Month: December 2010

Majority and Minority on Tuesday wrestled over whether or not the National Communication Authority was beyond the oversight powers of Parliament.

Whereas the Minority holds the position that Parliament has oversight powers over the Authority, the Majority feels the NCA should be scrutinized by other bodies or means.

The matter came to the floor of the House during debate on the budget allocations for the 2011 financial year for the Communication Ministry.

Meanwhile, the report of the Select Committee on Communication did not capture budgetary allocation for the NCA.

Debate on the budget for the Communications Ministry was almost over when Dr Osei Akoto, New Patriotic Party Member for Old Tafo, raised the issue on the omission of NCA in the report.

In response, the Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the NCA’s yearly budget had other means of checking the Authority apart from Parliamentary scrutiny citing the Public Account Committee as one of them.

He said over the years that was what was done even during the NPP regime.

Mr Joe Ghartey, Member for Esikadu/Ketan, said the issue raised a lot of constitutional questions, adding that if the position of the Minister stood, then the oversight powers of Parliament was undermined.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader, said Standing Order 184 (2) (b) clearly stated that Parliament had the power to examine the income and expenditure of public corporations and state enterprises or other bodies and organizations established by an act of Parliament.

He said even if it had been done in the past it did not mean it should be repeated especially giving that it was the wrong thing.

Mr Seth Terkpeh, a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said for an organization’s budget to be captured in the fiscal year budget or not, it depended upon the level of autonomy Government had granted that body.

He noted that organizations could be given partial or total autonomy, however, the accounting system of such organizations, were subject to scrutiny by the Finance Ministry.

The Speaker of Parliament, Justice Joyce Bamford Addo, said it was important the two sides met to further discuss the matter in order to reach a consensus.

Meanwhile, the House had granted budgetary allocations for four ministries, which were the Ministry of Communications, an amount of GH¢29,547,558.00; Ministry of Education, GH¢1,983,217,447.00; Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, GH¢558,625,890 and the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, GH¢18,173,336.00.

Source: GNA

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South Constituency, Fritz Baffuor is calling the bluff of vociferous New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist, Ursula Owusu, over her claims that he rigged his way through the parliamentary elections in the constituency.

Ursula Owusu, who is lining up to topple Fritz Baffuor in the 2012 general election, alleged on an Accra based radio, Oman FM that the NDC did not win the Ablekuma South seat on merit, but by certain forms of electoral malpractices.

Ms Owusu, who also is the Vice President of FIDA International, recalled that she was a polling station agent for the NPP in 2008 at the Home Care Nursery Polling Station in the constituency. She said even though the NPP won in the polling station, the results were altered in favour of the NDC at the collating centre.

However reacting to the allegations on XFM 95.1, a privately owned commercial radio station in Accra, Fritz Baffuor challenged Ms Owusu to go ahead with her threats of unseating him as an MP, adding, “we would see who would come up tops”.

Reacting to her direct allegation that he benefitted from some electoral malfeasances in the Ablekuma South constituency, Mr Baffour wondered why Ms Owusu would keep quiet over the issue until now “when there is a blue paper that everybody signs”, adding “what did she sign, and what was there?”

“The fact is, I am the sitting MP, I was sworn in. My opponent then, took me to court, he lost it. If she wants to go to court and she thinks she has the ground for it, fine. She should bring the evidence that I rigged the election. How could I have rigged the election when they (the NPP) were in power?”

Mr Baffour however admitted that Ursula has resorted to this tactic to taint his image because of the developments he was bringing to the constituency.

“This is the first of her tactics to try to undermine the fact that I have been doing a lot of good work in the constituency. I do not want to comment too much on this. I am saying that, I am the sitting MP of Ablekuma South right up to 2012. After 2012, if she wants to come and stand, she can. This is democracy. Sending this kind of signal to malign me though I think it is unfair, it is up to her”.

“The thing is, when the time comes and I still am the candidate for the NDC, she should come on, and we would see who would come up tops”.

“I find it very, very unfair that a lady whom I have some kind of respect for will come up with something as horrid as this one,” he lamented.

Source: X FM

The controversial STX Korean deal has officially been signed today.

The signing would finally pave way for the initial construction of 30, 000 housing units for the country’s security services out of a total of 200,000 units to be constructed over a five year period.

The signing took place at the International Conference Centre on Tuesday December 14, 2010 between the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon Alban Sumana Bagbin and the President of STX Corporation and the Chairman of STX Group.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama, who was widely expected to witness the event, was absent.

The signing of the controversial housing deal between the government of Ghana and Korea, suffered a major setback in September 2010 when certain legal discrepancies were detected on the day of signing the deal which was to take place at the Osu Castle.

The minority in Parliament had earlier opposed the deal stating that the terms and conditions offered in the agreement were not in the interest of the people of Ghana, since all the risk bearing is placed on Ghana.

Dignitaries who witnessed the ceremony were Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, Attorney General Betty Mould Idrissu, and other top government and non-government officials.

Source: Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

NII LARYEA Affotey Agbo, also called ‘Lion’, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kpone-Katamanso and Minister of State at the Presidency, yesterday threw all caution to the wind when he described the youth of Kpone as ‘useless human beings’, saying that their forced seizure of the community cemetery was ‘nonsensical.’

He made the statement during a confrontation he had with some irate youth of the area who accused him of doing nothing for the constituency.

“You are all nonsensical and useless beings. You can’t force me to spend two years solving all your problems,” he fumed, making mockery of President Mills’s call on politicians to refrain from using abusive and intemperate language.

After the outburst, and perhaps satisfied that he had poured out his heart to the group, the angry MP entered his V8 Land Cruiser and zoomed off.

Minister Affotey Agbo was at the cemetery to help the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) to address the youths’ agitation which prevented bereaved persons from burying their dead relatives at the cemetery last Saturday. The reason for their action, according to the youth, was that the TMA had encroached on their royal cemetery.

Several youth, mainly members of the Kpone Youth Coalition, last Saturday had, between 7:30am and 3:00pm, prevented persons who went to the Kpone cemetery to bury their dead relations from doing so, when they hijacked the graveyard.

The group, clad in red hand bands and head gears, blocked the entrance of the cemetery with a metal bar, logs and also burnt some tyres on the road, all in a bid to ensure that bereaved families did not have access to the cemetery.

They prevented about 17 families who had turned up at the cemetery to bury their loved ones from doing so.

The MP was clearly livid at the action of the youth as he ranted for several minutes, compelling the Tema Regional Police Commander, Augustine Gyenning and others who were present to plead with him to be calm.

Earlier, when DAILY GUIDE asked him why he used such harsh words at his own people, he said he was very conversant with the behaviour of his people, “Thus I equally had to be hard on them.”

He said the people had every reason to demand what was rightfully theirs. “But they did not have to first approach their concerns by attacking personalities and the Government that is only two years old in office.”

He alleged that a member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) described him as a ‘do nothing’ MP just as he arrived at the cemetery.

Affotey Agbo arrived at the cemetery just when a fact-finding team, led by Nii Adjei Annang, former Mayor of Tema and a Member of the Council of State, was leaving the Kpone Cemetery after touring the site to have first-hand information on the youth’s vandalism at the cemetery.

Source: Daily Guide

Mr Doe Adjaho, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, on Monday December 13, warned that if Parliament would rise December 21, 2010, then members must refrain from the laxity in the approach of work in the House.

He was adjourning the House reluctantly before the 1400 hours mandatory closing time because reports that should have been made available for members were not ready at the time. For this reason the motions could not be carried.

The House took four out of six motions on Order Paper but the House did form a quorum. Earlier before Mr Adjaho took over the affairs of the House, the Speaker, Justice Bamford-Addo moved to other motions in order to buy time for a quorum to be formed.

Two of the motions, which were not carried, were budget allocations for the Communication Ministry and Ministry of Health for the 2011 fiscal year. The 81-page Order Paper pregnant with about 300 amendments to the Revenue Management Bill 2010 was not touched.

Meanwhile, budgetary allocations for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and Services for Government Machinery were approved.

For the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry an amount of GH¢226,237,907 was allocated, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs had GH¢13,337,093, Roads and Highways, GH¢335,960,762.

For the year 2011 Government machinery will run on GH¢292,921,220. The breakdowns were as follows: For the Office of the Presidency budget for personal emolument was GH¢10,861,370; Administrative Expenses, GH¢6,178,376; Service, GH¢27,343,583; Investment, GH¢158,881,698.

Others, which cover departments and units under the Presidency, were General Administration, GH¢8,898,344; Office of the Chief of Staff, GH¢5,800,294; Vice Presidents Secretariat, GH¢3,855,850; Cabinet Secretariat, GH¢312,714; Press Secretariat, GH¢400,000; Millennium Development Authority (MIDA), GH¢157,376,638; African Fund for Bio Gas Development, GH¢263 832; and National Identification Authority, GH¢2,620,626.

The rest were the State Enterprise Commission, GH¢593,222; Divestiture Implementation Committee, GH¢221,662; National Population Council, GH¢2,719,746; Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, GH¢13,397,022; National Pensions Regulatory Authority, GH¢1,991,290; Policy Evaluation and Oversight Unit, GH¢234,580; Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, GH¢1,703,880.

The Internal Audit Agency Board, GH¢2,167,749; Public Sector Reform Secretariat, GH¢698,578 and the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority, GH¢0; The Office of the Head of the Civil Service received GH¢2,839,328; Scholarship Secretariat, GH¢559,966; Public Records and Archives Administration Department, GH¢1,249,268, the Management Services, GH ¢542,998; Ghana AIDS Commission, GH¢1,411,324; and the Office of the National Security, GH ¢67,419,070.

Regional Coordinating Councils in Greater Accra had GH¢1,020,693; Volta Region, GH ¢1,052,148; Eastern Region, GH¢1,214,186; Central Region, GH¢1,135,374; Western Region, GH¢1,153,352; Ashanti Region, GH¢1,524,192; Brong Ahafo Region, GH¢1,284,948; Northern Region, GH¢1,228,868; Upper East Region, GH¢1,189,146 and Upper West, GH¢1,239,617, giving a total of GH¢12,042,

Source:GNA

Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Minority Leader in Parliament has said that if members were equipped with accurate facts on bills and draft policies before the House, it would certainly inure to the benefit of the citizenry.

He said this was because the legislature if furnished with true facts would make good laws; “it goes without saying that bad laws ensuing from bad facts available to the lawmakers have dire consequences.”

Mr Mensah Bonsu was speaking at the second Parliamentary Platform meeting between Parliament and development partners in Accra .

Topics discussed included; recent rebasing of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its implication on macro-economic and fiscal management and other sectors of the economy particularly the oil find.

Other topics related to macro-economic management and how to appropriately position Parliament to effectively play its oversight role were also discussed.

Mr Mensah Bonsu noted that there was need for public education on how the Ghana Statistical Service arrived at Ghana’s attainment of middle income status especially on the methodology, justification, and intricacies related to the rebasing exercise.

He said the platform would offer the needed impetus for information sharing that seems to be eluding MPs and development partners in the discharge of their duties.

Mr Cletus Apul Avoka, Majority Leader, said the topics selected were most appropriate given that Parliament was still considering the budget and the Petroleum Revenue Management bill.

He said issues discussed at the meeting would no doubt inform discussions on the floor on the two items.

The platform was launched on May 26 2010 by the Speaker under the theme: “Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy through Partnership.”

It has the objective to strengthen parliamentary governance, create a forum for development partners and Parliament to engage each other and to share information on development policy issues.

It is also to harmonise support from development partners for capacity building of Parliament for its legislative, oversight and representational roles as well as sharing information on the preparatory and implementation of the new 2011 to 2015 strategic plan of Parliament with links to the proposed medium term development framework and other national initiatives.

Source: GNA

The government and STX Construction Korea will tomorrow, Tuesday, sign the formal agreement for the construction of 30,000 housing units for Ghana’s security services.

The agreement signing will be witnessed by Ghana’s Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, the President of STX Corporation, and the Chairman of the STX Group.

Following the signing, the formal ground breaking ceremony will take place on January 18, 2011 for work to begin.

According to the Information Ministry, the signing was crucial in paving the way for the housing firm to honor its obligation through the construction of the 30,000 thousand housing units.

The minority in Parliament had earlier opposed the deal stating that the terms and conditions offered in the agreement were not in the interest of the people of Ghana, since all the risk bearing is placed on Ghana.

Per clause one of the agreement, the Government of Ghana intends to purchase 45% of the 200,000 units to be constructed under the Housing Project, but the Minority Leader said its implication is worrying, since the country would be bent on paying US$4.5billion, an ‘equivalent to 30% of Ghana’s GDP; 150% of our gross international reserves; and over 50% of our current stock of debt, now estimated at US$9.2billion.

The signing of the much-talked about STX Korea Housing deal between the Government of Ghana and Korea, suffered a major setback on Monday September 20, when on the day of signing the deal, the program had to be canceled due to some legal discrepancies.

After correcting the legal discrepancies the government has set Tuesday 14th December 2010 as the date for the signing of the STX Korean deal.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh