We won’t take rush decision
Apam drivers protest
Row over cabinet
‘Govt will stem economic decline
JJ, Ex-NDC chiefs overpaid by 2.8b cedis
GFA Congress rejects audit report
Heavy losses at Tema port
Outcry! - Over Kufuor’s Deputy Ministers
IMF angry with Bank of Ghana
Gaddafi, Jerry and Presidential Jet
AMA pays 69m cedis to ex-NDC MPs
Kwesi Nduom, Minister without Power
We won’t take rush decision – says Aliu on HIPC
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has emphasized that the government will not rush to take any decision on the country joining the Highly-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), reports The Ghanaian Times.
He explained that a Technical Committee has been constituted to examine the HIPC critically to enable the government to take a decision that is in the interest of the country.
Alhaji Mahama said these when he received a 16-member business delegation from the West Africa Enterprise Network (WAEN), which called on him at the State House in Accra.
The Vice-President gave the assurance that the government will adopt a very careful approach to the issue, because it had the interest of the nation at heart, and would only go for the best for Ghana.
On private sector development, he re-stated the government’s commitment to develop the sector and open it up for business.
In doing that, he said the government was ready to seek support and partnership from business groups such as WAEN and others, to share ideas.
Alhaji Aliu said that the issue of regional integration was being viewed with seriousness by the government and that explains why a separate ministerial portfolio had been created to make the concept workable for Ghana.
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Apam drivers protest
The Times says drivers plying the Agona Swedru-Apam route on Wednesday, withdrew their services in protest against the new lorry fares fixed by the Ghana Road Transport Co-ordinating Council (GRTCC).
They blocked the road at Gomoa Obuasi, leaving many passengers stranded.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Apam, Mr Nicholas Atta-Boison, a station master said that the 15 per cent increase in fares as against 64.3 per cent increment in the price of petrol, had made the running of commercial transport services unprofitable.
He cited a minibus, carrying 12 passengers from Apam to Swedru at the new fare of 2,200 cedis making 25,400 cedis and stated that out of the amount, a driver would buy two gallons of petrol for 21,000 cedis pay 2,000 cedis as a booking fee and 800 ceids as park toll, leaving only 1,600 cedis as his sales.
He therefore appealed to the GRTCC to consider reviewing the new fares.
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Row over cabinet
There was a heated debate in Parliament on Thursday over the composition of the Cabinet, according to a ‘Daily Graphic’ story.
Whilst the Minority criticised the President for not including a minister from the Upper West Region in the Cabinet and therefore, claimed he had violated the Constitution, the Majority debunked the argument, saying the Cabinet represents a national cohesion.
The Minority also insisted that the President has failed to tell the nation which ministers constitute the Cabinet.
The 1992 Constitution stipulates that there shall be a Cabinet, which shall consist of the President, the Vice-President and not less than 10 and not more than 19 Ministers of State.
The heated debate, which was also characterised by hecklings, started when the NDC member for Kumbungu, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, was contributing to the debate on the President’s Sessional Address delivered to the House on February 15.
Alhaji Mumuni’s assertion that the Upper West has been left out in the Cabinet sparked off the heat such that the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Freddie Blay, who was in the chair, had to use the gavel several times to bring order to the debate.
At a certain stage in Alhaji Mumuni’s submission, the Majority Leader, Mr J.H. Mensah and his deputy, Papa Owusu Ankomah, raised points of order to ask Alhaji Mumuni not to play to the gallery to raise emotions, because the President is well-versed in the administration of the country.
More fire was brought into the debate when Mr E.T. Mensah (NDC-Prampram) made a statement to the effect that there seemed to be a perceived insecurity in higher circles of public service because of what he termed “the rampant statements on radio that certain Chief Executives and Heads of Departments should proceed on leave without the government giving adequate background information as to why they should go on leave.
“This is unparliamentary and the honourable member should be asked to withdraw the statement”, the Majority Leader said.
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‘Govt will stem economic decline
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, on Thursday reiterated the government’s resolve to stem the country’s economic decline and return it to the path of growth in the shortest possible time.
He pointed out, however, that this can be achieved if Ghanaians commit themselves to working a little harder than before.
Alhaji Mahama said this when he opened the fifth Ghana Industry and Technology Exhibition (INDUTECH 2001) at the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
Over 800 exhibitors from Ghana, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Denmark, others are taking part in the fair being organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to showcase locally-manufactured products and to expand market for the products.
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JJ, Ex-NDC chiefs overpaid by 2.8b cedis
The Ghanaian Chronicle says it has gathered that the ‘slushfund’ set up by the past NDC government at the Ashiagbor-owned Metropolitan and Allied Bank (MAB) was done way back in 1997 on January 23 on the orders of the Chief of Staff, the controversial Nana Ato Dadzie.
This followed a directive from Bank of Ghana (BOG) that all government accounts should move from the private and state-owned banks and transferred to the Central Bank.
Officials close to the BOG confirmed that until the paper broke the story about the End of Service Benefits (ESBs) and revealed that MAB was the conduit, BOG did not even know that any such account existed.
It was only after the news report that Banking Supervision Department traced the account and realised that it exists and that MAB did not comply with the directive ostensibly because it would have aborted the possible objective of pulling off such secret pay outs.
Curiously the boss of the bank, Ashiagbor, has been putting out advertisements in the newspapers explaining away the circumstances under which the ESB payments were made despite orders from Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Chief of staff, that the signatories to the government accounts had changed and that their cheques should not be honoured. The MAB advertorials appear to be thin on truth.
In a directly related account, it has been established that the former President, Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, ex-Veep Atta Mills and his men overpaid themselves by 2.28 billion cedis using basic salaries which were higher for the computation of their leave and end of service benefits.
Salary levels of November 2000 were used in working out pay throughout the four years.
As much as 980 million cedis were paid to those who were not even qualified by the NDC Government’s own formulae to receive the sums.
Chronicle also learnt that Mr Ato Dadzie handled the transactions but failed to make the mandatory income tax deductions.
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GFA Congress rejects audit report
An eight-member committee has been appointed by the Executive Council of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), according to Chronicle, to investigate the disbursement of a donation of $450,000 received from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) towards the hosting of the 2000 African Cup of Nations tournament.
This follows the refusal of the Congress to accept the Auditor-General’s report on the utilisation of the funds on Thursday at the extraordinary conference of the GFA held in Accra.
The Auditor-General’s report, which was issued on February 13th, 2000 virtually gave the Ghana Football Association a clean bill of health in terms of its utilization of the funds.
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Heavy losses at Tema port
The Evening News writes that when a year ago a scanning machine was installed at the Tema Harbour amidst intense publicity and fanfare, the impression created was that it would facilitate the clearing of imported goods at the harbour.
“However, later events have proved that it is a massive fraud visited on the people of Ghana as the state continues to lose millions of cedis in revenue collection.”
The machine was installed by Gateway Services Limited (GSL) and is being operated by SCANCO, a subsidiary of GSL, which is strongly connected to some powerful NDC gurus.
Officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), according to investigations, have no hand in the operation of the scanner.
It was realized that the scan only gives X’ray view of the goods in the container without providing the actual make and quantity of the goods.
“The GSL is playing the role of a referee and at the same time a player. It generates the invoices and then carries out the scanning through SCANCO, its subsidiary company,” the paper said.
Through this process, importers collude with officials at the GSL under-declare the quantity and actual cost o the goods, thus, avoid paying the stipulated import and other duties.
The investigations by the paper concluded that to eliminate the rapid loss of revenue the government should as a matter of urgency review the entire agreement relating to the operation of the scanning machine and allow the physical examination of all important goods.
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Outcry! Over Kufuor’s Deputy Ministers
The latest nominees of President John Agyekum Kufuor to the positions of Deputy Ministers have come under criticisms from both the public and even some NPP Members of Parliament and stalwarts, reports ‘The Daily Guide’.
Public reactions generally is that the number of the Deputy Ministers is too huge and that it has made no difference in as far as the size of the executive arm is concerned, as compared to the size of the ex-NDC government. The number of Ministers approved and currently nominated stands at 71.
But the major concern is about the number of Ministers that have been plucked out of Parliament for executive positions in line with constitutional provisions.
So far 18 MPs have been nominated for the position of Deputy Ministers in addition to the 24 MPs who have been approved and are working as Ministers of state.
This brings the number to 42 MPs who have been selected from Parliament for Ministerial positions reducing the NPPs 100 seats for effective work in the House to 58.
Daily Guide sources say the MPs themselves are worried about the development.
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IMF angry with Bank of Ghana
The Free Press reports that International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials currently visiting Ghana are unhappy with Bank of Ghana’s handling of money supply in the country saying, “it is too high”.
“Bank of Ghana did not control expenditure properly last year. The Bank printed 900 billion cedis into the economy to help the NDC in the December 7, elections”, an official source told the paper in an interview last Tuesday.
Bank of Ghana was vulnerable to pressures from the defeated NDC government over the years.
The situation led to an increase in inflation of up to 40.5 per cent, which is generally responsible for the hikes in prices of commodities in the country.
The IMF team, which arrived in the country a week ago has been assessing Ghana’s financial performance over the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor on which position to take on the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)
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Gaddafi, Jerry and Presidential Jet
The Dispatch says as President John Kufuor concludes his visit to Libya, credible reports filtering in have revealed that one of the topic discussed between the Ghanaian President and his Libyan host, President Muamar Al-Qathafi, was how the issue of the controversial lease of the President jet, the Gulfstream III could be ‘settled amicably’ without much embarrassment to Jerry Rawlings and his former government.
It was not clear how the talks went but there are indications that some highly-placed officials in the former Rawlings administration made the initial approaches on the issue.
These approaches were said to have been made following the decision by President Kufuor to dispose of the jet and get to the bottom of the lease: which company leased it to Ghana, the terms, etc.
As a first step, the Kufuor administration has defaulted in the payment of the lease for January 2001. It is looking likely that the government will default in payment again for February. This, analysts believe, will enable the government get to know the company, those behind it, the terms and other necessary information that have not been forthcoming.
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AMA pays 69m cedis to ex-NDC MPs
The cash-strapped Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has, according to ‘The Weekend Statesman’ paid 69,757,702 cedis as waste collection fees to David Lamptey and Sylvester Mensah, two ex-NDC MPs, even though they are not known to be collectors of waste.
Lamptey, former MP for Klottey Korle, received 24,650,000 cedis on January 11, 2001 for “refuse collection” at Osu Klotey and his former counterpart at Dadekotopon, Mensah got 45,107,702 cedis on January 16, also for “refuse collection” at that constituency.
The Assembly also paid 12,000,000 cedis to Lamptey for an unspecified “clean-up” five days after the December 7 elections.
Not only that, the AMA also paid 371,250 cedis to Intec-build, a consultancy firm believed to belong to the outgoing Metropolitan Chief Executive, Samuel Addokwei Addo, in a clear case of conflict of interest.
The money is said to be consultancy fee for the construction of the Okaikoi Sub-Metro office. Not only had the drawings for the building already been done by the AMA’s City Engineer’s Department, the AMA has a large number of experts capable of supervising the project and did not need to engage any consultants beyond its own pool of engineers.
All these payments and others surprisingly were effected at the time when the NDC government was winding up. Other payments were made after the inauguration of the NPP government.
The scandalous payments are said to have generated a considerable amount of uproar, leading to some assembly members openly questioning Addokwei Addo for the rationale behind such payments.
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Kwesi Nduom, Minister without power
The criss-crossing of positions and the over-lapping of responsibilities, following the restructuring of some ministries are creating confusion and rendering some Ministers virtually redundant in the administration of the Kufuor Government, reports the ‘Ghana Palaver’.
Government “insiders” have cited the position of Dr Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Regional Economic Integration, whose main power base rests on the National Planning Commission, but whose Chairman is Mr. J.H. Mensah also Minister of Government Business as one of the cases, which call for concern.
According to administrative requirements, the Chairman of the commission should report to the sector Minister (Dr Nduom) and since Mr J.H. Mensah, “insiders” indicate, is in no mood to report to Dr Nduom the latter has become the proverbial “Simpa Panyin” (a chief without authority) in his outfit.
The fact that Dr Nduom was left behind in the two previous economic trips, undertaken by President Kufuor confirms the “irrelevance” of the Minister’s role in the scheme of affairs, the sources added.
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