‘CPP will not support NPP at Bimbilla’
Minority investigating increase in income tax - Bagbin
Accra
(Greater Accra) 19 February 2002 - There are strong indications that President
J.A. Kufuor will shake up his cabinet in the next few days. Six top Ministers
are likely to change positions, and although highly placed officials in
government are tight-lipped on the issue “The Evening News” can confirm from an
impeccable source that it is almost a done deal.
According
to the paper’s investigations, the Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo Maafo, who has
so far handled the fiscal and monetary aspects of the economy is set to swap
positions with Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, as the Minister of Economic Planning and
Regional Integration. Whether Osafo Maafo’s shift to the Economic Planning
Ministry would best enhance the government’s ability to deliver on its
electoral promises should be seen soon enough after the changes.
For Dr
Kwesi Nduom, the fact that the President continues to place confidence in him
even though he is regarded as an outsider by many within the NPP, attests to
the fact that his efforts are being appreciated. It should be realized, though
that being an astute finance man through and through unlike his three
predecessors, he may hold the key to laying the necessary foundation for the
economy to truly take off.
The next
portfolio change that may also arouse public interest is that of the Foreign
Ministry where Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Justice and
Attorney-General, has been slated to move to. The current Attorney-General has
brought his legal excellence to bear on the many controversial yet political
explosive cases and Ghanaians will remember him for the establishment of the
Fast Track Court.
However,
his ability to speak French fluently coupled with his well established personal
international reputation, positions him for the government to again “fast
track” the envisaged inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), enhance the
cooperation between Ghana and her francophone neighbours and with her global
development partners.
Two very
interesting moves likely to be made by the President may be that of Hackman
Owusu Agyeman from the Foreign Affairs Ministry to the Ministry of Food and
Agriculture where Courage Quarshigah has been performing excellently. Having
worked with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations
for several years, Owusu Agyeman’s shift to MOFA should be seen perhaps as an
attempt by the President to maximize the output of his team.
Quashigah,
who has quickly demonstrated once again that Military men at the Ministry of
Agriculture perform far better than their civilian counterparts should feel at
home at the Interior Ministry where his wealth of experience as one of the best
military officers in the sub-region (he is a top ranger) could help halt the
series of security blunders that have embarrassed the government from the very
day it took office.
If you
asked most political watchers they will probably opine that he should have been
given the job in the first place, but it is still not too late to bring some
discipline and precision to bear on the activities of security operatives
within the BNI, the Police and other undercover outfits.
How Alhaji
Malik Yakubu performs at the Justice Ministry where he would be doing what he
knows how to do best as a lawyer would unfold in the next few months, but for
now Ghanaians would wait with bated breadth to witness his handling of very
dicey political cases that are in the pipeline, awaiting prosecution.
President
Kufuor has so far demonstrated that he is not averse to taking tough decisions
as far as the execution of his mandate as the Chief Executive of the nation is
concerned. Perhaps, this second shakeup in less than a year is a pointer to the
gravity of the socio-economic problems that confront the government and his
determination to effectively handle the situation. – The Evening News.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 February 2002 - Government will on Tuesday take a major decision on the state of Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (Ghana Telecom) following the expiry of the technical and consultancy services agreement between the company and Telecom Malaysia. The agreement expires on Tuesday 19 February 2002.
The Minister of Communications and Technology, Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, who disclosed this in an interview, said a news conference will be held tomorrow to announce government’s position on the matter. The Minister spoke in the presence of the Chief Director and other top officials of the ministry who were finalising the draft document of the company for discussions with top government officials.
The stock purchase and sale agreement signed between the Government of Ghana and G-Com limited on February 20, 1997, gave the consortium absolute and unfettered control over Ghana Telecom. Although Ghana Government maintained majority shares of 70 per cent in the company with the Malaysians having just 30 per cent, the majority of the seats on the board and managerial control of the company went to the Malaysians.
Sources close to the Ministry of Communications and Technology say the government is expected to maintain its earlier position not to renew the contract with the Malaysians. It is also expected to revert the management position of the company to Ghanaians to enable the state to assume majority seats on the board. The Malaysians will be allowed to maintain their 30 per cent stake in the company.
According to the sources, the government is preparing the grounds to sell off about 30 per cent of its 70 per cent shares in the company to local and foreign investors. It is also expected to announce plans to break the duopoly held between Ghana Telecom and Western Telesystems (WESTEL) Limited in the country. The sources said the government may also come out with names of some prominent international telephone service providers that will be allowed to compete with Ghana Telecom and its partners.
The sector minister, at a news conference in Accra last December, said the Malaysians, who were given majority seats on the board of the company, did not bring in “even a cent” as working capital although they were classified as a “strategic investors”.
He was also on record to have said that the government refused to grant the request of Telekom Malaysia for sale of another 15 per cent shares of the company to it because Telekom Malaysia had not proved to be a strategic investor to warrant additional shares in the company.
The company is indebted to the tune of about $60 million and its quest to contract a $100 million loan from the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, was stopped by the government. A government endorsement would have given Telekom Malaysia an automatic renewal of its management agreement to 2007 or beyond. – The Daily Graphic
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There is apparent confusion at the Ghana Telecom as the five-year contract between the company and its Malaysian counterpart Telecom Malaysia ends on Tuesday 19 February 2002. The confusion stems from the conflicting reports emanating from government quarters that the controversial management service agreement, which ceded the management of the Telecom giant to the Malaysians would be renewed.
The management service agreement recognised the Malaysians as strategic investors in which they were to re-capitalise the company. But five years since taking over, the Malaysians rather than investing their capital into the company, have systematically repatriated financial gains to their country.
This has enraged the Ghanaian workers who see the agreement inimical to the country’s interest, and have threatened not to work with the Malaysians. To this end, The Statesman can authoritatively reveal that a crises meeting between the Ministry of Communications and Technology and the senior staff of the company to fashion out a way out has been scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Officials at the Ministry were tight lipped when The Statesman approached them on Monday, assuring that the Minister of Communications, Felix Owusu Adjapong, will address all concerns tomorrow at a scheduled press conference.
Sources at the Ministry said that the government would act in the best interest of the country. The Statesman, however learnt that what is left out are some legal technicalities which if ironed out by Tuesday, will signal the termination of the contract. The exclusivity contact, which gave the company five years monopoly on voice over mail, however, will not be renewed as the government is determined to allow competition in the Telecom sector to improve service delivery.
The Malaysians are not taking low either. A team of negotiators were flown into the country on Monday and served letters on the government to open further negotiation on the matter. Government sources told The Statesman that this demand may not be met as the government is said not to be in a hurry to assemble a negotiation team following the dismantling of the previous one when negotiation broke down. – The Statesman
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‘I planned to overthrow JJ’ - Kofi Wayo
Takoradi
(Western Region) 19 February 2002 - Mr Charles Kofi Wayo, the self-made dollar
millionaire, has revealed that he planned to overthrow former President Jerry
Rawlings’ government by force, but had to abandon the idea due to an estimated
high casualty rate.
He said as
an arms dealer, he used his links with intelligence agents in the United States
to map out his strategies and that he came down to Ghana with them, who, after
intelligence gathering estimated that the battle would take five days with
about 17,000 dead.
Wayo made
the revelation in an interview on Takoradi-based Skyy Power FM’s Hot Issues
programme, monitored in Tarkwa last Saturday. In his usual brusque matter of
fact manner, he explained his desire to “free my people” stems from, according
to him, “Mr Rawlings doesn’t give a damn about the people. But the same love
which he, Wayo, had also prompted him to abandon it because of the former
President’s dreaded commandos.
He did not
indicate whether the attack would have been executed by mercenaries, nor did he
say at what period it was supposed to take place. He, however, expressed relief
after Rawlings handed over, otherwise, he would have matched him “fire for
fire.”
Mr Wayo
pointed out that he does not believe in the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and advocated that Ghana should shift away from them
because “they are suffocating us.”
Brimming
with confidence, Wayo declared that if given the chance to head Ghana Airways,
he would turn it around within six months, adding that Ghana Airways’ problem
was bad management. His preference though, is the Energy Ministry.
Blending
his American slang with Twi and a little French, he took a swipe at the former
President by faulting him for taking 22 cars, contrary to his revolutionary
belief. Wayo, who was unsuccessful in his bid to become a Member of Parliament
(MP) for Ayawaso Central in the last elections, expressed frustration at the
land tenure system in the country.
He said he
paid ¢200 million to a certain chief to acquire land, but a feud between that
chief and another has stalled his plans. Nima-boy, as he is affectionately
called, said if during the forensic auditing of GNPC, he and the Chronicle
Publisher, Nana Kofi Coomson, had been invited, they would have made startling
revelations.
On an
alternative to NPP government, he mentioned PNC’s Dr Mahama as a person who
cares for people, but quickly added, “NPP also has such, as well.” – The
Chronicle
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Takoradi
(Western Region) 19 February 2002 - A leading member of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP) and the number one critic of the government, Mr Charles Kofi Wayo, has
expressed his reservation about the appointment of Mr Kan Dapaah as Minister of
Energy, saying the man is best qualified to be appointed as an accountant at
the ministry than the current position.
He said all
over the world it is those who have in-depth knowledge about the petroleum
sector who are appointed as Ministers of Energy to head the sector, but not
professional accountants as we are having in Ghana.
Speaking in
an interview on Skyy Power FM, a Takoradi-based radio station last Saturday,
Wayo said industries have not sprung up in the country as one would have
expected because the energy sector of the economy, which they are supposed to
depend on, is itself crumbling but nothing is being done to salvage.
According
to him, when the government wanted to increase the electricity tariff, he protested
because there are so many loopholes, which if sealed, would render the tariff
increase useless, but this advice to the government was ignored.
He said as
at the time that the tariff was increased, individuals and organizations were
owing the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) close to ¢200 billion, which is a
substantial amount that the sector ministry should have devised means to
collect and stop the increase.
Cigar-puffing
Wayo further told the station that despite all these problems that the country
is going through, sometimes between 60 and 70 per cent of ministers in
President Kufuor’s government are reported to have traveled outside the country
when our problems are domestic ones that must be solved here without
intervention by any country.
He further
said most of the ministers have become travel-happy because the government on
assumption of office increased their per diem for foreign trips to $250 per day
so most of them prefer to stay outside the country in order to get more dollars
than to stay in the country and solve problems that have engulfed their
respective ministries.
According
to Wayo, if one is lucky to meet a minister in his office here in Ghana, that
minister would prefer seeing the so-called foreign investors to his own
countrymen who may want to do a genuine business that would offer employment to
the people.
He alleged
that at the moment before our budget statement is presented to us, the
government has to send it to America for scrutiny and approval. This, he
argued, means that Ghana cannot be said to be an independent country.
The
defeated NPP candidate for Ayawaso in the last elections further told his
listeners that when he wanted to buy the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the government
through the sector ministry refused, but now there are rumours that the
government intends selling the refinery to either President Obasanjo of Nigeria
or Eyadema of Togo and their South Korean friends.
Turning the
heat on Ex-President Rawlings, Wayo said the former President has no moral
right to have accepted numerous cars that were allocated to him by the
transitional team, yet he accepted them.
“But do I
have to blame him? No! Everybody came to ‘chop’ so those who were on the
transitional team from NPP side were in hurry to get Rawlings out so that they
can also come and chop,” he said. Kofi, however, commended the government for
the proper rule of law that the country is experiencing. – The Chronicle.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 February 2002 - Goldfields Ghana Limited has offered to pay a one billion cedis compensation to the communities and victims of the October 2001 cyanide spillage at Abekoase and Huniso near Tarkwa in the Wassa West District of the Western Region.
Additionally, the company would construct education complexes, libraries, places of convenience and rehabilitate roads in the area. The Minister of Environment and Science, Professor Dominic K. Fobih, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra on Monday, said the company has decided to lodge the amount at the Tarkwa branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).
Besides, a board of trustees would be appointed to manage the fund and to promote the development of the communities. Professor Fobih, however, pointed out that some of the communities and victims are demanding between ¢2 billion and ¢3 billion as compensation.
He said other communities, which were not involved in the initial levels of negotiations or did not suffer from the spillage, are also now demanding compensation. The minister said issues concerning demand for the payment of compensation has been referred to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in order to resolve differences between the communities and the firm.
He said the Wassa West District Assembly and EPA have been tasked to involve chiefs and representatives of the communities in settling whatever differences that exit between the firm and the communities to avoid unnecessary litigations.
“We do not have dictate but to involve the communities to ensure acceptability and peace,” he stressed. Professor Fobih said the firm made the offer of compensation on its own after accepting responsibility for the Huni River and other natural resources.
He said the compensation stems from the fact that the people and the communities have suffered psychological trauma. He disclosed that a team of medical experts has been dispatched to the affected communities for health assessment.
Professor Fobih said the national committee set up to assess the impact of the spillage and to recommend to government how best to avoid and deal with mining disasters would be inaugurated today.
It would be recalled that on October 16, 2001, there was a cyanide spillage at Abekoase which affected the Huni River, killing a quantity of fish and other living organisms.
Civil society groups, including the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM), Centre for Public Interest Law, environmental journalists, Third World Network, among others, spearheaded the call for thorough investigations into the spillage, payment of compensation and restoration of the ecology of the area. - The Daily Graphic
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Bimbilla (northern Region) 19 February 2002 - The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has no intention of forging an alliance with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to contest the vacant Bimbilla seat in the forthcoming parliamentary bye-election, the party’s General Secretary, Dr Nii Noi Dowuona, has said.
“The CPP wishes to make it clear that nothing of the sort exists between it and the NPP,” he said. The statement was in reaction to recent media reports suggesting that the CPP has entered into an alliance or will collaborate with the NPP in the forthcoming Bimbilla Parliamentary bye-election.
Dr Dowuona said it was decided at a Central Committee meeting of the party held on January 31, 2002 that the CPP will not contest the Bimbilla bye-election but will rather cooperate with the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the National Reform Party (NRP) to support one candidate through the Inter Party Coordinating Committee (IPCC).
He said the CPP’s position was conveyed to the sister parties by the leadership at the meeting of the IPCC held on February 1, 2002. “The IPCC held at that meeting declared support for the PNC candidate, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, who will contest on the ticket of the PNC with the full support of the CPP and NRP,” Dr Dowuona said.
The CPP General Secretary said the decision of the party, which was contained in an earlier press statement issued by the IPCC, is in furtherance of the unity efforts and the parties commitment to a common platform. – The Daily Graphic
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Accra (Greater Accra) 19 February 2002 - Ibrahim Okoe Otoo, 28, a barber, suspected of murdering a couple at Korle Gonno in Accra, was on Monday arraigned before an Accra Community Tribunal charged with murder. His plea was not taken.
The
tribunal, chaired by Mrs Elizabeth Edusei, remanded Otoo in police custody until
next Monday. Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Peter Benneh told the
tribunal that the suspect lived in the same neighbourhood with the couple,
Kpakpa Quartey and Emelia Okine.
He said
that about a year ago, the suspect engaged the services of Quartey, a mason, to
plaster his room at Chokor at a cost of ¢700,000. Inspector Benneh said that
after the job was executed, Otoo refused to pay Quartey and that resulted in a
misunderstanding between the two. At a point in time, Quartey asked his wife,
Emelia, to demand the money from the suspect, but he again refused.
The
prosecutor said that a month ago, Otoo sent a message to Quartey through a
relative, that he and his wife should not come to his house to demand the money
again, else, he would end their lives.
That,
Inspector Benneh said, made Quartey to institute a civil action against the
suspect at the James Town Community Tribunal. After this action, the suspect
again went to relatives of the couple and warned that he would end their lives
before February 13, the day the case would be heard at the Tribunal.
The
prosecutor said that at about 7.00 pm on February 12, the couple left the house
to buy food but never returned. Their bodies were found at about 9.00 am, on
February 14 dumped at the Dogo Beach, Korle-Gonno. As a result of the earlier
threat, Inspector Benneh said, the suspect was arrested by the police and
consequently put before court. – The Ghanaian Times.
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Nsoatre
(Brong Ahafo) 19 February 2002 - The people of Nsoatre in the Brong-Ahafo
Region, Have expressed fears of a looming bloodbath in the town if the
chieftaincy dispute that has lingered on for years, is not resolved
immediately.
The dispute
has claimed four lives, three last year and one last week. The current
situation demands an immediate intervention of the government and relevant
bodies as the tension on the town, following the shooting to death of a guard
at the palace, may explode into an uncontrollable carnage, Alhaji Nana Kwame
Buadan, the Abakomahene, has warned.
The three
earlier deaths were allegedly caused by gunshots fired by policemen during an
abortive outdooring ceremony of Obrempong Nana Oachie Amoakonomansah II as
Omanhene of the traditional area.
Since that
incident, a rival Omanhene has been installed by the Abakomahene and his
elders, whose ‘guards’ occupied the palace ostensibly to prevent Nana
Amoakonomansah from stepping there. - The Ghanaian Times.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 19 February 2002 - Sources very close Dr Albert Owusu Banafo,
former Managing Director of Ghana National Manganese Corporation (GNMC), Nsuta,
have vehemently denied that he (Barnafo) collected any commission when he was
heading the company as claimed by ex-President Jerry John Rawlings.
Readers
will recall Rawlings, at a recent new year reception organized at his residence
for top NDC functionaries and attended by some media practitioners, claimed
that Dr Barnafo tried to collect a commission when he was then the MD at the
GNMC, adding that when the case was brought to his attention by a British, he
dismissed him (Barnafo).
The sources
hinted that according to Barnafo, that issue was among other matters for which
the defunct Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) administration headed
by Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings instituted a two-year probe. The investigation into
allegations against the former GNMC boss however, did not establish any adverse
findings against him, and moreover, no white paper was issued by the then
Rawlings regime on the Committee’s report which incidentally was never
published.
Additionally,
the report never recommended the dismissal of Dr Barnafo for any malfeasance.
Regarding his stewardship as the MD of the Manganese Company, Dr Owusu Barnafo
was said to have effectively turned around the fortunes of the company, making
Jerry Rawlings himself praised the workers - including the MD - during the 1995
May Day celebration at Nsuta. The eulogy was reported in the Thursday, May 2,
1985; Friday, May 3, 1985 editions of the People’s Daily Graphic as well as the
Friday, May 3, 1985 issue of the Ghanaian Times.
A portion of a Graphic editorial
comment on Wednesday, May 29, 1985, headlined “We Can make it work,” also
referred to then Chairman Rawlings’ visit to the
GNMC at Nsuta. “First, it is yet
another indication that with a responsible management, and a dedicated and
conscious workforce, such as has been demonstrated
already by such institutions as the GNMC
at Nsuta where the Chairman of the PNDC
spent May 1 this year, we can achieve a breakthrough in the mining and
industrial sector to the same extent
as was achieved by our farmers”.
“In fact there were other stories to
show how efficiently Dr Barnafo ran the affairs of GNMC. For instance the
People’s Daily Graphic of July 21, 1986 indicated
that
191,000 long tonnes of manganese were exported in 1983. In 1984, 287,000 long tonnes
were exported and 300,000 long tones exported in 1985”, argued Dr Barnafo’s
close associates.
On the allegation that Dr Barnafo
bought a house at Ringway Estates, a source at the Bank for Housing and
Construction revealed that the bank granted him a
mortgage loan of ¢1,500,000 in 1986
for a period of 15 years at the interest rate of 23 per cent.
In addition to that, the State
Insurance Corporation of Ghana (SIC), according to another sources, also
granted him a loan of ¢500,000. He was subsequently
issued with a Social Security Bank
Limited, Tema Community Two Branch, cheque numbered 0048462 to cash the
¢500,000 mortgage loan he had applied for.
One of our sources intimated that
the Ringway Housing Estate was one of the oldest estate houses built by the
State Housing Corporation in the late 50s or early
60s.
Dr Owusu Barnafo, The Crusading
Guide gathered, had rebutted ex-President Rawlings’ allegation that he (Dr
Banarfo) is part of President Kufuor’s traveling
team, adding that Kufuor and his
team had not given him that privilege.
“To Barnafo, JJ did not dismiss him
because of any malfeasance or inefficiency but the allegations against him were
made by him (JJ) because he knew that he
(Barnafo) would be called to testify
as a witness in a case pending in court”, hinted one of our sources.
Indeed, records show that he
received all his entitlements from the GNMC, and a Merchant Bank (Gh) Limited
cheque of ¢5,882,711.96 confirmed this. Two
letters The Crusading Guide
intercepted in the course of investigation, indicated that both management and
staff of the company were quite indignant about the
termination of the appointment of Dr
Barnafo.
One of them, written to him on July
17, 1999, by the Senior Staff Association read in part, “To wish you all the
best in your future endeavours. We are so sorry
losing you at a time like this. We
once again wish you the very best of God’s blessing in all your endeavours”. It
was signed by Mr N. Ababio, Secretary. – The
Crusading Guide.
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The Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin has told Political Science Student at the University of Ghana, that the Minority in Parliament is investigating the 150 per cent increase new income tax for certain categories of transport operators.
“Parliament was taken aback by the announcement (by the Internal Revenue Service),” he said. Hon Bagbin, who was speaking at a forum organised by the Political Science Students Association (POSSA), said the House would not renege on its oversight role over the Executive and would ensure that all taxes introduced passed through Parliament.
The students has questioned the increase and asked whether Parliamentary approval was sought before the announcement was made. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that weekly income tax rates for five categories of vehicles in the transport sector would go up by 150 percent with effect from March 1, 2002.
Mrs Janet Opoku Acheampong, IRS Commissioner, said this was to enable the Service meet its target of ¢28 billion compared with four billion cedis realised from the transport sector in the recent past when there was not target. She claimed that the new rates were arrived at with the transport unions made up of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners’ Association (PROTOA), Greater Accra Cooperative Union (GACU) and other similar organisations.
Mrs Opoku-Acheampong said the increases were not expected the affect transport fares since they were to be borne by transport owners as tax on their profits. The forum was under the theme, “The legislature and the Consolidation of Democracy in Ghana.”
It was to provide a platform for the majority and the minority to discuss the importance of the legislature in consolidating democratic governance. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the Majority Leader, could not attend the forum. – Ghana Palaver
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