Business page (lead) August 29/2008
Story; Charles Benoni Okine
Ghana’s achievements in the implementation of the Procurement Act as a tool for checking corruption in the country have been recognised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development- Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) of the World Bank.
In May 2006, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) successfully launched its Public Procurement Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) assessment tool, strategically designed to capture qualitative and quantitative data that is used in measuring performance and compliance levels of entities as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act of 2003 (Act 663).
Last year, there was a joint assessment team by the World Bank, which used the OECD-DAC methodology to assess Ghana's performance and compliance out of which Ghana scored a record 70 per cent.
The team also validated the use of PPA's PPME tool to ascertain the degree of conformity with the OECD methodology and the record has been regarded as unprecedented in the world of public procurement reforms.
It was a result of the quality and practicability of this tool in determining the performance and compliance of entities for the effective implementation of Ghana's Public Procurement Law that PPA's Chief Executive Officer had been invited as a Guest Speaker to share with the rest of the world the strides Ghana was making in the area of public procurement.
Mr A.B. Adjei has been nominated by the OECD to share Ghana's experiences and progress in PPME at the 3rd International Conference on Good Governance scheduled for Asuncion, Paraguay, South America, on September 2, 2008.
The PPA, for its part, has hosted public procurement regulatory organisations across Africa, including the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, Tanzania and the Zambian Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The Liberian Public Procurement Authority has also been billed to be on a one-week study tour to PPA in September, 2008.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Parties express concern about bloated register
Political page (lead) August 29/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
POLITICAL parties and governance experts in the country have expressed grave concern about the possibility of having a bloated voter register by the election date on December 7.
Consequently they have called for urgent and drastic steps from all groups including religious organisations and individuals to join the parties and the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure that the provisional register yet to be displayed is cleaned up before the crucial general election.
Their call is in response to fears expressed by the commission that the register might be bloated by a million voters, thereby raising the number of present voters in the register from 10.9 million to 12.9 million.
The commission before the just-ended limited voter registration exercise had projected to register between 600,000 and one million voters but the huge number of people who went to partake in the exercise has overwhelmed the EC.
According to the parties and the governance experts, time was not on the side of the commission and, therefore, the earlier measures were taken to address the anomalies the better for the country.
Speaking in separate interviews, the General Secretary of the biggest opposition party in the country, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, recalled the early warning signals it sent to the commission regarding the exercise for which the EC did not heed.
“We told the EC to ensure that there was adequate funds released for the programmes that they had lined-up to avoid any mishaps,” he said.
Mr Asiedu-Nketia said the EC had always indicated that it was well resourced and had planned well to avert any problems in the course of the exercise “here we are, we have seriously been vindicated”.
He said the NDC had also suggested to the commission to ensure that the voter registration exercise was done earlier in the year to allow ample time to clear all anomalies before the election time but that was also not heeded.
Mr Asiedu-Nketia said with just a few months to the elections, the teething problems that the NDC warned about had manifest and indicated that the earlier all the stakeholders and the various political parties get their act together to ensure a clean register before the elections the better for the country.
He said the loopholes created by the commission were what caused many to register more than once so that if the commission had listened to wise counsel from the NDC and some other political parties, all these would not have happened.
He took a swipe at the EC saying “it has behaved irresponsibly by creating al those problems and called for the resignation of the chairman of the commission”.
“He was bent on getting the register bloated from day one and because we detected it and had it corrected, he has managed to use another means to get the number of voters in the register increased,” he said.
Mr Asiedu Nketia reiterated that what was happening should be seen as a national crisis that needed prompt action to rectify before the decisive elections.
The General Secretary of the Conventions People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet, also described the possible bloating of the register as an issue of great concern to the party.
“This should not be an issue for one political party alone to address but I believe we all in the game should work at ensuring that the register is clean before the December polls,” he said.
He said due to lack of proper education, many people used the registration exercise for the wrong reasons and in the end denied the genuine eligible voters the opportunity to register.
Mr Greenstreet said the problem required an Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to address.
He said the EC itself needed to be extra cautious to ensure that measures were put in place to stop the bloating of the register before the elections.
The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, also signalled the consequence of a bloated register during the elections, saying “it will create chaotic scenes in many parts of the country which could trigger something nasty for the country”.
“Can you imagine what will happen when people with multiple names in the register are being prevented from voting within their party strongholds,” he questioned.
Dr Akwetey said it was up to the EC to engage the security services, political parties and civil society groups in cleaning up the register before the elections.
“The Judiciary must also be involved so that people will know that if they attempt something funny, they could be prosecuted and sentenced according to the law,” Dr Akwetey added.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
POLITICAL parties and governance experts in the country have expressed grave concern about the possibility of having a bloated voter register by the election date on December 7.
Consequently they have called for urgent and drastic steps from all groups including religious organisations and individuals to join the parties and the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure that the provisional register yet to be displayed is cleaned up before the crucial general election.
Their call is in response to fears expressed by the commission that the register might be bloated by a million voters, thereby raising the number of present voters in the register from 10.9 million to 12.9 million.
The commission before the just-ended limited voter registration exercise had projected to register between 600,000 and one million voters but the huge number of people who went to partake in the exercise has overwhelmed the EC.
According to the parties and the governance experts, time was not on the side of the commission and, therefore, the earlier measures were taken to address the anomalies the better for the country.
Speaking in separate interviews, the General Secretary of the biggest opposition party in the country, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, recalled the early warning signals it sent to the commission regarding the exercise for which the EC did not heed.
“We told the EC to ensure that there was adequate funds released for the programmes that they had lined-up to avoid any mishaps,” he said.
Mr Asiedu-Nketia said the EC had always indicated that it was well resourced and had planned well to avert any problems in the course of the exercise “here we are, we have seriously been vindicated”.
He said the NDC had also suggested to the commission to ensure that the voter registration exercise was done earlier in the year to allow ample time to clear all anomalies before the election time but that was also not heeded.
Mr Asiedu-Nketia said with just a few months to the elections, the teething problems that the NDC warned about had manifest and indicated that the earlier all the stakeholders and the various political parties get their act together to ensure a clean register before the elections the better for the country.
He said the loopholes created by the commission were what caused many to register more than once so that if the commission had listened to wise counsel from the NDC and some other political parties, all these would not have happened.
He took a swipe at the EC saying “it has behaved irresponsibly by creating al those problems and called for the resignation of the chairman of the commission”.
“He was bent on getting the register bloated from day one and because we detected it and had it corrected, he has managed to use another means to get the number of voters in the register increased,” he said.
Mr Asiedu Nketia reiterated that what was happening should be seen as a national crisis that needed prompt action to rectify before the decisive elections.
The General Secretary of the Conventions People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet, also described the possible bloating of the register as an issue of great concern to the party.
“This should not be an issue for one political party alone to address but I believe we all in the game should work at ensuring that the register is clean before the December polls,” he said.
He said due to lack of proper education, many people used the registration exercise for the wrong reasons and in the end denied the genuine eligible voters the opportunity to register.
Mr Greenstreet said the problem required an Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to address.
He said the EC itself needed to be extra cautious to ensure that measures were put in place to stop the bloating of the register before the elections.
The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, also signalled the consequence of a bloated register during the elections, saying “it will create chaotic scenes in many parts of the country which could trigger something nasty for the country”.
“Can you imagine what will happen when people with multiple names in the register are being prevented from voting within their party strongholds,” he questioned.
Dr Akwetey said it was up to the EC to engage the security services, political parties and civil society groups in cleaning up the register before the elections.
“The Judiciary must also be involved so that people will know that if they attempt something funny, they could be prosecuted and sentenced according to the law,” Dr Akwetey added.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
danish Envoy commends government on economic policies
Spread August 28/2008
Story; Charles Benoni Okine
THE outgoing Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Flemming Pedersen, has commended the government for what he described as the prudent economic policies that has put the country on the right pedestal to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said the persistent growth of the economy since 2002 was a clear indication of the seriousness of the government to drastically reduce poverty levels of the people.
The Ambassador made the commendation when he paid a farewell call on the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, in Accra yesterday.
From a little over three per cent economic growth at the close of 2000, the figure now stands at about 6.5 per cent as of the end of 2007.
This, Mr Flemming described, as encouraging and indicated that Ghana was on track to greater heights in the near future.
He also commended the government, particularly, President Kufuor, for being the first to subject his administration to the Peer Review Mechanism under the NEPAD.
Mr Pedersen described the move as courageous and a mark of a confident leader who knew what he was about.
He said the country’s decentralisation process was also worthy of commendation, because of the way it brought governance to the doorstep of the people.
Mr Pedersen said decentralisation ensured accountability and transparency, and expressed the hope that this process would be deepened as the days went by.
He said the relationship between the two countries had been cordial and fruitful over the years, praising the two governments for their co-operation in that regard.
The Ambassador expressed the hope that his successor would work harder towards ensuring that the commercial relations between the two countries were also deepened to the benefit of the two countries.
For his part, Alhaji Mahama expressed the gratitude of the Government of Ghana for the support that the country had received and continued to receive from Denmark in many facets of the economy.
He mentioned water and rural development projects in the area of agriculture, among others, as some of the sectors that had seen a lot of support from the Danish government.
The vice-president also mentioned Denmark’s support for the electoral process in the country since 1992.
He said Ghana’s democracy was maturing faster to an extent that it had become a benchmark for many countries on the African continent.
Alhaji Mahama said the government believed in the rule of law and good governance and would continue to demonstrate that at all times.
He assured the Danish government and the rest of the international community of the resolve of the government to ensure that the peace and stability that was being enjoyed would not elude the country during, before and after the December polls.
Alhaji Mahama thanked the Ambassador for his personal role in ensuring that Denmark gave Ghana a lot of support to enable her to make life more meaningful to the people.
Story; Charles Benoni Okine
THE outgoing Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Flemming Pedersen, has commended the government for what he described as the prudent economic policies that has put the country on the right pedestal to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said the persistent growth of the economy since 2002 was a clear indication of the seriousness of the government to drastically reduce poverty levels of the people.
The Ambassador made the commendation when he paid a farewell call on the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, in Accra yesterday.
From a little over three per cent economic growth at the close of 2000, the figure now stands at about 6.5 per cent as of the end of 2007.
This, Mr Flemming described, as encouraging and indicated that Ghana was on track to greater heights in the near future.
He also commended the government, particularly, President Kufuor, for being the first to subject his administration to the Peer Review Mechanism under the NEPAD.
Mr Pedersen described the move as courageous and a mark of a confident leader who knew what he was about.
He said the country’s decentralisation process was also worthy of commendation, because of the way it brought governance to the doorstep of the people.
Mr Pedersen said decentralisation ensured accountability and transparency, and expressed the hope that this process would be deepened as the days went by.
He said the relationship between the two countries had been cordial and fruitful over the years, praising the two governments for their co-operation in that regard.
The Ambassador expressed the hope that his successor would work harder towards ensuring that the commercial relations between the two countries were also deepened to the benefit of the two countries.
For his part, Alhaji Mahama expressed the gratitude of the Government of Ghana for the support that the country had received and continued to receive from Denmark in many facets of the economy.
He mentioned water and rural development projects in the area of agriculture, among others, as some of the sectors that had seen a lot of support from the Danish government.
The vice-president also mentioned Denmark’s support for the electoral process in the country since 1992.
He said Ghana’s democracy was maturing faster to an extent that it had become a benchmark for many countries on the African continent.
Alhaji Mahama said the government believed in the rule of law and good governance and would continue to demonstrate that at all times.
He assured the Danish government and the rest of the international community of the resolve of the government to ensure that the peace and stability that was being enjoyed would not elude the country during, before and after the December polls.
Alhaji Mahama thanked the Ambassador for his personal role in ensuring that Denmark gave Ghana a lot of support to enable her to make life more meaningful to the people.
Accra residents to get tanker services
Back page, August 27/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), in collaboration with Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), operators of the urban water systems in the country, has deployed 40 water tankers to provide free water services to communities and areas to be affected by the 10-day shutdown of one of the main water booster stations in Accra.
The company has also mounted 14 other filling points within the metropolis to allow for easy loading of water by the water tankers including those doing commercial service.
The move is to help reduce the impact of the shutdown on consumers.
The acting Managing Director of the GWCL, Mr Kweku Botwe, who led a team of media personnel to the booster station at Okponglo in Accra yesterday, consequently called on those expected to benefit from the supplies to ensure that they were not short-changed by unscrupulous persons who may want to sell the water to them.
The company yesterday shut down the booster station to allow for final works to be done on the East-West Interconnection project of the company, which is expected to link the water supplies from the western and eastern parts of Accra to augment supplies.
A couple of years ago, the government raised funds to expand the Weija Water Treatment Plant to pump additional 15 million gallons of water to meet the growing demand of water in urban Accra.
When the media arrived at the booster station, the contractor on the project, Ballast Nedam, was busily replacing the old pipes with new ones while the giant water pumps, some of which had been running since the 1970s, were being changed to be able to effectively pump the additional water.
Mr Botwe said the project had become necessary to enable the company to serve more people in urban Accra.
He described the intervention as a wise decision, saying “with this we will be able to serve both the western and eastern parts of Accra with water”.
Mr Botwe expressed regret about the inconvenience the exercise might bring to the people but said it was necessary to ease the water shortages in the metropolis.
Mr Stanley Martey, Communications Manager of AVRL, said the company had ensured that its employees accompanied the tanker drivers to ensure that they served only the areas affected by the exercise.
He said all the tankers that had been deployed for the exercise had the company’s logo boldly posted on them to allow for easy identification.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), in collaboration with Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), operators of the urban water systems in the country, has deployed 40 water tankers to provide free water services to communities and areas to be affected by the 10-day shutdown of one of the main water booster stations in Accra.
The company has also mounted 14 other filling points within the metropolis to allow for easy loading of water by the water tankers including those doing commercial service.
The move is to help reduce the impact of the shutdown on consumers.
The acting Managing Director of the GWCL, Mr Kweku Botwe, who led a team of media personnel to the booster station at Okponglo in Accra yesterday, consequently called on those expected to benefit from the supplies to ensure that they were not short-changed by unscrupulous persons who may want to sell the water to them.
The company yesterday shut down the booster station to allow for final works to be done on the East-West Interconnection project of the company, which is expected to link the water supplies from the western and eastern parts of Accra to augment supplies.
A couple of years ago, the government raised funds to expand the Weija Water Treatment Plant to pump additional 15 million gallons of water to meet the growing demand of water in urban Accra.
When the media arrived at the booster station, the contractor on the project, Ballast Nedam, was busily replacing the old pipes with new ones while the giant water pumps, some of which had been running since the 1970s, were being changed to be able to effectively pump the additional water.
Mr Botwe said the project had become necessary to enable the company to serve more people in urban Accra.
He described the intervention as a wise decision, saying “with this we will be able to serve both the western and eastern parts of Accra with water”.
Mr Botwe expressed regret about the inconvenience the exercise might bring to the people but said it was necessary to ease the water shortages in the metropolis.
Mr Stanley Martey, Communications Manager of AVRL, said the company had ensured that its employees accompanied the tanker drivers to ensure that they served only the areas affected by the exercise.
He said all the tankers that had been deployed for the exercise had the company’s logo boldly posted on them to allow for easy identification.
Bagre dam spillage will feed Volta Lake - VRA
Back Page (lead), August 26/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has stated that the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso will have a positive impact on the Volta Lake, one of the major sources of hydro power in the country.
By this, the authority can rely more on hydro power generation and reduce thermal supply, which is operated at a much higher cost as a result of the soaring crude oil prices on the international market.
Mr Kirk Cofie, Director of Hydro at the VRA, told the Daily Graphic that the authority sympathised with the people who would be affected by the imminent floods resulting from the spillage but “it will swell the White and Black Voltas, which will force the water level in the Volta to rise to enable the authority to run more turbines to generate more power”.
He said even before the spills from the Bagre Dam could hit the Voltas, the persistent rains in the north of the country had had a positive impact on the lake.
Mr Cofie said as of yesterday, the water level in the Volta Lake stood at 251.90 feet, which is between 12 to 13 feet higher than that of the previous year within the same period.
“In this case, we have a positive expectation for this year as far as the water level in the Volta Lake is concerned.”
Last year, the country went through one of the worse energy crises in its history as a result of drought in northern Ghana, which caused the tributaries of the Volta Lake to run short of enough water to help power generation.
When all hope seemed lost, massive flooding as a result of torrential rains and the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam helped swell the Volta Lake, which brought an end to the crisis after the nation had expended several billions of dollars in the importation of crude oil to support thermal power generation.
Asked whether the VRA had put in place any measures to dredge the White and Black Voltas to trap more water during the spillage from the Bagre Dam, he replied that “we do not have any evidence that there is siltation in the two Voltas”.
On the effect of the numerous tree stumps in the lake, he said these had no effect on the operations in terms of power generation by the VRA.
He said the tree stumps were a nuisance to those who used the lake as a form of water transport and noted that the move by the government to give authority to a company to remove some of them was in the right direction.
Mr Cofie said the VRA had been assisting the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the regional bodies to alert the people in northern Ghana of the impending floods, which were likely to hit them as a result of the spills from the Bagre Dam.
"We have gone round on many occasions to sensitise the people long before the dam in Burkina Faso was opened and the compliance has been encouraging," he said.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has stated that the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso will have a positive impact on the Volta Lake, one of the major sources of hydro power in the country.
By this, the authority can rely more on hydro power generation and reduce thermal supply, which is operated at a much higher cost as a result of the soaring crude oil prices on the international market.
Mr Kirk Cofie, Director of Hydro at the VRA, told the Daily Graphic that the authority sympathised with the people who would be affected by the imminent floods resulting from the spillage but “it will swell the White and Black Voltas, which will force the water level in the Volta to rise to enable the authority to run more turbines to generate more power”.
He said even before the spills from the Bagre Dam could hit the Voltas, the persistent rains in the north of the country had had a positive impact on the lake.
Mr Cofie said as of yesterday, the water level in the Volta Lake stood at 251.90 feet, which is between 12 to 13 feet higher than that of the previous year within the same period.
“In this case, we have a positive expectation for this year as far as the water level in the Volta Lake is concerned.”
Last year, the country went through one of the worse energy crises in its history as a result of drought in northern Ghana, which caused the tributaries of the Volta Lake to run short of enough water to help power generation.
When all hope seemed lost, massive flooding as a result of torrential rains and the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam helped swell the Volta Lake, which brought an end to the crisis after the nation had expended several billions of dollars in the importation of crude oil to support thermal power generation.
Asked whether the VRA had put in place any measures to dredge the White and Black Voltas to trap more water during the spillage from the Bagre Dam, he replied that “we do not have any evidence that there is siltation in the two Voltas”.
On the effect of the numerous tree stumps in the lake, he said these had no effect on the operations in terms of power generation by the VRA.
He said the tree stumps were a nuisance to those who used the lake as a form of water transport and noted that the move by the government to give authority to a company to remove some of them was in the right direction.
Mr Cofie said the VRA had been assisting the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the regional bodies to alert the people in northern Ghana of the impending floods, which were likely to hit them as a result of the spills from the Bagre Dam.
"We have gone round on many occasions to sensitise the people long before the dam in Burkina Faso was opened and the compliance has been encouraging," he said.
Corruption thrives in absence of checks
Page 28 (lead) August 25/2008
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah & Charles Benoni Okine
THE Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Mr Adjenim Boateng Adjei, has said that people are tempted to corrupt if there are no stringent measures to serve as checks on their activities.
Quoting a British policeman’s response to a question on corruption, Mr Adjei said “all things being equal, five per cent of the people in the nation are corrupt; five per cent are not corrupt; whilst 90 per cent are only waiting for the opportunity to be either corrupt or incorrupt”.
He stressed that, “Thus, it is important for a regulatory body like the PPA to commit a lot of effort into monitoring to ensure that those 90 per cent of the people who are in waiting are not tempted to corrupt the laid down system”.
Mr Adjei was delivering a welcoming address at the 2008 Public Forum of the PPA in Accra. The forum, which was on the theme, “Effective and Efficient Monitoring of Public Procurement for Sustainable National Development”, was attended by members of the governing board of the PPA, officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, officials of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), state-owned enterprises and stakeholders within the private sector.
Highlighting the importance of public procurement for sustainable national development, the PPA boss said studies had shown that public procurement in Ghana utilised about 80 per cent of the national tax revenue, represented about 24 per cent of total imports, represented between 50 and 70 per cent of the national budget (after deduction of personnel emoluments), as well as accounted for about 17 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said according to research findings, five per cent savings in procurement was equivalent to about 20 per cent increase in sales volume in relation to organisational profit .
“To the commercially oriented organisation whose aim is to maximise profit, procurement is strategic management function because of the impact it makes in its success and growth. To the non-profit organisations like subvented organisations where profit is not the objective, savings in procurement means more resources are available to undertake additional infrastructural projects for sustainable development,” he observed.
To achieve its objective, Mr Adjei noted that the PPA had approached the task of monitoring in a systemic, incremental manner, adding that the process of monitoring and evaluation began by developing an assessment tool called the Procurement Model of Excellence software, which allowed the qualitative and quantitative measurement of procurement systems.
He said to satisfy itself on the capabilities of the assessment tool, the PPA conducted a pilot assessment on 100 entities in 2005, which comprised both high and low spending institutions within the Greater Accra Region, and subsequently assessed 213 entities in 2006.
He said this year, the authority had assessed a total of 515 entities for the year 2007 and found that the results were encouraging. He backed that notion with a number of public tendering advertisements the entities made, which he said was clear indication of increased levels of transparency.
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, observed that the public forum, which was the third of its kind, was significant considering the opportunities they offered for interaction on issues that bordered on public financial management and its implications on the national economy.
The minister said since public procurement constituted one big expenditure component of the national budget, any opportunity to avoid waste and spillage should highly be applauded.
He stated that Ghana being a developing country whose national budget was 20 to 30 per cent supported through development partners, and international and local borrowing, there was the need for prudent use of funds through effective and efficient procurement systems.
The chairman for the function, who is also chairman for the PPA board, Mr Kwesi Abbey Sam, said the PPA had over the years worked assiduously to create awareness and improve public procurement activities in the country, adding that “this has been confirmed by the growing reportage on procurement activities in Ghana covering the views of the general public, the media and even Parliament on the management of public procurement in the country”.
As part of the programme, representatives from some of the high spending entities in the country presented reports on their experiences in implementing the Public Procurement Act of 2003 (Act 663), and these included the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Send Ghana, a civil society organisation, and Ultimate Supplies Limited, a private sector procurement agency.
Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah & Charles Benoni Okine
THE Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Mr Adjenim Boateng Adjei, has said that people are tempted to corrupt if there are no stringent measures to serve as checks on their activities.
Quoting a British policeman’s response to a question on corruption, Mr Adjei said “all things being equal, five per cent of the people in the nation are corrupt; five per cent are not corrupt; whilst 90 per cent are only waiting for the opportunity to be either corrupt or incorrupt”.
He stressed that, “Thus, it is important for a regulatory body like the PPA to commit a lot of effort into monitoring to ensure that those 90 per cent of the people who are in waiting are not tempted to corrupt the laid down system”.
Mr Adjei was delivering a welcoming address at the 2008 Public Forum of the PPA in Accra. The forum, which was on the theme, “Effective and Efficient Monitoring of Public Procurement for Sustainable National Development”, was attended by members of the governing board of the PPA, officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, officials of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), state-owned enterprises and stakeholders within the private sector.
Highlighting the importance of public procurement for sustainable national development, the PPA boss said studies had shown that public procurement in Ghana utilised about 80 per cent of the national tax revenue, represented about 24 per cent of total imports, represented between 50 and 70 per cent of the national budget (after deduction of personnel emoluments), as well as accounted for about 17 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said according to research findings, five per cent savings in procurement was equivalent to about 20 per cent increase in sales volume in relation to organisational profit .
“To the commercially oriented organisation whose aim is to maximise profit, procurement is strategic management function because of the impact it makes in its success and growth. To the non-profit organisations like subvented organisations where profit is not the objective, savings in procurement means more resources are available to undertake additional infrastructural projects for sustainable development,” he observed.
To achieve its objective, Mr Adjei noted that the PPA had approached the task of monitoring in a systemic, incremental manner, adding that the process of monitoring and evaluation began by developing an assessment tool called the Procurement Model of Excellence software, which allowed the qualitative and quantitative measurement of procurement systems.
He said to satisfy itself on the capabilities of the assessment tool, the PPA conducted a pilot assessment on 100 entities in 2005, which comprised both high and low spending institutions within the Greater Accra Region, and subsequently assessed 213 entities in 2006.
He said this year, the authority had assessed a total of 515 entities for the year 2007 and found that the results were encouraging. He backed that notion with a number of public tendering advertisements the entities made, which he said was clear indication of increased levels of transparency.
Delivering the keynote address, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, observed that the public forum, which was the third of its kind, was significant considering the opportunities they offered for interaction on issues that bordered on public financial management and its implications on the national economy.
The minister said since public procurement constituted one big expenditure component of the national budget, any opportunity to avoid waste and spillage should highly be applauded.
He stated that Ghana being a developing country whose national budget was 20 to 30 per cent supported through development partners, and international and local borrowing, there was the need for prudent use of funds through effective and efficient procurement systems.
The chairman for the function, who is also chairman for the PPA board, Mr Kwesi Abbey Sam, said the PPA had over the years worked assiduously to create awareness and improve public procurement activities in the country, adding that “this has been confirmed by the growing reportage on procurement activities in Ghana covering the views of the general public, the media and even Parliament on the management of public procurement in the country”.
As part of the programme, representatives from some of the high spending entities in the country presented reports on their experiences in implementing the Public Procurement Act of 2003 (Act 663), and these included the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Send Ghana, a civil society organisation, and Ultimate Supplies Limited, a private sector procurement agency.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Money to be invested Into infrastructutre dev.
Front page, lead, August 23-2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government will devote a large chunk of the money accrued from the sale of majority shares in Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom) to capital investments to enable both the present and the future generations to benefit from the sale, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has promised.
He cited the construction of 15 kilometres of tarred roads in each of the 230 districts of the country and the construction of first-class roads in all the cocoa-growing areas of the country as examples of such investments, and pointed out that those projects were spelt out in the 2008 budget statement and the government’s economic policy.
The sale of the GT shares was met with strong resistance from some civil society groups before Parliament gave approval for the government to raise the $900 million from the sale of 70 per cent of GT to the British telecom giant Vodafone.
A day after Parliament ratified the sale agreement, Vodafone made full payment of the amount into the government kitty in what is expected to stabilise the economy, which has seen some turbulence in recent times following the soaring prices of crude oil and the global food price hikes.
"The fact that we mentioned that the money to be realised from the sale will be used to support the 2008 budget does not mean all the money will be squandered to the benefit of only the present generation," Mr Baah-Wiredu said.
He did not rule out the use of some of the money to settle personal emoluments, payment of pensions and gratuities, among others, but noted that those expenditures were minor.
Mr Baah-Wiredu reiterated that the bulk of the money was meant to support infrastructural projects, which, when completed, would serve a great deal of purpose in the acceleration of the economy.
He said road construction was a fundamental key to economic growth and noted that these projects served a generational purpose.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government will devote a large chunk of the money accrued from the sale of majority shares in Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom) to capital investments to enable both the present and the future generations to benefit from the sale, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, has promised.
He cited the construction of 15 kilometres of tarred roads in each of the 230 districts of the country and the construction of first-class roads in all the cocoa-growing areas of the country as examples of such investments, and pointed out that those projects were spelt out in the 2008 budget statement and the government’s economic policy.
The sale of the GT shares was met with strong resistance from some civil society groups before Parliament gave approval for the government to raise the $900 million from the sale of 70 per cent of GT to the British telecom giant Vodafone.
A day after Parliament ratified the sale agreement, Vodafone made full payment of the amount into the government kitty in what is expected to stabilise the economy, which has seen some turbulence in recent times following the soaring prices of crude oil and the global food price hikes.
"The fact that we mentioned that the money to be realised from the sale will be used to support the 2008 budget does not mean all the money will be squandered to the benefit of only the present generation," Mr Baah-Wiredu said.
He did not rule out the use of some of the money to settle personal emoluments, payment of pensions and gratuities, among others, but noted that those expenditures were minor.
Mr Baah-Wiredu reiterated that the bulk of the money was meant to support infrastructural projects, which, when completed, would serve a great deal of purpose in the acceleration of the economy.
He said road construction was a fundamental key to economic growth and noted that these projects served a generational purpose.
Friday, August 22, 2008
GTB bares teeth
Page 25, August 22
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has warned that it will use punitive actions to compel players in the hospitality industry to operate within approved standards.
Such actions, the board said, would include the lowering of the star rate of hotels, the imposition of heavy fines, the withdrawal of licences and prosecution.
The Executive Director of the GTB, Mr Martin Mireku, who sounded the warning when the board met with the players in the industry in Accra yesterday, noted that feedback from some guests who participated in some international conferences in the country were not encouraging; they were abysmal and unacceptable.
The meeting was to afford the players and the regulator the opportunity to brainstorm on how to move the industry forward in the face of the growing number of international conferences being hosted by Ghana and the quest of the government to make the country the tourism hub of the sub-region.
Mr Mireku described as unfortunate the refusal on the part of many of the hotels to heed to advice given them by the board after their premises had been inspected.
“We do our regular inspections and note down all the faults we detect. We notify them of their mistakes but we have realised that most of them refuse to correct them”, he added.
He said the board had noticed that most of the hotels employed people to sit at the front desk without requisite knowledge of the industry.
“In the end, they perform poorly to the extent that they put their guests off”, he added.
He reiterated the resolve of the board to get tough on the recalcitrant players as part of measures to streamline the operations of the hotel industry to meet the acceptable standards.
Mr S.J. Parker-Allotey, Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in his report, said some of the hotels, particularly the high star-rated ones, were not living up to expectation.
He mentioned poor security, lack of maintenance of facilities, poor services and the general lack of proper management of the hotels as some of the key challenges within the industry.
Mr Parker-Allotey urged the industry players to work harder to take advantage of the growing potential in the industry as well as avoid the rod of GTB.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has warned that it will use punitive actions to compel players in the hospitality industry to operate within approved standards.
Such actions, the board said, would include the lowering of the star rate of hotels, the imposition of heavy fines, the withdrawal of licences and prosecution.
The Executive Director of the GTB, Mr Martin Mireku, who sounded the warning when the board met with the players in the industry in Accra yesterday, noted that feedback from some guests who participated in some international conferences in the country were not encouraging; they were abysmal and unacceptable.
The meeting was to afford the players and the regulator the opportunity to brainstorm on how to move the industry forward in the face of the growing number of international conferences being hosted by Ghana and the quest of the government to make the country the tourism hub of the sub-region.
Mr Mireku described as unfortunate the refusal on the part of many of the hotels to heed to advice given them by the board after their premises had been inspected.
“We do our regular inspections and note down all the faults we detect. We notify them of their mistakes but we have realised that most of them refuse to correct them”, he added.
He said the board had noticed that most of the hotels employed people to sit at the front desk without requisite knowledge of the industry.
“In the end, they perform poorly to the extent that they put their guests off”, he added.
He reiterated the resolve of the board to get tough on the recalcitrant players as part of measures to streamline the operations of the hotel industry to meet the acceptable standards.
Mr S.J. Parker-Allotey, Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in his report, said some of the hotels, particularly the high star-rated ones, were not living up to expectation.
He mentioned poor security, lack of maintenance of facilities, poor services and the general lack of proper management of the hotels as some of the key challenges within the industry.
Mr Parker-Allotey urged the industry players to work harder to take advantage of the growing potential in the industry as well as avoid the rod of GTB.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
GWCL to shut down Booster Station
Page 3 (lead) August 21/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
PARTS of Accra will be hit by an acute shortage of water for 10 days following the decision by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to shut down its main Booster Station for major replacement works.
According to the GWCL, the station which supplies potable water to most parts of Accra will be shut down next Tuesday and will remain so for 10 days.
“For the duration of the shut down, water supply will be disrupted in Legon, Dome, part of Achimota, Taifa, Kwabenya, Ashalley-Botwe, Madina, Adjiriganno, East Legon, Ashongman, Adenta, Nima, Kotobaabi, Labone, Cantonments and sorrounding areas,” the company confirmed.
The move, the first in many decades, is to pave the way for contractors of the company to replace the pumps with higher capacity ones to effectively distribute additional water to be received from the Weija plant, which has been expanded to increase water supply to Accra.
Upon completion, water supply to Accra will increase by an additional 15 million gallons per day from the present level of 40 million gallons per day and is expected to drastically ease the perennial water shortages that has hit the urban parts of the region for many years.
The Daily Graphic gathered that Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, operators of the water systems in the country, and the GWCL are feverishly working together to minimise the impact on people living in the affected areas.
To this end, the two companies are mobilising 40 water tankers to provide special services to the affected areas while special services would be given to institutions such as the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), University of Ghana, Legon and its hostels, as well as the Achimota and Legon hospitals.
Ten existing tanker filling stations are also to be used while six others are also to be identified and erected by Ballast Nedam, the company working on the project.
As part of the scope of works on the project, three new pumps for the medium pressure zone, as well as three new pumps for the high pressure zone, would be installed.
As part of efforts by the government to ease the water problems in the region, funds were sought to construct another intake point at the Weija Water Works to increase the capacity of the plant to meet the growing demand for water, as well as serve newly developed areas that have not seen potable water through their taps for decades.
Further north, a crisis meeting has been held in Tamale, chaired by the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Iddris, at which an assessment team, which monitored last year's flood disaster, was revived with the mandate of moving to the high-risk communities to assess the levels of vulnerability, as well as identify how to relocated and give relief to humans and livestock in those areas should the flooding occur, reports Salifu Mohammed Nurudeen, Tamale.
The team comprised representatives of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana Health Service, Ghana Red Cross, Ghana Airforce, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Information Services Department (ISD) and Social Welfare Department.
The rest are the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme, Care International, Assemblies of God Relief and Development Service (AGREDS) and World Vision International.
The team is to visit communities, namely Nawuni-Daboya, Kukuobila-Kpasenkpe, Saboba, Gushegu/Karaga and Bunkpurugu in five different groups after which they would present their report at the next meeting of all the stakeholders,
"We expect the team to also give us detailed information on how many and worth of structures, such as schools and houses, that may be affected, so that we can plan better," Alhaji Iddris told the press.
He said the biggest challenge so far was how to convince the settlers of riverbanks to move inland. Meanwhile, stakehodlers at the meeting consented that a crisis centre would be set up to receive, collate and disseminate appropriate and timely information regarding the crisis and also serve as a centre of co-ordination for all the various bodies involved.
It was also proposed that a task force be put together with the duty of ensuring that people around the riverbanks relocated immediately.
"The task force should be empowered to forcefully relocate people as and when it becomes necessary, in order to avert any human disaster," suggested the Senior Programmes Office of AGREDS-Ghana, Mr Theophilus Ibrahim Dokurugu.
He also recommended that aqua-disinfectant tablets be made available, to redistributed to people in the affected communities in case of a flood.
"This would help us prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases, which is usually the case when people rely on contaminated water during floods," Mr Dokurugu added.
Again, the Minister requested all aid agencies, including NADMO and the Ministry of the Interior, to begin to assemble relief items, which would be stockpiled at the Regional Co-ordinating Council.
The expected flooding is the result of the increase in water levels of the Volta Lake, which is caused by an increase in rains and compounded by excess water flowing from neighbouring Burkina Faso, due to the opening of the Bagre dam.
Human activity around the Volta Lake is also causing the rise in the water level, as sand from farms is washed into the rivers, thereby reducing their depth.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
PARTS of Accra will be hit by an acute shortage of water for 10 days following the decision by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to shut down its main Booster Station for major replacement works.
According to the GWCL, the station which supplies potable water to most parts of Accra will be shut down next Tuesday and will remain so for 10 days.
“For the duration of the shut down, water supply will be disrupted in Legon, Dome, part of Achimota, Taifa, Kwabenya, Ashalley-Botwe, Madina, Adjiriganno, East Legon, Ashongman, Adenta, Nima, Kotobaabi, Labone, Cantonments and sorrounding areas,” the company confirmed.
The move, the first in many decades, is to pave the way for contractors of the company to replace the pumps with higher capacity ones to effectively distribute additional water to be received from the Weija plant, which has been expanded to increase water supply to Accra.
Upon completion, water supply to Accra will increase by an additional 15 million gallons per day from the present level of 40 million gallons per day and is expected to drastically ease the perennial water shortages that has hit the urban parts of the region for many years.
The Daily Graphic gathered that Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, operators of the water systems in the country, and the GWCL are feverishly working together to minimise the impact on people living in the affected areas.
To this end, the two companies are mobilising 40 water tankers to provide special services to the affected areas while special services would be given to institutions such as the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), University of Ghana, Legon and its hostels, as well as the Achimota and Legon hospitals.
Ten existing tanker filling stations are also to be used while six others are also to be identified and erected by Ballast Nedam, the company working on the project.
As part of the scope of works on the project, three new pumps for the medium pressure zone, as well as three new pumps for the high pressure zone, would be installed.
As part of efforts by the government to ease the water problems in the region, funds were sought to construct another intake point at the Weija Water Works to increase the capacity of the plant to meet the growing demand for water, as well as serve newly developed areas that have not seen potable water through their taps for decades.
Further north, a crisis meeting has been held in Tamale, chaired by the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Iddris, at which an assessment team, which monitored last year's flood disaster, was revived with the mandate of moving to the high-risk communities to assess the levels of vulnerability, as well as identify how to relocated and give relief to humans and livestock in those areas should the flooding occur, reports Salifu Mohammed Nurudeen, Tamale.
The team comprised representatives of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana Health Service, Ghana Red Cross, Ghana Airforce, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Information Services Department (ISD) and Social Welfare Department.
The rest are the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme, Care International, Assemblies of God Relief and Development Service (AGREDS) and World Vision International.
The team is to visit communities, namely Nawuni-Daboya, Kukuobila-Kpasenkpe, Saboba, Gushegu/Karaga and Bunkpurugu in five different groups after which they would present their report at the next meeting of all the stakeholders,
"We expect the team to also give us detailed information on how many and worth of structures, such as schools and houses, that may be affected, so that we can plan better," Alhaji Iddris told the press.
He said the biggest challenge so far was how to convince the settlers of riverbanks to move inland. Meanwhile, stakehodlers at the meeting consented that a crisis centre would be set up to receive, collate and disseminate appropriate and timely information regarding the crisis and also serve as a centre of co-ordination for all the various bodies involved.
It was also proposed that a task force be put together with the duty of ensuring that people around the riverbanks relocated immediately.
"The task force should be empowered to forcefully relocate people as and when it becomes necessary, in order to avert any human disaster," suggested the Senior Programmes Office of AGREDS-Ghana, Mr Theophilus Ibrahim Dokurugu.
He also recommended that aqua-disinfectant tablets be made available, to redistributed to people in the affected communities in case of a flood.
"This would help us prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases, which is usually the case when people rely on contaminated water during floods," Mr Dokurugu added.
Again, the Minister requested all aid agencies, including NADMO and the Ministry of the Interior, to begin to assemble relief items, which would be stockpiled at the Regional Co-ordinating Council.
The expected flooding is the result of the increase in water levels of the Volta Lake, which is caused by an increase in rains and compounded by excess water flowing from neighbouring Burkina Faso, due to the opening of the Bagre dam.
Human activity around the Volta Lake is also causing the rise in the water level, as sand from farms is washed into the rivers, thereby reducing their depth.
Oil price stabilisation - Time note ripe to rejoice
Business page (lead) August 21/2008
Lloyd Evans and Charles Benoni Okine
GRADUALLY, the world is beginning to see some level of decline in crude oil prices. It is the anticipation of all that the decline would continue so as to give some amount of relief to countries, especially developing countries.
The high crude oil prices that the world experienced late last year and early part of this year were of great concern to economists, businessmen and policy makers, as well as the general public.
Since July last year, when the price stood at $147 per barrel, many economies, especially the developing nations, went into disarray.
When the prices of petroleum products increase, consumers use more of their income to pay for oil-derived products, and their spending on other goods and services decline. Governments would have to use more foreign exchange to bring in the same amount of crude oil it did previously. The development budget then changes.
Oil is a vital input for the production of a wide range of goods and services, because it is used for transportation in businesses of all types. Higher oil prices thus increase the cost of inputs; and if the cost increases cannot be passed on to consumers, economic inputs such as labour and capital stock may be reallocated. Higher oil prices can cause worker layoffs and the idling of plants, reducing economic output in the short to medium term.
The country is a net importer of oil and therefore higher oil bills affect the purchasing power of the government as resources will have to be reallocated, thereby affecting the macro-economic stability of the country.
These are seen in high transport fares, demand for higher wages, high cost of production, leading to higher inflation.
The oil price shocks of the 1970s completely surprised many firms and households in many different countries at the same time. Firms and households made decisions about production and prices that had important consequences for the strategies of other firms in the economy.
The 2007/2008 oil price hikes caused similar problems for many countries and therefore the slowing down of the prices should serve as a great relief for developing countries, which are net importers of crude oil.
Though the government has made some interventions in respect of the high prices of the product at the present levels, the ex-pump price is still eating deep into the pockets of businesses, industry and the individual.
With the declining prices, most people would like to see a downward movement in the ex-pump price of the commodity. However, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says it will allow traders in crude oil in the country to recover from their losses before prices are adjusted to reflect the downward trend in the price of the commodity.
According to Mr John Attafuah, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, when the prices were skyrocketing, the traders lost huge sums of money and indicated that as prices now slowed down, the importers would recover their losses over time.
It is expected that with the prices of crude oil dropping since last month, there would be a resumption in the adjustment in the product at the pumps to reflect the trend but Mr Attafuah said “we are not going to do so now”.
The prices of crude oil now stands at about $112 per barrel, down from about $147 per barrel in July this year, when the government announced a mitigation package, including a halt in the upward review of prices at the pumps and the scraping of some petroleum taxes.
The country imports about 60,000 barrels of crude oil a day, 45,000 of which goes to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the remaining to the Aboadze Thermal Plant for the production of electricity to feed the national grid.
Oil imports for January to June this year amounted to $1,257.0 million (25.4 per cent of total imports) compared with $846.6 million (24.4 per cent of total imports) for the same period in 2007. This means that the country has spent more foreign exchange importing the same amount of crude oil imported for the same time last year. This again means that some sectors of the economy has to suffer as budget for those sectors would have to be slashed down.
The lowering prices of the crude oil on the international market will, therefore, ease the pressure on the government’s foreign reserves, while at the same time reallocating the saved exchange to other areas.
Mr Attafuah described the receding prices of crude oil on the international market as a welcome news but was of the view that “it was not time to jump for joy, since we do not know what may happen”.
However, he said, the authority would continue to keep a close watch of the situation on the international market as far as prices were concerned, to ensure that there was continuous supplies of the product on the market to keep the economy going.
He said speculations over the future prices had also eased drastically because those who held paper contracts in anticipation of future rise in the prices also stopped for some reasons. He said the strengthening of the dollar against other major currencies like the Euro and the British Sterling would go a long way in stabilising the prices of the product.
Lloyd Evans and Charles Benoni Okine
GRADUALLY, the world is beginning to see some level of decline in crude oil prices. It is the anticipation of all that the decline would continue so as to give some amount of relief to countries, especially developing countries.
The high crude oil prices that the world experienced late last year and early part of this year were of great concern to economists, businessmen and policy makers, as well as the general public.
Since July last year, when the price stood at $147 per barrel, many economies, especially the developing nations, went into disarray.
When the prices of petroleum products increase, consumers use more of their income to pay for oil-derived products, and their spending on other goods and services decline. Governments would have to use more foreign exchange to bring in the same amount of crude oil it did previously. The development budget then changes.
Oil is a vital input for the production of a wide range of goods and services, because it is used for transportation in businesses of all types. Higher oil prices thus increase the cost of inputs; and if the cost increases cannot be passed on to consumers, economic inputs such as labour and capital stock may be reallocated. Higher oil prices can cause worker layoffs and the idling of plants, reducing economic output in the short to medium term.
The country is a net importer of oil and therefore higher oil bills affect the purchasing power of the government as resources will have to be reallocated, thereby affecting the macro-economic stability of the country.
These are seen in high transport fares, demand for higher wages, high cost of production, leading to higher inflation.
The oil price shocks of the 1970s completely surprised many firms and households in many different countries at the same time. Firms and households made decisions about production and prices that had important consequences for the strategies of other firms in the economy.
The 2007/2008 oil price hikes caused similar problems for many countries and therefore the slowing down of the prices should serve as a great relief for developing countries, which are net importers of crude oil.
Though the government has made some interventions in respect of the high prices of the product at the present levels, the ex-pump price is still eating deep into the pockets of businesses, industry and the individual.
With the declining prices, most people would like to see a downward movement in the ex-pump price of the commodity. However, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says it will allow traders in crude oil in the country to recover from their losses before prices are adjusted to reflect the downward trend in the price of the commodity.
According to Mr John Attafuah, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, when the prices were skyrocketing, the traders lost huge sums of money and indicated that as prices now slowed down, the importers would recover their losses over time.
It is expected that with the prices of crude oil dropping since last month, there would be a resumption in the adjustment in the product at the pumps to reflect the trend but Mr Attafuah said “we are not going to do so now”.
The prices of crude oil now stands at about $112 per barrel, down from about $147 per barrel in July this year, when the government announced a mitigation package, including a halt in the upward review of prices at the pumps and the scraping of some petroleum taxes.
The country imports about 60,000 barrels of crude oil a day, 45,000 of which goes to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the remaining to the Aboadze Thermal Plant for the production of electricity to feed the national grid.
Oil imports for January to June this year amounted to $1,257.0 million (25.4 per cent of total imports) compared with $846.6 million (24.4 per cent of total imports) for the same period in 2007. This means that the country has spent more foreign exchange importing the same amount of crude oil imported for the same time last year. This again means that some sectors of the economy has to suffer as budget for those sectors would have to be slashed down.
The lowering prices of the crude oil on the international market will, therefore, ease the pressure on the government’s foreign reserves, while at the same time reallocating the saved exchange to other areas.
Mr Attafuah described the receding prices of crude oil on the international market as a welcome news but was of the view that “it was not time to jump for joy, since we do not know what may happen”.
However, he said, the authority would continue to keep a close watch of the situation on the international market as far as prices were concerned, to ensure that there was continuous supplies of the product on the market to keep the economy going.
He said speculations over the future prices had also eased drastically because those who held paper contracts in anticipation of future rise in the prices also stopped for some reasons. He said the strengthening of the dollar against other major currencies like the Euro and the British Sterling would go a long way in stabilising the prices of the product.
Govt to develop master plan for petroleum sector
Spread (lead) August 21/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has constituted a team of experts to develop a master plan for the petroleum sector in the wake of the oil find in the country.
The team has been subdivided into six technical groups and each is expected to produce a policy document, which will become part of the master plan to guide the development and management of the industry and how it interfaces with the rest of the economy.
They sub-groups are the Legal regime, fiscal regime and fund types, health safety, environment and community issues, security, local content and capacity building and the downstream, natural gas utilisation and infrastructure development.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana J.B. Siriboe, made this known when he opened a day’s consultative meeting on the oil and gas fiscal regime and fund types in Accra yesterday.
The meeting was to provide space for in-depth discussions on the specific issue of taxation and all the fiscal arrangements most suitable for Ghana in its quest to achieve the desired growth into a middle income country.
Last year, the Kosmos Energy, one of the world’s reputable oil companies working in the country, hit oil in commercial quantities, a discovery that threw the entire country into a frenzy, with many expecting the find to end the economic woes of the people.
The find in the West Cape Three Points of the Western Region is said to be the largest discovery in deep water West Africa and potentially the largest single field discovery in the region.
Nana Siriboe said: “The eventual benefits that Ghana can receive from its oil and gas resources depend, in part, on the fiscal regime that is in place”.
He said many experts were of the view that the fiscal regime was what separated those economies where petroleum had made a difference to the overall living standards of the citizens.
The fiscal regime refers to the laws, regulations and guidelines that define the revenue obligations of the producing companies, the measurement of revenue and costs, the various instruments of taxation and charges, the sharing of benefits, the guidelines for reporting, which are often coded in agreements and in the laws of the land.
The fund types deals with how the government uses its share of revenue to support current budget, to build assets to ensure inter-generational equity and to provide a cushion for stabilisation.
“Since February 2008, we have had the benefits of many experts on several aspects of the petroleum industry,” Nana Siriboe said.
He said the challenge for the country was not so much to do with reinventing how to govern the industry but “our challenge rather is how to take these lessons and experiences and use them to develop the rules and guidelines that will do two things for us”.
First, he said, was how the benefits of the find would yield the maximum direct and indirect benefits for all Ghanaians and secondly how to make progress towards a good and prosperous society.
Nana Siriboe stressed the need for the teams to balance the need for government revenue versus the incentives to attract continuing investments into the industry, balance the current development and budgetary needs versus savings and investment for the future, and balance the needs of the petroleum industry vis-Ã -vis the growth and sustainability of the non-oil sector of the economy.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has constituted a team of experts to develop a master plan for the petroleum sector in the wake of the oil find in the country.
The team has been subdivided into six technical groups and each is expected to produce a policy document, which will become part of the master plan to guide the development and management of the industry and how it interfaces with the rest of the economy.
They sub-groups are the Legal regime, fiscal regime and fund types, health safety, environment and community issues, security, local content and capacity building and the downstream, natural gas utilisation and infrastructure development.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana J.B. Siriboe, made this known when he opened a day’s consultative meeting on the oil and gas fiscal regime and fund types in Accra yesterday.
The meeting was to provide space for in-depth discussions on the specific issue of taxation and all the fiscal arrangements most suitable for Ghana in its quest to achieve the desired growth into a middle income country.
Last year, the Kosmos Energy, one of the world’s reputable oil companies working in the country, hit oil in commercial quantities, a discovery that threw the entire country into a frenzy, with many expecting the find to end the economic woes of the people.
The find in the West Cape Three Points of the Western Region is said to be the largest discovery in deep water West Africa and potentially the largest single field discovery in the region.
Nana Siriboe said: “The eventual benefits that Ghana can receive from its oil and gas resources depend, in part, on the fiscal regime that is in place”.
He said many experts were of the view that the fiscal regime was what separated those economies where petroleum had made a difference to the overall living standards of the citizens.
The fiscal regime refers to the laws, regulations and guidelines that define the revenue obligations of the producing companies, the measurement of revenue and costs, the various instruments of taxation and charges, the sharing of benefits, the guidelines for reporting, which are often coded in agreements and in the laws of the land.
The fund types deals with how the government uses its share of revenue to support current budget, to build assets to ensure inter-generational equity and to provide a cushion for stabilisation.
“Since February 2008, we have had the benefits of many experts on several aspects of the petroleum industry,” Nana Siriboe said.
He said the challenge for the country was not so much to do with reinventing how to govern the industry but “our challenge rather is how to take these lessons and experiences and use them to develop the rules and guidelines that will do two things for us”.
First, he said, was how the benefits of the find would yield the maximum direct and indirect benefits for all Ghanaians and secondly how to make progress towards a good and prosperous society.
Nana Siriboe stressed the need for the teams to balance the need for government revenue versus the incentives to attract continuing investments into the industry, balance the current development and budgetary needs versus savings and investment for the future, and balance the needs of the petroleum industry vis-Ã -vis the growth and sustainability of the non-oil sector of the economy.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Weija Dam fence begins
Page 43, August 18/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has begun the construction of a fence to protect the catchment areas of the Weija Dam from encroachers.
The $6 million project is also intended to protect the water body, which is the main source of water supply for the people of the western and most of the eastern parts of Accra from further pollution.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Cobbie Kessie Jnr, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the project would cover a distance of more than six kilometres.
The project, which has become necessary in view of the massive encroachment of the land by estate developers whom most of the lands are sold to by some unscrupulous personalities who claim to be the owners of the land.
The nature of the encroachment is such that most of the residents have directed their faecal waste and other waste water to the river while others have turned the river into a refuse dump.
At the beginning of the year, GWCL in conjunction with the officers from the National Security office embarked on a massive demolition exercise to rid the area of the encroachers but the move was short-lived after a huge protestation from those affected.
It was against this background that the GWCL decided to fence the remaining land around the catchment area of the dam to save it from further encroachment.
Sources close to the company said the amount of chemicals used for the treatment of the water from the dam had almost reached its maximum because of the heavy pollution and feared that continuous pollution of the water might create problems for those who depended on it.
Mr Kessie said a large chunk of the operational expenses of the Weija Head Works went into the acquisition of chemicals and noted that the project would have a positive long-term effect as the amount spent on chemicals would be reduced.
He said the company had encountered some challenges since the project started but they were being addressed as the project continued.
Mr Kessie mentioned some of the challenges as the demand for the payment of compensation and the employment of some of the indigenes from whom the land was acquired for the Weija Water Works.
“We are talking to them and we hope we will reach an amicable settlement in due course,” he added.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has begun the construction of a fence to protect the catchment areas of the Weija Dam from encroachers.
The $6 million project is also intended to protect the water body, which is the main source of water supply for the people of the western and most of the eastern parts of Accra from further pollution.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Cobbie Kessie Jnr, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that the project would cover a distance of more than six kilometres.
The project, which has become necessary in view of the massive encroachment of the land by estate developers whom most of the lands are sold to by some unscrupulous personalities who claim to be the owners of the land.
The nature of the encroachment is such that most of the residents have directed their faecal waste and other waste water to the river while others have turned the river into a refuse dump.
At the beginning of the year, GWCL in conjunction with the officers from the National Security office embarked on a massive demolition exercise to rid the area of the encroachers but the move was short-lived after a huge protestation from those affected.
It was against this background that the GWCL decided to fence the remaining land around the catchment area of the dam to save it from further encroachment.
Sources close to the company said the amount of chemicals used for the treatment of the water from the dam had almost reached its maximum because of the heavy pollution and feared that continuous pollution of the water might create problems for those who depended on it.
Mr Kessie said a large chunk of the operational expenses of the Weija Head Works went into the acquisition of chemicals and noted that the project would have a positive long-term effect as the amount spent on chemicals would be reduced.
He said the company had encountered some challenges since the project started but they were being addressed as the project continued.
Mr Kessie mentioned some of the challenges as the demand for the payment of compensation and the employment of some of the indigenes from whom the land was acquired for the Weija Water Works.
“We are talking to them and we hope we will reach an amicable settlement in due course,” he added.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ghana Telecom • What does the future hold?
Feature (Editiral Page) 14/2008
By Charles Benoni Okine
DISCUSSIONS on the sale of 70 per cent shares of one of the country’s most revered assets, Ghana Telecom (GT), rage on even as Parliament is debating the issue.
The government insists on disposing majority of its stake to a foreign company, Vodafone, but the opposition parties and many civil society groups continue to kick against the deal, which they describe as fraudulent, a give-away or in some cases a rip-off.
The concerns of the opposition have been expressed at series of news conferences, while the government has also used similar fora to argue strongly a case for the sale of the 70 per cent shares to Vodafone.
The world over, the telecommunications sector has become a competitive playing field for multinationals because of the huge investments needed to be able to compete.
This is one of the main reasons the government has found it necessary to dispose of some shares in GT. The government has also argued that the deal has become necessary, because the proceeds from the sale are badly needed to support the country’s budget, which appears to be in deficit because of the soaring prices of crude oil as well as the food crisis on the international market.
But even before the analysis is made, there is the need to understand the evolution of the sector in Ghana.
Historical facts
A new chapter in the development of Ghana's telecommunications system was opened in November 1974, when the Post and Telecommunication Department was declared a public corporation by the government of the National Redemption Council Decree No. 311 and placed under the authority of the then Ministry of Transport and Communication.
Under the Instrument of Incorporation, the Post and Telecommunication Corporation (P&T) was formed, and it was administered by a board of directors who functioned as the corporation’s governing body.
In 1975, the P&T began negotiating loans from many multilateral and bilateral financial institutions in order to undertake a number of development projects to modernise and expand both national and international telecommunication services in Ghana.
The objective of these projects, known collectively as the First Telecommunication Project (FTP), comprised rehabilitation, modernisation and expansion of Ghana’s national telecommunication network.
The project, which was expected to span a period of four years (1975-1979), involved financial commitments, totalling $76 million. In the end, the funds were raised by the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, Japan, the African Development Bank, and Canada.
The specific accomplishments of the FTP included the installation of 12 new electronic exchanges to replace old and obsolete automatic and manual telephone exchanges; thus, increasing Ghana’s telephone line capacity by about 50 per cent; increasing the number of subscriber trunk dialling centres from 18 to 24, the construction of tertiary exchange, a telex, a message switch in the capital, an earth station in the country, among others.
Ghana Telecom today
After these came many other projects, all funded with monies mostly from loans.
One may recall the $150 million Alcatel Shangai Bell loan, which did not come in the form of cash but in equipment. Subsequently, the company raised a syndicated loan of $60 million in the country and $200 million bonds, among many others.
Today, the company is indebted to the tune of almost $450 million, in the face of annual loses from its operations. Because the lone shareholder is unable to inject capital into it, GT continues to post losses each year, ever since the Norwegians left the company after they were handed a management contract to turn the fortunes of the company around.
Preceding the coming of the Norwegians, there had been the Malaysians, who after buying 30 per cent of the shares of the company, were also handed the management contract, which was abrogated after the contract expired. Later the government bought back the shares from the Malaysians.
Competition
Since the government opened the sector up to competition more than 20 years ago, the services of the company have seen dramatic transformation, all in its quest to be able to stay competitive.
In 1992, Millicom Ghana Limited, which was the first to start an analogue mobile telephony service, started operating its brand, Mobitel.
After eight years, Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of the then Spacefon, also joined after it had introduced the GSM service, a product that made the telecommunications environment more exciting.
Kasapa, which was then known as Celltel, also joined the competition and contributed towards making the competition keener.
Around that time, the management of GT also wanted a licence to operate a mobile service, but was denied one by the National Communications Authority (NCA). However, it was granted the license when the others had well positioned themselves on the market.
That notwithstanding, it can be argued that GT had been a bit lethargic in rolling out it service at the initial stages, as it could not meet the huge demand for Onetouch numbers, thereby allowing its competitors to entrench themselves with intensive advertising and other promotional mix.
Today, MTN, which is an international giant in the telecommunications industry, has managed to establish itself as the leader in the mobile sector in the country. Milliocom has also taken the new global name, tiGO, and doing well on the market. Kasapa, also belongs to one of the giants in the sector, known as the Hutchinson International.
There are also the new entrants like Zain and Globacom, which are renowned international telecommunication giants with relatively adequate technological resources to make competition even keener.
GT, therefore, finds itself as the lone ranger and the government, which is the sole shareholder is expected to recapitalise the company to ensure that it is able to compete on a level with the competition.
It is, therefore, important at this stage to understand what the other players are bringing to the table to make competition even tougher. Since they are all global companies, measures are being worked out to ensure that anyone on a particular network will pay the same charges, even when that subscriber is out of the country, but within an area where the services of that line is hooked onto.
This is one critical thing that GT cannot do because it is ‘alone’ on the market. If the company is to survive this competition, it will require huge capital injection to do so. But in its present state, the question one may ask is, where will the money come from? After all, the government is the sole shareholder? In that case, the government will have to borrow to settle the debt of the company and then find some extra money to fund expansion projects, which are badly needed if the company is to stay afloat in the market.
What next?
There has been a lot of opposition to the sale of the 70 per cent stake of the company to Vodafone, but the arguments against the deal have not been well articulated. While some say, GT is a national asset and a source of pride, others are of the view that the agreements to be signed are not in the best interest of the nation. There are some who also hold the view that it is not in the interest of the nation because of issues of national security, among others.
Valid as their positions may be, it is important for them to understand in clear terms how the company can survive in the face of the competition that is currently confronting it.
Some have proposed capital injection from the government to ensure that the company gets back on its feet. This means that the government has to spend as much as $400 million to settle the debts of the company and again inject about $500 million to buy new equipment to match its competitors.
In the end, the government should be able to recoup its investments or if for nothing at all, propel GT to a stage that can break even.
But even if that is considered and done, to what extent will the company be able to withstand the competition when the charges in terms of services are going to drop even further as the other players take advantage of their international network to provide reduced prices to stay competitive and give other players a run for their money.
There is, therefore, the need for a dispassionate and non-partisan approach to deliberations on the issue to ensure that Ghana does not lose in anyway.
Finally, it will be necessary for the government to reduce by 10 per cent the shares to be offered to Vodafone. This should be floated on the Ghana Stock Exchange for Ghanaians to also buy to become part owners of a company they have nurtured to grow.
As shareholders, Ghanaians will work towards protecting their interests by ensuring that they stay with the company to enable it make more returns on their investments.
By Charles Benoni Okine
DISCUSSIONS on the sale of 70 per cent shares of one of the country’s most revered assets, Ghana Telecom (GT), rage on even as Parliament is debating the issue.
The government insists on disposing majority of its stake to a foreign company, Vodafone, but the opposition parties and many civil society groups continue to kick against the deal, which they describe as fraudulent, a give-away or in some cases a rip-off.
The concerns of the opposition have been expressed at series of news conferences, while the government has also used similar fora to argue strongly a case for the sale of the 70 per cent shares to Vodafone.
The world over, the telecommunications sector has become a competitive playing field for multinationals because of the huge investments needed to be able to compete.
This is one of the main reasons the government has found it necessary to dispose of some shares in GT. The government has also argued that the deal has become necessary, because the proceeds from the sale are badly needed to support the country’s budget, which appears to be in deficit because of the soaring prices of crude oil as well as the food crisis on the international market.
But even before the analysis is made, there is the need to understand the evolution of the sector in Ghana.
Historical facts
A new chapter in the development of Ghana's telecommunications system was opened in November 1974, when the Post and Telecommunication Department was declared a public corporation by the government of the National Redemption Council Decree No. 311 and placed under the authority of the then Ministry of Transport and Communication.
Under the Instrument of Incorporation, the Post and Telecommunication Corporation (P&T) was formed, and it was administered by a board of directors who functioned as the corporation’s governing body.
In 1975, the P&T began negotiating loans from many multilateral and bilateral financial institutions in order to undertake a number of development projects to modernise and expand both national and international telecommunication services in Ghana.
The objective of these projects, known collectively as the First Telecommunication Project (FTP), comprised rehabilitation, modernisation and expansion of Ghana’s national telecommunication network.
The project, which was expected to span a period of four years (1975-1979), involved financial commitments, totalling $76 million. In the end, the funds were raised by the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, Japan, the African Development Bank, and Canada.
The specific accomplishments of the FTP included the installation of 12 new electronic exchanges to replace old and obsolete automatic and manual telephone exchanges; thus, increasing Ghana’s telephone line capacity by about 50 per cent; increasing the number of subscriber trunk dialling centres from 18 to 24, the construction of tertiary exchange, a telex, a message switch in the capital, an earth station in the country, among others.
Ghana Telecom today
After these came many other projects, all funded with monies mostly from loans.
One may recall the $150 million Alcatel Shangai Bell loan, which did not come in the form of cash but in equipment. Subsequently, the company raised a syndicated loan of $60 million in the country and $200 million bonds, among many others.
Today, the company is indebted to the tune of almost $450 million, in the face of annual loses from its operations. Because the lone shareholder is unable to inject capital into it, GT continues to post losses each year, ever since the Norwegians left the company after they were handed a management contract to turn the fortunes of the company around.
Preceding the coming of the Norwegians, there had been the Malaysians, who after buying 30 per cent of the shares of the company, were also handed the management contract, which was abrogated after the contract expired. Later the government bought back the shares from the Malaysians.
Competition
Since the government opened the sector up to competition more than 20 years ago, the services of the company have seen dramatic transformation, all in its quest to be able to stay competitive.
In 1992, Millicom Ghana Limited, which was the first to start an analogue mobile telephony service, started operating its brand, Mobitel.
After eight years, Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of the then Spacefon, also joined after it had introduced the GSM service, a product that made the telecommunications environment more exciting.
Kasapa, which was then known as Celltel, also joined the competition and contributed towards making the competition keener.
Around that time, the management of GT also wanted a licence to operate a mobile service, but was denied one by the National Communications Authority (NCA). However, it was granted the license when the others had well positioned themselves on the market.
That notwithstanding, it can be argued that GT had been a bit lethargic in rolling out it service at the initial stages, as it could not meet the huge demand for Onetouch numbers, thereby allowing its competitors to entrench themselves with intensive advertising and other promotional mix.
Today, MTN, which is an international giant in the telecommunications industry, has managed to establish itself as the leader in the mobile sector in the country. Milliocom has also taken the new global name, tiGO, and doing well on the market. Kasapa, also belongs to one of the giants in the sector, known as the Hutchinson International.
There are also the new entrants like Zain and Globacom, which are renowned international telecommunication giants with relatively adequate technological resources to make competition even keener.
GT, therefore, finds itself as the lone ranger and the government, which is the sole shareholder is expected to recapitalise the company to ensure that it is able to compete on a level with the competition.
It is, therefore, important at this stage to understand what the other players are bringing to the table to make competition even tougher. Since they are all global companies, measures are being worked out to ensure that anyone on a particular network will pay the same charges, even when that subscriber is out of the country, but within an area where the services of that line is hooked onto.
This is one critical thing that GT cannot do because it is ‘alone’ on the market. If the company is to survive this competition, it will require huge capital injection to do so. But in its present state, the question one may ask is, where will the money come from? After all, the government is the sole shareholder? In that case, the government will have to borrow to settle the debt of the company and then find some extra money to fund expansion projects, which are badly needed if the company is to stay afloat in the market.
What next?
There has been a lot of opposition to the sale of the 70 per cent stake of the company to Vodafone, but the arguments against the deal have not been well articulated. While some say, GT is a national asset and a source of pride, others are of the view that the agreements to be signed are not in the best interest of the nation. There are some who also hold the view that it is not in the interest of the nation because of issues of national security, among others.
Valid as their positions may be, it is important for them to understand in clear terms how the company can survive in the face of the competition that is currently confronting it.
Some have proposed capital injection from the government to ensure that the company gets back on its feet. This means that the government has to spend as much as $400 million to settle the debts of the company and again inject about $500 million to buy new equipment to match its competitors.
In the end, the government should be able to recoup its investments or if for nothing at all, propel GT to a stage that can break even.
But even if that is considered and done, to what extent will the company be able to withstand the competition when the charges in terms of services are going to drop even further as the other players take advantage of their international network to provide reduced prices to stay competitive and give other players a run for their money.
There is, therefore, the need for a dispassionate and non-partisan approach to deliberations on the issue to ensure that Ghana does not lose in anyway.
Finally, it will be necessary for the government to reduce by 10 per cent the shares to be offered to Vodafone. This should be floated on the Ghana Stock Exchange for Ghanaians to also buy to become part owners of a company they have nurtured to grow.
As shareholders, Ghanaians will work towards protecting their interests by ensuring that they stay with the company to enable it make more returns on their investments.
Water company completes pipe laying project in Kasoa
Page 28, August 14/ 2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has completed laying of pipelines in more than 12 communities around Kasoa in the Central Region to enable the residents of the area access potable water which eluded them for decades.
Some of the communities so far connected to the Gh¢400,000 project are Galilee, Kalabule, Amanfro, Obom, Nyanyanor and Kokrobite.
The Managing Director (MD) of GWCL, Mr Cobbie Kessie Jnr, said this when he and some officials of the company, including Mr Michael Agyemang, Chief Manager, Public Relations, paid a working visit to the various communities where the project was undertaken.
The MD also inspected works on the fire hydrants and the main valve put up in the communities.
It was observed during the visit that, although pipelines were laid close to the doorsteps of the residents, some of them had not yet connected the lines to their homes.
According to them, the cost of doing so was a bit on the higher side, and pleaded with the GWCL management to offer them some rebate on the GH¢300 charge to enable them connect to their homes.
This, Mr Kessie obliged, and asked those not yet connected to contact the offices of the company at Bortianor for further discussion.
He said the project was still ongoing and asked those who had not yet received water to be patient since they would have their turn soon.
Mr Kessie asked them to ensure that they settled their water bills promptly to enable the company have funds to continue with other projects, as well as cover its cost of operation.
Early on, the MD had inspected works on a booster station on the edge of McCarthy Hill which pumped potable water to residents on the hill.
He said for many years, those on the hill were not getting water, because of the height and the low pressure of water pumped.
Mr Kessie said the project was expected to pump up to 20,000 gallons of water to a reservoir mounted on the hill to enable it flow by gravity to the residents.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has completed laying of pipelines in more than 12 communities around Kasoa in the Central Region to enable the residents of the area access potable water which eluded them for decades.
Some of the communities so far connected to the Gh¢400,000 project are Galilee, Kalabule, Amanfro, Obom, Nyanyanor and Kokrobite.
The Managing Director (MD) of GWCL, Mr Cobbie Kessie Jnr, said this when he and some officials of the company, including Mr Michael Agyemang, Chief Manager, Public Relations, paid a working visit to the various communities where the project was undertaken.
The MD also inspected works on the fire hydrants and the main valve put up in the communities.
It was observed during the visit that, although pipelines were laid close to the doorsteps of the residents, some of them had not yet connected the lines to their homes.
According to them, the cost of doing so was a bit on the higher side, and pleaded with the GWCL management to offer them some rebate on the GH¢300 charge to enable them connect to their homes.
This, Mr Kessie obliged, and asked those not yet connected to contact the offices of the company at Bortianor for further discussion.
He said the project was still ongoing and asked those who had not yet received water to be patient since they would have their turn soon.
Mr Kessie asked them to ensure that they settled their water bills promptly to enable the company have funds to continue with other projects, as well as cover its cost of operation.
Early on, the MD had inspected works on a booster station on the edge of McCarthy Hill which pumped potable water to residents on the hill.
He said for many years, those on the hill were not getting water, because of the height and the low pressure of water pumped.
Mr Kessie said the project was expected to pump up to 20,000 gallons of water to a reservoir mounted on the hill to enable it flow by gravity to the residents.
EC to display provisional register within a month
Political page (lead) August 14/08
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Electoral Commission (EC) will display a provisional voters register within a month to allow all those who registered during the limited voter registration exercise to see if their names have been captured.
This will be done after all the information from the exercise which ended on Tuesday had been duly collated and captured in a provisional register.
A highly placed source at the commission told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that “time is running out and we need to double up to ensure that we get a final register ready before the voting day of December 7.
The source said the EC had been overwhelmed by the number of people who registered, and therefore there was the need to double up to ensure that everything was done on time before the general election.
Meanwhile, it said the commission was yet to meet to decide on what should be done to those who could not be registered during the stipulated period as well as the extension from Sunday to Tuesday.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan, had been quoted on BBC as saying that when the provisional register was displayed, opportunity would be given to people to raise objections with regard to the names of persons they believed to be minors or foreigners.
This, he said, would enable the commission to come out with a register which would be acceptable to all.
It has been anticipated that the display of the provisional register could also spark another round of confusion as the various political parties in their attempt to keep an eagles eye on the register may cause a delay in the drafting of the final register for the elections.
The initial limited registration exercise was characterised by numerous conflicts as the parties, particularly the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) , levelled wild allegations at each other.
They accused each other of coercing minors to register as well as ‘bussing’ people from one district to the other to register.
Their actions had raised ethical problems and compelled the Enforcement Committee of the Political Parties Code of Ethics under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), chaired by the Christian Council of Ghana, to convene a meeting of the parties to resolve the issue.
The EC source said the commission was aware of the time left for it to have a final register, and was prepared to work around the clock to clear all hurdles before the voting day.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Electoral Commission (EC) will display a provisional voters register within a month to allow all those who registered during the limited voter registration exercise to see if their names have been captured.
This will be done after all the information from the exercise which ended on Tuesday had been duly collated and captured in a provisional register.
A highly placed source at the commission told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that “time is running out and we need to double up to ensure that we get a final register ready before the voting day of December 7.
The source said the EC had been overwhelmed by the number of people who registered, and therefore there was the need to double up to ensure that everything was done on time before the general election.
Meanwhile, it said the commission was yet to meet to decide on what should be done to those who could not be registered during the stipulated period as well as the extension from Sunday to Tuesday.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan, had been quoted on BBC as saying that when the provisional register was displayed, opportunity would be given to people to raise objections with regard to the names of persons they believed to be minors or foreigners.
This, he said, would enable the commission to come out with a register which would be acceptable to all.
It has been anticipated that the display of the provisional register could also spark another round of confusion as the various political parties in their attempt to keep an eagles eye on the register may cause a delay in the drafting of the final register for the elections.
The initial limited registration exercise was characterised by numerous conflicts as the parties, particularly the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) , levelled wild allegations at each other.
They accused each other of coercing minors to register as well as ‘bussing’ people from one district to the other to register.
Their actions had raised ethical problems and compelled the Enforcement Committee of the Political Parties Code of Ethics under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), chaired by the Christian Council of Ghana, to convene a meeting of the parties to resolve the issue.
The EC source said the commission was aware of the time left for it to have a final register, and was prepared to work around the clock to clear all hurdles before the voting day.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Govt won't short-change Ghanaians - Awuni
Spread August 11/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has stated that its intention to sell part of its stake in the ailing Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom) is not to short-change Ghanaians but to guarantee the viability, security and future of a strategic state asset.
It has also welcomed the varied suggestions and opinions of stakeholders, including civil society groups and political parties, on the deal and indicated that all those inputs had been duly captured to ensure that Ghana got value for money.
The President's Spokesperson, Mr Andrew Awuni, who made the statement when he briefed the Castle press in Accra yesterday, said: "The government also, in pursuance of its reputation for tolerance, transparency and good governance, has listened without let or hindrance to all the submissions to find out if there will emerge from these discussions any strong constructive options or alternative stance for saving Ghana Telecom".
Since the government announced its intention to pass on 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone of Britain, there have been heated and varied debates from all quarters.
The statement by the government, which indicates its intention to go ahead with the deal and the strong opposing positions of the political parties in opposition and some civil society groups, sets the tone for what is expected to be a heated debate over the issue in Parliament today.
Already, some civil society groups have planned to demonstrate over the sale, while others have threatened court action to stop the process from being followed through.
Mr Awuni said the government clearly admits that "there have been some pretty good analysis of the status of GT of what ought to be and what ought not to be".
He was emphatic in saying that the suggestions had already helped to shape the terms and agreement of the sale and Parliament, at the committee level, had already made various amendments to the sale agreement to reflect these ideas and suggestions.
"The government has over time explained the processes leading to the sale and said that the future of Ghana Telecom and the security and livelihood of the more than 4,000 workers and their families are in danger, if we were not to engage a strategic investor such as Vodafone to team up with our local expertise," he explained.
Mr Awuni said the position of the government had been corroborated by experts and workers of the company themselves on many occasions and reiterated that it was against this background that the government was not going back on its intentions, as far as the future of the company was concerned.
He said the government had over the last couple of years engaged a transaction manager to oversee the sale, out of which 15 telecommunications companies put in bids.
Mr Awuni said in the final analysis, Vodafone emerged the winner because it was able to make the highest offer of $900 million, while others quoted figures around $500 million and below.
As to whether the government was able to follow all the due processes, he stated: "We have followed all the laid-down procedures for the divestiture and violated none".
Mr Awuni expressed the government's disappointment to the effect that in the midst of all these truths and facts, a section of the society, particularly political interest groups, continued to "pour scorn and threatening fire and brimstone almost on a daily basis against the good people of this country".
Asked what the government needed the money from the sale to do, he said the government stated its intentions with regard to the use of the proceeds from the sale in its 2008 budget statement but could not give details.
He also denied the assertions that the government intended to settle the debts of Ghana Telecom, which stands at about $400 million, with the proceeds from the transaction.
"We will not do that", he said; "Instead, we look forward to taking a concessionary loan of which we will be given some moratorium, to settle the debt," he said.
Mr Awuni said the loan would be paid gradually from the dividends that would accrue to the state from the 30 per cent stake in the company, adding that "we believe it is the fine way to go about settling the debt.
He said Ghana Telecom presently found itself among multinationals with huge financial clouts and would not be able to stand on its own, no matter the capital injection from the government.
"The government has been very open and transparent in this process," he reiterated and added that: "This government has never and will never short-change Ghanaians".
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has stated that its intention to sell part of its stake in the ailing Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom) is not to short-change Ghanaians but to guarantee the viability, security and future of a strategic state asset.
It has also welcomed the varied suggestions and opinions of stakeholders, including civil society groups and political parties, on the deal and indicated that all those inputs had been duly captured to ensure that Ghana got value for money.
The President's Spokesperson, Mr Andrew Awuni, who made the statement when he briefed the Castle press in Accra yesterday, said: "The government also, in pursuance of its reputation for tolerance, transparency and good governance, has listened without let or hindrance to all the submissions to find out if there will emerge from these discussions any strong constructive options or alternative stance for saving Ghana Telecom".
Since the government announced its intention to pass on 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone of Britain, there have been heated and varied debates from all quarters.
The statement by the government, which indicates its intention to go ahead with the deal and the strong opposing positions of the political parties in opposition and some civil society groups, sets the tone for what is expected to be a heated debate over the issue in Parliament today.
Already, some civil society groups have planned to demonstrate over the sale, while others have threatened court action to stop the process from being followed through.
Mr Awuni said the government clearly admits that "there have been some pretty good analysis of the status of GT of what ought to be and what ought not to be".
He was emphatic in saying that the suggestions had already helped to shape the terms and agreement of the sale and Parliament, at the committee level, had already made various amendments to the sale agreement to reflect these ideas and suggestions.
"The government has over time explained the processes leading to the sale and said that the future of Ghana Telecom and the security and livelihood of the more than 4,000 workers and their families are in danger, if we were not to engage a strategic investor such as Vodafone to team up with our local expertise," he explained.
Mr Awuni said the position of the government had been corroborated by experts and workers of the company themselves on many occasions and reiterated that it was against this background that the government was not going back on its intentions, as far as the future of the company was concerned.
He said the government had over the last couple of years engaged a transaction manager to oversee the sale, out of which 15 telecommunications companies put in bids.
Mr Awuni said in the final analysis, Vodafone emerged the winner because it was able to make the highest offer of $900 million, while others quoted figures around $500 million and below.
As to whether the government was able to follow all the due processes, he stated: "We have followed all the laid-down procedures for the divestiture and violated none".
Mr Awuni expressed the government's disappointment to the effect that in the midst of all these truths and facts, a section of the society, particularly political interest groups, continued to "pour scorn and threatening fire and brimstone almost on a daily basis against the good people of this country".
Asked what the government needed the money from the sale to do, he said the government stated its intentions with regard to the use of the proceeds from the sale in its 2008 budget statement but could not give details.
He also denied the assertions that the government intended to settle the debts of Ghana Telecom, which stands at about $400 million, with the proceeds from the transaction.
"We will not do that", he said; "Instead, we look forward to taking a concessionary loan of which we will be given some moratorium, to settle the debt," he said.
Mr Awuni said the loan would be paid gradually from the dividends that would accrue to the state from the 30 per cent stake in the company, adding that "we believe it is the fine way to go about settling the debt.
He said Ghana Telecom presently found itself among multinationals with huge financial clouts and would not be able to stand on its own, no matter the capital injection from the government.
"The government has been very open and transparent in this process," he reiterated and added that: "This government has never and will never short-change Ghanaians".
Monday, August 11, 2008
Committee to meet NPP, NDC over allegations
Page 53 (lead) August 11/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Enforcement Committee of the Political Parties Code of Ethics is to meet the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the disturbances and counter-allegations between the two with regard to the on-going voter registration exercise.
The parties have been at each other’s throat as each is accusing the other of being behind the ‘bussing’ of people from one town to another to register, bribery and the registration of minors, among others, in separate news conferences to air their grievances to the public.
Reverend Fred Degbe, President of the Christian Council of Ghana and Chairman of the committee, expressing his frustration, told the Daily Graphic that he wondered why the parties bypassed the committee to hold news conferences to register their displeasure.
He noted that before the meeting, scheduled for next Thursday, all the parties would have to work quickly to defuse the rising tension between them to save the situation from escalating into what might undermine the peace and stability of the nation.
The reverend minister was responding to questions as to how the council felt about the developments between the two leading parties and their impact on the upcoming general election, which the two parties have tagged as the ‘Mother of All Elections’.
Since the registration of new voters began some eight days ago, there have been long queues at the various registration centres and there have been numerous reports of parties bringing busloads of people to register.
There have also been reports of fighting among supporters who refuse to allow prospective voters to register on suspicion that they are minors.
Reverend Degbe said the developments on the ground were not healthy for a nation such as Ghana, which has won the hearts of the world as a peaceful, stable and hospitable country.
He said the leaders of the political parties must be cautious and desist from any act that would undermine the integrity of the country.
Reverend Degbe expressed optimism that the meeting would result in something positive that would ensure a smooth registration exercise and a subsequent peaceful elections in December.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Enforcement Committee of the Political Parties Code of Ethics is to meet the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the disturbances and counter-allegations between the two with regard to the on-going voter registration exercise.
The parties have been at each other’s throat as each is accusing the other of being behind the ‘bussing’ of people from one town to another to register, bribery and the registration of minors, among others, in separate news conferences to air their grievances to the public.
Reverend Fred Degbe, President of the Christian Council of Ghana and Chairman of the committee, expressing his frustration, told the Daily Graphic that he wondered why the parties bypassed the committee to hold news conferences to register their displeasure.
He noted that before the meeting, scheduled for next Thursday, all the parties would have to work quickly to defuse the rising tension between them to save the situation from escalating into what might undermine the peace and stability of the nation.
The reverend minister was responding to questions as to how the council felt about the developments between the two leading parties and their impact on the upcoming general election, which the two parties have tagged as the ‘Mother of All Elections’.
Since the registration of new voters began some eight days ago, there have been long queues at the various registration centres and there have been numerous reports of parties bringing busloads of people to register.
There have also been reports of fighting among supporters who refuse to allow prospective voters to register on suspicion that they are minors.
Reverend Degbe said the developments on the ground were not healthy for a nation such as Ghana, which has won the hearts of the world as a peaceful, stable and hospitable country.
He said the leaders of the political parties must be cautious and desist from any act that would undermine the integrity of the country.
Reverend Degbe expressed optimism that the meeting would result in something positive that would ensure a smooth registration exercise and a subsequent peaceful elections in December.
Dialogue Crucial
Front (Lead) August 6/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
Ghanaians of all political persuasions and responsibilities have been advised to embrace dialogue as a means to a peaceful, free and fair elections in December.
Speakers at the 3rd Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue that opened in Accra yesterday were unanimous that through dialogue Ghana would succeed in firming up the democratic credentials that have made it a continental icon for others to look up to.
The speakers — including notable politicians, bankers and entrepreneurs — said Ghana had, through its stable and peaceful nature, provided a shining example on the continent and could not fail the world as it goes to the polls to elect a new President and Members of Parliament to govern the nation for the next four years.
Their call comes in the wake of heightening tension among the political parties as a result of the stress and sometimes violence at many stations where new voters are being registered by the Electoral Commission.
The opening ceremony of the dialogue, which attracted the largest number of participants since its inception three years ago, was spiced by performances in dance and music by the Tema Youth Choir and the Ghana Dance Ensemble.
The theme for this years dialogue is: “Effective Democratic Governance: The role of stakeholders”, with the objective of explaining the multi-dimensional aspects involved in the governance of a nation; making civil society aware of their roles in shaping the destiny of their countries, as well as reviewing the progress on the democratic process in the West African sub-region.
Delivering the opening address on behalf of the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, said “since we are all stakeholders in this enterprise called Ghana, which we need to secure for our collective good and prosperity, we should all play our role in ensuring that the integrity of the election is without a shadow of doubt”.
He added that “as we stand at the threshold of a new and better Ghana, ruled by a better man or the best man, we should all be committed to moving forward”.
Mr Ghartey said the government had confidence in the electoral system, which is policed by the people at the polling stations.
“We have confidence in our Electoral Commission, whose independence, efficiency and integrity is recognised throughout Africa; we have confidence in our political process, we have confidence in our judiciary that had shown it has the capacity to resolve disputes, including election disputes, fairly and impartially,” he observed.
Mr Ghartey said the government was also confident about the security agencies, which had demonstrated a high sense of professionalism in Ghana and abroad, and indicated that “we are all committed to free and fair elections devoid of violence, bitterness, acrimony”.
He said Ghanaians needed to recognise that though they differed in views, “we are all each other’s keeper”.
Mr Ghartey said what confronted the nation today was that “whilst we applaud ourselves for the significant gains we have made in resisting rule by oppressors both internal and external, by creating laws, mechanisms and institutional good corporate governance, in furtherance of our natural and inalienable right to establish a framework of government which shall secure for ourselves and posterity the blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity, we have not yet reached utopia”.
The Attorney-General acknowledged the management and workers of Graphic Communications Group Limited for organising the dialogue, saying, ”It is good for the country and it is a testimony to the credit of the Graphic group which is no doubt a socially responsible company.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, for his part emphasised the need for a peaceful, free and fair elections in the country.
He said much as people might differ in ideology, dialogue was an important tool to ensure peace and stability.
The Managing Director of Barclays Bank, Ghana, Mrs Margaret Mwanakatwe, mentioned shared understanding, information flow in a transparent manner and uniformity of purpose as some of the key tenets to ensuring a peaceful nation.
She was confident that such tenets would lead to improved lives and create an environment conducive for business and democratic growth.
Mrs Mwanakatwe joined other speakers from the Finatrade Group, Stanbic Bank and Ghana Commercial Bank, all key sponsors of the programme, in congratulating the organisers of the dialogue for their foresight and commitment to ensuring the practice of good democratic governance not only in Ghana but in the sub-region in general.
The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, in his welcoming address, said the move by the company formed part of the company’s resolve to ensure a peaceful nation and sub-region, to enable business to thrive while the democratic principles also get entrenched through the practice of good governance.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
Ghanaians of all political persuasions and responsibilities have been advised to embrace dialogue as a means to a peaceful, free and fair elections in December.
Speakers at the 3rd Daily Graphic Governance Dialogue that opened in Accra yesterday were unanimous that through dialogue Ghana would succeed in firming up the democratic credentials that have made it a continental icon for others to look up to.
The speakers — including notable politicians, bankers and entrepreneurs — said Ghana had, through its stable and peaceful nature, provided a shining example on the continent and could not fail the world as it goes to the polls to elect a new President and Members of Parliament to govern the nation for the next four years.
Their call comes in the wake of heightening tension among the political parties as a result of the stress and sometimes violence at many stations where new voters are being registered by the Electoral Commission.
The opening ceremony of the dialogue, which attracted the largest number of participants since its inception three years ago, was spiced by performances in dance and music by the Tema Youth Choir and the Ghana Dance Ensemble.
The theme for this years dialogue is: “Effective Democratic Governance: The role of stakeholders”, with the objective of explaining the multi-dimensional aspects involved in the governance of a nation; making civil society aware of their roles in shaping the destiny of their countries, as well as reviewing the progress on the democratic process in the West African sub-region.
Delivering the opening address on behalf of the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, said “since we are all stakeholders in this enterprise called Ghana, which we need to secure for our collective good and prosperity, we should all play our role in ensuring that the integrity of the election is without a shadow of doubt”.
He added that “as we stand at the threshold of a new and better Ghana, ruled by a better man or the best man, we should all be committed to moving forward”.
Mr Ghartey said the government had confidence in the electoral system, which is policed by the people at the polling stations.
“We have confidence in our Electoral Commission, whose independence, efficiency and integrity is recognised throughout Africa; we have confidence in our political process, we have confidence in our judiciary that had shown it has the capacity to resolve disputes, including election disputes, fairly and impartially,” he observed.
Mr Ghartey said the government was also confident about the security agencies, which had demonstrated a high sense of professionalism in Ghana and abroad, and indicated that “we are all committed to free and fair elections devoid of violence, bitterness, acrimony”.
He said Ghanaians needed to recognise that though they differed in views, “we are all each other’s keeper”.
Mr Ghartey said what confronted the nation today was that “whilst we applaud ourselves for the significant gains we have made in resisting rule by oppressors both internal and external, by creating laws, mechanisms and institutional good corporate governance, in furtherance of our natural and inalienable right to establish a framework of government which shall secure for ourselves and posterity the blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity, we have not yet reached utopia”.
The Attorney-General acknowledged the management and workers of Graphic Communications Group Limited for organising the dialogue, saying, ”It is good for the country and it is a testimony to the credit of the Graphic group which is no doubt a socially responsible company.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, for his part emphasised the need for a peaceful, free and fair elections in the country.
He said much as people might differ in ideology, dialogue was an important tool to ensure peace and stability.
The Managing Director of Barclays Bank, Ghana, Mrs Margaret Mwanakatwe, mentioned shared understanding, information flow in a transparent manner and uniformity of purpose as some of the key tenets to ensuring a peaceful nation.
She was confident that such tenets would lead to improved lives and create an environment conducive for business and democratic growth.
Mrs Mwanakatwe joined other speakers from the Finatrade Group, Stanbic Bank and Ghana Commercial Bank, all key sponsors of the programme, in congratulating the organisers of the dialogue for their foresight and commitment to ensuring the practice of good democratic governance not only in Ghana but in the sub-region in general.
The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, in his welcoming address, said the move by the company formed part of the company’s resolve to ensure a peaceful nation and sub-region, to enable business to thrive while the democratic principles also get entrenched through the practice of good governance.
Oil marketing companies call for upward adjustment
Business page, August 4/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Association of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has called for an upward review of the margins paid to its members for lifting of petroleum products for the market to avoid a looming cash flow crisis within the sector.
Although the association did not state any particular level of adjusted margin, it said the increase would enable members to meet their operational costs, which kept rising by the day.
The Chairman of the OMCs, Mr Agyemang Duah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that members of the association might be forced to close down some of their outlets and cut down on their staff numbers as some of the cost control measures.
Since the sector was deregulated about three years ago, the number of OMCs have increased to about 40 and the numbers still keep rising.
Each of the companies is currently paid GH¢6.5 per litre for any of the petroleum products lifted.
There is a consensus in the industry that the growing numbers of operators in the sector have drastically reduced the volumes carried by each of the players, and this is impacting negatively on their margins and the economies of scale associated with lifting larger volumes.
“Those who are able to brave the storm may also be tempted to cut costs by not adhering to safety and environmental issues, a situation that might spell doom for the country in the near future,” Mr Agyemang Duah stated.
He cautioned that some of the major or big players which were mostly multinationals with large numbers of employees might be forced to wind up their operations if they continued to post loses.
Although multinational oil companies have recorded huge profits as a result of the rising oil prices, such profits are mostly associated with upstream operations rather than with the downstream.
Mr Agyemang-Duah, who is also the Managing Director of the recently listed GOIL, said the half-year results posted by most of the major OMCs in the country showed negative profits, mainly as a result of their high operational costs.
“Many of the players rely on the banks for facilities and the high interest rates are affecting us,” he said.
He said the association had been in talks with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to secure a better deal going forward, but that had yielded little results, and expressed the hope that the authority would take lifeline actions in due course to save the industry from collapse.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Mr John Attafuah, also empathised with the concerns of the OMCs, describing it as “most unfortunate”.
He agreed that competition in the industry had significantly reduced the volumes carried by each OMC, a situation that was also negatively affecting their profits.
However, he said, most of the OMCs had also become inefficient and that had forced their operational costs up and affected their turnovers and profits.
He said should the authority review the margins upward, the market would look more attractive to more OMCs to even worsen the situation.
To Mr Attafuah, a drastic cut in operational inefficiencies will save the situation for the OMCs, and urged them to take a critical look at that while the authority considered other innovative ways to help them out of their predicaments without shifting costs with regard to inefficiencies to customers.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Association of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has called for an upward review of the margins paid to its members for lifting of petroleum products for the market to avoid a looming cash flow crisis within the sector.
Although the association did not state any particular level of adjusted margin, it said the increase would enable members to meet their operational costs, which kept rising by the day.
The Chairman of the OMCs, Mr Agyemang Duah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that members of the association might be forced to close down some of their outlets and cut down on their staff numbers as some of the cost control measures.
Since the sector was deregulated about three years ago, the number of OMCs have increased to about 40 and the numbers still keep rising.
Each of the companies is currently paid GH¢6.5 per litre for any of the petroleum products lifted.
There is a consensus in the industry that the growing numbers of operators in the sector have drastically reduced the volumes carried by each of the players, and this is impacting negatively on their margins and the economies of scale associated with lifting larger volumes.
“Those who are able to brave the storm may also be tempted to cut costs by not adhering to safety and environmental issues, a situation that might spell doom for the country in the near future,” Mr Agyemang Duah stated.
He cautioned that some of the major or big players which were mostly multinationals with large numbers of employees might be forced to wind up their operations if they continued to post loses.
Although multinational oil companies have recorded huge profits as a result of the rising oil prices, such profits are mostly associated with upstream operations rather than with the downstream.
Mr Agyemang-Duah, who is also the Managing Director of the recently listed GOIL, said the half-year results posted by most of the major OMCs in the country showed negative profits, mainly as a result of their high operational costs.
“Many of the players rely on the banks for facilities and the high interest rates are affecting us,” he said.
He said the association had been in talks with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to secure a better deal going forward, but that had yielded little results, and expressed the hope that the authority would take lifeline actions in due course to save the industry from collapse.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Mr John Attafuah, also empathised with the concerns of the OMCs, describing it as “most unfortunate”.
He agreed that competition in the industry had significantly reduced the volumes carried by each OMC, a situation that was also negatively affecting their profits.
However, he said, most of the OMCs had also become inefficient and that had forced their operational costs up and affected their turnovers and profits.
He said should the authority review the margins upward, the market would look more attractive to more OMCs to even worsen the situation.
To Mr Attafuah, a drastic cut in operational inefficiencies will save the situation for the OMCs, and urged them to take a critical look at that while the authority considered other innovative ways to help them out of their predicaments without shifting costs with regard to inefficiencies to customers.
TOR assures of regular supply of fuel
Back page (lead) August 4/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has given the assurance that it is capable of sustaining the current petroleum supply levels in spite of losses it is incurring due to the halt in the review of petroleum prices since May 4, this year.
Reacting to speculations that the losses could lead to shortage on the market, the Head of Public Affairs at TOR, Mrs Aba Lokko, said the government had a special arrangement with Nigeria to supply 1.85 million barrels of crude oil every month to the refinery under favourable payment terms, and indicated that there was no cause for alarm.
She was answering questions as to the impact of the freeze on the review of the petroleum prices by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the high cost of crude oil on the international market on the operations of the refinery.
She said apart from the freeze on petroleum prices, the rising price of crude oil on the international market had also aggravated the situation.
She, however, denied any reduction in the output from TOR, saying, “What we supply to the nation has not changed.”
Unable to make full disclosure on the actual level of shortfalls, Mrs Lokko said, “We are counting the cost to know how much debt we have incurred.”
Out of the 60,000 barrels of crude oil used in the country each day, TOR refines 45,000 barrels while the remainder goes to fire the thermal plant at Aboadze.
Ms Lokko said the impact of the skyrocketing prices of crude oil on the international market was worldwide and Ghana was no exception.
“But like many others, the government has found a way around the situation and until the unforeseen happens, the situation is firmly under control,” she said.
In announcing mitigation packages for the country by the President a couple of months ago, some taxes on petroleum products were reduced and since then the NPA, an autonomous body that has as part of its mandate to review the prices of petroleum products as per the prices pertaining on the international market, has stopped the review of the prices since the last couple of months.
Ms Lokko reiterated that the situation had had an impact on the finances of the refinery although supplies were intact.
“Surely we may not be able to break even in the end,” she said, but noted that the refinery would continue to deliver.
There have been fears expressed about the level of debt the refinery could accumulate and its impact on the economy.
As a result of a similar situation in the 2000, TOR incurred huge debts because of the then government’s quest to heed the cry of the populace to stop raising prices of petroleum products in spite of the upward trend on the international market.
The Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) from which the government borrowed huge sums of money to be able to import the crude oil nearly went bankrupt while the other banks also suffered a similar fate.
The treasury bill rate shot up making savings in the banks unattractive and this also had a negative impact on inflation, which stood at more than 40 per cent, while interest rates also reached unprecedented heights in many years.
Although the impact on the economy now is not like the situation in 2000, inflation has jumped to 18.4 per cent from about 12 per cent in February, while the base rate which dropped to about 14 per cent has now gone up to 17 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has called for more support from the government for TOR and other importers of crude oil into the country to ensure continuous supply of petroleum products to the market.
It said since the present price of the products on the market did not reflect the cost of crude oil on the international market, the importers might be highly tempted to reduce the amount of imports, a situation that could create serious shortages across the country.
The Chairman of the OMCs, Mr Agyemang Duah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the situation on the international market as far as crude oil was concerned was creating problems for not only governments including that of Ghana but players in the industry and noted that it was necessary for the government to ensure that there were no shortages that could bring the economy to a standstill.
Mr Agyemang-Duah, however, noted that in order not to bring the importers to their knees, it was imperative for the government to ensure that TOR and others were adequately supported to ensure continuous supplies of the product to the market.
He also refuted claims that there were some shortages because of reduction in imports by the refinery.
“We are not aware of any such shortages but we hope it does not come to that,” he added.
The NPA on the other hand has acknowledged the effect the halt in the adjustments of petroleum prices to reflect what was on the international market was having on the importers of crude oil such as TOR, Trafigura and Vitol.
However, it said the NPA was in discussions with the importers to devise a way forward to clear the hurdles.
The Chief Executive of the NPA, Mr John Attafuah, told the Daily Graphic in a separate interview that there were some positive trends on the international market as of now, an indication of a relief in sight.
Mr Attafuah also denied that the imports had reduced because of lack of funds, saying “if you find some filling stations not having products, it may likely be as a result of the fact that, that OMC is unable to settle its indebtedness with CEPS or may also have defaulted in its statutory obligation”.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has given the assurance that it is capable of sustaining the current petroleum supply levels in spite of losses it is incurring due to the halt in the review of petroleum prices since May 4, this year.
Reacting to speculations that the losses could lead to shortage on the market, the Head of Public Affairs at TOR, Mrs Aba Lokko, said the government had a special arrangement with Nigeria to supply 1.85 million barrels of crude oil every month to the refinery under favourable payment terms, and indicated that there was no cause for alarm.
She was answering questions as to the impact of the freeze on the review of the petroleum prices by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the high cost of crude oil on the international market on the operations of the refinery.
She said apart from the freeze on petroleum prices, the rising price of crude oil on the international market had also aggravated the situation.
She, however, denied any reduction in the output from TOR, saying, “What we supply to the nation has not changed.”
Unable to make full disclosure on the actual level of shortfalls, Mrs Lokko said, “We are counting the cost to know how much debt we have incurred.”
Out of the 60,000 barrels of crude oil used in the country each day, TOR refines 45,000 barrels while the remainder goes to fire the thermal plant at Aboadze.
Ms Lokko said the impact of the skyrocketing prices of crude oil on the international market was worldwide and Ghana was no exception.
“But like many others, the government has found a way around the situation and until the unforeseen happens, the situation is firmly under control,” she said.
In announcing mitigation packages for the country by the President a couple of months ago, some taxes on petroleum products were reduced and since then the NPA, an autonomous body that has as part of its mandate to review the prices of petroleum products as per the prices pertaining on the international market, has stopped the review of the prices since the last couple of months.
Ms Lokko reiterated that the situation had had an impact on the finances of the refinery although supplies were intact.
“Surely we may not be able to break even in the end,” she said, but noted that the refinery would continue to deliver.
There have been fears expressed about the level of debt the refinery could accumulate and its impact on the economy.
As a result of a similar situation in the 2000, TOR incurred huge debts because of the then government’s quest to heed the cry of the populace to stop raising prices of petroleum products in spite of the upward trend on the international market.
The Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) from which the government borrowed huge sums of money to be able to import the crude oil nearly went bankrupt while the other banks also suffered a similar fate.
The treasury bill rate shot up making savings in the banks unattractive and this also had a negative impact on inflation, which stood at more than 40 per cent, while interest rates also reached unprecedented heights in many years.
Although the impact on the economy now is not like the situation in 2000, inflation has jumped to 18.4 per cent from about 12 per cent in February, while the base rate which dropped to about 14 per cent has now gone up to 17 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has called for more support from the government for TOR and other importers of crude oil into the country to ensure continuous supply of petroleum products to the market.
It said since the present price of the products on the market did not reflect the cost of crude oil on the international market, the importers might be highly tempted to reduce the amount of imports, a situation that could create serious shortages across the country.
The Chairman of the OMCs, Mr Agyemang Duah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the situation on the international market as far as crude oil was concerned was creating problems for not only governments including that of Ghana but players in the industry and noted that it was necessary for the government to ensure that there were no shortages that could bring the economy to a standstill.
Mr Agyemang-Duah, however, noted that in order not to bring the importers to their knees, it was imperative for the government to ensure that TOR and others were adequately supported to ensure continuous supplies of the product to the market.
He also refuted claims that there were some shortages because of reduction in imports by the refinery.
“We are not aware of any such shortages but we hope it does not come to that,” he added.
The NPA on the other hand has acknowledged the effect the halt in the adjustments of petroleum prices to reflect what was on the international market was having on the importers of crude oil such as TOR, Trafigura and Vitol.
However, it said the NPA was in discussions with the importers to devise a way forward to clear the hurdles.
The Chief Executive of the NPA, Mr John Attafuah, told the Daily Graphic in a separate interview that there were some positive trends on the international market as of now, an indication of a relief in sight.
Mr Attafuah also denied that the imports had reduced because of lack of funds, saying “if you find some filling stations not having products, it may likely be as a result of the fact that, that OMC is unable to settle its indebtedness with CEPS or may also have defaulted in its statutory obligation”.
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