20/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Ghana, EU sign agreement on timber export
20/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
CJ inaugurates e-justice task force
24/11/12
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
CJ inaugurates e-justice task force
24/11/12
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
‘Create independent regulatory body for oil’
25/11/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
CJ condemns abusive language in media
26/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, has condemned the use of insulting, abusive and foul language in the media.
That trend, she said, would not augur well for the unity and development of the country.
Mrs Wood was speaking yesterday at the mounting of the ‘Four-Way Test’ billboard at the Supreme Court by the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport.
The club had mounted a similar billboard at the Supreme Court five years ago, but it had faded. That necessitated the mounting of a new one.
The Four-Way Test consists of four questions: “Is it the truth?; Is it fair to all concerned?; Will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Mrs Wood said if Ghanaians adhered to the demands of the Four-Way Test, they would refrain from the use of foul and insulting words in the media.
She, therefore, charged the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport to mount the Four-Way Test billboards at all the courts.
The District Governor of Rotary District 9100, Mr Marwan Fattal, said Rotary would mount Four-Way Test billboards throughout the country.
He said when Rotarians mounted the Four-Way Test billboards at the courts, it was not to suggest that they were “holier than anybody else or that the courts were the culprits”.
“But the court is a place where what is the truth, fair, good and beneficial are debated every day. The question asked in the Four-Way Test may seem simple, but they provide deep principles for your professional lives,” he said.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, has condemned the use of insulting, abusive and foul language in the media.
That trend, she said, would not augur well for the unity and development of the country.
Mrs Wood was speaking yesterday at the mounting of the ‘Four-Way Test’ billboard at the Supreme Court by the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport.
The club had mounted a similar billboard at the Supreme Court five years ago, but it had faded. That necessitated the mounting of a new one.
The Four-Way Test consists of four questions: “Is it the truth?; Is it fair to all concerned?; Will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Mrs Wood said if Ghanaians adhered to the demands of the Four-Way Test, they would refrain from the use of foul and insulting words in the media.
She, therefore, charged the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport to mount the Four-Way Test billboards at all the courts.
The District Governor of Rotary District 9100, Mr Marwan Fattal, said Rotary would mount Four-Way Test billboards throughout the country.
He said when Rotarians mounted the Four-Way Test billboards at the courts, it was not to suggest that they were “holier than anybody else or that the courts were the culprits”.
“But the court is a place where what is the truth, fair, good and beneficial are debated every day. The question asked in the Four-Way Test may seem simple, but they provide deep principles for your professional lives,” he said.
Two Ghanaians die in Saudi
26/11/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
SADA will facilitate the devt of the north-Dr Gariba
2/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Development Policy Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Sule Gariba, has intimated that the success of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to facilitate the development of the north will much depend on the attitude of the people from the area.
He said there was the need for people from the north to rethink their development philosophy by moving away from the usual mantra of the ‘north is poorest’ for sympathy and harness all the available energy to support SADA initiatives.
Dr Gariba was delivering a paper on the theme, “Change for Sustainable Development”, at the sixth Tamale Learning Festival (TLF).
The TLF is an annual forum for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private business institutions and district assemblies to discuss and find solutions to identified developmental challenges facing the north and also share best practices.
It was initiated by The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV). Some stakeholders are ActionAid, Ibis, the SEND Foundation, Savannah Fruits Company, Trade Aid, SEKAF, IDDISAL-YARA and the Christian Children Fund for Canada.
Issues discussed were how attitudinal change could help bring improved services in health, education, tourism and the shea butter industry for the betterment of the majority of the people.
Dr Gariba reminded the participants that SADA was not an implementation agency that was going to take the responsibilities of statutory institutions such as health and education but a strategic body that was to co-ordinate and facilitate the development process of the north through a number of interventions.
He, however, intimated that the continuous success of SADA would depend on how people from the north were able to bury their differences and change their attitude to developmental challenges and adopt the “can-do” spirit in order to influence public policy.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbenga, said the best way to enhance change for development in the north was to eschew violent conflicts and discrimination and give way to patience, understanding and unity of purpose.
He said change in every aspect of life was inevitable and it was essential that people from the area liberated their minds from the perceived shackles of hopelessness and take advantage of the enormous opportunities that were available to overcome their challenges.
The Country Director of (SNV), Mr Keita Amagoin, said civil society organisations had a role in the promotion and development of the north through SADA.
He said SNV would continue to create the necessary platforms for such discourse to promote development.
A member of the Council of State, Kpan-Naa Mohammed Baba Bawah, in his speech to officially open the forum, said investors could be attracted to the region only if there was an improved attitude to ensure peace to assure them that their investments would be safe.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Development Policy Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Sule Gariba, has intimated that the success of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to facilitate the development of the north will much depend on the attitude of the people from the area.
He said there was the need for people from the north to rethink their development philosophy by moving away from the usual mantra of the ‘north is poorest’ for sympathy and harness all the available energy to support SADA initiatives.
Dr Gariba was delivering a paper on the theme, “Change for Sustainable Development”, at the sixth Tamale Learning Festival (TLF).
The TLF is an annual forum for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private business institutions and district assemblies to discuss and find solutions to identified developmental challenges facing the north and also share best practices.
It was initiated by The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV). Some stakeholders are ActionAid, Ibis, the SEND Foundation, Savannah Fruits Company, Trade Aid, SEKAF, IDDISAL-YARA and the Christian Children Fund for Canada.
Issues discussed were how attitudinal change could help bring improved services in health, education, tourism and the shea butter industry for the betterment of the majority of the people.
Dr Gariba reminded the participants that SADA was not an implementation agency that was going to take the responsibilities of statutory institutions such as health and education but a strategic body that was to co-ordinate and facilitate the development process of the north through a number of interventions.
He, however, intimated that the continuous success of SADA would depend on how people from the north were able to bury their differences and change their attitude to developmental challenges and adopt the “can-do” spirit in order to influence public policy.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbenga, said the best way to enhance change for development in the north was to eschew violent conflicts and discrimination and give way to patience, understanding and unity of purpose.
He said change in every aspect of life was inevitable and it was essential that people from the area liberated their minds from the perceived shackles of hopelessness and take advantage of the enormous opportunities that were available to overcome their challenges.
The Country Director of (SNV), Mr Keita Amagoin, said civil society organisations had a role in the promotion and development of the north through SADA.
He said SNV would continue to create the necessary platforms for such discourse to promote development.
A member of the Council of State, Kpan-Naa Mohammed Baba Bawah, in his speech to officially open the forum, said investors could be attracted to the region only if there was an improved attitude to ensure peace to assure them that their investments would be safe.
Turkish business delegation calls on Veep
17/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A 115-MEMBER Turkish business delegation is in the country to explore investment avenues, especially in the energy, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
The delegation led by the Turkish Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Zafer Caglayan, called on the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the Castle, Osu on Tuesday. Also present was the Ambassador of Turkey to Ghana, Mr Kenan Tepedelen.
The business delegation will also hold talks with Ghanaian businesses.
Mr Mahama said the visit of the Turkish business, “will mark the beginning of a new relationship between Ghana and Turkey “.
He noted that Ghana and Turkey established diplomatic relations in 1958, but the relations were truncated in 1981, when Ghana experienced difficulties. That led to the closure of the Turkish Embassy in Ghana.
Mr Mahama said now that Turkey had opened a new embassy in Ghana and there was also a direct flight from Ghana to Turkey, “they set the best basis for moving the relationship to a new level”, he added.
He stressed the need for South-South co-operation, saying it was the best partnership that would benefit all the countries involved.
On Ghana’s oil, Mr Mahama said the government had put in place the necessary safeguards to ensure the judicious use of oil revenue and prevent the over-reliance on the oil sector.
He said Ghana would tap the experience of Turkey in the petro-chemical industry to assist in the country’s oil production.
Mr Mahama commended Turkey for offering scholarships to Ghanaian students to offer courses, especially medicine in Turkey.
Mr Caglayan commended Ghana for her democratic credentials and important strides in the economic sector.
He said Turkey was willing to explore investment potentials in Ghana, especially in the energy and mining sectors.
Mr Caglayan said the delegation would hold meetings and forums with the Ghana’s Trade Minister and other business individuals as a way of maximising trade potentials between the two countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A 115-MEMBER Turkish business delegation is in the country to explore investment avenues, especially in the energy, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
The delegation led by the Turkish Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Zafer Caglayan, called on the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the Castle, Osu on Tuesday. Also present was the Ambassador of Turkey to Ghana, Mr Kenan Tepedelen.
The business delegation will also hold talks with Ghanaian businesses.
Mr Mahama said the visit of the Turkish business, “will mark the beginning of a new relationship between Ghana and Turkey “.
He noted that Ghana and Turkey established diplomatic relations in 1958, but the relations were truncated in 1981, when Ghana experienced difficulties. That led to the closure of the Turkish Embassy in Ghana.
Mr Mahama said now that Turkey had opened a new embassy in Ghana and there was also a direct flight from Ghana to Turkey, “they set the best basis for moving the relationship to a new level”, he added.
He stressed the need for South-South co-operation, saying it was the best partnership that would benefit all the countries involved.
On Ghana’s oil, Mr Mahama said the government had put in place the necessary safeguards to ensure the judicious use of oil revenue and prevent the over-reliance on the oil sector.
He said Ghana would tap the experience of Turkey in the petro-chemical industry to assist in the country’s oil production.
Mr Mahama commended Turkey for offering scholarships to Ghanaian students to offer courses, especially medicine in Turkey.
Mr Caglayan commended Ghana for her democratic credentials and important strides in the economic sector.
He said Turkey was willing to explore investment potentials in Ghana, especially in the energy and mining sectors.
Mr Caglayan said the delegation would hold meetings and forums with the Ghana’s Trade Minister and other business individuals as a way of maximising trade potentials between the two countries.
Fish production gets support from World Bank
23/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE World Bank is to assist the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to improve aquaculture production and reduce the about 460,000 metric tonnes of fish deficit in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, said the aquaculture project, which will be launched next year, would save the country the $2 million it spent annually on the importation of fish.
He made this known when he launched the Ghana Aquaculture Association (GAA) in Accra on Tuesday.
Nii Amasah said the ministry was also to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to engage in tilapia production.
He said under the project, improved feeds would be given to tilapia to ensure that they were ready for consumption within six months.
Nii Amasah said the Export Development and Agriculture Fund Bill was being prepared to support farmers and fishermen.
Besides, he said, importers of agriculture products would also enjoy wavers.
Nii Amasah indicated that investors from Brazil and Israel had invested in fish feed in the country.
He asked other investors would come and invest in the fish feed to improve the feeding of fish and reduce the fish deficit.
The Chairman of the Fisheries Commission, Mr Mike Akyeampong, said the Commission was working hard to enforce the laws on fishing.
He indicated that the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice had given the Commission the power to prosecute cases against the Commission in the courts.
He, therefore, charged fishermen to comply with the regulations governing fishing to avoid prosecution.
Mr Akyeampong said what was important was for fishermen to operate in an environmentally friendly and socially feasible environment.
The Vice-Chairperson of the GAA, Ms Patricia Sarfo, stressed the need for the government to support aquaculture production as it would contribute to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE World Bank is to assist the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to improve aquaculture production and reduce the about 460,000 metric tonnes of fish deficit in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, said the aquaculture project, which will be launched next year, would save the country the $2 million it spent annually on the importation of fish.
He made this known when he launched the Ghana Aquaculture Association (GAA) in Accra on Tuesday.
Nii Amasah said the ministry was also to collaborate with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to engage in tilapia production.
He said under the project, improved feeds would be given to tilapia to ensure that they were ready for consumption within six months.
Nii Amasah said the Export Development and Agriculture Fund Bill was being prepared to support farmers and fishermen.
Besides, he said, importers of agriculture products would also enjoy wavers.
Nii Amasah indicated that investors from Brazil and Israel had invested in fish feed in the country.
He asked other investors would come and invest in the fish feed to improve the feeding of fish and reduce the fish deficit.
The Chairman of the Fisheries Commission, Mr Mike Akyeampong, said the Commission was working hard to enforce the laws on fishing.
He indicated that the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice had given the Commission the power to prosecute cases against the Commission in the courts.
He, therefore, charged fishermen to comply with the regulations governing fishing to avoid prosecution.
Mr Akyeampong said what was important was for fishermen to operate in an environmentally friendly and socially feasible environment.
The Vice-Chairperson of the GAA, Ms Patricia Sarfo, stressed the need for the government to support aquaculture production as it would contribute to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
GTUC condemns violation of workers’ rights
24/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has condemned the increasing violation of workers’ rights, particularly in the private sector, where the workers are poorly paid, mistreated and dismissed at will.
Besides, it said, many employers in the private sector did not allow their workers to form or join trade unions, contrary to Ghana’s Constitution and the Labour Act.
The Secretary General of the GTUC, Mr Kofi Asamoah, therefore, charged employers in the private sector, particularly foreign employers, “to respect the rights and freedoms of workers” as they prepared to enter a new year.
He urged workers in both the private and public sectors to report any form of violation of their rights to their union representatives or directly to the GTUC for the necessary action to be taken against such employers in accordance with the law.
Mr Asamoah was speaking in Accra at the GTUC/media end-of-year encounter on Wednesday.
The encounter, organised in conjunction with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), was for stocktaking, planning for next year and socialisation.
Mr Asamoah reminded employers that Ghana’s Constitution had elaborate provisions on fundamental human rights and freedoms, including workers’ and trade union rights.
For instance, he said, the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) provided for the rights of workers, and, therefore, “we should not be experiencing the violations of these rights at this scale”.
Mr Asamoah urged the government to provide direct employment to the youth in priority areas such as education, health, security, housing, sanitation, water supply and transport.
He said the GTUC did not share the view held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that the public sector was overbloated, as there was every indication that the country needed more teachers, health workers as well as police men and women.
The GTUC Secretary General said data from the Labour Department showed that thousands of workers were declared redundant this year, and urged the government to ensure that the improvement in the economy reflected in the security of employment and incomes of workers.
“It is clear that the private sector alone cannot provide the number of decent jobs required for social development in Ghana. For the private sector to become the real engine of growth and to be able to provide jobs in their right quality and quantities, it has to be supported actively by the government,” he stressed.
Mr Asamoah asked the government to facilitate the placing on the Single Spine Pay Policy structure public service workers, including workers in the Ghana Education Service, the Civil Service, the Health Service and the Judicial Service.
He again charged management of organisations that were still working on the migration of their staffs to fast-track the process “to ensure that their staffs are placed on the new structure as soon as possible”.
He commended the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare for its efforts to revive tripartite consultation, and urged the government to commit more human, material and financial resources to tripartite consultation and social dialogue within the framework of the Ghana Decent Work Programme.
He said the GTUC supported initiatives to provide decent housing for workers, but cautioned the government not to mortgage the country’s future for present generation.
Concerning oil, Mr Asamoah stressed the need for Ghana to explore the possibility of switching from the royalty-based agreements to Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), which emphasises state ownership of petroleum resources.
Touching on the Cote d’Ivoire crisis, he said the GTUC joined the International Trade Union Confederation Africa (ITUC-Africa), to condemn all initiatives and acts that had been taken against the expressed will of the majority of the people of Cote d’Ivoire.
The President of the GJA and Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, commended the GTUC for supporting the GJA’s efforts to unionise the association.
He called for further support from the GTUC on which steps to take towards the unionisation of the GJA, and make it possible for the GJA to fight for the improvement of the living conditions of journalists.
The Chairman of the GTUC, Mr Alex Bonney, who chaired the occasion, said the GTUC/media interaction was a good platform for stock-taking and interaction between GTUC and media practitioners.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has condemned the increasing violation of workers’ rights, particularly in the private sector, where the workers are poorly paid, mistreated and dismissed at will.
Besides, it said, many employers in the private sector did not allow their workers to form or join trade unions, contrary to Ghana’s Constitution and the Labour Act.
The Secretary General of the GTUC, Mr Kofi Asamoah, therefore, charged employers in the private sector, particularly foreign employers, “to respect the rights and freedoms of workers” as they prepared to enter a new year.
He urged workers in both the private and public sectors to report any form of violation of their rights to their union representatives or directly to the GTUC for the necessary action to be taken against such employers in accordance with the law.
Mr Asamoah was speaking in Accra at the GTUC/media end-of-year encounter on Wednesday.
The encounter, organised in conjunction with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), was for stocktaking, planning for next year and socialisation.
Mr Asamoah reminded employers that Ghana’s Constitution had elaborate provisions on fundamental human rights and freedoms, including workers’ and trade union rights.
For instance, he said, the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) provided for the rights of workers, and, therefore, “we should not be experiencing the violations of these rights at this scale”.
Mr Asamoah urged the government to provide direct employment to the youth in priority areas such as education, health, security, housing, sanitation, water supply and transport.
He said the GTUC did not share the view held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that the public sector was overbloated, as there was every indication that the country needed more teachers, health workers as well as police men and women.
The GTUC Secretary General said data from the Labour Department showed that thousands of workers were declared redundant this year, and urged the government to ensure that the improvement in the economy reflected in the security of employment and incomes of workers.
“It is clear that the private sector alone cannot provide the number of decent jobs required for social development in Ghana. For the private sector to become the real engine of growth and to be able to provide jobs in their right quality and quantities, it has to be supported actively by the government,” he stressed.
Mr Asamoah asked the government to facilitate the placing on the Single Spine Pay Policy structure public service workers, including workers in the Ghana Education Service, the Civil Service, the Health Service and the Judicial Service.
He again charged management of organisations that were still working on the migration of their staffs to fast-track the process “to ensure that their staffs are placed on the new structure as soon as possible”.
He commended the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare for its efforts to revive tripartite consultation, and urged the government to commit more human, material and financial resources to tripartite consultation and social dialogue within the framework of the Ghana Decent Work Programme.
He said the GTUC supported initiatives to provide decent housing for workers, but cautioned the government not to mortgage the country’s future for present generation.
Concerning oil, Mr Asamoah stressed the need for Ghana to explore the possibility of switching from the royalty-based agreements to Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), which emphasises state ownership of petroleum resources.
Touching on the Cote d’Ivoire crisis, he said the GTUC joined the International Trade Union Confederation Africa (ITUC-Africa), to condemn all initiatives and acts that had been taken against the expressed will of the majority of the people of Cote d’Ivoire.
The President of the GJA and Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, commended the GTUC for supporting the GJA’s efforts to unionise the association.
He called for further support from the GTUC on which steps to take towards the unionisation of the GJA, and make it possible for the GJA to fight for the improvement of the living conditions of journalists.
The Chairman of the GTUC, Mr Alex Bonney, who chaired the occasion, said the GTUC/media interaction was a good platform for stock-taking and interaction between GTUC and media practitioners.
Dry Xmas for GBC workers— While battle over subvention rages
29/12/10
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ministry of Information and the management of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have disagreed over the payment of the November/December subvention to the GBC.
While the GBC management claims that it has not received the November/December subvention from the Controller and Accountant-General, the Ministry of Information indicates that the subvention has been released.
As a result of the confusion, workers of GBC have not been paid their December salaries.
The Minister for Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, issued a statement last Friday stating that checks by the ministry had revealed that the November/December subvention had been released to GBC.
However, the acting Director-General of GBC, Mr Kwabena Anane Sarpong, told the Daily Graphic that the management did not have any information on the payment of the subvention.
He said the inability of the management to receive the subvention had made it difficult for it to effect payment of the December salaries of workers.
Consequently, Mr Sarpong said the GBC Board would meet today to investigate whether the Controller and Accountant General had released the money.
Meanwhile, some workers of GBC told the Daily Graphic that they were convinced that their management had received the subvention, since the government paid it quarterly.
They claimed that the management had employed about 600 workers across the country within the last three months, instead of the required 120.
They said the increased number of employees made it difficult for the management to pay all the staff on time.
The workers said December salaries were usually paid by December 18 to enable workers to do some shopping for Christmas, noting that the delayed payment had compelled some of them to contract loans.
They added that some of them could not get the loans, making their situation a bit more difficult.
The workers also blamed the GBC Local Union for siding with the management and not fighting the cause of the workers.
However, the GBC Local Union Chairman, Rev Ernest Opoku, denied that the union was supporting the management against the workers.
He wondered why the union would side with the management, given the fact that he and the other union executives had also not received their salaries.
“I have also not received my salary. We are in the same boat on the high seas,” he intimated.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ministry of Information and the management of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have disagreed over the payment of the November/December subvention to the GBC.
While the GBC management claims that it has not received the November/December subvention from the Controller and Accountant-General, the Ministry of Information indicates that the subvention has been released.
As a result of the confusion, workers of GBC have not been paid their December salaries.
The Minister for Information, Mr John Tia Akologo, issued a statement last Friday stating that checks by the ministry had revealed that the November/December subvention had been released to GBC.
However, the acting Director-General of GBC, Mr Kwabena Anane Sarpong, told the Daily Graphic that the management did not have any information on the payment of the subvention.
He said the inability of the management to receive the subvention had made it difficult for it to effect payment of the December salaries of workers.
Consequently, Mr Sarpong said the GBC Board would meet today to investigate whether the Controller and Accountant General had released the money.
Meanwhile, some workers of GBC told the Daily Graphic that they were convinced that their management had received the subvention, since the government paid it quarterly.
They claimed that the management had employed about 600 workers across the country within the last three months, instead of the required 120.
They said the increased number of employees made it difficult for the management to pay all the staff on time.
The workers said December salaries were usually paid by December 18 to enable workers to do some shopping for Christmas, noting that the delayed payment had compelled some of them to contract loans.
They added that some of them could not get the loans, making their situation a bit more difficult.
The workers also blamed the GBC Local Union for siding with the management and not fighting the cause of the workers.
However, the GBC Local Union Chairman, Rev Ernest Opoku, denied that the union was supporting the management against the workers.
He wondered why the union would side with the management, given the fact that he and the other union executives had also not received their salaries.
“I have also not received my salary. We are in the same boat on the high seas,” he intimated.
2010 - Year of Political Action indeed
3/1/11
By Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE year 2010, which marked the second year of President John Evans Atta Mills’s administration, witnessed important developments in the political environment of Ghana. These were characterised by the election of national executive members of political parties, most importantly, the election of the flag bearer of the country’s major opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the political wrangling between the Majority and Minority in Parliament, and the walk-out of the Minority in Parliament. The constant attack on the performance of President John Evans Atta Mills’ administration by former President Fl Lt J.J. Rawlings, the infamous accusation of former President Fl Lt Rawlings of setting fire to his own Ridge residence, the aftermath of the perceived attack by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman on the judiciary, the inauguration of the Constitution Review Commission, the rumour of former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings’ intention to contest the flag bearer position of the NDC with President Mills and the district level elections were the other significant political events in 2010.
The first major political event was the 8th National Delegates Congress of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) which was hosted in Tamale for three days in January.
Delegates to the congress endorsed amendments to the party’s constitution and voted overwhelmingly to retain Dr Kwabena Adjei and Mr Asiedu Nketiah as the Chairman and General Secretary, respectively, of the party.
Also chalking victories to join the old executives were a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, and Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who took the positions of Vice Chairpersons, while Mr Richard Quashigah became the new Propaganda Secretary.
The election was held in an atmosphere of peace, but the NDC expressed concern about the inability of the NPP to send representatives to the congress.
The spotlight then turned to the NPP, which was also gearing up for its congress to elect national executive members for the party. The election, which conducted peacefully in Kumasi, saw the election of Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, as Chairman with Kwaku Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John as General Secretary and other executive members.
In similar fashion, the NDC did not delegate any representatives to the NPP congress.
The success of the NPP congress set the stage for the election of the flag bearer of the party for the 2012 election. The NPP had earlier amended its constitution to expand its electoral college to allow more delegates to elect a flag bearer from all the 230 constituencies, instead of the original arrangement where only a few delegates were allowed to assemble at a venue to elect a flag bearer.
Although, five people contested the election, the race was generally believed to be between the 2008 flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo Addo, and a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyeremanten.
While Nana Akufo Addo campaigned on the ticket of experience and the fact that he had already marketed himself during the 2008 elections, Mr Kyeremanten dwelled on his youthfulness and the fact that he appeals to both members of the NPP and those of other political parties.
Some analyst believed that the election would be too close to call, while others predicted that Nana Akufo Addo would emerge the victor with a margin between 10 to 30 percentage difference. But when the votes were cast, the analysts did not get it right as Nana Akufo Addo overwhelmingly defeated Mr Kyeremanten.
The year 2010 saw former President and founder of the ruling NDC , Fl Lt Rawlings, and some members of the party launch a barrage of attacks on the performance of the government to the effect that President Mills was too slow.
Former President Rawlings described people around President Mills as “greedy bastards” and at one stage asked the famous question “who born dog”, to signify that he would not have tolerated their behaviour when he was the President.
These attacks by former President Rawlings and some members of the NDC gave the opposition NPP the weapon to also launch attacks on the government.
But President Mills was diplomatic about former President Rawlings’ attacks when asked by journalists on January 7, 2010, during a question-and-answer session with some senior journalists.
President Mills said criticisms of his government by Former President Rawlings and some members of the party would not weaken but strengthen the party and the government.
“If members of the previous government had benefited from this example of internal democracy, they would have avoided some of the pitfalls that caused their downfall”, he was quoted as saying.
Just as when the dust was about to settle down, the rumour that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, was interested in contesting the flag bearer position of NDC with President Mills, made the headlines in the media scene.
Another significant event was the constitution of a nine-member Constitution Review Commission as a major step towards reviewing the 1992 Constitution by President Mills.
The Commission, which is chaired by Professor Emeritus Albert K. Fiadjoe, a professor of Public Law, has as members prominent personalities, including a stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Akenten Appiah-Menka, who is also a lawyer and an industrialist.
The Commission has since collated proposals from government institutions and individuals throughout the country through letters, meetings and open forums.
The NDC National Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei’s, statement to the effect that the judiciary would be cleansed, received bashing from opposition NPP, other political parties, several other institutions and individuals.
President Mills, who was outside the country when the statement was made, intimated on his arrival that the government did not have any intention to cleanse the judiciary, which put the matter to rest to some extent.
The Minority in Parliament staged a walk-out when a Circuit Court placed a radio panellist, Nana Darkwa Baafi, into custody for alleging on an Accra-based private radio station that former President Rawlings had deliberately set fire to his house on February 14, 2010, in order to compel the government to find him an alternative accommodation.
The usual unity talks between the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) aimed at uniting the Nkrumaist parties did not succeed, as they could not agree on the issues of motto and emblem.
The CPP took a giant step by electing shadow ministers on economy, security, education and other sectors. They have almost on a weekly basis been giving their views, suggestions and proposals on national issues.
The major political event that wrapped up 2010 was the district level elections, which were bogged with postponements due to the inability of printers to print ballot papers ahead of schedule. The district level elections also experienced low turn out.
The district level elections were originally scheduled to be held in all the 170 districts and 6,150 units and electoral areas across the country the same day, but only the Central and Upper West regions held theirs on the first day.
A total of 17,315 candidates, comprising 15,939 males (92.05 per cent) and 1,376 females (7.95 per cent) contested to become district assembly members.
Also, 45,762 candidates, made up of 41,110 males (89.83 per cent) and 4,652 females (10.17 per cent), vied for unit committee membership.
The concluding political event was the celebration of the 29th anniversary of the 31st December revolution with a public lecture on the theme “Integrity for Sustainable Democracy”, in Accra.
Former President Rawlings used the occasion to challenge President Mills to set up a commission of enquiry to reinvestigate the alleged corruption and killings perpetrated under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
Despite the few difficulties on the political platform in 2010, the year will be remembered for the election of executive members of political parties, the nomination of shadow ministers by CPP, the collation of views on constitutional review by the CRC and the organisation of the district level elections.
By Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE year 2010, which marked the second year of President John Evans Atta Mills’s administration, witnessed important developments in the political environment of Ghana. These were characterised by the election of national executive members of political parties, most importantly, the election of the flag bearer of the country’s major opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the political wrangling between the Majority and Minority in Parliament, and the walk-out of the Minority in Parliament. The constant attack on the performance of President John Evans Atta Mills’ administration by former President Fl Lt J.J. Rawlings, the infamous accusation of former President Fl Lt Rawlings of setting fire to his own Ridge residence, the aftermath of the perceived attack by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman on the judiciary, the inauguration of the Constitution Review Commission, the rumour of former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings’ intention to contest the flag bearer position of the NDC with President Mills and the district level elections were the other significant political events in 2010.
The first major political event was the 8th National Delegates Congress of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) which was hosted in Tamale for three days in January.
Delegates to the congress endorsed amendments to the party’s constitution and voted overwhelmingly to retain Dr Kwabena Adjei and Mr Asiedu Nketiah as the Chairman and General Secretary, respectively, of the party.
Also chalking victories to join the old executives were a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, and Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who took the positions of Vice Chairpersons, while Mr Richard Quashigah became the new Propaganda Secretary.
The election was held in an atmosphere of peace, but the NDC expressed concern about the inability of the NPP to send representatives to the congress.
The spotlight then turned to the NPP, which was also gearing up for its congress to elect national executive members for the party. The election, which conducted peacefully in Kumasi, saw the election of Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, as Chairman with Kwaku Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John as General Secretary and other executive members.
In similar fashion, the NDC did not delegate any representatives to the NPP congress.
The success of the NPP congress set the stage for the election of the flag bearer of the party for the 2012 election. The NPP had earlier amended its constitution to expand its electoral college to allow more delegates to elect a flag bearer from all the 230 constituencies, instead of the original arrangement where only a few delegates were allowed to assemble at a venue to elect a flag bearer.
Although, five people contested the election, the race was generally believed to be between the 2008 flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo Addo, and a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyeremanten.
While Nana Akufo Addo campaigned on the ticket of experience and the fact that he had already marketed himself during the 2008 elections, Mr Kyeremanten dwelled on his youthfulness and the fact that he appeals to both members of the NPP and those of other political parties.
Some analyst believed that the election would be too close to call, while others predicted that Nana Akufo Addo would emerge the victor with a margin between 10 to 30 percentage difference. But when the votes were cast, the analysts did not get it right as Nana Akufo Addo overwhelmingly defeated Mr Kyeremanten.
The year 2010 saw former President and founder of the ruling NDC , Fl Lt Rawlings, and some members of the party launch a barrage of attacks on the performance of the government to the effect that President Mills was too slow.
Former President Rawlings described people around President Mills as “greedy bastards” and at one stage asked the famous question “who born dog”, to signify that he would not have tolerated their behaviour when he was the President.
These attacks by former President Rawlings and some members of the NDC gave the opposition NPP the weapon to also launch attacks on the government.
But President Mills was diplomatic about former President Rawlings’ attacks when asked by journalists on January 7, 2010, during a question-and-answer session with some senior journalists.
President Mills said criticisms of his government by Former President Rawlings and some members of the party would not weaken but strengthen the party and the government.
“If members of the previous government had benefited from this example of internal democracy, they would have avoided some of the pitfalls that caused their downfall”, he was quoted as saying.
Just as when the dust was about to settle down, the rumour that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, was interested in contesting the flag bearer position of NDC with President Mills, made the headlines in the media scene.
Another significant event was the constitution of a nine-member Constitution Review Commission as a major step towards reviewing the 1992 Constitution by President Mills.
The Commission, which is chaired by Professor Emeritus Albert K. Fiadjoe, a professor of Public Law, has as members prominent personalities, including a stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Akenten Appiah-Menka, who is also a lawyer and an industrialist.
The Commission has since collated proposals from government institutions and individuals throughout the country through letters, meetings and open forums.
The NDC National Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei’s, statement to the effect that the judiciary would be cleansed, received bashing from opposition NPP, other political parties, several other institutions and individuals.
President Mills, who was outside the country when the statement was made, intimated on his arrival that the government did not have any intention to cleanse the judiciary, which put the matter to rest to some extent.
The Minority in Parliament staged a walk-out when a Circuit Court placed a radio panellist, Nana Darkwa Baafi, into custody for alleging on an Accra-based private radio station that former President Rawlings had deliberately set fire to his house on February 14, 2010, in order to compel the government to find him an alternative accommodation.
The usual unity talks between the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) aimed at uniting the Nkrumaist parties did not succeed, as they could not agree on the issues of motto and emblem.
The CPP took a giant step by electing shadow ministers on economy, security, education and other sectors. They have almost on a weekly basis been giving their views, suggestions and proposals on national issues.
The major political event that wrapped up 2010 was the district level elections, which were bogged with postponements due to the inability of printers to print ballot papers ahead of schedule. The district level elections also experienced low turn out.
The district level elections were originally scheduled to be held in all the 170 districts and 6,150 units and electoral areas across the country the same day, but only the Central and Upper West regions held theirs on the first day.
A total of 17,315 candidates, comprising 15,939 males (92.05 per cent) and 1,376 females (7.95 per cent) contested to become district assembly members.
Also, 45,762 candidates, made up of 41,110 males (89.83 per cent) and 4,652 females (10.17 per cent), vied for unit committee membership.
The concluding political event was the celebration of the 29th anniversary of the 31st December revolution with a public lecture on the theme “Integrity for Sustainable Democracy”, in Accra.
Former President Rawlings used the occasion to challenge President Mills to set up a commission of enquiry to reinvestigate the alleged corruption and killings perpetrated under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
Despite the few difficulties on the political platform in 2010, the year will be remembered for the election of executive members of political parties, the nomination of shadow ministers by CPP, the collation of views on constitutional review by the CRC and the organisation of the district level elections.
Workers on government payroll to receive early salaries
5/2/11
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
CIVIL servants and other public servants on government payroll will now be paid on the 19th of every month, a week earlier than it used to be, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has said.
Consequently, the various banks will credit the accounts of all employees within a week of receiving the money from the CAGD through the Bank of Ghana.
A memo signed by the Controller and Accountant-General, Mr Raphael Kwasi Tufuor, to the heads of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) said, “Processing of salaries of employees on the GoG payroll are expected to complete and sent to the banks by the CAGD pay dates indicated below”.
Prior to the new measure, salaries of civil servants and other public servants were paid on 25th of every month
By the new arrangement, salaries will be paid between 14th and 19th of every month.
The Head of Public Relations of the CAGD, Mr Cephas N. Dosoo, told the Daily Graphic that the current arrangement was to avoid delays and disappointment in the payment of salaries of employees on the government’s payroll.
Mr Dosoo said the CAGD decided to pay the salaries and wages early enough in order to allow the various banks some time to credit individual accounts without any delays.
According to Mr Dosoo, officers working on the payroll work in day and night shift basis to facilitate the processing of salaries and effect the necessary corrections on the payroll system.
Mr Dosoo said the upgrading of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) also made it possible for the salaries and wages to be processed early.
He said the IPPD had a tracking device that exposed ghost names and other faulty inputs and indicated that there was a monitoring team to ensure that the workers met the deadline given them.
He said the CAGD had impressed on the various ministries, departments and agencies as well as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, to send their inputs on time.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
CIVIL servants and other public servants on government payroll will now be paid on the 19th of every month, a week earlier than it used to be, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has said.
Consequently, the various banks will credit the accounts of all employees within a week of receiving the money from the CAGD through the Bank of Ghana.
A memo signed by the Controller and Accountant-General, Mr Raphael Kwasi Tufuor, to the heads of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) said, “Processing of salaries of employees on the GoG payroll are expected to complete and sent to the banks by the CAGD pay dates indicated below”.
Prior to the new measure, salaries of civil servants and other public servants were paid on 25th of every month
By the new arrangement, salaries will be paid between 14th and 19th of every month.
The Head of Public Relations of the CAGD, Mr Cephas N. Dosoo, told the Daily Graphic that the current arrangement was to avoid delays and disappointment in the payment of salaries of employees on the government’s payroll.
Mr Dosoo said the CAGD decided to pay the salaries and wages early enough in order to allow the various banks some time to credit individual accounts without any delays.
According to Mr Dosoo, officers working on the payroll work in day and night shift basis to facilitate the processing of salaries and effect the necessary corrections on the payroll system.
Mr Dosoo said the upgrading of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) also made it possible for the salaries and wages to be processed early.
He said the IPPD had a tracking device that exposed ghost names and other faulty inputs and indicated that there was a monitoring team to ensure that the workers met the deadline given them.
He said the CAGD had impressed on the various ministries, departments and agencies as well as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, to send their inputs on time.
Ivorian journalists discuss crisis
10/1/11
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
IVORIAN journalists loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara are meeting in Accra to come up with an action plan that will streamline their reportage in a bid to calm the tension and promote peace in that country.
The journalists will also create a forum where Ivorian journalists will meet periodically to discuss the challenges they face in the performance of their work and how to overcome them.
Issues being discussed at the two-day meeting include the international intervention, especially by ECOWAS, in the Ivorian crisis, an assessment of the national and international media’s role in the elections and post-election developments and challenges of media rights and freedom in Cote d’Ivoire.
The participants, including representatives of journalism organisations in Cote d’Ivoire, are also considering how the media and media regulatory bodies can be strengthened to contribute more effectively to the processes of peace-building and how to support media regulatory bodies.
The meeting was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and International Media Support (IMS) and attended by representatives of the international community.
In the initial stages of the meeting, the journalists, mainly managing editors and editors, who confidently identified themselves being either pro-Gbagbo or pro-Ouattara, appeared to have taken entrenched positions on the legalities of the election.
The journalists from the Ouattara camp argued that since the Ivorian Electoral Commission had declared Ouattara the winner of the election, it was wrong for the Constitutional Council to annul the results of some areas in the North and turn round to declare Gbagbo the winner of the disputed election.
In the same vein, journalists loyal to Gbagbo said it was within the right of the Constitutional Council to verify the authenticity of the election and declare the winner accordingly, since the EC had even declared the election in a state of fear as earlier attempt to declare the results was disrupted by supporters from both camps.
On the media front, it came out that state-owned television and radio stations were available to only the people from the Gbagbo camp and not accessible to those of Ouattara’s.
The UN Radio was also virtually accessible only to supporters of Ouattara, since he is the one recognised as President by the UN.
The Executive Secretary of the MFWA, Prof Kwame Karikari, who co-chaired the meeting, said it was through a common platform of Ivorian journalists that peace and security could be achieved in Cote d’Ivoire.
He said despite their political differences, the journalists could have a way of “calming the nerves of society” and dousing the “madness of politicians”.
Prof Karikaria said the politicians would go to any length to protect their selfish interests even if it meant losing several lives.
Therefore, he said, the media were supposed to “minimise tension” among the people and ensure that the political crisis “does not take them down the drain”.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
IVORIAN journalists loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara are meeting in Accra to come up with an action plan that will streamline their reportage in a bid to calm the tension and promote peace in that country.
The journalists will also create a forum where Ivorian journalists will meet periodically to discuss the challenges they face in the performance of their work and how to overcome them.
Issues being discussed at the two-day meeting include the international intervention, especially by ECOWAS, in the Ivorian crisis, an assessment of the national and international media’s role in the elections and post-election developments and challenges of media rights and freedom in Cote d’Ivoire.
The participants, including representatives of journalism organisations in Cote d’Ivoire, are also considering how the media and media regulatory bodies can be strengthened to contribute more effectively to the processes of peace-building and how to support media regulatory bodies.
The meeting was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and International Media Support (IMS) and attended by representatives of the international community.
In the initial stages of the meeting, the journalists, mainly managing editors and editors, who confidently identified themselves being either pro-Gbagbo or pro-Ouattara, appeared to have taken entrenched positions on the legalities of the election.
The journalists from the Ouattara camp argued that since the Ivorian Electoral Commission had declared Ouattara the winner of the election, it was wrong for the Constitutional Council to annul the results of some areas in the North and turn round to declare Gbagbo the winner of the disputed election.
In the same vein, journalists loyal to Gbagbo said it was within the right of the Constitutional Council to verify the authenticity of the election and declare the winner accordingly, since the EC had even declared the election in a state of fear as earlier attempt to declare the results was disrupted by supporters from both camps.
On the media front, it came out that state-owned television and radio stations were available to only the people from the Gbagbo camp and not accessible to those of Ouattara’s.
The UN Radio was also virtually accessible only to supporters of Ouattara, since he is the one recognised as President by the UN.
The Executive Secretary of the MFWA, Prof Kwame Karikari, who co-chaired the meeting, said it was through a common platform of Ivorian journalists that peace and security could be achieved in Cote d’Ivoire.
He said despite their political differences, the journalists could have a way of “calming the nerves of society” and dousing the “madness of politicians”.
Prof Karikaria said the politicians would go to any length to protect their selfish interests even if it meant losing several lives.
Therefore, he said, the media were supposed to “minimise tension” among the people and ensure that the political crisis “does not take them down the drain”.
Police suspend ban on movement of heavy trucks
3/2/11
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Police Service (GPS) has suspended the dusk-to-dawn ban on the movement of heavy trucks in the country, barely a week after announcing the ban.
The Director of Public Affairs of the GPS, Supt Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the police had reviewed the ban after putting in place other effective measures to reduce accidents on the roads.
He mentioned the positioning of police personnel along highways and accident-prone areas, inspection of the state of vehicles and monitoring of the attitude of drivers as some of the measures.
The imposition of the ban on the movement of the heavy vehicles after 6pm followed recent accidents involving heavy trucks in various parts of the country.
The transport operators, however, protested the ban and proposed that the heavy trucks rather be allowed to operate after 10 p.m. when the roads are free and a ban imposed on their movement from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. when vehicular traffic was heavy.
Section 18 A(1) of the Road Traffic Offences (Amendment) Regulations, 1994, which the police sought to enforce, states that: “No person shall drive or cause to be driven any truck the weight of which exceeds three tons between the hours of 6p.m and 6a.m unless the person in control of the truck has obtained a permit in writing from the Minister for Interior or from an officer authorised by him for the purpose.”
According to subsection two of the law, “for the removal of doubt, the word truck as used in this regulation does not include an omnibus or passenger lorry as defined in regulation 45 of these regulations”.
Subsection three states that “there shall be paid for a permit issued under paragraph (1) a fee of ¢10,000.”
Supt Ofori said the Police Administration was concerned about the safety of people, and that it would do everything possible to protect them against accidents.
He said the Police Administration was a listening one, hence the decision to suspend the ban.
Supt Ofori said the police would work closely with road operators to ensure discipline on the roads.
He said the police would intensify education on road safety regulations.
He warned that the police would arrest and prosecute offending drivers who engaged in reckless driving.
Supt Ofori said the Police Administration led by the Inspector-General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, and officials of the National Road Safety Commission held a meeting yesterday to strategise how to ensure safety on the roads.
Meanwhile, he said, Traffic Amendment Regulation of 1994 that empowered the police to impose the ban on the movement of heavy trucks after 6 p.m. was being looked at again by the policy makers.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Ghana Police Service (GPS) has suspended the dusk-to-dawn ban on the movement of heavy trucks in the country, barely a week after announcing the ban.
The Director of Public Affairs of the GPS, Supt Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the police had reviewed the ban after putting in place other effective measures to reduce accidents on the roads.
He mentioned the positioning of police personnel along highways and accident-prone areas, inspection of the state of vehicles and monitoring of the attitude of drivers as some of the measures.
The imposition of the ban on the movement of the heavy vehicles after 6pm followed recent accidents involving heavy trucks in various parts of the country.
The transport operators, however, protested the ban and proposed that the heavy trucks rather be allowed to operate after 10 p.m. when the roads are free and a ban imposed on their movement from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. when vehicular traffic was heavy.
Section 18 A(1) of the Road Traffic Offences (Amendment) Regulations, 1994, which the police sought to enforce, states that: “No person shall drive or cause to be driven any truck the weight of which exceeds three tons between the hours of 6p.m and 6a.m unless the person in control of the truck has obtained a permit in writing from the Minister for Interior or from an officer authorised by him for the purpose.”
According to subsection two of the law, “for the removal of doubt, the word truck as used in this regulation does not include an omnibus or passenger lorry as defined in regulation 45 of these regulations”.
Subsection three states that “there shall be paid for a permit issued under paragraph (1) a fee of ¢10,000.”
Supt Ofori said the Police Administration was concerned about the safety of people, and that it would do everything possible to protect them against accidents.
He said the Police Administration was a listening one, hence the decision to suspend the ban.
Supt Ofori said the police would work closely with road operators to ensure discipline on the roads.
He said the police would intensify education on road safety regulations.
He warned that the police would arrest and prosecute offending drivers who engaged in reckless driving.
Supt Ofori said the Police Administration led by the Inspector-General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, and officials of the National Road Safety Commission held a meeting yesterday to strategise how to ensure safety on the roads.
Meanwhile, he said, Traffic Amendment Regulation of 1994 that empowered the police to impose the ban on the movement of heavy trucks after 6 p.m. was being looked at again by the policy makers.
Traffic woes over as BRT takes off
3/2/11
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A $45.4-million project to provide a safe, fast and comfortable transport system in the country took off yesterday with a sod-cutting ceremony by the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama.
Mr Mahama cut the sod for the start of work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) under the Urban Transport Project which involves the creation of a dedicated route for buses from Kasoa in the Central Region to the central business district (CBD) of Accra.
It also involves the expansion of the bridge on the Odaw River and the construction of a flyover across the railway line.
Under it, a bus terminal and a bus depot will be constructed at Kasoa, in addition to minor stations along the entire route, while new pedestrian bridges will be constructed at the Kaneshie Market.
There will also be traffic management works at some selected junctions to help improve traffic flow on the road and through intersections in Accra, Tema, the Ga West and East districts, Kumasi and Ejisu, while traffic lights will be co-ordinated to ensure the free flow of vehicles along the principal routes in Accra and Kumasi.
In all, the BRT project will be implemented in 11 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), eight in the Greater Accra Region, two in the Ashanti Region and one in the Central Region, all to be jointly funded by the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
Mr Mahama noted that the nation’s roads were congested with vehicles, which increased travel time and created discomfort for motorists.
“The increasing transport congestion is becoming a nightmare to movement, with cars stuck bumper-to-bumper in traffic on major roads, including the Accra-Kasoa road,” he said.
Besides, Mr Mahama said, commercial buses, “trotros” and taxis, which take 70 per cent of commuters, “are old and badly managed”.
“Commuters become captive users of those vehicles and risk their lives,” he lamented.
Therefore, the introduction of the BRT “is going to revolutionise the transport system” in the urban areas of the country, he said.
He stressed that the BRT would ensure a safe, reliable, fast and cost-effective transport system in the country and “make Ghana the transport hub of Africa”.
Mr Mahama said the government intended to plan the country to cope with the growing population and said the BRT was one of the interventions.
He said the development of the transport sector had a bearing on the country’s development, hence the need for that sector to be developed now.
He said the establishment of the Centre for Urban Transportation was to support the growth of the transport sector and asked its members to come up with strategies to improve the transport sector.
Mr Mahama asked people who would be affected by the project to bear with the government, since it was meant to improve the transport system and ease travel time.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, said the BRT would do away with the environmental and health consequences that commuters went through in the metropolises, municipalities and districts.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said the introduction of high-occupancy buses which would have exclusive designated ways would make commuting within the cities less stressful, as it would reduce travel time.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, said the government had formed an Urban Transport Advisory Committee to ensure key technical inputs, multi-stakeholder consultation, collaboration, co-ordination and information dissemination for urban transport policy development and implementation.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, and the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, said the BRT project was a manifestation of the development projects promised by President John Evans Atta Mills in the better Ghana agenda.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Country Director of the World Bank, Mr Ishac Diwan, lauded the project, since it had the potential to transform the transport system in the country.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A $45.4-million project to provide a safe, fast and comfortable transport system in the country took off yesterday with a sod-cutting ceremony by the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama.
Mr Mahama cut the sod for the start of work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) under the Urban Transport Project which involves the creation of a dedicated route for buses from Kasoa in the Central Region to the central business district (CBD) of Accra.
It also involves the expansion of the bridge on the Odaw River and the construction of a flyover across the railway line.
Under it, a bus terminal and a bus depot will be constructed at Kasoa, in addition to minor stations along the entire route, while new pedestrian bridges will be constructed at the Kaneshie Market.
There will also be traffic management works at some selected junctions to help improve traffic flow on the road and through intersections in Accra, Tema, the Ga West and East districts, Kumasi and Ejisu, while traffic lights will be co-ordinated to ensure the free flow of vehicles along the principal routes in Accra and Kumasi.
In all, the BRT project will be implemented in 11 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), eight in the Greater Accra Region, two in the Ashanti Region and one in the Central Region, all to be jointly funded by the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
Mr Mahama noted that the nation’s roads were congested with vehicles, which increased travel time and created discomfort for motorists.
“The increasing transport congestion is becoming a nightmare to movement, with cars stuck bumper-to-bumper in traffic on major roads, including the Accra-Kasoa road,” he said.
Besides, Mr Mahama said, commercial buses, “trotros” and taxis, which take 70 per cent of commuters, “are old and badly managed”.
“Commuters become captive users of those vehicles and risk their lives,” he lamented.
Therefore, the introduction of the BRT “is going to revolutionise the transport system” in the urban areas of the country, he said.
He stressed that the BRT would ensure a safe, reliable, fast and cost-effective transport system in the country and “make Ghana the transport hub of Africa”.
Mr Mahama said the government intended to plan the country to cope with the growing population and said the BRT was one of the interventions.
He said the development of the transport sector had a bearing on the country’s development, hence the need for that sector to be developed now.
He said the establishment of the Centre for Urban Transportation was to support the growth of the transport sector and asked its members to come up with strategies to improve the transport sector.
Mr Mahama asked people who would be affected by the project to bear with the government, since it was meant to improve the transport system and ease travel time.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, said the BRT would do away with the environmental and health consequences that commuters went through in the metropolises, municipalities and districts.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said the introduction of high-occupancy buses which would have exclusive designated ways would make commuting within the cities less stressful, as it would reduce travel time.
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, said the government had formed an Urban Transport Advisory Committee to ensure key technical inputs, multi-stakeholder consultation, collaboration, co-ordination and information dissemination for urban transport policy development and implementation.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, and the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, said the BRT project was a manifestation of the development projects promised by President John Evans Atta Mills in the better Ghana agenda.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Country Director of the World Bank, Mr Ishac Diwan, lauded the project, since it had the potential to transform the transport system in the country.
National Hajj Committee refunds fares of pilgrims
5/2/11
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE National Hajj Committee (NHC) has refunded Hajj fares to 150 of the 356 pilgrims who could not perform last year’s Hajj.
The payment were made through the various Hajj agents as and when the pilgrims made the demand for a refund.
Meanwhile, some of the pilgrims have decided to keep their money with the NHC as their Hajj fares for this year’s Hajj.
The Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, told the Daily Graphic that the NHC was still refunding the Hajj fares to the pilgrims.
Therefore, he said, any fully-paid pilgrim who wanted a refund of his money could make the request.
However, he said, the pilgrims who did not want a refund would be among the early flights for Hajj 2011 and any increase in Hajj 2011 fares would not affect them.
In a related development, the NHC and the Ghana Hajj Agents Association (GHAA) have reached a consensus on a way forward for this year’s Hajj after a meeting.
One of the key agreements was the selection of one more member of the GHAA to serve on the NHC, and thus bring their number to two on the committee.
They also agreed to start receiving payments of this year’s Hajj fares, which would be the same as last year’s of 3,100 for the time being.
The meeting decided to stop receiving Hajj fares two months before the first departure in October.
Alhaji Bene described the outcome of the meeting as fruitful, which would go a long way in ensuring a problem-free Hajj this year.
He said the NHC would request the extension of Ghana’s quota of last year from 2,500 to 3,500.
That, he said, was to cater for the increasing number of Ghanaian pilgrims and those who could not make it last year.
Alhaji Bene said upon the peaceful resolution of the court case by a creditor of the defunct Interim Hajj Management Committee of Hajj 2008, the NHC authorised its bankers to pay the creditor $151,000 and GH¢2,000 as per out-of-court agreement.
An Executive Member of the GHAA, Alhaji Garba Ibrahim, said the Hajj agents had decided to support the NHC to improve the organisation of this year’s Hajj.
He said the Hajj agents were satisfied with the decisions taken so far, especially the inclusion of another Hajj agent on the NHC.
Alhaji Garba who is the Managing Director of Al-Balad Travel and Tours Limited, said the NHC had refunded the Hajj fares of some of the pilgrims who could not perform last year’s Hajj, and indicated that some of them had decided not to take the refund but rather use it as their fare for this year.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE National Hajj Committee (NHC) has refunded Hajj fares to 150 of the 356 pilgrims who could not perform last year’s Hajj.
The payment were made through the various Hajj agents as and when the pilgrims made the demand for a refund.
Meanwhile, some of the pilgrims have decided to keep their money with the NHC as their Hajj fares for this year’s Hajj.
The Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, told the Daily Graphic that the NHC was still refunding the Hajj fares to the pilgrims.
Therefore, he said, any fully-paid pilgrim who wanted a refund of his money could make the request.
However, he said, the pilgrims who did not want a refund would be among the early flights for Hajj 2011 and any increase in Hajj 2011 fares would not affect them.
In a related development, the NHC and the Ghana Hajj Agents Association (GHAA) have reached a consensus on a way forward for this year’s Hajj after a meeting.
One of the key agreements was the selection of one more member of the GHAA to serve on the NHC, and thus bring their number to two on the committee.
They also agreed to start receiving payments of this year’s Hajj fares, which would be the same as last year’s of 3,100 for the time being.
The meeting decided to stop receiving Hajj fares two months before the first departure in October.
Alhaji Bene described the outcome of the meeting as fruitful, which would go a long way in ensuring a problem-free Hajj this year.
He said the NHC would request the extension of Ghana’s quota of last year from 2,500 to 3,500.
That, he said, was to cater for the increasing number of Ghanaian pilgrims and those who could not make it last year.
Alhaji Bene said upon the peaceful resolution of the court case by a creditor of the defunct Interim Hajj Management Committee of Hajj 2008, the NHC authorised its bankers to pay the creditor $151,000 and GH¢2,000 as per out-of-court agreement.
An Executive Member of the GHAA, Alhaji Garba Ibrahim, said the Hajj agents had decided to support the NHC to improve the organisation of this year’s Hajj.
He said the Hajj agents were satisfied with the decisions taken so far, especially the inclusion of another Hajj agent on the NHC.
Alhaji Garba who is the Managing Director of Al-Balad Travel and Tours Limited, said the NHC had refunded the Hajj fares of some of the pilgrims who could not perform last year’s Hajj, and indicated that some of them had decided not to take the refund but rather use it as their fare for this year.
Two Ghanaians die in Saudi
26/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
2 Ghanaian pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia
26/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
TWO of the 2,500 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims who performed this year’s Hajj are reported dead in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The two, both men, were said to have died of natural causes.
The Secretary of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Muhammad Kpakpo Addo, who spoke with the Daily Graphic via phone, declined to give the names of the dead, insisting that the NHC would have to clear that with the families of the deceased in Ghana.
He said that the first pilgrim, in his late 60s, died at Madina, while the second pilgrim, in his late 50s, passed away in Mecca. They have since been buried.
The two pilgrims died before the beginning of the Hajj rites.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Addo said, all the other pilgrims were in good condition of health and were preparing for their return journey.
He said the first batch of 266 pilgrims were expected to arrive in Ghana on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, aboard the Egypt Airline aircraft.
The second to the ninth batches would be arriving from December 1 to December 6, 2010.
Alhaji Addo said the pilgrims would come with their pieces of luggage and indicated that the luggage would be conveyed to the Hajj Village, where the pilgrims would go for them.
That arrangement, he said, was to prevent the loss of any piece of luggage.
On the thorny issue of Ghana’s quota, Alhaji Addo said the Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhasan Bene, and other members had begun talks with the Saudi Hajj authorities on the need to increase Ghana’s quota from the current 2,500 to a number that could cover all Ghanaian pilgrims.
‘Create independent regulatory body for oil’
25/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AN oil consultant, Dr David C. K. Tay, has proposed the establishment of a special regulatory body to govern the operations of the country’s oil companies.
He said the current system whereby the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) doubled as an investor and a regulator in the oil sector would make it difficult for the GNPC to control the operations of its co-investors more efficiently.
Dr Tay, who is a civil engineer, was speaking on the topic: “Offshore Oil Development and Implementation Processes” at a lecture organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra on Tuesday.
The one-hour lecture touched on the oil discovery, exploration, infrastructure, management of oil revenue and agreements between oil companies and the government.
Dr Tay indicated that since GNPC had only about 10 per cent share in the oil field, the company with the biggest share would have a better say in the management of the oil.
Therefore, he said, an independent regulatory body which was outside the arrangement would be in the best position to regulate operations of the oil companies.
“It is in the interest of every country that the regulatory authority is independent of the investment,” he said.
Dr Tay proposed the formulation of a local content in the oil industry for the benefit of the local people, pointing out that “the benefit should not only be financial, but there should be technology transfer and provision of jobs for the local people”.
On the prospects of Ghana’s oil, Dr Tay said the country’s oil was one of the largest in Africa with an estimated drilling of 120,000 barrels a day, adding that the country stood the chance of generating huge revenues from the sector.
He commended the government for taking precautionary measures, including agreements for royalties and taxes, and charged the government to stick to the terms of the agreements.
CJ inaugurates e-justice task force
24/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Fauziatu Adam
THE World Bank has allocated $2 million to support the automation of the country’s judicial system under the e-justice project.
Consequently, the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, yesterday inaugurated a 10-member task force to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to support the speedy delivery and administration of justice.
The task force is chaired by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, with Ms Sandra Thompson, the Director of Reforms and Projects, Ms Ruby Aryeetey, Deputy Director of Reforms, and Mr Francis Baiden, a systems analyst, all of the Judicial Service, as members.
The other members are Mrs Dorothy Kingsley-Nyinah, the Administrator of Commercial Courts, Prof. Jonas Amoapim, the e-justice Programme Officer of the Ministry of Communications, Mr Francis K. Boakye, the Deputy Director of ICT at the University of Ghana, Mr Bismark D. Quashie, an ICT lecturer of the University of Ghana, and a representative of the Ghana Bar Association, whose name is yet to be given.
The formation of the task force followed the outcome of a recent study tour of the e-justice of Turkey by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu.
Mrs Justice Wood said the judicial service initiated a programme some 10 years ago to automate the country’s judicial service, but indicated that “the approach has been piecemeal” because the project was dependent on donor support.
She, therefore, commended the government for supporting the current e-justice project, which would automate courts across the country, especially regional courts.
That, she said, would promote efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mrs Justice Wood expressed the hope that the task force, made up of ICT experts and legal persons, would come up with the ICT infrastructure that would ensure the speedy and efficient delivery of justice in the country.
Mr Iddrisu said the study tour of the Turkish e-justice system had offered Ghana an insight into how to transform her e-justice system.
Therefore, he said, the government would organise more study tours for the judicial service to get more exposed to the e-justice system in other countries.
President Mills consoles fire victims— Orders NADMO, AMA to work out relief details
20/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills yesterday directed the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to work out relief details for about 800 traders whose stores were burnt down by Thursday night's fire at the Makola Number Two Market.
In a 15-minute interaction with the affected traders yesterday, the President said the speedy compliance with the directive would enable the government to provide the needed support for the victims to restart their businesses.
The fire reportedly began at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday when the traders had closed their stores and gone home.
It burnt down about 800 stores, destroying jewellery, textiles, plastics, clothes and silver bowls running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
One Fire Service officer collapsed after hitting an electric pole, while two NADMO volunteers also sustained minor injuries while fighting the fire.
The Fire officer was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and was said to be responding to treatment.
The fire scene presented a bitter-sweet picture — while some of the traders searched through the debris to retrieve undamaged goods, some scrap dealers were busy picking aluminium, copper and roofing sheets.
The military men on duty had to chase some of the scrap dealers away.
The President's visit to the Makola Number Two Market in the early hours of yesterday morning attracted applause from the traders, as they had not anticipated his visit. He occasionally waved at the traders, who also waved back and clapped their hands.
He was accompanied by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey; the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Atinga Bio, and the Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Nii Tackie Kommey.
President Mills assured the affected traders that the government would not neglect them, saying, "We will not turn our back on you."
He said investigations would be conducted to establish the cause of the fire.
The Managing Director of the Makola Market Company, Mrs Rose Margaret Kpodo, told the President that the fire started at 6:30 p.m., moments after power had been restored.
She said the people around tried to use fire extinguishers to put out the fire but they could not bring it under control. Contacts were then made to Fire officers who came with fire tenders.
The Fire officers could not get water from the three water hydrants at the market, compelling them to go to distant places for water, a development which delayed the fire fighting.
The fire was eventually put under control around 2 a.m. yesterday.
Mrs Kpodo later told the Daily Graphic that the company had insured the stores but lamented that only about five per cent of the traders had insured their goods.
Mrs Christiana Aba, who sold jewellery at the market, claimed that she had lost goods running into hundreds of Ghana cedis and about GH¢8,000 cash which she wanted to use to buy some goods.
The Security Co-ordinator of the Makola Market Company, Mr Samuel Fudzie, alleged that some criminals had been around when the fire started and that the security men on duty had decided to shut the gate to prevent looting.
He said some of the goods were salvaged and kept in some stores.
Some Fire officers were still at post to douche the remaining fire as of the time the President visited.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills yesterday directed the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to work out relief details for about 800 traders whose stores were burnt down by Thursday night's fire at the Makola Number Two Market.
In a 15-minute interaction with the affected traders yesterday, the President said the speedy compliance with the directive would enable the government to provide the needed support for the victims to restart their businesses.
The fire reportedly began at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday when the traders had closed their stores and gone home.
It burnt down about 800 stores, destroying jewellery, textiles, plastics, clothes and silver bowls running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
One Fire Service officer collapsed after hitting an electric pole, while two NADMO volunteers also sustained minor injuries while fighting the fire.
The Fire officer was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and was said to be responding to treatment.
The fire scene presented a bitter-sweet picture — while some of the traders searched through the debris to retrieve undamaged goods, some scrap dealers were busy picking aluminium, copper and roofing sheets.
The military men on duty had to chase some of the scrap dealers away.
The President's visit to the Makola Number Two Market in the early hours of yesterday morning attracted applause from the traders, as they had not anticipated his visit. He occasionally waved at the traders, who also waved back and clapped their hands.
He was accompanied by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey; the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Atinga Bio, and the Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Nii Tackie Kommey.
President Mills assured the affected traders that the government would not neglect them, saying, "We will not turn our back on you."
He said investigations would be conducted to establish the cause of the fire.
The Managing Director of the Makola Market Company, Mrs Rose Margaret Kpodo, told the President that the fire started at 6:30 p.m., moments after power had been restored.
She said the people around tried to use fire extinguishers to put out the fire but they could not bring it under control. Contacts were then made to Fire officers who came with fire tenders.
The Fire officers could not get water from the three water hydrants at the market, compelling them to go to distant places for water, a development which delayed the fire fighting.
The fire was eventually put under control around 2 a.m. yesterday.
Mrs Kpodo later told the Daily Graphic that the company had insured the stores but lamented that only about five per cent of the traders had insured their goods.
Mrs Christiana Aba, who sold jewellery at the market, claimed that she had lost goods running into hundreds of Ghana cedis and about GH¢8,000 cash which she wanted to use to buy some goods.
The Security Co-ordinator of the Makola Market Company, Mr Samuel Fudzie, alleged that some criminals had been around when the fire started and that the security men on duty had decided to shut the gate to prevent looting.
He said some of the goods were salvaged and kept in some stores.
Some Fire officers were still at post to douche the remaining fire as of the time the President visited.
SSNIT to fast-track pension payment
20/11/20
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says it is moving into a new phase that would ensure the payment of retirement benefits to pensioners, one month after going on retirement.
This, according to the Director General of SSNIT, Dr Frank Odoom, would ease the burden of pensioners who have to hustle for several months without receiving their retirement benefits.
Reviewing the operations of SSNIT at the sixth SSNIT stakeholders forum in Accra, Mr Odoom added that SSNIT would diversify its investment portfolio by focusing more on social and utility services.
Issues raised by employers and employees at the forum included delays in the payment of pension benefits, incomplete statements on contributions and the lack of information on the SSNIT contribution for the second tier of the new pension scheme.
Mr Odoom said workers were used to taking monthly salaries, and therefore, could be disturbing if after retirement, they had to struggle for months before they receive their pension benefits.
Therefore, he said, SSNIT was developing the technology to ensure that data on SSNIT contribution was processed fast enough to ensure that beneficiaries are paid “one month after submitting claims”.
Mr Odoom expressed worry that some employers underdeclared the salaries of their employees in order to contribute less.
He, therefore, asked employers ”to be fair to their workers by paying the right contributions”.
The Chairman of Board of Trustees of SSNIT, Mr Kwame Peprah, said with the new pension scheme, the SSNIT contribution had reduced from 17 per cent to 11 per cent.
However, he said, SSNIT was required to pay more benefits despite the reduction in the contribution.
Therefore, Mr Peprah said, SSNIT should desist from investing in areas that would not yield more returns.
He said SSNIT intended to offer modern and state-of-the-art service to beneficiaries through the use of modern technology to access information on contribution and receive pension benefits.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says it is moving into a new phase that would ensure the payment of retirement benefits to pensioners, one month after going on retirement.
This, according to the Director General of SSNIT, Dr Frank Odoom, would ease the burden of pensioners who have to hustle for several months without receiving their retirement benefits.
Reviewing the operations of SSNIT at the sixth SSNIT stakeholders forum in Accra, Mr Odoom added that SSNIT would diversify its investment portfolio by focusing more on social and utility services.
Issues raised by employers and employees at the forum included delays in the payment of pension benefits, incomplete statements on contributions and the lack of information on the SSNIT contribution for the second tier of the new pension scheme.
Mr Odoom said workers were used to taking monthly salaries, and therefore, could be disturbing if after retirement, they had to struggle for months before they receive their pension benefits.
Therefore, he said, SSNIT was developing the technology to ensure that data on SSNIT contribution was processed fast enough to ensure that beneficiaries are paid “one month after submitting claims”.
Mr Odoom expressed worry that some employers underdeclared the salaries of their employees in order to contribute less.
He, therefore, asked employers ”to be fair to their workers by paying the right contributions”.
The Chairman of Board of Trustees of SSNIT, Mr Kwame Peprah, said with the new pension scheme, the SSNIT contribution had reduced from 17 per cent to 11 per cent.
However, he said, SSNIT was required to pay more benefits despite the reduction in the contribution.
Therefore, Mr Peprah said, SSNIT should desist from investing in areas that would not yield more returns.
He said SSNIT intended to offer modern and state-of-the-art service to beneficiaries through the use of modern technology to access information on contribution and receive pension benefits.
Sunflower biodiesel to fuel Aboadze Thermal Plant
20/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A 200-acre sunflower farm has been established at Gomoa Adzentem in the Central Region to produce 4.8 million barrels of sunflower biodiesel a year to fuel the Aboadze Thermal Plant in the Western Region.
Under the auspices of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Tropical Agricultural Marketing and Consultancy Services (TRAGRIMACS), sunflower is to be processed into biodiesel to fuel the three 110-megawatt thermal plants at Aboadze.
TRAGRIMACS has established a plant in Tema that processes sunflower seeds cultivated from the farm into biodiesel to power generators and tractors. It currently processes 1,000 metric tonnes of sunflower biodiesel a year.
The project is supported by a $12-million Swiss facility for the acquisition of biodiesel and oil processing machines and other equipment for the project.
Four chemical engineering students and a laboratory technician from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) are to assist in the work on the processing machines.
During a tour of the project site, the National Programme Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility, Mr George Ortsin, said his outfit was collaborating with TRAGRIMACS on the project.
He expressed the commitment of the UNDP to support other farmers to go into sunflower cultivation.
The Chief of Gomoa Adzentem, Nana Asare Andoh I, asked the government, corporate bodies and investors to support the sunflower biodiesel project to create jobs for the youth in the area.
The Chief Executive Officer of TRAGRIMACS, Mr Issah Sulemana, said the company had secured 40,000 acres of land across the country to cultivate sunflower to feed another biodiesel processing plant to be established at Gomoa Adzentem.
He said TRAGRIMACS would engage 2,000 workers to begin work on the farm from May next year.
The biodiesel and oil processing machines which will extract oil from the sunflower seed and convert it into biodiesel will be installed in June next year.
Mr Sulemana said the request by the VRA for TRAGRIMACS to supply the biodiesel to fuel the Aboadze Thermal Plant “is a boost to a small-scale local company and a dream come true”.
He said biodiesel had advantages over fossil fuel because the former was environmentally friendly, cheap and renewable.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
A 200-acre sunflower farm has been established at Gomoa Adzentem in the Central Region to produce 4.8 million barrels of sunflower biodiesel a year to fuel the Aboadze Thermal Plant in the Western Region.
Under the auspices of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Tropical Agricultural Marketing and Consultancy Services (TRAGRIMACS), sunflower is to be processed into biodiesel to fuel the three 110-megawatt thermal plants at Aboadze.
TRAGRIMACS has established a plant in Tema that processes sunflower seeds cultivated from the farm into biodiesel to power generators and tractors. It currently processes 1,000 metric tonnes of sunflower biodiesel a year.
The project is supported by a $12-million Swiss facility for the acquisition of biodiesel and oil processing machines and other equipment for the project.
Four chemical engineering students and a laboratory technician from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) are to assist in the work on the processing machines.
During a tour of the project site, the National Programme Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility, Mr George Ortsin, said his outfit was collaborating with TRAGRIMACS on the project.
He expressed the commitment of the UNDP to support other farmers to go into sunflower cultivation.
The Chief of Gomoa Adzentem, Nana Asare Andoh I, asked the government, corporate bodies and investors to support the sunflower biodiesel project to create jobs for the youth in the area.
The Chief Executive Officer of TRAGRIMACS, Mr Issah Sulemana, said the company had secured 40,000 acres of land across the country to cultivate sunflower to feed another biodiesel processing plant to be established at Gomoa Adzentem.
He said TRAGRIMACS would engage 2,000 workers to begin work on the farm from May next year.
The biodiesel and oil processing machines which will extract oil from the sunflower seed and convert it into biodiesel will be installed in June next year.
Mr Sulemana said the request by the VRA for TRAGRIMACS to supply the biodiesel to fuel the Aboadze Thermal Plant “is a boost to a small-scale local company and a dream come true”.
He said biodiesel had advantages over fossil fuel because the former was environmentally friendly, cheap and renewable.
Ghana, EU sign agreement on timber export
20/11/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
GHANA and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to facilitate the exportation of legally acquired timber from Ghana to the EU market.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, signed for Ghana, while the Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, initialled it for the EU.
The signing of the agreement followed a meeting by the Joint Monitoring and Review Mechanism on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) which called for the exportation of only timber from legal sources.
Ghana was the first timber-producing country to sign the VPA with the EU in November 2009.
Alhaji Dauda acknowledged that the VPA had an impact on the livelihood of the people as it encouraged the legal exportation of timber and opened up the market for timber.
He said Ghana would co-ordinate the plantation development programme, the supply of legal timber and forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative.
Alhaji Dauda welcomed ongoing studies by both Ghana and the EU to address livelihood challenges.
Ambassador Maerten said the recent adoption of the EU timber regulation provided considerable support for Ghana and other VPA negotiating countries to ensure a level playing field on the EU timber market.
He said the regulation provided justification and reward for countries such as Ghana who had concluded VPAs and acted as an incentive for other timber exporting countries to commence negotiations on the VPAs.
Passport Office issues passports for Muslim pilgrims
5/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Nurudeen Salifu
THE passport office has begun processing biometric passports for Muslims in the three northern regions, who will undertake this year’s Hajj to Saudi Arabia.
The registration process has been decentralised to ensure that all prospective pilgrims are captured before the end of October.
About 420 prospective pilgrims from the Northern and Upper East regions gathered in Tamale yesterday to participate in the registration exercise, when the mobile data capturing team made its first stop there.
Officials of the foreign ministry said they were capturing the bio-data, fingerprints, pictures, signatures and other details of the participants and cautioned that the process was solely limited to prospective hajj pilgrims for this year.
They again mentioned that the registration exercise in Tamale would last for only two days, after which the team would move to Wa and Kumasi to capture other prospective pilgrims in those areas, adding that the process would continue until October 15, 2010.
In an interview, Alhaji Yakubu Ayana, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ayana Travel and Tours, commended the government for decentralising the registration process.
“This would ensure that our people are given the biometric passports in time before they embark on the hajj,” he stated.
Alhaji Ayana said information available to him indicated that a small aircraft would be dispatched to Tamale to airlift the pilgrims to Accra by the end of October.
“Immediately, they land in Accra, they would board a larger airline to Madina in Saudi Arabia to begin the hajj process,” he further mentioned.
The hajj agent said he was particularly happy about the improvement on the arrangements made by the government since that would ease the suffering that those in the three northern regions usually went through they tried to get their desire to go for hajj to materialise.
“Pilgrims from the north usually account for than half of the total number of pilgrims who leave the country for Hajj, so this is welcome news for them,” he stated.
Officials of the Hajj Board were, however, not present at the time of filing the report.
About 700 passports for prospective pilgrims are expected to be processed in the Northern Region before officials move to the other regions to continue with the processing of passports.
The Chairman of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Alhasan Bene, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the move would save the would-be pilgrims for this year’s Hajj the ordeal of having to travel to Accra for their pictures and fingerprints to be taken for the biometric passports.
He said officials of the Passport Office had indicated that all the prospective pilgrims in each of the regions would be gathered at a centre for their pictures and fingerprints to be taken.
He, therefore, charged would-be pilgrims outside Accra to make it a point to converge at the centres to process their passports.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Bene has said the NHC has struck a deal with Egypt Air to lift about 2,700 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Egypt Air is to embark on nine flights with the first batch of pilgrims expected to leave on October 25, 2010.
Alhaji Bene said the pilgrims would be flown direct to Madina, where they would have the privilege of praying in Prophet Mohammed’s mosque for three days before moving to Mecca and stay for some days before the start of the Hajj rites.
He said the NHC had already secured accommodation for pilgrims in Madina and Mecca.
He indicated that air-conditioned tents would be mounted at the Hajj Village a few days before the departure.
Alhaji Bene denied claims that the $3,100 Hajj fare would be reduced to between $1,500 and $2,000.
He said the deadline for the payment of the Hajj fare was October 15, 2010, and asked prospective pilgrims to pay before the deadline because it would not be extended.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Nurudeen Salifu
THE passport office has begun processing biometric passports for Muslims in the three northern regions, who will undertake this year’s Hajj to Saudi Arabia.
The registration process has been decentralised to ensure that all prospective pilgrims are captured before the end of October.
About 420 prospective pilgrims from the Northern and Upper East regions gathered in Tamale yesterday to participate in the registration exercise, when the mobile data capturing team made its first stop there.
Officials of the foreign ministry said they were capturing the bio-data, fingerprints, pictures, signatures and other details of the participants and cautioned that the process was solely limited to prospective hajj pilgrims for this year.
They again mentioned that the registration exercise in Tamale would last for only two days, after which the team would move to Wa and Kumasi to capture other prospective pilgrims in those areas, adding that the process would continue until October 15, 2010.
In an interview, Alhaji Yakubu Ayana, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ayana Travel and Tours, commended the government for decentralising the registration process.
“This would ensure that our people are given the biometric passports in time before they embark on the hajj,” he stated.
Alhaji Ayana said information available to him indicated that a small aircraft would be dispatched to Tamale to airlift the pilgrims to Accra by the end of October.
“Immediately, they land in Accra, they would board a larger airline to Madina in Saudi Arabia to begin the hajj process,” he further mentioned.
The hajj agent said he was particularly happy about the improvement on the arrangements made by the government since that would ease the suffering that those in the three northern regions usually went through they tried to get their desire to go for hajj to materialise.
“Pilgrims from the north usually account for than half of the total number of pilgrims who leave the country for Hajj, so this is welcome news for them,” he stated.
Officials of the Hajj Board were, however, not present at the time of filing the report.
About 700 passports for prospective pilgrims are expected to be processed in the Northern Region before officials move to the other regions to continue with the processing of passports.
The Chairman of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Alhasan Bene, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the move would save the would-be pilgrims for this year’s Hajj the ordeal of having to travel to Accra for their pictures and fingerprints to be taken for the biometric passports.
He said officials of the Passport Office had indicated that all the prospective pilgrims in each of the regions would be gathered at a centre for their pictures and fingerprints to be taken.
He, therefore, charged would-be pilgrims outside Accra to make it a point to converge at the centres to process their passports.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Bene has said the NHC has struck a deal with Egypt Air to lift about 2,700 Ghanaian Muslim pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Egypt Air is to embark on nine flights with the first batch of pilgrims expected to leave on October 25, 2010.
Alhaji Bene said the pilgrims would be flown direct to Madina, where they would have the privilege of praying in Prophet Mohammed’s mosque for three days before moving to Mecca and stay for some days before the start of the Hajj rites.
He said the NHC had already secured accommodation for pilgrims in Madina and Mecca.
He indicated that air-conditioned tents would be mounted at the Hajj Village a few days before the departure.
Alhaji Bene denied claims that the $3,100 Hajj fare would be reduced to between $1,500 and $2,000.
He said the deadline for the payment of the Hajj fare was October 15, 2010, and asked prospective pilgrims to pay before the deadline because it would not be extended.
Habitat for Humanity to build 3,000 houses
6/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Habitat for Humanity Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, is to construct 3,000 affordable houses across the country within the next three years.
Under the project, the organisation would provide soft loans to poor families in the form of building materials and offer labour from local and international volunteers.
The Country Director for Habitat for Humanity Ghana, Mr George Nzomo, made this known at the launch of the organisation’s three-year strategic plan for the construction of affordable houses in Ghana.
The organisation has been in Ghana since 1989 and operates in 135 communities in all the regions except the Upper West Region. It has so far supported the construction of 7,000 housing units.
Mr Nzomo said an estimated 1.6 billion people lived in sub-standard houses in the world, with many Ghanaians faced with housing problems.
He said under the strategic plan, the organisation would build housing units on rural, urban and peri-urban areas.
Mr Nzomo said the organisation would dialogue with government officials to stress the need for the government to make the construction of housing units a priority in the country.
The Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, reiterated the government’s commitment to providing affordable houses to Ghanaians.
She said the country’s growth rate of 2.7 per cent required of the country to build more houses to meet the growing demand.
Dr Bissiw commended Habitat for Humanity for complementing government’s efforts at providing affordable housing for Ghanaians.
The Charge d’Affair of the United States Embassy in Ghana, Ms Julie Furuta-Toy, said US volunteers would be participating in the project.
She lauded Ghana for making progress in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and indicated that the construction of affordable houses would further improve the lives of the poor in the society.
The Chairperson of Habitat for Humanity, Mrs Stephanie Baeta Ansah, indicated that the organisation sought to help assist poor families to obtain affordable houses.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Habitat for Humanity Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, is to construct 3,000 affordable houses across the country within the next three years.
Under the project, the organisation would provide soft loans to poor families in the form of building materials and offer labour from local and international volunteers.
The Country Director for Habitat for Humanity Ghana, Mr George Nzomo, made this known at the launch of the organisation’s three-year strategic plan for the construction of affordable houses in Ghana.
The organisation has been in Ghana since 1989 and operates in 135 communities in all the regions except the Upper West Region. It has so far supported the construction of 7,000 housing units.
Mr Nzomo said an estimated 1.6 billion people lived in sub-standard houses in the world, with many Ghanaians faced with housing problems.
He said under the strategic plan, the organisation would build housing units on rural, urban and peri-urban areas.
Mr Nzomo said the organisation would dialogue with government officials to stress the need for the government to make the construction of housing units a priority in the country.
The Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, reiterated the government’s commitment to providing affordable houses to Ghanaians.
She said the country’s growth rate of 2.7 per cent required of the country to build more houses to meet the growing demand.
Dr Bissiw commended Habitat for Humanity for complementing government’s efforts at providing affordable housing for Ghanaians.
The Charge d’Affair of the United States Embassy in Ghana, Ms Julie Furuta-Toy, said US volunteers would be participating in the project.
She lauded Ghana for making progress in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and indicated that the construction of affordable houses would further improve the lives of the poor in the society.
The Chairperson of Habitat for Humanity, Mrs Stephanie Baeta Ansah, indicated that the organisation sought to help assist poor families to obtain affordable houses.
Chief Justice advocates use of ADR in oil disputes
7/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, has advocated the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as the most appropriate mechanism for the peaceful resolution of oil related disputes.
She stressed the need for the country to position itself to manage the disputes that were bound to arise from the oil industry.
Mrs Wood was opening a two-day training workshop on the ADR Act 2010 (Act 798) organised by the Ghana Association of Certified Mediators and Arbitrators (GHACMA) in Accra yesterday.
The workshop was to educate the mediators and arbitrators on the ADR Act and to strategise how to encourage the public to resort to the ADR mechanism in settling conflicts.
Mrs Wood said it was the collective responsibility of all Ghanaians to consider matters of public interest in relation to oil find, not necessarily out of the euphoria of the expected oil revenue.
Rather, she said, the people should concern themselves with, “the negative consequences that might befall our relatively peaceful nation, if issues are not properly managed”.
Mrs Wood said the importance of ADR in justice delivery was acknowledged worldwide, and that it was no surprise that the Ghanaian judiciary had integrated it into the country’s justice system.
Consequently, she said, the judiciary, under a World Bank funded programme, was to embark on a training programme for traditional rulers aimed at building their capacity and equipping them with ADR practice.
Mrs Wood said with the passage of the ADR Act 798 , ADR had been elevated and should now provide the needed impetus to the country’s collective effort at making ADR attractive to persons in conflict.
The President of GHACMA, Prof. Kofi Quarshigah, said the ADR Act had come to revolutionise the practice of ADR Act 798 in Ghana, and indicated that GHACMA was committed to making the Act known and appreciated by all Ghanaians.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Chairman of the National Labour Commission, Mr J. A. Aryittey, expressed the hope that with effective publicity, employers, workers and the public would be reminded that, there were accessible structures to resolve disputes.
The Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr Martin Nwosu, said ADR had steadily emerged within the legal framework as a credible alternative to remedy the shortcomings of litigation and to speed up and improve the justice delivery system.
Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo, a member of the Council of State, who chaired the function, charged the GHACMA to create a demand for the ADR and make people believe that they were better off using the ADR.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, has advocated the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as the most appropriate mechanism for the peaceful resolution of oil related disputes.
She stressed the need for the country to position itself to manage the disputes that were bound to arise from the oil industry.
Mrs Wood was opening a two-day training workshop on the ADR Act 2010 (Act 798) organised by the Ghana Association of Certified Mediators and Arbitrators (GHACMA) in Accra yesterday.
The workshop was to educate the mediators and arbitrators on the ADR Act and to strategise how to encourage the public to resort to the ADR mechanism in settling conflicts.
Mrs Wood said it was the collective responsibility of all Ghanaians to consider matters of public interest in relation to oil find, not necessarily out of the euphoria of the expected oil revenue.
Rather, she said, the people should concern themselves with, “the negative consequences that might befall our relatively peaceful nation, if issues are not properly managed”.
Mrs Wood said the importance of ADR in justice delivery was acknowledged worldwide, and that it was no surprise that the Ghanaian judiciary had integrated it into the country’s justice system.
Consequently, she said, the judiciary, under a World Bank funded programme, was to embark on a training programme for traditional rulers aimed at building their capacity and equipping them with ADR practice.
Mrs Wood said with the passage of the ADR Act 798 , ADR had been elevated and should now provide the needed impetus to the country’s collective effort at making ADR attractive to persons in conflict.
The President of GHACMA, Prof. Kofi Quarshigah, said the ADR Act had come to revolutionise the practice of ADR Act 798 in Ghana, and indicated that GHACMA was committed to making the Act known and appreciated by all Ghanaians.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Chairman of the National Labour Commission, Mr J. A. Aryittey, expressed the hope that with effective publicity, employers, workers and the public would be reminded that, there were accessible structures to resolve disputes.
The Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr Martin Nwosu, said ADR had steadily emerged within the legal framework as a credible alternative to remedy the shortcomings of litigation and to speed up and improve the justice delivery system.
Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo, a member of the Council of State, who chaired the function, charged the GHACMA to create a demand for the ADR and make people believe that they were better off using the ADR.
Ghana among nine African countries with natural resource fund
8/10/2010
Story : Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE 2010 Revenue Watch Index report has rated Ghana among only nine African countries with some form of natural resource fund or account for social development.
The report, however, disclosed that in that group of countries, it is only Nigeria and The Sudan that had made efforts to make transparent the mode of transfer of that revenue.
In the case of Nigeria, it said transfers of mining funds from the Federal Government to local governments had been made transparent in part to defuse political conflict.
The Revenue Watch Index, conducted by the Revenue Watch Institute and Transparency International, evaluated 41 countries with half of the world’s population and are major producers of petroleum, gold, copper and diamond on the availability of information in seven areas of their natural resource management.
Independent consultants gathered the information from November 2009 to April 2010 and concentrated on identifying publicly available information from January 2006 to December 2009.
The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, Mr Vitus Azeem, presented the findings of the report at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday.
On the availability of information, the report named Ghana as one of the five African countries with the least amount of information on the contract and licensing terms of their natural resources.
Tanzania, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea are the other African countries in that category.
The report indicated that despite formal rules giving Parliament the authority to ratify such contracts in Ghana, “public access to the agreements remains limited”.
It said even parliamentarians sometimes complained about delays in making some contracts available to them.
On the environmental and social impact of such activities, however, it said Ghana was one of a few countries that published some reports, with Angola, Tanzania and Zambia also in that category.
The report said sub-Saharan Africa was the region with the largest number of countries carrying out the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which set standards for companies to publish what they paid and for governments to disclose what they received.
It said Ghana produced two reports on the EITI covering 2004 and 2005 and was yet to finalise the 2006 to 2008 reports for publication.
It revealed that African countries, including Liberia, South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana and Gabon, provided their citizens with information on their revenue from the extractive sector, yet had transparency gaps.
However, it came out that no single African country provided its citizens with substantial amounts of information on revenue from the extractive sector.
The report urged governments to improve contract transparency and impress on companies to disclose detailed production and financial information on oil, gas and mining projects.
Story : Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE 2010 Revenue Watch Index report has rated Ghana among only nine African countries with some form of natural resource fund or account for social development.
The report, however, disclosed that in that group of countries, it is only Nigeria and The Sudan that had made efforts to make transparent the mode of transfer of that revenue.
In the case of Nigeria, it said transfers of mining funds from the Federal Government to local governments had been made transparent in part to defuse political conflict.
The Revenue Watch Index, conducted by the Revenue Watch Institute and Transparency International, evaluated 41 countries with half of the world’s population and are major producers of petroleum, gold, copper and diamond on the availability of information in seven areas of their natural resource management.
Independent consultants gathered the information from November 2009 to April 2010 and concentrated on identifying publicly available information from January 2006 to December 2009.
The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, Mr Vitus Azeem, presented the findings of the report at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday.
On the availability of information, the report named Ghana as one of the five African countries with the least amount of information on the contract and licensing terms of their natural resources.
Tanzania, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea are the other African countries in that category.
The report indicated that despite formal rules giving Parliament the authority to ratify such contracts in Ghana, “public access to the agreements remains limited”.
It said even parliamentarians sometimes complained about delays in making some contracts available to them.
On the environmental and social impact of such activities, however, it said Ghana was one of a few countries that published some reports, with Angola, Tanzania and Zambia also in that category.
The report said sub-Saharan Africa was the region with the largest number of countries carrying out the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which set standards for companies to publish what they paid and for governments to disclose what they received.
It said Ghana produced two reports on the EITI covering 2004 and 2005 and was yet to finalise the 2006 to 2008 reports for publication.
It revealed that African countries, including Liberia, South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana and Gabon, provided their citizens with information on their revenue from the extractive sector, yet had transparency gaps.
However, it came out that no single African country provided its citizens with substantial amounts of information on revenue from the extractive sector.
The report urged governments to improve contract transparency and impress on companies to disclose detailed production and financial information on oil, gas and mining projects.
Set up regulatory body for upstream oil — Awal
11/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, has proposed the establishment of a new petroleum regulatory authority to manage the administrative and regulatory requirements of the country’s oil industry.
He said the role of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority (GNPC), as a regulator and participant, “only creates doubts about the competitive spirits that should govern the oil sector”.
Mr Awal was delivering a paper on: “Managing Ghana’s reputation in an emerging oil and gas industry”, read on his behalf by Mr Albert Sam, the Public Affairs Manager of GCGL, at the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana (IPR) dinner dance in Accra at the weekend.
The paper drew lessons from the experiences of other African, European and Latin American oil-producing countries, including Nigeria, Angola, Libya, Norway and Venezuela and urged Ghana to take a cue to make oil a blessing rather a curse to the people.
Mr Awal noted that Ghana’s position on global competitiveness went down, according to the World Bank’s latest report, which was a disincentive to investments.
He said since the oil sector was new, “the country would do well to remove the administrative bottlenecks and political interference which slow down business operations and its interaction with global economies”.
Mr Awal stressed the need for the country to look at its royalty policy and fiscal regime, especially on contentious issues such as signature bonuses and state participation.
According to him, signature bonuses and royalties have not helped in countries that have used them in the area of investment.
State participation has also proven to be counterproductive such as in Nigeria, where substantial resources of public funds are invested to keep pace with the complexities of the industry at the expense of social infrastructural development.
Mr Awal asked the nation to approach some of the major international oil companies and market some of the oil prospects to them, since they bring in financial resources and new technology.
He, however, noted that most of the major international companies were not socially responsible, and where they had operated, there had been major environmental concerns and conflicts which pointed to oil as a curse.
He, therefore, called for the review of the environmental laws, “to hold these companies accountable if they accept to invest in the sector”.
Mr Awal cautioned that over-reliance on the oil sector might bring in revenues that would further reduce the competitiveness of the country, since such inflows would likely lead to currency appreciation.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, has proposed the establishment of a new petroleum regulatory authority to manage the administrative and regulatory requirements of the country’s oil industry.
He said the role of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority (GNPC), as a regulator and participant, “only creates doubts about the competitive spirits that should govern the oil sector”.
Mr Awal was delivering a paper on: “Managing Ghana’s reputation in an emerging oil and gas industry”, read on his behalf by Mr Albert Sam, the Public Affairs Manager of GCGL, at the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana (IPR) dinner dance in Accra at the weekend.
The paper drew lessons from the experiences of other African, European and Latin American oil-producing countries, including Nigeria, Angola, Libya, Norway and Venezuela and urged Ghana to take a cue to make oil a blessing rather a curse to the people.
Mr Awal noted that Ghana’s position on global competitiveness went down, according to the World Bank’s latest report, which was a disincentive to investments.
He said since the oil sector was new, “the country would do well to remove the administrative bottlenecks and political interference which slow down business operations and its interaction with global economies”.
Mr Awal stressed the need for the country to look at its royalty policy and fiscal regime, especially on contentious issues such as signature bonuses and state participation.
According to him, signature bonuses and royalties have not helped in countries that have used them in the area of investment.
State participation has also proven to be counterproductive such as in Nigeria, where substantial resources of public funds are invested to keep pace with the complexities of the industry at the expense of social infrastructural development.
Mr Awal asked the nation to approach some of the major international oil companies and market some of the oil prospects to them, since they bring in financial resources and new technology.
He, however, noted that most of the major international companies were not socially responsible, and where they had operated, there had been major environmental concerns and conflicts which pointed to oil as a curse.
He, therefore, called for the review of the environmental laws, “to hold these companies accountable if they accept to invest in the sector”.
Mr Awal cautioned that over-reliance on the oil sector might bring in revenues that would further reduce the competitiveness of the country, since such inflows would likely lead to currency appreciation.
Officers of EOCO attend workshop on insurance, tax fraud
12/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
SEVENTY-TWO officers of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), formerly Serious Fraud Office, yesterday began a nine-day training workshop on how to fight insurance and tax fraud in the country.
Courses being treated at the workshop include insurance fraud and claims, principles and elements of insurance, insurance documentation, practical issues of insurance and nature of risk.
The workshop is jointly organised by the Ghana Insurers’ Association (GIA) and EOCO, and the resource persons are from the insurance industry in Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
In his address, the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Barton Odro, said organised crime had become very sophisticated with players who were very astute, evasive, elitists, knowledgeable and well connected to the corridors of power.
Besides, he said, the use of modern technology by the fraudsters had enabled them to keep changing the means and methods of crime.
Mr Odro said the situation called for crime fighters, “who are equally up to the challenge of matching operational capacity to be able to effectively deal with those crimes”.
Therefore, he said, the training workshop was a positive step towards enhancing the investigation capacity of EOCO with respect to insurance related fraud.
He said the reorganisation of the SFO into EOCO by President John Evans Atta Mills, was to put it in a better position to prevent the illegal dissipation of national resources by monitoring, investigating and bringing to book persons who dissipate the country’s economic and financial resources.
The Executive Director of EOCO, Mr Bia Dela Mortey Akpadzi, gave the assurance that his outfit was determined to rid the country of organised crime.
He said EOCO had planned a series of training programmes to build the capacity of the staff and instil a sense of professionalism and discipline in them to be able to detect and fight crime.
The President of the GIA, Mr Benjamin Acolatse, noted that practice of insurance world-wide had been bedevilled with all kinds of fraud and underhand dealings.
The Deputy Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Mr Nero Davor, who chaired the function stressed the need for the staff of EOCO to acquire more knowledge and skills needed to fight the sophisticated fraud in the insurance industry.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
SEVENTY-TWO officers of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), formerly Serious Fraud Office, yesterday began a nine-day training workshop on how to fight insurance and tax fraud in the country.
Courses being treated at the workshop include insurance fraud and claims, principles and elements of insurance, insurance documentation, practical issues of insurance and nature of risk.
The workshop is jointly organised by the Ghana Insurers’ Association (GIA) and EOCO, and the resource persons are from the insurance industry in Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
In his address, the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Barton Odro, said organised crime had become very sophisticated with players who were very astute, evasive, elitists, knowledgeable and well connected to the corridors of power.
Besides, he said, the use of modern technology by the fraudsters had enabled them to keep changing the means and methods of crime.
Mr Odro said the situation called for crime fighters, “who are equally up to the challenge of matching operational capacity to be able to effectively deal with those crimes”.
Therefore, he said, the training workshop was a positive step towards enhancing the investigation capacity of EOCO with respect to insurance related fraud.
He said the reorganisation of the SFO into EOCO by President John Evans Atta Mills, was to put it in a better position to prevent the illegal dissipation of national resources by monitoring, investigating and bringing to book persons who dissipate the country’s economic and financial resources.
The Executive Director of EOCO, Mr Bia Dela Mortey Akpadzi, gave the assurance that his outfit was determined to rid the country of organised crime.
He said EOCO had planned a series of training programmes to build the capacity of the staff and instil a sense of professionalism and discipline in them to be able to detect and fight crime.
The President of the GIA, Mr Benjamin Acolatse, noted that practice of insurance world-wide had been bedevilled with all kinds of fraud and underhand dealings.
The Deputy Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Mr Nero Davor, who chaired the function stressed the need for the staff of EOCO to acquire more knowledge and skills needed to fight the sophisticated fraud in the insurance industry.
Senior High students patronise FAGRO 2010
14/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) entered its second day yesterday, with many senior high school (SHS) students trooping in to learn about varieties of crops, methods of farming, food processing and different kinds of farming machinery.
The students also learnt about the use of modern technology to increase productivity and improve quality of farm produce.
Accompanied by their teachers, the about 300 students from the Presbyterian SHS, Osu, Holy Trinity Cathedral SHS (HOTCASS), High Street, and Chemu SHS visited the various stands for briefings and attended a seminar on Food Processing and Preservation Methods.
Apart from the students, many people, especially farmers, have been visiting the various stands to enquire about farm produce, processed products, animal feeds, local dishes and farming machinery on display at the various stands at the pavilion.
The items include unpolished rice, dried mangoes, herbal medicines, natural cocoa powder, mashed and concentrated animal feeds, tractors and harvesters.
The week-long exhibition, being organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on the theme: “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, has attracted 250 exhibitors from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of Africa. The number of the exhibitors has increased more than 100 per cent over last year's 120 exhibitors.
The stands include those of the Ghana National Farmers Union, National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association, Feedmillers Association, the Women in Agriculture Development Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and New Holland Tractors.
A few of the stands are yet to be occupied as of yesterday, while some exhibitors were seen arranging their stands as of 1p.m. yesterday.
Some of the exhibitors expressed joy at the attendance on the second day as some of them had already sold out some of their items.
They were hopeful that by the end of the exhibition they should have been able to promote the products.
However, other exhibitors said patronage was not as encouraging as they had expected, but were anticipating that it would pick up before the end of the exhibition on Sunday.
Other seminars were held yesterday on the following topics: “Policy Implementation on Farm”; “Productivity and Operations”; “Agriculture Technology for Developing Countries”; and “Managing Agro Business”.
Master Simon Laryea, a form four Geography student of the Chemu SHS, told the Daily Graphic that the exhibition had provided him and his colleagues the opportunity to have a first-hand view of some seeds, farm produce and machinery.
He said the information acquired was relevant to the topics treated in the Integrated Science and the Geography course he was offering.
Master Junior Ashong, a form three Science student of the Osu Presec said the exhibition had provided him the opportunity to see some farming machinery that he learnt about in school.
A Biology teacher of Chemu SHS, Mr Sulley Salim, said the school decided to bring the students to the exhibition, “to get first time information about agriculture, see various crops, learn about food processing and crop pests and diseases”.
The exhibition, which was opened by Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, is expected to raise the level of knowledge in certain business sectors and create development impact as employment, improved working conditions and environmental standards.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) entered its second day yesterday, with many senior high school (SHS) students trooping in to learn about varieties of crops, methods of farming, food processing and different kinds of farming machinery.
The students also learnt about the use of modern technology to increase productivity and improve quality of farm produce.
Accompanied by their teachers, the about 300 students from the Presbyterian SHS, Osu, Holy Trinity Cathedral SHS (HOTCASS), High Street, and Chemu SHS visited the various stands for briefings and attended a seminar on Food Processing and Preservation Methods.
Apart from the students, many people, especially farmers, have been visiting the various stands to enquire about farm produce, processed products, animal feeds, local dishes and farming machinery on display at the various stands at the pavilion.
The items include unpolished rice, dried mangoes, herbal medicines, natural cocoa powder, mashed and concentrated animal feeds, tractors and harvesters.
The week-long exhibition, being organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture on the theme: “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, has attracted 250 exhibitors from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of Africa. The number of the exhibitors has increased more than 100 per cent over last year's 120 exhibitors.
The stands include those of the Ghana National Farmers Union, National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association, Feedmillers Association, the Women in Agriculture Development Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and New Holland Tractors.
A few of the stands are yet to be occupied as of yesterday, while some exhibitors were seen arranging their stands as of 1p.m. yesterday.
Some of the exhibitors expressed joy at the attendance on the second day as some of them had already sold out some of their items.
They were hopeful that by the end of the exhibition they should have been able to promote the products.
However, other exhibitors said patronage was not as encouraging as they had expected, but were anticipating that it would pick up before the end of the exhibition on Sunday.
Other seminars were held yesterday on the following topics: “Policy Implementation on Farm”; “Productivity and Operations”; “Agriculture Technology for Developing Countries”; and “Managing Agro Business”.
Master Simon Laryea, a form four Geography student of the Chemu SHS, told the Daily Graphic that the exhibition had provided him and his colleagues the opportunity to have a first-hand view of some seeds, farm produce and machinery.
He said the information acquired was relevant to the topics treated in the Integrated Science and the Geography course he was offering.
Master Junior Ashong, a form three Science student of the Osu Presec said the exhibition had provided him the opportunity to see some farming machinery that he learnt about in school.
A Biology teacher of Chemu SHS, Mr Sulley Salim, said the school decided to bring the students to the exhibition, “to get first time information about agriculture, see various crops, learn about food processing and crop pests and diseases”.
The exhibition, which was opened by Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, is expected to raise the level of knowledge in certain business sectors and create development impact as employment, improved working conditions and environmental standards.
Farmers, fishermen set up endowment fund
16/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE National Farmers and Fishermen Association (NAFFA) has set up an agricultural endowment fund to raise GH¢120 million annually to support farmers and enhance agriculture in the country.
Twenty per cent of proceeds from the funds will be used as a provident fund for farmers, 20 per cent as life/accident insurance, 30 per cent will be used to serve as a cover for farmers to access loans from banks and the remaining 30 per cent will be used for the management of the fund.
The President of NAFFA, Mr Philip Abayori, who made this known at the second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) at the Trade Fair in Accra, said the fund would be launched in December 2010.
He explained that the association had realised that individual farmers did not have “the financial muscle” to raise funds or access loans from the banks.
Therefore, the endowment fund would boost the credit worthiness of farmers, as it would serve as guarantee for them to access loans from banks.
Mr Abayori said when the funds mature enough, the association would start giving out soft loans to farmers.
Besides, he said, it could buy fertilisers and pesticides in bulk and resell them at cheaper cost to farmers.
The week-long exhibition being organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), on the theme; “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, has on display agricultural products, agro chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, fisheries, beverages and agricultural machinery.
The exhibitors are from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of America.
Many of the exhibitors expressed joy at attendance at the exhibition, as some of them had either sold some of their items or had had some people express interest in buying their items later.
Other exhibitors, however, felt that patronage had been slow and expressed the hope that it would pick up by the end of the exhibition this Sunday.
The manager of Ajax-Ghana, Mr Kwabena Opagya, said many farmers had visited the company's stand to enquire about its tractors for land preparation, seeding, irrigation, harvesting and processing.
He, however, noted that although the farmers had expressed interest in the tractors (Landini, Case, Agromash), many of them appeared not to have the money to buy them.
The Togolese Ambassador to Ghana and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana, Mr Jean-Pierre T. Gbikpi-Benissan, who visited the exhibition, said he was there to see the various farming machinery and establish contacts with the exhibitors for future purposes.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE National Farmers and Fishermen Association (NAFFA) has set up an agricultural endowment fund to raise GH¢120 million annually to support farmers and enhance agriculture in the country.
Twenty per cent of proceeds from the funds will be used as a provident fund for farmers, 20 per cent as life/accident insurance, 30 per cent will be used to serve as a cover for farmers to access loans from banks and the remaining 30 per cent will be used for the management of the fund.
The President of NAFFA, Mr Philip Abayori, who made this known at the second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) at the Trade Fair in Accra, said the fund would be launched in December 2010.
He explained that the association had realised that individual farmers did not have “the financial muscle” to raise funds or access loans from the banks.
Therefore, the endowment fund would boost the credit worthiness of farmers, as it would serve as guarantee for them to access loans from banks.
Mr Abayori said when the funds mature enough, the association would start giving out soft loans to farmers.
Besides, he said, it could buy fertilisers and pesticides in bulk and resell them at cheaper cost to farmers.
The week-long exhibition being organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), on the theme; “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, has on display agricultural products, agro chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, fisheries, beverages and agricultural machinery.
The exhibitors are from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of America.
Many of the exhibitors expressed joy at attendance at the exhibition, as some of them had either sold some of their items or had had some people express interest in buying their items later.
Other exhibitors, however, felt that patronage had been slow and expressed the hope that it would pick up by the end of the exhibition this Sunday.
The manager of Ajax-Ghana, Mr Kwabena Opagya, said many farmers had visited the company's stand to enquire about its tractors for land preparation, seeding, irrigation, harvesting and processing.
He, however, noted that although the farmers had expressed interest in the tractors (Landini, Case, Agromash), many of them appeared not to have the money to buy them.
The Togolese Ambassador to Ghana and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana, Mr Jean-Pierre T. Gbikpi-Benissan, who visited the exhibition, said he was there to see the various farming machinery and establish contacts with the exhibitors for future purposes.
FAGRO 2010 ends
18/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) ended yesterday with many exhibitors being happy with the level of patronage of the week-long event.
The exhibitors were from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of America.
It was organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on the theme: “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, and had on display agricultural products, agro chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, fisheries, beverages and agricultural machinery.
Some locally manufactured agro-processing machines and processed products were some of the revelations at the exhibition.
Fruit juice extraction machines for blending water melon, pineapple, and oranges, a hammer mill for drying products into fine powder and a self-feeding cassava grater were some of the agro-processing machines exhibited by GRATIS Foundation, a technology transfer, training and manufacturing organisation operating in the country.
Greenlife Moringa Leaf Powder produced by Daysah Ventures, a local company, and natural cocoa powder processed by Lihena were some of the neatly packaged locally produced products at the exhibition.
The Marketing Manager of GRATIS Foundation, Mrs Caroline Tsikata, said the exhibition had offered her outfit the needed exposure as people from other countries had expressed interest in the products.
She said GRATIS Foundation would do a follow-up to those countries to market the agro-processing machines, which include rice mill and shea nut crusher.
The Director of Daysah Ventures, Mr George Amissah, said the exhibition had been good since he had sold many of the company’s bottled moringa powder and established contacts with prospective buyers.
He urged the government to support producers of moringa with funds to enable them to produce more to satisfy the country’s market and even export abroad.
Mr Ouattara Moustapha, an exhibitor from Burkina Faso, said patronage of his company’s cashew nut products was encouraging, but indicated that it was below his expectation.
He said generally the organisation was good because there were many well-decorated stands and vigilant security officers. An exhibitor of natural cocoa powder, Mr Isaac Kwadwo Boamah, said sales of the product had been good while the company (Lihena) had established contact with prospective buyers.
He, however, expressed worry at the poor publicity given to the exhibition in the media, and called for the rectification of that anomaly in subsequent exhibitions.
Mr Boamah suggested that future FAGRO should include general goods to attract more people from all walks of life to the exhibition.
Seminars on agribusiness, agro-technology and food processing and preservation were held alongside the exhibition, which were attended mainly by senior high school students and a few farmers and manufacturers.
There was a food competition for students of the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI) and the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, presented prizes and certificates to the winners.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE second National Food and Agricultural Show (FAGRO 2010) ended yesterday with many exhibitors being happy with the level of patronage of the week-long event.
The exhibitors were from Ghana, some neighbouring African countries, Europe and the United States of America.
It was organised by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) on the theme: “Sustainable Agriculture through Appropriate Technology”, and had on display agricultural products, agro chemicals, foodstuffs, livestock, fisheries, beverages and agricultural machinery.
Some locally manufactured agro-processing machines and processed products were some of the revelations at the exhibition.
Fruit juice extraction machines for blending water melon, pineapple, and oranges, a hammer mill for drying products into fine powder and a self-feeding cassava grater were some of the agro-processing machines exhibited by GRATIS Foundation, a technology transfer, training and manufacturing organisation operating in the country.
Greenlife Moringa Leaf Powder produced by Daysah Ventures, a local company, and natural cocoa powder processed by Lihena were some of the neatly packaged locally produced products at the exhibition.
The Marketing Manager of GRATIS Foundation, Mrs Caroline Tsikata, said the exhibition had offered her outfit the needed exposure as people from other countries had expressed interest in the products.
She said GRATIS Foundation would do a follow-up to those countries to market the agro-processing machines, which include rice mill and shea nut crusher.
The Director of Daysah Ventures, Mr George Amissah, said the exhibition had been good since he had sold many of the company’s bottled moringa powder and established contacts with prospective buyers.
He urged the government to support producers of moringa with funds to enable them to produce more to satisfy the country’s market and even export abroad.
Mr Ouattara Moustapha, an exhibitor from Burkina Faso, said patronage of his company’s cashew nut products was encouraging, but indicated that it was below his expectation.
He said generally the organisation was good because there were many well-decorated stands and vigilant security officers. An exhibitor of natural cocoa powder, Mr Isaac Kwadwo Boamah, said sales of the product had been good while the company (Lihena) had established contact with prospective buyers.
He, however, expressed worry at the poor publicity given to the exhibition in the media, and called for the rectification of that anomaly in subsequent exhibitions.
Mr Boamah suggested that future FAGRO should include general goods to attract more people from all walks of life to the exhibition.
Seminars on agribusiness, agro-technology and food processing and preservation were held alongside the exhibition, which were attended mainly by senior high school students and a few farmers and manufacturers.
There was a food competition for students of the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI) and the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, presented prizes and certificates to the winners.
Work on new Foreign Affairs building to start before end of year
20/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
WORK on the new offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration at the former site of the International Students’ Hostel is expected to begin before the end of the year.
This follows the signing of a design contract between the governments of Ghana and China.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Chris Kpodo, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the two governments were expected to finalise the contract agreements by the end of the year.
The old building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was gutted by fire on October 21, last year. The fire destroyed valuable documents and office equipment whose value runs into thousands of Ghana cedis.
Officials of the Ministry initially moved to the International Conference Centre, where they operated for a few weeks before moving to the Flagstaff House as a temporary workplace.
The former site of the International Students Hostel at the Airport City, which was initially allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was re-zoned for residential development by the government in 2007 and the plots of land sold to 36 interested buyers for GH¢20,000 or GH¢15,000 per plot.
The 36 beneficiaries include high ranking politicians, corporate executives, and members of Parliament, the judiciary and the Ghana Police Service.
The 25-acre land has since been re-acquired by the Lands Commission and allocated to three state institutions.
The Lands Commission said with the powers conferred on it by law, it had withdrawn the sale offer, following a re-zoning of the area by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to its original civil status, and demarcated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana Revenue Authority and the Public Procurement Authority for the construction of new offices.
Mr Kpodo indicated that the proposed project would contain no residential facilities but offices for the staff of the ministry.
Mr Kpodo said the staff of the ministry were not under any serious constraints at their temporary office at the Flagstaff House, stressing that they were “comfortable”.
However, he said, the staff would be more comfortable if they were able to move into the permanent office facility within the shortest possible time.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
WORK on the new offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration at the former site of the International Students’ Hostel is expected to begin before the end of the year.
This follows the signing of a design contract between the governments of Ghana and China.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Chris Kpodo, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the two governments were expected to finalise the contract agreements by the end of the year.
The old building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was gutted by fire on October 21, last year. The fire destroyed valuable documents and office equipment whose value runs into thousands of Ghana cedis.
Officials of the Ministry initially moved to the International Conference Centre, where they operated for a few weeks before moving to the Flagstaff House as a temporary workplace.
The former site of the International Students Hostel at the Airport City, which was initially allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was re-zoned for residential development by the government in 2007 and the plots of land sold to 36 interested buyers for GH¢20,000 or GH¢15,000 per plot.
The 36 beneficiaries include high ranking politicians, corporate executives, and members of Parliament, the judiciary and the Ghana Police Service.
The 25-acre land has since been re-acquired by the Lands Commission and allocated to three state institutions.
The Lands Commission said with the powers conferred on it by law, it had withdrawn the sale offer, following a re-zoning of the area by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to its original civil status, and demarcated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana Revenue Authority and the Public Procurement Authority for the construction of new offices.
Mr Kpodo indicated that the proposed project would contain no residential facilities but offices for the staff of the ministry.
Mr Kpodo said the staff of the ministry were not under any serious constraints at their temporary office at the Flagstaff House, stressing that they were “comfortable”.
However, he said, the staff would be more comfortable if they were able to move into the permanent office facility within the shortest possible time.
Weija, Kpong water works to undergo expansion
21/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE production capacities of the Weija and Kpong Water Works are to be expanded under a Ghana-China water project to improve the water situation in Accra.
The expansion work, expected to begin by the end of the year, would reduce the water supply deficit which currently stands at 70 million gallons a day in Accra.
With a demand of 150 million gallons a day, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is only able to supply 80 million gallons a day, leaving the huge deficit which the government intends to address.
Outlining efforts at improving the water situation in the national capital in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Louisa Hanna Bissiw, said the capacity of the Weija and Kpong Water works would be expanded substantially under the project.
Besides, she said, the government would expand the capacity of water works in the regions, including Kumasi, Sekondi/Takoradi and Wa.
Dr Bissiw said the government would also rehabilitate pipelines in various parts of the country and enter into water purchase agreement with some companies for them to set up water treatment plants at specific places.
The companies would treat water and sell it to the GWCL, Dr Bissiw said, adding that there was a plan to pump water from Kasoa to Accra West.
Dr Bissiw condemned the pumping of water from hydrants and main pipelines by water tanker operators, saying that disturbed the flow of water to other residents.
She also identified revenue collection as being fraught with problems, noting that the GWCL realised only 46 per cent of the amount of water supplied because of illegal connection with the connivance of some officials of the GWCL.
Dr Bissiw said the punitive regime for illegal connection was not deterrent enough, stressing that to discourage the illegal connection of water, a compulsory six-month jail term should be imposed on anyone found engaged in illegal connection.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE production capacities of the Weija and Kpong Water Works are to be expanded under a Ghana-China water project to improve the water situation in Accra.
The expansion work, expected to begin by the end of the year, would reduce the water supply deficit which currently stands at 70 million gallons a day in Accra.
With a demand of 150 million gallons a day, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is only able to supply 80 million gallons a day, leaving the huge deficit which the government intends to address.
Outlining efforts at improving the water situation in the national capital in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Louisa Hanna Bissiw, said the capacity of the Weija and Kpong Water works would be expanded substantially under the project.
Besides, she said, the government would expand the capacity of water works in the regions, including Kumasi, Sekondi/Takoradi and Wa.
Dr Bissiw said the government would also rehabilitate pipelines in various parts of the country and enter into water purchase agreement with some companies for them to set up water treatment plants at specific places.
The companies would treat water and sell it to the GWCL, Dr Bissiw said, adding that there was a plan to pump water from Kasoa to Accra West.
Dr Bissiw condemned the pumping of water from hydrants and main pipelines by water tanker operators, saying that disturbed the flow of water to other residents.
She also identified revenue collection as being fraught with problems, noting that the GWCL realised only 46 per cent of the amount of water supplied because of illegal connection with the connivance of some officials of the GWCL.
Dr Bissiw said the punitive regime for illegal connection was not deterrent enough, stressing that to discourage the illegal connection of water, a compulsory six-month jail term should be imposed on anyone found engaged in illegal connection.
STX housing project cleared
21/10/2010
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Attorney-General and Minister for Justice has corrected the anomalies detected in the final agreement on the STX Housing Project.
With the legal hurdle now cleared, the document has been referred to the technical committee on the STX Housing Project for the administrative phase of the housing scheme.
“The Attorney-General has cleared the STX deal and given it back to the technical committee. This week the technical committee will meet and discuss the report,” a Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Louisa Hanna Bissiw, told the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday.
On September 20, 2010, a ceremony at the Castle, Osu for the Korean firm and the government to sign the deal on the project was rescheduled because of some anomalies detected in the deal.
Consequently, the issues were referred to the Attorney General and Minister for Justice for fine-tuning to pave the way for the construction of 30,000 housing units for the security agencies.
Dr Bissiw said all the legal issues involving the STX project had been completed, and indicated that the rest was administrative.
She hinted that all the technical details would be completed soon and “the project will be ready for a take-off by the end of the year”.
Dr Bissiw said the government needed “space and tranquillity” to work on the technical details, and stressed that it would be unhelpful if the details were subjected to partisan political discussions.
“Where we have reached is purely administrative. We have to allow the administration to work,” she stressed.
Dr Bissiw said during her visit to the Central Police Station on Monday she saw the poor state of the rooms, bathrooms and toilet facilities of the police service.
She expressed regret, for instance, that a 44 square-metre room was being occupied by 52 police officers.
Dr Bissiw said the poor state of the accommodation for the security agencies required of all Ghanaians to support the STX Housing Project, stressing that “this is a project we all have to push”.
She said besides the “decent” accommodation that the project would provide for the security agencies, “it will bring money directly into our pockets as 70 per cent of the workforce will be Ghanaians”.
Besides, people would get indirect benefits by the trade opportunities it would create.
Dr Bissiw, therefore, stressed the need for Ghanaians “to put politics aside and support it, otherwise we cannot go far”.
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Attorney-General and Minister for Justice has corrected the anomalies detected in the final agreement on the STX Housing Project.
With the legal hurdle now cleared, the document has been referred to the technical committee on the STX Housing Project for the administrative phase of the housing scheme.
“The Attorney-General has cleared the STX deal and given it back to the technical committee. This week the technical committee will meet and discuss the report,” a Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Louisa Hanna Bissiw, told the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday.
On September 20, 2010, a ceremony at the Castle, Osu for the Korean firm and the government to sign the deal on the project was rescheduled because of some anomalies detected in the deal.
Consequently, the issues were referred to the Attorney General and Minister for Justice for fine-tuning to pave the way for the construction of 30,000 housing units for the security agencies.
Dr Bissiw said all the legal issues involving the STX project had been completed, and indicated that the rest was administrative.
She hinted that all the technical details would be completed soon and “the project will be ready for a take-off by the end of the year”.
Dr Bissiw said the government needed “space and tranquillity” to work on the technical details, and stressed that it would be unhelpful if the details were subjected to partisan political discussions.
“Where we have reached is purely administrative. We have to allow the administration to work,” she stressed.
Dr Bissiw said during her visit to the Central Police Station on Monday she saw the poor state of the rooms, bathrooms and toilet facilities of the police service.
She expressed regret, for instance, that a 44 square-metre room was being occupied by 52 police officers.
Dr Bissiw said the poor state of the accommodation for the security agencies required of all Ghanaians to support the STX Housing Project, stressing that “this is a project we all have to push”.
She said besides the “decent” accommodation that the project would provide for the security agencies, “it will bring money directly into our pockets as 70 per cent of the workforce will be Ghanaians”.
Besides, people would get indirect benefits by the trade opportunities it would create.
Dr Bissiw, therefore, stressed the need for Ghanaians “to put politics aside and support it, otherwise we cannot go far”.
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