, is heavily militarised. Almost all men wear uniforms, weapons slung on their back, pacing the streets of South Sudan’s second largest city, which has been repeatedly fought over by government and rebel forces since 2013.

Here, there appear to be more services

for the displaced — the Nile river is nearby to provide water and sanitation, and it is less crowded. The displaced in town are digging in for the long haul.

Angelina, who used to live in the PoC but fled to Malakal on Thursday, said many people are carrying their belongings from the camp to town “until the government tells us where to go”.

UNMISS blamed Among the Nuer and Shilluk who have taken refuge near the UN base, there is a sense of dismay at the failure of the peacekeepers to protect them. Many say they will return to the PoC only if UNMISS can guarantee their protection.

“I saw yesterday the [UN] soldiers run away. What happens next time, I

don’t know,” said Emmanuel, who like Hassan had returned to the PoC on Friday. “I saw many people die. I don't know what happened with UNMISS.” An UNMISS statement said its peacekeepers had exchanged fire with men "allegedly donning SPLA [army] uniforms" shooting into the base.

The 15,000 displaced outside the peacekeepers’ base have thrown up makeshift tents just centimetres apart – a clear fire risk as they are forced to use open fires to cook food and heat what water is available.

Rebuilding the PoC will take time.

Two medical clinics inside the camp were destroyed — either victims of the spreading fires or the looting that came after.

It appeared that at least some of the fire in the PoC was caused by deliberate acts of arson. Sections where one ethnic group lived are a pile of ashes, yet a few feet away housing of another group was untouched by the flames.

South Sudan collapsed into civil war in 2013 when fighting broke out between soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar. The conflict quickly took on ethnic overtones.

The UN warned last week that as a result of the war, 2.8 million people – nearly 25 percent of the population – are in urgent need of food assistance, and at least 40,000 people are “on the brink of catastrophe”.

IRI!

Does Africa have an alternative to the ICC?

by Sella Oneko African countries are tired of the International Criminal Court (ICC). A number of them have made that clear. But is there any hope for strengthening the African Union’s own African Court?

Yes, we know about the existence of this court, but it's doing very little to protect human rights in Africa.

That's the essence of comments by DW's Facebook followers who were asked what they thought of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR). Established by the African Union (AU) in 2004, the court is based in Arusha, Tanzania, which until recently also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

The court and its 11 judges have the task of hearing complaints by individuals, NGOs or the AU itself against its member states after all other legal options have been exhausted. Its basis: the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights which covers everything from the right to education, to the right to freedom of movement or participation in government. In 2014, for instance, the court ruled that Tanzania's ban on independent candidates was undemocratic. Tanzania had previously required all political candidates to run on a party ticket.

As Ottilia Maunganidze, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa told DW, this was one of the court's most successful cases, which now only remains to be implemented.

Signed but not ratified The African Court's main problem, however, remains its lack of legitimacy in great parts of the African

Cheering crowds welcomed Kenyan President Kenyatta back to Nairobi after his pre-trial hearing in The Hague. (Reuters/Noor Khamis continent. So far, 30 countries are members of the court, but only eight have ratified the declaration that allows private individuals or NGOs to bring their complaints forward to the court. As a result, from the approximately 50 complaints that the Court has received, only a fraction could actually be heard. A graphic by the ACtHPR Monitor, an independent group that follows the activities of the court, shows 30 countries that have signed the protocol in orange and seven countries that have ratified said declaration. The eighth state that ratified it last month is Benin. "The African Court has embarked on continental sensitisation missions to encourage AU member states to ratify and make the declaration as required under 34(6)," the African Court wrote in a statement to DW. An alternative to the ICC? So, with African countries threatening to pull out of the ICC and the Rome Statute, why have they not put

more effort into creating their own court? "What we have seen is that more African countries have ratified the Rome Statute than those that have aligned themselves with the African Court," Maunganidze told DW. Unlike the ICC, which prosecutes war crimes and crimes against humanity, the African Court can at the moment only rule on human rights cases. In 2014 AU members adopted the Malabo Protocol, in which they decided to expand the court's mandate to include international criminal law. This would also include transnational crime, acts of terrorism and unconstitutional changes of government. Two years down the line, however, not even one member state has ratified this protocol.

"One of the reasons we have been told by the AU is that they want to amend the protocol to make it better.

The question is, why adopt a protocol if you were not happy with it?"

Maunganidze said. For a green light

to start a chamber for criminal jus tice, the court needs at least 15 ratifications of the Malabo Protocol. Only then can the search for competent staff, judges and the construction of facilities, like pre-trial detention areas, be started.

According to the court, it currently receives a budget of about $10 million (9.13 million euros) from the AU. But according to Maunganidze, its current budget is only a fraction of what it will need if it wants to delve into the much more expensive field of criminal justice.

Do governments really want justice?

Kenyan legal expert Godfrey Musila, who heads the International Criminal Law Research Department at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy in Germany, believes that there could be room for the ICC and the African Court to work side by side in future and complement each other. One major problem that he sees in the African

Court, is that it has an inbuilt .. that prevents it from prosecuting heads of state and high level government officials. The ICC has on the other hand accused Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir of war crimes, as well as Kenya's Vice President William Ruto. Due to lack of evidence it dropped the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

All three have called on fellow African countries to leave the Rome Statute.

"What they are saying is that we have created this court but it cannot try us or members of our government. On that ground alone, the ICC will remain the only option because it excludes immunity," Musila told DW. According to him, there is a lack of a culture of respect for human rights on the continent. This, he said undermines the efficacy of the African Court. When DW asked its Facebook followers what they thought of the court, many comments echoed those of the legal experts. "Our leaders know no justice.

They only follow their own interests and care little about their own poor people," Inous from Togo wrote.

Ibraima Sori Djalo from Guinea-Bissau wrote: "I don't believe that the African Court for Human and People's Rights can prevent human rights abuses in Africa. They happen every day in addition to armed conflicts and many other crimes. Meanwhile African states and the AU stand by and do nothing."

Other DW Facebook followers like Bahati Madaki Bama from Tanzania however applauded the idea of a stronger African Court. "It would be a good idea because the ICC is out of Africa and that means it's not for Africans," she wrote. dw.de

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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FOCUS ON AFRICA: NIGERIA Nigeria’s Economic Crunch: How to Reverse the Neo-liberal Induced Crisis? Massive Looting of the Nation’s Wealth by Global Financial Actors

By Kola Ibrahim

1. $igeria’s economy is in serious dire strait, no doubt: By the end of this month, ten manufacturing businesses will close shop according to Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), while over 50,000 jobs have already being lost in Abuja, according to Chair of Abuja Chamber of Commerce (Punch, 24/02/2016), all due to inability to access forex for raw materials and business activities. In fact, in December 2015 when dollar sold for less than N260 at parallel market, non-oil export fell by 25% monthon-month and 75% year-on-year, mostly driven by fall in food and mineral export (ProShare, 16/02/2016). By the end of this quarter, there are expected mass layoffs across boards.

The current economic crisis exemplified by the revenue fall and foreign exchange crisis, is a product of many years of neo-liberal and antidevelopmental policies administered by agents of global finance capital, and massive looting of the nation’s wealth at all levels of governance and by all ruling parties. In the last 16 years of civil rule, Nigeria earned over $700 billion from crude oil exploitation; yet the level of development of the social infrastructures and economy is at abysmal level. Nigeria was plundered by politicians in power of all hues and coloration, and big business people (including their international partners and masters).

Every year since 2005, less than 18, 000 political office holders at all levels and in all political parties cornered N1.3 trillion annually as emoluments. This is more than a tenth of annual national budgets of all tiers of government. That means in the last ten years, at least N13 trillion or $65 billion has been officially handed over to 18, 000 politicians (0.01 % of population). This is just official emoluments. According to a World Bank estimate some years back, about 20 kobo out of every N1 budgeted for any project is actually spent, while some estimates claimed that over $140 billion has been looted since emergence of civil rule in 1999. This is aside the looting under Jonathan government.

On the other side, public wealth was used to ensure huge wealth and profits for big businesses. While waivers worth over N1.3 trillion was granted by the Jonathan government, the Obasanjo government before it also gave trillions of naira worth of waivers, tax breaks and monopoly to import for many big companies. This is aside billions doled out in form of government’s issuance of treasury bills and bonds, which guaranteed unmerited wealth for banks, financial institutions and big businesses (local and foreign), at the detriment of local and small businesses. In 2010, government used N2.5 trillion of public funds to bail out ten banks owned by a tiny clique of multibillionaires, while social infrastructures are in decrepit state.

While public funds are given to politicians and big businesses, the same money, instead of being invested in productive and manufacturing activities, were again invested in government’s businesses that ensure huge profits e.g. privatization of state properties at rock-bottom

prices, sale of oil blocks, inflated contracts and government’s borrowing. In situation where some productive activities were undertaken by big businesses like Dangote, Honeywell, etc., the government would have given several billion-dollar worth of waivers and dole outs to these private businesses.

The state governments were not left out of this racket as politicians at state levels embarked on projects that were aimed at cornering public funds for private use, with little impact on economic and social development. The result is total depletion of public wealth. Excess crude account that was around $23 billion in 2012 was depleted to less than $2.5 billion by 2015, with little impact on the wellbeing of the majority of the population.

Not satisfied with this, governments at all levels developed a strong appetite for debts. Under Jonathan, the 3 tiers of government shared over N29 trillion ($145 billion) (Guardian 21/06/2015), yet social and public infrastructures are still in parlous state while poverty and unemployment still thrive. At the same time, the country’s debt profile increased to over $66 billion (with foreign debt increasing to over $11 billion from less than $6 billion in 2011).

While the Jonathan government mismanaged more than 52% of the N29 trillion that accrued to the country, the state governments run by all the major political parties also mismanaged over 40% of this revenue.

2. The implication of all this is that: There is little development of social and physical infrastructures to support productive economic activities.

This implies that the country is permanently stuck to import-based economy, while exporting only raw materials like crude oil, which constitute over 80% of export earnings.

For instance, the country spent billions of dollars on importing fuel and food items like rice. At a period of huge earnings from crude oil sale, this may not strike any danger, but with crude oil hovering around $30 per barrel, as against more than $80 two years ago, the naira is expected to continue to dwindle in value.

Even if government uses external reserve to save the currency, it will not go far enough, unless there is a shrink in consumption or the country develops productive capacity.

There is a huge wealth gap between the very rich and the poor. This means public wealth is concentrated in fewer hands, whose luxurious lifestyle, denominated mostly in hard currencies, put more pressure on the currency, which drive up cost of living for the majority poor, whose income hardly increase. At a point, Nigeria became the destination for all kinds of luxury goods including exotic wines, cars, jewelries, and aircrafts. In fact, the number of private jets was more than commercial aircrafts. Also, during the 2015 elections, the two main capitalist parties spent millions of dollars for “campaign”. In fact, dollar became unofficial legal tender of the rich.

This coupled with collapse of public infrastructures and services, and fall in the income of workers, will means working and poor people spending their meagre money on fewer things, which drives up inflation and re-

duces purchasing power. Businesses are also affected leading to mass retrenchment or at best no new employment. While not all consumables and products are imported, the fact that many of the country’s daily needs including foodstuffs, drugs, raw materials, industrial additives, etc. are imported shows that other goods produced internally will share in the burden, as inflation is contagious.

The pressure on naira also implies that there will be very little development of the country, as businesses that want to invest will scale back investment, while governments’ spending will shrink, leading to serious cut on purchasing power. For instance, the planned completion date of the oil refinery being built by Dangote has been shifted from 2018 to around 2020, while seeming permanent deflation of crude oil price poses threat to that business.

To solve the problem, government need to reverse the causes of the economic crisis by: 1. Stopping further devaluation of the currency by ending the senseless currency speculation by banks and Bureaux De Change (BDCs) 2. Increasing production of goods that can reduce imports and thus ease pressure on naira 3. Increasing production of exportable goods 4. Retrieving huge public funds looted either directly or indirectly, and stop further hemorrhaging of the public purse 5. Increase purchasing power of the majority of the population by reducing wealth gap and redistributing social wealth to the majority 3. Buhari Government’s responses The government has stated that it is not disposed to further devaluation of the naira which has been pegged at around N198 to a dollar. This would have been a welcome development if it was implemented. However, this sounds more like a doctrinaire and propagandist pronouncement than any serious economic policy.

In the first instance, government banning of some goods, especially food items and industrial products, from using government’s hard currencies without serious programmes and policies to ensure production and availability of these products internally is more or less implementation of a neo-fascist monetary policy.

It enforces compulsory suffering on the people, on the basis of maintaining the president’s rightwing nationalistic instinct.

While government fixed naira-todollar at N198/dollar, it allows previous manipulation of forex by banks to continue while directing anger against parallel market, which was supposed to hold less than 20 percent of the forex market. Meanwhile, banks continue to aid currency devaluation through round-tripping (i.e. buying dollar at N198 from government but selling at parallel market prices).

The government’s policy of withdrawing dollar support for BDC is wrong and counterproductive. It is a middle-of-the-road approach that can be more ruinous. If government wants to end the BDC business, it should have done so directly and organized a more pragmatic approach

to retail sale of dollar to end users, at affordable or official cost. Withdrawing CBN’s dollar support to BDCs, while banks’ forex business is enmeshed in corruption, roundtripping and ineptitude has led to BDCs becoming a major market for end users and thus a major decider of naira value. Allowing BDC to operate on free market approach under the above scenario has led to disaster for the economy. Alternatively, government can continue to supply BDCs dollars, and directly monitor and control their activities and tailor them towards government activities.

With this, government can reverse the laisser faire arrangement in the BDCs and banks’ forex activities.

It is funny that government will fix foreign exchange at official market, but make dollar scarce at the parallel market where law of demand and supply applies. Meanwhile, the parallel market is more accessible and active than official market. To worsen already bad situation, the official forex market could not meet demand, even after government’s regulations. Furthermore, the government refused to release more hard currencies from external reserve to meet the fixed exchange rate and at the same time allows access to foreign currency. The summary of all this is that the government, while hiding under officialdom, has unofficially devalued the naira, and worse still deregulated the process of further devaluation of the currency.

In order to make naira gain real value, and become a tool of development, government has to implement some immediate and long term fiscal policies as highlighted in paragraph 2(b) above. But the fiscal responses of government does not show any sign of providing any serious clue out of the ensuing crisis that may get worse in the coming period.

4. 2016 ‘Expansionary’ Budget Of course, the Buhari government claims to be planning about N2.3 billion spending on infrastructures and social programmes, but this seems more like piecemeal political project than serious economic revival project. Firstly, the over N6.05 trillion budget with a deficit of N2.2 trillion will be financed by N1.88 trillion debt from local and foreign borrowing, while the government will, at the same time, be spending N1.3 trillion to service existing debts (a significant part of which is for local lenders). This means government will be borrowing back the same money it pays to service existing debts, or better put, will be borrowing to pay debt. This is clearly not sustainable.

Most part of the N1.8 trillion capital vote will be spent to fulfill existing contractual obligations on existing projects, while smaller amount is for new projects. More than this, the important aspect of the capital votes i.e. those for Ministries of Power, Housing and Works, and Transportation will gulp N660 billion out of the N1.88 trillion. With many contractors already indebted, the capital vote will only have marginal effect on purchasing power.

The so-called special social interventions that will gulp some N560 billion (N300 billion and N260 in the capital and recurrent sectors respectively), is not tailored towards some serious or long term economic im-

provement. For instance, some of these social programmes like payment of N5, 000 benefits to 1 million poor people will be run on pilot scheme, and rely on support of credit and donor agencies, which will make such programmes limited in scope and elitist in nature. More than this, it does not provide holistic approach to improving export capacity of the country or long term economic development.

Possibly, the school feeding programmes, mass employment of 500, 000 teachers and conditional grants to the most impoverished, will be the most impactful of these social programmes. If implemented, it will have some minimal impact in improving living standards of some Nigerians. However, this is too little to make needed impact to reverse the economic quagmire. Over 3 million young Nigerians are reportedly thrown to the labour market yearly, while over 30 million people are jobless. Therefore, employing less than 500,000 young people over the tenure may not really address the problem. Worse still, the teaching jobs will only be a part-time job where beneficiaries are paid peanuts.

This is similar to the Federal Teachers’ Scheme (FTS) of the Jonathan government which ended in fiasco as beneficiaries were unpaid for months. Furthermore, the social programmes will be carried out in conjunction with state governments.

This is an assured failure, as most of the states are bankrupt and dysfunctional.

Moreover, the ability of the government to meet the revenue collection in the budget is highly doubtful.

Currently the crude oil price is below the $38 per barrel, envisaged in the budget, while the ability of the country to sell 2.2 million barrels per day is uncertain, as there is a glut in the crude oil market. Therefore, over N800 billion in revenue expected from sale of crude oil may be hard to meet. Of course, there is possibility that crude oil price may rise again, after reaching a trough; but aside the fact that it is doubtful whether it will reach $38, the question of quantity supplied is another issue.

On the other hand, government’s plan to rake in over N3 trillionworth revenue from non-oil sector and independent sources, as much as this will be welcome, is not premised on any serious economic plan. For instance, as a result of the government’s tumbling monetary and forex policies, the non-oil export has fallen significantly by 25% fourth quarter of 2015 and 75% year-on-year.

Although, the decline is driven mainly by fall in food and mineral sales, while manufacturing and industrial exports grew. However, on the basis on growing inflation, high cost of dollar, inability to access forex market and falling purchasing power, non-oil sector export and possible revenue for government will seriously reduce in the coming period. Already, there are talks of possible mass layoff of workers before the end of this quarter. Government’s plan to raise N360 billion from anti-corruption is also doubtful based on the haphazard approach to anti-corruption campaign. continued on page 9

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

page 16

African News

By Emma Batha Countries that have banned female genital mutilation (FGM) should allow less invasive practices such as small surgical nicks to girls' genitalia as a compromise, two American gynecologists said on Monday.

But campaigners against FGM strongly criticized the proposal, saying it would undermine global efforts to eradicate the internationally condemned ritual.

At least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM in over 30 countries, according to U.N. estimates.

The ancient practice usually involves the partial or total removal of a girl's external genitalia. In some cases the vaginal opening is also sewn up.

But some communities practice less invasive rituals such as pricking or nicking the clitoris.

Female genital 'nicks' should be legal: gynecologists The U.S. gynecologists, writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, argued that permitting more minimal procedures could allow families to uphold cultural and religious traditions while protecting girls from more dangerous forms of cutting.

Communities which support FGM often consider it a prerequisite for marriage. Many also see it as a religious obligation although it is not mentioned in the Koran or Bible.

But FGM can cause a host of physical and psychological problems.

Gynecologists Kavita Shah Arora and Allan Jacobs said procedures that slightly changed the look of a girl's genitalia without damaging them were comparable to male circumcision or cosmetic procedures in Western countries like labiaplasty.

Laws against mild modifications were "culturally insensitive and supremacist and discriminatory to-

wards women", they wrote in the specialist journal, which is published by the British Medical Journal. Laws against mild modifications were "culturally insensitive and supremacist and discriminatory towards women", they wrote in the specialist journal, which is published by the British Medical Journal.

"BEHI$D THE TIMES" FGM is practiced in a swathe of African countries, pockets of Asia and the Middle East, as well as by diaspora communities living in the West.

The gynecologists suggested that global attempts to stamp out FGM with legislation had failed and may by driving the practice underground.

"We are not arguing that any procedure on the female genitalia is desirable," they said. "Rather, we only argue that certain procedures ought

to be tolerated by liberal societies."

They said the term "female genital mutilation" should be replaced with the less emotive "female genital alteration" (FGA) to avoid "demonizing important cultural practices".

But experts on medical ethics, commenting on the proposal, said procedures to modify girls' genitals could not be compared to male circumcision because they are designed to control women and curb their sexual desire.

They also predicted that legalizing more minimal procedures would generate a litany of legal, regulatory and medical problems.

Global campaigners against FGM said doctors should challenge harmful social norms, not condone them.

"Any form of FGM is a violation of a child's rights," said Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, head of global advocacy at the charity FORWARD

which campaigns against FGM in Africa and Europe.

"Why would you put a little girl through that? There should be no medicalization of FGM. They (the gynecologists) are completely behind the times.

"This is very different to male circumcision. With male circumcision there is no intention to attenuate sexual desire, control sexuality or enforce chastity."

Rights group Equality Now said the "medicalization" of FGM remained one of the biggest threats to its elimination.

It said FGM prevalence rates had fallen significantly in many countries and that properly implemented laws had been very effective in countries like Kenya. `Credit: The Thomson Reuters Foundation,

Money Given to Kenya, Since Stolen, Puts Nike in Spotlight When a Chinese clothing company swooped in and offered to sponsor Kenya’s famed runners, Nike panicked, Kenyan officials say.

“Can we talk about the situation?” a Nike executive wrote to a Kenyan official after hearing the news that the Kenyans wanted to end their deal with Nike. “You and I go back a long way.”

What followed — according to email exchanges, letters, bank records and invoices, provided by a former employee of Kenya’s athletics federation — has led to a major scandal in Kenya, a country in the midst of its biggest war against corruption in years.

In a contract signed several years ago, Nike agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in honorariums and a one-time $500,000 “commitment bonus,” which the former employee called a bribe.

The money was supposed to be used to help train and support poor Kenyan athletes who dream of running their way out of poverty. Instead, it was immediately sucked out of the federation’s bank account by a handful of Kenyan officials and kept off the books. Nike has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that its payments were intended to help athletes, and it does not appear to be under investigation by the United States authorities.

But the Kenyan authorities are suspicious. They have opened an extensive investigation, and all three Kenyan athletics officials accused of taking money from Nike have been suspended. Investigators with Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations said they had repeatedly asked Nike to provide more information. So far, they say, Nike has refused.

“Why was such a huge sum of money paid as commitment?” said one of the detectives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “It’s only Nike who can tell us.”

John Githongo, one of Kenya’s leading voices against corruption, said the American government should pick up this case and “run with it.”

For more than 20 years, Nike Inc. has been paying the Kenyan national runners’ association millions of dollars in exchange for the Kenyans wearing Nike’s signature swoosh, superb advertising in the running world.

Kenyans hold world records in the 800 meters, 1,000 meters, 3,000 me-

ters, 20,000 meters, 25,000 meters, 30,000 meters, half-marathon, marathon — the list goes on. Professional runners from other countries say they feel a sense of dread every time the Kenyans show up at a track meet in their red, green and black uniforms and start doing their toetouches.

Ethiopian runners, who also excel at middle- and long-distance races, have a sponsorship agreement with Adidas, but an official there said their contract contained no commitment bonus. Several professional runners said they had heard of signing bonuses for individual athletes, but never such a large one-time bonus for a national federation.

Kenyan athletes were so outraged when they learned in November that hundreds of thousands of dollars from Nike had been stolen by their bigwigs that they staged a protest at their headquarters in Nairobi, with elite athletes camped out in the grass and holding up signs that read “blood sucers.” (Some of the runners never finished school.)

Now, one question the Kenyan detectives are trying to answer is whether Nike intentionally made it easy for the officials to pocket the money.

The fallout from the Nike deal hit just as Western embassies were coming down hard on Kenya for corruption.

Nearly every day there seems to be allegations of some new scandal: a government ministry buying plastic pens for $85 apiece, a Supreme Court judge taking a $2 million bribe, questions about what exactly happened to the proceeds of a multibillion-dollar bond deal. Western nations have threatened sanctions, and the United States government has been especially vocal about corruption, with White House officials unveiling a 29-point plan to root it out.

So it would be “hypocritical,” Mr. Githongo said, for the United States government to “bang on” about Kenya without being willing to look into allegations against an iconic American company such as Nike.

American diplomats in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, said that the United States government would be willing to investigate any credible allegations of corruption by American companies, but that they had no specific knowledge of the Nike deal beyond what had been reported in the Kenyan and international news media.

The allegations go back to 2009,

when Kenyan officials, according to the email chain, accused Nike of treating Kenya as a “dumping ground” for substandard Nike clothing.But those complaints may have been a ruse by Kenyan officials to get out of the Nike contract so they could receive a bribe from another company, said a member of the executive board of Kenya’s track and field federation, known as Athletics Kenya.

Soon after complaining to Nike, officials at Kenya’s running federation struck a new sponsorship deal with the Li-Ning Company, a Chinese sports empire founded by a famous gymnast, Li Ning. A marketing agent, working as a middleman between the company and the Kenyan federation, then sent nearly $200,000 to Athletics Kenya, money that a top official quickly withdrew.

The sports-marketing agent who made the payment, Papa Massata Diack, was recently banned for life by the International Association of Athletics Federations, a global governing body for track and field. Both he and his father, Lamine Diack, a former head of the international athletics association, are under investigation by the French authorities in connection with several allegations, including blackmail and bribery.

The Kenyan officials even began talking about designing new Li-Ning uniforms, but they soon learned that shaking off the Nike sponsorship deal was harder than they thought.

After they received a letter from a Nike lawyer saying there were no legal grounds to terminate the contract, the Kenyan officials abruptly changed course. They negotiated a new contract in which Nike agreed to pay Athletics Kenya an annual sponsorship fee of $1.3 million to $1.5 million — plus $100,000 honorariums each year and a one-time $500,000 “commitment bonus.”

“Whenever I see the words ‘commitment fees,’ ‘commitment bonuses,’ ‘access fees,’ ‘access bonuses,’ that for me raises a red flag,” said Mr. Githongo, a consultant who once headed an anti-corruption unit within the Kenyan government but quit — and fled the country for several years — after death threats. “It’s language used to dress up bribes traditionally.”

Nike executives refused to discuss the contract, issuing a short statement that the money paid to Athletics Kenya was supposed to support the athletes. It said that Nike conducted business with integrity and that “we are cooperating with the

local authorities in their investigation,” a point the Kenyan detectives dispute.

Several analysts said Nike could not afford to lose the Kenyans. Running is integral to Nike’s brand — Nike’s founders made some of their first running shoe treads on waffle irons in the 1970s. And Kenyans are integral to running.

In the documents, Nike provided detailed instructions on how the $100,000 yearly honorarium was to be used (to cover travel costs and phone bills, among other things). No details were provided for the commitment bonus, though, even after the former employee, who worked as an administrative assistant and in other jobs at Athletics Kenya for more than 10 years, wrote to a Nike executive asking him.

In a sworn statement provided to Kenyan investigators, the former assistant said the $500,000 commitment bonus was “bribe money from Nike” so that the top officials could pay back the $200,000 from the scuttled deal with the Chinese company and then make even more by agreeing to sign up again with Nike.

The former administrative assistant requested that his name not be revealed, saying it was extremely dangerous to expose high-level corruption in Kenya — a sentiment shared by others.“Put that away! You could get killed for that!” exclaimed a member of Athletics Kenya’s board, his eyes widening when a reporter pulled out the amended contract from Nike listing the $500,000 commitment bonus during an interview at a quiet Nairobi restaurant.

The board member said he, too, had received death threats for speaking out about corruption and asked that his name not be used.

He said corruption in the athletics federation was so ingrained and so brazen that officials routinely extorted money from athletes who failed drug tests. He also said the organization’s chairman, Isaiah Kiplagat, had asked Nike to wire the bonus directly to his personal account, a request that Nike refused.

Nike wired the money into the federation’s account instead. But before that, the chairman emailed a Nike executive, Robert Lotwis, with “invoice” in the subject line. “Urgent!!” the message said. “Dear Robert, U.S. 500,000 being commitment Bonus.

Regards, Isaiah Kiplagat, Chairman.”

According to the documents, the response from Nike came 10 hours

later. “Got it,” Mr. Lotwis responded. “I will submit right away.

Thanks.” Within days, according to bank records, the $500,000 was withdrawn by Athletics Kenya’s top officials. There were no major track and field activities going on at the time, and the board member and the former administrative assistant said just about all of the money had been concealed from Athletics Kenya’s executive committee, including $200,000 sent to a bank account in Hong Kong. Several analysts said the chairman’s asking for the money to be wired to his personal account and then sending a follow-up email labeled “Urgent!!” should have been a tipoff to Nike that something was untoward.

Mr. Kiplagat and two of the other implicated officials have denied any wrongdoing.

A federal prosecutor consulted for his opinion on these allegations said that in many corruption cases, concealment was an indicator of criminal intent and that in this case, there was no obvious concealment by Nike — the commitment bonus was explicitly laid out in the contract.

The prosecutor, who spoke on the condition he would not be identified, also said it would be very difficult to prove that Nike executives knew that the Kenyan officials were going to steal the bonus.The former administrator, however, has little doubt.

“Because of Nike’s secretive meetings with the top three A.K. officials,” he said in his affidavit to investigators, “it is my opinion that Nike officials have always been aware that the payments in question are improper.”

Analysts said this case was especially tricky because it did not appear to fall under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the American law that covers crimes involving American companies and foreign government officials. The Kenyan running association, while it receives some government money, is not a Kenyan government agency. “The world of sports has evolved in a governance hole,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the University of Colorado. He noted that sports federations, like Athletics Kenya and FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, which is embroiled in its own corruption saga, often fell between the cracks of the rules continued on page 19

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

By Uchenna Ekwo Unknown to many admirers of the United States is the fact that the country’s democracy faces unprecedented crisis, gridlock, and stalemate. Nothing exemplifies the venomous division and toxicity in the politics of the country than the vitriolic utterances and intransigence of political leaders following the passing of US Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia last week. As a country that prides itself as a nation of laws, Americans turn over more of their decisions, disputes and issues to courts and judges than any other country in the world. Consequently, America faces a dilemma: upholding her abiding faith in the judiciary and achieving the goal of depoliticizing the courts and thereby minimizing court’s undue influence on the health of its democracy. How can non-majoritarian institutions – the Judiciary, have such a grip on the democracy of the most powerful and richest country of contemporary times?

United States is evenly divided ideologically – Conservatives and Progressives, with the two dominant political parties – Republicans and Democrats holding ideological flags of conservatives and progressives respectively. For decades, the Supreme Court made up of nine justices remained divided along ideological lines with the conservative justices dominating for the past half a century. Many of the court’s decisions especially on cultural issues have often ended on 5-4 decisions along ideological prisms. In other words, the interpretation of law in the US is often seen with ideological lens.

What is constitutional depends on the ideology of the justices. For example, the Supreme Court in 2001 dominated by conservative justices awarded the controversial presiden-

page 17

Feature US Supreme Court and Crisis of Democracy tial election to George W. Bush of the Republican Party even though Vice President Al Gore won 500,000 more popular votes than Bush. That Supreme Court’s intervention that led to the stoppage of the recount of the votes in Florida probably sowed the seeds of modern day intransigence and palpable division that derail the country’s democracy. It is against this background that the sudden death of Justice Scalia, a prominent conservative on the apex court, is seen as game changer in the ideological balance of the court. With the court evenly split into 4 conservative and 4 liberal justices, any decision that is tied will be decided by the opinion of the lower court. So the stakes couldn’t be higher to replace the late Justice Scalia by a Democratic President who is most likely going to nominate a candidate that sees the law with a progressive lens.

It is therefore not surprising that Republicans in the Senate and Republican presidential candidates have all opposed the nomination of a replacement to Scalia- the conservative legal icon. Their argument is that such a responsibility should be left for the next president that will be elected in November and sworn in January. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.

Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President,” says Republican Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell, the same man who as minority leader said his top legislative priority was to make President Obama a one-term president. As the whole world knows by now, McConnell and his Republican obstructionists failed to stop Obama’s reelection in 2012 when President Obama defeated his Republican challenger by five million votes. Therefore, the argument about the voters weighing on the nomina-

tion does not hold water as the electorate spoke loudly in 2012 when it renewed Obama’s mandate as Commander-in-Chief. Also, should Obama bow to the demands of Republicans and defer the nomination of Scalia’s replacement until the next president is sworn-in, what will the country do if the November election ends in a stalemate like the BushGore electoral impasse of 2000?

The reality is that the petulant and recalcitrant Congressional Republicans are unrepentant about their refusal to accept the legitimacy of an Obama presidency. The battle for the replacement of a deceased jurist is once more another time to display their disdain for the president Obama. This is time; they are poised to end Obama’s second tenure in three years by blocking him from performing the duties of president that is clearly stated in Article II Section 2 of the US Constitution: “the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate.” The Republican argument that appointing a Supreme Court justice in an election year is unconscionable is not supported by history.

President William Taft (a Republican), President Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat), and President Herbert Hoover (a Republican) nominated Supreme Court Justices in election years of 1912, 1916, and 1932 respectively. Even as recent as 1988, President Ronald Reagan (a Republican) nominated Justice Anthony Kennedy to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Louis Powell.

So, what is different this time? Almost all Republican lawmakers especially the Senate Majority leader Senator McConnell loathe Obama They are probably angry at his style of governance and yes a tinge of racism. So they would wish to dele-

gitimize his presidency at any opportunity and cannot stand Obama making a third Supreme Court pick in his tenure as the first American President with African blood.

The surprising thing about the debate over nominating a judge in an election year is the hypocrisy that goes with it. The debate ignores the fact that the same Republicans who claim to be custodians of the constitution are now routing for the violation of the same constitution. The Constitution requires the president to nominate justices of the Supreme Court and it is the Senate’s duty to ratify the nomination. Senate Republicans took an oath just like Senate Democrats and the president did. If Senate Republicans kept their pledge to block Obama’s pick, it would amount to abandoning the duties they swore to uphold and constitute a threat to both the Constitution and America’s democracy itself. It would also prove that all the Republican talk about loving the Constitution is empty talk and lip service.

It is common knowledge that the late Justice Scalia was considered a champion of so-called originalism – the theory that tries to interpret the intentions of those who drafted the US Constitution. In other words, he did not believe in a constitution being a living document like other eminent jurists including the British jurist Lord Denning. He derided the very idea of a living Constitution and deplored the tendency among some judges who ignore the text and original understanding of the Constitution.

This is why the decision of Republican leaders to obstruct the confirmation of Scalia’s replacement is not only extreme but also fuels the perception that Republicans probably depend on the apex court to achieve their conservative values that the party cannot win through the ballot

box. A greater percentage of American electorate seems to disagree more often with the views of the extreme right of the political spectrum.

Several polls suggest that Americans are against the Republican Party on such issues as women’s reproductive rights, immigration reform, and climate change. What Republicans cannot achieve in the ballot box, they hope to achieve through judicial activism by radical conservative judges like the departed Scalia who is popular for his unabashed conservative view of the constitution. In fact, the looming influence of the Supreme Court constitutes the paradox of American politics. Public debate about courts and law is usually consumed by complaints about judicial activism. Clearly, most Americans denounce what is phrased as “legislating from the bench” – the tendency for the courts to interpret legislation and thereby impose courtmade-laws on the populace. In spite of the cyclic and essentially meaningless debates about judicial restraint, the country is unable to resolve the now decades-long expansion of judicial and executive power responsible for the fractured political and electoral process that have contributed significantly to an American crisis of democracy.

Given Scalia’s perspective of the constitution, it seems that the best tribute Republicans and Conservatives can pay to the conservative legal icon is to embrace the constitution as written and allow the Senate to give a fair confirmation hearing to whoever President Obama nominates. After all, America’s preaching and prescribing of tenets of democracy anchored on the rule of law should be substantive. Rule of law cannot be rule of ideology.

Views expressed in this article are exclusively those of the author

Nigeria’s Economic Crunch: How to Reverse the Neo-liberal Induced Crisis? Massive Looting of the Nation’s Wealth by Global Financial Actors continued from page 9

6. Where will the money come from In the real sense, if government is serious about improving the economy, radical wealth redistribution will have to be carried out. This will mean government reversing the prorich policies of the past that had made the rich few richer. For instance, by introducing progressive tax such as property and luxury tax on the rich (especially in Abuja and Lagos, where federal government has tax coverage) and recovering withheld taxes by rich few, trillions of naira can be raised within a short time. There are so many unoccupied and underutilized properties and wealth across Abuja and Lagos from which government can raise hundreds of billions. The recent discovery of how a manager of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company earned over N36 million monthly to reduce tax on the company’s profit reveals how several billions of naira in taxes are being avoided by the rich. Businesses that cannot pay up their withheld or evaded tax should be taken over and in support of government’s economic programme.

Government should also recover N1 trillion owed government through AMCON. According to AMCON MD, many of those owing govern-

ment are living extravagantly. By taking over their wealth, properties and companies, government can get enough resources to save the economy.

There is over N5 trillion in pension fund. If government take (or borrow) N2-3 trillion out of this fund to invest in its agro-allied programmes and social and public infrastructures, results in just six months will be seriously positive on the economy. For instance, government giving more than N500 billion to small farmers’ cooperatives, and small (productive) businesses at around 2% interest through BoI or BoA or under equity and cost/profit-sharing arrangement, will undercut the exorbitant and cutthroat interests from commercial banks, and seriously drive down cost of borrowing.

If CBN could dole out N2.5 trillion in 2009 to ten banks owned by handful of multibillionaires, getting N2-3 trillion from pension fund to save the economy cannot be a problem. The current technical approach of CBN of reducing MPR and CRR by 2% and 5% respectively in order to encourage banks to lend to local businesses is a worn-out approach. The same government will be borrowing over N980 billion from local market to fund the budget, while also paying the same market over N1 trillion in debt servicing (a case of borrowing your money back). With this, banks

and financial markets are assured of quick wealth; therefore, they can ‘sacrifice’ for now by holding back lending to ‘risky’ businesses in a depressed economy.

Government can also recover hundreds of billions, if not trillions, from genuine anti-corruption campaign. For instance, instead of government’s politicized and piecemeal anti-corruption campaign under EFCC, genuine and holistic fund recovery can be undertaken. The trial of Senate President by Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) shows that if government commits some focus on building capacity of CCB and CCT to prosecute corrupt public officers, trillions of looted money. By providing synergy with other agencies like EFCC, ICPC, Police SFU, customs, CBN and local banks, CCB and CCT can recover (and could have recovered) trillions within short time, and avoid unwarranted sensationalism currently associated with EFCC campaign. Many of the corrupt elements are public officers.

This does not mean that EFCC activities are not necessary, but through integrated and holistic approach to anti-corruption that links all the agencies and aimed at ending all regimes of perfidy, we can recover more money within short time.

Conclusion

But it seems the government is only interested in scoring political points against its equally corrupt PDP colleague, as any genuine anti-corruption campaign will expose the fraudulent basis of this government, which emergence was bankrolled by stolen funds from public till. All this shows the uniformity of all capitalist political groups in Nigeria. Only a radical government premised on revolutionary overhaul of the capitalist system, by mobilizing the working and poor people to the political and governance arena can make any tangible and long-term changes needed to move the country forward. It will be wishful thinking to believe that the current political structure comprising various elements who have played various role in the rot that has defined Nigeria will make any serious change to the political economy of the country.

The labour movement should wake up from its slumber and demand a radical reforms that will liberate the working and poor people. All austerity programmes should be rejected by labour movement. Ultimately, labour movement should build a mass working political party that can provide alternative social, economic and political programmes premised on socialist ideas, to the capitalist agenda of all the ruling political parties in Nigeria.

Conclusively, the current economic

impasse in Nigeria reflects the crisis and fundamental failure of global capitalist economy. Since 2008, the world has not gotten out of economic maelstrom that has led to frailty of global economy. China and other big economies have not recovered from pre-2008 production. This is background to Nigeria’s economic crisis which is tied as a latecomer to the apron string of global capitalism, which is premised on obscene inequality not only among nations, but also between the richest 67 people (who owns more than half of world poorest) and the majority working and poor people. Therefore, the permanent solution to global misery lies not only with working people of Nigeria and Africa, but of the world, by ending the rule of capital and established a democratic socialist order.

Global Research Kola Ibrahim is the author of Boko Haram in !igeria: Historical and Political Economic Exploration.

Kmarx4life@gmail.com

Know more about Africa.

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Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

page 18

The Dreamers Association, NJ, held its 1st Black-tie Dinner Dance at The Center, Newark, Feb, 27, 2016. Below are some photos

Edmond Phillips, President & Wife

Members of Dreamers Association

Edward Nsiah, Vice President & Wife

Kofi Danso & Barbara King

President & Vice with Elder Sam Mensah (middle)

Some Members of the Association

Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

page 19

Artcultainment Black History Month in Schools—Retire or Reboot?

The seed of what is now known as Black History Month was planted in the doctoral thesis of Carter G. Woodson, a noted scholar, author, and co-founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The son of former slaves, Woodson received a Ph.D. in 1912 from Harvard University, where he studied under renowned historians who minimized the importance and vitality of black history. But Woodson would not be deterred. He believed the heritage and contributions of black Americans was excluded from history, and he saw this knowledge as essential to social change.Woodson’s dedication to the research and promotion of black history has been memorialized by his actions—in 1926 he declared the second week of February Negro History Week—and his words: If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.

Today Woodson’s brainchild is the entire month of February. First celebrated in 1976, Black History Month was the result of a growing racial pride and consciousness of black Americans and Woodson’s association pushing to expand the weekly celebration. Now a well-entrenched, nationally recognized observance, Black History Month is a commemoration that might be short in days but is increasingly long on controversy. In the last month—in examples that cross racial boundaries—the black actress and conservative commentator Stacey Dash called to eliminate Black History Month, labeling it a vestige of

segregation, while Republicans in the Kansas legislature questioned if an entire month dedicated to honoring black history was “too long.” In one corner, advocates of Black History Month argue that a special month is needed to celebrate and recognize the achievements of black Americans in a country where European history dominates historical discourse. In the other corner, critics cast doubt that Black History Month is still relevant with the gains made in race relations—a black U.S. president the most visible sign—and detractors charge it is detrimental in the long term to pigeonhole black history into a month-long observance. Somewhere caught in the middle are educators and schools.

A driving force behind Woodson setting aside time to study and reflect on black culture was his frustration that children—black and nonblack students—were deprived of learning in America’s schools about black achievements. Yet according to the NAACP, even the creator hoped the time would come when a black history week was unnecessary. Woodson was optimistic that America “would willingly recognize the contributions of black Americans as a legitimate and integral part of the history of this country.” But research shows this goal is far from complete.

Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, in 2014 graded all 50 states and the District of Columbia on how well their public schools taught the civilrights era to students. Twenty states received a failing grade, and in five states—Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Oregon, and Wyoming—civil-rights education was totally absent from state standards. Overall, the study found less teaching of the civil-rights movement in states outside the

South and those with fewer black residents. The report paints an unfavorable picture of schools where a crucial event in black history is largely ignored.

“Having a month for black history compartmentalizes the issue, as if once the month is over we can turn our attention away from it again until the next year.”

As a former student in Rockville, Maryland, Zia Hassan recalls February as the time when students were encouraged, or sometimes even mandated, to read the work of black authors, which he found meaningful.

His view of Black History Month is more nuanced as an adult. “I believe that having a month for black history compartmentalizes the issue, as if once the month is over we can turn our attention away from it again until the next year,” said Hassan, a fourth-grade English language-arts teacher at Truesdell Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Explaining his teaching philosophy, Hassan said a worthwhile history curriculum is one that would have “slavery and racism ingrained within it, just as it is in American society. It would not be discussed as a side issue.” He values a month when black authors and historical figures can be studied exclusively, but Hassan believes Black History Month as observed in many schools sends a troubling message to students that “we’re allowed to grapple with [black issues] less in, say, March or April … It is important to discuss issues of race in the context of current events throughout the year, no matter the unit topic.”

The classroom Hassan describes, however, is hardly the norm. Teacher materials produced for February’s

celebration of black history are often limited to the most-celebrated black Americans—Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks—with a smattering of black athletes and entertainers tossed in.

Raquel Willis, a writer and racialjustice activist in Atlanta, remembers annual Black History Month school displays in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia, as neither memorable nor notable. “There was always a focus on the civil-rights movement and it was as if black history stopped once Dr. King died,” Willis said.

“We rarely learned about anyone new from year to year, and we also didn’t get a context of different time periods. I would’ve loved to have delved into African history, the Harlem Renaissance, black life in the 1970s, and beyond.” The problem lies not with specialized months to commemorate marginalized groups and communities, said Willis, but with schools that fail to incorporate the full range of diversity as part of their mission. “If there is a concerted effort to approach Black History Month in new ways each year, then we can combat some of the issues of only highlighting certain movements, figures, and events,” she said. Also, learning more about black women and LGBTQ individuals in her formative years would have put her more at ease identifying as a transgender woman.“It shouldn’t have taken 20 years for me to learn about Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, and Marsha P. Johnson,” said Willis. “As well, I think it’s of the utmost importance to highlight the figures of today. We tend to only highlight contemporary celebrities and politicians, ignoring that we have activists and community organizers that are still making an impact on a daily basis.”

One person who fits that description is Blake Simons, the deputy communications director for the Afrikan Black Coalition, a statewide collective of black students in California.

Before Simons was a student organizer he was a high-schooler in the California Bay Area, and his memories of Black History Month are still sharp. “I was the elephant in the room, or rather the token Negro, who was supposed to represent the entire race when students had questions about black history,” said Simons, who was often on the receiving end of questions and awkward stares as the only black child in predominately white classrooms.

He said growing up it was always confusing why black history was only limited to one month. Since schools he attended never taught Simons about Woodson, “it made me feel as if my ancestors’ worth was only valuable in the shortest month of the year.” Recalling his schooling, Simons now rejects the one-dimensional portrayals of black historical figures. “Teachers often times painted Rosa Parks as only an activist who protested segregation on buses. When this is done, it erases the fact that Rosa Parks organized against sexual assault,” he said.

Moving forward, Simons would like to see black history taught every day, in his view the only legitimate way to build racial and cultural understanding—and reflecting the spirit of Woodson’s words and intentions.

“Black history should be celebrated every day, because all history begins with black history. When black history is not taught throughout the year, it is reinforcing anti-blackness.”

The Atlantic

Cambridge is considering returning a stolen 100-year-old Money Given to Kenya, Since Stolen, Puts Nike in Spotlight bronze cockerel to Nigeria continued from page 16

by Lily Kuo The University of Cambridge has removed and may return to Nigeria a bronze statue of a cockerel that was stolen during a violent British raid in the late 19th century. In response to calls from students, the British university’s Jesus College took down the statue, better known as “okukor.”

The statue has been in the college for more than 80 years, used as decoration in its dining hall as well as a mascot. Okukor’s removal and possible repatriation is the latest example of efforts to return African art to the countries where these works were made. Nigeria has been calling for the return of hundreds of pieces of bronze looted during a British raid on the empire of Benin, now part of Nigeria, in 1897. British soldiers looted and burned the city, killing thousands. Some pieces have been returned but most of the artwork is currently in the British Museum in London.The campaign to return African art to Africa has gained momentum over the years, with African governments setting up repatriation programs and advocates speaking out for the economic and social benefits of repatriation.In November, the Congolese businessman and art collector Fundação Sindika Dokolo acquired two masks and a statue created by the Chokwe, an ethnic group and former kingdom in central Africa, and delivered the pieces to a

that governed businesses, public agencies and traditional nonprofit organizations, even though sports federations have qualities of all three.

Mr. Pielke said bribery, embezzlement and “unsavory, improper business practices” were common. “I hear it all

the time from sporting officials,” he said. “ ‘To survive in this world, these are the rules of the game.’ ” Source: New York Times Dennis Okeyo contributed reporting from !airobi, and Jacey Fortin from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

10 countries hoarding enormous piles of gold 10. India Official gold holdings: 557.7 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 5.4% 9. Netherlands Official gold holdings: 612.5 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 54.6% 8. Japan Official gold holdings: 765.2 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 2.1% A Chokwe mask returned to Angola last year .(Dash & Rallo Art Advisory) museum in Angola. France returned Cecil Rhodes, a businessman and 262 pieces of ancient pottery, bronze colonialist who critics say paved the and other archaeological finds to way for apartheid in South Africa.

Burkina Faso in 2008 and Italy reOxford students, inspired by a stuturned a 1,700-year-old granite dent movement to remove Rhode’s obelisk to Ethiopia in 2005. statue at Cape Town University in The college’s move is also a contrast South Africa last April, have vowed to Oxford University’s decision last to keep protesting. month not to remove a statue of qz.com

7. Switzerland Official gold holdings: 1040.0 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 6.0% 6. Russia Official gold holdings: 1392.9 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 13.0% 5. China Official gold holdings: 1762.3 tonnes

Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 1.8% 4. France Official gold holdings: 2435.6 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 60.1% 3. Italy Official gold holdings: 2451.8 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 64.0% 2. Germany Official gold holdings: 3381.0 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 1. United States Official gold holdings: 8133.5 tonnes Percent of foreign reserves in gold: 72.2%66.3%

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Amandla Volume 15 Issue 3 March. 15, 2016

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