Why Bawumia’s boasts ring hollow without a credible job-creation strategy

Vice-President Bawumia, an uptown baby who doesn't know what suffering is

Has any Ghanaian with a good thinking ability ever asked this question: why is Ghana a land with more natural resources than many European countries, yet is far behind in development? 


We can’t continue blaming the colonial masters six decades after independence; therefore, the answer is that Ghanaian politicians are corrupt, inefficient, and lazy. I will repeat, Ghanaian politicians are lazy and corrupt.

This is not the first time I am writing about the useless bragging of Vice-President Bawumia, and it will not be the last because Ghanaians have eyes to see what the government is doing; therefore, Bawumia, it’s not necessary to blow your trumpet to Ghanaians about what the Akufo-Addo government has achieved. In fact, that bragging rather signifies failure.

Ghanaians continue to praise shoddy work, so projects in the country do not last. Ghanaians continue to worship and praise corrupt politicians; therefore, corrupt activities in the country have increased with impunity. 

The Ghanaian government refuses to clean up its dirty, health-threatening hazards and rather promotes tourism. Lord, have mercy on the poor suffering Ghanaians.

Everything is falling apart in the country, yet when you write about it, people without conscience and integrity are the ones to attack with insults. Your insult is encouraging me to write daily without ceasing because I can clearly see the impact of discomfort taking its toll on you.

Go to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and you will be surprised to see many Members of Parliament and other politicians come to work on bicycles. They have luxurious vehicles, yet some prefer to use bicycles because they believe in human efficiency, development, and job creation, not riding in expensive cars.

How many jobs have Akufo-Addo, Bawumia, and their over 100 ministers created? These ministers receive fat salaries, with free bonuses, including free fuel to fill their vehicles, but what do they do for the suffering Ghanaians? 

If Ghanaians want to know what effective leadership is, I pray that each one of you, once in your life, can be able to visit Europe. If you do, nobody will vote for any Ghanaian politician again.

The fact is, the European government never rests on its oars. European leaders are not lazy like Bawumia and Akufo-Addo. They don’t brag like the lazy Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the pompous-arrogant Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku, because they are intellectually disciplined and intelligent. 

EU leaders sit the whole year planning what to do next to give their citizens' best medical care, education, and employment.

In 2018, France created 188,000 jobs, and last year alone created an additional 260,000 jobs. Thus, unemployment reached its lowest point in ten years in mid-2019. Bawumia, how many jobs has your government created after three years in power? How many banking institutions have risen after almost every bank collapsed in the country?

In Belgium, a few weeks ago, the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, after five years in office, decided not to finish his second term. His decision to step down after five years is to begin a new appointment in 2020, offered by the European Union. 

Charles Michel stepped down as Belgian prime minister after creating  290,000 new jobs. Bawumia, you brag too much. Please, use the time you are wasting bragging to create employment for the frustrated youth who are dying in the Mediterranean every year.

Ghana is richer than many European countries, so why is the country not flourishing? Someone might say Because it is an African country, so are Africans stupid, I will ask.  Frankly speaking, there is corruption also in Europe, but the politicians are not as deeply corrupt as Ghanaian politicians, and above all, they are not as lazy as Ghanaian politicians.

The Ghanaian government has no brain to utilize the resources, instead, the government keeping piling debts on the country and when people criticize, the president which any sensible words have never come from his mouth said, “Even America borrows," but American leaders are not stupid like Ghanaian leaders, so they know what they do with the money, while Ghanaian leaders put the money in their pockets.

Akufo-Addo government talks about projects, including a Cathedral, but in reality, the finances of those projects, whether executed or not, have especially enriched a privileged few close to the government and his family, after receiving taxpayers' money.

Why are many joining political parties in Ghana, especially the NPP? Politics under Akufo-Addo’s government is a lucrative business built on the foundation of corruption, tribalism, and nepotism. 

Verily, I say to you, the time that Ghanaians will cry forty days and forty nights hasn’t come yet, but it will soon come. However, remember that those Ghanaians in the Diaspora, praising the inefficient government in the country can’t help you because they are pure liars and hypocrites, enjoying better lives in where ever they are.

So Bawumia, instead of making too much noise on inefficiency as efficiency, try to revive the depreciating economy of Ghana because you claim to be an economist and above, try to take a special course on how to create jobs for a country,   because the pumpkin heads of the NPP politicians are virtually empty of intelligence and ideas. 

THE US GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS CORRUPT DICTATORSHIP REGIMES IN AFRICA

Museveni and Akufo-Addo

It's a piece of interesting news to read: "Ugandans Ask Nana Addo To Replace Dictator Museveni." The following news caught my attention this morning on the ModernGhana news site. The plea was made by one Hillary Taylor, a Ugandan student, pursuing a master's in International Relations at Harvard University Kennedy School.

It's a great honor for Nana Akufo-Addo for Hillary Taylor to make such a request, but Miss Taylor doesn't know that such a task alone is tougher than the affairs in Ghana in the hands of Nana Akufo-Addo.

Despite slavery, colonial brutality, Apartheid, and medical crises, including Aids and Ebola, it is obvious that about sixty-five percent of Ghanaians don't have much knowledge about the role external forces have played and are still playing to retard the growth of Africa.

Average Ghanaians, from morning till evening, argue and fight over two political parties, NDC and NPP, without a slight knowledge that our leaders alone aren't responsible for our political woes, economic burden, and unrest in the country. 

I want to make it clear to Hillary Taylor and fellow Ghanaians that the US government preaches against dictatorship, forcing every African government to follow the 'Almighty Democracy,' yet the US government supports dictatorial governments in Africa.

Why has the US government tolerated the Ugandan leader for all these years but gone wild and hostile against Robert Mugabe, the ex-Zimbabwean leader? Mugabe refused to associate himself with the British and the US governments after he discovered that the entire Zimbabwe had been deliberately infected with Aids before independence.

That bitterness and hate embedded in Mugabe against the West and the US governments forced Britain and America to stand behind Emmerson Mnangagwa to unseat Mugabe, but Museveni remains untouched and undisturbed. Why? 

Even though Uganda experienced the same deliberate spread of Aids infection and a host of cancerous diseases such as Kaposi's sarcoma, nodding disease, and Burkitt's lymphoma, Museveni continues to maintain a friendly relationship with the British and the US governments.

In fact, the entire Ugandan citizens were used for various experiments under the supervision of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. We (Joel Savage, Johan Van Dongen, and Dr. Wolff Geisler) have published some of these articles on ModernGhana and our health blog under the radar.

Museveni has never criticized or held the British and American governments responsible for such horrendous crimes. Africans, Ghanaians, you must, therefore, understand the reason the US government keeps preaching about democracy, but still supports a dictatorial government in Uganda.

It can be recalled that when all African leaders were angry with Donald Trump for calling the continent 'Shithole,' nations, it was only Museveni who praised Trump for his distasteful comments. BBC reference: Uganda's Museveni: I love Trump for being frank with Africans 

I am just a common journalist, never had the opportunity even to step at the front door of any university, yet Europe, Scientist Johan Van Dongen, and Dr. Wolff Geisler, have educated me about foreign affairs, in such a way that I have ample knowledge about clandestine crimes the British and the US governments commit in Africa, yet Hillary Taylor, studying at Havard University has no idea, else she wouldn't have made that request.

Even though on many occasions I have criticized and hit against past and present African leaders, including Nana Akufo Addo, John Jerry Rawlings, John Mahama, etc, I will still plead for Ghanaians or Africans to have a little patience for any African leader.

There is no African leader who is stupid. All of them are aware of the roles foreign governments play in destabilizing Africa's economy, and also about the deliberate hitting the continent with Aids and Ebola, but they still like to remain silent, hoping for a change because they want to remain friends with them.

Because of the same cordial relationship, African leaders want to maintain with the US government, which has enabled them to accept funds from America to finance Aids and Ebola projects in Africa, instead of rejecting them.

However, Africans need to ask ourselves: what comes next after slavery, colonial brutality, Apartheid, Aids, and Ebola?

I will never forget what the former Sierra Leone ambassador to Belgium, Hon Ibrahim Sorie, told me when I visited him with the Belgian branch of the APC party members at his residence in Brussels.

When I told him about the Ebola research by scientist Johan Van Dongen and Dr. Wolff Geisler, pointing fingers at the US government as the perpetrator, he said, "Instead of witch-hunting, we prefer peace." 

But how long will Africans sit and watch to be slaughtered like cows and pigs by a senseless government that preaches virtue and practices vice?

Those who like to bully people continue bullying because they enjoy seeing their victims crying for mercy. All comes to an end the day the victim who thinks enough is enough strikes back.

WHY FIDEL CASTRO AND KWAME NKRUMAH REJECTED DEMOCRACY

 Fidel Castro and Kwame Nkrumah

African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, to mention but a few, weren’t only intelligent but also had a vision of how the state of Africa would be if the US government imposed that type of lunatic Democracy on Africa.

As a matter of fact, this is one of the reasons why, even though Nkrumah studied in America, he had no interest in democracy than communism. Instead of Nkrumah seeking help from America to build his country, Ghana, Nkrumah collaborated with communist leaders in Russia, China, and Cuba.

Like Nkrumah, Fidel Castro also wasn’t interested in democracy, but the US government doesn’t leave leaders who aren’t interested in democracy alone. The CIA will work hard to eliminate you. Both Kwame Nkrumah and Fidel Castro survived several assassination attempts.

Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro

The significance of this article is to ask why the US government wants countries globally to follow democracy. And why do countries that aren’t interested in democracy instantly become enemies? As the story goes, America’s deadly hand of democracy got all African countries under its control.

The American government can’t stop preaching about democracy, telling the world that “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives,” is the best government for humanity, persuading all the Third World to also follow the 'almighty' democracy.

However, America has a different opinion or agenda when soliciting democracy in Africa. To carry out clandestine crimes against humanity, to kill every powerful Third World leader they consider a threat, and to test drugs and biological weapons, such as Aids and Ebola, in poor African countries to support their global depopulation schemes.

The oppression of Africans will never come to an end, firstly, because our leaders have no vision, and secondly, they are corrupt, lazy, and inefficient in utilizing their own resources; instead, they have become a new generation of slaves to advanced countries, such as Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and the United States of America.

Fidel Castro and Julius Nyerere

No matter how hard African leaders try, the continent will never move forward because that’s part of a hidden definition of America’s democracy: to set a military base throughout Africa and manipulate African leaders’ efforts. Why didn't the US government didn't call out to the rich Libya under Gaddafi to build a military base in America?

After the manipulation of African leaders' efforts and the destabilization of our economy, African leaders would lay red carpets for the foreign criminals when on a visit. Yet Africans are always insulting their leaders without commenting on the criminal activities of the US government in Africa. However, African leaders deserve it.

African leaders can’t speak against Aids and Ebola, well-known African pastors also can’t speak against the crime the US government commits in Africa because the US embassies will deny them a visa to enter the US, thus America has been successful with its clandestine crimes in Africa.

Fidel Castro and Thabo Mbeki

The experience of past African political history should have been bona fide events to teach African leaders the best way to handle affairs in Africa. Unfortunately, past events don’t mean anything to our modern African leaders because they are only interested in power and corruption.

If Africa is in this turbulent state or my beloved Ghana is in such an acute economic crisis, how will Ghana be in the next ten years? It’s frightening indeed. I have said and I will repeat once again, “Both NPP and NDC can’t save Ghana, despite all the noise both parties are making over who is the best and the failure.

African countries, including my beloved Ghana, will crawl out from the coma when they stop depending on those Ghanaians called “Kumfudumfo.” (They claim they are helping you, yet they are killing you.)

THE DEEP BETRAYAL OF NKRUMAH BY GHANA AND THE AMERICAN CIA

Kwame Nkrumah, one of the intelligent African leaders the world has ever known

In October 1965, Kwame Nkrumah, the president of Ghana, published his future book, ‘Neocolonialism: The last stage of imperialism.’ The book was dedicated to "The living and the dead African freedom fighters."

In the book, Nkrumah accused the CIA of numerous crises and regressions in the Third World and Eastern Europe. Later, Nkrumah wrote: "The American government sent me a note of protest and soon refused to give Ghana $35 million planned to help the country.

Four months later, he was deposed in a military coup organized by the CIA. Of course, the organizers of the coup, members of the Ghanaian army and police, had their own motives. They feared that Nkrumah was creating his own private army that would take their powers away, and they were determined to promote their own professional careers and status.

Within a very short period after the successful coup in February 1966, the majors became colonels, and the colonels became generals. As a student in the United States during the Great Depression, Kwame Nkrumah wandered around Harlem, slept in the subway, and stood in lines in the mess rooms for the needy.

Later, he became "the brightest star of Africa," a leader calling for a struggle against imperialism, the creation of a pan-African organization, and an international non-aligned movement during the Cold War. According to the general opinion, Nkrumah adhered to special rules that belonged to him and believed that socialism could be adopted by decrees from above.

Although he boldly spoke out against neocolonialism, he still failed to ultimately prevent the influence of transnational corporations in Ghana. When he tried to reduce his country's dependence on the West, strengthening economic and military ties with the Soviet Union, China, and East Germany, he finally decided his fate.

The United States wanted to get rid of him. Great Britain, the former colonial masters of Ghana then called the Gold Coast (Gold Coast), also wanted to remove Nkrumah. France and West Germany also didn’t like Nkrumah. Those Ghanaians who accomplished the coup did not doubt that the movement against Nkrumah would be supported by the Western powers.

During the coup, the Soviet press accused the CIA of participation in 1972. The conservative London Daily Telegraph reported that by 1965, the CIA's headquarters in Accra, the capital of Ghana, had about forty staff members who generously distributed donations to the secret opponents of President Nkrumah.

By February 1966, according to the article, the CIA prepared plans to overthrow the Nkrumah regime: The patient and diligent work of the CIA headquarters in Accra was crowned with total success. However, it was not until 1978 that history went astray in the United States. A former CIA official, John Stockwell, who served a long time in Africa, published a book in which he reveals the involvement of his Office.

Later, the New York Times cited the direct sources in intelligence and confirmed that the CIA advised and supported dissident officers in Ghana. Stockwell said that the CIA station in Accra received generous financial support and acted in close contact with the conspirators in the process of developing the coup.

The involvement of the residency was so great that during the coup, it became possible for the United States to restore some secret Soviet military equipment. The CIA also offered the headquarters in Washington to keep a small team of military instructors from the Special Forces ready, with black-painted faces planned to storm the Chinese embassy, destroy everyone inside, take secret reports, and blow up the building to hide this fact.

This proposal was rejected. According to Stockwell, the CIA headquarters honoured the Accra Residency with all the work to organize a coup in which eight Soviet advisers were killed. The Soviet Union, however, categorically denied that any of its advisers had been killed.

Other intelligence sources present in Ghana during the coup disagreed with Stockwell's view that the coup was entirely the work of the CIA. But they believed that his Office played a key role. Some officials in Washington admitted that the head of the CIA's headquarters in Accra, Howard T. Bane, was quickly promoted and took up a senior position in the Office.

After the coup, the CIA paid $100,000 to the new Ghanaian regime to confiscate Soviet equipment, including a lighter that operated as a camera. The Ghanaian leaders soon expelled a large number of Soviet employees, as well as Chinese and East Germans.

In fact, all state-owned industries moved into private hands. Soon, previously blocked channels of American aid were opened: grants, food, and development projects went from the United States, Western Europe, and the International Monetary Fund to Ghana.

Washington, for example, three weeks after the coup, in response to an urgent request from Ghana, approved a substantial amount of food aid. Although four months earlier, such a request from Nkrumah was rejected. 

A month after his expulsion, the international price of cocoa, the lifeblood of Ghana's economy, grew by 14 percent.

But what’s Ghana’s position now economically? Obviously, there is no past or present Ghanaian leader who is even qualified to polish the shoes of Kwame Nkrumah. Because of greed and the thirst for power, Nkrumah was hastily thrown out of office by a coup. 

He would have done better for Ghana if he had stayed in power a little bit longer.

WHY BELGIUM REFUSES TO GIVE GHANA ITS EMBASSY

Kwame Nkrumah, the father and architect of Ghana’s political independence

Kwame Nkrumah, the father and architect of Ghana’s political independence, was a man far ahead of his time. After studies from the United States of America, Nkrumah’s involvement in politics and determination to free Ghana and other African countries from the hands of colonial masters was a bitter issue that the West and America weren’t prepared to handle.

“We have won the battle and again rededicate ourselves; our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa,” Nkrumah said. 

The fact that other African countries were under colonial bondage made him unhappy after Ghana’s independence. He was a man with vision and full of determination. He started working on the liberation of other African countries.

A year after Ghana’s independence, Kwame Nkrumah helped his friend Ahmed Sekou Touré of the Republic of Guinea to break free from France on October 2, 1958. 

The French government was very angry to the extent that they took everything, including the furniture at the statehouse, from Guinea to France. 

Then, in 1960, other African countries gained their independence, including Patrice Lumumba of the Republic of Congo (which, before Belgium, had taken as their personal property) on August 15, 1960.

This was something Belgium wasn’t prepared to accept because of the fear of losing whatever they were siphoning from Congo to Belgium. 

Before independence, Belgium's King Leopold’s terror of terror and greed saw many Congolese children and adults' limbs and hands amputated, the punishment for rebelling against his administration, and also for not satisfying his demands. 

Through a plot engineered by Belgium, Lumumba was killed, chopped, and his body burned in 1962. A brutal death, Nkrumah and world leaders spoke against.

The mouth that said, “Here comes the Saviour, Hosanna! Hosanna! It was the same mouth that said, “Crucify him.” Ghanaians and the opposition accused Nkrumah of being a dictator, forming a one-party state. 

On February 24, 1966, with the aid of the CIA, Nkrumah was overthrown by the army. Declassified National Security Council and Central Agency documents provided ample evidence that the United States government was involved in the 1966 coup that toppled the Ghanaian leader. 

Shortly after the arrest of Patrice Lumumba, after Belgium lost Congo in 1960, he was assassinated, and later his body was exhumed and dissolved in sulfuric acid.

Before his overthrow, it was also a difficult period for prominent black leaders in America, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Kwame Nkrumah spent his last days in exile in Conakry, Guinea. He died in Bucharest, Romania. As a punishment to the Ghanaian government for Nkrumah’s interference in Belgian politics, the Belgian government has denied Ghana its embassy ever since. 

A country like Ghana deserves an embassy, not a Belgian consulate. It’s a shame Ghana has to go under such punishment for political reasons, without taking into consideration the atrocities the West committed against Africa.

THE CORONAVIRUS IS KILLING DOCTORS TAKING CARE OF THE PATIENTS

Photos of some of the Italian doctors killed by the coronavirus



The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, doesn't discriminate. The impact of this deadly disease since it started in Wuhan, China, has been disastrous, killing both the young and the old, as well as the doctors who are saving the lives of the infected patients.


In Italy alone, more than 5,000 doctors, nurses, ambulance staff, and health personnel have been infected by the virus. The disease has killed over forty-one doctors, working relentlessly to save lives, since the outbreak of the disease, which has hit the country more than any other European country.

The number of doctors who died from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy keeps rising. According to the update from the National Federation of Medical Orders, the latest certified deaths are Rosario Lupo, a medical examiner from Bergamo, and Giuseppe Fasoli, a retired family doctor who returned to work for the coronavirus emergency.

The world is mourning, yet the impact of the coronavirus is far from over. It was revealed yesterday that the death toll of doctors in Italy has risen to 51. 

The medications authorized by the Italian government to treat Covid-19 patients are Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine-based antimalarial, which are fully paid by the National Health Service for the treatment of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. 

In the last four days, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Italy continues to rise; fortunately, the contagion curve continues to slow down. At 18:00 yesterday, there were 4,492 more than the previous day. 

The number of the dead registered yesterday was 712 people, 50 more than the official bulletin communicated by the Civil Protection, from which there were no victims in Piedmont, against 683 on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll with coronavirus to 8215.

Despite the grave situation, many are also recovering. It is estimated that about 10,361 people have been healed from the virus, including  Emilia Romagna, a grandmother of 95 in Modena, Italy.

UPDATES OF THE CURRENT CORONAVIRUS SITUATION IN GHANA

Ghana maintains strict measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.


The coronavirus has spread its deadly tentacles worldwide, including Africa. Even though the impact in Africa is not as severe as in the United States of America and some European countries, it is a disturbing situation in Ghana, since the disease doesn't discriminate.



As of the morning of 26 March 2020, a total of fifty-four cases, including three deaths, have been confirmed from the regular surveillance systems.

All three cases that unfortunately succumbed to the disease were aged and had underlying chronic medical conditions.

The other fifty-one are well, with fourteen at home, while the rest are responding well to treatment on admission in isolation, until their situations become negative, then discharged.

The great majority of the confirmed cases are Ghanaians, who returned home from affected countries. Seven are of other nationals, namely: Norway, Lebanon, China, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK).

The number of confirmed cases among travelers under mandatory quarantine who have been tested is seventy-eight.

In respect of contact tracing, a total of 970 contacts have been identified and are being tracked. Out of these, two hundred and four have completed the 14-day mandatory follow-up.

PRINCE CHARLES TESTS POSITIVE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla

Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus, it has been confirmed. The 71-year-old is heir to the throne.

His mother, the Queen, has already left London to be at Windsor Castle, reportedly after an aide at Buckingham Palace showed symptoms.

The Prince of Wales’ office, Clarence House, has released a statement which reads: “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.

“The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. In accordance with Government and medical advice, the Prince and the Duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland.

“The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire, where they met the criteria required for testing.

“It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.”

His wife, Camilla, has been tested, but she does not have the virus.

Both Prince Charles and Camilla are self-isolating at their home, Burnham on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland.

JAZZ MUSICIAN MANU DIBANGO DIES OF CORONAVIRUS

Joel Savage and Manu Dibango

Jazz great Manu Dibango, best known for his 1972 hit “Soul Makossa,” has died from complications of the coronavirus, according to a statement on his official Facebook page.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove, who passed away on the 24th of March 2020, at 86 years old, further to Covid-19,” it said.

“His funeral service will be held in strict privacy, and a tribute to his memory will be organized when possible,” the message added.

The Cameroon-born singer and saxophonist died in a hospital near Paris, according to his music publisher Thierry Durepaire, Agence France-Presse reported.

Jazz musician Manu Dibango

The artist, who inspired “world music” in the 1970s, was one of the pioneers of Afro-jazz and also fused funk with traditional music from Cameroon.

His biggest hit was the B-side of a song to support the Cameroon soccer team in the African Cup of Nations, but was picked up by New York DJs.

Manu Dibango was one of the numerous great musicians I interviewed in Antwerp, Belgium. 

He was in Belgium many times to play at summer festivals, including the Sfinks festival and Mano Mundo festival. 

Dibango has lived in France for his entire life, playing around the globe with numerous musicians.

GHANA RECORDS TWO PEOPLE KILLED BY THE CORONA VIRUS

The Ghanaian government takes strict measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

Ghana has recorded its second death from coronavirus, according to a statement.

''Out of the suspected, twenty-seven (27) cases, including two (2) deaths, have been confirmed,'' the country's Health Ministry said in a statement late Monday.

All 25 patients are receiving treatment in isolation, it added.

The ministry said among the confirmed cases, 20 are Ghanaian nationals, the majority of whom returned home from affected countries. 

Seven are foreign nationals from Norway, Lebanon, China, France, and the U.K.

Last week, the West African nation announced the closure of its borders to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

Most African governments have introduced several measures to curtail the virus's spread, including closing schools, imposing travel restrictions, and prohibiting large gatherings.

The virus first emerged in Wuhan, China, last December and has spread to at least 168 countries and territories. 

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

There are 381,598 confirmed cases worldwide, and the death toll now tops 16,500, while over 101,000 people have recovered, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Putin To Send Army To Italy Deal With The Enormous Impact Of The Coronavirus

The The 
Italian military is ensuring the people's safety over the coronavirus

The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday, the Kremlin said, adding that the Russian leader had offered his support and help in the form of mobile disinfection vehicles and specialists to aid the worst-hit Italian regions.

Italy recorded a jump in deaths from the coronavirus of almost 800 on Saturday, taking the toll in the world’s hardest-hit country to almost 5,000.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that military transport planes would deliver eight mobile brigades of military medics, special disinfection vehicles, and other medical equipment to Italy from Sunday.

Russia will also send about 100 military specialists in virology and epidemics, the Interfax news agency cited the defense ministry as saying.

Russia itself has reported 306 cases of the virus, most of them in Moscow, and one coronavirus-related death.

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic continued its relentless rise in Europe on Sunday, with Italy announcing 651 dead in one day, bringing its total to 5,476.

The current situation of the coronavirus in Italy

It was an increase of 13.5 percent, but down from Saturday's figure, when 793 people died.

Globally, more than 13,000 people have now died from COVID-19. An estimated 92,000 of the 304,500 people who contracted the disease globally have recovered.

More Than 7,700 Coronavirus Cases In The US And At Least 188 Deaths

Americans evacuated from Wuhan, photo credit: NPR.

President Trump today invoked the Defense Production Act, which gives the administration the authority to ramp up domestic manufacturing of personal protective equipment and other items needed to fight the coronavirus.

In Congress, the Senate passed the House's amended coronavirus aid package, but GOP senators are already racing to craft the next stimulus package with $1 trillion.

Here's what you need to know today:

From the White House and Capitol Hill: 

President Trump announced Wednesday that he will invoke the Defense Production Act, which would allow the administration to force the American industry to manufacture medical supplies that are in short supply in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. 

Hospitals, health workers, and state and local officials have said they are quickly running out of personal protective equipment, such as masks, gowns, and gloves, that is crucial to keeping doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic safe. 

The Senate passed the House’s $104 billion coronavirus aid package in a 90-8 vote on Wednesday, sending it to Trump, who is expected to sign it. The original House bill passed in the middle of the night on Saturday, but needed dozens of changes before the White House and Senate Republicans would sign off on it.

Meanwhile, Republican senators are scrambling to put together a $1 trillion fiscal stimulus package before a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs sends the economy into a tailspin. While they would like to pass the bill this week, the massive size and complexity of the legislation could mean the vote will be next week.

One item that could be included in the "phase three" legislation: language to stop people from receiving surprise medical bills. A last-minute push from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) seeks to force the long-stalled issue by including language that is favored by insurers rather than doctors and hospitals. 

The White House is temporarily stopping top officials engaged in the response to the coronavirus pandemic from giving testimony in hearings on Capitol Hill.  

The White House is launching a public awareness campaign to educate the public about the coronavirus. The effort will see the administration team up with NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, ABC-Walt Disney Television, and iHeartMedia. First lady Melania Trump is among those who will appear in public service announcements. 

The Treasury Department and IRS on Wednesday released guidance on deferring tax payments due to the coronavirus, providing further details for taxpayers and tax preparers. But the agencies are still facing criticism for not delaying the filing deadline. 

Trump ordered the Department of Housing and Urban Development to suspend evictions and foreclosures through April to help Americans coping with the coronavirus outbreak. 

From the health agencies: 

Eighty percent of deaths associated with the coronavirus in the United States were in adults aged 65 and older, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

On the flip side, the same data shows that younger people are getting sick at the same rate as those who are older. While younger people are much more likely to survive, they’re still at risk for medical problems. 

From the states: 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a proclamation Wednesday that would allow local elections to be postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak. Read more from Tal Axelrod here.

Alabama is postponing its GOP Senate runoff scheduled for later this month to July 14 amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. 

The Trump administration has agreed to dispatch a U.S. Navy hospital ship to New York Harbor amid the coronavirus outbreak, multiple officials said Wednesday. 

From overseas: 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said that the coronavirus posed the greatest threat to the nation since the end of World War II in a video statement. 

Italy's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak saw its biggest increase overnight Tuesday, with health officials reporting a whopping 475 deaths in 24 hours. 

Source: TheHill.com

YOU CAN KILL A JOURNALIST BUT YOU CAN'T KILL THE TRUTH

Killed journalists, left, Khashoggi, and right, Hussein-Suale

World leaders and the most powerful people are no longer ashamed to lie or commit clandestine crimes. They have come to the point of claiming lies with pride because, without lies, your world will be full of enemies, and without lies, you can’t be ‘successful’ in every position you occupy.

The world is in the hands of an empire of corruptible, deceitful leaders, influenced by power and money; they have declared war on the truth, making sure to kill anyone, including journalists, who come their way, to cover up their devilish schemes and build consensus.

It’s not an exaggeration that journalism is now a dangerous profession. Journalists don’t carry a gun, just a mere pen, yet they are the most feared people in society by corruptible politicians and criminals because they consider journalists a threat.

Many hate journalists to the extent that in the year 2018, 80 of them were killed in different places worldwide: 15 registered in Afghanistan, 11 in Syria, 9 in Mexico, 8 in Yemen, and six in India.

The killing of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi reveals how money rules and commits crimes in this world with impunity.

On November 15, the Saudi Arabia prosecutor's office indicted 11 people for the murder of journalist Khashoggi, believed to be authorized by the Saudi royal family.

Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, had gone to the consulate to collect some documents but never came out from the place alive. His girlfriend reported his disappearance after waiting for him outside the building for eleven hours, until the offices closed.

Khashoggi had advised her to notify an adviser to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, if he did not come back. At the entrance to the consulate, the journalist had been forced to leave his cell phone.

Who is Jamal Khashoggi?

A former adviser to the Saudi government, Khashoggi decided to exile himself in the United States in 2017, for fear of a possible arrest, after criticizing some decisions of the Saudi crown prince, as well as Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

The journalist had also expressed several criticisms of Riyadh's military intervention in Yemen. Khashoggi had repeatedly reported intimidation, arrests, and attacks on journalists, intellectuals, and religious leaders not aligned with the Saudi royal house.

Since Khashoggi refused to enter Saudi Arabia, his assassination was plotted at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.

The Killing of the Ghanaian Journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale

In my beloved Ghana, Ahmed Hussein-Suale, a journalist who used to be one of the investigators at Tiger Eye, a private investigative team financed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, a Ghanaian investigative journalist, was brutally assassinated by unknown assailants on January 16, 2019, in the neighborhood of Accra. Why was this journalist killed?

Ahmed Hussein-Suale and his boss, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, have been investigating massive corruption in Ghana, involving high Ghanaian government officials. An example of such a corruption scandal is Ghana’s football, involving Kwesi Nyantakyi, resulting in his ban from the sport for life.

Many know Ghana for two important reasons: firstly, it gained independence in 1957, with Kwame Nkrumah as the first leader, and secondly, it's a peaceful country. What many don't know is that Ghana is one of the most corrupt countries in Africa, where nothing works in the country, including its judicial system.

The senseless killing of the journalist, other killings, and kidnappings now add Ghana's name to the list of possibly dangerous and truth-suppressing countries. After the long silence of Mr. Hussein-Suale's death, the Ghana media reported the suspected killer's arrest.

Like many lawless countries around the world, money is the compromise of truth in Ghana. Without the dollar, you can't get the justice you deserve. Many Ghanaians wake up without hope or means because the political atmosphere in the country is not for the common people.

I believe Ghanaians wouldn't have cared about the NPP or NDC if the people had jobs, the economy were flexible, and prices of commodities were moderate. Why? Because throughout Europe, the majority don't care about political parties in power since the economy is good and everyone lives well.

It's hard to understand the closure of radio stations in a country that claims to follow democracy. This is another form of suppressing information or restricting the activities of journalists in any advanced country.

Trump has called much media fake, yet he knows it's against the principles of democracy to shut down television or radio stations. If the media goes against the law, they can be fined or penalized, but shutting down a media house or station is only experienced in a dictatorship of government.

I can understand the efforts of the government in a country that was in the hands of the opposition party for many years, but many are disappointed that Nana Akufo-Addo appointed an unfamiliar large number of ministers in Ghana's political history, hoping that it will ease their suffering in time.

Even though many journalists have been killed around the world, including in Ghana, no one can stop journalists from active duty. They can be killed, but no one can kill the truth. The truth will always be there to stare directly into your eyes forever.

Mahama Promised To Fight Corruption, Yet Was In Numerous Corruptible Scandals

The former Ghanaian leader, John Mahama


It seems one of the easiest promises often pledged by politicians to the suffering masses is to tackle and uproot corruption; however, when in power, they rather engage in corruption.

Reacting to criticism of being corrupt, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama announced that he would step up against corruption and high salaries. In addition, he also said his ministers will take a 10 percent salary cut.

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

According to Mr. Terkper, money deducted from the salaries would be paid into a special fund for community health and planning services, with the focus on maternal health, yet Mahama was involved in serious corruption scandals. The latest is the Airbus corruption scandal.

Despite the hate, insults, and degrading comments from the opposition and a section of the Ghanaian population against the former Ghanaian leader, John Mahama, he was nominated candidate of the main opposition party for the presidential election of 2020 during the primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

John Mahama defeated six other candidates for the candidacy by 95% of the votes, representing the candidate of the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress, for the presidential election of 2020.

The ex-Ghanaian leader, who lost the presidential elections to his rival, Nana Akufo-Addo’s NPP, now continues to attack and accuse the current Ghanaian leader of corruption, something that he was accused of during his rule.

According to the NPP government, the NPP is responsible for Ghana's poor economic situation; however, things haven’t moved easily for the suffering masses, as the country has witnessed a high rate of unemployment and the collapse of businesses, including banking institutions.

The opposition notably accused John Mahama of having received a vehicle from an entrepreneur in Burkina Faso in exchange for the award of contracts for the construction of a road and a wall around the embassy of Ghana to Ouagadougou.

However, despite all the corruption scandals that were associated with the former Ghanaian leader, the confident John Mahama recently said:

“The NDC is strong.  The NDC is united.  The NDC is ready for victory in 2020, and nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop our march towards Flagstaff House (seat of government)," said the former head of state after his victory. 

He, therefore, called on the activists to join, promising to work closely with party leaders to return to power.