Wikileaks report: Mills rejects oil bribe

President Atta Mills         It is gradually emerging that President John Evans Atta Mills may, after all, not be immune to bribery and corruption as some corporate bodies troop to the Castle, Osu, the seat of government, attempting to bribe the president. Latest in the series of leaked cables from the whistle-blowing website, Wikileaks, is an open admission by President Mills that some oil companies had attempted to offer him a juicy package to influence him. The cables, which were sent on February 16, 2010, indicated that President Mills held a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of States, Johnnie Carson, accompanied by the US Ambassador, Special Assistant, Cook and one Econoff on February 3, 2010. At the said meeting, President Mills told the aforementioned individuals how he was committed to putting the country’s oil proceeds to good use but had cause to complain that a number of corrupt oil company representatives had attempted to bribe him. "Assistant Secretary Carson, accompanied by the Ambassador, Donald Teittelbaum, Special Assistant Cook and Econof, met with President John Atta Mills on February 3, 2010, Carson strongly emphasized the need for leadership in ensuring that Ghana oil resources, arc managed for the benefit of the country. He stressed the importance of adherence to rule of law and transparency to maintain Ghana's attractiveness for investment and its ultimate success in, developing its oil resources. President Mills said he is determined to ensure oil will be a blessing, but that a number of corrupt oil company representatives have attempted to bribe him. He said that he refused the money and was offended by their efforts," the leaked report said. President Mills however failed to disclose the names and identities of the supposed companies involved but only said "he said that he refused the money and was offended by their efforts" since he was committed to the rule of law and transparency. President Mills could not hide his government's reservations in dealing with Kosmos Energy which is currently producing oil along with Jubilee oil partners in the country, accusing the company of not being transparent in their dealing with the Government of Ghana (GoG). He emphasized the importance of respect in dealing with the GoG, accusing Kosmos Energy of multiple offenses. Mills claimed that Kosmos initially denied that they were planning to sell their assets in the Jubilee Fields when they were said to be interested in selling: At the time, President Mills, who appeared bitter, indicated that Kosmos had invited a delegation to go to London to discuss a potential sale, but before the meeting, the CEO of ExxonMobil informed him that Exxon had entered into an exclusive agreement with Kosmos to purchase the asset. Whilst he acknowledged the right of Exxon to enter into such an agreement with Kosmos, President Mills said he felt both Ghana and he personally had been misled and disrespected by Kosmos. Two days before President Mills made these disclosures to the US officials, the Minister of Energy, Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, wrote a letter to ExxonMobil CEO Tillerson, saying the GoG was unable to support an ExxonMobil acquisition of Kosmos's Ghana assets as long as the companies retained their exclusivity agreement and denied the GoG a role in the asset acquisition process. Later, when President Mills met the US officials, he praised ExxonMobil's expertise in oil exploration and production Whilst raising issues with Kosmos letting other companies view sensitive data in what he described as a violation of Ghanaian law. Under normal circumstance the President said Kosmos should have sought the consent or the GoG before such access could he granted, indicating that Kosmos had exposed documents on the oil to 26 companies when it was supposed to be confidential. Mills accused management of Kosmos of ignoring a proposal by government to buy its shares in the Jubilee Fields when the announced their intention to sell. That notwithstanding, he indicated that GoG would adhere to transparency and the rule of law in its dealings with Kosmos, according to the cables "he also said that he did not want to create the impression that the GoG was singling out anyone company for mistreatment”. President Mills was also quoted as telling the United States authorities he wanted equipment installed in the presidential lounge of the airport to screen his entourage for drugs when leaving the country. “Mills wants these officials to be checked in the privacy or his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs,” the cables released on December 14, 2009 read. He also told the US officials that “elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there”. Source: Daily Guide/Ghana

Power sharing: An ugly Paradigm shift in African Politics; Gbagbo must be removed by force

Gbagbo must be removed by force

Lord Aikins Adusei

*By Lord Aikins Adusei

Dangerous precedents
The year was 2008. The countries: Kenya and Zimbabwe. The subject matter was presidential elections between the then incumbents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and their challengers Raila Odinga and Morgan Tsvangirai respectively. Both elections had similar things in common. The opposition candidates in the respective countries won the elections but the incumbents refused to go, called on their supporters to inflict harm on their opponents and stole the verdict under the watchful eye of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and East Africa Community, the Africa Union and the international community.

First was Mwai Kibaki who came to power after Arap Moi's two decades of corrupt dictatorship came to an end. Kibaki during the campaign promised to weed corruption and put Kenya back as East Africa's economic powerhouse. After using state machinery including the media (electronic and print) he could not win the people's heart and mind. He failed to deliver on his promises and the people punished him for failing. But he refused to go and made diabolical calculations that earned him the presidency of the country under a sham arrangement called 'power sharing'. His refusal to accept the choice of the people led to a senseless bloodbath which resulted in more than 1200 people losing their life. Raila Odinga who had won the election was given the position of Prime Minister.

Then came Zimbabwe. Mugabe too lost to Morgan Tsvangirai after the first round and went about employing all manner of tactics that finally forced Tsvangirai to withdraw from the election effectively handing over the presidency to Mugabe. Kenya's power sharing was imported and imposed on the people of Zimbabwe against their will.

Thus in both Zimbabwe and Kenya power sharing was considered the solution to the debacle in those countries. The Zimbabwe's power sharing deal sponsored by SADC, retained Mugabe as president, while Tsvangirai got the less important Prime Minister position with Arthur Mutambara as Deputy Prime Minister. To add insults to injury Mugabe and his Zanu-PF were given key portfolios, and sweeping powers that placed them in charge of the country. Meanwhile Mugabe has refused to abide by the terms of their agreement that stipulate that both the Prime Minister and the President must consult each other for major appointments. In October 2010, Tsvangirai wrote to the United Nations protesting at Mugabe's unilateral appointment of officials without consultation as stipulated by the agreement.

Thus in Zimbabwe since the government of unity was sworn in more than eighteen months ago nothing seems to have worked. Mugabe and his supporters have done everything in their power to make sure that the unity government does not work. Mr. Mugabe has totally hijacked the implementation and twisted it in his favour. He and his Zanu-PF agents continue to frustrate the unity government forcing Tsvangirai to threaten to pull out many times. As The Economist magazine put it “Mr Mugabe still treats the agreement and his prime minister with contempt. Mr Tsvangirai recently announced that journalists were now free to report on Zimbabwe without government approval, yet he was promptly contradicted by the information minister, a Zanu-PF man, who said that journalists without proper accreditation could face up to two years in jail. After months of negotiations, Mr Tsvangirai at last secured the release of human-rights activists and MDC sympathisers who had been detained, and many tortured, on treason charges. But a few weeks later they were rearrested.”

Although better than Zimbabwe in terms of the implementation of the power sharing agreement, Kenya's power sharing implementation is also beset with the same problems despite the rhetoric by the politicians that they would let it work. The negative impact on the disagreements are manifold but the most serious of them all is that in Zimbabwe as it is in Kenya the people who voted for change continue to suffer under the same leaders they rejected. Their economic, social and political conditions have not improved a bit.

It is clear that the concept of power sharing as it has been practiced in both Kenya and Zimbabwe has been flawed and has been a sham that ought not to have been considered in African politics at all. But this appears to be what Laurent Gbagbo is hopping for when he refused to accept the people's verdict. His call for Mr. Ouattara to meet him to dialogue is intended to ensure that he remained president. Gbagbo appears to be towing the same line as Kibaki and Mugabe hopping that by refusing to relinquish power and using the military to terrorise the population he would be able to force Quattara into a power sharing deal. He was also hopping that the regional leaders will support his move for a possible power sharing arrangement. But it is clear from the outpouring of support for Mr. Quattara that Gbagbo hugely miscalculated and underestimated the intelligence of the West Africa and the AU leadership.

Show of Support for Ouattara
Unlike Zimbabwe and Kenya where regional leaders were divided and could not speak with one voice, thereby allowing the stolen verdicts to stand, the leadership in West Africa is speaking with one voice asking Gbagbo to step down and allow the legitimately elected leader to take the mantle of leadership. The support expressed by the leadership in West Africa has not only isolated Gbagbo regionally and continentally but has also reduced his influence in the region to only his southern controlled part of the country.

Reacting to calls by Gbagbo to accept defeat the President of ECOWAS James Victor Gbeho said “"There is nothing to negotiate as far as ECOWAS is concerned. From now on, ECOWAS will deal with Ouattara, not Gbagbo." The UN Secretary General also made it clear to Gbagbo that Mr. Ouattara's nominee for the post of UN Ambassador will be recognised. President Khama Ian Khama's government in Botswana also condemned Gbagbo's power grab efforts in Ivory Coast. “The Government of the Republic of Botswana is deeply concerned about African leaders who reject election results that are not in their favour. Such actions not only deny people the right to have leaders of their choice, but also thwart efforts to maintain peace and security on the African continent”. Morgan Moseki, Botswana Congress Party's Secretary for International Affairs released statement saying “We urge the AU not to allow the Kenyan and Zimbabwean style Government of National Unity in Ivory Coast as this creates good precedence for losers who remain heads of state with full privileges despite the outcome”.

The strongest show of support came from Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga who has called for Gbagbo to be removed by force. Odinga (himself a victim of electoral short-change) said in a news conference in Cancun-Mexico that “Mr Gbagbo must be forced even if it means using military means to get rid of him because he is just now relying on military power not people power to intimidate the people. He thinks that he can basically intimidate the people to submission so that he can continue to rule in undemocratic fashion. This will only spell doom and destruction for Ivory Coast.” “What is building up in Ivory Coast now is a tragedy Africa cannot afford this time and one that the international community must not allow at any cost.”

The message from West African leaders and the Africa Union leadership has been loud and clear: Africa will not accept such blatant abuse and entrenchment of power. They will no more tolerate or support autocratic regimes that are hell bent on controlling power at all cost.

Meanwhile the Central Bank in West Africa Chaired by Mali's President seem to have pulled the plug denying Gbagbo access to funds that could help him sustain his illegitimate regime. According to the Reuters News Agency a statement issued by the West African Central Bank stated "The council of ministers has taken note of the decisions of the U.N, the African Union, and of (West African regional body) ECOWAS, to recognize Alassane Ouattara as the legitimate elected president of Ivory Coast," and that only appointed members of the "legitimate government" would be allowed to access funds held in the central bank's accounts.

The blow to deny Gbagbo funds was made heavier after the World Bank also announced that it was cutting all financial help (loans and grant) to the country. The European Union led by France, (former colonial power) has been threatening sanctions. The United States has also proposed sanctions threatening to freeze assets of Gbagbo and his key allies held in the US.

Defiance and acts of violence
But so far Gbagbo has stood his grounds and has remained stubbornly defiant urged on by the country's military. At the same time he and his supporters appear to be adopting the crude tactics Mugabe adopted: arrest, torture and killing of those suspected to have voted for his opponent. Kyung-wha Kang, the U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights, said “Between 16 and 21 December, human rights officers have substantiated allegations of 173 killings, 90 instances of torture and ill treatment, 471 arrests and detentions and 24 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances,”. "We have credible reports that almost 200 people may have already been killed, with dozens more tortured or mistreated, and others may have been snatched from their homes in the middle of the night," U.S. ambassador Betty E. King said during the Human Rights Council's meeting in Geneva.

Y. J. Choi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Ivory Coast, said he was personally prevented from visiting a site suspected to be a mass grave. “I went there and we were about to enter into negotiations then reinforcement came with young men mounted on pick-up trucks […] with rocket launchers directly aiming at us… Finally, because of our rules of engagement we returned but we will continue to try to reach this site to verify the facts.” “I met him several times to deliver two messages: that he lost and must accept it; the second message was if his action to change the results of the election results in serious violations of human rights then there would be no turning back. He will be dragging […] people into tragedy.”

Gbagbo must be removed by force
The overwhelming support Mr. Ouattara has received internationally suggests that no matter how hard Gbagbo tries to remain in power he will only be doing damage to his reputation as a statesman and ruin his country's economy as Mugabe did. This will be too obvious if the threats of sanctions against him and his government are implemented. The logic of the sanctions is that it will make it difficult for him to govern his country. The soldiers who are backing him may switch side or may turn and remove him after the sanctions begin to hit them. There is a clear similarity between Gbagbo's cling on power and what happened to Mamadou Tandja of Niger when he took a similar path. Although the condemnation and isolation and threat of sanctions by the ECOWAS, AU, EU, US and UN is a welcoming development that effort should not stop at only isolating him or targeting he and his allies with sanctions.

I believe the whole idea to use sanctions to cripple him cannot be a viable option; it cannot bring the change in leadership that Ivorians voted for. It has not worked in Zimbabwe and will not work in Ivory Coast. Gbagbo as stubborn as he is will want to cling on to power at all cost, even if it means totally collapsing the country. This is why I strongly agree with Raila Odinga that all options must remain on the table as dialogue continues. However, it must also be made loud and clear to Gbagbo that Africa and the international community will only accept Ouattara leadership as president and nothing less. The message must be made loud and clear to Gbagbo that Africa and the international community will use force to bring about the change that Ivorians hope for should the need arises. That message must also include the warning that he Gbagbo and his backers will join Charles Taylor in The Hague to answer for any crime they commit in the country. We cannot be serious about regional security, stability and development if we cannot implement military intervention to bring about that security and stability. Africa should not accept Kenya and Zimbabwe style power-sharing arrangement that so far has not delivered any tangible results to the ordinary people living in those countries. Gbagbo must not be allowed to ruin his country as Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe. It must be understood that Gbagbo does not command the support of the people as the election results indicate; neither does he have any valuable options. The only option available to him is to accept defeat or face the wrath of the world.

If the wish of Gbagbo and the military leaders in the country is to plunge Ivory Coast into another senseless bloodbath, then that wish must be denied of them. Therefore any attempt to legitimise Gbagbo's rule through power sharing arrangement will set a dangerous precedent in West Africa, a region already noted for its instability and political upheavals. Those who want to take Africa back to the Stone Age like Gbagbo must be stopped at all cost.

The removal of Gbagbo by force will send a powerful message to current and would be tyrants that their corrupt and autocratic style of governance will no more be tolerated on the continent. Therefore, Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi and all countries in Africa that believe in democracy and freedom of the people to choose who should lead them should get prepared to contribute soldiers to unseat Gbagbo should the current efforts to persuade him to go peacefully fail. However, any military confrontation must be led by Africans. 

Neighbouring countries must also get ready to accept people fleeing the country and provide them with food and shelter until such a time that peace returns to the troubled country.

The precedents set by Mugabe and Kibaki and encouraged by regional power brokers seem to have informed Gbagbo that he too could have his way. Perhaps if EAC and SADC regional leaders and Thabo Mbeki in particular had been more vocal and supportive of Morgan Tsvangirai and Odinga as the West Africans are doing the debacle and the dysfunctional unity governments in Zimbabwe and Kenya as we have them today would have been averted including the dangerous precedents set by Kibaki and Mugabe and being followed by Laurent Gbagbo. 

The actions of West African leaders, as well as those of AU, UN, EU and the US in the coming days and perhaps weeks will be crucial to what happens to the change and hope that Ivorians voted for. For now the options for Gbagbo is to admit defeat, leave office peacefully or be prepared to be removed by force.

*The author is an anti-corruption campaigner and the author of “Switzerland: A parasite feeding on the economies of poor African and Third World Countries?”
E-mail:politicalthinker1@yahoo.com

WikiLeaks cables: Ghanaian police 'helped drug smugglers evade security'

African anti-narcotics operation funded with £1m from UK thwarted by corrupt officials at airport, US embassy cables say

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• Robert Booth
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 December 2010 21.29 GMT
• Article history

Security guards on duty at Kotoka airport in Accra, Ghana. Some unidentified airport police are corrupt, according to the US embassy cables. Photograph: Tugela Ridley/AFP/Getty Images

A £1m taxpayer-funded anti-trafficking campaign to stem the flow of cocaine into the UK through Ghana's busiest airport is beset by corruption, with drugs police sabotaging expensive British-bought scanning equipment and tipping off smugglers, leaked US embassy cables reveal.

Ghana president John Atta Mills even worried that his own entourage could be smuggling drugs through his presidential lounge at Accra's Kotoka airport and asked a senior UK customs official last November for help to screen them "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs", according to the US embassy in Accra (cable 234015).

The US embassy reported what it had been told by Roland O'Hagan, the British head of Operation Westbridge – a joint UK-Ghanaian anti-smuggling operation.

The cable said: "President Mills had expressed interest in acquiring itemisers [sensitive, portable screening devices] for the presidential suite at the airport in order to screen his entourage for drugs before boarding any departing flight."

The extraordinary request reveals the depth of the crisis in the bilateral operation to crack down on wholesale drug trafficking into the UK through an airport which has become a main transit hub for South American drug cartels channelling hard drugs into the UK and Europe after the authorities successfully blocked routes from the Caribbean.

Drugs worth £100m have been seized so far, amid growing international concern expressed in the cables that drug trafficking is becoming "institutionalised" in west Africa.

The UN has estimated that up to 60 tonnes of cocaine, worth £1.3bn, is smuggled through the region each year.

According to the cables, Ghanaian narcotics control board (Nacob) officers working in collaboration with British officials:

• actively helped traffickers, even telling them the best time to travel to avoid detection (164939)

• sabotaged sensitive drug scanners paid for by British taxpayers • channelled passengers, including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs.

Smuggling has become so blatant that on one flight last year, two traffickers vomited up drugs they had swallowed and subsequently died (234015), while parcels of cocaine were found taped under the seats of another KLM plane even before boarding (125133).

Mills had publicly pledged to crack down on trafficking into the UK via the airport and won the presidency with an anti-drugs platform.

But in June 2009 he told the US ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, "he knows elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there (214460)."

Embassy contacts in both the police service and the president's office "have said they know the identities of the major barons," but "the government of Ghana does not have the political will to go after [them]", a December 2007 cable said (135389).

A UK official overseeing Westbridge had observed Nacob agents at the airport directing passengers away from flights receiving extra scrutiny, a confidential US embassy cable revealed in August 2008 (164939).

"On one occasion, [the official] returned unexpectedly to the airport at 4am to screen a flight. An arrested trafficker told the UK official that the trafficker had been told that Westbridge was not operating that night. A test by Westbridge officials of the cellphone SIM card of a trafficker found the phone numbers of senior Nacob officials."

He said two itemisers were incapacitated by sabotage, remarking "the knowledge required to remove the filters exceeded the basic knowledge of the operators". The cable concluded: "The government of Ghana does not provide the resources necessary to address the problem and, at times, does not appear to have the political will to go after the major drug barons."

Operation Westbridge began in November 2006 and the UK government has trumpeted its success.

Last year the minister responsible for drug trafficking, Alan Campbell, told a parliamentary inquiry the scheme was a "very good example" of how to tackle the cocaine trade, while the Home Office said in a written statement that "these operations meet our drugs strategy commitment to intercept drugs and drugs couriers before they reach the UK".

A different picture emerges in the cables. Kim Howells, a Labour Foreign Office minister, delivered a "stern message" to the Ghanaian government in October 2007 about its lack of co-operation and responded "testily" to a request from Ghana's interior minister for more scanning equipment, saying: "If a 'criminal' is operating equipment, it is worthless," according to the US embassy.

Three months later the embassy reported that "seizures in Accra drop to almost zero when the Westbridge team ... is back in London (135389)".

In November 2009 O'Hagan told the US embassy that Nacob believes that the airport's VVIP lounge has been a source of drugs leaving the country.

"Nacob placed two officers in the lounge to screen departing passengers, and the number of passengers using the VVIP lounge has decreased," the embassy reported O'Hagan saying late last year

President Mills suspects drug traffickers in his own government?

The troubled yet troublesome Wikileaks cables rummaging nations across the globe has its snowballing damnations hitting Ghana as the Guardian goes public with a detailed account of how security operatives engaged in the fight against drug trafficking are tipping off “couriers” with information of when it is “safe” to board flights to avoid being arrested. President John Evans Atta Mills is also quoted as expressing fears persons in his own entourage could be engaged in smuggling drugs through the presidential lounge of the Kotoka airport and therefore asked a senior UK customs official in November 2009 for help to screen them but "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs". According to the leaked cables, not only are officers of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) actively helping traffickers and even calling the criminals on their mobile phones to tell them when to travel to avoid detection, they are also noted to sabotage sensitive drug scanners provided to the government of Ghanaian while channeling passengers, including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs. The leaked cables touch both the Kufuor administration and the present Mills reign, as evident in the full report culled and republished below. WikiLeaks cables: UK's anti-drugs fight in Ghana 'beset by corruption' US diplomats claim corruption in Ghana has ruined costly UK-funded anti-drugs smuggling operation A British operation to stem the flow of cocaine through Ghana has been beset by corruption, with local drug police sabotaging expensive scanning equipment and tipping off smugglers to avoid detection, leaked US embassy cables reveal. Ghana's president, John Atta Mills, even worried that his own entourage may be smuggling drugs through his presidential lounge at Accra's Kotoka airport, and asked a senior UK customs official in November 2009 for help to screen them "in the privacy of his suite to avoid any surprises if they are caught carrying drugs", according to the US embassy in Accra. The request reveals a deep crisis in the bilateral operation against wholesale drug trafficking into the UK through an airport which has become one of the main transit hubs for South American drug cartels after the authorities successfully blocked routes from the Caribbean. Operation Westbridge has so far cost the taxpayer more than £1m and more than £100m worth of drugs has been seized amid growing UK concern that drug trafficking is becoming institutionalised in west Africa. The UN has estimated that up to 60 tonnes of cocaine, worth £1.3bn, are being smuggled through west Africa, mostly into Europe, each year. According to the cables, Ghanaian narcotics control board (Nacob) officers working with British officials: • Actively helped traffickers, even calling the criminals on their mobile phones to tell them when to travel to avoid detection. • Sabotaged sensitive drug scanners provided to the Ghanaian government. • Channelled passengers including pastors and bank managers and their wives, into the security-exempt VVIP lounge despite suspicions they were trafficking drugs. Smuggling has become so blatant that on one flight last year, two traffickers vomited drugs they had swallowed and subsequently died, while parcels of cocaine were found taped under the seats of a KLM plane even before boarding. Roland O'Hagan, the British head of Operation Westbridge, reportedly told the US embassy: "President Mills had expressed interest in acquiring itemisers [portable screening devices] for the presidential suite at the airport in order to screen his entourage for drugs before boarding any departing flight." Mills had publicly pledged to crack down on wholesale drug trafficking into the UK via the airport and won the presidency on an anti-drugs platform. But, in June 2009, he told the US ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, "elements of his government are already compromised and that officials at the airport tipped off drug traffickers about operations there". Embassy contacts in the police service and the president's office "have said they know the identities of the major barons," but "the government of Ghana does not have the political will to go after [them]", a December 2007 cable said. A UK official overseeing Westbridge had observed Nacob agents at the airport directing passengers away from flights receiving extra scrutiny, a cable from the US embassy in Accra revealed in August 2008. "On one occasion, [the official] returned unexpectedly to the airport at 4am to screen a flight. An arrested trafficker told the UK official that the trafficker had been told that Westbridge was not operating that night. A test by Westbridge officials of the mobile phone sim card of a trafficker found the phone numbers of senior Nacob officials." He said two itemisers were incapacitated by sabotage, remarking that "the knowledge required to remove the filters exceeded the basic knowledge of the operators". The cable concluded: "The government of Ghana does not provide the resources necessary to address the problem and, at times, does not appear to have the political will to go after the major drug barons." Operation Westbridge began in November 2006, overseen by the Home Office and Foreign Office, and the government has trumpeted its success. Last year, the Home Office minister responsible for tackling drug trafficking, Alan Campbell, told a parliamentary inquiry that the scheme was a "very good example" of how to tackle the cocaine trade, while in a written statement, the Home Office said "these operations meet our drugs strategy commitment to intercept drugs and drugs couriers before they reach the UK". In the confidential cables, a different picture emerges. Kim Howells, Labour foreign office minister, delivered a "stern message" to the Ghanaian government in October 2007 about its lack of co-operation and responded "testily" to a request from Ghana's interior minister for more scanning equipment, saying "if a 'criminal' is operating equipment, it is worthless," according to the US embassy in Accra. Three months later, the embassy reported that "seizures in Accra drop to almost zero when the Westbridge team …is back in London". In November 2009, O'Hagan told the US embassy that Nacob believes the airport's VVIP lounge has been a conduit for drugs leaving the country. Bank managers, pastors, and their wives were among those given official passports and access to the lounge which circumvents security checks, the embassy reported. "Nacob placed two officers in the lounge to screen departing passengers, and the number of passengers using the VVIP lounge has decreased," the embassy reported O'Hagan saying late last year. Credit: www.guardian.co.uk

I did not receive a cedi from Francis Poku -- Vice President John Mahama

Vice President John Mahama has denied allegations by some NDC members that he received any money from former National Security advisor, Francis Poku, during the erstwhile Kufour administration.




Mr. Mahama who was speaking at the national conference of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the Winneba University College in the Central Region, and told the student leaders of the party that he cannot be ruffled by such an allegation.



Mr. Mahama revealed that some meetings were being hatched ostensibly targeted at destroying his person. He said “after looking into the crystal ball, they [his detractors] feel I am the most important threat to people’s political ambitions. So every week on Sunday, there is a meeting, cooking up some new mischief against me."



Even though he is hurt by such comments the Vice President Mahama believes these diabolical plans will continue as far as he is in politics but assures that "we have been cooked in the cauldron of politics and we believe that it is God who makes leaders. If God says you will never lead this country you can go to the depths of hell and come up, you will never lead this country.”



On the allegation by some party members that he received some financial inducement from former National Security Advisor, Francis Poku, the Vice President flatly denied the allegation, expressing shock as well. He said “sometimes it hurts, and they say Francis Poku 'bought' you. It is in one of the statements that I was 'bought' by Francis Poku. I pray that one day Francis Poku himself will speak and correct this untruth. But I put on record with all my religious conviction and my belief in God that Francis Poku never gave me a cedi, I have never received a cedi from Francis Poku, but we’ll leave posterity to judge all that.”



He indicated that the New Patriotic Party was not necessarily to blame for all the confusion in the country and that it was vital for the NDC to look inwards to cure the hate politics that is gaining roots in the party.



Mr. Mahama further asked; “If your own party is the one saying you are greedy bastards, your party says you are team B,...what communication can you do? All you do is you give ammunition to your opponents to fire you,” he said, adding that no amount of communication gimmicks can correct the harm done.



The Vice President stressed that even though the communication team of the government is doing enough, they are handicapped as a result of the venom from within the party which is lending the opposition the needed arsenals to hurt the NDC.



Mr. Mahama questioned the rationale behind the tagging of the present government as a Mills-Mahama administration by a high ranking member of the NDC, saying, “today anytime the NPP make a statement, they say Mills-Mahama administration. When have we ever called administrations including the names of Vice Presidents? Rawlings-Ackaah administration or Rawlings-Mills administration or Kufuor-Aliu administration, and yet one of our own is the one who started this Mills-Mahama administration.”



He explained that the NPP has packaged the ammunition that the NDC has given to them and are doing a good job in using it against the government. This, he said, makes it nearly impossible to argue ones way out during a discourse with members of the opposition.



He however encouraged the students to be united and forge a common front to support the government’s quest at achieving its “Better Ghana” agenda, insisting that “there is no way the NPP can stand a united NDC, I tell you.”





Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Government denies ordering fresh probe into Muntaka's $20,000 saga

Communication’s Director at the seat of government, Koku Anyidoho has categorically denied that President Mills ordered the Civil Service Council to commence fresh investigations into the $20,000 which Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka was alleged to have allocated to himself whiles in office.

Koku Anyidoho told Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on the Super Morning Show Thursday morning that the Daily Guide's report that the President has ordered fresh investigations into the matter could not be true as no such order had been given by the President.

Daily Guide, in the Thursday, November 25, 2010 edition reported that it had gathered credible information from the government indicating that the President had ordered new investigations into Muntaka’s controversial $20,000 saga.

The report by Halifax Ansah-Addo said the paper’s “checks from the seat of government revealed that the Presidency has directed the Civil Service Council to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the mystery surrounding the $20,000 taxpayer’s money and who should be held accountable for it, despite the fact that the issue had been investigated by the National Security, upon which Muntaka was sacked.”

Mr. Muntaka Mubarrak, the man at the centre of the controversy, in an interview on the same programme accused the Daily Guide of waging a mischievous campaign against his person since he resigned from the Sports Ministry.

Mr. Muntaka, who espoused his believe in press freedom, said he is very livid with the trend of reportage by the paper, stressing that “this level of mischief by Daily Guide must be stopped. Isn’t it unfortunate that Daily Guide, I don’t know for whatever reasons, have always tried as much as possible throughout this period to align and always put my name in bad reportage?”

Mr. Muntaka said the Daily Guide consistently draws his name into unnecessary controversies that occur in his constituency even when he is no where near it.

He however explained that the civil service council has constituted a panel to deal with the $20,000 case which he is alleged to have pocketed. He further confirmed that he has been invited along with other officials who were at the ministry during that period to participate in the hearing in order to bring closure to the controversy.

Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

National Democratic Congress is allegedly stealing materials meant for the building of the Bui dam, NDC gives Fox FM three days ultimatum

A Kumasi based radio station, Fox FM has been given three days to name officials of the ruling National Democratic Congress it allegedly accused of stealing materials for the building of the Bui dam. The ultimatum was given by the Ashanti Regional General Secretary of the NDC, Joseph Yasmeen in an interview with Joy News on Wednesday. The station is alleged to have serialised circumstances under which cement bought for the construction of the Bui Dam had been diverted into private hands. The station is reported to have said that the diversion had stalled progress of work on the Bui Dam project. Mr. Yasmeen said the station also alleged that members of the NDC had a hand in the diversion of the cement and promised to expose those individuals. He said the party's ultimatum is aimed at a speedy resolution of the matter, adding it is just to give “moral support” to the station. “If government officials are indicted in such a corrupt and criminal act the party needs to be concerned and make sure such people are evicted from the party,” he said. Mr Yasmeen said the party will consider taking punitive action against the individuals if they are found culpable. He said they have reported the case to the Bureau of National Investigations, the police and other security agencies. Mr. Yasmeen said failure by the station to mention the names of these officials will give credence to the notion that the media is creating fear and panic in the country. But the Morning Show host of Fox FM, Blessed Smart, said the ultimatum by the NDC in the region is without foundation. According to Blessed Smart, at no point did the station alleged that officials of the NDC were behind the diversion. He said it was the BNI the station criticised for not doing enough to unravel the truth behind the diversion. Story by Nathan Gadugah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana

What have I done to Ghanaians? –Sports Minister questions critics' about world cup expenditure

Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua         The Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua has expressed disgust at suspicions and allegations cast in her direction in relation to expenses said to have been incurred by the nation over the Black Stars' participation in the 2010 World Cup. She was in Parliament Thursday to answer a question on how much it cost the nation to engage in the World Cup. Responding to the issues on Asempa FM on Friday, the Minister explained that even though she traveled with her house-help and driver to South Africa for the World Cup, she paid for her daughter to go on the trip as it was an opportunity for all Ghanaians to go and support the Black Stars. She further denied using state funds to facilitate anyone’s private trip to the World Cup. “I took my secretary, I took my driver and I took my body guard. These are the people who are here with me day and night,” she added. She pointed out that the World Cup expenditure budget document was prepared by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and that officials of the association should be contacted to clarify issues for the public. Ms Dansua explained that the budget is always prepared by the GFA to be approved by the Chief of Staff after the ministry has perused it thoroughly. She added that the Chief of Staff specifically invited officials of the GFA to justify whatever information was contained in the budget before it was forwarded to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. She further stressed that an accountant of the ministry accompanies officials of the GFA to the tournaments and verifies all purchases made with receipts to show what has been spent. Ms Dansua decried the situation where journalists and commentators make allegations without seeking her side of the issue and asked the media to stop blaming her for the expenditure made at the World Cup and rather direct their concerns at the appropriate quarters. The minister believes that there are people who are sabotaging her position as Minister of Sports and are working assiduously to ensure that she fails at her work. She however vowed to continue working and assured her detractors that they will not succeed in their effort to undermine her. She promised Ghanaians that she will continue to work effectively despite the numerous distractions. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Minister Took Driver, House-Help And Bodyguard To World Cup

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua has expressed disgust at suspicions and allegations cast in her direction in relation to expenses said to have been incurred by the nation over the Black Stars’ participation in the 2010 World Cup.

She was in Parliament on Thursday to answer a question on how much it cost the nation to engage in the World Cup.

Responding to the issues on Asempa FM on Friday, the Minister explained that even though she traveled with her house-help and driver to South Africa for the World Cup, she paid for her daughter to go on the trip as it was an opportunity for all Ghanaians to go and support the Black Stars.

She further denied using state funds to facilitate anyone’s private trip to the World Cup. “I took my secretary, I took my driver and I took my body guard. These are the people who are here with me day and night,” she added.

She pointed out that the World Cup expenditure budget document was prepared by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and that officials of the association should be contacted to clarify issues for the public.

Ms Dansua explained that the budget is always prepared by the GFA to be approved by the Chief of Staff after the ministry has perused it thoroughly. She added that the Chief of Staff specifically invited officials of the GFA to justify whatever information was contained in the budget before it was forwarded to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.

She further stressed that an accountant of the ministry accompanies officials of the GFA to the tournaments and verifies all purchases made with receipts to show what has been spent.

Ms Dansua decried the situation where journalists and commentators make allegations without seeking her side of the issue and asked the media to stop blaming her for the expenditure made at the World Cup and rather direct their concerns at the appropriate quarters.

The minister believes that there are people who are sabotaging her position as Minister of Sports and are working assiduously to ensure that she fails at her work.

She however vowed to continue working and assured her detractors that they will not succeed in their effort to undermine her. She promised Ghanaians that she will continue to work effectively despite the numerous distractions.
 

Source: JFM

Sena Dansua clashes with Asiamah, OB Amoah over World Cup expenses

Youth and Sports Minister, Akua Sena Dansua is unimpressed with what she says are mischievous attempts by Isaac Asiamah, the New Patriotic Party’s ranking member on Youth and Sports to provoke a needless controversy over the 2010 World Cup expenditure.

The Minister in an answer to a question on Wednesday presented itemized expenditure incurred during Ghana’s participation in the football mundial.

The total expenditure was quoted at seven million dollars, but the minority insisted the expenditure lacked details and substance.

Their attempt to ask supplementary questions of the minister was blocked by the Speaker in line with the Standing Orders of the House which allowed only an hour for question time.

Isaac Asiamah in an interview with Joy News’ Sammy Darko described the expenditure as “outrageous” and “profligate.”

He did not understand why such an amount will be spent on people he described as supporters when winning bonuses for the Black Stars remain outstanding.

He vowed to present a motion on the floor, the purpose of which will drag the Minister back to the House to answer questions about the expenditure.

But Akua Dansua told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh that her ministry has nothing to hide and will be ready to provide answers to clear any doubts in the minds of people.

She also accused the NPP ranking member on Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, of misunderstanding the whole issue.

“My colleague, Asiamah in his haste to cause mischief,” “… does not even understand the question that was asked of me,” she said.

According to her, the question was to find out the expenditure on the Black Stars, not on the supporters as Asiamah attempted to suggest.

She also challenged the NPP to present the 2006 report of expenditure by the Black Stars before demanding that of 2010.

She said the NPP did not even present “a one-page report” of expenditure in 2006 and wondered why they are pontificating about 2010 expenditure.

Akua Sena Dansua also stated emphatically that the arrears owed the Black Stars is ready and that the individual players must now decide what procedures to use in getting their money.
Ex-Deputy Sports Minister, OB Amoah insisted questions being asked of the minister are legitimate, contesting the minister’s assertions that there was no report in 2006. He said the report was presented to Parliament by Prof Dominic Fobih, then Minister of Education and Sports.

Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

$7.2m Blown At World Cup

Even before the players of the senior National Soccer Team, the Black Stars are given their full bonuses, an amount of $7.2 million has been spent by government on per diem, protocol and souvenirs for Ghana’s participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Minority in Parliament has described the expenditure as outrageous and profligate, calling on government to give a full disclosure on how the huge sum was spent.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua, indicated that $186,650 was spent on per diem, protocol - $100,000; souvenirs, laundry and other incidental expenses , $30,035.01; media relations - $50,000.00 and appearance fees $4,200,00.00.

The rest are winning bonuses, $2,541,500; transport, $6,608.29 and bank charges, $80,389.10 all expenses totaling $7,197,185.40.

The Minority, led by the ranking member on Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah in an interview with Daily Guide, questioned the expenditure, asking government to disclose to Ghanaians, the recipients of the disbursed money.

Hon. Asiamah, who is also the MP for Atiwa-Mponua, said the Mills administration could not throw such colossal figures at Ghanaians without telling them which individuals or groups received the money.

Earlier on the floor of the House, MPs could not interrogate the Youth and Sports Minister for her to give a detailed account of the expenditure because the House’s Speaker Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, had ruled that the stipulated time of one hour for questions had elapsed.

This provoked some of the Ministry MPs who angrily walked out of the House, since it appeared the Speaker was protecting the Minister from more probing questions.

She however ruled that the oral answer provided by the Minister be captured in the record of proceedings as having been answered. However, Hon. Asiamah called for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter to ascertain the veracity of the expenditure.

He was however overruled by the First Deputy Speaker and MP for Avenor/Ave, Edward Doe Adjaho, who took over from the Speaker and chaired proceedings later.

Mr. Asiamah insisted government should exhibit transparency and accountability in the management of the nation’s scarce resources, especially when people around the presidency consistently claimed the government had been cutting down on its expenditure.

“The expenditure figures are outrageous. It smells like the transitional committee tea expenditure. An expenditure that is too profligate and does not make sense to me, If you spend a huge sum of 100,000 Ghana cedis (One Billion old cedis) on protocol expenditure and you don’t explain that protocol. What is the meaning of that when school children are still studying under trees? About seven billion old cedis spent on accommodation and you don’t explain who benefited from it.“You also spent per diem of 1.8 billion old cedis without explaining which people benefited from it. And as we speak now, the Black Stars are yet to receive their appearance fees and you found it necessary to spend all these monies,” Hon. Asiamah told Citi FM.

It is not clear whether the amount presented by the Youth and Sport Minister excluded the expenditure incurred by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in flying hundreds of soccer fans who were largely NDC supporters to the World Cup tournament in South Africa.

Michael Owusu Darko Bonsu, son of Kojo Bonsu, the Board Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC) was alleged to have been involved in a ¢7.2 billion scandal over the World Cup.It was alleged that Michael Bonsu aided by some public officials, presented documents with inflated figures to the government of Ghana to make gains.

According to the media reports, the money was allegedly paid to Posterity Capital Group (PTY), owners of the Muzinda Residence in South Africa and others. They allegedly received the cash in order to provide accommodation for about 1,100 Ghanaian soccer fans at the 2010 World Cup who were there to support the senior team, the Black Stars.

Both Kojo Bonsu and his son have since debunked the allegations, denying any wrongdoing in the financial saga.