Month: October 2010

The salaries of Members of Parliament will soon be increased. They are to receive a pay rise of 20 percent following upward adjustments in salaries earlier this year.

The Government has also assured that all salary arrears due the MPs will be paid by the end of this week.

This follows what Joy News learnt has been silent agitations over salary arrears and poor remuneration.

There were hints that the MPs were planning to go public with their grievances on Tuesday, but Deputy Majority leader Rashid Pelpuo tells Joy News that may not be necessary.

“It is no longer a big problem now, the Members of Parliament would easily recognize this effort, because before the next three days or before the end of this week I believe very strongly that a cheque will be ready and all of them would be happy smiling to the bank to clear what is due them for all these years, which has kept them earning far, far less below the standard of a Member of Parliament.”

Meanwhile, the MPs return to the house to commence business today after a three-month break.

Mr. Pelpuo says two major issues will dominate this last sitting for this year – oil and the 2011 budget.

Deputy Minority Leader Ambrose Dery says he and his colleagues are ready to make the necessary sacrifices to ensure smooth government business.

“Those of us in the minority, we are prepared to engage constructively to make sure that the coming year is useful for the people of Ghana.”

Source: Joy News

Members of Parliament will today 19th October 2010, reconvene after a three- month recess.
A total of 24 fresh bills are expected to be placed before the House which include, Presidential Transition Bill, Maritime Boundary Delineation Bill, Forestry Commission Bill, National Health Insurance Bill, Mental Health Bill and Public Holidays Bills.

The Right to Information Bill, Interstate Succession Bill, Electoral Commission Bill, Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill, Petroleum and Revenue Bill were referred to various committees to deliberate on, before the parliament went on recess.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour will appear before the House of Parliament to present the 2011budget statement in November.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament -elect for Atiwa, Kwasi Amoako-Attah was this morning formally sworn –in as a Member of Parliament by the Speaker of Parliament Joyce Bamford Addo.

The MP was elected during a recently held by -election in Atiwa, after the incubent MP, Kwesi Annor Ankamh died on 1st July 2010 in the United Kingdom, ( U.K) while receiving medical treatment.

Kwasi Amoako-Attah won the polls after polling 20,282 or 75 percent of valid votes cast beating the ruling National Democratic Congress’ Emmanuel Atta Twum obtained 6,190 or 22.89% of the votes to place second, followed in third position by the New Vision Party’s George Apraku Padmore with 477 or 1.76% votes while the People’s National Convention’s Kasum Abdul-Karim came at the tail of the pack with 94 or 0.35% of votes.

He has promised to continue with the good work that his predecessor initiated and also bring about a lot development in the area to improve the welfare of the constituents.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

African Watch Magazine has released a survey on the performance of Ghanaian Politicians including President John Atta Mills.

According to Africa Watch Magazine’s Political Performance Index, (PPI) minority leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was graded as the best performing politician.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu scored an A, higher than that of the Speaker of Parliament, Joyce Banford Addo who rated B+.

The President, John Evans Atta Mills was graded separately in five different policy areas; Foreign Policy- B, Economic Development- C+, Social Interventions- C-, Political Developments- B, and National Security B-.

Minister for Works and Housing Alban Sumana Bagbin was rated C but was also rated A as Member of Parliament for Nadowli West. Doe Adjaho, deputy Speaker of Parliament A-, deputy Majority Leader Rashid Pelpuo scored a B, Moses Asaga MP for Nabdam B+, majority leader Cletus Avoka B+. Mathew Opoku Prempeh MP for Manhyia scored a B+ whilst Sheik IC Quaye scored a D.

Twenty four members of Ghana’s law house were deemed as complete failures graded with an F. Some of them include MP for Builsa North, Hon Timothy Attaboadey, MP for Asante Akim North, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, MP for Upper Denkyira East, Nana Amoakoh, MP for Keta, Richard Lassey Agbenyefia among others.

The MPs among other things were graded based on their knowledge on law making as well as their contribution to debates on the floor of Parliament.

Minister of Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi was rated the best performing minister for the year 2010 with a B. Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng Agyei on the other hand received a C for average performance, whilst Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffour was graded B-.

Information Minister John Tia was graded with a C, Interior Minister Martin Amidu, Chieftaincy and Culture Minister, Alexander Asum Ahensa and Tourism Minister Zita Okaikoi were all graded with a D+.

The Ministers were graded on four categories including their articulation and implementation of policy, managerial and supervision effectiveness, human relations and ethics.

Source: citifm

The Minister of Communication, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, on Monday presented 230 laptops valued at $350,000.00 to the 230 members of parliament (MP), committees of the House and some parliamentary staff.

Mr. Iddrisu said the laptops are part of the Ministry’s eGhana project and meant to facilitate the research activities of the MPs, improve the efficiency of the legislature and enrich their input in debate.

He said the Ministry would also provide each member with a modem to look for a network service provider. He said the specifications of the laptops are up to date in terms of capacity and storage.

Mr. Iddrisu said Cabinet had approved eight million- Euro meant for infrastructure development at the new Parliament House. He said there is justification for Parliament to be well equipped with Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Mrs Joyce Bamford Addo, the Speaker said in a speech read on her behalf that the project would facilitate the work of members and make them more functional and efficient in the performance of their duties.

She said through advancement in ICT the world had become a global village and access to information processing, storage, retrieval and dissemination have become critical requirements in the development and advancement of all societies.

The speaker said parliament is determined not to be left out in the forward march by adopting the e-parliament approach as part of the eGhana project.

Mrs. Addo stressed that the Parliamentary Service Board is determined to make parliament an e-parliament not just in name but in real sense of the term , adding that it was against this background that parliament is collaborating with the Ministry of Communications under the eGhana project to ensure the achievement of the goal of using ICT to get closer to the electorate.

She said steps are being taken to provide the appropriate functional training in ICT for members.

Mr. Nelson Offei Osae, eGhana Project Co-ordinator, said the project was aimed at leveraging the use of ICT to generate growth, adding that in 2008 the project had developed four major e-legislations that included the Electronic Transaction Act, National Communication Act, National Information Technology Agency Act and Electronic Communication Act.

He said the parliamentary processes would also be automated through the e-parliament system.

Source: GNA

The Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill and Petroleum Revenue Management Bill would be passed before the budget for 2011 would be read in November, 2010.

Mr Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader in Parliament, said when Parliament resumes sitting on October 19, efforts would be made to ensure that those bills are passed.

He, therefore, urged the committee working on the bills to expedite action to get the bills ready for the House to debate on them so that it would have time to scrutinize the budget without interruption.

Mr Avoka said this at a three-day workshop, organized by the Parliamentary Centre, with support from the Revenue Watch Initiative and the Canadian Parliamentary Centre for a section of Parliamentarians.

They are from the committees on Mines and Energy, Finance, Public Accounts, Lands and Forestry, Local Government and Rural Government, Environment and Science, Agriculture, Defense and Interior and the leadership in Koforidua, in the Eastern Region.

Mr Avoka said the bills should not overlap the budget period otherwise the House would either do a shoddy work or the bills would have to be sacrificed for the budget.

Issues discussed at the workshop include the Petroleum Regulatory Authority Bill, which is being formulated; Promoting Good Governance; Encouraging Efficient Natural Resource Development; and Petroleum Revenue Challenges.

Others are Spending; Savings Decisions and the Ghanaian Plan; Balancing Stabilization and Heritage Funds and others.

He noted that the committees had gone on tours and attended workshops in Ghana and abroad to learn the best practices of the Petroleum Industry and, therefore, Ghanaians expect a good quality Law.

The committee, he said, should approach it in a non-partisan manner, guided by patriotism and nationalism.

He said the nation needs a law that would address issues on accountability and transparency and one that can be implemented.

“If it becomes a bad law it would be tantamount to causing financial loss to the state.”
Mr Seth Terkper, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said for the petroleum wealth to benefit Ghanaians now and in the future an effective industry regulatory environment is needed.

Additionally, he said: “There should be a fiscal regime effective enough and without which there will be very little to show for the depletion of petroleum resources and this include the development of the right revenue management regime.”

Papa Owusu Ankomah, member for Sekondi, called for the establishment of a Commission for the Regulation, Management and Coordination of the activities of the petroleum sector.

It is a constitutional provision that natural resources should be managed by a commission.

Source: GNA

As Parliament resumes sitting today, the leadership of the House is asking government to review the two petroleum bills.

The two bills are the Petroleum Revenue Management and the Petroleum Exploration and Production bills.

Civil society organisations have raised concerns about aspects of the bills relating to transparency and accountability, the body to manage revenue from the oil and gas, and award of contracts for exploration.

MPs from eight committees of Parliament have been discussing the bills at a workshop in Koforidua.

Majority leader, Cletus Avoka told Joy News aspects of the bills need to be relooked at.

“Having regard to our recent experience in the mining sector where environmental issues have been a serious challenge, we have observed that the provisions relating to environmental issues in the bill are highly inadequate,” he stated.

Mr. Avoka stressed the need for the bills to be drawn in a manner that ensures the country avoids the experience of the Niger Delta situation in Nigeria.

The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said passing the bills may delay because government delayed in presenting them before the house.

He said the House will do all it can to pass the bills because some projected oil revenues have been incorporated in next year’s budget.

Source:joy news