GOVT SPENDS GH¢361,924 on Transitional Team

Frontpage, June 18, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, yesterday disclosed in Parliament that GH¢361,924.41 was spent on the Transitional Team which managed last January’s transfer of power from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
However, what was expected to have put a long-standing debate to rest turned contentious when members on the Minority side claimed that no member of the NPP who served on the Transitional Team was paid any money for the service.
From the moment the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo and former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, who was also a member of the Transitional Team, disputed the assertion by the Finance Minister, the debate turned chaotic and continued even after the Speaker had discharged the minister.
Dr Akoto Osei had told the House that nobody from the NPP side of the team received any amount for serving on the transition team and from then members from both sides shouted on top of their voices, with some of the NPP members banging their desks with shouts of “ootwa tea, ootwa tea”, in reference to the amount Dr Duffuor said had been spent on refreshment during the exercise.
Even after the Speaker had discharged the Finance Minister after he had spent about 40 minutes to answer the main question and the follow-up questions which ensued, many NPP MPs were still on their feet demanding to ask him further questions.
The Minority in Parliament showed how anxious they were to know every detail about the exercise when they quizzed the Finance Minister over the amount spent on the Transitional Team which looked into the country’s economy, among other issues, to give the government an idea of the task ahead of it.
The MP for Atwima-Nwabiagya, Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, who asked the main question, wanted to know the total cost in terms of expenditure for the entire transitional process.
Dr Duffuor explained that the expenditure incurred on the team was in four categories, namely, honoraria, refreshment, hiring of office equipment and stationery.
He gave the breakdown of the honoraria paid to members of the team as follows; chairman, GH¢2,250; two supporting staff at GH¢1,800 each (GH¢3,600); seven subcommittee chairmen at GH¢1,800 each (GH¢12,600), and 141 members at GH¢1,350 each (GH¢190,350), bringing the total to GH¢208,800
On refreshment, Mr Duffuor explained that an amount of GH¢135,316.30 was spent on water, tea, snacks and lunch for the Transitional Team members, security, volunteers, invitees and the press.
The total cost of the hiring of office equipment was GH¢15,024.01, while the expenditure on stationery (pens, paper clips, file covers, note pads and A-4 paper, among others, amounted to GH¢2,784.10.
As expected, a flood of questions followed after the minister had answered the question. At a stage almost all the members on the Minority side were on their feet, hoping to catch the Speaker’s eye to ask follow-up questions.
Answering a follow-up question from Mr Owusu-Bio, Mr Duffuor said the exercise, which started on January 4, 2009, lasted about two months, but when asked for further clarification, the minister requested for more time to be able to furnish the House with the details on the duration of the exercise.
Later, when the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, enquired from the minister whether he was aware that none of the NPP members of the team was paid any honorarium, Mr Duffuor said the entire amount had been spent on the team which comprised other people, apart from those in the NDC and the NPP.
Upon a request from the NDC MP for Ashiaman, Mr Alfred Agbesi, and the NPP MP for Aburi-Nsawam, Mr O.B. Amoah, Dr Duffuor promised to furnish the House with details on the names of members of the team and how much each person received.
Mr Duffuor also told the House that given time, he would be able to provide the House with details on the cost of the transitional exercise in 2001 when the NPP took over from the NDC in an answer to a question by the NDC MP for Tamale Central, Mr Inusah Fuseini.
In another development, Dr Duffuor stated that the number of diverted State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as of December 31, 2008 stood at 367.
He gave the breakdown of the mode of the divestiture as follows: Sale assets — 253; sale of shares — 51; joint venture — 14; lease — 8, and liquidation — 41.
In another development, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, also appeared before the House to answer questions posed by some MPs concerning his ministry.
He told the House that the district assemblies were required to cater for the salaries of staff of the area, town, urban, zonal councils and sub-metropolitan assemblies.
Mr Chireh also stated that composite budgeting at the district level would commence as soon as modalities for the transfer of resources to the district assemblies, which were being worked on by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Controller and Accountant-General, were completed.