(Reconsider review of Ghana -Vodafone agreement

Page 14, May 23, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minority in Parliament has urged the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, to rethink the means he has chosen to review the agreement between Ghana and Vodafone on the sale of share of the Ghana Telecom.
It said while it had nothing in principle against the reviewing of the decision, “it is important to establish that if a decision is made by one body, it is appropriate that any attempt at reviewing the decision, would be done by a body of equal stature and legal standing”.
The Minority in Parliament gave the advice in a press release in response to the inauguration of a five-member Inter-ministerial Review Committee by Mr Iddrisu to look into the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the government and Vodafone International Holdings BV.
The transaction, which was entered into by the previous administration, enabled Vodafone to purchase 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom, with the remaining 30 per cent being retained by the government.
The setting up of the administrative review committee, according to the minister, is in fulfilment of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto pledge to review the agreement and take a decision that would be in the strategic interest of the country.
In the release signed by the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah, the Minority stated that any attempt to review any aspect of the deal, which was given endorsement by Parliament after going through it, would constitute a review of the parliamentary approval.
It said inasmuch as the Majority NDC might want to fulfil its manifesto pledges, and the Minority NPP also strongly believed that ex-President Kufuor administration stood to be exonerated of any perceived misdeeds, there should not be any unnecessary tangle.
“It is worth reiterating that all the answers they seek are either in the Agreement or are available to them through the various ministries, departments and agencies that worked with the previous administration to initiate, negotiate and conclude the SPA”.
The Minority stated that if the review was being made to protect the strategic interest of Ghana, as the NDC claimed, to guide the government to decide on the entire process of the privatisation, “may we indicate that there are still lingering doubts regarding the initial divestiture of Ghana Telecom to Telecom Malaysia.
It is, therefore, insisted that the review should start from the very onset of the agreement and its accompanying management agreement between the government and Telecom Malaysia.