Don't sell passports to aliens - Koomson
National Productivity Movement to be established
Show transparency in work - Alabi
Chinese delegation visits GAEC
Kaunda urges African leaders to minimise suffering in region
Parliament urged to pass affirmative action law for women
European Union provides 3.8 billion cedis
for infrastructure in Upper East
Chinese delegation ends discussions with
MEST
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
Mr. Jacob Amponsah Koomson, Director of Passports, on Tuesday asked Ghanaians, especially those abroad, to desist from selling their passports to foreigners because it tarnishes the image of the country.
It is also a crime to use the services of "passport contractors" or influence government officials with money and other incentives when processing passports, he said when briefing journalists about activities and service principles of the Passport Office at the "Meet-the-Press" Programme in Accra.
"We wish to express deep concern about the rather unpatriotic practice of some of our own people abroad who for whatever reasons sell their Ghanaian passports to aliens. Needless to say these aliens end up soiling the hard-earned image of our dear country", Mr. Koomson said.
While conceding that the processing of passports is sometimes delayed, Mr. Koomson said the hold-up is sometimes necessary for the vetting of documents accompanying the passport application forms.
Problems of under-staffing, high numbers of applications, lack of requisite equipment to scan photos and thumbprints, interruptions and pressure from all categories of people, and other human problems are responsible for delays.
"We have only six officials issuing passports for the whole of the country and the number of applicants is amazing. We are also told that some Ghanaians throw away their passports when they are refused visas and apply for new ones. They must know that when your passport is stamped it does not mean you cannot use it again."
Answering a question about the link between long periods of processing and the use of middlemen, Mr Koomson said it should take a maximum of 30 days for processing, adding that middlemen usually do not speed up the process.
"It is true that sometimes they can get the passport within a few days because sometime ago we arrested a young man who posed as a doctor who was sending a hole-in-heart child, her mother and two relatives abroad for treatment. We accepted the documents he brought on humanitarian grounds and gave him the passports, but before he left, someone identified him as a passport contractor and he was arrested and jailed for three years."
Mr. Koomson said loopholes also exist for exploitation within its allied agencies such as the Births and Deaths Registry and the Immigration Service and urged staff involved in illegal passport operations to desist from the practice, adding that culprits would be arrested and prosecuted, he warned.
In response to a question about who qualifies for a diplomatic passport and why Mr. Gilchrist Olympio, a Togolese politician, was issued with one, Mr. Koomson said:
"By rule the Minister of Foreign Affairs reserves the right to issue a diplomatic passport to any body he deems fit. The President, the Vice President, Ministers of State and diplomats also qualify for diplomatic passport."
The Passport Office operating under the Legal and Consular Bureau has the mandate to issue passports and other travelling documents to bona fide Ghanaians and, in some cases, foreigners who have no criminal record. It issues international, ordinary, diplomatic and service passports as well as, ECOWAS and Hajj travel certificates.
On whether deposits of 100 pounds paid against repatriation in 1962 can be claimed, Mr. Koomson said since the Passport Office does not receive money, the agency, which issued receipt for payment must be contacted.
He said such deposits were collected in the past to assist the Consular section of Ghana missions to assist stranded Ghanaians.
People who returned without being deported were supposed to apply for refund, but many people took it for granted.
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National Productivity Movement to be established
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, on Tuesday said measures are underway for the establishment of a National Productivity Movement (NPM) to create a conducive environment for productivity improvement at all levels of the economy.
Opening a two-day national productivity movement forum organised by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW), Alhaji Mumuni noted that experience in Singapore and elsewhere shows that productivity improvement is the fulcrum of achieving high growth rate in the economy as a whole.
The forum, sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Bank (WB) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), is under the theme: Productivity Movement; key to achieving Ghana's Vision 2020.
It aims at creating the platform for experts in industry, commerce, academia as well as policy makers to contribute their views towards accelerated social and economic advancement.
"Our drive for a more rapid process of economic growth, therefore, requires qualitative improvements in the conduct of business to improve productivity in both our private and public sectors," he said.
Alhaji Mumuni said productivity improvement in the public sector, for example, depends to a large extent on a substantial reduction in transaction cost through reforms such as cutting down the bureaucratic hierarchies and reducing the chain of command to ensure speed and efficiency.
This is the reason underlying the need for the formation of the NPM, to generate enthusiasm, commitment, sincerity and dedication in all public and private sector employers and employees.
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Show transparency in work - Alabi
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
Mr. Joshua Alabi, Greater Accra Regional Minister, on Tuesday called on officials entrusted with salaries and pension procedures to show transparency in their work to avoid continuous delays in payment.
He was opening a two-day regional seminar on pensions and salary procedures for regional heads of departments, personnel officers, district co-ordinating directors, and finance officers of the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies organised by the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAG).
It is aimed at injecting efficiency into the operations of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and emphasising the importance of proper input procedures for both salary and pension. It was also to educate the public servants on the need to initiate applications for gratuity and pension earlier before their day of retirement, among others.
Mr. Alabi said although previous workshops have resolved most of the major issues with the administration of the (Cap 30) pension, there are however some unresolved pertinent problems.
He said it is important that the procedure for payment of benefits should be strictly adhered to in order to move frustrations and dehumanising practices in processing and payment of retirement benefits. "Furthermore, the process should be shortened to facilitate prompt payment of benefits of the final day of retirement", Mr. Alabi said.
Mr. Samuel Addokwei-Addo, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, appealed to CAG to consider paying salaries fortnightly instead of monthly to avoid undue hardships on workers.
He noted that the public sector is losing brilliant and hardworking personnel to the private sector as a result of undue delays in payment of salaries and called on the CAG to take a critical look at the situation.
Dr Robert Duodu, Head of Civil Service, said he was disappointed at the low attendance by participants and called for a change in attitude of civil servants.
"The attitude of civil servants towards time and attendance is a fact but this culture of lateness must be changed to facilitate reforms in the service", he said.
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Chinese delegation visits GAEC
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
A Professor at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) on Tuesday said the Ghana Research Reactor 1 (GHARR-1) is under-utilised and urged businesses and corporations to patronise its services to enable the country to derive maximum benefit from it.
Professor E.H.K. Akaho, Acting Director and Reactor Manager, said GHARR-1, designed and manufactured by the China Atomic Energy Commission, is used for multi-elemental analysis of geological, industrial, medicinal and agricultural samples as well as teaching of Reactor Physics in the Universities.
"Since it was installed and commissioned in 1994, the 30 Kilowatt Reactor has operated without any hiccup," he said, adding that a lot more needs to be done to increase its utilisation from the present 1,000 customer service to 5,000, he said when the five member Chinese delegation currently in the country to explore opportunities of enhancing Ghana's industrial and agricultural sectors visited the commission.
Dr Akaho said even though the charges are low, individual companies are reluctant to bring samples for research due to lack of knowledge of the Reactor's effectiveness. A programme is therefore underway to create greater awareness.
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Kaunda urges African leaders to minimise
suffering in region
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 May 2000
The former president of Zambia, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, last night urged African leaders to find ways of minimising the suffering of their people by avoiding conflict and civil wars, which are rife on the continent.
"African leaders should think about the suffering of their people by planning effectively and strategically about their progress,"
Dr Kaunda said in a departure interview at the Airport, after a two-day private visit during which he participated in the launch of the operations of the Amalgamated Network Systems (ANS), a tele-communications firm in Kumasi.
He said Africa continues to experience turbulent periods of political and economic development at a time when such developments should have been over, to enable her to compete with the world economy.
"The world is not waiting for us and therefore we must do everything possible to build a stable environment on which the people will be free to lead a peaceful and enjoyable life", he said.
The former president said the sources of the numerous conflicts on the continent are land disputes, which were bequeathed to us during the period of demarcation by the colonial masters.
He said there is no magic wand in building a stable society and that it is only achieved through love for each other and the avoidance of tribalism.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 26 May 2000
Members of the Ashanti region branch of the co-ordinating committee of the three northern regions and the Zongos (COZONGO), have appealed to those concerned with the selection of a running mate to professor J.E.A. Mills, flagbearer of the NDC, to seriously consider someone of the northern extraction for the post.
The appeal was contained in a statement issued in Kumasi on Tuesday, and jointly signed by Alhaji Moro Mohammed and Mr Dennis Kombert, regional chairman and organiser of the COZONGO.
The statement said "whatever criteria is being used in the selection of a running mate to the NDC flagbearer, it should be made clear that it is now the turn of somebody from the northern part of the country to occupy the position".
It observed that the three northern regions comprising the Northern, Upper East and West regions together with the Zongos, can boast of about 60 constituencies with a large number of eligible voters.
The statement said it is obvious that it is the northern regions that can assist the NDC to chalk victory in this year's elections and they should not be ignored.
It further asserted that "from 1992 to date, when this country was ushered into constitutional rule, the northern brothers and sisters had helped in various political capacities to sustain and nurture Ghana's young democracy".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
Mr Solomon Opoku-Gyamera, DCE for Asunafo in the Brong Ahafo Region and Mr Isaac Dasoberi, DCE for Lawra in the Upper West region have been fired by President Jerry Rawlings.
A statement signed by Mr Jimmy Amissah, Secretary to the President on Wednesday requested the regional ministers of the respective regions to exercise administrative responsibility for their districts pending the nomination and approval of new officers.
Meawhile, Mr David Osei-Wusu, Upper West Regional Minister has been moved to the Upper East region while Alhaji Amidu Suleimana reverts to his previous post as Upper West regional minister.
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Winneba (Central Region) 26 May 2000
Parliament has been urged to pass an affirmative action law to empower women to contribute to national development.
The Right Reverend Dr Godfred Zormelo, Senior Bishop's Deputy of the African Episcopal Methodist Episcopal Church, addressing the Women's Wing of the church at Winneba on Tuesday, said that this would give true meaning to the Beijing Declaration.
He pointed out that failure to pass such a legislation to demonstrate Ghana's support for the declaration would make the participation of the nation and the First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings in the next women's conference unproductive.
Such a law would raise the morale of women, he said and congratulated Nana Konadu and the leadership of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM), on its 18th anniversary.
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European Union provides 3.8 billion cedis
for infrastructure in Upper East
Bolgatanga (Upper East) 26 May 2000
The European Union has made available 3.8 billion cedis for its sponsored fifth micro-projects for the provision of infrastructure in the Upper East region.
The head of the EU delegation to Ghana, Mr. Charles Brook, disclosed this when he called on the Upper East regional Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, in his office at Bolgatanga on Tuesday, as part of his tour of the Upper East region to assess the people's preparedness towards the implementation of the projects.
Projects to be implemented under the current phase within the next three months would be finally selected for work to start by August 2000.
Mr. Brook called on the regional co-ordinating council and district assemblies to lend support for the success of the projects, stressing that the continuous willingness of the EU to provide funding for subsequent phases of the programme would depend very much on the co-operation of the people.
He emphasised the need for regular monitoring and supervision of the projects on the part of the district co-ordinating units to ensure that contracts awarded are completed within nine months as scheduled.
On his part, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana noted that facilities provided under previous phases of the EU micro-projects in some parts of the country have been of great use to the beneficiary communities.
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Chinese delegation ends discussions with
MEST
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 May 2000
Ghana and China are to co-operate in the areas of science and technology in the spirit of south-south co-operation, Professor Han Deqian, President of China Technology Market Association and leader of the Chinese delegation in the country said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a meeting between the delegation and officials of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), Professor Han said as part of Sino-Ghana co-operation, China would offer scholarships to 20 personnel of organisations under MEST to improve upon their knowledge and to learn at first hand from the Chinese experience
The meeting discussed issues to be incorporated in draft proposals for co-operation between the two countries in science and technology as a basis for development especially in rural areas.
The delegation, which leaves Ghana for Nigeria on Wednesday, visited organisations including the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ministries of Food and Agriculture and Local Government and Rural Development.
Mr. Cletus Avoka, Minister of Environment Science and Technology, said that the visit has helped to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries and called for common strategies and programmes for their mutual benefit.
He expressed his appreciation to the Chinese government for finalising arrangements for the delivery of 40 computers and 20 laser printers to the ministry and called for more assistance to enhance MEST's efforts in helping to achieve the objectives of Vision 2020.
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