Kofi Bentil got it wrong on the EPAs

Kofi Bentil makes a very intriguing point about the so-called Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Ghana and the European Union.

Bentil’s argument for signing the EPA is that we have no better option.

But this is simply not true.

We can meet the needs of the very few – five or so – exporters who will suffer distress by not signing the ‪‎EPAs from the huge savings Ghana will make by not signing.

It will cost the exporters of banana, processed cocoa products and tuna a total of US$52 million annually in extra duties if we don’t sign. However, if we don’t sign, it will save the Ghanaian treasury a minimum of US$150 million (according to MOTI figures) or US$374 million (according to the‪#UNECA/South Centre) each year, which we could otherwise have lost in tariff revenue by signing.

Some of the savings can be used to support the distressed exporters for a period to allow them to diversify their export market.

That way, we will also save our domestic industries from the threat of inevitable collapse that signing the agreement will impose. We will also save the space for applying our own policies which will otherwise be sacrificed by signing the EPAs.

It is true that the EU has become even more single-minded in pursuit of its agenda for the deregulation of services, investment and government procurement, together with restrictive disciplines in IP and so forth – with the aim of obtaining free, unrestricted access for European investors to all sectors of Africa’s economies.

As to the thing about the EPAs being the result of failure of leadership and strategic thinking, that may be so, but we cannot punish the ordinary, hardworking people, producers, etc for the selfishness and irresponsibility of their leaders.

And nobody, as far as I am aware, has blamed colonialism for anything relating to the EPAs. The argument rather is that if we sign the EPAs in its current form, we will be returning our economy to what it was in colonial times/Guggisburg colonial economy – simple exporters of raw/bulk primary products in exchange for manufactured goods. i.e. Mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for the benefit of others in the international economic order.

Bentil doesn't seem to realize that the EPAs will take apart every attempt at regional integration in the sub-region. The ECOWAS region is a critical market for Ghanaian (and for that matter Nigerian, Ivorian and other West African) exporters of manufactured products and services. In effect, a full-blown EPA will sink Ghana’s attempts and future efforts at industrialization which really is a critical piece in moving this country into a meaningful middle income global player.

Even studies by the World Bank, apostles of liberalisation as we know them, have warned ECOWAS of the dire consequences of opening up their market by more than 60% in a free trade agreement. Under the EPAs Ghana will open its market by 75 %.

What Bentil doesn't also appear to get is that the EPA is a lock-in agreement, secured by a lock-in mechanism. At its barest, this means that if Ghana, for whatever reason, decides to offer better terms (than the EPA) to another country or bloc of countries, it will have to extend same to the EU. 

By the way, whatever meaningful leverage Ghana ever had to deal with such restrictive free trade agreements as the EPAs were whittled away under the structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s and 1990s and under HIPC/PRSP clan.

Ethnic card and an African election

There are countless examples across Africa of how misguided and power hungry politicians and other public office holders played the ethnic card in a bid to wrestle power and how those irrational acts decimated their own nations.

Rwanda is perhaps the best example but so is Kenya after the 2007 elections in which up to 1,500 people died from ethnic clashes. Even the Ivorian war was in part ethnically executed.

It’s against this backdrop that I find a pronouncement by Ghana’s caretaker President, John Mahama, who is seeking to retain power during the country’s December 7, 2012 elections most offensive.

President Mahama

Addressing the chiefs and people of Nankpanduri in northern Ghana during a campaign tour of the Northern Region this week, the President of one of Africa’s brightest democracies, seemed to appeal for their votes – not so much based on his vision, policies and the record of the ruling party but – simply because of where he comes from, the Northern Region. The bait to his ethnic cleavage, his kith and kin, is not only Machiavellian but also obnoxious.

Ironically, three of the four candidates that participated in the IEA presidential debate last Friday are from the northern half of the country but I don’t quite think that Ghanaians were bothered by that as much as the vision, policies and ideas they espoused on that platform.

With that unguarded statement, President Mahama has doubtlessly and quite deliberately so, drawn many Ghanaians away from the policy discourse they are craving for, to their differences, superficial as they are.

But Mahama is not alone in playing the ethnic card in this election. His main opponent, Nana Akuffo Addo in this election, a few months ago also made an ethnically charged statement trying to distinguish his Akan ethnic group from other ethnic groups in the country.

Nana Addo

The PPP’s Paa Kwesi Nduom has also made some ethnically charged in his recent campaigns. In a campaign stump speech a week ago in Cape Coast, capital of the Central Region, Nduom urged his supporters to ignore ‘Adze wo fie oye’ (understood to be a reference to the vice president Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur who is also from Cape Coast) and adopt ‘Adze papa wo fie oye’.

Nduom reframed his statement by urging his supporters: ‘Don’t just vote for a Fanti, but a Ghanaian who is competent….’ But by the time Nduom reframed his message the harm had possibly been done.

Ghana certainly deserves better. There are over 10 major ethnic groups in Ghana with many more sub-regroups.

Ghana’s new veep

Ghana has a new vice president. Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was vetted by Parliament and sworn-in on Monday, August 6. His appointment was necessitated by the accession of John Mahama as president of Ghana following the sudden death of President John Atta Mills on July 24, 2012.

Amissah-Arthur

 

Until his new appointment, Amissah-Arthur, 61, a former deputy minister of finance, was the governor of the central bank, the Bank of Ghana, (BoG). Forget about the fact that he’s not a charismatic person. Ghanaians have now gotten used to having non-charismatic leaders.

His appointment has generated mixed reaction from within the ruling NDC party. I think the larger Ghanaian public is quite unsure about what he brings to the table albeit he has played critical roles in crafting the country’s economic path over the better part of the last three decades. He spent about half of his entire working life at the Ministry of Finance.

Perhaps what Ghanaians can relate to most is his last posting as governor of the BoG. Amissah-Arther’s tenure at the BoG has seen the national currency, the Cedi, decline sharply against nearly all major trading currencies especially since the beginning of 2012.

Generally, the national currency has tended to come under severe pressure in an election year as this. And so there’s probably nothing new in the latest decline. What is new however is that the person who presided over this decline is now the vice president and the de facto head of the government’s Economic Management Team. A case of more of the same? It could be but not necessarily.

How this plays in the campaigns leading to the December 7, 2012 elections remains to be seen.

Mahama and Amissah-Arthur will serve out what remains of President John Atta Mills’ mandate. They will get the nod of the ruling party in September to contest the December polls together as the party’s presidential candidate(s).

President Mills’s departure, the orderly transition and impending presidential and parliamentary elections in December have focused minds on the health of Ghana’s democracy. The country has made some remarkable progress on the democratic path as exemplified by the 2008 elections, transfer of power and the smooth process leading to the assumption of office by a new president following the sudden death of Mills.

However Ghana’s democratic governance is beset with some deep-seated political problems. The policy making process is heavily centralized and the executive president is extremely powerful, too powerful for the good of the country. The system has also bred a strong party loyalty. The system of political patronage is neo-patrimonial, akin to single party form of governance. Equally debilitating is the weak institutional capacity at both the regulatory and political levels.

I will tackle some of these in a later blog.

Rawlings bucks tradition to draw first blood

Jerry Rawlings’ uncharitable and highly controversial comments about Mills and the cause of his death have drawn the ire of not only the family of the late leader but also the larger Ghanaian public.

Fact is, for a number of reasons, Ghanaians culturally, do not speak ill of the dead especially if the body has not been interred.

But unsurprisingly, Rawlings also left a cheeky comment when he signed the Book of Condolence for the late President on Friday, July 27.

Jerry Rawlings

Rawlings wrote: Fare thee well Prof. Let's hope we will do better at keeping those with destructive tendencies away and out of the national endeavours. Help to provide JM (John Mahama) with whatever guidance you can offer from where you are since you are now free - JJ Rawlings, July 27, 2012.

Rawlings won and governed a second term in office (before bowing out as demanded by the country’s constitution) under the 4^th republican constitution with Prof John Atta Mills as his vice president in 1996. Against the will of the rank and file of the NDC party, of which he is founder, Rawlings anointed Mills as his successor at Swedru in 1998 in the now famous “Swedru Declaration”.

But Rawlings became, by far, the fiercest critic of President Mills and his administration when the latter took office after the 2008 elections – until his death last Tuesday, July 24, 2012.

Actually I’ve been wondering the whole morning what non-confrontational Mills’ reaction would be like if he woke up the next minute to read or hear these comments by Rawlings.

Most certainly Mills, if he hadn’t changed, would simply say something to this effect: WE NEED PEACE. LET’S THEREFORE NOT DO ANYTHING TO UNDERMINE THE PEACE OF THIS COUNTRY!!!

Twists in the succession plot as Ghanaians mourn Mills

As the country mourns the passing of its President, John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, Ghanaians are enamoured with the kind words, sympathies, and deep admiration for Ghana and Ghanaians expressed by millions around the world especially from the streets of other African countries.

A couple of comments on Kenya’s leading daily, the Daily Nation sums up the heartfelt sentiments:

Kinoti Kithuri wrote: What else would a nation ask for then a peaceful rest of their president and peaceful respectful transition to a new president as a means of better period of mourning. May God be your peace, Ghana.

Faboge also wrote: Lovely country, people and a nation of good governance, Africa mourns the loss of your democrat.

Let’s focus on a much narrower but critical subject: Who takes over as vice president to President Mahama as the ruling party heads for the December presidential and parliamentary elections.

Whoever gets anointed has to serve with the new president the remaining term of President Mills as well as be able to assist Mahama to retain the presidency at the December polls. At least that will be the aim of the party.

Since the president’s death a tall list has emerged of potential vice presidents to President John Mahama. Some of the names are downright ridiculous and I can’t imagine why anyone would suggest such candidates. Some suggested names clearly have the talent but not the temperament. Others also have the temperament but not the brains. Another set combine both the right temperament and the talent and I think it is from this last group that the country and the new president will be better served to pick from.

The NDC is clearly not short of brilliant brains and hands to couple the new president to run the country even more efficiently and professionally following the untimely death of Mills.

Here is my take on three of the many potential veeps to President Mahama.

Let me start by pointing out a few issues that won’t inform President Mahama’s choice of vice president albeit in ordinary times these same issues would have been critical: religious beliefs of the candidate and the freshness of the person to party politics.

The religious beliefs of the person won’t be an issue not least because both president Mills and president Mahama were Christians and that caused no problems for them – be it in the 2008 campaigns or in office but also the freshness of the person to party politics.

Given the closeness of the December general elections, Mahama and the NDC are unlikely to go for a truly fresh face/talent or a highly polarizing figure. He is hardly erratic but I won’t be surprised if Mahama decides to pleasantly surprise most Ghanaians by tapping a fairly neutral but popular and widely respected and accomplished academic such as Prof. Kofi Sefah-Dedeh who has been central in the delivery of some of the most strategic tangible achievements of Mills’ “Better Ghana Agenda”.

 

Hannah Tetteh

Current Minister of Trade and Industry and former MP.

Hannah Tetteh

Strengths:

·         Her gender is a big asset. This is no tokenism. Ghanaian women have been central to the country’s political process and yet not one has had a decent shot at the top two jobs in the country. Could this be the time?

·         Excellent grasp of issues along with her law background;

·         Rated as one of the few high performing of Mills’ appointees;

·         Good relations with the business class;

·         Good inter-personal skills;

·         Love for made-in-Ghana products especially clothing;

·         Former MP and experienced legislature with contacts across the political divide;

·         From late president’s region.

Weaknesses:

·         Can be dismissive sometimes

·         A shade to the right of politics away from the centre-left that Mahama leans to (and the NDC claims to stand for)

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey

An advisor to late President Mills and member of his economic team

Kwesi Botchwey

Strengths:

·         Pragmatist;

·         Steady and experienced economic hand;

·         Excellent grasp of issues and a hard hitter, politically-speaking;

·         Academic with good networks;

·         Articulate, friendly and a great communicator;

·         Hails from late president’s home region;

·         Has been influential in Mills’ stabilization of the economy.

Weakness:

·         His central role in PNDC/NDC governments may arm the opposition against the NDC;

·         Perceived to be too cozy with Western multinationals and IFIs; &

·         Long absence from frontline domestic politics.

PV Obeng

Currently chairman of the National Development Planning Commission and advisor to late President Mills.

PV Obeng

Strengths:

·         Still close to the Rawlingses and could work to bring them back on board

·         Big brain, intelligent & excellent grasp of issues and politics

·         At ease with the big picture issues and tiny details too and comfortable in the limelight

·         Technocrat and strategically minded

·         Business savvy and would be loved especially by the top tier of the business elite and international investors

·         Experienced in governance at the highest level as the de facto Prime Minister under the Rawlings military regime

·         Friendly and articulate and charismatic

Weaknesses:

·         Tainted past: The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) investigated him extensively in the 1990s although found insufficient incriminating evidence to recommend his prosecution

·         Hails from Ashanti Region, the World Bank of the leading opposition party, NPP now led by Nana Akuffo Addo, a very formidable candidate. The NDC can’t expect to gain so many votes in Ashanti to negate the votes it could lose in the Central and Western Regions if it chooses PV.

Other names that have come up are: Goosie Tanoh; Ekwow Spio Garbrah; Ofosu Ampofo, Mike Hammah, Alban Bagbin, Kwesi Ahwoi and Kwabena Duffour.

These are all great talents but the time is rather short in my opinion to gamble on any of these. Point is there are issues around every one of these guys that requires some ironing out and the five months to the elections is too short to deal with some of the issues within the party first and then communicate sufficiently and convincingly to Ghanaian voters.

Finally, my pick will be Hannah Tetteh first and Botchwey second. “A+” rated in the President Mills’ cabinet, she is a good campaigner besides her other strengths I’ve listed above. She is beautiful in a non aggressive way. Contrast her with out of favour former A-G and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould Iddrisu (and Nana Rawlings) and you get what I mean.

 

True Hannah can be boring when she chooses to, but let’s face it Ghanaians care less about that for as long as the person can deliver. Check out President Kufuor, President Mills and even the new head of state, President Mahama. They all have/had this stiff upper lip and are largely uncharismatic but a good section of Ghanaians love/loved them.

Will Hannah get the nod? I’m not sure! Botchwey? Umm yep because he is a much more formidable candidate.

Death of President Mills, Ghana’s seamless transition

The shocking news of the death of Ghana’s president, Professor John Atta Mills, 68, filtered through the rather thick grey, cloudy and partly wet Tuesday mid-afternoon. Across the country and the political divide, his death has left Ghanaians in grieve.

Late President Mills

Seven days of morning has been declared. Opposition parties have also suspended their electioneering campaigns in a mark of respect.

That the president was not in perfect health was a fact known to most Ghanaians. In fact over the past several months rumours swirled the media of his death but each time Mills came out to disprove it and so even when the news broke of his death on Tuesday at the 37 Military Hospital, one of Ghana’s leading health facilities, many remained unconvinced until the Chief of Staff at the residency issued a press statement around 16.00 GMT.

Mills welcomes Obama in Accra

Earlier in June, the president returned from a medical checkup in the United States and declared he was well. He even embarked on a short aerobics, jogging on the tarmac of the Kotoka International Airport on arrival.

His demise on July 24 came as a huge surprise and a massive blow to the country.

This blog is not a review of his legacy as such but Prof. Mills, Asomdwehene (king of peace) as he was better known by Ghanaians, will be remembered for a number of things at home. As a person and president, the tax law professor was a typical Ghanaian gentleman: calm, honest, humble, diligent and God-fearing. 

 Presidency confirms his death

I am reliably informed that around midday, the president complained of pain at the back of his neck while working behind his desk in his office at the presidency – before heading to Nigeria later in the day. Doctors were called in. But it is even likely that he died at the presidency before being dispatched to the 37 Military Hospital 15 minutes drive from the presidency. He suffered from throat cancer. He also had difficulty with one eye.

As an evangelical Christian, his faith in God was unquestionable and he seized on every opportunity to thank God for His grace and mercies upon this country.

The soft spoken late president would also be remembered for his punctuality and hands-on attitude to work. His three-and-half years in office saw the national economy grow at an unprecedented 13.5 per cent and inflation drop to its lowest rate in the country’s history. Inflation has since inched up a bit to about 9.4 per cent by the end of June.

At his inauguration into office on January 7, 2009, he promised to be “father to all” and he lived up to his promise by being deeply passionate about the wellbeing of Ghanaians. Many have said he could not translate the passion and impressive economic indicators to tangible improvement in the quality of life of the ordinary Ghanaian.

This morning, a day after his death, many of his country men and women are clad in mourning clothes from the TV morning shows through the streets to offices, both public and private.

An optimist, Prof Mills had a calming influence on Ghana’s sometimes overly heated party politics. Albeit towards to the end he seemed a deeply unhappy, even irritated a man, as his political opponents and indeed some from high up within his own NDC party ranks openly attacked him on all fronts – his politics, policies and his person. He fell out with his former boss and mentor, former President Jerry Rawlings and his wife.

But Rawlings quietly and surprisingly visited Mills at the presidency barely two weeks before his death, possibly to patch up their strained relations.

Anyways, with just about five months to the next presidential and parliamentary elections in December, his untimely death posses some serious challenges to his party but much less so to the country.

Seamless transition

Barely six hours after his death and four hours of its confirmation by the presidency, Mills’ vice president, John Mahama, 53, was sworn-in as president in Parliament in accordance with Ghana’s constitution without the slightest glitch.

Mills' successor: President John Mahama

His death tosses up the chances of the ruling NDC to retain power at the December general elections in which Mills was set to contest.

Mahama is likely to be endorsed by the party hierarchy to contest the presidency on the NDC’s ticket.  It is the most logical thing to do, given the late stage of electioneering campaigns and the fact that Mahama was indeed running the country in all but name even while president Mills was in office.

Mills’ successor is widely respected right around the country and within the political and business classes. A former MP, he is regarded as another well-mannered, cool-headed, even- keeled and fine gentleman with a good grasp of issues.

He is lot media savvy having served as Communications Minister under the Rawlings administration. He read his inaugural speech in Parliament last night from his tablet.

Mahama could be cast as a young, highly respected and more energetic leader capable of connecting well with all Ghanaians, a “brother to all”! His main contender, Nana Akuffo Addo, 68, who was beaten by Mills in the 2008 presidential elections by the tiniest of margins, is a formidable candidate.

How the NDC manages its internal rifts will also be critical. For sometime now, Mahama has fallen out with the Rawlingses and so even though his new office offers him a fresh opportunity to reset their relations and renew strained ties, it is unlikely that he will easily win former president Rawlings and his wife. The Rawlings have set up a new political party, the National Democratic Party (NDP) although they have not pulled out of the NDC. The Rawlingses have not openly identified with the new party neither have they denied association.

Crucially, who Mahama picks as vice president to serve out the remaining term of the late president could play a decisive role to flesh out his strategy and chances in December. Two names have already popped up and these are PV Obeng, former de facto prime minister under the Rawlings military regime and Dr Kwesi Botchwey, a former finance minister (also under Rawlings) and an academic.

The death of President Mills’ and the swift seamless transition has galvanized the nation to consolidate the sense of unity and patriotism. It is fair to imagine at this stage that this half of the electioneering campaign even it resumes will be the most civil, sober and exciting in the run up to December.

Rest in perfect peace dear leader, Prof. John Fiifi Atta Mills!

Ghana's democracy while we slept

Ok, if you don’t like how a news media covers your government and political party, issue a fiat forbidding all your appointees, other public officials, departments and agencies from speaking to that media house. 

You probably can do that (and get away with it) if you run your own small company or fiefdom but certainly not when you’re governing a post-modern democratic state.

But that’s exactly what the Government of Ghana has done. On Tuesday, March 20, the government issued an order prohibiting all appointees from granting interviews to or advertising on the platforms of the country’s leading independent multimedia company, Multimedia Group Limited.

The government’s move came as a surprise to many. Not only is the administration’s action clearly undemocratic, utterly illegal and unnecessary exercise of power, it is also heavily tinged with arrogance.

Ghana’s 4^th republican constitution, in letter and spirit, frowns on this sort of arbitrary use of state power. The constitution guarantees the right of the media, free speech and expressly recognizes the media as the fourth estate of the realm.

President Mills (R) and his veep, John Mahama

According to government, the action is borne out of the fact that it doesn’t like the way the media organization’s networks report on the government and the ruling party.

Multimedia Group Limited owns and operates Joy FM, by far Ghana’s best and indeed one of Africa’s leading radio stations. The company runs the Multi TV network. Altogether, Multimedia Group Limited operates 20 radio and TV channels. 

It also has dozens of affiliates which rebroadcast its flagship programmes right across Ghana and on the internet every day. The comprehensive Myjoyline website is a leader in online news in Ghana.

I’ve a confession to make here: I worked briefly with Multimedia after graduate school but that’s beside the point.

Historically, the NDC has had a rather fractious relationship with the media. In July 2001, the John Kufour NPP administration repealed the criminal libel and seditious laws of the country.   

In the 1990s, NDC government appointees and affiliates had used these laws during Jerry Rawlings administration to bully and jail journalists.

After promising while in opposition to pass the Right to Information Bill into law in 2008, the Mills administration has so far reneged on that promise – with just about eight months to face the electorate again. Ghanaians head to the polls in December to elect a president and legislatures. President Mills won the 2008 election by a wafer-thin margin.

Government’s claim its heavy-handed move is in direct response to Multimedia Group’s supposed unfairness in the coverage of the ruling party is simply untenable and it is also not doing itself any favours in a competitive election year as this.

This action only plays into the hands of the opposition which will no doubt capitalize on it to characterize the Mills administration as intolerant and undemocratic. Ghanaians take their democracy and freedom of speech seriously -- just listen to or watch any of the morning show programmes on radio or TV). 

Therefore, arbitrarily proscribing a major news and entertainment network such as the Multimedia Group from covering state events can only hit the government where it hurts most, public perception and possibly at the polls later in the year. Already political campaigns have intensified.

Ghana’s laws guarantee the right to rejoinder and civil suit against false allegations and unfair media reporting. For the administration to therefore take such a drastic action speaks to how precarious the country’s democracy is.

Ghana is an ‘anchor state’, a shining example of modern democratic governance in Africa but this is clearly under threat. Recording a remarkable growth rate of 13.5 per cent in 2011 and an increasingly vibrant economy buoyed by recent oil discovery and exports, the country enjoys tremendous goodwill in Africa and globally.

The government must step back from this atypical and impulsive exercise of power, retract the order and apologize to Ghanaians for denting their confidence in the country’s democracy.

Jamestown, gays and elections

Jamestown (Accra) and gay rights, what’s the connection? Not really. Well not until this week. Jamestown is one of the original communities of Ghana’s ever expanding capital, Accra.

The suburb is named after a fort built by the British in 1673 and named after King James II, who was a major shareholder in the Royal African Company that traded in gold, slaves and whisky before he ascended the throne. The fort is now a prison –James Fort Remand Prison.

Also known as British Accra (there are Danish Accra and Dutch Accra), Jamestown warmly kisses the Atlantic Ocean in the south and the rather polluted Korle Lagoon on the west. With a large population and a heavily overstretched public infrastructure, Jamestown is a bustling community and the childhood home of some of Ghana’s best boxers and footballers.

A protest against same-sex relationships early in the week has forced homosexuality and gay rights back into the middle of hot-button topics in this political season. Ghanaians go to the polls to elect a president and parliamentarians in December.

The Jamestown protesters including females assaulted revellers attending an early morning marriage ceremony of a lesbian couple with sticks and canes. The protesters arrested two females, a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old who were at the function and sent them to the local police station and urged the police to arrest all gays in the community. But the reasons for the protest and subsequent attacks were not the usual religious, health or the standard socio-cultural reasons.

For the Jamestown anti-gay activists, the level of lesbianism in the area in particular is depriving men of girlfriends and future wives. That is to say there is an emerging shortage of women or they do not want to compete with other lesbians for women to date.

‘Their activities are depriving us of women. Anytime a man decides to go after a woman in the area these lesbians will pounce on him and beat him up. We cannot allow this to go on in the area. These women use money to lure the young girls into this bad habit and deprive us. It must stop,’ the local press quoted one anti-gay activist.

Now that’s a rather fairly new reason for the growing opposition to homosexuality. In the past, the reasons for public opposition were mainly because the practice is a ‘disgusting western’ concept inimical to African values and also because all three dominant faiths – Christianity, Islam and traditional African religion – frown on same-sex relationships.

In November 2011, Ghana’s president, John Atta Mills called the bluff of British PM, David Cameron to cut aid to African nations with anti-gay legislation. Reacting to Cameron’s threats, Mills told Ghanaians the country will never capitulate to Britain or any other country’s whim to legalise same-sex relationships. 

‘I, as president of this nation, will never initiate or support any attempt to legalise homosexuality in Ghana’. 

‘No one can deny Prime Minister Cameron his right to make policies, take initiatives or make statements that reflect his societal norms and ideals but he does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those which exist in [the] Prime Minister’s society...

‘Let me also say that whiles we acknowledge all the financial assistance and all the aid which has been given to us by our development partners, we will not accept any aid with strings attached, if that aid will not inure to our interest or the implementation or the utilisation of that aid with strings attached would rather worsen our plight as a nation or destroy the very society that we want to use the money to improve,’ the soft-spoken president and former law lecturer said tersely.

Uganda’sYuweri Museveni and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe attacked Cameron as ‘satanic’ over his gay rights threat. Nigeria also asked Cameron to go to hell. But a week ago, a British cardinal and leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland also described the Cameron government’s plans to legalise gay marriage in Britain as ‘madness’, ‘a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right’ and a ‘redefinition of reality’.

Jamestown anti-gay protesters

Public resentment of same-sex relationship is deep and widespread in Ghana and much of Africa. Homophobia is mostly expressed as attempts to preserve the sanity and socio-cultural fabric of the African society.

With the exception of South Africa no other African country has legalised same-sex relationships. Gay relationships are thus a crime in many of these countries. Classified as ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’, they are considered a misdemeanor in Ghana’s penal code and in most other African nations.

Nigeria and Uganda recently sought to pass new laws in their Parliaments expressly banning homosexuality as well as impose stiffer custodial sentences.

Going to Ghana’s December 2012 elections, the make or break issue is the national economy. The economy grew by 13.5 per cent in 2011 one of the highest growth rates in world albeit it was fueled by oil exports.  
Apart from Mills other presidential aspirants have yet to publicly pronounce on same-sex relationships. But Jamestown may just have pulled the trigger on an issue that may play no mean a role in who gets crowned as Ghana’s president in January 2013 when whoever is elected will assume office.