Joshua Hamidu gives Dan Lartey a scare
We've made
gains - Prez Kufuor
Performance
of the NPP govt is disappointing - Adam
Man with
pistol arrested at NPP rally
Man
threatens to sue Statistical Service over population figures
Govt
support 10,000 women
Joshua Hamidu gives Dan Lartey a scare
Lt General Joshua Hamidu, the National Security Co-ordinator who has been walking from one controversy to another hit rock-bottom when he invited Mr Dan Lartey alias ‘Mr Domestication’, the leader of the infant Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) to the Castle Annex last Monday.
This was after Mr Dan Lartey has blown his chest and mirrored on the airwaves his impressions of the NPP government.
He phoned in to a Peace FM morning show programme on Monday December 24 and by 11.00 am he was “invited” to meet face to face with Lt Gen Joshua Hamidu at his office behind the Accra Sports Stadium.
Mr Dan Lartey had spoken of the inefficiency and ineptitude of the NPP government, which have deprived the average Ghanaian a good Christmas. “We are Hungry” He barked; “we are suffering” he added and warned that if the trend continue, an adventurer may try to exploit the suffering of the people and create chaos and instability.
He therefore called for a change in the style of governance or call an early election to test the popularity of the government. “The call to answer” came by emissaries who came to tell him that the security capo wanted to see him immediately.
In an interview with the Ghanaian Voice, Mr Dan Lartey said he went with his General Secretary Mr Amekah. When they got to the Blue Gate, and were ushered into Gen Hamidu’s presence, he was asked why he made those utterances on the Radio and Hamidu went over the bend and told him that the security is tight and foolproof and that no one can rise up against this government. Lt General Joshua Hamidu went on and issued valid threats against Mr Dan Lartey.
I repeated what I said and told him that I have expressed similar statements to the President, the Vice President and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, I told him that the best defence against chaos and mayhem is good governance. I told the President in January to launch a crash programme to put food on the table of Ghanaians by July, if this advice had been heeded, we would not be having the mess we are having now.
Though Mr Dan Lartey claimed he was not manhandled he maintains that he was mentally harassed and that the mere fact that he was invited to that intimidating environment shows that the old ways are coming back.
GRi…/
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Six “ghost” have so far been arrested and over ¢10 million retrieved from them since the Audit Service moved in to unravel the mystery surrounding the ¢300 billion the state loses yearly through ghost names on the public payroll.
The six, who were arrested during an initial strike by the service, were said to have taken moneys from the government chest without working for it.
Their names however, are being withheld for security reasons. Mr Edward Dua Agyeman, the Auditor-General (A-G) told the times in an interview that his outfit had deployed a 500-strong unit to track down the ghosts and ensure that monies fraudulently withdrawn from the national coffers were refunded.
Asked how the units operated, he said it instituted a head count into all Ministries, Department s and Agencies (MDA), studied the list of all those on the Controller and Accountant-General Payroll and most importantly, the Report, 11, the document which authorised the banks to pay out money to workers.
The A-G noted that the causes of ghost names were varied, ranging from new appointments, terminations, retirements, deaths and dismissals. He explained that when a new appointee was posted to a new station and did not take up the appointment, it took time for his officers in charge to delete his name from the voucher. So, in that period, he could be described as a “ghost” since his salary would continue to be paid.
These, the A-G said, could also result from terminations, either through resignations retirements, vacation of post and dismissals. On retirement, Mr Agyeman said that even though the payment of salary was supposed to stop automatically, a study at one of the ministries revealed that out of the 30,000 personal records, there were 1,552 people who did not have dates of birth and 18 people who continued to receive salaries after 60.
The review, he said, noted that it took 54 months to delete the names of retired persons from the payroll and a classic example was found of an employee born in 1900 whose name was still on the payroll. The A-G said that they had opened a special bank account with which all monies retrieved in the exercise would be lodged.
Another area where he said they would throw their searchlight on, was that of ghost car-owners. According to him, there was a long list of workers who did not have cars but drew regular car maintenance and fuel allowances.
“Some of these people have either sold their cars or commercialised them,” he noted. People who vacate their employments without satisfying their bond requirements would also be scrutinised in the exercise, he said.
Mr Agyeman said after the ghost name saga had been solved, a special department would be set up to study payrolls on a monthly basis to prevent any future recurrence of the phenomenon.
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The government is coming out with a new savings programme that would guarantee a handsome retirement benefit to workers and also create an avenue for long-term loans to be given to the Ghanaian to boost business in the country.
To that end, the government is to generate over ¢50 billion monthly from a Long-Term Savings Programme, which would be instituted in the country next year.
The Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Integration, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, said these in an interview with the Times after an end-of-year reception organised for the staff of the Flag Staff House in Accra.
Dr Nduom said, it was out of the government’s determination to provide a significant retirement benefit for its citizens for which reason that was why the savings programme was to be introduced.
He explained that, the programme, which would require workers to save about 12 per cent of their salary, would not replace any retirement benefit scheme but would run parallel with the already instituted schemes in order “to ensure a significant retirement benefit for the Ghanaians,” he added.
He said private companies, as well as individuals, would also be involved in the programme. Dr Nduom however, stressed that once a worker was registered to partake in the savings programme, he or she could not withdraw his money until reaching a retirement age.
Earlier at the reception, Dr Nduom announced that, plans were afoot under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Programme to provide ECOWAS passport and visa to citizens in the sub region to promote easy access in the sub region.
He said member countries of ECOWAS had agreed agree to register all companies in the sub region in order to make their transits duty free. Dr Nduom said, 40 companies in Ghana including Astec, Unilever, and Gabico have already been registered.
He commended the workers of the Flag Staff House for their dedication to work and urged them not to relent in their effort, no matter how difficult working no how difficult working in the house became.
A representative of the junior staff of the Flag Staff House, Alhaji Alhasan Yakubu, appealed to management to reconsider the promotion of the junior staff because it is pathetic how some of us have worked for over ten years without promotion” he said.
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A group of youth caused a stir at Dormaa-Kasoa in Dormaa-Ahenkro at the weekend, when they invaded the local cemetery and exhumed the body of their colleague, which had just been buried.
According to them, the deceased known as Apau, 30, a money changer, died “mysteriously” and that the oracle should be consulted to find the cause of his death.
Chanting war songs amidst drumming, the youth stormed the cemetery, exhumed the body, took it home and laid it in state. They began to file past it while waiting for a “Mallam” to perform the rites.
It took the relatives of the deceased and some elders of the town several hours to convince them to release the body for re-burial. The body was re-buried at about 6:30 pm.
A family source told the Times at Dormaa-Ahenkro that Apau died on December 22, due to a motor accident. The source said, Apau had gone to Gonokrom, a town on the Ghana-La Cote d’Ivoire border, to change some local currencies to CFA. On his return, he collected a friends motor bike and left with another friend, Gambrah.
Some minutes after setting off, the deceased was said to have asked Gambrah to get down and pick a car because his weight was putting much pressure on the bike. Gambrah alighted and waited for a bus.
Apau was later found lying in a supine position by the roadside with the bike a few metres from the body.
When the vehicle got to the scene, Gambrah identified the body and with the help of other passengers, collected the body and the bike to Dormaa-Korsan.
The colleagues, according to the source, rushed the body to the Sunyani Regional Hospital and deposited it at the mortuary at their own expense. They were said to have told the family not to bury it until the oracle was consulted to determine the cause of death.
According to the source, the body bore no marks of assault and the colleagues found it very strange, hence their action to exhume the body.
GRi…/
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We've
made gains - Prez Kufuor
President
John Kufuor has stated that his administration has made some modest but
significant gains in the economic and social sectors within a year of assuming
the reins of power.
He said the
cedi has stabilized against the major foreign currencies; interest rates have
dropped while the inflationary trends have been brought under control.
Addressing
a mammoth rally at Mantse Agbo Naa, James Town, Accra on Saturday to mark the
first anniversary of the NPP Government, President Kufuor, however, appealed to
Ghanaians to continue to support and stand by the government in its effort to
work extra hard in the coming year to improve their standards of living.
The theme
for the rally was "1st Anniversary of Positive Change." It
was also addressed by ministers of state and leading party functionaries.
President
Kufuor said one year of his administration has been acknowledged by world
leaders "even though our opponents have refused to give credit to what we
have chalked in one year".
The
President said the government, after assuming office, realized that the economy
was in a mess than what it had anticipated and, therefore, "we had to take
certain drastic measures to bring the economy back on track."
He said the
government was encouraged by the fact that Ghanaians understood the problems
and stood by it to push through the economic measures, however unpleasant they
might be.
"When
we took the HIPC initiative, for instance, our opponents criticized us for
selling the pride and honour of the country but I can assure Ghanaians that
they will see the benefits of going HIPC within the next two months,"
President Kufuor said.
The
President stressed that the "quiet diplomacy" his government has
pursued is paying good economic and social dividends.
He,
however, acknowledged that the government has a lot of work to do in the years
ahead to bring the economy out of the doldrums. "It is for this reason
that Ghanaians must be tolerant towards the government and stand by us and we
shall not disappoint you."
President
Kufuor pointed out that prices have begun to fall because of the pragmatic
economic and social policies put in place by the government.
On the
international scene, President Kufuor said Ghana has rediscovered her
independence and, therefore, is determined to lead the West African sub-region
into the future. "Ghana has a destiny to lead the sub-region and we want
to chart a new course that will unite the peoples of West Africa," he
said.
President
Kufuor said the government will continue to support and encourage the new
Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, to succeed in bringing
economic and social transformation to the peoples of West Africa.
He said
despite the criticisms from the opponent of the government on his foreign
trips, he will travel to any part of the world if that will mean bringing prosperity
to Ghanaians.
President
Kufuor explained that almost all his foreign travels were undertaken at the
invitation of the leaders of the those countries and in most cases, their
Presidents provided aircraft to fly his entourage.
The First
Lady, Madam Theresa Kufuor, thanked Ghanaians for standing solidly behind
President Kufuor despite the difficulties.
The
National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Harona Esseku, said with the blessings of the
Almighty God, the party is capable of managing the affairs of the country.
The
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, said the
government will not be detracted by allegations of harassment by some members
of the previous government and "we will ensure that the law takes its
course".
He said
whether boycotts or walkouts by the NDC, the National Reconciliation Commission
has come to stay and "we are going to carry the reconciliation programme
to the letter."
The
Attorney-General said the government will abide by the rule of law and "it
is not for the government to decide who is guilty or not. It is for the courts
to decide."
The
Minister of the Interior, Alhaji Al-Hassan Malik Yakubu, assured Ghanaians of
absolute freedom and security and that "the security agencies are ever
ready to deal absolutely with any person or group of persons who will attempt
to destabilise the nation."
The
Majority Leader, Papa Owusu Ankomah, said the NPP will unify the nation and
ensure that there is positive change in the lives of Ghanaians.
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Performance
of the NPP govt is disappointing - Adam
The Brong
Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NDC, Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, has described the
first year of the NPP government as disappointing.
He said the
NPP's much-talked-about improvement in the economy has not reflected in the
lives of the people, and urged the people to reject "the noise being made
by the government."
Speaking in
an interview at Sunyani, Alhaji Adam predicted that the NPP government will
continue to fumble and tumble until it is eventually removed from power in the
2004 elections. He wondered why the NPP government could not capitalise on the
favourable global economic conditions this year to improve on the living
standards of the people.
Alhaji Adam
accused the government of deceiving cocoa farmers with the mass spraying
exercise. He noted that the exercise was fruitless, since it started late,
leading to low cocoa production this year.
He said
from all indications the NDC will win the 2004 elections. He said in the Brong
Ahafo Region, for example, the people have realized that had it not been the
PNDC/NDC, most of the projects they are enjoying would not have become a
reality.
Alhaji Adam
said the outcome of the recent regional congress, at which he emerged the
regional chairman, has shown that the party members are committed to seeing the
NDC back in power.
He
commended the former regional executive for the able manner they steered the
affairs of the party while in office.
Alhaji Adam
said the absence of business persons at the regional congress of the party was
as a result of the fear that the NPP government is putting into business people
who associate themselves with the NDC.
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Man with
pistol arrested at NPP rally
A
37-year-old man, Samuel Tettey Mensah, has been arrested for allegedly pulling
a pistol during an argument with some members of the New Patriotic Party who
were at the party's one year anniversary rally at James Town in Accra at the
weekend.
Police
personnel on duty at the rally grounds acted swiftly and disarmed the gunman
before he could pull the trigger.
Mensah, who
was driving to the rally grounds in defiance of the road diversion, was
signaled by the party faithful to stop. This angered Mensah, who engaged in a
heated argument with the people.
In the
process, he pulled out a pistol causing a sudden stir among the crowd. The
swift intervention of the police averted a tragedy.
The Accra
Regional Police Commander, Dr K.K. Manfo, who confirmed the story, said a live
ammunition was found in the chamber of the pistol. He said although the pistol
was licensed, Mensah's conduct was very unlawful.
More…/
Man
threatens to sue Statistical Service over population figures
Alhaji
Iddrisu Bature, an opinion leader of Maamobi, has issued an ultimatum to the
Statistical Service to, either withdraw the current document on Ghana's
population and do a better job, or face action in court.
He pointed
out that the current figure of 18.8 million is misleading, because many people
have been left out and would, therefore, be detrimental to planning for the
nation's overall development.
Alhaji
Bature, who is also a social scientist and commentator, issued the ultimatum in
an interview in Accra. He was reacting to the release of the final results of
the census conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service which, among other
things, put the nation's current population at 18.8 million.
According
to Alhaji Bature, there are complaints from substantial numbers of people
across the country to the effect that they were not counted during the recent
enumeration exercise.
"Indeed
so serious is the error of very many people having been left out of the
counting process that if one took a random sample of 10 people in many parts of
the country, one was very likely to get three or four people confirming that
they were not counted during the last exercise.” This, he said, convinced him
that a good job had not been done of this important national exercise and
therefore, its result would inevitably be flawed.
"Besides
that I was not counted during the recent population exercise, and as many as 10
people in my house were also left out. This together with similar stories all
over the place raises serious doubt about the validity, credibility and
therefore reliability of the current census results," he stressed.
Alhaji
Bature also queried the religious breakdown of the census, which put Christians
at 69 per cent of the population, Muslims at 15.6 per cent and traditionalist
at 8.5 per cent and said it was weighted unfairly against Muslims and
Traditionalists.
"A
proper and more objective count and compilation would without any shred of
doubt in my wind reveal larger percentages for both Muslims and traditionalist,
both of which put together would out number Christians".
"Again,
if it is accepted that the majority of people in the rural areas, which the
report agrees still constitutes the majority of the country's population are
traditionalists, how come that they (traditionalist) are only 8.5 per cent of
the population," he wondered.
The Mamobi
opinion leader observed that the resort to unreliable data by government for
planning purposes is replete with disastrous consequences.
"In
this particular case government would be thinking of about only 18 million
people when the needs, concerns and aspirations of the people are being planned
only for the true picture to be a larger population with change in the
structure and composition than we are currently made to believe" he
stressed.
Alhaji
Bature called on the government to take a second and a harder look at the
census report and adopt more innovative and modern means of ascertaining the
true population of the country.
"I
guess in this respect that the government should adopt the national insurance
system used in other nations.
This
mechanism would not only enable all citizens to acquire the card and therefore
easy to determine their number but also be useful in other important national
events such as voting, health insurance, business transaction and others",
he counseled.
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Govt
support 10,000 women
As many as
10,000 women are to be supported to set up their businesses in the country next
year. To this end, the Ministry for Women and Children's Affairs has requested
the 10 regional co-ordinating councils to select 1,000 women each who will be
given financial and technical assistance to establish small-scale businesses.
The sector
Minister, Mrs Gladys Asmah, who announced this in Accra, said preparatory work
on the programme is underway and that the programme will take off as soon as
the lists have been submitted.
She was
speaking at a mammoth rally of the New Patriotic Party at James Town, Accra, to
mark the first anniversary of the NPP Government.
She said as
a stopgap measure to reduce poverty in the country, the government has already
assisted 10,600 women with financial help, which has gone a long way to improve
their economic well being.
The
minister said the government's programme for the development of the talents of
women will become manifest from next year.
Mrs Asmah
said the government is determined to empower women to develop their talents
because "we believe that the economic empowerment of women means the
empowerment of the Ghanaian family."
She said
the ministry will not discriminate in its assistance to women since all
Ghanaians have the right to good standards of living.
"We
want to assure Ghanaian women that the government will provide them with
economic and social interventions which will help them to fight poverty,"
the minister said.
President
Kufuor, earlier this month, launched the Women's Development Fund with a seed
capital of ¢21 billion to assist women entrepreneurs to improve and expand
their businesses.
The Deputy
Minister of Works and Housing, Mrs Theresa Amerley Tagoe, said despite the weak
financial position of the country at the time the government assumed power, it
has cleared a backlog of debts owed contractors.
The deputy
minister said the road network in certain parts of Accra is being tackled to
bring relief to motorists and commuters.
Reginald
Niibi Ayibonte, MP for Odododiodio, in whose constituency the rally was held,
assured the people that the government will deliver on its promises made during
the round-up to the last elections.
Nana Adi
Ankamah, Eastern Regional Chairman of the NPP, said the government has been
able to spray cocoa farms and also paid bonuses to cocoa farmers, all within a
year in office. "This shows that we are committed to the welfare of the
ordinary people," he said.
GRi
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