“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ghana’s President Mahama targets corruption and high salaries

Deutsche Welle, 21 November 2013

Reacting to recent criticism, Ghana’s president John Dramani Mahama has announced anti-corruption measures are to be stepped up. In addition, the president and his ministers will take a 10 percent salary cut.


The announcement of the imminent pay cuts for politicians was made by Finance Minister Seth Terkpe during his presentation of the 2014 budget.

"His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, his vice president, ministers and appointees have decided to take a voluntary 10 percent pay cut for 2014." Terkpe said, adding that the money deducted from the salaries would be paid into a special fund for community health and planning services, with the focus on maternal health.

The measure is one of several introduced by President Mahama in order to curb high spending and mobilize revenue for the country's economic needs. The government says almost 70 percent of total revenue generated is currently used to pay public sector workers. This means that only limited sums are available for urgently needed development projects.

Money deducted from politicians' salaries
 will help improve health care for mothers
and children
Ghana is now a low to middle income country and no longer receives the large loans and grants it previously obtained from its donor partners. Fears had been expressed by Ghanaian economists that if nothing were done to curb state spending, then Ghana would soon run into serious economic trouble.

'Populist measures'

However, the president's proposed pay cuts for himself and his team have not met with universal approval. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader in the Ghanaian parliament, who speaks for the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), dismissed the move as "cheap populism."

President Mahama has come under considerable criticism recently for his perceived reluctance to take up the fight against corruption and for not prosecuting public officials suspected of fraud. He now seems to have gone on the offensive with the announcement that he has instructed the minister of justice, the attorney general and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) to achieve specific goals by the end of 2013. These include "secure refunds of money wrongfully paid to or appropriated by any individuals or companies." Mahama added that legal action would be initiated "against individuals to secure these refunds."

However, Ghanaian economist, Professor George Ayittey, says it is not the business of the president to chase after corrupt officials. Such matters are best left to the country's institutions, he told DW. “Let's suppose that, after the auditor general brings out his report, the attorney general doesn't do anything. It is then the responsibility of the public accounts committee to call in the attorney general and say ‘why didn't you take action?' This is how it is supposed to work. You don't get the president involved in these things,” he said.

Jerry Rawlings was president of
Ghana from 1981 to 2001
Doubts about Mahama's determination

Support for Mahama's initiative has come from former president Jerry Rawlings. "President Mahama concedes that the corruption issue is one that requires the support of all and has called for our involvement in fighting it. The president can only succeed if we help to expose the weaknesses in his government and offer concrete advice. You have an equal responsibility to help develop your country by refusing to sit on the fence doing nothing," he said.

Among the population at large there has been a general welcome for the measures to curb corruption mixed with skepticism about the president's determination to see them through.

Accra resident Seth Adjie told DW's Ghana correspondent he was not optimistic that corruption would decrease. Yaa Baafi, also from Accra, said it was not up to the government alone. "Corruption also depends on individuals. We, the individuals, also have to fight corruption," she said.

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