Kufour warns his men – I won’t tolerate vices
Ghana can’t survive solely on foreign aid
‘We’ll reform legal system’
TUC working for restoration of ESB
Ato Dadzie defends ESB
Fraud! NDC issued dud cheques to chiefs
Police recover more arms
NPP scribe wants corrupt officials tried
US, UK raid our hospitals-nurses exported like cash crops
Raw deal at Gliksten-DIC ignored real value
Ghost Company imported police vehicles!
Tony Aidoo spits hot air!
Exiles returning
Kufour warns his men – I won’t tolerate vices
The President, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, is quoted by ‘The Ghanaian Times’ to have warned on Wednesday that drastic measures would be taken against Ministers of State who would fall short of government’s expectation.
He said “exploitation, ostentation, “conspicuous consumption” and other negative behaviours on the part of Ministers would not be tolerated by his administration.
President Kufuor gave the warning when he swore into office 12 more Ministers, including 10 Regional Ministers at the State House in Accra, bringing the total number of Ministers to 37.
Among them were Dr Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation, and Alhaji Mallam Ali Yusif Issah, Minister of Youth and Sports, Sheik I.C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister and Mr S.K. Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister.
He administered to them the Official Oath, the Oaths of Secrecy, Allegiance and Minister of State and presented them with their instruments of appointment and also advised that they should see themselves as servants of the people and not “to throw their weight about”.
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Ghana can’t survive solely on foreign aid
A senior lecturer in Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Augustine Gockel, has deplored the over-reliance of the Ghanaian economy on foreign assistance for development.
“No country in the world has ever succeeded in carrying through its development programmes on foreign aid or assistance,” he was quoted by The Graphic to have stated.
Dr Gockel, who was speaking at a symposium on the topic, “Seventeen years of Structural Adjustment Programme in Ghana, the way Forward,” organised by the Akuafo Hall Alumni Association on Tuesday, said that development should emanate more from domestic resources than people’s own efforts. He said it was the only way to ensure sustainable development.
He advocated a strong technological base to enable the country absorb shocks that external market conditions would induce to make the option achievable.
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‘We’ll reform legal system’
The Daily Graphic says the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Nana Akufo Addo, have expressed the determination of the government to embark on a radical reform of the legal system to enable the country to attract and maintain private investment.
He said the country needs a credible and responsive legal system to stimulate the business community to usher in a “golden age” for business.
Nana Akufo Addo, speaking during a courtesy call on him by the United States Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs. Kathryn Dee Robinson, said it will therefore, need a major pre occupation of the new administration to improve the efficiency and the image of the country’s legal system.
The government, he said, will promote respect for the rule of law and good governance, as well as reduce the incidence of corruption in public life.
The minister said Ghana would appreciate any assistance the government and people of the United States could extend in this regard.
Nana Akufo Addo said further that the government was keenly interested in deepening Ghana’s relations with the United States within the context of mutual respect for the national aspirations of both countries.
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TUC working for restoration of ESB
The Graphic says the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwa, has given the assurance that the TUC will continue to work for the restoration of End-of-Service Benefits (ESB) to workers.
This, he said, would help ensure that workers enjoy a decent living after retirement.
Payment of the ESB, which enabled workers to have considerable lump sums after retirement, was frozen in 1990.
Mr Adu-Amankwa stated on Wednesday during an interaction with the press in Accra
that the position of the TUC on the ESB has not changed and that all efforts will be made for its restoration to enable workers to enjoy a decent life after retirement.
“Our position on the issue has not changed and we will, therefore, pursue it until it is brought back,” he emphasised.
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Ato Dadzie defends ESB
Nana Ato Dadzie, the former Chief of Staff, in the previous NDC government has indicated that the End-of-Service Benefit (ESB) paid to the former NDC officials was in the right direction, reports The Guide.
He said the talk about it is “Much Ado About Nothing” since there was no secrecy in the handling of the ESB.
Nana Ato Dadzie said a list of all “appointees”, their salary scale and their appointment letters for verification, were sent to the Auditor-General for verification and returned, after the Auditor-General was satisfied that the names were correct.
He further disclosed that the list was then sent to the Ministry of Finance with copies to the Bank of Ghana and the Accountant General’s office after another thorough checking.
The cheques were then issued in the name of the Chief of Staff, representing the total ESB or Ex-gratia award due employees whose tenure ended on December 31, 2000.
The office of Chief of Staff has three accounts, two of them with the Ghana Commercial Bank, Osu branch and Metropolitan and Allied Banks. These accounts, he stated, existed before he assumed office as Chief of Staff in 1997 and that Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey the Minister of Presidential Affair is aware of those accounts.
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Fraud! NDC issued dud cheques to chiefs
‘The Independent’ reports that about 2 billion cedis cheques issued by the Ministry of Finance in the last days of the ex-NDC government for the payment of mineral lands royalties to some chiefs in the Western Region bounced, when they were presented to the Bank of Ghana for processing.
“The reason: The kitty is exhausted “No money in the government’s kitty for the payment of those cheques”.
The paper discloses that the most disappointed and embarrassed are chiefs of mineral rich areas in the Wassa Fiase Traditional area, covering Bogoso, Tarkwa and Prestea.
They were said to be surprised being told by the Bank of Ghana that their cheques totalling 1.5 billion cedis, which they presented for payment could not be honoured.
They have, under the present circumstances, adopted a “wait and see” attitude as a new Minister of Finance has just been sworn into office and will need time to deal with a host of problems.
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Police recover more arms
The police, according to ‘The Independent’, is on course in its new agenda of arms retrieving and the robbers are said to be finding them as enemies and uncomfortable allies.
One individual who some three weeks ago became a victim of the new police order, is a former Assistant Commissioner of the Custom Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).
Acting upon a tip-off, the Police invaded the house of the Commissioner where some cache of arms were discovered.
The Interior Minister Alhaji Yakubu Al-hassan said, he was aware of the Police swoop at the premises of the CEPS Commissioner but could however not tell what action would be taken against him since investigations were ongoing.
On February 5 the Minister, announced that a combined team of the military and police will embark on a nationwide exercise to retrieve all unlicensed weapons believed to be stored at unauthorized areas and controlled by some sections of the security services.
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NPP scribe wants corrupt officials tried
The General Secretary of the new Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Dan Botwe has called for the prosecution of all public officials who engaged in acts of malfeasance while in office.
He declared that much as the President, Mr J.A. Kufuor (JAK), has promised that his administration will not engage in witch-hunting, he was of the view that those public officials who, in one way or the other, engaged in any misconduct should be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law.
“The most important thing is that much as we say there would be no witch-hunting, I do not see why people who have actually acted criminally against the interest of the state and there are grounds for prosecution, should not be punished for that,” he said.
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US, UK raid our hospitals-nurses exported like cash crops
The Chronicle carries a story that says the British Government, who last year, set out to beef up the diminishing ranks of infantry men in its Armed Forces by eyeing Ghanaian soldiers who had distinguished themselves in United Nations Peacekeeping operations throughout the world’s trouble spots are now going after the country’s nurses.
The United States, Jamaica and South Africa are the other culprits.
These nurses said to be ringing the changes even in the US where even Ghanaian engineering graduates have abandoned their profession and enrolled in nursing training institutions because of the tremendous opportunities.
A Wall Street Journal report late last month noted that governments of some countries like South Africa are complaining to the British Government about raids on its nurses, which like the US is having major shortages of nurses.
Britain’s National Health Service responded by advising its hospitals to stop hiring South African nurses.
In Ghana, the nurses are even prepared to pay bribe to have the opportunity to work overseas.
‘Recruiters don’t need to do much wooing in Ghana, observed the WSJ, ‘poor working conditions, awful pay and lack of training opportunities drive nurses to look elsewhere for work.
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Raw deal at Gliksten-DIC ignored real value
Former workers of Gliksten West Africa Limited have appealed to the government to re-open the case of the company’s divestiture and correct what they termed as the non-transparent manner in which the process was carried out, The Evening News reports.
According to them the company which was originally valued at 22 billion cedis was inexplicably given away to one SUHUMA COMPANY LIMITED for half the value.
They said although their own investigations indicated that another company offered 22 billion cedis, it was turned down, a situation which they said, directly affected their severance awards.
When the paper contacted the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, which actively played a role in the company’s divestiture, Mr Tabi Agyarko, the schedule director, admitted that Bomplex Company was determined to pay 22 billion cedis, but the Divestiture Implementation Committee and other “stakeholders” eventually sold it to SUHUMA CO for 11 billion cedis.
The Executive Secretary of the DIC, Mr Opoku Adjei, when contacted declined to comment on the issue saying the schedule officer in charge of such information was not available.
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Ghost company imported police vehicles!
‘The Ghanaian Voice’ says it can confidently reveal that the worthless police Toyota Tundura vehicles that have left people screaming in anger and gasping for breath were imported by a ghost South African company with lines in the retailing business.
The order is said to have landed in the laps of a Dr. Lindsay who lecturers at a university in London. The whole deal and transaction are reportedly murky, dirty and stinking that those who want to set things right will have to look into the whole transaction and surcharge the whole 65 vehicles that were approved by Parliament, against the offending officers.
According to a source, Parliament approved the importation of 65 police vehicles, armoured cars and other items for the Police Service in the year 2000 with expectations that they would arrive in the country by last October.
“No responses were coming. No dates were given. Attempts to rope in cars from the regions to augment the fleet in Accra because of the rising crime-wave proved abortive” said the source.
It said it was told that sometime last year, the former IGP Mr Peter Nanfuri, travelling to Greece for an Interpol meeting touched a base in London and got in contact with Dr. Lindsey whom he gathered has personally, without the status of a company, grabbed the importation contract.
A source at the police headquarters said the shady and showy manner the whole transaction was handled created a row between Mr Nanfuri and the sector minister, the IGP knowing nothing about the transaction.
“In fact, he knew nothing about the importation. I believe he himself does not know the agreement that covered the transaction. It was a deal struck between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior,” the source said.
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Tony Aidoo spits hot air!
The Deputy Minister of Defence in the erstwhile NDC, Dr Tony Aidoo is reported by ‘The Crusading Guide’ to have promised fire and brimstone against any person or group of persons who would dare to forcibly take away from him his BMW saloon car which, according to him, was legally acquired.
He said it was wrong and improper for anyone to assume that since they (the NDC) are out of political power, anything the party members did acquire during their tenure in office was done through fraudulent means.
The former Deputy Defence Minister, who was speaking in an interview on a Kumasi – based private radio station, “Fox” (97.9 FM) last week said “the witch – hunting exercise the NPP government is vigorously pursuing against its real or perceived political opponents will definitely backfire since it is fraught with wicked and evil intentions.
The BMW saloon car, he said, was legally acquired and it is only unenlightened bunch of people who will jump into hasty conclusion and cry wolf when there is actually none.
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Exiles returning
The Accra Mail reports that the election of President Kufuor has brought along in its wake the feeling of genuine freedom and Ghanaian exiles, taking advantage of the new dispensation, have started returning home in their numbers.
A recent returnee, reportedly, is a 65-year old A.F.G. Coffie who for the past nineteen years had been running away from the Rawlings regime.
As one of the first six Ghanaians to form the nucleus of the fledgling Military Intelligence unit after independence, Mr Coffie enlisted into the Gold Coast Regiment in 1955.
His service spanning many years after independence, he had on retiring from the military in 1973 joined hands with Chris Asher to form an anti-coup movement after Rawlings’s first hand over of power and so became a target of the so-called PDCs who pestered him until he fled the country in June 1982 to return only after the current change in the political situation.
The Mail says the issue of the returning Ghanaians in exile is at once heroic but also pathetic. Already overwhelmed with a number of inherited problems, the government cannot afford to ignore them, if for nothing, but for humanitarian reasons. “Their lives have been shattered and only government assistance can mitigate the fears they are harbouring as they face the days ahead,” says the paper.
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