Gateway project is to sharpen Ghana's competitive edge - Abodakpi

Appointments Committee vets President's three nominees

Misapplying the Bible is dangerous - Minority

Accra (Greater Accra), 26^th January 2000

The Ghana "Gateway" project is to sharpen Ghana's competitive edge to attract the desired investment, Mr. Dan Abodakpi, Minister of Trade and Industry-designate, told the Parliamentary Appointments Committee on Tuesday.

Parliament is vetting Mr. Abodakpi, currently deputy Minister of the Ministry to take over as the substantive Minister following his nomination by President Jerry John Rawlings in the last reshuffle..

He said Ghana like any other developing country is competing for the same resources from the developed economies and, therefore, it must position itself in a way to attract investment to enhance its development.

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Ken Dzirasah, First Deputy Speaker, had asked the Minister-designate whether Ghana has anything about it that is distinct from its neighbours, to attract foreign investment.

Mr. Abodakpi told the Committee that the government in its quest to attract

investments had embarked upon the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and embarked on massive infrastructure development over the years.

He said the Gateway project, which has led to the introduction of the policy of 'Liberalised Skies' and the 'Free Zone Enclaves', is also intended to encourage inter-African trade.

Asked about the level of success in Ghana's effort to attract investment, the Minister-designate said considerable success has been achieved in that direction.

He said there are a number of investors in the Free Zone programme, adding "currently, more than 47 free zone entities are operating, an indication of the success in attracting investment".

Mr Abodakpi said to ease congestion at the ports of entry, there would be a 10 per cent examination of goods in all the statutory free zones and 20 per cent for other goods, by June this year.

He said the Ministry is looking at the totality of the customs procedures, which have been blamed for contributing to congestion at the ports of entry.

He said as part of the efforts to attract investors, the government has embarked on reforms in Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Ghana Immigration Service (GIS). It has also signed performance contracts with those organisations.

The Minister-designate said the sector's strategy to encourage local production for domestic use and for export include employing the World Trade Organisation's rule-based system to remove the inequities in local industries to create a level playing field for them.

Mr. Abodakpi said the Ministry would enforce the laws of the International Labour Organisation (ILL) to address the issue of casual labour, adding, " the last thing we want to see in Ghana is exploitation of labour."

Mr. Abodakpi, 49, holds a Diploma in Science from the Advanced Teacher Training College, Winneba and is the Member of Parliament for Keta.

The Minister-designate is currently Chairman of the Ghana Export Promotion Council, a member of the Economic Management Team, a member of the Policy

Management Group at the Office of the President and a member of the Divestiture Implementation Committee.

He is widely travelled and his foreign travels include Austria, Afghanistan, China, United Kingdom, United States, Argentina, Egypt, former Soviet Union, Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel and Germany.

Mr Jacob Scherrer Arthur, Central Regional Minister-designate, told the Committee that it is unfortunate that the region is bedevilled with chieftaincy disputes.

He explained that the judicial committee of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, which has to settle the disputes, does not have a counsel.

He gave the assurance that he would contact the Attorney -General's Department for a counsel to help dispose of the disputes amicably.

Mr Arthur had been asked how he would resolve the current 43 chieftaincy disputes in the region.

He said the Regional Co-ordinating Council has a committee to deal with such disputes, adding, "we will open our doors to the chiefs and advise them to settle all disputes out of court to ensure peace needed for development".

He said the Regional Administration would not involve itself in any chieftaincy dispute, but would encourage amicable settlement of any such matter whenever it occurs.

Mr Arthur said if his nomination is confirmed he would be a father to all, irrespective of political affiliations, stressing that his administration would not allow disputes to stand in the way of development in the region.

The Minister-designate, 61, and MP for Mfantsiman West, is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), London, and a member of the Ghana Association of Consultants.

He is married with five children.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 Jan. 2000

Mrs Cecilia Johnson, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development-designate, on Tuesday affirmed that she would not allow the potential conflict of interest to influence her conduct as Minister and her position as General Secretary of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM).

Mrs Johnson, who was being vetted by the Parliamentary Appointments Committee, gave the affirmation following a request to do so by Mr J. H. Mensah, the Minority Leader.

On the status of the DWM, she said it is a registered non-governmental organisation dedicated to providing community service, including supporting pre-school education.

She said the Movement is the only women's organisation of mass character, which is open to all women above 18 years, irrespective of religion, political affiliation and social status, among other considerations.

She said every member of the Movement must be patriotic and should be able to sacrifice for the development of her community and the nation at large.

To a suggestion that since the DWM is non-political and she is a very active member, she should resign from the Movement if her nomination is approved by Parliament, she said she was first and foremost, General Secretary of the Organisation before she took up public office.

Besides, she said, the Movement predates the 1992 Constitution, which introduced multi-party democracy adding that she is offering service to the community through her membership of the DWM.

To a question about how much profit the DWM made last year after its accounts had been audited, Mr Ken Dzirasah, First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments Committee intervened and told the questioner that the DWM is not accountable to Parliament.

He said as a private institution, it is not proper for the questioner to confront the Minister-designate with such a query, describing the question as "most inappropriate".

Mrs Johnson told a questioner that guidelines for the disbursement of the MP's common fund "must be strictly adhered to" and in the event of a disagreement between an MP and the District Chief Executive, dialogue should be used to resolve the issue.

It is through dialogue that the districts can move forward, she added.

The Minister-designate urged both MPs and DCE's to report any grievances they may have on the MP's common fund to the Regional Co-ordinating Councils for redress.

On allegations that certain DCEs and Municipal Chief Executives have given indications of contesting the forthcoming general elections, Mrs Johnson said: "These public office holders, like any other citizen, has the right to stand for elections provided that they qualify".

She gave the assurance that the Ministry would ensure that political ambitions of DCEs and Municipal Chief Executives are separated from their position as public officials so that they do not use public funds to enhance their political campaigns.

On the allegations that some teachers of the Ghana Education Service have been seconded to day-care centres belonging to the DWM, Mrs Johnson said, "most of these centres are community-owned".

The DMW, she said, only acts as a catalyst to mobilise the people to set up such centres to enable the children to get pre-school foundation.

"I believe the Ministry of Education should be encouraged to post teachers to these centres. I don't see anything wrong in this".

Asked why the DWM was engaged in commercial activities, even though, it is supposed to be a non-profit making organisation, Mrs Johnson explained that the

movement as an NGO, has the power to undertake commercial activities to finance its programmes.

"This is the surest way to sustain the organisation since donor assistance alone cannot do".

Mrs Johnson told the Committee that the Ministry has set up a number of interventions to ensure sustainable development and improvement in the living conditions of the rural communities.

She mentioned the introduction of the District Assemblies Common Fund as one of such interventions, adding, that since its inception, the rural areas had seen a lot of development including the provision of potable water, roads and health facilities, to enhance the living standards of the people.

Asked what has been the impact of the Ministry's sanitation policy on the rural communities, the Minister-designate said since the policy was introduced only last year, it has not made the desired impact yet.

She said the policy is to improve sanitation in the rural areas and a number of measures, including the re-introduction of Sanitary Inspectors ("Samansaman"), would be taken to achieve this goal.

"We are also going to include education on sanitation issues, introduce private participation in waste management", adding, "we shall train sanitary workers and resource them to handle waste management in the rural communities as well as introducing 'Sanitation Day' to create national awareness on the importance of a clean environment".

"I intend to introduce a Local Government Bill and ensure the implementation of he Sanitation Bill to enhance the decentralisation concept".

On her personal view on the 30 per cent government appointees in the district assemblies, Mrs Johnson said the policy was to bring expertise, which otherwise may not be available to the elected body on the work of the assemblies.

"It is also an avenue to bring in women if we believe in affirmative action".

Mrs Johnson urged MPs as members of district tender boards to prevent DCEs from colluding with Presiding Members to award contracts years in advance, thus encumbering the resources of the assembly.

The Minister-designate, who was reacting to an observation by a member, said MPs should help to ensure that laid down guidelines were strictly adhered to in the award of contracts.

She promised to use all the powers at her disposal to prevent such acts because they are not healthy to the economy.

Asked whether she would support any increase in the allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund, Mrs Johnson said that if the need arose, the issue would be placed before Parliament for a decision to be taken.

She said, however, "we should recognise that the needs of the district assemblies are competing with the needs of other sectors from the limited resources of the country but we are committed to sustainable development".

Mrs Johnson, 51, holds a Bachelor of Arts General Degree from the University of Ghana and she is currently a member of the Board of the National Council on Women and Development.

She is also the Chairperson of the Board of the Ghana Re-insurance Company Limited and National Women's Organiser of National Democratic Congress (NDC).

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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 Jan.2000

An attempt by Mr Thomas Yeboah, NDC-Dormaa West, to mystify modern central government authority, was resisted by the minority, describing the move as "dangerous".

Quoting from the book of Exodus in the Christian Bible to support his view, he said all power descends from God and, therefore, anyone who insults a leader will have the wrath of God upon him.

Paapa Owusu Ankoma, NPP-Sekondi, said it is dangerous to quote and misapply the Bible "Hitler and the Apartheid system did the same to advance their cause."

Mr Yeboah was contributing to the debate on the 2000 sessional address that started in Parliament last week.

He was dwelling on the President's concern on the way people use phone-in programmes on Frequency Modulation (FM) stations to abuse people in the leadership position.

Mrs Gladys Asmah, the Deputy Minority Leader, in an attempt to join the fray amid heckling from the majority that she was challenging the Bible said, " I am not challenging the Bible but respect is reciprocal".

On Energy, Mr Yeboah called for the intensification of tree planting and the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) especially, in rural communities to reduce the pressure on the country's vegetation.

He said alternative sources of energy should be exploited to expand the energy base of the country.

Mr Joseph Darko-Mensah, NPP-Okaikoi North, said enough has not been done to

ease problems facing the Ghana Armed Forces, especially in the area of accommodation.

He commended the soldiers for their discipline and appreciation of the current constitutional dispensation.

On point of order, Mr Modestus Ahiable, NDC- Ketu North, said Mr Darko Mensah is trading in sarcasm because the government has not weakened the soldiers in any way.

"How would you weaken someone and expect him to guard you."

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