Kwame Pianim quits NPP
Pension up by 20%
SSNIT pensioners want representation on board
Political appointment not ticket for wealth
VAT fetches 547 billion cedis by Sept. '99
Petrol price to go up again
Aliens must go! - NDC branch demands
Big test for Media Commission…As Supreme Court rules in its favour
Kwame Pianim quits NPP
The Daily Graphic reports in a front-page story that Mr Kwame Pianim, a former presidential aspirant of the NPP, has resigned his membership of the party. The story says that sources close to Mr Pianim indicate that his decision to quit the NPP was contained in a letter he wrote to the national leadership of the party, dated January 20, 2000.
According to the Graphic Mr Pianim, whose quest to lead the NPP to the 1996 general elections, was dashed by a 3-2 split Supreme Court decision barring him from contesting the high post of the land, indicated in his resignation letter his unhappiness with orientation and the trend of affairs in the party.
The story says that Mr Pianim, who during his brief quest for the NPP presidential slot championed the position of a united political alliance of opposition parties to challenge the ruling NDC for power, is reported as saying that the NPP leadership as currently constituted, is not committed to such an ideal.
The party, he is reported as saying, is drifting ever further away from the ideal thus undermining its prospects for an electoral victory in this year's general elections. The Graphic says that this stems from his belief that none of the political parties as at present constituted, is strong and virile enough to wrestle political power from the ruling NDC.
Mr Pianim is also said to harbour some displeasure at the lack of clarity of the position of the party leadership in a united country and a reconciled nation, which according to him, are vital to the peace and stability that Ghana needs for rapid development, instead of sliding into disorder and instability as found in some countries in the West African sub-region.
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The Ghanaian Times
Pension up by 20%
The Ghanaian Times reports in one of its front-page stories that the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has increased by 20%, monthly pensions paid to pensioners under its pension scheme. The increase took effect from this month.
The Times reports Nana Barima Ansu-Adjei, Northern Regional Manager of SSNIT, as announcing this at a get-together organised for pensioners in the region. He explained that the Trust management, recognising the plight of pensioners, had deemed it fit to review upward pensions levels once in a year.
Nana Ansu-Adjei is said to have noted that the yearly percentage increases are a good start, stating that in Ghana sometimes, prices of some goods and services are increased about three times within a year.
According to him pension levels for most pensioners in Ghana are low, with some taking 100,000 cedis while a few take as high as two million cedis, and urged that action should be taken to address the issue of low pensions. "Workers, while in active service, must ensure that their employers pay them the appropriate wages and salaries", his said to have advised.
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SSNIT pensioners want representation on board
In a related inside page story, the Times reports that pensioners under the SSNIT pension scheme, have suggested a representation on the Trust's Board of Directors. The paper reports Mr Salifu Mahama, the acting Northern Regional secretary as saying that "it is our prime concern to re-echo the request of our national executive for representation of the National Pensioners Association on the Board of Directors of SSNIT".
Mr Salifu is said to have noted that although the pensioners no more contribute to the scheme, they constitute an inseparable entity of SSNIT pension scheme and need constant care. Management of SSNIT, he said, should, therefore, redouble its efforts to make life pleasant for the pensioners under its scheme.
He enjoined SSNIT to open district offices in the region to forestall the problem of pensioners having to travel to Tamale to process their pension benefits.
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The Evening News
Political appointment not ticket for wealth
In an inside-page story, the Evening News reports that the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), the Reverend (Dr) Mensah Otabil, has said that political appointment should not be a ticket to amass wealth. "Until politicians change their attitude, there would be no hope for Ghana". He is quoted as saying.
The paper says that Rev. Otabil, who was delivering a sermon at a church service in Accra, stated that politicians or people who are vying for any political position, must not see it as the shortest way of succeeding in life. He said politicians should serve the interest of the people, who voted them into power rather than turning to satisfying their selfish ambitions.
The Evening News says that Rev. Otabil noted that people, especially politicians, should avoid immoral and corrupt practices and live lives that are more responsible. He is said to have complained about the life-style of some politicians, who he alleged use dubious means to siphon state money. "We cry for more investments and donor support but because one person or a few people steal and go unpunished, others also think they can do the same thing", he quoted as saying.
He said "until loopholes, which are created to enable some people to siphon money from state coffers are sealed, Ghana will continue to wallow in poverty". He called on all Ghanaians, including politicians, to fight the canker of corruption, which he said, has the potential to destroy the future of the country.
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VAT fetches 547 billion cedis by Sept. '99
The High Street Journal reports in its front page that the total value added tax (VAT) collection by the end of the third quarter last year, amounted to 547.8 billion cedis, accounting for 20.2% of the total revenue accruing to government by that time.
The paper says that the actual third quarter collection was 227.1 billion cedis and this represented a 37% increase on the second quarter collection. The High Street Journal says that the government, in the first quarter collected 154.5 billion cedis from VAT. In the second quarter, there was a 7% increase in collection to 165 billion cedis. This rose in the third quarter to 227.1 billion cedis.
The paper says that a breakdown of the VAT receipts show that 231.3 billion cedis came from domestic sources while 316.6 billion cedis was realised from imports. It says that the biggest collection to date was in the third quarter, when 227.1 billion cedis was realised.
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Petrol price to go up again
In a front-page banner headline story, the Ghanaian Voice writes that in just a matter of days, if not weeks, the Ghanaian motorists, who are already smarting under the recent increases in petroleum products, will face another hike in petroleum prices.
According to the Voice, apart from the fact that the increases may be due to the falling cedi against the dollar and other major foreign currencies, the increase will also be due to the fact that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), which is the importing and supplying agency, has withdrawn all the subsidies on petroleum products.
The TOR is also said to be heavily indebted to the banks because of the subsidies, which it maintained in the past. The Voice notes that the annual accounts of TOR show a heavy debt it is now servicing and which may take several years to settle.
According to the paper the debt was accumulated when due to political considerations, the real price of petroleum was not passed on t the people. "We did the wrong thing in the past when the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation was responsible for the importation of crude oil and the correct thing was not done", the Voice quotes sources as saying.
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Aliens must go! - NDC branch demands
In its lead story the Ghanaian Chronicle reports that the NDC branch in the Fanteakwa constituency in the Eastern Region, has demanded a quit order for all illegal aliens and foreigners doing illegitimate business in Ghana.
The Chronicle says that unlike the infamous Aliens Compliance Order poorly enforced by the Second Republic, the NDC branch stressed the need for careful screening to get out all those engaged in activities inimical to the interest of the area.
"The government should carefully screen and expel the bad aliens among us in order not to repeat the wholesale quit order issued by Busia", the paper quotes Mr Okyere Nyamanah, the constituency secretary as telling the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, at an NDC get-together at Bososo on Saturday.
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Big test for Media Commission…As Supreme Court rules in its favour
The Public Agenda in its top story writes that last Wednesday's Supreme court ruling in favour of the National Media Commission (NMC) in its three-year-old case with the government, has focused attention on the Commission as it ponders over what to do with its restored powers.
In its ruling, the seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, chaired by Mr Justice E.K. Wiredu, ruled that appointments of chief executives of state-owned media houses, made after the coming into force of the Constitution of 1992, were done in contravention of Article 148 of the Constitution, which deal with the appointment of board members of state-owned media organisations.
Giving a background to the case, the paper says that the NMC instituted the legal action against the government in February, 1996 and Prof. Kofi Kumado, senior lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Ghana, Legon, who was the chairman of the Commission, explained at the time that NMC was seeking to obtain legal backing to update laws which set up the board of directors of the various state media organisations.
Prof. Kumado is said to have also made it clear that the court action was taken in line with the NMC's constitutional duty of insulating the state media from governmental control.
The Public Agenda says that the government, on the other hand, sought refuge in Article 195 of the Constitution, which appears to give the President power over the appointment of chief executives of the state-owned media. The paper says that now that the Supreme Court has declared the position of the old NMC in its fight against the NDC government, as the right one, it has fallen to the new NMC to assume the restored powers and act upon them.
The Supreme Court ruling, the paper says, makes the positions of the heads of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Ghana News Agency, Graphic Communications Limited and the New Times Corporation, who were all appointed after the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution, "null and void".
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