Month: July 2011

Parliament House will tomorrow Tuesday 12th July 2011 have a full complement of Parliamentarians as it sits to commence business of the day.

With the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) delegates’ congress over, it is expected that the House would be full to capacity as the Parliamentarians return.

Sitting on Friday 8th July 2012 was adjourned due to the absence of the MPs on the majority side who had traveled to Sunyani for the NDC delegates’ congress that took place last weekend.

Business in the House last Friday was not very effective due to the absence of the majority side who were needed to take part in series of discussions on pressing issues that had been put before the house.

Several of the NDC Parliamentarians left for Sunyani on Thursday ahead of the congress which negatively affected business in the house.

The Majority Leader, who is also the MP for Zebilla, had to set aside the normal convention, by presenting the business statement for next week on Thursday due to the Sunyani congress.

The minority side had earlier complained that some MPs had abandoned their seats in Parliament and were busily engaging in campaign activities for the two competing factions, GAME and FONKAR.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Parliamentary sitting today Friday 8th July 2012 was adjourned due to the absence of the MPs on the majority side who have traveled to Sunyani for the NDC delegates congress slated for this weekend.

Business in the House today was not very effective due to the absence of the majority side who were needed to take part in series of discussions on pressing issues that had been put before the house.

Several of the NDC Parliamentarians left for Sunyani on Thursday ahead of the congress which negatively affected business in the house.

The Majority Leader, who is also the MP for Zebilla, had to set aside the normal convention, by presenting the business statement for next week yesterday due to the Sunyani congress.

The minority side had earlier complained that some MPs had abandoned their seats in Parliament and were busily engaging in campaign activities for the two competing factions, GAME and FONKAR.

The NPP MPs also questioned the absence of the Speaker of Parliament Joyce Bamford Addo and the first Deputy Speaker Doe Adjaho, wondering if the Speaker had also traveled to Sunyani for the congress.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea has condemned the decision by the Attorney General not to pursue the case in which the driver of the National Women’s Organizer of the NDC allegedly drove a car through a crowd injuring some people in the process during the Atiwa by-election last year.

Confusion erupted at the Presby Junior High School polling center at Agbomosu in the Atiwa Constituency when a group of NPP youth activists clashed with the Azoka boys of the NDC, who according to them had attempted to rig the elections.

In the process, three of the NPP youth activists sustained severe wounds as they were beaten-up with sharp objects.

The NPP youth activists blocked the major road leading to the Agbomosu Township, which also erupted into another bizarre incident.

NDC’s National Women’s Organizer Anita De-Souza’s, Toyota Prado car ran into the barricade causing severe injuries to several NPP youths.

The Attorney General, Martin Amidu told Parliament yesterday that an earlier indication that the driver in the “Atiwa bye election catastrophe” had intended to drive dangerously and negligently in order to cause harm was inaccurate.

He said after he personally perused the police docket in the case, he’s come to the firm conclusion that the evidence on the docket cannot cogently support the offences of dangerous driving and negligently causing harm, contrary to section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 (Act 683) and the section 72 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) with which the suspect driver was cautioned.

However speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning show on Friday 8th July 2012, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, stated that the refusal of the state not to continue the case gives a negative signal to people that they need to defend themselves at future polls, adding that tthe iming of the decision is wrong especially as 2012 elections beckons.

“ This is some of the reasons why Nana Akufo Addo made the statement “all die be die” calling on NPP members to defend themselves and not to allow others to intimidate them come the 2012 elections’’ he said.

He however urged government to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring a peaceful election come 2012 by continuing the case and punishing those liable for the criminal act.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

WORK OF Parliament has been affected due to the delegates’ congress of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Brong Ahafo regional capital, Sunyani, the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) has lamented.

According to the Minority, led by Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who is also the Member of Parliament for Suame in the Ashanti Region, some members of Majority NDC have deserted the legislature and have engaged in “GAMING and FONKARING”, leaving empty seats in the House.

This, the Minority bemoaned, has negatively affected the business of the House.

Cletus Avoka, Majority Leader, confirmed the Minority’s fears yesterday when he announced that most of the NDC members will not be in the House on Friday July 8, 2011, as they would be trekking to Sunyani for the congress that is expected to choose either President Mills or Nana Konadu as the ruling party’s flagbearer for the 2012 general elections.

The Majority Leader, who is also the MP for Zebilla, had to set aside the normal convention, by presenting the business statement for next week yesterday due to the Sunyani congress.

The convention is that business statements are presented on Fridays. The party’s congress and work of Parliament, he explained, are part of the democratic dispensation of the country and therefore, NDC MPs’ participation in the congress should not be seen as having any negative effect on the business of the legislature.

However, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Mensah pointed out that this is the first time a political party’s congress is coinciding with the work of Parliament, calling on the leadership of the House to fashion out programmes in a manner that will not affect the business of the legislature.

Meanwhile, Speaker Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo has directed that any MP wishing to attend the congress during sitting of the House will have to seek her permission before doing so.

Source: Daily Guide

The Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Enoch Teye Mensah, has complained that some public sector worker unions are frustrating efforts by the Fair Wages Commission to move them onto the Single Spine Salary Structure.

His comments come in the wake of recent reports that these unions are contemplating staging a nationwide industrial action over grievances they have expressed about the new pay policy.

The Ningo Prampram MP told Citi News after a press conference in Accra on 7th July, 2011 that his Ministry has resolved to expose all Union leaders who are frustrating the work of the Commission if they do not move quickly to remove the impediments they have put in the way of the Commission.

“Henceforth, we will expose those who are playing games with us. They have been protected for months and I think it’s about time these groups were told the truth, the why and why-nots; the reasons why they have not been put on the Single Spine Structure.

“Our staff will engage theirs so that they will know why they are having difficulties. We will talk about FUSSAG, TEWU and UTAG and somehow, I believe that everything has been covered. So I don’t think it’s necessary to wait for UTAG, which is now going to review the work that has been done; as long as we are sure about FUSSAG and TAWU, we will migrate them”.

The minister promised that after the migration, which is to be finalized at the end of July, salaries will be paid in August.

“From the information that I have, by the end of July they should be migrated and when this is done, and I am confident that this will be in July, then salaries will be paid in August”.

The minister told Citi News that the government is determined to ensure all public sector workers are moved onto the new scheme before close of September this year.

He also outlined certain inconsistencies that would make disqualification from the Single Spine Salary Structure likely.

“Delay or failure by some institutions to submit their migration data for verification will disallow the commission to accept them on the Salary Structure. In addition, we also disqualify presentation of migration data that contain any signs of dishonesty. That involves the frequent insertion of names of casual staff as permanent staff to be migrated. That is dishonesty and when we find those things out we disqualify them”.

An earlier indication that the driver in the “Atiwa bye election catastrophe” had intended to drive dangerously and negligently in order to cause harm was inaccurate, Mr Martin Amidu, Attorney General and Minister of Justice has said.

The Minister, who was speaking on the floor of Parliament at question time on Thursday, said the driver was rather galloping for safety from attackers as he meandered through milling agitators at perceived available space.

“It was evident that the mob created a very dangerous situation after stopping the vehicle that could not have been foreseen by the suspect driver,” he maintained.

A bye election on the August 31 2010 at Atiwa Constituency – as a result of the demise of the Member of Parliament for the area – engendered into disturbances allegedly caused by non-residents who were perceived to be supporters of National Democratic Congress (NDC).

A resident perceived to be a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) got injured leading to massing up of a mob or vigilante which gathered at the outskirt of Abomosu to pursue non-residents entering the town.

The question stemmed from Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, member for Atiwa, who wanted to know the status of the alleged case against NDC National Women’s Organiser Anita de Souza and her driver for running over nine people at Abomosu during the Atiwa bye election.

The Justice Minister recounted that Anita’s driver was driving a land cruiser Prado with a registration number GE 5440-10 from Abomosu township towards Ekorsu.

“Of seven eye-witnesses who made statements to the Police, only four of them gave eye witness accounts of what they saw happened before the incident involving the suspect’s vehicle,” he said.

“Three of the witnesses alleged that the vehicle was stopped for inspection. One out of these witnesses alleges that it was the Police who stopped the vehicle, whilst the other two witnesses alleged that it was the crowd or the mob that stopped the vehicle,” Mr Amidu claimed.

He explained further that the fourth witness merely said the suspect drove through a police barrier at top speed and then through the mob and then lost control of the vehicle.

“Two of the four witnesses are consistent in their allegation that when the mob or crowd saw one Anita, National Women Organiser of the NDC on board the front seat of the vehicle, they shouted: ‘this is one of the NDC members’ and decided to close the barrier when half of the vehicle had already crossed the barrier at the point it was stopped,” he told the parliamentarians.

“One of these two witnesses alleged that the vehicle then drove through the people at top speed and knocked most of them down,” he stated.

He noted that the second of these witnesses alleged that after Anita was spotted and recognized by some of the members of the mob, they shouted: ‘they don’t belong to us’ and ordered that the barrier be closed.

In the process, Mr Amidu said, the vigilante group started pelting the vehicle with stones, sticks and all sorts of objects. The situation is what put the suspect driver and other occupants in the vehicle in great fear for their lives.

“The suspect driver in the spur of the moment drove his vehicle through what he perceived was an available space in order to drive to safety,” he stated.

“It appears from the docket that it was in the process of escaping the irate vigilante crowd or mob attack on the vehicle and the lives of its occupants that a number of people from the vigilante crowd or bystanders were accidentally knocked down with some sustaining serious injuries,” he said.

According to the Minister, the docket disclosed only three medical reports having been returned by the victims of the accident.

“Evidence on the docket leads to the irresistible conclusion that the incensed crowd attacked the vehicle after they had stopped it or slowed it down and one of its occupants was recognized as the NDC Women’s Organiser,” he said.

The AG argued that this was further borne out by the extent of damage disclosed by the accident report as having been caused to the vehicle when it was vandalized by the mob.

“It would have been otherwise if the suspect driver had driven through the crowd or mob at top speed,” he added.

“I have personally perused the police docket in this case and have come to the firm conclusion that the evidence on the docket cannot cogently support the offences of dangerous driving and negligently causing harm, contrary to section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 (Act 683) and the section 72 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) with which the suspect driver was cautioned,” he insisted.

Source: GNA

Parliament on Wednesday applauded Former President Kufuor for winning the 2011 World Food Price award together with Brazil’s Luiz Lula da Silva.

A statement presented by former Agric Minister in the Kufuor administration, Mr Earnest Akobuor Debrah, stated that: This prestigious award is an honour to our gallant farmers as well as ministries, departments and agencies that supported and implemented the policies and programmes that enabled Ghana to reduce poverty and hunger by 50 percent within a decade.”

He said it was also in honour of the House that gave legal backing to the policies and the development partners who gave financial and technical support for some of the initiatives.

“The greatest honour however, goes to the Former President for his visionary leadership in initiating the poverty and hunger reduction policies and his courage in seeing through their implementation,” he said.

He identified policies such as the Mass Pest Control popularly referred to as Mass Cocoa Spraying Policy, subsidized fertilizer for cocoa farmers which doubled cocoa production from 380,000 metric tonnes in 2000 to 736,000 metric tonnes in 2004.

The Millennium Challenge Account, he said, yielded a total grant of $550 million, and devoted to agriculture specifically food security and horticulture development.

He noted that other projects initiated under the MCA included the Afram Plains Agriculture Development Project, the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme, Northern Rural Growth Programme NERICA Rice Project and Inland Valley Rice Project.

Mr Debrah stated that under President Kufuor farm machineries and equipment were distributed to farmers at subsidized cost, mechanization centres were established dilapidated dams rehabilitated and a strong link between research institutions, the Agric Ministry and farmers was established.

These, according to him, had contributed to food security in Ghana adding, the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme which put health care within the reach of the ordinary people had helped reduce poverty drastically.

Commenting on the statement, Mr Harona Iddrisu, Communication Minister, while congratulating Former President Kufuor, recalled that such an award was given to Former President Rawlings adding, the award had demonstrated how far Ghanaians had come in eradicating poverty and hunger.

He said the award must spur present and future governments into action to invest in agriculture in order to increase food production adding, agriculture must move away from cutlass and hoe technology.

Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, NPP member for Kwadaso, said agriculture under Former President Kufuor saw unprecedented policy formulation and implementation which increased yield in local crops resulting in surplus in the cereal and other crops.

He said in the Kufuor era, Ghana was exporting yam to Europe. “The prize was well deserved for such a fantastic performance,” he said.

Dr Yakubu Ahmed Alhassan, NDC member for Mion, said people should not overly personalize the award but it should be regarded as a national one.

The inspiration, he said, should be drawn from the award was to transmit policies into actions.

He said all leaders globally must invest in agriculture to avoid global food shortage adding, currently in Somalia, people were dying out of hunger.

He noted that in 2009 to 2010, food shortage reached its peak but did not affect Ghana because of the efforts of leaders to improve agriculture.

He praised all the Ghanaian leaders for being interested in agriculture.

Dr Richard Anane, NPP member for Nhyiaeso, said the award was as result of the contribution of many stake holders such as farmers, scientists and policy makers.

Prof Mike Oquaye, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said policy formulation was the best way of solving national problems not propaganda.

“Lets build this country with policy and vision,” he said/ He praised the rural electrification project of the Kufuor administration which according to him, provided the peasant some form of security adding, 93farming without security was an exercise in futility.”

The Speaker, Mrs Justice Bamford Addo, directed that the congratulatory comments from the members be made available to former President Agyekum Kufuor as an honour to him.

Source: GNA