Confusion over Gabon candidates

Andre Mba Obame could be boosted by the ethnic vote Two days before elections in Gabon to replace the late President Omar Bongo, at least five out of 23 candidates have said they are pulling out of the race. They say they will now back Andre Mba Obame, a former government minister. But several other candidates denied media reports that they had also withdrawn in favour of Mr Obame. The favourite to win Sunday's poll is Ali Ben Bongo, the son of the former president who ruled Gabon from 1967 until his death in June. Some of the candidates have complained of voter registration irregularities, including Bruno Ben Moubamba, who has gone on hunger strike in protest. He, however, denied reports that he was one of those who had withdrawn from the race and was supporting Mr Obame. Following overnight talks, one of those pulling out of the race, Anna Claudine Assayi Ayo, said that "consultations resulted in a secret vote and the designation of Andre Mba Obame [as candidate]". Mr Obame was the interior minister under President Bongo. He was a senior member of the ruling Gabonese Democratic party (PDG) until deciding to run as an independent after it selected Ali Ben Bongo as its candidate. He, and some of those who withdrew from the election, are from the Fang ethnic group - Gabon's largest - and correspondents say this could help him pose a serious challenge to Mr Bongo. However, the anti-Bongo vote still looks set to be divided, while the PDG candidate enjoys the advantage of having the best-financed campaign. Gabon is a major oil producer but most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty. The late President Bongo was facing charges of corruption in a French court when he died. BBC

Cunting begins in Gabon election

The capital, Libreville, was said to be tense during the day Counting has begun in Gabon, following an election to choose a successor to President Omar Bongo, who died after 41 years in power. Scheduled polling closed at 1700GMT but some stations continued to accept votes after that as they had opened late. Turnout was said to be be high with long queues at some polling stations. President Bongo's son, Ali Ben Bongo, is favourite to succeed but the poll has been marred by the pullout of a number of candidates. Five of the 23 withdrew on Friday and another, Cassimir Oye Mba, pulled out on polling day. He said he did not want to vindicate a "calamitous electoral process which doesn't look like being clean and credible". He was one of the major rivals, along with Andre Mba Obame. Observers In the capital, Libreville, the atmosphere was described as tense throughout the day. Ali Ben Bongo hopes to win over a divided opposition One voter in the Louis district, Tony Rapariga, told AFP: "If Ali wins, we will burn everything. You will not find even 10 of his supporters here. It's impossible for him to win." The results of early counting are expected within hours but the full tally is not due for a few days. There have been more than 300 observers overseeing the vote. Ali Ben Bongo has promised to boost what he says is the prosperity that Gabon enjoyed during his father's years in power. But his rivals say there has been endemic corruption and favouritism in Gabon. Omar Bongo was one of the world's richest men, with a string of properties in France. He was an unflinching ally of France and a key element in French influence in Central Africa. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says that Ali Ben Bongo is seen as less closely linked to the French elite than his father, despite being educated at the Sorbonne. He is also somewhat detached from ordinary Gabonese, struggling to speak local languages with real fluency, our correspondent says. Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, although most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty.

Zimbabwe: GNU Parties Seek Election Freeze Extension

Loughty Dube

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Harare — THE three political parties in the inclusive government want to extend the one-year moratorium on by-elections by three years, government sources have revealed.

In the global political agreement (GPA) signed by Zanu PF and the two MDC formations last September, the parties agreed not to field candidates against each other for a year stipulating that only the party that previously held the seat could field a candidate. But this does not stop other parties or independent candidates from contesting the seat.

The parties identified elections as the main cause of violence in the country, hence the agreement on the moratorium not to contest against each other in by-elections for a year.

The moratorium lapses on September 15, hence the talks to extend it.

Authoritative government sources told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that the three political parties were now working on extending the moratorium by three years.

"There are negotiations within the inclusive government to extend the moratorium on the holding of by-elections and none of the parties are eager to go for pending by-elections now as the situation is not conducive for all of them," one of the sources said. "There is fear that violence might raise its head at a time when the inclusive government still has pending issues of the GPA."

With the success of the inclusive government on the economic front, the sources said Zanu-PF was afraid of a backlash from the electorate in the constituencies where by-elections are due while the MDC-T was not certain if its popularity has grown in the so-called Zanu PF strongholds.

The sources said the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC was against the holding of the by-elections and preferred an extension of the inclusive government to five years, as it feared losing the only remaining seven parliamentary seats under its control.

However, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Gorden Moyo, said it was not the intention of the inclusive government to extend the moratorium on elections and said everything was moving towards the holding of the by-elections.

"There are no intentions to amend the GPA as we are implementing it as it is. We do not believe that the by-elections will be violent and we are putting in guarantees to ensure that any electoral competition will be fair," Moyo said.

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He, however, said he did not know if the three principals had discussed the possible extension of the one-year agreement.

Zanu PF chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa said the extension of the one-year moratorium depended on the three political parties.

"The political parties can extend the moratorium depending on what they agree on but I do not know whether the principals have initiated discussions on that matter, so far I am not aware of any listing of that matter," Chinamasa said.

There are close to 15 by-elections due in the senate and the House of Assembly but President Mugabe has yet not called for the holding of by-elections.

Several MDC-T members have pending cases in the courts and if they are all prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to more than six months imprisonment, the number of by-lections due could rise to more than 30 throughout the country.

Niger sets date for disputed poll

Niger will elect a new parliament on October 20, officials have announced. Niger will elect a new parliament on 20 October, officials have announced, amid unrest over a new constitution giving new powers to President Mamadou Tandja. Opposition groups have indicated they will boycott any poll, after Mr Tandja adopted a new constitution allowing him to seek a third term in office. The president officially adopted the constitution earlier this week. He dissolved the country's top court and parliament as he pushed through his plans to overhaul the system. The 71-year-old was supposed to stand down in December after serving two terms in office. He won a controversial referendum on the question last month. Mr Tandja says he needs to stay in power to complete huge economic projects he has begun. His backers say he has brought development and stability to Niger, one of the world's poorest countries. But critics have accused him of carrying out a coup d'etat and label him a classic strongman. As well as huge internal opposition, Mr Tandja's actions have also dismayed Western governments. France, the US and the EU have all criticised his actions and encouraged him to restore democratic rule. Some aid payments have been suspended. Source: BBC

Supermodel fears over Gabon vote

Gloria Mika has stepped off the catwalk in Paris to head a campaign for a transparent vote on 30 August. Gabonese supermodel Gloria Mika has told the BBC she fears possible violence if elections in the West African nation are not free and fair. The 29-year-old model has stepped off the catwalk in Paris to head a campaign for a transparent vote on 30 August. The polls follow the death of Omar Bongo, Africa's longest-serving leader. Ms Mika says her aim is not necessarily to stop his son Ali Ben Bongo winning the presidency, but to remind the Gabonese that their vote counts. "Forty-two years with the same president could make the citizens feel like: 'What can we do anyway?'" she said. Guardian angels Ms Mika, who is the face of L'Oreal cosmetics, left Gabon at the age of 16. Talking to the BBC's World Today programme and BBC French service, she said she has been surprised that her campaign has gathered such momentum. It started earlier this month with a group on the social networking site Facebook and she now has a website, The Guardian Angels of Gabon. Her aim is to recruit volunteers to act as observers at polling stations on 30 August. "The feedback has been beyond my expectations," she said. But it has also brought unexpected stresses, as different parties try to influence her. She said with 23 presidential candidates and only one round, the prospects of a free vote are slim. "It means the winner could be elected with 20% of the vote," she said. She commended Bruno Ben Moubamba, an independent candidate who has gone on hunger strike demanding a postponement, for his conviction. But Ms Mika will not be making the trip home next weekend, voting instead with other expatriates in Paris. Omar Bongo amassed a vast fortune during his years in office - but most of the 1.4 million people in Gabon live in poverty. Source: BBC/UK

Do we have to die for NDC and NPP?

NPP and NDC are fooling Ghanaians, our economy and the lives of our future leaders? Finally the NPP's Dr. Kofi Asare has been declared winner of the Akwatia Parliamentary election, but does someone have to die? Do we have to fight, destroy lives and property in order to vote for a candidate? Why should the entire residents of Akwatia have to suffer curfew because of NDC and NPP? Why should Salifu Maikankan has to die for NPP and why should Danny Ofori Atta has to die for NDC? It still beats my imagination that someone will die for politicians who have kept them poor, uneducated and unskilled and who do nothing to help them. You may be mad about NDC or NPP and will go heaven and earth to defend them but do you think these parties care about the plights of Ghanaians? NDC ruled Ghana for 8 years and NPP has also done the same but did any of them help to make Ghana a developed country? Did any of them solve the unemployment problem in Ghana? How about electricity, education and health? Look at the poor nature of roads in Ghana. Do we deserve that? Can Ghanaians recall anything extraordinary that the NDC did before it was replaced by the NPP in 2000? Or anything remarkable that the NPP did before it was replaced by the NDC in 2008? And since taking office 7 months ago has the NDC done anything tangible to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians? Any person who has been to Europe, Asia or America and watched the two major parties closely can say for sure that both of them have not done much for Ghanaians. Look at the state of Ghana's manufacturing sector. What do we produce? Close to nothing. What do we do with the cocoa that we produce? Don't we export the raw beans for peanuts? How about the gold and the diamond and the many minerals we mine? Aren't they exported to Switzerland and Dubai before Ghanaians go there to buy the wedding rings and bracelets to sell to us? Computers, cars, mobile phones, fridges are made in Europe, Japan and the US and they are affordable there but Ghanaians cannot buy common chocolate even though the vital raw material which is cocoa is produced here. And the same is true about gold and diamond. We cannot buy products made from them even though they are mined right here. Look around yourself and see if any of the goods you see are made in Ghana. I mean the mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars and all the flashy things that Ghanaians are crazing for. It is sad to note that almost all the raw materials needed to build these phones, cars, plasma TVs, camcoders, satellite dishes are obtained from Ghana and other African countries. Has the NDC or the NPP helped us to build any of these things? No. The reason why we are unable to convert these rich natural resources into finish goods to benefit ourselves is the poor manner in which the NPP and NDC have managed our country. Don't forget it is government that must take the initiative, provide the necessary environment and policy direction and resources for a strong manufacturing sector to take root. Look at the policies of both major parties and see if they can even put Ghana on the level of Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong in the next 20 years. Ghanaian business men and women are frequenting Dubai and China importing every good you can think of. Investigate to find out how the Chinese and the Koreans did it and whether any of the parties can help Ghana do the same. Didn't the NPP throw the NDC Vision 2020 Document that was supposed to make Ghana a middle income country into a dust bin? And do you think the NDC is going to implement Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) prepared by the NPP? This is the politics that has brought us no development but unemployment, poverty, hunger, misery, hopelessness and divisions. So do they care, I mean NPP and NDC? Look at the state of Ghana's infrastructure: energy, roads, harbours, telecommunication, health, education, rail system, market and airport. What are the records of the two major parties on infrastructure? Have they been able to add anything to what Dr. Nkrumah built? Haven't they even neglected the few that Nkrumah built to decay? If you think I am not making any point just look at the state of our railway sector. Most of the tracks have been left to rot to the extent that there are no train services in many parts of the country which once relied on that important means of transport. For decades that sector received no investments and no modernisation to the extent that it now takes about 10 hours to travel by train from Kumasi to Accra, a mere 200km. Compare that with a train service in Japan where it takes one hour to cover more than 270km. Despite having the advantage of being cost effective, cheap, reliable and business friendly 11 years of PNDC rule plus 8 years of NDC and another 8 years of NPP did not help the rail sector and our country except turning former poor soldiers and politicians into billionaires at the expense of our nation. After 52 years of independence and more than 27 years of (P)NDC and NPP rule our trains still run on engines that are 50 years old. NDC and NPP have neglected Ghana's infrastructure needs for years, yet we have forgotten that no nation can develop without investing in infrastructure and technology. That is why Democratic Republic of Congo has every mineral you can think of yet it is one of the poorest in the world. That is why Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong have developed and that is why President Obama is talking about building US infrastructures because they are the engines that run the economy. You cannot export if you do not have harbours and airports to support it. You cannot attract tourists if you do not have airport, hotels, well developed roads and other infrastructures that support it. You cannot move goods from centres of production to centres of consumption if you do not have roads, rail lines and inland water infrastructures to deliver it. You cannot supply the industries with doctors, architects, bankers, lawyers, planners, engineers, teachers, nurses if you do not have the educational infrastructure to deliver it. And you cannot run an efficient and vibrant economy if you do not have the energy and telecommunication infrastructures in place. Look at the state of Akosombo dam. Ghana is shut off anytime it refuses to rain yet we have had parties and their political leaders who have promised us so much yet have delivered so little. Ghana has been experiencing serious disruptions in the energy sector for years and no political party has seen any wisdom to solve it. As a result factories are folding up and are laying off workers and we are waiting for nature to help fill Akosombo Dam before we rectify the problem. Will this do nothing approach to problem solving help our nation? What are we doing with the abundance of sunshine in the country? We have not taken advantage of it, have we? We have sunshine 365 days and we have not tap into solar energy which is cheap and more reliable than hydro. In a situation that mimic problem facing the entire African region, the Finnish president on a visit to Nigeria in March 2009 asked, “Nigerian people have so much sun and wind, why don’t they use it for the generation of light for cooking and every other thing”? She queried, and added that “we do it in Finland for our renewable energy”. Source: www.dailytrust.com, 12 March 2009. The sad story is that Finland and most of the nations in Europe are locked up for most of the year by cold winter but take advantage of the short summer to convert the little sunshine they receive into solar energy while here in Ghana we have sunshine most of the year but do nothing with it. Dwindling rainfall has limited the ability of Akosombo dam to produce the needed energy to support the economy. It is another indication of the useless institutions that we have and lip service paid by the various political parties and their leaders to Ghana's development. Look at the state of the agricultural sector. How many of our farmers have their own tractors and farming equipments to produce beyond the level of subsistence? Virtually all the important equipments needed to make the agric sector viable and productive have to be imported and how many of our farmers have their own resources to buy even the basic machinery to expand their farms? Today after 52 years of independence our farmers still depend on nature for water for their activities despite the availability of irrigation technology and what has the NDC and NPP done so far to help them? Aren't they still using cutlasses and hoes to plant and harvest their crops, technology our forefathers used before they were colonised. Aren't they still relying on nature to plant their crops in this 21st Century? Aren't we still importing rice from India and China after 52 years of self governance? We cannot even feed ourselves after 16 years of NDC and NPP rule. Where are the food sufficiency policies of the two major parties then? What are the many directors at the ministry of Agriculture who enjoy fat salaries and bonuses doing? Although we are in the 21st Century yet our farming practices indicate that we have still not moved beyond the 19th century. Fishermen are always faced with the constant shortage of premix fuel despite the pledge by both parties to help them. This is the more reason why we continue to hunger even though rich soils abound in Ghana. We under utilise our land for lack of political commitment. It is common to hear Ghanaians say that 'Malaysians got their palm fruit seed from Ghana'. Well Malaysians use the oil they get from the palm fruit as fuel for a number of engines including cars, something they accomplished through research and we what do we use the oil for? It is sad to say that Malaysia got independence about the same time as Ghana but they have made great strides economically, while we have been marking time curtesy NDC and NPP. While the rest of the world is moving forward scientifically and technologically we are still marking time because of corruption, poor leadership, poor governance, bogus agricultural and economic policies, politicisation of every national issue, tribalism, ethnicity and military incursions into our social, economic and political life. If Agriculture which provides us about 35% of our GDP is bad, then can our educational sector upon which the development of the nation rest be any better? Aren't the NDC and NPP toying and playing politics with our secondary school system. The SSS (now SHS) was a three year programme when it first started. When the NPP replaced the NDC in 2001 they changed it to four years and now the NDC is considering reversing it to three years. Who are they fooling? Is it not Ghanaians, our economy and the lives of our future leaders? Is the entire educational system anything to be proud of? Just look at the world ranking of Universities and see where the first university falls. Of the about 9,760 Accredited universities in the World, Ghana's prominent universities including University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology only managed to place 5,702 and 6,703 positions respectively in the World University Ranking. Even in Africa, our own backyard they only managed to secure 43rd and 63rd positions respectively. (Source: topuniversities.com/2008) Can we afford to develop the nation with ill-prepared graduates not to mention the millions of illiterates and semi-literates who roam around the cities and countryside? Dr. Ave Kludze, the top Ghanaian born NASA Scientist in a rebuke of our leaders and our education system said in an interview with the CNN "no empire has ever achieved greatness without technology and the earlier the leaders realise this the better". He later told BBC that, "But where African schools have a problem, is that they focus heavily on theory, whereas [universities in the west] focus on the practical - solving real world problems.” Source:bbc.co.uk, Thursady, 12 February 2009. It is abundantly clear that our education system is not producing the architects, engineers, planners, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, social workers, nurses and the scientists that we need in the 21st Century. That is why every major architectural and engineering activity in Ghana is undertaken by foreigners and foreign companies especially from USA, Japan, China, India and the European Union. The Universities lack well trained lecturers. They lack modern facilities such as state of the art libraries, laboratory simulation facilities, studios, computers, and books. They lack them because we cannot build them; we cannot build them because the curricula have not prepared our students to build them. As a result we have to import the equipments and books from countries that have done their home work well and have invested heavily in education notably in science and technology. In many of our universities, Polytechnics and secondary schools lecturers/teachers are still teaching students the same way the 19th century academic institutions taught forgetting that we are in the 21st century. The same notes given a final year student four years ago are still being given to first year students with no addition or subtraction. Lecturers cannot write books for students because they do not have the resources to carry out research that form the basis of any academic material. Whereas students in advanced countries get their hands on books immediately they are released those in Ghana have to wait 4 years or even more to get the same books. What is more the academic facilities including libraries are in a state too appalling to describe. Not a single of our universities can boast of a million volumes of books in their libraries. Even the few text books that they have are so old that information contained in them are useless. Very few books have been published by Ghanaians. Due to this most students have to rely on the notes that lecturers give them. This is state of our universities and the little I say about our Polytechnics and secondary schools the better. The streets of Accra, Kumasi and other major cities in the country are swarmed with children selling ice water, bread, chewing gums and anything that can be hawked. Children head potters are visible every where in Kumasi, Accra, Tema and Koforidua, a clear manifestation of the misery and hopelessness that the NDC and NPP have brought to Ghanaians. These are the children who are supposed to be in the classroom and be trained as future leaders but have to abandon the classroom and scavenge for food because the NPP and NDC do not care about them. When they drive in their expensive tax-payers' Land Cruisers do the NPP and NDC MPs, ministers, Vice Presidents, Presidents and their advisors see the children who live, sell, and are taught by the street in Accra, Kumasi, Tema, Takoradi and Koforidua? Do you know why NDC and NPP keep toying with Ghana's education? Because they want to keep the people in darkness like poorly cooked rice, so no one will rise up to challenge their corrupt and useless administrations. Ask your President or his vice or their ministers where their children are schooling now and you will understand why they don't give a damn about SHS, Poly or University education. Their children are schooling in expensive universities in Europe and North America. And as to how they pay for those expensive fees your guess will be as good as mine. When their children finish their education overseas they stay there and work. They only return to Ghana when there are big contracts where they would make millions of dollars for staying away and doing nothing for the nation, and what do the poor Ghanaians who could not travel to study outside and had to pass through God knows what get? Nothing - no contract, no retirement packages, just poverty. Our research institutions have achieved very little because they are underfunded and the researchers do not have the expertise and the facilities to carry out any meaningful research. A case in point is Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) located at New Tafo in the Eastern Region. Despite decades of its existence we still export raw cocoa beans for peanuts. No value has been added to the cocoa. CRIG has not been able to come up with other ways in which to use the beans to benefit Ghanaians despite the mounting evidence that the beans have several potential uses. Have you visited Korle Bu or Komfo Anokye or any of our hospitals lately? Didn't you see patients lying on the floor even though they are sick and are suppose to be receiving care? If Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye hospitals are crying for resources then you can imagine the situation at Donkokrom. And where is the NDC and NPP that you want to die for or support so blindly? Where in Ghana are mosquitoes not widespread? Are we not still dying from mosquito bites and other minor and preventable diseases? Despite NDC and NPP pledges, our hospitals are without the basic essentials needed to run a hospital not to mention the advanced technologies that save millions of lives in Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe, Japan and America. And NDC and NPP what are they doing? According to peacefmonline "888 out of every 100,000 pregnant women in Ghana who visit the hospital, end up dying. Another expert, whose statistics were even more frightening said, out of every 1,000 pregnant women about 451 die". Source: peacefmonline.com, Thursday, 23 July 2009. That is what it means to follow NDC and NPP. And how about the state of the housing infrastructure? A visit to any village or town gives the same picture of poor housing and poor quality of public services. People are living in mud/thatched houses with bamboo/raffia leafs as roofing sheet with no electricity, potable water and clinics. They live in a subsistence environment without social security, health insurance and are condemned to poverty, desperation and hopelessness. Those living in urban areas are without jobs, without mortgage, and face high utility bills with poor public services. They face constant barrage of water and energy disruptions everyday. In every region the situation is not different. Go to Nima, Agbogloshie, New Town, James Town, Sodom & Gomorrah and see the kind of living conditions and environment in which fellow Ghanaians are living in this 21st Century. People are living in squalid conditions not even fit for animals yet we have NDC and NPP always promising to build us castles, swimming pools and what have you. Majority of the people in Teshie and Nungua have no access to toilet facilities and have to use the coast as places of convenience and even in those places where there are few toilet facilities you could hardly stand the stench. Please you can verify this by going to where Dutch Hotel is situated at Nungua and witness how people troop to the coast in the morning to attend nature's call. On the other hand our MPs, ministers, vice president, the president, their cronies and families live in total luxury with mansions, sport utility vehicles, bodyguards, fat salaries, fat bonuses, house servants and they have all the resources of the state at their disposal. When they leave office they propose special emolument packages for themselves yet they claim to be serving the poor. How can it be? I can continue all day but it is a fact that both the NDC and NPP are a bunch of hungry politicians with no concrete economic and social agenda to move Ghana beyond the level of importing used computers, used cars, used televisions, used underwear and any used thing you can think of. What are all these telling you about Ghana, the NPP, and the NDC? Do we have any option not to vote for them? Why should Ghanaians continue to die and suffer for such people who only think about their stomach? These leaders and their parties always play on the ignorance of the people promising them heaven but failing to even provide them earth. Until we have leaders who have vision like Dr. Nkrumah and are committed to industrialise Ghana beyond agro raw material production and export, Ghana will continue to be classified as a developing and poor country and even though we will continue to vote we will continue to wallow in abject poverty as we have always done. I want to urge every Ghanaian to seek education and knowledge which I believe will help us to question our leaders and demand accountability from them. I also want to challenge the various TV and radio stations to devote money and resources to embark on documentaries on what it really means to live in poverty in Ghana under the NPP and NDC, documentaries and programmes that will show Ghanaians the living conditions of the people in rural areas and expose the lies of the NDC and NPP. And to the parasitic NDC and NPP I say 52 years is enough for us to see real development in the country. Credit: Lord Aikins Adusei (Email: politicalthinker1@yahoo.com

Mali protest against women's law

Women were among the crowd at the rally at Bamako's main stadium Tens of thousands of people in Mali's capital, Bamako, have been protesting against a new law which gives women equal rights in marriage. The law, passed earlier this month, also strengthens inheritance rights for women and children born out of wedlock. The head of a Muslim women's association says only a minority of Malian women - "the intellectuals" as she put it - supports the law. Several other protests have taken place in other parts of the country. The law was adopted by the Malian parliament at the beginning of August, and has yet to be signed into force by the president. One of the most contentious issues in the new legislation is that women are no longer required to obey their husbands. Hadja Sapiato Dembele of the National Union of Muslim Women's Associations said the law goes against Islamic principles. "We have to stick to the Koran," Ms Dembele told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "A man must protect his wife, a wife must obey her husband." "It's a tiny minority of women here that wants this new law - the intellectuals. The poor and illiterate women of this country - the real Muslims - are against it," she added. Source: BBC

Clinton urges fair Angola polls

Hillary Clinton US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Angola to hold credible elections and address the country's past poor human rights record. Mrs Clinton was speaking after talks with senior Angolan officials in Luanda - the third stop of her African tour. Presidential polls in Angola were due to be held this year, but delays mean they are likely to be held in 2010. Mrs Clinton will meet Angola's leader on Monday to discuss closer trade links with the oil-producing nation. Speaking in Luanda, Mrs Clinton praised Angola for its progress since the end of a devastating civil war in 2002. She said she was "encouraged" by Angola's "peaceful and credible" parliamentary elections last year, although she stopped short of calling them free or fair. She also reiterated the need for good governance and strong democratic institutions and said it was important to be vigilant against corruption. China factor Mr Clinton was speaking after meeting Angolan Foreign Minister Assuncao Dos Anjos and the country's senior oil executives. Angola has been heavily criticised for its management of oil revenues, the BBC's Louise Redvers in Luanda reports. Despite Angola's enormous wealth, two-thirds of the population live on less than $2 a day, our correspondent says. In Luanda, Mrs Clinton is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with American oil giant Chevron and the US Agency for International Development (USAid) to promote investment in Angola's agricultural sectors like coffee and bananas. Asked about China's growing influence in Angola, Mrs Clinton said she was not interested in what other people were doing in Angola because her focus was on what the US was doing. Last year, Angola overtook Saudi Arabia as China's leading source of crude oil. The US gets about 7% of its oil from the southern African country. On Monday, America's top diplomat is expected to hold talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos before leaving for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mrs Clinton travelled to Angola from South Africa, where she held talks with President Jacob Zuma in Durban. BBC

Niger 'must return to democracy'

Mamadou Tandja's plans have caused unrest at home and abroad France has called on Niger to restore a democratic framework, after weeks of turmoil caused by the president's attempt to hold on to power. President Mamadou Tandja won 92.5% of the vote in a referendum last week, allowing him to change the constitution and run for a third term in office. The French foreign ministry said Paris would watch closely when Niger held its parliamentary election on 20 August. Meanwhile, police confirmed they had arrested a leading opposition activist. Officials indicated that Marou Amadou was arrested over recent comments he made criticising the referendum. Mr Amadou was previously arrested in late June and accused of sedition, before being released days later. Classic strongman? Mr Tandja's move to stay in power has caused protests at home and prompted some donors to suspend aid. But he says he needs to remain as president to see through various economic projects he has begun. France, the former colonial power, has been among the critics of his recent actions. Foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said the forthcoming legislative election should be "transparent, fair and democratic". "We call on President Tandja to resume dialogue with all political forces and to make all commitments necessary for Niger to return rapidly to a constitutional and democratic framework," he said. The 71-year-old president, whose second term ends in December, dissolved both parliament and the constitutional court to push through the referendum. His backers say he has improved living standards during 10 years in power and deserves to remain in office. The president says he needs more time to complete multi-billion-dollar projects such as a uranium mine, an oil refinery and a dam on the River Niger. But his critics portray him as a classic strongman determined to hold on to power so he can benefit financially from the projects he has started. The European Union has already suspended an aid payment and warned of "serious consequences" for its co-operation with Niger if the president carries through his plans. Source: BBC

Global roots of democracy

President Barack Obama in Ghana President Obama's visit to Ghana came as part of a focus on identifying and supporting ‘good governance’. Ghana and the United States of America are in a position to recognise and promote a shared belief in democratic government. However, as America lays no primary claim to democratic values, the relationship should not be seen as a teacher commending the work of his pupil, but rather as two individuals affirming shared values. Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah, former Ambassador to the USA, set out that Africa must work towards an equal partnership with America and, “move beyond the current donor- recipient relationship”. His focus was on the economic relationship as regards aid, yet the counsel is important politically. For too long and often to its detriment, democracy has been perceived as a ‘Western’ concept. The appropriation and rebranding of certain ideas as belonging to a particular ‘civilisation’, obscures the breadth of contributions to concepts such as tolerance and political liberty. Western hegemony and policies such as Bush’s neoconservative ‘project democracy’ have made the world forget the global roots of democracy. The first example of government by public discussion is often attributed to the Athenian Assembly of the 5th century BC. Yet some of the earliest open general meetings took place in the Buddhist councils, the largest of which was held in 3rd century BC by Emperor Ashoka of India. In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela describes the democratic nature of meetings in his hometown, “Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form”. Mandela’s quest for democracy was not an attempt to introduce western values, but rather a championing of principles from his own community. Accountability, civil participation and consent are core elements in African political history, thus the fight for democracy on the continent must not be misrepresented as a fight to import western ideals. As Alexis de Tocqueville identified, America has played a central role in developing the system we now call democracy. However, liberal principles should not be seen as or distrusted for being solely Western. What Ghana must look for, is a mutual recognition of a shared belief in democracy, not some sort of Western approval of her credentials. The USA has a longer experience of democratic governments and as the influence of Nkrumah’s time in the US showed, Ghanaian institutions can be improved by studying their model. However, this is how the US system must be viewed, one model of democracy. Though we can learn from US experience, African and Ghanaian governance has to be seen in the context of a global heritage of political ideas. Characterising the West as the augur of democracy and liberal politics sends governments to seek approval for principles that are just as much a part of African, Asian or Middle Eastern heritage, as they are European or American. The USA is not the author of ‘good governance’ or democratic values. Ghana’s relationship with America must be seen as recognition between like-minded nations of what constitutes good governance. As Obama said, “I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world - as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children”. Author: Clair Bond

Clashes over Niger referendum

AFP
We told them this would be a fiasco and here is the confirmation Article Tools Print E-Mail Save and Share Clashes erupted as Niger voted on Tuesday in a constitutional referendum to extend President Mamadou Tandja’s long rule amid low turnout after an opposition boycott in the uranium-rich African nation. Niger vote on term limits Niger arrests opposition figure Niger ‘institutional coup’ fears Police fired tear gas at protestors trying to block access to two polling stations in the small town of Illela, in the western Tahoua region, said a police officer who asked not to be named. "The police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators who were trying to prevent the polling," the police officer told AFP. An opposition politician, also speaking anonymously, reported similar clashes in two other localities around Tahoua, a stronghold of Mamadou Issoufou, who is an outspoken opponent of Tandja’s regime. Polling stations across the west African country closed at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) amid reports of low turnout. "Ah really, is there a referendum?" said one youth sarcastically, loitering with his peers in a northern area of the capital, listening to music. "We told them this would be a fiasco and here is the confirmation," said Abdou Kadri, a youth opposed to the referendum project. Several opposition activists were arrested in the southwestern town of Dosso for staging protests, a member of the opposition Alliance for Democracy and Progress said. Interior Minister Albade Abouba confirmed the arrests on a local radio: "Those who were arrested know why... for violating the law." The unrest came as voters went to the polls in a referendum over whether Tandja, a former colonel who has been in power since 1999, could be allowed to rule indefinitely. The referendum has provoked fierce criticism both inside Niger and abroad, but Tandja has forged ahead, raising international concerns of instability in a country that borders on seven others, including Chad and Nigeria. Tandja, who defied parliament and the constitutional court to hold the vote, insisted earlier Tuesday that by holding the referendum he was responding to the will of the people. "I am fully satisfied that I have done my duty as president of the republic in the face of the demands of the people of Niger," the 71-year-old told reporters in Niamey as he cast his vote. "It’s a great day, our wish has been fulfilled," he added. Around six million of the country’s 15 million population were eligible to vote. The opposition had called for a boycott of the referendum. State radio called on people to "go out and vote massively," but turnout had appeared low, while Tandja hoped for a 75 percent participation. "We received the (voting) material on time and opened at 8:00 am, but it’s the voters who are not coming out," a returning officer at a polling station at Sahel school in the capital told AFP. "Yesterday the military were out in large numbers," he added. Soldiers and police voted in a specially arranged ballot for the security forces on Monday. The electoral commission said results from the country’s 19,000 polling stations should be available in five days. Under the current constitution, Tandja is due to step down at the end of his second five-year term on December 22, after a presidential poll. A majority "yes" vote will give Tandja a further three years in office, after which he can run for office indefinitely. In pushing his aim to cling to power, calling it the people’s will, Tandja dissolved both parliament and the constitutional court that opposed his referendum plan. He has assumed emergency powers, ruling by decree this vast country on the edge of the Sahara desert. The opposition has condemned Tandja’s action and likened it to a coup d’etat. Former colonial power France along with the African Union and the United Nations has urged Tandja to abandon the referendum and not trample on Niger’s constitution. The European Union has already frozen budgetary aid to the country, where 80 percent live on subsistence farming, continually threatened by drought and locusts.