Author: Akumaa GhanaMPs

Minority leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South Mr. Haruna Iddrisu has slammed the Northern Regional Police Command for failing to protect public service professionals caught in the midst of growing number of violent attacks on government agencies by vindictive political rivals.

He was responding to a violent attack on three state institutions in Tamale on Friday where four national service personnel were severally injured.

The NPP Kandahar Boys rampaged at the Tamale Metropolitan offices of National Health Insurance Authority and Youth Employment Agency and violently subjected workers and clients to a lockout.

Onlookers and fleeing workers who attempted to film the vandalism were attacked and their gadgets crushed.

A spokesman for the Health Insurance Scheme, Abdul Nasir was slapped while answering a query by the armed group.

They replicated same mayhem on the Youth Employment Agency offices in the Sagnarigu district changing locks and writing cold threats with charcoal on walls of the buildings.

It is the third successful attack on the agencies and public servants in the regional capital since the NPP came to power and police are still struggling to arrest the attackers despite several testimonies of victims about knowing them.

Hon. Haruna Iddrisu castigating the police inactions and lackadaisical approach to the rising insecurity fired a warning to the ruling party to have a second guess that they had monopoly over violence, and wants leadership to call their “masquerading youth to order”

“Essentially one is alarmed at the breakdown of law and order and the inability of the police in particular to protect lives and property, that certainly is very disappointing and we don’t take kindly to this development; while the NPP may have the right to rule, they have no right to disrespect the right of the people and they have no right to infringe upon workers right”

The Minority leader also implored the police to ensure the facilities were opened and operational by Monday and providing enough security to protect lives and properties of state workers and clients.

“My first call is onto the police service that they have a deputy to protect every Ghanaian citizen and every Ghanaian worker, the second call is on the New Patriotic Party leadership, President Akuffo Addo that we want to see end to the continued intimidation, molestation and harassment of our party following, that they are not taking power through a military coup d tat, this is a process that have been democratically determined we recognized their right to rule but we will not recognize their right to continue to harass and intimidate our party following”

Scores including emergency patients may be denied access to health service early tomorrow because significant number of clients turned away by the Friday’s attack came to reactivate the insurance service and would be forced to patronize the awakening ‘cash and carry’ service, metro manager of the scheme, Abdul Mohammed Salam told Kasapa News.

The Majority NPP Caucus has described as dangerous attempts by the Minority NDC to discredit the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s claim of a missing GH₵7million from the government’s treasury.

In their view, if they are to go by the explanations churned out by the Minority to refute Dr. Bawumia’s claim, they can only conclude that the immediate past NDC government lied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in securing the US$900million Economic Credit Facility.

On Tuesday, January 31, 2017, the Ghanaian Times carried out a publication claiming the Vice President’s assertion that the past government failed to disclose the existence of a certain liability worth GH₵7billion.

The Minority at a press conference on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, dismissed such claim, noting that the issue raised by Dr. Bawumia was as a result of a major initiative or reform on government contracts and expenditures which is part of the new GIFMIS project that the new administration is expected to continue implementing.

Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassel Ato Forson who addressed the press conference explained that the framework of the GIFMIS project is covered in the new Public Financial Management (PFM) Act.

But the Majority in a rebuttal at a press conference on Thursday, February 2, 2017, said should the explanation of the Minority stands; it means that they presented false data to the IMF in order to convince them to bailout Ghana from its economic mess.

“In his revelation, the Vice President made known that an amount of over GH₵7billion as arrears has been uncovered in the process of interrogating data that was made available to the government. What is deeply worrying in the revelation is that the arrears covered the period 2014 – 2016, and span the period during which negotiations of the current Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Program with the IMF begun.”

“On the face of the reality that the arrears date back to 2014, then it would suggest that when the previous administration entered into negotiations with the IMF, full disclosure of data was not made available to the Fund. Again on account that arrears for 2015 and 2016 were also not fully disclosed, then it raises further questions on the integrity of data we have been churning out over the past eight year,” Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, who addressed the NPP Majority Caucus noted.

He cautioned that the new uncovered arrears could put the overall budget deficit at 10 – 11 percent of GDP.

“Let us put this in perspective – for an economy with a size of US$41.5billion, the current deficit numbers show that in 2016 alone, our expenditures far exceeded revenues by as much as US$4billion. Who financed these expenditures? Is it the Bank of Ghana through the Banks? Is it from the US$250million that was provided UBA Bank?” Dr. Assibey-Yeboah quizzed.

He described the reaction from the Minority led by Ato Forson, a former deputy finance minister as sad and deeply worrying, noting that the position of the NDC depicts a team that is grossly unaware of the extent to which the nation’s books may have been cooked to provide false sense of good economic management and to deceive investors.

“More worrying is the fact that former deputy Minister attributed the arrears accumulation to reforms underway and the way in which data is captured. What the former deputy Minister describes as creative accounting management is unethical and dangerous,” he noted.

Minister designate for Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful says she’s turned on a new leaf in relation to her utterances, assuring that she’ll be more measured in her choice of words in her public engagements.

According to her, she’s come to the realization that she needs to pipe down, adding that she’s been a restrained person for more than a year now.

The lawyer cum politician is known to be ascerbic in her public discussion especially on radio and televison, vehemently defending her party (New Patriotic Party) and also launching scathing attacks on her political opponents.

She’s a strong woman who stands by her conviction.

At her vetting Wednesday morning in Parliament House, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu asked the nominee to give an assurance that she’s a changed person saying “are we assured of an emergence of a new Ursula…a diplomatic Ursula who’ll be guided by the tongue.”

In her response, Hon. Ursula Owusu Ekuful promised to show the public the “born again” person that she is as she goes to occupy public office as a minister.

“I think that Ursula is very much in evidence and has been for a while, at least I have had comments in that direction in the last couple of years. I think that depending on where you find yourself you should be able to adapt to changing circustances. An illustration is that you dont always have to drive in 5th gear. You need to crank up and crank down depending on the circumstances.

But I must thank the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre for opening my eyes to some of the dangers we unwittingly lead ourselves to with our actions and utterances, and tells me to step back and tone down a bit…pause a bit more before jumping into the fray. Mr Chairman I think you have to commend me on that. I think you’re seeing the improved Ursula and there will be a lot more of that in evidence, thank you.”