Let's spare the President the anxieties of retirement - Minority

AGC floatation on GSE yielded more than 400 billion cedis - Asaga

Sessional address debate still glued to President's apology

Parliament sends best wishes to Black Stars

Accra (Greater Accra), 20^th January 2000

The Minority group in Parliament on Wednesday promised to sponsor very soon a " State Resettlement Bill that will legitimise the proper resettlement of President Jerry John Rawlings after his exist from office.

"We recognise the brute fact that at a youthful age of 52 and after nearly 25 years at the helm of national affairs, President Rawlings will have some problems managing his imminent retirement, " Minority leader J.H. Mensah said on Wednesday.

"The whole nation has a legitimate interest to help him overcome those problems. The easier part of this exercise concerns the material provisions for his retirement. In this area, it is perhaps more appropriate for the Minority side than our friends opposite to exercise the initiative."

Mr. Mensah's emotional speech labelled " Realisation, Reconciliation and Restitution " was part of his contribution to the debate on President's sessional address to Parliament.

He proposed similar conditions for the Vice-President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, and the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Justice Daniel Francis .Annan, and hoped that such "a bill will meet the support of the media and Ghanaians as a whole".

Mr. Mensah called for strategies and mechanisms for bringing about a process of reconciliation and restitution to further the President's call for national unity.

" It is logical to believe that the President's courageous admission in Parliament of the errors and hurts of his regime in general also implies a willingness to speak freely about particular wrongs and injustices."

The Minority leader opined that though it may be difficult for President Rawlings to face individual victims and reconcile with them, he must do it to give meaning to his apology contained in his last sessional address.

"The truth about reconciliation is this; it can not be accomplished in abstract and it cannot be done anonymously. Reconciliation has to be with particular living individuals and over specific matters."

He said the President can make a tremendous contribution to national reconciliation, stability and unity, by supporting initiatives for reforms of the electoral system.

".... and by reining in members of the civil service and the security agencies from acts of political discrimination and intimidation to the advantage of his party."

Mr. Mensah, revisiting the issue of the funding of political parties, said :

"There is absolutely no major administrative or legal obstacle to providing equitable logistic support to all parties with transport, printing, time and space for publicity in the state-owned media.

"This kind of even-hearted support for all parties would certainly be better for promoting national unity than to have the ruling party exploiting public facilities for its sole benefit..."

He disagreed with the President's assertion that "consider your offence, upset or hurt is the small price you have had to pay for the greater collective good" and called this assertion as "an attempt to excuse the inexcusable.

"It shows deplorably little appreciation of the value of the human personality and our most basic rights- the right to life and property, to our human dignity and personal security, to natural justice and the due process of law.

"We substitute a philosophical proposition of our own, conciliate specific human beings and families and make restitution as far as may be for particular hurt, loss and injury suffered by specific individuals."

He called on Parliament to pass a " National Reconciliation Bill" to set up a National Commission on Reconciliation and Restitution that will operate under the legislature's authority to heal the society.

"It is only after those re-corrective measures have shown significant results that the amnesty which the President needs for himself and his associates can be achieved.

"True amnesty cannot be taken by the offender himself: It can be granted by the victims after confession, restitution and genuine absolution"

Mr. Mensah urged Ghanaians to resolve that "never again will the choice of Ghana's political leadership be the product of anger and frustration expressed through blind violence and the overthrow of our national institutions of law and of peaceful political competition."

He asked President Rawlings to take a more personal interest in the supervision of the economy.

"It seems that in his administration, managing the economic health of the nation is a subsidiary job that can be left to the Minister of Finance."

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Accra (Greater Accra), 20^th January 2000

Ghana realised more than 400 billion cedis from the sale of shares of the Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (AGC) on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 1994, Mr. Moses Asaga, Deputy Minister of Finance, told Parliament on Wednesday.

"The proceeds were made up of 60.9 billion cedis and 106.7 million dollars", he said adding that the country also realised 292 million dollars from the floatation on the London Stock Exchange.

Mr. Asaga, who was answering questions relating to his sector, said the total proceeds from the transactions on the two stock exchanges, were paid into the Consolidated Fund to support the government's development programmes.

Asked what the government is doing to bail out the AGC from its current economic predicament, Mr. Asaga said the government is involved in negotiations to bail out the company, adding, "we will make sure that the management of AGC take the right decisions to salvage the company."

On how much was spent to support development projects at Obuasi, where the AGC is located, the Minister said proceeds from the sale of the company's shares would go to the shareholders, who would decide how to use the funds.

He explained, however, that the Consolidated Fund is used for various purposes, the most important being to support development. "It will be difficult to isolate the various uses to which monies from the Fund are put."

Mr. Asaga agreed with a suggestion that road and water projects being undertaken at Obuasi are examples of development projects being financed from the Consolidated Fund.

He told the House that the Ministry of Finance, in consultation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is designing a number of tax policies to promote sustainable development in the local industry.

Among the policies are the reduction in export taxes, abolition of special taxes on imports, re-alignment of import duty rate on motor vehicles and reduction of import duties on computer software and accessories, among others.

The Minister said in order to check and reduce high incidence of smuggling, the government is harmonising the country's duty rates with other West African sub-regional rates.

On the directive that government organisations purchase only made-in-Ghana Goods, Mr. Asaga said following the directive, the Ministry submitted a memo to the Cabinet on modalities for procurement of locally-made goods by public institutions.

He said the Cabinet discussed and approved the memo and directed that the Ministries of Finance and Trade and Industry should liaise to issue a circular to all concerned conveying details of the modalities for their compliance.

The circular, he said, has been issued and an institutional arrangement has been made to monitor its implementation.

Mr. Asaga, in reply to a question, said with the financial sector reforms, commercial interest rates are no longer regulated and banks are free to determine their own lending and borrowing rates.

He said until 1987, the monetary authorities directly controlled interest rates by fixing maximum bank lending rates and minimum deposit rates.

He said under the current economic dispensation, the monetary authorities may use the bank rate to influence the short-term rates in the bills market, which in turn, is expected to induce appropriate changes in the structure of commercial banks' borrowing and lending rates.

The Minister explained that movements in bank rates are, therefore, expected to send signals to the bank as to the desired general direction of interest rates in the economy.

Mr. Asaga told the House that since September, 1998, the bank rate has been adjusted downwards four times, from 49 per cent to the current rate of 31 per cent, in line with the steady decline in inflation rate.

He said in response, the commercial banks' lending rates declined from an average of 41 per cent to 33.5 per cent

A questioner had asked the Minister whether the Ministry will request commercial banks to revise their lending rates to reflect the realities of the economy at any given period.

On a suggestion that the Ministry of Finance initiates a legislation to make it obligatory for all rural and community banks to support community-initiated projects in their areas of operation, Mr Asaga explained that these financial institutions are private limited liability companies.

"And like any other private company, their obligation to contribute towards development projects in their catchment areas is a moral obligation and not a statutory one.

"It will be inappropriate for rural and community banks to be bound to such a statutory obligation while other large private companies operating in the country are not so bound", he said, adding, "there are many rural and community banks that are currently supporting community-initiated projects even in the absence of legislations".

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Accra (Greater Accra), 21^st January 2000

Emotional speeches about the excesses of the revolution and the call for national reconciliation continue to dominate the debate of this year's sessional address in Parliament.

President Jerry John Rawlings set the tone in his last address to the legislature which concluded with an apology .

Mr. M.A. Seidu, Deputy Majority leader, said the time has come for Ghanaians to give peace and reconciliation a chance.

" Those who have suffered should learn to forgive and forget," he said adding that the stability of the nation now depends on the deeds and utterances of politicians and media practitioners.

" We should be more responsible in the way we go about our political campaigning and the spread of rumours. We should not ignore our ethics and publish anything"

Mr Francis Kwasi Buor, NPP-Offinso-South, said those whose lives were sacrificed to purge the nation of the evils of corruption and nepotism were wasted because " these evils are still with us," and appealed to all Ghanaians to reconcile with each other in the interest of peace.

Mr. Buor alleged that the NDC is employing certain campaign strategies which do not augur well for the political health of the nation.

" Our farmers are being told that Mr. Kufour has refused to sign cheques meant for them and that is why they have not been paid."

This assertion did not go down well with the majority group who started heckling Mr. Buor but he stood his grounds and asked why the reported 300 million dollars raised to pay cocoa farmers has not been used.

Mr. Abuga Pele, NDC-Chiana/Paga, said it is unfortunate that the President's apology has exposed his personality to attacks and unnecessary remarks adding that the time has come for all and sundry to proclaim the President a great hero.

Mr. Solomon Kwabena Sarfoh, NPP-Mampong, called the sessional address a" perfect handing over notes for Mr. J. A. Kufuor "

He lauded the government's vision of expanding the educational infrastructural base but called for an intensive job creation to reduce the mounting joblessness.

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Accra (Greater Accra), 20^th January 2000

Parliament on Thursday conveyed a message of best wishes to the national senior soccer team, the Black Stars, and urged the squad to go all out and win the coveted trophy at stake for an unprecedented fifth time.

The Black Stars go into action against their Camerounian counterparts in the opening game of the 22nd African Cup of Nations tournament, dubbed "CAN 2000", at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday.

The message from Parliament followed a statement on the tournament by Mr. Moses Mabengba, Chairman of the House Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture.

Mr. Mabengba noted that CAN 2000 is significant, in that, it is being co-hosted by two great soccer nations, Ghana and Nigeria, which is the first of its kind in Africa and indeed, the world at large.

He said the competition is taking place at the dawn of a new millennium and also after the two countries had successfully hosted the "Under-20" Youth Soccer tournament at the continental and the world levels in 1999.

The African Cup of Nations, he said, has undergone an evolution since its establishment in February 1957 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

It has grown from a modest number of three nations (Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia), playing at the first tournament, to the current 16-nation competition.

Mr. Mabengba recounted the number of times Ghana has won the competition and said the country became the proud winners of the cup for the first time when it hosted it in 1963.

The country defended the trophy at the fifth edition of the competition held in Tunisia in 1965 then won the cup again and for keeps when it hosted the 11^th edition in 1978.

He said for the fourth time, Ghana won the cup at the 13^th edition of the competition hosted by Libya in 1982, an achievement only equalled by Egypt in 1998.

"Mr. Speaker, your Committee would like to use this platform to wish our national team, the Black Stars, and the technical bench, the best of luck and urge them to go all out to win the trophy for the fifth unprecedented time.

"To this end, we want to call on all Ghanaians to lend their massive support to the team and cheer our gallant warriors to victory", Mr. Mabengba said.

Alhaji Malik Al-Hassan Yakubu, NPP-Yendi, supported Mr Mabengba's statement, saying football is one area that could make a country famous and attract investment.

He, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to pray for the national team to bring honour to the country, and said "a victory for Ghana will for the moment, enable us to forget our economic woes".

Alhaji Mumuni Abudu Seidu, Deputy Majority Leader, expressed the hope that the Black Stars would, this time, rise to the occasion and make Ghana proud by winning the trophy.

He said as MPs, "we represent the people. We mirror what they want for themselves. This is not the time to apportion blame or claim credit. We must confront the situation with a united front to bring honour to our dear country"

He appealed to members of the public and sports writers to bear with the players, saying, "the players may put up their best but this may not be good enough. This is the time they need our support to be able to rise to the occasion".

Mrs. Gladys Asmah, Deputy Minority Leader, noted that football has become an international language and craved the indulgence of the House to pray for the team to do their best.

Mr. Abuga Pele, NDC- Chiana/Paga, said the tournament is a prelude to the World Cup and an opportunity for the Black Stars to test their abilities and prepare psychologically for the global soccer competition.

He urged the team not to underrate any country in the competition but to put up their best throughout the contest.

Mr. Osei Kwaku, NPP-Asokwa West, called on Ghanaians to give their unflinching support to the Stars to spur them on to triumph in the competition.

The Rev. Samuel Kwofie, NPP-Ahanta West, noted that even though the sector caters for both sports and the youth, more attention is paid to sports development to the detriment of youth employment.

He, therefore, urged the Ministry to do all it can to enable the youth to benefit from the "Youth-in-Agriculture" programme to help address the problem of unemployment.

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