“We must all use one currency” - Says Kufuor to
ECOWAS
The Executive Head of Treasury, Barclays Bank
of Ghana, Mr Felix Nyarko-Pong has assured the business community and the
general travelling public of the bank’s preparedness to facilitate the use of
the Euro in their transactions.
He said “the bank is prepared to use the Euro
in our bid to ensure that the general business community and travelling public
have no payment problems in their business activities.”
Mr Nyarko-Pong gave the assurance when he
introduced the Euro by Barclays Bank to the Press in Accra on Thursday. The
currency has seven different denominations with five Euros being the least
while 500 Euros is the highest denominator.
The introduction of the Euro by the Barclays
Bank Ghana follows the introduction of the Euro by twelve European countries on
January 1, 2002, as the medium of exchange.
Barclays is the first to do so.
Mr Nyarko-Pong said, “the customers of the bank
have been issued with Euro fact sheets, while the fixed cross rates between the
various currencies and the Euro have been well explained to customers.
He said, Barclays Bank’s branch officers in
Takoradi and Kumasi will also be issuing out the Euro currency to customers to
facilitate their transactions. He said The European Central Bank has issued
guidelines on how to properly identify genuine notes from counterfeits to avoid
the obvious problems that can arise.
The Head of Treasury said the introduction of
the Euro would reduce the workload of the bank. Mr Nyarko-Pong said all
structures have been put in place to ensure a smooth transition of the Euro
onto the Ghanaian market.
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President John Kufour has stated that petitions
for the creation of new regions will be considered within the ambit of the
Fourth Republican Constitution.
He, therefore, assured the people of the Volta
Region that their call for the creation of a new region for the northern sector
will be dealt with based on the constitutional requirements.
The President said this when he addressed a
grand durbar of chiefs and people of Krachi and other towns in the Krachi
District at the beginning of his three-day tour in the Volta Region.
President Kufour also promised the people that
major roads in the northern sector such as Kpando-Worawora-Dambai and Jasikan-Kadjebi-Nkwanta
and Baako will continue to receive due attention to ease the sufferings of the
people.
He also said all viable irrigation projects
will be reactivated to encourage all-year round food production and thereby
increase food production as well as job opportunities for the youth.
The President expressed gratitude for the warm
welcome accorded him and asked the people to translate it into support and
partnership with the government to ensure the optimum utilisation of available
resources for national development.
In a welcoming address, the Krachiwura, Nana
Mprah Besemuna III, said it is an honour for them for the President to start
his tour of the region for the first time from Krachi.
He said as their New Year resolution, the
people have resolved to settle all litigations amicably to enable them to
direct their energies into farming activities and other productive ventures.
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The New Juaben Traditional Council has placed a
ban on wake-keeping and all forms of expensive funerals in the area.
The ban, which takes immediate effect, was
announced by the Krontihene, Nana Adjei Tufour when two ministers of state
called on the Omanhene, Daasebre Dr Oti Boateng, at Koforidua on Wednesday.
The Ministers, who are Members of Parliament
for the area, are Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, for Foreign Affairs and Mr Yaw
Barimah, Works and Housing. The meeting coincided with the annual Awukudae
customary rites of the people of New Juaben.
The Krontihene said under the ban, the cost of
a coffin should not exceed 2 million cedis while the serving of expensive food
would not be entertained. Corpses, he also said, should not be kept in the
mortuary for more than a month.
According to the Krontihene, bereaved family
members have also been asked to desist from expressing their gratitude to those
who mourned with them.
He said the council has taken these drastic
steps to reduce the cost of funerals and save parents some money to cater for
their living dependents, especially the payment of school fees.
The Krontihene said anybody who flouts the new
regulations would be severely punished and hinted that a fine of two bottles of
Schnapps, a sheep and ¢2 million would be imposed on offenders.
He said the decision of the council is not to
prevent people from showing their love to departed ones but to ensure that such
deaths do not render them bankrupt.
The ministers assured the Omanhene that the
government will do everything possible to ensure that social amenities are
provided in the area to raise the living standards of the people.
Mr Owusu-Agyeman told the chief that an initial
amount of $12 million has been released to start the construction of a regional
hospital for the region, to support the existing one.
On his part, Mr Barimah re-assured the people
that the water situation in the municipality would be improved. He said the
government will also improve road and hospital facilities to attract the youth
to stay in the area instead of migrating to the cities.
Dasebre Oti Boateng commended the government
for its good work and gave the assurance that the council will continue to
support it.
He expressed the hope that the president
administration will fulfil its promise to resolve the perennial water problem
confronting the municipality.
Former Vice-President Professor John Atta-Mills
has said the reduction in the inflationary rate of the country is not new,
since the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was able, at a point in
time during its management of the economy, to reduce it to a single digit.
He said the NDC government had little control
over the increase in the rate of inflation during the last two years of its
eight-year reign due to unfavourable developments in the global economy, which
stretched the country’s resources considerably.
Prof Mills, who said this in an interview in
Accra yesterday, explained that favourable economic conditions, such as good
prices for the country’s export commodities, massive reduction in crude oil
prices and good climatic conditions, are some of the crucial factors that
assist a government to reduce inflationary rate to a reasonable degree.
According to Prof Mills, some of these factors,
in addition to other sound and stringent policies initiated by the NDC
government, enabled it to reduce inflation to a single digit, which assisted
immensely the manufacturing sector and commerce and improved the material
conditions of the people.
He said it is not a big deal that the Kufuor
administration has been able to reduce the rate of inflation, since massive
donor support and the sharp decline in crude oil prices on the world market
have worked in its favour.
Prof Mills said what makes the achievement of
the NDC government more spectacular than that of the NPP is that “we were able
to reduce inflation from a very higher percentage than what the NPP government
came to meet.”
He conceded that even though the Kufuor
administration has reduced inflation, the social cost of its economic policies
on the vast majority of the people has been woefully ignored.
The former Vice-President said the NDC
government has been vindicated in the sense that the measures being pursued by
the present administration to move the economy forward have striking
similarities to what the NDC pursued and are also IMF-driven.
“We are taken aback in the sense that the
government is pursuing, with unbridled zeal, the same policies of which it
criticised us vehemently when it was in opposition,” Prof Mills said.
Prof Mills expressed his dissatisfaction over
government’s treatment of former government functionaries, stressing that it’s
ironic that it is resorting to personalising issues, which involve those who
implemented policy decisions of the former government.
The former Vice-President said while not
holding brief for former state functionaries, he sincerely believes that the
right things must be done to avoid setting a precedent, that future governments
will also employ in their activities.
He said there is the need for the government to
avoid factionalising the nation through its policies since it needs the
contribution of each Ghanaian, irrespective of his political association, to
move ahead.
He said the doctrine of those who are not with
us are against us” will negatively affect and undermine the government’s quest
to reconcile the nation and heal the wounds of the past.
GRi…/
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“We
must all use one currency” - Says Kufuor to ECOWAS
In the week that 302 million of 12 European
sovereign states scrapped their individual currencies to adopt a single
currency, the euro, President Kufuor has outlined his government’s regional
policy by pledging Ghana’s commitment to the ECOWAS dream of adopting a single
currency in the shortest possible time.
The President’s commitment is not surprising
considering that the same ideology arteries that pump blood into the NPP feed
the intellectual heart of the euro: namely, entrenching monetary and fiscal
discipline and ultimately shrinking the size and scope of the state. The euro
is embodiment of this, more than a symbol of European togetherness.
The President, addressing a large gathering of
NPP supporters at Mantse Agbona, James Town in Accra last Saturday, assured
Ghanaians to expect the cedi to be replaced in the future, but “for that to
happen we are going to select the name of the money soon.”
Whiles this may seem secondary, the President
recalled the previous week in Dakar when ECOWAS decided that the CFA Zone of
Francophone countries and their Anglophone counterparts including Ghana,
Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia, have agreed to speeding up the process
towards monetary union.
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The year 2002 began with more excitement than
as usual for 12 European countries. For them, 1st January marked not
only the beginning of the new year, but also the birth of their new currency,
the euro. These 12 countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, have
agreed to abolish their old currencies such as the Franc and the Mark and unite
under one currency, the euro, so that business transactions and traveling will
be made easier between the countries.
The effects of this changes have been already
been felt throughout the world, and will begin to be felt in Ghana in the
coming weeks, when Euro notes and coins begin to trickle into our region. For
Ghanaians, the most important effect of the changeover is that any old notes
like Francs and Marks will shortly lose their value. The colour of most of the
normal remittance from Europe will change but will be more simplified.
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has already informed
Banks and Forex Bureaux to stop buying those old currencies. Those who may
still have such notes, though, should be aware that the Bank of Ghana will be
making an announcement early next week that will tell them how to receive full
value for their notes.
Readers should also note that a number of Accra
forex bureaux are still accepting the old notes, contrary to the BOGs directive.
In the
next few weeks, we will also begin seeing euro notes, which will be
exchangeable at any bank or forex bureau (the exchange rate is approximately
¢6,400 to one euro).
This will
bring Ghana into what analysts say, might become the world’s biggest
counterfeiting scheme. As The Statesman went to press on Thursday, authorities
in Europe had already discovered the first counterfeit note in the hands of a
12-year old girl. As local bureaux de change await their first intake there is
fear as to how they might spot the fake notes.
The BOG invited forex bureaux owners to a
workshop last December to educate them on the security measures for the euro
and it urges all Ghanaians to be extremely careful not to accept any suspicious
notes.
A spokesman for the Bank added that it is the
responsibility of each individual to make sure that he or she is not given a
fake not, and that it is doubly-important during this initial stage, so that
Ghana does not become a hot-bed for counterfeit.
Ghanaians with euros should also be aware that
not all forex bureaux have publicized fair rates. Though most are buying the
euro at ¢6,200 and selling at ¢6,500, some told The Statesman incorrect rates.
In one case, an owner said he would give as little as ¢2000!
Despite the pitfalls of having a new currency,
the euro will most likely be a welcome boost for the world’s economy, as most
analysts say that its strength will rival that of the dollar. Frank Anane,
Senior Analyst at Data Bank says that Ghanaians should not hesitate to keep
foreign assets in euros. As always, investment is a good idea, and the euro, he
says, has been a relatively stable currency, which can be relied upon by all
sorts of investors.
Replacing the dollar as the backbone of world
finances is the fervent hope of the euro architects. But the dollar for now
remains superior. Currently markets turn over $400 billion. The dollar should
remain for a while the most important currency of international trade.
The dollar has a huge historical advantage,
having spent the entire 20th century building up its reputation as a
reliable store of value and that is not likely to be undermined overnight. The
euro has fallen by about 20 per cent since its launch in a virtual form three
years ago. But analysts are very confident this trend will reverse and are not
ruling out parity with the dollar in the near future.
The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin,
has offered to construct and establish an orphanage for Children Affected by
AIDS (CABA), in Akyem Abuakwa to help alleviate the ever-mounting problems of
caring for these orphans.
Currently, there is no state facility set up to
look after thousands of AIDS orphans in the country. The lucky ones may rely on
the kindness of extended family members, that is if they have means to cater
for the destitute and sick orphans.
The Okyenhene made the offer when he paid a
visit to the Fevers Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the unit with
HIV/AIDS in-patients, to further familiarize himself with the problems faced by
doctors, nurses and the patients.
He stated that the facility would be
constructed, based first on consultations with and advice from the Hospital
Administration to ensure that the appropriate facility is constructed for the
children. “Children are the future. We must do everything to prevent this
disease from destroying them,” Osagyefuo stated.
Osagyefuo noted that the work of the doctors
and nurses was invaluable given the per capita ratio of doctors and nurses to
the population. It was his prayer that other up-and-coming doctors would see it
fit to emulate the examples of the doctors present. He thanked the nurses and
doctors on behalf of the people for their work and dedication.
The Chief Administrator, Dr H. Holdbrook-Smith,
thanked Osagyefuo on behalf of the hospital and hoped that he would visit them
more often. Noting that the facility requires moral support of prominent
leaders, he added that the image of the hospital was not a positive one.
“It is through the support of leaders like you
Osagyefuo, that we will be able to change that image,” he stated.
Prof A.B. Akosa, Head of the Pathological
Department, thanked the Okyenhene for the unprecedented visit. He stated that
half of the problems facing the HIV/AIDS campaign problems would be solved if
the leaders of the nation would show by example as the Okyehene had done.
Led on the tour by Dr H. Holdbrook-Smith, the
Okyenhene was taken through all the wards in the unit. He was given a first
hand insight into the problems facing the facility. Osagyefo was also taken to
the counseling section of the AIDS unit where the Wisdom Association, an
organization that provides support for HIV/AIDS infected persons, is housed.
At the children’s section of the unit the
Okyenhene offered consolation to the children. He gave the hospital two million
cedis to support the children through the festive season.
The Okyenhemaa, Nana Adutwumwaa Dokua, some of
his elders and members of the Okyeman AIDS Education Week Planning Committee
accompanied the Okyenhene to the Hospital.
GRi…/
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Struggle for Chambas' seat begins
With the appointment of Dr Mohammed Ibn
Chambas, as Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, the stage is now set for a fierce
battle for the vacant Bimbilla seat, which he is expected to relinquish as NDC
Member of Parliament.
Information gathered by "The Evening
News" monitoring desk, indicates that the ruling NPP and the NDC are far
advanced in their skirmishes and are combat ready. They are only waiting for
the Electoral Commission to declare the constituency officially vacant and fix
a date for the bye-election.
The NPP is banking its hope on a tutor at the
Bimbilla Training College whilst the NDC might field a former presiding member
of the Nanumba District Assembly who is also an educationist.
The Nkrumahist parties, PNC, CPP and GCPP are
yet to announce themselves in the area and the probability is that they might
continue with the 2000 electoral alliance with the NPP.
Indications on the ground are that the NDC and
NPP have equal chances of winning the seat depending on how they each conduct
their campaigns.
One peculiar thing about the Bimbilla
constituency is that, it is one of the most unpredictable constituencies in the
country if previous parliamentary elections are anything to go by.
The constituency, which has been dominated by
the Nkrumahist tradition was won by Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas in the 1992
election when the opposition boycotted that election.
In the 1996 elections, Dr Chambas on the ticket
of the NDC was defeated by a less known person, Dagmani Mpabi George on the
ticket of the PNC. Not only was Dr Chambas defeated, he placed third with 7,488
votes. The NPP candidate Di Alidu Aduna Mahama has 9,467 votes whilst Mr George
Mpambi Dagmanyi on the PNC ticket won by 13,7796 votes.
In the 2000 elections, Dr Chambas made a strong
come back and won the constituency on the ticket of the NDC, this time round
the PNC and NPP candidates for the 1996 elections did not contest.
The success of the NPP and the NDC at the
bye-election is very significant. For the NPP, victory would confirm the
acceptance of its policies and reposition of the confidence of the electorate
in the party.
For the NDC, it would be contesting the
constituency as an opposition party and would like to win the seat to confirm
its domination in the north and also serve as a moral booster for subsequent
elections as well as testing its popularity on the ground.
So far, the campaign message of the NPP is that
the Nanumba area which constitutes the Bimbilla and Wulensi constituencies has
since 1996 been in the opposition, a situation that had hindered the
development of the area, therefore the electorate should vote for the NPP and
be part of the ruling team.
Besides, they argue that the people must show
gratitude to the NPP for nominating the son of the area to the position of
Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, whereas during the tenure of the PNDC/NDC, Dr
Chambas was marginalized.
GRi…/
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