Fuel price goes up today
Who paid $1.445m to foreign contractor?
Police service to employ 4,000 more
Ghana, Nigeria to co-operate
Doctors separate Siamese twins
Independence Day Anniversary is a special event
P.T.A., School Clash
President Kufuor occupies castle next month
The rot at ECG
Osafo Maafo on the budget
NDC broke? Only 1.2 million cedis in accounts
The hypocrisy of NPP & Co
Fuel price goes up today
Fuel prices are to go up 40 per cent from Friday night according to the banner story of Friday’s edition of ‘The Ghanaian Chronicle’.
The price of 10,700 cedis does not wipe out the arbitrage opportunities of players in the neighbouring countries where fuel is still relatively more expensive than Ghana.
Next to the Oil Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ghana sells in the world even though she is not a producer.
Despite the virtual demand from Ghanaians that fuel prices should go up, callers to Joy FM (an Accra private radio) last week literally condemned the Government for delaying the price increases and adding a monthly debt 160 billion cedis arising from purchase and sale price disparities.
“It took the insistence of the President to get a firm decision from the equivocating cabinet this week”, the paper said.
The increase, Chronicle said, will coincide with a special break from Kufuor’s newfound friend, General Olusegun Obasanjo’s, agreement to loosen the stiff thirty-day credit afforded the past Government.
The NDC frequently breached credit agreements.
Ghana will now enjoy an extended 90-day credit break, a valuable deal.
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Who paid $1.445m to foreign contractor?
Officials at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) are at their tether’s end explaining how a staggering amount of $1.445 million was paid to a foreign contractor working on the proposed Olympic-size sports stadium, the ‘Chronicle’ said.
Authoritative sources told the paper that new Minister for Youth and Sports, Mallam Ali Yusuf Issa has requested for the files on the contract and the payments from the Finance Ministry.
The contractor, B.V. Philips Eindhoven of Holland, has also threatened to sue the government of Ghana at an International Arbitration Court to recover an outstanding debt of $345,000, which is part of a total bill of $1.8 million representing cost for feasibility studies and architectural designs.
Certain officials of the Ministry under whose purview these issues fall, reportedly, do not seem to know how the monies were paid.
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Police service to employ 4,000 more
The Dispatch reports that the NPP government of President J.A. Kufuor is to “carry out accelerated recruitment into the Police,” to beef up the strength to about 18,000 over the next four years, stating that the development is “good news” for the country.
The service, which has been the focus of the general public for sometime now, especially regarding the serial killings of women and the spate of armed robberies, had their number dropped from 16,000 when Ghana’s population stood at 14 million to 14,000 at the time the country’s population reached 18 million.
The NPP, as per its Manifesto promised that it will particularly emphasise the training of the Police to the highest limits and provide logistics “essential for efficient conduct of Police work”.
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Ghana, Nigeria to co-operate
Ghana and Nigeria have resolved to collaborate in various ventures in order to spearhead their economic and social development, the ‘Daily Graphic’ said.
The two countries agreed, among others, to focus now on salt and crude oil trade.
This was the outcome of a two-day visit to Nigeria by President J.A. Kufuor at the invitation of the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, which afforded the two leaders an opportunity to strengthen their relations and map out areas they could collaborate more effectively.
Among issues discussed were security problems in the sub-region and how they could be resolved in the light of escalating conflicts, especially in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
President Kufuor, who was accompanied on the trip by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang and the Energy Minister, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah; described the deliberations as fruitful and indicated that apart from the peculiar problems of the sub-region which they delved into, they also looked at the effects of globalisation on Africa and sought to find out how best the continent’s interest could be served.
Energy Minister, Mr Kan-Dapaah, said Nigerian has agreed to relax the financial arrangement she had with Ghana.
The minister, who did not give details on the new arrangement, was of the view that with the imminent review of petroleum prices, Ghana is set to improve on her oil stock and also cut her daily deficits accrued as a result of the low prices for petroleum products.
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Doctors separate Siamese twins
A front-page capture of the Graphic said Doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi last Tuesday successfully separated a set of Siamese twins in a three-hour operation. They were joined at the chest, abdomen and the umbilical cord.
The two female babies, whose names were given as Fuseina and Asana, are responding to treatment at the intensive care unit of the hospital.
The medical feat is the second to be accomplished by the hospital. The first operation to separate Siamese twins was carried out in 1994.
Professor David Nii-Amon Kotei, Consultant Surgeon, who led the medical team in the operation, told the Graphic in Kumasi that their mother, Mukaila Abu 35, was delivered of the twins through caesarean section at the Nalerigu Baptist Mission Hospital near Gambaga in the Northern Region, in January.
He said the mission hospital got in touch with him, and after consultations with his colleagues and the authorities, KATH decided to offer a helping hand.
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Independence Day Anniversary is a special event
The Ghanaian Times says President J.A. Kufuor, has directed that Ghana’s Independence Day Anniversary should be celebrated as the most single important event on the national calendar.
A release from the office of the Chief of Staff, said the day, March 6, “must reconciles and unifies the nation”.
It stated that the President had further directed that beginning this year, the week leading to Independence Day be observed as one of prayer, thanksgiving, reconciliation and unity.
To highlight the day, there will be Muslim prayers on the Friday preceding Independence Day and a Non-Denominational Christian Service on the Sunday preceding it at the Independence Square.
The weeklong activities are to be organized in a manner that would make the occasion a joyous and happy one for all Ghanaians.
The release said that the celebrations would begin on February 28, the anniversary day of the 1948 Crossroads Shooting, with parades by veterans in all the regions, and end on March 6 at the Independence Square.
The President has also directed that the security services would play a more active role in the celebrations, especially during the parade, with the mass band of the Armed Forces in attendance to create a joyous atmosphere.
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P.T.A., School Clash
The Times said the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of Flower Gay School at Pedu, Cape Coast in the Central Region, last Sunday, clashed with the school authorities over a proposed increase in development levy to be paid by each student in a term.
“Confusion broke out as soon as the school authorities announced the proposal at a PTA meeting to inform the parents about an increase in the 10,000 cedis per student levy.”
The parents, who did not even wait to be told how much was to be added to the levy for each pupil, fiercely resisted the proposal soon after the announcement.
Arguing, the parents insisted that the 10,000 cedis levy being paid by more than the 650 enrolled students, and which amounted to 6.5 million cedis was adequate for the maintenance of the school in a term. The school authorities, however, thought otherwise.
The parents resolved not to pay any additional levy, saying that “after all, it is a private property (school) and parents should not be burdened unnecessarily with its development”.
They have meanwhile, asked the Central Regional Education authorities to intervene and ensure that parents are not exploited unduly.
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President Kufuor occupies castle next month
The President, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, moves to the Castle for occupancy in four weeks, according to ‘The Evening News’.
A highly placed source at the office of the Chief of Staff, which disclosed this to the paper said refurbishment works in the office of the President and his Vice have already started.
It did not tell how much was involved in the whole exercise, but a Castle source said it would run into some millions of cedis.
The sources lamented on the very deplorable state that the new administration found the seat of the Presidency when it took over the governance of the country.
The President and his Vice have since the takeover been operating from the State House in small offices that lack many facilities that enhance the smooth running of administrative business.
The President is reported of having no official desk on which to write and carry out the business of government at the State House.
Due to its absence he has no direct telephone lines to aid him keep in touch with key institutions and personalities and has been operating on unreliable mobile phones to communicate with his close associates.
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The rot at ECG
The ECG, according to ‘The Evening News’ is so much indebted to local and foreign companies to the extent it can collapse and fold up any moment.
“As at December 2000, the ECG owed the Volta River Authority (VRA) alone 305 billion cedis.” It said.
The debt reportedly, was incurred as a result of inefficiency in revenue collection and low tariffs among others. It is believed that the problem could also be attributed to inefficient mismanagement and lack of supervision over the years with some top executives alleged to be embroiled in shady deals that compounded the crisis.
The company’s managing director, Chief M.D. Adam, even though, not the director of materials, reportedly purchased most items with out consulting the scheduled officer.
Contracts were also allegedly, awarded to favourites and to some of the directors themselves to the detriment of the company.
Mr Christian Sowah Tetteh, Director of Finance ECG, when contacted confirmed the debt but refused to accept that it was partly through mismanagement or financial malfeasance.
He said plans were underway to improve the revenue collection system of ECG and to negotiate for increase in tariffs.
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Osafo Maafo on the budget
The Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo Maafo, says this year’s budget is designed to lay the framework for a macro-economy based on a prudent fiscal policy, ‘The Weekend Statesman’ reported.
Addressing a luncheon in Accra, hosted by the Canadian Business Association and Alumni of Canadian University, Osafo Maafo said in order to restore macro-economic stability, the government will take practical measures to achieve low levels of fiscal deficit, inflation, interest rates, and the public debt, and maintain a stable exchange rate.
Speaking on the topic, “Stimulating Private Investment in Ghana, he said though daunting, the current external and internal imbalances in the economy are not beyond resolution.
He said, the budget will also seek to discourage government borrowing from the domestic market, because that denies access to finance to the private sector and further pushes up inflation and the public debt.
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NDC broke? Only 1.2 million cedis in accounts
The Free Press it has discovered that the NDC is virtually broke.
Reliable sources told the paper that the party has only 1.2 million cedis in its accounts and would find it difficult to pay its headquarters staffers and activists their salaries this month.
Investigations revealed that contrary to the popular notion that the NDC was awash with cash, the financial resources of the party are rather concentrated in the hands of a few top shots, notably Dr Asamoah and deputy treasurer Baba Camara.
Dr Asamoah, by virtue of his position as chairman of the party’s finance committee, has literally had monopoly over the party’s financial resources and uses the money without any reference to the national executives.
It was also learnt that the vehicles, which were used for the 2000 elections campaign were purchased by Camara and Dr Asamoah and not from the party’s resources.
Sources hinted that the several billions of cedis, which the party used in the campaign period prior to the 2000 elections, did not come from the party’s coffers but rather from individuals.
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The hypocrisy of NPP & Co
The ‘Ghana Palaver’ writes that the Kufuor Administration, still refusing to accept blame for the present fuel-price crisis, has now turned to Ghanaians to bear with the Government for any price hike, which it now considers as an “economic necessity.”
It said without rendering any apology to the past Government and the nation for threatening to plunge the country into utter confusion if there had been any price increases during the past year, the New Administration has been behaving “as if it awoke from sleep only yesterday to meet the fuel crisis.”
The paper recalls a street demonstration by leaders of the present administration, including President Kufuor and other political party heads and their supporters in Accra, only about 14 months ago against any such increase despite the rocketing of the world market price of the commodity.
It says in their plea for forbearance, it is Dr Wereko-Brobby’s sudden twist in positions that baffles Ghanaians most for at the time of the protest, the U.G.M. leader had even gone on air to threaten court action against the NDC Administration for the last fuel price increase.
He, playing to the gallery, claimed that the government could still function well, if it absorbed the heat from the world price.
It said observers wonder whether the “Energy expert” by opposing the price increases, at the time he joined his colleagues in that protest march, wanted everything to be “rough-going “ in Ghana for, a period of 14 months, it is generally believed, cannot separate facts from fiction.
It said strangely, enough, President Kufuor in his recent Sessional Address laid the blame for the subsidy at the doorstep of the past Government.
“Are these people daft… or criminal hypocrites,” the Palaver asked.
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