Government Reform

Not so Fast, Obama, Say Insurance Companies

The health insurance industry has some lingering doubts about President-elect Barack Obama’s health care plan.  Even though they have supported a plan that will require them to accept all applicants without regard to pre-existing conditions, there are still concerns.  The National Health Insurance Exchange is giving them issue.

The National Health Insurance Exchange would give Americans a choice between a private plan and a government sponsored plan. The premise is that by combining government sources and open market options, the insured will have more resources with which to tailor a custom plan.  The New York Times reports Tom Daschle, the incoming HHS Secretary, as stating that the government’s plan is designed around the Medicare model.

The Plan would encourage competition between itself and participating private companies.  Proponents say the competition that it encourages is likely to drive down market rates.  The insurance industry, however, says this is not necessarily true.  They argue that the opposite is true, that the government plan would likely underpay doctors for services rendered, causing private providers to raise their prices to cover their losses experienced from government plans.

Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, recently stated “A new public program similar to Medicare would exacerbate cost-shifting, which already adds $1,500, or 10%, to the average premium for a family of four.”  President-elect Obama, in spite of differences, seems to be keeping his word regarding giving all parties an equal seat at the negotiating table.  This in itself is commendable.

Stephanie Cutter, spokesperson for Obama’s White House transition, recently said, “These are listening sessions.  We are trying to find people who share Obama’s goal of health care reform, even if they disagree on the specifics.”  Thousands of meetings have already been scheduled with health care reform as the subject.  All parties are being welcomed.

If you find yourself asking questions about your present <a href=”http://www.gohealthinsurance.com”>health insurance</a> predicament, not knowing where to turn for answers, then visit the web’s best known and most extensive source of advice at www.GoHealthInsurance.com to learn about available <a href=”http://www.gohealthinsurance.com/plan-finder.html”>health insurance plans</a>.

Ethan Kalvin
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/not-so-fast-obama-say-insurance-companies-704939.html

Impact of Globalization on Indian Financial Services Industry

BY

Dr.V.V.S.K.PRASAD.,M.Com.,M.B.A.,Ph.D.,

Professor and Head

E-Mail: vskprasad.vempati@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Reforms of the financial sector constitutes the most important component of India’s programme towards economic liberalization.  The recent economic liberalization measures have opened the door to foreign competitors to enter into our domestic market. Deregulation in the form of elimination of exchange controls and interest rate ceilings have made the market more competitive.  Innovation has become a must for survival.

Many  of the providers and users of capital have changed their roles all over the world.  Financial intermediaries have come out of their traditional approach and they are ready to assume more credit risks.  As a consequence, many innovations have taken place in the global financial sector which have its own impact on the domestic sector also. The emergences of various financial institutions and regulatory bodies have transformed the financial services sector from being a conservative industry to a very dynamic one. In this process this sector is facing a number of challenges.

In this changed context, the financial services industry  in India has to play a very positive and dynamic role in the years to come by offering many innovative products to suit the varied requirements of the millions of prospective investors spread throughout the country.

Overview

Reforms of the financial sedctor constitutes the most important component of India’s programme towards economic liberalization.  The recent economic liberalization measures have opened the door to foreign competitors to enter into our domestic market. Deregulation in the form of elimination of exchange controls and interest  rate ceilings have made the market more competitive.  Innovation has become a must for survival.

Many  of the providers and users of capital have changed their roles all over the world.  Financial intermediaries  have come out of their traditional approach and they are ready to assume more credit risks.  As a consequence, many innovations have taken place in the global financial sector. Which have its own impact  on the domestic sector also. The emergence of various financial institutions and regulatory  bodies have transformed  the financial services sector from being a conservative industry to a very dynamic one. In this process this sector is facing a number of challenges.

Growth in financial services (comprising banking, insurance, real estate and business services), after dipping to 5.6% in 2003-04 bounced back to 8.7% in 2004-05 and 10.9% in 2005-06. The momentum has been maintained with a growth of 11.1% in 2006-07.

Impressive progress in information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services, both rail and road traffic, and fast addition to existing stock of telephone connections, particularly mobiles, played a key role in such growth.

      Because of Globalization, the financial services industry is in a period of transition. Market shifts, competition, and technological developments are ushering in unprecedented changes in the global financial services industry. Organizations in this highly competitive and increasingly regulated industry will especially need to focus on making themselves more:

Ø      Adept to face increasing transaction volumes, regulation and the integration of previously disparate global markets

Ø      Agile at identifying and managing risk

Ø      Operationally efficient

Ø      Customer – centric

Ø      Optimized in both business & technology

In this scenario, spearheading IT initiatives has become critically important.

Major spending initiative priorities tend to focus on automation to reduce costs and lessen risk, along with using BPO to gain efficiency and allow internal IT organizations to focus on strategic initiatives. Delivery of these capabilities at a high efficiency level but at low costs is one of the major success factors for any financial services business.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of the present paper is to  examine the status of Financial Services Industry in India and to study the challenges before this industry due to globalization

          To enhance their competitive advantage in this changed environment, financial services institutions are increasingly harnessing new technologies to provide superior customer offerings and streamline internal processes. Today’s dynamic marketplace demands that financial services providers emphasize on technologically advanced, feature-rich solutions, that can operate in real-time and with the highest degree of precision and reliability.

Information technology is increasingly being considered as critical to the strategic direction and the day-to-day operation of financial services firms.

Growth in financial services is being bolstered by the opportunities of demography, emerging markets and ever more innovative products and services. Yet, organisations also face the challenges of mounting competition, more complex regulation and ever more exacting customer expectations. Effective growth strategies are therefore likely to cut across all operating processes and functional boundaries. Key priorities include ensuring that the business model takes full account of customers’ needs, tax, financial and regulatory considerations and the organisation’s capacity to change the way it does business. In turn, the objectives and criteria for success need to be clearly measured.

                    A survey of more than 250 financial services executives carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2006, found that respondents believe that existing customers will be their main source of organic growth. Creating operations that can retain and deliver profits from customers through their lifetime will demand a significant investment in data gathering and relationship management and may therefore require a shift in the prevailing cost-income model. This includes a re-think of training, reward and performance management strategies including a move from volume-based incentives to rewards geared to client satisfaction and the profitability of the customer over the lifetime of the relationship. Success will also require timely and insightful metrics on customers’ evolving attitudes and preferences.

The  Financial Services & banking industry is changing at a fast pace. These changes are throwing up fresh challenges like managing complex technological divergence in a converging market. Banks strive to constantly offer more to the existing customer base. To achieve this, they emphasize on more targeted technology investments and high-quality service. To remain competitive, financial institutions will have to renew their commitment to investing in new technology strategically — to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and boost revenue-generating initiatives.

Taking full note of these challenges, OFS puts together its banking practice to help financial institutions improve enterprise performance, comply with regulatory mandates, boost operational efficiency, and better serve their customers through OFS’ spectrum of solutions and services derived from proven track record of domain expertise.

The Challenges

Among the key IT challenges facing the Financial Services industry today is:

• Preserving investments in old systems while leveraging new technologies to drive down transactions costs, expand and improve customer service
• Integrating enterprise wide disparate systems to gain operational efficiencies
• Substantially reducing time for deployment of new systems
• Reducing IT costs and obtaining better ROIs for new investments in the long-term

                Only a carefully thought out long-term IT strategy backed by execution, implementation and support capability can meet these challenges successfully.

Today’s financial services firms face mounting pressures on all fronts:

• Credit markets are creating industry turmoil
• Tightening credit guidelines that threaten revenue streams
• Growing reporting and risk management obligations like Sarbanes-Oxley, Know Your Customer and Basel II
• The difficulties of sustaining growth in overly-saturated markets
• Innovative products that address the needs of a diverse client base such as retirees and young emerging and ethnic segments
• Growing concerns over customer data security and identity management
• Increasing competition not just from traditional competitors, but from other organizations that expand their service offerings
• The complexities that arise from mergers and acquisitions and from expanding into the global marketplace

          Whether we are trying to maintain competitive advantage, looking for ways to position our self better for mergers or acquisitions or expanding into the global marketplace, the challenges are as complex as they are varied. And while we deal with these fundamental concerns, we are met with increasing demands from investors, regulators and customers.

The Answers

How do we succeed in this environment? The first step is to ensure that we have the infrastructure and solutions to support our business strategy. With the right systems in place, our organization can more rapidly comply with regulations, operational risk and security issues. We can also open up new product offerings, reduce customer turnover and minimize fixed costs and maximize productivity. In addition, the companies can leverage outsourcing opportunities to reduce overhead, while still enjoying the scalability they need to support future growth or new initiatives.

The process of globalization has paved the way for the entry of innovative and sophisticated financial products into our country.  Since the Government is very keen in removing all obstacles that stand in the way of inflow of foreign capital, the potentiabilities for the introduction of innovative international financial products in India are very great.   Moreover, India is likely to enter the full convertibility era soon.  Hence, there is every possibility of introduction of more and more  innovative and sophisticated financial services in our country.

Realizing all these factors, the Government of India has initiated many steps to reform the financial services industry.

Ø      The Government has already switched over to free pricing of issues from pricing issues by the Controller of capital issues.

Ø      The interest rates have been deregulated

Ø      The private sector has been permitted to participate in banking and mutual funds and the public sector undertakings are being privatized.

Ø      The Finance Act, 1992 has brought into effect large scale amendments in the tax structure of long term capital gains.

Ø      The Finance Act, 1994 has given a further boost by lowering the lock – in period from 3 years to 1 year, in order to get the entitlement as a long – term capital asset.

Ø      The SEBI  has liberalized many stringent conditions so as to boost the Financial Services Industry.

In this changed context, the financial services industry  in India has to play a very positive and dynamic role in the years to come by offering many innovative products to suit the varied requirements of the millions of prospective investors spread throughout the country.

                                                            *****

Dr.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/impact-of-globalization-on-indian-financial-services-industry-737929.html

CAMEO_Examines_Issue_5-6_part_2_of_5.avi

Part two of a five part Program. The Cleveland American Middle East Organization examines Cuyahoga County Reform Issues 5 & 6 on October 14th 2009 at the Kan Zaman Restaurant. Advocating for Issue 5 are County Recorder, Judge Lillian Greene and County Sheriff Bob Reed. Advocating for Issue 6 are State Senators Nina Turner and Dale Miller.

Duration : 29 min 55 sec

Read more…

Nick Clegg: Change politics for good

Nick Clegg talks about how we can all reform government and Parliament, restoring trust in politics and handing power to people, putting you back in charge.
Website: http://www.TakeBackPower.org

Duration : 2 min 42 sec

Read more…

Why Cmos May be Considered for Private Trading Programs

Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) sometimes referred to as Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (REMICs), are one of few innovative investment methods available in today’s investment world. CMOs offer relative safety, regular payments and notable yield advantages over other better known fixed-income securities of comparable credit quality.

A wide variety of CMO securities with different cash flow and expected maturity characteristics have been designed to meet specific investment objectives. While CMOs offer advantages to investors, they also carry certain risks which will be further explained in this document. To determine if CMOs fit within your investment portfolio, you should first understand the distinctive features of these securities.

CMOs were first introduced in 1983. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 allowed CMOs to be issues in the form of REMICs, creating certain tax and accounting advantages for issuers and for certain large institutional and foreign investors. Today, almost all CMOs are issued in REMIC form. Remember that throughout this CMO explanation, REMICs and CMOs are interchangeable.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF CMOS Mortgage Loans and Mortgage Pass-Throughs. When a CMO is created, it begins with a mortgage loan extended by a financial institution (such as a savings and loan, commercial bank or mortgage company) to finance a borrower’s home or other real estate. The homeowner usually pays the mortgage loan in monthly installments composed of both interest and “principal”. Over the duration of the mortgage loan, the interest component of payments in the early years gradually declines as the principal component increases.

To obtain funds to generate more loans, lenders either “pool” groups of loans with similar characteristics to create securities or sell the loans to issuers of mortgage securities. The securities most commonly created from pools of mortgage loans are “mortgage pass-through securities” (MBS) or “participation certificates” (PCs). MBS represent a direct ownership interest in a pool of mortgage loans. As the homeowners whose loans are in the pool make their mortgage loan payments, the money is distributed on a pro rata basis to the holders of the securities.

Several factors can affect the homeowners’ payments. Typically, the homeowner will “prepay” the mortgage loan by selling the property, refinancing the mortgage or otherwise paying off the loan in part or whole. Most mortgage pass-through securities are based on fixed-rate mortgage loans with an original maturity of 30 years, but experience shows that most of these mortgage loans will be paid off much earlier.

While the creation of MBS greatly increased the secondary market for mortgage loans by pooling them and selling interests in the pool, the structure of such securities has inherent limitations. MBSs only appeal to investors with a certain investment horizon – on average, 10-12 years.

CMOs were developed to offer investors a wider range of investment time frames and greater cash-flow certainty than had previously been available with MBS. The CMO issuer assembles a package of these MBS and uses them as collateral for a multiclass security offering. The different classes of securities in a CMO offering are known as tranches, from the French word for slice. The CMO structure enables the issuer to direct the principal and interest cash flow generated by the collateral to the different tranches in a prescribed manner, as defined in the offering’s prospectus, to meet different investment objectives.

THE HIGH CREDIT QUALITY OF CMOS The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA, or Ginnie Mae) an agency of the U.S. government, along with U.S. government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, or Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC, or Freddie Mac), guarantee most MBSs. Ginnie Mae is a government-owned corporation within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have federal charters and are subject to some oversight by the federal government, but are publicly owned by stockholders.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issue and guarantee pass-through securities. Ginnie Mae only adds its guarantee to privately issued pass-throughs backed by government issued (FHA and VA) mortgages. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issues CMOs for quite some time; the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began to issue CMOs in 1992, and Ginnie Mae initiates its own CMO program which began in 1994. Securities guaranteed or guaranteed and issues by these entities are known generically as “agency” mortgage securities. The agency guarantees enhance their credit quality for investors. In addition, the mortgages backing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities must meet strict quality criteria. Those backing GNMA pass-throughs are underwritten in accordance with the rules and regulations of the FHA and the VA, which insure them against default.

The extent of the agency guarantee depends on the entity making it. Ginnie Mae, for example, guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on all of its mortgage securities, and its guarantee is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government. Holders of Ginnie Mae mortgage securities are therefore assured of receiving payments promptly each month, regardless of whether the underlying homeowners make their payments. They are guaranteed to receive the full return of face-value principal even if the underlying borrowers default on their loans. Mortgage securities issued by the VA carry the same full faith and credit U.S. government guarantees.

Fannie Mae guarantees timely payment of both principal and interest on its mortgage securities whether or not the payments have been collected from the borrowers. Freddie Mac also guarantees timely payment of both principal and interest on its Gold PCs and CMOs. Some older series of Freddie Mac PCs guarantee timely payment of interest, but only the eventual payment of principal. Although neither Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac securities carry the additional full faith and credit U.S. government guarantee, the credit markets consider the credit on these securities to be equivalent to that of securities rated triple-A or better. Some private institutions, such as subsidiaries of investment bank, financial institutions and home-builders, also issue mortgage securities. When issuing CMOs, they often use agency mortgage pass-through securities as collateral; however, their collateral may include different or specialized types of mortgage loans and/or pools, letters of credit and other types of credit enhancements. These private-labeled CMOs are the sole obligation of their issuer. To the extent that private-label CMOs use agency mortgage pass-through securities as collateral, their agency collateral carries the respective agency’s guarantees. Private-label CMOs are assigned credit ratings by independent credit agencies based on their structure, issuer, collateral and any guarantees or outside factors. Many carry the highest AAA credit rating.

As an additional investor protection, the CMO issuer typically segregates the CMO collateral or deposits it in the care of the trustee, who holds it for the exclusive benefit of the CMO bondholders.

For the above reasons described, CMOs are considered by a select few platforms to be an asset that is easy to validate and prove ownership. In addition, the trading platform is able to be added as the CMOs Beneficiary allowing for the appropriate financing lines to be obtained. The result is a CMO asset that can be purchased for pennies on the dollar with nominal returns and subsequently placed and traded successfully in a Private Trading Program with yields the owner once only dreamed of.

Marcel Ford
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/why-cmos-may-be-considered-for-private-trading-programs-738561.html

Did the African Union Get Ghana’s Message?

The recent elections in Ghana have been hailed as a successful African story. The praises, admirations and messages of commendations coming from all corners of the globe is an indication that the world is hoping for a change in Africa. It is also an indication that the world is expecting something different, different from the way things are done all the time on the continent.

Having experienced political instabilities for most of her modern existence Africa has often been described as a failed continent – a continent where everything is depressing. So it came as a surprise when Ghana managed to conduct one of the best successful elections on the continent. The successful elections in Ghana have indeed opened a different chapter for the continent. It has shown the rest of countries on the continent that there is the need for democracy to be given a chance in Africa. The elections have sent a powerful message to the continent that democracy as a form of government should be widely adopted and practiced by all the countries so that there will always be peaceful means of electing leaders and transferring power from one administration to the other.

I strongly believe that Ghana’s elections are sending the following message to the African Union and its members.

That the constitutions of the various African states should stipulate the number of years and number of terms one could occupy the office of president or prime minister. To alleviate the continent from political diarrhoea, poverty and economic melancholy the governments must as a matter of urgency embark on democratic reforms. The years where leaders rule till they die or are chased out of office should be a thing of the past. The leaders should allow free and fair elections to be held every 4 or 5 years depending on what the constitution says. Elected leaders must have fixed term of office and on no account should they try to manipulate the system in order to remain in power.   The elections in Ghana which attracted a lot of international commendations around the world are indicating to the rest of Africa that the people want something different. Our image as a continent can improve considerably if we allow democracy to flourish, if we allow rule of law to work, if we embark on a new path-a path where it is possible for the incumbent to lose elections and hell does not break loose, a path where judges are free to dispense justice without fear or favour, a path where members of the opposition are not seen as enemy combatants but as contributors of our democracy and development, and a  path where policies and ideas dominate political discussions and elections instead of the whipping of tribal and ethnic sentiments.

The leaders on the continent must realize that the existence of a vibrant democracy is in the best interest of the people and the continent as a whole. The politicians must know that vibrant democracy is a necessary condition if Africa is to come out of her current political and economic misery.

More often than not, lack or absence of democracy, corruption and abuse of power has often been cited by coup plotters as reasons for overthrowing governments in power. To prevent such incursions by the army political accountability on the continent must be nurtured strengthened. That means the three organs of government namely the executive, legislature and the judiciary must first be independent of each other and secondly they should powers that checks and balances each other so as to prevent one arm from amassing too much power.  History has shown that a situation where one arm of government amasses power only breeds envy and instabilities. The Judiciary should be given enough powers to investigate allegations of corruption so as to prevent the repetition of corrupt practices that fuelled the wars on the continent.

Additionally, the fourth arm of government that is the media should be enshrined in the constitution and the AU Charter. The mushrooming of public and private media on the continent especially electronic media should be seen as an encouraging development and governments should be encouraged to allow such private stations to be established unconditionally. The freedom of the press must be safeguarded so as to prevent unscrupulous politicians from attacking them and subjecting them to all sorts of negative tactics. The media should be allowed to play its role as the watchdog of the state and every law that will intimidate them and undermine their ability to work should be repealed.

The various institutions of government such as police, military and the ministries should work to promote democracy and development. Rule of Law should be employed by the state. Everyone should be equal before the law. Instances where there are two separate laws for the rulers and the ruled is not only affront to rule of law but affront to democracy and justice. The office of the Ombudsman and other independent bodies should be established to protect the citizens from the state.

That brings us to one of the most important institutions of democracy .i.e. electoral commission. The role of the electoral commission must also be enshrined in the constitution. This office must be independent of the executive branch of government. It must be well resourced so that it can organise elections without any difficulties. The role played by Dr. Afari Gyan in conducting Ghana’s election can only be described as excellent. The electoral commission must be impartial so as to prevent the electoral disputes that characterised the elections in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. 

The constitutions of the various countries should guarantee the existence of opposition parties. This will prevent the one party state found in most countries from gaining root. Absence of official opposition not only prevents the people from having a choice but also discredit any advantage democracy or elections may have. Therefore, constitutional and electoral courts should be established in member countries so that matters of political and electoral disputes could be settled amicably.  Corruption should be punished severely and every effort should be made track down every penny stolen from the countries.

The AU

The African Union as a continental body has a lot to learn from Ghana’s elections.

The AU Charter should be reformed, strengthened and implemented to the letter. All regional bodies such as ECOWAS, SADC and the rest should be streamlined to work within the broader framework of the AU. The AU must not be a talking shop anymore. It must not be a gathering of corrupt, despotic and kleptocratic rulers but rather a gathering of true democrats. The AU must be a platform of action and concrete decision making, a platform where issues affecting the people are addressed. This will require strong, determined and visionary leadership. A leadership who share the thoughts and ideas of Nkrumah, Lumumba, Seketuri and Nasser and who are committed to fighting poverty and improving the lots of the people. The AU must have a full time foreign policy chief who will be the mouthpiece of the continent and who will articulate the needs and concerns of the people to the outside world. The AU should establish special bodies of experts who will serve as advisory bodies to the AU. The complete silence exhibited by the AU during the current global financial crisis necessitates for the establishment of such bodies of experts. These bodies may include health, economics, environment, resource, science and technology.

Each country should strengthen her intelligence capabilities so as to ward off the undesirables of the cold war tactics where Africa was destabilised by the west using their intelligence branches and the various African countries should share vital information about what the west is up to. Every effort should be made to prevent arm struggles either within the countries or between the countries.

The days where suspensions are used as a form of punishment for coup plotters should be things of the past. Instead there should be a strong, well funded standing army (Africa High Command) ready to be deployed to any country where the army will try to cease power. Such an army should also be used to crash any arm insurgence that will show it ugly head onto the Africa political scene.

The Pan African Parliament should be strengthened and its decisions binding on all member countries. An African Court of Justice should be established to settle disputes between nations and within nations and its decisions must be binding on all members as well. This court must be the highest court on the continent. It must be modelled in line with European Court of Justice. Individuals could take their case to this court for dispensation of justice. These democratic and constitutional measures will definitely help to reduce conflicts and human rights’ abuse which is rife on the continent. 

Africans must unite and form a common front so as to make their voices heard on the international stage. We must unite against all forms of propaganda from the rest the world. The positive effect that Aljazeera is having on the world is an indication of what positive thinking could bring to the world. Aljazeera has done well in shaping the world opinion about Islam, Arabs and issues affecting Muslims, Arabs and people of the developing world. To counter the growing influence of Aljazeera, BBC for example has had to close down some programmes in order to launch an Arabic version of the BBC. Africans must know that our coming together will be interpreted differently by many who do not share our interests. As a result every effort would be made to thwart these laudable efforts in order to maintain the status quo of having a north –south divide. We must also know that our effort to change our predicament would meet several challenges among them the huge financial requirement, the human and material resources needed and many others. But we must put ourselves together and start doing something now because a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.

Finally it is time for the old guard of African politics to leave the scene and give way to the younger generation. There are a lot of Barak Obamas on the continent but they have been prevented by the old guard from making any economic, social and political contribution towards Africa’s development. It is very sad that even in this 21st Century these old guards still think they only hold the key to wisdom. Some of these old guards have been in power for more than 3 decades yet they still want to continue to rule. For example Gaddafi of Libya has been in power for 39 years now. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya of Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir of Sudan 19 years, Iddriss Derby of Chad 17 years, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia 14 years, and the list goes on unending. Recently the president of Tunisia has decided to make himself a life president of the country. The presence of such dictators is not only harmful to the image and the development of the continent but a major factor why impoverishment and underdevelopment is prevalent on the continent. Every effort should be made by the AU and the regional bodies to discourage such blatant abuse of power. It is against this background that Ghana should be commended again and again for conducting one of the freest elections on the continent.

Ghana’s elections are a straight message to the African Union and its members that democratic reform needed on the continent is long overdue and that the African Union should take notice of it. Let this 21st Century be a century of hope, a century of development, a century of prosperity and a century of peace for Africans and the world.

Lord Aikins Adusei
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/did-the-african-union-get-ghanas-message-726487.html