Month: June 2022

Mr. Frederick Opare Ansah, a former sixteen years New Patriotic Member of Parliament for the Suhum Constituency in the Eastern Region has announced his unwavering resolve to lead the governing party

The grassroot party man addressing the media after filing his nomination to contest the General Secretary Position of the New Patriotic Party on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 expressed confidence of the party members graving for a new direction and he is in position to steer the affairs of the party to achieve that

“Just to assure you that in the areas that I took my campaign, it is abundantly evident that the teaming base of our party is ready for massive change at the top of our party.

So I’m very confident that baring any mishap hopefully at the Accra Sports Stadium come 16th July I’m going to become your next General Secretary”, he asserted.

He has also expressed hope and confidence to successfully sail through the vetting process in order to get the green light to complete the campaign for the final task ahead in July, 2022.

“I have duly filed my nomination and the vetting venue and time I have been told that vetting for our particular category might be on Monday, and so what is left is to get vetted and hopefully sail through vetting, and hit the ground to complete what campaign is left to do”.

Profile of the man Frederick Opare Ansah

As a true party man, Hon. Opare Ansah has been instrumental in many fronts in the party.

His involvement in various by-elections including Offinso South, 24th October 2006; Fomena, 23rd January 2007; Jirapa, 7th April, 2009; Akwatia re-run, 18August 2009; Chereponi, 29 September, 2009 where key played key roles is not a secret to the rank and file of the party.

He is a sixteen-year veteran of the Parliament of Ghana representing the Suhum Constituency on the ticket of the NPP.  He served on several committees including the Finance and Business Committee of Parliament. He also served as the chairman of the select Committee on Communications in the 7th Parliament.

Also, he was a member of Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament from August 2011 to February 2020.

Indeed, his parliamentary record is of the highest service and this includes his services as the Minority Chief Whip. From August 2007 to January 2009, he served as the Deputy Minister of Communications. He has served as a consultant to the Inter Parliamentary Union on several occasions.

In parliament, he was a consensus builder and was respected by both sides of the divide. He is one of the few people to be commended by the then Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South and now His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a handwritten note on the sale of Ghana Telecom which read: “Hon Minister, that was an impressive performance. Well done.”

He has extensive experience in the telecom, political and corporate environment.

He studied his Ordinary Level at Nkawkaw Secondary, where he passed with distinction. He proceeded to pursue his Advanced Level at Presbyterian Boy’s Secondary School, Legon. He was admitted at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where he had his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Hon. Frederick Opare-Ansah has undertaken extensive training programmes alongside high-level seminars. These include; Seminar for African Telecom Managers, in Edinburgh, Scotland; Communications Policy Conference; African Telecom Summit; Lucent Solutions in Copenhagen, Denmark; EMX 2500 Operations and Maintenance, Chicago, USA; World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), Tunisia; CTO Connecting Rural Africa, Abuja, Nigeria; Global Telecom Meeting, 2007, Washington DC, USA; Giobal Symposium of Regulators, in Thailand; Regional Seminar on the Contribution of The Parliament of Sierra Leone to the Nationa! Reconciliation, Institutional Reform and Development Agenda, April 2009 — attended as IPU Resource Person; Seminar on the Contribution of Parliament to Peace and Reconciliation in Uganda, October 2009 – attended as IPU Resource Person.

On the corporate front, he has served as the Managing Director and General Manager of DiscoveyTel Ghana Limited and Third Rail Ghana Limited respectively. He has served as Technical Manager for CellTell Limited (Kasapa) and Operations Manager for Transaction Management Services. He has served as Stations Engineer and Consultant to Multimedia Broadcasting and Crystal Communications respectively.

Hon. Frederick Opare Ansah served and continues to serve on a number of boards which includes but not limited to these: Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA); Ghana ID Company; DiscoveryTel Ghana; Ristel, Guinea; Ghana Airport Company and others. In 2020/21 he was a Member and Ag. Chairman of the Council of Ghana Communications Technology University.

Ghanamps.com

As the 2022 Frist Ordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament being held in Abuja-Nigeria, takes shape in its activities, Togo, Ghana and Nigeria would on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 present their countries’ report to the plenary for debate and discussion.
It has become an annual ritual established that at every Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, there would be presentation of Country report for thorough discussion and debate at the plenary.

This presentation is made in accordance with Rule 14 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure which states: “At the beginning of each Session of Parliament, Representatives shall present a Country Report on the status of implementation of the community text and programs, particularly on the Human Rights situation and the State of Democracy and good governance in his Country”

Country reports shall be debated.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Frist Deputy Speaker of the Community Parliament, Ahmed Idris Wase on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 mounted a very strong defence of the action taken by Nigeria some time back to close its land borders due to the dumping of imported rice, smuggling of arms and old vehicle into the country. According to him as a presiding chair at the plenary he is a Nigerian citizen despite the fact that the President of the ECOWAS Commission did not categorically mention the name of Nigeria in his response to the question asked by his colleagues.

His assertion that some countries closed their land borders despite signing to the ECOWAS protocols of free movement of goods and services, “everything was pointing out to Nigeria in this discussion and I have to response as a citizen of Nigeria in my individual capacity”.
Again, he thanked President Buhari for the measures taken to end dumping of imported rice into Nigeria and even the ECOWAs protocols frowns on that. “We should tell our countries to do the right thing; Parliamentarians should not act as if one is trying to be stubborn no”. “Nigeria has not been stubborn, we have been humane and been there for our sister member states, we would be there but first as an MP I would always go with my country, in terms of obeying basic protocol rules when they are set. The basic thing is about security”.

He further pointed out in his remarks that he has had such a discussion with the Commission President on the subject matter, “do not use your front line country as a means of transporting arms into our country illegally and old used vehicles, you are aware every county has its rules and regulations. Do not bring a vehicle that is more than five years but you use your costal line to do that because you gain economic benefit to dump it on us. This is what I want the president of the Commission to know because, we want to do the right thing and ensure we respect our protocols”.

According to him as a big brother they are concerned about the stability of the sub-region and as Deputy Speaker of his country he has briefing and was privy to things, as the closure of the border hinged on security issues. “I can confirm to you we have video evidence; there were many arrest done. Within the ECWOAS protocol, yes, there is free movement of person but that does not permit you to send goods and services not produced by your country to another country but rather what is allowed is the goods and service that you produce yourself”, he emphasised.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Fourth Deputy Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Madam Adja Satu Camara Pinto of Guinea Bissau said the tension between the Executive arm of government and the Legislature led to the president dissolving Parliament. This came up on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 when the President of the Commission, Jean Claude Kassi Brou presented a report to the plenary on state of the Community. During discussions, lawmakers wanted to know about the political situation in Guinea Bissau.

When they pointed out that they did not hear the president touching on the political situation in that country, despite the fact that they have read in the news that the President H. E. Umaro Sissoco Embalo action linked to “persistent and unresolvable differences” She pointed out to her colleagues at the plenary that between 2017 and 2018 her country had a political crisis with their parliamentary system of government; their constitution gives some powers to the Executive arm of government.
“This constitution has created a lot of problem and continues to create problem, so in 2017 and 2018 there was an impasse; the constitution says the head of the Executive should come from the Parliamentary Majority but should be appointed by the President of the Republic”. For the reason of internal politics he refused and appointed somebody else not from the parliamentary Majority without consulting them. That brought about the impasse until ECOWAS adopted several measures and eventually it was in Lome Togo that they found a consensus.

So that they could have a legislative elections what a prime Minister then accepted by the president, the Parliamentary Majority, they were in Lome Togo July 2018 and went on to Legislative elections; the result came out that the Prime Minister came out of this new Majority since this was a case of repetitive crisis, the Senate said the constitution should be reviewed. Because of the tension surrounding the whole situation, then experts were proposed by the ECOWAS commission to come and revise it, but the work of the constitution is the primarily business of the country.

The experts went into Guinea Bissau and did their work but there was the need for a truce between the Executive and the Legislature, and this debate has been on going for some time; and pointed out that the above was not the only reason. “We have invested a lot to ensure that there was election in 2018, so that things can come back to normal. we wanted to find solutions to these problems which would be acceptable to the people of Guinea after all it is their country”. And the election is supposed to take place at the end of the year, up to about six months they have to support so that the election takes place under good conditions in other that the country does not go through this difficult political situation in the future.

Also as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament, she know there was a question to the president of the Commission and want to thank him for the report he gave on the situation in the Community, we are satisfied with the clarification. “Our constitution says at the dissolution of the National Assembly, the Bureau and standing Committees continue to work until a new Parliament is elected and it is after only they have been elected that the bureau and the standing committees stop working. We have been dissolved but it’s only the plenary that would not function”, she stated.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Abuja-Nigeria

A member of the Nigerian delegation to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament,  Awaji-Inombek D. Abiante said sections of his colleagues including himself were not satisfied with responses given by the President of the Commission, Jean Claude Kassi Brou when he presented the State of the Community Report to the plenary on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

the report touched on the Economy, Trade, Free Movement of people, the political situation in the sub-region. According to him he wanted further interrogation on the presentation and what should be done is to redirect the procedures, shape it, create it, and allow for comprehensive and digestive debate on these issues.

“So that when you go home, you would be satisfied and know the areas that are challenging to your own community and country. But if we keep allowing these omnibus presentations, no time to interrogate issues, we may not get the best out of the commission”, he lamented in an interview.
As to whether when MPs are elected, it would enable them have time to do the kind of interrogation he alluded to, he noted that before the election of ECOWAS MPs there are questions that should be answered. “ How do you draw the limitation to the constituencies, how do you answer the question of sovereignty, how do you implement some of the laws and legislations and opinions that you raise, how do you enforce it on member states; until these questions are properly answered it would be a chase for tomorrow”.

Again, a presentation has been made, comments have been taken, answers have been attempted, what is now left is for us to determine whether the answers actually solve the problems or go to address the problems. “It is not the question of who presented the report but the report as it was presented, this has always been the routine, it simply means parliament should do more of interrogation.

If similar reports have been presented over the time and you have not been satisfied and you have not been able to interrogate the report at plenary you should expect it to be the same”. And if they interrogate it further and discredit the ones they feel are not competent it would throw up challenge to the commission to work better.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Abuja-Nigeria

The Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has directed the Committee on Defence and Interior to visit the Islamic Senior High school at Abrepo in Kumasi where the police visited the brutality on the students on Monday, June 13, 2022. The Speaker asked the committee to visit the Regional Police Command to make in known to them that they are awaiting their report, and after the report parliament is entitled to take further action.

The Committee on Defense and Interior would also be at the school and hospital to sympathize with them and see the condition in which the victims are. According to him, it would not be prudent for parliament to institute any fresh investigation into the matter since the police is already investigating through the directive of the Inspector General of Police

He advised that security authorities should not be releasing police with live bullets in such situations.
The Speaker’s directive followed a call by the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka for the incident to be referred to the Committee on Defence and Interior as an addition to the already referred issues of police brutality that the committee was working on.

Mr. Muntaka was unhappy about the continuous unprofessionalism being exhibited by the police on ordinary citizens, and believes an independent investigation and public hearings would bring the truth out as it happened at Asawase when some seven Moslem youth were killed by the police.

About 38 students were on Monday rushed to hospitals across Kumasi when the police allegedly opened tear gas and fired live bullets through the crowd while they were demonstrating over frequent road accidents in front of the school.

The students blocked the road in front of their school in the course of their protest because according to them several calls to have a speed rump erected to control over speeding yielded no result.

Ghanamps.com

As the Community Parliament prepares to receive country reports from twelve Members States at the plenary for discussion this week, a member of the Liberian delegation, Jonathan L. Kaipay is advocating for sector experts from the ECOWAS Commission to be part of the process.

According to him there is the need for MPs to have time to debate and understand the issues concerning the sub-region where technical experts at the commission would give them their opinion.

“Plenary is a higher decision making body, Commissioner for Finance, Security should be here in the plenary when the reports are being presented. For example, when Liberia presents its report, a technical person can analyze the report, give us a bigger picture, and let us talk about it. Same with agriculture, health and the others the reports can be examined by more professional experts”.

He further added that there should be more time allocated to issues discussed at the plenary; if they have to hold people accountable. Discussion on Guinea and Mali should have a day or two allotted to it, there is nothing wrong with that, he stated.

“We would get to the point in the future where, we have an elected body that is not accountable to anybody, you are not afraid when you are going back home if your parliament is going to change you or not because you are not from the ruling party”, he lamented.

And as the Community Parliament moves towards its independence, the plenary is yet to hear from the Commission on what have been achieved so far at the start of 2022. “But I do not think we have made much progress for us to make headway”.

Also it is for the Authority of Heads of states to develop a strong political will if they say they  are putting sanction on Guinea, they need to be proactive,  “how did Guinean  get to where it is today we were in this same chamber there were reports from Guinea that the democracy there was challenged what did we do for example it is what it is,  what do we do now to be able to change democracy?”.

Senator, Jonathan L. Kaipay noted in an interview that he visited Guinea in recent times, the people there are living relatively a peaceful life, there was no harassment, he drove there spent some nights and came back.

Democracy, he said should be seen to be upholding co-existence, reconciliation; there should be tolerance.

Again, “we need full legislative powers,  if we have it then we need to exercise it and people need to be accountable to this parliament. We talk about country report, they are made, even before the report there are indicators people who visit different countries you have the Commission which is the Executive arm of government of the regional body which does the Executive work, you have people who are responsible for security, Agriculture, the different sectors; how do we demand that these people give realistic reports?”.

He again pointed out that the Commissioner on Agriculture was at the plenary to talk about his sector on the floor, “how can an MP make a contribution for just two minutes?” Parliament, needs to hold people accountable and they need to set time lines and for people to report back in actual terms.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Abuja-Nigeria

A member, of the Liberia delegation to the Community Parliament, Senator Jonathan L. Kaipay has said the Community Parliament should be concerned with the development in Guinea Bissau where the president has dissolved the Parliament of that country.

According to him it’s a dangerous move, an affront to democracy within the West African sub-region; and added that he would not be in Abuja Nigeria if his president can go and dissolve Parliament.

In an interview, he pointed out that other Heads of States within the sub-region can engage in similar act and make reference to what is happening in Guinea Bissau; “ECOWAS should concentrate on safe guarding the constitutional provision that protect the ordinary people. You cannot have the people electing their MPs and one president gets up, drinks a cup of coffee and says the rest of you guys go and sit down, that is not democracy”.

And added that it is dictatorship as democracy comes with responsibilities and consequences as the tendency of democracy should be upheld.

He was however, quick to point out that Guinea Bissau is a Portuguese speaking country, one cannot read their constitution and it is difficult to get into it, “but in my mind and understanding the tendency of democracy I think it is wrong for a sitting president to do that”.

He questioned how the President of Guinean Bissau can dissolve his cabinet at his pleasure; “how do we dissolve a parliament that was elected and you were also elected, and you are still in power?”

Mr. Jonathan L. Kaipay pointed out that these are things that spark out political tension and bring about conflict.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com/Abuja-Nigeria