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10.12.2013 Feature Article

GMO, Abu Sakara, And The CPP

GMO, Abu Sakara, And The CPP
10.12.2013 LISTEN

Even though I was sorely disappointed by the CPP's flag-bearer during the 2012 Presidential Elections debate in Tamale, I found his overall performance relatively better than the other three candidates. Yet there was something I did not like about his politics fundamentally, because some of us were expecting more leadership from him as an agronomist, in terms of ideas about our food security and nutrition, than from the other candidates.


The issue of GMOs had been triggered by the 2012 G8 Summit in Washington, yet strangely enough, all four Presidential candidates appeared to have agreed not to say anything about it! That we found very disappointing from a CPP Presidential candidate, because of the Nkrumaist tradition the Party seeks to champion.

A FORMER FLAG-BEARER INDEED!

Actually, apart from his silence on GMOs, I found his eloquence and delivery relatively superior to all the other candidates. It made me wonder whether Abu Sakara was the leader the CPP has been yearning for, to get our Party back on its feet. Nevertheless, I have always had my doubts about him because several entreaties to get him to comment on the GMO debate have proved futile. Thus, it was a great joy to read in the news that the CPP had organized a press conference denouncing the imposition of GMOs on Ghanaians.

The strange thing about Abu Sakara was the speed with which he has suddenly became an apostle of the pro-GMO lobby in the media! The meeting with Parliament by the Food Sovereignty Ghana, to which the CPP Chairperson was a part of the delegation, ended at 4.00 pm, and Abu Sakara was on the air at 7.00am the next day.

Abu Sakara joined in this debate carrying a baggage of ridiculous contradictions, and the airs of a scientist, whilst actively making thoughtless pronouncements. Even though Abu Sakara claimed he has no problems with the safety of GMOs, and that the problem is with the patents, Abu Sakara still finds his voice to support the claims of multinational corporations over our sovereignty as a people! And he calls himself an Nkrumaist!

I have come across all sorts of Nkrumaists, dedicated comrades who look at what Nkrumah is pointing at, instead of admiring the finger of the great man. I have seen opportunists, as well as charlatans. I did not once imagine that I would live to see a self-proclaimed Nkrumaist whose political instinct tells him to defend the interests of multinational corporations rather than those of poor Ghanaian farmers. That concern is simply not there. His principal focus has been to disparage those defending the rights of Ghanaians, especially smallholder farmers, as people who are being paid to act from fear!

Anyone with half a brain would know that if you accuse people of acting from the basis of fear, you cannot turn around and ascribe another reason for the same behaviour. In one breath, the resistance to GMOs is based on fear, in another breath, people are being paid money to say what they are saying. Even though Abu Sakara insists on the rules of evidence, he makes these claims without a shred of evidence. What even makes this murkier are the reasons behind this sudden gusto, and who activated this man into action, jumping from radio station to radio station? To save the Ghanaian farmer from the CPP?

“I AM A SCIENTIST! I'M A SCIENTIST! I'M A SCIENTIST!”


For those looking for the tell-tale signs of a charlatan, note that Abu Sakara was the only member on the panels who kept repeating, “I am a scientist”. If you know what empty barrels do most, then please, keep this in mind as we go on. The main reason that Abu Sakara “the scientist” offers for the opposition to GMOs is unscientific. Abu Sakara claims the resistance to GMOs is based on fear. He even linked GM technology to progress in terms that smack of a genuine fool rather than a scientist. He compared GM technology with the invention of knives, and how “we used to cut our meat with stones”.

This is really pathetic because, if Abu Sakara had known that top scientists from all over the world, held a series of meetings and conferences leading to the drafting of the Cartagena Protocols on Biodiversity, he would obviously not have made such a fool of himself, in the way he has. The most authoritative document, even in scientific terms, on Biosafety is the Cartagena Protocols of Biosafety. What over 400 scientists from all over the world agreed to in the latter document was that there was a clear difference between GM crops and normal crops obtained through traditional breeding and selection. They also agreed that this difference lies in the fact that GM crops are “obtained through laboratory techniques”.

The Cartagena Protocol defines GMOs in agriculture as products of 'Modern Biotechnology' created when the genomes of organisms are transformed through laboratory techniques, including genetically engineered DNA and their direct introduction into cells.

They are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection. The protocols also point out that this laboratory-based technology requires 'sceptical' (doubt, don't presume safety) analyses in rigorous risk assessment protocols including hazard identification to detect hazards and the potential to cause unintended effects. This is what has become known as “the precautionary principle”.

Thus, I found it terribly nauseating to hear Abu Sakara say repeatedly “I am a scientist! I am a scientist!” and pretend not to know that other scientists better than him have settled the question he is trying hard like an empty barrel, to make the most noise about. How can a scientist hop from radio station to radio station, spewing what he has so little knowledge of? The minimum required of any scientist who cares about Biosafety is to know something about the Cartagena Protocol, because it is a product of world class scientists deliberating intensely in order to advise the human race concerning a specific threat to life on Earth, and what steps are needed to be taken in order to save human populations and the environment of the unintended consequences of these new forms of life. 166 countries have signed up to these protocols, including Ghana.

FAKE NKRUMAIST

Apparently, Abu Sakara is the only scientist who probably believes that biohazards are the work of witchcraft! Or that he is not being paid to speak in that strange and incoherent manner, but rather people are being paid to fear biohazards! Incidentally, these protocols of which Ghana is a signatory, requires that there should be public awareness and participation in decisions to introduce genetically modified organisms into the environment. Yet all we have seen in Ghana are attempts to round us up, and force dangerous technology into our environment, accompanied by legislation that will lead to the loss of our sovereignty! There is a slow but incremental installation of the legislative instruments necessary for control by foreign multinationals over our destiny as a people. The CPP leadership has taken a courageous and principled stand and is calling for public awareness and participation.

All of a sudden, this politician has become a scientist, hoping from radio station to radio station, making “the most noise”, exactly like a very familiar object when it is empty! These laws imposing GMOs on Ghanaians are being passed without any form of public awareness and participation in the decision-making. In fact the Plant Breeders Bill was read in Parliament during the football match between Ghana and Egypt for the World Cup in Brazil. Whilst Ghanaians were watching football some far-reaching questions about our future, and even the powers of Parliament or the Executive, as well as the Judiciary, how much of it we can keep for ourselves and which rights to hand over to our new masters, were being considered.

The question we should all be asking ourselves is what makes Abu Sakara think that it is somehow wrong for Ghanaians to complain about the imposition of GMOs without public awareness and participation? Personally I find it very strange that Abu Sakara is even a member of Kwame Nkrumah's own Party, the CPP! It is mind-boggling that such a palpably fake Nkrumaist managed to slip through the net to become a whole flag-bearer of the CPP!

What an abomination! Abu Sakara joins the camp of those eager to genetically colonize us through patents, and yet he claims to belong to the Nkrumaist tradition. I even hear he plans to contest again. He reminds me of the great Gyedu Blay Ambolley: “Abofra bi wants to be CPP flag-bearer, but he likes GMO yor ke gari too much!

Forward Ever! Backward Never!!!

Cheers!

Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheOdikro

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