1200 EST (1700 GMT) on January 20th 2009

Farewell to the man who brought us the 'War on Terror' while defying (defiling?) the English language

After 8 years at the helm of America and the 'free-world', George W. Bush is finally bowing out tomorrow. The world has changed alot over the 8 years "Dubya" has been in charge and he will forever be remembered for:

• The War on Terror
• Coining the expression "Axis of Evil"
  
• The elusive "Weapons of mass destruction"
  
• The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
  

From an African perspective, apparently we are grateful to Mr. Bush for:

• More funding to Africa than ever before
• The scaling up of funding for anti-retrovials to HIV/AIDS patients on the continent
  
• Funding for anti-malarial initiatives such as insecticide-treated nets (ITNs)

One reason I am personally grateful to Mr. Bush is for providing us with befuddling expressions that at times defied logic. Ah yes, the now infamous "Bushisms" that were sure to put a smile on your face as you struggled to decipher what he was trying to say. With the help of About.com, I present to you, my Top 5 favorite Bushisms.

Mr. George W. Bush said:

• "We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

• "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

• "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family" N.H. Chamber of Commerce. January 27, 2000

• "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

• "They misunderestimated me." Nov. 6 2000
  

Alas, just a few in a vast collection of expressions by Mr. Bush. Mmmm, I wonder.....maybe Mr. Bush agreed to increase funding to "Africa" because he thought he was funding just one nation and not a whole continent!

For the good and for the bad, we will always remember Mr. George W. Bush!!!

Dr. Boom has Sounded!

The ex- President of Ghana, Mr. Jerry John Rawlings has just achieved a new record for himself. Just 7 days after President Atta-Mills has taken office, Mr. Rawlings has just fired a verbal salvo aimed squarely at the new president. This time, Mr. Rawlings is decrying the "poverty of inaction" exhibited by the new president and his transistion team. First of all, the exact meaning of the phrase "poverty of inaction" is a mystery. Furthermore, the fact that President Mills is being publicly lambasted by the founder of his own party is perplexing.

This is also a record because Mr. Rawlings gave ex-President Kufuor and the erstwhile NPP administration a grace period of 6 months in 2001 before launching his first verbal attack on 4 June 2001. Back in 1981, Flight Lieutenant Rawlings apparently gave the former president Dr. Hilla Limann a similar grace period before the 31 December 1981 coup d'etat.

Another classic gem from Mr. Rawlings' speech was:

Are we in power or not, have we taken over or not. They marched us out when you and I have committed no crime. They who have committed crimes and today we have been vindicated by our sense of vigilance we don’t even…what kind of diplomacy is this?” (SOURCE: Joy FM myjoyonline.com)

All I can say is very interesting.

*Ooops* Harry Did It It Again!

Prince Harry may never be King of England but he is seriously competing with his grand-dad the Duke of Edinburgh for the title of "King of Gaffes & Blunders". Poor Harry, he has given the press another one! This time, he has caught himself on tape referring to a fellow student at Sandhurst from Pakistan by a racist epithet. His press people will have us believe that the bantering chums over at Sandhurst all gave each other nicknames such as this. Yah Right! So what was Harry's? Despite his military record and his impressive charity work in Lesotho, Harry just does not seem to stop himself from putting his foot in it. Some years ago, he courted controversy by donning a Nazi costume to a fancy dress-party. Are the Princes given any sensitivity training at all? Mmmm...anyway, why should I give a hoot?!

The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin Turns 80 years old

Tintin, one of the most famous fictional character, turns 80 years old today. The adventures of Tintin have captured the imagination of generations of children across the world for decades.Even today, it is hard to tear me away from the The Adventures of Tintin reruns on Ghana television .

Alas, behind the youthful looks, the ever-present brown trousers and blue sweater, there is a darker side to Tintin. Sorry to disappoint you; I'm not about to reveal that Tintin had a soft-spot for strip-clubs and binge-drinking!

When I was a child, I came across the Dutch version of Tintin in the Congo which was originally published in 1930. It had never been translated into English at the time and I was shocked by images of thick-lipped, child-like Africans who Tintin (clad in colonial white attire) comes to save from a life of human sacrifice and ignorance. It was only during my undergraduate days when I was doing research for an anthropology paper on Tintin and popular culture that I finally got to know my hero better.
The fact is that even though Tintin is now known as a children's comic book character, he first emerged in a Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle in 1929 and basically reflected the popular views as well as stereotypes people held at the time. Well, people in the the Euro-centric western colonial world that is.
Tintin in the Congo probably served to justify Belgium's atrocious colonial record particularly in the 1930s.

I still find this particular adventure patronising and irrelevant for a post-colonial world but apparently it is still popular. I read somewhere that defenders of this adventure claim that Congolese children are quite proud that their country features in one of Tintin's adventure. Say wha??? They probably did a poll of 3 Congolese children all under the age of 5! Africa is not the only place stereotyped.


Tintin in America published in 1931/1932 is like one non-stop western with Native Americans portrayed as if the year is 1831.

Although Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in America have basically remained the same, there are other adventures that changed when translated or were revised for later editions. Tintin in the Land of Black Gold as it was originally run between 1948 and 1950 was set in the Middle East in the British mandate of Palestine and showed Tintin caught in the conflict between Jews, Arabs and the British. In the later versions, the adventure takes place in a fictional Arab country and the Jewish and British characters have been omitted. But that is not to say that Tintin's creator Herge had particular sympathies in the Arab-Israeli conflict; he was also accused of anti-semitic representation of Jewish people in Tintin adventures during World-World II.

Another feature of Tintin comics, is the quizzical omission of a single (likable) female character in all adventures. Mmmm!

Anyway, the Adventures of Tintin series is a clear case of the less you know, the better! May (some of) Tintin's adventures continue to delight children young and old across the globe.

Good-Bye to the 'Gentle Giant' and Hello to 'The Prof.'

Tomorrow, Ghana marks a special occasion. We say good-bye to President John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and hello to President John Evans Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The world is watching and Ghana has supposedly demonstrated for the whole of Africa how an incumbent government can give way to an opposition party peacefully. Of course the most interesting fact for me is that this is the 3rd successive president with the name "John".

I will miss President Kufuor for the dignity and humility he gave to the Ghanaian presidency over the past 8 years. I had the honour of meeting him twice . Once as "Candidate Kufuor" in 2000 and the second time as "President Kufuor " in 2006. I was struck by the fact that despite the obvious changes to his circumstances his warm demeanour remained the same. Time will indeed judge JA Kufuor's legacy so there is no need for me to catalogue the Kufuor administration's credits or mis-steps.

With a winning margin of 0.46% (or is that 0.23%?), we welcome Professor John Evans Atta-Mills as President of the Republic of Ghana. Unfortunately, I will miss seeing the ceremony on television but hopefully a lot of Ghanaian rather than party flags will be waved. Our country is in dire need of unity. Best of luck to President Atta-Mills as he takes up office!

Death of a Political Icon: Helen Suzman, DBE (7 Nov. 1917 - 1 Jan. 2009)

The new year started with a the sad passing of Mrs. Helen Suzman; the iconic South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. From 1961 to 1974, Mrs. Suzman was the sole parliamentarian in the South African parliament who was opposed to apartheid and was a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement within South Africa. I remember reading about her in the South African Sunday Times as a kid just before the unravelling of the apartheid regime. She will forever remain an inspiration for people across the globe and be remembered for always standing up for what is right even when it was not popular. Rest in Peace.