Joe,
           I agree with your take on the package Ghana secured yesterday. It
is a substantial  amount of money that would  go a long way to addressing the
very important needs that Ghanians have. The government that was legitimately
elected by the Ghanian people was worked hard and demonstrated a real desire
to move their nation forward and that is precisely the reason they have
entered into this important partnership. With these resources on hand they
can begin to work on very ambitious plans that would prepare their people to
succeed in the global economy . One of the first things President Kufor did
upon taking office was to address the festering national fissures caused by
the brutal and vicious early years of Rawlings . He set up a process in which
the  victims murdered by Rawlings were dug up and their remains handed over
to their relatives for proper interment. The same process is designed to
address the issues of culpability resulting in the victims and Ghanian
society at large having renewed faith in the concept of justice. Next he
embarked on tackling corruption and inefficiencies within the public sector
and also worked hard on ways to revitalise what has become a moribund private
sector. Finally he worked on an outline that spells out how every cent of
debt relief was going to applied to specifically identified sectors . The key
to any such plan is it's long term viability, the transparency mechanisms
built into it and proper scoring and the donors ability to gauge progress as
it unfolds. . The combination of all these factors together with impeccable
democratic credentials made Ghana the deserving partner that the G8 and
multilateral lending institutions are looking for in Africa. I predict they
will do well for their citizens.
          Now our situation in the Gambia is the exact opposite of what is
required to get similar partnerships. We have a murderous regime that thrives
on corruption and falsifies economic data and worst of all siphons off grants
and aid money. Yahya is on a deliberate quest to financially ruin the nation
and have as many people as possible unable to fend for themselves in their
own country. To him Gambians have a greater preference for being beggars
especially if he can throw them crumbs of their resources in return for
political favors. It is a very tragic set of circumstances in that our
country is forgoing a lot of help because they are sadly saddled with a
leadership unworthy of them.
Karamba

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