Food in Ghana

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Food is a human necessity in every society and it not different in the Ghanaian society. Ghanaians place a lot of value and time on their everyday meals. Ghanaians are very creative when it comes to their foods. These food are eating at all occasions, whether naming ceremony, parties, funerals, Christmas, or festivals. Ghanaian foods are made from yam, cassava, plantain, rice, millet, sweet potatoes, cocoyam, corn, wheat, beans, etc. Ghanaian foods are starchly dominated and these foods are eating raw or with stew or soup or sugar. Though modernization has influenced the way of life in the country the change is not that dramatic, Ghanaians have well blended western culture into theirs.

In the morning generally, some households preferably take milo or tea with bread. For the greater majority, they head striate to the wayside "Ameria" for their Hausa Koko and kosae. Hausa Koko is spicy millet porridge made from fermented millet. The millet is first soaked in water for about two to three days. The water is then drained away milled with some spices like red chili peppers, ginger, and black peppercorns. Hausa Koko is enjoyed with bread, bofrot, and kosae. Hausa Koko is best prepared by northerners in Ghana because it their food.

If Hausa Koko is not your favorite there are other  options like "Oblayo"or Ekoagbemi.The two are made from crushed corn. Just that the size of the Oblayo is bigger than that of the Ekoagbemi. These can be enjoyed with peanuts, milk, bread and bofrot. Ghanaians really have variety to start the morning. Others like Tombrown,Oat, and wheat porridge.

The Ewes have a very popular Porridge called "Korklui", it is made from corn dough. The dough is sieved into small rounded pebbles. The Ewes also have Porridge made from corn flour: white  porridge(silky smooth porridge made from corn dough), white  porridge with saltpeter(saltpeter is added to change the coloure and flavour).

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Not all Ghanaians do the porridge thing in the morning. For some whether in the morning, afternoon or evening they like something heavy.

Ethnically the Akans preferably the  Asantes like Fufu and they can eat it any time of the day.Fufu is pounded cassava and plantain for the Asantis but other forms exist, where pounded tubers are kneaded together and eating with groundnut soup, palm nut soup or light soup. Almost all Ghanaian soups look to have the same preparing formula. Most ingredients used are tomatoes, onions, garden eggs, smoked fish, meat, pepper, garlic, salt and other spices. For example, palm nut soup is done by first boiling the palm nuts and it then pounded, sieved and the other ingredients added to teste.

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The Akans have a very delicious soup prepared with fresh feces or droppings of a grasscutter and it most enjoyed with fufu.

Akple is the favourate of the Ewes and it most enjoyed with okro soup or grounded pepper and kate schoolboys or stew. When it comes to Akple they do not joke and there are different  types of Akple. Akple is made with cornflour or dough. As said the Ewes are very creative when it comes to their Akple.They have Amokple(prepared with corn dough), Awodeme(cornflour and cassava dough or gari cooked together) Dzankple or Akpledzi (beans, coconut,palm oil and cornflour meat,fish). The list is never-ending, Akple can be eating with palm nut or groundnut or light soup as well.

If it comes to cooking in Ghana the ewe women are best and almost any Ghanaian can testify to that effect that the "Davis" are good. The Ewes have a very long list when it comes to food. You can make mention of Abolo,yakayake and  many others

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The Ga's love their Kenkey and hot pepper. Kenkey is a corn-based food, which is made by molding fermented corn dough into balls and wrapped with corn husk which is then boiled. The meal is served with pepper sauce, fried crab, octopus or fish, stew, or soup and is a delicacy of the Ga people.

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The northerners also like their Waakye and Tiozafi. Waakye is simply rice and beans cooked together and can be eating with stew. Tiozafi is also a corn-based food.The "Amerias" make the best Waakye Tiozafi and Hausa koko in the country.

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There are also some general foods you can find on the streets of Accra like Jollof rice, red-red(beans, gari, palm oil and fried plantain),kelewele(spiced fried plantain) Gari soakings (cassava flacks), Ampesi(boiled yam, cassava, plantain eating with stew such as kontomire) and a host of other foods.

As l said early on that Ghanaians are masters when it comes to cultural integration. On the streets, you can find restaurants that serve both western dishes and local cuisines and there are restaurants that serve strictly western food such as chines, Italian Turkish restaurants. The cost of eating at these places is much expensive. Food usually ranges from $ 20 and above.

Most average Ghanaians do not have that much to spend so they prefer the Chop Bars which are the localized restaurants. Food at these places are generally far cheaper. Just with $1 or better you can eat and be satisfied.

These Chop Bars serve variety of local dishes from kokontey(face the wall),banku,fufu, omotuo,TZ,Ampesi.The soups cames with a variety of meat (bushmeat, chicken etc) and fish. You choose what you eat.

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Ethnic Groups and languages in Ghana

Ghana is an ethnically diverse country with several ethnic groups and tribes speaking different languages. It used to be said that before independence the country had about 100+ ethnic group’s languages. Currently it very difficult to tell the exact number of ethnic groups in Ghana. But officially the major ethnic groups in Ghana are the Akans, Mole-Dagbane, Ewe, Guan, and Ga-Adangbe.All these ethnic groups are subdivided into subgroups. The subdivisions of each group share a common cultural heritage, history, language, and origin.

The Akan group is the majority in present-day Ghana. They belong to the Kwa group like the Ewe and the Ga-Adangbe according to linguistic language classification. While the  Gur-speaking people are the Gurma, Grusi, and Mole-Dagbane.The Kwa and the Gur are the two major linguistic subfamilies which come from Niger-Congo linguistic family. The Kwa linguistic group can be found in the south of the Volta River, constituting 75% of Ghana’s population while the Gur group are in the north of the Volta River.

Akans

The Akans are divided into the Asante, Fante, Akwapim, Akyem, Akwamu, Ahanta, Bono, Nzema, Kwahu, and Safwi.The Asante’s are the biggest in the Akan group and also in the country. They speak Twi and makeup 47.5% of Ghana’s population. The Twi dialect has become one of the commonest dialects in the country coming second after English. The Asante’s are said to be proud and confident because of their wealth and power. The Asante Kingdome is one of the largest in Africa. Though the Kingdom pride itself in gold and other precious minerals, more than 50% of its inhabitance are very poor.

 

Mole-Dagbane

Mole Dagbane groups form 16.5% of the population of Ghana and have a common ancestor. They speak the Dagbani language and are related to the Mossi who have their homeland in present-day Burkina Faso. Its speakers are culturally the most varied; they include the Nanumba, Dagomba, Mamprusi, Wala, Builsa, Frafra, Talensi, and Kusase. The northern sector of the country is the most deprived in term of development and most of the poorest communities can be located there.

Ewes

The Ewe land which constitutes a single linguistic group, are divided into the Nkonya, Tafi, Logba, Sontrokofi, Lolobi, and Likpe.The Ewes are said to hail from the northern part of Nigeria, other accounts say east and another suggests it west. They are located in Benin, Togo and the Volta Region of Ghana. They speak four dialects that are Anglo, Awuna, Hudu, and Kotafoa. They account for 13.9% of the Ghanaian population and speak the Ewe language. Most of the dwellers are traditionalist with a large number of smaller deities. They have a very rich culture which is music-driven. The  Ewe women are said to be the most beautiful and industrious in the country. The region is blessed with oil but it's among one of the deprived and underdeveloped regions in the country.

 

Just to mention a few numbers of languages spoken in different regions of Ghana. The Asantes speak Twi. Within the Upper West Region, languages ​​are spoken include Gagaare, Birifor and Sisaala. Ghanaians living in the Northern Region speak Dagbane, Gonja, Anufo / Chokosi, Mampruli, Mo, Deg, Nawuri, Chumburung, Birifor, Hanga, Konkomba and Tampulma among other languages. In the Volta Regions of Ghana, the languages ​​spoken are Akyode, Nkonya, Adele, Ntrubo and Ewe. Kasem, Buli, Frafra, Kusaal, Kasem and Koma are spoken by people living in the Upper Eastern Region of Ghana. People who live in the Greater Accra Region speak Ga and Dangbe. On the other hand, those who live in the western region speak the Nzema.   

List of Ethnic Groups in Ghana and Population Percentage

Ashanti 47.5%

Mole-Dangbon 16.6%

Ewe 13.9%

Ga-Dangme 7.4%

Gurma 5.7%

Guang 3.7%

Grusi 2.5%

Mande 1.1%

Other Groups 1.4%

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Geographic location and claimate of Ghana

Ghana covers 238,540 km² of land including water bodies. Its geographic coordinates are 800 N, 200 W. By comparison, Ghana is about the size of Britain. Sharing borders with  Burkina Faso to  the north, Ivory Coast (west), Togo  to the east, and is bathed by the Gulf of Guinea and  the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Ghana is a land of plains and low plateaus with a blend of many lagoons, streams, and rivers. The coastal belt is the lowest point of Ghana at 0 meters with a length of 539 Km and mostly sandy. The Greater Accra Region is the capital bordered on the north by the Eastern Region, on the east by the Volta Region, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by the Central Region. The Northern Region used to be the largest until recent two other regions Savannah Region and North East Regions were carved from it. It bordered on the south by the Oti region also carved out of the Volta region.  Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east. The Ashanti kingdom is centrally located in the middle belt of Ghana. The region shares boundaries with, Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions in the north, Eastern region in the east, Central region in the south and Western region in the Southwest.

Mount Afadjato, is the highest point of Ghana measuring at about  880 meters above sea level. Ghana has a number of thick forests, lakes, streams and a number of rivers. Two major rivers - the Nakambe River(White Volta) and Mouhoun River(the Black Volta) flow from  Burkina Faso into Ghana. These two "Voltas" meet to form the huge Volta Lake the world's largest artificial lake. Lake Volta can be located in the Volta Region. Covering an estimated surface area of 3,283 square miles and 62 feet at average depth. The lake generates electricity, provides inland transportation and is a potentially valuable resource for irrigation and fish farming. The Volta Lake stretches from the Akosombo Dam in south-eastern Ghana to the town of Yapei, 520 km (325 mi.) to the north, and enters the sea at Ada. 

 There are other bigger lakes like  Bosumtwi in the Ashanti Region which is the second biggest in the country covering an estimated surface area of 19 square miles. It has a  maximum length of 5.3 miles and 5.0 miles in width with an average depth of 148 feet.

Other rivers in Ghana: River Densu Bia River, Tano River, Nini River, Ankobra River, Pra River,Ofin River, Birim River, Anum River,Ayensu River,Volta River, Todzie River and Afram River just to mention a few.

Ghana's low coastline is backed by plains and shrubs which is mostly sandy having a tropical rain forest belt near the Ivory Coast frontier extending northward from the shore which are characterised by a number of streams and rivers and heavily forested hills. This part of the country produces most of the  economic resources like cocoa, timber and the earth minerals.

Climate

Ghana is only a few degrees north of the Equator, its climate is tropical. Climatic conditions across the country are not uniform. The extent of drought and rainfall varies across the country. Generally, Ghana has two seasons the wet and dry season. Ghana experiences it raining seasons from about April through late June. Just after August which is generally dry another rainy season begins in September and lasts through November. From January to April, a longer harmattan season set in. The harmattan period always comes with a drop in humidity with the north experiencing much hotter day and cooler nights than the other regions. The southern part of Ghana is the rainiest with the southwest corner having the heaviest in the sub where it reaches 2,000 mm (80 in) per year. The northern savanna, The driest areas receives rainfall of around 1,000 mm (40 in) per year. The lower Volta region, Accra plains, including Takoradi rainfall averages drops below 800 mm (31.5 in). 

All year round temperature is usually high throughout the country with the northern part recording the highest. Ghana has a mean temperature between 26°C and 29°C. At mountainous areas temperatures are a bit low and conducive. In the north temperature as high as 31°C are prevalent while humidity can drops as low as 25 during the harmattan season. For the southern part of the country during the night hour humidity of 95 to 100 percent are common. But generally, the south is humid.

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The Economy of Ghana

The economy of Ghana is market-based, It is the second-largest export of cocoa globally. It also the largest exporter of gold in the sub-region. Ghana is well endowed with natural resources and agriculture accounting for about 20% of  GDP and employs more than half of the workforce. While the service sector accounts for 50% of GDP. The major exports of the country include gold, cocoa beans, and timber products. Others include tuna, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds, and horticulture. Just after independence in 1957 Ghana has tried to modernize its economy of which they made great progress, by developing industry and its agriculture.

 

Agriculture is based on coffee, banana, potato, corn, and rice production. The industry operates in food, beverage, cigarette, chemical, metallurgical and timber production. Ghana also cultivates many other export products, such as rubber, palm oil, and kola nuts. Though Ghana does export in agriculture, majority of it farmers do only subsistence farming.

Shortly after independence just about the 1960s to 1980s Ghana was hit by corruption and several military takeovers which brought the economy on its knees. 

The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and relevant international donor communities proposed radical structural adjustment to revive the troubled economy and to restore their productivity. The then  government led by Jerry John Rawlings accepted the reform, the government introduced a series of free-market reforms In 1983. In an effort to revive the faltering economy. As part of the reform, rural electrification was deepened and new roads constructed. Also, Farmers were paid more money for their crops thereby increasing agricultural production.

In 2001 Ghana was hit by another economic crisis, Ghana was declared a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC). According to the then President, John Agyekum Kufuor, the decision was strategic because the economy he inherited was so bad that all donor partners had abandoned Ghana and the move was significant in putting the economy back on its tracks. In 2006 Ghana signed a five-year Compact, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which aims to assist in the transformation of Ghana's agricultural sector.
In 2007 Ghana discovered offshore oil within its marine boundaries and by the mid-2010, production officially began and is expected to boost economic growth.  In 2016 and 2017, the production of another two oil fields TEN and Sankofa started respectively. With TEN initially supplied about 20,000 barrels per day. Ghana has a gas processing plant at Atuabo producing gas for power generation which is from the Jubilee field. Apart from the oil reserves, there is significant natural gas deposits below the country’s seabed which is yet to be tapped. The gas deposit is estimated to be more than 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas. 

Whether the black gold resource for Ghana turns out to be a curse or a blessing only time can tell.
Ghana In 2009, signed a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth  program with the IMF to improve macroeconomic stability, private sector competitiveness, human resource development and good governance and civic responsibility.

The government has also introduced several programs to help in development and poverty eradication.

Like Zongo Development Fund (ZDF), by the Ministry of Inner City and Zongo Development, the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Program (NEIP), the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program (IPEP).One popular of them is the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) a program designed to employ the unemployed graduates.

 

 Through increased foreign direct investment, especially from China, lavish transfers of Ghanaian overseas, growing tourism and lending from relevant international development institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and African Development Bank are contributing significantly to growth and modernization of its economy. Discovery of oil has also brought about enormously costly investments in the oil and gas sector and the necessary improvements in infrastructure.

But there is still considerable potential for growth in the traditional agricultural sectors and the poorly developed industrial sector. Going forward Ghana needs to massively develop its economy by investing in its agriculture and industrial sector through technology and innovation for the future. 

After slower growth in 2015 and 2016 due to low commodity prices, the cost of electricity and the cost of credit, which hampered business activity and competitiveness, 2017 marked the return to substantial growth - 7.9% by the government and 5.9% by the IMF. The year 2018 marked growth of 6.9%. Ghana was one of the strongest countries in 2018 in terms of growth in all of sub-Saharan Africa. For 2019, the World Bank anticipates a growth rate of 6.7%.

With 9.4% inflation in 2018, Ghana continues to limit the price increase, this result following a year 2016 marked by inflation of 15.4% (after 18% in 2015). The fall in inflation is the result of a strict monetary policy of the Central Bank of Ghana with a key rate maintained at 26% in 2016. Nevertheless, the improvement in the economic situation and the desire to support growth has enabled the Central Bank to carry out a five-fold consecutive rate cut to 20% since the end of 2017.

The local currency, the cedi, increased against the dollar for most of 2018, going from 4.52 GHS for 1 USD in January 2019 to 4.89 GHS. The national currency, on the other hand, suffered the global appreciation of the euro, going from 4.5 GHS (in 2017) for 1 EUR in December 2019 to 5.6 GHS.

 Surprisingly the cedis has been the best performing currency against the dollar this year 2020.The currency  has strengthened 3.9%  the most among more than 140 currencies as against a 13% drop last year.

 But it looks like the worlds second producer of cocoa needs more to be done. Currently Ghana is  one of the most indebted economies in sub-Saharan Africa: its debt represents 71% of its GDP and also increased public debt and shortfalls in domestic revenues pose challenges to further macroeconomic improvements.

But hope is not lost as government is poised to working hard to achieving it gender Ghana Beyond Aid.

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Facebook unveiled plans for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra

Facebook unveiled plans Tuesday for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra, pledging to deliver a stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and brings over a billion "unbanked" people into the financial system.

The Libra coin plan, backed by financial and nonprofit partners, represents an ambitious new initiative for the world's biggest social network with the potential to bring crypto-money out of the shadows and into the mainstream.

Facebook and some two dozen partners released a prototype of Libra as an open source code for developers interested in weaving it into apps, services or businesses ahead of a rollout as global digital money next year.

The nonprofit Libra Association based in Geneva will oversee the blockchain-based coin, maintaining a real-world asset reserve to keep its value stable.

The initiative has the potential to allow more than a billion "unbanked" people around the world access to online commerce and financial services at minimal cost, said Libra Association head of policy and communications Dante Disparte.

"We believe if you give people access to money and opportunity at the lowest cost, the way the internet itself did in the past with information, you can create a lot more stability than we have had up until now," Disparte told AFP.

Facebook will be just one voice among many in the association, but is separately building a digital wallet called Calibra.

"We view this as a complement to Facebook's mission to connect people wherever they are; that includes allowing them to exchange value," Calibra vice president of operations Tomer Barel told AFP.

"Many people who use Facebook are in countries where there are barriers to banking or credit."

But the move raised questions about how such a new money would be regulated.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said such digital money could never replace sovereign currencies.

"The aspect of sovereignty must stay in the hands of states and not private companies which respond to private interests," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Facebook's new currency would have to withstand scrutiny of its operational resilience and not allow itself to be used for money laundering or terror financing.

ING economists Teunis Brosens and Carlo Cocuzzo said in a research note it's not clear what Libra is or how it may be overseen.

"Given that Libra is not denominated in domestic currency, but reflects a currency basket, it is probably more like security," they wrote.

"This takes us right back to the discussion that has been haunting cryptocurrency for years: is it a security or something else?"

Backed by real cash 

Libra Association debuted with 28 members including Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Kiva, PayPal, Lyft, Uber and Women's World Banking.

 Calibra is being built into Facebook's Messenger and WhatsApp with a goal of letting users send Libra as easily as they might fire off a text message.

Libra learned from the many other cryptocurrencies that have preceded it such as bitcoin and is designed to avoid the roller-coaster valuations that have attracted speculation and caused ruin.

Real-world currency will go into a reserve backing the digital money, the value of which will mirror stable currencies such as the US dollar and the euro, according to its creators.

"It is backed by a reserve of assets that ensures utility and low volatility," Tomer said.

The Libra Association will be the only entity able to "mint or burn" the digital currency, maintaining supply in tune with demand and assets in reserve, according to Barel.

"It is not about trusting Facebook, it is effectively trust in the association's founding organizations that this is independent and democratic," Disparte said.

New directions 

The launch comes with Facebook seeking to move past a series of lapses on privacy and data protection which have tarnished its image and sparked scrutiny from regulators around the world.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has promised a new direction for Facebook built around smaller groups, private messaging and payments.

The new Calibra digital wallet promises to eventually give Facebook opportunities to build financial services into its offerings, offer to expand its own commerce and let more small businesses buy ads at the social network.

"We certainly see long-term value for Facebook," Barel said.

Facebook said it will not make any money through Libra or Calibra but that it is seeking to "drive adoption and scale" before exploring ways to monetize the new system.

Financial information at Calibra will be kept strictly separate from social data at Facebook and won't be used to target ads, Calibra vice president of product Kevin Weil told AFP.

Libra will be a regulated currency, subject to local laws in markets regarding fraud, guarding against money laundering and more, according to Weil.

'Watershed' moment? 

According to Facebook and its partners, local currencies and Libra may be swapped at currency exchange houses or other businesses.

And the ubiquity of smartphones means digital wallets for Libra could make banking and credit card services and e-commerce available in places where they don't now exist.

Analyst and cryptocurrency investor Lou Kerner said Facebook's move has the potential to open the door for cryptocurrency to a wider public.

"What Facebook is really good at, is making things really simple to use," Kerner told AFP.

"And that's what is super exciting for the crypto industry, is somebody comes along who understands user experience and has billions of users that they can roll this out to."

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Facebook Dating now in Canada and Thailand.

 Facebook decided recently to enter the world of dating apps like Tinder, Plenty of Fish OkCupid,Chemistry  and Badoo. This is not a new app, however, because everything happens on Facebook itself. The service was launched last September in Colombia and now  arrives in Canada and Thailand.

Indeed, Facebook has taken advantage of the test experience in Colombia since September to get the feedback it needs to implement new tools in the service. It will now be possible to pause matches temporarily and even take a second look at potential suitors whom we have not talked to before.

The company said Facebook Dating's reception in Colombia was great, although it did not release figures about the service

The service will already be available in those countries before actually starting to work because it will wait until more people adopt it, to start putting together pairs of stakeholders. According to Facebook itself, the idea of the platform is to unite people who are ready for a more lasting relationship, not just casual encounters.

The company said the Facebook Dating reception in Colombia was great, although it did not release numbers about the service. Even with all this success, Facebook still faces problems by being involved with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the various information leaks of its users.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions of the USA Fired by Trump

Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who at long last turned in his resignation Wednesday after it was justifiably requested by President Trump – did more damage to the Trump presidency and to the nation than any public official in modern history. He clearly deserved to be fired long ago.

As I wrote in a column last month calling for his firing, Sessions was the personification of misfeasance or nonfeasance. His actions, or lack thereof, were born of incompetence. He rarely exhibited the kind of leadership skills that are demanded of the nation’s leading law enforcement official.

More often than not, Sessions was missing in action. As President Trump quite accurately remarked in a recent interview, “I don’t have an attorney general.” This is the reason Sessions was finally, if belatedly, shown the door. America and the president of the United States both deserve to have a functioning Justice Department and a competent attorney general.

There are many well-documented examples of Sessions’ ineffectiveness and incompetence.

The now-former attorney general ignored pleas from members of Congress to reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation, including the former secretary of state’s destruction of documents under congressional subpoena.

Incredibly, Sessions refused to present compelling evidence of possible criminality by Clinton to a federal grand jury. And he never initiated an investigation into Clinton’s role in paying for Russian information that was then fed to the FBI for the sole purpose of damaging her political opponent, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

When evidence emerged that top officials at the FBI abused their positions of power to launch an investigation of Trump-Russia “collusion” without probable cause or an “articulable factual basis” – as required under FBI guidelines – Sessions failed to take aggressive action against those officials who may well have violated the law with impunity.

Sessions should have ordered that a grand jury examine the conduct of fired FBI Director James Comey – along with the conduct of disgraced FBI and Justice Department officials Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr and others – to see if their highly questionable actions on the Clinton email scandal and other matters rose to the level of criminal conduct.

When it was learned that officials at the FBI and Justice Department concealed vital information and allegedly deceived judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in order to gain a warrant to wiretap a Trump campaign associate, Sessions did absolutely nothing about it. Instead, he obstructed lawful subpoenas issued by Congress, hiding evidence and covering up suspected wrongdoing.

Sessions’ committed multiple mistakes that led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate baseless and absurd charges that the Trump campaign and Russia worked together to elect Trump.

Sessions mistakes are too numerous to list here, but I have documented them in detail in my best-selling book “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.”

At the outset, the attorney general wrongfully disqualified himself from any involvement in the Mueller probe, citing a federal regulation that had no relevance or application. Recusal pertains to criminal cases – not to counterintelligence probes, which is what the Russia inquiry was when Sessions recused himself. Inexplicably, Sessions misunderstood the regulations.

When he testified before Congress, Sessions admitted he set his recusal in motion on his first day in office. He never advised President Trump of his intentions, betraying the president’s trust and poisoning their relationship from the outset. If not for Sessions’ deceit, it is unlikely that a special counsel would have ever been appointed.

Instead, Sessions’ replacement in overseeing the Russia case, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, took it upon himself to appoint Robert Mueller to preside over the probe. This played neatly into the scheme admittedly devised by Comey, who just happened to be Mueller’s close friend and long-time professional ally.

The appointment of Mueller was illegitimate. It should have never happened.

First, there must be a conflict of interest for a special counsel to be appointed. But since Sessions had recused himself from the Russia investigation, no conflict of interest existed.

Second, a suspected crime must be identified in the order appointing a special counsel. Yet, no crime was ever stated. In defiance of the law, the Muller probe turned into an investigation in search of a crime – looking for something – anything – to justify its existence.

The blame for this costly mess that has distracted our entire nation and taken up the time of Trump administration officials from their work on behalf of the American people rests squarely on Sessions’ shoulders.

As I noted in my book, President Trump – or any president, for that matter – deserves an attorney general who is forthright about his intentions, not someone who concealed his plan to step aside from a major investigation that would surely impact the new administration.

Sessions’ deception also deprived him of Trump’s confidence and trust, which are essential to the job of attorney general. This ethical impropriety rendered Sessions unfit to serve.

It was no secret that Sessions would be fired after the midterm elections. President Trump had frequently expressed his impatience, disgust and frustration with his incompetent attorney general.

Yet, like Captain Renault in the classic film “Casablanca,” many in the media feigned shock at the announcement. Immediately, their hysterical overreaction took root.

Some claimed with certainty that this was an effort by Trump to obstruct the Mueller investigation because they contended that newly named Acting Attorney General, Mark G. Whitaker –Sessions’ chief of staff – would supplant Rosenstein in overseeing the probe.

No one bothered to mention that Rosenstein needs to be replaced in that role because of his own disqualifying conflict of interest. He is a key witness in the very case over which he presides, in violation of both federal regulations and the Code of Professional Responsibility.

The outrage among the anti-Trump media was deafening Wednesday when Sessions’ dismissal was announced. They seemed oblivious to the fact that Cabinet changes following an election are not uncommon historically.

When President Richard Nixon was re-elected in 1972, he asked for and received the resignations of all members of his Cabinet, although he ended up retaining quite a few of them.

In 1979, all members of President Jimmy Carter’s White House staff and Cabinet secretaries tendered their resignations as part of a reshaping of the Carter administration before the 1980 presidential election. In all, Carter fired four Cabinet secretaries.

In fact, from 1945 until President Trump was inaugurated, 19 Cabinet secretaries were sacked by presidents.

Of course, it is always newsworthy when the head of a federal department is terminated. But the media’s unhinged reaction on Wednesday that nefarious designs are afoot is yet another example of Trump Derangement Syndrome – the irrational and paranoid reaction to everything President Trump does.

The anti-Trump media’s visceral hatred and abiding contempt directed against the president are so acute that these feelings impair all reasoned judgment. They no longer pretend to be fair, objective or neutral. They assume the worst and often ignore the obvious.

It was obvious that Sessions deserved to be fired long ago. Indeed, in a column I wrote 14 months ago headlined “Sessions should resign, but not before taking action against Clinton, Comey and Rice,” I recounted all of the attorney general’s failures of deed and character. I urged him to resign so as to restore some semblance of integrity to the Department of Justice. Had he left then, the damage he has wrought since would have been minimized.

It will take time and strong leadership for the Justice Department to regain the credibility it has squandered under Sessions’ notorious reign.

President Trump should be commended for taking action to right the ship. Whomever he nominates for the permanent position of attorney general will be challenged to repair the considerable damage Sessions has left in his wake.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, would be an excellent choice to replace Sessions. A leading member of the House Judiciary Committee, he is a former U.S. attorney who also served as chief of anti-terrorism and national security for the Eastern District of Texas in the Department of Justice.

Ratcliffe is well acquainted with the suspected corruption at the FBI and Justice Department. He would end the persistent cover-ups and would work assiduously to uphold the rule of law, while holding accountable those who broke it.

Source:foxnews

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What's new in the US, Canada and Mexico trade deal- USMCA

The United States, Canada and Mexico came to a last minute agreement on a revised trade deal that could replace NAFTA. It's called the USMCA.

President Donald Trump and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts are expected to sign the deal by the end of November. It will then be up to Congress to approve the deal, which is likely to come up for a vote next year.

Negotiations between Canada and the United States pushed right up to a deadline imposed by the Trump administration Sunday night, and details of the agreement were starting to emerge..

Here are the biggest changes between the nearly 25-year-old NAFTA agreement and the new provisional USMCA.

Opening up Canada's dairy market

In a win for the United States, USMCA will open up some of Canada's dairy market to US farmers. The issue was a big sticking point between the two negotiating teams.

Under the original NAFTA, Canada limited how much milk, cheese and other dairy products could come in from the United States.

But under the updated agreement, Canada will set new quotas for the United States. It will increase market access for US dairy, poultry and eggs. In return, the United States will allow more Canadian dairy, peanuts and peanut products, and a limited amount of sugar to cross the border, according to a document from US Trade Representative's Office.

Canada has also agreed to end a system that had kept the price of some milk products, including milk protein, low. This change will also allow more US dairy products to enter the Canadian market.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada quickly came out to criticize the new trade agreement, claiming it puts the livelihood of Canadian dairy producers at risk.

Canada recently made concessions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a trade deal with the European Union that also opened up its dairy market.

Car manufacturing

The new deal will require more of a vehicle's parts to be made in North America in order for the car to be free from tariffs.

It requires that 75% of the parts must be made in Canada, Mexico or the United States, about 12 percentage points higher than under the original NAFTA.

The provision will help keep the production of car parts in the United States and bring back some production that moved abroad, the USTR said.

Ford Motor Company applauded the agreement because it will "support an integrated, globally competitive automotive business in North America

Sunset Clause

Renew it or lose it.

The United States had wanted to include in the new agreement a clause that would kill NAFTA after five years unless all three countries agreed to renew it.

Instead, negotiators stitched into the updated treaty new terms of the deal, agreeing to keep the trade pact for 16 years, unless all three countries agreed to extend it.

That means the deadline could be extended far out into the future, if all three countries agreed to either renew or renegotiate the trilateral trade pact.

The United States, Canada and Mexico will be required to meet every six years to decide whether to do so.

The Trump administration had been seeking a shorter time frame of five years in an effort to keep the pact up to date. But Mexico and Canada were less in favor of that proposal arguing it would stunt investment in their countries if the future of the agreement was in question.

Exchange rate curbs

Tucked in the agreement is a foreign-exchange provision to deter countries from manipulating their currencies.

The language isn't likely to impact all three NAFTA countries, which have a free floating exchange rate. Instead, it's intended as a signal to other countries outside of North America.

Countries frequently commit to avoiding unfair currency manipulations. But the tougher language in the accord could give the United States more leverage in trade negotiations with countries like China.

Dispute resolution

When countries are found to be in violation of the agreement, there are hard and fast rules how to hold nations accountable. Embedded in the old NAFTA agreement were three kinds.

Two of those dispute settlement systems will remain basically intact, but will be renamed.

The first is a system to resolve state-to-state disputes, formerly known as Chapter 20. The second mechanism is NAFTA's old Chapter 19, which resolves disputes between two countries on anti-dumping and countervailing duties cases. That will also remain untouched in the new agreement.

One difference is that another settlement process, formerly known as Chapter 11, will be phased out between the US and Canada. But will stick for certain key sectors like oil and gas, infrastructure and telecommunications between the US and Mexico.

Help for American workers

The new trade agreement aims to support American workers in several ways.

Most notably, it requires that 40% to 45% of car and truck parts be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. The goal is to level the playing field between American and Mexican auto workers and to incentivize manufacturers to build more in the United States. One of the main criticisms of NAFTA is that it prompted American car makers to shift production south of the border, where workers earn much less than their US counterparts.

The deal also mandates that 75% of a vehicle's parts must be made in North America, up from the current 62.5% rule. The Trump administration argues that this will help incentivize billions in new auto sector production in the US.

Also, Mexico has committed to recognize workers' right to collectively bargain, and the three countries agreed to enforce rights recognized by the International Labor Organization.

President Trump said Monday that the agreement will transform North America back into a manufacturing powerhouse.

"Instead of jobs leaving for overseas, they will be returning back home," he said in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Experts, however, are still sifting through the documents to determine the actual impact of the agreement.

"The bottom line is that we simply do not have enough information at this time to know whether NAFTA 2018 is in the economic interests of the United States," AFL-CIO Trade Policy Specialist Celeste Drake wrote in a blog post. "On labor, despite progress, more work remains to be done."

Some trade experts are skeptical that the deal will boost auto sector employment. In fact, the new mandates may prompt American carmakers to shift production to Japan, Korea or other countries outside North America. They'll have to pay a 2.5% tariff, but they may find it more economical than adhering to the USMCA rules, said Robert Lawrence, a professor of international trade and investment at Harvard.

"The jobs aspect is uncertain at best," said Robert Scott, director of trade and manufacturing policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning organization.

One wildcard is whether the Trump administration will try to raise the 2.5% tariff on importing cars and auto parts. The president is considering levying a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, citing national security.

'Modernizing' NAFTA for the digital age

The new agreement addresses issues that have emerged over the past 25 years.

For example, it outlines criminal penalties for pirating movies online.

It prohibits duties on digital music, books, software and video games that are distributed electronically.

There are also stronger intellectual property protections, including patents for biotech and financial services.

Other tariffs

One big question is how the three countries will resolve disputes over US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico.

For now, that part, along with retaliatory tariffs countries have imposed, were left out of the deal.

That piece will have to be negotiated separately, senior administration officials said.

Source:CNN

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The Late Kofi Annan's Biography

Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan is reported dead. He is said to have died in Switzerland, Saturday morning after a short illness.

Biography 

Kofi A. Annan was the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations and is the founder and chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. In 2001, he and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Kofi Annan was praised for being “pre-eminent in bringing new life to the organization.” (Norwegian Nobel Committee, October 2001)

Current activities

With the Kofi Annan Foundation, Mr. Annan mobilises political will to overcome threats to peace, development and human rights.

Mr Annan believes that the expertise and evidence needed to solve pressing problems such as poverty, violent conflict and poor governance in most cases already exists. Progress is held back too often due to a lack of leadership and of political will to use it to identify and deliver solutions.

Kofi Annan set up the Kofi Annan Foundation in 2007 to mobilise leaders of all sectors to provide leadership where it needed. The Foundation works on the premise that there can be no long-term peace without development and no sustainable development without peace. And no society can long remain prosperous without the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The Foundation works to identify new threats to peace and security and supports Mr. Annan’s preventive diplomacy and mediation activities. Kofi Annan chaired the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security (March 2011 to September 2012) and in January 2013, launched the West Africa Commission on Drugs, as a response to the surge in drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa and their impact on security, governance and public health.

The Foundation also works with select partner organizations to amplify Kofi Annan’s voice and catalyse effective action on the promotion of food and nutrition security, sustainable development, and support for good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

In early 2008, he led the African Union’s Panel of Eminent African Personalities, which mediated a peaceful resolution to post-election violence in Kenya. Today, with his Foundation, Mr Annan devotes considerable time to supporting democracy and elections with integrity.

From February to August 2012, he was the UN–Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria, mandated to seek a resolution to the conflict there.

Mr. Annan is the founding Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which works for a food secure and prosperous Africa by promoting rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers. AGRA’s programmes invest in soil regeneration and health, improved seeds, access to markets, and building capacity and investment throughout the agricultural value-chain.

He chairs the African Progress Panel, which advocates at the highest level for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. The Panel includes distinguished individuals from the public and private sector and publishes an annual Africa progress report.

He is an active member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights, and in 2013 was appointed its Chair.

Kofi Annan is currently Chancellor of the University of Ghana, and has held a number of positions at Universities around the world.

He is a board member, patron or honorary member of a number of organisations, including the United Nations Foundation. A complete list can be found here.

Kofi Annan’s widely acclaimed memoir: Interventions: A Life in War and Peace was published in 2012.

UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan was UN Secretary General from January 1997 to December 2006. One of his main priorities during this period was a comprehensive programme of reform that sought to revitalize the United Nations and make the international system more effective. He was a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa, and sought to bring the organisation closer to the global public by forging ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners.

At Mr. Annan’s initiative, UN peacekeeping was strengthened in ways that enabled the United Nations to cope with a rapid rise in the number of operations and personnel. It was also at Mr. Annan’s urging that, in 2005, Member States established two new intergovernmental bodies: the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council. Mr Annan likewise played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the adoption of the UN’s first-ever counter-terrorism strategy, and the acceptance by Member States of the “responsibility to protect” people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.  His “Global Compact” initiative, launched in 1999, has become the world’s largest effort to promote corporate social responsibility.

Mr. Annan undertook wide-ranging diplomatic initiatives. In 1998, he helped to ease the transition to civilian rule in Nigeria. In the same year, he visited Iraq to resolve an impasse between Iraq and the Security Council over compliance with resolutions on weapons inspections and other matters; this effort helped to avoid an outbreak of hostilities which was imminent at that time. In 1999, he was deeply involved in the diplomatic process that led to Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia. He was responsible for certifying Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and in 2006 his efforts contributed to securing a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah. Also in 2006, he mediated a settlement of the dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi peninsula.

Mr Annan’s efforts to strengthen the Organisation’s management, coherence and accountability involved major investments in training and technology, the introduction of a new whistleblower policy and financial disclosure requirements, and steps to improve co-ordination at country level.

Early career

Kofi Annan joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. He later served with the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, the UN Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Ismailia, the United nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, and in various senior posts in New York dealing with human resources, budget, finance, and staff security. Immediately before becoming Secretary-General, he was Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping. Kofi Annan facilitated the repatriation from Iraq of more than 900 international staff and other non-Iraqi nationals (1990) and also served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia and Special Envoy to NATO (1995-1996).

Personal

Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, on 8 April 1938. He is married to Nane and between them they have three children.

Source:www.kofiannanfoundation.org

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