Africa News Briefs: Ghana Struggles With Major Corruption Scandal In Ruling Party

 

Mr Mills had to approve the arrest of ruling party financier Alfred Agbesi Woyome following his indictment for fraud by the West African country's Economic and Organized Crime Office. Two Cabinet ministers have already resigned over the incident.

 

Mr Woyome was indicted after an Auditor-General’s report  revealed that he had put in false claims to defraud the state and had been paid $30.2 million in judgments he did not deserve.

 

At a recent press conference, President Mills admitted his appointees who facilitated the astronomical payment to Mr. Woyome, were "criminally minded and irresponsible". “I have been vice-president and I have been president … I know it is criminal, irresponsible, the height of naivety, for a president to call his minister of finance and say, pay this man this. When I know the plight of our people, when I know our people are crying for water, basic necessities of life, how can I be so criminally minded, so irresponsible and give over $30 million to one person"?

 

In the website Ghanaweb, Mills and his party were accused of “kleptocracy” by enabling Woyome to sue the state and collect damages. Columnist Baffour Ennin wrote: “Sue baby sue, is now the NDC party slogan. .. How on earth can Alfred Woyome sue the government of Ghana for breach of contract and be awarded $51M when he admitted that he has never signed any contract with the government of Ghana?”

 

Among those dismissed in the current scandal are Attorney-General Martin Amidu for "misconduct", and his predecessor, Education Minister Betty Mould-Idrissu. w/pix of Pres. Atta Mills

 

 

Feb. 7 (GIN) – Swarms of dead fish continue to surface from waters in the oil-rich Niger Delta, made toxic by a Chevron Corp. natural gas leak more than two weeks after their rig caught fire.

 

The gushing gas leak is polluting waters in a region dependent on its marine life for survival. Villagers with skin irritations and stomach problems are swamping the services of a nearby clinic.

 

According to the watchdog group SkyTruth, a satellite image showed that the gas fire at one point was at least 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit , "hot enough to soften steel," the group said.

 

The fire began Jan. 16 from a shallow-water gas well for Chevron's Nigerian subsidiary near its North Apoi oil platform. The accident killed two foreign workers and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

 

Chevron’s claim that it was bringing food and supplies to local area residents was downplayed by  Environmental Rights Action, a local group. According to the ERA, villagers numbering in the tens of thousands had received only 50 bags of rice, 50 bags of cassava flour, one cow, vegetable oil, palm and groundnut oil, cartons of tomatoes and canned drinks.

 

The new spill has re-energized the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a rebel group which on Feb. 4 attacked the Nigerian Agip Oil facility in the mangrove swamp of Brass in Bayelsa State. A manhunt, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, has been launched for the alleged masterminds of weekend attack. w/pix of 'Xoli'

 

 

 

Feb. 7 (GIN) – Members of American groups providing ‘pro-democracy’ trainings in Egypt are facing prosecution in Egypt for operating “without licenses, conducting research to send to the U.S., and supporting Egyptian candidates and parties to serve foreign interests,” the New York Times reported today.

 

The detention of 19 Americans puts a spotlight on the U.S.-backed organizations, several affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties, that have been working below the radar, at first in support of the opposition to ex-president Hosni Mubarak, and now by providing training to youth groups such as the April 6 Youth Movement, the Times found.

 

Last year, over $65 million was reportedly provided by the U.S. in grants to pro-democracy groups.

 

Sam LaHood, son of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, was among those detained by Egyptian authorities. “It’s not the best environment for (these groups) to work, observed Paul J. Sullivan, a Middle East expert at Georgetown University. “ How would we react if a foreign country came here to teach us how to conduct elections?”

 

Sam has been the director of the International Republican Institute in Egypt since December.

 

Before the creation of nonprofit groups, U.S. involvement in the political affairs of other countries was carried out by covert Central Intelligence operations. These were dissolved in the 1960s and 1970s when Congress voted to support nonprofits that would have taxpayer support and “not be in the shadows but out in the open.”

 

Suspicions about U.S. nonprofits are shared by some Egyptians who link the metal fragments, garbage fires and dusty tear gas residue to “America’s work”.  Speaking to The NY Times, Sherif Mohamed, 33, observed: “American does not like Islam.”

 

Once believed to be on the side of youth pro-democracy activists, the military has turned increasingly hardline, spurring a new round of protests by the Arab Spring youth. w/pix of Cairo protest

 

‘Madiba’ Recipe Book Released

 

Feb. 7 (GIN) -  A new book, "Ukutya Kwasekhaya," has been published with recipes for the former South African President, Nelson Mandela's favorite foods as prepared by his personal chef.

 

The chef, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, affectionately called Xoli by the Mandela family, said, ‘ Now I am saying yes, there is a secret. It is love…I cook food with love,” explaining the reason why her dishes were such a delight to the Mandela family and their guests.

 

The recipes in the book are for traditional Xhosa food, amarhewu, a fermented maize drink, ulusi/tripe, umsilo wenkomo/oxtail and a whole lot others that include boerewors spicy sausage among many others.

 

The Xhosa title of the book translates to home cooking. Xoli was hired on the spot after a brief interview with Madiba in 1992.

 

Elsewhere, the last surviving member of former South African President Nelson “Madiba” Mandela’s 31 siblings passed on Jan. 28.

 

Mrs Bhulehluthi, 81, was one of 13 children Mr Mandela's father, Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, had with his four wives.

 

The announcement came shortly after Mr Mandela flew back to Johannesburg from Qunu to live for two months while his house there is renovated.

 

The former statesman moved from the country's business capital to the Eastern Cape shortly before his 93rd birthday last year. On Saturday, he returned to his home in the suburb of Houghton along with his medical team and his wife, Graca Machel.

 

 

Feb. 7 (GIN) - Wendelinus Hamutenya has faced an uphill battle since he recognized at age 16 that he was a gay male. The news caused his father to pack the teenager off to the psychiatric ward of the Windhoek Central Hospital.

 

Seven years later, he's the winner of the inaugural "Mr Gay Namibia" pageant -- which will make him the first black African to compete for the title of Mr Gay World in neighboring South Africa in April.

 

"Winning the Mr Gay Namibia title has brought the topic about gays and the whole (gay) community more into the open and I received congratulations from all sectors, also straight people -- it was like a breakthrough," the 25-year-old Hamutenya told AFP.

 

But the breakthrough came with a backlash. Two weeks after winning the title in November, he was beaten by two men who demanded some of his prize money.

 

Hamutenya said he hopes his experiences will make it easier for Namibians to come out.

 

"There are still so many fellow Namibians hiding their gay or lesbian status from family members, but being like that is not a choice one makes, you are born gay or lesbian," he said.

 

"Since I became Mr Gay Namibia I receive a lot of calls from teenage boys and young men who realize they are either gay or bi-sexual, but are confused, troubled and scared to come out," he said.

 

"So I would like to visit different parts of Namibia and speak to people about acceptance and tolerance." w/pix of W. Hamutenya