Ghana's John Jerry Rawlings: The first head of state to carry out executions under military rule
In developed countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France, etc, political leaders' priority is to make things better for the masses.
Their wish is to serve the people and make things better for them in a way that the people will acknowledge them as good politicians, but in Africa, the story is quite different.
Ninety-nine percent of African politicians are inspired into politics by corruption without any plan to improve the welfare of the people.
The idea or plan to loot the state, empty the government coffers, enrich themselves, feed and put their families into better institutions and positions, with stolen money banked at Swiss banks, are the main priorities on the agendas.
The corrupt African head of state has no sympathy, emotions, and does not know what suffering is because they are well fed with their families. To be in power for the rest of their lives, some become dictators, and others try to create a one-party state to avoid the attack of opposition.
The typical examples of such men are Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (already stepped down after political chaos in his country), Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (yet to step down), and many others.
The desire of Ghana's former lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, to contest against President John Evans Atta Mills as the presidential candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the year 2012, on every ground, doesn't make sense.
What do Konadu and her husband want in Ghana politics, after all, the crimes her husband committed in the political history of Ghana to fulfill his dreams as head of state?
Why must Konadu even try to do such a thing against Atta Mills when both are members of the same party? There are so many raw materials in Ghana to satisfy the needs of everyone, but never enough to satisfy the greed of Konadu and her family.
I know that academically, Ghanaians are very intelligent people, but if any Ghanaian could cast a vote to make this woman the president of Ghana, then there will be room for people to question the integrity and intelligence of Ghanaians.
This is the time for every Ghanaian to be particularly aware that Konadu Rawlings' desire to contest as president of Ghana is not to do anything better for Ghanaians but greed.
Ghanaians must continue to support President Atta Mills' government to make the NDC and other political parties strong, and shouldn't allow the greed of the Rawlings family to collapse the party.
A farmer in Burundi
Belgium is to assist the Burundi government in developing the agricultural sector and ensuring food security for its people to the tune of 5 million euros over the next five years.
The financial support of the former colonial power is mainly aimed at increasing agricultural production and improving access to social services, according to information received from the Belgian embassy in Bujumbura.
Under the financing program, the problems of the land disputes, the development of marshy areas, the introduction of farmers' association, education, and the provision of potable water will be taken care of. More than 80 percent of the court cases in Burundi are said to be linked to land conflicts.
In another development, Belgium will increase its financial aid to Mali, with the submission of over 4.5 billion CFA francs. Belgium also promised to participate in co-financing with the European Union to the tune of one billion CFA francs, in the socio-economic development, through the regional assemblies of Kigali, Gao, and Timbuktu.
For over two decades, Belgium's development aid to Mali has gone from a mere governmental co-operation program of 16. billion CFA francs, for the period 1993 to 1998, to 32.4 billion CFA francs between the year 2009 to 2012.
The last supper
Christians have long celebrated Jesus Christ's Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, but new research released Monday claims to show it took place on the Wednesday before the crucifixion.
Professor Colin Humphreys, a scientist at the University of Cambridge, believes it is all due to a calendar mix-up -- and asserts his findings strengthen the case for finally introducing a fixed date for Easter.
Humphreys uses a combination of biblical, historical, and astronomical research to try to pinpoint the precise nature and timing of Jesus's final meal with his disciples before his death.
Researchers have long been puzzled by an apparent inconsistency in the Bible.
While Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say the Last Supper coincided with the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, John claims it took place before Passover.
Humphreys has concluded in a new book, "The Mystery Of The Last Supper", that Jesus -- along with Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- may have been using a different calendar than John.
"Whatever you think about the Bible, the fact is that Jewish people would never mistake the Passover meal for another meal, so for the Gospels to contradict themselves in this regard is really hard to understand," Humphreys said.
"Many biblical scholars say that, for this reason, you can't trust the Gospels at all. But if we use science and the Gospels hand in hand, we can actually prove that there was no contradiction."
In Humphreys' theory, Jesus went by an old-fashioned Jewish calendar rather than the official lunar calendar, which was in widespread use at the time of his death and is still in use today.
This would put the Passover meal -- and the Last Supper -- on Wednesday, explaining how such a large number of events took place between the meal and the crucifixion.
It would follow that Jesus' arrest, interrogation, and separate trials did not all take place in the space of one night but in fact occurred over a longer period.
Humphreys believes a date could, therefore, be ascribed to Easter in our modern solar calendar, and working on the basis that the crucifixion took place on April 3, Easter Day would be on April 5.
