Ghana Needs To Dangle the Carrot; And Take Lead Whip On Ivory Coast Part II

100 thousand tons of diplomacy, USS George Bush

A prosperous Ivory Coast is in the best interest of Ghana

A prosperous Ivory Coast is in the best interest of Ghana and black Africa and that is no secret. These two countries which once had GDP’s higher than China, Korea and Malaysia have the capacity to uplift black Africa and lead a forever oppressed people into democracy, freedom and prosperity.

Ghana remains the most peaceful immediate neighbor of Ivory Coast with a fledgling economy and peaceful civil society; having one of the few legitimate civilian governments in the region. Then there is the new found treasure, oil. It is no secret also that Ghana’s progress would be negated if a full blown civil war reignites in Ivory Coast and that area could go up in flames.

Gbagbo appears to be defiantly entrenching himself an power and worse still, could turn to rogue leaders for support. Soon enough, have Iran’s Ahmedinejan, Venezuela’s Chavez and Zimbabwe’s Mugabe make courtesy calls to shake feathers together.

First, President Attah-Mills should resist the temptation of allowing Ghana to succumb fully to the concept of alienation of black people ghettoized through racism and slavery. That is, a situation where families and societies separated by invisible demarcations called borders and different languages assigned to them as national languages compels Ghana into a policy of regarding; black people fleeing Ivory Coast as Ivorian refugees and treating them as aliens. We are the same people and this approach is important for any move in Ivory Coast
Wield the whip

Wield the whip on Gbagbo now and tell the African power monger he is no more welcome in Ghana. Any country that would do business with Gbagbo’s Ivory Coast and not Ouattarra’s Ivory Coast is also against Ghana. This extends to his wife and Maybach driving kids and extended family. Yes, Laurent Gbagbo’s kids who live in the state of Georgia “in college” drive expensive cars including one that costs half a million dollars; the Maybach. No foreign dignitary or personal visitor to Gbagbo has permission to access Ghana’s skies, territorial waters or overland.

Ghana’s military and foreign intelligence have built a good reputation for delivering and it is their time now in al these. Former security chief, Kojo Tsikata a.k.a Gbagbladza is back in town we hear. Ask how he helped establish a secure foundation for John to stay in power for that long and handed over to John who handed over to John who may well be handing over to John in 2016.

That disclosure by President Rawlings about Ghana’s in advance knowledge of the 1999 coup showed Ghana’s capacity to infiltrate the Ivorian military to recruit dissenters in the rank and file and among the officers and ask them to standby when the time came. There are those good people in every establishment that have their conscience more intact than others and would do the right thing even when threatened. Ghana’s military intelligence sure has the upbeat on these in the Ivorian military

A directive to General Officer Commanding,

Right now the Ivorian military especially those behind Gbagbo are feeling the unease and anyway out offered without bloodshed would be attractive to them.

Let us assume a bird whispered a directive to General Officer Commanding, Southern Command, Brigadier General Adinkrah, to head a plan to mobilize along with the Western Naval Command and Ghana Airforce. Rapid mobilization could be completed within a week.

Coordination with UN peace force in Abidjan is a given and if Brigadier General Adinkrah wants to give impetus to the mission, he would contact General “Kip” Ward commander of US Africa Command to request the ultimate show of force, a full 100 thousand tons of majestic steel diplomacy a.k.a aircraft carrier for support.

President Obama and Defence Secretary Robert Gates should have no problem approving this. The aircraft carrier, USS George W. Bush is battle ready and has seen little action but with proper request, it should reach Ivorian Waters from Norfolk in time not to engage in combat but as the ultimate show of force; in association with GNS Achimota and GNS Azone.

One Ghana air force jet on the ready to for a low flying sortie in Abidjan should crown the effort

With Ghanaian Special Forces already in place

The whip needs to have all the characteristics of a bluff just to make Gbagbo see the harm he could cause himself and his loved ones. Conversely, should Gbagbo be unwise as to call it a bluff, the whisper in Brigadier General Adinkrah’s ear; “it is a go.” lets face it, one could not prepare such a force without the intention of using it.

If a total warfare strategy instead of battlefield tactics were applied, it is possible to have former Ghana General Officer Commanding General "Buffalo soldier" Quainoo, ’s famous words “if I send 2000 men out, I want to bring two thousand men back home alive” come true. The fear of torture alone is usually enough to elicit information from a subject so a massive show of force plus a psychological warfare in addition to a limited indirect or direct engagement should strike fear into the poorly equipped Ivorian military or the fool hardies loyal to Gbagbo to surrender. Talk about eliciting shock and awe

With Ghanaian Special Forces already in place in Ivory Coast, it should be easy to seize strategic radio stations and main TV stations to synchronize a broadcast from Ouatarra urging the Ivorian military to stand down and all positions and rank would be maintained for now.
Jam and or cut off communications between the presidential palace and the loyal troops
Lay siege to the presidential palace and cutting off supplies, power etc

Take out the Carrot

As the whip or stick is being wielded, take out the carrot and dangle it before Gbagbo. President Outtara has already offered positions to some of Gbagbo’s Ministers as incentive and at least one country has offered a safe haven for Gbagbo and those are good.

Ghana could impress on Ouatarra not to prosecute Gbagbo

Gbagbo can participate in the political process of Ivory Coast again in the next election cycle

Provide safe passage for Gbagbo and family

Gbagbo needs to be given the opportunity to leave in dignity and retain his statesmanship by addressing parliament and the nation before leaving

Support Gbagbo to gain a job as a visiting professor in a reputable college; position in ECOWAS or AU. He could work at the Kofi Annan centre or a regional or sub-regional business project like Africa 1 or WAGP

Maintain communication with Gbagbo and ready a chopper to airlift him and his family; or provide a plane and guarantee his safe flight from Abidjan.

The foundations of conflict resolution

Snap back to reality and these are just wild imaginations of VooDoo Child. Still, in using force and or threatening to use it, the foundations of conflict resolution must be the main approach. This means Gbagbo must be afforded the full respect and opportunity to regain his statesmanship and exit in dignity and honor.

Every step beginning from reaching out to him to applying force on him are all conflict resolution steps but the most important part of these steps are the first peaceful approaches. The wise usually accept to talk and keep communication lines open.

Regarding and acknowledging Gbagbo’s contribution towards Ivory Coast’s political processes and the fact that he never benefited from long periods of stability to manifest fully his capabilities would help.

Yet, all these could only come to fruition if President Allasane Ouattara of Ivory Coast approves otherwise, Ghana should stay clear and or proceed with extreme caution

Ghana Needs To Dangle the Carrot; And Take Lead Whip On Ivory Coast Part I

Gbagbo and Ouattara ...We need this

Leaders in Ivory Coast were also expected in Ghana

Eleven years ago today Saturday Christmas day, December 25 1999, soldiers led by Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibally riding on a wave of popular discontent with the Ivorian government resorted to the usual gun toting solution to changing governments in Africa. Ivory Coast President Conan Bedie, was overthrown in that country’s first coupe d’état and he fled to France.

Dial the history to Friday December 31st 1999 and the main story was still the millennium bug; the fear that computer clocks would reset to zero and there would be chaos. Off course nothing happened.

That Friday New Year’s Eve night was packed with activities as representatives of the Christmas coup leaders in Ivory Coast were also expected in Ghana to explain their agenda if they had any. Where else do you go but to the most successful coup maker in Africa who happens to be you neighbor to explain yourself? At the same time there was high alert for the millennium bug and tests were being run in every sector establishment that affected everyday life, Akosombo Dam, hospitals, power plants, Kotoka Airport.

An invite to take the Flying Coffin

If you could brave it there was an invite to take the Flying Coffin, Ghana’s old presidential jet the old Fokker 28 on a spin in the skies over Accra to see if any digital equipment on board or at the airport control would reset at 12 midnight and what would happen if a “zero” indeed occurred.

Ghana saw year 2000 without issue but the revelation of the night was by President Rawlings in an informal talk with journalist. The actual location and specific time of what he said is still hazy but his words were revealing and still clear. President Rawlings talking candidly to journalist. Revealed that before the coup, they had intelligent information about rumblings in Ivory Coast and contacted Bedie and asked if things were alright and he said yes. Again we contacted President Bedie and said look we are hearing things and it is credible do, we can help do you need help. Bedie said he was alright” therein lies part of the solution to wielding a whip if need be against Laurent Gbagbo now.

UN could intervene using military force but lacks legitimacy

But first it must be made clear why Ghana and not other entities or countries that have better organizational capacity and resources to wield power against Laurent Gbagbo and his tyrannical forces in Ivory Coast.

The UN could intervene using military force but lacks legitimacy due to the nature of its mandate in Ivory Coast.
The only other power with the capacity and a duty behind it as an underwriter of democracy and freedom is the United States but with its history of Anglo-Saxon led white supremacist Judeo-Christian foreign policy; any good intentions even with a black president could be looked with suspicion by black Africa.

Add that horrible image of the bodies of American soldiers being dragged in the streets of Mogadishu; bitter lesson that culminated in President Clinton deciding not to intervene when black Africans were killing black Africans because of tribal differences. About 800 thousand people were mass murdered in that genocide, according to the UN. Indeed the US did virtually nada in its former colony Liberia, Ivory Coast’s neighbor when that country degenerated into civil war. There is no US interest so rule out President Obama ever intervening in Ivory Coast with force.

That leaves only one country, Ghana

Ivory Coast’s former colonial master, France is even in a more undignifying position regarding its former colony just for that despicable role of mistreating black people from Africa to the Caribbean. France has looked out mainly for its interest in such situations with its former colonies and has sponsored and encouraged coups in former colonies in Africa, the pacific and Caribbean; remember that infamous bastard Colonel Bob Denard the dreaded mercenary?

One could not even begin mentioning ECOWAS without looking at the legitimacy and semi legitimacy status of most of its leaders. That leaves only one country, Ghana to take bold and defining steps in Ivory Coast.