EMMANUEL ADU-GYAMERAH'S STORIES

Four envoys call on Speaker

2012-02-14T01:12:00.000-08:00

Page 17, Tuesday Jan 31, 2012
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

FOUR ambassadors accredited to Ghana yesterday paid separate courtesy calls on the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, to hold bilateral talks on how to improve relations between Ghana’s legislature with those of their respective countries.
They are Mrs Sharon Bar-li, Israel; Ms Irene Vida Gala, Brazil; Mr Tullio Guma, Italy; and Mr Jorge Fernando Lefebre Nicloas, Cuba.
When she called on the Speaker, the Brazilian Ambassador, Ms Gala, said it was important for the two countries to focus attention on the socio-economic wellbeing of women and children.
She said efforts should be intensified to increase women representation in the legislatures of the two countries.
Ms Gala said Ghana was high on the agenda of Brazil and would continue to provide assistance towards Ghana’s development efforts.
She informed the Speaker that plans were being made to enable the Brazilian President to visit Ghana to cement the cordial relationship among the two countries.
For his part, the Italian Ambassador, Mr Guma, applauded Ghana for the strides it had made in its socio-economic development and pledged to work hard to improve on the existing relation between the legislatures of Ghana and Italy.
The Israeli Ambassador, Mrs Bar-li, said Israel considered Ghana as an important ally and expressed the hope that Israel and Ghana would continue to co-operate in the various sectors in the interest of their peoples.
For his part, the Cuban Ambassador praised Ghana for its democratic credentials in Africa and beyond and expressed the hope that Ghana would continue to set the pace for other countries to follow.
Responding, Mrs Bamford-Addo attributed the economic gains of Ghana to the stable political environment that the country had enjoyed since the inception of the Fourth Republic.
She assured the ambassadors that the December general election would be peaceful, since Ghanaians were peace-loving people.
Mrs Bamford-Addo said Ghana had a lot of resources, adding that the recent addition of oil was an advantage for the country to make further economic gains.
She gave an assurance that Ghana was committed to efficiently and effectively managing its resources for the benefit of the entire population and not for the privileged few.

Parliament repeals National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy Act

2012-02-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Sat Jan 28, 2012
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday repealed the National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy Act (Act 785), as amended in Act 812, through the passage of the National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy (Repeal) Bill, 2011.
The National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy (Repeal) Bill, 2011 was presented and read for the first time in Parliament on December 16, 2011 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report.
The National Fiscal Stabilisation Act, 2009 (Act 785) was introduced in the second half of 2009 to raise funds for national development.
Even though it was initially to last for 18 months, the government extended the duration for an additional year by way of an amendment (Act 812) with a pledge to discontinue the levy.
Meanwhile, the House also passed the Customs and Excise (Duties and other taxes) (Amendment) Bill, 2011 to reduce the environmental excise tax imposed on plastic packaging materials from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.
The Finance Committee of the House, which dealt with the bill, observed that pharmaceutical and agricultural products were exempted from the ambit of the environmental excise tax.
It also noted that the reduction in the environmental excise duty on plastic packaging materials from 20 per cent to 15 per cent would help decrease the input cost for the production of packaged products.
Meanwhile, the President is expected to deliver the State of the Nation Address in Parliament in the middle of next month.
The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, who informed the House when he presented the business statement for next week, however, could not give the exact date when the President was expected to deliver the address.
He stated that the Business Committee had taken note of the fact that the House might possibly rise on March 23, 2012 to enable MPs to support the forthcoming voters registration exercise to be carried out by the Electoral Commission (EC), aside the statutory commitment at the international level scheduled for the fourth week in March 2012.
Mr Avoka said having regard to those issues, the Business Committee proposed that extended sittings be introduced by the third week of February to enable the House to expeditiously dispose of its agenda before rising.
But his announcement for the rising of the House on March 23 did not go down well with the MPs who suggested that the House should rather rise earlier, since they would want to be in their constituencies for some days before the starting of the registration exercise on March 24, 2012.
The suggestion, which was made by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, was supported by all the MPs who contributed to the ensuing discussions on the matter.
They called on the leadership of the House to engage the EC to see if it could amend its scheduled date for the commencement of the voters registratio

Gbediame grateful to delegates

2012-02-14T00:53:00.001-08:00

Page 13, Wed Jan 27, 2012
Gbediame grateful to delegates

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament for Nkwanta South in the Volta Region, Mr Geshon Gbediame, has expressed his profound gratitude to the rank and file of the National Democratic Congress in his constituency for giving him the nod to contest for the seat in the December general elections.
Mr Gbediame parried off the stiff challenge posed by four other contestants to win another primary to enable him contest the seat for the fifth time.
He won the contest with 182 votes while his closest opponent, Mr Stephen Oboisah, had 101 votes during the primary.
Mr Gbediame assured his constituents that he would not disappoint them, explaining that he was going to work hard in order to retain the seat.
The MP, who is also the Majority Chief Whip, also appealed to NDC supporters in the constituency to continue to support the course of the party in order for it to win the December general elections.
He said that the Eastern Corridor Road Project was on course while as many as 15 new communities in the area would be hooked to the national grid this year.
In addition, Mr Gbediame stated that inaccessible communities in the area would also enjoy solar power.
He also thanked the four other contestants for giving him a stiff challenge and appealed to them to join hands with him to fight the NPP.

Speaker refers nominees to Appointments Committee

2012-02-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

Page 12, fri Jan 27, 2012
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, has referred nine ministers and deputy ministers designate to the Appointments Committee of Parliament for consideration and report after reading a communication from the President about their nominations to the House.
They are Mr Moses Asaga, Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Lee Ocran, Minister of Education, Mr Fritz Baffuor, Ministry of Information, Mr Dominic Azumah, Presidency, Mr William Kwasi Abuah, Ministry of the Interior and Alhaji Amin Amidu Suleman, Upper West Region.
The deputy ministerial nominees are Mr Stephen M.E.K Ackah, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Isaac Vandepuye, Greater Accra Region and Mr Henry Ametepe, Volta Region.
The mentioning of the names of the nominees by the Speaker was met with “hear, hear” from the Majority side while the Minority MPs shouted “injury time ministers”.
Meanwhile, the issue as to whether the President should communicate to Parliament when he reshuffles his cabinet or give any minister additional responsibility as an acting minister in another ministry arose in Parliament today.
Currently the practice is that it is only when the President nominated a new minister that he communicated to Parliament through the Speaker.
However, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo and Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, raised the matter today when the official report for business of the House on January 24, 2012 was presented to the House.
In the report, the Dr Benjamin Kunbuor was referred to as the acting Attorney-General and Minister of Justice but the MP said it was not proper that the House should take issues reported in newspapers and radio stations as the gospel truth.
The issues generated a prolonged debate with a lot of MPs supporting the line of argument of Dr Akoto Osei but the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, said even though the issue raised might be proper as far as good governance was concerned, the current practice had being in place since the country returned to constitutional rule.
He explained that in practice, the various Presidents during the Fourth Republic had directed ministers to act for their colleague ministers without notifying Parliament about his directive.
“Madam Speaker may be for the sake of governance and best practices. The House should be officially informed when a minister has been swapped, reshuffled or directed to act for their colleague ministers”.
In another development, the House resolved and waived the tax liability on equipment and materials to be imported or purchased locally, corporate as well as expatriate income taxes in respect of Mampong Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project in the Ashanti Region.
The corporate and the expatriate income taxes to be waived added up to US$4,666,833.00 and GHC1,368,139.98 respectively.

Parliament debates Intestate Succession Bill amendment

2012-02-14T00:27:00.000-08:00

Pagee 17, Jan 26, 2012
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

Parliament debates Intestate Succession Bill amendment

PARLIAMENT yesterday inched towards the passage of the Intestate Succession Bill when the bill passed through its second reading stage.
The Bill, which was laid before the House on November 3, 2009 and referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for consideration and report, seeks a more responsive approach to the needs of nuclear families whose parents and spouses die intestate.
According to members of the committee, they had spent more than two years to deliberate on the bill because of its sensitive nature.
When passed, the bill will replace the Intestate Succession Act, 1985 (PNDC Law 111).
According to the memorandum accompanying the bill, its objective is to remove the anomalies in the present law relating to intestate succession and to provide a uniform intestate succession law that would be applied throughout the country irrespective of inheritance system of the intestate and the type of marriage.
According to the memorandum, the present law on intestate succession appears to be overtaken by changes in the Ghanaian family system.
The importance of the extended family system was gradually shifting to the nuclear family as pertained in other parts of the world.
However, the well-entrenched family law system had provided very little protection for surviving spouses and children.
In its deliberation, the committee observed that intestate succession and its attendant socio-legal issues continued to pose challenges largely due to the pluralistic nature of the family law system of the country.
It said after over 25 years of the coming into force of PNDCL 111, there were still difficulties in its implementation due to the increasing importance of the nuclear family.
The committee’s report said some key issues that emerged during deliberations, particularly during the public hearings, had been addressed in the bill.
They included the need for enhancement of provisions for children of school age, the need to put a cap on the amount to be treated as household property, the need for enhancement of entitlements for the longest serving spouse within the context of a polygamous marriage, status of additional spouse married under customary law in relation to the spouse under the ordinance.
The Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Ebo Barton-Odro, moved the motion for the bill to go through the second reading and he was seconded by the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Bandua.
The second reading stage of a bill is a stage when the principles underlying the introduction of the bill.are discussed.
But before he could move the motion for the House to debate on principles of the bill, some members from the Minority side raised concerns about the whereabouts of the substantive Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
The Minority argued that a deputy minister was put in place to assist the substantive minister and in a case where there was no substantive minister, “who is the deputy minister there to assist?”.
After a lengthy debate, however, he was allowed to move the motion.
The Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, observed that the time was ripe for Ghana to take the bull by the horn and enact an interstate succession law that would stand the test of time and enhance the wellbeing of children whose parents died before they become independent in life.

PNC members urged to unite for December polls

2012-02-14T00:14:00.000-08:00

Page 16, Jan 25, 2012
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE People’s National Congress’ (PNC) Member of Parliament for Sissala West, Mr Haruna Bayirga, has called on members of the party to unite and prepare towards the December general elections now that the court case that entangled the party was over.
“Now that the court case has come to an end, I am appealing to the rank file of the party to bury their differences and come together as a united party in order to have a peaceful congress to elect out leaders”, he said.
Mr Bayirga, who was also the Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee in Parliament, said while thinking about the election of candidates for the 2012 general election, efforts should also be made to unite the Nkrumah-Limann family.
“We should not completely abandon the Nkrumahist unity talks”, he said, adding that whenever the opportunity comes our way again, “we should see how we can press on for the unity of the family”.
Touching on the importance of smaller parties, Mr Bayirga opined that efforts should be made in order not to allow the big political parties to swallow them up.
He explained that during both the fourth and the fifth parliaments, it was through the assistance of the PNC and other smaller political parties that helped to ensure that there were no hanged parliaments.
“The acceptance of PNC to always assist the Majority to have the needed numbers to ensure that government business in the House was conducted without difficulties had helped to stabilise the country’s political dispensation”, he said.
Mr Bayirga said attempts by the big political parties to swallow up the smaller parties would not augur well for the country’s democratic path and called on businessmen, donors and all sympathisers to assist such smaller political parties to play their roles as expected of them.
He added that it was only when there were smaller political parties who had the strength to balance the inter-play of power between the NDC and the NPP that the country’s democracy would be secured.
Mr Bayirga commended the founder of the PNC, Dr Hilla Limann, for his vision and sacrifice adding that his statement that he would heal the wounds of Ghanaians had stood the test of time and that the role that MPs from the party were playing now in Parliament had made the statement a prophetic one.

Speaker calls for calm in political discourse

2012-02-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

Page 3, Jan 25, 2012
Speaker calls for calm in political discourse

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, has advised Members of Parliament (MPs) to be circumspect in their discourse as the political barometer of the country charges towards the December general election.
“Already, there are simmering indications of this thick politically charged crowd moving around us but at least thankfully not in the House”, she said.
Mrs Bamford-Addo gave the advise in her remarks when Parliament resumed for the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic today.
“Let us bury our political hatchet once we are in the House since our overriding concern, as I always say, is the national interest”.
She asked the MPs to be the forerunners preaching the peace and the need for the consolidation of the democratic culture and all that it entailed to the people of Ghana.
Mrs Bamford-Addo stated that even though the two sides in the House might disagree on some issues, it was important for them to co-operate to carry on the business of the House at all times.
She prevailed on the MPs to avail themselves to the call of duty in plenary as well as in committees of the House amid few challenges in the course of the work.
Welcoming the House, the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, congratulated the MPs from the Majority side who won their primaries last weekend and urged those who lost their bid to contest for their seats once more and not lose hope.
“You should not think that this is the end of your political career but rather continue to hope for a better future”, he said.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also congratulated his NDC colleague who, according to him, avoided the thorns and tussle of the political terrain to come out triumphant.
The Fourth Session of the Fifth Parliament is the last of four sessions of this Parliament. It comprises three meetings; the first of which would end just before the Easter festivities.
The second meeting would commence in May and end in July after which the House would, after a long recess , resume in October for the third meeting.
This current Parliament would end when the House completed the third meeting before the December general election for another Parliament to begin in January, 2013.
Members of Parliament would, therefore, have a tight schedule this year as they combined the work in the House in addition to their campaign programme in their bid to retain their seats during the December general elections.

2012-01-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Halla Energy to invest in Ghana

Page 28, 24/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

A KOREAN energy company, Halla Energy and Environment, has begun a six-month feasibility studies aimed at paving the way for the establishment of a 300-megawatt solar energy project in the country.
Officials of the company, who held talks with Energy Commission officials in Accra last Thursday, indicated that they would collaborate with their Ghanaian counterparts for the execution of the project should the feasibility studies prove successful.
The Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Kim Byung, told journalists after holding a close-door meeting with officials of the Energy Commission that Halla Energy and Environment was committed to contributing to the country’s energy mix efforts.
He said Ghana’s climate was very conducive for the establishment of the solar energy project.
Mr Byung said his meeting with officials of the Energy Commission had informed him about the way forward and expressed the hope that the feasibility studies would prove successful to ensure the commencement of the project.
He added that it was time for African countries to invest in renewable energy facilties in order to meet its growing energy demands.
Mr Byung explained that the company, which had been in existence for about half a century now, had help in the industrialisation process of South Korea through the development of renewable energy facilities and would, therefore, want to replicate its success story in Ghana.
On environment, he stated that for over 30 years , Halla Energy and Environment had successfully completed a lot of environmental projects and developed high technologies in waste treatment, waste water treatment and air pollution control.
He said the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), was involved in the arrangement to bring the company into the country in collaboration with Magcor Ghana Limited and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya-Sekyere East, Mr David H. Yeboah.
For his part, Mr Yeboah explained that private companies were now allowed to enter into the energy sector and expressed the hope that the intention by Halla Energy and Environment to establish a 300-megawatt solar energy project would see the light of the day.

2012-01-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

Jaman North DCE commends Suma Rural Bank

Page 23, 16/01/12
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Jaman North District Chief Executive, Hajia Amina Amadu, has commended the Suma Rural bank for its contribution to the socio-economic development of the area.
She said the bank, since its formation, had assisted the assembly to undertake projects to improve the wellbeing of the people.
Hajia Amadu said this at the 25th annual general meeting of the bank .
The Bank recorded GHC108,435.00 as its profit before in 2010 as against GHC64,27.00 it made in 2009.
It also recorded significant growth of 54 per cent in it deposits from the GHC2,030,841.00 at the end of December in 2009 to GHC3,126.00 at the end of December in 2010.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Johnson Ofori Asubonteng, made these known at the meeting.
According to him, the bank’s share capital also went up from GHC155,903.00 as of 2009 to GHC173,399.00 in 2010 while the total asserts grew from GHC2,688,885.00 to GHC3,894,358.00 with the period under review.
Mr Asubonteng also indicated that loans and advances also increased from GHC1,065,430.00 in 2009 to GHC1,176,438 in 2010 while the bank purchased a total of GHC401,000 as against GHC177,492.00 bought in 2009.
He stated that the bank recently opened a new agency at Berekum to increase its agencies to four.
The Senior Manager of the Bank, Mr Martin Adjei Amponsah, who stressed the importance of micro-finance programme said the bank would continue to strengthen its products.
He announced that the bank would soon establish another module under the bank’s micro-finance programme to assist taxi drivers and their owners.
“The product is being packaged by the bank to improve the lots of taxi drivers and their owners to enable them acquire vehicles to improve transport services in the area”, Mr Amponsah explained.
For his part, the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Eric Osei Bonsu, whose address was read on his behalf, commended the management and staff of the bank for the impressive performance over the years.
While commending the bank, he also cautioned the board, management and staff of the bank not to be complacent but to work harder than before to achieve more laurels in future.

2012-01-24T12:45:00.000-08:00

President's directive to EOCO worrying--Minority

Front page, 06/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minority in Parliament has prevailed upon President John Evans Atta Mills to relieve the Minister of Education, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, of her post and institute a truly independent enquiry into the circumstances leading to the payment of a whopping GH¢41,811,480.59 to a business man, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome, for the settlement of a claim involving the rehabilitation of three stadia in the country.
According to the Minority, the huge and unjustified payment was based on the terms of settlement brokered by the then Attorney-General, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, who did not file any defence to the claim against the government by Mr Woyome, who had neither put in a bid nor entered into any contract with the government.
In a statement read by the Minority Leader, Mr Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Minority accused Mrs Mould-Iddrisu of negligence and admission of mistake, thereby enabling Mr Woyome to obtain a judgement of GH¢105,540,548.24 and costs of GH¢25,000 against the state on May 24, 2010.
“We demand investigations into this manifestly fraudulent conduct in this stadia saga and possible prosecution for defrauding the Republic of Ghana through misinterpretation and dubious claims in obtaining in default of defence,” it said.
The Minority also described as “unfortunate” a statement by President Mills on his return from his recent trip abroad when he demanded a report, explaining that the said report he was demanding “is clearly a smokescreen seeking to buy time and once again protect one of his own”.
It added that given the sequence of events, the President “is aware and part of the grand scheme of corruption by either omission or commission”.
The Minority, therefore, demanded that “instead of the self-serving report the President has asked for, an independent public enquiry aired on all national TV networks and radio stations for all and sundry to actively participate in must be instituted”.
Giving the background of the saga, the statement said when Ghana was awarded the right to host the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, the then NPP government decided to build two new stadia at Essipong and Tamale and refurbish the Ohene Djan (Accra) and the El-Wak stadia towards the hosting of the tournament.
It said on July 20, 2005, the committee set up to evaluate and make recommendations on financial proposals met one of the shortlisted companies for the project, VAMED Engineering Company, to ascertain the credibility, viability, timeliness and the current status of financial proposals from the firm.
VAMED, an Austrian firm in Ghana, had proposed to raise funding of about 764,117,646 euros from the Bank of Austria for the project and Mr Woyome, then the Deputy Honorary Consul for Austria in Ghana, was part of the negotiating team of VAMED.
The firm’s condition for raising funds for the project included the requirement to subject the project to MIGA guarantee and charges, the approval of credit terms by IMP, the setting up of a special purpose company by VAMED and the government, the issuing of an irrevocable sovereign guarantee by the government to the Bank of Austria and the attachment of a health and wellness centre to the stadia to be built.
The statement explained further that the committee advised the government that the conditions and processes to be met by both the government and VAMED could span three to four months, which was a potential source of delay for the project.
Given the urgency of the project, the committee further recommended to the government to seek an alternative option of securing its own line of funding.
It said it was at that stage that the then Ministry of Education and Sports informed VAMED on August, 22, 2005 that it was discontinuing with the tendering process due to time constraints and high financial commitments implied in the submissions.
It added that on August 27, 2005, Waterville Holdings Limited, said to be part of the VAMED consortium, which also included Micheletti and Co Limited, responded to the letter by the Ministry of Education and Sports and requested for negotiations to resolve what it regarded as “breach of process”.
Eventually, the statement added, Waterville Holdings could not raise the funds and collaborated with Micheletti and Co to build the Ohene Djan and the El-Wak stadia, and with CONSAR to build the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.
It said letters from the then Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey, dated August 1, 2006, and those from the Office of the President, dated October 24, 2008, confirmed that the government had no claims to settle with any party or individual after Micheletti and CONSAR had agreed to pay amounts outstanding to Waterville Holdings.
The statement, therefore, questioned what it called “the bizarre and highly controversial” manner in which Mrs Mould-Iddrisu dealt with Mr Woyome, who was neither known as a shareholder nor director of VAMED, since the then government did not deal with him in his personal capacity.

2012-01-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Kaaseman Rural Bank makes profit

Page 39, 09/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Kaaseman Rural Bank in the Western Region recorded profit before tax of GH¢702,047 in 2010 as against the GH¢352,139 it made in 2009.
The total deposit of the bank also increased from GH¢8.56 million in 2009 to GH¢18.99 million.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Kwame Twumasi Ankrah, announced this at the 23rd annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Sefwi Kaase in the Bia District.
He added that the bank’s share capital went up from GH¢202,038 in 2009 to GH¢253,520 as at December 2010 while its total assets grew from GH¢10.27 million to GH¢18,99 million during the same period.
In addition, the bank gave out GH¢4.33 million as loans and overdrafts in 2010 as against GH¢3.27 million it advanced to its customers in 2009.
On the purchase of cocoa, Mr Ankrah said the bank purchased a total of GH¢31.71 million in 2010 as against GH¢10.52 million in 2009 and attributed the increase to the high crop yield and the increase in the producer price of the commodity.
Mr Twumasi said that the good performance of the bank had enabled it to carve an image for itself in the corporate world, explaining that currently the bank occupied the 22nd position in the Ghana Club 100.
Commenting on the operational challenges of the bank, Mr Ankrah noted that loan default remained one of the major challenges and called on all loan defaulters to repay their loans to enable others to benefit from such facility.
For his part, the Chief Manager of the Bank, Mr David Gbeblewu, said under the Millennium Challenge Account Computerisation Programme, all branches of the bank had been computerised and added that all branches would be networked to enable customers have access to their accounts at any branch.
In an address read on his behalf, the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Eric Osei Bonsu, commended the bank for its impressive performance over the years, making it the third among the three rural banks in the Western Regional and fifth among the 133 rural banks throughout the country.
He called on rural banks to continue to educate their shareholders to enable them to fully appreciate some of their challenges.

2012-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Bia-Torya Community Bank makes strides

Page 29, 29/01/12
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Bia-Torya Community Bank in the Western Region recorded profit of GH¢412,431.51 as against GH¢316,298.82 recorded in 2009.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, Mr Samuel Danquah, said the assets of the bank also grew from GH¢7.34 million to GH¢16.89 million during the period under review.
Addressing the 6th Annual General Meeting of the bank at Sefwi Bonsu Nkwanta in the Juabeso District, he said, the bank also increased its deposit base from GH¢6.1 million to GH¢13.3 million.
In addition, loans and advances increased from GH¢450,870.64 to GH¢1,267,786.57, representing an 181 per cent increase over the previous figure.
The chairman pledged that officials of the bank would continue to work hard in order to maintain its enviable status among rural and community banks in the country.
In an address read on his behalf, the acting Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Duke Osam-Duodu, said the domestic money transfer being operated between the ARB Apex Bank and the rural and community banks was receiving steady patronage.
He said the system had indeed come to fill a void in the money transfer business.
Mr Osam-Duodu stated that the impressive performance of the bank had made it to be ranked as fifth out of the 13 rural banks in the Western Region and 10th among the 133 rural banks nationwide.
He said that notwithstanding, a lot of work still needed to be done in the area of capitalisation if the bank wanted to be considered one of the best rural banks in the country.
“It is only by improving the capital base of the bank that will enable you to open more agencies to better serve the unbanked and under-bank members of your operational communities,” he said.
For his part, the Senior Manager of the bank, Mr A.K. Foli, appealed to loan defaulters to pay their loans to enable others get more assistance from the bank to expand their farms and businesses.
He called on shareholders and the general public to buy more shares from the bank.

2012-01-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Indianapolis University Prof, students support three schools

Page 15, 21/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

A PROFESSOR at the University of Indianapolis in the United States of America (USA), Dr Jodie Ferise and some of her students have presented 8,000 assorted books worth over GHC20,000 to three schools in the country.
The beneficiary schools are the Precious Kids Academy at Ashaiman, Bethel A.M.E Zion School Complex, also at Ashaiman and the Ochripey Community School, near Salaga in the Northern Region.
Dr Farise and her students were invited to the country by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mission Resources Ghana International last year and decided to mobilse the books for distribution to the schools to assist in the education of pupils.
The joy of pupils and parents of Precious Kids Academy, where the presentation of the books took place, knew no bounds when the books were presented to them. They joyfully sung, danced and thanked the donors for the gesture.
In his remarks, Dr Farise praised Ghana for efforts being made to educate children to support the country’s future development.
“I am so impressed about the enthusiasm with which these school children are learning to enable them to become useful future leaders”, she said.
Dr Farise said it was with love that students from the University of Indianapolis collected books for donation to the three schools.
She advised Ghanaians not to be interested in events which only concerned them, but should also be interested in the welfare of others.
“We are here because we love these kids. We are here because we attach importance to the welfare and the proper growth of these kids”, she said.
Dr Farise said when she visited the country last year, she donated a number of computers to the schools and gave the assurance that she would continue to mobilise resources to assist the schools to enable them stand to properly educate the pupils.
She later cut a tape to inaugurate the library for the Precious Kids Academy which was stocked with books which she presented to the school.
Books stocked in the library included reference books, science, mathematics, fiction, non-fiction, encyclopaedia, classics and devotional books, among others.
The President of the Ghana Missions Association, Pastor Enoch Nyador who dedicated the books urged pupils in the beneficiary schools to read widely in order to enrich their knowledge.
For his part, Apostle Sampson Dorkunor, Head of the Living Bread Mission, proprietor of the Precious Kids Academy thanked the donors for their gesture and announced that the school’s library would be opened to children in the entire community.
The Headteacher of the academy, Mr Innocent Todzi, who received the books pledged that the pupils would use the book to enrich their knowledge in order to become useful adults in future.

2012-01-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

Ghanaians have stake
in ensuring free polls - MP

Page 13, 21/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Ahafo-Ano North, Mr Richard Akuoko-Adiyia, has reminded Ghanaians that they all have a stake in ensuring that the 2012 general election is transparent, free and fair.
“The government alone cannot be entrusted to ensure that the impending elections were conducted in a free, fair and transparent atmosphere”, he said adding that the Atiwa, Akwatia and Chireponi bye-election should be a yardstick for all Ghanaians to judge how the government would handle the elections if the people were not vigilant.
He said since free, fair and transparent election could not be guaranteed only during the day of election, Ghanaians owed it a duty to take part in registration of voters and in addition be vigilant to ensure that the right things were done during such an exercise.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Adiyia noted with concern the practice whereby people were bused from different constituency to register in another constituency in order to give advantage to a particular candidate.
He said until Ghanaians became vigilant to prevent such malpractices, the beauty of the 2012 election would be marred from day one.
Mr Adiyia also asked Ghanaians to put aside political considerations and rather consider the interest of the country since “governments will come and go, political parties will win power and lose power, but Ghana will continue to be our cherished country”.
The MP cautioned Ghanaians from having the notion that what was happening elsewhere as a result of election malpractices could not happen in Ghana.
“Let us not be complacent but work around the clock and make conscious efforts to ensure that all players in the election play their part as expected of them”, he said.
Mr Adiyia also called on politicians to refrain from politics of insults and rather base their electioneering on issues stressing that it was important for both politicians and their supporters to educate their voters about issues at stake rather than tarnish the image of their opponents in the name of politics.

2012-01-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Ofori-Kuragu pledges allegiance to NPP

Page 17, 11/01/12
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosome-Freho, Nana Yaw Ofori-Kuragu has pledged his unflinching allegiance to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and promised to work hard to enable the party’s Presidential candidate, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo to double his votes in the area during the 2012 general elections.
He said issues that pushed him to go independent during the 2008 general election had now being solved and called for total unity among the rank and file of the party to enable the NPP continue to chalk more success in the constituency.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Nana Ofori-Kuragu explained that since he declared his intension to stand on the ticket of the party once again, he had received the needed support and expressed the hope that “we will continue to work together to fight our common opponent, the NDC”.
He said at a recent get-together he organized for the constituency executives of the NPP and some opinion leaders, it was clear that the party was now united and poised to win more votes than ever during the 2012 general elections.
Nana Ofori-Kuragu said “we are however not going to be complacent but go the extra mile to ensure a total victory”.
Hed stated that his two terms had been successful explaining that the elevation of the constituency to a district status had been accompanied by a lot of development projects to uplift the living standards of the people.
Nana Ofori-Kuragu promised to use his third term in office, if given the nod, to fight for the establishment of a second senior secondary school to be located at the Lake Bosomtwe side of the district.
On electrification, the MP said efforts would be made to ensure that communities without electricity were hooked to the national grid.
Nana Ofori-Kuragu, who won the seat in 2004 on the ticket of the NPP, stood as an independent candidate in 2008 and won.
As an independent candidate in 2008, he used the cutlass as his symbol but campaigned for the NPP Presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo and chose to belong to the Minority side in the present Parliament.
He is one of the three independent MPs in the Minority side, the other two being Mr Joe Osei-Wusu (Bekwai) and Mr Seth Adjei-Baah

2012-01-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

New Edubiase MP optimistic, despite criticisms

Page 17, 11/01/12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for New Edubiase,Mr Enerst Kofi Yakah has expressed optimism about his chances of winning the impending primary despite criticisms by some people in the constituency about his administration.
Mr Yakah received bashing from the queen mother of the New Edubiase, Nana Akua Dwum II during a durbar held recently in the area over for not using his share of the Common Fund and others for the benefit of the people.
But Mr Yakah told the Daily Graphic that he had judiciously his share of the various funds to provide social amenities for the wellbeing of his constituents.
He enumerated some of the projects that he had executed as the Quansakrom D.A Primary, Fahiakobo D.A Primary, Obuobikrom D.A Primary, a place of convenience at Atobiase, Adansi Praso Market, Akutreso Health centre, Akroso footbridge and a 24-seater Vault Chamber place of convenience at the New Edubiase Zongo.
He explained that part of his share of the Common Fund had also been used to reshape the Akutreso-Subriso while part of his HIPC Fund had also been used to reshape the Menang Junction to Dotom, the Opare Kojo to Dwendama and the Bronikrom-Kwame Adjei roads.
Mr Yakah added that currently plans were ongoing for the rehabilitation of the New Edubiase Abbatoir, some pavilions at the New Edubiase Market, uncompleted projects at Agravi and Aboabo No 3 as well as teachers’ quarters at Odomase.
The MP said countless communities had also benefited from the funds with the provision of roofing sheets, cement, water, footballs and jerseys.
Mr Yakah said he had also used part of the funds support the extension of electricity to some parts of New Edubiase and its surrounding villages and expressed the hope that the beneficiaries of the various projects appreciated his efforts to contribute to the development of the area.
He thanked the rank and file of the NDC in the constituency for the confidence reposed in him over the years and expressed the hope that the delegates would renew his mandate during the impending primary.

2012-01-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

TTB Boss denies Ecobank's claim

11/01/12, Page 3

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Managing Director of the The Trust Bank (TTB), Mr Larry Yirenkyi-Boafo, has denied claims by Ecobank that the payment of end-of-service benefits to some top officials of TTB was not approved.
Writing through his solicitors, the Faith Chambers, Mr Yirenkyi-Boafo said the payment of end-of-service benefits was “discussed and approved at an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors of The Trust Bank on Monday, August 8, 2011”.
He said a copy of the minutes of the said emergency meeting, together with a schedule containing the names of the affected officers, was made available to the Managing Director of Ecobank, Mr Samuel Ashittey-Adjei.
Reacting to a front-page story carried in the January 9, 2012 issue of the Daily Graphic, Mr Yirenkyi-Boafo said the issue was fully addressed in his December 29, 2011 reply to a query from Mr Ashittey-Adjei.
He said in the circumstances, the purported averment contained in the publication in the Daily Graphic that, “The Ecobank source said though the interdicted boss of TTB had claimed the package was approved by the old board of TTB before its dissolution last month, there were no minutes to that effect” was false.
In addition, Mr Yirenkyi-Boafo denied that the payment was done on the blind side of the new owners of the bank, Ecobank, as reported by the Daily Graphic, saying that the claim that he alone took home GH¢1.88 or US$1.3 million was also false.
He stated that the story cast an aspersion on his reputation as a successful banker and might likely diminish his chances of securing employment with any reputable financial institution, either locally or internationally.
He, therefore, called for a retraction of the story that he had taken home GH¢1.88 million or US$1.3 million as his end-of-service package and demanded an apology for the embarrassment caused him.
A compensation and redundancy package document made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that the executive committee members of the bank were to be compensated as per Section 19 of the Contract of Service in case of reconstruction, merger or amalgamation, as they were not likely to be offered positions and terms as they currently enjoy.
According to the document, members of staff with 10 or more years of continuous service with the bank were to receive five months’ gross for each year served and pro rata, while those with less than 10 years’ service were to receive three months basic salary for each year served with pro rata.
“Where a staff is made to resign in such a way as to make him or her redundant, he or she shall continue to enjoy benefits such as medical, security and utilities for a period of one year, while staff affected by a redundancy exercise who had up to five years or less years remaining before attaining the statutory retirement age of 60 years, the bank would calculate and pay to the staff the pension contributions for those years,” the document said.
According to the document, there were two categories of people to be settled.
The first group comprises executive committee members, including the secretary of the bank, who are not expected to receive an amount not exceeding GH¢7.1 million.
The second group comprises heads of departments who are approximately 55 years and above, the idea being to give these people the opportunity to either opt to stay or take an early retirement.
An amount of GH¢2.67 million has been earmarked for the five people whose profiles had been provided.
These include Ms Leah Dickson, the Head of the Human Resource Management Department; Mr Emmanuel Obeng Adjei, Head, ICT and E-Banking; Mr Michael Yaw Barimah, Head, Foreign Operations; Mr Robert Danso-Boakye, Head, Credit Administration.
In all, according to the document, “the board approved, at its August, 2011 meeting, and adopted a resolution authorising the payment of GH¢9.8 million to the executive members and the five heads of departments who opted out of the merger”.

2012-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Parliament to reopen Jan 24

10/01/12, Page 12

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT reopens for the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Fifth Parliament on January 24, 2012.
According to a release signed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, the House will commence sitting at exactly 10.00 a.m. on the scheduled date.
“In pursuance of Article 112 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 37 of the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana, I, Rt Hon Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, Speaker of Parliament, hereby give notice that the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic will commence on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 10 O’clock in the forenoon at Parliament House, Accra.”
The fourth session, which ends in December this year will be the last session of this current Parliament.
The three meetings constituting the session promise to be a hectic one for Members of Parliament (MPs) whose attention would be divided towards their parliamentary duties and their campaign programmes for re-election.

2012-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Parliament under review

02/01/12 Page 13

Article: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

WHEN Parliament went on recess on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 for the Christmas festivities, the House ended the Third Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic and also the Third Meeting of the Fifth Parliament.
During the Third Session, that is, from January to December 2011, many issues came before the august House for deliberation and this piece is meant to take a retrospective look at some of the major happenings in Parliament over the period.
Even though the House passed a number of bills during the year, three that were remarkable and engaged the attention of both Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public were the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, the University of Energy and Natural Resources Bill and the University of Health and Allied Sciences Bill.
From the beginning of the First Meeting, the House was poised to pass the PRMB, since, though the country had started the production oil in December the previous year, there was no law in place to guide the management of revenue accruing from its sales.
The country, therefore, heaved a sigh of relieve when, after the bill had gone through a lot of amendment, it was finally passed on February 3, 2011.
However, those who followed the journey of the passage of the bill would recall that Clause Five on whether the country could use the oil as collateral or not became the bone of contention and a tug–of-war between the Majority and the Minority sides of the House.
In the end, as they say in parliamentary parlance, though the Minority had its say, the Majority had its way and the clause was amended to enable the country to use the oil as collateral.
The passage of the two bills for the establishment of the two public universities to be sited in the Brong Ahafo and the Volta regions did not meet with any difficulty from both sides of the House during the Third Meeting.
Parliament exercises its control over the country’s purse by approving loans contracted by the executive for development and the approval of budgets.
Well, during the year, the House approved a number of loan agreements, but two of such loans which attracted discussion both in the House and outside the House were the $3 billion Chinese loan and the $105,370,177 loan from the Brazil Development Bank for the purchase of the Ember 190 and related logistics support and the construction of one hangar.
Even though the House was on recess after the Second Meeting, the MPs were recalled to approve the $3 billion Chinese loan in August. After an intense five-day debate, the House approved the loan through a majority decision.
The $105,370,177 loan from the Brazil Development Bank, which was approved on July 20, 2011, also caught the attention of most Ghanaians.
The approval of the loan became an issue because the Minority used the occasion to pay the Majority back for opposing a similar loan facility for the purchase of the Presidential Jet when the current Minority was in government but in the end the loan was approved.
One issue that happened in Parliament and which cannot be forgotten was when the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, unceremoniously left the House during sitting on May 20, 2011.
Before she left, she accused the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, of taking an unco-operative stance.
The Speaker’s action followed her ruling that the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, should withdraw the word “chaotic” he had used to describe the atmosphere in the House that day.
But Mr Pelpuo dragged his feet over the apology.
What seemed to be the last straw was the attempt by Mr Avoka to defend the Mr Pelpuo and the circumstances in which he had used the word.
Mrs Bamford-Addo was, however, prevailed upon to return to preside over the day’s sitting by the leadership of the House.
On March 18, the MP for Afram Plains North, Mr Aboagye Didieye, made a bad name for himself when he was referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for describing MPs as womanisers during discussions on the ‘Dwaso Nsem’ show on Tema-based Adom FM.
The Second Deputy Speaker, Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye, took the decision when one MP raised the issue on the floor of the House, but the committee is yet to submit its findings to the House for a final decision to be taken on the MP.
The President’s sessional address on February 17 and the refusal of the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu to join the leadership of the House to usher the President out, as tradition demands, attracted a lot of discussions, with the Majority side demanding an apology and a possible referral to the Privileges Committee.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stood on his grounds and declared that he owed nobody any apology, describing the President’s address as divisive.
The high point during the Third Meeting of the Third Session was the presentation of the 2012 Budget to the House by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, on Wednesday, November 16, 2011.
The House took five weeks to scrutinise and approve the budget. While the Majority described the budget as an encompassing budget to fulfill the ‘Better Ghana Agenda’, the Minority described it as a recycled budget full of unfulfilled promises to deceive Ghanaians to vote for the NDC during the 2012 general elections.
All in all, Parliament had an eventful third session, a development which compelled the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, to state that the House “continues to deliver on its mandate”, albeit under difficult and challenging circumstances.
“I wish to thank the chairpersons of committees, ranking members and all members who have worked on bills, not forgetting the Winnowing Committee, of which my colleague the Minority Leader played an active role. I thank members of the committee for their commitment and industry in getting these bills processed and passed,” he said.
He admitted that there were still a number of bills before some committees and appealed to the leadership of those committees to endeavour to submit those bills to the House for deliberation so that they could be passed before the dissolution of Parliament next year.
These bills include the Presidential Transition Bill, the College of Education Bill, the Intestate Succession and the Property Rights of Spouses bills.
Even though he was happy that Ghana’s democracy was receiving praise around the world, he called on members of the House to guard the basic tenets of democracy jealously and called for respect for individual opinions and views in Parliaments.
For his part, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu reiterated the commitment of the Minority to co-operate with the Majority side to facilitate the implementation of government policies and called on the Majority side to reciprocate that gesture.
”We expect this to be reciprocated by the Majority as well. Oftentimes, some people get afflicted with the we-and-them, winner-takes-all mentality, but Parliament is an arm of government with its own system of operation,” he noted.
Both leaders commended the Speaker and her deputies, the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Anyimadu, and his deputies, staff of the Parliamentary Service and the Parliamentary Press Corps for discharging their duties effectively to ensure a successful end of the session.

Afriyie Akoto assist constituents

2011-02-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Feb 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

Education in the Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region has received a boost with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, using his share of a number of funds to provide 18 new classrooms for a number of schools within the last two years.
The cost of the projects, including eight renovated classrooms in 14 communities, is GH¢300,000.00. The funds include his share of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), Common Fund, HIPC special allocation from the Ministry of Education and funds raised from the private sector.
Dr Akoto told the Daily Graphic that he embarked on the projects, since he realised that low quality of education in basic schools in the constituency was due in part to large class sizes and a shift system arising from inadequate number of classrooms.
According to him, some classes in the constituency have over 100 pupils per class thereby forcing many schools to resort to the shift system.
The MP said he was concerned about the human resource development of the area, which is seen in the institution of a scholarship scheme which has benefited 34 students at various levels of education.
A total of GH¢11,789 had been spent on these awards from the MP’s share of the HIPC Funds.
Dr Akoto added that to empower women in the constituency, he had also instituted a scholarship scheme for young people to train in various vocations at the Methodist Women’s Training Centre at Kwadaso, which offers a three-year training in hairdressing, dressmaking, food and catering, batik and tie-dye, among other vocations.
So far, 33 young women has been offered a total of GH¢21,912.50 to pursue various vocations at the training centre.
On health, Dr Akoto stated that he was constructing two semi-detached bungalows to accommodate medical doctors of the only health facility in the constituency at Apatrapa at a cost of GH¢90,000.00 with funds from the National Health Insurance Fund.
In addition, to cater for the health needs of the deprived, the aged and the disabled in the constituency, the MP said he had paid the NHIS premiums for more than 120 people.
Touching on environment and sanitation, Dr Akoto said he had launched a major initiative involving the planting of a targeted 10,000 teak seedlings each year on school compounds in the constituency.
He explained that schoolchildren were made to adopt and care for two to three seedlings each time of planting (May/June) until the seedlings were rooted.
Dr Akoto said the current installation of street lights by the Kumasi Metropolitan Authority was an opportunity for the area to be lit up and he gave an assurance that he would make the necessary contacts to ensure that the constituency got it share of the programme.
The MP called for the tarring of roads in the area, particularly the town roads of Kwadaso, Tanoso, Asuoyeboah and all new sites of the constituency.
He said even though through his incessant appeals and lobbying, the road at Nsema had now been tarred and gave an assurance he would continue to work around the clock for the tarring of roads at Kessben and Apire.

GES urged to take over abandoned projects

2011-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Feb, 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Parliamentary Select Committee on Education has recommended to the Ministry of Education to take over abandoned or slow-pace projects which have been initiated by schools or communities, instead of starting new projects.
The committee said such a measure would be cost-effective at this crucial moment when expanded facilities were needed to accommodate students and curb overcrowding.
This was contained in a report of the committee after visiting some selected schools in the Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Volta regions last year.
The contents of the report was discussed at a stakeholders forum attended by regional ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and the two deputy ministers of the Ministry of Education, Mr J.S. Annan and Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, in Accra on Wednesday.
The committee’s recommendation were made as a result of some observations it made during the visit.
According to the report, members of the committee observed delays in the execution of projects, poor maintenance culture, over-enrolment of students, shoddy execution of projects, abandoned projects, lack of proper record and keeping of projects.
Other observations made were non-enforcement of contract agreements, delays in honouring approved certificates, poor collaboration between stakeholders of projects at all levels, lack of regular monitoring and execution of projects and over-enrolment of students resulting in pressure on use of the facilities provided, among others.
The committee, therefore, recommended to the sector ministry and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to prioritise projects and ensure completion of ongoing ones before the award of new ones to ensure timely completion and avoid overrun of projects.
It also called for the necessary transitional arrangements between incoming and outgoing governments to avoid instances where projects were halted for one reason or another when a new government takes over power.
“The committee believes that quality education is key to poverty reduction and national development and for that matter it should not be subjected to any form of political vendetta,” it said.
It also suggested that special funds should be set aside for the periodic maintenance of existing facilities in order to prolong their lifespan while heads of institutions should also be encouraged to undertake regular maintenance.
The reports said against the backdrop of the AESL consultants’ inability to live up to expectation since its establishment, “the committee is of the view that the current AESL role as supervisory body should be changed to that of a regulatory agent in the construction industry” so that it could regulate activities of private consultants.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Mathias A. Puozaa, who signed the report, expressed the hope that the Ministry of Education and the GETFund would take the necessary steps to address the identified bottlenecks to ensure value for money for projects being undertaken by the government in the various educational institutions.

Parliament approves three ministerial nominees

2011-02-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

Feb 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT has approved the nominations of three ministerial nominees who have been vetted by the Appointments Committee.
The nominees are Mr Clement Kofi Humado, Minister designate for Youth and Sports; Dr Kwasi Akyem Apea-Kubi, Eastern Regional Minister designate and Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister designate.
The Appointments Committee of Parliament, after vetting the nominees, unanimously recommended all of them to the House for approval.
Commenting on the nomination of Mr Homado as the Minister of Youth and Employment, the Ranking Member on Youth and Sports, Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah, urged him to take note that he was the fourth person to be appointed by President Mills to take charge of the ministry.
He, therefore, urged him to be extra vigilant in order to remain in that position for the rest of the two years of the Mills’ administration.
He also drew Mr Humado’s attention to the ban that had been imposed on Ghana by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and advised him to work around the clock to ensure that the ban was lifted soon.
On the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Mr Asiamah reminded the minister designate of allegations of sexual harassment and the alleged sale of forms by some officials to some prospective beneficiaries.
For his part, the MP for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, commended the three nominees for their composure and demeanour during the vetting exercise and expressed the hope that they would carry such positive attributes to their respective assigned areas.
When he caught the eye of the Speaker, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also complained about the huge amount of money paid to foreign coaches, who abandon the team soon after achieving laurels.
He suggested that the country should poach up-and-coming coaches instead of paying so much for coaches purporting to have achieved a lot in international football.
The Member of Parliament for Shai/Osudoku, Mr David Tettey-Assumeng, expressed the hope that the three ministers would achieve results in their respective areas.
He asked the minister designate for Youth and Sports to take proper care of the National Youth Council, which he said was using obsolete machines such as typewriters in this era of computer.
While urging Mr Humado to be extra cautious in his dealings at his ministry, he complained about too much partisanship and urged him not to create antagonism.

Par 215m dollar lon

2011-02-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Feb 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday approved a $215 million development financing agreement between the government and the International Development Association (IDA) for the seventh Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC-7).
The credit is to support government’s efforts at enhancing budgetary discipline and tackling long-standing public sector and energy issues, protecting the poor and preparing for the oil era.
It is designed to bring the fiscal deficit of GDP ratios to sustainable levels in 2011.
The Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) and the Ghana Aid Policy and Strategy for the period 2011-2015 reiterate the need for continued Official Development Assistance (ODA) and budget support.
According to the report of the Finance Committee of Parliament, signed by its Chairman, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, since the flow of oil revenue could prompt the nation’s development partners to reduce their ODA support to Ghana, the government was of the view that continued support would be needed in the first few years of oil production to provide additional funds to supplement oil and other revenues.
A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Tekpeh, moved the motion for the approval of the loan and he was seconded by Mr Avedzi.
The committee, in its report, observed that the entire credit would be withdrawn in a single tranche and that all tranche release conditions had been met by the government.
It added that the PRSC-7 facility would contribute to increased productivity, food security, accelerated economic growth and reduction in poverty.
In a related development, the Japanese government has made available for immediate disbursement an equivalent of $4.1 million to support Ghana’s budget for the 2011 financial year, reports Samuel Doe Ablordeppey.
All documentary and legal arrangements have been concluded and Ghana only needs to provide bank account details for the disbursing agency, the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), for the funds to be transferred in about a month’s time.
The grant is part of a Multi-Donor Budgetary Support (MDBS), a harmonised framework by which 11 of the country’s development partners contribute varying amounts of grants and concessionary credit to finance Ghana’s strategic objectives and priorities set out in the medium-term development plan, the GSGDA 2011-2013.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, who signed the grant on behalf of Ghana, said the assistance demonstrated the solidarity and sustained support of the government and people of Japan towards the realisation of Ghana’s vision of attaining a better Ghana.
“This is yet another manifestation of the cordial bilateral relations that happily exist between the governments and the peoples of Ghana and Japan,” he said.
He announced that discussions were underway for Japan to provide another $2.4 million to support Ghana’s health sector programme for this year, stressing that that amply showed how committed Japan was to the progress and prosperity of Ghana.
The Foreign Minister recalled that last year Japan supported Ghana with $31.2 million and thanked the people of Japan for their continued generosity and assistance.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Keiichi Katakami, who initialled the grant agreement on behalf of his country, said the facility would go to support the execution of Ghana’s medium-term development blueprint which spans 2011 to 2013.
Japan joined the MDBS framework in 2008 and this grant marks its fourth for the country after Ghana reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
“I strongly believe that Japan’s contribution to the MDBS will assist the government of Ghana to accelerate its implementation of the national development agenda, which includes the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially in the year of action,” Mr Katakami stated.

Jewel

2011-02-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Feb 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
A 40-year-old staff member of the Parliamentary Service, Mr Jewel Joseph Annan, has announced that he will contest the forthcoming NPP primaries in the Gomoa East Constituency.
He was a unit committee member, assembly member and the district chief executive of the Gomoa East District Assembly during the second term of the Kufuor administration.
That, according to him, had enabled him to gain more experience to lead the NPP to wrest the Gomoa East seat from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2012 general election.
Apart from these credentials, Mr Annan was the chairman of the Ojobi/Fetteh Area Council in 2007.
“I am well positioned to articulate and champion the aspirations of the people”, he told the Daily Graphic.
He said the 2008 election was the first time that the Danquah-Busia tradition had lost power and attributed the loss to a number of factors including the unpopular candidate the NPP fielded for the contest.
Mr Annan said he had not disappointed the people in all the positions he had held in the Gomoa East area and appealed to the NPP delegates in the constituency to give him their mandate, He also promised to win all floating votes.
The ex-DCE is a product of the Institute of Professional Studies, University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast.
He holds a Master’s degree and post-graduate certificates from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
Mr Annan said he had short-term, medium-term and long-term vision for the Gomoa District.
He expressed the hope that he would be able to propose over 149 private member bills on a wide range of issues including sandwinning, sustainable fishing practices, education, health, political parties reorganisation, salt-winning, farming, trading, industrial democracy and human resource development, should he eventually win the seat.
As a staff member of the Parliamentary Service, Mr Annan has worked with 14 parliamentary committees since 1996.

Reporter urged to be abreast with parliamentary rules

2011-02-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

Feb 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh has charged journalists covering Parliament to be abreast with rules and procedures in the House.
He said since parliamentary reporting was a specialised field, journalists who covered the House would be able to educate and inform the people only when they themselves made efforts to have the rules and procedures governing the operations of the House on the tips of their fingers.
Mr Tetteh was addressing a workshop organised by Parliament for selected members of the Parliamentary Press Corps at Dodowa under the theme “Effective media coverage for sustainable parliamentary democracy”.
The two-day workshop was used to discuss and fine-tune a guideline which had been developed to assist journalists covering Parliament in their reportage.
Mr Tetteh also called on editors of the various media houses to refrain from frequently changing their parliamentary reporters since keeping them in the House for a longer period would improve their output.
The Director of Public Affair of Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu said Parliament considered the Press Corps as a critical component and would work hard to improve on the skills of members of the corps.
He commended executives of the corps for putting in mechanisms to ensure a vibrant group of parliamentary reporters.
In his welcoming address, the Dean of the Parliamentary Press, Mr Andrew Edwin Arthur stated that parliamentary reporting was a specialised field requiring professionally trained journalists who would bring professionalism to bear on their work.
“It will surprise you to know that some of the current crop of members of the press corps have backgrounds like secretarial, stenography, teaching, while some are trained pastors with others not being able to disclose how they trained to become journalists,” he said.
He said that and other factors had contributed in no small measure to the wrong reportage that had in most cases dragged the good name of the press corps in the mud.
Mr Arthur said it was therefore a welcome news that Parliament and the press corps were both looking for ways of improving the quality and standards of parliamentary reporting.

Airtel still records fraudlent numbers-Haruna

2011-02-20T09:22:00.000-08:00

Feb, 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

DESPITE the success in the National Communication Authority’s (NCA) effort to reduce fraud on the networks of telecommunication companies operating in the country, Airtel, formerly called Zain, is still recording fraudulent numbers on its network, the Minister of Communications, Mr Iddrisu Haruna, has revealed.
According to him, in the first 20 days of the year alone, 3,469 fraud numbers constituting 95 per cent of total fraud numbers had already been terminated on the Airtel’s network.
The minister made these revelations when he appeared before Parliament yesterday to answer a question posed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ahafo-Ano North, Mr Richard Akuoko Adiyia.
The MP wanted to know the status of the installation of the Intelligence Signalling Management System on the International gateways of the telecom operators in the country.
Between June, last year and January 20, this year a total of 64,855 fraud numbers were detected on the networks of the five telecom operators, namely Vodafone, Tigo, MTN, Airtel and Expresso (Kasapa) with Airtel alone recording a total of 32,294.
Mr Haruna said the ministry had thus instructed the NCA to assist Airtel to remedy the situation.
He explained that the NCA had commenced the installation of the Intelligence Signalling Management System (SIM Box Fraud Tool) to verify Call Data Records (CDRs) of the networks of the telecom operators to promote transparency in the management of the international gateways, among others.
According to him, the Electronic Communications Act, as amended, empowers the NCA to establish mechanisms and institute measures to monitor compliance by the telecom networks.
He said the installation exercise was stalled as a result of the court action initiated in July 2010 by the Alliance for Accountable Government (AFAG) seeking relief that the exercise would not intrude into private conversations.
The minister said even though AFAG graciously withdrew the court action after appreciating the need to eliminate illegal SIM Box termination in the country, three other Ghanaians subsequently filed another action in court.
Mr Haruna said notwithstanding these impediments, the NCA was currently relying on the voluntary declaration of call volumes to invoice the telecom operators for the payment of government’s portion of termination rate as provided in the law.
He added that within six months of the implementation and relying solely on voluntary submission of CDRs, a total of $30 million had been generated as non-tax revenue contribution to the government while the number of SIM cards had been reduced from 12,440 in October, 2010 to 3,506 as of January 20, 2011.
Mr Haruna said the escalating fraudulent numbers on the networks of the telecom operators constituted loss of revenue to the companies and the government.
He explained that the anti-fraud exercise of the NCA had also led to the arrest of two illegal operators and the seizure of 8,792 SIM cards, which if they were used would had led to an estimated revenue loss of $500,000 per month with the government losing up to $100,000 per month in tax/levy collection.

Darkoman Circle road to be tarred

2011-02-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

Jan 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
The TARRING of the Darkuman Circle Station Junction- Atopra road, in the Ablekuma North Constituency in the Greater Accra Region is expected to be completed by March, this year, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu has disclosed.
The 1.3 kilometre project was awarded on contract in 2010.
The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North, Mr Joe Appiah had posed a question on the floor of Parliament wanting to know when the road would be tarred as it was a busy and major road that linked Odorkor Official Town and Kwashieman.
The MP also wanted the ministry to consider tarring the Buame access road and drains to be constructed on both sides of the road.
Mr Gidisu gave the assurance that other works apart from the one currently under construction would be considered subject to the availability of funds.
For his part, the MP for Sunyani East, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh wanted to know what plans the ministry had put in place to continue with the tarring of the Sunyani town roads especially the Nkwabeng, Tonsuom Estate, New Dormaa, Penkwase, Abonsuam and Zongo.
Replying, Mr Gidisu explained that the road network in the three communities covered about 35 kilometres of the entire road network in Sunyani.
He said the contractor executing the bituminous surfacing works on the roads abandoned the project in January, 2010 after executing 20 per cent of the project.
According to him, warning letters were written to the contractor, the last of which was in September, 2010, adding that a recommendation had been made to the Sunyani Municipal Tender Review Board for the repackaging of the remaining works for re-award.

Parliament sets up committee to investigate district election

2011-02-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Jan 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT has set up a 20-member committee to investigate issues surrounding the difficulties of the Electoral Commission (EC) in conducting the originally announced December 28, 2010 District Assembly and Unit Committee elections.
The ad-hoc committee comprises 10 MPs from each side of the House, with the NDC MP for Garu-Tempane, Mr Dominic Azimbe Azumah, as its chairman and Professor George Yaw Gyan-Baffour, NPP MP for Wenchi as the vice chairman.
Other members of the committee are Alhaji Abukari Sumani (Tamale North); Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah (Ho East); Mr Haruna Bayirga (Sissala West); Mr Sampson Ahi (Juabeso); Mr Stephen Kunsu (Kintampo North); Mr Fritz Baffour (Ablekuma South); Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak (Asawase); Mr Aquinas Quansah (Mfantseman West) and Mr Joseph Sam Amankwanor (Upper West Akim), all of the NDC.
The NPP MPs in the committee are Mr Joseph Kwaku Nayan, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Manhyia), Mr Dominic Nitiwul (Bimbilla), Mr Joe Ghartey (Essikado/Ketan), Mr John Agyabeng (Agona East), Ms Irene Naa Toshie Addo (Tema West), Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah (Aburi-Nsawam) and Mr Godfried Bayon Tangu (Wa East).
The committee is also to investigate any other matters related to the elections and make recommendations to the House to forestall the recurrence of challenges that characterised the recent district level elections in future.
The committee is to report its findings to the House in a month’s time.
The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka presented the report of the Committee of Selection of the House on behalf of the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, who is its chairman.
In his comments, Mr Avoka reiterated that Parliament was not out to investigate the EC but rather issues that led to the postponement of the elections.
Commenting on the report before its approval, the deputy Minority Leader, Mr Ambrose Dery explained that the work of the committee would enhance the country’s credentials as a beacon of democracy.

MPs must seek approval before leaving House

2011-02-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

Jan. 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, today ruled that Members of Parliament (MPs) should seek and obtain permission before leaving the House to perform other duties outside the chamber.
The matter arose when the Chairman of the Health Committee of the House, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, informed the speaker that although members of the committee were outside the chamber on Tuesday and Wednesday attending a committee sitting, they had all be marked absent.
He argued that since the members were outside the House to consider bills referred to them by the Speaker, they should be marked for being absent with permission.
But before the Speaker could give a reply to the request of the MP, the majority leader informed the House that he was aware of the meeting of the committee since members were not granted permission.
“Madam Speaker, even though the Chairman of the committee informed me about the meeting, I told him to re-arrange the meeting due to the workload on the floor of the House, but he did not heed to my advice,” he said.
Although some MPs argued that by convention they did not need a reply once they had written for permission to perform duties outside Parliament, Mr Avoka explained that individual requests should not be confused with committee requests since committee requests to work outside the chamber had financial implications.
When he caught the eye of the Speaker, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, quoted aspects of Standing Order 15 and 16 of the House and said that although individual MPs and committees were required to seek and obtain permission, committees and individual MPs to proceed on their missions once a request had been made.
He explained that it was only the Speaker who could grant permission to committees and individual MPs to perform parliamentary business outside the House, arguing that “that power does not lie in the bosom of neither the majority leader nor the minority leader”.
In the ensuing debate, Alhaji Muntaka explained that it was not entirely true that he trampled on the advice of the majority leader for the health committee to sit outside the House to consider the bills referred to it by the Speaker.
He stated that although he tried to see Mr Avoka last Friday for the matter to be concluded before he embarked on the mission, it was not possible for him to see the leader and that since arrangements had already been made, it was impossible to have abandoned the meeting.
In her ruling, Mrs Bamford-Addo said it was important for both committees and individual MPs who put in a request to perform duties outside the Chamber to wait until they had been granted permission before they leave.

Politicians advised to avoid falsehood

2011-02-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

Jan 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Bunkprugu Yunyoo, Mr Emmanuel Kwame Duut has called on politicians to do away with falsehood but rather strive to become agents of peace.
He said using the media to spread falsehoods about leaders, clans and tribes were tendencies that drew the society backward.
Addressing the 35th Bimoba Students Congress, the MP said it was a shame that the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo District with the highest literate population in the Northern Region had become popular because of conflicts .
“We need to wake up to the call for peace in truthfulness and honesty to re-install the befitting dignity and respect worthy of civilised society”, he said.
Giving an account of his stewardship, Mr Duut said he had donated 10 packets of roofing sheets to two secondary schools in the area, 800 dual desks for basic schools, paid school fees for 33 students from the area in the various tertiary institutions and had sourced for funds from the GETFund for the construction of classroom blocks at Bufak, Kpentaug and Gbingbani.
On the health sector, the MP indicated that he rehabilitated the Gbingbani Health centre and the Yunyoo Nauk Clinics and acquired an ambulance for the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo Health service last year.
Mr Duut stated that upon becoming the MP for the area, he had acquired 30 sewing machines for some selected women to undertake apprenticeship training programmes to become self employed.
In addition, the MP said he had sponsored a batik tie -dye programme for women groups in Nakpadur organised by the district community development office.
He explained that all these projects and programmes were undertaken with funds from his share of the various funds.
Mr Duut said the government had kept its word to the people by embarking on a number of projects to improve on the living conditions of the people.
He mentioned projects such as the ongoing construction of a bridge over the konchian-Gberuk River, the continuation of the Self-Help Electrification projects at Kpemale, Garijuar, Bimbagu, Binde, Najong No 1 and 2 and Jilig .
Mr Duut said this year 18 more communities would be connected to the national grid under the Northern Electrification Programme while the Bunkprugu town roads would be given a facelift.
He said aside these projects, the government allocated over 20 projects through the district assembly, which were at various stages of completion and were spread all over the district.

Rehabilitate the Denu-Aflao trunk road — Ziga

2011-02-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Jan 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Mr Albert Ziga, has called on the Ministry of Roads and Highways to design short-term measures to rehabilitate the Denu-Aflao trunk road to ensure that it is motorable.
He said that the road had deteriorated to the extent that people in the area could not wait for the long-term arrangement to dualise the road, which is a segment of the ECOWAS Trans-Atlantic Trunk Road project.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the MP said if no interim measure was adopted to correct defects on the road before the rainy season set in, it would be difficult for vehicles using the road to reach their destinations.
“It will not be fair for the people in the area to use such a bad road if nothing was done before the rainy season, which occurs in the area between March and August,” he said.
Mr Ziga said the strategic position of the Aflao border, which was the busiest border in the sub-region and had been exceeding its revenue targets over the years, called for an urgent measure to rehabilitate the road.
“I believe that because of the strategic importance of the road to the country’s economy, it requires immediate attention,” he said, explaining that vehicles from the sub-region, from as far as the Central Africa Republic, use the Denu-Aflao road as their gateway to Ghana.
The MP further explained that what had made matters worse was the fact that roads such as the Keta-Accra Highway, Agozume-Accra Highway and Dzodze-Accra Highway join the Denu-Aflao stretch and thus put much pressure on the deteriorating road.
“Residents of Denu and Aflao and their environs, especially businessmen and shopkeepers living along that stretch of the road have to use nose masks to avoid dust and its associated health hazards,” the MP lamented.
He stated that for the past 30 years, successive governments had maintained the road only through spot improvements, adding that currently that stretch of the road “is completely dead.”
Mr Ziga wondered why roads at the country’s entry points at Elubo and Paga were in excellent conditions while that of Aflao had been left to deteriorate since 2009.
He called on the Ministry of Roads and Highways “to sit up since the people in the area would not be able to accommodate such a deplorable road, especially between March and August when the area experiences torrential rainfall.”
In a related development, Mr Ziga has presented an ultra-sound machine, valued at GH¢11,000, to the Ketu District Hospital.
The machine, which was purchased from the MPs share of the Health Fund, would be used to screen patients, especially expectant mothers who had to travel outside the area for such service.
In addition, the MP is to construct four health posts at Huime, Anoenu, Wudoaba and Glidzi, all within the constituency, from his share of the fund while the Adina Clinic was also being rehabilitated.
On the education sector, the MP told the Daily Graphic that about 100 students in the constituency were offered scholarships last year.

Upgrade roads in Effiduase-Asokore—Agyen

2011-02-20T09:12:00.000-08:00

Jan ,2011

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase Asokore in the Ashanti Region, Mr Frank Boakye Agyen, has appealed to the government to upgrade roads in the area to facilitate the evacuation of cocoa and food crops to marketing centres.
He said the government had to reciprocate the sweat and toil of cocoa farmers in the area by upgrading the entire road network to ensure easy transportation.
Mr Agyen made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic after posing a question on the floor of Parliament about the state of the road network in his constituency.
He wanted to ascertain from the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, when the road from Dwansa through Seniagya and Effiduase to Mampong, which serves as a diversion from Kumasi towards the northern parts of the country, will be constructed.
In addition, he also wanted to know from the minister when the Effiduase-Asamang, Nkwankwaanua-Senchi and Effiduase-Ntumkumso roads would be bituminised.
Answering the question, Mr Gidisu stated that sections of the Dwansa-Seniagya-Effiduase-Mampong road had already been upgraded while efforts were being made to upgrade the remaining sections.
He explained that first 12 kilometres of the 28-kilometre Juansa-Effiduase road had been awarded on contract for upgrading into a bituminous surface while the kilometre 21-18 would be programmed for upgrading later.
Mr Gidisu assured the MP that the gravel section of the seven-kilometre Effiduase-Asamang route had been programmed to receive routine maintenance under the 2011 programme within the first quarter of the year.
On the 11-kilometre Nkwankwaanua-Senchi road, the minister stated that five kilometres of the road had been awarded on contract, adding that even though the project was awarded in April 2007 for completion by December, 2009, progress so far stood at 36 per cent.
Mr Gidisu said the contractor had been warned to expedite progress or risk the termination of the contract.
When it was the turn of the MP for Abirem, Ms Esther Obeng-Dappah, he asked the minister when the bridge connecting Pankese and Bramkrom would be constructed to ensure easy transportation.
Mr Gidisu told the House that a contract was awarded in August, 2004 for the construction of a 30-metre span steel bridge but explained that the contract had been terminated due to poor performance of the contractor.
He assured the House that the outstanding work was repackaged and re-awarded on contract in April, 2010 but the new contractor was yet to commence work.
For his part, the MP for Ablekuma North, Mr Joe Appiah, wanted to know when the Owusu Kofi road at Darkuman in his constituency would be tarred.
Mr Gidisu told the House that the two-kilometre road was awarded on contract for tarring in 2009 at a total cost of GH¢188,000, adding that the tarring of the road was completed earlier this month.

Parliament approves loan for Nsawam Water Project

2011-02-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Jan, 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT has approved a 10 million euro Belgian loan to improve on the supply of water to the people of Nsawam and its environs.
Even though Nsawam is in the Eastern Region, parts of its immediate environs which are in the Greater Accra Region will benefit from the improvement of water supply to Nsawam.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Aburi-Nsawam, Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, told a cross-section of the people of Nsawam that work on improving water supply to the area, which would begin soon, would be completed in two years. He was briefing them on decsions of the House during 2010 Christmas break.
He said Nsawam is a major commercial centre with many businesses which were contributing to the country’s economy.
Mr Amoah said since the municipality was one of the nearest to Accra, many people who worked in Accra resided there, thereby putting a lot of pressure on the limited facilities there.
He said there was, therefore, the need for the government to improve on social amenities in the municipality to enable it to cope up with the influx of people.
The MP called for measures to ensure that work on improving water supply to the area was completed on scheduled when it began.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a stakeholders’ meeting tomorrow for discussions on the blasting of rocks at Sakyikrom by the China Railway Company Limited which is working on portions of the Accra-Kumasi Highway.
According to Mr Amoah, residents of Sakyikrom, which is in his constituency, had complained about the nuisance associated with the blasting activities.
He said according to investigations carried out by the EPA, serious damage had been caused to buildings located in the immediate neighbourhood of the project and that an earlier meeting involving the EPA, the contractor and the residents could not resolve the issue.
Mr Amoah, therefore, called for measures to resolve the matter in order not to put the lives of the people in the community in danger.

NPP must intensify campaign towards 2012

2011-02-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

Jan, 2011
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Techimantia
THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano South in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Andrew Adjei-Yeboah, has urged supporters of the party to intensify their preparations toward wresting power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2012 elections.
“We don’t have to wait for next year before intensifying our campaign”, the MP said and called on the party’s officials at the grassroot to adopt strategies to educate the people about the good works of the NPP during its eight years in government.
Mr Adjei-Yeboah, who was addressing members of the party at Techimantia in the Tano South District, however stressed that the NPP would be able to kick NDC out of office only if there was unity among its rank and file.
“”Let us close our ranks and resolve not to bite ourselves. Our energies should be directed towards dethroning the NDC and not to fight among ourselves”.
The MP said recent events in the country gave clear indications of the fact that Ghanaians made a wrong choice during the 2008 general elections since the NDC had shown that it lacked ideas and strategies to improve on the lives of the people. Mr Adjei-Yeboah said the NPP did very well during its administration and urged the supporters not to feel shy to propagate such good policies in order to win more people to the party’s side.
Turning to development projects in the constituency, the MP said he had been able to use his share of the various funds to bring about development in the area.
He mentioned the construction of clinics and a 200-capacity girls’ hostel and a bungalow for the housemistress of the Techimantia Presbyterian Secondary/Technical School.
Mr Adjei-Yeboah said it was unfortunate that work on a number of road projects started by the NPP administration had come to a halt and stressed that it was wrong for social amenities to be distributed on political lines.
“I have not discriminated in the provision of infrastructure and scholarships during my tenure of office”, he said and called on the Tano South District Assembly to be fair in the distribution of social amenities.
The MP thanked the people for their continued support for him and wished them a prosperous New Year promising to continue to serve them in humility.
The Chairman of the Tano South Constituency of the NPP, Mr Asare Antwi, said all efforts were being made to ensure that the party retained the Tano South seat and urged other executives in other constituencies where NDC MPs were occupying the seats to work hard to wrest such seats.
The Constituency Organiser, Mr Kwabena Adjei, urged polling station chairmen in the area to start organising programmes in their units since it was through such programmes that they would be able to win more supporters for the party.

Petroleum Bill set to be passed Tuesday

2011-02-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

Dec, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, which is at its consideration stage of passage, is expected to be passed by Tuesday before Parliament breaks for the Christmas festivities on Wednesday, December, 22, 2010.
But the House has to cross the hurdle of dealing with about 200 amendments before the passage of the bill will see the light of the day.
Originally, the House was expected to rise on Tuesday, December, 21, but when the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka presented the Business Statement (programme) for next week, he informed the House that the Business Committee had decided to push the date forward because of the volume of work the House had to consider before rising.
Some of the amendments, which had been tagged as controversial are expected to delay the passage of the bill since both sides of the House are expected to adopt entrenched positions.
They include clause 17, which deals with the Petroleum Development Fund.
The Minority is seeking to amend that clause to ensure that revenue accrued from the sales of the oil was not put into the Consolidated Fund but kept separately for specific projects.
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu is also seeking to amend Clause 19 of the bill to ensure that “in presenting the normal budget, which should be funded from the traditional revenue sources, the Minister responsible for Finance shall annually present to Parliament for approval,a programme of investment activities to be funded from the Petroleum Development Fund”.
What will also be crucial is the amendment proposed by four NPP MPs seeking for 10 per cent of the petroleum revenue to be set aside for the development of the Western Region.
The MPs, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah,Takoradi, Mr Dominic Nitiwil, Bimbilla, Mrs Gifty Kusi, Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Manhyia are seeking to include the contents of the petition presented to Parliament by the Western Regional House of Chiefs into the bill.
Other bills expected to be passed by the House before rising include the Customs and Excise (Duties and other taxes) (Amendment) Bill, 2010, the Debt Recovery (Tema Oil Refinery Company) Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2010, the Internal Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2010, the National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2010, the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and the Airport Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2010.

Biometric register for 2012 elections

2011-02-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Front page, Dec 20, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE current voters register is to be replaced with a biometric (electronic) one which will be used for the 2012 general election.
The process, according to the Electoral Commission (EC), would involve the electronic installation of names, pictures and thumbprints of prospective voters, all estimated to cost GH¢80 million.
This was revealed in the report of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament on the 2011 budget estimates for the EC signed by the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, who is also the Chairman of the committee.
The estimated GH¢80 million will have to be dealt with as a separate budget because it is not captured in the 2011 budget, even though the EC submitted it to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP).
The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has given assurance that funds will be made available to the EC for that important national exercise to move from the manual to the biometric collection of electoral data.
For 2011, the EC is seeking to replace the voters register for the 2012 elections, sensitise civil society and the public to the electoral process and continue with its human resource capacity building and infrastructural development to achieve its objectives.
On the district level elections, the report said the committee was informed that about GH¢67 million would be required for the conduct of the elections, out of which GH¢33 million had already been released to the EC.
But the report said the committee was informed that the revision of the electoral areas might reduce the initial budget by about GH¢12 million, leaving an outstanding amount of GH¢22 million.
It added that GH¢19 million out of the outstanding GH¢22 million was currently being processed by the Finance Ministry for release, while Dr Duffuor had assured the committee that the balance of GH¢3 million would be made available.
On office accommodation, the report said the EC was enjoined by Act 451 of the 1992 Constitution to establish its offices in all the regions and districts to ensure that all electoral materials were properly stored and secured.
The committee, in its report to the House on the 2010 budget estimates of the EC, informed the House that most of the EC’s district offices were in rented premises.
The report said even though the commission started work on some regional and district offices, it was unfortunate that its allocation for investments had been on the decline for the past three years.
An amount of GH¢842,259 was allocated for the commission for investment in 2009, GH¢796,000 for 2010 and GH¢398,000 for 2011.
It said the committee expressed worry over the trend and noted that the situation would seriously affect the EC’s programme to provide permanent office accommodation in all the districts.
“The committee reiterates its previous recommendation that MoFEP should provide the EC with the necessary funds to enable it to provide permanent office accommodation in all regions and districts,” it said.
The House approved GH¢25,399,946 for the EC for its activities for 2011.

Budget targets not

2011-02-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Dec, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minority in Parliament has responded to the 2011 Financial Statement and Budget of the government which was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour, and indicated that almost all the targets for 2009 and 2010 were not achieved.
The Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, who opened the debate on the budget on Wednesday, stated that “I am afraid that the performance of the economy for 2010 has been worse than anticipated.”
Supporting his argument with statistics, he stated that in 2010, the targeted real Gross Domestic Product growth of 6.5 per cent was missed, with the government obtaining 5.9??? per cent.
“Mr Speaker, on the basis of statistics, we are tempted to emulate Steve Mallory of Africa Watch Magazine to give Grade F to the economic managers of the economy,” he said, explaining that given the positive external economic developments, with respect to gold and cocoa prices, what was required was complementary domestic policies to assure targets set were achieved.
Dr Osei said since the targets were not achieved, it would stand to reason that the domestic policies pursued worked to overweigh the positive impact of the external development.
He contended that the new arrears of some GH¢3.2 billion for 2010 indicated that on a commitment basis deficit exceeded 23 per cent of the GDP and could be as high as 26 per cent.
Dr Osei wondered how economists would characterise an economy with a deficit of over 23 per cent of GDP and stock of arrears of GH¢4.6 billion.
He said with the government not paying its bills, it was not surprising that it could boast of accumulating Gross International Reserves of about $3.9 billion, adding that over 60 per cent of the gross reserves were on the back of debt owed to workers and contractors.
Dr Osei said after moving from a HIPC country under the NPP administration, Ghana was slowly heading back to a HIPC country.
Contributing to the debate, the Majority Spokesperson on Finance, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, debunked the assertion of the Minority and said that under the NDC two-year administration, a lot had been achieved.
He said the NDC had been able to put the economy on the right footing resulting in the reduction of inflation from 18.9 to 9.3 per cent.
He said even though GDP growth across the sub-Saharan Africa was an average of two per cent, Ghana’s achievement of 4.9??? per cent was good.
Mr Avedzi said under the NDC government, the budget deficit had been reduced from the 14.9 per cent it inherited to 8.8 per cent while three out of the four criteria required by the West African Monetary Zone had been achieved.
He said the government had to build on the stabilised economy and achieved the 12.3 targeted growth for 2011.
Mr Avedzi defended the tax elements as contained in the 2011 budget and stated that it was not proper for any country to depend on grants and loans without raising taxes internally.
For his part, the Member of Parliament for Sunyani West and Deputy Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, said with less than two years, the NDC had moved the country’s debts from $8.5 billion to $11.5 billion besides the STX deal.
He criticised the government for the numerous taxes it had introduced in the 2011 budget and said that that would not augur well, especially for the tourism sector.
The Majority Spokesperson on Energy and Mines, Mr Moses Asaga, said the government had been able to put in a lot of measure to ensure the smooth running of the oil and gas sector contrary to speculation that the NDC would not be able to handle the sector.
Meanwhile, the House, on Wednesday, paid glowing tribute to farmers in the country for their efforts to ensure economic growth.
The MPs were contributing to a statement made by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu, on the upcoming Farmers’ Day celebration.
In the statement, Dr Yakubu noted that despite efforts by the government, there was still more to be done for Ghanaian farmers.
He enumerated them to include the provision of rural infrastructure, delivery of appropriate production technologies and the attainment of a proactive agricultural governance system.
“All these require more investment in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan,” he said.

Minority on 2011 budget

2011-02-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

Dec, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minority in Parliament has responded to the 2011 Financial Statement and Budget of the government presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour and indicated that almost all the targets for 2009 and 2010 were not achieved.
The Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei who opened the debate on the budget today stated that “I am afraid that then performance of the economic for 2010 has been worse than anticipated”.
Supporting his argument with statistics, he stated that in 2010, the targeted real Gross Domestic Product growth 6.5 per cent was missed with the government obtaining 5.9 per cent.
“Mr Speaker, on the basis of statistics, we are tempted to emulate Steve Mallory of Africa Watch Margazine to give grade f to the economic managers of the economy”, he said explaining that given the positive external economic developments, with respect to gold and cocoa prices, what was required was complementary domestic policies to assure targets set were achieved.
Dr Osei said since the targets were not achieved, it would stand to reason that the domestic policies pursued worked to overweigh the positive impact of the external development.
He contended that the new arrears of some GHC 3.2 billion for 2010 indicated that on a commitment basis deficit exceeded 23 per cent of the GDP and could be as high as 26 per cent.
Dr Osei wondered how economists would characterize an economy with a deficit of over 23 per cent of GDP and stock of arrears of GHC 4.6 billion.
He said with the government not paying its bills it was not surprising that it could boast of accumulating Gross International Reserves of about $3.9 billion, adding that over 60 per cent of the gross reserves were on the back of debt owed to workers and contractors.
Dr Osei said after moving from a HIPC country under the NPP administration, Ghana was slowly heading back to a HIPC country.
Contribute to the debate, the Majority Spokesperson on Finance; Mr James Klutse Avedzi debunked the assertion of the Minority and said that under the NDC two-year administration, a lot had been achieved.
He said the NDC had been able to put the economy on the right resulting in the reduction of inflation from 18.9 to 9.3 per cent.
He said even though GDP growth across the sub-Saharan Africa was an average of two per cent, Ghana’s achievement of 4.9 per cent was good.
Mr Avedzi said under the NDC government, the budget deficit had been reduced from the 14.9 per cent it inherited to 8.8 per cent while three out of the four criteria required by the West African Monetary Zone had been achieved.
He said the government had to build on the stabilized economy and achieved the 12.3 targeted growth for 2011.
Mr Avedzi defended the tax elements as contained in the 2011 budget and stated that it was not proper for any country to depend on grants and loans without raising taxes internally.
For his part, the Member of Parliament for Sunyani West and Deputy Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah said with less than two year, the NDC had moved the country’s debts from $8.5 billion to $11.5 billion besides the STX deal.
He criticized the government for the numerous taxes it had introduced in the 2011 budget and said that that would not augur especially for the tourism sector.
The Majority Spokesperson on Energy and Mines, Mr Moses Asaga said the government had been able to put in a lot of measure to ensure the smooth running of the oil and gas sector contrary to speculation that the NDC would not be able to handle the sector.
Meanwhile the House today paid glowing tribute to farmers in the country for the efforts to ensure economic growth.
The MPs were contributing to a statement made by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Dr Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu on the upcoming Farmers’ Day celebration.
In the statement, Dr Yakubu noted that despite efforts by the government, there was still more to be done for Ghanaian farmers.
He enumerated them to include the provision of rural infrastructure, delivery of appropriate production technologies and the attainment of a proactive agricultural governance system.
“All these require more investment in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan”, he said.

Parliament discusses Heritage Fund clause

2011-02-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Nov, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah1

THE varied opinions expressed by members of the Joint Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy at the committee level on some aspects of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill was carried onto the floor of the House when the proposed Heritage Fund came up for discussion at the Consideration Stage of the bill.
While some members argued strongly that the amount set aside as Heritage Fund for future use should be used now for infrastructure development for the benefit of future generation, others were of the opinion that since petroleum is a finite product, there was the need for the fund to be set up.
In the end, however, the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s suggestion that the clause dealing with the fund should be stood down for further consultations, in view of varied opinions on the floor was supported by his colleague the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka.
In his submission earlier, Mr Cletus Avoka did not mince words when he stated his opposition to the Heritage Fund as is presently contained in the Bill.
“Mr Speaker, it will not be wrong for the present generation to utilise the fund for development projects for the use of the future generation”, he argued.
He cited the various development projects, such as the Job 600, Parliament House among others, which were constructed during Nkrumah’s era but were being used by the present generation to buttress his point.
Mr Avoka suggested that the entire petroleum revenue should be used now until the 10 years before they begin to think about any Heritage Fund.
For his part, the MP for New Juaben North, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, supported the establishment of the Heritage Fund, he was of the opinion that after 30 or 40 years, we should begin to use the money for development.
Other contributors were of the opinion that Parliament should be empowered to review the usage of the fund from time to time when the need arose.
Meanwhile, four bills were laid before the House on Monday for their first reading.
They were the General Health Services Bill, 2010, the Health Co-ordinating Council Bill, 2010, the Veterans’ Administration, Ghana Bill, 2010 and the Data Protection Bill, 2010.
A report of the Joint Committee of Lands and Forestry and Mines and Energy on the agreement among Ghana, the Volta River Authority and Clark Sustainable Resources Development Limited for harvesting, processing and marketing of timber from the Volta Lake (Phase II) was laid before the House for consideration.
In another development, the House also deferred discussions on recomposition of members of the various committees of the House because the name of MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Mr P.C. Appiah-Ofori did not feature in any of the select committees.
In addition, the name of a deceased MP, Ms Doris Seidu also appeared in one of the select committees.
The Minority Leader, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, explained that the anomaly had already been detected and the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah was working on it.

‘Provide Bosome-Freho District with office accommodation'

2010-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 30, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosome-Freho, Nana Yaw Ofori-Kuragu, has appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to provide the Bosome-Freho District with its own office accommodation.
The district is among 60 districts (28 created in 2004 and 32 in 2008) which were recently created.
According to the MP, the assembly, which is facing a lot of challenges, is currently occupying an Information Communication Centre, thereby denying the people the use of the Internet facility.
Nana Ofori-Kuragu made the appeal when he posed a question in Parliament to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, asking when the assembly would be provided with offices at Asiwa.
Answering the question, Mr Chireh said the ministry had noted with concern the lack of infrastructure and logistics for the newly created districts.
He said in an effort to address the problem, the ministry conducted an inventory of the infrastructure and staff need of the assemblies, early this year.
Mr Chireh explained that following the exercise, a task team to work out some modalities for resourcing the newly created districts had been set up and expressed the hope that clear guidelines would be available for implementation by the end of the year.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic later, Nana Ofori-Kuragu said a number of projects had been done since he became the MP for the area in 2005.
He stated that a secondary-technical school had been established while a multi-storey dormitory block had been constructed for the school from his share of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
The MP said besides the completion of the Bekwai-Asiwa-Bomfa Junction road which was 50 per cent complete, 12 more communities had been connected to the national grid.
Nana Ofori-Kuragu added that 300 students had been offered scholarships from his share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) while all the 90 communities in the area had received cement or roofing sheets for the maintenance of their school blocks.
He expressed the hope that the provision of an office accommodation for the district assembly would go a long way to strengthen the delivery of services of the staff of the assembly.

This week in Parliament

2010-12-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 29, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT is expected to begin the debate on the 2011 Budget and Financial Statement of the government presented to the House by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, last week.
The Majority Leader and Leader of the House, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, made this known on Friday when he presented the Business Statement of the House for this week.
To deepen the understanding of the statement, Parliament had scheduled a post-budget workshop for leadership, chairpersons, ranking members of committees and committee clerks to ensure that they understood the policies behind the budget before the debate started.
According to the statement, the House is also expected to conclude the Consideration Stage of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, 2010 during the week and pass it.
In addition, three sector ministers are expected to appear before the House to answer three questions filed by Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, (NPP, Amenfi East) and Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh (NPP, Sunyani East).
Mr Ameyaw Cheremeh is expected to ask the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, what accounted for the postponement of the District Assembly elections originally slated for October 26, 2010.
He is also is expected to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, about efforts the government had made or is making to secure the release of and airlifting over 640 Ghanaians in detention in Libya for allegedly attempting to stowaway from Libya to Europe.
Mr Aidoo, for his part, is expected to ask the Minister of Road and Highway, Mr Joe Gidisu, what immediate measures being taken to remedy the Tarkwa-Wassa Akropong-Anyanfuri stretch of the Takoradi-Kumasi trunk road, which has deteriorated so badly.

A shocker for Parliament

2010-12-19T23:54:00.000-08:00

Frontpage, Nov 27, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Ato Dapatem
MEMBERS of Parliament (MP) yesterday expressed shock and dismay at the death of the former MP for Ablekuma South, Theresa Ameley Tagoe, which occurred on Thursday, November 25, 2010, at the age of 68.
Madam Tagoe, who was the first Women’s Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), attended the then Krobo Girls’ School for her elementary education and moved to Aburi Girls’ Secondary School for her General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary and Advanced levels. She was also a French scholar.
According to her elder brother, Mr James Tagoe, Madam Tagoe had her first degree at the University of Ghana, after which she founded the Agence D'or Secretarial Institute which offered training for the youth.
Described as an ‘Iron Lady’ in Ghanaian politics, Madam Tagoe contested the Ablekumah seat on the ticket of the NPP in 1992 but the party boycotted the parliamentary election that year.
However, she was able to annex the seat from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and voluntarily declined vying for the seat in 2008.
During the administration of former President J.A. Kufuor, the late Madam Tagoe was first made the Deputy Works and Housing Minister and later the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister.
She left behind two children.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Parliament House, the MP for Bantama, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, said the nation, the NPP and women in the country had lost a gem who did her work with passion.
“She lived and died for women, the country and the party,” she said.
The MP for Weija, Ms Shirley Ayokor Botchwey, said she was sad about the death of Ms Tagoe, whom she considered as a mother and mentor.
“She encouraged me when I decided to contest the Weija seat and assisted me to win,” Ms Botchwey said.
The MP for Abirem, Ms Esther Obeng-Dapaah, said she admired the late Madam Theresa for being an inspiration and vibrant person throughout her political career and expressed shock at her death.

‘Govt subsidising 100,000 metric tons of fertiliser’

2010-12-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

Page 13, Nov 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

GOVERNMENT is subsidising 100,000 metric tons of fertiliser at an estimated cost of GH¢32million this year, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has disclosed.
Last year, the government subsidised a total of 72,795 metric tons of fertilisers at the cost of GH¢34.4million using the coupons system.
However, in view of the high administrative cost of printing the coupons and time spent by staff signing all the numerous coupons, as well as the associated abuse, the coupon system has been discontinued with effect from June, 2010.
A waybill receipt system is being employed for administering the fertiliser subsidy programme for 2010.
The Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Mr Samuel Aye-Paye, had filed a question enquiring from the minister why the fertiliser coupons were yet not ready for farmers to purchase subsidised fertilisers for the main season this year.
Mr Ahwoi said under the new system, the fertiliser companies were to deliver fertilisers to all districts for sale to farmers at the recommended prices as follows: NPK, GH¢27.00, SOA GH¢18.00 and Urea GH¢25.00.
He explained that farmers could easily have access to fertiliser by only walking into a shop and procuring them at subsidised prices without coupons.
Mr Ahwoi said the recommended subsidy would be paid to the fertiliser companies after sales upon the presentation and reconciliation of the accounts with the regional and district directors of agriculture.
Answering another question, the minister said in 2008, about 39 dams destroyed by the 2007/2008 flood in the Upper East Region were under rehabilitation with 24 of them being completed.

Cabinet approves decentralisation policy-Chireh

2010-12-19T23:50:00.000-08:00

Page 13, Nov 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
A COMPREHENSIVE Decentralisation Policy with an action plan has been approved by the Cabinet, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh has told Parliament.
Answering questions from the floor of the House, Mr Chireh explained that included an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Framework which had been costed and Inter-Ministerial Fiscal Co-ordination Committee on Fiscal Decentralisation.
The committee, according to the minister, would audit the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to determine their needs to enable the fiscal decentralization to take place.
The Member of Parliament for Agona East, Mr John Agyabeng had asked the minister when the fiscal decrentralisation agenda, which obliged district assemblies to embark on decentralized budgeting within the mediul-term would be operationalised.
He said the fiscal decentralization was more of a national, rather than district level challenge explaining that decentralization involved restructuring of public administration and public financial management arrangements.
Mr Chireh said the government considered the implementation of the district composite budget, improving local revenue generation, improving central government transfer systems and improving financial management of the MMDAS, among others as priorities.
He said it was obvious that these steps were fundamental to the implementation of fiscal decentralization.
Mr Chireh added that with the Fiscal Decentralisation Secretariat in place, the full implementation of the various initiatives, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would be pursued vigorously next year.
Answering another question, Mr Chireh said the government recognized the numerous responsibilities assigned to the district assemblies, especially with the transfer of functions.
He said there were no immediate plans to increase the 7.5 per cent of national revenue which is paid annually into the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).
Mr Chireh explained that nevertheless, the ministry was considering other initiatives to ensure that the MMDAs got additional resources to carry out their responsibilities.
He said those initiatives included the development and implementation of the District Development Facility while proposals for the inclusion of Public-Privae Participation (PPP) in the management of some development activities of the MMDAs were being considered.

Debade on Petroleum Bill ends

2010-12-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

PAGE 13, NOV 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday approved the Budget Statement and Financial Policy of the government for 2011 presented to the House by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, on November 18, 2010.
That was after the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, had contributed to the debate and Dr Duffuor had winded it up.
The House was set agog when the two leaders contributed to the debate, which began on Wednesday, December 2, 2011.
So intense was the debate that the Speaker, Mrs Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo, had to stick to her resolve not to allow points of order to ensure that the two leaders had a smooth debate.
When he took his turn, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said it was unfortunate that despite the favourable economic climate in 2009 and 2010, the government could not record the 7.3 per cent GDP growth the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration had achieved in 2008.
He said the much-talked-about low budget deficit and soaring foreign reserves were both a “hoax”, since the government was not spending, explaining that the total spending of the government over the last two years was less than what the NPP spent in 2008.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that the government was not ambitious enough in planning for an 8.3 per cent GDP in 2013 which fell below the rebased 8.4 per cent GDP that the NPP had chalked up in 2008.
He said even though the NDC promised to cut down tariffs during the 2008 campaign, it had ended up increasing road tolls and property rates and introduced new taxes to increase the tax burden on the people.
The minister said the NDC had not been able to implement the one-time premium payment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the GH¢200 million it promised to pay to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
“My Speaker, Ghanaians are now awake and will judge the NDC by its unfulfilled promises,” Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said, adding, “By their fruits you will know them.”
For his part, Mr Avoka stated that the 2011 budget was a good one, since it was aimed at ensuring equity and fairness to address the imbalances in the system.
He disagreed with the notion by the Minority that the budget would bring about “fear and panic” among the business community, explaining that well-meaning economists, civil society organisations and the masses had all hailed it.
“If the budget was not a good one, how come that the Minority did not organise press conferences to point out its flaws as it had been doing year after year?” he questioned.
Mr Avoka said despite the oil find, the government would still give priority to the agricultural sector, saying that the good policies put in place over the last two years had ensured that nobody in Ghana went to bed hungry.
He said the budget only sought to widen the tax net and not increase taxes, as had been touted by the Minority.
Summing up the debate, Dr Duffuor stated that the NPP left behind an economy which was in “intensive care” but through the ingenuity of the NDC the economy was now stable and resilient.
He said though 2009 had come with some difficulties as a result of the economic mess created by the NPP, the government did not go HIPC.
“We used our ingenuity to get back on track with a deficit above 10 per cent,” he said, adding that more jobs would be created next year.

Media must assist society to achieve growth — Avoka

2010-12-19T23:45:00.001-08:00

PAGE 13, NOV 24, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Cletus Avoka, has called for an independent and vibrant media that strives to put the public interest first to assist society to accomplish its development objectives.
He stated that effective collaboration between the arms of government and the media was a sure way to ensure transparent governance that will benefit the people.
Mr Avoka made these comments in a speech he delivered in Accra to inaugurate the West Africa Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC).
WAPPC is a collaboration between the Ghana Parliamentary Press Corps and their Nigerian counterparts to bring all reporters covering the legislatures in the sub-region to share ideas and experiences to deepen parliamentary reporting.
Mr Avoka said organising the parliamentary press corps as a professional body to disseminate parliamentary proceedings in any fledgling democracy across the sub-region should be of paramount concern to any stakeholder.
“There is no doubt that a healthy media work enhances education, information and facilitation of community involvement in debates relating to the business of Parliament,” he asserted adding that the formation of WAPPC to champion that was in the right direction and called for its support.
He explained that it was through the reportage of parliamentary proceedings that the public’s ‘right to know’ could be effectively exercised in building an informed democracy across the sub-region.
Mr Avoka admonished those championing the formation of WAPPC not only to be content with the formation alone, but should also endeavour to share information across the sub-region on key parliamentary issues through seminars and exchange programmes to ensure that good governance and democracy were built on a solid foundation.
He advised journalists covering the legislature to listen to the concerns of the public since they could not be expert journalists or experts on the issues they cover unless they knew how the general public experienced what they were covering.
Mr Avoka said fulfilling the desires of the people of West Africa could be achieved through the building of a strong professional relationship based on mutual respect and recognition, which were actors in a working democracy.
He, therefore, called for the study of the Constitution, standing orders, parliamentary practice and procedures of each country within the sub-region thoroughly to ensure that the reportage of journalists covering the legislature could do so within the confines of the law and parliamentary democracy.
“You must also show more responsibility and not allow yourselves to be used by any individual or group to pursue self-agenda,” he said.
He noted that since the long standing watch-dog function of the media was more crucial now than ever, the role of the parliamentary press in making intelligent and unbiased decisions about news and information, was paramount to the functioning of a democratic society.
For his part, the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, called on journalists not to use the power of their pens to disintegrate the fabric of the society.
He commended Ghana’s Parliamentary Press Corps for ensuring balanced reportage of proceedings of the House adding that since no condition was permanent, politicians should ensure a level playing field to promote the country’s fledgling democracy.
He pledged the support of parliament to the activities of the press corps since to him “the day the corps collapse, parliamentary democracy will also collapse”.
The President of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh, commended the corps for being very active over the years.
He said it was good that Africa had chosen the path of parliamentary democracy and called on journalist, especially those covering parliaments, to help in nurturing that democratic dispensation.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsuta/Beposo/Kwamang, Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, who represented the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, called on the media to work hard to ensure excellence in order to promote the development of the sub-region.
The Dean of the Ghana’s Parliamentary Press Corps, Mr Andrew Edwin Arthur, cautioned journalist not to allow mediocrity to take a better part of them by closing their eyes to the realities of their professional calling.
He said it was in that respect that the formation of WAPPC would strengthen the resolve of parliamentary reporters in the sub-region to adequately strengthen their position to hold governments accountable to their actions through the legislature in their respective countries.

House continues with debate on Oil Bill

2010-12-19T23:43:00.001-08:00

PAGE 12, NOV 24, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
A FORMER Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Professor George Yaw Gyan-Baffour, has advocated the use of the country’s oil revenue for investments that will ensure that when the oil wells dry up, a new industry can help maintain the level of development that will be sustainable.
Prof Gyan-Baffour made the suggestion when he contributed to the debate on the Petroleum Oil Management Bill currently going on in Parliament.
“We must use our oil money to support and develop our industrial base for the production of light industrial goods so that our economy will no longer be under the constant threat of shocks from nature, such as drought and shocks from commodity markets such as falling prices of cocoa and minerals,” he said, adding that it was in doing so that the “oil find will become a real blessing to the country”.
Prof Gyan-Baffour explained that it was in that light that he was not in agreement with using the oil revenue to support the budget, as stated in clauses 19 and 22 of the bill and which was confirmed by the Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, when he presented the 2011 Budget.
The former deputy minister asserted that for effective utilisation, there was the need to focus on few sectors by providing for better education, better health care, better roads, better energy and better access to finance by the government and the private sector, all in support of the industrial transformation of the economy.
He agreed that the oil revenue should be kept in a separate account at the Bank of Ghana but urged that the account be used to create a separate fund outside the Consolidated Fund for the industrial transformation of the economy and not to be used for general budget support.
On the establishment of the Ghana Heritage Fund, Prof Gyan-Baffour stated that even though the idea was brilliant, it was premature, explaining that at this time when the country’s roads were bad, the power system in danger, among other social problems, the country should postpone the establishment of the fund for at least five years.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nabdam and Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Mr Moses Asaga, said the bill had come at the right time.
He said the government should be commended, since some countries which were seen as having best practices in the management of their oil revenue, such as Norway, did not put in place such a law at the initial stages of their oil production.
He said it was good for the Heritage Fund and the Stabilisation Fund to be endorsed as part of the bill.
Mr Asaga advocated the use of oil revenue as collateral, as against borrowing against the country’s reserves.
He said in the short term, the government wanted Ghana to move to the upper middle-income bracket by using resources accruing from the oil find.
“We want to make Ghana the Singapore of West Africa,” he said, and made a strong case by citing Brazil which used its oil to mobilise as much as $67 billion from the capital market for its development programmes.
For his part, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Dome-Kwabenya, Professor Mike Oquaye, called for the consideration of the request of the chiefs of the Western Region for the allocation of 10 per cent of the oil revenue into a fund for the development of the region.
“The Western Region deserves a better treat,” he said, and advocated that wherever oil was found, some percentage of the revenue should be used for the development of that area.

Parliament ratifies Unit Committee Regulations

2010-12-19T23:42:00.001-08:00

PAGE 12, NOV 24, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday adopted the report of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee and ratified the Unit Committee Regulations, 2010 (C.I. 68).
By that, the number of members of the unit committees has been reduced from the current 15 to five to ensure more competitive district level elections in the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, who moved the motion for the adoption of the committee’s report, said the L.I. would make elections at the district level cost-effective, manageable and efficient.
“The committee is satisfied that the proposed instrument conforms to the requirements of the Constitution and relevant laws on the district level elections in the country,” he said.
He said it was for the purpose of ensuring consistency and conformity with the laws of the unit committee elections in the country that the instrument had been laid before the House.
Mr Osei-Prempeh said the instrument, apart from reducing the membership of the unit committees from 15 to five, also sought to liberalise the mounting of election platforms.
He said the committee noted that over the years there had been complaints by contestants of the unit committee elections in respect of the mounting of platforms.
He said the concern had been that the Electoral Commission had not been able to adequately offer platforms to candidates to communicate their messages to the electorates.
He said the liberalisation of platforms would, therefore, create a healthy competition necessary for the deepening of grass-root democracy and good governance.
The MP for Weija, Ms Sherry Ayorkor Botchwey, said the adoption of the C.I. was beneficial, since it would raise the electoral areas in her constituency, which is the largest in the country, from four to 22.
She said the Mallam Electoral Area, which has 98 polling stations, would now have 13 electoral areas, instead of one.
She said it was a good piece of news, as assembly members manning such big areas had suffered for far too long
Ms Botchwey stressed the need for the creation of more polling stations to encourage more people to vote during elections.

Oil money and Western demands COMMITTEE OPTS FOR STATUS QUO

2010-12-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

Frontpage, Nov 20, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Joint Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy has made a strong appeal to the government to come up with a policy that will target the accelerated development of the Western Region.
The committee made the appeal after it failed to endorse the petition of the chiefs of the region for the ceding of 10 per cent of the expected petroleum revenue into a fund for the development of the Western Region.
“It is the view of the committee that ceding 10 per cent of the petroleum revenue to a fund for the Western Region may defeat one of the primary objectives of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, which is to avoid the ring-fencing of petroleum revenues,” it stated.
It explained that it was for that reason that acts establishing statutory funds, such as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), the Roads Fund and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), did not apply to petroleum revenues.
The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, last Wednesday referred a petition by the Western Regional House of Chiefs to the committee for consideration as part of its report on the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill.
In its report, the committee acknowledged that even though the Western Region was endowed with many resources which had been used to support the development of the country over the years, it had suffered under-development for many years.
It, therefore, called for steps to be taken by the government to expedite the development of the region.
“It is also the considered view of the committee that other concerns of the chiefs of the region cannot be addressed by this bill,” the report said and recommended that due cognisance be given to those concerns in the consideration of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill, 2010 and the drafting of the local content policy.
The petition of the chiefs appealed to the House to, among other things, establish a Western Region Development Fund under the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill into which 10 per cent of the petroleum revenue would be paid.
The chiefs also called for the representation of the region on the Investment Advisory Committee, the Public Interest Accountability Committee, as well as all other governing bodies of institutions under the laws relating to oil and gas.
In addition, 10 per cent of the membership of the Oil and Gas Commission to be established should be indigenes of the region, while oil companies should be encouraged to employ and give business opportunities to indigenes of the region.
Furthermore, they called for the establishment of a fund to take care of any environmental disaster that might arise as a result of exploration and production activities.
Meanwhile, the Second Reading of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, which was to begin on the floor of the House yesterday, was deferred to Monday due to some concerns raised by the Minority.
Before the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Tekpeh, could move the motion for the second reading, the NPP MP for Essikado/Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey, raised two concerns bordering on the Constitution and procedures.
He reminded the House that on November 12, 2010, the MP for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Mr P.C. Appiah-Ofori, had raised a matter on the need for the House to deal with the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill before considering the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill.
Mr Ghartey referred to the Hansard of that day and stated that the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, had ruled that the leadership should consider the matter. He, therefore, wondered why that ruling had not been adhered to.
He also informed the House about Article 269 of the Constitution which called for the establishment of a commission to be responsible for the regulation, management and utilisation of natural resources, such as oil and gas.
In his ruling, Mr Adjaho said the Speaker had only made a suggestion to the leadership of the House to look at the concerns expressed by Mr Appiah-Ofori and had asked the House to continue with the debate on the bill and the Executive to bring a bill for the establishment of the commission in a reasonable time.
“Honourable members, it is my view that the motion must go on but the bill for the commission should be brought before the House within a reasonable time. We have been dealing with oil since time immemorial and I do not want us to believe that what we have done over the years was null and void,” he said.
Even though the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Ambrose Dery, called on the House to deal with the basic things before the utilisation of the oil revenue, Mr Adjaho insisted that they should start the process now and wait for the Executive to bring the other bill.
With that, Mr Tekpeh moved the motion for the second reading of the bill, but before anybody could second the motion, the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, appealed to Mr Adjaho to stand down the motion.
Mr Avoka said in the light of the latest development, and because the bill was of national importance, everybody should be brought on board.

It'll scare investors, says Minority

2010-12-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

Frontpage, Nov 19, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minority in Parliament has described the 2011 Budget and Economic Policy of the government presented to the House by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning yesterday as "wicked", "anti-private sector development" and "fear and panic" budget.
Even though the usual inscription on sheets of paper to convey their sentiments about budgets was absent, an interview with some members of the Minority showed their disapproval of the budget in general and the introduction of taxes in particular.
The Majority, however, debunked assertions by the Minority and explained that the budget would bring hope to Ghanaians after the government had used the past two years to repair the economic mess it inherited.
A former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and NPP MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said, "the budget is not a good one. There was nothing new with the exception of introduction of taxes".
He noted that with the introduction of seven different taxes, Ghanaians should expect more difficulties next year than what they experienced this year.
Dr Osei said anytime such taxes were introduced, "the government is causing fear and panic among investors and the general populace".
A former Deputy Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi, Professor Yaw Gyan-Baffour, bemoaned the insensitivity of the government, explaining that Ghanaians were already stressed up after going through a lot of difficulties under the NDC’s two-year misrule.
"Ghanaians are suffering and do not need more taxes. Why does the government want to increase the load on the already suffering Ghanaians?" he queried.
The NPP MP for Kwabre East, Mr Kofi Frimpong, stated that all projects that were mentioned in the budget were initiatives of the Kufuor administration and accused the Mills's government of running out of ideas after "promising Ghanaians the moon".
He explained that the budget could be described as anti-private sector because royalties that were paid by mining companies quarterly were now going to be paid monthly while the introduction of other taxes in the tourism sector would gradually kill the hotel business.
Mr Frimpong observed that it was the intention of the government to impose taxes on churches when Dr Duffuor mentioned that the activities of certain non-governmental organisations would be taxed.
"Why are we trying to put more impediments in the way of the private sector when the government has touted its resolve to make the private sector the engine of growth. Why are we taking away the oil that will lubricate the engine of the private sector to stimulate the kind of growth that we envisage?" he questioned.
The NPP MP for Ayensuano, Mr Samuel Aye-Paye, said there was nothing impressive about the 2011 budget, reiterating the fact that there were no new policies.
He said if the NDC did not have anything new for Ghanaians, then it was unfortunate that Ghanaians gave the party the mandate to rule.
He argued that it would have been better if the NPP had been allowed to continue with the policies the party initiated rather than offering the NDC the chance to change the policies.
Mr Aye-Paye observed that the removal of vehicle income tax was just a mere propaganda since the imposition of the repressive road tolls was rather severely affecting the road transport business.
The NPP MP for Ahafo-Ano North, Mr Richard Akuoko Adiyia, said the government could not boast of stability and growth while interest rates were still high.
He said it was only when interest rates were lowered that the private sector would be encouraged to borrow from the banks to expand their businesses and create jobs for the youth.
The NPP MP for Okaikoi North, Mrs Elizabeth Sackey, said it was unfortunate that after two years in office, the government was still struggling to find its feet.
She said even though prices of gold and cocoa had gone up, such gains had not been used to embark on more projects to benefit the people.
Mrs Sackey stated that not much was being done in the education sector, explaining that the provision of few school uniforms alone was not sufficient when the school feeding programme was gradually collapsing.
The Minister of Transport and NDC MP for Effutu, Mr Mike Allen Hammah, however, maintained that the budget would bring more hope to Ghanaians, assuring them that the new initiatives would encourage the private sector to do more to increase employment.
He explained that the taxes that had been introduced were well thought-out and would not affect the ordinary people in the country.
He assured Ghanaians that as stated in the budget, the rail lines would be rehabilitated and modernised to ensure easy and affordable transportation in the country.
The NDC MP for Juabeso, Mr Sampson Ahi, commended the government for working tirelessly to clear the economic mess that was left behind by the NPP administration.
"Let us give the government a chance to continue to implement its sound economic policies, which have already yielded positive results," he said.
Mr Ahi called on Ghanaians to support the government since it had proved that it was up to the task entrusted to it by the good people of the country.
The Majority Chief Whip and NDC MP for Nkwanta South, Mr Geshon Gbediame, said there was no doubt that the NDC government had been able to put the economy on a right path.
He, however, advised that if the government was poised to use the agriculture sector to stimulate growth and provide jobs, then efforts should be made to create ready market for farm produce to encourage the youth to take to agriculture.
Mr Gbediame expressed the hope that the eastern corridor road would be rehabilitated as expressed in the budget statement to ensure easy access to regions in the northern sector of the country through the Volta Region.
The NDC MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, argued that now that the economy had been stabilised, the government would be able to implement policies outlined in the 2011 budget in order to create jobs.
He said policy initiatives such as the rehabilitation and modernisation of the railway sector would go a long way to create jobs rather than the unsustainable National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) that was created by the Kufuor administration.
The PNC MP for Sissala West, Mr Haruna Bayirga, noted that every government had good intentions for its people and called on the government to rigorously implement policies outlined in the budget to achieve results.
He called for massive improvement in the road sector, stressing that roads in his constituency were not good.

Sunyani Senior High marks Golden Jubilee

2010-12-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

Page 18, Nov 19, 2010
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
ME Man Nti, Enye Me Nti, to wit, ‘It is because of my country and not myself’, is the motto of the Sunyani Senior High School, formally Sunyani Secondary School (SUSEC), which is 50 years this year.
On November 27, this year, this great school will hold a grand durbar at the school.
The school has earned the accolade “Brong Ahafo University” because of the role it has played over the years in the training of the human resource of the region.
Even though this writer is not an old student of the school, as a journalist from the region working in Accra he considers it his cherished duty to let the achievements of the school known to the world.
SUSEC is one of the products of the Ghana Education Trust set up by Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to put up school buildings throughout the country to promote education and bring it to the doorstep of the people.
On October 2, 1958, Dr Nkrumah, then the Prime Minister of the country, cut the sod to start the building of the school, while on September 12, 1959, the then Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr Kojo Botsio, laid the foundation stone for the school.
A year later, precisely on Friday, September 30, 1960, the first batch of 36 students, comprising 31 boys and five girls, were admitted and they started academic work on Monday, October 3, 1960. There were two classes, Form 1A and Form 1B. The first school prefect was Master Paul Achereko.
On December 13, 1960, Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah officially inaugurated the school at a very colourful ceremony held in front of the school’s administration block. Even though the school began as a co-educational institution, a decision was taken to make it a boys’ school, with the girls being transferred to the Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Secondary School in Kumasi. That decision was, however, reversed a year later to enable girls to be re-admitted into the school.
Mr P.D. Quartey, who is described as “a bold sportsman and adventurer”, was the first headmaster of the school. He was said to have come from Accra to Sunyani, then a remote area, to start the school, with his staff made up of three teachers and nine non-teaching staff. They did a yeoman’s job to lay the foundation of the school. Mrs Paulina Yeboah (nee Ayim) was the first House Mistress and it is gratifying to note that she is still alive in Sunyani while the school prepares to organise its Golden Jubilee Anniversary.
Academic work was not easy for the pioneer students as a result of the highly inadequate teaching staff, some of whom did not have any high academic qualification and experience, in addition to inadequate facilities. But notwithstanding these drawbacks, the first batch of 63 students, made up of 61 boys and two girls sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level Examination in 1965 and since then SUSEC had not looked back academically.
The symbol of SUSEC is the elephant, selected from the name Sunyani, which is a corrupt form of ason dwae (the place where elephants killed by the hunter, Boahen Korkor, the founder of Sunyani, were skinned). Mr Quartey coined the motto of the school, Me Man Nti, Enye Me Nti, from a speech delivered by Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah during which he quoted a Latin phrase meaning “a man was not born only for himself but his country”.
By the motto, Mr Quartey hoped that any time old and current students quoted the motto, they would be fired up by the spirit of patriotism that was demanded of all Ghanaians and also die a little for the school.
It is gratifying to note that SUSEC today is a great institution with the present administration, led by the energetic and foresighted Headmaster, Mr Joseph Awuah, systematically building on the foundation laid by past heroes and transform the school into a dynamic and formidable academic haven for students who want to make a headway in life.
According to the headmaster, “Even though the school faces a lot of impediments to progress, SUSEC in a relatively short period of 50 years, had taken the lead in education in the region and confidently and successfully rubs shoulders with the long established schools throughout the country.”
The number of teaching staff has increased from four to 71, while the non-teaching staff had grown from nine to 83. The initial student population of 36 now stands at 1,783. It can now also boast a well-stocked library, a well-equipped Computer Laboratory with Internet facilities, a French Language Centre, a Language laboratory, a projector room, among other facilities.
As its contribution to education in Ghana, 12,529 students have passed through the school since its inception. They are grouped as follows: GCE Ordinary Level students, 4,213; Advanced Level students, 2,020; senior secondary school students, 6,296. Currently the school is pursuing courses in General Arts 1, General Arts 2, General Arts 3, Business, Science, Agricultural Science, Visual Arts and Home Economics.
SUSEC has achieved success in many fields of endeavour, including sports, science competitions and quiz. Academic results have been excellent, with the students scoring 99.8 per cent in 2005 and 100 per cent in the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
In spite of these achievements, the school faces many challenges which should be addressed immediately to enable it to operate at its maximum. For instance, the school needs a modern computer laboratory, a well-equipped Visual Arts Block and bungalows to accommodate teachers posted to the school. Out of the 71 teaching staff, only 20 have accommodation on the compound. There is also the need to complete the ultra-modern 2,000 capacity assembly hall complex, which is a Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) project.
As the school celebrates its Golden Jubilee, it is the hope that efforts will be made to provide it with the necessary facilities to enable it to increase its intake and provide excellent tuition and extra curricular activities to enable its student to come out well moulded to fit into the fast-changing world.
SUSEC, Ayekoo, and may your students and staff live according to the tenets of your patriotic motto wherever they find themselves. Me Man Nti, Enye Me Nti!

'Give us 10 per cent of oil cash'

2010-11-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Frontpage, Nov 18, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE chiefs and people of the Western Region have petitioned Parliament to ensure that 10 per cent of Ghana’s petroleum revenue is paid into a Western Region Development Fund to be established under the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill.
This, according to them, is for the purpose of developing the region.
In addition, they have called for the establishment of a special fund to take care of any disaster that will arise from any environmental mishap that could occur during the exploration and production of oil and gas.
They further contend that the fund should be managed by a board comprising indigenes of the region.
At a press conference prior to the presentation of the petition to the Speaker of the House yesterday, the President of the Western Regional House of Chief, Awulae Atibrukusu, said the demand by the chiefs and people was informed by the state of development and the high rate of unemployment in spite of the rich resources in the region.
He said currently, the youth in the region were agitating as a result of the seemingly non-transparent employment practices of companies involved in the oil and gas industry and the apparent lack of interest of the government in recognising the Western Region as a key stakeholder in the oil discovery.
The nine-point petition also called for the achievement of regional and gender balance envisaged by the 1992 Constitution in employment by all state institutions, especially those engaged in the oil and gas industry.
It also called for the representation of the region on all institutions and bodies to be established by the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, such as the Investment Advisory Committee and Public Interest and Accountability Committee, as well as all governing bodies that would be established under all laws relating to oil and gas industry.
The petition also demanded that one-third of the members of the Oil and Gas Commission that would be established should be made up of indigenes of the Western Region, explaining that all such appointments should be in consultation with the chiefs and people of the region.
It called on the government to encourage the oil and gas companies, through legislation, to employ and offer other business opportunities to indigenes of the region.
Answering questions from the media, Awulae Annor Adjaye explained that the demands were not based on selfish interests, but on the need to forestall any future agitation as a result of unfair treatment in the oil and gas industry.
“We did not benefit from cocoa, gold, timber and other natural resources that were mined in the region and if we do not benefit from the oil find, then the region is doomed,” he declared.
Fourteen paramount chiefs in the region signed the petition.
Meanwhile, the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Edward Adjaho, has referred the petition to the Joint Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy for consideration after receiving it from the chiefs.
Time is not on the side of the chiefs since the report on the joint committee on the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill was due to be laid before the House yesterday.
It was, however, deferred and it is hoped that it would be laid before the end of the week for it to go through its second reading.
The two sides of the House agreed that the laying of the report should be deferred.

Parliament stresses well-being of veterans

2010-11-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

Centre Spread, Nov 12, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
MEMBERS of Parliament have called for measures to ensure the well-being of veteran soldiers who fought for the building of the country.
Contributing to two statements to commemorate this year’s Remembrance Day, the MPs stressed that since “a country which does not recognise its heroes is not worth dying for”, it was important to take proper care of the veterans to encourage the current generation to work for the growth of the country.
In his statement, the MP for Nkoranza North, Major Derrick Oduro (rtd), said, “It is important to state that the day should not only be a remembrance day for those who lost their lives during the First World War, but also a day that recognises our servicemen, women and civilians who lost their lives during peacekeeping operations elsewhere”.
Ghanaian security agencies, according to the MP, had exhibited high professionalism and discipline in the discharge of their duties, particularly during peacekeeping missions, and had, as a result, won for the country high international recognition over the years.
Major Oduro called on the leadership of the country to work diligently towards the promotion of peace and development as a way of showing their appreciation towards the ex-servicemen who laid down their lives for the country.
He also called on the government to consider instituting a special fund for retired officers and ex-servicemen in order to address their plight.
In another statement to commemorate the day, the MP for Ho Central, Capt. George Nfodjo (retd), said it was unfortunate that only stipends were paid to ex-servicemen, which was woefully inadequate.
“These are former para-jumpers who now have knee and stability problems and are wheel-chair-bound,” he said and questioned whether they could still depend on such stipends.
The First Deputy Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, advised the two statement makers to liaise with the leadership of the legislative body to ensure that some monies were collected from the MPs to be donated to the ex-servicemen as an example for others to emulate.

This week in Parliament

2010-11-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

Page 13, Nov 15, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE MINISTER of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, is expected to present the government’s Budget Statement and Economic Policy for 2011 to Parliament on Thursday, November 18, 2010.
The Majority Leader and Leader of the House, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka announced this when he presented the Business Statement of Parliament on Thursday.
As part of deepening the understanding of the underlying policies behind the bugdet a post-budget workshop will be organised for leadership, chairpersons and ranking members and committee clerks and is scheduled for Friday November 26 to Sunday November 28, 2010.
Mr Avoka also informed the House that Parliament would sit on Mondays and also extend its sitting period from November 22, 2010 in order to complete the agenda it had set for itself for the current meeting.
The House is expected to rise for the Christmas break on December 21, 2010.
Meanwhile three ministers are expected to appear before the House this week to answer a total of 12 questions filed by eight Members of Parliament (MPs).
They are the Minister for Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, the Minister for Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh, and the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi.
Bills expected to be presented to the House to be read for the first time are the Medical Training and Research Bill, 2010, the Mental Health Bill, 2010 and the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Bill.

Parliament approves loan agreement

2010-11-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 13, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT last Thursday approved a 55 million euro financial agreement between the government and the Kredistanstal Fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) of Germany to be used as part of the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) for 2010-2012.
The loan was also accompanied by 500,000 euros grant to strengthen the Ghana Audit Service.
The MDBS is a joint support mechanism of 11 development partners and the government of Ghana, which is based on the contributions of financial resources by development partners directly to the government’s treasury to complement the country’s domestically generated revenue.
The contribution of the MDBS is to help facilitate the implementation of the country’s development and poverty reduction policies.
Under the programme, all decision concerning the allocation and utilisation of the funds are to be in line with government’s own long-term perspective plans.
A Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Tekpeh, moved the motion for the approval of the agreement and he was seconded by the Finance Committee of Parliament, Mr James Klutse Avedzi.
In a related development, the House also approved a 7,980 million euros between the government and Austria for the construction and equipping of five polyclinics in the Upper West Region.
The loan would also be used to provide training of medical staff and other medical technicians/engineers of the Ghana health Service/ the Ministry of Health.
Under the facility, five polyclinics would be constructed and equipped at Babile/Birifo, Funsi, Ko, Lambussie and Wechiau.
It is hoped that the project would help enhance physical access in the Upper West Region, which is one of the most deprived in the country.

Drama unfolds in Parliament

2010-11-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 12, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

DRAMA unfolded in Parliament on Wednesday soon after question time when the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ketu North, Mr James Klutse Avedzi informed the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho about a comment that he claimed the MP for New Juaben North, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman had made about him (Adjaho).
Mr Adjaho had ruled that the one hour allotted for question time was over and called the Western Regional Minister and MP for Sefwi Wiawso, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo to present a statement, but before he could do so, Mr Avedzi stood up and made his claim.
He told the House that Mr Owusu-Agyeman had commented that Mr Adjaho "is not correct".
Mr Owusu-Agyeman had been standing to catch the eye of the Speaker, just before he ruled that the one hour allotted for question time had elapsed without success.
And when Mr Adjaho asked Mr Owusu-Agyeman whether he had made that comment, he replied, "Mr Speaker, did you call me to speak?"
That line of question to question ensued between Mr Owusu-Agyeman and Mr Adjaho until the latter stated thus: "Honourable member, you are a senior member of this House and you should know better" to end the drama.
That drama had preceded an intense question time, during which the Minister of Defence, Lt Gen J.H Smith, had briefed the House about the recent recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaman South, Mr Yaw Maama Afful, had asked the minister to what extent the ministry took into consideration regional and gender balance in the recruitment of 453 personnel of the 2009/2010 batch of general recruits who reported for training on July 1, 2010.
Even though the minister informed the House about the modalities and percentages allocated to every region based on the country’s population statistics, Mr Afful disputed the claim that the Volta Region had been allotted eight per cent of the recruitment.
According to him, a document in his possession indicated that the Volta Region alone had been allocated 30 per cent of the recruitment.
The minister told the House that the GAF recruitment policy generally required 90 per cent male and 10 per cent female, while a second requirement was that each region should exhibit the appropriate gender mix.
He said in the 2009/2010 general recruitment exercise, the Ghana Army was given a quota of 900, explaining that those recruits were expected to be taken in two batches of 450 each.
He said at the moment, 391 males and 60 females were undergoing training, while the second batch of 534 recruits were undergoing medical examination, out of which 450 would be shortlisted for training in January 2011.
“It is hoped that any shortfalls in the regional quotas in the first batch will be addressed,” he said.
He said the percentage chosen for each region was based on the population census figures of Ghanaians between the ages of 15 and 29, explaining, for instance, that the Greater Accra had 19.3 per cent, Upper West, 2.7 per cent and Volta, 8.2 per cent.
While the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, tabled the document in which Mr Afful claimed that 30 per cent of the recruits had been given to the Volta Region, Mr Adjaho directed that Lt Gen Smith submit his document stipulating the percentages of the recruits allotted the various regions to the Table’s Office.
Earlier, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, had appeared before the House to answer an urgent question on the outcome of the investigations by the United States Department of Justice on the Kosmos and EO Group affair which had been filed by the MP for Navrongo Central, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda.
Answering the question, Mrs Mould-Addrisu told the House that under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) agreement between Ghana and the United States, contents of the investigations were strictly confidential.
She stated, however, that the involvement of companies in the acquisition of shares in the Jubilee Field, including the EO Group, was being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
She also told the House, in an answer to another question, that the problem of congestion in the country’s prisons was systemic and that efforts were being made to solve the problem.
When she was asked whether she would advise the President to set up a commission to review the country’s Criminal Code, she said the review had already begun, explaining that she intended to commission consultancy to study the code and submit a report to her.

Buffer Zone Policy ready

2010-11-10T01:09:00.000-08:00

Backpage, Nov 10, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has finalised a national buffer zone policy to guide the creation and management of tree covers on land strips along open water bodies, the sector minister, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, told Parliament yesterday.
The policy is part of a number of measures initiated through the Water Resources Commission to protect the various water bodies in the country.
Mr Bagbin made this known when he appeared before Parliament to answer questions by Members of Parliament (MPs).
The MP for Offinso North, Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, had asked the minister about measures being put in place to protect the various water bodies in the country.
Mr Bagbin explained that other measures included the Integrated Water Resources Management, public awareness and education programme, water quality monitoring, and transboundary co-operation.
He said the national buffer zone policy was to restore, conserve and maintain the ecological integrity, and optimise the socio-economic benefits of such designated areas.
The minister stated that in the meantime pilot tree planting programmes for the restoration of river banks were being implemented in selected river basins such as Densu and the White Volta through support given to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations.
In addition, river basin boards were being set up to ensure co-ordinated implementation of programmes to address basin-specific water problems. So far the Densu, White Volta and the Ankobra boards, he said, were functioning effectively.
Answering another question posed by the MP for Chiana/Paga, Mr Leo Alowe Kaba, Mr Bagbin admitted that water supply in the Upper East Region was insufficient since only 14 per cent of areas in the region had been provided with water systems from Bolgatanga, Navrongo and Bawku.
In the long term, he said, funding was being sourced from the ORIO programme of The Netherlands to develop a water supply project in the region.
Mr Bagbin said the feasibility study was currently being undertaken by Wittenven and Bos Engineers of the Netherlands, which would eventually lead to the construction of new water supply system with the water source being the Tono Dam.
He said the grant agreement had been signed and the feasibility study was expected to take six months while the project itself would take two years to be completed.

Speaker sworn in as acting President

2010-11-10T01:05:00.000-08:00

Centre Spread, Nov 10, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo was yesterday sworn in by the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood as the acting President of the country.
She will, however, have to wait until this morning for the President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, to leave for Nigeria to confer with President Goodluck Jonathan before assuming office.
With the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, already in the Czech Republic to attend a Ghana-Czech trade and investment forum, the mantle falls on the Speaker when the President leaves for Nigeria today.
This is the second time in less than two months that the Speaker has to be called on to act as the country’s President.
The first time was on October 1, 2010 when the President was in China and Mr Mahama had to leave for Nigeria to attend that country’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Even though the Speaker spent only five hours as acting President, she will today spend the whole day as acting President.
The swearing in of the Speaker received a thunderous applause and shouts of “hear, hear” from both sides of the House.
But when the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, reminded the House that the Speaker would assume duty today, the backbenchers at the Minority side shouted “now, now, Madam Speaker, Cabinet reshuffle”.
Commenting on the swearing-in ceremony, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, observed that communication to the House about the absence of the President from the country was an improvement on the previous one when the Vice President left hours before the Speaker was sworn in, leaving a vacuum.
He, therefore, commended the presidency for listening to the concerns expressed by the MPs the previous time.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said even though the Constitution stipulated that the swearing-in should be done while the President was leaving the country, the House had found it expedient to swear in the Speaker earlier to assume duty soon after the President had left the shores of the country.
“This is the first time we are doing this and it is an innovation to remedy the situation that occurred the previous time,” he said.
The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, said it was historic for the Speaker to be sworn in twice in less than two months to act as President.
He stated that given the rich background of the Speaker, “she will be able to hold the fort and take far-reaching decisions that will benefit the whole country, especially women”.
Mr Avoka wished the Speaker well in her endeavours during the period that she would act as the President of the country.

This week in Parliament

2010-11-10T01:04:00.000-08:00

Page 13, Nov 8, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr E.T Mensah is expected to appear before Parliament this week to answer a question on the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy.
The Member of Parliament for Ahafo-Ano North, Mr Richard Akuoko Adiyia, has filed a question enquiring about the implementation of the new pay policy.
Mr Mensah is among six minister expected to appear before the House to answer questions this week.
Other are Mr Alban Bagbin, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Kwasi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Gen. Henry Smith, Minister of Defence, Mrs Betty Mould-Addrisu, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
The Majority Leader and Leader of the House, Mr Cletus Apul Avoka announced this when he presented the Business Statement of Parliament for this week.
In all, 22 questions bordering on the sectors of the six ministries are to be answered during the week.
The MP for Asunafo South, Mr Robert Sarfo Mensah will also ask Mr Mensah about steps his ministry is taking to ensure that all public buildings and facilities are accessible to the people with disability as stipulated in the Persons With Disability Act, 2009 (Act 715).
On Friday, the MP for Sunyani East, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh is also expected to pose a question to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, to enquire about measures being made to ensure that assembly members who ended three term in August/September 2010 are paid reasonable and acceptable end-of-service benefit.
Other MPs expected to ask questions are Mr Samuel Aye-Paye, NPP-Ayensuano, Mr Maama Afful, NPP-Jaman South, Mr George Artheu, NDC- Amenfi Central, Ms B.B Boateng, NPP- New Juaben South, Mr Yaw Ofori-Kuragu, Independent- Bosome-Freho and John Agyabeng, NPP-Agona East.

MP’s calls for healthy discussions of issues

2010-11-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 5, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) have expressed worry about the current spate of insults on the airwaves and have called for healthy discussions of issues on partisan lines to enhance the country's political dispensation.
They were contributing to a statement made on the floor of the House by the MPs from Ablekuma North, Mr Justice Joe Appiah, and Ahafo-Ano North, Mr Richard Akuoko Adiyia.
Mr Appiah expressed worry about the use of the airwaves to attack political opponents and called on the media to be circumspect to avoid such situations.
"It behoves all of us to treat our leaders with respect and decorum, as they are the embodiment of dignity, and they also represent the soul of the nation."
Mr Appiah called for efforts to maintain the national unity even in the face of extreme provocation in order to avoid strives that had occurred in other parts of Africa in recent years.
He said that as the nation prepare to go to the polls in December 2012, “I passionately appeal to all to exercise the greatest restraint in the use of language that might create tension, rancour and animosity within the general public.”
In his view, the war of words which had saturated the country’s political discourse lacked discussions on policy alternatives to national accelerated development.
He reminded Ghanaians that “we are still practising multi-party democracy, with all political parties struggling to gain political power and govern the country.”
This, he cautioned, must be done with decency and the toning down of sentiments in our political discussions, adding that “we are not enemies but one people with a common destiny and aim.”
Mr Appiah said that Ghana was the only country we had and therefore it would be extremely unwise to sit aloof and allow a few people to toy with the destiny of the nation and disturb its peace.
In his statement, titled "Ghana First", Mr Akuoko noted that as citizens of the country, Ghanaians have a common destiny and collective security and that an attack on one was an attack on all.
"Mr Speaker, government will come and go, people will come and go, political parties will come to power and lose power but mother Ghana will always be there," he said.
Mr Akuoko stated that the country had reached a stage in its democratic dispensation that government in power and the largest opposition party should be able to give and take constructive criticisms to ensure cross-fertilisation of ideas.
"The cycle of vengeance and political vendettas has no place in our democratic dispensation and must stop," he said.
The MP said that the time had come for politicians to move away from the politics of lies, deceit, insults and personal attacks and rather engage in constructive debates of issues that promoted national development.
He said if, as the representatives of the people, politicians benefited more than the people they were serving, "then we are not serving," he said, adding that the politics of political brouhaha should be over.
"If we become too entrenched in our political philosophies and ideas, we tend to lose sight of a broader picture, the well-being of the people of this country," he said.
He cautioned Ghanaians that "whether we like it or not, we are in the same boat together, we either swim together or drown together."
The statements received the endorsement of the whole House. All MPs who contributed were commended for their timely advise.

Parliament reconstitutes ECOWAS membership

2010-11-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Page 12, Nov 5, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT has reconstituted its membership in the ECOWAS Parliament.
The new members of Ghana's delegation are Mr Stephen Yakubu, NPP MP for Binduri, Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah, Minority Chief Whip and NPP MP for Suhum and Mrs Catherine Ablema Afeku, NPP MP for Evalue-Gwira. They replace Mr Stephen Balado-Manu (NPP, Ahafo-Ano South), Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, NPP, Assin North and Mrs Elizabeth Sackey, NPP, Okaikoi North.
Other member of the delegation who retained their membership were Mr Michael Tei-Nyaunu, NDC, Lower Manya, Mr Dominic Azimbe Azumah, NDC, Garu Tempane, Mr Francis Yaw Osei Sarfo, NDC, Krachie West and Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, NDC, Ashiaman.
The reconstituted members would project themselves as a non-partisan delegation representing Ghana's Parliament and would submit a report at the end of every session of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Meanwhile, the government is to construct a 100-bed hospital in the Weija Municipality.
This is part of 12 hospitals which had been earmarked for construction with a concessional loan being sought from Opus 7 by the government.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, told Parliament yesterday that the construction of the hospital at Weija is part of efforts to restore Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to its original status as a tertiary health provider.
He was answering a question posed by the MP for Weija, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who wanted to know when a proper Municipal government hospital would be provided for Weija.
Dr Kunbuor also informed the House that a modern claims processing centre had been established to handle National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) claims.
He explained that the centre was currently handling claims from teaching hospitals and regional hospitals adding that at full capacity the centre would be capable to process 15,000 claims per day.
In an answer to a question posed by the MP for Agona East, Mr John Agyabeng, Dr Kunbuor said currently the centre is processing 10,000 calls per day.

‘University Bill referred back to leadership’

2010-11-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Nov 1, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

ASPECTS of the University of Ghana Law, which was passed by Parliament during its last meeting, have being referred back to the leadership of the House for study and report by the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo.
The referral followed a submission made by the Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, on the floor of Parliament during its sitting on Friday.
He complained that even though the Section 'A' of the Law, which deals with the appointment of the Chairperson of the Council of the University, empowered members of the council to elect their own chairman, that aspect had been changed.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah explained that instead of the members of the council electing their own chairperson, the Law now says that the chairperson should be appointed under Article 70 of the Constitution.
Under that Article, the President is to appoint the chairperson of the council in consultation with the Council of State.
In referring the matter to leadership, the Speaker urged them to go through documentation during the deliberations on the bill to ascertain what was actually agreed upon.
The Bill had already been assented by the President.

Ministry to spend GH¢750,000 to fight menace of black flies

2010-11-02T01:16:00.000-07:00

Page 13, Oct 30, 2010

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Ministry of Energy is to spend GH¢750,000 over the next three years to fight the menace of black flies, which has become a nuisance towards the implementation of the Bui Project, the sector minister, Mr Joe Oteng-Adjei has told Parliament.
He said the black fly population within the project area became a major problem to the implementation of the project when the contractor's expatriate workers expressed serious health concerns about the effects of being bitten by the flies.
Dr Oteng-Adjei was answering a question posed by the Member of Parliament for Tain, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim on measures that had been put in place to control the nuisance of the flies which threatened the smooth implementation of the project.
He explained that the Bui Power Authority thus consulted the Ghana Health Service, Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ngouchi Memorial Institute who had recommended the pursuit of control programme to deal with the menace.
Dr Oteng-Adjei stated that the Black Fly Nuisance Control Programme, which had been instituted had been segmented into short and long term plans.
He said the ministry was expecting that activities to control the pest would start immediately after the end of the 2010 rainy season adding that already GH¢250,000 had been advanced towards the programme.
However, a follow-up question by Mr K.T Hammond, MP for Adanse Asokwa about the viability of the Bui Project generated a lot of heat when the minister felt offended when Mr Hammond said it was unfortunate that after two years in office, he had not been able to appreciate the viability of the project.
Dr Oteng-Adjei, who felt offended, said it was unfortunate for the MP to make such a disparaging remark about him and remarked “if he has any personal problem with me, he should not bring it to the floor of the House”.
Answering another main question posed by Mr Hammond, Dr Oteng-Adjei informed the House that the Petroleum Agreement between the government and the GNPC on one hand, and AKER ASA had not been abrogated.
He explained that parties to the agreement had reached mutually satisfactory and amicable termination agreement, which was awaiting execution.
Dr Oteng-Adjei added that the basis for the termination of the agreement was “substantive and procedural or technical” adding that AKER ASA, being a Norwegian Company not registered as an external company under the country's company code lacked the legal capacity to acquire exploration and production rights or to be a party to the petroleum agreement.
However, Mr Hammond and other members of the Minority side challenged the basis for the parties to agree to terminate an agreement that had been reached through a resolution by Parliament without bringing it back to the House.
Mr Hammond also asked the minister whether the GNPC had reached an agreement with KOSMOS Energy Ghana Limited on the disposal or sale of KOSMOS Energy's stake in the Jubilee Field.
Answering the question, the minister said information available to him did not support the assertion that GNPC had reached agreement with KOSMOS Energy Ghana Limited on disposal on its stake in the Jubilee field.
Dr Oteng-Adjei also told the House that as part of measures to mitigate the effect of impounding the Bui Dam on the Akosombo and Kpong stations, a 100 megawatt had to be available from other fuel sources by 2011 to make up for the shortfall in energy requirements of the country.
He explained that to date a 180 MW Sunon-Asogli Thermal Power Plant had been commissioned and in commercial operation while two other plants, the Tema Osonor Plant 126 MW and Takoradi 3 Thermal Power Plant, 132 MW were under construction to get additional power for the country.
Answering a follow-up question, Dr Oteng-Adjei told the House that part of the gas being received by Ghana from the West Africa Gas project had been directed to the Sunon-Asogli Thermal Power plant to enable it generate power to cater for the expected shortfall.
Meanwhile, the Presidential (Transition) Bill, 2010 to oversee a smooth transition from one president to the other was laid before the House by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu.
The Health Institutions and Facilitates Bill, 2010 was also laid before the House to go through its first reading stage.

House refers publisher to Privileges Committee

2010-11-02T01:07:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Oct 27, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, yesterday referred the Editor of Africawatch, a pan-African magazine, Mr Steve Mallory, to the Privileges Committee of the House over a publication in the magazine’s October 2010 issue which graded the performance of Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Executive.
Her action followed contributions by MPs on both sides of the House to two statements by the MP for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and the MP for Ashaiman, Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi.
In referring the matter to the committee, the Speaker quoted Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, as well as Order 30 (2) of the Standing Order of the House, and said that the publication had brought the reputation of MPs into disrepute.
The said article states: “An omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties, or affronts the dignity of Parliament or which tends either directly or indirectly to produce that result, is contempt of Parliament.”
The Speaker explained that the publication had done exactly what Article 122 of the Constitution sought to prevent and thus needed to be investigated by the Privileges Committee.
“Honourable members, my duty is to protect the integrity of the House and I, therefore, refer the matter to the committee for consideration and report,” she said.
In his statement, Dr Prempeh said at one time or another, both sides of the House had considered an objective and fair assessment of MPs, adding that that showed that parliamentarians were not averse to being assessed.
“We will welcome it, provided it is done fairly, objectively and transparently with built-in safeguards for feedback and re-evaluations,” he said.
He said what the publication had achieved was to mainly ridicule MPs in the eye of Ghanaians by reducing a well-thought out initiative to be sacrificed on the altar of simplicity.
“This simplicity, which panders to the basic instincts of mischievous elements, is very unfair to the reputation of all MPs,” he said, adding that it was being used by friends and foes in the various media, political parties and constituencies to tarnish the image of MPs and Parliament as an institution.
He argued that the Political Performance Index (PPI) sought to undermine the harmonious working relation in the House, explaining that it would make it very difficult for the leadership to persuade the back benchers to give in to their colleagues on the front bench during debates.
“Madam Speaker, we should not make an avatar of this PPI and we should not allow it to pass, lie or die without comment and action. If we do so, it will be at our own peril,” Dr Prempeh said.
In his statement, Mr Agbesi said while it was necessary to assess MPs for the growth of democracy, it was critically necessary for those involved to be circumspect in arriving at conclusions such as awarding grades which sent devastating signals to constituents and the general public.
He called on Parliament to establish an institution of high learning to build the capacities of MPs, in addition to the formation and recognition of a strong back-bencher group.
When the MPs were given the chance to contribute to the matter, they did so with passion, with all the contributors calling on the Speaker to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee.
In his contribution, the MP for Atwima Mponua, Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah, said it would be the highest order of injustice should any MP lose his or her seat as a result of the publication.
For her part, the MP for Evalue-Gwira, Mrs Catherine Afeku, said the publication had done more harm to the effort of all well-meaning Ghanaians to encourage women to vie to become MPs.
She stated that by awarding such low grades to women in the House, the magazine had succeeded in putting fear in women who intended to contest for seats in the 2012 parliamentary election.
The MP for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, said the publication was unfair, particularly to MPs who were in Parliament for the first time, explaining that since they were still learning, it was impossible for them to speak on all issues.
“How can people who know next to nothing about parliamentary practice assess the work of MPs?” he asked and called on the leadership of the House not to take the matter before the House lightly.
The MP for Jaman South, Mr Yaw Afful Maama, questioned the criteria for the assessment of MPs, saying it would be impossible for former MPs who lost their seats either at the constituency primaries or parliamentary elections to see anything better in sitting MPs.
When it came to their turn, both the Majority and Minority leaders, Mr Cletus Avoka and Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, respectively, condemned the publication and urged Ghanaians to treat it with the contempt that it deserved.
Other MPs who contributed to the two statements were Simon Edem Asimah (South Dayi), Sampson Ahi (Juabeso), Dominic Nitiwul (Bimbilla), Inusah B.A. Fuseini (Tamale Central) and David Tetteh Assumeng (Shai-Osudoku)

Steps needed for untrained teachers to become professionals

2010-11-02T01:02:00.000-07:00

Page 61, Oct 25, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE District Chief Executive for Jaman South in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Julius Atta-Bediako, has called for measures to be put in place to enable community teaching assistants to be enrolled in teacher training colleges in future.
He said such a measure would enable more people to be trained and posted to the rural areas to improve on teaching and learning in such areas.
Mr Atta-Bediako made the call at the opening of a 14-day training workshop for 47 community education teaching assistants under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in the district.
He said it was the wish of the government that whenever there was recruitment in any field of endeavour, the NYEP beneficiaries should be the first to be considered.
The DCE advised the beneficiaries not to be swollen headed and consider the NYEP as a permanent employment but must continue to study in order to further their studies to enable them achieve higher laurels.
He also advised them to obey the Ghana Education Service rules and regulations since they were now considered as part of the system.
The Jaman South District Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Mr Cosmos Amankona, advised the participants to avoid alcohol and use their allowances judiciously.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Jaman South District Director of Education, Madam Lilian A. §??, said the workshop did not focus on making the beneficiaries substantive professional teachers but as teaching assistants.
She, therefore, urged them to co-operate with their programme co-ordinators and facilitators during the workshop to enable them acquire basic teaching skills to assist pupils who would be entrusted to their care.

MPs divided on gender parity

2010-11-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Oct 23, 2010
MPs divided on
gender parity

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) are divided on whether the country should legislate for the achievement of gender parity in representation at various levels of decision making.
While some are of the opinion that the time has come for laws to be put in place to encourage women to offer themselves for elections, others that women should earn their positions on merit and not because of their sex.
The MPs gave these divergent opinions when they contributed to a statement made on the floor of Parliament by the MP for Asante Akim South, Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu on the topic: “Local Government as a strategic site of struggle for gender equity” last Thursday.
In the statement, the MP stated that given the significance of local government in the lives of women, it was regrettable that gender activists had largely ignored local government in their quest for gender equity.
She observed that while efforts were being made to increase the number of women in Parliament and in the Executive, there seemed to be lack of measures in promoting women in local government.
Mrs Ohene-Konadu said international conventions required states to create the conditions that facilitated women’s participation in governance and eliminating gender restrictions for the occupation of certain offices.
She said the problem of lack of women in positions in the country was real, explaining that even though the 1992 Constitution provided for the appointment of people to key positions by the President in consultation with the Council of State, it did not state anything about the gender of the appointees.
Mrs Ohene-Konadu said it was, therefore, important that women take advantage of the forthcoming local level elections to put themselves up as candidates and solicit support of their communities to be voted as assembly women.
The MP expressed the hope that with the increasing status of local government, gender activism in the area of women’s participation in local government would also increase.
Mrs Ohene-Konadu explained that the assumption underpinning the expression that local government was closest to people in general and women in particular and that women who contest election at that level would win with ease, was false.
She, therefore, appealed to the general public to vote massively for women who would contest the election for progress, unity and development.
Mrs Ohene-Konadu asked donor community and the civil society to reduce the number of workshops aimed at building the capacities of women and rather make the funds available to the candidates to cater for their campaign expenses.
Contributing to the statement, the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Ambrose Dery, called for legislation to ensure that women were well represented at all levels of decision making to fast-track the development of the country.
However, the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, argued that in the provision of education and jobs, women should be given opportunity on merit and not because of their sex.
He said participation in district level elections was crucial to strengthen women to contest in Presidential and Parliamentary elections in future.
The Minister of Youth and Sports and MP for South Dayi, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, urged men assist women in diverse ways to enable women to have the needed courage to contest elections at all levels.
The MP for Bantama, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, called on the President to work hard in order to fulfil his promise to offer 40 per cent of positions at all levels to women.
Other MPs who contributed to the statement were Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak (Asawase) and Ms Frema Osei-Opare (Ayawaso West Wuogon).

NPP MPs want Kobby Acheampong sacked for insulting comment

2010-11-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Oct 21, 2010
NPP MPs want Kobby Acheampong
sacked for insulting comment

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on the President to sack the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr Kobby Acheampong, over remarks by him which they deem as derogatory against residents of Kumasi and cocoa growing areas.
They said his attack on the General Secretary of the NPP, Mr Kwaku Owusu Afriyie (aka Sir John), on an Accra-based FM station during which he referred to him as “Kookooase Kuraseni from Kumasi”, that is, a villager from a cocoa area, had cast a slur on hardworking cocoa farmers across the country.
Again, they said his comment that the long period Mr Afriyie had stayed in Kumasi had affected his thought was not only an attack on the NPP General Secretary but rather the entire residents of Kumasi.
At a press conference in Parliament yesterday, the MP for Dormaa West, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, stated that it was unfortunate that cocoa farmers who had toiled for the country over the years could be rewarded with such derogatory remarks from a deputy minister who was being paid from their sweat and toil.
He explained that cocoa farmers were spread across the Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Volta regions, and referring to the NPP General Secretary as such “was a complete insult of cocoa farmers”.
“Let Mr Acheampong tell us where he comes from and where he was schooled”. “Is it not proceeds from sales of cocoa that was used to educate him,” Mr Agyeman-Manu asked and demanded answers from his accuser.
For his part, a former Mayor of Kumasi and MP for Asokwa, Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, said it was unfortunate that the deputy minister made such remarks.
He referred to Kumasi as a citadel of the country’s culture, adding that a lot of prominent Ghanaians, including a former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, former First Lady, Mrs Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, and former President John Agyekum Kufuor were born and bred in Kumasi.
Mr Jumah therefore called on President Mills to redeem his image by disassociating himself from such comments by sacking Mr Acheampong to deter others from using such insults against a segment of the country.
The MP for Nsuta/Kwamang/Beposo, Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, said it was rather unfortunate that Mr Acheampong was still continuing with the foul language he used during the 2008 general election for which he was rewarded with his current position.

Amoako-Attah sworn-in as Parliament resumes

2010-11-02T00:50:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Oct 20, 2010
Amoako-Attah sworn in
as Parliament resumes

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

The newest Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, was sworn into office as MP for Atiwa when the House resumed sitting yesterday for the Third Meeting of the Second Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
He was elected during a by-election in the Atiwa Constituency in the Eastern Region on August 31, 2010, following the death of the incumbent MP, Mr Kwasi Annor Ankamah.
At exactly 10 am, the Speaker of the House, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo entered the Chamber after the MPs had taken their seats.
After leading the MPs in prayers, she informed the House about the writ of election which had been sent by the Electoral Commission on the by-election declaring Mr Amoako-Attah as the winner.
When she invited the new MP for the brief swearing in ceremony, the Minority responded “hear, hear!” while some Majority MPs were heard saying "it is just a replacement".
Led by the Speaker and assisted by the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Emmanuel Anyimadu, Mr Amoako-Atta swore oaths of allegiance and Member of Parliament after which he was led to his seat while both sides of the House applauded.
Welcoming the new MP, Mrs Bamford-Addo encouraged him to learn the rules and procedures in the House quickly to enable him discharge his duties efficiently.
She informed the MPs about the tight schedule of the meeting and urged them to brace themselves up for the task ahead.
Mrs Bamford-Addo also informed the House about the completion of a three-storey office block which would accommodate the leadership and committee chairmen, and plans to distribute laptops to MPs to enhance their work.
The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, for his part announced that the 36 new bills, 12 pending bills, 33 instruments, 38 other papers and 700 questions posed by MPs were expected to engage the attention of the House during the meeting.
In addition, the Economic Policy and Budget Statement of the government for 2011 was also expected to be laid before the House by the second week of November.
He mentioned some of the crucial bills expected to be passed during the meeting as the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill and the Freedom of Information Bill.
While welcoming the new MP to the House, Mr Avoka also charged the MPs to be patriotic and committed to enable the House to complete the agenda it had set for itself during the meeting.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the nine weeks ahead of the House would bring various challenges and difficulties "and would test our capabilities as law makers and representatives".
He, therefore, urged the MPs to see the challenges as opportunities to prove to Ghanaians "some of whom had become very critical and even cynical that, we can rise to the occasion and discharge our duties to satisfy the national interest".
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu appealed to his colleagues to eschew negative partisanship and be patriotic and diligent during the discussions on two bills on the petroleum industry, bearing in mind that "posterity would not never forgive us should we make any wrong decision on any of these critical matters which otherwise have the potential of contributing to transform our economy in a significant way".
He, therefore, advised his colleagues to be time-conscious, punctual and participate in all activities in the Chamber and committee meetings to ensure a productive meeting.
While welcoming Mr Amoako-Attah to the House, he called for measures to curb the violence that had characterised by-elections of late, explaining that if nothing was done it would mar the beauty of the 2012 general elections.
Both Majority and Minority leaders congratulated the Speaker for being the first female acting President of Ghana when both the President and his vice were away from the country on October 1, 2010.
At yesterday's sitting, the Local Government (Creation of New District Electoral Areas) Instrument, 2010, Unit Committee Regulations, 2010 (C.I 18) and the Energy Efficiency Standards and Labelling (Housing Refrigerating Appliances)(Amendment) Regulations, 2010 (L.I 1970) were laid before the House.

Ghana must avert curse of oil and gas industry — Asamaoh

2010-08-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

Page 13, Aug 25, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, Mr Kofi Asamoah, has called on the government to put in place adequate structures and appropriate legal measures to ensure that the ordinary Ghanaian benefited from the oil and gas find.
He said it would be impossible for Ghana to overcome the challenges associated with the production of oil and gas if it failed to put in place measures to ensure that people and not leaders, as well as giant oil companies benefited from the find.
He said with both good and bad lessons available from other oil and gas producing countries, Ghana could not fail, but rely on such experiences to avoid the curse associated with the industry.
Addressing a day’s seminar organised by the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union in Accra, he said averting the curse of the oil and gas industry did not require just optimism but laws to create a legitimate and effective framework to regulate the industry.
The seminar was on the theme, “Petroleum woes: repositioning for the production of oil and gas in Ghana”.
He said for the TUC, an oil economy presented opportunities for the creation of jobs and a national economy with enough fiscal space to pay a living wage.
Mr Asamoah explained that would, however, not come on a silver platter since the experience was that the multinationals were less tolerant of trade unions.
He said that required a repositioned TUC to organise and ensure that the rights of workers are protected.
“We must take keen interest in occupational health and safety issues and not only concern ourselves with bread and butter issues”.
He said the TUC had been following developments in the oil and gas sector and expressed concern about the seeming secrecy surrounding oil and gas contracts.
Mr Asamoah said it was only appropriate that Ghanaians got to know the contents of oil and gas agreements and contracts entered into on their behalf by the government.
Touching on oil-related bills currently before Parliament, the TUC boss said it was difficult to understand the fact that organised labour was not represented on the oil revenue management board and expressed the hope that such anomaly would be addressed before the bill was passed into law.
Delivering the keynote address, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said government was conscious of the fact that the oil and gas find in the Jubilee Field was an opportunity to enhance the country’s growth and development.
He said it was against that backdrop that the government had shown commitment by taking a number of important initiatives to make the Jubilee project happen in a manner that would ensure maximum benefit to all the major stakeholders in the country.
On human resource development for the sector, Mr Buah said the Ministries of Energy and Education were collaborating to develop the necessary curricula for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET) to meet the human resource requirements of the oil and gas industry.
He said it was heartwarming that virtually all the major public universities had introduced oil and gas related studies, while some polytechnics and technical institutions had begun to introduce hands-on petroleum-related courses to provide some of the most essential skills required at the production and middle-management levels for the effective functioning of the industry.
Mr Buah gave assurance that government would continue to ensure that the right regulatory framework was in place to enable the Ghanaians worker succeed in the oil and gas industry.
For his part, the General Secretary of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union, Mr E.A Mensah, said the union was reliably informed that even though recruitment of workers by private employment agencies for the oil and gas sector was going on well, the employers on the rigs were not treating Ghanaian personnel on-board fairly.
He, therefore, called on the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), which is the regulator to regularly monitor activities of the various rigs to protect Ghanaian workers on-board.

Politicians must not toy with educational reforms

2010-08-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

Page 12, Aug 25, 2010

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Matilda Attram
THE General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has called on politicians not to experiment with the country’s educational reforms in order not to jeopardise the well being of the Ghanaian student.
Expressing concern about the recent amendment of the 2007 Education Reform Policy, which reduced the duration of senior high school from four years to three years, the General Assembly said: "We are of the view that the future of school children in particular and education in general must be of concern to all and policies on education delivery must be tried and tested over a long period before change, so that we avoid undue experimentation of education in the country."
The church expressed the concern in a communiqué adopted at the 10th General Assembly of the church held at Takoradi recently and presented at a press conference in Accra by the Moderator of the church, Right Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso.
"We have found that most parents, especially in the rural areas, find it difficult to provide the needs of children due to the rising cost of education, "the communiqué said and called on the government to partner with churches to find lasting solutions to challenges facing education in the country.
On the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the communiqué also expressed concern about the reported allegations of mismanagement of funds and encouraged the government to thoroughly investigate these allegations and, if proven, seek justice for the wanton dissipation of state resources.
It, however, called for strenuous efforts to be made to strengthen and sustain the NHIS and insulate it from political interference. Touching on the provision of housing in the country, the church lauded the recent $10 billion STX and government deal to build 200,000 affordable housing units throughout the country and expressed the believe that the initiative would help to reduce the housing deficit and inject massive resources into Ghana's social development economy.
"However, we entreat government to take steps to tie up the knotty issues that were creating tension between government, the Minority in Parliament and other civil society organisations.”
On corruption, the General Assembly of the church said it found it worrying that the country was still struggling with the battle against corruption and asked the government to be passionate in leading a frontal attack on corruption by the application of appropriate sanctions to serve as a deterrent to others.
On governance, the church appreciated Parliament for its contribution to the growth and deepening of democratic governance process. It, however, appealed to the House to expedite the process of alleviating the poverty levels of the people.
The communiqué also commended the executive for its efforts to ensure general peace and stability in the country, particularly measures to curb armed robbery and other serious crimes.
It, however, considered as worrisome the unresolved conflicts in some parts of the northern Ghana.
"We note with satisfaction government efforts to curb the recent spate of indiscipline relating to attacks, seizures and closure of public offices by foot soldiers and supporters of the ruling party and urge the law enforcement agencies to apply the law."
It also touched on the performance of the judiciary and commended the Chief Justice for a good work done. It said, the General Assembly, however, was not happy about the
"seeming culture of delays in the delivery of justice and undue interference in the work of the judiciary by politicians. "We urge the judiciary to make every effort to ensure that cases are speedily tries and disposed off to reduce particularly, the number of accused persons on remand and congestion in prisons," the communiqué stated.
On the Single Spine Salary Structure, the church commended the government for the initiative and explained that even though the policy was fraught with initial problems of distortions and some inequities in assessing salary regimes and job evaluation mechanisms,
it would help in addressing the imbalances in salary administration in the civil and public services.
While commending the media for playing its watchdog role, the communiqué also said the church was not comfortable with the high levels of sensationalism and unprofessionalism in the practice of journalism, particularly by some radio stations.
It said the incidence of pornography on the screen and electronic media was not the best since it was detrimental to the development of the country.
"The General Assembly urges the Ghana Journalists Association to partner with the National Media Commission to facilitate the development and promulgation of the Broadcasting Standards Law to regulate the operation of radio stations.
On the Christian community, the communiqué said the PCG was disturbed by acts of a few Christian leaders, which had brought Christianity into disrepute.
"The General Assemble reiterate its call to the Christian Council of Ghana, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Ghana Pentecostal Council and the leaders of all other religious denominations to rise up and weed out all such charlatans among their fold."

Range Rover to launch new models

2010-08-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Back from Porto, Portugal
THE latest model of the Range Rover vehicle is expected to hit the market in 2011 to commemorate the 40th anniversary launch of the vehicle.
Launched in 1970, officials of the company maintain the Range Rover is not an entirely new type of vehicle and neither is it a Land Rover or a conventional car.
According to Mike Gould, an experienced journalist, who had been writing about the Range Rover vehicles over the years, Range Rovers combined Land Rovers and conventional cars to create a whole new concept of a vehicle which is comfortable off-road as on-road.
That is exactly what the 2011 model of the vehicle, which has been named Range Rover Autobiography, seeks to achieve.
Even though the Range Rover Autobiography is yet to be outdoored, officials of the company say clients are yearning to buy the vehicle.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary, 700 out of the number of the 2011 model of the Range Rover have been specially made and named Range Rover Autobiography Black.
This brand of the 2011 model has been described as; “The ultimate incarnation of a motoring icon, the Range Rover Autobiography Black 40th Anniversary Limited edition is quite simply the last word in bespoke vehicles”.
To prove how versatile the Range Rover Autobiography is, selected journalists who report on the motor industry were assembled in Porto, Portugal to test-drive the vehicles before they were outdoored.
Through the sponsorship of the Range Rover Company and the assistance of the PHC Motors, the sole Ghanaian dealer of Land Rover/Range Rover vehicles, this writer had the privilege of being among four selected journalists from Africa, who joined their counterparts from other parts of the world to test-drive the new Range Rover both on the on-road and off-road in Porto and Douro Valley countryside in Portugal.
The other three journalists from Africa were selected from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Angola.
The Douro Valley, near Porto, with its unique features of mountains and steeps was considered a fitting area for the selected journalists to test-drive the yet-to be outdoored 2011 edition of the Range Rover vehicle.
Briefing the journalists before the exercise, Chief Programme Engineer of the Range Rover Company, Mr Paul Walker explained that the existing Range Rover was already the world’s best luxury all-terrain vehicle adding that “a wealth of enhancements to the Range Rover for 2011 means that the best is about to become even better”.
He stated that the company had added two more functions to its patented terrain-response for added safety and peace of mind of users.
Mr Walker said while retaining the incompatible 5.0-litre LR-V8 supercharge and naturally aspirated engines, the Range Rover for 2011 has additional LR-TDV8 super engine.
Already Land/Range Rover vehicles have been re-lanched in Ghana with the PHC Motors Limited as the sole dealers.
The Managing Director of PHC Motors, Mr Paul Kwabena Pepera said during the re-launch last month that it was heart-warming that 14 years after the dealership in the country was taken away from his company, it had won back the dealership.
The, company, according to him had spent one year undergoing intensive training, amassing a healthy stock of spare parts and investing in the latest Land/Range Rover diagnostic equipment, as well as assembling a team of experienced managers and technicians to handle the franchise.

MPs laud Stars

2010-07-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

Backpage, July 7, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
Members of Parliament (MP) unanimously showered praises on the senior national team, the Black Stars for their historic feat in the World Cup in South Africa.
They were however not comfortable with the invitation extended by President John Evans Atta Mills to only the leadership of the House to join him at a ceremony to honour the players and technical bench of the team at the Castle, Osu.
They, therefore, impressed on the leadership of the Parliament to arrange for the players to visit the House and interact with them
Responding to the demand and sentiments of the House, the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka promised to liaise with the management of the Black Stars to make arrangement for players to visit to the august House.
The MPs were contributing to a statement made on the floor of the House by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture, Mr Stephen M.E.K Ackah to congratulate the team.
In his statement, he stated that notwithstanding what happened in the last match of the Black Stars in South Africa, the team had placed Ghana on a higher pedestal, which was unprecedented in Ghana and Africa’s football history.
“Ghana was the only African representative in two consecutive world cups, which moved beyond the group stages and has equalled the records of pacesetters, Cameroon and Senegal,” he stated.
He said that the team needed special commendation because the connoisseurs, pundits and analysts of football were skeptical about the capacity of the team to make any meaningful progress in the tournament.
Mr Ackah explained that initially, the team was plagued with numerous injuries while the absence of Michael Essien was seen as a blow.
“Indeed after the 4-1 defeat by the Netherlands in one of the trial matches close to the commencement of the tournament, many felt the Black Stars were going to be the whipping boys of the competition”, he said.
“Let us continue to encourage the players to train hard and keep the faith. The time to start strategizing for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is now”.
Mr Ackah said that if the defending champions, Italy could be shown the exit by Slovakia and other football giants such as England, France, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal USA, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon had to exit before the semi-final stage of the competition, then it was an indication of how far and fast football was advancing and how difficult it was for any country to claim supremacy in the game.
Mr Ackah said “this is an achievement that can never be forgotten. As a nation we have to give our team, our gallant warriors a resounding and heroic welcome”, adding that what happened at the Kotoka International Airport was a manifestation of the appreciation of Ghanaians for the good job done by the Black Stars.

Police can’t provide security for MPs now — Martin Amidu

2010-07-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

Page 13, July 5, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Ghana Police Service will need not less than 490 personnel to effectively provide security to the homes of Members of Parliament (MPs), the Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu has stated.
He told Parliament on Friday that currently, the police did not have enough personnel to provide security for the homes of the 230 MPs as a result of human resource constraints.
Mr Amidu was answering a question by the MP for Binduri, Mr Stephen Yakubu, who wanted to know whether the ministry had plans to provide MPs with security in their homes.
He explained that the police protection unit, under the command of the Ministries Police District, provided security for the leadership of Parliament, which included the Speaker, the First and Second Deputy Speakers, among others.
Mr Amidu said the police administration might be able to discharge the duty of providing personal security to the residence of MPs when there had been appreciable increase in the number of police personnel.
He said currently, the country’s police strength was 23,228 adding that the administration hoped to recruit a further 8,640 by 2012.
“The police administration will keep the desire of MPs to be provided with security, especially in their homes, until it is able to commit personnel to such duties’’.
He suggested that MPs who experienced any special threat to their personal safety and security or those whose situation needed special attention should contact the district police commanders under whose jurisdiction they resided for the necessary attention.
Answering another question, Mr Amidu told the House that the Ghana National Fire Service had earmarked three strategic areas in the Central Region for the establishment of fire stations in the immediate future.
He said the government had recognised the need to equip and strengthen the capacity of the GNFS throughout the country explaining that efforts were being made to secure new fire tenders for distributions to needy fire stations.

Book on oil and gas for Parliament

2010-07-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Page 14, July 3, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

KUMASI Institute for Technology and Environment (KITE,) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has presented copies of two books on the emerging oil and gas industry to Parliament.
The books, Oil and Gas Terminologies and Ghana’s Emerging Petroleum Industry: What Stakeholders Need to Know, are meant to educate Members of Parliament (MPs) to enable them to be abreast of issues about the industry.
The Director of KITE, Mr Ishmael Edjekumhene, said as architects of the country’s laws, MPs need to come to terms with issues in the emerging industry so that the country have the requisite laws to make the oil and gas beneficial rather than a curse.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, who received 300 copies each of the two books, thanked the NGO for its gesture and expressed the hope that the MPs and staff of Parliament would read them to have more knowledge about the industry.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said there was the need for Ghanaians to gain more knowledge about the industry so that Ghana would not commit some of the mistakes that other oil-rich countries had committed.

This week in Paeliament

2010-07-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Page 26 (Mirror), July 3, 2010
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
WITH about four weeks left for the end of the Second meeting of the Second Session of the Fourth Parliament, the House intensified its activities during the week to ensure the completion of the agenda for the meeting.
The House continued the numerous amendments that had been proposed by a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill, 2009, which is at the consideration stage.
The District Assembly Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was also deliberated on during the week but as at the time of filing this report, the two sides of the House were consulting each other on how best to amend the already existing District Assembly Elections Act, 1994 (Act 473).
The Minister of Energy, Dr Joseph Oteng-Adjei also appeared before the House during the week to answer questions that had been filed by six MPs.
They were Mr Anthony Evans Amoah (NPP, Mpohor-Wassa-East, Mr Emmanuel Kwame Duut?? (NDC, Bunkprugu Yunyoo), Mr Ofosu Asamoah (NPP, Kade), Mr Simons Addai (NDC, Techiman South), Nana Yaw Ofori-Kuragu, (Independent, Bosome-Freho) and Mr Joseph Nikpe Bukari (NDC, Saboba).
Mr Amoah wanted to know when action would be taken on the construction of small hydro-electric dams in the Central and Western regions, initiated in 2008.
Answering the question, Dr Oteng-Adjei said that previous studies undertaken by the Volta River Authority (VRA) on rivers in the Central and Western regions identified seven potential sites for small or mini hydro-electric dams explaining that the rivers involved the Tano and the Ankobra.
He said an update of the preliminary studies undertaken in 2008 for the two sites on the Pra River showed that the site at Hemang could generate 90MW while that of Awisam could generate 50MW adding that proposals of the two mini hydro-power stations had been received and were being evaluated.
Dr Oteng-Adjei said that further studies would have to be initiated to determine the extent of work and especially, the impact of the dams on the environment, including any resettlement issues.
Answering other questions, the minister told the House that in line with the National Electrification Schemes, the mandate of the ministry was to extend electricity to communities without electricity supply at all.
He said when an electricity project was completed, it was handed over to the respective utility company in the community’s location to operate and maintain the network.
Answering another question on causes of the delay in the completion of the electrification project in Chagbani, Kuntuli and the State Farms in the Saboba District, Dr Oteng-Adjei said the ministry had never initiated any electrification project in those areas.
He explained that those projects were initiated by the then Deputy Minister for Lands and Forestry and Professor Okyere of the Animal Research Centre around 2000 with funding from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
He said the supply lines were extended for connection to residents of the community adding that the transformer failed during the inauguration of the project and the supply could not be connected at the time.
He said on the request of the district assembly, the VRA and the Northern Electricity Department replaced the damaged transformer and supplied power to the NRC at Chagbani, where the state farms were located in 2009.
Dr Oteng-Adjei added that the Kuntuli community could, however not be connected because the poles that were used to extend the lines were found to be rotten.
The minister said the district assembly had recently provided the 28 poles required to replace the rotten ones to ensure that the community was connected to electricity.

Ministry to support women in Assembly election

2010-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Page 13, July 2, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs will continue to support women who will stand for the district assembly elections scheduled for September this year, the sector minister, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, has said.
In line with that the ministry has developed a strategy paper which is aimed at securing support for women’s participation in decision-making as well increasing their participation at the local level, and ultimately to the parliamentary level.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah made these known when she appeared before the House to answer a question posed to her by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lower West Akim, Ms Gifty Klenam, on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday.
Ms Klenam had asked the minister what special provision the ministry was making to encourage more women to contest in the forthcoming district level elections.
The minister told the House that to achieve that objective a committee comprising members from both governmental and non-governmental organisations had been constituted to plan activities outlined in the strategy paper in the preparation towards the District Level Elections.
She noted that the 2006 District Level Elections demonstrated that when women were organised, they were better placed to become confident with their delivery, explaining that review meetings and interactions after the elections revealed that there was the need to sustain the momentum and build on what had been done to enable more women to occupy decision-making positions as administrators, assembly members, counsellors, among others.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said the ministry was targeting 20 women in each district for special training to enable them to effectively campaign for the upcoming elections to double the number of women in the district assemblies.
She said as a first step the ministry was teaming up with other ministries, departments and agencies in addition to civil society organisations to advocate and sensitise the general public to the importance of women’s inclusion in the district level elections.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said that the ministry would produce jingles in English, Twi, Nzema, Ewe,and Dagbani to be played on local FM stations in all the ten regions to educate the people, explaining that the ministry would lobby the FM stations for free air time and slots for the sensitisation programme.
She said the regional directors of the ministry were expected to work with gender desk officers and district assemblies in their respective regions to identify women for the exercise, adding that the regional level training would target 50 selected women while at the district level 20 women would be targeted.
Mr Azumah-Mensah said it was expected that the district assemblies would sponsor the trainings, and that the ministry would also source sponsorship from the private sector, corporate bodies, development partners and the general public.

COCOBID secures $10m loan for sheabutter factory

2010-07-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Centre spread, July 1, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has secured a $10 million loan on behalf of the Produce Buying Company (PBC) to establish a factory in Ghana to process shea-nuts into butter, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has disclosed in Parliament.
Answering a number of questions on the floor of the House yesterday, the minister stated that the move, to be effected from the first quarter of 2011, was to find a permanent solution to the glut problem associated with the shea-butter industry.
The Member of Parliament for Bole/Bamboi, Mr Joseph Akati Saaka, who posed the question, wanted to know what steps the ministry was taking to clear the glut of shea-nut in the three northern regions since 2008.
He said to facilitate the industry’s rapid development, a stakeholders forum was held in Accra in 2009 to finalise a shea-nut development strategy, explaining that the strategy sought to make the industry vibrant by creating internal and external marketing opportunities for buyers to export their shea-nuts and make the industry commercially viable.
Mr Ahwoi said records from the Ghana Export Promotion Council indicated that annual exports of shea-nuts ranged from 32,000 to 45,000 metric tonnes, adding that USAID in 2004 estimated that Ghana had a potential to produce 200,000 metric tonnes and an actual collection of 130,000 metric tonnes.
He noted that since shea-nut had become the source of livelihood of most people in the savannah part of Ghana, an increase in the collection to a 100,000 metric tonnes per annum would considerably alleviate poverty in that part of the country.
He gave an assurance that legislation, guidelines and regulations on the shea-nut industry would be reactivated and enforced to ensure the growth of the industry.
Mr Ahwoi added that extension education would be intensified to disseminate information on good agronomic practices on shea harvesting, processing, pricing and market information.
In an answer to another question, the minister indicated that approval had been given by the Office of the President for the existing Export Development Investment Fund (EDIF) Fund to be amended and called the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).
He said the board of EDAIF would have two additional members nominated on the board by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture while an additional five per cent levy would be charged on non-oil imports for the purpose of supporting investment in agricultural activities.

Awutu-Senya MP assures constituents

2010-06-29T14:18:00.001-07:00

Awutu-Senya MP assures constituents
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu-Senya in the Central Region, Mr David Nana Larbie, has assured Ghanaians that the government is committed to its campaign promises and has therefore put in place measures to fulfil them before the end of its four-year mandate.
He said a number of social amenities and human-centred programmes that had been embarked on within the past one-and-a-half years were ample evidence that the government was capable of meeting its development targets to better the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
“The Better Ghana Agenda is on course,” he said and called on Ghanaians to give the government the needed support to ensure the speedy achievement of the country’s development goals.
Nana Larbie gave the assurance when he toured a number of communities in his constituency to educate the people about deliberations in Parliament and also to interact with the people to know their concerns and aspirations.
He stated that the problems identified during his tour included the need to provide boreholes for communities without water and classrooms for schools under trees.
Nana Larbie gave the assurance that by the end of his first term in office, about 80 per cent of such schools under trees would be provided with classrooms.
He expressed concern about the deplorable nature of roads in the area and mentioned roads such as the Awutu-Obrakyire-Bontrase road as one of such roads.
Nana Larbie has built a community centre with part of his share of the common fund at Awutu Breku while the Ahentia D/A Junior High School has been renovated.
The MP added that he had also presented generators and televisions to a number of communities including Ahentia, Ayensuako and Fianko to enable them watch the on-going World Cup in South Africa.
In addition, 65 senior secondary school and tertiary students have been given scholarships ranging between GH¢200.00 and GH¢400.00 to enable them pursue their various academic courses.

Minority questions President's trip

2010-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Centre spread, June 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minority in Parliament has questioned the validity of the reason adduced by President John Atta Mills for his current trip to South Africa.
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, raised the issue at yesterday’s sitting of the House after the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, had informed the House that President Mills had travelled to South Africa.
According to the communication from the Presidency, which was read by the Speaker, the President left for South Africa on Thursday to consult his counterpart, Mr Jacob Zumah, on the upcoming African Union (AU) Summit scheduled for Kampala, Uganda.
The communication informed the House that the President was expected back home on Monday.
But when Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu caught the eye of the Speaker, he said it was unfortunate that the President did not inform the House before he embarked on the trip, even though the House had sat on Thursday.
He quoted Article 59 of the 1992 Constitution, which reads thus: “The President shall not leave Ghana without prior notification in writing, signed by him and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament.”
The Minority Leader said by extension, the notification in writing to the Speaker was meant for Parliament and the good people of the country and demanded that the President explain to Ghanaians why he took such an action.
Besides, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told the House that the President’s reason for embarking on the trip was untenable, since President Zumah, with whom he was going to hold bilateral talks, was himself attending the G-8 Summit in Canada.
“Was the President candid to Ghanaians when he informed us that he was going to hold talks with the South African President? We demand answers. At an appropriate time, we will demand answers,” he stated.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added that President Zumah was scheduled to return to South Africa the very day that President Mills was scheduled to return to Ghana and wondered whether he could really hold any bilateral talks with President Zumah.
On a point of order, the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Rashid Pelpuo, said, “Madam Speaker, I know that the notification did not get to you only this morning.”
But the Speaker cut in and explained that even though the communication might had been brought to Parliament the day before, she had it only that morning.
Continuing, Mr Pelpuo explained that the Presidency was not just a personality but an institution and that even though the South African President might not be in the country, that did not prevent President Mills from holding talks with the South African Presidency.
But the NPP MP for New Juaben North, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, debunked the claim by Mr Pelpuo, explaining that in diplomatic circles, Presidents on such trips held talks with their counterparts and not even Vice-Presidents or other government officials.
He said President Mills should have been bold to inform Ghanaians that he was going to South Africa to watch the 1/16 stage match between Ghana and the United States in the ongoing World Cup tournament, instead of the reason he gave for the trip.
Commenting on the issue, Mrs Bamford-Addo said it was within the rights of MPs to demand the whereabouts of the President, adding that should the President have an explanation on his return, he might offer it.

House wants eleborate briefing on floods

2010-06-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

Page 14, June 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho has directed the leadership of the House to liaise with the government to fix a date for the House to be briefed on the recent floods that occurred in various parts of the country.
He said a statement on the floor of Parliament should give an elaborate plan on what measures were being adopted to deal with the situation, which he described as “a national calamity”.
The directive was made due to two statements made on the heavy downpour experienced in the country last Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of a number of people and caused extensive damage to property.
The Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Mr David Tetteh Assumeng in the statement called for an inter-sectoral meeting to find a lasting solution to the problem.
He noted that that engineers should be brought on board while the Town and Country Planning Department and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) should be strengthened to enforce all legislation on building procedures.
“Madam Speaker, there is the need to free all water ways of illegal structures to avert future occurrences without politicisation,” he stressed and expressed his condolence to the bereaved families.
The Member of Parliament for Agona West, Mr Samuel Obodai also made a statement on the flood in his constituency, particularly Swedru.
He explained that in the constituency, particularly, Swedru and Agona Nyakrom, eleven lives were lost and that the entire Zabu Zongo Community became completely uninhabitable because almost all houses were submerged in the spill off from the banks of the Akora River.
“Madam Speaker, as I speak, there are scenes of collapsed buildings, fence walls, damaged roads and tilting electricity and telephone poles. The drains are choked with mangled wires. Culverts have been filled with debris and the smooth flow of water hampered,” he said.
He said homes and shops were flooded with water leading to the destuction of personal and vital documents.
Mr Obodai appealed to the government to speed up its action on the resettlement of the displaced.
Contributing to the statement, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban Bagbin said Swedru was now a sad scene and a shadow of itself.
He gave the assurance that the government had begun the process to rehabilitate Swedru to enable it regain its former status.’
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu called on the President to declare a state of emergency at Swedru and Ashaiman so that more resources could be sought to assist in the rehabilitation of the two areas.
The MP for Tamale North, Alhaji Abubakari Sumani called on the government to be committed to its plans to rehabilitate the two disaster areas.

This Week in Parliament

2010-06-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Page 42 (Mirror), June 26, 2010
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
TWO sector ministers, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration were in Parliament this week to answer questions.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, the Foreign Minister briefed the House on the decision that had been taken in respect of Ghanaians who were killed in The Gambia in 2005.
His briefing was in response to a question posed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaman South, Mr Yaw Maama Afful, who wanted to know whether compensation had been received by the government and whether the beneficiaries had been paid.
Answering the question, Alhaji Mumuni said the government of The Gambia had been absolved of any responsibility for the murder and disappearance of a number of Ghanaians in that country in 2005.
While endorsing this outcome of the joint UN/ECOWAS fact-finding panel which cleared the regime of President Yahya Jammeh of complicity, the Ghana Government also accepted a donation of $500,000 from The Gambia for the funeral and burial rites for the six exhumed bodies that had been identified as those of Ghanaians.
Alhaji Mumuni stated that the amount was given to the government when the Gambian Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Co-operation and Gambians abroad led a seven-member Gambian delegation to Accra on January 7, this year.
He said, the exhumed bodies were at the morgue of the Police Hospital and indicated that a Ghanaian pathologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital was helping the ministry in attempts to identify them.
The Foreign Minister said contacts had been made with individuals who claimed to be relations of the victims adding that it was the hope of the government that at the end of it all, the bodies would be identified for them to be handed over to their families for fitting burials.
He added that after their burial, the $500,000 will be disbursed to persons deemed entitled to receive the amount.
For his part, the NPP MP for Offinso South, Mr Ben Abdallah Banda, asked the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh,the number of caterers of the School Feeding Programme who have been dismissed or had their appointments terminated in the Ashanti Region from January to December, 2009.
Mr Chireh told the House that it was the vision of the government to ensure transparency, strengthen management and operations of the School Feeding Programme explaining that the operation had, therefore been decentralised.
He stated that ownership of the programme lies with the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and it was their prerogative to engage anyone they deemed fit without recourse to the ministry.
Mr Chireh said in recent past, the MMDAs had taken steps to regularise the appointment of caterers who were formally engaged without contracts and that called for all caterers within the programme to re-apply.
He said in the Ashanti Region in particular, during the regularisation process, 30 of the old caterers refused to re-apply and, therefore, could not continue to work for the programme.
In another development, two statements were made in the House on the recent flooding of some parts of the country.
The Member of Parliament for Shai Osudoku, Mr David Tetteh Assumeng and the MP for Agona West, Mr Samuel Obodai, made the two statements on the situation at Ashaiman and Agona Swedru, respectively.
MPs who contributed to these statements called for measures to be put in place to alleviate the plight of the victims of the floods.
At the end, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho directed the leadership of the House to liaise with the government to fix a date for the House to be briefed on measures being put in place to prevent the perennial flooding of certain parts of the country.

BA Regional Minister briefs Parliament

2010-06-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Centre Spread, Jene 25, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, yesterday told Parliament that the celebration of the region’s 50th anniversary by the chiefs and the citizenry had been unanimous and overwhelming, since the celebration had been aimed at paying tribute to the founding fathers and those who toiled to give the region its status.
He was responding to questions concerning the anniversary, as well as the extent of damage caused to property at the Sunyani Residency on December 19, 2009 and what had caused the damage, posed to him by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh.
Answering, the regional minister told the House that the total revenue received from both public and private sources amounted to GH¢462,894.42.
He explained that out of that amount, GH¢285,634.42 had been received from public sources, GH¢162,360 from private sources and GH¢14,900 from the sale of the BA@50 cloth.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stated that GH¢413,563.98 out of the revenue had been spent on organising the anniversary
and broke down the amount spent as follows: Publicity and artistes, GH¢65,482.50; fuel and repairs, GH18,262.55; T&T and accommodation, GH¢21,901.45; consultancy, GH¢19,089.00; awards, GH¢27,580.50; BA@50 cloth, GH¢22,700, and grand durbar/climax, GH¢41,390.10.
The rest are: Quiz, GH¢12.096.50; projects (arch, statue/busts), GH¢93,806.14; trade and investment fair, GH¢23,022.24, and others, GH¢20,300.
That explanation did, however, not go down well with the MPs, particularly those on the Minority side, as they questioned why the amount spent on the anniversary cloth had far exceeded what had accrued from it.
They also wanted to know whether no revenue had accrued from the trade and investment fair.
Replying, Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stated that while some pieces of the cloth were still in the store, some district assemblies which collected some pieces were yet to pay up, while some were given on protocol.
On the investment fair, the regional minister explained that nothing accrued from it because it had been meant to showcase the investment potential of the region and not to make profit.
When questioned further as to whether he had no knowledge of the fact the some money had been collected from the exhibitors, he answered that he was not aware and promised to investigate to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of the claim.
He told the House that in managing the BA@50 revenue and expenditure, he had been guided by the various established provisions and procedures in both the Financial Administration Act, 2003 (Act 654) and Regulation 39 (1) of Part II of the Financial Administration Regulation, 2004 (L.I. 1802) in relation to the discharge of his duties and responsibilities.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo added that in accordance with the provision of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 554), the Auditor-General had been invited by the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) to carry out an audit of the celebration.
Answering the second question, he stated that the RCC had no record of any damage caused to any property at the residency on December 19, 2009 but admitted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had held its regional congress at the residency on the said date.

My outfit has no record on cocoa diversion — AG

2010-06-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

Page 14, June 24, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu has told Parliament that her outfit had no record about the diversion of 600 bags of sealed cocoa beans, which was meant for export, from the Western Region to Asabidie, a village in the Ofoase/Ayirebi Constituency in the Eastern Region.
The minister who was answering questions on the issue, therefore asked that the question might be directed to the minister of the interior since the matter might now be in the hands of the police.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase/Ayirebi, Mr David Oppon-Kusi, who posed the question wanted to know about the status of the case, which was reported to the police by the youth of the village.
He explained that people were beginning to read all sorts of meanings into the case as a result of the lack of information about how far the matter had been dealt with since it was reported to the police some months ago.
Answering the question, Mr Mould such case had not been referred to the personnel for advice.
“Madam Speaker, it may be possible that the police are still investigating the matter and since it had not come to us, the question should be directed to the Minister of the Interior”, she suggested.
In another development, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh told the House that her ministry’s objective to promote value addition and agro processing was aimed at addressing the problem of post harvest losses and the perennial glut, especially of tomatoes and other vegetables, fruits and food items.
She said that was the surest way of stabilising process and incomes of farmers.
Answering a question posed by the MP for Chiana/Paga, Mr Leo Alowe Kabah, she said it was in line with that objective that the government had revamped the erstwhile Pwalugu Tomato Factory, now known as the Northern Star Tomato Factory.
She said the revamping of the factory had made it fully operational and now had the capacity to fully run and process tomatoes throughout the tomato season, at a minimum production capacity of 250 metric tones per day.
Ms Tetteh said the ministry this year provided the factory with the necessary capital to enable it purchase the tomatoes from farmers for processing adding that tomato farmers in the area did not go through the unfortunate situation of tomato glut as happened in the past.
She explained that the ministry was collaborating with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to increase the production of tomatoes to feed the factory during the next season.

Amenfi West MP expresses concern about deplorable roads

2010-06-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Page 13, June 23, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

A Minister of State at the President’s Office and Member of Parliament for Amenfi West, Mr John Gyetuah, has expressed concern about the neglect of roads in his constituency over the years.
He said the Amenfi West District, which is the second best cocoa producing district in the country deserved better treatment as a gesture towards its contribution towards the national economy.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Gyetuah said the 69-kilometre Samreboi-Prestea road, the 40-kilometre Asankran-Breman road and the Asankragwa-Nyamennae road were in such deplorable states making it difficult for vehicles to use them.
In addition, the MP said almost all feeder roads in the area had become unmotorable as a result of the onset of the rains.
He said, for instance, the Nkenkasu Junction-Ohiampeanika road was in such a deplorable state that drivers had refused to ply it.
In addition, two bridges spanning over Sonka and River Bisaa had all collapsed making it difficult for passengers to get to either sides of the road.
Mr Gyetuah said some farmers in the Samreboi area harvested between 400-800 bags of cocoa per season and, therefore appealed to the government to rehabilitate roads in the area to alleviate their plight.
He said last week, over 40 vehicles got stuck on roads in the area, adding that women in labour were finding it difficult to get vehicles to nearby hospitals.
Mr Gyetuah said even though the Minister of Road and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, visited the area last year to inspect the roads, nothing had been done to salvage the situation.

Redouble efforts to achieve afforestation targets — MP

2010-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Page 14, June 22, 2010

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano South, Mr Andrew Adjei-Yeboah has called on the government to redouble its efforts at achieving the objectives of the country’s afforestation programme.
He said the pace at which the programme was being implemented was not the best and intimated that any delay could spell doom for the timber industry.
The MP made these observations in an interview with the Daily Graphic after the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda had answered a question on the subject on the floor of Parliament last Friday.
The MP had asked the minister what the ministry was doing to assist the timber industry to get raw materials looking at the alarming rate at which the natural forest cover was being dissipated.
Mr Adjei-Yeboah noted that even though the country had an installed machinery capacity to process five million cubic metres of timber per annum, timber industries were allowed to process only one million cubic metres of timber.
He suggested that the government’s plan of planting trees on 30,000 hectares of land per annum should be increased to 60,000 to ensure that adequate supply of raw materials was provided the timber industry in future.
Mr Adjei-Yeboah also advised the government to provide incentive s to entice more people from the private sector to venture into tree plantation.
Answering the question, Alhaji Dauda stated that the government was tackling the problem of raw materials within the timber industry on a short-term, medium-term and long term basis.
He said the short-term, import levy on imported logs had been waived to enable competitive companies to import logs into the country, while the annual allowable cut of timber had been raised from one million cubic metres to two million cubic metres.
Alhaji Dauda said the ministry was also developing a Legislative Instrument (L.I) to ensure the issuance of permits in off-reserve and plantation areas, which did not qualify for the award of timber utilisation contracts.
He explained that for the long-term, the government was rigorously implementing the National Forestry Plantation Development Programme to make wood available with an annual target of 30,000 hectares.
In addition, the ministry was also promoting the less use of timber species explaining that out of the over 250 timber species found in the forest, only about 60 species were being utilised for commercial purposes.

Sege MP donates to communities

2010-06-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Page 14, Jume 21, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Sege, Mr Alfred Abayateye has donated television sets and generators worth GH¢8,000 to a number of communities in his constituency to enable the people watch the on-going World Cup in South Africa.
The beneficiary communities, who are all not hooked to the national grid included Kablevu, Kportitsekope, Goi Okorhuesisi, Talibanya, Ada Luta, Amuyaokope, Ayisah, Madavunu and Kpetuhor.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Abayateye said that even though the beneficiary communities were remote, it was only fair that they were able to watch proceedings of the first World Cup event staged in Africa.
He stated that sports had become a unifying factor and every effort should be made to allow the youth, in particular have a feel of this historic event.
“This is my widow’s mite to make the people happy. This is a period during which Ghanaians forget about the political affiliations and any investment towards such a cause is in the right direction”.
Mr Abayateye commended officials and players of the national soccer team, the Black Stars for lifting the flag of Africa high in South Africa and expressed the hope that they would continue to work hard to win more laurels for Ghana and Africa.

PNC, CPP must listen to members to unite, Says PNC MP for Sissala West

2010-06-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Page 14, June 18, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sissala West, Mr Haruna Bayirga has said that it will be a wise decision by the leadership of the PNC and the Convention People’s party (CPP) to listen to the call from their members in the regions and come together to present common candidates for the 2012 general elections.
He stated that there was no way any of the fragmented Nkrumahist parties could win power alone.
“If we want to survive in the current political dispensation and win power to implement Nkrumahist ideals, then we have no choice but to unite,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
Mr Bayirga, who is also the National Organiser of the PNC said the celebration of the centenary anniversary of the birth of Dr Kwame Nkrumah would be meaningless if the Nkrumahist did not unite and win power to implement his legacy.
“Policies, such as agriculture, education, industrialisation among others, implemented during the Nkrumah regime were still relevant for the economic survival of Ghana,” he said.
He said that the Nkrumahist tradition was the only one that could water down the tension between the NDC and the NPP.
The MP added that the Nkrumahist family could still boast of people such as Krobo Edusei, Kojo Botsio, Imoro Egala, among other who stood up behind Nkrumah in the 50s and 60s to champion the cause of Ghana and everything possible should be done for an Nkrumahist party to come back to power.

This week in Parliament

2010-06-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Page 42, June 5 edition (Mirror)
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minister of the Interior,Mr Martin Amidu was visible in Parliament this week as he appeared before the House to answer questions and provide information on some pertinent national issues.
Last Tuesday, he was in the House to brief Members of Parliament on the alleged influx of Ghanaian refugees into neighbouring Togo.
The story, which was carried by the BBC, dominated the local media and that provided the basis for the minister to brief the House about the situation after initial investigation.
Mr Amidu told the House that until cogent evidence of the number of verifiable Ghanaian refugees on the Togo side of the border was obtained, any figure given as the number of Ghanaian refugees in Togo ought to be treated as mere speculation.
He stated that the Ghanaian authorities have been unable to obtain any list of registered refugees from the Togolese after an earlier visit by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) team or the visit of the assessment team to the Togo side.
Mr Amidu said a report from the Assessment Mission sent to the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo District indicated that most of the displaced persons remained in Ghana, while the team saw about 20 unoccupied tents when it visited the Togo side of the border.
He said it was observed that most of the internally displaced Ghanaians continued to live on the Ghana side of the border but often crossed over to Togo to receive food aid anytime food emergency supplies were being distributed at that side and thereafter return to Ghana.
Mr Amidu said it was estimated that the total population of the conflict area was about 2,000, with a registered voter population of 900, adding that it would, therefore, be highly unlikely that any realistic refugee figures from there could be higher than the total population of the community.
He assured the House that life was returning to normal in the area, as the people in the conflict community were busy farming and engaging in other economic ventures.
Mr Amidu also returned to the House last Wednesday to answer seven questions which had been filed by some MPs.
The NPP MP for Binduri, Mr Stephen Yakubu wanted to know when a police station would be built and made operational in Binduri, in addition to how the National Disaster Management Organisation distributed relief items to recent floods victims in Binduri.
Replying, Mr Amidu stated that the flooding in the Binduri Constituency in September, 2009 affected 172 people in six electoral areas.
He said in all, NADMO in December 2009 distributed 45 mattresses, 15 poly mats, 17 bales of second-hand cloths, nine cartons of cooking oil, 30 lanterns, 15 packets of matches, 105 plastic plates,30 plastic bowls, 11 bales of blankets and 30 plastic buckets.
He said NADMO was also liaising with the World Bank to get recovery items to promote livelihood support such as cereals, seedlings, fertiliser and pumping machines to farmers who lost most of their belongings.
On the police station, Mr Amidu stated that the government had approved and provided funds for the completion of 38 ongoing office and residential accommodation projects for the Police Service in the 2010 budget.
He stated, however, that the Binduri Constituency was not part of the package, adding that much as the police administration would want to provide a building for the police in the area in 2011, that would be contingent on budgetary approval.
The NPP MP for Sunyani East,Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh,Mr Amidu told the House that the residential accommodation being put up for the police in Sunyani is part of the 38 office and residential accommodation projects approved by the government for completion in the 2010 budget.
He said the project composed of four-storey buildings, with each containing eight flats.
Mr Amidu explained that work on the projects were ongoing and expected to be completed before the end of the year.
For his part, the NPP MP for Ablekuma North,Mr Justice Joe Appiah,wanted to know what real safety measures the ministry would take to ensure that both motorbike and pillion riders use crash helmets when travelling.
Replying, Mr Amidu said the Road Traffic Regulations states that “a person who rides or is ridden on a motorcycle on a road shall wear a protection crash helmet of a type prescribed by regulations.
He said that was the law which the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) enforces in its day-to-day traffic management and control duties across the country.
The minister explained however, that loop holes in the existing law have to be closed to make the law effective.
He said, for instance, the law had to be revised to compel the compulsory carriage of a spare helmet on all motor cycles for the use by pillion riders, saying that in that regard, motorbike dealers could be compelled to include the cost of two protective helmets of the prescribed shape, design and quality in the price of motorbikes.
The NPP MP for Asunafo South,Mr George Yaw Boakye also enquired from the minister the pragmatic steps the ministry was taking to ensure the security of teenage girls operating as porters (Kayayee) on the streets of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
In his answer, Mr Amidu stated that the Ghana Police Service is providing security to the teenage porters through the day and night patrols.
He said in addition, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) co-ordinates with the Social Welfare Department and some non-governmental organisations in providing social services to the kayayee.
Mr Amidu said the Community Police Unit had also intensified its educational campaigns and had been distributing police telephone numbers during visits to the kayayee in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, in addition to educating them on the dangers associated with their work.
He said in the long-term, the ministry intends to consult the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to explore the feasibility of providing temporary shelters in the form of dormitories for the kayayee so as to ensure their adequate security.

PHC relaunches Land Rover

2010-06-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Page 55, June 3, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

LAND ROVER vehicles, which used to be one of the most preferred vehicles in Ghana in the 1960s, has been re-launched in the country.
The vehicles are now being offered for sale under the sole dealership of PHC Motors Limited.
At the re-launching ceremony in Accra, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Paul Kwabena Pepera said, there were special offers for customers to own new Land Rover vehicles through a trade-in scheme to allow customers to exchange their existing Land/Range Rover vehicles for the new 2010 models.
In addition, all orders of Land Rover vehicles placed between now and September, 2010 would enjoy a three-year free service from PHC Motors Limited.
He announced that his company had purchased a 12-acre plot of land in Kumasi to open a new spare parts and service centre, while plans were far advanced to develop a modern training centre, a technical motor institute and a vehicle test track on the land.
Mr Pepera said it was heart-warming that 14 years after the Land Rover dealership in the country was taken away from his company, it had won back the dealership.
He stated that the company had spent one year undergoing intensive training, amassing a healthy stock of spare parts and investing in the latest Land Rover diagnostic equipment, as well as assembling a team of experienced managers and technicians to handle the franchise.
Launching the vehicles, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa Attivor, said projections from the National Road Safety Commission indicated that road accidents would take a third position on the league of causes of deaths by 2020 if nothing was done immediately about the current situation.
She noted that road accidents, which used to be sixth on the list of 10 major causes of deaths in the country, had now assumed a position prominence on the nation’s all-killer-factor list.
Ms Attivor said that road accidents had been compromised over the years largely because of poor vehicle maintenance, lack of adequate and genuine spare parts, including durable and reliable vehicle tyres, in addition to other human induced errors, such as drink-driving, fatigue, poor visibility, recklessness and general indiscipline.
The deputy minister indicated that the urgency of the situation called for concerted efforts from stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers, drivers, vehicle distributors, passengers, pedestrians, commercial vehicle operators and owners and all road users.
She stated that Land Rover was one of the finest motor companies in the world with speciality in a wide range of luxury and commercial vehicles, including the world’s famous Range Rover and Defender models.
Ms Attivor said in deciding to appoint PHC Motors as its official dealer in Ghana, she had no doubt that Land Rover was mindful of PHC Motor’s sales-service located throughout the country.
The Regional Business Manager of Jaguar and Land Rover in South Africa, Mr Nigel Clarke, said PHC Motors Limited was chosen to deal in Land Rover vehicles because of its excellent after sales services.
He stated that the partnership with the company, would therefore ensure that customers would receive excellent services to put their Land Rover vehicles in good shape at all times.
Mr Clarke said the Land Rover was now back home in Ghana and urged Ghanaians to purchase Land Rover vehicles since they were ideal for the African terrain.
Present at the ceremony was the British High Commissioner to Ghana Dr Nicholas Westcott.

We need evidence to verify number of refugees—Amidu

2010-06-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Centre spread, June 2, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, yesterday told Parliament that until cogent evidence of the number of verifiable Ghanaian refugees on the Togo side of the border was obtained, any figure given as the number of Ghanaian refugees in Togo ought to be treated as mere speculation.
He stated that international best practice required that refugees be duly registered to facilitate the exchange of information for their eventual return and integration.
“We have been unable to obtain any list of registered refugees from the Togolese upon an earlier visit by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) team or the visit of the assessment team to the Togo side at the weekend,” he said.
Mr Amidu was briefing the House on the recent media report of the 3,500 Ghanaian refugees in Togo as a result of conflicts in certain communities in the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo District.
He explained that the conflict did not cover the whole district but was limited to three Bimoba clans who started fighting over a parcel of land at a village called Tobong as far back as January 2008.
He said the clans living 65 kilometres away from the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo District capital were the Dikporu, based at Kambatiak, the Nakuuks at Tabong and the Naadaungs at Gbankoni, all of whom share boundary with Togo.
He said the recent conflict among the three Bimoba clans was an intra-ethnic conflict which resulted in four deaths and the burning down of 360 houses, with a number of persons internally displaced.
The Interior Minister added that a report from the Assessment Mission sent to the Bunkprugu-Yunyoo District indicated that most of the displaced persons remained in Ghana, while the team saw about 20 unoccupied tents when it visited the Togo side of the border.
He said it was observed that most of the internally displaced Ghanaians continued to live on the Ghana side of the border but often crossed over to Togo to receive food aid anytime food emergency supplies were being distributed at that side and thereafter return to Ghana.
Mr Amidu said it was estimated that the total population of the conflict area was about 2,000, with a registered voter population of 900, adding that it would, therefore, be highly unlikely that any realistic refugee figures from there could be higher than the total population of the community.
He said the Ghanaian authorities were not in a position to deny that some Ghanaians did, in fact, cross over to the Togo side of the border in the heat of the conflict, as such people would not first report for a roll call before crossing over.
He said the ministry was working hard to resolve any misconceptions that the allegations of Ghanaian refugees in Togo had given rise to, adding that a team from the UNHCR (Ghana), the UNDP (Ghana) and an officer from the ministry left Accra yesterday to join the Northern Regional Security Council and a deputy co-ordinator of NADMO to visit the conflict area again.
He indicated that the government had dispatched a number of relief items to the conflict area to help alleviate the plight of the displaced persons in the area.
The items included 300 bags of rice, 300 bags of maize, 300 bags of beans, 100 cartons of soap and 100 cartons of cooking oil.
In addition to these, the regional allocation of 200 packets of roofing sheets, 5,000 mats and 1,000 pieces of mattresses had also been sent to the area for distribution to the displaced persons.
He assured the House that life was returning to normal in the area, as the people in the conflict community were busy farming and engaging in other economic ventures.
Commenting on the statement, the MP for Bunkprugu-Yunyoo, Mr Emmanuel Duut, said the clan that was engaged in conflict had its half brothers residing in Togo and it was, therefore, normal for them to cross over to Togo as a daily routine.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said it was not for nothing that the Togolese officials erected tents at their side of the border and disapproved the assertion of the MP from the area.
“Are you, by this explanation, telling Ghanaians that the tents were erected for the glorification and beautification of the Togolese side of the border?” he asked, and called on the minister to explain to Ghanaians what was happening to the families of the four people who died as a result of the conflict.

4 ministers to answer questions

2010-06-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

Page 3, May 29, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
FOUR sector ministers are expected to appear before Parliament next week to answer a total of 28 questions which have been filed by some Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the House.
They are the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban Bagbin; the Minister for the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu; the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, and the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu.
Prominent among the 28 questions is the one by the MP for North Tongu, Mr Charles Hodogbey, who has been scheduled to ask Mr Bagbin on Tuesday to disclose the identities of the beneficiaries under the protocol allocations of the government prime lands in Accra.
The MP has also asked the minister about his ministry’s plan to reduce the dependence on the use of imported materials in the building and construction industry in the country.
The Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, told the House when he presented the Business Statement for next week that Mrs Catherine Ablema Afeku, NPP MP for Evalue Gwira, would also ask Mr Bagbin whether there was any plan to rehabilitate and reconstruct the Axim Sea Defence Wall.
The NDC MP for Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, will ask two questions; one on measures being put in place to ensure that the annual flooding in parts of Abossey Okai Spare Parts and Mataheko Takoradi Station areas become a thing of the past and stop the annual flooding in the area.
Other MPs to ask questions during the week are Mr George Yaw Boakye, NPP, Asunafo South; Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, NPP, Sunyani East; Mr Justice Joe Appiah, NPP, Ablekuma North; Ms Esther Obeng-Dappah, NPP, Abirem; and Mr Stephen Yakubu, NPP, Binduri.
The NPP MP for Atwima-Nwabiagya, Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, will also ask the Minister of Education an urgent question to ascertain when a new six-classroom block will be constructed for Nfensi D/A Primary School to enable the school to relocate from the present church building it is currently using.
Meanwhile, Mr Avoka has expressed concern about the frequent lateness by some MPs to the sitting of the House.
When the Speaker entered the Chamber yesterday at 10.10 am, there were only 15 MPs out of the 230 present.
The Majority Leader told the House that from now on, proceedings would begin at exactly 10 am and called on the MPs to endeavour to be seated before the Speaker entered the chamber.
In another development, Mr Avoka made a statement to pay tribute to the late Chiana Pio, Pe Rowland Adiali Ayagitam.
He stated that the late chief stood for justice, freedom of expression, and care for the weak and vulnerable and always upheld the will of the people.
Mr Avoka said as a pragmatic leader, Pe Ayagitam’s commitment and dedication to democracy were highly acknowledged.
He said the late chief’s contribution had seen a peaceful handover of power from one political party to another, adding that by that act Ghana had become a beacon of hope for other African countries.
“Indeed, Ghanaians have lost a patriot, renowned chief and a distinguished statesman, whose commitment to democracy is worthy of emulation,” he stated.

Need for new education system

2010-06-02T10:57:00.001-07:00

Centre spread, May 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE President of Mission Africa Incorporated, Reverend Dr Kodjoe Sumney, has called for a shift from the colonial educational system in African countries to a new system that will provide the youth with skills and knowledge for inventions.
He noted that the present system, whereby African countries had become consumers of all manner of goods, including second-hand items, from other continents, was a blot on the image of the continent.
Speaking at the Seventh African Union (AU) Day National Prayer Conference held at the forecourt of Parliament House yesterday, Rev Dr Sumney said there was the need for an educational system that would equip the youth with skills to create employment, in place of the one that trained students only to come out to seek for jobs.
Hundreds of people from all parts of the country attended the prayer conference, which was held on the theme, “Anointing for innovation, scientific invention and job creation for African youth”.
It was organised by Mission Africa Incorporated, a non-profit organisation, in conjunction with Parliament and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, to mark the AU Day.
Students from second-cycle and tertiary institutions, parliamentarians and members of the Christian community attended the prayer conference.
Rev Dr Sumney said the time had come for Africa to take its destiny into its own hands and venture into the technological world to invent and produce items that could compete with those that were being produced outside the continent.
He said it was only that which would ensure the economic liberation of Africa.
He stated that our forebears did well to win political independence for the continent, adding, however, that political freedom was not enough if it was not accompanied by economic independence.
“Africa now has no choice but to move to another level of its development. We cannot wait, since doing so will spell the doom of the continent,” he said.
Rev Dr Sumney said it was unfortunate that Africa was still in the doldrums and attributed the situation to complacency, explaining that instead of seeking economic independence, African countries thought that achieving political independence was enough.
He called for the intensification of intra-African trade and the consumption of goods produced on the continent in order to generate employment for the teeming youth.
For his part, an international evangelist, Dr Lawrence Tetteh, called on Ghanaians to put a stop to the politicisation of all issues, since “Ghana is not for only the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC)”.
“Ghana is about unity. Let us unite and push forward the country’s development agenda in order to be the torchbearer of Africa,” he said.
He called on the media to be responsible in their reportage, since any infraction on their part could erode the few gains the country had made so far.
The Majority Chief Whip, Mr Gershon Gbediame, on behalf of the Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo, said besides making laws, Parliament would continue to collaborate with religious bodies to pray to seek God’s intervention in the country’s development.
Present at the function was the Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Okraku I.

Govt committed to transparent management of oil revenue

2010-06-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Page 13, May 31, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologu, has assured Ghanaians about the government’s commitment to the transparent management of the revenue that will accrue from the country’s oil find.
He said the resolve of the government was evident in all the processes leading to the drafting of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill during which consultative meetings were held throughout the country to solicit inputs and comments from the general public.
Mr Akologu was addressing a day’s capacity building and sensitisation workshop for media practitioners on the emerging oil and gas industry in Accra on Wednesday.
It was organised by the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE) in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) and the Oil and Gas Stakeholders Network (OGSN).
Mr Akologu said that the government had agreed to the extension of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI) principles to the management of petroleum revenue.
He said many oil-producing countries were often linked with poverty and instability as a result of the mismanagement of oil revenue.
The minister of information noted that Ghana had been fortunate enough because it had the opportunity to learn from the experience of others.
“We do not have to wait to be reminded that oil wealth offers major opportunities, but can also lead to many problems if mismanaged”, he stated.
He called on media practitioners to avail themselves of the number of workshops being organised by both the government and non-governmental organisations to have an in-depth knowledge of the oil and gas industry to be able to report accurately.
In a speech read on his behalf, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh, reminded the media practitioners that they had a watch-dog role to play to ensure transparency and accountability in the oil industry right from its embryonic stages.
“The media must be on the front-line of disseminating impartial news to ensure transparency and good governance in the industry to provide the necessary blessings to Ghana’s economy”.
He said the GJA believed that such training workshops were capable of making a real difference in helping journalists understand the industry for them to also help the citizenry to understand the oil and gas industry better.
In his remarks, a member of the Oil and Gas Stakeholders Network (OGSN) and the Chief Executive Officer of Karlindom Innovations, Mr Augustine Ampoma-Gudom, called on the government to engage the media and civil society to professionally manage the heightened expectation of the masses before the production of the oil in the last quarter of the year.
He said that it would be difficult for the government to explain why the price of fuel must go up when the international price surges at a time Ghana was producing oil, if the masses were not properly educated.
Mr Ampoma-Gudom also advised the GJA to develop stronger ties with NGOs and international initiatives such as the EITI in promoting good governance and proper stewardship in the oil and gas sector.
“Posterity will not forgive the generation of today if we fail to put in place concrete structures to ensure that we obtain enough benefit from our oil find.”

Samia Nkrumah — To follow dad's path

2010-06-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

Frontpage (Mirror), May 28, 2010
By Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
“IT is painful for me to see that Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s name is being used as a brand all over without his ideals and ideas being translated into action.”
The only daughter of the Ghana’s first President and Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Ms Samia Yaaba Nkrumah, made this comment when she spoke to the Mirror against the background of the recent centenary celebration of the birth of Dr Nkrumah.
The anniversary was climaxed by a large gathering of people across the African continent and beyond in Accra to celebrate the life of Dr Nkrumah, who has been acclaimed as Africa’s Man of the Millennium.
But while some people see the celebration as a waste of public funds, others are of the opinion that a nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for.
“There is no question about the fact that the life of Nkrumah is worth celebrating, since he gave so much for the people,” Samia said, adding, however, that what was important was for the present generation to know what the man stood for.
“If the celebration served that purpose to teach the youth about his ideals, then it is good,” he said.
But Samia noted that what was missing all these years was the inability of those who had branded his name to implement programmes, projects and ideals that the Africa’s Man of the Millennium stood for.
“Kwame Nkrumah stood for social justice, economic self-reliance through the promotion of local industrialisation and the delivery of the basic and urgent needs of the people,” she noted.
She explained that her father’s African Union project was tied up with economic self-reliance which African countries had not been able to achieve over the years, saying that it was unthinkable that “we are not able to do anything for ourselves”.
Samia wondered why African countries continued to accept the conditionalities of the Breton Wood institutions and called on African leaders to always go into negotiations by presenting alternative programmes for the solution of the problems of their countries.
On her political career, she stated that she had not regretted taking the decision to return to her roots to seek election to represent her people in Parliament.
She said her decision was to revive her father’s dreams and principles, saying that would continue to guide her.
On whether she was achieving her father’s dream, Samia said, “We are at the initial stage,” explaining that “we have to depend on a strong Nkrumahist party that will be able to stand as an alternative to the NPP and the NDC”.
She said there was every indication that Ghana needed a third force party and to do that Nkrumahist parties had to come together to have what she called “an expanded Nkrumahist base”.
She revealed that one of the steps she was taking was to lead the CPP, since she believed that she “could be the rallying point for the Nkrumahist unity”.
She said the Nkrumahist family had the golden opportunity to reclaim its lost glory and called on members to remain united in order to become unstoppable in their quest to stage a comeback.
She said the time had come for the Nkrumahist parties to cease to be bargaining chips and rather position themselves in such a manner that Ghanaians would have the courage to vote for the CPP.
Samia said the objective of the united Nkrumahist front in the 2012 elections should not be to win the presidency but rather increase its representation in Parliament as a launch pad for future elections.
Currently, she is the only CPP representative in Parliament.
Turning to her childhood life, Ms Samia stated that although her father was a busy man, he was also family man who related cordially with his children once he was at home.
She said the 1966 coup that ousted his father’s regime was a blow to the family because “it separated us and changed our lives forever”, explaining that the coup “uprooted” them from their home and background to a new environment.
Samia thanked God that her mother, the late Fathia Nkrumah, agreed to relocate to Ghana in 1975 upon the invitation of the then military Head of State, General Kutu Acheampong, saying that that decision was decisive, since between 1975 and 1983, she had the opportunity to school in Ghana, during which she learnt more about her home country.
Samia, the second child of Fathia and Kwame Nkrumah, relocated to Ghana from her Italy base where she made a living out of lecturing, consultancy and journalism.
Her brothers, Gamel and Sekou, were children residing with their mother, Fathia, at the Flagstaff House in Accra when the military overthrew their father in a coup on February 24, 1966.
With the assistance of the Egyptian Government, Fathia, on the same day, left with her children to resettle in Egypt where she (Fathia) hailed from.
Samia attended Achimota School briefly but also stayed, schooled and worked in various parts of the world.
The first President’s children have visited Ghana on countless occasions and the youngest son, Sekou, who resides in Accra, caused a stir in political circles last year when he announced his decision to join the National Democratic Congress (NDC), while Gamel, a journalist, still resides in Egypt.
But Samia said she respected Sekou’s decision to join the NDC, since Nkrumah’s nuclear family was a democratic one.
She said she would forever be grateful to her elder brother, Gamel, whom she said had helped her immensely in her political career, while staying at the back stage.
On her half-brother, Dr Francis Nkrumah, Samia said he had paid his dues to society and his chosen profession, medicine.

Church assists needy institutions

2010-06-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Page 22,May 28, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THIS year’s edition of the Annual Gift Festival of the Seventh Day Sabbath Church of Christ has been held at Asamankese.
The church distributed various items worth GH¢80,000 to needy institutions and individuals, including widows and the physically challenged.
The items included 1,500 full pieces of cloth, 500 boxes of Key soap, 100 bags of rice, seven wheelchairs, 30 white canes, a number of pairs of sandals and toiletries.
Some of the beneficiary institutions were the Swedru Mothers’ Care, Koforidua Deaf and Dumb School and the Akyem Osenase and Akwatia SOS.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Mohammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, who was the guest of honour for the ceremony, praised the church for its commitment to the welfare of the needy in society.
He called on other religious institutions to learn from the example of the Seventh Day Sabbath Church of Christ to complement the efforts of the government to provide the needs of the people.
The Founder and Head Pastor of the church, Apostle Ephraim Danso, said the church would continue with its annual gifts festival to bring smiles to the faces of the needy in society.
He said it was a command from God for Christians to support the needy and urged all religious leaders to obey that command and use their wealth to the benefit of the needy.
Present at the function was the Omanhene of Akwatia, Osabarima Kofi Boateng.

* Picture: Apostle Danso (4th left) admiring some of the items distributed to the needy. Also in the picture are Evangelist Okoh Agyeman (second left), the Assistant Leader of the church, and Pastor Jonathan Darko, the Project Manager of the church, while Mr Baba Jamal (down) presents a wheelchair to one of the beneficiaries.

Tarrifs to go up

2010-06-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

Page 19, May 28, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Collette Brown

ELECTRICITY tariffs are expected to go up by a minimal margin following the passage of the Public Utilities Regulatory (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by Parliament to ensure that a levy is imposed on electricity and natural gas transmission.
The bill, which is to replace the Public Utilities Regulatory Act, 1997 (Act 538), is aimed at generating additional funds for the operations of the PURC and the Energy Commission.
According to the report of the Joint Committee of Mines and Energy, and Works and Housing of Parliament, the impact of the levy on consumers will be minimal, since consumers who consume between 0 and 50kWh per month (Lifeline consumers) would pay only 0.05 pesewas.
On the other hand, average households that consume about 200kWh per month or GH¢ 30.00 per month would pay 0.25 pesewas.
A Minister of State at the Presidency, Mr Kwadjo Likpalomor Tawiah, who moved the motion for the passage of the bill, told the House that both the PURC and the Energy Commission faced operational challenges as a result of inadequate funding to purchase the requisite equipment to monitor standards set for the utilities by the regulator.
In addition, the two institutions have high staff attrition as a result of poor remuneration, thus necessitating the passage of the bill to provide a more reliable source of funding for monitoring and enforcement of standards among the utility companies.
The Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Mr David Assumeng Tetteh, who seconded the motion, observed that part of the mandate of the PURC was to receive complaints from the general public and ensure that those concerns were addressed by the commission or the utility companies.
Unfortunately, the PURC currently has offices in only four out of the 10 regions due to financial constraints and in order that it met its mandate it was important that it established its presence in all the regional and district capitals.
Contributing to the motion, the NDC Member of Parliament for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka M. Mubarak, called on the PURC to ensure that meters were provided to families residing in compound houses, since the use of single meters in such houses did not allow poor families to enjoy subsidies meant for lifeline consumers.
For his part, the NPP MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, expressed his delight that the PURC and the Energy Commission were being provided with reliable funding to enable them to perform their functions as expected of them.
He compared the PURC to its counterparts in other countries and wondered why such an important institution had been left “to become a beggar”.
The bill received overwhelming support from both sides of the House after a lengthy debate.

Parliament resumes sitting

2010-05-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

Page 14, May 25, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

PARLIAMENT will resume sitting for the Second Meeting of the Second Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic on Wednesday, May 26, 2010.
The meeting is expected to run till the end of July, 2010 during which bills such as the Criminal Offences Bill, Education (Amendment) Bill, Students Loan Trust Bill and Savannah Accelerated Development Authority Bill are expected to be considered by the House.
Bills which are at the various stages of their passage will also receive the attention of the House during the meeting. They include the Interstate Succession Bill, Property Right of Spouses Bill and the Right to Information Bill.
The Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu, told the Daily Graphic that a number of instruments, including the New Vehicle Numbers Registration Instrument would also be laid before the House during the period.
In addition, reports and some mining agreements are expected to be ratified by the House while questions which had been filed by a number of MPs would be answered by the respective sector ministers on the floor of Parliament.

340 cartons of 'chofi' destroyed

2010-05-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

Page 20, May 24, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Nsawam
OFFICIALS of the Food and Drug Board (FDB) have destroyed 340 cartons of turkey tails which were seized from a cold store at Nsawam in the Akuapem South District of the Eastern Region.
Although at the time of the seizure, the products were in a state of decomposition, officials of the board told the Daily Graphic that they were being sold to wayside turkey tail sellers to be fried and sold to the unsuspecting general public.
The Nsawam community has become notorious for the selling of turkey tails, known in local parlance as chofi, the importation of which has been banned in the country.
The wayside sellers fry the commodity and sell them to passengers travelling to other parts of the region and beyond, especially during heavy traffic periods.
The Head of the Food Safety Unit of the FDB, Mr Sylvester Oteng Kyei, said even though the Ministry of Food and Agriculture had stopped issuing permits for the importation of turkey tails into the country since 1999, they were still being smuggled into the country either through unapproved routes or through misleading declaration of product contents at the approved points of entry.
At the Joyce Cold Store at Nsawam where the 340 cartons of the turkey products were seized for destruction, onlookers could not help but cover their noses because of the foul smell that emanated from the store.
One of the onlookers, Kofi Owusu, wondered why such a decomposed commodity could be sold, and called for more efforts to prevent turkey tails from getting to the Ghanaian market.
Mr Kyei, on the other hand told the Daily Graphic that the target of the FDB was to get to the bottom of the undercover importation of turkey tails into the country.
He said the board, through the assistance of other state agencies, was poised to use distributors whose goods had been seized to arrest the importers.
Mr Kyei explained that sanctions such as administrative charges would be slapped on the cold store owner to serve as a deterrent to others involved in such illegal trade.
Turkey tails are part of poultry products with a total fat content exceeding 15 per cent which have been banned.
The Head of Communications of the FDB, Mr James Lartey, therefore urged the general public to inform the law enforcement agencies to enable them to apprehend offenders.
“The FDB would like to strongly advise the consuming public to desist from patronising turkey tails and give information on any person known to be involved in the illegal importation of the said commodity”.
Mr Lartey gave the assurance that the FDB, in conjunction with the National Security, the Veterinary Services Directorate and the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, would continue to intensify the inspection of all frozen food consignments prior to release, in order to curtail their release onto the market.

Minority challenges government on ex gratia

2010-05-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Frontpage, May 21, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minority in Parliament has challenged the government to cause the publication of the amount of money paid as ex gratia to each former Member of Parliament (MP) from both sides of the House.
In addition, the group said the publication of the names should also include former ministers and deputy ministers, with their signatures on the forms on which they appended their signatures, for Ghanaians to know who was paid what amount.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in reaction to a front-page story in the Daily Graphic of May 12, 2010 which singled out Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and four other NPP MPs for being overpaid their ex-gratia entitlements.
In that story, it was reported that the five had been ordered to refund the amount which constituted the overpayment.
“It is difficult to believe that such a report would emanate from the Auditor-General, for we believe he is capable of acting in a professional manner and would not push a purported preliminary finding to the press for publication,” the statement said.
It added that if any impropriety was detected in auditing, the person who was cited in the breach was first to be notified for his or her response, pointing out that in the case of the MPs mentioned in the said story, none had been notified up till now.
It explained that any payment or withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund, from which the gratuity was paid, was accompanied by a payment advice which provided a detailed analysis of the payment.
“In this regard, if under or overpayment is effected, there ought to be a basis of computation to establish the level of underpayment. Parliament has not been served the basis of the computation of the gratuity. None of the Minority MPs mentioned has been served any basis for computing the gratuity and the alleged resultant overpayment,” it noted.
The statement said since it was the President who finally authorised the payment of gratuity to former MPs and ministers, “if it was true that after all the fuss and ballyhoo about the gratuity what the President authorised to be paid is over and above what ought to have been paid, then what the President and the NDC administration have done amounts to nothing less than gross incompetence”.
It explained that interestingly, Mr Ernest Akubuor Debrah and Mr Samuel Obodai, some of the NPP MPs who were mentioned in the story for having been overpaid, had not even been paid the second instalment of their gratuity, even though it was being said that they had been overpaid by close to GH¢20,000 in just the first instalment.
It said since the Daily Graphic was the flagship of Ghanaian print journalism, the Minority would not want to believe that the paper would descend into the pit to do the bidding of the NDC.
“The paper ought to have discerned the mischievous intent behind the clamour to publish this otherwise puerile and diversionary piece. The plot was an amateurish prank which was born out of infantile gimmickry,” it added.
It stated that by now Ghanaians had recognised what had become the stock-in-trade of the NDC, adding that anytime the Minority organised a press conference, the government rushed to the press to introduce something new to divert the attention of the general public from the critical issues the Minority raised.
The statement called on the paper to unreservedly apologise to the Minority Leader, Mr Debrah, Mr Obodai, Mr Osei Ameyaw and Mr Christopher Addai who were all mentioned in the publication as having been overpaid.

Recall of MPs waste of resources — Minority

2010-05-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

Page 13, May 20, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minority in Parliament has described the recent recall of Members of Parliament (MPs) to transact urgent parliamentary business under a special four-day sitting as “needless and a complete waste of national resources”.
“Prudence in the managing of the nation as the President insists to pursue, should mean that he would serve this nation well by ensuring that there is no recurrence of such needless meetings.”
A statement signed by the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah, noted that despite several omissions in the procedures as required for the recall of Parliament, the Minority co-operated with their colleagues from the Majority side during the special sitting which took place from May 4 to May 7, 2010.
The statement indicated, however, that as required by the Standing Orders of the House all matters which were deliberated on during the period were referred to the various committees to determine the urgency of the matters referred to them.
“Noteworthy, in all of the referrals to the committees, all of which are chaired by NDC MPs, not a single matter was deemed urgent to be treated.”
It explained that all the committees were of the view that the matters referred to them could have waited and taken care of during the Second Meeting, which was already expected to commence on May 26, 2020.
The logical questions, according to the statement that arise, therefore were: Why did the government try to stampede Parliament to do its bidding; why did the government and those in charge of government business go to such great extent to keep the Minority MPs in the dark about the business to be transacted during the period and what was the government’s real motive for bringing Parliament back out of recess?.
The statement also faulted a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah, for his lack of parliamentary procedures, explaining that if a matter was determined “urgent” by a parliamentary committee, it was taken through all the stages in one day.
“Indeed, there is a world of difference between speed and urgency,” the statement said, adding that “clearly, therefore, the special sitting of Parliament from May 4 to 7, 2010 was needless and complete waste of national resources.”
The statement also suggested that government business during the Second Meeting of the Second Session of the Fifth Parliament should be programmed in a manner that would permit better scrutiny and the conduct of more transparent due diligence in pursuit of a more accountable governance, “instead of crowding the last few days with multiples of agenda items as has become usual”.