“Globally, Ghana
is noted for her democratic practice. The country has witnessed more than two
decades of democratic political transitions from 1992 to 2016. Ghana continues
to play a key role in peacekeeping missions in other war devastated countries.
However,
in recent times, a series of threats to democracy and security could ruin the
enviable peacetime that
Showing posts with label Sudan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sudan. Show all posts
Saturday, November 10, 2018
The Peacetime In Ghana Collapsing?
By Abdul
Karim Issifu
Ghana
is currently enjoying. There are testaments from elsewhere that shows
unemployment, history of past wars, poverty and weak state was the causes of
civil war onset in countries like Syria ,
Sierra Leone , Iraq , Somalia ,
Sudan , DR Congo, Central Africa Republic
and many more.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Buhari, El-Rufai: From Democracy To Guncracy?
By Paul Onomuakpokpo
No one can easily impugn the sense in making democracy to be
responsive to the special needs of the milieu in which it is practised. But
such domestication retains its validity to the extent that the objective is to
serve the people. We need not split hairs in so far as the reformulation of the
concept of democracy is not a precursor to an accommodation of the crude
cravings of some benighted leaders. What must, however, trigger vigilance is an
attempt to tinker with an essential principle of the democracy – periodic
elections.
*Pres Buhari and Nasir el-Rufai |
For here in Africa , we are not unfamiliar with the truncation of democracy through such tinkering. From Zimbabwe , Equatorial Guinea , Angola , Algeria , Chad , Congo , Sudan , to Burundi , there are relics of democracies that held so much promise when they began but were later truncated through the greed of their leaders that made them to choose to perpetuate themselves.
Back home inNigeria ,
democracy has been subjected to serial betrayals by the nation’s leaders.
Either they are failing to make the people choose those they want to serve them
or they are reworking democracy to be amenable to their quest for
self-perpetuation through a third term. It is in this regard that we must take
note of the contemporary reformulation of democracy by President Muhammadu
Buhari and Nasir El-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State .
Yes, they are not yet afflicted with the incubus of self-perpetuation like the Robert Mugabes ofAfrica . Yet, they have
demonstrated a tragic propensity to rework democracy to serve not the people’s
interest but their own. What the duo have brought to the table of democracy is
neither a celebration of the rule of the majority nor a clarion call for
adherence to the rule of law and equality of all. It is rather the
reformulation of democracy in such a way that it derives its legitimacy from
the barrel of the gun.
Back home in
Yes, they are not yet afflicted with the incubus of self-perpetuation like the Robert Mugabes of
Clearly, Buhari and
El-Rufai got to their offices on the back of elections that they won. But if
they got to offices through elections by the majority, they are not now being
sustained in those offices by amenability to the wishes of the majority. What
is obvious now is that Buhari and El-Rufai are now beholden to a travestied
version of democracy that could be identified as guncracy – a process of
legitimising democracy through guns. In no way are guns metaphorical here. For
even in unlawful incarceration as in the cases of a former National Security
Adviser Sambo Dasuki, whom courts have asked for his freedom many times and the
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, the guns of the
state security operatives were used to shove them into prison having been
branded as implacable threats to the state.
Buhari has long embraced guncracy. He has
demonstrated this in the South South and South East. In the South South, Buhari
has deployed soldiers. They are on the prowl and under the guise of searching
for militants and safeguarding oil facilities, they are destroying property and
killing innocent people. And in the South East, Buhari has deployed soldiers
under the portentous rubric of Operation Python Dance. This was shortly after
the Amnesty International indicted the military for killing and maiming
innocent citizens in that part of the country.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
10 Most Corrupt Countries in the World
Again, The United States Gets 'Honourable Mention'
*Obama (pix:Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Corruption and economic turmoil often go hand-in-hand. In western
nations like the United
States and many European countries, we often
see corruption come to light as the result of whistleblowers or journalistic
efforts. But in many other areas of the world, however, corruption
plays a major role in fostering staggering poverty and
broken economic systems in a much more blatant way.
Oftentimes, specific power structures and government
architectures provide an easier means for corrupt politicians, businessmen, or
military officials to exploit the system. Many governments have their roots in
constitutions from generations ago, and have outgrown their current systems.
Many other countries are ruled by a variety of independent tribal leaders and
often lack a centralized power structure with any meaningful sway.
Transparency International developed
a comprehensive list of the world’s most corrupt nations last year, and the
countries that top the list probably won’t come as much of a surprise to many.
The study ranks countries on a scale from 0 to 100, with zero being the most
corrupt, and 100 being the least.
Of course, corruption comes in
a variety of forms, so getting a precise gauge is difficult. But
perception itself is a very strong tool, and can have a big effect on its own.
If the study reveals anything, it’s that the world overall has a huge issue in
terms of corrupt officials. By looking at the Corruptions Perception Index,
along with the existing power structures and economic systems within each
country, the picture does become a bit clearer. That’s why we dug a little
deeper, examining the rankings for ourselves.
Although not among the top ten,
we’ve included the United States
on the list to give perspective as to where America ranks internationally in
terms of corruption and economic strife. By Transparency International’s
calculations and scale, the U.S.
is sitting fairly pretty, although it’s common knowledge that there are
definitely issues with how things are run in Washington . Other countries you might expect
to see like Russia , Mexico , or Venezuela all have their places as
well, and the full list of 177 nations can be viewed
straight at the source from Transparency International.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
The Central Sahel: A Perfect Sandstorm
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The huge, sparsely populated, impoverished Sahel is affected by growing numbers of jihadi extremists and illicit activities, including arms, drugs and human trafficking, estimated to generate $3.8 billion annually. Borders are porous, government reach limited. Populations and unemployment are soaring. Within this perfect storm of actual and potential instability, criminal networks increasingly overrun Central Sahel – the Fezzan in Libya’s south, Niger and the Lake Chad Basin. State authority is weak in relatively stable Niger. To the south, the radical Islamist, primarily Nigerian, Boko Haram insurgency is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths and more than a million displaced. Western and regional counter-terrorism efforts are insufficient, but neither have more integrated approaches proposed by the EU and UN borne fruit. Without holistic, sustained action against entrenched criminal networks, misrule and underdevelopment, instability is likely to spread and exacerbate radicalisation and migration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)