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Opinions of Friday, 24 June 2005

Columnist: J. A. Fukuor/Daily Dispatch

Letter From The President: The Abuja Report

Countrymen and women, loyalists and opponents,
When I signed up to be the first African leader to have his record of governance examined under the African Peer Review Mechanism, I didn?t expect to be overly criticized by my own colleagues. As my peers ?reviewed? me last weekend, I felt like I was sitting on hot coal and getting my bum grilled. Kwame Nkrumah will be so disappointed. He must be turning in his grave because African leaders have kowtowed to imperialistic pressure and have stopped patting each other on the back. What happened to good-old African solidarity? Peer review is good but at what cost?

Last weekend in Abuja, I was seriously embarrassed when the likes of Thabo and Olu, used a report prepared by a panel of eminent Africans to review my governance record. At the end of it all, they offered very little commendation and a lot of criticisms ? more than I could take. I was sorely disappointed. I realized that my colleague African leaders do not appreciate what I?ve done for the people of Sikaman. Since, I took over from Jerry Boom, I?ve made it possible for the people of my country to breathe a new air of freedom.