Budget slated for March
Rawlings voted Man of the year
Chief Of Staff can't sack me as Director of SFO - Sapati
Shattering legacy of NDC Government
How Obasanjo helped Kufuor
Ex-Ministers in no fishy deal - Huudu
It’s time for probity
Scandal – What will Kufuor do about 200 billion Telecom deal
Kufuor is a hypocrite
Budget slated for March
The Ghanaian Times reports the Minister of Finance designate, Mr Yaw Osafo-Marfo as saying that the first budget statement of the new government will be presented in the first week of March.
"We are hoping that by the end of February, we'll have put everything together," Mr Osafo-Marfo, a banker and former UN economic consultant, said.
He was contributing to discussions on economic co-operation between President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Hiromu Nitta, at the State House in Accra.
The Minister-designate painted an alarming picture of the state of the economy, saying that, "the country's level of indebtedness is unusual and worrying.
"We have a situation where our internal debt is about ¢6 trillion, representing 20 per cent of GDP."
Mr Osafo-Marfo said that, "the situation, for now, leaves no choice for the President than to seek debt relief from donors."
That, he said, had been running in the President's statements since his inauguration on December 7.
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Supreme Court refuses recount of Bawku C. ballots
The Times announces on its front-page that the Supreme Court, by a unanimous decision, on Tuesday quashed the proceedings of the Bolgatanga High Court and its order for a re-count of the ballot papers of the Bawku Central Constituency in the December 7 parliamentary elections.
It also awarded a ¢1.5 million cost against Hajia Fati Seidu, the defeated NDC parliamentary candidate in the December polls.
The court, presided over by the acting Chief Justice, Mr Justice E.K. Wiredu, did not give reasons for its ruling but promised to do so on January 24.
Other members of the panel were Justice E.D.K. Adjabeng, G.K. Acquah, W.A. Atuguba and G.L. Lamptey. The rest are Theodore Kwame Adzoe and Ms Sophia Akuffo.
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Rawlings voted Man of the year
Former President, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, has been voted Man of the Year 2000 by the majority of listeners of the Paris-supported Africa Number One Radio, for facilitating democratic transition in Ghana.
Former Senegalese President, Abdou Diouf, emerged as runner-up in the poll, conducted by the Gabon-based radio station, which boasts of about 30 million listeners in Africa and Europe.
The majority of listeners were said to have voted for Flt. Lt. Rawlings because of Ghana's peaceful and democratic transfer of power, following the December elections.
Many of the listeners felt he offers a ray of hope in a continent torn by turmoil, often as a result of the unwillingness by leaders to accept defeat in elections.
The listeners also hailed Mr Diouf, who led his country to a peaceful transition in March 2000.
Flt. Lt. Rawlings won 50.5 per cent of the vote while Mr Diouf had 49.5 per cent.
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NDC won't thwart NPP's efforts - Bagbin
The Graphic reports the Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr A.S. K. Bagbin, as saying that his group has no intention to sabotage or thwart the efforts of the NPP government.
He said the Minority will not stage any walkouts to sabotage efforts of the NPP government as was the case when the NPP was the minority in the last Parliament.
"I see our role in Parliament as the last line of defence of the interest of the people and we would, therefore, be the people to channel the efforts of the government in the best interest of the nation," he emphasised.
Mr Bagbin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli North, was speaking in an interview on what Ghanaians should expect from the Minority in Parliament, which reconvenes tomorrow.
"We will not just be there to criticize the actions and policies of government but to as much as possible draw the attention of government to the defects, pitfalls and the dangers in whatever action they take," he explained.
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Chief Of Staff can't sack me as Director of SFO - Sapati
Mr B.A. Sapati, the acting director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has stated categorically that as far as things stand now nobody is replacing him contrary to some media reports that one Emmanuel Ohene has been asked to take over from him, reports the Free Press.
Speaking in a radio interview in Accra, Mr Sapati said even though the said Emmanuel Ohene had made some contact with him, the question of who should replace him did not arise because he was still at post as acting director of the SFO.
He explained that the SFO was a legal entity and that if somebody was to replace him, the governing board of the SFO and the Public Services Commission would have to be involved therefore, any letter authored by the Chief of Staff could not talk about replacement, he added.
Mr. Sapati, however, noted that the sector minister designate, Nana Akufo Addo, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice was handling the matter.
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Shattering legacy of NDC Government
The Ghanaian Chronicle says affairs at one of Ghana's most powerful energy sector companies, Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) are in a total mess leading to allegations of embezzlement of over ¢5 billion being leveled against the acting chief executive of the company, Dr Kwabena Donkor.
The amount involved, according to insiders represents the proceeds of sale of fuel.
Very credible energy industry sources told Chronicle that the chief executive managed the affairs of the company without a board and any proper accounting procedure since BOST was set up in 1993.
Allegations leveled against Donkor, according to a memo from his Finance Manager, Alhaji Ibrahim Dey Abubakari said that the company incurred an operational loss of ¢4,854,728,000 during the months of May 1999 to October the same year. In addition, the acting chief executive colluded with suppliers to dodge the 5% withholding tax which amounted to ¢523 million and also could not account for an advance of ¢5 billion being funds given to BOST by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).
The finance manager also accused Donkor of making unauthorized purchases amounting to ¢4,836 billion which according to the auditors appears abnormal because the established procedure was for Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to invoice BOST… therefore all things being equal the sales value shall equal the cost of the products sold.
The report was also critical of the mode of acquisition of assets valued at ¢1,140,056,978 through cash generated from BOST operations.
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¢1 billion stolen from NDC Headquarters
The Chronicle in another front-page capture says two Security guards at the Kokomlemle headquarters of the National Democratic congress (NDC) have been arrested by the Nima police for allegedly stealing ¢1 billion cedis belonging to the party.
A Joy FM report monitored on Tuesday night said the two, Daniel Abonga and Mohammed Braimah, stole the money from an office safe.
The two, late night were still in police custody as no party official was prepared to go and bail them.
Three years ago a similar tale was replayed when security guards on sentry duties at the plush McCarthy Hills residence of former Attorney General, Dr Obed Asamoah, made away with several millions of cedis.
The money was stashed away under the bedroom of the former Minister Asamoah claimed the money belonged to the NDC and that it was being kept there for safekeeping.
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How Obasanjo helped Kufuor
Reports in some sections of the Nigeria media, according to 'The Dispatch', indicate that Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, played a part in strenuous behind the scene efforts that ensured the success of the January 7 inauguration of President John Kufuor.
A reproduction of a January 13, 2001 story of 'This Day' titled 'Drama of Transition in Ghana' said facts have emerged on how President Olusegun Obasanjo saved Ghana from sliding into chaos following the victory of opposition candidate Mr John Kufuor in last December's presidential election.
It said Kufuor of the opposition NPP trounced incumbent vice president, John Attah Mills of the ruling NDC to emerge president-elect of Ghana thus ending 19 years reign of ex-President John Jerry Rawlings.
But Rawlings, a former Air Force Flight Lieutenant who first shot himself into power in 1979 via a military coup was believed not to be too comfortable with Kufuor's victory and though did nothing openly to stop it was willing to do anything to stall the transition.
His farewell address to members of the armed forces shortly before the hand-over date when troops in a seemingly open defiance of the new order, matched in support of the Rawlings era shouting slogans praising his regime.
He condemned those criticizing the loyalty of the military to him saying the soldiers were only loyal to the state.
His action reportedly caused alarm in the opposition camp from where contacts were quickly made to Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo to use his moral influence and authority to prevail on Rawlings to let the opposition victory be.
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Ex-Ministers in no fishy deal - Huudu
There is no iota of truth in the allegations making the rounds that ex-NDC Ministers have illegally kept to themselves the use of 4,000 government vehicles, according to a story carried by the Ghanaian Democrat.
Rather the Joint Transitional Team of the outgoing and incoming governments agreed that ex-ministers should buy one saloon car as part of their ex-gratia benefits.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, made this known at a Press Conference in Accra in reaction to allegations in some sections of the media to the effect that ex-ministers are keeping 4,000 vehicles illegally.
He said the allegations "are deliberate and orchestrated attempts to incite the public against ministers of the outgoing government", adding that "this is typical of the coup mentality that prevails in the minds of certain people."
Alhaji Yahaya emphasised that the sale of the vehicles is in line with an existing policy whereby senior public officers on leaving office, are given the option to purchase one saloon car, which they were using.
He said under the transitional arrangement, and in line with the Greenstreet Report and the Constitution, discussions were held on appropriate settlement benefits for ex-presidents and their spouses.
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It’s time for probity
The Guide reports that President John Agyekum Kufuor has been urged by some leading members of the NPP to lay bare the state of the economy to the Ghanaian public before he eventually settles down to work.
"There is the need for him to get all the heads of the various government institutions and organisations in the public domain to inform the public about state of those institutions publicly, and before the media, about the legacy that the out gone NDC left behind for the NPP to inherit".
The leaders were stating their position on the transparency and accountability of the previous government to the new government.
Speaking to the Guide in an interview last Monday, the senior citizens with long UP traditions said the process of handing over in whatever form should not be a secret between the ruling NPP and the out gone NDC administrations.
"Without any delays, Kufuor must get the heads of the various government institutions to tell the nation at public fora the state of the various institutions that they head as of January 6, 2001."
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Economy is a mess
The state of the economy has been variously described, but the truth is that the nation is broke with the country virtually swallowed by debts both foreign and local, and many state economic institutions are operating with very serious deficits, according to the Guide.
Last Sunday, Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, the Minister for Local Government designate announced on a GTV Talking Point programme that as of July 2000, the NDC government had overdrawn its accounts by over 1 trillion cedis.
On the nation’s finances as of December 2000, he said they were yet to receive the figures and were working on it.
Indications were that the Tema Oil Refinery is also indebted to the tune of 2 trillion cedis while the Electricity Company of Ghana also owes the Volta River Authority 400 billion cedis.
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Scandal – What will Kufuor do about 200 billion Telecom deal
President J.A. Kufuor’s pledge to fight corruption and the scandalous waste of public resources is being put to test, the Weekly Insight said adding that, "his administration has to decide on the next line of action following the refusal of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate how the Government and Ghana Telecom lost as much as 200 billion cedis."
The National Communications Authority (NCA) is reported as saying that the illegal operations of three Internet operators with Israeli and American directors led to the lost.
It is alleged that the three companies – TIN-IFA (Ghana) Limited, Intercom Data Network and Mac Telecom brought in equipment, which enabled them to terminate international calls locally and made them look like local calls. The companies then paid Ghana Telecom bills for normal local calls.
Through this practice, the three companies and their foreign partners pocketed more than US $30 million, which they kept in foreign accounts in the USA and Israel.
The SFO’s grounds for refusing to investigate what has been described as gigantic fraud, is that officials of the NCA have not co-operated fully with it.
The problem, however is that the SFO has powers to compel people to assist it to investigate any fraudulent activity.
Why the SFO has refused to use the powers conferred on it in the investigation of this case is still not clear.
The Insight says it is feared that some officials of the SFO may be colluding with the three companies to subvert the investigations.
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Kufuor is a hypocrite
The Palaver writes that while the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its President, J.A. Kufuor have for years opposed the celebration of the 31st December Revolution in Ghana, the President and his party last Saturday, accepted an invitation to participate in the 34th anniversary celebrations of Gnassingbe Eyadema’s coup d’etat in Togo.
Some political observers think the behaviour of the President and his party, smacks of hypocrisy and should be condemned by all democratic loving people of Ghana.
President Eyadema of Togo came to power on 13th January 1967 when he took up arms to overthrow the democratically elected government.
Political opponents of the Togolese President have ever since been chased out of that country or vanished mysteriously and all attempts at holding free and fair election in that country have been thwarted by the government.
It said right from day one of the 31st December Revolution, which toppled the Limann administration in 1981, the Busia / Danquah traditionalists registered their opposition to the take-over and carried their protest to the Supreme Court where the celebrations of the day as a holiday was prohibited.
"Even on the day of his installation as President of Ghana on January 7, Mr Kufuor voiced out his abhorrence of coup d’etat and promised Ghanaians, his government would never support any military take-over any where it may happen in the world," it stated.
It adds however, that last Saturday many Ghanaians were shocked to hear their newly crowned ‘messiah’ joining his Togolese counterpart in celebrating the 34th anniversary of the brutish take-over.
"With only nine days in office and still grappling with the problems of composing a Cabinet, Kufuor is already negating on the promises he made to Ghanaians which include the pledge never to support coups d’etat on the African continent", the Palaver said.
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