Month: August 2020

Ahead of the December 7, 2020 parliamentary elections, the Atiwa East Constituency of the ruling party has inaugurated its campaign team to push both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

Member of Parliament for the constituency, Abena Osei Asare would chair the team that was inaugurated at Anyinam in the Eastern Region.

According to her, the campaign is all about developmental records betweens the four years of the ruling government and the opposition National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) eight years.

She recounted the number of employment the youth from the constituency have benefited from, including 71 persons into the Police Service, 51 into the Immigration, Fire Services, 93, 6 into ADB and 14 into the Local Government Service.

And urged the youth to lead the campaign judging from the facts of jobs secured for them as mentioned with just four years in office, adding they can imagine the opportunities if the party wins for another four years.

She also disclosed that another big project they are bringing to this constituency is the hundred bed district hospital which they would have President Akufo-Addo himself coming to cut sod soon for. And touted the Free Senior High School (SHS) as one of the great achievements of the current government.

“No house hold can tell me they have not benefited from free SHS and if we change the current government there is no guarantee that it would be continued, hence the need to vote for the current government to continue and strengthen the policy. One point two million pupils have benefited we need to build the human capital of this nation to compete with the rest of the world”.

And urged that they should be decorum in their dealings, and further called on Ghanaians to give the President and his lawmakers four more year mandate and added that journalists not to inflame passion.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Deputy Ranking Member of Ghana’s Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry  and Tourism,  Sulemana Yusif is calling for depoliticizing of the brouhaha that has occurred with Nigerians indulging in retail business in Ghana and their shops being locked up.

According to him the brouhaha has persisted for quite a long time and the time has come to depoliticize the issue to ensure that Ghana’s diplomatic relation with its West African countries is not jeopardized.

“The Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) Act is clear on who is eligible to do retail trade in Ghana, if you look at the clauses it is clear what a foreigner would need to do retail business.  And the challenge has been we have not been able to implement this law to the latter that is why we have these challenges”.

He further pointed out in an interview that the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration set up a taskforce which included relevant stakeholders including members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association.

And what they did was to approach the Nigerians and other foreigners who are allegedly doing retain business and to get in touch with the Nigerian Traders Association so that they would be able to identify those who are breaking the Ghanaian law.

“Unfortunately, currently the taskforce has gone to bed, so when that happened GUTA members had to take the law into their hands that is why we saw the closure of some Nigerian shops. If the task force was indeed working we would not have seen things in this manner. For me, I think the time has come to look at things in the perspective of the law”.

And if the law contradicts with ECOWA treaty or protocols, the time has come for us to look at it very critically, if not I would not blame GUTA at all. What they are asking is for the government to ensure that the laws put in place works.

Again, to what extent would GUTA take the law into their hands since we are in a global world where one does not necessary need to travel to do business? There should be a way of working out if it is a new law that has to come into force, “for us to trade with our neighbors and they are able to come here to do business without any problem”.

In addition, every election year this issue pups up all because authorities who are supposed to ensure that Ghanaian laws work go to sleep and you have GUTA coming up strongly during this time.

He further pointed out that GUTA has approached their Committee hence the need to take away politics from the issues because whatever is said today after the elections will come to hunt any party that wins the December 7, 2020 election.

And as opposition MP, they could be in government and for him GUTA should be supported to ensure that laws are put in place that works and the current government should rise to the occasion, so that GUTA would not feel the laws on retail in Ghana is being broken and nothing is being done. And again, anyone who wants to do retail business should go through the process “if you are a foreigner”.

In addition, once you are qualified to do retail business you can go ahead and government would have to ensure that these laws are respected if not there would be chaos.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

In the wake of the Malian coup d’état and the dissolution of their National Assembly by the military junta, the status of their lawmakers in the Community Parliament has come into sharp focus.

A member of Ghana’s delegation to the fifth Community Parliament, Mahama Ayariga has said it is more a complex situation and no straight forward answer can be given, but added the issue can be looked at along several scenarios.

In a telephone interview, he explained that under a constitutional rule, there were circumstances which the Malian President could have dissolved the National Assembly but did not act in that constitutional provisional capacity.

As at the time the military took over, the National Assembly was still in existence. They were the ones who dissolved it and that dissolution may not be reocognised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he said.

Mr. Ayariga further pointed out that ECOWAS is supposed to act on the assumption that there is a National Assembly in Mali and it then means the sworn in delegation of Mali at the last virtual Extra Ordinary Session would remain as MPs and be able to attend Sessions of the Community Parliament.

He was however quick to point out that, among the Malian MPs in the Community Parliament, there is an issue in the sense that, “I do not have all the facts”, one or two of them were asked to resign from their National Assembly because the problem in Mali was triggered by a flaw parliamentary election; where, thirty-one (31) lawmakers were declared not to have rightly won their elections and should resign for the conduct of a re-run of election.

He said his thinking was that if any of the ECOWAS MPs is among the thirty-one (31), their status in the parliament can be questioned by virtue of an ECOWAS decision, adding that those MPs should resign.

This has not come up because nobody has questioned the membership of the names given to the ECOWAS parliament that has been sworn in.

“My position on the matter is that to the extent that ECOWAS does not recognize the military coup and their decision, we as a parliament would act on the assumption that there is a national assembly and the members of the delegate remain members of the Parliament”.

And further added that, if ECOWAS recognize the new military regime, the Parliament would be forced to conduct itself like the assembly has be dissolved.

As to whether direct election to the Community Parliament would help address the issue of coup d’état that is refusing to disappear from the West African sub-region, he responded in the affirmative .

“If we take a position that MPs from Mali are not members of the Community Parliament, then it means we recognize the coup d’état and the position of the military dissolving the Mali National Assembly”.  

Mr. Ayariga said, but members of the Malian delegation are in a difficult situation because if they hold themselves up as members of the Community Parliament, it then means as individuals they are not recognized by the military junta.

Again, they would be subjected to whatever measures the military would take against them individually, “do you get the complexity”.

Meanwhile in the same breath, if you hold yourself as a member of the Community Parliament from Mali you should be willing to fight the military junta. “I do not know if you are going to leave Mali which is a clear defiance of the military hence the more complexity”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com