Month: November 2020

The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso has admonished the media and political parties to move away from tagging the clergy of either being for the government and against the opposition or the other way round.

According to him when government in power does that which is right, the clergy would commend her and sometimes the opposition would say all the pastors have taken partisan sides, “it is very hurting”.

Again, when government does that which is wrong and the clergy talks about it people sit on radio and use all kinds of unkind words, “we are only building a culture of silence, the clergy would say when we talk people would say this or that”.

He noted that, recently someone asked, “where is Professor Marty, the wise men” all these things if the media and politicians do such things they insight confusion, the clergy do not stand for any political party.
“But we cannot keep quiet, for the good of the people, if a party in government does well we would applaud the government, you cannot stop me from applauding government when she does something that would benefit children and the vulnerable in the society, when I say it you tell me I am partisan?”

Again, you cannot prevent me from talking if free education is helping people, at the same time the clergy cannot be told not to criticize when there is a poor sanitation situation and people are suffering, there are mosquitoes, and flooding destroying our society; we should understand each other and see the critical role the clergy is playing, he added.

Dr. Frimpong Manso who was speaking on behalf of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches, at an event organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, called for peace to prevail as it takes all stakeholders to build consensus and appreciate their differences.

“Accommodating one another is important as we are making an upward journey democratically, we need to carry one another along, it is the way to go, everybody has gotten  a role, the  religious leaders and the media”.

And added that, one of the things worrying is sometimes people do not understand the role of the church leaders; they are gate keepers, and complementing government. “We do not stand for the opposition nor are we part of the government”.

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Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Honorable Mohamed Tunis as part of fostering good working relations with the National Assemblies paid a courtesy visit to the Togolese National Assembly.

His visit was part of the week-long activities of the Community Parliament as it held a delocalised joint Committee meeting in Lome, the Republic of Togo last week,

He also called on the Togolese President H. E. Faure Gnassingbe at the capital of Togo Lome.

The visit afforded him the opportunity to brief President Faure of the mission of the Community Parliament in Lome on its week long activities, and the plans of the fifth Legislature under his leadership and the challenges faced so far.

He, however, requested the full support of the Togolese President in the activities of the Parliament and applauded his passion for the sub-regional integration process of ECOWAS.

Speaker Tunis emphasized that Togo is very important to the ECOWAS Parliament as it remains a key player even in the foundation of ECOWAS.

And for the Parliament it is also strategic and historical, as it hosted the first delocalised meeting in 2003 and the first Extraordinary Session in 2017.

The Speaker admonished the people of Togo to continue to observe all the COVID-19 protocols to help reduce the risks and havocs of the pandemic.

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The West African sub-regional Parliament has expressed its readiness to support Member States in implementing e-learning in the various countries, by using Information Communication Technology (ICT).

This was disclosed by the Speaker, Rt. Honorable Sidie Mohamed Tunis when he delivered his closing remarks at the end of a weeklong delocalised meeting in Lome, Togo of joint Committees.

Joint Committees on Education, Science and Technology/Telecommunication and Information Technology/Political Affairs, Peace, Security and Infrastructure met to proffer solutions to education in the sub-region.

He noted that the presentations by experts to the Committees threw ample light on the process, leaving the rest of the work on the Parliament, and strong synergy with the Executives in their countries.

And added that they are likely to face many challenges in implementing the commitments they made at the meeting.

However, Parliament is committed to working with Member States in areas related to Information and Communications Technology, Science, and Innovation to digitally connect the sub-region together.

As ECOWAS Parliament stands prepared to follow up on the recommendations emanating from the discussions and working with all stakeholders to make those resolutions a reality, the Speaker said.

“I wish to appreciate the third Deputy Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament and head of Togolese delegation, as well as other members of the delegation for their untiring efforts towards ensuring the success of this meeting”.

He emphasized his commitment to building a stronger ECOWAS Parliament and therefore sought the support of all member and states.

The meeting also provided a window for parliaments to identify relevant intervention mechanism to make an efficient contribution to the implementations of the ECOWAS protocols on Education and Training.

“I am optimistic that the insights provided by our resource persons will set the basis for actions that are expected to bring the changes we envision for our Member States”, he added.

And commended his colleagues for the painstaking efforts made to ensure that meeting was a success, as the recommendations would go to the highest authorities in the sub-region.

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Biodun Olujimi has called on the Federal Government to utilize the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to fund Information Communication Technology (ICT) needed to run the education sector amid COVID-19 disruptions.

She called on other ECOWAS member states to also push for the utilization of the fund in their respective countries.

The lawmaker, who is part of the Joint Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament converging in  Togo to chart a course for effecting distance learning in West Africa, said that the region already had a funding source that could be utilized.

USPF was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to facilitate the achievement of national policy goals for universal access and universal service to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural, un-served and under-served areas in Nigeria.

The Fund is being managed to facilitate the widest possible access to affordable telecommunications services for greater social equity and inclusion for the people of Nigeria.

Speaking shortly after a presentation where member states were charged to establish a Digital Plan, she stressed that the USPF fund, currently domiciled with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was not being properly utilized.

“In ECOWAS today, we are concerned about the effect of COVID on learning, education and social life. The general belief is that education has moved from the classroom to the streets to the villages and everywhere, the only way we can monitor and fund this is through the USPF fund which is earmarked for the underserved”.

However, the USPF fund was not properly defined in the act of the NCC, it is very broad, and we need to sit down together, and have an agreement across board, by all fifteen states, on what we want to do with the USPF in all the countries, she added.

This is because COVID-19 has shown us that there is the need for education to be funded through a body, and the body must be able to provide free computers for those who cannot afford it.

Again schools, must be equipped with internet and cheap computers that can help the students, because with e-learning, which has taken the center stage presently, students must be able to afford the gadgets required for their learning and for you to afford it, there has to be fund to be used to oil that system, and make sure that such gadgets are available to students in the university and in the secondary and primary schools, she said.

The lawmaker said that although many students in the universities have telephones that they can use, but that they cannot afford data, calling for the provision of wifi in Universities.

She said that Member States must also ensure that there is a law that will guard against misuse of the free or affordable internet.

In all, we need to bring up a few amendments, and a few laws that will be put in place such that should eLearning take center stage, and people can have the tools that are required for e-learning, she emphasised.

“As I said, all the states are required to come up with laws that will be useful for the youths, because they also have their negatives, especially when it comes to fake news and unreliable contents from the internet.

If we can curb that, we will be able to reach the core of the people we need the most, who are between the age of 12 and 25, that is when we are able to share their thinking, and then they can prioritise nationalism, that is the only way we can move on”, she said.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Speaker of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Parliament Rt. Honorable Sidie Mohamed Tunis on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 together with lawmakers and staff cut a cake in Lome, Togo to mark the 20th Anniversary of the parliament.

According to him it is an important milestone and due to the importance of Togo to the integration process, the occasion is happening, by coincidence not by design in Lome, as initially the plan was to mark it with a big event next month in Abuja.

Unfortunately, Session of the Parliament would not hold until January 2021 but there are plans of series of other events spanning into the whole of next year.

Speaker Tunis congratulated members of the Community Parliament from 2000 to date, including unfortunately the deceased and his predecessors in office, of the first legislature Ali Nouhoum Diallo, the second legislature Mahamane Ousmane, the third legislature Ike Ekweremadu and the immediate past Mustapha Cisse Lo.

“These famous sons of West Africa, supported by other members contributed immensely towards making the ECOWAS Parliament what it is today. Certainly, posterity will reward your efforts and the sacrifices you made”.

He further congratulated the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, Council of Ministers and successive presidents of the ECOWAS Commission for their collaboration and support.

He also recalled that the idea of the establishment of the sub-regional body was conceived in Lome by late president Gnassingbe Eyadema and supported by the Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and other leaders.

It is, therefore, correct to say that the beautiful city of Lome was the “womb” where ECOWAS was conceived, and Togo remains the “Mother that delivered” the Organization. To us, Togo is ECOWAS and ECOWAS is Togo.

Let me also recall that when the ECOWAS Parliament was established in 2000, the 1st Legislature was confronted with the major challenge of how best to make the Institution known across the sub-region. As the representatives of the people, meant to give them a voice in the integration process, they needed to create an avenue for constructive engagement with contending stakeholders.

Consequently, in 2003, the then leadership of the Parliament introduced the idea of holding Committee meetings outside the headquarters of Parliament in Abuja. This, they believed, would be a strategy to publicize the Parliament, at the same time, gain access to the people.

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