GRi Press Review Ghana 09 - 07

The Ghanaian Chronicle says the African Development Bank (ADB), the major funding agency, which threw a lifeline of 239 billion cedis to the cash-strapped and ailing Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP) at Asutsuare in the Dangbe-West District of the Greater Accra Region, has raised serious concerns about the management of the project by the past NDC government.

The worry by the ADB stems from the fact that as at June last year, five years after the project took off the government of Ghana had released only ¢1.4 billion out of the total ¢36.9 billion ($5.28 million) of its share of the counterpart funding.

In a letter dated December 1, 2000, which was fired to the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), the bank threatened to suspend further disbursement of the remaining loan after issuing a stern warning to GIDA to live up to expectation.

If this threat by the ADB is carried out it would mean the country losing about ¢56 billion in loans and grants.

The GIDA was also asked to submit Audit reports for both the loan and the grant since this was long overdue. As at last Thursday GIDA was yet to submit the said reports to ADB in its headquarters in Abidjan.

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No hope for 2000 victims

The hopes of over two hundred Ghanaians who lost close to one million dollars at the Ghana Mission in Tripoli, Libya two years ago, crashed last week when it became evident that the government cannot accept responsibility for the stolen monies, says the Chronicle.

According to officials of the Consular section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the various sums of money allegedly kept by the mission were actually kept by the officials concerned in their private capacities. They contended that since receipts covering the monies did not bear the official seal of the mission, the government cannot accept responsibility for the loss.

Speaking to the Chronicle in Accra last Monday the officials contended that the Libyan government too cannot pay compensation for the lost money because the currency which was stolen is not a legal tender in Tripoli.

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The Daily Graphic

'Measures aimed at putting Ghana back'

President J.A. Kufuor has assured Ghanaians that the current stringent measures being taken by the government are aimed at putting Ghana back on the track of economic development and prosperity, reports the Daily Graphic.

Addressing a section of Ghanaians in Addis Ababa during a four-hour stopover in Ethiopia, the President stated that although the government has had to remove all subsidies on petrol, leading to petrol price increase and a resultant rise in the cost of living, such a measure was necessary to lift the country out of economic stagnation.

He further told them that the government has been trying to cut down on expenditure so that more money could be released for private sector development and investment, stressing that the government is resolved to continue the self-disciplined approach to enable the country to reap the desired fruits.

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Thanks to HIPC initiative - $2.2b debt to go

Ghana is to benefit from a $2.2 billion debt relief following the acceptance of the country's application to join the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

The Graphic said the amount is equal to the total relief granted to 22 countries that adopted the initiative last year.

The Country Director of the World Bank, Mr Peter Harold, announced this at a workshop organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for members of the Finance Committee of Parliament at Akosombo at the weekend.

The workshop, under the theme: "Stable macro-economic environment, growth and poverty reduction" was to help improve the capacities of MPs, especially members of the Finance Committee, and to sharpen their skills as watchdogs of the government's fiscal and monetary policies.

Mr Harold advised the government to be cautious about setting budgetary targets and relying on donor promises.

He stressed the need for members of the committee to have an independent view of the government's financial policies to be able to assess it and suggest ways to put the policies on track.

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The Ghanaian Times

NDC MP to lose seat

The Ghanaian Times reports that the Tamale High Court, presided by Mr Justice R.T. Aninakwa, last Friday declared the election of Mr Samuel Nyimakan, the NDC Member of Parliament for the Wulensi Constituency, as null and void.

The ruling followed a petition filed by Mr Fuseini Zakari, a teacher at Wulensi in the Nanumba District against the election of Mr Nyimakan in the December 7 election.

The court also awarded ¢1 million cost in favour of Fuseini Zakaria.

The petitioner had claimed that Mr Nyimakan was not qualified to be elected an MP for the Wulensi Constituency since he was not a resident in the constituency nor had been resident there for a total period of five years in the 10 years immediately preceding December 7, 2000.

Zakaria also told the court that the respondent did not hail from the constituency, and accordingly prayed that Mr Nyimakan's election as MP be declared null and void.

Mr Justice Aninakwa, in pronouncing judgement, said that he was of the view that Mr Myimakan did not hail from the Wulensi Constituency since the evidence adduced by the petitioner and the admissions by the respondent, showed that he came from Saboba.

On the issue of residence, Mr Aninakwah said that the petitioner had stated categorically in his evidence that apart from the campaign period, Mr Nyimakan had never resided in the Wulensi Constituency.

The court, therefore, upheld the assertion that the respondent was not qualified by residence to stand as a candidate for the election to Parliament.

GRi…/

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The Dispatch

Ex-NDC Minister was arrested with $1.5 Million cash

The Dispatch says three months of relentless investigations by it have unraveled the mystery surrounding why the ex-Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Victor Selormey, was arrested by security agents on the tarmac of Kotoka International Airport on his return from a trip to the united States on Sunday, April 15.

It says it can authoritatively disclose that the former Minister was arrested to enable the security agents retrieve $1.5 million cash which he had carried from Ghana to deposit in a US bank but could not succeed owing to stringent banking regulations there.

US banking regulations require that an individual must have a social security number to qualify to open an account. On the other hand, an account can be opened in a business name if the business is registered in the US.

Apart from the above, commercial banks are required by law to notify the Treasury of any single cash deposit into a personal account that exceeds $10,000.

According to highly-placed sources, it was therefore not difficult for Mr Selormey's desperate attempts to bank the entire $1.5 million to be noticed by the Treasury which, it is believed, notified the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

Sources disclosed that immediately the former Minister boarded a Ghana-bound aircraft with the money, Ghanaian security authorities were alerted.

It would be recalled that Mr Selormey was arrested on the tarmac of KIA and taken into custody by officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) when he arrived from a trip to the US on the night of April 15. The Dispatch did not however say if the money was retrieved.

GRi…/

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The Independent

VAT exceeds target in first six months

The Commissioner for VAT Mr. J.F. Odartey-Blankson has hinted that revenue collected through VAT from January to June 2001 exceeded the target set for the period, writes The Independent.

He said this is a very positive indication for his outfit, adding, once we step up enforcement and education, compliance level will shoot-up.

The new Commissioner gave the hint when he paid a working visit to the VAT Office at Takoradi but refused to give the actual figures collected during the period. Such figures Mr Odartey-Blankson said are normally given to the Finance Minister before they are made public.

The VAT Commissioner pointed out that notwithstanding this modest achievement there is a lot of money out there, which his outfit needs to collect to boost the revenue position of the government.

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Absentee MPs to lose seats

Members of Parliament (MPs) who are habitual absentees are to lose their seat in accordance with the provisions in the 1992 constitution and the standing orders of Parliament, if they do not change their attitude towards the work of the House.

At last Friday's sitting of the House it came to light that there were some MPs who absent themselves from sittings without permission.

However, due to the design of the votes and proceedings (the document in which the previous day's proceedings is recorded) those MPs involved are not captured at all.

In view of its serious consequence on the work of the House the issue was given a serious consideration by the House at its sitting last Friday to enable members find an antidote to the growing trend of absenteeism among MPs.

As Parliament gets tough with absentee MPs it is possible that if the provisions are evoked some of them may be found wanting.

GRi…/

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The Ghanaian Voice

Gov't must act fast - Obed Asamoah

The former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Obed Asamoah, has called on the government to act quickly in establishing the framework for the Reconciliation Commission it is talking about, reports the Ghanaian Voice.

This, according to the legal luminary, would forestall a situation where people are tried and found guilty in the media, Dr Asamoah said.

The former Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Re-organisation Committee of the National Democratic Congress, was responding to questions put to him on Joy FM's Super Morning Show last week.

Dr. Asamoah stated that some people were of the feeling that opening old wounds would not help the nation, but agreed that recent developments indicated a general feeling that some of the old wounds could be opened. His worry, and the worry of other people, was what period it would cover so that it did not feel like one particular group was being targeted.

If this was made clear, he believed that any case could be reopened. He agreed that people who have suffered human rights abuses have every right to reparation, but added that this could be done without necessarily establishing a commission as being suggested. GRi…/

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NPP News

Plans underway to solve graduate unemployment

The NPP News says in line with the government's policy on the efficient development and rational use of the country's resources, a course in manpower planning would soon be instituted at the University of Ghana, Legon to achieve that goal.

This goal would strengthen the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment's capacity in manpower planning and employment so as to solve the problem of graduate unemployment in the country.

The sector Minister, Cecilia Bannerman, who made this known in Parliament last week said a survey of unemployed graduates had already been completed to assess the manpower needs of the country.

She was answering a question in the name of Hon. Kwakye Addo, MP for Afram Plains South as to what plans the Ministry had to assess the manpower needs of the country.

The Minister disclosed further that a total number of 621 unemployed graduates from all the tertiary institutions in the country both public and private were interviewed during the exercise to assess the relationship between tertiary education and the job market.

In addition the first ever-national labour market survey has been completed.

According to the Minister data collected from 4,209 housesholds, 753 establishments and 2224 enterprises in the informal sector of the economy are being processed and analysed.

GRi…/

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The Accra Mail

Institute tax to discourage importation of old vehicles

The Accra Mail carries that Mr Ernest Asare, Director of Marketing and Communication at the Energy Foundation, has called for a tax structure that would discriminate against the importation of old vehicles.

He said the current formula for the calculation of import duties favours the importation of vehicles that are eight to 10 years old which are noted for their high consumption of petroleum products.

Mr Asare, who was speaking at a day's seminar on climate change and socio-economic impacts, said import duties must be based on fuel efficiency and age of vehicles instead of engine capacity. It was organized by the Green Earth Organisaiton (GEO), an NGO for partners in the environmental sector.

The transport sector alone, he said, accounts for the consumption of over 63 per cent of petroleum products imported into the country and is growing at about six per cent per annum.

"Analysis of a random sample of 15,000 vehicles registered in 1995 and 1996 shows that 96.1 per cent of all the vehicles in the study were used when they were first registered."

Out of this, over 60 per cent were at least 10 years old when they were first registered in Ghana.

Mr Asare also suggested the restructuring of the Vehicles Examination and Licensing Division of the Ministry of Transport to focus on monitoring and enforcing of regulations while the private garages would be responsible for ensuring that vehicles are roadworthy.

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Public Agenda

Anomabu to establish center in honour of Ferguson, Aggrey, others

The Anomabu Traditional Council is to build a 'Heroes Centre' where the mortal remains of Dr George Ekem Ferguson would be re-interred and the effigies of Dr Kwegyir Aggrey, George Kuntu-Blankson and other eminent citizens of the town mounted.

Dr Ferguson's remains are to be brought down from Wa, where he was buried, after he had been killed by soldiers of Samouri Toure, a slave raider, while on duty for the colonial government.

The Omanhene of the Traditional Area, Nana Amonu XI, announced this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Anomabu. He said the Council has meanwhile set up a five-member committee headed by himself to protect and preserve a memorial erected in honour of Dr Ferguson, a renowned politician, explorer and surveyor in the 19^th century. Dr Ferguson, who was born in 1864, was instrumental in bringing many of the Northern Territories, now the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions under British rule.

Sir Arnold Hudson, a Governor in the colonial era, erected a monument, consisting of a cenotaph with a brass plaque bearing the biography of Dr Ferguson in the town at a site now known as the 'Ferguson Memorial Park'.

Nana Amonu said the establishment of the committee became necessary after a lunatic removed the plaque from the cenotaph a few weeks ago. He said the plaque has been retrieved from the man and that the committee plans to rehabilitate the park before replacing it.

GRi…/

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