Ghana - 1,084 soldiers to go home

The Minister for Defence, Mark Owen Woyongo, has revealed that funds have been acquired by government to complete all uncompleted accommodation facilities started by the previous government to shelter personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces.

According to him, those abandoned buildings, when completed, would help solve the accommodation problems currently facing the military. Mr. Woyongo revealed this when he visited the 48 Engineer Regiment at Teshie on Tuesday.

The visit was also use to commission the unit’s regimental headquarters building and interact with men and officers of the unit. He said funds have also been secured to pay off about 1,084 military personnel who were due for retirement but were still at post owing to lack of funds.

“When these soldiers including senior officers also leave, there will be accommodation to shelter you,” he added.

He revealed that government was committed to equipping and resourcing the military to continue to protect and defend the country.

He urged the personnel to be disciplined and professional in the discharge of their duties.

Adding his voice, the Commanding Officer in charge of 48 Engineer Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Mustapha Muhammed, said the newly completed regimental headquarters building was constructed through self-help by the regiment and it took 18 months to complete.

He said the concept of constructing a new RHQ was mooted at a morning briefing session in 2011, when they were tasked to host a 53-man Chinese delegation led by the Minister of Internal Affairs, a four-star general.

“The dilemma was where to brief such a high profiled delegation. A young officer by name Captain Agbenyega who was in charge of renovation of the old regimental block advised that we demolish the block which witnessed a perennial maintenance, and replace it with a storey building complex.”

Lt Col Mohammed said the output of the project was comparable to most high rise buildings built by top class contractors in the country. “It is an indication that we have come of age to be competitive for most of the MOD housing projects undertaken by civil contractors,” he said.

Argentina admits Libertad is the 29th asset impound case by ‘vulture’ funds

Argentina finally admitted that the retaining of the training frigate ARA Libertad in Ghana is not an isolated case since the so called ‘vulture’ funds have managed to impound a total of 28 assets including the presidential aircraft Tango 01, bank accounts, property and even a satellite.

Minister Timerman pledging Argentina will recover the frigate, “as we recovered the other 28 assets” 

These 28 assets belonging to the Argentine State have been impounded by the vulture funds which refused to join the swap of defaulted sovereign bonds during the presidencies of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, admitted Foreign minister Hector Timerman speaking at Government House, Casa Rosada,

“Until the case of the frigate ARA Libertad, the vulture funds managed to impound 28 assets from the Argentine state”, said Timerman, but in all those cases Argentina managed to recover the disputed assets.

Timerman also announced that the government has decided to litigate in international courts the release of the frigate retained in the port of Tema. Three options are under consideration according to diplomatic sources: the Law of the Sea international tribunal; the International Court of Justice in The Hague or arbitration.

After reading the list of impounded assets (and recovered), Timerman pledged that “we are going to recover ARA Libertad as we recovered all of the other government assets”.

The impounded assets also included the SACD/Aquarius satellite jointly developed by Argentina with NASA and orbiting since last year and patents from scientific research centres involving atomic energy plus agriculture and industrial technology. However all cases, tangible or non tangible, referred to assets in the US or in Europe.

Timerman’s announcement comes after the failed political attempt in Ghana when top officials from the Foreign and Defence ministries were sent to Accra and later with his own non performing lobbying at the United Nations.

UN Security Council says ARA Libertad incident does not endanger world peace

Argentine Foreign minister Hector Timerman began Monday morning his round of contacts in New York to lobby for the release of the Navy’s training frigate retained in Ghana but suffered a first setback when he met with the president of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Gert Rosenthal.

 Guatemala Ambassador Gert Rosenthal, Security Council president (Photo UN)

“We had a very interesting discussion on the incident. I told the Foreign Minister that he and I know that the Security Council’s business is keeping world peace and security and this case does not precisely endanger world peace”, said Ambassador Rosenthal from Guatemala the rotating president of the Security Council.

However, “said this, if the incident involves complying with international law, it is an issue of great concern, not so much as for the Security council as for the country member of the UN. Clearly there is an international law problem which affects Argentina, but also the rest of the planet’s countries”

Previously Timerman had requested ambassador Rosenthal, as president of the Security Council “to circulate among its members documents brought by Argentina so that the Council is aware of the situation of ARA Libertad, which from an international law point of view is completely illegal”.

Later in the day Minister Timerman was scheduled to meet with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the president from the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremik. Timerman is making the contacts alongside Argentine Ambassador to the US Jorge Argüello, Deputy Foreign minister Eduardo Zuian and the recently nominated permanent representative to the UN, María Cristina Perceval.

From Buenos Aires President Cristina Fernandez’ Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina came on stage to warn that “vulture funds will never see Argentina kneeled down before their decisions”, in a straight message to US-based fund that has the Libertad navy training frigate impounded and retained in Ghana.

During an international seminar held at the University of Buenos Aires’ Economics School, the official told reporters that “President Cristina Fernández was already very clear about it when she said that we are not going to accept any blackmailing from vulture funds.”

The investment fund whose suit in Ghana was successful in detaining the ship, is NML Capital Limited, of Elliot Management, and alleges it is owed a total of 370 million dollars, for defaulted bonds from the 2001 crisis. These bonds remained unpaid after the bondholders rejected two bond-swaps offered by the government in 2005 and 2010.

Meanwhile the Foreign ministry also announced that most of the crew will be flown back to Buenos Aires in a chartered aircraft scheduled to arrive Wednesday night. The idea of sending an Argentine Air Force plane for the crew was discarded fearing the same fate as ARA Libertad. Apparently Chile and Brazil, who have cadets among the crew of the retained vessel, were prepared to fly the crew back home.

Most of ARA Libertad crew should be arriving at Buenos Aires late Wednesday

Argentina confirmed on Monday that most of the crew from the training frigate ARA Libertad retained in Ghana is being evacuated and should arrive in Buenos Aires Wednesday night, in a chartered commercial aircraft. Only a small group of officers and 44 crew members will remain on the impounded vessel for maintenance work.

The Argentine Foreign ministry communiqué said that “as it was announced on Saturday, it has been decided to evacuate 281 crew members leaving on board the frigate the captain and a group of 44 sailors to guarantee the caretaking during its illegal seizure. All foreigners on board participating of the instruction trip will also be evacuated in the same operation”

“The seamen will be arriving to Buenos Aires next Wednesday at 20:00 hours in a chartered flight of Air France which was especially contracted to complete the evacuation”.

Further on the communiqué states that the decision to evacuate was made “in response to a ruling by a Ghanaian court, which not only violated international law, but also risked the safety of the crew by denying them the necessary provisions for a docked ship.”

Finally all expenses that result from the illegal detention of the Libertad will be included in the lawsuit that Argentina will file before international organizations.

According to sources, the Ghanaian judge who ordered the impounding also decided to ban the ship from refuelling, assuring it would only lift his decision if Argentina was willing to establish negotiations with the plaintiffs who are holders of Argentine sovereign bonds valued at 370 million dollars and for which they demand full face value payment of principal and interests.

Argentina declared a massive default in 2002/02 of almost 95bn dollars. However between 2005 and 2010 it managed to restructure the debt with a significant shave, but 7% holdouts remain. Some of those bonds are in the hands of funds, which Argentina describes as ‘vulture funds’ and have the sufficient logistics and intelligence to try and recover the value of the bonds or assets, as happened with the impounding of ARA Libertad in an African port.

Last week the NML-Capital fund said it was willing to release the vessel if Argentina deposits a bail of 20 million dollars. In a touch of irony it also offered to pick up the bill for the return of the frigate’s crew to Argentina.

ARA Libertad: Argentine president pledges to never yield to ‘vulture’ funds

Argentine president Cristina Fernández in a national broadcast blasted ‘vulture funds’ retaining the impounded training frigate ARA Libertad in Ghana and pledged never to yield the dignity and sovereignty of the country to these funds.

 “The freedom, dignity and sovereignty of this country will not be retained by any vulture fund” said Cristina Fernandez

“As long as I'm the President, they might retain the Frigate, but the freedom, dignity and sovereignty of this country will not be retained by any vulture fund” said Cristina Fernandez on Monday during the nationwide broadcast from Government House.

The Argentine president questioned the vulture funds that initiated the conflict in Ghana, and said they ”believed they were going to put pressure on the country“ by applying this measure.

”What we went through these past days brings a lot of pain, and I say it as an Argentine citizen,“ the President assured over the conflict.

”I've seen some, luckily very few, who defended the vulture funds that had illegally retained our Libertad frigate in an African port, believing they were putting the pressure on us,“ she continued.

The head of state added ”we all have to be responsible in a country with 40 million Argentines if we want to be free and sovereign”.

Meantime in New York Foreign minister Hector Timerman met with UN top officials: the president of the Security Council, and UN Secretary General with whom it was agreed “to open talks with Ghana to exchange opinions on how to best resolve the conflict between Argentina and Ghana.

The detention of the training ship ARA Libertad was main topic of discussion previously labelled “a worrying precedent for world navigation,” by the government in a communiqué.

Timerman during the round of contracts was accompanied by Ambassador to the US Jorge Argüello, Deputy foreign minister Eduardo Zuian and the permanent representative to the UN, María Cristina Perceval.

According to the official report from Ban Ki-moon’s office, the Secretary General congratulated Foreign minister Timerman on Argentina’s accession to the Security Council during the 2013/2014 period.

In the meeting with Mr. Timerman, the Secretary-General thanked Argentina for its “steadfast support” of UN priorities and welcomed the South American nation’s new Permanent Representative-designate to the UN, Ambassador María Cristina Perceval.

The two men also discussed the ongoing diplomatic incident between Argentina and Ghana over the Fragata Libertad – an Argentine sailing ship used for naval training exercises which has been detained in Ghana’s port of Temma for almost three weeks, following an official request by local authorities.

“According to media reports, a Ghanaian judge ordered the seizure of the ship at the behest of NML Capital Ltd, a hedge fund group demanding full compensation from the Argentine Government following the country’s financial default over a decade ago”.

Mr. Ban “acknowledged the Government of Argentina’s concern for the well-being of its crew members and voiced hope that both Buenos Aires and Accra would find a way to address the issue of a bilateral basis, in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both nations are parties.

Embarassing Argentine Farce - Argentina evacuates impounded frigate; Monday Timerman begins lobbying at the UN

The Argentine government ordered on Saturday the evacuation of the naval training frigate ARA Libertad impounded in Ghana by international creditors, following the warning made on Friday that complaints would be taken to the UN over the controversy.

Sombre faced ministers Puricelli and Timerman making the announcement

Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman and Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli gave a press conference Saturday evening from Government House in Buenos Aires, reading a communiqué sent by President Cristina Fernández, in which she ordered the evacuation of the ship

“President Cristina Fernandez has decided the immediate evacuation of all the crew members, Argentine and non Argentines so as to preserve their physical integrity and dignity leaving on board the Captain and a minimum number of sailors for the maintenance of the frigate while it remains retained” in the port of Tema, Ghana, said Minister Timerman.

The frigate has been retained since 2 October in Ghana on an injunction order from a New York court on request from New York and Caribbean based funds holders of Argentine defaulted sovereign bonds and which pretend to collect full principal and interests.

Timerman said that “Argentina makes the government of Ghana responsible for all and every damage that the frigate ARA Libertad might suffer until its release, as well as all the costs generated because of an illegal action that violates international law”.

The Argentine minister added that on Monday, on specific instructions from President Cristina Fernandez, he will be meeting with the president of the UN Security Council in New York, “as well as with all those committees that address violations of human rights, international treaties and financial crimes”.

“The ruling from the Ghana Justice which orders the retention of the Frigate ARA Libertad not only violates international treaties which oblige Ghana to guarantee the immunity of war vessels, but also has put at risk the human rights of the 326 crewmembers on board, among which citizens from Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and South Africa”, added the communiqué read by Timerman.

In direct criticism to the Ghana court ruling upholding the impound and banning ARA Libertad from bunkering, Timerman said that “the only reply from the magistrate to an Argentine request which contemplates the possibility of a tragedy, and the impossibility of providing the basic elements for any human being, was that we reach an agreement with the ‘vulture fund’ which presented the demand. It is then clear the intention of the magistrate to force a sovereign country to negotiate with an entity dedicated to financial piracy from its hideout in the Caribbean. That option, as was clearly stated yesterday (Friday) is the only unacceptable for Argentina”.

Standing next to Defence minister Arturo Puricelli Timerman concluded that an act “which ‘prima facie’ seemed a commercial impound has dropped its mask and is exposing the true face of the power of the ‘vulture funds’ that from their fiscal hideouts organize attacks which are none less than an abduction, an extortion and a piracy act against a sovereign country, founding member of the UN and of acknowledged participation in countless peace missions in the five continents”.

The ‘vulture funds’ in this particular case are demanding payment of over 300 million dollars in Argentine sovereign bonds which were not included in the voluntary restructuring of Argentina’s massive default in 2001. Between 2005 and 2010 Argentina managed to come to terms with 93% of bond holders, however there are still 7% pending most of them in the hands of these funds that precisely take advantage of these situations and try by all means (including impounding assets overseas) to collect the face value plus interests of those documents.

The defendant, in this case the Argentine Foreign Ministry, its representatives, agents including ARA Libertad Captain Lucio Salónica and the crew are barred from moving the vessel from the port of Tema without a new order from the court, according to last week’s ruling at the Accra High Court.

The plaintiff said it would accept a deposit bail of 20 million dollars to release the vessel but the Argentine government rejected the option point blank.