MAKING FINANCE WORK FOR HUMANS

A bitter lessoon we have to learn the hard way The financial crisis is a systemic crisis that emerges in the context of global crises (climate, food, energy, social…) and of a new balance of power. It results from 30 years of transfer of income from labor towards capital. This tendency should be reversed. This crisis is the consequence of a capitalist system of production based on laissez-faire and fed by short term accumulation of profits by a minority, unequal redistribution of wealth, an unfair trade system, the perpetration and accumulation of irresponsible, ecological and illegitimate debt, natural resource plunder and the privatization of public services. This crisis affects the whole humanity, first of all the most vulnerable (workers, jobless, farmers, migrants, women…) and Southern countries, which are the victims of a crisis for which they are not at all responsible. The resources to get out of the crisis merely burden the public with the losses in order to save, with no real public benefit, a financial system that is at the root of the current cataclysm. Where are the resources for the populations which are the victims of the crisis? The world not only needs regulations, but also a new paradigm which puts the financial system at the service of a new international democratic system based on the satisfaction of human rights, decent work, food sovereignty, respect for the environment, cultural diversity, the social and solidarity economy and a new concept of wealth. Therefore, we demand to: • Put a reformed and democratized United Nations at the heart of the financial system reform, as the G20 is not the legitimate forum to resolve this systemic crisis. • Establish international permanent and binding mechanisms of control over capital flows. • Implement an international monetary system based on a new system of reserves, including the creation of regional reserve currencies in order to end the current supremacy of the dollar and to ensure international financial stability. • Implement a global mechanism of state and citizen control of banks and financial institutions. Financial intermediation should be recognized as a public service that is guaranteed to all citizens in the world and should be taken out of free trade agreements. • Prohibit hedge funds and over the counter markets, where derivatives and other toxic products are exchanged without any public control. • Eradicate speculation on commodities, first of all food and energy, by implementing public mechanisms of price stabilization. • Dismantle tax havens, sanction their users (individuals, companies, banks and financial intermediates) and create an international tax organization to combat tax competition and evasion. • Cancel unsustainable and illegitimate debt of impoverished countries and establish a system of democratic, accountable, fair sovereign borrowing and lending that serves sustainable and equitable development. • Establish a new international system of wealth sharing by implementing a progressive tax system at the national level and by creating global taxes (on financial transactions, polluting activities and high income) to finance global public goods. We call on NGOs, trade unions and social movements to converge in order to create a citizen struggle in favor of this new model. We urge them to mobilize all over the world, in particular in the face of the G20, from March 28th onwards.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

>>>> NIGERIA IMPOSES FOREIGN EXCHANGE CONTROLS The global financial crisis we are told is far removed from the realities of daily tarry in the developing world ,especially Africa but the decision of the the Nigerian Central bank to impose foreign exchange restriction shows that the threat ids much nearer than we have assumed up till now. Nigeria is the indispensable big brother we in Ghana cannot do without and when it sneezes we might want to take precaution.

MORE ACTION,LESS TALK

THE GOVERNING STYLE OF THE NEW PRESIDENT President Mill's withdrawal of the nomination of Moses Asaga's nomination as the minister designate for Works and housing is a clear indication of the style he intends to adopt for the next four years. During the electioneering campaign he promised to deal with any of his officials who will be corrupt and this has been a swift and ruthless example of how he intends to make good on his promise. Prior to this action many had berated the president of appearance "not-in-control" as a result of his inaction and absence from the public sphere. For almost week news on the activities of the president was scarce and valuable commodity and in a nation that has just gone through an era of incessant media use by the executive, it was a troubling sign. It only went further to deepen the rumors of his ill health and control by Rawlings. However when the act on Asaga emerged it sent the right signals and quietened the chatter. The Hon Asaga who was a member of the three-man economic Management Team was alleged to have signed a cheque for 25m Ghana Cedis to be disbursed to the beneficiaries of the much maligned Ex-Gratia package that was cooked the out-gone government without recourse to any one in the party or the Government. Mr Asaga exhibited poor judgment when he signed the cheque during the period when there was an angry public outcry over the Ex-gratia. President Mills duly exercised his executive powers and sacked the yet-to-confirmed minister as an example to all the rest. In the process he scored good political points and earned the praise of many including staunch opponents. His action and the manner of it shows the kind of president he will shape up to be; DOING MORE AND TALKING LESS.

HOW PROPERTY-OWNING DEMOCRACY WORKS

>>>> As taught by the NPP NPP always prides themselves as the party of industrious and hardworking types and never fail to point that they champion what they refer to as "property-owning democracy". Some commentators and analyst have wrongly interpreted this to mean that they believe every citizen could earn their property if they worked hard in the enabling environment they will create while in government...or at least that was the narrative from the ideological czars of the party. This went down well with many Ghanaian who are largely by nature hardworking,enterprising, and industrious group of people.Ghanaian genuinely believed that if for nothing at all a lot of opportunities will be opened to them to begin to earn real wealth through honest handwork and industry. the rhetoric beginning of their reign in 2001 went down very well and created a positive buzz in the business and economic community. peoples spirits were raised by slogans like "private sectors as the engine of growth" ,"Golden age of business" etc that were floating around all over.admittedly this raised the spirits of many Ghanaian and people were ready to grant the government the goodwill to take certain difficult decisions. for instance people actually clamored for increment in the the pump price of fuels when we were all told that it was a necessary act to put our economy on a sound footing. As the government survived a first term and won a second term it began to slowly but steadily show Ghanaians the real meaning of the Property -owning Ideology. What this ideology turned out to be was a deeply corrupt system of patronage, influence peddling corruption and property grabbing in all aspects of our lives. All forms of government action were used to enrich a selected few (Few, because being an ordinary member of the party did not open the doors the property) from the ruling party. Government policies, expenditure, and action were used to enrich these few “chosen ones”

WHY RADIO GOLD MADE SO, MANY ANGRY

Election in this country raises a lot of heckle and tensions and we had had our fair share of such this year. But the just ended one has taught us that we are not a group of perfect beings but ordinary human with extreme of emotions that can spark conflict. We have shown ourselves by this election that we can be extremist and inciteful even though we love to delude ourselves constantly and pride ourselves as a peace loving nation.Competition for power drove us to the brink. We have an exciting media scene that is extremely partisan and parochial over the last few years a lot of media organizations have sprung up on all fronts. TV stations have more than doubled over the last decade while there seem to be a radio station in every neighborhood nowadays. As for Newspaper one has lost count of the titles we have on our Newsstands with a new title appearing virtually every other month. This is different in the sense that in many places Newspapers have their political stand which coincides with the ideology and positions of parties and in some cases some activist contribute material of these papers. The case with our News papers in that most of them are conceived, planned, executed, operated and edited by hardcore politicians. They end up as propaganda tabloids which lack any sense of objectivity and fair rest. Even the basic tenets of journalism are disregarded while the paper focuses on vendetta propagate character assassination. The News print has turned into dirty and murk of political journalism at disrespect the basic laws or conventions of the profession. What makes this state of affairs troubling is that even though these on the face of it are insignificant given their scanty circulation and poor finishing quality, their content are given oxygen by radio stations with wide-ranging, thorough an extensive review. Now this is the context where Radio Gold comes. in over the last 8 year The NPP has proven to be slick media operators from their days in opposition up till now. They cultivated the major players in the media landscape and learned back then how powerful a tool the media can be both in governance and opposition. This lesson was extensively used when they came into government and occupied the media space at every opportunity with dozens of spin-doctors and apologist. Almost all their media friends whilst in opposition followed them into government and became appendages of the government. They defended the NPP to the hilt even disregarding their principles. What made the matter worse was the perceived (and to some extend real) anti-media posture of the NDC. It was a strange situation when some individual journalists are heard strongly defending issues in favor of the NPP government when we know from their past they are repulsed by it. The media became Guard dogs of the NPP government; instead of the Watchdogs of society they should have been. All the media houses and practitioner that towed the NPP line and sang their hymns were duly rewarded with juicy advertisements, events and foreign travels. Overnight some 4 page pamphlets became full color tabloids. Even some senior journalists in some newspapers were persuaded to start out on their own with assurances of support and patronage. Those that did not tow the line were severely punished and discredited. Salacious and dirty lies were told about such journalists who did not tow the line by their own colleagues and some of them were hounded out of some platforms. They were starved of advertisements and revenues and the only thing that kept them in the newspaper business was their passion for the profession. Now what happened was bound to bring a sharp division on the media front. This division crystallized into two deeply antagonistic sides; pro-NPP and ant-NPP factions. The ANTI NPP front converged under the umbrella of radio gold which has a militant anti NPP posture, the reputation and the platform to pose any challenge to the domineering NPP media machinery. The radio Gold platform had its excesses but in a way one can say it was the right counter to the excesses of the NPP and their media onslaught. The NPP ruthlessly dominated the media landscape and ruled it with swagger. By this they could get away with anything. NPP was so obsessed with the media that they paid more attention to it that the actual act of governing. The president changed his media and public relations teams anytime there was a hitch and there were spokespersons for every conceivable government action. These spokespersons were everywhere, executing a well planned media strategy. Radio Gold necessarily became militant to counter this brazen abuse of the media and they had to become more militant especially during the electioneering campaign and the elections itself if they desired to play their roles properly. Most of the coverage was biased in favor of the NPP or in the least benign to the immoderation of the NPP.

THE EXPERT SCARE

We are being hounded by the friends and apologist of the "Tecnocrats" who decided to become fulltime elephants despite the express frown on such practices by the Civil Servants code. These apologist wants the incoming government to keep them in the spirit of reconciliation as was announced by the new president during his inauguration. But what thses people refuse to see how pervasive this offensive practice was during the NPP years

GHANA ON THE BRINK

Thanks to the NPP Ghana is slowly tiptoeing into a conflict situation Are you not ashamed by the actions of the NPP in the aftermath of the Run-off? You seem to notice all the misdemeanor of the NDC but blind to all the infractions of the NPP. There were independent (both local and foreign ) reports of serious irregularities in Asante region perpetuated by the NPP. There even attempts by the NPP to doctor the results of three constituencies in the KMA area. There was even a case where one constituency (Manhyia) recorded a turnout of above 95%. NDC election monitors were beaten and prevented from doing their jobs while media personnel who were perceived to be sympathetic to NDC were harassed. In the Volta region where the NPP is disputing the fairness of the polls , the NPP government sent an unusually high number of military personnel to the region while in some communities helicopters landed in polling stations. In some places police brutalized and intimidated voters. Wilie i accept that the NDC is not made up of angels ,we have been led to believe that the NPP was. Their action has dismayed many people who liked them for their rhetoric of rule of law and respect for human rights. But what has happened on the last few days has actually afforded Ghanaian to see the true colors of the Danquah-Busia tradition.The regional chairman of the NDC in the Ashanti region was attacked by Their action has dismayed many people who liked them for their rhetoric of rule of law and respect for human rights. But what has happened on the last few days has actually afforded Ghanaian to see the true colors of the Danquah-Busia tradition.The regional chairman of the NDC in the Ashanti region was attacked by matchet and club weilding NPP hoodlums in his house. You are calling for Prof Mills to concede when indeed he is claerly in the lead and romping to victory. Arent you afraid of what the NPP is bringng upon Ghana? just this morning it took the vigilance of some lawyers to stop the NPP from placing an injunction on the EC restraining it from doing its work.