ADB President lauds Ghana for embracing HIPC
Ministry to probe contract awards
Move to overhaul CID - Don’t rush it
UK to provide 155bn cedis
NDC planned joining HIPC
GSL exposed!
The HIPC Saga: Kufuor is not mad!
Widows cry for fitting burial
‘Probe J.H. Mensah’s case too’
NDC group charges on Nduom
ADB President lauds Ghana for embracing HIPC
The visiting President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Mr Omar Kabaj, has observed that Ghana’s decision to join the HIPC initiative is a positive move, which will be of great benefit to the nation, reports the Daily Graphic.
Mr Kabaj, who said this during a courtesy call on President J.A. Kufuor at the State House in Accra on Monday, explained that he was apprehensive of the trend of the HIPC debate in the country and maintained that the initiative should be embraced rather than condemned since it is in the best interest of the country.
The basis for this initiative, he further indicated, is to offer relief to countries so that they could channel such funds into poverty reduction programmes.
“Currently, there are about 31 countries in Africa who are members of the initiative and Ghana should not be an exception,” he stated.
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Ministry to probe contract awards
The Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines is investigating reports of wrong doings in the award of Timber Utilisation Contract (TUC).
Officials of the Forestry Commission are to be invited to help in the investigations to ascertain the truth or otherwise that the awards were partisan and favoured only special group of people.
Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the sector Minister, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra on Tuesday, said this has become necessary due to the numerous reports and petitions he has received since assuming office.
He said the investigation will also come out with what steps need to be taken if the allegations prove to be true, in order to strengthen the whole process.
As to whether the contract would be reviewed if the allegations are proven, the minister answered in the affirmative but said there are procedures that needed to be followed.
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Move to overhaul CID - Don’t rush it
A senior Ghanaian Intelligence officer has cautioned the Commissioner responsible for the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) not to rush to take decisions that might affect the effective operations of the department.
Accordingly, he has advised the Commissioner to hasten slowly in restructuring the department otherwise he might end up replacing some of the best detectives the country as ever produced.
The officer, speaking under anonymity, noted that any hasty changes is likely to see the cronies of the “big” men being appointed to fill certain portfolios they would not be competent to handle.
He explained that as special operatives of the Police Service, detectives learn more on the job and new ones, who are brought in, take time to adjust to the rudiments of detective work.
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UK to provide 155bn cedis
The Ghanaian Times reports that the United Kingdom (UK) is to provide Ghana with an additional 15 million pounds sterling (the equivalent of 155 billion cedis) of assistance.
An amendment to the grant agreement, which will allow for the increase was signed in Accra on Monday by Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, Minister of Finance, and Dr Rod Pullen, British High Commissioner in Accra.
This will allow the United Kingdom to increase the second tranche disbursement of seven million pounds sterling to £22 million.
The Finance Minister noted that the additional funding demonstrated the faith the UK government had in the Ghana Government, especially after its declaration to take advantage of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and its resultant debt relief.
“This ceremony therefore is not only an indication of your support but also a pointer to the goodwill towards the government and its policies. It is also proof that the government may receive an increase in the external grant aid we projected in our budget. Again, it will provide us with the necessary interventions that we have envisaged in our budget,” he stated.
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NDC planned joining HIPC
The Deputy Minister of Finance-designate, Mrs Grace Coleman has revealed that the former Minister of Finance, Mr Kwame Peprah, wrote a letter to the IMF requesting that Ghana be allowed to join the HIPC Initiative three years ago, according to ‘The Evening News’.
She said it is the NDC government that took the first initiative to go HIPC and, therefore, did not understand why they had turned round to critcise the NPP government’s decision to join the initiative, which the nation stands to benefit from.
Mrs Coleman, who made the revelation at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) roundtable discussions on the 2001 budget statement in Accra said, if the previous government had managed the economy well, the nation would not have had cause to join the HIPC at this point in time.
She stressed that the HIPC initiative had very good benefits but the government would not allow the IMF to dictate to it as to how the inflows under it would be applied adding that the government would do everything in the interest of the nation.
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GSL exposed!
Claims by the Gateway Services Limited (GSL) that its computerised Risk Analysis and Transaction Price Data Base represents the latest technology for customs examination in Ghana have been proved to be false.
Again, the scanner installed at the Tema Port and operated by SCANCO (a subsidiary of GSL) and which GSL believes is the best thing that ever happened to revenue mobilisation in Ghana has proved to be woefully ineffective in determining the actual quantity and quality of goods imported.
Evidence gathered by ‘The Evening News’ shows that the final classification and valuation report issued by the GSL to importers does not, in most cases reflect the real value of goods imported, thus, depriving the state of millions of cedis in import duties.
The GSL had told the paper that because of its affiliates in the exporting countries like the UK, Germany, USA, France, Japan and China, its price analyses are able to verify invoices generated by importers.
But this has been proved not to be true, an instance being last year when a major importer and distributor of pig feet on brine brought in a total of 4,200 barrels of pig feet, each weighing 45 kilogrammes.
The importer obviously declared low values compared to values declared by his competitors as his highest value of US 29.05 declared on the five consignments sharply contrasts the US 41 per barrel of the same goods from the same supplier, Meat Export Company of the Netherlands, shipped to a buyer in Accra.
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The HIPC Saga: Kufuor is not mad!
The Crusading Guide says, Tourism Minister and Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Madam Hawa Yakubu has indicated that the President, J.A. Kufuor, has taken the right decision in stating that Ghana should undergo the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
In an exclusive interview with the paper, Mad. Yakubu expressed the view that President Kufuor was not taking any outrageous decision but meant well for Ghanaians by declaring the country bankrupt for the HIPC initiative.
“Do you believe that Prez Kufuor, the way he is committed to being one of the leading personalities of the sub-region – to champion the cause of the sub-region – will just want to parade himself internationally as a leader of very poor country that is heavily indebted; do you think he will want to do that in the interest of Ghanaians? Hawa asked.
She said the President’s declaration was the reality, and charged Ghanaians to do all that is required of them to get Ghana out of the woods, adding that the HIPC initiative would afford Ghanaians the effort to address the economic mess in which they currently find themselves.
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Widows cry for fitting burial
The widows of the nine Generals executed in 1979 by the AFRC have appealed to the government for the exhumation of the bodies of their husbands, reportedly buried in unmarked graves, for a fitting burial, reports ‘The Statesman’.
A delegation of the widows led by Mrs. Emily Akuffo made this passionate appeal when they called on the First Lady, Theresa Kufuor, in Accra at the weekend.
“We only want to give our husbands a fitting resting place so that the 22 years of nightmare will be over,” she said sobbing.
The First Lady promised to pass on the message to the President and expressed the hope that their wishes would be granted.
The Generals, including three former Heads of State were executed by firing squad in June 1979 by the AFRC, led by Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings.
They were Lt.Gen. A.A. Afrifa, Gen. I.K. Acheampong and Gen. F.W.K. Akuffo.
The others were Air Vice Marshall George Yaw Boakye, Major Gen. E.K. Utuka, Maj. Gen. R.E.A. Kotei, Rear Admiral Joey Amedume and Col. Roger Feli.
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‘Probe J.H. Mensah’s Case Too’
The Ghana Palaver says the NDC has requested President J.A. Kufuor, to institute an investigation into the allegation against Mr J.H. Mensah, Minister for parliamentary Affairs and Leader of Government Business, that he had been convicted in the United Kingdom in 1997 for fraudulent refugee claims, even while he was an MP in Ghana.
The Party warned that if the President refuses to order the investigations, then Parliament, itself, should take up the matter.
These are contained in a statement issued in reaction to the dismissal of Mallam Yusif Isa, Minister of Youth and Sports, following the “loss” of his suitcase containing an amount of 46 thousand US dollars, meant for the Black Stars during their recent trip to Sudan.
Referring to the J.H. Mensah’s case, the NDC expressed its concerns over the matter, after recollecting how Mr Mensah, while as MP, attempted to travel out of Ghana with a refugee passport and was only prevented from doing so by vigilant Immigration officials at the Kotoka International Airport.
“The silence of Mr. J.H. Mensah and the NPP Government on the matter of his alleged criminal conviction is too deafening because if the allegation is true, then it is much more serious than Mallam Isa’s offence.
“If the President should fail or refuse to institute an investigation, then Parliament, itself, should take the matter up. After all, Parliament has the right to pass a vote of censure on any Minister under Article 82 of the Constitution”, the statement added.
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NDC group charges on Nduom
The Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, according to ‘The Independent’ last Friday fled the premises of the Parliament House to save himself from a possible attack.
This was after Dr. Nduom had revealed on the floor of the House during his contribution to the debate on the motion to approve the 2001 budget, that the European Union had written to the Kufuor government to demand the refund of loans granted the ex-NDC regime, which had been misapplied. This revelation infuriated the Minority group, some of whom, notably Hon. Dan Abodakpi, MP for Keta, openly issued out threats to him to either substantiate the allegation or withdraw it.
Tempers flared up among the Minority group as they kept on interrupting Dr. Nduom on points of order, demanding substantiation on the revelation. But the interruptions did not deter Dr Nduom from going ahead with his presentation to conclusion. After his presentation, some members of the Minority group led by Hon Abodakpi charged on him and openly warned him to be careful with what he says on the floor of the House.
This generated an uproar as the House was on adjournment and in the ensuing show of displeasure by the minority, Dr Nduom had no option but to flee the wrath of the Minority.
According to Dr Nduom, the European Union undertook a review of the loan facilities it had been granting Ghana and found out that there had been malpractice in their application. Consequently, the EU wrote to the government for a full refund of the loan facilities, which had been detected as having been misapplied.
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