Month: February 2016

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has indicated that President John Mahama’s decision to ignore the Legislature prior to accepting the two ex gitmo detainees in Ghana could lead to his impeachment.

The group maintains that government’s failure to inform Parliament and also seek its approval for the country’s agreement with the US Government over the two, is an affront to the Constitution.

They contend that the President could therefore be removed from office for flouting Article 75(2) of the Constitution which demands for Parliamentary ratification in all treaties, agreements or conventions the country enters into with another country or a recognized institution.

Article 75(2) states that “A treaty, agreement or convention executed by or under the Authority of the President shall be subject to ratification by (a) Act of Parliament; or (b) a resolution of Parliament supported by the votes of more than one-half of all the Members of Parliament.

Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Ata Akyea who dropped the hint, Tuesday, said the President’s action over the Gitmo detainees is a serious matter and should not be taken kindly.

“When we say bring the agreement to Parliament, the inference of the framers of the Constitution is that every issue concerning the agreement should be stated and see whether it is rejected or not”.

“As we speak today, the President can be impeached because of this issue. It is not a joke. If you look at Article 75(2) and if the President wouldn’t want to do what is right this can be a subject matter of impeachment”, he noted.

The Minority Leader Hon. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has lauded the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander over the manner in which he has managed investigations into the murder of Hon. JB Danquah.

Speaking on Oman FM radio station yesterday he said the manner in which the Regional Police Commander has handled the case so convinces him that the Police would do a good job.

He traced how the Police responded to the distress call when the crime was committed and as he put it, “within twenty minutes they were there.”

Those who do not know how crime scene procedures are undertaken had the opportunity of doing so when homicide detectives set to work when they descended on the home of the assassinated legislator at his Accra residence, last Tuesday. “They set about to construct how the criminals set foot into the house and eventually committed the crime and left,” he described what the detectives did as soon as they set foot in the house.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander COP Dr. George Akuffu Dampare was at the crime scene as early as 3am to join his officers undertook a consolation mission.

Although he has refused to talk about what he has done so far, we have learnt about how he quickly moved the family of the deceased from the crime scene to a safe location decided upon by the family as a way of calming their nerves.

He is said to have used his own vehicle to transport the traumatized family quickly away from the scene of crime after which he moved quickly to engage two clinical psychologists to assist with managing the trauma suffered by them.

In view of the importance of communications in such matters, the regional commander has demanded from Parliament to give him a liaison officer through who developments from investigations would be relayed to the august house.

The family too would be given periodic briefing from the regional police command through a representative, DAILY GUIDE has learnt from a source close to the regional commander.

Having won the confidence of the family, it has become worrying however that the regional command has been subtly relieved of the assignment; the case having been subtly moved to the CID headquarters’ Homicide Unit to continue.

Sources close to the Police yesterday confided in the DAILY GUIDE about what in their view was the absence of finesse in the manner in which the case was taken off the regional command and handed over to a new set of personnel.

Whoever takes over would have to maintain the standards set by the regional commander who has won the confidence of the bereaved family in a manner which makes them relate to him easily; his blend of policing and counseling being a major factor.

Source: Daily Guide

Central Regional Minister-designate, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan says it is a travesty that many indigenes of the region do not gain admission into the best senior high schools there.

He says even though the Central Region has some of the country’s best senior high schools, people from the region do not often get admitted into the schools – something he says must change.

Mr. Ricketts-Hagan says if confirmed by Parliament as the Regional Minister, he will promote a policy to admit students from the region into some of the best schools even if their grades are slightly below the mark.

He was explaining to the Appointment Committee of Parliament what he will do to improve education in the region when he is made the minister.

Most of the nation’s best senior secondary schools including, Wesley Girls’ High School, Holy Child School, Mfantsipem School, Adisadel College are located in the Central Region.

But according to the Cape Coast South MP, statistics show that a small number of students from the region pass and gain admissions into these schools.

This he added is an alarming situation that needs to be addressed. He promised to help secure quotas in the schools for students who come from the region.

“I will create an affirmative action that will help the students from the Cape Coast gain admission into the Senior High Schools there,” he indicated.

This caused the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu Ekufful to ask him if he was going to create an avenue for students to be admitted in the schools even if they do not qualify.

Mr Ricketts-Hagan said he would introduce policies that will help the students in the region to pass their examinations at the Basic level but in the meantime, the affirmative action is necessary.

“Many factors have contributed to the failure of students in the region and I have started addressing the problems in my constituency. I think that poverty adds to the poor performance of children in the region. I distributed some mathematical sets to students in my constituency last year…something they cannot ask from their parents due to poverty. When the results came, there was a vast improvement in their performances,” the Minister-designate said.

He said he would also focus on creating jobs and improving tourism in the region when he becomes minister.

A man suspected to be the killer of the Abuakwa North MP, Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, has been arrested.

He suspect was busted by the police on Thursday is presently at the regional police headquarters being questioned.

Five persons on Friday were picked up by the police to assist in investigations.

The former Member of Parliament was JB Danquah, was gruesomely murdered at dawn on Tuesday February 9 at his home at Shiashie in Accra.

Police investigations showed he suffered two stab wounds, one to his rib, the other to his abdomen.

The wife of the MP was said to be in another room when the incident occurred.

The NPP had indicated that it suspected foul play in the murder.

Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa North Constituency of the Eastern Region, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, has been stabbed at his residence at Shiashi in Accra.

Reports picked up Tuesday morning by Ghanamps.gov.gh suggests he may have been killed by robbers.

Police have commenced investigations into the incident.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare and his men have visited the deceased residence to access the situation.

The Police say they are not at this point, able to verify whether the killing was carried out by robbers.

The late MP is a native of Old Tafo in the Eastern Region.

The late Danquah was born on July 2, 1965, and is the grandson of late Ghanaian statesman JB Danquah.

Following the killing of the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, J.B Danqua Adu Tuesday dawn, Parliamentary proceedings was brought to an abrupt end after only five minutes of sitting.

This was because the law makers who were obviously saddened by the death of their colleague were not well composed to conduct the government business for the day.

The Legislators were clad in red signifying their mournful state.

The Minority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu soon after proceedings had started proposed to the Speaker to adjourn sitting to Wednesday since MPs were not in a good mood to conduct business. The adjournment was also to the MPs visit the home of the departed colleague to sympathize with the bereaved family.

The Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarack seconded the proposal following which the Speaker; Edward Doe Adjaho accepted the plea and adjourned the House to Wednesday.

The speaker informed the House that he had gotten briefing from the Police and will relay the information to the Leadership of the House.

All other Parliamentary business including committee meetings for the day have all been suspended.

The Appointment Committee which was expected to vet ministerial nominees at 9:00 -2:00 pm, while the Public Accountants Committee was also set to sit at 2:00pm- 5:00pm.

Meanwhile, five persons have been arrested by the police to assist in investigations into the murder of the late Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu.

The five include three men and two women.

The Accra regional Police Command PRO, Assistant Superintendent of police, Mrs Afia Tenge, disclosed this to the media but failed to disclose their identity.

She said the Police received a distress call from the late MP’s Shiashie residence at around 1:25am.

“On arrival, police found the victim in a pool of blood, he was rushed to the police hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival,” she said.

The body is in the Police hospital morgue. According to the Police, Mr Danquah died from multiple stab wounds.

Ghanamps.gov.gh

Minister-designate for the Upper East Region, Albert Abongo, has observed that he has no regrets over the failed STX Housing project that was meant to provide 30,000 housing units to bridge the country’s expanding housing gap.

In January 2011, the late President John Evans Atta Mills cut the sod amid fanfare to officially commence the construction of 30,000 housing units for the security agencies at the Ghana Police Service Training Center, Tesano.

The cost of the facility was US$1,525,443,468.

The project was part of the US$10billion housing project that was signed by then Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Albert Abongo on behalf of the Government of Ghana and a South Korean firm, STX Construction Group.

But a year after, that dream became a mirage after it became apparently clear that the construction firm, STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, had no funds to execute the project.

A Supplier’s Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, for an amount of US$1,525,443,468 was withdrawn from Parliament to that effect after calls by the Minority to do so.

Abongo, who has now been assigned to manage the Upper East Region speaking on the issue at the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Monday, said he is not bothered about the failed the STX Housing project.

Nonetheless, he told the panel that he was worried about the quantum of money lost in the deal by the Government of Ghana.

He, however, did not mention the amount lost by the State in the STX Housing project.

Thirty (30) out of two hundred (200) ambulances procured by the government of Ghana did not meet specifications of the Ministry of Health.

Because of the situation, the ambulances have not been distributed to government hospitals that are in dire need of them. The ambulances are currently parked at the car park of the Parliament of Ghana.

Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia who disclosed this on the floor of Parliament on Thursday said experts will be dispatched to the manufacturing company to inspect the rest of the ambulances before they are shipped into Ghana.

“Mr Speaker, at the moment they are 30 in the country. The content of the ambulances is the issue, various things have to be in the ambulance to ensure that they are fit for purpose. What we have are not fit for purpose so at the moment we have refused to say that this can be ambulances that could be used for the purposes we bought them.

We have specifications, and the specification in these ambulances don’t appear to be met. It is the duty of the Ministry to ensure that we do not not take what we haven’t asked for. So we’re ensuring we have what we asked for, that is why we haven’t distributed the ambulances” Hon. Alex Segbefia noted.

His comment was in response to a question posed by the Member of Parliament for Atebubu Amantin, Sanja Nanja. The legislator had asked when the Atebubu /Amantin District Hospital will be allocated an ambulance.

Meanwhile a report carried by Thursday Feb. 4th edition of the Ghanaian Times states that about 40 of the 130 ambulances procured for the National Ambulance Service in 2010, have been grounded at its workshop.

Although the vehicles have outlived their usefulness, the service is compelled to repair them for use but that too is constrained by lack of funds.

The remaining 90 ambulances are woefully inadequate for effective health care delivery in the country.

The Chief Executive officer of the NAS, Professor Ahmed Nuhu Zakariah said some of the ambulances were parked at the workshop because they had exceeded their lifespan while others have developed major faults.

“The lifespan, of every emergency vehicle is normally five years, which means that the NAS needs to get a new fleet of vehicles, but we are compelled to use the old ones since we don’t have that luxury,” he said.

“The reality is that if the major faults on emergency vehicles are not fixed before use again, it may be causing more harm than good; that is why it’s better to book it out of commission rather than use it in a bad state,” he added.

Ghanamps.gov.gh