At IMANI, we believe engaging local governments on thorny issues such as the one reported above makes real impact. We have engaged the Ministries of Health, Trade and Communication in the past with great results. On February 21, 2008, IMANI will present a draft national alcohol policy to 80 delegates and the Ministries of Health, Trade, Communication, Transport, and numerous NGOs.
So amidst the joy of fatherhood, I was busy responding to national duties.
After many Ghanaians commented on the article below, the Ghanaian Government’s main state-owned radio station with syndicating alliances in all ten regions of Ghana used the article for its main discussions yesterday. The discussants were the Hon. Deputy Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment, Franklin Cudjoe ( IMANI Director and AfricanLiberty.org Editor) and Dr. Steve Manteau who is communication director for ISODEC, a socialist NGO.
Enjoy the 102 minute discussion by clicking on this audio link . Apart from the first 45 seconds, the entire audio link is fine.
The article is here, and was published in the State-owned Ghanaian Daily Graphic on Monday, February 4, 2008
Also carried in the The New Times in Rwanda and All Africa.com
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Chad Implodes- One more reason why the African Union is a failure!
Chad Implodes- One more reason why the African Union is a failure!
Whilst tension in Kenya keeps simmering, another unattended African putrefied sore has been exposed- Chad. Haven been kept dirt poor for almost two decades by strong man Idris Deby, Chadians had waited for the day he will be forced out of power as their faith in democratic elections had long waned.
Chad’s colonial masters, the French, had dabbled in local politics with unflinching support for Mr Deby whilst they benefited from subsidized oil resources. But Sudan has been fighting a proxy war in Chad in revenge for alleged Chadian support for anti-Khartoum elements.
So what will the African Union do?
The newly elected AU chairman, Tanzanian Jakaya Kikwete had indeed received a rousing welcome, the African leader’s way. For now he can show his bravado by promising to ostracize a rebel-led government. But he has already failed even before the rebels came to power. With his blessings, the AU has appointed a two man mediation team to be led by Congo’s Dennis Sassou Nguesso, himself a graduated petty tyrant with lots of oil cash stashed away in foreign banks and the controversial Libyan dictator Brother Muama Ghadaffi
However, Ghadaffi has accepted the limitation of the AU to own up to their problems. He seems to be echoing the much publicized miserly appeal of the 54-nation group to the European Union to provide helicopters for its poorly resourced troops in Dafur, while its leaders ride in bullet proof gold-plated Mercedes benz.
Libya can buy fighter helicopters for the AU, but it would be on Muammar Gaddafi terms- his lofty ideals of African unity but nothing of any use on the real disasters of Kenya, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
As I argued in an article recently, failures such as corruption and election-rigging do not even feature on the agenda of the AU any time they meet--although these remain the real unifying features of Africa.
“Above all, there was not a whisper about property rights, the rule of law and market freedoms that would allow Africans to emulate the growth of Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea--which were as poor as we were at independence in the 1960s. Even the growth records of South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana are ignored as being somehow exceptional instead of being acknowledged as the direct result of sound economic policies.”
Right now, we can only hope against hope for Kenya and Chad.
Whilst tension in Kenya keeps simmering, another unattended African putrefied sore has been exposed- Chad. Haven been kept dirt poor for almost two decades by strong man Idris Deby, Chadians had waited for the day he will be forced out of power as their faith in democratic elections had long waned.
Chad’s colonial masters, the French, had dabbled in local politics with unflinching support for Mr Deby whilst they benefited from subsidized oil resources. But Sudan has been fighting a proxy war in Chad in revenge for alleged Chadian support for anti-Khartoum elements.
So what will the African Union do?
The newly elected AU chairman, Tanzanian Jakaya Kikwete had indeed received a rousing welcome, the African leader’s way. For now he can show his bravado by promising to ostracize a rebel-led government. But he has already failed even before the rebels came to power. With his blessings, the AU has appointed a two man mediation team to be led by Congo’s Dennis Sassou Nguesso, himself a graduated petty tyrant with lots of oil cash stashed away in foreign banks and the controversial Libyan dictator Brother Muama Ghadaffi
However, Ghadaffi has accepted the limitation of the AU to own up to their problems. He seems to be echoing the much publicized miserly appeal of the 54-nation group to the European Union to provide helicopters for its poorly resourced troops in Dafur, while its leaders ride in bullet proof gold-plated Mercedes benz.
Libya can buy fighter helicopters for the AU, but it would be on Muammar Gaddafi terms- his lofty ideals of African unity but nothing of any use on the real disasters of Kenya, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
As I argued in an article recently, failures such as corruption and election-rigging do not even feature on the agenda of the AU any time they meet--although these remain the real unifying features of Africa.
“Above all, there was not a whisper about property rights, the rule of law and market freedoms that would allow Africans to emulate the growth of Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea--which were as poor as we were at independence in the 1960s. Even the growth records of South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana are ignored as being somehow exceptional instead of being acknowledged as the direct result of sound economic policies.”
Right now, we can only hope against hope for Kenya and Chad.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Cudjoe v. Clooney ,courtesy the venerable Tom Palmer
February 1, 2008
Cudjoe v. Clooney
My friend and colleague Franklin Cudjoe, the leader of the IMANI think tank in Ghana and editor of the joint IMANI/Cato project AfricanLiberty.org, takes on the appointment of George Clooney as a “peace ambassador” in Africa in a debate with a “Friend of the Earth.” The debate is in the last quarter of this BBC segment.
Many thanks, Tom.
UPDATE: It turns out the link to the debate on this BBC segment had expired, but my responses were not different from my Daily Telegraph article on Rock Star Economics"
Cudjoe v. Clooney
My friend and colleague Franklin Cudjoe, the leader of the IMANI think tank in Ghana and editor of the joint IMANI/Cato project AfricanLiberty.org, takes on the appointment of George Clooney as a “peace ambassador” in Africa in a debate with a “Friend of the Earth.” The debate is in the last quarter of this BBC segment.
Many thanks, Tom.
UPDATE: It turns out the link to the debate on this BBC segment had expired, but my responses were not different from my Daily Telegraph article on Rock Star Economics"
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