20 years of struggle

…………. the Insight and its role into a new Ghana*

The news is something that would usually come to us like a shock, knowledge-driven and sometimes as a means of entertainment especially when it is in a local language through electronics. But we would hardly get access to news of a different sort or an alternate kind which seeks to reject the nature of the society we have today; principally a newspaper that has its contents and editorial policy stands in direct opposition to the colonial characteristics of the world. Such news will usually be expressed boldly in print if not electronically and the newspaper itself would become a victim of deliberate political attack and vilification under a condition of military dictatorship or oppressed rule and economic exploitation. In so many countries, newspapers which convey these kinds of news as a means of fighting for people’s freedom, rights and justice would usually be called the left-wing newspapers.

In Ghana, one such newspaper is *the Insight*. It was established in September 1993 by Kwesi Pratt Jnr. during the early period of Ghana’s entry into democratic rule. In the coming September, the Insight would mark 20 years of struggle and contribution to the media landscape from a left-wing ideological perspective. It has stood and continuous to stand for the course of progressives, both local and international, in their fight against political injustice and economic exploitation, and has sought for the promotion of the welfare of ordinary Ghanaians.

For some people when the opportunity is given to write about the Insight and what it has been able to achieve over the years, they would require an encyclopedia to contain its achievement over the time. To discuss the role of the insight towards the development of an alternate Ghanaian society, as an alternate platform for the ordinary and majority of the population to express their shared struggles and social demands in Ghana, and as a newspaper which creates a bridge between social developments in Ghana and those taking place elsewhere in any part of the world, one would not need a difficult lenses to do so.

In fact at the beginning of the newspaper was the early years of multi-party democracy and often would you see its pages dedicated to fighting the Rawlings Government; against its methods of running the country. The newspaper would usually criticize the Rawlings administration about its human right abuse. It would provide stories about the activities of the Nkrumahist groups and their fight to gain a respectable space in the politics of the country following years of military dictatorship and abuse of human rights perpetuated against them for their aim to restore Nkrumaism in Ghana. The Insight provided news about the Nkrumahist politics running up to the National Congresses of the People’s Heritage Party (PHP) and National Convention Party (NCP). The stories about the Nkrumaist Unity talks featured in the Insights and many readers would re-count how unity was seen as pivotal means of bring to an end the Rawlings administration. The Danquah-Busia tradition was also re-organising to capture power from the Rawlings regime and many of the newspaper’s leaves was spent on their activities including their statements and joint political events with the Nkrumaist groups most especially during the 1996 Presidential and parliamentary elections.

Today, what you would see often in *the Insight* is predominantly a criticism-based content either against the mal-administration, corruption and policy-failures in the activities of a sitting Government and its para-state institutions or the promotion of the activities of the small socialist groups in Ghana whose popular slogan has always been “revolution”. It would give some space also to opposition groups either by telling their stories or exposing their contradictions in many ways. In this case, you would often see the newspaper provide news about the NDC, NPP, CPP and PNC political events which is a very common practice of most print-media houses. The *Insight* would usually share the knowledge of various writers and contributors about the life, activities and works of revolutionary leaders like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Fidel Castro, Ernesto Che Guevera, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Augustinus Neto, Malcom X, Laurent Gbagbo, Vladmir Inich Lenin, Hugo Chavez and many others; and would often provide factual, deeply analytical and issue-based stories on the cases of people’s access to water, food, land, electricity and national security. Such analysis permeates through people’s political and economic freedoms and their fight against aggression. Essentially, the life of ordinary people living on any part of the earth becomes the reading subject for readers of the *Insight*.

To look at some obvious examples of its critique on the management of some public institutions, for instance, the papers No.1614 Vol.21 Friday 12thJuly, 2013 in a continuation of the front page story “ *VRA’s Trouble [2]*” by Ekow Mensah, the issue of the Volta River Authority’s compulsion supply of cheap electricity to the Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) was fervently raised to the readers and the general public. In the said story, it was mentioned that apart from making it impossible for the Authority to raise resources for VRA’s expansion and maintenance of equipment, studies have shown that 50 percent of VRA-Government of Ghana’s subsidy on VALCO amounting to US$75 million per annum goes to the benefit of foreign off-takers. The newspaper held the view that the massive state subsidy for VALCO makes no contribution to local job creation and provides no basis for an integrated national aluminum industry. It further argued that “*VRA’s contribution to the subsidisation of VALCO would most likely repeat the story of the near collapse of the Ghana Commercial Bank under the weight of the mounting debts of the Tema oil Refinery (TOR) in earlier years*.” This story was crucial that anyone would expect some dignified response from Government circles to address the concerns and claims by the * Insight*. There was no response from Government.

A consideration of No.1267 Vol.18, Friday 19th –Sunday 21st August 2011, where the newspaper in one of its attempts to critically knockdown corruption in public institutions, gave it’s front-page to a press statement by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA). In the said statement, there was an outline of the extent of corruption, mal-administration, malfeasance and incompetence in the Judicial Service as revealed in an Auditor-General’s report. The statement gave a retrospect of a response from the Judicial Service to the CJA where they [the Judicial Service] claimed that the Auditor General’s “report that was made public was only a draft and that they were in the process of responding to the findings of the Auditor General.”

The Insight reported that members of the CJA stated “*that they were in receipt of the responses of the Judicial Service to the Auditor General’s report. Contrary to the claims by the Judicial Service that as at 20th July 2011, they were still in the process of responding to the report, the truth reveals the opposite…..the report reveals the sordid state of the management of the Judiciary. Not only did they fail to respond to some of the specific findings that we [CJA] revealed, those that they even tried to answer expose a classic case of an exercise in blame-shifting and lame excuses. In other instances, they had no option but to confirm the Auditor General’s findings*”.

The significant ingredient of this front-page story had to do with aspects of the statement by the CJA to the effect that “*since 2005, the Judicial Service has failed to prepare any financial statements of the service, as required under the laws of this country……the question that we [CJA] ask of both the Judicial Secretary and the Chief Justice is what were they doing all the years since they assumed office, which prevented them from asking their officers to prepare the annual financial statements?.........It is important to state here that the findings of the Auditor General’s report were not responded to in the response letter from the Judicial Service;1. That funds amounting US$65,928.78 that were wrongly withdrawn from their Dollar Account for the payment of foreign travels, accommodation, subsistence allowance were not recovered.2.That between 2008 and 2009, the various cheques, claiming to have purchased goods and services (to the tune of GH**¢248,613.84) without showing any records of receipt and usage of the fuel coupons…..In view of the above, the CJA demands that urgent steps must be taken to retrieve all monies lost to the state through the maladministration and lapses highlighted above. We also ask that all persons found to have acted in a manner that flouts existing laws on the disbursement of public funds as captured in the Auditor General’s report, be made to face the law*.” It cannot be doubted about the immense contribution of the Insight newspaper in the fight against corruption in both public and private circles. There would numerous and all important exposure of the some reckless activities of public officers in their bid to wreck the state coiffures.

*The Insight* has distinguishably provided space for adverts of progressive events and other activities like the Cuban Solidarity Campaign, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Campaign for the Political Liberation of Western Sahara (POLISARIUM), Ghana’s Day of Shame and the Anniversary of the Attack on Moncada etc. One would be certain that this is done in light of the idea of promoting internationalism within the framework of socialism and international solidarity. For instance, a walk of freedom was organized by the Cuban Solidarity Campaign and just as anybody would expect it received a front-page space in the newspaper’s Vol. 18 No.1278 Wednesday 14th–Thursday 15 th September 2011. A solidarity march on a front-page! Regular readers of the insight would note that this was one way of strengthening the campaign in Ghana by supplementing it to the regular middle-bottom-spread which has consistently called for the release of the Cuban Five (5) from United States prisons.

There have been some criticisms by some people that the newspaper mostly expresses the views of the NDC even though it has some of its content aimed at enhancing or promoting the course of the suffering masses. Moreover, it is not difficult to distinguish between comments or public statements of the managing editor and what he carries in print in the newspaper. What he carries in print is often tilted towards a left-wing agenda but his commentaries in public as many would expect, as a founding member of the CPP, is rather fronting the case of a pseudo social democratic agenda. As a popular radio commentator in Ghana and a very distinguished journalist well known in Africa for his activism and fight for human rights, many would be glad to know whether Kwesi Pratt could have possibly made *the Insight* to give a direction and sustain the development of an alternate Ghanaian society. Twenty years is indeed a long period for a society to get transformed into what his newspaper dreams of achieving for the ordinary masses of the country.

The Insight has done many tremendous works in the media and Ghana’s quest for multi-party democracy. Indeed it sometimes holds the view that this multi-party democracy is just not the end but a means to ending its ‘bourgeois’ elements and therefore hopes to strive further for a true democracy for the people of Ghana.

Good Luck!

Continue the Struggle!

*KWEKU DADZIE*