tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53664354076911215302024-02-20T21:54:44.290-08:00CLAIM NO EASY VICTORIESA blog focused on Pan Africanist issuesTeiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-37716557695549846522021-03-06T14:44:00.001-08:002021-03-06T14:47:23.876-08:00ODE TO INDEPENDENCE<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And make our nation remember Domelevo, who was <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bold to defend the public purse<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And cause disallowances and surcharges<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fill our hearts to remember the 67 million Ghana Cedis he
recovered from corrupt officials<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Make us cherish his fearless honesty<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">AND HELP US TO RESIST OPPRESSORS RULE<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With all our will<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And might forever more <o:p></o:p></p>Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-83189505453324056132021-01-01T15:17:00.000-08:002021-01-01T15:17:10.600-08:00SHE1<div> I hated her<div> Immediately I saw her, I hated her </div><div> Young, pretty, fair, skinny, nice bone structure, pretty hair, yes, the works.</div><div> I hated her. Intensely</div><div> I stepped into the consulting room and closed the door silently behind me.</div><div> She looked up from behind the desk, where she was writing with lovely painted fingernails. Pink they were</div><div> She looked up wearing her white coat with that thing they put around their necks
She smiled at me.</div><div> Lovely smile, perfect dental structure, white Colgate teeth </div><div>I still hated her</div><div> ‘Good afternoon’, I said </div><div> She responded in a soft voice. </div><div>The type of voice in CK Mann and Obuors rendition of the song ‘Juliana’. </div><div>Yes, that type of sing song treble voice that replied ‘I yam Juliana’.</div><div> I noted her lovely slim fingers on the computer keyboard. Unmarried as well. </div><div> I walked slowly towards her desk and took the chair opposite her </div><div>Waaa look! She even had time to put on a soft kind of makeup.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> 2 </div><div>This is what I could have, should have, may have become </div><div>But diverted paths, unfruitful years, second guessing and just good old patriarchy with a dose of dogmatic religion sealed in King Agorkoli era cultural suppression</div><div> ensured I couldn’t,</div><div> guaranteed that I didn’t, </div><div>certified that I hadn’t </div><div> I looked at her and smiled. </div><div><br /></div><div> She . </div><div><br /></div><div> This small brilliant, fianga girl who held my future in her hands</div><div> Who looked like she hadn’t missed a single school day in her entire life, </div><div> Infact, may have even been jumped a few classes due to sheer brilliance </div><div>Not because she had opened her legs for any lecturer </div><div>Hadn’t heard the mantra of can’ts, shan’ts and shoudn’ts and couldn’ts </div><div>Hadn’t spent hours in back breaking unpaid labor of potential wives </div><div>Hadn’t been given off for marriage as soon as she had her first period </div><div>Hadn’t been used as free labour to nanny her younger siblings </div><div><br /></div><div>Scrubbing, cooking, cleaning, dusting, selling, buying, changing, peeling, pounding, chopping, hacking, carrying, searching, watching, waiting…waiting…waiting </div><div><br /></div><div>She. </div><div><br /></div><div>She was my personified outcome statement </div><div><br /></div><div>She embodied what I had been fighting for. </div><div> As it was said, ‘by the year 2020, at least 70% of all Ghanaian girls should have at least 8 continuous years of higher education’. </div><div> All the equality marches, advocacy campaigns, petitions, strategizing sessions, mentorship meetings, and so on and so forth </div><div>Today, I have met her. </div><div>My impact statement. Personified. </div><div> Sitting right here in front of me. </div><div> Young, skinny, pretty, brilliant, confident, professional and free
and yes…female.</div><div> African female
oh how can I continue hating her? </div><div>This is the Africa I wanted </div><div>The Africa I have been fighting for </div><div>The future of Africa</div><div> XX chromosomes on full blast </div><div>I smiled back at her
‘Doctor,’ I started </div><div><br /></div><div> -end-</div></div><div><br /></div><div>(c) Teiko Sabah , 2019</div>Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-25575522220265582822020-07-10T00:01:00.000-07:002020-07-10T00:01:33.552-07:00African Woman! Lace up your political boots!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, for those of us
living in Ghana, we have received news of the selection of a woman as a vice
presidential candidate for the largest opposition party- the National
Democratic Congress (NDC). It has made headlines with many touting is as a victory
for womankind. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Personally, I do not rank
this feat as spectacular if you compare this to other women breaking boundaries
right here in Africa. Far from the myth that many competent women do not want
to be embroiled in ‘dirty politics’, prefer to stay passively and submissively
in the background, do not perform as required, etc, I note many strong women
are making strides in governance and decision making in Africa and with their
own track record, not as wives, daughters or assigns of others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Indeed Africa is one of
the few continents to have had several women elected and competent Presidents.
Madam Joyce Banda of Malawi comes to mind, then Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of
Liberia, twice elected, and worked tirelessly to build a healthy and prosperous
post-war society in Liberia. Even more spectacular are the successes achieved
by Madam Dlamini Zuma as the Chairperson of the African Union between the years
of 2012-2017. During her time, I was privileged to be the Mo Ibrahim Fellow
with the UNECA also based in Addis Ababa where is supported my Boss, Carlos Lopes
on several key projects with the AU spearheaded by this phenomenal woman. These
ranged from peace keeping, financing development to pan Africanism and the new
African Renaissance. It was symbolic that fifty years after the creation of the
OAU, a female chairperson championed the creation of Agenda 2063 with its focus
on a strong and prosperous Africa. Madam Dlamini-Zuma continues to be one of my
ardent pan African inspirations and I continue to wish her well as she battles
the COVID Pandemic in South Africa. I will also add Madam Amina J Mohammed, now
a Deputy General Secretary of the United Nations and formerly Nigerian Minister
of Environment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Regardless of the above, the selection of a female
vice presidential candidate is gargantuan news in Ghana when taken into context.
This is a woman who has credibility, candour and years of competence in her
chosen field of experience and most importantly, has accepted the call to
political duty to serve her country. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
joins the list of many other women who also accepted the call to political duty
in Ghana at legislative and executive level in Ghana. I pay tribute to the late
Eva Lokko of blessed memory and currently to Madam Brigitte Dzogbenuku who we
hope continues to be the VP candidate for the PPP in the 2020 elections. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So why is this important?
Because it serves to change the narrative of the competent women shying away
from politics, and not just any politics, but the type of politics that breeds
statements such as ‘all die be die’. Secondly, I sincerely believe she was not
chosen for this role simply because she had a vagina but because she has the
competencies, skills, experience and emotional intelligence to do this job and
do it well. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I ask myself again, why is
this important? In a country that has never really reached more than 11% of women’s
participation in parliament in all our seven elections and placed 150th out of 193 countries by the Inter-Parliament Union as at 1st September, 2016. Indeed, in some
regions, there are no female DCEs and at the committee level, women elected
officials continue to congregate in the ‘social’ committee leaving the economic
and finance committees to the men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is more appalling if you note that Ghana’s Affirmative Action
Bill sits on the lower rungs of priority for policy makers, having been in
parliament in one form or the other for the past 10 years; equitable
distribution of spousal rights in land and inheritance continue to be in
abeyance at the whims and caprices of a patriarchal society; girls continue to
suffer the indignity of early marriages and ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">propertised</i>’ for material gain; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and to a large extent, gender based violence
continue to be culturally acceptable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To make the selection of
a vice presidential candidate truly significant, Ghanaians must look at not
just the female, but the extent to which the solution of a myriad of women’s
issues are vertically and horizontally integrated into our patriarchal
governance systems and challenge and change the structures and systems that
keep many women far far away from being part of decision making processes that
influence their lives, especially now within this COVID era. This is not a silver bullet solution to gender equality but will add
on to the building blocks that together will provide the tipping point. But there
is much more that has to be done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our total aspiration as women
continue to be enshrined in various international and local conventions such as
Aspiration No 6, goal 17 of Agenda 2063, SDG Goal 5 and found in the 12 critical
areas identified in the Beijing Platform for Action. Locally, the Women’s
Manifesto speaks to key targets on women in decision making which continuously
fail to be achieved in more than 10 years since its publication.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Across Africa, I see a
lot more competent women who are warming up on the sidelines, in their
afrocentric running boots, and working towards changing the narrative, not as
wives, mothers or advisers, but as key decision makers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of high international repute</i>, in politics and governance. I see
Madam Dlamini Zuma as President of South Africa, Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
whose accolades and achievement, no one disputes, ready to lead the more than
200 million strong country to their promise land. Both unabasedly clear and
direct about their vision. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Across the continent,
more and more women are ready and willing to pick up the baton, throw off the shackles
of tokenism and sexism and work diligently to make Africa a better place for
their children and their children’s children. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I ask my fellow women,
should you be given the opportunity to serve your country in a political
capacity , I hope your answer will be a resounding ‘yes’! African woman! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lace
up your boots! Lets jump into the river that is called politics!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tsoooboi!</span></div>
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Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-63883044387531887652019-09-12T17:01:00.001-07:002019-09-12T17:01:13.787-07:00Beijing+25 – planning for gender equality <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprdQk4u5zlRfHueu7VP7ZK3UToHbnfqsTS_xD_n3-3wOYlU_s90CSPDTwM80Dok4cbZiimGpmG6uIvynaxrywPKscuwNg8eQ4PDZaLTX-masB-5aJdintZs6G6lj-UH10piKlnywoWGE/s1600/beijingimage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="399" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprdQk4u5zlRfHueu7VP7ZK3UToHbnfqsTS_xD_n3-3wOYlU_s90CSPDTwM80Dok4cbZiimGpmG6uIvynaxrywPKscuwNg8eQ4PDZaLTX-masB-5aJdintZs6G6lj-UH10piKlnywoWGE/s320/beijingimage.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Its been a while since I wrote on
my blog, so I welcome myself back to the blogosphere. Well, many </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
events have
passed without my commentary. But it should not be surprising to you the event
that has brought me out of my hibernation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An issue dear to my heart and to the development of our continent. The
issue of our progress to meeting the Beijing goals. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Where were you when you first heard
of the Beijing Declaration? Do you know its been 25 years since then?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes, next year 2020 will be
twenty five years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BfA) was
passed. Even as a fifteen year old in 1995, I recognised the importance of the
event. And it would take another 10 or so years before I sat in Prof. Dzodzi
Tsikata’s Gender and Development Class (popularly called from WID to GAD) at
ISSER, but even then, I believe this event is what made me a feminist. For us
young girls growing up in the post Beijing era, we were identified by how vocal
we were in which case, we were labelled as feminists and thus ‘hard aka talkative’
girls.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am happy to note that the
values and commitments made at the Beijing platform continue to be held in high
regard and continue to shape the feminist discourse on the African context. I am
happy also to note that there exists a group of hard working and committed
feminists and activists across the continent who continue to work tirelessly
for the implementation and recognition of all the critical areas under the Beijing
Declaration. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does not surprise me
at all as African women have a strong history of mobilising themselves across
the continent. See my earlier post on the Pan African Womens Organisation
(PAWO), which is older than the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The African Union Agenda 2063 makes
a strong case for the role of women, young women and children in shaping the
destiny of Africa as actors and not as passive recipients of aid, training and
charity. So to see a pan African wide effort at consolidating our gains towards
the 2020 event was indeed heart warming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the workshop which took place in Accra in August, I identified myself
as the ‘slim middle’ a generation between the ‘elders’ or those who were
actually at the help of planning and attended the 1995 event itself and the
‘digital generation’, the current force for change who use technology to
achieve their aims. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As we work towards planning the
Beijing+25 event in 2020, these are my top 3 recommendations to ensuring that
the Declaration continues to exist and makes a lasting change.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Number 1- the
intergenerational torch hand over.</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We need to create and maintain an
intergenerational link between the generation of women activists who were
actually in Beijing and the new digital feminists. We need to identify the
common threads connecting our generational narratives – that patriarchy is still
very much intact- and use that as a rallying point for sustaining the changes
gained and creating new standards for women’s rights. Without this focus, we
run the risk of Beijing becoming a theoretical paper based document that does
not resonate with the rest of the continents women. One way to do this is the
realisation that there are different representations of feminism but one
overall goal- to break the hold of patriarchy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Number 2- the hard facts and
the figures</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We need to consciously
build a robust and strong global data collection and analysis system that
monitors and tracks and analyses the progress towards the achievements of the
BPfA. This system should be globally agreed and form the basis for sharing of
anecdotal stories, qualitative and quantitative changes, key success stories
and challenges. An example of such a global data system is the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) under which each goal has specific indicators, targets and
milestones for achievements. We are aware of the successes achieved in the past
25 years- first woman this and first woman that. My personal favourite being
Madam Zuma and her time at the African Union Commission. But are they enough?
There continue to be more women in slave bondage now than any other period in
history, technology has made it easier to traffic women and girls across the
globe; climate change and rapid urbanisation has changed the situation for
pastoralists and traditional communities; wars and famine affect women and girls
the most, with deplorable living conditions in refugee camps. Rape continues to
be a weapon of war. We need an audacious agenda for societal transformation-
now and soon. And require the skills to be able to tell the world what has changed
positively, what is still yet to be transformed and this transformation will
look like. Enough of the rhetoric. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Number 3- linkages, networks
and connections</b>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We must focus on the intra connectedness of the 12 critical
areas and not see them as stand-alone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>deliverables. I will be the first person to confess to an unfinished
understanding of the full picture in relation to the 12 critical areas
identified in Beijing. But my layman’s reading shows a leaning towards ‘siloism’
or the temple analogy where the critical areas stand as columns with no
interlinkages. But as I said, I stand to be corrected. The interconnectedness
of the critical areas must also be linked up strategically to other more recent
conventions such as the SDGS and in the case of Africa, the almighty Agenda
2063. How do we carve out the areas of convergence in a manner to supports the overall
objective? This is important to takeing forward the discussions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>In conclusion</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The asks in Beijing do not need to be
overhauled, they do not need to be revamped or changed. All those ideas
continue to be relevant to the feminist struggles today as they were 25 years
ago. We just need to keep our eyes on the ball and ensure the next generation
have the tools and the interest to keep the fire burning. Kudos to our elders
who took the bold steps. As they say somewhere ‘Aluta Continua’. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">About the author:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Teiko Sabah is the 2013 Mo Ibrahim African
Leaders Fellow with the UNECA. She is interested in Africa and pan Africanism.
She writes a monthly blog on pan Africanism on </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://teikosabah.blogspot.com</span></b></a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b></div>
<br /><br />
<br />
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-82948218233007188332018-10-15T16:39:00.001-07:002018-10-15T16:39:33.652-07:00A meeting with Kofi Annan- my tribute to Busumuru- a great man indeed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In
the early 2000s, I was unfortunate enough to be an illegal immigrant in
Obimanso (loosely translated as ‘overseas’). I had just finished my first Degree
in Agricultural Science and instead of looking for a farm to practice my profession,
was busy exploring life options on the shores of the United Kingdom- London, to
be precise. During those times, the common call to fame to get into a well-paid
job, mostly as a cleaner, was to introduce yourself as ‘Hello, my name is
so-and-so, I come from Ghana, just like Kofi Annan’. And you were always
welcomed with a smile and if you were lucky enough, a 2-hour-a-day stint
cleaning toilets in one office complex or another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Later
on, I had the unique and unforgettable opportunity to meet this man when I was
Mo Ibrahim Fellow working with the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (UNECA). Kofi Annan had come to Addis for a two-day visit to meet with
some high level persons. This had not been shared with the media so the meeting
was quite hush-hush. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My
Boss, the then UNECA Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopes, had worked with Kofi
Annan for many years when Kofi Annan was Secretary General of the UN. Carlos
had been Kofi’s head of the Political Unit. Between the two of them, they
grappled with a lot of the global issues at that time such as the Iraqi war, the
Rwandan Genocide and some genocide that was taking place somewhere in the
European Union. Carlos Adored Kofi Annan. Indeed, Kofi ranked very highly next
to the other mentors that Carlos had, such as Cabral, Adebayo Adedeji and Samir
Amin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Whenever
I had to do research to feed into any of the speeches or documentation that Carlos
required, I knew the persons whose works I had to research, and that a quote
from Kofi Annan will always make the cut. Secretly, I believe that was because
Carlos himself might have contributed to the writing up of some of those
speeches. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Outside
the work environment, Carlos and Kofi remained friends and always kept in
touch. From time to time, Carlos will regale his staff and assistants (myself
included) with wonderful stories of how he and Kofi worked under pressure and
how much he (Carlos) had learnt at as a close Aide to Kofi. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
if Kofi Annan is in Addis for a hush-hush meeting with who-and-who on
what-and-what for something-and-the other, I knew that my Boss, Carlos will
most definitely be called upon to sit in the meeting-that-did-not-take-place-because-Kofi-Annan-was-never-here
or have lunch or dinner with him. And I so knew this was my opportunity to meet
with Mr. Annan. I knew this would be one of the very few opportunities I would
have for a one-on-one meeting. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
early in the morning, I positioned myself right next to Carlos’ office, waiting
for him to arrive. I informed Mestawet, Carlos’ able secretary that she should
let me know when ‘Sir’, as we called him, arrived as I had very important
business to speak to him about. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When
Carlos came into the office, I allowed him the requisite 5 minutes to enter his
office and settle down and then I barged in with my request. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Good
morning, Sir’, I said respectfully, ‘we were going through your agenda and
meetings for the day this morning and wanted to check with you on this-so and
so- information’. I started. We discussed a few of the research I have had to
do for him and he provided critical and useful advice on how to improve on my
work. But I am not sure I was listening hard enough. I was waiting for the
right opportunity to make my request. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At
the end of the meeting, I thanked ‘Sir’ and prepared to leave. He had not
mentioned that he was meeting Kofi Annan later on in the day at a 5-star hotel
in Addis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘wow!’
I thought to myself, ‘this must be a really high level and secretive meeting’.
How do I get in? I wondered?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
I decided to bite the bullet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Sir;
I said ‘I notice from your calendar that you have a 1 o’clock meeting with Kofi
Annan, would you require any support because I would like to meet with
him’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked meekly and straight to the
point. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Carlos
looked at me and chuckled.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Rebecca’,
he responded, ‘that is possible, but I will not require note taking support
during this meeting as it would mostly be informal. He noticed my crestfallen
face and quickly concluded, ‘ I will speak to Kofi so that you can meet with
him later, after I have met with him. Get ready to come to the hotel at 2 pm.
My meeting with Kofi starts from 1pm to 2 pm so you can meet with him immediately
after. Come to suite number so and so’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Thank
you Sir’, I responded gratefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
am not sure I was able to concentrate on much between the 9am meeting I had
with Carlos and the time I left for the meeting. Was I wearing the right colour
suit? What questions would I ask him? How will I begin the conversation? I
pondered and fretted all through the morning. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Due
to the high security around this particular hotel, the taxi I had picked to
drop me there refused to go near the hotel, so I had to get down at the
junction, about a mile from the hotel gates. I had to walk in the mid-morning
Addis Ababa sun to the hotel. Addis is not as hot as Accra, but walking a mile
wearing trouser suit and heels is not a comfortable venture. When I finally
arrived at the hotel entrance. I was sweating. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Thank
God I came early,’ I said to myself, ‘at least I will get to rest before I meet
with my hero.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Kofi
Annan was not my hero for anything he had done but for improving the visibility
of the Ghanaian and staying true to his roots. I remember walking the streets
of France a long time ago and hearing a voice on one of the numerous TVs that
line the high street shops. I immediately knew the voice was Ghanaian and when
I turned to watch, Kofi Annan was on TV. This was one thing I admired about
him, the fact that he never tried to hide his accent regardless of the many
years he had spent within the UN. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
got to the hotel at about 1.30 pm and when immediately to the suite where my
boss was meeting with Kofi. The hotel receptionists themselves were not aware
of who was in the particular suite I had been informed to report to. No
problem, I know my way around this particular hotel as it is a common place for
UN Staff to stay. I will find it. In my rush to come, I had with me only my
handbag and a mobile phone. I felt unprepared. What question was I going to ask
him/ how do I ensure I sound intelligent?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So,
basically, I had implemented the core of Matthew 7:7- ask and you shall receive-
and been granted my request to meet with Kofi Annan whilst he in Addis Ababa
for a hush-hush meeting and I was unprepared to sound intelligent. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
realised that I had some time before meeting with Kofi Annan so I could use
that time well and do some research on google on my mobile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Surprisingly,
as with the custom for high-level persons who visit Addis, there were no
security guards at the entrance of his hotel room. Only my Boss’ personal body
guard was standing outside the door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Hello
Dereje (not his name)’, we greeted amicably. I am sure you are asking why I
disclosed the name of Carlos’ secretary but not his personal body guard. Well,
such is life. Let’s get on with the story</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘Sir
didn’t inform me that you were supposed to be in this meeting, ‘he said,
sounding confused, ‘I would have informed you when we were leaving the office, do
you want to join the meeting now?’ He asked. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">No,
I am meeting with him separately after Carlos.’ I answered cheerfully. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘ok,
then, let’s wait together’. He said. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
we sat outside the hotel room door in the corridor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Waiting
has never been a favourite of mine. I tend to fidget a lot. Especially as in
this instance, the corridor was long and empty. This meant that anyone who
passed by would wonder why you were standing in front of a door. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Dereje,
as a personal body guard to Carlos, was used to waiting. He could stand for
hours in an at-ease military position, scanning the two ends of the corridor.
He was my first example to experience the work of personal body guards. Good at
his job, as he was quiet, stealth, efficient and deadly…with his pistol always
discreetly hidden. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We
waited. And waited and then waited some more. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Finally,
around 2.45 pm, the door opens to Kofi’s suit and the two friends come out
smiling and laughing together. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘oh!
Rebecca, you are here!’, ‘my boss said. Turning to Kofi Annan, he said,’ this
is the lady I was telling you about.’ And introduced me to Kofi Annan. I
goofily shook his hand. Kofi welcomed me warmly with his characteristic wide
smile and his eyes looked deeply into my soul. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As
my Boss and Dereje left the hotel, I went to see them off. Kofi had requested
some time before he was able to see me. No problem for me. I returned to the
doorway and became an unofficial sentry on duty, standing behind the door
waiting for my turn to meet with this icon of peace. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">After
about 10 minutes of waiting, I became quite concerned. I was sure there was no
one in the room with Kofi. That he was there alone. So it wasn’t as if he was
in another meeting. Since I was standing outside the only door to the room, I
would have noticed if someone else had entered. So why was he not coming out to
meet me? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Anyway,
he is a very busy man so I am sure he may be responding to some urgent emails
or something. So I waited another 10 or so minutes. Still silence in the room
beyond. Then I began to think about the folly of my situation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘woman’.
I told myself,’ why are you here alone? Why do you go to meet with a man alone
in a hotel room?’. so many things are very inappropriate with this setting you
yourself have provided.’. I began to worry about any possible consequences of
this situation. I started to think through any self defence mechanisms that may
be available to me. Maybe biting or kicking as screaming will not work; the
entire hotel room floor seems to have been deserted, not even the hotel
cleaners were on the floor. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘what
situation is this that I have put myself into?’. Should something untoward
happen, how will I explain myself when I had specifically requested for this
meeting, left my office to come all the way to this place, and been seen by a
few people standing outside the door waiting to enter’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
what should I do now? I asked myself. Should I abandon meeting with the person
I have admired and followed all these years because of a slight, very slight
possibility of potential unruly behaviour, which to all intents and purposes
may be the objects of imaginations of my own very dirty mind? What sort of
blasphemy and sacrilege was this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or
should I wait to have this one in a million opportunity and be bold and have a
good discussion with the man of the millennium. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As
I pondered over my options, I more and more saw the ludicrousness of my
thoughts. This is a man who has led the entire United Nations’ for 10 whole
years. Had won the Nobel peace prize and gone ahead to do many many good
things. He had mentored my Boss Carlos and many other high level individuals. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘shut
your naughty thoughts, you bad mind’. I said to myself. I will wait. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
I waited some more. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Walking
back and forth cross the carpeted floor of the six floor hotel building. An ideal definition of the word 'perambulating- walking for no specific objective'. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Why
is this man making me wait? Perhaps he is asleep, I thought to myself. After
all, he is an old man, past his pension age and will need his regular beauty
sleep. Ah, but if he is going to sleep, he should inform me to leave? How can
he just forget about me? I spoke to myself indignantly. Maybe this is the way
he deals with people he does not want to see, bore them to death by waiting so
that they will leave of their own accord. Hmpfh!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Maybe
I should just leave. That will show him, the old man! How can he keep me
waiting this long? Doesn’t he know that I am a busy person with work to do? That
I am a Mo Ibrahim Fellow and have places to go to? I had then been waiting for
almost an hour since Carlos left at 2.45 by which time I had already been
waiting for about an hour. My feet were killing me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What
should I do now? How do I proceed from here? As I paced some more in front of
the door. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my anger and frustration,
I knocked loudly on the door and in that instance asked myself why I hadn’t
thought about that option 10 or 20 or 30 minutes ago? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
the answer had always just been right here with me. Applying the Tony Dogbe
principle of Matthew 7:7. …knock and the door will be opened to you…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my frustration, I think I knocked a tad bit
too loudly. The sound itself startled me. ‘well, serves him right for making me
wait’, I said to myself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">After
a few seconds the door opened. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">hello’,
said Kofi, ‘sorry to keep you waiting. I was working on a draft document. Come
in’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Infact,
to tell you the truth, I think he had totally forgotten about me and was taking
a nap. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
walked into a decent sized hotel room, noting that this was a suite with a
parlour, or what we call chamber and hall. So the open space had chairs and
tables with an inner room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">He
invited me to sit down. I sat. and all my intelligent questions went straight
out of my head. In retrospect, it felt a bit like playing the video game called
‘Mario’. When you have gone through umpteen stages killing mushrooms and
turtles by jumping on them and throwing fireballs, sometimes losing your life
in the process (thankfully video games give you three chances to win) and
sometimes gaining more lives. You then arrive at the stage where you have to
battle the dragon, so that you can save the Princess, only to realise that you
are on your final life and all your arsenal is finished. A humbling experience.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So
I introduced myself in my most Ghanaian dialect and informed him that I was
happy to have met him. The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes. I cannot tell
you what we spoke about as I would then have to kill you. But he was
insightful, witty and very kind. He gave me some good advice that I still use
in my work. He spoke to me as a person and not as a nuisance, though that was
what I was. Overall, a thoroughly memorable experience. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As
I prepared to leave, I requested for one little favour. I would like to take a
picture with him. He readily agreed. But how were we going to take a photo as
it was just the two of us in the room? He was also getting ready for another
meeting and could not go with me to the hotel lobby. Problem solved, that is
why the reverse camera exists. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This
was in 2013 when ‘selfie’ was not yet a common word, at least not in the
circles in which Kofi and I operated. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
immediately whipped out my iPhone 2 and reversed the camera to take the
picture. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">‘oh’
he said’ give me a moment to put on a jacket. He went into the inner room and
emerged with a dark blazer over his casual white shirt. Sir, I said, maybe you
can comb your hair a wee bit as well? He laughed and went back inside to comb
his hair. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Click
click. I went with my reverse camera. Kofi making sure his good side was
captured in the photos. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
realised that as a public personality, he had to look composed and well-dressed
at all times. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We
agreed which ones to use. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
said my farewells and left. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
don’t remember how I got into my office. I don’t remember how I left the hotel,
which taxi I picked, who I saw and what I did. Cloud 9 really existed for me
then. I had just had the most intense experience of my life and there was no
one to share it with, at least no one who will understand that feeling well
enough. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
remember getting into my office and seated at my desk. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As
Kofi is laid to rest, I remember him as an icon for peace but also as someone
who has inspired the persons who mentored me. His life and good will give testimony
to his contribution to mankind. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
world has lost a great person. But we will remember your good deeds. My
thoughts go out to your lovely wife and your children and wish them well in
these trying times. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">My
further thought goes out to my boss and mentor Carlos, whose picture taken at
Kofi Annan’s funeral depicts the extent of his loss. Sir may God give you
strength as well in these trying times. We know you will continue to carry the
ideas of Kofi Annan as your work as the AU representative to the Europe and in
all your other roles…as well as a Board member of the Kofi Annan Foundation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">God
bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Damirifa
Due, Busumuru Kofi Annan. You came to serve. As a servant of the people and
made your mark. A mark that will last forever. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">May
you rest in perfect peace. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Share
with me any experience you may have with meeting Mr. Annan by leaving a comment
in this blog or at <a href="mailto:teikosabah@gmail.com">teikosabah@gmail.com</a>.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">About the Author:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Teiko
Sabah blogs about Pan Africanism at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://teikosabah.blogspot.com/">Claim No Easy Victories</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-91705941804776885742018-01-01T02:48:00.001-08:002018-01-01T02:48:41.343-08:00Oppong Weah- my inspiration for Africa!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyHUTkGyC_xYWZvoFl5EehFxCDM-uEvjAwK7xW4WiQUAfOgib_0-BNQ1C2HOPmoQcHioKKaBchpntCTVmo-JrIOkU-0Ih4HmASB0FZo3H7lTSNJh3s6mc_FQSQGDFJ_LFPMvQ4vdPCes/s1600/Opong+Weah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="709" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyHUTkGyC_xYWZvoFl5EehFxCDM-uEvjAwK7xW4WiQUAfOgib_0-BNQ1C2HOPmoQcHioKKaBchpntCTVmo-JrIOkU-0Ih4HmASB0FZo3H7lTSNJh3s6mc_FQSQGDFJ_LFPMvQ4vdPCes/s320/Opong+Weah.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was
naturally a pessimist. Full blown and unapologetic. The glass was always half
empty for me. The-sky-is -falling, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what
good can come out of Bethlehem’</i> sort of person. Why not? Living in Africa
in itself a big risk- the 6 killer diseases range freely here, armed robbers
and 419ners, civil war , drought, famine, you name it. Every day was a
blessing. Seriously.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also didn’t help that my training made me so
pessimistic. NGOs always base their projects on the ubiquitous, pervasive and
ever present (3 words meaning the same thing) ‘problem statement’. This very
important part of a project proposal is designed to state in very graphic and
detailed manner what is wrong with any chosen project, making the case for
donors to therefore see the need to put in their money to solve this problem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a competitive fundraising world, the more
detailed, graphic and gross your problem statement, the higher the probability
that you will get funding for two, three or five years. During the project
period, 50% of your time is spent on writing reports, lessons learnt and
attending conferences where you learnt new methods to better identify, state
and clarify the problem. This puts you in a better position at end of project
to restate the emerging problems and trends for which you require another two,
three or five years of funding to address. And the cycle continued</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So it came as
a surprise to me when my mentor and friend Carlos Lopes saw, and continue to
see hope, in the Africa Rising agenda. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘Really?’ I
said, ‘is Africa really rising? From what and to where?’ and how long will it
last? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Carlos is the
unapologetic optimist about Africa. In Africa, he saw only positive prospects
even through the times of the Libyan uprising which saw the death of Muammar
Gaddafi…and the loud silence of the African union (they were more interested in
planning AU@50, in my opinion), pirates in the Somalian waters, almost civil
way in Cote d’Ivoire and even Ebola in Guinean, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Carlos had unrelenting hope in Africa’s youth, promising economic growth,
social uprising, technological progress and the resilience of Africa’s women.
For Carlos, there was no ‘problem statement’, only ‘the promise of the future’.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Eventually,
some of that optimism rubbed off on me. But it took me some time to unlearn the
tricks of my trade, which I had perfected over 15 years of writing proposals
and to which I had a full tool box of… (Ahem) tools such as problem tree,
solution tree, the 5 ‘W’s, fish bone or Ishikawa, log frame, outcome mapping,
PEA, PEST, STEP, PESTLE, PRA, RBA etc. I have re-leant that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Africa Rising is not a rhetoric. It actually
is happening. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So it was not
a surprise that the runoff for the Liberian Election was being delayed by a
court case. George Oppong Weah and the current VP in a legal stand-off. Of
course, incumbency will always work to the advantage of the incumbent. However
I still believe in the mantra of ‘power to the people’. Kudos to the people and
the institutions of Liberia who have made it possible for an illiterate
footballer to rise from the slums to become President. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I am even
more intrigued by Oppong Weah himself and his tenacity in all this. So the
analysis twelve years ago, when he stood for elections for the first time, was
that even with his millions, he did not have a high school certificate, let
alone university degree. We heard the conspiracy stories which got him to lose
the run off, déjà vu, in favour of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. However, in the
twelve years when he was in opposition, he did not just stand on the side-lines
of history waiting his turn to be president; he did one thing that I highly
commend. He ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sharpened the saw’</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Stephen
Covey, in his widely acclaimed book- the 7 habits of highly effective people,
states the seventh habit as ‘sharpening the saw’. This habit is about learning,
relearning and feeding back the learning into any skill or trade you have. This
is calls ‘learn, commit, do’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Covey
postulates, and rightfully so, that it is not enough to move from dependence to
independence (the first three habits) to interdependence (the next three
habits)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but also to continuously improve
yourself in both personal and professional spheres of influence… in other
words, to ‘sharpen the saw’. Anyone who cooks knows that even the sharpest
knife will become blunt with constant use and that once in a while, it is
important to sharpen your knives to be able to continue to get the most out of
it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was privileged to do the entire 7 habits course in one of my previous
roles. This training supports leaders to understand and to use practical
methods to ensure they continue to be highly effective. One of my course mates
did not agree with the underlying philosophy behind Stephen Covey’s work. His
philosophy that a person, by his own skills, can become highly effective by
himself, this friend believed that the systems and structures, i.e. the
environment in which a person lived in, had a lot to contribute to a person’s
success in a way that made the 7 habits deeply flawed. I agree with him on that
but also note that the extent to which a person can be successful involves both
the environment, and how a person understands her surrounding environment
enough to utilise the 7 habits to her advantage. But I digress…back to the new
President. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">During the
twelve years Oppong Weah was in opposition, he sharpened his saw. We are told
that he went to school, became a senator, run as vice president, etc. in some
he was successful, in others he was not, but in all, he learnt lessons and used
them to move on the upward spiral of learn, commit, do with every experience
giving him a deeper understanding of these habits. In all truth, I think 12
years of sharpening the saw will make Oppong Weah a better president. Sometimes,
we have to be grateful for the time spent in the wilderness of life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Oppong Weah
is an important jigsaw in the African Union’s vision </span><span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">of: “</span></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An integrated, prosperous and</span></strong><span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">peaceful Africa, driven
by its own</span></strong><span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">citizens and representing a dynamic</span></strong><span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">force in global arena</span></strong><span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.” Oppong
Weah is my inspiration for 2018. Africa can indeed become prosperous by us and
for the benefit of our citizens. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For a self-confessed pessimist now
turned Weah-timist (and cautiously optimist), I am blown away by the trend of
change on the continent. One victory a year. In 2017, it was Nana Addo Akuffo
Addo becoming President of Ghana after 8 years in opposition, in 2018, the
story of democratic change is in Liberia. I have hope for Cameroun, Togo,
Rwanda and almighty Uganda. The winds of change are blowing, bringing with it
hope, positive change, stability and prosperity for all African citizens. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On a wonderful aside, I recently read
a book about the meaning of Chinese names and how they are linked to the epoch
in which persons were born or to the hopes that their parents had for them,
very much in line with African names. One name that resonated with me was Zhen
Hua meaning Vibrate the Universe. I look forward to Mr. Oppong Weah vibrating
the universe, beyond his boundaries!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="style5"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy New Year, Mr. President! And to
you, I give the words of Cabral <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘…tell no
lies claim no easy victories, …’.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">About the author:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Teiko Sabah is the 2013 Mo Ibrahim
African Leaders Fellow with the UNECA. She is interested in Africa and pan
Africanism. She writes a monthly blog on pan Africanism on </span><a href="https://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://teikosabah.blogspot.com</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-12930324752176515802017-12-10T15:09:00.002-08:002017-12-10T15:09:55.017-08:0016 days is here again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci5nJS13sb7lZqBrRjeN104SWkAjSB1YSJpBp_WX0TIZPf4tk4pSjpkM9P1vaSAuoKCQHq4O_Zv-RBfFdN3QIX7Y1-Glj3hqOOP-yF2BRQT92XZlTA-N9hQ56L_55cZnUlkrVtoiSc7g/s1600/images+16+days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci5nJS13sb7lZqBrRjeN104SWkAjSB1YSJpBp_WX0TIZPf4tk4pSjpkM9P1vaSAuoKCQHq4O_Zv-RBfFdN3QIX7Y1-Glj3hqOOP-yF2BRQT92XZlTA-N9hQ56L_55cZnUlkrVtoiSc7g/s1600/images+16+days.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yes it is and now over!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My question to myself when I first heard of
this 16 days, why do we need a whole 16 days to celebrate one event?’ all the
other events are just one day abi? But I have come to appreciate the importance
of this day. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">16 days of activism against Gender based violence is
the period between 25<sup>th</sup> November (International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
10<sup>th</sup> December (Human Rights Day) each year. This period is used to
galvanise action to end violence against women and girls across the world.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Facebook recently reminded me of a memory that took
place a few years ago. I was privileged to meet with Kofi Annan on one of his
private visits to Addis Ababa during my time as a Mo Ibrahim fellow. The interesting
part was that I met with him alone in his hotel room. We had an interesting
discussion about life and he gave me seriously great advice (some of which I have
forgotten… I was too awestruck!). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This memory is of interest to me because of the on-going
Hollywood scandal of powerful men using their power to abuse and rape young
women who come to them in lower capacities. I met with a powerful man and he
treated me with respect. There was not a moment when I felt abused or
objectified. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left that meeting better
than I entered and the memory of the meeting will last a lifetime. Simply priceless.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhp7auKG09oEkc_mdKvNSwqtEAmxlZ_M1a6tMDr34-A2WqHQDEhi-0xOl9w5bDy59HLLfJHXDtaCkbGODzyeD8uSbkzgsIhUDV1jloPNvPELABlP-nEpNxB98cLU1XhtXimEtsyKxi3o0/s1600/images+16+days+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhp7auKG09oEkc_mdKvNSwqtEAmxlZ_M1a6tMDr34-A2WqHQDEhi-0xOl9w5bDy59HLLfJHXDtaCkbGODzyeD8uSbkzgsIhUDV1jloPNvPELABlP-nEpNxB98cLU1XhtXimEtsyKxi3o0/s1600/images+16+days+2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The continuous mistreatment of colleagues and friends
just because they have XX chromosomes, must stop. It is good to know that more
women are willing and bold enough to look beyond the stigma and speak out. The hashtag
‘<i>me too’</i> has been trending for some time now and is, once again, bringing how we
treat our women to the table for discussion. A subject that has been taboo for
so many years, is being exposed in the most shocking of ways. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Once again this year, we celebrate 16 days of activism
against gender based violence. The statistics are shattering…one out of three? Wow.
And we sit idle? Should we accept this? Should any society accept this? There is
work to be done and it has to start with you and me and with our sons and our
daughters. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This year, I was privileged to join an event that
celebrated the 16 days in a unique way- advocating for the dignity and rights
of alleged witches. The advocacy directed at the traditional inherently patriarchal
system that perpetrate this out-dated custom and the gatekeepers of the above-
chiefs, shrine leaders and local opinion leaders. Not surprisingly, our best
advocate was also from the customary system…a traditional chief who is working
alongside these alleged witches to ensure their reintegration into their local communities
as well as a wider level change of custom as it affects women simply because they
are women. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On that note let me take you to Mozambique on July 11,
2003, the African Union adopted the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maputo_Protocol">Maputo Protocol</a> and
this entered into force two years later in 2005. This ground breaking protocol
seeks to bring women’s rights issues back on the agenda and specify what African
governments will commit. This document has had its fair share of challenges and
backlash but it has stood its ground. The most important section to me today is
Article 5 which speaks as about the ‘elimination of harmful practices’. This clause
(d) of this article is an omnibus clause that enjoins state parties to ‘protect
women who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practise or all other forms
of violence, abuse and intolerance’. This is in line with Ghana’s Criminal and
Other Offences Act which criminalises all harmful offences against women…including
trail by ordeal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I do not think that it is coincidence this years the
16 days period is the same time all these accusations of sexual harassment is
coming out…some of them as old as I am. But one thing I am clear, there will
come a time, and surely sooner than we expected, when vulnerable women will be
protected and not ostracised from their communities because someone had a bad <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dream about them; and widows are not beaten to
death by sticks and stones due to accusation of witchcraft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Happy 16!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Share with me how you spent your 16 days by leaving a
comment in this blog or at <a href="mailto:teikosabah@gmail.com">teikosabah@gmail.com</a>.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-57382913068591868852017-06-08T15:28:00.003-07:002017-06-08T15:28:36.338-07:00 INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED WOMEN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The debate between gender
equity and gender equality has been raging since the times of our foremothers. We
know for a fact that due to the historical and social disadvantages that women
have suffered for so long, many a times, there is the real need to support
women to come up to a level where they are able undertake, as per Caroline
Moser, their reproductive, productive and community management roles in a
manner that adds to society and to their worth as individuals. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My favorite African heroines,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Madam Dlamini Zuma have proved that women’s
contribution make a difference in our lives.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Whilst gender equity has
been defined as equal treatment simpliciter, equality on the other hand, leans
towards the notice of fairness and justice. The analogy is one of two children,
one who is healthy and the other is malnourished. <span class="renderedqtext">The
malnourished child deserves to get extra nutritious food and care whilst the
healthy child must be maintained to ensure she continues to be healthy. That is
equality.</span><br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Similarly, <span class="renderedqtext">gender equality and gender equity
has clear distinction.</span> <span class="renderedqtext">Treating women on par
with males when it comes to property rights, when it comes to job and
promotion, when it comes to economic and social independence is gender equity.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="renderedqtext">While providing women with affirmative actions in a
patriarchal society, providing them leave accompanied with salary when they are
pregnant, providing with prenatal to neonatal to postnatal care, providing
better health care as they are more prone to calcium deficiency in post
menopause phase, etc. constitute gender equality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to celebrate some of the greatest
inventions that have supported the gender equality paradigm to make women more
able to compete in the public sphere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In no particular order,
here they are;</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
WASHING MACHINE</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
renowned economist and author, Ha Joon Chang, is of the opinion that the computer
is not the greatest invention of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century. He postulates, and
I wholeheartedly support his hypothesis, that this award should be given to …….drumroll…….the
washing machine. This invention relieved women of the burdensome but necessary,
time consuming but important chore of repetitiously washing clothes, wringing
them, drying and ironing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9721147/Women-spend-half-as-much-time-on-housework-today-compared-to-1960s.html">informal
study </a>of almost 600 women done in the UK reveal that women now spend only
about 18 hours a week on housework as compared to 44 hours a week in the 1960s.
This reduction can be attributed to the introduction of technology such as the
dishwasher!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
freeing the woman of this burden, she is able to put her mind and body to use
of other equally important areas such as studying to pass an exam, learning a
trade or applying for a job. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More
and more in Africa, the washing machine is becoming a staple in most homes, (provided
you have stable electricity and can pay the exorbitant electricity bills). It
is a fact that not all African cloths can be washed in the washing machine
without some form of shrinkage, but the utility that that the washing machine
provides goes a long way to reduce the drudgery of washing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
FOOD BLENDER</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
remember learning how to grind pepper with two stones. One stone is large,
smooth and flat and the second small stone is shaped in the form of a small cylinder
the size of milk tin. Through a complicated process that most African women are
aware of, pepper, tomatoes and all other vegetables are ground into a smooth
paste for cooking. The downside of using your bare hands to grind, especially
pepper was that for the rest of the day, the residual pepper burns your
fingers. A most uncomfortable sensation!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Kitchen blender solves this problem in an efficient way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Food can be chopped, ground, mixed, crushed,
squeezed and sliced effectively without substantial damage to any body part.
This invention also ensured that food is cooked timeously, hygienically and is aesthetically
pleasing. The time that is saved from these arduous tasks can be applied to
other equally important tasks such as reading a book or learning a trade or
searching for a job. I look forward to when the fufu pounding machine and the
palm oil dehusker will also become a staple in Ghanaian kitchens. Other inventions
in the same category are rice cookers, the fridge and the microwave.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
DISPOSABLE DIAPER</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Did
you know the disposable diaper was invented by a woman? All hail <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-10-21/parents-take-moment-thank-inventor-disposable-diaper">Valerie
Hunter Gordon</a>, who invented the disposable diaper in the 1940s. This
seemingly innocuous invention revolutionalised child care forever and saved
mothers from a lifetime of soaking, disinfecting and then washing every single
diaper used by a child. We love our children to bits, but not the tasks that
accompany such a tiny bundle of joy! Kudos to Mama Val who died in 2016 at the
ripe age of 94! Other inventions in this category include the pacifier, the
baby rocker, the sanitary towel, and all other disposables such as spoons,
plates, napkins and cups.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE
GAS COOKER</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
cooking appliance has saved thousands of lives, especially African lives. The
statistics are startling. <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/">WHO</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>estimates that 3 billion people cook and heat
their homes using open fires and simple stoves burning biomass and that over 4
million people (mostly women) die prematurely from illnesses attributable to
the household air pollution from cooking with solid fuels. Further, the report
states that more than 50 % of premature deaths due to pneumonia among children
under 5 are caused by particulate matter or soot inhaled as a result of
household air pollution. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clean
fuels such as gas therefore provide a welcome alternative to extend the lives
of women and children. The drudgery of spending time to light firewood and tend
the fire to an appreciable heat level is also drastically reduced as just a
spark can ignite the gas cooker (be careful!!). Other inventions in this category
as the clean cook stoves, electric stoves and microwaves.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzzSnua9RK-0k8uv_LAfWW51Xh9Ekbbg3OdfqVBALsZxGjMl5h8i1puezDzBPLDgZ7xtEQ2fGba7pFEjYA_ZXFT4VQr2bPeHl9AucSlH_LSbdaiLFeDa2H5mas0czOUmE1diNNqNpW5Y/s1600/m-c-brisket-shephards-pizza-salad-housewife-025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzzSnua9RK-0k8uv_LAfWW51Xh9Ekbbg3OdfqVBALsZxGjMl5h8i1puezDzBPLDgZ7xtEQ2fGba7pFEjYA_ZXFT4VQr2bPeHl9AucSlH_LSbdaiLFeDa2H5mas0czOUmE1diNNqNpW5Y/s320/m-c-brisket-shephards-pizza-salad-housewife-025.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Book Antiqua"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Book Antiqua";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">THE CAESAREAN SECTION </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarean_section">Caesarean section</a>
has been part of human culture for ages however, before modern times this relatively
simple procedure almost always resulted in the death of the mother. The perfection
of the C-Section technique by modern physicians has ensured that more mothers
survive childbirth and continue to lead successful lives as mothers, caregivers
and active citizens. The pain and apprehension of a pregnant woman who is
scheduled to undergo a C-section has been greatly reduced by the introduction
of modern medicine, hygienic environment, antiseptics and anesthesia. It is now
normal for women to elect to have her babies by C-section and to have as many
as four babies by this procedure. Other upgrades and inventions in this category
are ultra sound scans, improvement in hygienic surgery methods, anesthesia and various
pain medications to support women through pregnancy and child birth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">IN
CONCLUSION </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, better known as the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Maputo Protocol</span>, guarantees
comprehensive rights to women. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
protocol was adopted in 2003 and entered into force in 2005 after it had been
signed and ratified by the required 15 member nations. It seeks to provide a holistic
protection of the rights of women to enjoy fully a social, economic and
political life devoid of fear and intimidation. More than 12 years the entry
into force of this protocol, we still see great lapses in fully exploiting the
potential of the African woman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The dream of equality and
equity is slowing shaping up. We have examples of female African Presidents and
Parliamentarians to tell us this is possible. But the pyramid is still bottom
heavy. The struggle must surely continue. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-25850643949595917612017-03-11T15:26:00.001-08:002017-03-11T15:26:41.413-08:00 #Citizens-not-subjects (Part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbkeWqfoegmyWrjHSD0NGWyxH_fPM-ERoMok_5wfH1JAW0B47pQPg_sRh2dz9lfuBS7kSvqQwN_LmEa4SKfuZgB-7AUEXOqPbtyZ7TOOV2gGmuIUQVq9dNx5YMiZpHRg17WKZeL_rJZdg/s1600/citizenship+images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbkeWqfoegmyWrjHSD0NGWyxH_fPM-ERoMok_5wfH1JAW0B47pQPg_sRh2dz9lfuBS7kSvqQwN_LmEa4SKfuZgB-7AUEXOqPbtyZ7TOOV2gGmuIUQVq9dNx5YMiZpHRg17WKZeL_rJZdg/s1600/citizenship+images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Agency FB","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ok, so earlier this year (and we are just now
entering the month of March), a newly inaugurated President’s speech was shot
down because a few of the phrases seem to have been taken from another speech
without the right academic recognition (aka plagiarism). One good thing that
came out of this bruhaha is the now popular phrase </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Agency FB","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">#</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">citizens-not-subjects. Without
holding brief for this newly inaugurated President (by the way,
congratulations, Mr. New President!), as I know he has the arduous task of
re-engineering a broken economy, I would like to discuss the concept of
citizenship within the context of the new Africa, Agenda 2063. This is more
significant to me because Ghana, the first African country south of the Sahara
to gain independence will be celebrating this milestone soon. Indeed, many
other African countries will be celebrating their sixtieth independence
anniversary in the next few years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">JJ Rousseau postulates that the social contract
is the third and highest form of society. In fact, this </span><a href="http://www.e-ir.info/2011/03/01/rousseau-and-the-social-contract-tradition/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">social contract</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> transports man from a state of
nature where life is, as described by Hobbes, </span>“solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish and short”. The three stages described by Rousseau, are (a) the state
of nature, where man is free and independent, (b) society, in which man is
oppressed and dependent on others, and (c) the state under the <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Social</span></em> <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Contract</span></em>,
in which, ironically, man becomes free through obligation; he is only
independent through dependence on law.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Inherent in a society under
social contract is the active role of man in ensuring that the State is
transparent, responsive and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">accountable</i>.
Democracy becomes the tool that measures the socio-politico intercourse between
man and the State. Citizen’s vigilance and their continuous fight for their
rights and freedoms keep the State engaged whilst the State is also desirous to
keep citizens tame. This conflict continues to this day. To balance this
equation<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">, citizens needs to continuously
play an active role in ensuring that hard earned tax payers monies are used to
provide social services that go to the core of the social contract. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As Africa moves into sixty years of celebrating
independence, I would like to share a few examples of persons who decided to
take their citizenship very seriously and are remembered for this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nii Kwabena Bonnie III (</span>Kwamla Theodore
Taylor)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></i></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2014/09/nii-kwabena-bonnie-iii-radical-ghanaian.html">Nii
Kwabena Bonnie III</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(aka
Boycotthene) was a Gold Coast (Ghanaian) radical nationalist and traditional
ruler who in 1948 organised the single most successful massive boycott of all
time in Ghana’s political history. This boycott ultimately led to Ghana’s
independence nine years later in 1957.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The significance of Nii Bonnie’s
action is the process of inclusiveness and the advocacy he employed to make
independence a reality. Nii Bonnie travelled the entire country explaining the
reason for the proposed boycott. He further engaged the colonial government to
reduce the cost of European goods on the market. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The state’s lack of response led to two key
events in Ghana’s history. The 28<sup>th</sup> February road incident and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Accra_riots">Accra riots</a>. For
going beyond what was required of him as an individual, I elevate Nii Kwabena
Bonnie to the status Citizen Extraordinaire. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
</h3>
<br />
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dedan Kimathi</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedan_Kimathi">Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi</a>,
as he called himself, is the ultimate independent struggle nonconformist. A leading
figure in the <a href="http://www.blackpast.org/gah/mau-mau-1952-1960">Mau Mau</a>
revolution, he was viewed with disdain by his fellow Kikuyu, Jomo Kenyatta.
Kimathi is known for taking a more militant approach to the deprivation of
Kikuyu lands by British colonialists in the 1950s. Kimathi rallied his
tribesmen to the cause of independence and freedom and was a thorn in the flesh
of the British colonialists. It is believed that the MauMau movement was a key
contributor to the hastening of independence for Kenya.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amilcar Cabral</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%ADlcar_Cabral"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Amilcar Cabral</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> was an agronomist and freedom fighter in Cape
Verde and Guinea Bissau. </span>Cabral led the PAIGC's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla" title="Guerrilla">guerrilla</a>
movement against the Portuguese government, which evolved into one of the most
successful wars of independence in modern African history. The goal of the
conflict was to attain independence for both Portuguese Guinea and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde" title="Cape Verde">Cape Verde</a>.
Over the course of the conflict, as the movement captured territory from the
Portuguese, Cabral became the de facto leader of a large portion of what became
Guinea-Bissau. Cabral had a unique system of guerilla warfare in which his
fighters, also tilled the fields and operated a barter system where goods were
sold at a lower price than European goods and a mobile hospital that took care
of soldiers and the elderly in the Cape Verdian and Guinea countryside.
Interestingly, the assassination of Cabral did not demoralize the PIAGC as the
Portuguese had expected. Cabral’s death rather energized the revolutionary
movement and once again, hastened the path to independence of both Cape Verde
and Guinea Bissau.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The call for Africans to be citizens and not
subjects is therefore inherent and has been played out in many instances in Africa’s
call for independence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The future of
citizenship</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As we move into the future of Africa, we must embrace
a new Social Contract. In the words of Carlos Lopes, </span>‘just as Rousseau’s
Social Contract did, we need to create a new Social Contract that is based on
the original principles but goes beyond them. It needs to address current
challenges, such as creating a redistributive system that is “solidaristic” and
helps to enhance both intra-generational and inter-generational equity as well
as create new institutions that can lift people out of poverty’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One of my favourite quotes is from the American
Anthropologist Margaret Mead. She states that ‘</span><i>never doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has’.</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">
This quote is deeply significant as Africa moves to achieving Agenda 2063.
Everyone matters, and anyone who is willing to, can become a </span><span style="font-family: "Agency FB","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">#</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">citizen-not-a-subject.</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span lang="EN-GB">We all have what it takes.
Accountability to the masses should be deeply ingrained in the state machinery,
it is our right, not a request.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Agenda 2063 speaks to the indomitable spirit of
the African as a person whose rights will not be trampled upon easily.
Aspiration 2 speaks to the ideals of pan Africanism and the vision of Africa’s
renaissance. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As we celebrate the sixth decade of Africa’s
independence, I repeat the words of President Nana Akufo Addo/Woodrow
Wilson/George W. Bush/Bill Clinton </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not
subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation. Let us
work until the work is done,"</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></i></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.uneca.org/es-blog/african-youth-custodians-new-social-contract">http://www.uneca.org/es-blog/african-youth-custodians-new-social-contract</a>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-56015760331938352492017-02-07T16:04:00.000-08:002017-02-07T16:04:21.671-08:00Pan Africanism personified - a personal story on Ebola<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> A few months ago I caught a cold, the normal flu. But
this came with a splitting headache that made it impossible for me to do
virtually anything. So I spent the next few days in bed. The interesting thing
was that I caught this particular flu strain from my young toddler daughter,
who had also caught it from one of her siblings. As flu goes, within about a
week, my entire family had wet noses and was sniffling and sneezing all over
the house. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the throes of my pain and discomfort, I started to
thank God for giving us the flu and not something more serious. I reflected on
the Ebola virus that had ravaged through countries close to mine and devastated
homes and families in one fell swipe. I gave thanks to God for the flu and
reflected on how Ebola had come close to my home and literally ‘passed over’ us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At the beginning of the Ebola crisis in Liberia, my
elder brother was the Deputy Commanding Officer of a 900 man United Nations
Force in Liberia. They were based on the border area between Liberia and Sierra
Leone (Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties). Incidentally, this was the area through
which Ebola spread from Sierra Leone to Liberia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had been assigned there in December the previous
year for a six month tour of duty which was to have ended in August 2014.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting to the
end of his tour of duty, then Ebola struck! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all waiting for him to return in time
for the birth of his daughter, scheduled two weeks after his arrival in
September. Then Ebola struck Liberia! Big Brother’s contingent of 900 soldiers return
to Ghana was delayed week after week as the United Nations and the Heads of State
of Ghana and Liberia battled with whether to permit Big Brother’s contingent to
return to Ghana and be replaced by a fresh contingent or keep them there in
Liberia for another six months or more, after all, they were already exposed to
the risk!! The challenge for Big Bro as Deputy Commander of the force was how
to keep 900 strong and virile Ghanaian soldiers confined to the barracks for
weeks on end with absolutely no contact with the local Liberians who might be
carriers of the deadly strain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Back home in Ghana, we, his family were in serious
prayers, first for his and his entire contingent to come home safely, because,
knowing the historical relationship between Ghanaian soldiers and Liberian
women, it was near impossible that none of the soldiers would defy the orders
to remain in camp and steal out into town to bid farewell to a cherished lady
friend, and by doing that, inadvertently bring the Ebola virus into the UN
camp. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fasted, we prayed and waited
upon the Lord as their return was delayed day in and day out. Secondly, we
prayed that he will come back home in time to share in the birth of his
daughter. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After several weeks of uncertainty and diplomatic back
and forth, the green light was given for the entire contingent to return to
Ghana. All the soldiers and their property returned to Ghana safe and Ebola
free!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less than one week after his
arrival, we witnessed the birth of a bouncy baby girl who weighed 4.0kg. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Gratitude!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One of my sisters also lived with her family of four
and worked in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. Guinea was the epicentre of Ebola
and the start point. In June 2014, my sister and her young son left her husband
in Conakry to visit relatives in Europe. She was six months pregnant at the
time she left. Due to the uncertainty of the health systems in Conakry she
delayed her return until the birth of her daughter, hoping that the Ebola
Crisis will be over by the time her baby was old enough to travel. Six months
later in December, 2014, the crisis was still raging and had spread from Guinea
to Liberia, Sierra Leone with isolated cases in Mali and Nigeria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was faced with a dilemma. Continue to
stay in Europe, leaving her job and her husband in Conakry for as long as
possible or return to Guinea with her toddler son and new born baby and take
the risk of Ebola. After weighing the odds, she chose to return to Guinea where
she had a life, family and a good job. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">First, it was difficult to get any flights that would
connect her to Conakry as most airlines had cancelled their flights to all of West
Africa, not only Guinea. When she finally got an airline which had a stop in
Conakry, she recounts that airline staff were shocked that she would choose to
take her young children back into the uncertainty and stories of death that the
Western media had spun around the Ebola Crisis!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Prevail she did, and thankfully, the virus passed over
her, her family members and their friends in Conakry, her fellow colleagues at
work, the pupils in her son’s school and even her household staff. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Gratitude!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Other stories about family members and Ebola in Mali
as well as an aborted peace keeping mission to Liberia in early 2015 for
another family member shows how connected we all became to this continental
crisis and how through it all, we became stronger and more united.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the Old Testament book of Numbers, Moses and the
Israelites go to battle against the Midianites with twelve thousand men, a
thousand from each tribe. The Israelites won the battle. The most striking
thing about this story is in the verse 49 where the army commanders came to
Moses and reported that they have counted the men under their command and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘not one is missing!!</i>’. Twelve thousand
men go to war against the Midianites and not one single soldier dies. Our God
is indeed still in the miracle making business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Gratitude!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">While I tell stories of gratitude, I also painfully
recognise that a lot of families suffered as result of Ebola and many lost
loved ones. We also remember the healthcare professionals who took their oath
seriously in the care of Ebola patients and paid the highest price. These
include Dr. Willoughby of Sierra Leone, Dr. Micheal Kargbo and Dr. Stella
Adadevor of Nigeria. We remember your sacrifice and bless your families and
their generations for your works. As Wole Soyinka will say, ‘may their shadows
never shrink’. I also recognise that there are many untold stories of bravery,
survival, compassion and hope that will stand the test of time and be told
within families and communities. These stories must continue to be told. We
must never forget so that we never repeat the mistakes of the past. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Africa Union’s Agenda 2063 speaks of a vision of a
peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa and the seven aspirations are
drafted to </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">reflect Africa’s desire for shared prosperity and
well-being, for unity and integration, for a continent of free citizens and
expanded horizons, where the full potential of women and youth, boys and girls
are realized, and with freedom from fear, disease and want. Ebola gave us a
reason as a continent to put Agenda 2063 into practice in a way that connected
all levels of Africans- the pan African institutions, individual nations and at
the lowest levels, continental citizens and families such as mine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ebola became a by-word for West Africa. In the
rhetoric of rallying support to help stop Ebola was the tacit international
quarantine that all West Africans suffered. Flights stopped flying to ‘West
Africa’. Anyone from ‘West Africa’ on a flight had to be monitored. Indeed,
even my Ghanaian friends in the diaspora cancelled their visits back home
because there were travel bans to ‘West Africa’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>West Africa therefore had to look inwards and
support ourselves. I salute the Ghanaian government for making Accra for
hosting the UN emergency Ebola Response Centre. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Gratitude!!</span></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-78657613202652456712016-12-06T09:03:00.000-08:002016-12-06T09:03:01.566-08:00IN HONOUR OF DR. CARLOS LOPES AS HE BIDS FAREWELL TO THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (UNECA)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATP0dEMFdupchhyphenhyphenTfN7_P7hxiuBVtaGuAg68GezHzW-hlOerK_5kYUjsiXVtQ1HnlGxi0dXx95ydZRLgWlJcsYYKsC5fRx8SmgEjiHYR9z5Ggz7lotIpilWZF7Y76GeqRLGnCTb2Uy2Y/s1600/amilcar-cabral-learn-e1436368852390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATP0dEMFdupchhyphenhyphenTfN7_P7hxiuBVtaGuAg68GezHzW-hlOerK_5kYUjsiXVtQ1HnlGxi0dXx95ydZRLgWlJcsYYKsC5fRx8SmgEjiHYR9z5Ggz7lotIpilWZF7Y76GeqRLGnCTb2Uy2Y/s320/amilcar-cabral-learn-e1436368852390.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
October 2016, Dr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) bid farewell to the organisation he had
been heading since 2012. Dr. Lopes has previously served in many academic and
political positions in his native Guinea Bissau and in addition worked in
diverse offices within the UN before he was appointed as Executive Secretary of
UNECA. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I
met Carlos Lopes when I applied to be a Mo Ibrahim African Leadership Fellow in
2012 and was privileged to work with him in 2013 during his first full year as
the Executive Secretary of UNECA, based in Addis Ababa. My time working with
Carlos or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Sir’ as we used to call him,
was a time of deep learning and understanding of the African continent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also learnt a lot about myself as an
African and a potential change agent. During my time working with Carlos, He
had four assistants, all female and we branded ourselves as ‘Carlos’ Angels’. Although
we came from different backgrounds- one was Kenyan Indian, another was Angolan Portuguese,
a third was French Guinea Bissauan and I was Ghanaian- we bonded well and
worked to support Carlos implement his vision for UNECA.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he bids farewell to the role in which I get
acquainted with him, I would like to share some of the memories I hold dear
about the man who has influenced not only me, but greater men in Africa and
beyond.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">CARLOS THE PAN AFRICAN. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Carlos
is an example of a true pan African. As an academic, his writings embodied his
love for the continent and the everlasting hope he has for Africa’s economic
transformation. I remember a meeting Carlos once had with the Ambassador of a
European country who had funds to support UNECA. In the meeting, Carlos spoke
of the exciting work that UNECA was involved in- building a credible database
for statistics, the campaign on industrialisation and collaborative works with
the other continental pan African institutions. Carlos spoke glowingly of his
vision for UNECA and the new policy direction. Not once did he make a request
for funding support. The Ambassador was visibly impressed. After the meeting, I
asked Carlos why he hadn’t directly asked for funding support and that in my
mind, he had painted a picture that all was well, we therefore risk losing the
funds that may have come to us. He responded that there was no need to speak
about the problems and challenges and that Africa does not need to beg for
money. The money will follow good deeds and by this, we have more power and say
as to how to use the funds. Rightly so, in a few months’ time, the Ambassador
of the country in question brought a proposal to support the UNECA in more ways
than we had previously envisaged and for a longer period of time than we had
thought. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This
was a key trend and something I learnt working with Carlos. Africa has a
positive future, so many indicators are speaking to a rising Africa, and we
should celebrate this more. We must tell our own story of change in a positive
manner.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf_tSm2Grl_XQBui_gQGa4utOaZ9BosMR8aYOUsQGndZjVZk7FwBNHG8k1mpKF-nGH00jTTrvxEBA3xBvsHeM-OyxvNo_xFydkqRm-04GZUWdYOMT7XXSG3rvDLfmUhlKiec1nME461Y/s1600/carlos-lopes-un.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjf_tSm2Grl_XQBui_gQGa4utOaZ9BosMR8aYOUsQGndZjVZk7FwBNHG8k1mpKF-nGH00jTTrvxEBA3xBvsHeM-OyxvNo_xFydkqRm-04GZUWdYOMT7XXSG3rvDLfmUhlKiec1nME461Y/s320/carlos-lopes-un.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">CARLOS AND CABRAL</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first thing one notices when one walks
into Carlos’ office is a small black and white portrait picture of Amilcar
Cabral. Carlos has written extensively on Cabral’s legacy and it implications
to contemporary Africa. These writings are in Portuguese, French and English
and widely published and highly acclaimed. Cabral was Carlos’ ‘utmost hero’ and
as his Assistant, I also came to love and revere the works of Cabral.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Another
favourite of Carlos was </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mario de Andrade, the Angolan revolutionary who
became Guinea Bissau’s Minister for Information and Culture. Mario shaped
Carlos in many ways and although Mario is not well known outside the African
Portuguese community, he is one of the key players and influencers of his time.
Carlos speaks lovingly of Mario de Andrade and how when he (Carlos) had
finished high school, he served as an assistant to Mario and learnt about Pan
Africanism at the feet of the Master. I was privileged to get to know these
great men of African history and others like them (my personal favourite was
Franz Fanon) through their own writings and through reading the writings of
Carlos himself. Infact, the title of my blog is a quote from Amilcar Cabral,
‘Claim no easy victories’, but that is another story for another day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CARLOS AND AGENDA 2063</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Addis Ababa
in May 2013 was the one place in the world I would have loved to be in. and I
was there. Africa was celebrating 50 years of pan African institutionalism- the
creation of the OAU, now the African Union. Addis, the capital of pan
Africanism, was abuzz with activity and I had front row seats to the event of a
lifetime. The Pan African Congress, The Youth Forum, the Women’s Forum, the
African Union Executive Committee Meeting, NEPAD, the Actual AU Forum, several
side meetings, bi-laterals, multi-laterals, concerts, exhibitions, and many
more. Carlos made time to share this space with Africa and his message of a prosperous
Africa resonated on all the platforms he spoke on. I remember the warmth he
received when he attended the PAWA event and during the Youth Conference, the
fact that he listens to the Kenyan rap group Sauti Sol drew lots of tweets from
young Africans! On a more serious note, Carlos, through the UNECA, played a
pivotal and leading role in developing Agenda 2063. At all stages of the
development of this great document which captures the aspiration of Africans
for the next 100 years, Carlos and his able lieutenants in the UNECA ensured
that all the statistical, analytical support that was required to strengthen
the document was available. This was a ground breaking event and agenda 2063
continues to stand as a key monument to the spirit of unity and pan Africanism
that existed during those heady days in May 2013. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CARLOS OF MANY COLORS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Carlos also
had an artistic and fun loving side. He was a photographer, a lover of art,
painting, books and music. His house was filled with art works from all over
the world and his music collection had songs from South Africa, Capo Verde, Ivory
Coast and Angola, among many others. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Carlos was
not only a mentor but also a friend who supported my dream to continue formal
education, to better understand pan Africanism whilst being a mother and a
wife. He understood the many aspects of my changing circumstances and made room
for that while not compromising on quality and timeliness of work. I learnt to
love my work and in loving my work, I excelled. I grew and blossomed. Indeed the
year 2013 is my overall best year and this was so because I met Dr. Carlos
Lopes and of course, became a Carlos Angel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I have no
qualms that Carlos’ exit from the UNECA will be just another step in the
illustrious career that he had woven even before I met him and which I will
continue to follow and celebrate. Each stage of your life has not been easy,
but you have claimed the victory, you have told no lies and have hidden nothing
from the masses. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It will be
apt therefore to end with a quote from Cabral taken from a speech he delivered
at the 3<sup>rd</sup> Conference of the African People held in Cairo where he
stated that “</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We are for
African unity, on a regional or continental scale, inasfar as it is necessary
for the progress of the African peoples, and in order to guarantee their
security and the continuity of this progress”</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I wish you and Mrs. Mara well in your
future endeavors. Looking forward to meeting with you soon. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-67827454985914043932016-11-18T06:36:00.002-08:002016-11-18T06:36:29.821-08:00A NOTE ON THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS PART 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpNqzOYxoTHKQv_GBBxWpY9dhqSzchtX636oqis1L2RhzblBLSKuOfcmb4xa5yeSWwQnw_6Yjl9FgOPHipMceLLHmoaHciSivT-6L3Kik1KcqhuLqED0rBpmJHVLkAJE86lo6o8AT_wE/s1600/American+elections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpNqzOYxoTHKQv_GBBxWpY9dhqSzchtX636oqis1L2RhzblBLSKuOfcmb4xa5yeSWwQnw_6Yjl9FgOPHipMceLLHmoaHciSivT-6L3Kik1KcqhuLqED0rBpmJHVLkAJE86lo6o8AT_wE/s320/American+elections.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">My heart is broken, irreparably. It seems as if
a long thin sword with serrated edges and dipped in vinegar and hot chilli
pepper has sliced through my heart and with every pulse, I feel lost and at
sea, oh so lost. My heart hurts. As if I have been jilted by my groom at the
altar, left ajar with no sense of direction and no consolation. The dull but
steady pain stays with me wherever I go, I cannot shake it off, whatever I do.
It seems I have, what the Americans call, ‘the Blues’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ok, enough of the dramatics. I guess the point
has been made that my predictions for the recent American elections did not
materialise. Who would have thought? The shock still ripples through the world
and everyone, including me, strike that, especially me, is reacting
differently. I had initially written a victory post to celebrate Hillary
Clinton as the first female president of the United States (FPOTUS) and what
that meant to me as a female African. Now that my prediction did not
materialise, it seems right to check out the other side. What does a president
who is not Hillary mean to me as a black female living in Africa? Every one is
making projections, I have gladly jumped unto the Predictions Galore
Wagon!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we go!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Some of my friends are trying to convince me
that there might be a silver lining afterall, with the new incoming president
who shares some of hardline views on God, abortion, gay marriages, etc. I am
not convinced. I foresee dread and desolation, trepidation and terror and a
general dismantling of the existing institutions of diplomacy that has kept
this world from another world war.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Goodbye to AGOA and all fair trade policies with the US<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This was a candidate who had repeated called
Africans and Blacks unsavoury names and profiled us in unfavourable terms. I do
not expect that his foreign policy will focus much on Africa except in terms of
the usual looting mentality. The African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA)
has its negatives but it has also supported Africa to take advantage of trade
with the united states in various forms and this has helped build local
industries. With his insistence on making America become insular and inward
looking, I do not forsee a continuation of AGOA in any shape or form. Infact,
expand this grave prediction to other American incentives that support the
building of African institutions such as the MIllenium Challenge Account (MCA),
Obama’s Young Africans Leaders Initiative and all other like minded state
funded programmes are on their way to being scrapped. What should we expect
rather? Sale of our mineral rights, sale of real estate. I actually would not be
surprised if he makes a bid to buy some African Countries. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Goodbye to presidential visits to the African continent</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">All us presidents have, one time or another
during their presidential terms, visited a few countries in Africa as part of
their foreign policy. I do not forsee this happening. Isn’t this the president
who has said that he will be too busy in the White House to travel? And even if
it does, that particular African presidential host should expect to be insulted
and ridiculed in his own country or soon afterwards. Infact, I warn whichever
country that seeks to invite this particular US president to visit. Beware of
the consequences. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Goodbye to any form of aid, trade or bilateral support to local charities</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This president has already said clearly that he
will stop funding for the American charity Planned Parenthood. Also, even with
his buckets of money has not put one cent into any form of charity or support
and has a track record of tax avoidance and misrepresenting his financials.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Goodbye to my US visa</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Immigration has been one of the cardinal points
of his campaign. The promise to build a wall and sack all Muslims and Mexicans.
Plus other unsavoury comments about immigrants, most of who work in his casinos
and hotels. Smh. So for those of us whose US visas have expired, don’t expect
it to be that easy to get a renewal and for those who are now going for a US
visa, my advice is for you to hurry up and get it before January 20<sup>th</sup>,
because your chances will just get slimmer and slimmer. But I wonder what will
happen after he has repatriated all the undocumented immigrants. Who will do
all that work? The scrubbing, tomato picking, potato peeling, the cleaning and
the washing? How will American travel companies survive if we are all refused
Visas?Well, we wait to see this changing socio political landscape. The good
thing however is, that all your long lost friends and family members who
travelled to the us and did not bother to check up on us here will now be
coming home, no menace intended. And we will be waiting to serve them their
right levy for all the missed funerals, births and weddings. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Goodbye to gender equality and womens empowerment</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The issue of gender equality has been set back
for about 100 or more years. All the inches of ground, painfully gained and
held on to by women over the past 144 years since the times of Susan B Anthony are
at a great risk of being trampled upon. I predict that there will be a great
depression in the feminist arena. I also predict a strong underground movement.
I am sure all the women, if there will be any, in his cabinet will be his
version of women. Blond, model and brainless. This is a man who when confronted
with the fact that he harassed certain women replied that they were not
beautiful enough to warrant his harassment! SMH. A person who has gone through
three marriages and openly brags about his ill treatment of women. I shall
continuously pray for the women who have to work closely with him Thankfully I
won’t, because, me, beautiful me, still not fit his perception of beauty, thank
God! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So overall, it’s a rather bleak picture. I see
the next eight, yes, eight years, as a serious retrogression on all the
progress we have made as a civilised people learning to live together with each
other’s differences. God help us all. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Author’s note:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Part 1 of this blog was written on
the eve of the American election. I look forward to publishing Part 1 on 8<sup>th</sup>
November 2020 when Hillary becomes President. Insha Allah</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-57985416758267468512016-05-23T15:34:00.002-07:002016-05-23T15:34:45.143-07:00What does African Union day mean to you?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaicAWadZI5KDib59t8AiYPFDX0z8SnaH22us-tndx9DfWqrrHEw97fdNhAqM0DYICjhweXk8ka9mRy8MEw-z2JoSrSfu7YR-08WvbKWAEINqgGSlVSuLTUo6aBJBHOt7s_CSfb3WubRo/s1600/for+AU+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaicAWadZI5KDib59t8AiYPFDX0z8SnaH22us-tndx9DfWqrrHEw97fdNhAqM0DYICjhweXk8ka9mRy8MEw-z2JoSrSfu7YR-08WvbKWAEINqgGSlVSuLTUo6aBJBHOt7s_CSfb3WubRo/s320/for+AU+day.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
May 2013, I was among the privileged few who witnessed the Africa @ 50
celebrations in Addis Ababa. I am forever grateful to being given this
opportunity to be physically part of this historic occasion and most lucky to
have done that as technical assistant to Dr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary
of UNECA. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One
of the key deliverables that came out of the AU Summit that year was support
for <a href="http://www.au.int/en/agenda2063/about">Agenda 2063</a>, a forward looking
strategy document aimed at transforming Africa into ‘an integrated, prosperous
and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force
in international arena’. Agenda 2063 brings together all the many documents that
the African Union has subscribed to but most importantly, Agenda 2063 comes with
<a href="http://www.au.int/en/agenda2063/aspirations">seven key aspirations </a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that seek to capture the Africa we want in the
next 50 years. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
between the whirlwind of organising events, meeting <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heads of States, finalising speeches,
attending conferences, writing press statements and the many other last minute
issues that come up on such a high level event, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never forgot the significance of the
occasion. I never, not for a moment, forgot that it was the sweat, blood and
tears of my recent ancestors that made it possible for me to walk through the
majestic halls of the African Union building. I never, for a minute forgot the
blood, dignity and identity that my forefathers and foremothers sacrificed to
ensure that their dream for ‘the total liberation of Africa’ was achieved. I
felt the weight of history lying heavily on my shoulders. If our past leaders
were been able to achieve so much in an era of typewriters and fax
machines,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then we have no excuse not to
do much much more for generations yet unborn. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As
we celebrate another African Union day this year, permit me to share with you
the significance of the AU day to me in my multiple realities. In the same format
as the response of an African President was when he was asked whether he had
ever taken a bribe. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As a human being</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As
a human being living in Africa, I am more prone to die through preventable
diseases such as cholera and malaria; it is more probable that I will
experience wars and conflicts; I am more likely to live under one dollar a day
and for either myself or my children to suffer from malnutrition. I have less
access to education, healthcare facilities are far from me or are inadequate
and I have a high likelihood of being employed in the informal sector or not
employed at all. I will die earlier than my European and American friends and my
cause of death is 33per cent more likely to be maternally related. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Quite
a sad picture, isn’t it? And I could go on and on. But there is hope. On a
positive side, the UNDP’s annual Human Development Report (HDR 2013) shows that
all African countries have positively improved in all the categories since 2000
with the largest improvement recorded in health. Africa is doing something to
improve my quality of life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.au.int/en/agenda2063/aspirations">Aspiration 1</a> of Agenda
2063 states that ‘</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
are determined to eradicate poverty in one generation and build shared
prosperity through social and economic transformation of the continent’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In this regard therefore, I have hope
that as a human being living in Africa, poverty will be over in my generation. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As a woman</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is an undisputed fact that women are a
critical cornerstone of Africa’s economic development. Statistics show that
women provide about 70 per cent of agricultural labour and produce about 90 per
cent of all of Africa’s food. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Investing in women
can yield a significant boost in economic growth, otherwise known as “the
gender dividend.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Despite these positive statistics, a
woman in Africa is more likely to be illiterate or less educated than her
brothers, most likely to be married off at an early age, have less access to
agricultural extension support and does not own the land she cultivates. Unless
this vicious cycle of the underlying causes of poverty is broken with education
as an enabler, African women will continue to be relegated to the dark
prehistoric ages of witchcraft and sorcery. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Several of the Agenda 2063
aspirations speak to the role of women in achieving the objectives of the
agenda. For example, aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 speaks to ‘</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An Africa whose development is
people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women
and youth, and caring for children’. Also, Aspiration 3 states it in a
different way, ‘Africa shall have a universal culture of good governance,
democratic values, gender equality, respect for human rights, justice and the
rule of law’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In a <a href="http://teikosabah.blogspot.com/2016_01_01_archive.html">previous blog </a>post,
I classified three E’s needed for women’s growth and development as Education</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">E</b>conomic
stability and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">E</b>mpowerment. These are
still relevant today.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As a mother</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the numbers of women who still die from
preventable pregnancy related causes in Africa are staggering. Whilst in
developing countries, it is rare to know of women who have died as a result
pregnancy, in Africa this is the norm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do
you know that <a href="http://www.who.int/gho/maternal_health/mortality/maternal_mortality_text/en/">every
day in 2015</a></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, about
830 women died due to complications of pregnancy and child birth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that of the 830 daily maternal deaths,
550 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and 180 in Southern Asia, compared to 5 in
developed countries. The risk of a woman in a developing country dying from a
maternal-related cause during her lifetime is about 33 times higher compared to
a woman living in a developed country. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As
a mother, the AU day is significant not only to push forward a focus on tackling
maternal mortality but on the future of my children, my nieces and nephews. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Did you know that Africa is the only
continent where the youth population will significantly expand and that between
2010 & 2100 the African youth population will almost triple. This means
that by 2100 almost half of all the world’s youth, including my children, will
be African. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Did you also know that almost one
third of sub-Saharan African youth lack basic skills and that Sub-Saharan
Africa has the lowest secondary & tertiary school enrolment<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and whatever skill set that they have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do not meet the needs of the 21st century
labour market ‘Jobless’ growth. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What does this foretell for the
future of Africa’s children (including my children) and the educational systems
they are being trained in? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Aspiration 6 focuses on ‘all citizens
of Africa will be actively involved in decision making in all aspects. Africa
shall be an inclusive continent where no child, woman or man is left behind or
excluded, on the basis of gender, political affiliation, religion, ethnic
affiliation, locality, age or other factors.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As an African</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">:</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> The
rhetoric of a ‘rising Africa’ is all around us. The statistics show that Africa
is indeed on the path to economic prosperity. This is great news. Overall, Africa’s
economic performance is strong, we are more resilient to shocks and there are
key ongoing economic policy changes. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In addition to this, w</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">e can also applaud
the handling of the Ebola virus crisis. </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">However
the threat of terrorism and religious extremism continue to plague the
continent. One case is point is the Chibok girls. I am saddened whenever the
plight of those young women come to mind. My prayers continue to be with them
wherever they are and with their families. Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Qaeda continue
to brainwash our youth into committing atrocious acts of terrorism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yes,
democracy is the norm in many African countries but it seems as if our
definition of democracy is skewed in favour of life presidents and oppressive
regimes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Aspiration
4 which focuses on peace and security states that ‘</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mechanisms for peaceful prevention and
resolution of conflicts will be functional at all levels. As a first step,
dialogue-centred conflict prevention and resolution will be actively promoted
in such a way that by 2020 all guns will be silent. A culture of peace and
tolerance shall be nurtured in Africa’s children and youth through peace
education’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There certainly is progress but sometimes,
the challenges outweigh the progress. But we must press on, nevertheless. No one
will develop our continent for us but ourselves. The reverse is not the case,
sadly. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In conclusion</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
effect, the celebration of the African union day should not be a mere rhetoric
or an excuse for Africans to have a good time. It is to remind us that there is
work to be done. It is to spur us to work harder, shout louder, think further
and make change happen. If not for us, for our children. I want to make change
happen, so that in the year 2063, when my granddaughter is walking through the
halls of the African Union Building, she will be proud of not only her
grandmother, but all the Africans in this generation who consciously worked for
the greater good of all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
target is clear, the milestones defined, the signs cannot be missed. Agenda 2063 sets the strategic and
unifying framework for a socio economic revolution within our generation. This is
not just a dream. It is our reality and that reality must change for the (much)
better. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I am
Teiko Sabah and I am African. I am the African Union.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Happy
African Union Day!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">About
the author:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Teiko
Sabah is the 2013 Mo Ibrahim African Leaders Fellow with the UNECA. She is
interested in Africa and pan Africanism. She writes a monthly blog on pan Africanism
on </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://teikosabah.blogspot.com</span></b></a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-33250571868324371972016-05-14T18:54:00.000-07:002016-05-14T18:54:59.578-07:00What does corruption have to do with it? My thoughts on the anti-corruption summit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Peter Tosh, a musician of great
repute once sang that, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘If you are living in a glass house, don’t throw stones’. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So it comes as a surprise to me that
David Cameron, the British Prime Minister has decided to hold an </span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/anti-corruption-summit-london-2016"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">anti-corruption summit</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">, only a few weeks after the </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/07/david-cameron-admits-he-profited-fathers-offshore-fund-panama-papers"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Panama Papers</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>revealed that he had profited from owning
shares in a tax haven fund. Maybe, in his mind, corruption and tax evasion are
mutually exclusive. Not so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let me
introduce him to some facts:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Fact:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span>Across
the African continent, only 3 percent of all the monies of <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/how-illicit-financial-flows-drain-african-economies">illicit
financial flows</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are derived from
government corruption, while 33 percent comes from organized criminal activity
and 64 percent from trade manipulations. <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For example, a </span><a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/how-corruption-and-tax-evasion-distort-development"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">2011 World Bank Research</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> in Malawi estimated corruption at
5% of GDP whilst tax evasion made up a </span>whopping 8-12% of GDP. The Global
Financial Integrity (GFI) estimates that a record US$991.2 billion in illicit
capital flowed out of developing and emerging economies in 2012—facilitating
crime, corruption, and tax evasion. Thus corruption is only ONE, and actually
the LEAST, of the factors to be taken into consideration in fighting a much
deeper evil – the bleeding of Africa’s financial resources. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If this is the case, why is David Cameron
focusing on the 3% of illicit financial flows from corruption and not on the
other 97% from organized crime and trade manipulations? I am not in any way,
shape or form holding brief for any corrupt African leader. All I am saying is
that the scope of David Cameron’s meeting could be far wider and do much more
than is currently being done. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fact:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> The </span><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/money-laundering-and-the-city-of-londons-crime-scene-haven-of-tax-havens-for-the-mega-wealthy/5513335"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">City of London</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> the seat of government
of the British Empire, is itself a tax haven. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the times of William the Conqueror in
1067, the City of London has had its own system of debt financing that
overrides local laws and makes it possible for monies (plural) to be laundered
on a massive scale. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Typically monies that leave Africa to end up
in developed countries and in tax havens, such as the City of London. In my
opinion, I respectfully believe that the British Prime Minister should be
looking closer to home. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fact:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her Majesty’s British Overseas Territories and
Crown Dependencies make up around </span><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/268072-tax-avoidance-city-london/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">25 per cent
of the world’s tax havens</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, which are now blacklisted by the European
Commission and now ranked as the most important player in the financial secrecy
world. British Tax havens featured on the </span><a href="http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/economy-politics.120n" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">EC’s
blacklist </span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">of June last year include Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin
Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands to
name just a few and each is inextricably linked to the City of London.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Fact:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Tax
havens provide the optimum environment for hiding monies from illicit flows. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tax haven is defined by Investopia as </span><span class="st">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a country that offers foreign
individuals and businesses little or no </i></span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">tax</span></em><span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> liability in a politically and economically
stable environment. </i></span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tax havens</span></em><span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> also provide little or no financial information to foreign </i></span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">tax</span></em><span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> authorities</i>’. Tax havens
therefore are sovereign jurisdictions that provide financial havens for persons
at reduced tax rates (lower than their own countries) and also keep the
identities of the owners and facilitators of the transactions secret. </span>. <a href="http://www.cgdev.org/blog/davos-secrets-swiss-trade-opacity-and-illicit-flows-developing-countries">Recent
numbers by the Center for Global Development</a> indicate that developing
countries lose between $8 billion to $100 billion a year in illicit flows to
Switzerland alone. A tax activist friend of mine used to say that the Global anti-corruption
index should rather be turned upside down. Switzerland, on the contrary, should
be ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. I agree.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Anti-Corruption Summit<span class="st"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So back to the Anti-Corruption Summit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have perused through all the African
countries statements and that of the developed countries and a few issues
interest me. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Firstly, I find it strange that,
with the exception of Switzerland, none of the other countries (specifically
the UK and the USA) made any commitments to returning stolen assets. Stolen
financial assets of developing countries, I must add, that are comfortably
stashed in their banks and used to buy real estate in their countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder why they focus more on the ‘supply
side’ of corruption and not on the enabling part which exists in their own
jurisdictions. No laws were proposed, no mechanisms recommended and no
sanctions proffered to regulate the international arena where all the shady
illicit deals take place. Nothing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nada.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zilch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In my opinion, the statements are just made up of a whole lot of
rhetoric rendering them potentially futuristically ineffective. In effect, just
another tea drinking talk shop. But that’s my opinion.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On the other hand, most of the
African countries were represented in the conference mention asset recovery as
one of their key requests. Each country statement go into details as to how
assets should be recovered and returned back to their rightful owners. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tunisia goes further than most to call on the
international community to ‘effectively cooperate to help developing countries
recover stolen assets’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is therefore
not out of context for President Buhari not to take affront at the
‘fantastically corrupt’ statement from Cameron and rather to insist of the
return of stolen assets. As he said, ‘w</span>what would I do with an apology?
I need something <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36265998">tangible'</a>.
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, President Buhari, good luck (no pun intended)
in getting anything tangible. Keep pushing, anyway. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I wonder whether there were two
separate meetings going on in one venue. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Secondly, I do not think the both
the conference communiqué and the purported ‘Global Declaration on Corruption’
go far enough in ensuring a return of stolen monies and illicit financial
resources currently held in tax havens such as the City of London and the State
of Delaware. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, it is
imperative that global world leaders see corruption as two sides of the same
coin. The first side focused on the actual corruption, corrupt practices and
illicit financial flows and the other part focused on tax havens, the global
arena of secrecy, financial mystery and the maze of international laws, banking
and accounting practices that make it easy to steal and hide illegally gotten
wealth. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The communiqué as well as the Global
Declaration on anti-corruption from this workshop focuses more on the first
part and seriously glosses over the second part. Exposure of corruption,
punishing the corrupt and driving out corruption are important components in
stopping corruption globally. However these measures will not be enough if
banks in Switzerland, United Kingdom, the State of Delaware and other tax
havens are not willing to share information on whose monies are kept in their
banks, are not willing to stop the transfer of laundered funds from Africa into
their coffers, do not respond to African government requests for information,
do not put in mechanisms for the return of stolen assets and so on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Murphy_%28political_economist%29"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Richard Murphy</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(a vocal tax justice campaigner)would say, these are ‘incredibly weak
plans’ to tackle global corruption and that looking at the scale of the
problem, the current systems put in place at this meeting will ‘make the whole effort
meaningless’. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In conclusion, I think Africa is
well on its way to tackle the bleeding of its financial resources at a pan
African level. For the past few years, </span><a href="http://www.uneca.org/iff"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The High Level Panel on Illicit
Financial Flows</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>chaired by Thabo Mbeki has been working on
understanding the scale and scope of the problem. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The recently held </span><a href="http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffd3/conference.html"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Third International Conference On Financing For
Development </span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Addis Ababa which resulted in the </span><a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/CONF.227/L.1"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Addis Ababa Action Agenda </span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>agreed on, inter alia, a</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
new global framework for financing sustainable development that aligns all
financing flows and policies with economic, social and environmental priorities
and a comprehensive set of policy actions by Member States, with a package of
over 100 concrete measures that draw upon all sources of finance,
technology, innovation, trade and data in order to support mobilization of the
means for a global transformation to sustainable development and achievement of
the Sustainable Development Goals.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Addis Tax Initiative is also
another avenue aimed at strengthening local tax administrations and increase
local tax collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
addition to this, as far back as 2003, the AU signed a Convention on Preventing
and Combating Corruption in Maputo. This convention is assessed under the APRM
country assessment. Also, each Regional Economic Body has set up Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) styled regional bodies to support member countries and
provide the capacity to identify and stop money laundering. These are the GIABA
(</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">) in ECOWAS, </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ESAAMLG
(Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa East
and Southern Africa), MENAFATF (Middle East and North Africa Region Financial
Action Task Force) and GABAC (Central African Action Group against Money
Laundering) in Central Africa. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May I respectfully suggest to Prime Minister Cameron
to, if he so wishes, direct his efforts (coupled with technical and financial
assistance) to helping Africa achieve all these laudable, and already in
existence goals, rather than setting new goals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Tags: tax havens, anti corruption,
illicit financial flows, Africa, African Union, David Cameron</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">About the author:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Teiko Sabah is the 2013 Mo Ibrahim
African Leaders Fellow with the UNECA. She is interested in Africa and pan
Africanism. She writes a monthly blog on pan Africanism on </span><a href="https://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://teikosabah.blogspot.com</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-52925371818882181872016-04-19T02:48:00.000-07:002016-04-19T02:48:49.483-07:00My thoughts on the Panama Papers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Panic in panama</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB"> A scandal rocks the world. The usual scandal
mix - money, power, crime and influential people (sadly no sex…yet). This is a classic
case of the top 1 per centum of the world’s population showing off their wealth
and their way of life. The facts of the scandal; A whistle blower provides 2.6
terabytes of information from one law firm based in <a href="https://panamapapers.icij.org/graphs/">Panama</a>. This information uncovers
a secret labyrinth of anonymity stretching over almost four decades and across
50 countries where tax havens have been expertly utilised to siphon, steal and/or
hide large sums of monies by people in powerful places. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers">Scandal</a> rocks countries
in all continents. Russia, Mexico, Iceland, Syria, the United Kingdom, Canada, China
and many more countries. Africa is also not left out. Former Presidents, their
close relations and the leaders of large, powerful public corporations are
implicated. Oh! And by the way, I still cannot wrap my head around what a
terabyte is. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Global effects</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">Europe-Citizens in Europe are scandalised (as
they should be). Citizens rally to demand accountability and transparency from
their leaders. Presidents, prime ministers and high ranking officials are
implicated. Some resign (as they should rightly do), some are questioned about
their dealings and may yet resign (that would be interesting to watch) and some
defend their actions as not illegal (duh!). Kudos to citizen’s movements.
Change happens rapidly. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">Africa-citizens wake up to the news of
politicians, their families and people in high and influential places of power
implicated in the Panama papers. Some newspapers report on it, some media
houses run with it on the 6am news, most of it is covered in the ‘entertainment’
section of the news. Then silence. No change in the status quo. Citizens go
about their business as usual. Man must eat. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">The question is; why aren’t African citizens or
even African civil society organisations working on corruption concerned with
the scandal? First of all, no African politician has resigned, nobody has
explained how their monies got to Panama, no press conferences or communiqués to
throw more light on the named individual. Nada. Nothing. Rien. There has been
no citizens movements asking for any such thing. This in itself is a shock.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span> </span>My answer
is that Africans are so used to corrupt practices by their politicians and
influential people that the Panama papers is just another one of those
things.<span> </span>A drop in the bucket. Nothing will
change anyway. Most revealing to me is that fact that nothing will change
whether or not some noise is made about this event, after all, they have more
important things to do, such as looking for their daily bread. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Illicit financial
flows and Africa </span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span> </span></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">The facts on illicit financial flows, tax
evasion, the use of tax havens to route monies from Africa are staggering. Permit
me to share a few figures here:</span></span></span>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>Tax Justice Network, an international research
and advocacy organization, says the as of 2010, there was between $21 and $32
trillion kept in offshore holdings. This represents between 8 and 13 per
cent of total global wealth. <span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span>According to <a href="http://www.gfintegrity.org/report/2014-global-report-illicit-financial-flows-from-developing-countries-2003-2012/">latest
research</a> from GFI, Sub-Saharan Africa lost an annual average of $52.9
billion—roughly 5.5% of GDP—in illicit financial outflows from 2003-2012 (the
most recent year for which data is available), taking an enormous toll on
African economies. <a href="http://www.gfintegrity.org/issue/trade-misinvoicing/">Trade misinvoicing</a>,
the deliberate over- and under-invoicing of trade transactions, accounted for
68.8% of all outflows from the continent over the decade.<span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span>According to the AU-UN report on illicit
financial flows in Africa, Africa lost approximately $850 billion in illicit
financial outflows between 1970 and 2008 and the report goes ahead to
conclude that Africa loses more than $50 billion <i>every year</i> to illicit
financial flows. <span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span>Bringing this to reality, Christian Aid, a British
Aid Agency, <span> </span>estimates that <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">for
every $10 given in aid to the developing world, $15 slips out through tax
dodging.</span></strong><b><span lang="EN-GB"></span></b></span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">It is refreshing to note that the chairman of
the AU/UNECA High Level Panel On Illicit Financial Flows in Africa, Mr. Thabo
Mbeki, has issued a report in the wake of this expose. In his press release,
Mr. Mbeki makes mention of the need for African countries to take this
information seriously and to put in place measures to punish citizens found to
have breached any financial misconduct laws. Sadly, so far, only South Africa has
put out such a call.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Tax Justice Campaign</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">A friend of mine once commented that contrary
to the recurring anti corruption reports that Switzerland is one of the least
corrupt country in the world, it is rather the reverse, that Switzerland is the
most corrupt country in the world. In that they have created all these Chinese
walls and codes of secrecy that make them able to ensure that wealth (some
legitimate, most not) is stored within its borders without any transparency. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">Tax justice campaigners, myself included, have
since the early 2000s been campaigning to throw light on the grave developmental
losses that continuously accrue to developing countries who lose income from
taxation as a result of these huge financial leakages. Monies that could have
been used to build schools, provide basic services such as clean water and
toilets are rather siphoned into the bank accounts of faceless and nameless
individuals who use their monies and influences and of course, the advice of
lawyers and accountants to deprive legal states from their hard earned tax
incomes. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">Infact, tax campaigners have gone as far as to
infer to the value of taxation as a crucial instrument for the realisation of
human rights. This is based on the rationale that taxes enable governments to
mobilise </span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">resources
needed for providing essential public goods and services and tax policies also help
in redistributing the wealth preventing inequality and allowing realization of
human rights. Unfair tax incentive, regressive tax systems and weak tax
authorities give rise to leakages that could have been used to fund much needed
public goods and services.</span></em></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>In June 2011, The UN Council on Human Rights
adopted the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The principles form
a framework that comprises the duty of states to prevent against violations of
human rights, corporate responsibility for respect for human rights and better
access for victims to effective remedy.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">People power and the
future</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">I sincerely look forward to more African countries
looking into the information provided by the panama papers and working jointly together
to help block the leakages from our shores. It is not only immoral, it is
impudent! As I applaud the work of the High Panel On Illicit Financial Flows as
well as the ongoing work being done by economic justice campaigners in Africa,
we must of a right , percolate the gravity of this to local citizens to take
action against their leaders. This is the only sustainable action in a democratic
environment. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB">I end with one of my favourite quotes </span><span class="st">"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can </span><em>change</em><span class="st"> the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="st">Power to the
People!!!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-53539054953938491822016-03-03T08:09:00.000-08:002016-03-03T08:09:03.448-08:00Celebrating the Pan African Women's Organisation on International Women's Day <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUTESc3V_ARWxe_686MAHE3IgUis-LNFm86-oSOmWt_RmE3CemA0Iz_58VyvieJKk3qc8INHXbfoX3a8LQPKtnyUgewjUJ-eJtf_CTH1MhMyCT6b7oRvlh6avZZAKx-ZoDDwRMhJNr-4/s1600/PAWD2012-260px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUTESc3V_ARWxe_686MAHE3IgUis-LNFm86-oSOmWt_RmE3CemA0Iz_58VyvieJKk3qc8INHXbfoX3a8LQPKtnyUgewjUJ-eJtf_CTH1MhMyCT6b7oRvlh6avZZAKx-ZoDDwRMhJNr-4/s1600/PAWD2012-260px.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Let me first start by saying that the month of March is one of my
favourite months in the year. Scratch that. The month of March <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> my favourite month in the year. You
may ask why. Several personal and professional events take place in March. All
my children have their birthdays in March; my mentor and friend, Carlos Lopes,
has his birthday in March; my wedding anniversary is in March (mental note to
self-buy a present); it is the independence anniversary of my motherland Ghana
and most importantly, we celebrate </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">International Women's Day (IWD)</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">. The International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on the 8<sup>th</sup>
of March and in many countries is used to showcase the political and social
struggles of women worldwide in a hopeful manner. This year’s theme is</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span class="st"><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Planet
50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<i><b><span class="MsoBookTitle">Celebrating our own</span></b></i></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As we celebrate International
Women’s Day 2016, I would like to pay tribute to one of the greatest women’s
organisations on the African continent. This organisation has dedicated its
existence to the continuous empowerment of the African women. Sadly, this is
one of the least known of the pan Africanist organisations, even though it is
older than the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now the African Union (AU).
I personally was only introduced to this organisation a couple of years ago.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I wish to celebrate
the </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><a href="http://ngo-db.unesco.org/r/or/en/1100019754"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan African Women's Organisation</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> (PAWO). PAWO was
founded in 1962, a year before the OAU was formed in 1963. This means that
whilst the men of the continent were debating whether African unity meant
economic unity or political unity (the now infamous Casablanca Group versus the
Monrovia Group), the women of the continent had resolved to unite and did
indeed unite, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">despite
the artificial barriers of languages, political opinions prevailing at the time. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<b><i>Feminism in the Pan African narrative</i></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Pan
African Women`s Organisation, (PAWO) has a special place in African history,
being one of the oldest Africa wide organisations in the continent. But very
little is known about the inception and even the current work of the
organization. This is in contrast to the OAU where the founders are seen as
great men of vision and worth. We salute Kwame Nkrumah, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Sekou
Toure, and Julius Nyerere for the roles they played in the Pan African story.
Other freedom fighters such as Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Cheikh Anta Diop,
Leopold Sedar Senghor, Amilcar Cabral, JE Casely Hayford, are named as standing
for the unification and liberation struggle. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Indeed, the
outcome of the liberation struggle affected both men and women. One question no
one asks however, is how come the narrative of African unity not have the names
of any of the many women who also sacrificed and dedicated their lives to the liberation
and emancipation of the African continent? Where were the women when the men
were purportedly making history? Why are there no women in our pan African
story? I do not believe it is as a result of indifference. Herstory (as opposed
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i>tory) indeed tells us of many
women who dedicated their lives to support the push for independence and
African unity. We need to celebrate them. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<i><b>Women of substance</b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Have you
heard about <a href="http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=119/119971&key=2709&query=sudan%20elections&so=0&sf">Mrs.
Jeanne Martin Cisse of Guinea </a></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">who became first
Secretary General of PAWO? A distinguished diplomat, an extraordinarily
experienced politician in her home country and a mother of six, she broke many
glass ceilings for women generally and African women specifically. She became
the </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">first female
President of the UN Security Council. A</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">t the ripe age of
80, she is still fighting the cause of women worldwide. In an interview in
1972, she is widely quoted as saying ‘…</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">men didn’t liberate Africa by themselves. They did
need the woman’s part in the struggle...’. {word!}</span><br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Indeed, women
belonging to many liberation movements worked tirelessly through PAWO and other
political organisations to spearhead the struggle for political freedom and for
the full emancipation of women in our continent.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Another great foremother of African Unity is </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Mongella"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Madam Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania. </span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Madam Mongella must be
celebrated and applauded. She was instrumental in the targets and achievements
chalked on behalf of all women at the Beijing Conference where she was the UN
chair, thus getting her the name ‘Mama Beijing’ and many other portfolios where
she has championed the cause of African women’s rights. She became the first
president of the Pan African Parliament and continues to play a strong role in
the general empowerment of women across the globe. </span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">More
women of substance</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As we celebrate IWD 2016, let us also celebrate the silent roles that
African women have played since the dawn of time in ensuring that our pan
African dream shall soon be achieved. May I use this opportunity to applaud the
work of women, both living and passed, that have supported the pan African
story and continue to support as we weave our destiny and that of our children.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Madame Ruth Neto, Ama Ghana, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Queen Nzinga
of Matamba, M</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">rs. Diallo Virginie Camara</span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, Empress
Taito, Winnie Mandela, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Yaa Asantewaa, Kaigiwara the
Nyabingi Priestess and many more women whose names and activities cannot be
found even on Google. </span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Do you
know any great women of herstory who contributed to African unity at a local
national or pan African level? Share your stories with me on </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="mailto:teikosabah@gmail.com"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">teikosabah@gmail.com</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Tags: </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">International Women's Day (IWD)</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.au.int/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan
Africanism</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, </span><span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://ngo-db.unesco.org/r/or/en/1100019754"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan African Women's Organisation</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-85484905170835899252016-01-28T05:09:00.000-08:002016-01-28T05:09:10.209-08:00Letter to Madam Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dear Madam Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hello! (not the Adele type, but a warm, friendly
African Hello). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You don’t know me, but I know you. Infact, I have met
you personally on several occasions and every time I meet you, I come away with
a deep and profound sense of admiration, awe and inspiration. I am encouraged
by your hectic work schedule and how you are able to manage it, flitting from
one part of the continent to the other, always prepared, always ready to
deliver and intensely knowledgeable about the continents challenges and
opportunities. I remember one time when you had just arrived in Addis Ababa from
a meeting in some country, I think, Liberia and walked off the plane straight
into another High Level meeting, well prepared and up to date on all the
issues. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well, this is between me and you, but I wish to compliment
you on your Afropolitan fashion taste and your love of wedged platform shoes.
Nice. I also love wearing platform shoes. Thank God for whoever invented the
platform shoes. They are comfortable, can be worn for long periods of time and
yet very classy and give one height and lift. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ok, back to the reason for this letter. As a feminist
pan Africanist blogger, I am always looking interesting topics to wow my
readers on a regular basis. I hope that during one of your night flights from
Addis to Pretoria, you will make time to peruse my </span><a href="http://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">blog
on pan africanism</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and send me comments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I was pleasantly surprised to learn from
the newly updated </span><a href="http://www.au.int/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">African Union website</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that the theme for the African Union for this year
was on human rights with particular focus on the rights of women. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish to
congratulate you for choosing such a relevant theme for this year. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a feminist and an African, (not
necessarily an African feminist), I am pleased at this choice of theme. Infact,
over the time you have been AUC Chair, I have been looking forward to when your
feminist side will show up more. And now I see it in the same clarity as your
work as a freedom fighter during the South African apartheid era. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The African woman suffers all forms of atrocities, most of
them silently. From being the receiver of wars, plagues and pestilences to
being marginalized in all decisions especially those concerning her personally.
She watches her children die daily from hunger, disease and malnutrition; she
loses her property on the death of her partner, she labours day and night for
the benefit of her family and many at times, to the detriment of her own goals
and suffers atrocious human rights abuses under the guise of ‘custom’ and
‘tradition’. But she is also brave, courageous, tenacious and creative. She
walks many miles to get fresh drinking water for her family; she works many
hours to put food on the table. We are all witnesses to the undying spirit of
the specie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Africanus feminus</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Earlier this week, you addressed the gender pre-conference
to this year’s AU summit and spoke to women about being agents of change for
Africa’s development, being transformers and not conformers. I applaud this and
look forward to your speech at the AU summit proper. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Madam Zuma, humbly allow me to add my take to what I believe
the AUC should focus on whilst working on human rights with particular emphasis
on the rights of women in 2016 and beyond. These, I have classified as the three
‘E’s of women’s growth and development- <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">E</b>ducation,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">E</b>conomic stability and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">E</b>mpowerment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Education is at the heart of any type of development and the
education of women and girls have been proven as a sure and sustainable way to
development. As Kwegyir Aggrey said, ‘if you educate a man, you educate an
individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation’. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Malala
Yousafzai said, “If we want the education of girls, we should be united. We
should not wait. We should do it now.” I totally agree with this courageous
young lady. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Economic stability as a major panacea to most of the
challenges that the modern day African woman faces. underlying factors <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>such as access to land, access to finance and access
and use of new technology will make the African woman more profitable. It is also
proven that when a woman makes money, she spends it on bettering the lives of
her family members. This ensures reduction in malnutrition rates, she is able
to pay for her children to go to school and for healthcare needs for herself
and her family. A new hairdo and a pair of wedge platform shoes also did nobody
no harm. lol </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Empowerment in its bare form means to give power or
authority to. It can also mean to enable or to permit. It is a </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">fact
that gender bias and discrimination against women is still a powerful negative
force in significant percentages of Africa and this must be aggressively dealt
with over and over again. Empowerment encompasses all but also stands alone as
a major tool to the development of the African woman and girl child. An
empowered woman will speak out against oppression in her community. Most
importantly, an empowered woman is a role model for young girls. This will
create a snow ball effect which, ultimately, is in the interest of Africa.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So when you meet all
those old men Presidents in suits next week at the 26<sup>th</sup> Ordinary
Session of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, kindly give them this
message of change from a young African girl who wants to see that Agenda 2063
is gender compliant. My message is simple. Mr. Presidents, commit boldly to
change the future of the African woman. Be audacious in the decisions you make and
dare to support your affirmations. Ensure our children go to school and support
our work and we will in turn work hard for our respective countries and for
Africa as a whole. Remember, every woman is either your daughter, sister, mother
or wife. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For me, I will continue to do my best to promote the
interest of the African woman through my blog and through my work. As Martin
Luther King once said, ‘be a bush if you cannot be a tree, if you can’t be a
highway, just be a trail, if you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by
size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB">I therefore join Madam Diop
when she says that ‘</span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We,
Women of Africa, must seize this opportunity as we all know that Africa will
not achieve its Agenda without the women and youth of this continent”. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sincerely, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(signed)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rebecca Sabah</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pan Africanist.
Feminist. Optimist.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tags: </span><a href="http://www.u.int/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">African Union</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, </span><a href="http://teikosabah.blogspot.com/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">pan africanism</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, </span><a href="http://www.au.int/en/cpauc"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">African Union Chairperson</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-2966306189146787402016-01-07T03:04:00.001-08:002016-01-07T03:04:36.811-08:00Five fantastic facts about pan Africanism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In a previous
post, I wrote about my introduction to African ideology at a tender age. In my
search to understand what this African ideology was about, I found that there
were several explanations of what this ideology was. In many cases, these were conflicting
explanations. So instead of being informed, I was continuously confused by
those who had to educate me. In music, in art and culture, in literature and
academia, in custom and practice, I continuously learnt new things but with every
new thing I learnt, I had more questions and there seemed to be new areas that
I had not even thought about. So now I approach it as a learning process. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But in my
learning process, I have encountered some interesting facts that sometimes
surprise me and other times, confirm what I know already. I want to share these
with you. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> 1.
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan
Africanism is about Africa</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">. Of course. How can it be about
anything else? Pan Africanism is about Africa as a continent, as a people, our
values, our customs and our practices. However, it is not only about Africa. The
fantastic thing is that it is also about identity. It is not just about being
black but most importantly, being about Africa and working in the interest of
Africa. Peter Tosh, in his song ‘African’ makes this very clear. ‘</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don't care where you come from/ As long
as you're a black man, you're an African/ No mind your nationality/You have got
the identity of an African’. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
2. </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan
Africanism is a butterfly.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Did you know that pan Africanism did
not originate from on the African continent itself? I like thinking about pan
Africanism from the angle of the ‘butterfly effect’ concept. A free spirit that
flits and flutters from flower to flower spreading ideas and sowing seeds of renewal
and reawakening. Educated men from the West Indies such as H. S. Williams from
Trinidad, George Padmore from Trinidad and Marcus Garvey from Jamaica who
dreamed of a spiritual return to Africa carried the idea from the Caribbean to
the US and the UK in the early 1900s. They disseminated the idea through
newsletters, music and events in the United Kingdom, France and the United
States. One such key event was the 5<sup>th</sup> pan African congress held in Manchester
in 1945. This event was attended by African students such as Jomo Kenyatta and
Kwame Nkrumah who were then instrumental in bringing the idea to Africa and use
it as a unifying force. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">3. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Pan Africanism is personal</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. Another fantastic fact about pan Africanism is that it is
personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It changes colour depending on
who wears it. To some, especially our brothers and sisters in the diaspora, it
is a spiritual journey to find their roots, to return to the ‘motherland’, to
find the homes and ancestors from whom they were so suddenly stolen from. To
another, it is an identity. An understanding of who we are and a place of
belonging. To others, it is an ideology of values and principles, of
africanness and blackness</span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span lang="EN-GB">Yet more, Pan Africanism can also be
a theory of renewal and renaissance, an awakening of the spirit of the black man.
To others it may also be is about black empowerment and freedom from
colonialism and the shackles of imperialism. The reawakening of the African
people to their destiny. And these different manifestations are not mutually
exclusive and definitely not exhaustive. What does pan Africanism mean to you? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <b>4. </b></span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pan
Africanism is unique within the world space of ideas</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">.
Have you ever wondered why there is no ‘pan Americanism’ even though America is
a melting pot of identities? Why is there no ‘pan Europeanism, or even ‘pan Asianism’.
Even though some of these continents had their fair share of tragic colonialism
events. This makes pan Africanism unique as an emancipation idea within the
world space. The concept of a united Africa was born as far back as the early
1940s and even though has metamorphosed in one style or another, still retains
the original idea of a United Africa, whether politically, spiritually,
socially or economically. This culminated in the creation of the organisation
for African unity (OAU) at least forty clear years before the idea was picked
up by Europe with the development if the European union.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">5. Pan
Africanism is now</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know how fashion has a cycle? One
particular fashionable item, say, bell bottom trousers, or platform shoes,
become fashionable, then go out of fashion, then several years later, come back
into fashion with minor tweaks? Well, Pan Africanism is back with a bang. The
recently advertised and widely shared Agenda 2063 of the African Union is
designed to reinvent pan Africanism as the ‘it’ thing for the youth. Also the
‘I AM Africa’ campaign that stresses unity in diversity also puts the focus
back on Africa. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What has been
your experience of pan Africanism? Share your experiences with me. </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:teikosabah@gmail.com"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">teikosabah@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-46127681587536804572015-12-08T05:28:00.000-08:002015-12-08T05:28:05.743-08:00The year was 1992<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The year was 1992, maybe June or July,
and I was about 15 years or so. Vacation classes was the ‘in’ thing to do
during vacation. Firstly, the fact that my father had agreed for me to attend a
vacation class was a surprise in itself. He did not believe in any after school
activity. And so every vacation for the past three years, he had refused to sanction
or pay for vacation class believing that what I learnt in school during normal
school time was enough. Now, I agree with him. I should have used y vacations
to learn something vocational, like baking.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Secondly, as a science student, I had
no business in a literature class, but my Headmistress had decreed literature
as a compulsory subject for everyone in the school under the impression that it
made our English better. Now, I truly agree that my incursion into literature,
however cursory, did indeed make my English better. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So I found myself sitting in a literature
vacation class. The classroom was a shack, poorly lit and filled with the
bodies (and smells) of adolescents on a hot dry day. The poem under discussion
was ‘The Vultures’ by David Diop. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘In those days when civilisation kicked us in the face,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">when holy water slapped our cringing brows,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The vultures built in the shadows of their claws,</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The bloodstained momunents of tutelage…’</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And for the first time, I was taught
about the woes of colonialism. Who were the vultures? And why did David Diop
say that civilisation ‘kicked’ us in the face? Wasn’t civilisation supposed to
be a good thing? My teacher spoke about how the colonialists had come with the
bible ‘…the monotonous rhythm of the paternoster’ and used it as a ploy to
bleed our land ‘…drowned the howling on the plantations’. He spoke about what
the white man had done to our women ‘…sour memories of extorted kisses’, and
destroyed our lands and cities with war ‘…promises mutilated by machine gun
blasts’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As he went on and on, I felt as if I
was the only one in the room. Every word he spoke felt so personal to me. I felt
as I have never felt before. It was as if I was a reliving the age of slavery
and colonisation all that my ancestors had gone through. I felt violated and
used as an African. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Then the end of the poem leaves us
with ‘…hope living in us as a citadel and ‘…spring will put on flesh under our
steps of light’. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At the end of the class, I had
become an Africanist. I didn’t know what to call it then, I had no one to speak
to about it, but I felt deep in me , a change, an awakening and a realisation
that I had to do something in my lifetime to ensure that the prophecy in the
poem is fulfilled and my continent liberated.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What struck me most was that, at
that point in my life, I had no one to speak to about what I was feeling. No one
understood that a poem titled ‘the vultures’ had changed my life forever. This is
poignant for all the youth who have strayed into the wrong ideologies. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Several years ago, as an adult, I attended
a workshop where are the participants were complaining that the African youth
do not have an ideology. There is nothing that holds them to Africa and therefore
they are in a hurry to migrate, lighten their skins, straighten their hair and
listen to American movies. Our education has forgotten our history, our African-ness
and the future we hope for ourselves. Education only constantly bombards us
with the history of the Assyrians and the Egyptians and maybe, once in a while,
on Independence day, depending on which party is in power, we learn about Kwame
Nkrumah. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Even the story of the 24<sup>th</sup>
February shooting is missing from our history books. What about the role of Nii
Kwabena Bonne and the setting up of the Watson Commission? What about Patrice
Lumumba, Empress Taitu and her role in the battle of Adwa or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dedan Kimathi and the Mau Mau revolution? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to find my ideology myself and this
really happened in University. This ideology is afrocentric. Believing in the
power of the African to manage her own affairs and to liberate herself from the
shackles of the past and to write our own story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The vacuum of lack of ideologies for
African youth to latch on to alternative ideologies such as Boko Haram and ISIS.
In the eventual analysis, these are all ideologies of liberation and profess
the truth but their methodologies and means are seriously unorthodox. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In these recent times, the African union
is doing a lot to make pan Africanism more real to African youth with their ‘I am
African’ message and the Agenda 2063. There is a lot more to be done and I wish
them all the best. </span></div>
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Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-34024636162520838322015-11-25T03:40:00.001-08:002015-11-25T03:40:51.296-08:00An excursion into the history of Pan Africanism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Intro </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As an African, I have always been
intrigued with the history of the African continent- where we come from as a
people and where we are going to. What makes us different, unique? Infact, what
makes us African. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This desire started when during a
boring literature lesson, my teacher explained a poem on panafricanism, the
slave trade and how Africa had been colonized mentally and physically. I have
since then forgotten the name of the poem but the feeling of utter helplessness
I felt that day still reoccurs once in a while. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pan Africanism as history</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The beginnings of pan Africanism
can be likened to the ‘butterfly effect’. This happens when a tiny butterfly
flutters its wings in one part of the earth- a seemingly innocuous event- but
this flutter then develops into a storm on the other side of the earth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This same can be attributed to
pan Africanism. It started as an idea coined by a west Indian native, H S
Williams in the early 1900s which gained momentum fuelled and driven by the
likes of George Padmore, Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. DuBois to cause a great
storm on the other side of the world in Africa with the uprooting of several
centuries of seemingly entrenched form of social, political governance known as
colonialism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This idea did not die after the
independence of Africa but metamorphosised as
a struggle for the unity and solidarity of the entire continent and its people
and continues to this day. And for this idea we gather hear today. This indeed
is a very practical example of globalization in action. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But was this journey easy? Not at
all. Historians and critics tell us of the 4 stages of pan Africanism and the
debates that characterized each stage and how these debates were either
resolved or continue to challenge the idea. The first stage starting with the
abolishment of slavery, was when Africans and blacks in the Diaspora were in
search for a spiritual home. The case was made for equality, justice and black
empowerment. According to Robert Chrisman (1973, p. 3): ‘It was precisely the
capture and uprooting of millions of Africans and conditions of slavery which
laid the foundations for pan-Africanism and Black Nationalism in the United States and West
Indies.’ Spanning from the early 1800s with the return of freed
American slaves to Liberia
and British slaves to Sierra
Leone and going on much longer with the pan
Africanist Congresses of the early 20<sup>th</sup> century and the intellectual
and conceptual work done by its protagonists- W.E.B DuBois, Marcus Garvey,
George Padmore and many others. What most people do not know was that this
period was characterized by an ideological divide between Jamaican Marcus
Garvey’s ‘Africa for Africans’ and American WEB DuBois’ more moderate stance
that emerged from, as Mario de Andrade put it, ‘ a conceptual convergence based
on a utopian vision of Africa’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The second phase occurs with the
importation of the ideals of pan Africanism unto the continent by African
students returning from studies in the land of their colonizers-the United
States, Britain, Portugal and France- and whilst there, having come into contact
with the initiators of pan Africanism. In most instances, these students became
active initiators of pro-African liberation groups such as the Kwame Nkrumah’s
West African National Secretariat, the Paris
based newspaper <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Presence Africaine</i>,
Cabral’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casa dos Estudantes do Imperio</i>,
and many more. They later became the intellectuals who reinterpreted pan
africanism in the light of their experiences as colonized subjects.
Intellectuals like Chiek Antar Diop in his thesis, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The African Origin of Civilization’</i> showed empirically that the
black man had a history dating back to Egyptian civilization. Frantz Fanon, through
his analysis of the negative psychological effects of colonial subjugation upon
black people, Leopold Senghor, Aime Cesaer and Leon Damas, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trios peres</i> who reinterpreted the
miseducation of the Blackman in their literary and ideological movement of ‘Negritude’.
And then there were the guerilla freedom fighters such as Amilcar Cabral,
Agostinho Neto, Julius Nyerere, Herbert Chitepo of Zimbabwe who not only made
political warfare sexy, but also gave it an ideological, spiritual and cultural
significance- linking freedom at all costs- even the peril of losing their
lives- to the independence of humanity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This next phase led to the political independence
of Africa and by 1960 almost 30 African
countries had their own self governance structures. Woven within the
independence struggle continued the debate about whether pan africanism should
be a fight for cultural rights (Amilcar Cabral), political rights (Kwame
Nkrumah) or based on race, blackness or Negritude (Leopold Senghor). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The third phase culminated with
the creation of the Organization of African Unity when the schism was on what
form African unity should take, a loose federation of individual states with
joint economic interests or a single political body? Nationalism versus
continentalism, the struggle for the territorial integrity of inherited
arbitrary borders versus Pan-Africanist ideology; the discourse about national
construction versus the troubled multi-ethnic reality or as Ali Mazrui (1995)
puts it, a pan-africanism of liberation or a pan-africanism of integration?
Within this debate, African leaders of the time took various stands based on
their specific ideologies. The most known groupings were the Casablanca
group and the Monrovia
block. But there were other groups such as the Lagos
chart, the Conakry declaration and the Brazzaville group which
also had different views of the form and content of African Unity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The success of the OAU’s creation can be
firmly laid at the feet of Emperor Haile Selassie who brokered a truce in 1962
between these varying groups and says in his 1963 speech at the creation of the
OAU,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘
the commentators speak , in discussing Africa of the Monrovia state, the
Brazzaville groups, the Casablanca powers, of these and many more. Let us put
an end to these terms. What we require is a single African organization through
which Africa’s single voice may be heard within which Africa’s problems may be
studied and resolved’<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></b></span></span></span></a></i>.
The establishment of the OAU in 1963 can be credited to its many fathers –and
mothers-, and indeed many intermediate midwives. This process of negotiation
between the various groups affected the declaration that was eventually
adopted, making it a compromise, actually far from the original proposal from
the Emperor. But the significance of that 23<sup>rd</sup> May meeting is to be
found more on the agreement about the key objectives for a total political
liberation of the continent, solidarity, and integration, all of which came
straight from the common body of the Pan-African ideology.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In the early 21<sup>st</sup>
century, the face of pan africanism changed once more, following on from
decades where pan africanism was subdued to the challenges of managing a
continent beset by war, famine, strife and economic crises and the phenomenon
of the African strong man. Thus the metamorphosis of the OAU into the AU was
not without good reason. Whilst the OAU has primarily focused on the political
liberation of the continent, which was finally achieved with the abolishment of
apartheid in South Africa
in 1994, it had dismally failed on the economic and social front. The creation
of the AU ten years ago and almost 40 years after the OAU coincided with
significant changes in global institutions and concepts- the end of the cold
war, the glasnost and perestroika, the fourth big wave of independent states
(with the dismantling of USSR and Yugoslavia) and on the African continent, the
end of apartheid, signally the true achievement of the objective of political
independence of the continent. Thus the shift from the OAU to the AU was not
only semantics but also a change in focus- a shift from political independence
to economic independence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The point I wish to make is that
the journey of pan africanism has neither been easy nor has it been free of
impediments and on this path there has been no easy victories. Each and every
small step has been taken with the sweat, toil and in many instances the blood
of people who believed in the ability of the Blackman to unite. Examples from
Patrice Lumumba and Amilcar Cabral. Africanists, in our quest for the unknown
holy grail called pan africanism have had and continue to struggle to define it
conclusively. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lopes, Carlos. 2005. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Africa</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and the Challenges of Citizenry and
Inclusion: The</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Legacy </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">of Mário de Andrade</span></i></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Speech of His Imperial Majesty,
Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia at the founding of the OAU</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-356724653553982812015-10-20T03:58:00.002-07:002015-10-20T03:58:37.284-07:00A dumsor story[1]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></span></span></span></a></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It was Thursday, 12.30 in the afternoon. She
had been driving around the university campus in her sleek, grey new BMW 5
series, looking a suitable place to park. It had to be a quiet place, away from
the usual pedestrian traffic that characterized a campus as populated as this
one. Quiet and shady. She needed urgently to express her milk. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So far she had tried three locations, one near
the Catholic church (shady and quiet but the occasional curious worshiper
passing too close), the university gardens (gardeners pruning hedge next <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to her) and near the VC’s house (security
guard looking suspiciously at parked car). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘How did I get to this situation?’ she
reflected.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The past three years have been the best in my
life. I worked hard and success followed me. A Director before I became thirty,
acknowledged and respected by my peers and my elders in the field of accounting
and now on the fastrack to a PhD. Better still, married to the most adorable
man on earth, John Paul. JP, as he is known to his closest friends, owns a
large and successful consulting firm and is kind, loving and generous, ergo new
sleek car. Life is good. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘Except for this blasted urge to express my
milk before my next class,’ she thought to herself in annoyance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pregnancy came within months of marriage, much
to the pleasure of both mother and MIL<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>.
But pregnancy coincided with admission into PhD program. Why should she choose
when she can have it all? She took a long leave of absence from work and
decided to have both the baby and the PhD. After all, women have been juggling
career and domestic life since the 1950s. Look at Araba, who had twins whilst
in medical school and still came top of her class or Michelle, who built her
consulting business single-handedly whilst taking care of her three boys as her
philandering husband chased everything in skirt! It has been done before and
can be done again. Female power rocks!! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With determination and a Gucci handbag (wedding
gift from girlfriends), she set off to the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her mind, everything had been planned out
for when the baby comes, six months into the semester. Buy breast pump, find dependable
Nanny, express breast milk for baby at home , at school express breast milk at
school enough to feed baby for the day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But the devil is in the details, init? Thus her
current drive around campus six weeks after baby Kay arrived. The College of
Social Sciences was a difficult place to find a quiet place in which a female
can calmly expose her mammary gland, attach a pump to it, pump it for between
ten to fifteen minutes and repeat procedure on the other mammary gland without
anyone interrupting. She had therefore resorted to expressing her milk in her
car. Thanks to its tinted windows, she could do this quite discreetly without
attracting too much attention. But on this particular day, the car park had
been turned into fair grounds for the annual college week celebrations and she
had to find another place. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">She finally found a suitable location next to
the examinations centre and with her car air condition turned on full blast and
the car windows rolled up, she proceeded to express enough milk for Baby Kay. Whilst
she expressed she reflected on how her well laid out plan for taking care of
her baby had to be revised over and over again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Her first Nanny quit without much notice after
only one week, both grandmothers were too busy with respective business
enterprises to be of much help and Baby Kay loved his milk. Baby Kay was born
at 4.0 kg. which is very<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>big for a first
child. And Baby Kay wanted his milk and wanted it NOW!! And always. So much for
her plan to do exclusive breastfeeding. Having a baby mid semester meant also
that she could not take the mandatory six weeks post natal leave to allow her
to bond with her baby. She had to continue with lectures within weeks of giving
birth. Thursdays were the worst days as she had back to back lectures from 7am
to 4 pm with only an hour break. Thus she could not do the usual shuttle
between school and home to breastfeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After releasing the pent up pressure from milk,
she efficiently stored the expressed milk in her thermos flask and put the
flask back into her Gucci bag. Thank God for making large hand bags
fashionable. That was a life saver. Not only had it been difficult for her to
find a place to express her milk, but it was also more difficult to find a
place to safely store the milk until she could get it home. She once tried
leaving it in the car but temperatures had gone so high that day that the milk
had curdled and had to be disposed of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The solution now was to carry it with her to lectures. At least lectures
took place in an air-conditioned room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How is it that with a University this size,
with more than twenty thousand students, at all levels of study, from undergrad
to graduate level, the VC doesn’t think that there is the need for a nursing
room or a nursery? How paternalistic of him! There is nowhere to safely take a
six week old baby! Best university indeed!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But this dumsor kwraa was not helping,
especially with storing Baby Kay’s milk at home until he is ready to eat. With
this 24 hours of, 12 hours on electricity business, it meant she could not keep
the expressed milk for more than only a few days. The generator could not power
the fridge without causing damage. She had had to throw away milk on several
occasions due to the erratic at best and non existent at worst power supply
situation currently going on. One particular day, she expressed almost 12
ounces of milk, enough to last Baby Kay the whole day, very proud of herself.
Only to have the milk curdle because the lights were off the entire weekend and
the milk went bad by Monday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After being in labour for 12 hours, she had had
to be rushed into emergency caesarean surgery. This was delayed because there
was no money to buy fuel to power the hospital’s generator. John Paul had to
volunteer to buy fuel for the generator before the Doctor could go ahead with
the caesarean section. That was a close one. Thankfully, baby Kay didn’t need
any intensive care support. She heard the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
had to be shut down because the incubators were at risk of damage from the
erratic power supply. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So Baby Kay’s meals have to be supplemented by
formula milk as and when his milk runs out. This also has consequences. The
cost of the milk is the least of her problems. Afterall when she was working,
she spent more on lunch than she spends on one tin of baby milk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, the public health nurses must never
know of this during their regular monthly weighing sessions at the hospitals.
All this exclusive breastfeeding mania that has taken over the country
brouhaha. Second and most significantly, Baby Kay suffers from serious colicky
sessions when he drinks the formula. It is such a sorry sight to see and hear a
baby cry for hours on end suffering from gas. She and John Paul have changed
the brand of formula a few times but with no significant results. Internet also
says that it is not advisable to keep changing the baby brand of milk as it
takes up to two weeks for a baby to get used to a specific brand of formula.
Finally, she had to order a brand from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the US and had it delivered by courier. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">She has heard other horrifying tales of how
mothers and babies are suffering from the ongoing electricity load sharing
exercise. From babies not sleeping well in the incessant heat to mothers losing
their newborns as a result of equipment failure in hospitals. It is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>scary to be pregnant and expecting in these
times. These are really tumultuous times. We hear stories of midwives having to
deliver babies with torchlight. Infact, now in Ghana, everyone has a dumsor
story and there seem to be no end in sight. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It is no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>longer an individual’s pet peeve but it has become a national issue. Ti
is not just about the lights going on and off at irregular times but how
electricity or the lack thereof, affects us all. Electricity is a key
foundation of modern times. Without that form of energy, life will be
difficult. Nii Lante lost his job at Fanmilk after a redundancy. His wife is
also pregnant and not working. Nana Aba also had to close down her coldstore
and literally gave out her stock for free because the lights had been off for
almost a week. Not sure she would even break even. Poultry farmers are also losing
out because the chicks are not putting on weight as fast as they should. Hmm,
Ghana my motherland. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">How does a middle income country survive
without energy? How can we grow when our industries are suffering from lack of
power? How do our children write their exams and pass when there is no lights
for them to study at night before exams? thinking thoughts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Based on several true stories and
true events with a dash of poetic licence</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mother-in-law</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-59632927853976333322015-09-28T06:46:00.002-07:002015-09-28T06:46:34.013-07:00I Dream of a New Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of a new
Africa<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></u></b></span></span></span></a></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of
a new Africa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Free from
poverty, hunger and inequalities</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Working on
growth, rising with anticipation</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Brimming
with knowledge, skills and innovation</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of
a new Africa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Leading on
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Showing the
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Railways
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of
a new Africa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kwame
Nkrumah’s Africa- united</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Ahmed Ben
Bella’s Africa – economically strong</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Nelson
Mandela’s Africa- Peaceful</span></div>
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Selassie’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Africa – welcoming</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Showing,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sharing, learning and knowing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I dream of
a new Africa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Clearly do
I see attitudes changing</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Loudly do
the youth cry-arise , arise and build</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>-End- </span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5366435407691121530#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In honour of Founders day</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">21<sup>st</sup>
Sept, 2015</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-72704816825186397262015-08-31T05:15:00.000-07:002015-08-31T05:15:18.267-07:00Of treated mosquito nets and malaria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I love mosquito nets. Have used them since the
nineties when in boarding school. It was a staple item in my list of things to
have whenever getting ready to begin a new term in boarding school. And after
finishing school I continued to use them on and off. Especially after
childbirth and with my young children. Under five maternal mortality is real,
you know. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In my working life as well, I have been privileged to have been part of the ‘Kick Malaria out of Ghana” Campaign. And
was impressed about the massive country wide drive to give free mosquito nets
to all Ghanaians. And<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we succeeded. For
about two years. The rate of malaria dropped significantly in endemic areas. Children's lives were saved. Mothers rejoiced and the donor community shared stories
of the expected outcomes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Since then, everything has evolved. Mobile
phones have evolved, school curricula have been changed <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and even the dreaded process of preparing
fufu has been modified. We now have a fufu making machine, in both local and
foreign variety, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sold by Samsung, no
less! Even the mosquito itself has evolved. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We no longer treat Malaria with Chloroquine
and quinine but rather use artesunates. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">My big question is, why hasn’t the mosquito net
evolved? What is with the design of the mosquito net? Are there no inventors,
creators to change the design and functionality of the mosquito nets? We still
only have it in two possibly three colours- white, blue and green, I believe.
You still need sticks nailed to your bed to hand it up and only has two sizes-
single bed and double bed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Our beds are bigger, our rooms are plusher, who
wants to spoil the beauty of her bedroom with ugly sticks nailed to her bed and
a blue or green coloured mosquito net when her colour theme is fuschia? Why
cant we have structured nets that can be drawn together with a string and
opened the same way? The way blinds have nowadays? Why do we still have to roll
the nets and tie them in an unsightly pile at the top of the bed? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What hasn’t anyone noticed the need to improve
the design and functionality of the mosquito net so as to imbibe them more and
more into our culture? We are still stuck with a mosquito net design from the
dark ages.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A German friend of mine who visited Ghana for
the first time insisted on sleeping in her mosquito net in one of the high end
hotels in Accra. Despite the high rate of mosquito infestation in the general
area of the hotel, they had no facilities to accommodate her mosquito net.
Generally hotels in Ghana do not use mosquito nets, has anyone wondered why?
Similarly with hospitals. Even the maternity and children's wards of all
hospitals have no mosquito nets. There must be a reason for this lack of
adherence with the one thing that will help eradicate malaria. I believe it is
the design and functionality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I think the Ministry of Health and donors are
doing well with this new Malaria campaign with the treated mosquito nets. But
they should go deeper. Change the functionality of the mosquito nets. Train
carpenters to include mosquito net sticks as part of the bed and not as an ugly
add-on. Recognise sizes and new shapes of beds the Ghanaian uses and design to
meet our needs. And give us more variety. We want frills, flowers and
frostings, and many more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you will
see mosquito nets in hotels and in high class homes and bedrooms. Not only in
the rural areas and for bunk beds. And then malaria can really pack its bags
and leave. </span></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-81899037452567927572015-07-13T15:34:00.000-07:002015-07-13T15:34:26.812-07:00Of public places and open spaces<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I had the pleasure of going to watch
one of Uncle Ebo’s plays at the National Theatre in Accra. Yep. That one in
which he used humans as props. So the sofa was made up of four people. Two of
them were the seat and the other two were the stand, the TV was also a pretty
girl with a box around her and the flower pots were girls with flowers painted
all over them and so on and so forth. The plot of the play was also nice.
Started off like a prodigal son-esque theme that slowly metamorphorsised into a
mistaken identities issue, ie. the virgin who really isn’t so innocent, blah
blah. All in all, a nice, well staged and well executed play.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But that is not why I am writing this piece. We
were almost late, as usual Ghanaman time. Got there a few minutes past 4 (play
starts at 4pm on the dot) and the queue of people trying to get inside was so
long. It seemed as if the entire Accra had shown up. A typical example of ‘sold
out’. The theatre was full and yet more people kept coming.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Of course we had a good time, but that is not
why I am writing this piece. My<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beef is
about the conspicuous absence of family friendly public spaces in Accra. Our
weekends are empty. There is nowhere to go for any type of relaxation. Oh!
Unless you count the numerous funerals and weddings that fill your weekends.
But then the children are left out. Have you noticed the lack of play grounds,
public parks, community centres and open spaces around? Even those that are
available are being turned into ‘functional’ spaces. There is an ongoing battle
on a small parcel of land within the North Legon enclave which is supposed to
be a community park. Over the past five years, the community has fought over
and over again from that parcel of land being sold for private development. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Where I currently live, a stretch of land originally
reserved for a community school has been cut up and sold for residential
purposes. I hear that the current government has now promised to build a
hospital for the community. The community is supposed to provide at least a
hectare of land for the development and the elders cannot find any. All have
been sold out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">See even what is happening to our forest
reserves. The Achimota Forest has, over the years, been encroached upon and
litigated upon to the extent that the current forest is less than half its original
size. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Even our private schools do not have enough
space ad greenery around them to enable our children to develop properly. One
of the key criteria for choosing any school for any of my children have been
the fact that the school should have trees on its compound. No trees, thank you
madam, my children will not attend your school, no matter how great the school
is said to be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The worst case so far is
when the toilet of public school was pulled down by developers who wanted to
use the space to build a high end entertainment centre. And city officials
looked on unconcerned fighting over whether the developer had a permit or not
and not whether it was in the interest of the community to pull down their
public toilet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Town and Country Planning Department or whoever Department responsible for this must surely sit up.
it is not enough to hide under the excuse of 'lack of funds'. What is the use of rezoning the use of open spaces if it is only to line the
pockets of politicians and corrupt public officials? Posterity shall surely
judge me and you, Mr. corrupt public official.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366435407691121530.post-31323401665063815172015-07-10T05:55:00.002-07:002015-07-10T05:55:35.480-07:00Do I need a penis to succeed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am a feminist. Unashamedly so. A few weeks ago I watched
an interview of a female lecturer who was asked whether she was a feminist. She
answered in the affirmative. The interviewer then asked her to define who a
feminist was. This caught my interest as people define feminism in different
ways. Her answer was that a feminist is one who sees the injustice in the system,
the unequal relationship between men and women and seek to actively do
something about it. I identify with that answer. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I am a feminist. Unashamedly so. Even to the point that
during one of my numerous schools, my mates called me ‘feminist ontologist’
because I would instinctively proffer a gendered point of view.</div>
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<br /></div>
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That is why I was happy when the President of Ghana John
Dramani Mahama appointed a woman as the next chair of the Electoral Council. This
increases the number of females in this present government. Off the top of my
head, I can add her Ladyship Georgina Woode, Nana Oye Lithur, Dzifa Attivor and
a few others who have adequatey proved that they are up to the job and able to
deliver to the required standards. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also
know of the stories of the non performing female ministers who are really just
window dressers. Fire burn them!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Ok. Back to my thoughts. So Manasseh Azure wrote a piece
about how Charlotte Osei does not need a penis to succeed. I agree. In Manasseh,
I find a kindred soul. Why do men think women need to act like men before they
can succeed? What qualifies this to be a ‘man’s job’ and not just a normal
position that requires the utmost levels of integrity and firmness, not
manliness. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I have been around somewhat in my short life on earth and
have lead various teams comprised of men and women. I believe my leadership
have been based on fairness, competence and teamwork and not because I have behaved
like a man. The trust I have received from my fellow colleagues was not, I believe,
because I kowtowed to all their requests but because we worked jointly in the
interest of our organisation. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The myth about having to be a ‘man’ to succeed is
gradually eroding although it will take some time for it to fully disappear,
especially in Ghana. And there is still much to do on this front. From asserting
ourselves as competent workers who just happen to have 'xx' chromosomes to ensuring that our daughters
have self esteem and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>confidence in their
abilities. </div>
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Success has nothing to do with being a man or a woman, although I understand
all the debate about equality, equity and social perceptions about the sexes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Success has all to do with being competent,
professional and able. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish Mrs. Osei
good luck in her new position and hope she will join the likes of Anna Bossman
in my books as she works assiduously to make my feminist soul proud. </div>
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Teiko Sabahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15572653438198164606noreply@blogger.com0