When Youssou N’Dour announced this week that he would run in Senegal’s presidential elections next month, the singer probably surprised his neighbours more than his western fans. Mr N’Dour is Senegal’s most famous citizen. He has performed with Peter Gabriel and Sting. He cuts a more imposing figure on the world stage than Abdoulaye Wade, who at 85 is running for a third term as president. In poor countries, singers have often been tribunes of the people. They find themselves drawn into politics. Two singers ran (or tried to) in Haiti’s last election. The polygamist composer Fela Kuti thought he would make a good president in Nigeria three decades ago and so did the salsa musician Rubén Blades in Panama in the 1990s. Mr N’Dour comes from a family of west African griots, or praise-singers. Why shouldn’t he run?

These candidacies make less sense the closer one gets to them. As culture gets more globalised and capitalistic, this old idea of bards standing apart from the power structure becomes dubious. Mr N’Dour is not, say, what the Chilean balladeer Victor Jara was until he was executed in 1973: a peasant eloquent enough to challenge the rich. However humble his beginnings, Mr N’Dour is the rich – reportedly the richest man in Senegal. He owns a newspaper, a radio station and a recording studio. What is more, although we tend to romanticise griots as bards, it would be just as accurate to describe them as court flatterers. Mr N’Dour is the inheritor of this west African tradition, too. He has been an intimate of the incumbent. He supported Mr Wade’s candidacy in 2000.

Mr Wade does not fit the caricature of a west African dictator. He holds degrees in economics and law and has taught law in France. Senegal has never had a coup d’état but a rotten economy, with unemployment close to 50 per cent, sparked protests last summer. Mr Wade has drifted away from the reform platform he was elected on a decade ago. He keeps mucking about with the constitution and has found a legal loophole in the twoterm limit it imposes on presidents. He tried to make his son Karim vice-president. He has blown money on follies, such as a colossal Soviet-style monument to the “African Renaissance”.

Mr N’Dour drifted into opposition. When flooding and blackouts inconvenienced the public he released a song (sung in Wolof to the tune of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”) complaining about them. His newspaper published allegations that the government had bribed bankers and beaten journalists. Shrewdly, Mr Wade has chosen to contrast himself not with Mr N’Dour the singer or politician, but with Mr N’Dour the businessman. He was slow to license Mr N’Dour’s television station before 2010, claiming fear of “foreign” influence.

Even if there have been no credible reports of anyone buying Mr N’Dour’s favour Mr Wade’s fear of foreign influence is natural. Former colonies suffer “blowback” as surely as former colonisers do. In spreading Senegal’s culture to the world, Mr N’Dour brings the world’s culture back to Senegal. Mr N’Dour’s political experience all follows the philanthropic model of western “activism”. He has been the celebrity face of UN programmes against malaria and Aids. He launched an initiative, Project Joko, to give Africans more access to internet cafés. The claim of any celebrity activist to influence policy comes through the marketplace – through capitalism rather than democracy. That is no sin, but it may be a vulnerability.

Not all the traits that make a successful entertainer can be transferred to politics but a good number can.

When Bono and Angelina Jolie importune the world about African hunger, the world indulges them because it has already vetted them. A public that has “voted” for an artist’s hard work, quality craftsmanship and integrity can be mobilised to a non-artistic purpose. In poorer parts of the world, the public also “owes” the artist for putting the country on the map. That poses a potential conflict. Mr N’Dour owes his allegiance to the1/7/12 Beware bards bidding to take charge of court – FT.com voters of Senegal, but he owes his fame and thus his political viability to foreign consumers.

World opinion is playing a bigger role in western countries, too. In 2008, Barack Obama presented himself not just as the candidate America wanted for itself but also as the candidate that the world wanted for America. Last autumn, Mario Monti was appointed a senator in order that he might replace Silvio Berlusconi, whose haphazard conduct as prime minister, it was believed, was prejudicing influential foreigners against Italian debt. It was not considered advisable to allow Italians to vote on the matter. To that extent, Mr Wade is right to worry. The “world” that seeks to fix Africa through feel good concerts and non-governmental organisations is setting a less and less democratic example.

 The writer is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard

The recent revolting development in Ghanaian politics, whereby stigmatization of certain individuals for perceived or real “abnormalities” is fast becoming a diversionary scheme to distract from the gigantic developmental issues that confront our country.

After watching Jarreth Merz’s internationally acclaimed movie, An African Election, and all the commentary and interviews about it, I realized how close we were to violence in 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections. One interview that caught my attention was the one conducted by Paul Adom Otchere of Metro TV. The interviewer made a lot out of having cameras in the EC strong room and I ask myself: What’s the fuss about having cameras in the EC strong room?

Jarreth Merz did a great job by filming the EC strong room during the 2008 elections for his acclaimed movie; “An African Election”.

That’s the way to go if we are to ensure transparency and fairness in our Electoral process. Cameras should be installed in all corners of the EC Strong Room to capture every action that goes on there during the tabulation of election results.

You see I have always said that our journalists whether in the print media or the electronic media are at the bottom of the pack. We have TV stations, and numerous radio stations in Ghana but they don’t do any original and creative work worthy of the name that can receive critical acclaim. They sit on their lazy and incompetent asses and show only copyrighted materials, hip-hop songs and azonto dancing, “charlatans” who call themselves pastors and their cacophonous noise making called preaching all day and night. The hosts of their numerous so called political discussion programmes are arrogant, rude, and disrespectful, they have no ethics and they contribute to the crap and insults on the airwaves everyday, but these same incompetent souls got the audacity to question Merz for making a movie about Ghana’s elections.

Why didn’t MetroTV or whatever it calls itself make a documentary about the Elections and document it for posterity given how pivotal the 2008 elections were in the annals of Ghana’s history?

Merz has done a great job by documenting democracy in Ghana. His movie has received international acclamation, he has done a great PR work about it including a talk about it on TED.com and has been interviewed by numerous media houses abroad and at home. This movie shows the world Ghana went to the brink in the 2008 elections but we were able to pull ourselves back. The people decided the fate of Ghana, it wasn’t left to the Supreme Court to decide even though Atta Akyea and co. conspired with the Chief Justice to overturn the people’s will. Ghana had its own Florida 2000 moment but we excelled and did better than even the United States. The people of Tain decided the elections not a hurriedly convened Supreme Court anywhere.

The Electoral Commission and its Commissioner Afari-Gyan must be decisive, strong, independent and fair even in the face of intimidation. By the powers invested in him as the Electoral Commissioner, he can throw out results from any constituency where the turn out exceeds 100% of the registered voters in that particular constituency. It goes without saying that any constituency that returns an election results exceeding 100% of the voter turnout of the registered voters in that constituency must have the results nullified and thrown out. THIS IS COMMON SENSE.

In an election it is impossible to have 100% voter turnout in any constituency. No way. Chances are none, zero, zip, nil, nada. Having a 90% turn out is a near impossible feat. Some people might have passed away since the last elections and the last voter registration exercise, some may have moved out of the community, others owing to ill health or other commitments may decide not to vote, so 100% voter turnout is impossible let alone the ridiculous situation of having more people than the number of registered voters in that constituency vote. That is fraudulent and must be rejected right away.

If the EC’s Afari-Gyan cannot be firm on this he must resign or be made to step aside. As we go into Election 2012, all stake holders must agree to play by the rules, and the EC must enforce those rules without fear or favour. This is how one observer put it:

“After watching the trailer of the documentary on the 2008 elections, and hearing Afari-Gyan’s comment that there is no African election in which one side has not alleged cheating by the other, I have been wondering whether the time has not come for him to retire or be retired.

I wonder whether he realized that his position that ‘once the ballot gets into the ballot box it will be counted’ lies at the root of his own observation. It is a fact that there will always be some unlawful votes in all elections. But to get to the situation where voter-turnout exceeds 100% – that is more people voted than registered – takes the crown. If he had any spine, he would have rejected the vote count from all constituents where the results showed up a voter turnout in excess of 100%. But he accepted results which showed voter turnout of even 139%!! He might not have been responsible for the 139% voter turnout, but by accepting such a result he was certainly nurturing potential electoral violence. By Afari-Gyan’s logic, we could soon have election results that show 200% voter turnout, provided the votes are in the ballot box!

That the violence did not occur was not due to any divine intervention. It was simply because the NDC felt that even if they won by one single vote they had won: ALL-WIN-BE-WIN!!!. Was that not the case, we would be singing a different song right now.”

The current government’s lack of action in investigating the electoral malpractices that occurred in 2008 with a mind to fixing it so they don’t show up again in 2012 is worrying to say the least. A friend of mine recently remarked “It’s been 4yrs now and the government has done nothing about all the anomalies that took place during the 2008 elections.

It has been very irresponsible and reckless on the part of the government not to had instituted some inquiry to address these issues and has allowed this time-bomb to keep ticking to 2012.Some people were determined to plunge this country into violence but since the government came into power we have heard nothing about these anomalies which nearly sent us over the cliff.”

That’s the crux of the matter. No effort has been made to investigate and punish wrongdoing. So here we go again. Another election year and we are all sitting on thorns not knowing what went wrong last time that brought us so close to violence and how to avoid it this time.

The ELECTORAL COMMISSION’S STRONG ROOM MUST HAVE CAMERAS IN ALL CORNERS THAT SHOULD RECORD EVERY THING GOING ON THERE.

No telephones must be allowed in the EC strong room. People who go there to transact business must know that their every move is being monitored and recorded. People in there must be cut off from the outside world. If phones are brought in they must be bugged, immobilized or all phone conversations recorded. If we do this we can make our elections more and more transparent and the rest of Africa and the world will look up to us for inspiration. They are a lot of things we can do to make the outcome of our elections more credible and also to make the elections itself more transparent , and free from violence and fair to all parties taking part.

The author is a policy strategist, and a social and political analyst based in Tokyo, Japan. He welcomes your comments. He can be reached at; do4luv27@yahoo.com

The government has spent more than $8bn (£5.2bn) on the subsidies in the past year and says it will use some of the money to improve infrastructure.

Labour unions have called for “mass protests”.

Many Nigerians regard cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from the nation’s oil wealth.

The announcement was made in a statement from regulators, which said the changes would begin immediately.

“The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency wishes to inform all stakeholders of the commencement of the formal removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit,” it said.

“Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative and so there is no need for anyone to engage in panic buying or product hoarding,” it read.

Nigeria’s two main labour organisations, the Trades Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress, issued a joint statement condemning the move.

“We alert the populace to begin immediate mobilisation towards the D-Day for the commencement of strikes, street demonstrations and mass protests across the country,” the statement said.

“This promises to be a long drawn battle; we know it is beginning, but we do not know its end or when it will end.”

“We are confident the Nigerian people will triumph,” it said.

Poor infrastructure

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer but most of the available 2 million barrels per day are exported in an unrefined state.

The country lacks refineries and infrastructure so has to import refined products such as petrol, which is expensive.

Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country’s erratic electricity supply.

Petrol prices in Nigeria are currently very low by international standards at $0.40 (£0.26) per litre.

A similar move to end subsidies in neighbouring Ghana last week raised prices by about 15 per cent, oil and gas analyst Dolapo Oni told the AP news agency.

Previous attempts to end the subsidies in Nigeria have prompted industrial action and street protests.

A strike against fuel price rises in Nigeria in 2004 caused most petrol stations to close, leading to transport chaos and a thriving black market in petrol.

The measures just announced could add to the difficulties faced by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who declared a state of emergency on Saturday in areas hit by Islamist violence.

Two weeks on 11^th December, I made the argument that Government had no choice than to raise fuel prices. http://thenewghanaian.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/expect-fuel-price-hike-soon/

I also said this would happen after Christmas or in the New Year and I predicted at least a 15% hike.  I was spot on.  December 29^th, Government announced 15% increases in petroleum prices, except for Kerosene and Premix.  Both these subsidized fuels are “political fuels” used to stave off the inevitable rebellion by the poor but radical fisher folk.

But leaving Kerosene price intact is a conundrum.  There is hardly any kerosene on the market at all, yet large quantities are delivered to the retail stations every week.  There is a suspected cartel that purchases the bulk of the kerosene, blends it and offers it to the trucks as a substitute for diesel fuel.  It makes a lot of economic sense and takes advantage of Government’s subsidy largesse.

It also makes a lot of business sense to the micro “kioskenomics” traders to switch from a commodity that is often scarce and more expensive than renewable Chinese solar lanterns, available on any corner in the night markets.  This is the new substitute product and one that has reduced dependency on Kerosene.  If government does its analysis properly, it should be subsidizing the Chinese lanterns.  Fortunately, they are cheap enough, even though they need to be replaced every month.  But it is a ghc15 replacement and it does not make good economic sense to keep the Kerosene subsidy.

Somewhere in Government, someone must have made the impact assessment and decided to take the chance.  When you increase fuel prices twice in a year, 30% in January and 15% in December, you must gauge the political fallout in an election year, against the alternative benefit of accelerated infrastructure development and economic advantages to voters.

You could also be faced with such limited choice that you take the “damned if I do and damned if I don’t” option and bite the bullet.

After its 5^th IMF (International Monetary Fund) review, Government must have accepted the quid pro quo and agreed to remove the subsidies in exchange for the IMF to agree to nonconcessional borrowing.  With hindsight, the literature is now clear from IMF press release no. 11/469 issued on 14^th December 2011 after the review.

In paragraph 7, the IMF gives a tacit nod for further borrowing.

“The government’s plans for scaling up critical infrastructure investments translate into significant financing needs. While the debt sustainability analysis suggests scope for higher non-concessional borrowing, and some of the planned projects promise significant returns, a further strengthening of debt management and project appraisal capacities is critical to keep the debt burden manageable.”

Then in paragraph 8 it makes the condition for fuel price increase and further upward adjustments in the future.

“While energy pricing has improved, decisive action is needed to tackle the reemergence of costly and poorly targeted subsidies on petroleum products. Following an initial increase, maintenance of prices at cost-recovery levels will be essential.”

From this, my interpretation is that Government “sold out” its fuel poverty alleviation safety net in exchange for the Chinese loan.  I mentioned this in my previous article and I reiterate that even though Government cannot afford to continue to subsidise fuel at $540million a year, the bigger prize was to secure the $3billion loan.  On this score, Social Democracy has taken a backseat for now.

The unanswered question is why kerosene and pre-mix were not adjusted.  Questions at stake.  Did the IMF bend slightly sideways and allow this Government to keep Kerosene and Pre-mix unscathed?  Or has Government not fully made good its promise to lift all subsidies?  Or are we going to see a further adjustment in these “social fuels” later in the year?

All indications are that an NPP Government will not turn to the IMF.  Could it be that the IMF is willing to look sideways to entrench its protégé?

In its 2012 budget, Government planned ghc1.15billion spend from fifty-two “priority intervention programs”.  Of these, fifteen projects could easily be private/public sector arrangements, which would suit Government better and keep its wallet heavier, and some of them need not be supported at all.  Cuban Medical Brigade, LESDEP, Sanitation Guards, CDB Loan Matching funds, as examples.

Government’s gamble is that it can turn the Chinese $3billion loan into visible infrastructure gains before election fever takes grip.  For a risk-averse Minister of Finance such as we have, the decision to give up the subsidies smacks of a political “over-ride”.

It is a Government’s prerogative to decide what safety nets it wants to keep, but I am for removing all except absolutely essential safety nets, provided we convert the value of the subsidies into useful projects to encourage economic development.

Time is not on the Government’s side.  It has at most six months to develop any major program and short of giving out envelopes to citizens, there is very little chance that it can turn this into a political game-changer.

Besides, the Chinese contract is fraught with complicated procedures and the opposition is poised to review the contract and certainly challenge the feasibility and pre-conditions of projects and loan utilization in Parliament.

So the die is cast and the Government has made its choice.  The Chinese $3billion facility is now the means to salvage a political future, substituting a major poverty safety net.

Whether the Government can spin this well enough to stay another four-year term will be determined in the first week of December 2012.

A Ghanaian Dance Craze called Azonto is making waves around the world and threatening to spawn its own YouTube industry as dance enthusiasts try to out do each other by posting the most hilarious and most accomplished Azonto moves on the video channel. The Azonto dance is said to have orginated from the traditional Ghanaian dance, Kpanlogo. Apaa (meaning work) was its original name and it first started in down Town Accra areas like Bukom, James Town, Chorkor and in the port town of Tema. When Azonto friendly hip life is played in clubs and house parties in these parts, you can be guaranteed that the dance floor will be packed with people shaking their hips, pointing their fingers and sometimes mimicking the performance of household chores like washing or doing some ironing.

Perhaps its most famous fan is Ghanas World Cup star, Asamoah Gyan, who in his goal celebrations showed millions of football fans what Azonto was all about. More recently, the most popular Ghanaian hip hop stars such as Sarkodie, 4×4 and Gasmillan have adopted the dance and arranged their music beats to the movements of Azonto dancers.

The world has seen lots of Dance Craze creations ranginging from breakdancing, the Macarena, the Twist and many more but few will beat the exhilirating vigour, dynamism and sheer creativity of Azonto!

Below are a couple of Azonto themed videos, the last featuring Ghanaian actor Papa Nii entitled Obuu Mo. The first two especially the one entitled White Boy Doing the Azonto  indicates the reach of Azonto outside the confines of down town Accra.

Learn about and dance Azonto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTUIlOudlHI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azonto_Dance

http://www.facebook.com/#!/WorldBankGhana

This story is by courtesy of:

http://www.myweku.com/2011/12/ghanas-azonto-dance-craze-goes-global/

Ghanas 2012 National Budget Statement and Economic Policy proposed, among others, to bring the following changes to mining operations in the country: increase corporate tax rate from 25% to 35%; install a windfall tax of 10%; and implement a uniform regime for capital allowance of 20% for five years. It also sought to review the principle of ring-fencing to prevent companies undertaking a series of projects from deducting costs from new projects against profitable ventures yielding taxable income. This was commended by the National Coalition on Mining and the Ghana Mineworkers Union as part of steps urgently needed to improve the contribution of the sector to the economy and people of Ghana. However the Chamber of Mines have gone on the offensive, indicating that the mining sector is already over-taxed and such initiatives are only inimical to their operations. But are these taxes really new as the industry would want Ghanaians to believe and more importantly adequate in ensuring equitable distribution of Ghanas mineral wealth? I offer my opinion

Let me start with whether the taxes are new or not. The mining laws that preceded the current Act 703 clearly reveal that these fiscal measures have always been in the sector and are well-known by the industry players. Prior to the 2006 review, Ghana had the Additional Profit Tax Law, 1985 (PNDC Law 122) on her statutes, but had apparently never been applied. This law was therefore repealed in the current law that was passed in 2006. Essentially, the country had a 25% windfall tax provision until the 2006 review. This therefore makes the recent proposal of 10% windfall tax (which might be killed by the mining industry) somewhat of a mockery, given that gold prices increased three-fold (from US$600 to US$1,800) between 2006 and November 2011. This increment in gold price has not been matched with proportionate increases in operational cost, in fact not even halfway. The massive profits being made by mining companies can therefore not be in question, and the danger in the absence of measures, such as the windfall profit tax to ensure equitable distribution of Ghanas mineral wealth, cannot be clearer. This background therefore makes it economically imprudent and reckless if the government fails to implement the paltry reinstated windfall tax to the latter, given that the rate is 15% less than what it used to be a few years ago and 20% less than what Australia has recently voted for.

The increment in the corporate tax rate from 25% to 35% only takes us back to the level before the 2006 law review. As a matter of fact, the corporate tax rate on mining activities used to be 45% until a downward review to 35% in 1994 by Act 475. It only came as a shock to many Ghanaians when the 35% corporate tax for mining companies was reduced further to 25% in 2006. For some people, the further reduction in corporate tax rate in 2006 was a demonstration of the high influence of the mining industry, as well as few Ghanaians who benefit substantially from servicing the interest of these mining companies. This is particularly so because coupled with the reduction of corporate tax rate in 2006 was a reduction, in the upper royalty rate from 12% to six per cent and the abolition of additional profit tax as noted above. The return of the corporate tax rate to the pre-2006 rate of 35% has therefore not been met with considerable appreciation by Ghanaians who are keenly following developments in the mining sector. According to a report published by the World Bank in July 2011, the 25% rate charged by Ghana over the past five years has been on the lower end of the spectrum of tax rates applied to mining in resource-rich countries around the world. The upward review therefore is a move to right a five-year-old wrong.

Another fiscal initiative proposed by the budget statement was the uniform regime for capital allowance of 20% for five years for mining companies. Until this is approved by parliament, mining companies are allowed to write off 80% of what they consider as prospecting, exploration, and development costs. In this scenario, companies hardly pay profit tax because these costs, determined by them, must be deducted from their profit before arriving at taxable profit/income. This initiative is an important one, but the extent to which it will benefit Ghanaians will depend on its implementation by the bureaucrats. Already what constitute capital expenditure and the boundaries of prospecting, exploration, and development costs are unknown, allowing mining companies to use their discretion. A very worrying reality in Ghanas mining sector is that while it is reasonable to give accelerated depreciation on capitalized value of prospecting, exploration, and development costs, the depreciation laws applied in Ghana surprisingly and painfully covers all assets, as defined by mining companies, including machinery, equipment, and buildings. So until these boundaries are drawn or redrawn, opportunities exist for companies to continue evading tax, making mockery of these fiscal initiatives.

The last of the initiatives for this discussion, as identified in the budget, is a review of the principle of ring-fencing. This is aimed at preventing companies undertaking a series of projects from deducting costs from new projects against profitable ventures yielding taxable income.  This is also good because until mining projects are ring-fenced, the companies can continue to evade tax provided they can start new projects  whether they are feasible or not. And such reckless investments will be financed by Ghanaians since it is at the expense of taxes payable to the country. One keeps questioning the wisdom in maintaining these overly-generous incentives used to attract mining companies in early eighties. What will even be more useful in reviewing the principle of ring-fencing is its application to Ghanas stake in mining projects. The law requires that the state must have a 10% stake in all mining projects in the country. Yet there are several mining projects in the country that the state has zero per cent stake. Besides losing revenue from dividends, it also loses a say in how these companies are operated, especially regarding their relationship with workers and communities affected by their operations. Worse of all, it is illegal.

In summary, while this reintroduction of former fiscal initiatives appears useful they are inadequate to ensure that the mining sector contributes adequately to the economy and people of Ghana. Already there is little or no information regarding the applicability of these initiatives to mining companies with stability agreements with the government, and sadly dominating the mining sector, such as Newmont Ghana Gold and Anglogold Ashanti. It is also not clear whether companies with 15-year or more tax holiday will be included. Without their inclusion, these initiatives will be of little use. Further, the bad conduct of mining firms as regards transfer pricing need to be attended to if these initiatives can be positive. The hint in the budget on addressing the transfer pricing menace must be taken more seriously. Finally, a recent publication by the World Bank entitled Political Economy of the Mining Sector in Ghana published in July 2011‘ which compliments efforts by civil society organizations such as the Third World Network  Africa, must be taken much more seriously to ensure the country transforms her mineral wealth into economic growth and development.

The Weija Dam, perhaps the second largest water reservoir in the country after the Volta reservoir is on its way to extinction. According to experts, the rate at which encroachment and pollution are taking over the lake, in less than 10 years the lake will belong to history and can only be compared to the infamous korle lagoon in Accra.

The dam was constructed in 1978 (construction began in 1974) by an Italian company, Messrs Tahi. It is said to be the second urban water system to be constructed in Ghana, after the Birimso in Cape Coast. The lake is formed over the Densu River in the Ga South Municipality travelling a distance of about 116 kilometres from the Atiwa mountains where it takes its source. The river traverses through three regions: Eastern, Central and Greater Accra where it enters the sea at Bortianor in the Ga Municipality. The Weija lake covers an area of about 9,000 sq. hectares and serves over 2.5 million people in Accra East and Accra West. It has many communities and villages surrounding it. There are islands in it as well.

The lake has provided employment to many people especially the fisher folk who until recently were practicing what can be termed as sustainable fishing. Some have however thrown decency to the dogs and resorted to use of dangerous chemicals in their operations, in their greedy quest to increase fish catch.

Many environmental challenges confront the lake, principal among which are deforestation, pollution and encroachment on the catchment. Communities living along the banks of the lake have cleared large portions of the vegetation surrounding the lake for farming purposes. This has caused the lake to be losing much water due to the drying up of the moisture content of lands surrounding it. As a result of the surrounding land losing protective cover, anytime it rains, sheet erosion transfers huge volumes of sand into the water body causing much siltation and its attendant problems. In addition to clearing land for farming activities, some people also engage in harvesting wood for energy purposes, further destroying the vegetative cover of the place.

Pollution is also another problem confronting the lake. All kinds of waste materials are dumped in there. They range from solid to liquid waste. Due to the poor waste management practices of Ghanaians, communities living along the banks of the lake tend to use the lake as a refuse receptacle: pouring anything unwanted into the water body; household refuse, faecal matter, dead bodies, etc. As a matter of fact, the pollution happens along the entire course of the river Densu, from Koforidua through Mangoase to Nsawam until everything finally assembles in the lake at Weija. Pollution of the lake compounds at Weija as a result of the several industrial and commercial activities which have sprung up in the vicinity. Within the catchment can be found people engaged in various occupations. One can find sand winners, stone crackers, the fisher folk, fishmongers, drivers and their mates, mechanics and people whose activities are less noticeable. The presence of a Police Check Point and a toll booth has worsened matters as a result of the upsurge of hawkers and other vendors in the community. All the waste they generate find their way into the lake, thus compounding its problems. Records indicate that Ghana Water Company Limited, operators of the Weija treatment plant spend close to GHc 40,000.oo( forty thousand Ghana cedis)  a day to treat Water at the dam before it is supplied to consumers. According to sources, the cost of treating water from Weija is far in excess of what is takes to treat water at Kpong, where water from the Volta lake is treated. At Weija, alum, chlorine and lime are used in the treatment whereas at Kpong only chlorine and lime are used. The addition of alum for the treatment at Weija is to remove excessive pollutants. The pollution is so high that several species of fish have become extinct. Information available indicates that some 30 years ago, there were as many as 21 different species of fish. Now only four species can be found. The size of the fish has also shrunk drastically and the daily catch has also fallen. The reason for this is attributed to the high level of pollution of the lake.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the lake is encroachment.  People have encroached on the boundaries of the lake with much impunity, grabbing every available space for any activity or venture, damn the consequence on the lake. A green belt created to check encroachment has been ignored and people are having a field day with private developmental initiatives. Within the catchment can be found houses by the newly rich who in their quest to acquire properties are prepared to do the unthinkable, flouting every regulation and bye law to achieve their objective. Springing up in the green belt are structures of any imaginable size: single storey buildings, palatial mansions, industries, kraals, hotels, ghettoes, mud houses and huts. Indeed the list is a tall one. People sell lands to unsuspecting ready- to- buy customers who in their zeal to achieve their aims do not do any proper search to ascertain the legal situation of the plot of land. Land selling syndicates have sprung up all over the place operated by chiefs, asafoatse, linguists and so called palace elders with gangs of hoodlums called _landguards_ at their beg and call to inflict death on whoever will dare ask questions. The land traders have links and are able to provide dubious documents to the buyers to claim ownership of the property. Once these documents are acquired, dubious or not, the buyers rush to put up the structures. Not even a stop building; produce permit warning on the developing structure can put them off. It is believed they sometimes put the marking on the structures to deter even the local authorities from coming around.

CONSEQUENCES

From the look of things the collapse of the Weija dam is imminent.  If things are allowed to go at this rate, within 10 years, the lake will become like the Korle, so bad that no organism can survive in it. All the fish will be gone. As at now, only four fish species are caught in the lake. Their sizes have also shrunk drastically, a clear warning on coming events. With Ghana_s notoriety in waste management, its obvious that the lake will become a dump site for communities living in the catchment just as its being done on the beaches these days. Already all sorts of waste: liquid and solid are poured into the lake daily. It is just a matter of time and the lake will become a cursed natural resource nobody will like to see. The stench alone will be enough to cause epidemics. Compare the size of the Korle to Weija and put the odour to be emanated from the two water bodies in juxtaposition; which will be more dangerous?

The pollution aside, another looming danger is the imminent collapse of the dam. Should the walls of the dam collapse now, the catastrophe will be beyond imagination. A few weeks ago, floods hit some parts of Accra. Lives were lost and several properties destroyed. The whole nation was in a state of mourning. In 2001, 126 people perished in the stadium disaster when Asante Kotoko played Hearts of Oak. It was international news with all the major news networks focusing attention on Ghana. Pardon me for bringing back some of these sad memories, but the import of this message is that in the event of the Weija dam collapsing, none of the aforementioned disasters will come close in terms of loss of lives and property. According to staff of the Ghana Water Company Limited, the effects will be felt as far as Kaneshie, some kilometers far away from the dam.  Communities like Dansoman, Bortianor, Tetegu, Aplaku and Gbegbeyise will all be wiped out. Panbros with all its salt and salt pans will be totally consumed. More than one million people will be displaced. As for fatalities, it will depend on the time the event will happen. If it happens in the night, God save us, a lot people will continue dreaming on end and will find themselves rendering account of their stewardship before the Grand Old Man. In short, the fatalities will be historic, more than 100 thousand people will die and properties worth billions of Ghana cedis will be lost. Roads will be cut off, bridges will collapse, hospitals will be destroyed; markets, schools, nurseries, lorry parks, homes will all be destroyed. It will be a sorrowful scene, too sorrowful to imagine yet it will happen if we do not start addressing the problems now.

THE WAY FORWARD

Ghana cannot afford to let such a vital national asset such as the Weija dam go waste. Indeed we shall be the laughing stock of the international community if we stayed aloof for such a disaster to occur. People will not understand why we allowed ineptitude swallow us up to a point of self destruction. However, the situation is not beyond repair. WE MUST START TACKLING THE PROBLEM NOW.

The one time solution to the problem is the political will to save the dam. Most of the big time encroachers are politicians or have political leanings. In view of that, they are able to bend or defy the rules always to have their way. For fear of losing votes and possibly elections, aspiring parliamentarians, sitting parliamentarians, aspiring assemblymen and women turn a blind eye to the impunity that goes on in the lake and the dam. Any pragmatic solution to the Weija problem must tackle the bull by the horns ie: take the decisions and let the rules work without fear of losing an election. Any encroacher, whether a political giant or not must be treated as the rules prescribe. If it an issue of demolition, it must be done without fear or favour.

The judiciary must be empowered to handle land issues fairly but firmly. Culprits engaged in land sales in the catchment must be made to face the full rigours of the law and where possible given long prison sentences to serve as deterrent.

The Weija catchment must be re-demarcated and all structures in the prohibited zone must be demolished to save the dam from collapse. It is better to demolish a few structures than losing whole townships and hundreds of lives and million others displaced.

For a long term solution, the place must be made a military zone with a regiment of soldiers permanently garrisoned there to protect the national asset, lives and properties of individuals.

Let us act now to save the Weija lake.

Borrowed from the Financial Times for Discerning Ghanaians

Nigerian-born Toks Abimbola landed in Ghana as he might have done in his previous incarnation as an investment banker: with hand luggage and a room at the Holiday Inn in Accra.
Less than two years later he, his business partner, and the investors backing their start-up, have become the largest commercial rice farmers in the country, with 500 hectares of land under cultivation and another 4,500 hectares still to plant.
It is early days and there is plenty that could go wrong. But the trajectory of Gamco, their company, is of a kind that could break open Ghana’s agriculture sector by showing what is possible in farming when the stars align.
Many parts of West Africa are littered with failed rice projects. These have mostly been piloted by the state, aided by foreign experts and investors, and abetted by development agencies.
The intention is usually noble: to show it is possible to become self-sufficient in food. But when projects fail, they often end up suggesting otherwise.
Rice is one of west Africa’s single largest imports, a drain on foreign reserves and, recently, as world food prices have soared, a significant driver of inflation.
It engenders a precarious dependency. Africa imports rice from meagre Asian surpluses that are being sliced back as consumption grows in Asia. Yet, despite the strategic nature of the commodity, until now, it is hard to point to a single large-scale west African project that achieved its aim.
For all the talk of how central agriculture will be to Africa’s development, farmers trying to scale up production of all but the most strategic crop, cocoa, list the same problems year after year: inadequate storage, poorly marketed inputs and complex overlapping land tenure systems that make it difficult to create the necessary scale.
Ghana is not a place where you can grab land. It is too subdivided and too emotive an issue.
That is why Mr Abimbola’s confidence and the pace with which his group is clearing and planting, at 80 hectares a week, is so striking.
It was in late 2008, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers that the seeds of the project were sown. The west African infrastructure fund Mr Abimbola was trying to raise was dying in the midst of global financial meltdown. So he and his British Indian business partner began researching rice growing as an alternative to unemployment.
He identifies several ingredients of their initial success. One is the time they put in to researching successful models in other parts of the world.
Brazil has achieved spectacular growth in rice production in similar agronomic conditions, so they brought in Brazilian experts, and piggybacked on their extensive research and development.
Another important ingredient was ensuring they grew the right product. “African consumers are extremely discerning. There is no point growing something they are not going to eat,” says Mr Abimbola.
Meanwhile, instead of negotiating an initial lease for the 5,000 hectares of undulating valley they are farming by the Volta river, they agreed to pay a share of revenues annually to the local community, ensuring their interest in the success of the farm.
“You can’t engage in agriculture in Africa without being inclusive. You want the community to develop in line with the farm. It’s bad news if the farm is 10 years ahead,” he says.
Crucially, their business model also involved the collaboration of Ghana’s largest distributor of food and importer of rice, Finatrade. If other projects have failed, or struggled, it has often been because the managers underestimated capital costs.
Typically, before farms could reach the scale necessary to become profitable, credit starts slowing, drying up or disappearing through mismanagement.
Within three years, and with a targeted 30,000 tonnes production, Gamco will be a $100m business, Mr Abimbola believes.
Nabil Moukarzel, chief executive of Finatrade, which has annual turnover of $1bn, guarantees to buy Gamco’s production for cash.
Mr Abimbola says his initial investment has been less than $10m. This was part funded by Summit Capital, a hard-nosed Seattle based hedge fund. Mr Abimbola is equally hard-nosed. “I didn’t leave my flat [in London’s elegant] Holland Park to live in the village. I came to make money,” he says.
The farm employs several hundred workers mostly in their mid-20s. Some are university graduates with more of an appetite for farming than the received wisdom about the urban inclinations of Africa’s educated youth would suggest.
For Mr Moukarzel, selling local rice is more lucrative and less trouble than importing. Buying locally also provides a hedge against febrile world food markets and the protectionist instincts of the government. “We need this to work to persuade the government that there is an alternative to slapping on tariffs,” he says.
The region needs it to work too. Food production is rising up the priority list of African governments, as urban populations grow and inflation fosters social tension. So far, there are few models.
It’s a marathon not a sprint, says Mr Abimbola. Success will come from “disciplined action every day”.

A recent decision by an Accra High Court could have misunderstood the use of the Ex-refinery price differential In the calculation of fuel pump prices and this may force Government to raise retail pump prices if the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) loses its appeal and Government is mandated to carry out the court order.

Simply explained, the court ruled that the ex-refinery differential used in the calculation of the fuel prices is a form of tax and must therefore have Parliamentary approval before implementation.  The detail of the case is captured in a series of articles in most Ghana media.

If you delve a little deeper into the calculation of retail pump prices made available by the NPA and in the public domain, you notice that the ex-refinery differential is used to reduce the final pump price rather than increase it.  In effect, it is a subsidy not a tax.

Using the three most subsidized products; Kerosene is subsidized 70.59 pesewas per liter, LPG 59.98 and Premix 62.12.  In essence the ex-differential subsidy keeps pump prices level and consistent.  Without the subsidies, consumers have to pay far more for the product.

Government’s decision to provide these subsidies is a political one rather than financial.

Should Government continue to subsidise the “poor” persons fuel is another discussion.  Supporting Kerosene, LPG and Premix as well as all the other fuel products is a safety net strategy and Government has hitherto provided up to $45 miilion a month to support its fuel poverty alleviation program.

IMF extended Credit Arrangements to Ghana insist that these subsidies must be gradually eliminated in order that we can sustain debt payments and keep the macro economy on track.  The annual cost to the Government of these subsidies alone is $540million, a figure that is clearly not sustainable even with the oil revenues.

There are also major concerns about election year over-spend and most rating agencies, S&P, Moody’s etc. have issued cautious statements about expenditure overruns in 2012.  And there is cause for concern because Government budget delivery is very dependent on the $3billion facility from the China Development Bank (CDB).

Approved by Parliament, Government is yet to sign on the CDB Head agreement and time is running out for any major project to be completed in 2012.

The other worrisome issue is that the Jubilee Fields are underperforming, due mainly to our non-flaring policy, which is protected by re-injecting gas back to the wells.  The wells are generating only 85,000 barrels a day rather than 120,000.  At this point the 2012 budget is already looking vulnerable seeing as it was based on the high-end production of 120,000 barrels.

Operating partners are concerned that re-injecting the gas will impact future output and raise future costs.  There are also fundamental concerns regarding Government policy on use of Gas which at the moment is going to waste because of a lack of clear direction.

Government options are limited.

If Government continues to subsidise petroleum prices, they lock horns with the IMF and the drawdown of the $3billion Chinese facility is protracted till end of June 2012 when the IMF arrangements expire.  By that time, election fever is on us and time has run out.

If Government abrogates the IMF arrangement they ruin a hard won reputation as a reforming country and international financial support to Ghana will take a huge step back.  Our ratings will fall and our ability to sustain debt payments will be questioned.  The publicity will not go down well.

If Government acts on the High Court ruling on ex-refinery prices, it will, in my estimation have to raise fuel pump prices.  In an election year, and having raised fuel prices by 30% previously in this term, the political fallout could be catastrophic.

But, to ensure that it can access the $3billion CDB facility, Government must remove the subsidies and satisfy IMF requirements.  The IMF is keen to see Ghana succeed, but is guided by two things.  One, the fact that it is an election year and the natural tendency, despite what is promised publicly is to spend to rake in votes, and two, this Government has not met all promises to the Fund.  The subsidy debate has been raging since June this year.

Either way, at the core of the debate is how to secure the CDB facility.  All major infrastructure projects hinge on the $3billion loan.

So we must ignore all the promises from the Finance Minister and the President about protecting hard won gains in macro stability and holding down expenditures.

Government must remove the subsidies and consequently raise fuel prices to save the CDB loan, which it needs to guarantee votes.

But time has run out.  Major project works need planning time before execution.  With just 12 months left to elections, there is limited opportunity to impress voters.  Even after they compromise with the IMF and the CDB loan comes into play, Government has to counter the backlash from Ghanaians.  The 1% vote game-changer from 2008 is a serious concern and the opposition NPP has learnt some hard lessons not to be repeated.

Government must eliminate the subsidies, stay in the good books of the IMF, not only to ensure that it can access the CDB loan, but also because it cannot afford to sustain the subsidies, or fatally, it must comply with the court ruling, erroneous as that may be.

In my estimation, pump prices will have to go up by at least 15% across board.  The only option available is to defer the price increase till after Christmas.