User:Kenny Bagwasi/sandbox

THANKS BUT NO THANKS TO IRRESPONSIBLE AND PSYCHOPANTIC PHILANTHROPY!

Farce, fake and psycopanthic intentions: Oprah Winfrey officially opening her Johannesburg girl school.

There are two kinds of people walking this earth; real and sincere people and then fake people. Real people are not afraid to risk condemnation, isolation or being viewed as eccentrics or weirdo’s when they are intent on advancing an idea they believe in, even if failure looks inevitable. Such people are a rare breed of political and social leaders that are hard to find nowadays. Such people include among others Nelson Mandela, Mo Ibrahim and Irish singer Paul David Hewson, the famous U2 band front man, famously known as Bono. Fake people include power hungry glory hunters who are ever ready to exploit every situation they can to feed their egos. This is the crop of people who will do anything to be seen in the galaxy of deserving stars such as Nelson Mandela among others. It becomes hurtfull when such people have in their ranks the most powerful and influential people in the world. Such people include former American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Philanthropist and activist Bono is perhaps known in Africa for being photographed next to political leaders at philanthropic functions than for the music he makes. He has evolved to be a fully blown philanthropist focusing on Africa and co founded non profit organisations such as DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa).A multinational nongovernmental organisation, which strives for justice and equality for Africa, Adjust trade rules which burden Africa, eliminating Aids in Africa and pressuring political leaders in Africa to adopt innovative policies and initiatives. This is a man of real mettle who has been knighted by the queen of England ,is a former Nobel Peace prize nominee and was voted one of the 100 most influential Britons of all times despite his Irish origin.

One can only wonder how Mrs Winfrey overlooked the drought ravaged, anarchical and poverty immersed parts of Africa such as Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia in the horn of Africa, and parts of Africa where political anarchy persists as a result of civil wars perpetrated by militias, rogue generals and corrupt political leaders such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic. Other African countries crying out for help such as Rwanda which is trying to build itself from near scratch in the post war period and it is short of resources. These are the countries that do not ask for elite, posh and luxurious schools but habitable establishments that can help in rebuilding the country’s education system and help educate the future leaders of Africa who will be highly instrumental in building their economies and averting the mistakes of the past. She also overlooked the fact that South Africa is the continent’s number one economy and cared less to think why  is it that it’s grouped amongst the worlds emerging markets belonging to the BRICs, the select few group of emerging economies involving Brazil,

FADING HOPES OF PALESTINE…

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PRISON LIKE SEGREGATION WALL OF PALESTINE IN WEST BANK The last three day visit by the president of the United states of America, Barack Obama to Israel might have somewhat dashed the Palestinian dream of a more robust American and International community intervention. America was simply cementing the relationship they started over 60years ago, formerly as mere sympathies to the persecuted Jews in Europe and has evolved with time to make Israel one of the most strategic of American allies in the world and secured it a place amongst militarily powerful countries of this world thanks to the American grants that the Aljazeera television posits that since 1949 Israel has received more than $115 billion from the U.S. Israel being a U.S Jewish jewel amongst most anti-American states and organization’s from Iran, Syria, Iraq and Hezbollah of Lebanon as well as Hamas of Palestine the latter two financed by Iran, analysts have posited that the geographical position of Israel gives the U.S an important foothold in the Middle East. The land of Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel) was according to Hebrew bible promised by God to the children of Israel. Muslims also lay claim to that land in accordance to the Quran contrary to the Jewish claim that this land was promised to the descendants of Abraham’s younger son Isaac, they argue that the land of Canaan was promised to all descendants of Abraham including his elder son Ishmael, from which they descend. This enduring, relentless and intense conflict which continues to baffle and horrify the world started with the inception of the state of Israel in 1948. The first crushing defeat for the people of Palestine that they may never recover from came in 1947 when the partition plan agreed to give 56.47% of Palestine to the Jewish state and 43.53%, to the Arab state (Palestine).33 countries voted at the UN assembly, Israel agreed and Palestine objected, little did they know that this was the start of the most grueling continuing conflict the world has ever seen, modern day colonization that is now gearing to reach the top of the century. The unwillingness of the world powers to attempt to resolve the conflict is reminiscent of the apartheid era in South Africa when the US sidelined the role it had set for itself as an upholder of morality and dignity in a move characterized by greed as it would go against the U.S national interests hesitating to criticize the South African regime’s racial policies for fear of South Africa gravitating towards the Soviet Union. The USA was by then using South Africa to further her ambition of exploration of the outer space and trade worth millions was also booming between the two.

WORLD’S NON WHITE POPULACE UNDER SIEGE! Far right Greek Golden Dawn Party founder and President Nikolaos Mikhaloliakos being arrested recently for forming and running a terrorist organisation.

Far right-wing political parties are wooing the most powerful continent on planet earth and history is threatening to repeat itself. The economic hardships that propelled Adolph Hitler to the highest office in Germany are threatening to replicate the events of 1933 when Hitler took powerBritain and France are also experiencing the threat of the right wingers who now more than ever now taste the fruits of their toil. Their success has the current European political leadership worried. French president François Hollande recently remarked that a “surge to the right could paralyse Europe”, after an Ifop poll for French newspaper Le Nouvel Obsrevateur indicated the right wing party National Front (FN) was ahead with 24% of all mainstream parties two points ahead of Hollande’s socialist party. with some having been voted into the European parliament The rest of Western Europe; Spain, Italy, Portugal as well as central Europe is fanatically preaching anti-immigrant rhetoric, as well as the so called ‘islamisation’ of Europe, right wing British National Party is advocating for voluntary resettlement whereby immigrants and their descendants are afforded an opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin. It seems all ingredients have finally come together for these fanatics including economic recession, terrorist stereotype attached to Muslims, disillusionment with mainstream political parties and general xenophobia. The threat of right-wing terrorism is also ever present in the African continent and to the black people in the Diaspora as well as other races that the right wingers consider inferior such as the Jews.Nelson Mandela undoubtedly did mankind well but the South African, Afrikaner right wing groups with their inflated sense of nationalism are oblivious and not to be left behind. From the popular right wing organizations such as Afrikaner Weerstandbewiging(AWB) of the slain right wing godfather Eugene Terreblanche who died ironically at the hands of his black farm workers to the little known such as the Suidlanders, a small whites only group that is awaiting prepared for the racial apocalypse. Others are advancing their ideals of racism on a different platform. In 1990 when the prospects of the collapse of apartheid were becoming ripe a section disgruntled Boers set up a Whites only town in the Northern Cape part of South Africa along the Orange River, called Orania to advance their goals of self-determination led by Carel Boshoff, the son in law of the man famously known as the architect of Apartheid: Hendrik Verwoerd. Others soon followed such as the whites’ only town of Kleinfontein near Pretoria which has a “diplomatic friendship” with Orania of Northern Cape. This shows their level of blind fanaticism and determination. The racist stance that the right winger Boers and the “Eurosceptics” are adopting of races living separately can only work to pull mankind back and instill racist beliefs in the minds of future generations, legitimize xenophobia and fast forward mankind to its own engineered non-biblical racial apocalypse. We can only imagine its consequences A flickering, comforting ray of hope is however evident when we see white and Afrikaner writers such as Phillip de Wet and Charles Leonard.

LARGER STATES NOT IMMUNE TO PROBLEMS PLAGUING WEAK AND SMALLER STATES Mexican troops running a random checkpoint.Their balaclavas serves to protect them from drug cartel reprisals and indicates the severity of the situation. Most African states naturally sitting atop bountiful arrays of minerals and raw materials have their potential for growth eclipsed by a wide range of misfortunes, from coup d’états to counter coup d’état’s of central and west Africa, Islamic right wing extremists of the west, north and east Africa, tribal armed clashes, poverty and persistent disease as well as famine of east and horn of Africa and lately in Namibia. The severity of these situations is exacerbated by weak governance, weak law and order in the fragile, young economies of Africa. Fate has not the spared middle powers of this world the pandemic of poor state institutions. Advanced middle powers in economy, development and international recognition such as Mexico are just as entangled. This is a country that also enjoys enviable privileges of belonging to the G8+5 with emerging economies as well as belonging to N-11 OR Next eleven economies. But in juxta-position with this picture of a flourishing Mexico lies a darker and brutal drug trafficking war against home grown drug cartels. Pakistan is also another middle power engulfed in its own domestic problems. Sectarian violence against Shia Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus have cost the country some USD68 billion directly and indirectly from 2000 to 2011 and thousands of priceless human lives since the start of sectarian violence in the 1970's.Eventhough it is a regional and middle power with the seventh largest standing armed forces, boasting of a semi-industrialized economy which is the 27th in the world in terms of purchasing power. Pakistan boasts of being a nuclear power as well as being declared nuclear weapons state being the only nation in the Muslim world and the second in South East Asia. Coming back to Africa Nigeria, the ''giant of Africa" is also struggling from the grip of terrorist and sectarian violence that has so far claimed lives of 10 000 people since 2001.Boko Haram the ultimate, culprit claims to oppose man made laws and seeks to establish sharia law and purify Islam. The war with Boko haram is standing in sharp contrast with the booming Nigerian economy. Africa’s largest economy, hosting the largest sub-Saharan city-Lagos with 8 million dwellers. These problems engulfing the middle powers emanate from weak leadership and state institutions as well as corruption. The main problem in combating the Mexican drug war epitomizes the direct consequences of corruption, as it is harder to root out corruption that has already infiltrated the security services from agents to high ranking officials that sell information or protection to the cartels.

INTO THE CORRUPTION TARVEN UNFINISHED BUSINESS:PALAPYE GLASS PROJECT Corruption has hit the motherland in the head like a ton of bricks. The worst part is that it is affecting landmark developments, infrastructure and state endorsed corporations that deal with multi-million pula’s of tax payers money. The allegation’s of fat cat political ministers, high profile individuals practices of grand corruption has set a bad precedent for ordinary government officials, with the potential trigger a viral wave of small to medium scale but widespread corruption, threatening the growth of our small economy.What’s worth to note is that the public does not only loose the money that is being involved in corrupt activities, but looses monies amounting to millions of pula’s on commissions and international firms commissioned to seek recourses on possible contractual breaches. Minister Kitso Mokaila seemed a jovial man when he briefed journalists on the 11 billion pula Morupule B Power Plant saying that the contractor (China National Electric Equipment Corporation) had claims against them and they too as the ministry has claims against them, and that they had roped in a leading global firm to seek recourse for possible breeches in the engineering, procurement and construction contract signed in 2008. He also seemed happy to announce that there might be a legal battle in the pipeline.However what he did not disclose to the public is that on top of millions of pula’s of tax payers money lost at the power plant, the government was also going to spend large sums of money running into millions on their newly acquired, “new leading global legal firm”, as well as the possible marathon court case that might follow. Another fellow Minister Dorcas Makgatho-Malesu, was also too pleased to announce the “Grant Thornton”, commission to establish the way forward on the controversial Palapye glass manufacturing project that was marred by corruption allegations involving close to half a billion pula pumped into the Botswana Development Corporation’s Palapye Shanghai Fengyue Glass project .According to Abram Kesupile who chaired the investigation’s, committee taxpayers monies was “premised on poor due diligence ,doubtful technical partner selection,a litany of project implementation violations, and doubtful and reckless project fund disbursement”. What Minister Makgatho-Malesu failed to disclose as expected was the amount of money to be paid to fancy named, Grant Thornton as well as explain action to be taken onlarge amounts of money amounting to millions discovered in personal accounts of BDC executives.

A week just before the ministerial announcements the Bank of Botswana had announced the injection of another stimulus into the economy with the bank saying “the current state of economy in which unemployment is high, together with below trend economic activity this provides a scope for monetary stimulus to spur stronger output growth”. This highlights that as money keeps being pumped in, to keep the economy afloat it is being lost to corruption. The time has come that as bona fide citizens; we also blow our trumpets so louder that the perpetrators would not dare cast a deaf ear. Surely this corruption merry-go–round is crippling our economy, and it is a shame that despite all that, one would still be happy to wear a very broad but rather fake smile and say, “ Botswana is the least corrupt in Africa`’. Who is really fooling who