Month: July 2010

Two non-governmental organizations (NGO)-MindFreedom Ghana and Mental Health Society of Ghana, have petitioned Parliament to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPDs) by the end of the year.

The petition, signed by Mrs Janet Amegatcher, Director of MindFreedom Ghana, and Reverend Agatha Fiaty, Acting Administrator of Mental Health Society of Ghana, also urged Parliament to ensure the passage of the Mental Health Bill into Law by the same period.

Mrs. Amegatcher who presented the petition to the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Ocquaye, at Parliament House on Wednesday, said ratification of CRPDs would facilitate international co-operation in support of national efforts to effectively and realistically achieve human rights protection for persons with disabilities.

The petition among other things called on Parliament to facilitate the production of Legislative Instrument to Persons with Disability Act, Act 715.

It said the Act should make adequate budgetary allocations to mental health care and take necessary steps to improve the working conditions for all categories of mental health workers in Ghana.

The petition called for a sustained awareness campaign on the UN Convention through local government, the media, traditional authorities, NGOs and civil society organizations for members of society to be abreast of the rights of persons with disabilities.

The Ministry of Health is currently fine-tuning the Mental Health Bill for onward submission to Cabinet after which it would be presented to Parliament for passage.

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia says Ghana will be heading back into comity of Highly Indebted Poor Countries if the housing deal with Korean Construction firm, STX is ratified.

Matthew Opoku-Prempeh told Joy FM’s Super Morning Show host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on Monday that the deal is not sustainable and the financial strain it puts on the country will undoubtedly draw the country back into HIPC.

The government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korean company, committing Ghana to a $4.5 million deal for the construction of 200,000 housing units payable in the next 20 years.

But Dr. Opoku-Prempeh said the Finance Committee of Parliament should have done a better job.

“If they (Finance Committee) had done a cursory check they would have realized that in five years when the moratorium of the principal expires, Ghana will be paying almost equally the amount of money that took us into HIPC in 2001,” he stated, adding that this deal is not sustainable.

“Never in the history of the developing world has a developing country funded a large country or a developed country as Ghana is going to fund South Korea,” he emphasized.

Parliament is scheduled to consider the passage of a $1.5 billion agreement, being the first part of the deal which will lead to the construction of 30,000 units of houses.

He said the deal is a complete rip-off given that GREDA, the local construction outfit in Ghana has pledged to build the same number of unit houses at a relatively cheaper cost.

He adds that GREDA has built a solid track record in construction in Ghana, as compared to STX who only started construction in 2007.

“If Ghana Parliament passes the bill, we would have sold Ghana to a foreign entity,” he noted, accusing some members of the Finance Committee of succumbing to the whims and caprices of the powers that be in exchange for favours.

But the Chief Executive Officer of the STX Ghana, Bernard Asamoah, said the deal is faultless.

On the contrary, he said funding for the deal is coming from the Korean government.

According to him there is a “global fund,” put at the disposal of Korean companies abroad by the Korean government which STX is going to access.

He said STX will source $400 million for a period of five years to aid the construction of the houses.

Mr. Asamoah also noted that there is going to be enough local participation as “it is not possible” for STX alone to execute the project.

Dr. Opoku-Prempeh said arguments that the Korean government was fully backing STX and therefore there was no cause for alarm were hollow and untenable.

“STX is a big enough company to raise its own financing and besides it can even do it because government of Ghana is giving a sovereign guarantee, so you can read from the letter of the Korean government that they are actually not supporting this deal with anything,” he said.

A proposal by the Majority Leader, Mr. Cletus Avoka, for the House to rise on August 3, 2010, instead of the scheduled July 23 was met with stiff opposition by the Minority who argued that the proposal would not augur well for the forthcoming congress to elect the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr. Avoka had argued that the extension was to enable the House to complete its scheduled agenda which included the passage of the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill and the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill. The two bills are expected to be laid before the House next week for consideration.

However, the Minority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, stated that the extension, should it be granted, would not be sufficient for the passage of the two bills and suggested that the draft bills could be placed before the House for them to be referred to their respective committees for consideration.

The ensuing debate, which lasted for more than one hour, saw a number of MPs, particularly from the Minority kicking against the proposal. Contribution to the debate, the NPP MP for Manhyia, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said it was unfortunate that pertinent government issues were always delayed until Parliament was about to rise before they were tabled for discussion.

He said those who managed government business should be able to advise members of the executive to endeavour to schedule their businesses to fit into parliamentary business. For his part, the NPP MP for Kwadaso, Dr. Owusu Afriyie, said it would not be proper for the House to alter its calendar, arguing that it was a calculated attempt to sabotage the NPP congress.

When he caught the eye of the Speaker, the NPP MP for Ahafo-Ano South, Mr. Kwaku Balado-Manu, called on the executive to ensure that bills, papers, among other important national issues, were introduced in the House early enough to give the MPs ample time to discuss them before they were approved. He reminded the House that issues such as the provision of accommodation for former president J.J. Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufour should be brought before the House for debate.

The NDC MP for Ashiaman, Mr. Alfred Agbeshi, appealed to his colleagues to accept the proposal of the Majority Leader since there were more pressing issues to be discussed before the ongoing meeting came to an end.

After the debate, the Speaker told the House that she had decided not to rule on the matter until next week.

Parliament has extended its rising to August 3, 2010.
Mrs Joyce Bamforde-Addo Speaker of the House announced this at the Floor of Parliament on Monday.
Mr Cletus Avoka Majority Leader on Friday July 9, 2010 sought permission from members to exceed approved rising date of July 23 2010.
He explained that the extension was necessary because of the heavy load of business that might not have been completed if the House should rise as scheduled.
He said the Petroleum Management Bill and the National Health Insurance Amendment Bill were yet to be laid before parliament.
The issue generated a prolonged debate as the Minority disagreed on the extension. They argued that the extension would affect the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) congress to elect a flagbearer slated August 7, 2010.
The sharp division of members on the matter made the Speaker to withhold ruling on the matter until today Monday.
GNA

Parliament has for the third time failed to debate the controversial housing deal involving the Government of Ghana and the STX Group of Korea.

The deal has come under severe criticism from the Minority in Parliament as well as some local think tanks who think the deal is a bad one, and have persistently urged the government to back out. Under the deal, the group is expected to construct 200,000 housing units at the cost of $10 billion.

Even though a joint Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance and Works and Housing completed its work on the deal last week, the house was not able to debate it last week.

It was listed in Parliament’s Order Paper on Monday but was not considered for debate, prompting a reschedule for Tuesday, and yet the house failed to work on it.

Earlier in the day, Joy FM’s parliamentary correspondent Araba Koomson raised uncertainty about the possibility of it being debated despite that fact that it was captured in the Order Paper.

She however reported that the Minister of Water, Works and Housing and Deputy Minister of Finance Seth Tekper, who are directly representing the government were in the House, as well as B.K. Asamoah of STX Ghana and his Korean counterpart were spotted in the House.

The continuous rescheduling of the STX debate incurred the displeasure of some Members of Parliament who complained about the development.

Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has therefore pleaded with the house to start Wednesday’s sitting earlier than today, probably by 10 a.m., to enable them “do much work”.

“I know that both bills, the one relating to Cedar and STX are very important and many people are concerned that is why we are rescheduling them to tomorrow,” he told the august house.

Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com

The Minority in Parliament prevented Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, from answering a question directed to the Minister of Interior, on Thursday.

Mr. Ben Abdallah Banda, member for Offinso South, wanted to know whether the Bureau of National Investigation has the power to prevent people they invite for interrogation from allowing their lawyers to be present through out interrogation.

Mr Ambrose Dery, Deputy Minority Leader, who raised the issue through a point of order in Parliament, said the question was initially meant for the Minister of Interior and wondered why the Attorney General wanted to respond to it.

Mr Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader, said since the Attorney General was the legal advisor of government, she could answer the question.

Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the question was not meant for the Attorney General and if supplementary questions were tabled, it could create difficulties for her.

The Speaker, Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo said since the question was not meant for Attorney General it should be directed to the Minister of Interior.

Source: GNA

Alfred Kwame Agbesi, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, yesterday clashed with Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, over some answers she provided on the floor of Parliament.

The Ashaiman MP and former member of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Board, who has fallen out of favour with the presidency after virtually condemning the seat of government for its poor handling of issues at the state-owned refinery, challenged Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu when she told the House that Ashaiman and Madina Circuit Courts were automated.

According to Hon. Agbesi, who is also a lawyer by profession, Ashaiman and Madina Circuit Courts were not automated, contending that the answer provided by the government’s principal legal adviser could not be true.

Although the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice insisted that her answer was right per the information available to her, she could not convince the lawmakers as they severely heckled her throughout her presentation.

She had a hectic time explaining to the legislators some apparent inconsistencies visibly pointed out in her answers and as always, she attracted boos from opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs.

Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu was dragged to Parliament to answer a number of questions from the MP for Offinso South, Hon. Ben Abdallah Banda, on the computerization of District and Circuit Courts in various parts of the country.

She told the House that automation of the court process was the function of the Judicial Service.

According to her, the process was ongoing and as at now 50 Courts have been fully automated whiles 15 courts are partially automated, adding that by the end of 2010, a further 23 courts would have been fully automated.

She indicated however that the programme was beset with lack of adequate funds to undertake it at a faster rate than what is happening now.

The process, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu pointed out, involves the provision and installation of recording and transcription machines, recruitment and training of relevant staff to handle the equipment and the conversion of manual documents into electronic format .

She stated that it will require a lot of funds to purchase the equipment, undertake renovations of the courthouses and burglar proofing. It will also take a lot of money to maintain them.

She disclosed that 22 Circuit and District Courts have been automated under various projects. 17 out of these 22 courts were automated through funding by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), whilst the remaining five were financed by Government of Ghana.

They are the Domestic Violence Court – Circuit Court 5, Cocoa Affairs Courts, Accra, Juaben Circuit Court, Koforidua Circuit Court, Kumasi Circuit Court, Ashaiman Circuit Court, Cape Coast Circuit Court, District and Juvenile courts, Accra and Nalerigu District Court.

The others are Koforidua District Court, Tuobodom District Court, Akim Oda District Court, Wassa Akropong District Court, Ho District Court, Apam District Court, Tamale District Court, Ejisu District Court, Bibiani District Court.

The rest are Dunkwa-On-Offin District Court and Tarkwa District Court, Asesewa District Court, Dzodze District Court and Jasikan District Court.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice also disclosed that 32 High Courts and three Appellate Courts (Supreme Court and Court of Appeal) have been automated.

Furthermore, the Land Administration Project (LAP) also funded four of these courts, all in Accra, whilst DANIDA funded the six Commercial Courts and the Government of Ghana funded the remaining 25 courts.

Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu added that work is partially completed at a number of Circuit and District Courts in various parts of the country and that so far, the recording and transcription equipment have been supplied and installed even though testing of equipment is currently underway and training of relevant staff is yet to be done.

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana

The Advertising Association of Ghana and the Advertising Board have petitioned Parliament to help call to order the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, (AMA) which they accuse of unreasonably increasing advertising rates.

In a four-paged petition presented to the Joint Committee on Communications and Local Government, the two bodies prayed the joint committee to ask the AMA to suspend what it called “a purported increment in their annual rates charged for advertising bill boards and signage by about 600 percent over and above that of 2009.”

The Executive Director of the Advertising Association of Ghana, Francis Dadzie in an interview with Citi News said the AMA is over billing them.

He revealed that they have petitioned AMA to reduce the increment but to avail. He added that a 20% increment would be favourable to them.

“We have written to the Mayor and they are not calling us, we have written to the public relations and complaints commission of the AMA and they have not invited us what else should we do, the people are threatening to go and destroy our properties”.

“We are looking to about 20% increase because that is what everybody is doing.We are looking at inflation and general economic trends so that people can survive…Parliament is an independent body, they would listen to us objectively. Unfortunately the chief executive doesn’t understand our business because he does not allow the professionals who have been there to educate him”. Mr Dadzie said.

Meanwhile, the Joint Committee has served notice that it would summon AMA boss, Mr. Alfred Vanderpuye, to appear before it to explain the basis for the recent rate increases.

Hon Felix Twumasi Appiah, Chairman of the Communications Committee of Parliament told Citi News that they intervene if they do not a better explanation from the AMA boss.

“We are hoping to invite the AMA boss here to explain the mathematics of his equations here, probably he may be right. They may need money to develop Accra. If he is able to convince us his explanations may stand, otherwise we