Nduom drops big earnings for ministerial
office
Provide competent
agric. extension staff - Bolga Naba
I will welcome positive measures to enhance
development – Sahanun
President addresses Parliament on Thursday
Nduom drops big earnings for ministerial
office
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 February 2001
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, ministerial nominee for Economic Planning and Regional Integration told the Appointments Committee on Friday he considers his nomination as a sacrificial job one has to render to his nation not necessarily for pecuniary reward.
He said he earns over one thousand seven hundred dollars a day from the African Development Bank (ADB) and receives about 20,000 dollars a month as an economic and management consultant. He will earn about 300 dollars a month when he becomes a minister of state.
Dr Nduom said he will be at home with it because it is not always that one's contribution has to be measured in earnings.
"It is a hard decision. It is sacrificial at one stage of ones life", he said. Dr Nduom who was making his second and final appearance before the Committee to complete the statutory screening by parliament said he felt honoured as a Ghanaian to be paid in hard currency for services he rendered to the State Enterprises Commission (SEC).
The minister designate's assessment was suspended a week ago (last Friday) to enable members to dig into the genesis of an investigation conducted on him by the Serious Fraud Office, (SFO) sequel to reports received by the committee on his consultancy job at the SEC.
Answering questions at the Committee sitting, the minister designate refuted allegations that he has ever been an employee of the State Enterprises Commission (SEC) but said he had been a consultant to it.
He said he was offered the contract because his charges were lower than those of other competitors, which included the Price Water House.
Expressing happiness at the quality of services he offered which changed the image of some state owned corporations to companies, Dr Nduom said, "if some of the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) are making profits today then I take the satisfaction that I did a good a job".
The nominee said he has decided to relinquish his 20,000-dollar monthly job in the US for a ministerial position because he wants to make a sacrifice to his country.
"It is very difficult. I have discussed it with my family and we have agreed that I should sacrifice. It is my national service for the greater benefit of our country."
Asked if he paid taxes on his earnings on the SEC job, Dr Nduom said he was offered a contract that had a tax free provision, adding that he saw nothing wrong with such an offer coming from the government of Ghana to a Ghanaian.
He said though he took the job as a Ghanaian he was resident in the United States where he was a partner in a firm and was obliged by the rules of his partnership to remit his earnings to the US.
On his roles as an Assemblyman for Akotobinsin, Dr Nduom said he has tried to build the faith of the people in the process of governance.
"I have put up a Home Science Centre for a JSS school and have built a Public Bath House and I pay fees for anybody from my area who qualifies for the university but cannot afford. I am also building a Day Care Centre for the people.
He said as a minister he would draw up a plan to monitor the achievements and failures of Vision 2020 and ensure that a plan is crafted to provide funding to attain the goals set in it.
Dr Nduom said he would promote the free movement of people, goods and services in the sub region to encourage regional integration.
He said although he belongs to the Convention People's Party (CPP) once he is appointed in the NPP government he will have to implement the ruling party's manifesto.
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Provide competent
agric. extension staff - Bolga Naba
Bolgatanga (Northern Region) 12
February 2001
The Paramount Chief of Bolgatanga,
Naba Martin Abilba the third, on Saturday urged the Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (MOFA) to provide competent extension officers capable of imparting
knowledge on improved techniques to farmers to maximise food production.
He said agriculture should be
given the needed boost despite the problem of land acquisition, to ensure that
there is sufficient food to feed the people.
Naba Abilba was addressing a
durbar of chiefs and people of the Bolgatanga traditional area to climax the
celebration of last year's "Adakoya" festival, at Bolgatanga.
"People that cannot feed
themselves will continue to live in perpetual servitude," Naba Abilba
stressed.
"Adakoya" is an annual
festival to express the people's appreciation to God and the ancestors for a
successful harvest. The occasion is
also to unite families and plan towards development.
Naba Abilba said government should
provide the necessary encouragement and backing to the youth to revamp
agriculture.
He deplored female genital
mutilation (FGM) and said although measures have been taken to stop the
practice, some unscrupulous individuals still do it secretly.
Naba Abilba said FGM is a serious
human rights abuse and pledged to lead a campaign to eradicate it.
He said the obnoxious practice has
serious health implication, adding that apart from the excruciating pain the
victims go through, they also suffer complications during childbirth.
Naba Abilba expressed his disgust
about the practice of forcing young girls into early marriage instead of
enrolling them in school, stressing "that the girl child must be given the
necessary encouragement to pursue education to the highest level."
In a speech read for him, Pe
Charles Awampaga the second, Paramount Chief of Paga and President of the Upper
East Regional House of Chiefs urged the peoples to co-operate with the NPP
government to bring development to the area.
Mr. David Yaro, Regional
Co-ordinating Director, appealed to the chiefs to co-operate with the Regional
Co-ordinating Council to deal with Fulani herdsmen whose cattle are destroying
crops in the area.
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I will welcome positive measures to enhance
development – Sahanun
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 February 2001
The Upper West Regional Minister-designate, Alhaji Mogtari Sahanun on Thursday said the people of the region welcome any positive measures that would enhance the development of the region.
Answering questions at the sitting of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee vetting his nomination, Alhaji Sahanun cited the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and said they would be encouraged to initiate measures aimed at improving the standard of living of the people.
Alhaji Sahanun, a 52-year-old educationist, said he would ensure the establishment of irrigation projects, especially ponds for all-year-round crop production.
The district assemblies will be empowered and made resourceful so that they provide the basic infrastructure such as access roads to farming areas and to promote tourism.
He said he would have to study more carefully the reasons for doctors' refusal to take up appointments in the region before suggesting any solutions.
Alhaji Sahanun pledged to ensure that religious tolerance prevails in the region in accordance with the constitutional guarantee for freedom of worship.
He said he is at home with his political opponents, adding, " people who belong to the other side of the divide are not enemies".
The common objective is to develop the area, he said, and once this message is understood there should be no conflicts.
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President addresses Parliament on Thursday
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 February 2001
President John Agyekum Kufuor, will on Thursday, February 15, deliver his first Sessional address to mark the official opening of the third Parliament of the fourth republic.
Mr J.H. Mensah, Minister of Government Business and Majority Leader announced this in the business statement for the sixth week presented to Parliament on Friday.
The President's address is in accordance with the directive principles of state policy of the constitution.
The policy states: "The President shall report to Parliament at least once a year all the steps taken to ensure the realisation of the policy objectives".
It further directs that the address should deal with "basic human rights, healthy, economy, the right to work, the right to good health care and the right to education".
Other business lined for the week include report from the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Declaration of President-elect Instrument 2000 C.I. 32, fifth and sixth reports from the Appointments Committee on ministerial nominations and adoption of the reports.
The House has adjourned till Tuesday, February 13.
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