…after SYPALA 2008
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Posted:Wednesday, July 9, 2008
At the end of the 2008 Students and Young Professionals Liberty (SYPALA) in Accra, the 40 participants drawn from Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea, vowed to strive to change the destiny of an obviously struggling Africa continent.
The programme was put together by the Imani Centre of Policy and Education, in conjunction with the CATO institute, and the Smith Family Foundation.
Held under the theme ‘Liberty abreast African intellect,’ the programme had as its aim, to develop and maximise the potentials of the teeming youth of the African continent, by deepening their knowledge, and engaging them in scholastic dialogue.
The seminar, which took place from June 22 - June 27, 2008, enabled participants and various speakers to exchange ideas, and broaden their perspectives, by exploring innovative solutions to the foremost challenges facing society.
Among the speakers were the Vice President of the CATO Institute, Tom Palmer, former Chief of Defense Staff, Lt. Gen. Arnold Quainoo (Rtd), former Chief Executive of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST), Dr. Kwabena Donkor, among other top brass lecturers, who took participants through a cursory analysis of modern development trends.
They treated topics like civil-military relationship in Africa, energy security, policy monitoring and evaluation and foundations of public policy analysis, and journalism.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor gave an excellent hour-long extempore talk, on Africa's challenges in managing her energy resources, and the record of African governments and private sector entities, in developing pro-industry and pro-commerce energy strategies.
Dr. Donkor has managed a perfect transition, from the high-octane world of top-level business management, to the rarefied environs of Academia, with his customary elegance and skill.
He currently leads curriculum development at Ghana's largest private university, the Central University College, within the MBA Office.
Mr. Kofi Bentil's lecture examined the themes and theses that best exemplify best thinking, on the connection between environmental transformation, and agricultural sustainability, and which transcend hysterical, Malthusian notions of scarcity.
Speaking on the rule of law, Prof. Ken Attafuah, the Executive Director of the Justice and Human Rights Institute, said "there are no persons in the state, who are above the law, no matter their political pedigree, and it is deeply worrying when persons are convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction, and all of a sudden the independence of the judiciary becomes a matter of public ridicule and criticism."
51years after gaining independence from the shackles of colonialism, the Executive Director of Imani, the Centre for Policy and Education and Editor of Africanliberty.org, Franklin Cudjoe, said Ghana still had a few more hurdles to cross.
On his part, the Executive Director of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Cletus Kosiba, said "Ghanaian industries have a huge opportunity to take advantage of markets across the West African Sub region, although the lack of capacity is holding them back.”
He used two revealing examples to show that, indeed, lack of capacity was clipping the wings of SMEs in the country.
Mr. Kwesi Jonah, a leading expert on political economy, engaged the class on the topic "Populism and Participatory Democracy: Why Elections are not enough."
Mr. Jonah based his lecture on the broader context of the co-resurgence of republicanism, referring both to institutions and sovereignty, and public diplomacy as collaborating strands of anti-populist discourse across Africa, as is evident in the recent crises in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Given the deficit of libertarian thought on the continent, Dr. Tom Palmer gave a good deal of understanding of sound institutions. needed for participants to grasp the workings of a truly free society. One such topic was on the value of property rights.
Dr. Palmer’s tutorial “covered norms (both sociologically and morally),on the history of property, the theory of ownership, theory of institutions, the economics of property/capital, with examples from the Icelandic ITQ system of property in fish, Hernando de Soto’s The Mystery of Capital, and the like.”
Dr. Palmer regularly lectures in America, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East, on political science, public choice, civil society, and the moral, legal, and historical foundations of individual rights, and has been published widely.
The 2008 Whetstone-Korsah award for emerging went to Susu Allordey. The Whetstone-Korsah Prize (Linda Whetstone & Arku Korsah Award for Emerging Leadership) is named for two great proponents of the free market, and the rule of law in Africa and the World: Linda Whetstone, Board Chairperson of the London-based International Policy Network, and Sir Arku Korsah, West Africa's first Black Chief Justice, whose unflinching support for judicial integrity, led to a famous confrontation with Ghana's socialist first President.
At the end of it, Augusta Kolekang, one of the participants, could not but remark “I must say in all honesty, that it was a great experience, that I will forever recommend to everybody, especially to young people who wish Ghana, and for that matter Africa, becomes a better and prosperous continent to live in, sooner than later.
“The week-long conference has really opened my mind to a lot of things that I would have otherwise not known, if I had not been part of this year's seminar.
“Indeed, what Africa needs at this current socio-political dispensation, is a liberalized socio-economic system, devoid of excessive governmental control, by minimizing political power, whilst upholding the principles of rule-of-law and good governance, so as to create an atmosphere for innovation, which will consequently lead to alleviation of Africa's worst disease, poverty.”
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008
GIVE COCAINE DEALERS STIFFER SENTENCES
...Instead of killing drivers who cart chainsaw logs
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Posted:Wednesday, July 9, 2008.
A 58 year old resident of Accra-Newtown, Madam Akosua Apeagyei, is advocating for stiffer punishment for drug dealers, especially those in the lucrative cocaine business.
Her concern was that the activities, and operations of these cocaine dealers, are not only denting the image of the country, but also introducing its innocent youth, who form the bulk of the population, to the use and sale of illegal drugs.
She has thus made a passionate appeal, to all categories of judges in the country, to consider the level of threat that the lives of the youth are exposed to, by those involved in the act, and hand down stiffer sentences on them.
This, according to her, would serve as a deterrent to others, who have intentions of going into the drug business.
Madam Apeagyei raised these issues, when she called at the Tesano offices of The Chronicle, to express concern about the killing of illegal chain-saw operators in the country.
Whilst admitting that the activities of illegal chain-saw operators, was affecting the country in one way or the other, she noted that cocaine dealers were worse off, considering the dire effects of their business on the larger population.
She wondered why illegal chain-saw operators are handed heavy sentences, and sometimes killed upon arrest, whilst cocaine barons sometimes manage to go scot-free, without any punitive measures.
The concerned mother said she could not comprehend why some Ghanaians, particularly the youth, even resort to the use of cocaine to allegedly enhance their sexual performance and ability to socialise. Under the current circumstance, Madam Apeagyei noted that Ghana had a big problem with drug abuse, and called for measures, which would effectively deal with the increasing use of drugs, and help treat and rehabilitate users. Latest world reports identifies Ghana, as one of the countries in the West African sub-region, which is being used as a drug trafficking point, for carting cocaine to Europe, as international criminal networks exploit the region’s lack of resources, to combat drug smuggling.
A recent study, carried out by the United Nations, indicated that Africa was increasingly being used by the drug cartels, for the processing and consumption of illicit drugs, as well as money laundering, with African governments grappling with how best to face this new threat.
To put things into a better perspective, seizures of cocaine increased by 18 per cent worldwide and by 4,000% in Ghana, from 2003 to 2004.
Africa, as a whole, for the same period, witnessed a three-fold jump in the amount of cocaine seized, from 1.1 tonnes to 3.6 tonnes.
The staggering statistics, contained in the latest United Nations report on drug trafficking, were presented to a Nairobi law enforcement conference, which gathered anti-narcotic officers from 34 African nations.
Moreover, since the UN study, the quantity of cocaine smuggled into Ghana, which has come to the notice of our local law enforcement officers, is close to the 3.6 tonnes seized in the whole of Africa in 2004.
In November 2005, 588kgs of cocaine were seized, in a raid at a house at East Legon. About 2,310kgs of cocaine were imported to Ghana, and discharged from the vessel, MV Benjamin, which docked in Tema, according to a fact-finding report commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior.
But with high profile cases in recent times, including the US arrest of Eric Amoateng, a then Member of Parliament (MP), and the alleged involvement of Ghanaian police officers in the illicit trade, western custom officers have revised their books, adding Ghana to the list of 'high priority destinations.’
Ghana, for instance, does not have coast guards. The Georgina Wood Committee, which investigated the missing 77 parcels of cocaine (with a street value of approximately $200m) smuggled into the country in April, recommended that a reasonably well-resourced Navy, and an equally well-resourced Air Force, was necessary if the war against the drug trade is to succeed.
It has further recommended the examination of other viable options, for marine and coastal patrol.
An independent, well-resourced service, dedicated to marine and coastal patrols, may prove a better way of ensuring the safety and security of the country’s territorial waters.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Posted:Wednesday, July 9, 2008.
A 58 year old resident of Accra-Newtown, Madam Akosua Apeagyei, is advocating for stiffer punishment for drug dealers, especially those in the lucrative cocaine business.
Her concern was that the activities, and operations of these cocaine dealers, are not only denting the image of the country, but also introducing its innocent youth, who form the bulk of the population, to the use and sale of illegal drugs.
She has thus made a passionate appeal, to all categories of judges in the country, to consider the level of threat that the lives of the youth are exposed to, by those involved in the act, and hand down stiffer sentences on them.
This, according to her, would serve as a deterrent to others, who have intentions of going into the drug business.
Madam Apeagyei raised these issues, when she called at the Tesano offices of The Chronicle, to express concern about the killing of illegal chain-saw operators in the country.
Whilst admitting that the activities of illegal chain-saw operators, was affecting the country in one way or the other, she noted that cocaine dealers were worse off, considering the dire effects of their business on the larger population.
She wondered why illegal chain-saw operators are handed heavy sentences, and sometimes killed upon arrest, whilst cocaine barons sometimes manage to go scot-free, without any punitive measures.
The concerned mother said she could not comprehend why some Ghanaians, particularly the youth, even resort to the use of cocaine to allegedly enhance their sexual performance and ability to socialise. Under the current circumstance, Madam Apeagyei noted that Ghana had a big problem with drug abuse, and called for measures, which would effectively deal with the increasing use of drugs, and help treat and rehabilitate users. Latest world reports identifies Ghana, as one of the countries in the West African sub-region, which is being used as a drug trafficking point, for carting cocaine to Europe, as international criminal networks exploit the region’s lack of resources, to combat drug smuggling.
A recent study, carried out by the United Nations, indicated that Africa was increasingly being used by the drug cartels, for the processing and consumption of illicit drugs, as well as money laundering, with African governments grappling with how best to face this new threat.
To put things into a better perspective, seizures of cocaine increased by 18 per cent worldwide and by 4,000% in Ghana, from 2003 to 2004.
Africa, as a whole, for the same period, witnessed a three-fold jump in the amount of cocaine seized, from 1.1 tonnes to 3.6 tonnes.
The staggering statistics, contained in the latest United Nations report on drug trafficking, were presented to a Nairobi law enforcement conference, which gathered anti-narcotic officers from 34 African nations.
Moreover, since the UN study, the quantity of cocaine smuggled into Ghana, which has come to the notice of our local law enforcement officers, is close to the 3.6 tonnes seized in the whole of Africa in 2004.
In November 2005, 588kgs of cocaine were seized, in a raid at a house at East Legon. About 2,310kgs of cocaine were imported to Ghana, and discharged from the vessel, MV Benjamin, which docked in Tema, according to a fact-finding report commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior.
But with high profile cases in recent times, including the US arrest of Eric Amoateng, a then Member of Parliament (MP), and the alleged involvement of Ghanaian police officers in the illicit trade, western custom officers have revised their books, adding Ghana to the list of 'high priority destinations.’
Ghana, for instance, does not have coast guards. The Georgina Wood Committee, which investigated the missing 77 parcels of cocaine (with a street value of approximately $200m) smuggled into the country in April, recommended that a reasonably well-resourced Navy, and an equally well-resourced Air Force, was necessary if the war against the drug trade is to succeed.
It has further recommended the examination of other viable options, for marine and coastal patrol.
An independent, well-resourced service, dedicated to marine and coastal patrols, may prove a better way of ensuring the safety and security of the country’s territorial waters.
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