Ministry spent 48 million cedis on J. H. Mensah's residence
“Who must refund what?” asks NPP Youth Wing
Korle-Bu board reacts to allegation
House calls for steps to recoup evaded taxes
Info Tech to computerise schools in Accra
Government to scrap private lotto
Shipyard workers call for a review of contract with investors
‘Youth in Agric Programme’ reviewed
Ministry spent 48 million cedis on J. H. Mensah's
residence
Kwamena Bartels, the out-going Minister of Works and Housing, has explained that the ministry did not spend 402 million cedis towards the renovation works on the official residence of J.H. Mensah, Senior Minister and Chairman of the Government's Economic Team as alleged by the Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin.
The Evening News which carries the story, reports him as saying that the ministry spent 48 million cedis out of the total estimate of 402 million cedis submitted by the architects- Architectural Engineering Services Limited (AESL) because of financial constraints.
Reacting to an accusation made by the Minority Leader that the ministry spent 402 million cedis on the official residence of Mr Mensah, Bartels said although the AESL put the value of the structural works together with the replacement of furniture at 402 million cedis, the ministry ended up spending 48 million cedis to put the official residence of the former Majority Leader to shape.
The out-going Minister further explained that since the ministry could not afford to spend 402 million on the project due to its cash-strapped nature, it decided to concentrate on the painting of the building as well as electrical fitting and minor works, which amounted to 48 million cedis.
"We could not afford to have spent such a huge amount on only one bungalow. It is therefore not true that we spent 402 million cedis on Mr Mensah's bungalow," he said.
He said the actual renovation works would however be looked at when funds were available "because it is part of the maintenance culture of the government".
Mr Bartels further stated that a lot of government bungalows had been allowed to deteriorate and, therefore, a lot of money would be needed to bring them to acceptable standards, however, due to cash constraints, the ministry could not carry out the renovation of those government bungalows.
Asked whether the ministry would have gone ahead with the renovation works on the building estimated at 402 million cedis if funds were available, Mr Bartels said that "it might have been considered..”
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“Who must refund what?” asks NPP Youth Wing
The Greater Accra Youth Wing of the New Patriotic Party has protested against what it called “noises” being made by the minority NDC, over the provision of security at the President’s private residence.
They described the attitude of the NDC as unfortunate, given the fact that, the money was not meant for the renovation of the President's house as being speculated, but rather to provide specifically, security for the household.
According to the Evening News, a statement signed by Albert Afaglo, the youth organiser, noted that if donations to public holders could corrupt such officers and therefore, must be refunded then, the minority must urge their colleagues to refund donations they received whilst still in office.
"Former President must let us know how much his friends spend on his children's education abroad, Mr Victor Selormey must also refund the amount his good friend, Dr Owusu Boadu spent on his children's education in the United States. Mr Dan Abodakpi must also refund the amount spent by "philanthropist" Owusu Buadu, as school fees for his daughter in the USA".
The Youth Wing also pleaded with the NDC to convince the police service to refund the monies and other items donated by Reverend Annor Yeboah of the Christ Apostolic Church (CA), and Alhaji Asuma Banda.
"If gifts are now bribes as they are saying, then, Mr Rawlings and co. (Mr. Dan Abodakpi, Victor Selormey and others) must submit themselves for questioning. This, they must not see as witch-hunting but rather, the strengthening of zero tolerance for corruption".
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Korle-Bu board reacts to allegation
The Daily Graphic says the management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has described allegations of malfeasance levelled against it as unfounded and a calculated attempt to malign the board and management.
It has, accordingly, challenged the Daily Graphic to substantiate what it called "serious and malicious allegations," adding that, "the integrity of responsible servants of the state should not be dragged into the mud with a stroke of the pen".
This was contained in a statement signed by its Chief Executive, Dr Henry Holdbrooke-Smith in reaction to a story published in the Tuesday 23 October edition of the paper about the dissolution of the board of directors of the hospital and related issues.
Reacting to the specific allegations, it said the statement that the dissolved board met on 10 October 2001 is false. The statement also stated that the letter dissolving the board reached the chairman, Dr Col. W.Y. Anoff (rtd) on 9 October 2001, and that the last meeting of the board was on 27 September 2001.
On claims that financial losses incurred ran into billions of cedis, it said the hospital's audit report has not revealed any such losses and challenged the paper to substantiate the allegation that the hospital lost a colossal sum of 4.2 billion cedis last year, since the allegation is incorrect.
"Thirdly, with regard to the allegation of over invoicing, we wish to state that the supplier referred to submitted invoice for 21-inch television sets but rather supplied 20-inch sets. Management drew the suppliers' attention to the error and he was paid the price for the 20-inch television sets he supplied".
With reference to board allowances, the statement said they were determined by the then Minister of Health and described as untrue allegations that the hospital's supermarket had lost millions of cedis.
"Our records show that the Shoppe which has been operational for less than a year is making profit. As at June this year, the Shoppe had made a profit of 45 million cedis”, it added.
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House calls for steps to recoup evaded taxes
The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has recommended a special investigations of the Integrated Electronic Service (IES) Limited, mentioned in general goods for the financial years between 1998 and 2000, to ascertain its status.
The committee further asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take appropriate steps to recoup all taxes evaded by the IES, according to a Daily Graphic story.
It also recommended that the IES and its directors should be blacklisted and banned from dealing with any Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The recommendations were contained in a report for the adoption of the Auditor General's Report on the Public Accounts of Ghana for the period ended December 31, 1997 on MDAs of the Central Government (Judicial Service) presented to Parliament on Tuesday's sitting.
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Info Tech to computerise schools in Accra
A local computer firm, InfoTech Solutions, has begun a programme to integrate computer technology into the country's education system at the secondary school level.
Under the programme, secondary schools in Accra and elsewhere will not only be equipped with computers but also be provided with the necessary training to use the computers.
The programme known as the “E-Schools Programme” is designed as a nationwide educational sector development initiative, which seeks to provide pragmatic, efficient and affordable solution to the computerisation needs of schools, a statement by InfoTech in Accra said and added that nine schools in various parts of the country have benefited from the programme.
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Government to scrap private lotto
The Government is taking steps to stop the operations of the banker-to-banker and other private lotto operators, according to the Ghanaian Times.
Consequently, the Ministry of Finance has sent a memorandum informing and justifying the need to repeal the amendment to the Lotteries Act. The repeal of the amendment will empower the government to throw the private lotto operators out of business.
Miss Grace Coleman, Deputy Minister of Finance disclosed that the Finance Ministry was pursuing that action because the operators were not playing the game according to the rule, thereby denying the state of its much needed revenue.
She explained that investigations by the Ministry revealed that out of the 60 lotto operators, 24 did not have tax files. "This means that these 24 operators do not pay anything on the Value Added Tax (VAT) at all. One can imagine the amount of revenue (the) government is losing. During the investigations, it came up that one operator owes the state 3 billion cedis through the defaultment in VAT payment," she added.
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Shipyard workers call for a review of contract with
investors
Workers at the PSC Tema Shipyard Limited have asked the government to scrutinise and review the contract with the Malaysian investors who are the shareholders.
They said that the divestiture of the shipyard had not yielded any positive results; rather its fortunes were dwindling. The workers explained that the company was plagued with poor workers conditions and bad management practices.
According to the Ghanaian Times, indications are that the workers are preparing for a massive demonstration to press home their demand for better working conditions and the review of the privatisation programme with the Malaysian management.
The workers have also pleaded with the government to immediately institute a board of directors to oversee and help solve the numerous problems at the company.
Frustrated at the developments at the Shipyard, the workers have displayed banners at the company's main gate some of which read, "President Kufuor, give a chance to workers of the Shipyard and Ghanaians to participate fully in the Dry-docks operation", "We need our five per cent shares now" and "the Shipyard is crying for positive change."
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‘Youth in Agric Programme’ reviewed
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Youth in Agriculture programme has been reviewed to make it more attractive to the youth. Under the new programme, large tracts of land are to be acquired and parcelled out to the youth to go into tree crop plantations of about 10 acres per person. Crops to be cultivated include cashew, oil palm and citrus.
The programme will provide all inputs, and those who would be engaged would be provided with some money to live on until the crops mature and start to bear fruits.
At the first ordinary meeting of the Brong Ahafo Regional coordinating Council, Ernest A. Debrah, Regional Minister, said, "money invested in the plantations would be recovered when the crops start bearing fruits.
“With these large plantations, investors would be encouraged to set up agro-industries on the plantations to process the produce both for export and local consumption", he stated.
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According to the guards, their conditions of service at SecPoint, which was founded barely two years ago to provide security services to private homes and companies, is among the worst in the country.
They complain that management has not done much to alleviate their plight and attempts to have their grievances heard have always led to threats of dismissal.
According to the paper, the guards further reported that electric shockers are applied on guards for three days at the headquarters in Accra whenever there is a theft case.
However, when the Administrative Manager of SecPoint Security, Major John Addai (rtd), was contacted, he denied that management ever used electric shocks on any security guard during investigations into theft cases, even though he did not rule out the possibility that some guards could be involved in the ordeal to inflict pain on others. According to him, if anything like that was being done it has not yet been brought to the attention of management.
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The chief executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr. Solomon Ofei Darko, has appealed to Coca Cola International Company to form partnership with AMA in the sanitation and tourism sectors of the area, reports The Ghanaian Chronicle.
Mr Darko said a number of projects have been initiated by the assembly in order to give a new look to the metropolis. Among such projects are the improvement of tourism potentials and beautification of Accra.
According to the paper, the AMA chief executive was, however, quick to point out that the problem of sanitation in the metropolis puts a severe assault on the revenue of the assembly, adding that sanitation alone takes about 50 per cent of the assembly’s income.
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