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General News of Tuesday, 2 August 2005

Source: Ghana Palaver

NPP's Craze With Foreign Women

Ghana Palaver -- President J. A. Kufuor has engaged another American lady, this time an African American, as a Special Advisor on AGOA. Her name is Rosa Whitaker, and she is paid a whopping US$300,000.00 (about ?30billion) per year, effective March 2005 when she signed the contract with the Government of Ghana.

Some USA government officials are mad at this wanton dissipation of the scarce resources of a HIPC, debt-forgiven, Third World, African country.

First, it was Alexandra O'Brien on HIV/AIDS. Next, it was Gizelle Yazji on finance and foreign investment. Now it is Rosa Whitaker on AGOA. Where are the ?men and women' that President Kufuor and the NPP claimed they had?

Read the stinking and startling story of how your tax money is being spent on foreign, especially American women, as downloaded from the Internet:-

Ghana Pays $300,000 A Year To Mother Of AGOA

A high level United States Government executive and architect of the African growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) landmark trade law is now charging Ghana $300,000 a year fee to consult on the same law. Rosa Whitaker, who left her Government position for a lucrative job in the private sector, signed the $300,000 contract with Ghana last March, according to her foreign agent disclosure report. While at the Trade Representative Office, she had helped Ghana become the second African country to sign a special trade and investment framework agreement with the United States.

At an awards dinner in the U.S in 2001, Ghana's vice president lauded Whitaker for leading the charge on AGOA. She travelled to Ghana most recently in July 2002 as part of a U.S delegation taking part in a seminar on the trade act.

Whitaker stands out as an example why Washington officials are increasingly debating what constitutes a conflict of interest in such comings and goings. Whitaker set up the first in a series of business relationships with African leaders and countries while still working as the U.S trade representative's top official for Africa, according to our sources, correspondence and other documents obtained by the LA Times. By March, she had signed the contract with Ghana, also for $300,000 a year, to consult on the law, known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act or AGOA. "It looks like she's trading off on her expertise and credentials and in a really blatant way", said Larry Noble, head of the Centre for Responsible Politics, a Washington watchdog group. Whitaker said her private pursuits were above board and approved in advance by the Trade Representative's office.

"It's not a conflict to work in government and then come out and work on similar initiatives", she said. Whitaker left the U.S Government December 20, 2002 to form the Whitaker Group, a private consulting firm that builds on her expertise on AGOA. The core of TWG's business is making sure that AGOA delivers real, bottom-line results", says the company website, which features pictures of Whitaker with President Bush and Clinton. Andrew Melrose, a Whitaker Group employee until December, said a number of other African countries were considering hiring Whitaker. "The Africa field is very small", he said. "There are very few experts who can deliver what she can.