Politics, September 27/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has assured the international community that it is constantly monitoring developments in the country in a run-up to the December polls to ensure that the peace the nation has enjoyed over the years is not compromised.
“The government has been able to maintain the peace and stability of the nation since it came to power and had supervised all the general elections under its watch without any rancour, a record we are as determined as ever to uphold again this time”, it said.
The Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama gave the assurance when the new United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Gene Teitelbum, paid a courtesy call on him at his office at the Castle, Osu, on Wednesday.
The assurance comes amidst growing concerns about some disturbances in some parts of the country which was sending negative signals and also questioning the readiness of the nation for the December polls.
Alhaji Mahama said the government had been noted for its love for the rule of law and the strengthening of democracy in the country, a feet the US and others in the international community also appreciated.
He said the country had played major roles to bring peace to some of its neighbours such as Cote d’ Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia when they were in conflict.
“These demonstrates our love for peace and that is why we continue to assure the international community and the entire nation that the government was on top of the issues and will ensure that the peace is not compromised,” he added.
The Vice President mentioned the various achievements that the government had chalked over the past seven years saying “the economic stability and progress we brought about is unprecedented and we pride in that”.
He said it was out of these achievements and seriousness to tackle issues that the US recognised the nation and decided to foster an improved relationship between the two countries.
Alhaji Mahama expressed the gratitude of the government to the US government and President George Bush in particular for the recent release of $350 million to Ghana to augment the rural electrification programme.
During his recent state visit to the US, President Kufuor signed an agreement for the release of the money for the project.
“This assistance is laudable and refreshing and we will ensure that the rural poor for whom this assistance is to benefit, has access to electricity in due course”, he said.
He also expressed appreciation to the US government for the release of more than $530 million from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) to support rural agriculture.
Alhaji Mahama also paid tribute to Mrs Pamela Bridgewater, the immediate past US Ambassador to Ghana for her role in getting Ghana the goodies from her country.
He expressed the hope that Mr Teitelbum would do same to further deepen the relationship between the two countries which had reached an unprecedented height in recent times.
Mr Teitelbum said the American government did not set up the MCA for nothing saying; “It is not something we take for granted and those countries, such as Ghana, who are benefiting from it really deserve it because they have genuinely met the criteria”, he said.
He wished Ghana well in her endeavours particularly in the upcoming elections and added that “we are all in the same boat together because we are also going to the polls soon”.
Mr Teitelbum expressed the hope that Th. winners, both in the US and Ghana will celebrate with all while the losers take the defeat in their strides to ensure continuos peace in the two countries.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Support govt to check influx of fake drugs
Spread, September 27/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has asked the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) to support government agencies and other stakeholders to prevent the influx of fake or counterfeit drugs into the country and the sub-region.
He said there were some international criminal groups which had taken undue advantage of the globalised world to engage in all manner of fraudulent activities, to the detriment of the genuine ones such as the PMAG.
Alhaji Mahama made the call at the celebration of Pharmaceutical Day, under the auspices of the PMAG, in Accra yesterday. It was on the theme, “Pharmaceutical Manufacturing In Ghana: Building a centre of excellence”.
He said the government was aware of how a vibrant drug production industry would enhance the development of associated service industries in equipment and other accessories and noted that the manner in which the industry was being disturbed was unfortunate.
The Vice-President said there was ample evidence to show that the quality of locally manufactured drugs in terms of their safety and efficiency matched that of those imported into the country.
“However, the local production of these drugs meets only 30 per cent of our requirements,” he said, adding, “This huge gap in local supplies should be seen as an opportunity to grow the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector through investment in manufacturing facilities.”
Alhaji Mahama said the government was pursuing policies under the Trade and Investment Promotion (TIP) programme managed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSIs which were aimed at removing both internal and external constraints to the development and promotion of locally manufactured drugs.
He recounted the devastating effects of malaria on the people, saying that “available statistics show that malaria alone affects over 17 million people in Ghana”.
“Besides the death caused by this disease among the youth and the elderly, it also adversely affects productivity and economic output due to loss in man hours,” he added.
Alhaji Mahama proposed a two-prong approach to battle the disease, namely, prevention and treatment.
He described as refreshing the quest of the association to achieve excellence, saying, “By building a centre of excellence, we, as a country, shall become less dependent on others for our healthcare needs, while at the same time developing new medications by harnessing the inherent medical wealth in our plants.”
He urged the PMAG to continue to collaborate with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), as well as explore avenues for partnering with the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine and other research institutions, to come out with drug formulations and preparations which would require the use of local resources and expertise.
The President of the association, Dr M.A. Addo, complained about what he described as the extremely long bureaucratic process at the ports, for which importers were made to pay high demurrage on their imports.
He said that, and the general lack of low interest funds from the banks, were hindrances to the members of the association, most of whom had the capacity to manufacture drugs to fully meet local consumption and for export to raise foreign capital.
Dr Addo said the members of the association also had the capacity to produce anti malaria drugs to meet local demands and urged the government to re-think its intention to source those drugs from China.
He said should the association get the support it needed from the government, not only would it bring the prices of locally manufactured drugs down but it would also produce to meet the quality and standard of the imported ones.
The Deputy Chief Executive of the FDB in charge of drugs, Mr Ben Botwe, said the board had categorised drugs according to their quality to entice those whose drugs were in the lower categories to work harder to move up.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has asked the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) to support government agencies and other stakeholders to prevent the influx of fake or counterfeit drugs into the country and the sub-region.
He said there were some international criminal groups which had taken undue advantage of the globalised world to engage in all manner of fraudulent activities, to the detriment of the genuine ones such as the PMAG.
Alhaji Mahama made the call at the celebration of Pharmaceutical Day, under the auspices of the PMAG, in Accra yesterday. It was on the theme, “Pharmaceutical Manufacturing In Ghana: Building a centre of excellence”.
He said the government was aware of how a vibrant drug production industry would enhance the development of associated service industries in equipment and other accessories and noted that the manner in which the industry was being disturbed was unfortunate.
The Vice-President said there was ample evidence to show that the quality of locally manufactured drugs in terms of their safety and efficiency matched that of those imported into the country.
“However, the local production of these drugs meets only 30 per cent of our requirements,” he said, adding, “This huge gap in local supplies should be seen as an opportunity to grow the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector through investment in manufacturing facilities.”
Alhaji Mahama said the government was pursuing policies under the Trade and Investment Promotion (TIP) programme managed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSIs which were aimed at removing both internal and external constraints to the development and promotion of locally manufactured drugs.
He recounted the devastating effects of malaria on the people, saying that “available statistics show that malaria alone affects over 17 million people in Ghana”.
“Besides the death caused by this disease among the youth and the elderly, it also adversely affects productivity and economic output due to loss in man hours,” he added.
Alhaji Mahama proposed a two-prong approach to battle the disease, namely, prevention and treatment.
He described as refreshing the quest of the association to achieve excellence, saying, “By building a centre of excellence, we, as a country, shall become less dependent on others for our healthcare needs, while at the same time developing new medications by harnessing the inherent medical wealth in our plants.”
He urged the PMAG to continue to collaborate with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), as well as explore avenues for partnering with the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine and other research institutions, to come out with drug formulations and preparations which would require the use of local resources and expertise.
The President of the association, Dr M.A. Addo, complained about what he described as the extremely long bureaucratic process at the ports, for which importers were made to pay high demurrage on their imports.
He said that, and the general lack of low interest funds from the banks, were hindrances to the members of the association, most of whom had the capacity to manufacture drugs to fully meet local consumption and for export to raise foreign capital.
Dr Addo said the members of the association also had the capacity to produce anti malaria drugs to meet local demands and urged the government to re-think its intention to source those drugs from China.
He said should the association get the support it needed from the government, not only would it bring the prices of locally manufactured drugs down but it would also produce to meet the quality and standard of the imported ones.
The Deputy Chief Executive of the FDB in charge of drugs, Mr Ben Botwe, said the board had categorised drugs according to their quality to entice those whose drugs were in the lower categories to work harder to move up.
Veep leads team to mourn Baah-Wiredu
Page 30, September 26/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, yesterday led a large delegation of government ministers, their deputies and other state functionaries to the official residence of their late colleague and Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, to mourn with his family.
Immediately the delegation arrived, the large crowd of mourners, which included the Omanhene of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Akuoko Sarpong, burst into tears, with some wailing uncontrollably because of the absence of the departed relative and friend.
Typical of Ashantis, the bereaved family and other sympathisers present were clad in black, with red bands around their wrists, heads and feet to signify their mournful state.
Among the ministerial delegation were Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff, Office of the President; Dr Richard Anane, the Minister of Transportation; Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Minister of the Interior; Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, the Minister of Harbours and Railways; Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister of Defence; Mr Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi, the Deputy Minister of Energy; Mrs Gladys Asmah, the Minister of Fisheries; Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports; Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning; Mrs Oboshie Sai Cofie, the Minister of Tourism, and Mr J.H. Mensah, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, and his deputies and other senior officials of the bank, as well as Mr Ishak Diwan, the Country Director of the World Bank, were also present to express their condolences to the family.
Also present were the running mate of the flag bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, his wife, Samia, and the General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow.
After members of the delegation had expressed their condolences to the bereaved family, they proceeded in turns to sign a book of condolence opened for the friends and sympathisers of the late minister to write their last words.
“Kwadwo, rest in peace” were what the Vice-President wrote in the book which was placed in front of a large picture of the late Mr Baah-Wiredu.
In a brief remark prior to the signing of the book, Mr Mpiani told the chief linguist of the Omanhene of Agogo that the death of their colleague was a heavy blow, not only to the government and family but the entire nation as well.
“Before his departure, we saw nothing wrong with him; he did not look sick, so I could simply not believe it when the news hit me in the office on the morning of Wednesday,” he said.
According to Mr Mpiani, he had spoken on telephone with Mr Baah-Wiredu, adding, “Nothing sounded in his voice that he was suffering any ailment.”
He said the President was devastated by the news, just as any other person who knew Mr Baah-Wiredu’s worth.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, yesterday led a large delegation of government ministers, their deputies and other state functionaries to the official residence of their late colleague and Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, to mourn with his family.
Immediately the delegation arrived, the large crowd of mourners, which included the Omanhene of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Akuoko Sarpong, burst into tears, with some wailing uncontrollably because of the absence of the departed relative and friend.
Typical of Ashantis, the bereaved family and other sympathisers present were clad in black, with red bands around their wrists, heads and feet to signify their mournful state.
Among the ministerial delegation were Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff, Office of the President; Dr Richard Anane, the Minister of Transportation; Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Minister of the Interior; Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, the Minister of Harbours and Railways; Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister of Defence; Mr Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi, the Deputy Minister of Energy; Mrs Gladys Asmah, the Minister of Fisheries; Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports; Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning; Mrs Oboshie Sai Cofie, the Minister of Tourism, and Mr J.H. Mensah, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, and his deputies and other senior officials of the bank, as well as Mr Ishak Diwan, the Country Director of the World Bank, were also present to express their condolences to the family.
Also present were the running mate of the flag bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, his wife, Samia, and the General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Ohene Ntow.
After members of the delegation had expressed their condolences to the bereaved family, they proceeded in turns to sign a book of condolence opened for the friends and sympathisers of the late minister to write their last words.
“Kwadwo, rest in peace” were what the Vice-President wrote in the book which was placed in front of a large picture of the late Mr Baah-Wiredu.
In a brief remark prior to the signing of the book, Mr Mpiani told the chief linguist of the Omanhene of Agogo that the death of their colleague was a heavy blow, not only to the government and family but the entire nation as well.
“Before his departure, we saw nothing wrong with him; he did not look sick, so I could simply not believe it when the news hit me in the office on the morning of Wednesday,” he said.
According to Mr Mpiani, he had spoken on telephone with Mr Baah-Wiredu, adding, “Nothing sounded in his voice that he was suffering any ailment.”
He said the President was devastated by the news, just as any other person who knew Mr Baah-Wiredu’s worth.
Veep, Interior Minister visit Katamanto Market
Page 55, September 25/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government will, from next week Wednesday, begin taking inventory of all the traders who lost their wares to the fire at the Kantamanto Market last Monday.
The exercise, which will be conducted on the premises of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in Accra, is to afford the government the opportunity to structure the appropriate interventions for the right victims to minimise their pain.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who announced this when he led a high-profile government team to the disaster scene, also said the government would ensure that the right structures with proper layouts were put in place to avoid any future occurrence of the situation.
The Minister of the Interior, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, who was also part of the Vice-President’s entourage, presented 500 bags of cement and 100 packets of roofing sheets to the affected victims.
Fire swept through more than 600 stores and shops at the Kantamanto Market in Accra on Monday night, destroying property running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
Some of the items destroyed included sewing materials, sandals, second-hand goods, audio and video cassettes and discs, shoes, as well as tailoring shops, hairdressing salons, drinking and chop bars.
The fire, which started at 7.00 p.m., raged for many hours before it was brought under control by a contingent of eight fire tenders supported by three water tankers.
When the Vice-President and his entourage arrived at the market, were given a tumultuous welcome.
Some parts of the market were still in flames, while a greater part of the area was covered with smoke.
Electric wires which were half burnt were seen hanging on some poles mounted at the market.
“The government is touched by this unfortunate incident and it is here to solidarise with all those who were affected by the fire,” Alhaji Mahama said.
He extended President Kufuor’s sympathies to the people and gave the assurance that the government would do all it could to ensure that the pain and grief of those affected were minimised.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said the presentation made to the victims was just “first aid”, adding that the government would come up with a plan of what could be done in due course.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr Felix Fekah, who also addressed the crowd, said the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) would provide two fire hydrants at the market when it was reconstructed to allow fire tenders access to ready water whenever there was a fire outbreak.
He appealed to the traders to avoid cooking within the market, since the slightest spark of fire could spell doom for them.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government will, from next week Wednesday, begin taking inventory of all the traders who lost their wares to the fire at the Kantamanto Market last Monday.
The exercise, which will be conducted on the premises of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in Accra, is to afford the government the opportunity to structure the appropriate interventions for the right victims to minimise their pain.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who announced this when he led a high-profile government team to the disaster scene, also said the government would ensure that the right structures with proper layouts were put in place to avoid any future occurrence of the situation.
The Minister of the Interior, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, who was also part of the Vice-President’s entourage, presented 500 bags of cement and 100 packets of roofing sheets to the affected victims.
Fire swept through more than 600 stores and shops at the Kantamanto Market in Accra on Monday night, destroying property running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
Some of the items destroyed included sewing materials, sandals, second-hand goods, audio and video cassettes and discs, shoes, as well as tailoring shops, hairdressing salons, drinking and chop bars.
The fire, which started at 7.00 p.m., raged for many hours before it was brought under control by a contingent of eight fire tenders supported by three water tankers.
When the Vice-President and his entourage arrived at the market, were given a tumultuous welcome.
Some parts of the market were still in flames, while a greater part of the area was covered with smoke.
Electric wires which were half burnt were seen hanging on some poles mounted at the market.
“The government is touched by this unfortunate incident and it is here to solidarise with all those who were affected by the fire,” Alhaji Mahama said.
He extended President Kufuor’s sympathies to the people and gave the assurance that the government would do all it could to ensure that the pain and grief of those affected were minimised.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said the presentation made to the victims was just “first aid”, adding that the government would come up with a plan of what could be done in due course.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr Felix Fekah, who also addressed the crowd, said the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) would provide two fire hydrants at the market when it was reconstructed to allow fire tenders access to ready water whenever there was a fire outbreak.
He appealed to the traders to avoid cooking within the market, since the slightest spark of fire could spell doom for them.
Govt mourns
Page 3, September 25/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government says it has received with deep shock and sorrow the sudden demise of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, in South Africa after short illness.
The visibly grief-stricken Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who is acting as President in the absence of President Kufuor, said “it is really a sad piece of news to us and we simply do not know what to say about it”.
“The cause of death and other information surrounding this news is scanty and we are waiting for the full facts,” he added.
His comments were in response to the expression of condolences from the new United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Gene Teitelbum, who was at the Castle to pay a courtesy call on him.
He would not comment further on the announcement of the sudden death of the Finance Minister, whom many revered and cherished for his affable character.
Mr Teitelbum described the Finance Minister as a brilliant, intelligent and knowledgeable minister who was on top of his job.
“We grief and mourn with you and we hope you accept our deepest condolences for this loss,” he added.
And on the premises of the Castle, workers, including the presidential security, cleaners, cooks and fuel attendants, were standing in groups discussing the death of one of the country’s most revered minister and the first minister to be appointed by President Kufuor when he assumed the reigns of government in 2001.
Those who could simply not hold back their tears were seen wiping their faces in grief while others narrated how his human relations made him the toast at every function.
Meanwhile a release from the Office of the Chief of Staff said President John Agyekum Kufuor had been informed about the sad story.
The release signed by the Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, said: “He (the President) has expressed shock about this sudden death, and has requested that his condolences should be extended to his elderly mother, his wife, children and the rest of the family”.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government says it has received with deep shock and sorrow the sudden demise of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, in South Africa after short illness.
The visibly grief-stricken Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who is acting as President in the absence of President Kufuor, said “it is really a sad piece of news to us and we simply do not know what to say about it”.
“The cause of death and other information surrounding this news is scanty and we are waiting for the full facts,” he added.
His comments were in response to the expression of condolences from the new United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Gene Teitelbum, who was at the Castle to pay a courtesy call on him.
He would not comment further on the announcement of the sudden death of the Finance Minister, whom many revered and cherished for his affable character.
Mr Teitelbum described the Finance Minister as a brilliant, intelligent and knowledgeable minister who was on top of his job.
“We grief and mourn with you and we hope you accept our deepest condolences for this loss,” he added.
And on the premises of the Castle, workers, including the presidential security, cleaners, cooks and fuel attendants, were standing in groups discussing the death of one of the country’s most revered minister and the first minister to be appointed by President Kufuor when he assumed the reigns of government in 2001.
Those who could simply not hold back their tears were seen wiping their faces in grief while others narrated how his human relations made him the toast at every function.
Meanwhile a release from the Office of the Chief of Staff said President John Agyekum Kufuor had been informed about the sad story.
The release signed by the Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, said: “He (the President) has expressed shock about this sudden death, and has requested that his condolences should be extended to his elderly mother, his wife, children and the rest of the family”.
31st World Maritime Day marked
Page 30, September 24/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has asked the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) to submit a draft legal instruments and sanctions regime for ratification to enable the government to introduce sanity into the shipping industry.
The move, the Vice-President said, would also afford the authority the opportunity to effectively regulate and co-ordinate all stakeholders in the maritime industry and eliminate what he described as the “unnecessary functional overlaps and conflicting objectives in public sector agency operations”.
Alhaji Mahama made the call in a speech read on his behalf by Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, the Chief Advisor to the President, at the celebration of the 31st World Maritime Day under the auspices of the GMA in Accra.
As part of activities lined up by the GMA to commemorate the day, there will be a three-day workshop, beginning today, on the theme, “Building partnership for the prevention and protection of marine pollution and effective oil spill response”.
The Vice-President explained that the introduction of the legal instruments and sanctions regime was necessary “because shipping lines are beginning to abuse the system by introducing unjustifiable charges, such as container administrative fees and several others which pose an unnecessary burden on our importers and exporters”.
“This trend, I must say, is adversely affecting government’s efforts aimed at making Ghana an investment destination in the sub-region,” he added.
The Vice-President used the occasion to justify why the GMA was set up, saying, “The government, like many other developing countries, depends almost exclusively on international shipping for the carriage of over 90 per cent of the country’s international trade.”
He said the trend of globalisation and privatisation was becoming pervasive and irreversible, thereby imposing structural and policy changes and challenges which needed to be analysed and effectively managed by a specialised professional body such as the GMA to provide inputs for incorporation in the maritime sub-sector of the national strategic development framework.
In spite of its challenges, Alhaji Mahama commended the management of the GMA for halting the perennial trend in frequent accidents and considerable loss of human lives and property on the Volta Lake, with collaboration from the Ghana Navy, since January 2007.
The Vice-President also mentioned the organisation of the national workshop on safety and navigation of non-convention crafts and inland waterway vessels to further improve safety of transportation on the country’s inland waters.
Alhaji Mahama pledged the government’s commitment to support the authority’s ongoing efforts to install and operate the Vessel Monitoring Information Systems (VMIS) which would put it in a better stead to effectively manage the country’s maritime domain.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes, who chaired the function, appealed to the GMA to expedite action on eliminating unnecessary functional overlaps of agencies within the industry which most often increased the cost of doing business at the ports.
He urged the management of the GMA and other stakeholders in the industry to remain focused on their objectives of creating a vibrant maritime industry to support the government’s development efforts.
The Minister of Harbours and Railways, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, said the GMA, in collaboration with the IMO, had organised a national training workshop for its marine surveyors to enable it to fulfil effectively Ghana’s flag and port state responsibilities of inspecting and surveying Ghanaian and foreign ships to ensure their sea worthiness and compliance with international standards.
“The authority has collaborated effectively with the Regional Maritime University for seafarers to be trained on the basis of IMO courses and in relevant international conventions such as the IMO international convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers as amended in 1985,” he added.
The Director-General of the GMA, Mr Peter Issaka Azumah, pledged the commitment of the authority to work expeditiously on the relevant instruments and draft legislation for consideration by Parliament at its next sitting.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has asked the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) to submit a draft legal instruments and sanctions regime for ratification to enable the government to introduce sanity into the shipping industry.
The move, the Vice-President said, would also afford the authority the opportunity to effectively regulate and co-ordinate all stakeholders in the maritime industry and eliminate what he described as the “unnecessary functional overlaps and conflicting objectives in public sector agency operations”.
Alhaji Mahama made the call in a speech read on his behalf by Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse, the Chief Advisor to the President, at the celebration of the 31st World Maritime Day under the auspices of the GMA in Accra.
As part of activities lined up by the GMA to commemorate the day, there will be a three-day workshop, beginning today, on the theme, “Building partnership for the prevention and protection of marine pollution and effective oil spill response”.
The Vice-President explained that the introduction of the legal instruments and sanctions regime was necessary “because shipping lines are beginning to abuse the system by introducing unjustifiable charges, such as container administrative fees and several others which pose an unnecessary burden on our importers and exporters”.
“This trend, I must say, is adversely affecting government’s efforts aimed at making Ghana an investment destination in the sub-region,” he added.
The Vice-President used the occasion to justify why the GMA was set up, saying, “The government, like many other developing countries, depends almost exclusively on international shipping for the carriage of over 90 per cent of the country’s international trade.”
He said the trend of globalisation and privatisation was becoming pervasive and irreversible, thereby imposing structural and policy changes and challenges which needed to be analysed and effectively managed by a specialised professional body such as the GMA to provide inputs for incorporation in the maritime sub-sector of the national strategic development framework.
In spite of its challenges, Alhaji Mahama commended the management of the GMA for halting the perennial trend in frequent accidents and considerable loss of human lives and property on the Volta Lake, with collaboration from the Ghana Navy, since January 2007.
The Vice-President also mentioned the organisation of the national workshop on safety and navigation of non-convention crafts and inland waterway vessels to further improve safety of transportation on the country’s inland waters.
Alhaji Mahama pledged the government’s commitment to support the authority’s ongoing efforts to install and operate the Vessel Monitoring Information Systems (VMIS) which would put it in a better stead to effectively manage the country’s maritime domain.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes, who chaired the function, appealed to the GMA to expedite action on eliminating unnecessary functional overlaps of agencies within the industry which most often increased the cost of doing business at the ports.
He urged the management of the GMA and other stakeholders in the industry to remain focused on their objectives of creating a vibrant maritime industry to support the government’s development efforts.
The Minister of Harbours and Railways, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, said the GMA, in collaboration with the IMO, had organised a national training workshop for its marine surveyors to enable it to fulfil effectively Ghana’s flag and port state responsibilities of inspecting and surveying Ghanaian and foreign ships to ensure their sea worthiness and compliance with international standards.
“The authority has collaborated effectively with the Regional Maritime University for seafarers to be trained on the basis of IMO courses and in relevant international conventions such as the IMO international convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers as amended in 1985,” he added.
The Director-General of the GMA, Mr Peter Issaka Azumah, pledged the commitment of the authority to work expeditiously on the relevant instruments and draft legislation for consideration by Parliament at its next sitting.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Marketing Ghana's oil
Graphic Business (Energy page lead) September 23/2008
Artilce: Charles Benoni Okine
THE news about the oil find in Ghana by Kosmos Energy from Texas, United States of America (USA) and Tullow of Britain, has attracted international players in the industry. The find is being trumpeted by government officials everywhere because of its potential of helping to positively affect the economic fortunes of the country.
In spite of this, there is the talk about the ‘black gold’ being either a curse or a blessing depending on how the resource is managed in terms of the proceeds. It therefore, came as welcome news, when the government first organised the National Oil and Gas forum in February, where it assembled experts from many countries with the resource , to offer pieces of advice on how they have been able to manage the oil and how proceeds from the oil sales were being used to help the people.
But it is imperative to note that Ghana is not the only country in the world that has oil and gas. There are many others, even on the continent of Africa with billions of barrels of oil reserves and were producing the resource for the international market.
Nigeria has had some challenges with its resource as militants continue to fight the government for their share and in Angola, the present stability had made it a safe haven for many investors of the industry.
Marketing refers to the management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customers’ requirements efficiently and profitably. Marketing has to be sustained if a brand or a product is to be ingrained in the minds of customers.
In the case of Ghana’s oil, it is important that even before the resource is produced, marketing is done in a way that investors’attention on Ghana will not wane.
At a recent forum at the British Council in Accra on Ghana’s oil, it was made clear that the marketing of the country’s oil find needed to be intensified and sustained to attract the cream of investors in the field.
The forum was attended by high profile British investors who agreed that marketing of Ghana’s oil was necessary and must be done now.
The call is not out of place because it is clear that many of the investors who used to pitch camp in Nigeria, are gradually moving to Angola not only because of the recent peace existing in that country but because of the marketing of the oil wealth of that country.
Ghana’s oil is also said to be in commercial quantities with some estimates putting it at about 3 billion barrels. But the oil will remain untapped if the right investments are not made to have it tapped.
Experts have said that Ghana’s oil is rich but its location in the most complicated of rocks therefore required tact and expertise or the whole of the gulf will be endangered with its spillage.
The cost of exploration per day has been estimated at about $700,000 and this is expected to rise when more wells are drilled.
Ghana has relative peace and has enjoyed a lot of stability over the last 25 years and more. The economy has gone through a lot of transformation and today it is able to withstand some of the shocks from the international market. The management of the economy is improving and gradually the sharing of the national cake is becoming proportional.
There are some agitations presently in the areas where the resource has been found but the government will come out with laws to ensure that there is transparency, equity and accountability when it comes to its sharing .
What else can a country market to attract investors if these factors are not enough to guarantee their investment.
There shouldnot be any time wasting; marketing needs to be done intensely and rightly to boost greater international confidence and Ghana will gain.
Artilce: Charles Benoni Okine
THE news about the oil find in Ghana by Kosmos Energy from Texas, United States of America (USA) and Tullow of Britain, has attracted international players in the industry. The find is being trumpeted by government officials everywhere because of its potential of helping to positively affect the economic fortunes of the country.
In spite of this, there is the talk about the ‘black gold’ being either a curse or a blessing depending on how the resource is managed in terms of the proceeds. It therefore, came as welcome news, when the government first organised the National Oil and Gas forum in February, where it assembled experts from many countries with the resource , to offer pieces of advice on how they have been able to manage the oil and how proceeds from the oil sales were being used to help the people.
But it is imperative to note that Ghana is not the only country in the world that has oil and gas. There are many others, even on the continent of Africa with billions of barrels of oil reserves and were producing the resource for the international market.
Nigeria has had some challenges with its resource as militants continue to fight the government for their share and in Angola, the present stability had made it a safe haven for many investors of the industry.
Marketing refers to the management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customers’ requirements efficiently and profitably. Marketing has to be sustained if a brand or a product is to be ingrained in the minds of customers.
In the case of Ghana’s oil, it is important that even before the resource is produced, marketing is done in a way that investors’attention on Ghana will not wane.
At a recent forum at the British Council in Accra on Ghana’s oil, it was made clear that the marketing of the country’s oil find needed to be intensified and sustained to attract the cream of investors in the field.
The forum was attended by high profile British investors who agreed that marketing of Ghana’s oil was necessary and must be done now.
The call is not out of place because it is clear that many of the investors who used to pitch camp in Nigeria, are gradually moving to Angola not only because of the recent peace existing in that country but because of the marketing of the oil wealth of that country.
Ghana’s oil is also said to be in commercial quantities with some estimates putting it at about 3 billion barrels. But the oil will remain untapped if the right investments are not made to have it tapped.
Experts have said that Ghana’s oil is rich but its location in the most complicated of rocks therefore required tact and expertise or the whole of the gulf will be endangered with its spillage.
The cost of exploration per day has been estimated at about $700,000 and this is expected to rise when more wells are drilled.
Ghana has relative peace and has enjoyed a lot of stability over the last 25 years and more. The economy has gone through a lot of transformation and today it is able to withstand some of the shocks from the international market. The management of the economy is improving and gradually the sharing of the national cake is becoming proportional.
There are some agitations presently in the areas where the resource has been found but the government will come out with laws to ensure that there is transparency, equity and accountability when it comes to its sharing .
What else can a country market to attract investors if these factors are not enough to guarantee their investment.
There shouldnot be any time wasting; marketing needs to be done intensely and rightly to boost greater international confidence and Ghana will gain.
Veep launches financial literacy week
Spread (lead) September 22/2003
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has called on players in the financial sector to ensure that majority of the people understand the products they offer them.
He said although financial service providers, such as the banks, insurance and security companies, were educating the populace through various means, it was not enough to allow the recipients to grasp the full concept.
He made the call in Accra yesterday at the launch of the first National Financial Literacy Week to raise awareness of the need for financial education and how people can better manage their finances.
The launch, which is in fulfilment of the pledge made by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in last year’s budget statement to Parliament, is on the theme, “Financial Literacy — Knowledge is money”.
As part of the awareness programme, there will be radio and television discussions which will feature as many of the players as possible, a float, market-to-market campaigns, among others.
Alhaji Mahama noted that “broader concepts of financial literacy implies that people will make better judgements about their financial affairs if they understand the relationship between their own finances and the wider economy”.
The Vice-President recounted the financial upheavals in major economies such as the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) caused by inappropriate mortgage lending to gullible consumers.
“It is against this background that the financial sector strategic plan recommended the launch of an annual financial literacy week to help raise awareness of the range of products and services available to consumers to enable them to better understand and manage their finances,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama said one of the most important and profitable lessons one could learn in life was how to achieve financial security.
“Yet too few Ghanaians have had the opportunity to learn the basics about money in school, at work and even at home,” he said.
The Vice-President was of the view that “if we crave for development as much as we say we do, it behoves us, as a nation and as individuals, to provide opportunities for financial literacy. Experience in more developed economies has shown that financial literacy early in a person’s life leads to financial independence and sound investment decisions”.
He said a survey conducted on the level of financial literacy of Ghanaians revealed that 43 per cent of respondents either did not have full or correct information on what they needed to plan their personal finances well.
Alhaji Mahama said it was interesting to note that the study found out that while the understanding of the concept of principal and interest was weak, respondents exhibited strong knowledge on savings, profit and personal budget.
The Vice-President urged Ghanaians to avail themselves of the opportunities during the literacy week to improve their understanding of financial concepts.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, also spoke about the survey, which was commissioned by the ministry, and said its results were particularly bleak among young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years.
He said the most fundamental reason people needed to strive to become more financially literate was to help them to reach their personal financial goals, adding, “Whatever the goal, the pay off to financial literacy is an improved standard of living and a sense of confidence about the future.”
Dr Akoto Osei said becoming financially literate was a long-term process that required the assistance of institutions outside the home.
He said the objective of the week was to raise the issue onto the national stage to improve awareness of the need for financial literacy and expose the need for Ghanaians to acquire financial literacy and expressed the hope that stakeholders would step up their financial education efforts and that the citizenry would be more responsive to financial education.
The Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ms Josephine Amoah, also raised the issue of awareness creation which, she said, was not enough to allow the public to understand the issues.
She narrowed it down to the insurance sector where, apart from motor insurance which many knew about, not much was known about the other insurance packages.
Ms Amoah said the commission would begin an awareness programme before the end of the year, adding that the forthcoming national Insurance Awards, under the auspices of Corporate Initiative, Ghana (CIG) and the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, and sponsored partly by the Graphic Communications Group Limited, publishers of the Graphic Business newspaper, formed part of the awareness programme.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has called on players in the financial sector to ensure that majority of the people understand the products they offer them.
He said although financial service providers, such as the banks, insurance and security companies, were educating the populace through various means, it was not enough to allow the recipients to grasp the full concept.
He made the call in Accra yesterday at the launch of the first National Financial Literacy Week to raise awareness of the need for financial education and how people can better manage their finances.
The launch, which is in fulfilment of the pledge made by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in last year’s budget statement to Parliament, is on the theme, “Financial Literacy — Knowledge is money”.
As part of the awareness programme, there will be radio and television discussions which will feature as many of the players as possible, a float, market-to-market campaigns, among others.
Alhaji Mahama noted that “broader concepts of financial literacy implies that people will make better judgements about their financial affairs if they understand the relationship between their own finances and the wider economy”.
The Vice-President recounted the financial upheavals in major economies such as the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) caused by inappropriate mortgage lending to gullible consumers.
“It is against this background that the financial sector strategic plan recommended the launch of an annual financial literacy week to help raise awareness of the range of products and services available to consumers to enable them to better understand and manage their finances,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama said one of the most important and profitable lessons one could learn in life was how to achieve financial security.
“Yet too few Ghanaians have had the opportunity to learn the basics about money in school, at work and even at home,” he said.
The Vice-President was of the view that “if we crave for development as much as we say we do, it behoves us, as a nation and as individuals, to provide opportunities for financial literacy. Experience in more developed economies has shown that financial literacy early in a person’s life leads to financial independence and sound investment decisions”.
He said a survey conducted on the level of financial literacy of Ghanaians revealed that 43 per cent of respondents either did not have full or correct information on what they needed to plan their personal finances well.
Alhaji Mahama said it was interesting to note that the study found out that while the understanding of the concept of principal and interest was weak, respondents exhibited strong knowledge on savings, profit and personal budget.
The Vice-President urged Ghanaians to avail themselves of the opportunities during the literacy week to improve their understanding of financial concepts.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, also spoke about the survey, which was commissioned by the ministry, and said its results were particularly bleak among young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years.
He said the most fundamental reason people needed to strive to become more financially literate was to help them to reach their personal financial goals, adding, “Whatever the goal, the pay off to financial literacy is an improved standard of living and a sense of confidence about the future.”
Dr Akoto Osei said becoming financially literate was a long-term process that required the assistance of institutions outside the home.
He said the objective of the week was to raise the issue onto the national stage to improve awareness of the need for financial literacy and expose the need for Ghanaians to acquire financial literacy and expressed the hope that stakeholders would step up their financial education efforts and that the citizenry would be more responsive to financial education.
The Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ms Josephine Amoah, also raised the issue of awareness creation which, she said, was not enough to allow the public to understand the issues.
She narrowed it down to the insurance sector where, apart from motor insurance which many knew about, not much was known about the other insurance packages.
Ms Amoah said the commission would begin an awareness programme before the end of the year, adding that the forthcoming national Insurance Awards, under the auspices of Corporate Initiative, Ghana (CIG) and the Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, and sponsored partly by the Graphic Communications Group Limited, publishers of the Graphic Business newspaper, formed part of the awareness programme.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Govt reviews petroleum income tax, production laws
Spread, September 20/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has begun a comprehensive review of the petroleum income tax and production laws to bring them in tandem with the expected changes in the industry following the oil find.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, made the announcement at the Presidential Luncheon of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) in Accra yesterday.
The event, on the theme, “Discovery of oil: The benefits, opportunities and challenges”, was attended by high-profile chartered accountants and policy makers in taxation, among others.
Alhaji Mahama said the government had also set up a body to come up with a national policy on the management of the oil revenue when production started.
Consequently, he tasked professionals in that area to forward their inputs to the appropriate quarters to make the laws suit Ghanaian conditions.
He said “the government is not complacent with the recent oil find”, adding that “efforts are still underway by other companies, at the instance of the government, to search for hydrocarbons in other areas offshore Ghana to help increase hydrocarbon reserves”.
Alhaji Mahama said while the government would derive substantial benefits from royalties, carried interest, petroleum taxes, annual surface rental, among others, it was also expected that the buoyancy of the petroleum industry would lead to the utilisation of skilled and semi-skilled personnel in geology, geophysics and oil rigging which would go a long way to enhance job creation in the country.
Against that background, he said, “We must, therefore, as a nation, start training and developing our human resource base to effectively participate in the exploration and management of the emerging petroleum industry.”
He said for a start, there was the need for technology transfer from those experienced partners to the local technical personnel to enable them to cope with the challenges of the oil industry.
Alhaji Mahama also challenged the universities and other institutions of higher learning to design relevant courses and programmes to provide the needed knowledge, skills and technical personnel to support the emerging petroleum industry.
“The oil discovery is a good thing for Ghana. Every Ghanaian, including you professionals gathered here, is expected to play his or her role to enable the nation to optimise these oil and gas discoveries,” he said.
The Vice-President reminded all that the nation was duty bound to ensure that the find became a blessing for the nation, this generation and those yet to come.
In a keynote address, a partner of Deloitte, West and Central Africa, and expert in the oil industry in Nigeria, Mr Babatunde Oremade, dealt with the benefits, opportunities and challenges of the oil , saying that oil was a potential principal revenue earner for the country.
He said there was also the opportunity for the country to prosper in many fields and to make society more prosperous.
Mr Oremade, however, warned that through excitement about the find, economic, environmental, the security of the nation and other major challenges could make it a curse and not a blessing.
He said while the country celebrated the find, it was imperative for it to start the process with the end in mind, adding that “the time to put the checks in place is now”.
The acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Anna Bossman, said the find should be managed with a lot of tact, with lessons drawn from the mistakes of countries which had not been able to make the resource a blessing.
She said the whole process to ensuring that Ghana derived maximum benefits from the find was to ensure that priorities were put in place to avoid over expenditure in areas that were not necessary for the development of the country.
The President of the ICA, Mrs Cecilia Nyann, in her welcoming address, challenged members of the association to brace themselves by expanding their knowledge to encompass the sector so that they would be able to contribute their quota to ensure that Ghana benefited fully from the find.
“We are bound to compete fiercely with our foreign counterparts with expertise in the oil sector and unless we keep ourselves abreast of the industry, we may be overtaken by events,” she added.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has begun a comprehensive review of the petroleum income tax and production laws to bring them in tandem with the expected changes in the industry following the oil find.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, made the announcement at the Presidential Luncheon of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) in Accra yesterday.
The event, on the theme, “Discovery of oil: The benefits, opportunities and challenges”, was attended by high-profile chartered accountants and policy makers in taxation, among others.
Alhaji Mahama said the government had also set up a body to come up with a national policy on the management of the oil revenue when production started.
Consequently, he tasked professionals in that area to forward their inputs to the appropriate quarters to make the laws suit Ghanaian conditions.
He said “the government is not complacent with the recent oil find”, adding that “efforts are still underway by other companies, at the instance of the government, to search for hydrocarbons in other areas offshore Ghana to help increase hydrocarbon reserves”.
Alhaji Mahama said while the government would derive substantial benefits from royalties, carried interest, petroleum taxes, annual surface rental, among others, it was also expected that the buoyancy of the petroleum industry would lead to the utilisation of skilled and semi-skilled personnel in geology, geophysics and oil rigging which would go a long way to enhance job creation in the country.
Against that background, he said, “We must, therefore, as a nation, start training and developing our human resource base to effectively participate in the exploration and management of the emerging petroleum industry.”
He said for a start, there was the need for technology transfer from those experienced partners to the local technical personnel to enable them to cope with the challenges of the oil industry.
Alhaji Mahama also challenged the universities and other institutions of higher learning to design relevant courses and programmes to provide the needed knowledge, skills and technical personnel to support the emerging petroleum industry.
“The oil discovery is a good thing for Ghana. Every Ghanaian, including you professionals gathered here, is expected to play his or her role to enable the nation to optimise these oil and gas discoveries,” he said.
The Vice-President reminded all that the nation was duty bound to ensure that the find became a blessing for the nation, this generation and those yet to come.
In a keynote address, a partner of Deloitte, West and Central Africa, and expert in the oil industry in Nigeria, Mr Babatunde Oremade, dealt with the benefits, opportunities and challenges of the oil , saying that oil was a potential principal revenue earner for the country.
He said there was also the opportunity for the country to prosper in many fields and to make society more prosperous.
Mr Oremade, however, warned that through excitement about the find, economic, environmental, the security of the nation and other major challenges could make it a curse and not a blessing.
He said while the country celebrated the find, it was imperative for it to start the process with the end in mind, adding that “the time to put the checks in place is now”.
The acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Anna Bossman, said the find should be managed with a lot of tact, with lessons drawn from the mistakes of countries which had not been able to make the resource a blessing.
She said the whole process to ensuring that Ghana derived maximum benefits from the find was to ensure that priorities were put in place to avoid over expenditure in areas that were not necessary for the development of the country.
The President of the ICA, Mrs Cecilia Nyann, in her welcoming address, challenged members of the association to brace themselves by expanding their knowledge to encompass the sector so that they would be able to contribute their quota to ensure that Ghana benefited fully from the find.
“We are bound to compete fiercely with our foreign counterparts with expertise in the oil sector and unless we keep ourselves abreast of the industry, we may be overtaken by events,” she added.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Govt will ensure successful election
Page 34 (lead) September/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has said that the government has committed itself to ensuring successful elections and a smooth transition from the present administration to whichever political party emerges as the winner after the December 7 polls.
“Our government believes in democracy and we will not tarnish that belief, the confidence and trust the people and the international community have in us,” he said.
The Vice-President said this when the outgoing South Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Wi Keyei-Chul, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle yesterday to bid him farewell after a two-year service.
Alhaji Mahama said the government had ensured continued stability and peace in the country and could also boast having ensured a better human rights record.
He said the country had also seen tremendous economic growth while ensuring that the rule of law was also not compromised in any way.
The Vice-President said the country was on a path to better progress particularly with the oil find.
He said measures were being taken to ensure that the find became a blessing and not a curse.
Alhaji Mahama said what the country needed now was foreign direct investment to be able to place the economy on a more deserving level.
“We invite you the Koreans to be part of the oil find and I would want you to be an ambassador for Ghana to convince your fellow investors to come to Ghana,” he said.
He praised South Korea for the assistance it had given to the country over the years and expressed the hope that when that country was able to increase its assistance to Africa as it promised, Ghana would not be left out.
Vice-President Mahama wished Mr Keyei-Chul well in his new endeavours and presented him with a wooden stool and a parcel for his wife.
Mr Keyei-Chul praised the government for the peace and stability that the country had enjoyed over the years.
He also mentioned the economic successes and noted that Ghana stood a chance of being the first on the continent to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr Keyei-Chul expressed the hope that just as ever, Ghana would be able to go through another successful and peaceful election come December.
In a related development, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture from the Republic of Guinea, Mr Youssouf Sylla, has presented a special letter of invitation from that country’s President, Mr Lassana Conte, to President Kufuor to attend the 50th anniversary of the independence of Guinea.
The message was received on behalf of President Kufuor by Vice-President Alhaji Mahama.
Mr Sylla said Ghana and Guinea had enjoyed excellent relations since the days of President Nkrumah and President Sekou Toure as they fought for the liberation of Africa from its colonial masters.
He said the spirit of friendship between the two countries was still alive and Guinea would continue to make Ghana a part of every move that it would undertake.
Alhaji Mahama pledged the government’s willingness to be part of the celebration, which comes off on October 2.
He congratulated President Conte and the people of Guinea on the celebration and expressed the hope that the bond of friendship between the two countries would grow from strength to strength.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has said that the government has committed itself to ensuring successful elections and a smooth transition from the present administration to whichever political party emerges as the winner after the December 7 polls.
“Our government believes in democracy and we will not tarnish that belief, the confidence and trust the people and the international community have in us,” he said.
The Vice-President said this when the outgoing South Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Wi Keyei-Chul, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle yesterday to bid him farewell after a two-year service.
Alhaji Mahama said the government had ensured continued stability and peace in the country and could also boast having ensured a better human rights record.
He said the country had also seen tremendous economic growth while ensuring that the rule of law was also not compromised in any way.
The Vice-President said the country was on a path to better progress particularly with the oil find.
He said measures were being taken to ensure that the find became a blessing and not a curse.
Alhaji Mahama said what the country needed now was foreign direct investment to be able to place the economy on a more deserving level.
“We invite you the Koreans to be part of the oil find and I would want you to be an ambassador for Ghana to convince your fellow investors to come to Ghana,” he said.
He praised South Korea for the assistance it had given to the country over the years and expressed the hope that when that country was able to increase its assistance to Africa as it promised, Ghana would not be left out.
Vice-President Mahama wished Mr Keyei-Chul well in his new endeavours and presented him with a wooden stool and a parcel for his wife.
Mr Keyei-Chul praised the government for the peace and stability that the country had enjoyed over the years.
He also mentioned the economic successes and noted that Ghana stood a chance of being the first on the continent to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Mr Keyei-Chul expressed the hope that just as ever, Ghana would be able to go through another successful and peaceful election come December.
In a related development, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture from the Republic of Guinea, Mr Youssouf Sylla, has presented a special letter of invitation from that country’s President, Mr Lassana Conte, to President Kufuor to attend the 50th anniversary of the independence of Guinea.
The message was received on behalf of President Kufuor by Vice-President Alhaji Mahama.
Mr Sylla said Ghana and Guinea had enjoyed excellent relations since the days of President Nkrumah and President Sekou Toure as they fought for the liberation of Africa from its colonial masters.
He said the spirit of friendship between the two countries was still alive and Guinea would continue to make Ghana a part of every move that it would undertake.
Alhaji Mahama pledged the government’s willingness to be part of the celebration, which comes off on October 2.
He congratulated President Conte and the people of Guinea on the celebration and expressed the hope that the bond of friendship between the two countries would grow from strength to strength.
Efforts to check spread of three pandemics
Page 31 (lead) September 17/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has called for a sustained momentum in the fight against the three most deadly diseases — HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
That, he said, would help the country achieve the target on health set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
The Vice-president, who made the call when he opened the first Friends Africa/Africaso African Grassroot NGO capacity building seminar in Accra, said: “We need to significantly scale up the responses to the challenges posed by the three pandemics”.
The seminar is being attended by participants from more than 20 countries and they will, among other things, develop strategies on how to combat the spread of the three diseases which are gradually destroying the social and human resource bases of Africa and the rest of the world.
Alhaji Mahama said HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria kill six million people each year or 16,000 people a day.
The three diseases had hit Africa the hardest with close to 70 per cent of worldwide infections, with more than 75 per cent of all AIDS-related deaths in 2007 taking place in sub-Saharan Africa.
“In addition, about 60 per cent of the cases of malaria worldwide and more than 80 per cent of malaria deaths also occurred in sub-Saharan Africa”, he added.
Alhaji Mahama said the region also accounted for 30 per cent of new cases of tuberculosis worldwide, adding that the three diseases were devastating Africa’s human resource and thereby taking a heavy toll on the continent’s most vulnerable people.
He added that in Ghana, the President had personally committed himself to fighting the three killer diseases and urged other African leaders to follow suit.
Alhaji Mahama also used the occasion to challenge Africa’s business community to engage in the business of saving lives by getting involved in the fight through the use of their resources to support healthier bodies and minds, the most important factors of production.
Alhaji Mahama pointed out that grass-roots development is the bedrock of national development and that it is the summation of small successful ventures that feed into the national success story.
“This is why there is increasing interest by the Global Fund and other donors to work directly with actual implementers”, he added.
Alhaji Mahama said to do this successfully, however, “there is the need to increase local retentive capacity, ownership, as well as plan for sustainability.”
The Vice-president said in Africa, as elsewhere, every person’s future counted and everyone could play a part by being focused and determined.
Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, Chairman of the Ghana AIDS Commission, for his part, called for managerial leadership for the NGOs to enable them to live up to expectation as far as the challenges of the three diseases were concerned, adding that the effects of HIV/AIDS on society were multi-dimensional, affecting development. Therefore, those engaged in supporting the fight should be well equipped to manage the disease effectively.
Dr Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Friends Africa, said based on the response to the seminar and the interest shown by many, it would be an annual event to throw more light on the impact of the three diseases and the need to deal effectively with the pandemic on the continent.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has called for a sustained momentum in the fight against the three most deadly diseases — HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
That, he said, would help the country achieve the target on health set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
The Vice-president, who made the call when he opened the first Friends Africa/Africaso African Grassroot NGO capacity building seminar in Accra, said: “We need to significantly scale up the responses to the challenges posed by the three pandemics”.
The seminar is being attended by participants from more than 20 countries and they will, among other things, develop strategies on how to combat the spread of the three diseases which are gradually destroying the social and human resource bases of Africa and the rest of the world.
Alhaji Mahama said HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria kill six million people each year or 16,000 people a day.
The three diseases had hit Africa the hardest with close to 70 per cent of worldwide infections, with more than 75 per cent of all AIDS-related deaths in 2007 taking place in sub-Saharan Africa.
“In addition, about 60 per cent of the cases of malaria worldwide and more than 80 per cent of malaria deaths also occurred in sub-Saharan Africa”, he added.
Alhaji Mahama said the region also accounted for 30 per cent of new cases of tuberculosis worldwide, adding that the three diseases were devastating Africa’s human resource and thereby taking a heavy toll on the continent’s most vulnerable people.
He added that in Ghana, the President had personally committed himself to fighting the three killer diseases and urged other African leaders to follow suit.
Alhaji Mahama also used the occasion to challenge Africa’s business community to engage in the business of saving lives by getting involved in the fight through the use of their resources to support healthier bodies and minds, the most important factors of production.
Alhaji Mahama pointed out that grass-roots development is the bedrock of national development and that it is the summation of small successful ventures that feed into the national success story.
“This is why there is increasing interest by the Global Fund and other donors to work directly with actual implementers”, he added.
Alhaji Mahama said to do this successfully, however, “there is the need to increase local retentive capacity, ownership, as well as plan for sustainability.”
The Vice-president said in Africa, as elsewhere, every person’s future counted and everyone could play a part by being focused and determined.
Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, Chairman of the Ghana AIDS Commission, for his part, called for managerial leadership for the NGOs to enable them to live up to expectation as far as the challenges of the three diseases were concerned, adding that the effects of HIV/AIDS on society were multi-dimensional, affecting development. Therefore, those engaged in supporting the fight should be well equipped to manage the disease effectively.
Dr Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Friends Africa, said based on the response to the seminar and the interest shown by many, it would be an annual event to throw more light on the impact of the three diseases and the need to deal effectively with the pandemic on the continent.
Veep meets Vega Foods delegation
Page 47 (lead) September 18/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has assured investors of the security of their investments in the country.
It said the peaceful atmosphere that investors had enjoyed over the years would not be compromised as the government continued to uphold the tenets of democracy, such good governance, rule of law and an appreciable human rights record.
The assurance given by the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama comes at a time when some investors are reported to be holding back their investments in the country due to what they perceive to be the unpredictable political climate prior to the crucial December polls.
In recent times, there have been heated debates and arguments, fighting, arson and rancour among supporters of the two leading political parties in the country namely; the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking to some investors led by the Chief Executive Officer of Vega Foods Corporation Private Limited, Mr Vikram Chand, the Vice President said the government believed in a win-win situation where the investors would create job opportunities for the people, while they also made profit.
Among the delegation was the Chairman of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Mr B.T. Baba, whose committee was to benefit from a financial package from Vega Foods, dealers in Vega branded products in the country.
“We have known peace and the country is stable”, Alhaji Mahama said. adding that, “It is against this background that we allay the fears of investors who are skeptical about the security of their investment.”
He said the success of those who had invested in the country were a testimony for others to follow.
Alhaji Mahama said the country had a bright future and urged investors to take advantage of the opportunity in order to reap the benefit.
He said the government continued to invest in the education sector as a way of improving the human resource base of the country in readiness for the future of the country.
Alhaji Mahama used the occasion to advise the GOC to also make an effort to scout for people to engage in the lesser known sports.
“We have always concentrated on the bigger sports to the neglect of the lesser sports but like the experience we had with the weightlifter some years back, we could easily find people to do other things other than the football, athletics among others,” he said.
Mr Chand said Vega Foods was working to set up a foundation to support sports and education in the country.
He said having found Ghana as a safe haven since the company began operation in the country, it was necessary for it to share some of its profits with the people, hence the setting up of the foundation.
Mr Chand said the company believed in sports and was also poised to help the government, through the foundation, to improve the education sector and to build a more sound human resource base in the country.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has assured investors of the security of their investments in the country.
It said the peaceful atmosphere that investors had enjoyed over the years would not be compromised as the government continued to uphold the tenets of democracy, such good governance, rule of law and an appreciable human rights record.
The assurance given by the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama comes at a time when some investors are reported to be holding back their investments in the country due to what they perceive to be the unpredictable political climate prior to the crucial December polls.
In recent times, there have been heated debates and arguments, fighting, arson and rancour among supporters of the two leading political parties in the country namely; the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking to some investors led by the Chief Executive Officer of Vega Foods Corporation Private Limited, Mr Vikram Chand, the Vice President said the government believed in a win-win situation where the investors would create job opportunities for the people, while they also made profit.
Among the delegation was the Chairman of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Mr B.T. Baba, whose committee was to benefit from a financial package from Vega Foods, dealers in Vega branded products in the country.
“We have known peace and the country is stable”, Alhaji Mahama said. adding that, “It is against this background that we allay the fears of investors who are skeptical about the security of their investment.”
He said the success of those who had invested in the country were a testimony for others to follow.
Alhaji Mahama said the country had a bright future and urged investors to take advantage of the opportunity in order to reap the benefit.
He said the government continued to invest in the education sector as a way of improving the human resource base of the country in readiness for the future of the country.
Alhaji Mahama used the occasion to advise the GOC to also make an effort to scout for people to engage in the lesser known sports.
“We have always concentrated on the bigger sports to the neglect of the lesser sports but like the experience we had with the weightlifter some years back, we could easily find people to do other things other than the football, athletics among others,” he said.
Mr Chand said Vega Foods was working to set up a foundation to support sports and education in the country.
He said having found Ghana as a safe haven since the company began operation in the country, it was necessary for it to share some of its profits with the people, hence the setting up of the foundation.
Mr Chand said the company believed in sports and was also poised to help the government, through the foundation, to improve the education sector and to build a more sound human resource base in the country.
Veep calls for more foreign direct investment
Spread, September 18/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has assured its development partners and investors that proceeds from HIPC have placed the country on a sound footing for a major economic take-off in the country.
Consequently, it said what the country required were foreign direct investments (FDIs), particularly in the areas of energy, railway, road infrastructure, as well as manufacturing, to move the country to the next level.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, said this when a 42-member investment delegation, led by the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Japanese Foreign Affairs, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
The visit is a follow up to the Fourth Tokyo Conference on African Development (TICAD) at which President Kufuor represented Ghana three months ago.
"Your visit is strong indication of how serious the Japanese government is to ensure that the outcomes and recommendations of TICAD IV are implemented as early as possible," Alhaji Mahama said.
He said the main aim of the TICAD process of promoting a vibrant Africa and its accelerated economic growth and diversification was a laudable one.
"The emphasis on support for infrastructural development, trade, investment, tourism and agriculture is in line with the development aspirations of Ghana and several other African countries," he added.
The Vice-President described as refreshing the recognition by TICAD of the important role of the private sector in promoting and financing economic growth in Africa.
He said measured against its might as the second biggest economy in the world, Japan’s FDI in Ghana was small.
"I, therefore, urge Japan to expand its FDI in the country, especially in some of the critical areas of energy, railway and road infrastructure and manufacturing," he said.
Alhaji Mahama affirmed the government’s readiness to assist any firm from Japan that was ready and willing to invest in the country.
He expressed the appreciation of the government to the government of Japan for the keen interest it had taken in the development of small and medium-scale enterprises in the country, including its effort towards the modernisation of the activities of industrial operators at the Suame Magazine in Kumasi.
Alhaji Mahama used the opportunity to invite Japanese investors into the oil and gas sector of the country, following the find of 'black gold'.
Mr Yasutoshi Nishimura, who led the delegation, described Ghana as the most democratic in the sub-region and noted that it was against that background that Japan was interested in working with it.
He said with the oil and gas find, Japanese investors were interested in coming to Ghana to help in different endeavours that would bring meaningful benefits to the country.
Mr Nishimura said Japan acknowledged the mineral resources that the country had and pledged its preparedness to help tap them for the economic good of Ghana.
He mentioned in particular bauxite, for which he said Japan was ready to provide assistance in carrying out further feasibility studies and the future mining of the mineral.
A Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said the country had braced itself to take advantage of the willingness of Japan to double its assistance to Africa in the next three years.
He said Ghana was stable and the economy had been placed on a sound footing with relief from HIPC and added his voice to the call by the Vice-President for more FDIs to facilitate a major economic take-off.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has assured its development partners and investors that proceeds from HIPC have placed the country on a sound footing for a major economic take-off in the country.
Consequently, it said what the country required were foreign direct investments (FDIs), particularly in the areas of energy, railway, road infrastructure, as well as manufacturing, to move the country to the next level.
The Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, said this when a 42-member investment delegation, led by the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Japanese Foreign Affairs, paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
The visit is a follow up to the Fourth Tokyo Conference on African Development (TICAD) at which President Kufuor represented Ghana three months ago.
"Your visit is strong indication of how serious the Japanese government is to ensure that the outcomes and recommendations of TICAD IV are implemented as early as possible," Alhaji Mahama said.
He said the main aim of the TICAD process of promoting a vibrant Africa and its accelerated economic growth and diversification was a laudable one.
"The emphasis on support for infrastructural development, trade, investment, tourism and agriculture is in line with the development aspirations of Ghana and several other African countries," he added.
The Vice-President described as refreshing the recognition by TICAD of the important role of the private sector in promoting and financing economic growth in Africa.
He said measured against its might as the second biggest economy in the world, Japan’s FDI in Ghana was small.
"I, therefore, urge Japan to expand its FDI in the country, especially in some of the critical areas of energy, railway and road infrastructure and manufacturing," he said.
Alhaji Mahama affirmed the government’s readiness to assist any firm from Japan that was ready and willing to invest in the country.
He expressed the appreciation of the government to the government of Japan for the keen interest it had taken in the development of small and medium-scale enterprises in the country, including its effort towards the modernisation of the activities of industrial operators at the Suame Magazine in Kumasi.
Alhaji Mahama used the opportunity to invite Japanese investors into the oil and gas sector of the country, following the find of 'black gold'.
Mr Yasutoshi Nishimura, who led the delegation, described Ghana as the most democratic in the sub-region and noted that it was against that background that Japan was interested in working with it.
He said with the oil and gas find, Japanese investors were interested in coming to Ghana to help in different endeavours that would bring meaningful benefits to the country.
Mr Nishimura said Japan acknowledged the mineral resources that the country had and pledged its preparedness to help tap them for the economic good of Ghana.
He mentioned in particular bauxite, for which he said Japan was ready to provide assistance in carrying out further feasibility studies and the future mining of the mineral.
A Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, said the country had braced itself to take advantage of the willingness of Japan to double its assistance to Africa in the next three years.
He said Ghana was stable and the economy had been placed on a sound footing with relief from HIPC and added his voice to the call by the Vice-President for more FDIs to facilitate a major economic take-off.
My first day at school
Page 21 (lead) September 18/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Aliu Mahama has challenged parents to complement the government’s effort at ensuring quality education for their children.
“The government has provided the environment for sound teaching and learning and what behoves the parents is to ensure that they keep a close eye on their [children] to do what is expected of them at school,” he added.
Alhaji Mahama threw the challenge when he visited some selected schools in Accra to welcome fresh pupils to kindergarten and primary one as part of “My First Day @ School” programme of the government.
Accompanied by the Minister of State in charge of Education and Sports, Ms Elizabeth Ohene, the Vice-President first visited the Burma Camp cluster of schools where he distributed Golden Tree chocolates, exercise books, pencils and footballs to welcome the new pupils to school.
Upon arrival at the school at exactly 10.45 am, the school band played the national anthem for the Vice-President to take the national salute before moving to the classrooms to welcome the kids.
Alhaji Mahama, in a short address to the pupils, asked them to be disciplined and attentive at all times to ensure that they grasp what their teachers would teach them.
He said he and the members of his entourage all began like them and strived hard by taking their lessons seriously to become what they are today.
The Vice-President said reading was also another important thing that they needed not to forget, since that would enhance their understanding of what they were taught.
Alhaji Mahama and his entourage then left for the Association International Infant School at the Airport Residential Area where he also distributed similar products to welcome the new pupils.
He also used the occasion to inaugurate the GH¢47,000 renovated school block.
While there, he charged the pupils to ensure that they did their home work at all times.
He also encouraged them to take sporting activities seriously because that would help them to refresh their minds.
Alhaji Mahama also visited schools at Kwabenya and Taifa where he distributed exercise books, pencils and footballs among other items to the new pupils.
He told the parents of the pupils who were around to ensure that they paid attention to the needs of their kids to enable them to grow to become responsible citizens.
“Among these are lawyers, medical doctors and professionals in many areas but the talents will not be unearthed if they are not assisted to tap them while they are young,” he said.
He said the government was working hard to extend the school feeding programme to many more schools while the Capitation Grant was also being improved.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Aliu Mahama has challenged parents to complement the government’s effort at ensuring quality education for their children.
“The government has provided the environment for sound teaching and learning and what behoves the parents is to ensure that they keep a close eye on their [children] to do what is expected of them at school,” he added.
Alhaji Mahama threw the challenge when he visited some selected schools in Accra to welcome fresh pupils to kindergarten and primary one as part of “My First Day @ School” programme of the government.
Accompanied by the Minister of State in charge of Education and Sports, Ms Elizabeth Ohene, the Vice-President first visited the Burma Camp cluster of schools where he distributed Golden Tree chocolates, exercise books, pencils and footballs to welcome the new pupils to school.
Upon arrival at the school at exactly 10.45 am, the school band played the national anthem for the Vice-President to take the national salute before moving to the classrooms to welcome the kids.
Alhaji Mahama, in a short address to the pupils, asked them to be disciplined and attentive at all times to ensure that they grasp what their teachers would teach them.
He said he and the members of his entourage all began like them and strived hard by taking their lessons seriously to become what they are today.
The Vice-President said reading was also another important thing that they needed not to forget, since that would enhance their understanding of what they were taught.
Alhaji Mahama and his entourage then left for the Association International Infant School at the Airport Residential Area where he also distributed similar products to welcome the new pupils.
He also used the occasion to inaugurate the GH¢47,000 renovated school block.
While there, he charged the pupils to ensure that they did their home work at all times.
He also encouraged them to take sporting activities seriously because that would help them to refresh their minds.
Alhaji Mahama also visited schools at Kwabenya and Taifa where he distributed exercise books, pencils and footballs among other items to the new pupils.
He told the parents of the pupils who were around to ensure that they paid attention to the needs of their kids to enable them to grow to become responsible citizens.
“Among these are lawyers, medical doctors and professionals in many areas but the talents will not be unearthed if they are not assisted to tap them while they are young,” he said.
He said the government was working hard to extend the school feeding programme to many more schools while the Capitation Grant was also being improved.
Debt from crude oil imports hits Gh¢200 m
Page 3 (lead) September 18/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE debt incurred from crude oil imports hit the GH¢200 million mark in July this year, with the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) being the hardest hit.
That followed the freeze on the upward review of petroleum prices to reflect the soaring prices of crude oil on the international market, sources from the NPA and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning hinted the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview.
The NPA stopped reviewing the prices of the products when the price of the commodity hit $118 per barrel.
It skyrocketed to about $147 per barrel, the highest in the history of the oil industry, until recently when the price began to drop to its lowest level in seven months to $92.30 last Tuesday.
The NPA has, therefore, made it clear that it will not undertake any downward adjustment of the prices of petroleum products yet.
It said until a significant portion of the debt incurred from crude oil imports into the country had been recovered, the freeze on the review of the prices would prevail.
Sources say the debt on the crude oil imports brings to memory the amount under-recovered from crude oil imports in 2000, a situation which adversely affected the banking industry, particularly the Ghana Commercial Bank.
It also brought in its wake high inflation, a drop in the value of the cedi against the major foreign currencies, while interest rates also soared and made borrowing unattractive for the industry and small and medium-scale enterprises.
Although the effects of the present debt have not been in the magnitude of those of 2000, inflation has risen, while interest rates have also gone up marginally, according to experts.
The cedi has depreciated against the dollar, for instance, by 14 per cent over the last two months, aggravating the cost of oil imports into the country.
As part of a mitigation package to ease the burden of the soaring prices of crude oil and food on the international market on Ghanaians, the government, on July 4, imposed a freeze on the review of petroleum prices, hence the debt.
The sources maintained that considering the size of the debt and its impact on the economy, it was only prudent for the amount to be recovered to avert any further shocks on the economy.
“Something good was done for consumers when the high prices were absorbed and it is only fair that the prices are maintained for a while to allow those importers in debt to recover,” the sources said.
The high prices of crude oil on the international market sparked a world-wide uproar, with citizens of various countries calling on their governments to do something about the prices.
However, since the prices began to drop below the $100 mark, consumers are calling for a downward review of petroleum prices to reflect the current prices of crude oil on the international market but the government the and NPA will not budge.
According to the sources, the importers were evaluating how much had been gained so far from the recent respite before any decisions on reviews were made.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE debt incurred from crude oil imports hit the GH¢200 million mark in July this year, with the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) being the hardest hit.
That followed the freeze on the upward review of petroleum prices to reflect the soaring prices of crude oil on the international market, sources from the NPA and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning hinted the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview.
The NPA stopped reviewing the prices of the products when the price of the commodity hit $118 per barrel.
It skyrocketed to about $147 per barrel, the highest in the history of the oil industry, until recently when the price began to drop to its lowest level in seven months to $92.30 last Tuesday.
The NPA has, therefore, made it clear that it will not undertake any downward adjustment of the prices of petroleum products yet.
It said until a significant portion of the debt incurred from crude oil imports into the country had been recovered, the freeze on the review of the prices would prevail.
Sources say the debt on the crude oil imports brings to memory the amount under-recovered from crude oil imports in 2000, a situation which adversely affected the banking industry, particularly the Ghana Commercial Bank.
It also brought in its wake high inflation, a drop in the value of the cedi against the major foreign currencies, while interest rates also soared and made borrowing unattractive for the industry and small and medium-scale enterprises.
Although the effects of the present debt have not been in the magnitude of those of 2000, inflation has risen, while interest rates have also gone up marginally, according to experts.
The cedi has depreciated against the dollar, for instance, by 14 per cent over the last two months, aggravating the cost of oil imports into the country.
As part of a mitigation package to ease the burden of the soaring prices of crude oil and food on the international market on Ghanaians, the government, on July 4, imposed a freeze on the review of petroleum prices, hence the debt.
The sources maintained that considering the size of the debt and its impact on the economy, it was only prudent for the amount to be recovered to avert any further shocks on the economy.
“Something good was done for consumers when the high prices were absorbed and it is only fair that the prices are maintained for a while to allow those importers in debt to recover,” the sources said.
The high prices of crude oil on the international market sparked a world-wide uproar, with citizens of various countries calling on their governments to do something about the prices.
However, since the prices began to drop below the $100 mark, consumers are calling for a downward review of petroleum prices to reflect the current prices of crude oil on the international market but the government the and NPA will not budge.
According to the sources, the importers were evaluating how much had been gained so far from the recent respite before any decisions on reviews were made.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Methodist Church assists in the fight against guinea worm
Spread, September 15/2008
Story & Picture: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Methodist Church of Ghana has undertaken a major initiative to help in the country’s fight against guinea worm infestation.
Consequently, it has acquired a $50,000 drill rig to drill boreholes to provide potable water for people in all guinea worm infested areas.
The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Most Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye Mensah, dedicated the rig yesterday after a major fund-raising service at the Mount Olivet Methodist Church at Dansoman.
The service, which formed part of measures by the church to raise funds to support the activities of the Methodist Development and Relief Services (MDRS), the social responsibility wing of the church, was supported with melodious songs from the singing band to encourage the congregation to give generously.
Most Reverend Aboagye-Mensah said the church was concerned about the position of Ghana as the second in the world with the highest guinea worm infestation after Sudan.
“In Sudan, there is war and famine so they could be excused but not in Ghana where we have peace and also have what it takes to do what is right,” he added
He said the church was leading the way as part of its social responsibilities to help people in the deprived areas without water with boreholes fitted with pumps.
Most Rev. Aboagye-Mensah said the MDRS was barely three years old but had done a lot with the support of the members of the church and other international Methodist bodies.
He encouraged the members to continue to show love and affection for their brothers and sisters in the deprived areas to enable them to also enjoy better life.
The Presiding Bishop said there were other initiatives such as the foster homes that the MDRS was running and entreated members to donate generously towards their upkeep.
Most Reverend Aboagye-Mensah expressed the gratitude of the leadership of the church to the Mount Olivet congregation, particularly Very Rev. Titus Awortwi-Pratt, the Superintendent Minister of the Dansoman Circuit of the church, for allowing the MDRS to use its premises to raise funds and also launch the new water drill rig.
On his part the Very Rev. Asare Bediako, who is in charge of the MDRS, said through the support of the members of the church, the MDRS was able to discharge its responsibilities.
“The task ahead of the MDRS is huge and it will require the continuos support of the members of the Methodist Church to be able to meet the challenges ahead,” he said and admonished them to continue to show love and affection to the poor and needy in society.
Story & Picture: Charles Benoni Okine
THE Methodist Church of Ghana has undertaken a major initiative to help in the country’s fight against guinea worm infestation.
Consequently, it has acquired a $50,000 drill rig to drill boreholes to provide potable water for people in all guinea worm infested areas.
The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Most Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye Mensah, dedicated the rig yesterday after a major fund-raising service at the Mount Olivet Methodist Church at Dansoman.
The service, which formed part of measures by the church to raise funds to support the activities of the Methodist Development and Relief Services (MDRS), the social responsibility wing of the church, was supported with melodious songs from the singing band to encourage the congregation to give generously.
Most Reverend Aboagye-Mensah said the church was concerned about the position of Ghana as the second in the world with the highest guinea worm infestation after Sudan.
“In Sudan, there is war and famine so they could be excused but not in Ghana where we have peace and also have what it takes to do what is right,” he added
He said the church was leading the way as part of its social responsibilities to help people in the deprived areas without water with boreholes fitted with pumps.
Most Rev. Aboagye-Mensah said the MDRS was barely three years old but had done a lot with the support of the members of the church and other international Methodist bodies.
He encouraged the members to continue to show love and affection for their brothers and sisters in the deprived areas to enable them to also enjoy better life.
The Presiding Bishop said there were other initiatives such as the foster homes that the MDRS was running and entreated members to donate generously towards their upkeep.
Most Reverend Aboagye-Mensah expressed the gratitude of the leadership of the church to the Mount Olivet congregation, particularly Very Rev. Titus Awortwi-Pratt, the Superintendent Minister of the Dansoman Circuit of the church, for allowing the MDRS to use its premises to raise funds and also launch the new water drill rig.
On his part the Very Rev. Asare Bediako, who is in charge of the MDRS, said through the support of the members of the church, the MDRS was able to discharge its responsibilities.
“The task ahead of the MDRS is huge and it will require the continuos support of the members of the Methodist Church to be able to meet the challenges ahead,” he said and admonished them to continue to show love and affection to the poor and needy in society.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Water company completes work on pressure pumps
Page 19 (lead), September 13/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
Regular water supply to parts of Accra that was halted for 10 days due to a shutdown of the boosters station to allow works to go on has resumed in all the areas that were affected during the exercise.
This follows the completion of work by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) on the installation of higher capacity pressure pumps at its Accra Booster Station to enable it to pump more water from the Weija Headworks to consumers in Accra.
Some of the areas affected by the exercise were Madina, Adenta, West/East Legon and parts of Achimota, institutions such as the University of Ghana, Pantang Hospital, Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) and GIMPA.
Mr Michael Agyemang, Chief Manager, Public Relations of GWCL, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise also allowed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to restore and hook a new transformer to a dedicated power line being fed from separate supply sources to ensure constant power supply.
The pump installation forms part of ongoing works on the Weija water expansion project being undertaken by the company at a cost of $32 million.
It is expected that upon completion, 15 million gallons of water per day will be pumped from the water treatment plant at Weija to augment the present supply of about 40 million gallons of water per day from the same source.
The project also includes the laying of a 14-kilometre pipeline to interconnect the Weija Treatment Plant and the Accra Terminal Reservoir.
Mr Agyemang said the project was expected to be completed by the end of the year and noted that “when completed the project will improve water in the metropolis and serve over 823,000 people in communities such as Madina, Adenta and settlements along the Dodowa and Aburi roads, Cantonments, Labone, La, Teshie, Ashalley Botwe, Adjirigano, East Legon, Dome, Achimota, Taifa, Kwabenya and the developing settlements along the Nsawam Road.
Meanwhile, some residents in the affected areas told the Daily Graphic that they had not seen much improvement in water supplies to them and wondered what the exercise was about.
However, a source at Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) told the Daily Graphic that the changing of the pumps to high capacity type formed part of a preparatory work to increase the water supplies in urban Accra.
It said the rationing of water as it was before was on course and gave the assurance that those who had not yet received water would be served when their schedule was due.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
Regular water supply to parts of Accra that was halted for 10 days due to a shutdown of the boosters station to allow works to go on has resumed in all the areas that were affected during the exercise.
This follows the completion of work by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) on the installation of higher capacity pressure pumps at its Accra Booster Station to enable it to pump more water from the Weija Headworks to consumers in Accra.
Some of the areas affected by the exercise were Madina, Adenta, West/East Legon and parts of Achimota, institutions such as the University of Ghana, Pantang Hospital, Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) and GIMPA.
Mr Michael Agyemang, Chief Manager, Public Relations of GWCL, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise also allowed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to restore and hook a new transformer to a dedicated power line being fed from separate supply sources to ensure constant power supply.
The pump installation forms part of ongoing works on the Weija water expansion project being undertaken by the company at a cost of $32 million.
It is expected that upon completion, 15 million gallons of water per day will be pumped from the water treatment plant at Weija to augment the present supply of about 40 million gallons of water per day from the same source.
The project also includes the laying of a 14-kilometre pipeline to interconnect the Weija Treatment Plant and the Accra Terminal Reservoir.
Mr Agyemang said the project was expected to be completed by the end of the year and noted that “when completed the project will improve water in the metropolis and serve over 823,000 people in communities such as Madina, Adenta and settlements along the Dodowa and Aburi roads, Cantonments, Labone, La, Teshie, Ashalley Botwe, Adjirigano, East Legon, Dome, Achimota, Taifa, Kwabenya and the developing settlements along the Nsawam Road.
Meanwhile, some residents in the affected areas told the Daily Graphic that they had not seen much improvement in water supplies to them and wondered what the exercise was about.
However, a source at Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) told the Daily Graphic that the changing of the pumps to high capacity type formed part of a preparatory work to increase the water supplies in urban Accra.
It said the rationing of water as it was before was on course and gave the assurance that those who had not yet received water would be served when their schedule was due.
Religious leaders urged to ensure peace
Spread, September 13/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has challenged religious leaders in the country to use their good counsel to impress on their followers to eschew acts of violence that could mar the peace and stability of the country before, during and after the December elections.
“You have large followers who listen and respect your thoughts and the government, therefore, is looking up to you to contribute your quota towards ensuring peaceful elections this year,” Alhaji Mahama said this when he received Sheikh Umar Ibrahim Imam, the Chief Imam of the Ahlussunna Wal Jama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
The Vice-President’s call comes at a time when the churches in Ghana have declared a week’s fasting and prayer in the country towards peaceful elections.
The call for peaceful elections in the December polls has been intensified from all angles following the disturbances that characterised the registration of new voters by the Electoral Commission (EC) last month.
It also follows the firing of gunshots by some unidentified people at Tamale and the acts of arson and killing of innocent people in Tamale and Gushiegu.
Alhaji Mahama said, “This country needs to nurture the peace it is enjoying now and to achieve this, we, particularly the leaders, must play a role in that respect.”
He said religious leaders must not allow politicians to infiltrate their camps to mislead them.
“You need not allow politicians to come to you to mislead your people into doing what they have not intended to do,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama asked them to let the message of peace and the need for unity dominate their preaching to their followers.
He said it was against this background that the people would appreciate the need for peace and to jealously protect the stability and unity that they enjoyed presently.
The Vice-President used the occasion to remind Muslims that the country was a secular state.
“We as Muslims should not concentrate all our efforts at learning the Koran alone but we must take advantage of the secular educational system to learn broadly,” he said.
Early on Alhaji Mahama was presented with a plaque by the Imam for his meritorious services to the nation in his capacity as Vice-President.
The Vice-President expressed gratitude to the Ahlussunnas for recognising his contributions to the development of the country.
“I feel honoured by this because it is a sign that somebody somewhere was watching and has seen what I have contributed so far,” he added.
Sheikh Ibrahim, whose speech was read on his behalf by an interpreter, said, “For the first time in our history, we have a Muslim as Vice-President.”
He said the Vice-President by his dedication to duty had become a role model to Muslims and prayed for him in his future endeavours after serving the nation in his present capacity.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
VICE-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has challenged religious leaders in the country to use their good counsel to impress on their followers to eschew acts of violence that could mar the peace and stability of the country before, during and after the December elections.
“You have large followers who listen and respect your thoughts and the government, therefore, is looking up to you to contribute your quota towards ensuring peaceful elections this year,” Alhaji Mahama said this when he received Sheikh Umar Ibrahim Imam, the Chief Imam of the Ahlussunna Wal Jama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
The Vice-President’s call comes at a time when the churches in Ghana have declared a week’s fasting and prayer in the country towards peaceful elections.
The call for peaceful elections in the December polls has been intensified from all angles following the disturbances that characterised the registration of new voters by the Electoral Commission (EC) last month.
It also follows the firing of gunshots by some unidentified people at Tamale and the acts of arson and killing of innocent people in Tamale and Gushiegu.
Alhaji Mahama said, “This country needs to nurture the peace it is enjoying now and to achieve this, we, particularly the leaders, must play a role in that respect.”
He said religious leaders must not allow politicians to infiltrate their camps to mislead them.
“You need not allow politicians to come to you to mislead your people into doing what they have not intended to do,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama asked them to let the message of peace and the need for unity dominate their preaching to their followers.
He said it was against this background that the people would appreciate the need for peace and to jealously protect the stability and unity that they enjoyed presently.
The Vice-President used the occasion to remind Muslims that the country was a secular state.
“We as Muslims should not concentrate all our efforts at learning the Koran alone but we must take advantage of the secular educational system to learn broadly,” he said.
Early on Alhaji Mahama was presented with a plaque by the Imam for his meritorious services to the nation in his capacity as Vice-President.
The Vice-President expressed gratitude to the Ahlussunnas for recognising his contributions to the development of the country.
“I feel honoured by this because it is a sign that somebody somewhere was watching and has seen what I have contributed so far,” he added.
Sheikh Ibrahim, whose speech was read on his behalf by an interpreter, said, “For the first time in our history, we have a Muslim as Vice-President.”
He said the Vice-President by his dedication to duty had become a role model to Muslims and prayed for him in his future endeavours after serving the nation in his present capacity.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Expert calls for spatial planning
Page 43 (lead) September 11/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
A remote sensing expert, Dr Amamoo Otchere, has warned of more serious ecological problems along the country’s coastlines if urgent measures are not taken against the effects of global warming.
Sharing his views on the rising tidal waves along some of the country’s coastal towns, Dr Otchere said the rise in global temperatures had caused the icy mountains in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans to thaw, resulting in the rise of sea levels and more activities along the coasts.
As a first step, he said, the government ought to set up a commission of experts to undertake a comprehensive spatial planning of the country.
He expressed regret that since the colonial governor Gordon Guggisberg effected a spatial planning for the country in the 1920s, there had not been any other effort to structure the methods by which the public sector was to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales including land use such as for urban planning, regional planning, or environmental planning for the country.
“Instead we are destroying what has been preserved for us since that time. We need not sit down for things to get out of hand before we take action because it will be too costly and perhaps too late for anything meaningful to be done,” he advised in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic.
Keta and its surrounding villages in the Volta Region, Ada in the Greater Accra Region and some parts of the Central and Western regions, which constitute the coastal belt of the country, are experiencing massive sea erosions.
It has been estimated that the country loses about 1.2 centimetres of land to the sea every month.
Consequently, he advocated the construction of break walls into the sea at areas where the erosion was fast taking place, instead of sea defence walls, to reduce the pressure of the waves and its impact on land.
He said apart from the fact that the break walls were cheaper compared to the defence walls, they are also more durable and could withstand the test of time.
Making reference to the events in some parts of the United States of America (USA) such as Louisiana and Florida among others, he said the coastal countries were in for trouble and said it was time for those who doubt the impact of climate change and global warming to rethink and do what was environmentally right to save the earth.
Dr Amamoo Otchere called on the authorities to ensure that any planning to be undertaken would involve the local people to make them appreciate what was to be done for them to preserve the environment in a better way.
Dr Francis K. E. Nunoo, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries has on his part called for a shoreline management plan as a one of the measures to deal with the incidence of tidal waves in the coastal areas, Caroline Boateng reports.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, he said the occurrence of tidal waves was not new, what was disturbing was the incidence of it and that could also be linked with global climatic changes.
He said the country’s coastal line had to be broken down into smaller units with management plans that had to fit into a national coastal management plan.
“Planning for coastal areas and zones need to be improved,” he said.
While conceding that through governmental agencies, several workshops had been done in this area, he said implementation of actions to ensure good management was what was lacking.
Also lacking was the institutionalisation of early warning systems to warn people of impending danger.
He said this meant enabling agencies like the Ghana Meteorological Agency and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to actively engage people at the community levels on dangers and possible disasters.
He said that could be achieve by resourcing them and the appropriate legal framework.
He added that it was not the practice for such agencies to engage the public on such issues and they had to be empowered to do so.
Dr Nunoo also reiterated calls by other experts for a national communication strategy on climate change to clearly spell out the country’s initiatives on the matter.
“Climate change has come to stay,” he stated, adding that it was therefore in the interest of the state and all other parties to create awareness, sensitise and work together to lessen the effects of the phenomenon on the country and its people.
Finally, Dr Nunoo asked all to be conscious of their energy consuming habits and change to energy saving devices, and car pooling to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide discharges into the atmosphere.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
A remote sensing expert, Dr Amamoo Otchere, has warned of more serious ecological problems along the country’s coastlines if urgent measures are not taken against the effects of global warming.
Sharing his views on the rising tidal waves along some of the country’s coastal towns, Dr Otchere said the rise in global temperatures had caused the icy mountains in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans to thaw, resulting in the rise of sea levels and more activities along the coasts.
As a first step, he said, the government ought to set up a commission of experts to undertake a comprehensive spatial planning of the country.
He expressed regret that since the colonial governor Gordon Guggisberg effected a spatial planning for the country in the 1920s, there had not been any other effort to structure the methods by which the public sector was to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales including land use such as for urban planning, regional planning, or environmental planning for the country.
“Instead we are destroying what has been preserved for us since that time. We need not sit down for things to get out of hand before we take action because it will be too costly and perhaps too late for anything meaningful to be done,” he advised in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic.
Keta and its surrounding villages in the Volta Region, Ada in the Greater Accra Region and some parts of the Central and Western regions, which constitute the coastal belt of the country, are experiencing massive sea erosions.
It has been estimated that the country loses about 1.2 centimetres of land to the sea every month.
Consequently, he advocated the construction of break walls into the sea at areas where the erosion was fast taking place, instead of sea defence walls, to reduce the pressure of the waves and its impact on land.
He said apart from the fact that the break walls were cheaper compared to the defence walls, they are also more durable and could withstand the test of time.
Making reference to the events in some parts of the United States of America (USA) such as Louisiana and Florida among others, he said the coastal countries were in for trouble and said it was time for those who doubt the impact of climate change and global warming to rethink and do what was environmentally right to save the earth.
Dr Amamoo Otchere called on the authorities to ensure that any planning to be undertaken would involve the local people to make them appreciate what was to be done for them to preserve the environment in a better way.
Dr Francis K. E. Nunoo, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries has on his part called for a shoreline management plan as a one of the measures to deal with the incidence of tidal waves in the coastal areas, Caroline Boateng reports.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, he said the occurrence of tidal waves was not new, what was disturbing was the incidence of it and that could also be linked with global climatic changes.
He said the country’s coastal line had to be broken down into smaller units with management plans that had to fit into a national coastal management plan.
“Planning for coastal areas and zones need to be improved,” he said.
While conceding that through governmental agencies, several workshops had been done in this area, he said implementation of actions to ensure good management was what was lacking.
Also lacking was the institutionalisation of early warning systems to warn people of impending danger.
He said this meant enabling agencies like the Ghana Meteorological Agency and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to actively engage people at the community levels on dangers and possible disasters.
He said that could be achieve by resourcing them and the appropriate legal framework.
He added that it was not the practice for such agencies to engage the public on such issues and they had to be empowered to do so.
Dr Nunoo also reiterated calls by other experts for a national communication strategy on climate change to clearly spell out the country’s initiatives on the matter.
“Climate change has come to stay,” he stated, adding that it was therefore in the interest of the state and all other parties to create awareness, sensitise and work together to lessen the effects of the phenomenon on the country and its people.
Finally, Dr Nunoo asked all to be conscious of their energy consuming habits and change to energy saving devices, and car pooling to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide discharges into the atmosphere.
Prof Saaka to be buried Sept 13
Page 14, September 10/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE late Professor Yakubu Saaka, a former Presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), is to be buried on September 13, this year, in Oberlin, Ohio, United States of America (USA).
The family of Professor Saaka, led by Kanzanwura Yahaya, a chief in the Bole/Bamboi Traditional Area, announced this when they met with the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in Accra yesterday, to formally inform the government about the death and funeral arrangements for the 61-year old Ghanaian politician and scholar.
He said the family was yet to fix a date for another funeral in Ghana.
He said the death of Professor Saaka was a blow to the family in view of his contribution to the welfare of the family and the people around him.
In his response, the Vice President said the government and people of Ghana were saddened by the death of one of the illustrious sons of the country.
He said the late Professor was his classmate and a friend, who was affable and humorous.
Alhaji Mahama said Professor Saaka was also one of the elite citizens of the north who brought his wealth and knowledge to bear on well-being of the people, adding that “he was one of the icons of our land and many perceived him a role model”.
He expressed the condolence of the government and people of the country to the family members and wished them well in what he described as these trying times when they and the nation had lost a true patriot.
Born on November 6, 1945, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Third Republic under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann, died in South Africa on August 31, 2008. He was also the chairman of the African American Studies Programme at Oberlin College.
He taught political science at the Oberlin College at Ohio in the USA. He was survived by a wife and four children; two boys and two girls.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE late Professor Yakubu Saaka, a former Presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), is to be buried on September 13, this year, in Oberlin, Ohio, United States of America (USA).
The family of Professor Saaka, led by Kanzanwura Yahaya, a chief in the Bole/Bamboi Traditional Area, announced this when they met with the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in Accra yesterday, to formally inform the government about the death and funeral arrangements for the 61-year old Ghanaian politician and scholar.
He said the family was yet to fix a date for another funeral in Ghana.
He said the death of Professor Saaka was a blow to the family in view of his contribution to the welfare of the family and the people around him.
In his response, the Vice President said the government and people of Ghana were saddened by the death of one of the illustrious sons of the country.
He said the late Professor was his classmate and a friend, who was affable and humorous.
Alhaji Mahama said Professor Saaka was also one of the elite citizens of the north who brought his wealth and knowledge to bear on well-being of the people, adding that “he was one of the icons of our land and many perceived him a role model”.
He expressed the condolence of the government and people of the country to the family members and wished them well in what he described as these trying times when they and the nation had lost a true patriot.
Born on November 6, 1945, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Third Republic under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann, died in South Africa on August 31, 2008. He was also the chairman of the African American Studies Programme at Oberlin College.
He taught political science at the Oberlin College at Ohio in the USA. He was survived by a wife and four children; two boys and two girls.
Prof Saaka to be buried Sept 13
Page 14, September 10/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE late Professor Yakubu Saaka, a former Presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), is to be buried on September 13, this year, in Oberlin, Ohio, United States of America (USA).
The family of Professor Saaka, led by Kanzanwura Yahaya, a chief in the Bole/Bamboi Traditional Area, announced this when they met with the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in Accra yesterday, to formally inform the government about the death and funeral arrangements for the 61-year old Ghanaian politician and scholar.
He said the family was yet to fix a date for another funeral in Ghana.
He said the death of Professor Saaka was a blow to the family in view of his contribution to the welfare of the family and the people around him.
In his response, the Vice President said the government and people of Ghana were saddened by the death of one of the illustrious sons of the country.
He said the late Professor was his classmate and a friend, who was affable and humorous.
Alhaji Mahama said Professor Saaka was also one of the elite citizens of the north who brought his wealth and knowledge to bear on well-being of the people, adding that “he was one of the icons of our land and many perceived him a role model”.
He expressed the condolence of the government and people of the country to the family members and wished them well in what he described as these trying times when they and the nation had lost a true patriot.
Born on November 6, 1945, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Third Republic under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann, died in South Africa on August 31, 2008. He was also the chairman of the African American Studies Programme at Oberlin College.
He taught political science at the Oberlin College at Ohio in the USA. He was survived by a wife and four children; two boys and two girls.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE late Professor Yakubu Saaka, a former Presidential aspirant of the People’s National Convention (PNC), is to be buried on September 13, this year, in Oberlin, Ohio, United States of America (USA).
The family of Professor Saaka, led by Kanzanwura Yahaya, a chief in the Bole/Bamboi Traditional Area, announced this when they met with the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in Accra yesterday, to formally inform the government about the death and funeral arrangements for the 61-year old Ghanaian politician and scholar.
He said the family was yet to fix a date for another funeral in Ghana.
He said the death of Professor Saaka was a blow to the family in view of his contribution to the welfare of the family and the people around him.
In his response, the Vice President said the government and people of Ghana were saddened by the death of one of the illustrious sons of the country.
He said the late Professor was his classmate and a friend, who was affable and humorous.
Alhaji Mahama said Professor Saaka was also one of the elite citizens of the north who brought his wealth and knowledge to bear on well-being of the people, adding that “he was one of the icons of our land and many perceived him a role model”.
He expressed the condolence of the government and people of the country to the family members and wished them well in what he described as these trying times when they and the nation had lost a true patriot.
Born on November 6, 1945, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Third Republic under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann, died in South Africa on August 31, 2008. He was also the chairman of the African American Studies Programme at Oberlin College.
He taught political science at the Oberlin College at Ohio in the USA. He was survived by a wife and four children; two boys and two girls.
Govt directs officials to learn French
Spread (lead) September 10/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has directed all government officials to take compulsory French lessons.
Vice-President Aliu Mahama said the directive was part of the government’s plans to make French a common language for as many Ghanaians as possible to enhance economic, commercial and social activities between Ghana and its neighbours.
Consequently, he asked those who were privileged to be studying the French language in schools to take the subject seriously because of the numerous advantages associated with knowing, understanding and speaking it.
Alhaji Mahama said this when the French Minister for Overseas Development and Francophone Affairs, Madam Geraldine Brigitte, paid a courtesy call on him at his office at the Castle on Monday.
The French minister was in the country to extend an invitation to the Presidency to attend the 12th summit of the International Organisation of the Francophone in Quebec, Canada, later in the year.
He recounted a number of experiences with many government officials who attend high-level meetings in Francophone countries and were unable to communicate because of their inability to speak French.
“Our French counterparts even do well to speak the English with us but those of us from the English-speaking countries seldom speak any French at all and that is not the best,” Alhaji Mahama said.
The Vice-President had early on exchanged some greetings in French with his guest but was unable to continue when the conversations went deep.
According to him, the President had directed all government officials to take compulsory French lessons, adding that “this is what has helped me and we are trying to ensure that the teaching of the French language becomes a major subject at all levels of the academic calendar”.
He encouraged business people who traded with their counterparts in the neighbouring countries to endeavour to learn the language to enable them to transact business without stress.
Alhaji Mahama said there was a lot to benefit should Ghanaians begin to engage their neighbours in serious trading and economic activities.
He assured the French minister of the government’s commitment to make the teaching and learning of French much more widespread for many more people to benefit.
Madam Brigitte on her part commended Ghana for the efforts she was putting in place to get more people to learn the French language.
In spite of this, she said, Ghana needed to attach greater interest to making the teaching and learning of French more widespread for many more people to benefit.
Madam Brigitte said France was committed to making more resources available to Ghana to enable it to create the necessary environment for people to learn the language.
She expressed the hope that the government would be able to attend the summit to further strengthen the relationship between Ghana and the Francophone countries.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
THE government has directed all government officials to take compulsory French lessons.
Vice-President Aliu Mahama said the directive was part of the government’s plans to make French a common language for as many Ghanaians as possible to enhance economic, commercial and social activities between Ghana and its neighbours.
Consequently, he asked those who were privileged to be studying the French language in schools to take the subject seriously because of the numerous advantages associated with knowing, understanding and speaking it.
Alhaji Mahama said this when the French Minister for Overseas Development and Francophone Affairs, Madam Geraldine Brigitte, paid a courtesy call on him at his office at the Castle on Monday.
The French minister was in the country to extend an invitation to the Presidency to attend the 12th summit of the International Organisation of the Francophone in Quebec, Canada, later in the year.
He recounted a number of experiences with many government officials who attend high-level meetings in Francophone countries and were unable to communicate because of their inability to speak French.
“Our French counterparts even do well to speak the English with us but those of us from the English-speaking countries seldom speak any French at all and that is not the best,” Alhaji Mahama said.
The Vice-President had early on exchanged some greetings in French with his guest but was unable to continue when the conversations went deep.
According to him, the President had directed all government officials to take compulsory French lessons, adding that “this is what has helped me and we are trying to ensure that the teaching of the French language becomes a major subject at all levels of the academic calendar”.
He encouraged business people who traded with their counterparts in the neighbouring countries to endeavour to learn the language to enable them to transact business without stress.
Alhaji Mahama said there was a lot to benefit should Ghanaians begin to engage their neighbours in serious trading and economic activities.
He assured the French minister of the government’s commitment to make the teaching and learning of French much more widespread for many more people to benefit.
Madam Brigitte on her part commended Ghana for the efforts she was putting in place to get more people to learn the French language.
In spite of this, she said, Ghana needed to attach greater interest to making the teaching and learning of French more widespread for many more people to benefit.
Madam Brigitte said France was committed to making more resources available to Ghana to enable it to create the necessary environment for people to learn the language.
She expressed the hope that the government would be able to attend the summit to further strengthen the relationship between Ghana and the Francophone countries.
Regulator must sit up
Communications page Graphic Business, September 9/2008
By Charles Benoni Okine
Some two decades back, the only means to communicate on phone was through the fixed line operated exclusively by the then Post and Telecommunication (P&T) Corporation. So that it was virtually the affluent in society and mainly companies and institutions that owned telephones. This, therefore made it difficult for people to communicate.
As if that era will not end, the global technological evolution caught up with Ghana and the first cellular phone network was introduced. It was called Mobitel, an analogue mobile telephony network which caught up so well with the people to an extent that it became a household name.
As the years went by, an advanced network system, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), was introduced and although that was more expensive, many gradually switched to that network. Today those who even introduced the analogue system have metamophosised to use the GSM to be abreast of the times.
In realising the growth of the sector and the challenges it might pose if not regulated, the wise thing was done.
In 1996, through an Act of Parliament, Act 524 of 1996, the National Communications Authority (NCA), the regulatory authority for the regulation of communications in Ghana was born with the vision to excel in proving effective and transparent regulatory process in order to facilitate the creation of efficient and innovative communications industry providing reliable and accessible service
Its mission is also to regulate the industry by setting and enforcing high standards of competence and performance to enable it to contribute significantly and fairly to the nation's prosperity through the provision of efficient and competitive services.
It objectives are :
1. To ensure that communication systems operators achieve the highest level of efficiency in the provision of communications services and are responsive to customers and community needs;
2. To promote fair competition among persons engaged in the provision of communications services;
3. To protect the interest of the consumers;
4. To facilitate the availability of quality equipment to consumers and operators;
5. To research into and the development of technologies and use of new technologies by provision communications services and to develop adequate human resources in collaboration with such other government departments and agencies as the Authority considers appropriate.
After the NCA had been in existent for 12, the challenges are even becoming enormous with the entry of three more powerful players such as Zain, Globacom and Vodafone which has virtually swallowed GhanaTelecom.
THE CUSTOMERS BANE
In spite of the role that the NCA has been mandated to play, customers continue to suffer because of their inability to have value for money. The regulator seems overwhelmed by the problems because nothing much has changed since the new Director General roared at a news conference, a week after his appointment, advertently to scare the players who were only three at the time.
Customers complained bitterly before the entry of the three new giants, Vodafone, Globacom and Zain, because they felt they are being short-changed while the regulator sits unconcerned. From the President down to the labourer and even to those who depend of relatives, friends and loves ones for phones to be able to access any of the networks, none is satisfied with the services rendered by the mobile telephony operators namely; MTN, Onetouch and to some extent, tiGO and Kasapa.
One makes a call from one network to the other and although one may be standing close by, the response is “the network you are calling is either switched off or its out of coverage area”. What is even appalling is when the call is within the same network and the same response is heard.
Another bane is where a call is made and for more than 10 seconds, there is no response from the other party, yet the credit runs.
Customers also go through the challenge where a customer makes a call to a particular line only for it to land on another person's line. Sometimes it is interesting to find the person's name and number, yet in actual sense, a different person unknown to you speaks and the credits run the same way.
Some have also complained that they buy credit and load but after only the first minute of a call, everything is fully exhausted.
There have also been complains about what the operators allegedly do when they run promotions. During promotions when customers are dashed some credit, they tend to lose the credits faster than normal to the extent that it even affects their original credits before the promotion.
THE IRONY:
As enumerated above, the vision, mission and objectives of the NCA has been well spelt out without any ambiguities, yet the question has remained since day one that, to what extent has the NCA been able to live up to expectation as far as its control of the mobile telephone sector is concerned.
When the number of operators within the mobile telephony sector began to increase, Ghanaians and for that matter customers were made to understand that it was the intention of the government past and present to ensure that as many people as possible had access to the networks to enhance communication.
That made the regulator to allow the operators to concentrate more on expansion to the absolute neglect of service quality. Subscribers continued to pay more but only for bad services.
Once in a while, the regulator will come out with a statement to warn operators to live up to expectation to avoid sanctions but those threats have been proven to be empty to a large extent.
A typical example of this was when the regulator fined one of the leading operators, for persistently providing poor services to subscribers. Amazingly, it has not been able to collect the money and continue to offer excuses for its refusal to do so.
This year the NCA celebrated it 10th year of existence but it still remains a mirage, what its achievements has been over the period.
Perhaps, it could boast of the fact that it had been able to oversee the growth in teledensity which is the number of people out of every 100 people with mobile phones in the country to some 25 per cent as of the end of 2007 while that of the whole of Africa was around an average of 14 per cent. The rate is still growing and there is a lot more room, hence the entry of the three giants. Recent results, although unconfirmed for lack of data on the regulator’s website, puts the teledensity at between 35 and 40 per cent.
This is remarkable by all standards but what needs to be made clear is that it was not as if the regulator has been more up to the task but because there is an insatiable taste for mobile phone services by a majority of the people. There is no doubt that people year to own phones because of pride and the need for to live in tandem with the times. Under normal circumstances, the kind of services received from the operators should put people off but that, fortunately for the NCA is not the case so that they could claim credit where they do not deserve it.
In this case, however, it must be noted again that the regulator cannot take credit for what is happening in the industry in terms of growth in teledensity.
The NCA has a website but the last time it was updated was last year so that today people are not even aware of the latest numbers regarding what pertains in the sector.
The players in the industry are all foreign based companies with a motive to make profits. It is known about such multinational companies, what they are able to do when the regulatory environment is weak and the regulator for whatever reasons is unable to stamp its authority.
It is against this background that there seem to be some kind of anxiety as to the preparedness of the regulator to be on top of its responsibilities when competition has become even keener and even going to get worse when the new players start operating.
Competition is, no doubt, a paramount weapon to check all manner of fraudulent moves in a market but it will not be in the interest of the customers for the regulator to allow market forces to correct the wrongs in the system. The virtual lack of checks on the players in the system today is a reason for the kind of services customers are enjoying today.
When the new Director-General held a news conference to announce his intentions to streamline the negatives in the industry, it was received with a lot of expectations but since then, the NCA has not spoken to allay the fears and anxieties of the customers.
There has been issues raised about number portability where a customer can maintain his/her number but shift to another network. There is dead silence about how soon the regulator will come in with a device to give customers the opportunity to choose which operator they want at a particular. If for nothing at all, the system could be a check on the players and that alone can make them live up to expectation.
The quarterly rating of the operators which was started once before has to be suspended because there were a lot of agitations from the players, particularly from those who were below the line. They questioned what criteria the NCA used to judge them and wondered if the regulator even had a system to monitor their service quality levels. Since then, the NCA has been mute about the whole thing leaving room for doubt with regards to its authority as a regulator. It is known that the players have influential powers that makes them have their way in many things they do but to what extent will this be allowed to continue when the regulator is fully mandated to live up to expectation.
There have been struggles over inter-connectivity charges in the past, particularly between then Areeba now MTN and OneTouch which took several years to resolve partially. As the saying goes, ‘when two elephants fight, it is mother earth that suffers so that with the entry of the three giants, to what extent is the NCA going to handle that imminent battle?
Conclusions:
In this sector which is seen as one of the most lucrative across the world because of its contribution to the growth of economies, it is important to have a strong regulator to be on top of its responsibilities. The regulator needs the players in the industry and the customers to be justify its existence and so is the case in the reverse. It is against this background that the role of the regulator is paramount to ensure the service triangle made up of the regulator, the players and the customers is kept together to ensure in the first place, that customers have value for money; that customers are not cheated as has been the case for many years; that the quality of service that the customers receive are the right kind of service.
Secondly to the players, it is for the NCA to monitor their activities closely to ensure that none of them uses unconventional tactics to outdo the other because of its likely impact on the regulator itself and the customers. It can be recalled what happened some six years ago when there were seriously misunderstandings between arose with regards to issues of inter-connectivity charges between two of the most popular players, Areeba then and now MTN and OneTouch soon to be Vodafone.
It is important to note that the NCA has an assembly of some of the best brains as far as the demands of regulator is concerned but it is very much understaffed and that to a large extent has made it over burdened. Since their tasks is even going to be more enormous in a few months time, it is necessary for a second look at the staff strength and the acquisition of new equipment to enable it to face the challenges ahead.
The vision of the regulator to excel in providing effective and transparent regulatory process in order to facilitate the creation of efficient and innovative communications industry providing reliable and accessible service should be felt.
Its mission to also regulate the industry by setting and enforcing high standards of competence and performance to enable it to contribute significantly and fairly to the nation's prosperity through the provision of efficient and competitive services should also not be toyed with.
The NCA has a future but how well is it positioned to live up to the task as far as the mobile telephony sector is concerned.
By Charles Benoni Okine
Some two decades back, the only means to communicate on phone was through the fixed line operated exclusively by the then Post and Telecommunication (P&T) Corporation. So that it was virtually the affluent in society and mainly companies and institutions that owned telephones. This, therefore made it difficult for people to communicate.
As if that era will not end, the global technological evolution caught up with Ghana and the first cellular phone network was introduced. It was called Mobitel, an analogue mobile telephony network which caught up so well with the people to an extent that it became a household name.
As the years went by, an advanced network system, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), was introduced and although that was more expensive, many gradually switched to that network. Today those who even introduced the analogue system have metamophosised to use the GSM to be abreast of the times.
In realising the growth of the sector and the challenges it might pose if not regulated, the wise thing was done.
In 1996, through an Act of Parliament, Act 524 of 1996, the National Communications Authority (NCA), the regulatory authority for the regulation of communications in Ghana was born with the vision to excel in proving effective and transparent regulatory process in order to facilitate the creation of efficient and innovative communications industry providing reliable and accessible service
Its mission is also to regulate the industry by setting and enforcing high standards of competence and performance to enable it to contribute significantly and fairly to the nation's prosperity through the provision of efficient and competitive services.
It objectives are :
1. To ensure that communication systems operators achieve the highest level of efficiency in the provision of communications services and are responsive to customers and community needs;
2. To promote fair competition among persons engaged in the provision of communications services;
3. To protect the interest of the consumers;
4. To facilitate the availability of quality equipment to consumers and operators;
5. To research into and the development of technologies and use of new technologies by provision communications services and to develop adequate human resources in collaboration with such other government departments and agencies as the Authority considers appropriate.
After the NCA had been in existent for 12, the challenges are even becoming enormous with the entry of three more powerful players such as Zain, Globacom and Vodafone which has virtually swallowed GhanaTelecom.
THE CUSTOMERS BANE
In spite of the role that the NCA has been mandated to play, customers continue to suffer because of their inability to have value for money. The regulator seems overwhelmed by the problems because nothing much has changed since the new Director General roared at a news conference, a week after his appointment, advertently to scare the players who were only three at the time.
Customers complained bitterly before the entry of the three new giants, Vodafone, Globacom and Zain, because they felt they are being short-changed while the regulator sits unconcerned. From the President down to the labourer and even to those who depend of relatives, friends and loves ones for phones to be able to access any of the networks, none is satisfied with the services rendered by the mobile telephony operators namely; MTN, Onetouch and to some extent, tiGO and Kasapa.
One makes a call from one network to the other and although one may be standing close by, the response is “the network you are calling is either switched off or its out of coverage area”. What is even appalling is when the call is within the same network and the same response is heard.
Another bane is where a call is made and for more than 10 seconds, there is no response from the other party, yet the credit runs.
Customers also go through the challenge where a customer makes a call to a particular line only for it to land on another person's line. Sometimes it is interesting to find the person's name and number, yet in actual sense, a different person unknown to you speaks and the credits run the same way.
Some have also complained that they buy credit and load but after only the first minute of a call, everything is fully exhausted.
There have also been complains about what the operators allegedly do when they run promotions. During promotions when customers are dashed some credit, they tend to lose the credits faster than normal to the extent that it even affects their original credits before the promotion.
THE IRONY:
As enumerated above, the vision, mission and objectives of the NCA has been well spelt out without any ambiguities, yet the question has remained since day one that, to what extent has the NCA been able to live up to expectation as far as its control of the mobile telephone sector is concerned.
When the number of operators within the mobile telephony sector began to increase, Ghanaians and for that matter customers were made to understand that it was the intention of the government past and present to ensure that as many people as possible had access to the networks to enhance communication.
That made the regulator to allow the operators to concentrate more on expansion to the absolute neglect of service quality. Subscribers continued to pay more but only for bad services.
Once in a while, the regulator will come out with a statement to warn operators to live up to expectation to avoid sanctions but those threats have been proven to be empty to a large extent.
A typical example of this was when the regulator fined one of the leading operators, for persistently providing poor services to subscribers. Amazingly, it has not been able to collect the money and continue to offer excuses for its refusal to do so.
This year the NCA celebrated it 10th year of existence but it still remains a mirage, what its achievements has been over the period.
Perhaps, it could boast of the fact that it had been able to oversee the growth in teledensity which is the number of people out of every 100 people with mobile phones in the country to some 25 per cent as of the end of 2007 while that of the whole of Africa was around an average of 14 per cent. The rate is still growing and there is a lot more room, hence the entry of the three giants. Recent results, although unconfirmed for lack of data on the regulator’s website, puts the teledensity at between 35 and 40 per cent.
This is remarkable by all standards but what needs to be made clear is that it was not as if the regulator has been more up to the task but because there is an insatiable taste for mobile phone services by a majority of the people. There is no doubt that people year to own phones because of pride and the need for to live in tandem with the times. Under normal circumstances, the kind of services received from the operators should put people off but that, fortunately for the NCA is not the case so that they could claim credit where they do not deserve it.
In this case, however, it must be noted again that the regulator cannot take credit for what is happening in the industry in terms of growth in teledensity.
The NCA has a website but the last time it was updated was last year so that today people are not even aware of the latest numbers regarding what pertains in the sector.
The players in the industry are all foreign based companies with a motive to make profits. It is known about such multinational companies, what they are able to do when the regulatory environment is weak and the regulator for whatever reasons is unable to stamp its authority.
It is against this background that there seem to be some kind of anxiety as to the preparedness of the regulator to be on top of its responsibilities when competition has become even keener and even going to get worse when the new players start operating.
Competition is, no doubt, a paramount weapon to check all manner of fraudulent moves in a market but it will not be in the interest of the customers for the regulator to allow market forces to correct the wrongs in the system. The virtual lack of checks on the players in the system today is a reason for the kind of services customers are enjoying today.
When the new Director-General held a news conference to announce his intentions to streamline the negatives in the industry, it was received with a lot of expectations but since then, the NCA has not spoken to allay the fears and anxieties of the customers.
There has been issues raised about number portability where a customer can maintain his/her number but shift to another network. There is dead silence about how soon the regulator will come in with a device to give customers the opportunity to choose which operator they want at a particular. If for nothing at all, the system could be a check on the players and that alone can make them live up to expectation.
The quarterly rating of the operators which was started once before has to be suspended because there were a lot of agitations from the players, particularly from those who were below the line. They questioned what criteria the NCA used to judge them and wondered if the regulator even had a system to monitor their service quality levels. Since then, the NCA has been mute about the whole thing leaving room for doubt with regards to its authority as a regulator. It is known that the players have influential powers that makes them have their way in many things they do but to what extent will this be allowed to continue when the regulator is fully mandated to live up to expectation.
There have been struggles over inter-connectivity charges in the past, particularly between then Areeba now MTN and OneTouch which took several years to resolve partially. As the saying goes, ‘when two elephants fight, it is mother earth that suffers so that with the entry of the three giants, to what extent is the NCA going to handle that imminent battle?
Conclusions:
In this sector which is seen as one of the most lucrative across the world because of its contribution to the growth of economies, it is important to have a strong regulator to be on top of its responsibilities. The regulator needs the players in the industry and the customers to be justify its existence and so is the case in the reverse. It is against this background that the role of the regulator is paramount to ensure the service triangle made up of the regulator, the players and the customers is kept together to ensure in the first place, that customers have value for money; that customers are not cheated as has been the case for many years; that the quality of service that the customers receive are the right kind of service.
Secondly to the players, it is for the NCA to monitor their activities closely to ensure that none of them uses unconventional tactics to outdo the other because of its likely impact on the regulator itself and the customers. It can be recalled what happened some six years ago when there were seriously misunderstandings between arose with regards to issues of inter-connectivity charges between two of the most popular players, Areeba then and now MTN and OneTouch soon to be Vodafone.
It is important to note that the NCA has an assembly of some of the best brains as far as the demands of regulator is concerned but it is very much understaffed and that to a large extent has made it over burdened. Since their tasks is even going to be more enormous in a few months time, it is necessary for a second look at the staff strength and the acquisition of new equipment to enable it to face the challenges ahead.
The vision of the regulator to excel in providing effective and transparent regulatory process in order to facilitate the creation of efficient and innovative communications industry providing reliable and accessible service should be felt.
Its mission to also regulate the industry by setting and enforcing high standards of competence and performance to enable it to contribute significantly and fairly to the nation's prosperity through the provision of efficient and competitive services should also not be toyed with.
The NCA has a future but how well is it positioned to live up to the task as far as the mobile telephony sector is concerned.
Aliu calls for accelerated development
Spread, September 9/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Gifty Appiah
VICE President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has called on leaders in the country to bring their collective leadership skills to bear on efforts to accelerate the development and growth of the nation.
He said the nation had abundant human and natural resources, hence the need for men and women with exceptional vision and proven track record to add value to enable the country to realise its dreams.
Alhaji Mahama made the call at a farewell service in Accra at the weekend for Apostle Dr M.K. Ntumy, the immediate past Chairman of the Church of Pentecost.
Described by the leadership, congregation and others as one of the most visionary and dynamic leaders of the church, Apostle Ntumy served in that capacity for 10 years.
Under his tenure, the overall membership of the church grew from 800,000 in 1997 to 1,700,000 at the end of 2007 while the number of ministers rose from 508 to 1,284 and lay leaders from 38838 to 90,042.
Apostle Ntumy leaves for Germany with his family to begin another service in the name of the church.
Enthused by the track record of Dr Ntumy, Alhaji Mahama, who recounted how he met the past chairman, joined the many leaders who testified to his adorable leadership to describe the man of God as a true servant leader.
“I attribute all the successes to the grace of God on Dr Ntumy’s life and ministry, his vision, charisma and humility,” he said as he paid a glowing tribute to Apostle Ntumy.
It was against this background that the Vice President admonished that “whether we are traditional, religious or secular leaders, the fear of God is important as we seek to find solutions to the many problems of society”.
Alhaji Mahama, clad in an elegant and well designed white ‘agbada’ with a well polished black shoe and a Muslim hat to match, said a resource-rich society might find itself poor because of Godless and visionless leadership.
“Society thrives when men and women of vision, inspired by their faith, transform the God-given resources of the land into benefits for the people,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama expressed the hope that Apostle Ntumy and his family would continue to enjoy divine protection and favour as they took their posting to the mission in Germany.
Early on, the leadership and the various groups in the church paid glowing tributes bearing testimony to the works of Apostle Ntumy during his 10-year reign.
They described him as a man who devoted his life to the church and contributed immensely to its growth, an achievement they would forever cherish.
The achievements of Apostle Ntumy, as enumerated at the service by all the speakers, would pose a huge challenge for his successor, Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, who prayed for long life and prosperity and God’s guidance for Apostle Ntumy in his future endeavours.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Gifty Appiah
VICE President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has called on leaders in the country to bring their collective leadership skills to bear on efforts to accelerate the development and growth of the nation.
He said the nation had abundant human and natural resources, hence the need for men and women with exceptional vision and proven track record to add value to enable the country to realise its dreams.
Alhaji Mahama made the call at a farewell service in Accra at the weekend for Apostle Dr M.K. Ntumy, the immediate past Chairman of the Church of Pentecost.
Described by the leadership, congregation and others as one of the most visionary and dynamic leaders of the church, Apostle Ntumy served in that capacity for 10 years.
Under his tenure, the overall membership of the church grew from 800,000 in 1997 to 1,700,000 at the end of 2007 while the number of ministers rose from 508 to 1,284 and lay leaders from 38838 to 90,042.
Apostle Ntumy leaves for Germany with his family to begin another service in the name of the church.
Enthused by the track record of Dr Ntumy, Alhaji Mahama, who recounted how he met the past chairman, joined the many leaders who testified to his adorable leadership to describe the man of God as a true servant leader.
“I attribute all the successes to the grace of God on Dr Ntumy’s life and ministry, his vision, charisma and humility,” he said as he paid a glowing tribute to Apostle Ntumy.
It was against this background that the Vice President admonished that “whether we are traditional, religious or secular leaders, the fear of God is important as we seek to find solutions to the many problems of society”.
Alhaji Mahama, clad in an elegant and well designed white ‘agbada’ with a well polished black shoe and a Muslim hat to match, said a resource-rich society might find itself poor because of Godless and visionless leadership.
“Society thrives when men and women of vision, inspired by their faith, transform the God-given resources of the land into benefits for the people,” he said.
Alhaji Mahama expressed the hope that Apostle Ntumy and his family would continue to enjoy divine protection and favour as they took their posting to the mission in Germany.
Early on, the leadership and the various groups in the church paid glowing tributes bearing testimony to the works of Apostle Ntumy during his 10-year reign.
They described him as a man who devoted his life to the church and contributed immensely to its growth, an achievement they would forever cherish.
The achievements of Apostle Ntumy, as enumerated at the service by all the speakers, would pose a huge challenge for his successor, Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, who prayed for long life and prosperity and God’s guidance for Apostle Ntumy in his future endeavours.
Ghana to host 7th Africa remote sensing conference
Spread, September 5/2008
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
GHANA has been selected to host the 7th biannual African Conference and Exhibition on Remote Sensing of Environment (AASRE) dubbed, International Geoinformation Conference.
The conference, expected to draw one of the largest international participants from across Africa, Europe and the United States of America, will provide a forum for discussion of strategies for the development of decision support tools for planning the location of social infrastructure and monitoring social services.
A delegation from the planning committee announced this when they met with the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday to brief him on the upcoming conference scheduled for October 27 to 31, on the theme, “Application of Earth Observation and Geoinformation for Good-Governance in Africa.”
The courtesy call also offered the delegation the opportunity to formally invite the Vice-President to be the Guest Speaker for the opening ceremony at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The members of the delegation were Mr Jonathan Allotey, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who led the group; Dr Grace Bediako, the Government Statistician; Mr Foster Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERGIS) of the University of Ghana, Legon; Mr Kweku Oppon-Tutu, Deputy Director of the Department of Feeder Roads; Mr Benjamin Akwerteh, Principal Application Specialist, CERGIS; and Mr Djate Andrews, Finance and Administration Manager of CERGIS.
Briefing the media shortly after meeting the Vice-President, the leader of the delegation, Mr Jonathan Allotey, said the conference would also serve as a platform for the participants to brainstorm the methods to provide adequate human and institutional capacity to evolve Geoinformation-driven sustainable development for African countries.
He said there would be special sessions during the conference on cross cutting and penitent issues confronting Africa and Ghana in particular such as land management and administration, forestry resource management, infrastructure planning and management, disaster planning and management, marine and coastal zone management and capacity building in space technologies and special database development.
On the importance of geoinformation for national development, he said it had spatial context that included distribution of natural resources; descriptions of infrastructure such as buildings; utility and transport services; patterns of land use and health; wealth; employment; voting habits of people, among others.
“Geographic Information is a key component of Public Sector Information. Geographic Information has significant economic and policy value because it enables the integrated assessment of policies in different sectors such as agriculture, transport, regional development and environment,” he added
Dr Bediako, the Government Statistician, said geoinformation system would be used during the 2010 census.
She said this would ensure that everyone was captured during the enumeration exercise while areas for the exercise would also be properly mapped out.
Dr Bediako said the technology would also allow for fewer deployment of census personnel, which meant that cost would be cut while quality of the work would be enhanced.
Mr Oppon-Tutu on his part described the use of geographic information system as a key to the successful management of feeder roads in the country.
He said through the use of the technology, the department had been able to correctly map out areas where roads would be constructed.
Mr Mensah said there would be an exhibition as part of the conference programme to enable companies dealing in the new technologies to showcase their equipment.
He said companies from Israel, United Kingdom, USA and Nigeria had all committed themselves to the conference.
On preparations so far, Mr Mensah said the committees working on the organisation had made significant progress by ensuring that all that was needed had been put in place to enable Ghana to once again host a successful international conference.
He said the committee was poised to justify its selection to host the conference and urged all to assist in making it a success.
Story: Charles Benoni Okine
GHANA has been selected to host the 7th biannual African Conference and Exhibition on Remote Sensing of Environment (AASRE) dubbed, International Geoinformation Conference.
The conference, expected to draw one of the largest international participants from across Africa, Europe and the United States of America, will provide a forum for discussion of strategies for the development of decision support tools for planning the location of social infrastructure and monitoring social services.
A delegation from the planning committee announced this when they met with the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday to brief him on the upcoming conference scheduled for October 27 to 31, on the theme, “Application of Earth Observation and Geoinformation for Good-Governance in Africa.”
The courtesy call also offered the delegation the opportunity to formally invite the Vice-President to be the Guest Speaker for the opening ceremony at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The members of the delegation were Mr Jonathan Allotey, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who led the group; Dr Grace Bediako, the Government Statistician; Mr Foster Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERGIS) of the University of Ghana, Legon; Mr Kweku Oppon-Tutu, Deputy Director of the Department of Feeder Roads; Mr Benjamin Akwerteh, Principal Application Specialist, CERGIS; and Mr Djate Andrews, Finance and Administration Manager of CERGIS.
Briefing the media shortly after meeting the Vice-President, the leader of the delegation, Mr Jonathan Allotey, said the conference would also serve as a platform for the participants to brainstorm the methods to provide adequate human and institutional capacity to evolve Geoinformation-driven sustainable development for African countries.
He said there would be special sessions during the conference on cross cutting and penitent issues confronting Africa and Ghana in particular such as land management and administration, forestry resource management, infrastructure planning and management, disaster planning and management, marine and coastal zone management and capacity building in space technologies and special database development.
On the importance of geoinformation for national development, he said it had spatial context that included distribution of natural resources; descriptions of infrastructure such as buildings; utility and transport services; patterns of land use and health; wealth; employment; voting habits of people, among others.
“Geographic Information is a key component of Public Sector Information. Geographic Information has significant economic and policy value because it enables the integrated assessment of policies in different sectors such as agriculture, transport, regional development and environment,” he added
Dr Bediako, the Government Statistician, said geoinformation system would be used during the 2010 census.
She said this would ensure that everyone was captured during the enumeration exercise while areas for the exercise would also be properly mapped out.
Dr Bediako said the technology would also allow for fewer deployment of census personnel, which meant that cost would be cut while quality of the work would be enhanced.
Mr Oppon-Tutu on his part described the use of geographic information system as a key to the successful management of feeder roads in the country.
He said through the use of the technology, the department had been able to correctly map out areas where roads would be constructed.
Mr Mensah said there would be an exhibition as part of the conference programme to enable companies dealing in the new technologies to showcase their equipment.
He said companies from Israel, United Kingdom, USA and Nigeria had all committed themselves to the conference.
On preparations so far, Mr Mensah said the committees working on the organisation had made significant progress by ensuring that all that was needed had been put in place to enable Ghana to once again host a successful international conference.
He said the committee was poised to justify its selection to host the conference and urged all to assist in making it a success.
PROCUREMENT ACT; How far with implementation?
Comment and Analysis Page, Graphic Business, September 2/2008
Article: Charles Benoni Okine
CORRUPTION has been one of the most endemic practices in all facets of every economy across the world. From the United States of America (USA) to the United Kingdom (UK), from Iraq to Azerbaijan, from South Africa to Ghana, corruption exists although it varies in form from one state to the other.
The difference in corruption in each country is dependent on systems available which includes laws as it relates to public sector spending among others.
In many countries including Ghana, procurement is seen as one of the areas where money belonging to the taxpayers leak badly. This is because, procurements are made with the perception that; “its government's money” and, therefore, no proper laid down procedures are followed. I other instances prices are heavily inflated. There is also the practice where projects and contracts are given to cronies, family members and close relations.
For instance public procurement accounts for between 50-70% of the national budget (after deduction of personnel emoluments), and about 80% of national tax revenue. It represents about 24% of total imports and also accounts for about 17% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an indication that those of the 'bad' one who are in charge of procurement and cut corners make a fortune.
It was against this background among others that the government mooted the idea to pass a law to specifically deal with procurement in the country. After a series of public education and debates on the matter in Parliament amidst protestations from some civil society groups, the Public Procurement Act (Act 663), was promulgated in 2003. Primarily, the Act is to promote and safeguard transparency and accountability as far as procurement of goods, works and services, financed from public funds are concerned. Its object is linked directly to poverty reduction because it is largely assumed that savings made by blocking all the loopholes in the procurement process could help make economic use of funds to benefit many.
At a public forum of the PPA, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu noted that the construction of public schools, hospitals, roads and drilling of boreholes, as well as the acquisition of medicine and textbooks must all go through the public procurement process. This is because the performance of a country's procurement system can be determined on whether available funds are sufficient to construct 100 or 200 schools. Therefore, the ability of government to meet its economic and social development aspirations are thus closely related to how well procurement is carried out.
So that the passage of the Act gave rise to the authority which also set the tone for a grand take-off of effective procurement management in Ghana. Government, through the PPA, has since not relented in efforts to make the reforms work.
Challenges:
Today compliance is to a large extent in full force but not without its attendant challenges which are being experienced from all angles.
For instance there is the issue of delays in the release of funds from the entities to the suppliers and in the end they tend to shy away from dealing with public institutions. Their action may be understandable because most of the suppliers go for credit from the banks at a cost and are supposed to pay at a particular time. What is unfortunate in many cases is that although the law makes room for the suppliers to charge the cost of the delays to the entities, this is not the case in many instances.
There is also the issue of procedure. The various procedures to follow are normally regulated through circulars from Ministry of Finance and the problem is evident in the sense that, there are a lot of delays as a result of the bureaucracy which is very synonymous with the civil service. In the end projects delay at the expense of national development.
There is another challenge where after prospective suppliers have travelled far and near to buy the tender documents, they are told there is none available to even buy. Pay bribes to access it. This practice is also an attempt to ward-off other competitors to favour cronies and relatives. One cannot rule out political influence in such cases because a politician in a high place may be interested and would want to have a project reserved for him/her.
Even when one has braved the storm to get the document and even submit the tender document, there is another challenge. The Act stipulates a period not exceeding four weeks and at least six weeks for National Competitive Tender (NCT) and International Competitive Tender (ICT) respectively. Unfortunately, however, there are complains the period for response as publicised goes contrary to the terms of the Act in that, it is at times too short. According to Section 45C of the Act, a maximum period of 4 weeks (for NCT) and at least six weeks (for ICT) be allowed for the submission of tenders to allow for sufficient time for the invitation to get to all and preparations made for the tender. Compliance would at least allow suppliers to do proper sourcing for the best in terms of quality and price.
It was also learnt from the forum that delays in evaluation and its associated cost of participation in Tenders are seriously impacting on the number of companies which subject themselves to the frustrations and disappointments in tender participation. There is the problem of the cost of tender document: Is it possible that purchasing entities can have procurement plans at the commencement of a procurement year, and based on that negotiate a one package deal with a supplier through competitive tendering. Instead of advertising for every single item at different times of the year, the publications are duplicated, sale and purchase, the processes of preparation, securing bid securities, evaluation and notification among others make the cost of participating in tenders nothing attractive, thus keeping some potential suppliers out of the race.
There is the challenge of evaluation of tenders which are also said to be over delayed by some institutions. In this case when a respondent has not been responsive or looses the tender, the notification is not done on time although the law stipulates so unambiguously.
But in every human institution, there are challenges and this procurement Act is no exception. It is right to argue that after five years, some of these teething problems should have to be surmounted to ensure that the corrupt practices that are associated with the Act were removed.
In many of the entities, no professionals are available to handle procurement and it will be in the interest of the country to ensure that professionals are trained to handle procurement in the right way that will help the country to make savings by reducing the corrupt practices associated with procurement.
Punishment in any form is said to be a deterrent to wrong doing. However, many corrupt people are not sentenced to that number of years that will serve as a deterrent to them not to repeat that practice.
For instance if an ordinary thief is sentenced to more than 10 year imprison and a top official who embezzled 10,000 times that amount the thief stole is given far fewer years, to what extent is corruption in high places being made unattractive.
It is against this background that the laws to deter people from being corrupt must be stringent enough. The government can save billions of cedis every year from procurements done the right way.
Quite apart from this, there are a number of ongoing policy initiatives as follows;
Update On Framework Contracting
PPA introduced the concept of framework contracting to entities and Industrial and Commercial Associations at two forums organised in 2007. This concept is meant to address the repetitive procurement of common user items, in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale, while still operating in accordance with Act 663. PPA started a nation-wide education of entities this year, to explain how the concept would be operationalised. This took the form of direct interaction with all entities on the basis of their sector Ministries.
Each sector has been requested to constitute its Departments and Agencies into a cluster and to appoint an entity among them as facilitator of framework Agreements for their common user items, on behalf of the others. So far 25 Ministries, 6 RCCs and all CHASS associations have been covered. As a result, the Western Region Conference of Headmasters has taken the lead in its implementation, by forming 7 clusters.
Sustainable Public Procurement
At the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, all governments were called upon to shift from unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to Sustainable Consumption and Production. In order to accelerate the shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), governments were called upon to promote the development of a 10-year framework of programmes (10-YFP) on SCP. The international collective effort to develop the 10-YFP is named the “Marrakech Process.
The Marrakech Process has established seven task forces with focus on specific SCP issues, as part of the strategy to implement the 10-YFP. One of these task forces is the Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement (MTF-SPP). Its focus is on Sustainable Public Procurement. (The other task forces are: Co-operation with Africa, Sustainable Products, Sustainable Lifestyles, Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Buildings & Construction, and Education for Sustainable Consumption).
Ladies and gentlemen, Ghana is represented on the MTF-SPP by the PPA.
Appeals and Complaints
The inauguration of the Appeals and Complaints Panel of the Authority in February, 2007 has had a positive impact on the success of the implementation process of Act 663. A number of suppliers and contractors have had occasions to use the appeals process to lodge complaints on tenders they had participated in and felt the Entities concerned had inappropriately acted against their submissions.
The Appeals and Complaints process has enhanced transparency in the procurement system. Tenderers now feel more empowered to readily seek administrative review of procurement complaints, without fear of victimisation in future tenders.
Capacity Development
The object of the Authority's Capacity Development Policy has been to equip and train the Entities at all levels to develop their skills and expertise to effectively undertake their procurement activities.
In 2007, the Authority through its short term training programme trained as much as 7000 procurement practitioners and members of Entity Tender Committees. This is an ongoing programme which will cover all identified stakeholders in the public procurement system. These cover suppliers, contractors, consultants, civil society organisations, the Media , oversight bodies and institutions (including the Judiciary, Police, Parliamentarians, CHRAG, and SFO). I am happy to announce that funding has been secured from GTZ of Germany to continue this programme from September this year.
It is about to implement a medium and long term training programme in earnest. This programme, supported by MiDA / MCC has a component which covers intensive training for procurement practitioners with varied academic and professional backgrounds who will want to attain academic and professional qualifications in procurement among others.
Development of Supplier Database and Price Database
The Authority, in fulfilment of its statutory function under Section 3(p) of Act 663 has developed and posted at its website a database of suppliers, contractors and consultants. This should afford Entities easy access to a large pool of service providers when using Request for Quotation and Restricted Tendering procurement methods.
With regards to the price database, a contract is to be awarded for its development for common use items (goods), providing average prices for these supplies. The database will assist Entities in their procurement planning, and ensure the achievement of value-for-money.
Conclusion:
The implementation of the Act has come far and this is manifest from the PPA’s international recognition.
This is to the extent that 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.
For instance 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.
On the other hand, 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.
It is therefore, expected that should all endeavour to support the Act, Ghana will be the beneficiary. The greedy few who feed fat on corruption because of their insatiable taste for money will be wiped out or will have no place to practice their selfish trade.
Article: Charles Benoni Okine
CORRUPTION has been one of the most endemic practices in all facets of every economy across the world. From the United States of America (USA) to the United Kingdom (UK), from Iraq to Azerbaijan, from South Africa to Ghana, corruption exists although it varies in form from one state to the other.
The difference in corruption in each country is dependent on systems available which includes laws as it relates to public sector spending among others.
In many countries including Ghana, procurement is seen as one of the areas where money belonging to the taxpayers leak badly. This is because, procurements are made with the perception that; “its government's money” and, therefore, no proper laid down procedures are followed. I other instances prices are heavily inflated. There is also the practice where projects and contracts are given to cronies, family members and close relations.
For instance public procurement accounts for between 50-70% of the national budget (after deduction of personnel emoluments), and about 80% of national tax revenue. It represents about 24% of total imports and also accounts for about 17% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an indication that those of the 'bad' one who are in charge of procurement and cut corners make a fortune.
It was against this background among others that the government mooted the idea to pass a law to specifically deal with procurement in the country. After a series of public education and debates on the matter in Parliament amidst protestations from some civil society groups, the Public Procurement Act (Act 663), was promulgated in 2003. Primarily, the Act is to promote and safeguard transparency and accountability as far as procurement of goods, works and services, financed from public funds are concerned. Its object is linked directly to poverty reduction because it is largely assumed that savings made by blocking all the loopholes in the procurement process could help make economic use of funds to benefit many.
At a public forum of the PPA, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu noted that the construction of public schools, hospitals, roads and drilling of boreholes, as well as the acquisition of medicine and textbooks must all go through the public procurement process. This is because the performance of a country's procurement system can be determined on whether available funds are sufficient to construct 100 or 200 schools. Therefore, the ability of government to meet its economic and social development aspirations are thus closely related to how well procurement is carried out.
So that the passage of the Act gave rise to the authority which also set the tone for a grand take-off of effective procurement management in Ghana. Government, through the PPA, has since not relented in efforts to make the reforms work.
Challenges:
Today compliance is to a large extent in full force but not without its attendant challenges which are being experienced from all angles.
For instance there is the issue of delays in the release of funds from the entities to the suppliers and in the end they tend to shy away from dealing with public institutions. Their action may be understandable because most of the suppliers go for credit from the banks at a cost and are supposed to pay at a particular time. What is unfortunate in many cases is that although the law makes room for the suppliers to charge the cost of the delays to the entities, this is not the case in many instances.
There is also the issue of procedure. The various procedures to follow are normally regulated through circulars from Ministry of Finance and the problem is evident in the sense that, there are a lot of delays as a result of the bureaucracy which is very synonymous with the civil service. In the end projects delay at the expense of national development.
There is another challenge where after prospective suppliers have travelled far and near to buy the tender documents, they are told there is none available to even buy. Pay bribes to access it. This practice is also an attempt to ward-off other competitors to favour cronies and relatives. One cannot rule out political influence in such cases because a politician in a high place may be interested and would want to have a project reserved for him/her.
Even when one has braved the storm to get the document and even submit the tender document, there is another challenge. The Act stipulates a period not exceeding four weeks and at least six weeks for National Competitive Tender (NCT) and International Competitive Tender (ICT) respectively. Unfortunately, however, there are complains the period for response as publicised goes contrary to the terms of the Act in that, it is at times too short. According to Section 45C of the Act, a maximum period of 4 weeks (for NCT) and at least six weeks (for ICT) be allowed for the submission of tenders to allow for sufficient time for the invitation to get to all and preparations made for the tender. Compliance would at least allow suppliers to do proper sourcing for the best in terms of quality and price.
It was also learnt from the forum that delays in evaluation and its associated cost of participation in Tenders are seriously impacting on the number of companies which subject themselves to the frustrations and disappointments in tender participation. There is the problem of the cost of tender document: Is it possible that purchasing entities can have procurement plans at the commencement of a procurement year, and based on that negotiate a one package deal with a supplier through competitive tendering. Instead of advertising for every single item at different times of the year, the publications are duplicated, sale and purchase, the processes of preparation, securing bid securities, evaluation and notification among others make the cost of participating in tenders nothing attractive, thus keeping some potential suppliers out of the race.
There is the challenge of evaluation of tenders which are also said to be over delayed by some institutions. In this case when a respondent has not been responsive or looses the tender, the notification is not done on time although the law stipulates so unambiguously.
But in every human institution, there are challenges and this procurement Act is no exception. It is right to argue that after five years, some of these teething problems should have to be surmounted to ensure that the corrupt practices that are associated with the Act were removed.
In many of the entities, no professionals are available to handle procurement and it will be in the interest of the country to ensure that professionals are trained to handle procurement in the right way that will help the country to make savings by reducing the corrupt practices associated with procurement.
Punishment in any form is said to be a deterrent to wrong doing. However, many corrupt people are not sentenced to that number of years that will serve as a deterrent to them not to repeat that practice.
For instance if an ordinary thief is sentenced to more than 10 year imprison and a top official who embezzled 10,000 times that amount the thief stole is given far fewer years, to what extent is corruption in high places being made unattractive.
It is against this background that the laws to deter people from being corrupt must be stringent enough. The government can save billions of cedis every year from procurements done the right way.
Quite apart from this, there are a number of ongoing policy initiatives as follows;
Update On Framework Contracting
PPA introduced the concept of framework contracting to entities and Industrial and Commercial Associations at two forums organised in 2007. This concept is meant to address the repetitive procurement of common user items, in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale, while still operating in accordance with Act 663. PPA started a nation-wide education of entities this year, to explain how the concept would be operationalised. This took the form of direct interaction with all entities on the basis of their sector Ministries.
Each sector has been requested to constitute its Departments and Agencies into a cluster and to appoint an entity among them as facilitator of framework Agreements for their common user items, on behalf of the others. So far 25 Ministries, 6 RCCs and all CHASS associations have been covered. As a result, the Western Region Conference of Headmasters has taken the lead in its implementation, by forming 7 clusters.
Sustainable Public Procurement
At the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, all governments were called upon to shift from unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to Sustainable Consumption and Production. In order to accelerate the shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), governments were called upon to promote the development of a 10-year framework of programmes (10-YFP) on SCP. The international collective effort to develop the 10-YFP is named the “Marrakech Process.
The Marrakech Process has established seven task forces with focus on specific SCP issues, as part of the strategy to implement the 10-YFP. One of these task forces is the Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement (MTF-SPP). Its focus is on Sustainable Public Procurement. (The other task forces are: Co-operation with Africa, Sustainable Products, Sustainable Lifestyles, Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Buildings & Construction, and Education for Sustainable Consumption).
Ladies and gentlemen, Ghana is represented on the MTF-SPP by the PPA.
Appeals and Complaints
The inauguration of the Appeals and Complaints Panel of the Authority in February, 2007 has had a positive impact on the success of the implementation process of Act 663. A number of suppliers and contractors have had occasions to use the appeals process to lodge complaints on tenders they had participated in and felt the Entities concerned had inappropriately acted against their submissions.
The Appeals and Complaints process has enhanced transparency in the procurement system. Tenderers now feel more empowered to readily seek administrative review of procurement complaints, without fear of victimisation in future tenders.
Capacity Development
The object of the Authority's Capacity Development Policy has been to equip and train the Entities at all levels to develop their skills and expertise to effectively undertake their procurement activities.
In 2007, the Authority through its short term training programme trained as much as 7000 procurement practitioners and members of Entity Tender Committees. This is an ongoing programme which will cover all identified stakeholders in the public procurement system. These cover suppliers, contractors, consultants, civil society organisations, the Media , oversight bodies and institutions (including the Judiciary, Police, Parliamentarians, CHRAG, and SFO). I am happy to announce that funding has been secured from GTZ of Germany to continue this programme from September this year.
It is about to implement a medium and long term training programme in earnest. This programme, supported by MiDA / MCC has a component which covers intensive training for procurement practitioners with varied academic and professional backgrounds who will want to attain academic and professional qualifications in procurement among others.
Development of Supplier Database and Price Database
The Authority, in fulfilment of its statutory function under Section 3(p) of Act 663 has developed and posted at its website a database of suppliers, contractors and consultants. This should afford Entities easy access to a large pool of service providers when using Request for Quotation and Restricted Tendering procurement methods.
With regards to the price database, a contract is to be awarded for its development for common use items (goods), providing average prices for these supplies. The database will assist Entities in their procurement planning, and ensure the achievement of value-for-money.
Conclusion:
The implementation of the Act has come far and this is manifest from the PPA’s international recognition.
This is to the extent that 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.
For instance 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.
On the other hand, 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.
It is therefore, expected that should all endeavour to support the Act, Ghana will be the beneficiary. The greedy few who feed fat on corruption because of their insatiable taste for money will be wiped out or will have no place to practice their selfish trade.
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