Month: August 2021

The nine-member ad hoc committee set up by parliament to investigate the procurement contract between the government of the Republic of Ghana and his highness sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al Maktoum and S. l. Global for the supply of Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccines has revealed that an amount of US$2,850,000.00 (representing 50% of the contract sum of US$5,700,000.00) has been paid to Messrs Al Maktoum and this translates into the Cedi equivalent of GH¢16,331,640.00 converted at the then prevailing exchange rate of US$1 to GH¢5.73.

This is contrary to what the minister told the committee when he appeared before it that he had no knowledge of any payment.

The committee also uncover non-compliance of Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution; stating that the Procurement and Supply of the Sputnik-V Covid-19 Vaccines between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the 23 Ministry of Health) and the Private Office of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, is an international Agreement, hence the Agreement required a prior Parliamentary approval to come into operation in accordance with Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution.

Other findings of the committee include:

• The Committee found that the Ministry of Health did not seek approval from the Board of PPA under Sections 40 and 41 of Act 663 before signing the Agreements. The Ministry however, applied for ratification under Section 90(3) (c) of the Act. Which has still not been granted.
• The Committee also found that PPA has not concluded its investigations into the matter.
• The Committee found that the Ministry dealt with the Private Office of His Highness Al Maktoum and S. L. Global. The two entities were appointed by the Aurugulf Health Investment (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), to be both Agents and Distributors of the Sputnik-V COVID-19 Vaccines in Ghana. Clearly using middlemen for the purchase and distribution of the vaccine.
• The Committee found that the amount of US$19.00 was the agreed price of the vaccine under the Ministry’s Agreement with Al Maktoum and US$18.50 under the Agreement with S. L. Global which was originally $26 per dose.
• The Committee found that the ex-factory price of the Sputnik-V Vaccine was US$10.00. However, the Minister explained that the prices achieved under the two Agreements included the cost of documentation, shipping, packaging, logistics and expenses in relation to transportation of the vaccine from its place of origin to Ghana.
• The Committee found that the Ministry entered into the two Agreements without cabinet approval but only based on a Ministerial decision, having regard to the advice of the COVID-19 Emergency Operating Committee.

TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT:

The committee was charged to do the following:

• To determine whether the transaction with respect to the procurement and supply of Sputnik-V COVID-19 Vaccines between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Health) and the Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum and S. L. Global qualifies as an International Business or Economic Transaction under article 181(5) of the Constitution, and if so, whether it was subjected to prior approval by Parliament;
• To determine whether the procurement process was followed and the propriety of same;
• To determine whether the services of a middle man were procured in the transaction and if so, the propriety of same having regard to the relevant laws;
• To ascertain the cost of the vaccines, the justification of the cost of the vaccine and whether the transaction guaranteed value for money for Ghana;
• To determine whether any consideration has passed from the Government of the Republic of Ghana to the middle man, the suppliers or any other person in respect of the transaction;
• To determine whether the hon. minister for Health misled Parliament during the consideration of the transaction for the procurement of the vaccine; and vii. To inquire into any other matter connected with the intended purchase and supply of the SPUTNIK-V Vaccine in the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum and S. L. Global.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Issues Relating to Article 181(5) of the Constitution

• The Committee is of the opinion that even if the situation in the country at the time the Agreement was signed, was that of an emergency, due process of law should have been followed because Parliament would have treated the issue with the urgency it deserved and the appropriate action would have been taken accordingly. The Agreement would have been taken under certificate of urgency in accordance with the Standing Orders and the practices of the House.
• The point must also be made that, even if it was an emergency, the Minister should have found time to communicate effectively and engage with the Committee on Health. The extensive engagement would have saved the Ministry from the negative reactions from the citizenry and some Members of Parliament.
• The Committee therefore recommends that, in future, any such transaction, whether local or international, be subjected to broader stakeholder consultations and should be taken through due process of law including Parliamentary approval. Other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should take a cue from the recommendation, not only in the case of Agreements but also on issues relating to policies and programmes to be implemented.

Issues relating to the Procurement Process

• The Committee found that the Ministry of Health did not seek approval from the Board of PPA under Sections 40 and 41 of Act 663 before signing the Agreements. It applied for ratification under Section 90(3) (c) of the Act. For the avoidance of doubt, Section 89(1) provides as follows ‘’The Board may appoint a person to conduct an investigation into a matter related to the conduct of procurement proceedings by a procurement entity, or the conclusion or operation of a procurement contract if it considers that an investigation is necessary or desirable to prevent, or detect a contravention of this Act’’. Section 90 of Act 663 as amended sets out the procedures on completion of an investigation caused by the Board of the Authority. Specifically, Section 90(1) provides 26 that “An investigator shall forward a copy of the investigation report to the Board”. Section 90(3) provides that “The Board shall, if satisfied that there has been a contravention of a provision of this Act or any other enactment in relation to procurement proceedings or procurement contracts, take action to rectify the contravention which action shall include
• (a) annulment of the procurement proceedings;
• (b) cancellation of the procurement contract;
• (c) ratification of anything done in relation to the proceedings; or
• (d) a declaration consistent with the relevant provisions of this Act.”

Ghanamps.com

Government has issued permit for 60,000 metric tons of yellow maize for the poultry industry.

The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Akoto Afriyie said under the Ghana CARE Obantampa program, poultry farmers would be given interest rates subsidies as support for their businesses.
Additionally, broiler farmers would have the following subsidies:
• 50 percent of cost of day-old-chicks
• 50percent of cost of vaccines
• 50percent of cost of feed for the first week of production.

The minister who was responding to a question filed by Mr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, Member of Parliament for Wa East on measures being adopted to mitigate the financial shocks occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic on the poultry industry in Ghana, however, made it clear that there wouldn’t be any consideration to extend longer terms of payment for credit facilities.

According to the minister, the CARE programme has 100billion Ghana cedis for the entire economy, hence nothing can be done again since there other sectors of the agricultural economy begging for attention.

He acknowledged that maize is a major component of poultry feed, as such the shortage high cost of maize has resulted in high production cost in recent months.

He noted that the ministry has established that traders from neighbouring countries are the main cause of shortages in the country as they took advantage of the sub-regional free movements of goods particular maize.

“The traders in recent times flooded the country to buy maize to their respective countries due to the effects of COVID pandemic on agriculture generally in the ECOWAS sub-region, Ghana has become the food basket”
“Mr. Speaker, the ECOWAS protocol allows free movements of goods and services, and therefore, the current situation calls for strategies to mitigate the demands for Ghana’s maize by our neighbours.”

The situation, he noted, was compounded by the severe drought experienced at the south during the course of 2020 season which affected production despite the massive efforts made under the planting for food and jobs programme.

And suggested the importation of maize to augment local supply to address the situation in the short to medium term. And it is in view of this that some of the companies, and poultry associations were issued the permits to import yellow maize for their work.

Unfortunately, the imported maize is yet to arrive in the country contrarily to expectations. More so, it has also been observed that maize prizes in the international market were substantially higher than what is on the local market, he added.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akoto Afriyie has indicated that currently there are no outstanding payments to be made to LBC across the country.
According to him, the delays in the payment to the LBC have been resolved, and payments have duly been honoured and no farmer is owed any money.

He explained that it has never been the case in the 48 years of cocoa purchase by the Cocobod that at the end of the season farmers or LBC are owed. However, there was a delay occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic which affected demands for cocoa beans and chocolate, and the usual sales contracts were adversely affected.

Answering question from Mr. Eric Afful, Member of Parliament for Amenfi West on the plans the Ministry has to reopen the 2021/2022 main crop season to purchase the abundance of cocoa beans which have been harvested by cocoa farmers in Ghana having regard to the exigencies of the season, the minister said the good harvest made by farmers as part of the 20/21 crop season would not be carried to 2021/2022 season, indicating that at the end of the 2020/2021 the country has made a record production of 982,864 metric tons and on a good not of no outstanding payment to be made by the Ghana Cocoa Board to the license buying companies (LBC).

He also disclosed that the new 2021/2022 cocoa season will commence on the first Friday of October 2021.

” The Ghana Cocoa Board is nearing the final stages of the ritual annual syndication process to secure funding for the 2021/2022 crop season” and assured that in due course, his ministry would engage the various stakeholders, mainly representatives of cocoa farmers, LBC, and the cocoa haulage companies to agree on producer price, buyers’ margin and haulage bricks.

He emphasized that that all these processes would be completed by end of September 2021 to usher in a new cocoa calendar year 2021/2022

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu Abdulai John Jinapor has said the Minority on the Finance Committee would demand due diligence in government’s move to reacquire its shares in the Aker Energy.

According to him the Minority, three years ago insisted that the country needs to acquire major shares in the oil block.

And on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at a Finance Committee meeting, their side indicated that some additional works have to be done for further validation and proof of the figures that have been provided. “We stand committed and we would ensure that the right thing is done”.

The Minority has made it clear to government to go back and do all those works and bring it to them for them to do further scrutiny, and they want to take every case on item-by-item basis, “we are not doing an omnibus thing”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Akoto Afriyie and Transport Minister Asiamah would today appear before the House to answer questions before going for cabinet meeting on Thursday, August 5, 2021.

The Minister for Agriculture has eleven (11) questions in his name whiles the transport minister has three (3) questions in his name scheduled for today.

Majority Leader, Osei- Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu on Tuesday, sought permission from the Speaker for the two Ministers to answer their question on Thursday, if the House start at 10:00am, “I could even give an indication to the president to start cabinet meeting at midday, so that we could devote one hour to questions and answers”.

Ministers for Education and Interior are also scheduled to answer questions on Thursday.

Majority Leader indicated to the House on Tuesday that time would be made for them to also take their questions on the floor of the House.

Kwaku Sakyi-Dnaso/Ghanamps.com

The Angolan President, His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço has commended Ghana’s 8th Parliament and Speaker Rt. Hon Alban Sumana Bagbin as well as leadership of the House for being able to steer affairs of the House despite its unique nature.

He called for deeper cooperation between the two countries in building a formidable energy sector, parliamentary diplomacy and good governance.

In an address to the House on Tuesday, August 3, 202 said, “In the framework of my visit to Ghana, we have identified the fields in which our countries will implement cooperation activities, namely in oil and gas exploration, agro-livestock, tourism, culture and sectors from which we want to achieve mutually advantageous results with direct impact to improve the living conditions of our peoples”.

I am convinced that we can achieve the goals that I have alluded to by optimizing the use of the important continental mechanisms to leverage its resources and obtain tangible results within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose headquarters your country had been proudly honored to host, so as we can promote undertaking of investments and businesses to propel development.

We have now a democracy that regularly complies with its election’s cycles, with an acceptable extent of maturity, and which allows our National Assembly to address the country’s fundamental problems and concerns within a healthy and harmonious environment.

At the heart of the current political debate in Angola is the prompt Constitution amendment aimed at deepening democracy and make it more participatory and inclusive.”

He said in the course of this visit to Ghana, “I am encouraged by the desire to take a further step towards deepening our bilateral relations so that we can complement the results achieved with the visit by His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in August 2019, during which we defined a framework under which we have established a set of initiatives and actions aimed at strengthening exchanges between our countries”

In reality, he noted that the two countries possess enormous resources of various kinds, and for that very reason, huge potential for them to explore much more areas of cooperation in which “we are strong, in order to build among us as Africans solid foundations on which we can make prospect for progress and development.”

According to him, having been a parliamentarian for nearly three decades in different positions within the Angolan Parliament, mandated by his party, he has a profound understanding of the important role played by Members of Parliament as guarantors of the interests of the Ghanaian people and democracy.

I am extremely proud to be among you, former colleagues, I believe that I have come across in the past in various parliamentary forums held in our continent and around the world.

“Your country is an unmistakable example of democratic maturity and political civility, cultivated over decades in which your people demonstrated, with the dignity that characterizes them, in the process of rescuing sovereignty and independence, a unique ability to lead their destinies in a domestic context of broad national harmony”

The president noted that the democratic milestones achieved by Ghana are also the result of commitment and patriotism of important figures in the nation, of which he would like to highlight Kwame Nkrumah, who became famous in Africa and in the world for his profound dedication to the cause of Africa’s liberation and for his Pan-Africanist vision, from which many of the ideas that guide our continent today derive in the pathway of its journey to assert itself as a respected space on our planet.

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Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com