GRi in Parliament Ghana 31 - 01 - 2001
I will support retention of Petroleum levy--
Darko
Nyanor depicts the lighter side of vetting
Cash and Carry system brought hardship to
Ghanaians - Minister-designate
Owusu-Adjapong's vetting deferred
Committee lays first report on nominees
I will support retention of Petroleum
levy-- Darko
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001
Mr Kwadwo Adjei Darko, Minister-designate for Roads and Highways on Tuesday pledged support for the retention of petroleum levy since it helps in the construction and maintenance of roads.
The road fund, which was purposely set up to make and shape roads is largely fed by the levy, he told the Appointments Committee of parliament.
Mr Adjei-Darko who is also the MP for Sunyani West, was the last of the four presidential nominees to be screened by the committee.
The nominee, an educationist, said he envisions the making of all Ghana roads motorable, adding that any fair means that would make that dream a reality will be pursued.
" Another important step we will take is the proper decentralisation of the feeder roads unit."
GRi…/
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Nyanor depicts the lighter side of vetting
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001
Mr. Charles O. Nyanor, nominee for Minister of State for Private Sector Development at the Office of the President went through his vetting before the Appointments Committee on Tuesday on a lively note, setting the members and the public to bouts of laughter with his humour.
The sunny mood commenced when Mr Nyanor was asked by a member to declare his age to the Committee.
The minister-designate answered jerkily at first that he was 95 but quickly corrected himself that he was 65. This sparked off prolonged laughter from members of the Committee and the fairly large audience at the Public Gallery.
He disagreed with a suggestion that his age would be a hindrance to him in the performance of his duties.
"Yes, you can see from my physical look that I am fit enough to do the job," he said. On his achievements as a Ministerial Secretary of Finance and Economic planning during the Busia regime from 1969 to 1972, Mr Nyanor said he ensured that one of Busia's programmes to give loans to small-scale entrepreneurs was successful.
"We gave loans to taxi drivers to buy cars and they were paying back until Acheampong came and sacked us."
Mr Nyanor disagreed with a suggestion that his appointment is equal to that of a Presidential Staffer and explained, "Presidential Staffers are not vetted. They don't appear before parliament before they are appointed and they are not obliged to come to the House and answer questions."
In answer to a question by Mr Kwasi Osei-Adjei a member of the committee, Mr Nyanor, who was a police constable between 1956 and 1959 said he resigned from the Police Force before travelling to England for further studies.
On his experiences as a policeman he said: " a policeman has always been a policeman, the duties have not changed much."
Mr Nyanor promised to use his ministerial position to create resources, which would generate revenue and provide employment for the people.
He said he would liaise with other ministries to identify the "bottlenecks and impediments to economic growth and remove them."
The Minister-designate said he has already identified a missing gap in the capital market, which could be filled by underwriters whose operations would encourage many investors to venture into the stock market.
Mr Nyanor said he will launch an education programme to enlighten small-scale investors to form limited liability companies and sell shares to generate long-term funding.
He assured the Committee that he would work towards the attainment of the targets set in Vision 2020, a blueprint to make Ghana a middle-income country.
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Cash and Carry system brought hardship to
Ghanaians - Minister-designate
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001
The President's nominee for the Health portfolio, Dr Richard Anane, on Tuesday said the use of the "cash and carry" system to effect cost recovery in health care delivery eroded confidence in the health sector because it created a lot of hardship for the ordinary person.
"I sympathise with the past government for its attempts at cost recovery through the cash and carry system but to me, no amount of money spent on the health of human beings will end up in waste."
Dr Anane was being screened by the Appointment Committee of Parliament under the chairmanship of Mr Freddy Blay, First Deputy Speaker.
He said the system would be done away with within four years. "Existing structures in the sector will be dismantled to make way for a more friendly and sustainable system. We will certainly de-couple cash and carry from cost recovery".
On the high turnout of health professionals, he said facts on hand indicate that workers are now ready to work, adding that they have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude.
" I am a manifestation of the frustrations and anxieties of the health worker and I believe together with my other colleagues, we will find solution to that problem."
When asked by Mr John Mahama, NDC-Bole, whether he will continue the expansion of health facilities initiated by the past government, he said: " we believe that mere expansion of facilities will not solve the health problems of Ghanaians if training and retention of personnel is not prioritised."
The high prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the country caught the committee's attention who, asked the nominee for his comments.
" I had occasions to even operate on HIV carriers. It is at the centre of my heart and I think the campaign against it should cover all dimensions of society," he remarked.
Ghana has reached the threshold to the epidemic zone that if not checked will spell doom for the entire country, he said.
Dr Anane called for a change in people's life styles so that the endemic would be put in check. Dr Anane started his medical career at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in 1984 after training at the School of Medical Sciences (SMS) of the University of Science and Technology (UST), Kumasi from 1976-1983.
He was born in 1954 in Kumasi where he currently runs a private clinic called the Hebrona Hospital. He is married with three children.
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Owusu-Adjapong's vetting deferred
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001
The Appointments Committee on Tuesday deferred the public hearing of Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, minister designate for Transport and Communications to Wednesday to enable members to investigate his role in the sale of a Unilever property on government land.
Mr Freddie Blay, Chairman of the Committee had earlier asked members to retire into a caucus meeting for 10 minutes to resolve the matter, but after over an hour, members returned without a consensus and the chairman ruled for a suspension.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong's ordeal began when Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, NPP Ejisu asked him to enlighten members about a transaction his company undertook on behalf of Unilever.
The minister-designate, the only nominee whose vetting appears to have experienced a hitch, said he acted in his capacity as an estate consultant to Unilever to sell a property to Mr Sam Jonah for 250 million cedis.
He said there was a sitting tenant, William Ofori and Company on the property, who wanted to buy it but whose quotation of 190 million cedis fell short of the expectations of the owners.
"So I asked that the transaction should be advertised to attract more bidders", he explained.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong said he went ahead with the advertisement and many more bidders responded including the sitting tenant whose bid remained at 190 million cedis.
He said Unilever turned down the sitting tenant's offer even though the property was not sold to the highest bidder.
When asked by Mr Alban Bagbin, Majority Leader what type of hold the property was, Mr Owusu-Adjapong answered "government land".
The minister-designate said he had some documents to tender to the Committee for their scrutiny on the transaction but expressed regret that he could not find the police report on the deal.
At that juncture, Mr Bagbin suggested that Mr Owusu-Adjapong's hearing should be suspended to enable him to gather all documents in connection with the transaction before he re-appears.
And when the caucus meeting failed to resolve the matter, the chairman ruled that Mr Owusu-Adjapong should furnish members with all documents relevant to the transaction for their scrutiny before hearing resumes on Wednesday (tomorrow).
While his hearing lasted, Mr Owusu-Adjapong told the Committee that as minister he would improve the performance of the telecommunications network by ensuring that those in authority operate within the ambit of their licences.
He said he would also order a check on their equipment to identify the deficiencies they might have and rectify them accordingly.
On his role as a member of the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Tribunal, Mr Owusu-Adjapong said he gave a good account of himself as he made appropriate recommendations to curb the inhumanity in the operations of banks with the lending public.
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Committee lays first report on nominees
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January 2001
Parliament on Tuesday sat less than 30 minutes during which it corrected its previous votes and proceedings and promptly laid the first reports on the appointments of six ministerial nominations.
Mr Freddie Blay, Chairman of the Committee, which dealt with the public hearing of the nominees, including Mr J.H. Mensah, Majority Leader, Minister of Government Business and Chairman of the National Planning Commission-designate, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, Minister of Defence, Nana Akufo Addo, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
The rest are Mr Hackman Owusu- Agyemang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Local Government and Rural Development, and Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Finance.
Mr John Akologu Tia, NDC-Talensi, protested that members did not have the paper being laid and said the practice was that it should have been on the table of all the MPs.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, NPP-Sekondi and Deputy Majority Leader, explained that the paper was in print and the previous practice was only of convenience and that their side was also going to do the same.
The House adjourned till tomorrow while the Appointments Committee continued its public hearing of additional ministerial nominations.
Mr C.O. Nyanor, minister of State, Office of the President (Private Sector Development), the first of the nominees, faced the committee.
GRi…/
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