Month: July 2021

Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament Rt. Hon Sidie Mohammed Tunis said the key component to any economic and financial ecosystem is the monetary and payment method available within the system and the regulatory framework and policies that underpin the system.

As areas such as advanced Technology, Big Data, Machine Learning and Internet of Things, continue to establish themselves as the bedrock for the transformation of current global systems, the issue of “Cryptocurrencies” taking center stage as regards the question of “What is the appropriate monetary framework for the future and what level of governance and regulation is required to ensure its safety, security and protection of value?”.

He noted that, this question and others much like it, need to be answered and an understanding reached amongst countries, especially ECOWAS member states, who will be making decisions as regards digital currency operations within their states and across borders.

He further noted that collectively we need to consider the short, middle and long-term impact and sustainability of this technology on trade across the region and financial security for our citizens.

 “I do not intend to hold court here, for or against any Cryptocurrency; I do not also seek to advocate strong or weak regulatory or governance of the system. I do not also wish to recommend greater or lesser degree of acceptance for such currencies, but what I do seek to do as we collectively need to consider the short, middle and long-term impacts and sustainability of this technology on trade across the region and financial security for our citizens”.

And added that the delocalised meeting in Burkina Faso would discuss the merits and demerits of “cryptocurrencies”, and investigate the areas of concern as well as support for this new payment system.

“We shall consider what roles, if any, Central Banks and Government regulations can play in ensuring it works better for our citizens from volatile shocks and change which digital currencies are highly susceptible to. Globally, technological advancements are coming to the forefront, and are being programmed to handle issues of our time. We should expect that there will be such changes and disruptions to our existing payment instruments, institutions and systems”.

That said, we must ensure that these changes are more positive impacting and relevant, and that we do not just have to change for change sake, they have to consider the needed framework within which such changes must occur and operate, and evaluate the preparedness of our current institutions, the scope of readiness for such a transition.

The time is now to begin to take charge of leading this advance, the basic necessities of life have been categorized as food, clothing and shelter. Access to these, in modern times, is secured by financial ability, he stated.

So, let us be clear that while we may be here discussing the future of securing and delivering better, easier and safer access to these basic needs for our citizens, if we adopt a system that requires infrastructure that is not accessible to the greater percentage of our people, we would be failing them, while also if we hold back on a system that could unlock untold potential, we would be failing them, he noted.

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Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Etse Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has noted that the perception that lawmakers are development agents in Ghana has come to stay.

According to him he doubts if the perception would change for MPs to stop moving around to source for funds for development and concentrate on their constitutional mandate to craft laws.

And cited Kenya, saying, “MPs in Kenya used to go through this until they had their constitutional reforms in 2010 and made MPs agents of development.

And argued that when President Akufo-Addo’s government introduced the one million one constituency policy, the proper entity to administer that fund was the MP,  “so that you run a skeletal office, you then implement the project, you are then audited like any other entity, and when the audit is fine you are allocated funds at the end of the year then you continue because the expectation of the people have shifted from Assemblies”.

And added that, constituents see the MP as ‘bringer’ of hope for development, and elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) would not change the whole idea of seeing the MP as a development agent.

“Our people see the MP as the focal point because, MPs understand the dynamics of the localities properly, his/her political umbilical cord is directly link to the welfare of the people, when someone is sick and admitted they call the MP, when people go to farm and water separate their foot path they call the MP for a small bridge, when people want tractors to plough their farms, they call the MP so it’s the MP the MP and the MP”.

 The South Dayi lawmaker emphasized that, to respond to the needs of Ghanaians, MPs needs to be resourced properly to be able to deliver on their mandate, “these things have become part of our mandate”, he stated.

Again, if you are MP you can stay in parliament, “if you like do not go to your constituency to do some of these things all your articulation and advocacy on the floor would come to not, in the other way let an MP stay in the constituency and have the resources throughout the year let parliament be marking him absent, if the people vote, they would still bring the MP back to parliament, despite the fact that he does not sit in parliament as he/she is supposed to be, that is the reality on the ground”, he emphasized.

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Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Rt. Hon Sidie Mohamed Tunis has condemned the wave of insurgency, terrorist attack and kidnaping that is sweeping the West African sub-region.

He empathized with the people of Burkina Faso who have fallen victim to the wave of insurgency, terrorist attacks and kidnapping occurring in the region and appealed to the perpetrators to cease forthwith, all forms of violence and destruction of human lives with properties for they serve no purpose nor produce gain.

Second Deputy Speaker Malam Chalbou Boucary delivered the speech on behalf of the Rt. Hon speaker at the opening of a delocalised meeting in Burkina Faso on the theme, “cryptocurrency as a facilitator of Community Trade in West Africa”.

For joint Committee on Administration, Finance and Budget, Macroeconomics Policy and Economic Research, Public Account and Trade Customs and Free Movement.

He pointed out that the conduct of kidnapping, terrorist attacks derail a country and the sub-region from the enormous responsibility of development that stands to be beneficial for all and sundry.

“I wish to encourage the security apparatus put in place by the Government, whose mandate is to defend the populace and the Burkinabe territory, to remain steadfast even in the face of many adversaries”.

He further assured Burkina Faso that the community stands in solidarity against all menace to regional peace and security and remain determined to stamp out all terrorist cells in existence in the region.

And lauded the hospitality of the people of Burkina Faso who he described as “Land of incorruptible men”, for graciously willing to once again play host to the activity of the Parliament. He recalled with nostalgia, the August 2019 meeting hosted by Burkina Faso whereby the government put maximum effort at ensuring the community Parliament was well received, taken care of, and holds its deliberations in comfort and ease.

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It came to light when the Ministry of Education appeared before the Public Account Committee on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 that three officials at the Ministry’s Treasury including then Deputy Education Minister, Elizabeth Amoah Tetteh between 2014 and 2017 failed to hand over their official vehicles when they separated from the Ministry.

Also, ten new laptops could not be accounted for at Bechem District GES office, while at Adidome GES Office, two Mitsubishi Pick-Up vehicles were sold by auction for GHS 1,900 without any vital document to determine whether or not the vehicles should be sold and without inspection by the State Transport Company (STC).

There were also unsupported payments totaling GHS 432.800 uncovered at 16 District offices while tenants on the premises of two institutions defaulted in their rent payment ranging between 24 and 76 months to the tune of GHS 18,030.00.

 The Report further noted that 43 separated staff were paid unearned salary of GHS 215,977.95 while 137 private schools operating within the Ga South Municipal Education Office defaulted in paying their license fees amounting to GHS 32,280.00.

In his remarks, the PAC Chairman James Klutse Avedzi said the Committee will submit its recommendations to the House and recommend sanctions for MDAs that failed to account for public funds and public officials that refused to account for public funds at their disposal for them to be shown the way out of office.

 He said one of the major responsibilities of PAC is to hold the MDAs to account since whoever is given the responsibility and the trust of running any agency with public funds must be accountable to Parliament on behalf of the people.

 The Committee, he emphasized, will insist that any public servant or civil servant that is given public funds for public good and has questions to answer and refuse to answer satisfactorily should have no business being in government.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Judicial Service and the Ministry of Education (MOE) together with its agency, the Ghana Education Service (GES) on Tuesday July 06, 2021 appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to account for public funds at their disposal in respect of the Auditor-General’s Report on their finances for the year ended 31st December, 2017.

They took turns to answer questions on what was described by the Auditor-General as poor accounting and weak control systems in these Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) leading to loss of state funds.

PAC queried them for incessant violation of extant rules including non-retirement of personal advances within the financial year and grant of cash advances above approved limits.

The exercise among its various objectives of scrutinizing public expenditure was aimed at mobilizing public opinion to produce a change in attitude towards the spending of public funds and to ensure that public spending produce value for money.

The Committee sitting in Parliament House uncovered a pattern of consistent contravention of relevant constitutional provisions and other financial regulations in the various MDAs by public officials.

Other violations include uncooperative attitude towards Auditors, extra-budgetary expenditures without approval, and withdrawals of funds from accounts for purposes other than the funds were created and without recourse to the Financial Administration Regulations 2004.

The Committee noted that most MDAs do not adhere to the established accounting mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency sent to them by the Office of the Accountant-General, hence the need to go ahead and check the accounting systems established in most of these agencies.

 The Committee, therefore, underscored the need for the Auditor-General to strengthen and streamline the audit process with a view to ensuring prudence in public finance and transactions.

 Officials from the Judicial Service were queried on unaccounted deposit of 46,650 euros at Tema High Court and their failure to present Bank Statements for the confirmation of revenue lodged amounting to GHS 357,940 to the Auditors.

 Another infraction uncovered was the ineffective control of Value Books at Weija District Magistrate Court which irregularities were attributed to Management’s failure to supervise the activities of the Registrar.

The officials were also cited for excess retention of Internally Generated Funds totaling GHS 285,250 at Offinso District and Tarkwa High Courts and their failure to charge interest on delayed Transfer of Revenue by Zenith Bank to the tune of GHS 3,854,718.07.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu presiding over sitting on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 has directed the Finance Committee of Parliament to be joined by the leadership of the Committees of Trade and Industry, and Works and Housing to investigate the basis for the escalating prices of building materials, and related matters.

The Committee has four weeks (one Month) to present its report to the House.

The Speaker’s directive follows a statement made on the floor of the House by the Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng on escalating prices of building materials in recent times without any just cause.

According to him, it is difficult to find any justification for the price hikes especially when the 2021 Budget Statement and Economic Policy does not impose taxes and levies on building materials. “The price hikes for these items predates the recent taxes this parliament approves as part of the 2021 budget statement and economic policy”.

Mr. Kwarteng’s observation and worry was duly corroborated by other contributors on the issue and his appeal for investigation on the matter was backed by leadership of both sides of the House.

The Majority Leader and Leader of Government business, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu speaking on the issue indicated that this is of urgent public importance hence should not be trivialized

“Mr. Speaker, why it is very serious is that, well, for now we are in the business of counting the number of houses in this country, the projection all these while has been that the deficit of housing is in the region of between 1.5 million and 2 million, we are not too sure of what the exact figure is”.

“The point however remains that demands for housing outstrip supply in this country and that is the reason why rent is so high, so we need to bridge the gap, and if in the attempt to bridge the gap we are confronted with this situation, them Mr. Speaker as a nation we must sit up and analyze the situation”, the Majority Leader stated.

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Recent hikes in building materials in the country that has been a cause of worry to most Ghanaians has generated debate on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

This follows a statement made on the floor by the Obuasi West Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku Kwarteng expressing worry on how prices of building materials including cement, iron rode among others have suddenly frog leaped without government introducing any new taxes to that effect

According to him, “in recent times there have been an unusual price hikes of these items on the market which has understandably provoked complains from industry operators and consumers in my constituency in Obuasi West, and the entire construction industry in the country.

He noted that these price developments have triggered further hikes in building related services such as excavation, drilling, tilling among others. “Indeed, I have heard complaints that even water supply to construction sites and construction labour have all become unusually more expensive.

And added that it is difficult to figure out the source of these price hikes stating that “we know that parliament has not passed any law that could have added any tax or levy to the prices of these items. The price hikes for these items predates the recent taxes this parliament approves as part of the 2021 budget statement and economic policy”.

He said the development is strange and must be frontally addressed. “We need to change this for the sake of the construction industry, but more importantly, we need to get to the bottom of this disturbing development to ensure it doesn’t spread to other commodities and other industries on the market.

He thus appealed to the Speaker to task the relevant Committee to investigate the cause and possible solution to the development.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson, also a member of the Finance Committee in supporting the statement made by the Obuasi West MP believes that Ghana as a free-market economy where prices of goods and services are determined by market forces depending on demand and supply, it is possible that the phenomenon is driven by demand and supply.

He, however, added his voice to the call for deeper interrogation into the actual cause of the price hikes, indicating that, “because clearly, if indeed this is artificially done, then it has a negative impact on the Ghanaian economy, because people’s disposal income that are supposed to be used for construction obviously are being used to pay for arbitrary prices”.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

A former member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, who represented Ghana, Clement Kofi Humado is questioning if the sub-regional Community is abandoning ECO in favor of cryptocurrency as it is high on the agenda for discussion at a delocalised meeting in Burkina Faso.

He further questioned if cryptocurrency is up for discussion because it has found its way into the financial market in ECOWAS and “we want to see what the advantages and disadvantages are”.

According to him he had listen to a BBC and CNN programme on cryptocurrency and he is aware it is one of the main causes of money laundry globally; “people are able to launder money virtually from one country to the other.”

“Sometimes they bypass the central banks and run their own business, so if this issue has to be discussed at Burkina Faso, I think the issue of ECO should also come up and should be run alongside the cryptocurrency, and focus on the implication of the cryptocurrency on money laundering in West Africa”.

He cautioned that these days, because of terrorist activities of extremist jihadist, they can use the cryptocurrency to fund themselves by, bypassing the central bank and do whatever they want to do and this should also be focused on during the discussion in Burkina Faso.

In an interview on the five days delocalised meeting, he pointed out that he was surprised to hear that the ECOWAS Parliament is discussing the issue of cryptocurrency at its delocalised meeting, “not really that it is out of place, but I thought that our initial focus was on the ECO currency which should by now be in use by the 15 member countries in ECOWAS”.

 Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com