POLITICS CORNER

Listening to Rawlings’ speech
on June 4th 2010, I’m really
reminded as to why Barack
Obama in his speech to
Parliament said Africa does
not need strong leaders but
strong institutions. All over
the continent, whether it is Hosni
Mubarak in Egypt, Colonel Gaddafi in
Libya, Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe,
or Jerry Rawlings in Ghana, we have
created these legends that can do no
wrong. These leaders have always
found themselves in the limelight
and are so used to being worshipped,
that they cannot live without it.
Rawlings seems to have
misunderstood Matthew 21: 12-13.
The Bible says “Jesus was angry and
drove the seller and the gambler out.”
It did not say he crucified them.
Granted in 1979, Ghanaians were
calling for the blood to flow and that
it did however it did go overboard.
We were yearning for Rawlings in
1979 because we were taking giants
steps backwards, but taking two
steps forward when you had the
potential to leap forward is no reason
for us to continue to hear the same
stale message of justice and
accountability. It has been 31 years
since June 4, 1979, and the masses
are still not very far ahead. Young
men and women are still trooping
into Accra to sell dog chains, our
education system thanks to the JSS/
SSS system is probably worse off than
it was, food is still stuck in the
hinterland because of the poor state
of our roads, our cocoa and lumber
are still exported without any
processing and we are still so
dependent on the IMF/World Bank.
So in 2010, to remind a kid who had
to grow up without his father
because his dad took out a loan of
GHC50, 000 is rather harsh and
uncalled for. Imagine what would
occur today we if used that same
threshold of justice. Just like Mugabe
did with the land redistribution in
Zimbabwe, we all witnessed what
happened with most of Ghana ’s state
owned enterprises that were divested
during the Economic Recovery
Program. The Mabey & Johnson case
has also shed more light on how
companies won contracts or did
business during the Rawlings
administration. The NDC was not
voted out of power in 2000 because
Atta Mills was not ‘half-cast’,
uncharismatic and did not speak with
a locally acquired foreign accent, it
was voted out because Ghanaians
were tired of the same old, same old.
I believe Rawlings perception of
justice is for Mills to investigate and
prosecute every official in the Kuffour
administration including Kuffour.
What Rawlings more than anyone in
Ghana should know is that the
Attorney General’s office has a finite
amount of resources at its disposal
and it would not be proper for the
Mills government to use resources
earmarked for other developmental
projects to satisfy his party founder .
The dilemma here is: Does Ghana
need to spend a significant amount
of human and financial resources
prosecuting former officials or should
we have a genuine dialogue about
curtailing the spending powers of
future government? Rawlings was
quick to reference the U.S. justice
system and Obama. I would ask
Rawlings to confer with the prisoners
being held in Guantanamo Bay how
they feel about the U.S. justice system
or better yet ask Mexican Americans
how they feel about SB 1070. In a
recent interview, Obama was asked
how angry he was about the BP oil
spill. His response was even though
he was angry, he was channeling that
anger towards finding solutions for
the oil spill.
Rawlings needs to channel his anger
towards making the executive branch
of government in Ghana less corrupt
and less powerful. He could make
himself relevant again by speaking
on the need for a total independent
legislature instead of harping on the
tired slogan of justice and
accountability. Even the guy selling
dog chains in the streets can talk
about injustice and corruption in
Ghana but for someone who has
been head of state for 19 years, we
expect concrete solutions to these
problems. Suggest check and
balances that we could put in place
to ensure the injustice and
accountability of past administrations
do not occur in the future. Start
dialogue about some much needed
constitutional reform. Propose ideas
so the excess of Ghana @ 50 does
not happen again. If Rawlings is
really concerned about the masses,
he needs to talk about how
presidents and former presidents
should have their compensation
taxed. If A.M.A. is able to tax the petty
traders, then surely presidents and
former presidents with more disposal
income should be taxed. He needs to
talk about how in 50 years Ghana
cannot sustain the current
compensation packages given to
former presidents and former MPs.
It is interesting to note that out of all
the soldiers who took part in the
June 4th revolution, none of them
was present to mark the anniversary
with the Rawlings. Whether it is June
4th, 31st December or NDC 1, it
seems like most of the member of
the AFRC, PNDC or NDC have fallen
out of favor with Rawlings. It can
mean one of two things: It is either
they disagree with the Rawlings way
of doing things or Junior Jesus is the
only one who knows what is right for
Ghana. You might not like Atta Mills,
or you might believe the perception
that he is too slow but you cannot
deny the fact that he is the right
person after two polarizing leaders
such as Rawlings and Kuffour.
Whether it was banning his ministers
from going to South Africa for the
World Cup or making sure Ghana
benefits from the sale of the Kosmos
stake in the Jubilee oil field or
something as simple as giving the
directive to civil servants to turn the
televisions off during office hours.
Finally, no past head of state had the
guts to take the very unpopular
decision to increase the tariff on
utilities even though the utility
companies were being heavily
subsidized by the government.
Leading up to the 2012 general
elections, you are going to hear more
from Jerry Rawlings about justice and
accountability. You are also going to
hear the same stale message from
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings
and I want you to think of Hillary
Clinton: First she bought a house in
Chappaqua, N.Y., then she ran and
won a senate seat and finally she
decided to cement the Clinton legacy
by becoming president. We have seen
the re-emergence of the 31st
December movement, and then we
saw Nana Konadu become the Vice
Chairman of the NDC. It is clear what
she needs to do to further cement
the legacy of the Rawlings ’.
Remember Obama’s words!

STEPS 4 WISDOM

The first step in the acquisition of
wisdom is silence, the second
listening, the third memory, the
fourth practice, the fifth teaching
others.

Story about Muslim CONVERT

My Journey To Islam
Fatima
This is my Revertion(convertion)
story:
I was a conservative Christian --
even had a website ,
www.sharissa.conservative.com(which
no longer exsists) so anyway -- one
late night, June of 2001 ,-I was up
late in a Christian chatroom on AOL.
And I met a guy in there, who I
knew , knew a lot about God. And we
started talking about God and things.
So then I asked him,"Are you a
Christian?" Thinking surely the
answer would be , "yes". but it wasn't
yes. It was "no". Then I asked him
was he ever a Christian, and he
said,"Yes, I was once a Christian". So
I was astonished, and I was like,
"well,Why aren't you a Christian any
longer?" And he told me exactly why
(and I forget his exact words)
But I know he said that the Creator,
isn't His creation,nor apart of His
creation. He doesn't PROCREATE, so
He has not ,sons,daughters,wives,ETC.
Therefore, He begets, nor was He
beggoten,-None are comparable to
Him. He alone is the Creator and
Sustainer of the worlds. There is only
one God. ETC. ETC.
So then I was like,"wow, okay "...then
I asked,"what religion are you now?"
And he said ,"I am a muslim." .. So
then I was like wow ,okay cool, you
know. And I said well you believe in
just one God, and that Jesus(as) was
only a prophet of God. And he
said,"yes". So then later own though
the week he Instant Messaged me
-- but even though what he had
said to me spoke truth to me, and he
seemed like a real nice & smart
person.
I was always "busy", or "doing
something", didn't have enough
time" ETC. ,ETC. I felt I was Christian
and that I needed to grow more in
my faith as a Christian. And when I
was online
I would ignore him to talk to my
Christian friends online.. or to read a
Christian website ETC,ETC. Then one
night I guess, I was just plain bored.
So the guy Instant Messaged me. And
we started talking, and he asked
me ,"Have you ever read the Qur'an"?
And I was like,"what the heck is the
Qur'an?" Because
I heard of the Qur'an before , but I
always seen it spelled "Koran". So
then he told me to go to the "life-
koran" chatroom on AOL. And so I
did. And he told me to ask them what
the Qur'an was , and ask them any
other questions I might have. And so
I asked them what the Qur'an was.
And then I met a person in there
named Jamaal, and he Instant
Messaged me the next day , and over
the course of the summer, Jamaal
taught me about Islam when I was
online.
And Islam started to make real sense
to me(acually it made since when i
met the fiirst muslim to me) So then
it was August ,and school had
started, and after school started I
didn't really chat too much about
islam, I didn't go into the chatroom
that much, I wasn't online as much
ETC. But I would talk to Jamaal when
I would see him online. And so then
here came September 11th. And
WHOA, another reason to learn more
about Islam. (by the way I suggest
the website
ISLAMDENOUNCESTERRORISM.com,
and I say to you that killing
innocents, is AGAINST the very
essence of Islam) So I started to go
into the Islamic chats more. And then
one day in October me and Jamaal
had a pretty good conversation on
Islam. Then after that I wanted to be
a muslim so bad. And I asked him
HOW DO I BECOME MUSLIM? And
he was like, well it isn't that
simple--you have to take shahadah.
And So he explained to me what
shahadah is. And basically,Shahadah-
is the profession of faith of a muslim,
that is when he/she says,"There is no
God ,but God- And Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is messenger of
God."And so then I started reading
more of the Qur'an online. Then one
day in early November Jamaal asked
me was I ready to take Shahadah,
and become a muslim. And I was
like,YES ,YES, I been ready . And so
on November 3rd, 2001, (it might
have been the 4th because I was up
until 4 that morning) Anyway I said
Shahadah.. ..."THERE IS NO GOD ,BUT
GOD -AND MUHAMMAD(PEACE BE
UPON HIM) IS THE MESSENGER OF
GOD" And I was a muslim at that
moment, and I felt so much at peace
-- like I had the pressence of angels
around me (which I'm sure I did).
And that is my story.~~~
~*May God guide us all to the
straight path, to the truth. Ameen.*~

Brazil set to win 6th world cup

Brazil are considered by many to be
the favourites for the 2010 World Cup
and experienced midfielder Gilberto
Silva has acknowledged that the
Selecao are going to South Africa to
win the tournament.
"We are not here to have a good
time. Our message is we want to be
champions. If I told you we shall be
champions then I'll need a crystal
ball," the former Arsenal star was
quoted as saying by reporters.
"I cannot say that, but since we
started working three and a half
years ago to get here that's what we
have been working towards. We want
to get to the final and win it once we
get there.
"I have the potential to make a big
contribution. The issue of my age at
one stage annoyed me, but now it
has been a source of inspiration. You
can be sure of my motivation. I owe
that to myself after all the criticism of
which I have been the object of."
Brazil are paired with Cote d'Ivoire,
North Korea and Portugal in the
group phase of the World Cup.

Myjoyonline.com: Rawlings barks at Mills to stop marking time

	Hello,
	joy saw this story on the Myjoyonline.com website and thought you should see it.
	Former President Rawlings has mounted scathing attacks on President Atta Mills for what he described as his inability to move the country forward as promised.
	-----------------------------------
	www.myjoyonline.com