‘We’ll uphold rule of law’ - Prez Kufuor
President reacts to report
‘We’ll uphold rule of law’ - Prez Kufuor
President John Kufuor has assured the
international community that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will
administer the country in line with the party’s philosophy of the rule of law,
the right to own property and tolerance for opposing views.
The government is therefore, resolved to ensure
that the right political atmosphere is created for citizens to carry out their
legitimate business irrespective of political or ethnic affiliation, President
Kufuor told a six-man delegation from the Konrad Adenaeur Foundation of Germany
led by Klaus-Jurgen Hedrich, Deputy Minister of Foreign Aid, who called on him
at the Castle Osu on Tuesday.
The state own Daily Graphic reporting, says,
also included in the team were MPs from the Bundestag and the European
Parliament. President Kufuor said Ghanaians are happy that the seed of
democracy, which Ghana have sowed, has been recognised such that the country is
now enjoying a lot of goodwill from the international community.
The President said Ghanaians by nature are very
tolerant and essentially liberal and these attributes have gone a long way to
nurture democracy in the country.
He said since the party takes its roots from the
oldest political tradition, which is founded on the philosophy of the rule of
law, “we are committed to making sure that the people go about their legitimate
duties without fear of suppression”.
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Interest groups in the agricultural sector on
Tuesday called for a review of some of the country’s agricultural policies that
were abolished, particularly subsidies on selected inputs and services.
The groups, which include researchers and
agriculturists drawn from the University of Ghana and the civil society, have a
collective membership on a sub-regional network involving five countries in
Central and West Africa, known as SADAOC Network.
The network aims at improving food security policy
formulation and implementation in West Africa, mainly through institutional and
research capacity building and enhancing the interface between researchers,
policy-makers and civil society.
They also proposed that there should be policy
guidelines for acquisition of farmlands in order to ensure property right and
adequate investments in short and long term land improvement measures.
Presenting a paper on food security in the
country, Dr Regina O. Adutwum, Deputy Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture,
described as inadequate the production credit available to farmers, adding that
this constrains, to a large extent, the adoption and extensive use of modern
agricultural inputs in the country, particularly among small scale farmers.
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Mr Kwame Pianim, a management and investment
consultant has said that despite the improved economic indices, the national
economy still looks very fragile due to uncertainty in the world economy.
He said low inflation rate, stable currency and
lower interest rates are not adequate to generate the necessary growth and
development.
Speaking at a lecture on the theme “The
Economy, Which Way” organised by the Rotary Club of Accra, Mr Pianim said these
modest achievements have to be supported by increased productivity in all
sectors of the national economy.
He said for once, fiscal and monetary policies
are working together in the economic history of this country and that the
government is beginning to match its revenue with expenditure, adding that
prudent economic management is an essential ingredient for economic growth.
The non-traditional sector, according to him,
has however not yet received the necessary support that will enable it to play
a meaningful role in the export market and generate the necessary foreign
exchange for the country. But adding value to these, he said, will make them
competitive and more acceptable on the international markets.
On divestiture of state enterprises, Mr Pianim
called on government to be very careful in reviewing all the diverted state
enterprises, saying, “this will give wrong signals to both local and foreign
investors”. He said unless government has cause to believe that a particular
company was not well divested, government can call for an investigation into
the said company.
Mr Pianim also called on think tanks, such as
the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Centre for Policy Analysis and the
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, to come out with
regular review on the economy so as to generate the needed discussions and
debate.
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The Minority in Parliament has given the
government up to the end of this month to set up an independent public inquiry
into the acceptance of $25,000 by the Black Stars contingent to Port Harcourt
after the team’s defeat by Nigeria’s Super Eagles in a World Cup qualifying
match last July.
The Minority said it would “invoke all legal
and constitutional instruments at its disposal to have the matter investigated
and dealt with,” if nothing is done after the November 30 deadline.
A statement issued in Parliament House, Accra,
on Tuesday and signed by the Minority Spokesman on Youth and Sports, Mr Abugah Pele,
who is also the MP for Chiana-Paga Constituency, reiterated the Minority’s call
on government to establish the full facts of the incident.
It described as “bogus and fraudulent” a recent
decision by the Executive Council of the FFA, absolving the Chairman of the
GFA, Mr Ben Koufie, of any wrongdoing in respect of the acceptance of the
amount.
The statement said the action of the GFA
Executive Council amounted to window-dressing and “an amateurish attempt to
throw dust in the eyes of the public.”
“Any attempt to whitewash the unethical actions
of the FA Chairman and the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports with a quack
decision of the FA Executive Council will make the President’s policy of zero
tolerance for corruption meaningless,” the Minority observed.
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A coalition of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) on the environment has called on the government and the mining company
responsible for the spillage of cyanide into rivers Esuman and Huni in the
Western Region to conduct a health screening exercise in the communities along
the polluted rivers.
A spokesperson for the coalition, Mr Abdulai
Darmani, called on the government to address the concerns and interest of
communities affected by mining operations in the current review of the mining
process in the country.
The coalition, which comprises the Centre for
Public Interest (CEPIL), the League of Environmental Journalists (LEJ), the
Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) and the Third World
Network-Africa (TWN), reiterated its call for an independent investigation into
the safety of the polluted water.
The coalition has recommended to the
government, to maximize the economic benefits of mining to the state and local
communities affected by mining.
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A Kumasi-based labourer, Abubakari Adamu, out
of sheer ecstasy collapsed after winning 75 million cedis from the DNL 5/39
Fortune, a national lottery.
Adamu won five numbers with a 1,000 cedis worth
of coupon. He was the second person in the Ashanti Region to have won part of
the mega prize of 150 million cedis.
Adamu, 30, was later revived by his friends and
rushed to the offices of the 5/39 Fortune where his coupon was confirmed. The
dumbfounded Adamu could not control his tears as he sang praises to Allah for
turning his life around. Adamu was said to have been unemployed for two years.
Later in an interview, he thanked Allah for winning the lottery, which will
make life better for him and his family.
GRi…/
The
Ghanaian Chronicle says its investigations has exposed the involvement of the
Swedish government and the Swedish consulate in Accra in an illegal deportation
syndicate in which the honorary consul in Ghana, a former minister of state,
was paid to facilitate the dumping of non-Ghanaians in Ghana.
The
exposure of the syndicate has resulted in a major controversy in Sweden and
also formed the basis of court suits against the Swedish government.
Investigations according to the paper revealed that the Swedish honorary consul
in Ghana, Mr Amarkai Amarteifio, a highly respected lawyer and one-time Youth
and Sports minister in the PNDC era, exploited the opportunity and made
monetary gains for giving the greenlight that the deportees could be brought to
Ghana, even though he knew that it was against international laws.
“In
most cases voices and pictures of such deportees would be recorded and sent to
Mr Amarkai who will sit in his office and listen to the tape and then confirm
that the person was a Ghanaian and should be repatriated to Ghana. In most
cases, Mr. Amarkai’s judgements, were wrong resulting in deportation of
innocent people who became a burden on the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS)”
states the Chronicle.
Based
on Mr Amarkai’s greenlight, the Swedish government would then send police
escorts in charted flights to accompany the deportees to Accra where they were
met on arrival by Mr. Amarkai Amarteifio at the Kotoka International
Airport.
Mr
Amarkai’s law firm, Amarteifio & Company, would then be awarded an
automatic contract from the Swedish government for which he charged not less
than $25 per hour for “legal service”.
The
honorary consul in some circumstances usurped the powers of the GIS and carried
out what he describes as “investigating the background of the deportees”. Mr
Amarkai has however denied parts of the reports.
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President reacts to report
The Minister
of Information and Presidential Affairs, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, has reacted to
media reports of comments made by the President, John Kufuor, on the
End-of-Service Benefit (ESB) during his recent tour of the Northern Region.
A transcript of a video footage representing
what was exactly said by President and seeking to correct any unfortunate
attributions on his part read: “Since I started my tour two days ago I have
heard that back in Accra, some workers have started agitating-putting the red
band on their heads and hands because they say government must restore
End-of-Service Benefit immediately or otherwise they will go on strike.
“I believe they are being unfair to this
government. It was not this government that abolished the End-of-Service Benefit.
It was abolished by the previous regime and yet, it was that regime that at the
end of its tenure took End-of-Service Benefit. And I didn’t hear the workers
then complain against that government.
“I have come and I have promised that I want
partnership between the workers and the employers and that government will be
party to their partnership for the good of Ghana.
“I have said we must restore value to the money
of Ghana and improve the economy for the benefit of all of us. And any normal
right thinking person knows it takes time to correct a failed economy like we
inherited and government is keeping to its word. So why should anybody want to
force a confrontation with this government, especially during this season of
Ramadan and Xmas?
“I want to believe the workers who are talking,
as I have heard, are talking in sincerity and out of innocence. I don’t want to
believe there is an ulterior motive or hidden hands behind those who are
seeking agitation now. Because, if it is right, if there is an ulterior motive
then I want to assure those people this government will not budge. It will move
at its own pace and will keep the promise it has made to Ghana. It won’t be
hes-er rushed.
“It won’t be stampeded. So let the workers
desist, let them talk. And the gates of the government are open for dialogue.
Already, I have instructed my Minister, the sector Minister responsible, to
talk to the leaders of the workers to try and make sanity prevail. So I want to
use this platform to tell everybody this government will never take the working
masses of Ghana for a ride.
“This is not a government that will want to
cheat its workers. This is not a government that will want to take for itself
what it will deny others. The proof is there for any objective observer to see.
So I am appealing to them to let the spirit of the season prevail. Ramadan is
starting in a few days’ time and Xmas is around the corner. These are seasons
of goodwill. They should let goodwill prevail and give this government time to
prove itself.
“We talked of HIPC, we have worked at it and
the whole world is acknowledging the rightness of that policy. It will be a
shame if some sections of our society should seek to undermine this very
positive policy government has taken for the benefit of the economy and people
of Ghana.
“Soon, and I repeat, soon our creditors around
the world will endorse the initiative we tood in HIPC. So let the workers be
patient and bid their time with this government. They should stop wearing the
red band. They should stop threatening. They should rather seek to be
productive wherever they are so we put value into our money and we earn more
for what we produce.
“That is the way to ensure that at the end of
your working life, you get whatever. Whatever you take will be something of
value. We don’t want to give you paper money that does not pay anything so I am
appealing to you - be patient, be tolerant. And think of Ghana. Think of the
economy for the benefit of all of us.
The Daily Graphic in its Thursday November 21
issue had quoted President Kufuor to have stated in his address at a Tamale
gathering that, “we will not take workers for a ride. We are ready for
dialogue, but at the same time, we shall not kowtow to unrealistic
demands.”
The alleged statement by the President has had
some rippling effect as some workers unions have registered their displeasure
at what was said to be the President’s comments about workers.
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Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, former Minister of Planning and
Regional Integration says that the “VISION 2020” document cannot be replaced
with the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) without Parliamentary
approval.
A letter to the ‘Times’ by the ex-Minister in
reaction to the paper’s front-page story of November 16, said, “I have read
your front-page story on the above in the Friday, November 16, 2001, issue of
the Ghanaian Times in which the following statements are attributed to Dr.
Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Cooperation:
“Government has replaced the “Vision 2020”
document with “Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy” (GPRS). Vision 2020 lacked
linkage between its targets and the national budget. There should have been
harmony between the national budget and the targets of the strategy so that
objectives would agree with funding from the budget. Vision 2020 did not have
specific costs.”
The ex-Minister’s letter said on the assumption
that Nduom has been correctly reported, and as the immediate past Minister of
Planning, Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration, I would like to
comment as follows for the benefit of the public:
“Vision 2020” can not be replaced with the
GPRS, because the Document is in fulfilment of Article 36(5) of the
Constitution which states as follows: “-within two years after assuming office,
the President shall present to Parliament a coordinated programme of economic
and social development policies, including agricultural and industrial
programmes at all levels and in all the regions of Ghana”.
“I do not see the GPRS responding to this
constitutional requirement. On the other hand, if the GPRS is the NPP
Government’s compliance with Article 36(5), then: (a) it must be presented as
such: (b) it must be presented to Parliament”, the letter said.
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The President, Mr J.A. Kufuor has stressed the
need for the development of investment banking in the country. “This is the
time for our bankers to accept the challenge and grow businesses, take venturists in hand, give them advice, accept some of the risks and take pride in
seeing Ghanaian business flourish.”
Opening the fifth National Banking Conference
in Accra on Monday under the theme: “Golden Age of Business and wealth
creation: Myth or Reality-the role of the banking industry”, the President in a
speech read on his behalf, said there was the need for investment banking to
provide long-term capital.
“The industries that we want to encourage such
as agricultural processing sector, require medium to long term capital which
cannot be raised on the basis of present interest rates,” he added.
Mr Kufuor said that there was the need for the
banking industry to be deepened and in response to government’s initiative at
stabilizing the economy, it behove on banks to modermize their system.
“Banks should provide innovative products,
adopt high professional standards, give prompt attention to customers’ needs,
and shorten customer turnaround time to reduce the transaction cost of banking
and increase consumer confidence. This means that must invest in the new
technologies,” he said.
He stressed the need for the business community
to benefit from the falling inflationary rates.
GRi…/
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CPP demanded seized assets
The
Convention People’s Party (CPP) is taking steps to recover all assets, which
were confiscated to the state after the First Republic. In furtherance of this,
the leadership will soon submit a petition to the government to see how best
the seized assets can be returned to the party, according to The Evening News.
The party’s national chairman and leader, Dr
Abubakar Alhassan, announced this at the inauguration of a 11-member
Brong-Ahafo Regional Council of Elders of the party at Sunyani. He appealed to
former and present members of the party who has vital documents on such assets
in their possession to send them to the leadership of the party.
Dr Alhassan hoped that “in the spirit of
national reconciliation, the government will respond positively and act
favourably”.
He said the party’s decision to support the NPP
in the run-off of the 2000 elections was in the national interest, which had
started paying off. He advised the new executives to act as arbiters and
mediate disputes as well as promote reconciliation among the rank and file of
the party.
The CPP chairman said the fragmented Nkrumaist
parties were now closer towards unity and were working seriously to forge a
common front to win the 2004 elections.
GRi…/
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