Month: August 2013

Former Education Minister and current Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga has said that government’s decision to end the payment of teacher trainee allowances has nothing to do with “the present financial circumstances of our country.”

He was however quick to add that the decision in no way suggests that “government is broke in anyway. Government is not broke, there are challenges here and there but it’s not an indication of a country being broke.”

Teachers and some sections of the general public have criticized government for making attempts to stop the payment of allowances to teacher trainees in the various training colleges across the country.

According to them, most teacher trainees rely solely on the money to pay their fees therefore; ending payment will adversely affect them.

The President, John Mahama has explained that the decision stems from the fact that government cannot maintain the monthly payment because does not have the financial capacity to maintain the allowances.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, the former Education Minister explained that government instituted the allowances as a means of attracting people into the teaching field.

Mr. Ayariga also mentioned that scrapping the allowances will also increase access and “equalize the platform that everybody in the tertiary institution be moved to the loan scheme.”

In a related development, Deputy Education Minister in charge of tertiary education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa clarified that government intends to attract persons with genuine interest in the teaching filed hence, the decision.

“We will now be able to attract people who are genuinely interested in teaching, who have the desire to teach.”

Mr. Ablakwa also stated that the withdrawal of the allowances will help solve some of the challenges being faced in the education sector.

“Teachers not showing interest, some of the absenting themselves and the higher attrition, the least opportunity, they want to leave and go into other profession, we will be addressing this because we will be attracting people who have the genuine interest, the desire to teach and not because there is some allowance somewhere.”

citifmonline.com

Member of Parliament for Weija/Gbawe in the Greater Accra Region, Rosemond Comfort Abora has set out to repair roads in the constituency which are unmotorable to make travelling more easily for passengers.

Some of the roads are in such deplorable state that drivers hesitate in plying those particular roads for fear of the vehicle parts being damaged and in the process creating a lot of discomfort for commuters.

This development led to the constituents calling on the Member of Parliament for the area and the Ga South District Assembly to come to their aid in getting the roads back in good condition.

In an interview, Hon. Comfort Abora stated that feeling very touched by the plight of both drivers and passengers; she has secured a grader which has been working on the poor roads in the past one week.

She said she is personally supervising repair works being done on poor roads in Mallam, CP junction, Faith Montessori and C. Conney arrears among others, adding that other such deplorable roads will see a face lift in due course.

Hon. Comfort Abora stated that though it is not the primary responsibility of an MP to construct roads and other related activities, she really empathizes with the concerns expressed by the constituents hence her commitment to ensuring that these roads are fixed in earnest.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyire, Frank Annoh Dompreh has said the continues refusal by government to publish the much talked about GYEEDA investigative report is a conscious effort to protect certain high ranking officials in government.

He wondered what was in this report that has held back government from publicising the document despite several calls by civil society groups and other political activist who have the findings made public.

The report which was presented to the President about two months ago recommended the abrogation of contracts between government on one hand and Zoomlion, RLG Communications and Goodwill International Group on the other hand, and it also referred a number of GYEEDA officials to the Attorney-General for prosecution

President John Mahama has placed on record that the supposed GYEEDA report in circulation is not what is in possession of government.

Government’s reticent attitude about the report has got critics raises suspicions of government’s intentions to protect the suspects named in the report.

Speaking on e.tv Ghana’s Breakfast TV show on Wednesday, Hon. Frank Annor Dompreh stated that Ghanaians cannot wait to have the full details of the report which is believed to be laden with corruption.

‘’Are you telling me that when you publish this document the whole presidency will grind to a halt? What is there in that report, they keep telling us they are going to study it, can’t we Ghanaians also study it, is it a secret document, and then they come and tell us they have formed another committee to make recommendation on the previous committee’s work, this is laughable we don’t even know who are members of this new committee, the only person we know is P.V. Obeng and no one else’’ he lamented.

Hon. Annoh Dompreh challenged President Mahama to refer the report to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament if the government has not got anything to hide, and that is when the rot in this investigation will come for all Ghanaians to see.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Six communities within the Kintampo South Constituency will very soon be connected to the national power grid to offer them the opportunity to also enjoy all the benefits that comes along with such facilities.

The project which was funded by the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Yaw Effa-Baafi is aimed at creating an enabling environment to boost the economic status of residents in those communities.

The project will to a large extent help improve on security as streetlights would also be installed as well as development projects to help the those communities to rock shoulders with other developed areas.

Hon. Effa-Baafi in making the information know to Ghanamps.gov.gh promised to initiate more of such projects to enable them to also have a fair share of the national cake.

Hon. Effa-Baafi recently completed a new Out-Patient-Department (OPD) for the Kintampo South District Hospital at Jema, the District Capital.

Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Sissala East Hon. Suleimana Aligata Gbentie has donated medical equipment to some Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds in her constituency.

The items which include weighing scales, Sugar testing machines, Blood pressure monitors and a 21inch Television set is worth about GHC 23,000 were presented to the health facilities in Ting, Nwanduomu, Wolombele, Wuru, Santijan and Bawiesebelle.

Speaking to Ghanamps.gov.gh, Hon. Alijata Gbetie stated that her decision to donate these items is born out of her commitment to improving the level of health care in the area.

She said her kind gesture came as a great relief for the health staff as the lacked these basic medical equipment which should be common to any health facility worth it sort.

Hon. Alijata Gbentie who is also the former District Chief Executive for the area noted that she was surprised to know that the absence of these equipment resulted in the situation where patients were either under prescribed with medication or over prescribed.

She noted that this unfortunate practice could negatively affect the health conditions of the constituents hence her donation to the facilities to improve the situation.

Hon. Alijata Gbentie emphasized her commitment to ensuring an improvement in the quality of health services rendered to the residents, adding that Sissala East cannot develop without a healthy people.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Works are seriously underway on a classroom extension project for Tolon Junior High School (JHS) B, in the northern region being initiated to assist create convenience in the classroom for school children, Member of Parliament for the area, Wahab Suhiyini Wumbei has disclosed.

The project which took off this year is gradually nearing completion as it will practically pave way to boost the intake of school children in the bid to push education for all who are within the school going age in the district.

Although the assembly is taking the primary responsibility to ensure the availability and construction of more classroom building for effective teaching and learning, Hon. Suhiyini Wumbei also intimated that he is leaving no stone unturned to promote quality education through the provision of meaningful infrastructure for many schools that exist in the district.

Speaking to Ghanamps.gov.gh, the MP noted the 3 unit classroom block project also comes with certain ancillary facilities that will complement the facility very well.

Some of the ancillary facilities included office, store, teachers’ common room and a sanitary facility respectively.

He indicated that measures are being taken to improve on classroom structures to give leverage to boost quality education in the whole district.

Jonathan Jeffrey Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA), Hon. Stephen Nana Ato Arthur has joined the fight against teenage pregnancy by calling for the implementation and enforcement of effective measures to ensure its complete elimination in the area.

The situation of teenage pregnancy has for the past few years risen uncontrollably in the KEEA Municipality though the MP stated that constant efforts have already been put in place to minimize the situation.

However, a recent study conducted by Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), found that the age at which girls and boys have their first sexual experience had sink from between 11 and 14 to 8 years, the study which was conducted in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipality and three other districts in the country.

The research also found that a total of 821 cases of teenage pregnancy representing 17.5% were recorded in 2011 as compared to 793 cases in 2010 representing 17% of antenatal care registrants in KEEA alone.

However, the study included that 13 out of the total number were between the ages of 10 –14 years as against 10 recorded in 2010.

Hon. Ato Arthur however said in an interview with GhanaMPs.gov.gh that measures to help reduce the menace were still under consideration after stakeholders workshop was held two weeks ago to help fight against the menace.

According to the soft-spoken MP, measures such as putting a stop to wake-keepings, and banning of school pupils from attending funerals ceremonies were recommended at the workshop after sighting them to be one of the leading causes of teenage pregnancies in the area.

He further pleaded on parents to educate their children on teenage pregnancy and the consequences involved, at least as a mean of deterring them from indulging in such act.

Emmanuel Frimpong Mensah/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

The Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Ghartey is advocating for a separate committee to see to the implementation of recommendations of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Mr. Ghartey made this proposal at the Committee’s sitting on Monday.

“Should Parliament appoint a separate committee to look at the implementation of the report of the Public Accounts Committee; I think that this committee should have a sub-committee which will look at the implementation…’’

On his part,Chairman of the PAC, Kwaku Agyeman Manu said a sub-committee within the PAC will be set up to see to the implementation of the committee’s recommendations.

According to him, the agencies that are supposed to implement the committee’s recommendations have failed to. “’The actual implementations of the committee’s recommendations are not supposed to be done by the committee [PAC] or even by Parliament at large.’’

‘’We are suggesting the set- up of a sub-committee within this group that will do follow up of our recommendations; that committee will be working closely with the auditor general,’’ Mr. Manu suggested.

Article 187 (6) of the Constitution requires that a committee be set up by parliament to deal with any matters arising from the Auditor General’s report.

Meanwhile, President John Mahama has already directed the Attorney General to set up a committee to investigate the latest Auditor General’s report before the commencement of PAC’s sitting.

In a related development Mr. Joe Ghartey also called on members of the PAC to be polite to people who appear before them.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is shocked after discovering mining agreements signed by government and ratified by Parliament are heavily skewed to favour mining companies.

Members of the Committee are amazed that up to a 100% of earnings from gold mined in Ghana is lodged in offshore accounts. And all these transactions are backed by Ghana’s law.

This was revealed during the first public sitting of the committee, Monday.

Explaining matters on Joy News, Ben Aryee, Chief Executive of the Mineral’s Commission said the Minerals and Mining Law 1986, PNDC Law 153 provided that retention accounts agreement be signed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning, Bank of Ghana and an applicant mining firm.

He said in the course of time, government passed a new mineral and mining law 2006 which amended the previous law to in some cases allow 20% of the earning to be kept onshore. The Chief Executive says Parliament itself must take the blame.

But, the parliamentarians are stunned that Newmont Mining Corporation could sign an agreement with government to take 100% of its earnings offshore – an advantage no other mining company enjoys.

An MP wondered how one of these retention agreements was signed on 17th December 2003 and ratified by Parliament on 23rd December 2003 – just five days. He said under the Parliamentary system, this was curious.

Another MP said he “was shocked that Parliament could pass such as Act”.
Akim Abuakwa South and vice-chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Atta Akyea, described the regime as “Pernicious, arbitrary, discriminatory, [and] weird.”

Speaking on Joy News, Hannah Owusu Koranteng of Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) said she was glad that MPs are worried about the current agreements that heavily inure to the benefit of mining companies.

She said there are a lot of gaps in the current Mining and Minerals Act and urged parliamentarians to review the Act.

She said section 5 subsection 4 &5 of the mining act 2006 gives Parliament the power to approve these contracts. It reads: (4) A transaction contract or undertaking involving the grant of a right or concession by or on behalf of a person or body of persons, for the exploitation of a mineral in Ghana shall be subject to ratification by Parliament.

(5) Parliament may, by resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, exempt from the provisions of subsection (4) of this section a particular class of transaction,contract or undertakings.

She wondered how a mining company can retain 100% earning while 100% damages to the environment are left to the mining community to deal with.

Water bodies have been rendered useless to communities, land that could be used for agriculture have been destroyed because of activities of mining companies

She said Ghanaians are not privy to these agreements because they are confidential. She recommends that earning should be capped at 50%.

Joy News

Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikoi Central, has urged President John Dramani Mahatma to furnish Parliament with the mandatory annual report from the Executive as stipulated by the law.

He said compliance with the provisions of the law would ensure transparency in the work of the Executive, his Office and the Legislature.

In a letter addressed to the President and copied to the Ghana News Agency, the MP said the President had breached provisions of Section 11 of the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463) that obligates him to submit to an annual report to Parliament on staffing in his Office.

The Act stipulates that “The President shall within three months after the end of each financial year submit to Parliament an annual report containing the following information; the number of presidential staff employed at his office; the rank or grade of the personnel and employees in the other public services assigned to the Office.

GNA