Author: Akumaa GhanaMPs

The Member of Parliament for Obuasi West in the Ashanti Region, Kwaku Kwarteng has given Eden Micro-Finance ultimatum to settle all customers in Obuasi who want to withdraw their deposits and savings or face legal action.

The ultimatum was contained in a letter dated 19th August 2013 written to Eden Micro-Finance. It followed a public meeting the Member of Parliament had with affected persons at the Obuasi Central Market.

Mr. Kwarteng notes in his letter that, “As a Member of Parliament, the sight of people wailing because many months of savings or deposits cannot be accessed for the purpose their petty trading or payment of school fees is extremely worrying.”

If the ultimatum is anything to go by, then Eden Micro-Finance will meet the Member of Parliament and the affected persons in court next Monday unless Eden gives a clear date on which they will make all outstanding payments. Please find attached a copy of the letter.

See below the letter from Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng wrote to the management of Eden Micro-Finance:

19th August 2013
Branch Manager Eden Micro-Finance Ltd Obuasi
Dear Sir,

CUSTOMERS’ INABILITY TO ACCESS THEIR SAVINGS AND DEPOSITS
I write in respect of the inability of some residents of Obuasi to withdraw savings and deposits they have made with Eden Micro-Finance. Many of the affected persons have suffered this problem since April of this year.

I have had discussion with the staff at your office about this matter and appreciate the natural difficulty a financial institution could have if many of their depositors applied to withdraw their deposits or savings at the same time. However, four (4) months should have been enough time to mobilise the required funds and to settle the affected depositors. With due respect, the continued explanation by your bank that the deposits and savings have been invested and will take time to mature is no longer convincing or acceptable.

As a Member of Parliament, the sight of people wailing because many months of savings or deposits cannot be accessed for the purpose their petty trading or payment of school fees is extremely worrying.

May I therefore suggest that, within seven (7) days from the date of this letter, you give us a clear and acceptable date on which the affected persons will be paid their monies. Should this problem continue, we will have no choice but to invite the law courts to determine the matter, and to impose the necessary remedies.

We look forward to a speedy response these concerns.
Kwaku Kwarteng
(MP, Obuasi West Constituency)

Peace has finally returned to Bimpongagya, a suburb of Twifo Praso in the Central Region week after a spar between the Twifo Praso Divisional police command and the some youth of the community after the police had gone to clamp down illegal miners in the area.

An eyewitness who gave account on what happened that fateful day said illegal miners tried to swim across the Pra River upon seeing the police approach, and in the process one of miners was shot by the police while another drowned when trying to escape.

He continued that bodies of the deceased were later washed to the banks of the river alleging that some of the youth took the dead bodies to the Twifo Praso Police Station and upon their arrival ransacked the police station, destroying documents and other valuables in the process and further attempted to burn down the police station.

In a follow-up interview with Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Samuel Ato Amoah confirmed that calm has been restored in the area, after bodies of the deceased were sent to the hospital for autopsy.

He said meetings have been held with families of the deceased and had all agreed to wait for the autopsy report before any further actions are taken.

Hon. Ato Amoah took the opportunity to advise “galamsey” youth who operate in the Prah River without permit to desist from the act since their waste toxin were polluting the only source of water to some indigenes.

The MP further noted that personnel from the Ghana Police Service and government’s special taskforce will continue to hunt illegal galamsey operators in the area.

Emmanuel Frimpong Mensah/GhanaMPs.gov.gh

In a bid to improve the quality of health delivery in the South Dayi District, Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Hon. Edem Asimah has constructed nurses’ quarters for the Peki government hospital to house the health workers who work at the facility.

The facility which is soon to be handed over to the hospital authorities is worth GHC 90,000 and was built with proceeds from the MPs share of his National Health Insurance Scheme fund.

Speaking to Ghanamps.gov.gh, Hon. Edem Asimah stated that his decision to provide the nurses with accommodation follow an appeal by the Doctor in charge of the hospital, Dr. Kumi who expressed concern over the lack of residential facilities for his nursing staff.

According to the MP, the lack of bungalows for the nurses created a situation where some of the health workers declined posting to the Peki hospital, a development that negatively affected the development of quality health delivery in the area.

He was confident that with the provision of their place of abode, the nurses will not worry themselves about where to lay their heads but will rather discharge their duties efficiently.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu has criticised government for choosing to give a prompt response to the warning issued by the U.S Embassy to its citizens ahead of the Supreme Court judgment on the election petition, while hounding Pastor Mensah Otabil for expressing same sentiments.

According to Ms. Ursula Owusu, the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, Pastor Mensah Otabil cautioned Ghanaians over what he felt could be a potential violence after the judgement on the Election Petition is announced but that he was virtually ignored by government in some cases criticised.

The Pastor in early July, told his congregation that he sensed evil befalling Ghana within the month of August if Christians do not wake up and pray for the country. He subsequently led his congregation in a passionate prayer for Ghana, after which he made even more passionate and positive declarations about the destiny of the country.

The U.S Embassy on Monday, August 19, 2013, advised U.S nationals to avoid the offices of political parties, Ghana’s Supreme Court, the buildings of other institutions associated with the elections, and all political rallies.

However government, while agreeing that the US government reserves “the right to take any step that they deem will be beneficial to their citizens”, said there is no cause for alarm.

Minister for the Interior, Kwesi Awhoi said Badwam on Adom TV Tuesday, the release was just to caution its citizens over places they should avoid just as the Ghana Police Service did earlier.

The New Patriotic Party MP has described as hypocritical government’s decision to swiftly react to the release from the U.S Embassy and also assure everybody in the country that there will be peace after the August 29 judgement by the Supreme Court.

Speaking in reaction to Mr. Awhoi’s comments on the programme Ms. Owusu said, there was no difference in the sentiments expressed by Pastor Otabil and the release issued by the U.S Embassy.

She accused government of being selective by offering detailed explanation to the U.S Embassy’s release, while members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) abused and insulted the Pastor for alerting the nation by making same comments.

Adom TV

Former Education Minister and current Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga has said that government’s decision to end the payment of teacher trainee allowances has nothing to do with “the present financial circumstances of our country.”

He was however quick to add that the decision in no way suggests that “government is broke in anyway. Government is not broke, there are challenges here and there but it’s not an indication of a country being broke.”

Teachers and some sections of the general public have criticized government for making attempts to stop the payment of allowances to teacher trainees in the various training colleges across the country.

According to them, most teacher trainees rely solely on the money to pay their fees therefore; ending payment will adversely affect them.

The President, John Mahama has explained that the decision stems from the fact that government cannot maintain the monthly payment because does not have the financial capacity to maintain the allowances.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, the former Education Minister explained that government instituted the allowances as a means of attracting people into the teaching field.

Mr. Ayariga also mentioned that scrapping the allowances will also increase access and “equalize the platform that everybody in the tertiary institution be moved to the loan scheme.”

In a related development, Deputy Education Minister in charge of tertiary education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa clarified that government intends to attract persons with genuine interest in the teaching filed hence, the decision.

“We will now be able to attract people who are genuinely interested in teaching, who have the desire to teach.”

Mr. Ablakwa also stated that the withdrawal of the allowances will help solve some of the challenges being faced in the education sector.

“Teachers not showing interest, some of the absenting themselves and the higher attrition, the least opportunity, they want to leave and go into other profession, we will be addressing this because we will be attracting people who have the genuine interest, the desire to teach and not because there is some allowance somewhere.”

citifmonline.com

Member of Parliament for Weija/Gbawe in the Greater Accra Region, Rosemond Comfort Abora has set out to repair roads in the constituency which are unmotorable to make travelling more easily for passengers.

Some of the roads are in such deplorable state that drivers hesitate in plying those particular roads for fear of the vehicle parts being damaged and in the process creating a lot of discomfort for commuters.

This development led to the constituents calling on the Member of Parliament for the area and the Ga South District Assembly to come to their aid in getting the roads back in good condition.

In an interview, Hon. Comfort Abora stated that feeling very touched by the plight of both drivers and passengers; she has secured a grader which has been working on the poor roads in the past one week.

She said she is personally supervising repair works being done on poor roads in Mallam, CP junction, Faith Montessori and C. Conney arrears among others, adding that other such deplorable roads will see a face lift in due course.

Hon. Comfort Abora stated that though it is not the primary responsibility of an MP to construct roads and other related activities, she really empathizes with the concerns expressed by the constituents hence her commitment to ensuring that these roads are fixed in earnest.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyire, Frank Annoh Dompreh has said the continues refusal by government to publish the much talked about GYEEDA investigative report is a conscious effort to protect certain high ranking officials in government.

He wondered what was in this report that has held back government from publicising the document despite several calls by civil society groups and other political activist who have the findings made public.

The report which was presented to the President about two months ago recommended the abrogation of contracts between government on one hand and Zoomlion, RLG Communications and Goodwill International Group on the other hand, and it also referred a number of GYEEDA officials to the Attorney-General for prosecution

President John Mahama has placed on record that the supposed GYEEDA report in circulation is not what is in possession of government.

Government’s reticent attitude about the report has got critics raises suspicions of government’s intentions to protect the suspects named in the report.

Speaking on e.tv Ghana’s Breakfast TV show on Wednesday, Hon. Frank Annor Dompreh stated that Ghanaians cannot wait to have the full details of the report which is believed to be laden with corruption.

‘’Are you telling me that when you publish this document the whole presidency will grind to a halt? What is there in that report, they keep telling us they are going to study it, can’t we Ghanaians also study it, is it a secret document, and then they come and tell us they have formed another committee to make recommendation on the previous committee’s work, this is laughable we don’t even know who are members of this new committee, the only person we know is P.V. Obeng and no one else’’ he lamented.

Hon. Annoh Dompreh challenged President Mahama to refer the report to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament if the government has not got anything to hide, and that is when the rot in this investigation will come for all Ghanaians to see.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

Six communities within the Kintampo South Constituency will very soon be connected to the national power grid to offer them the opportunity to also enjoy all the benefits that comes along with such facilities.

The project which was funded by the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Yaw Effa-Baafi is aimed at creating an enabling environment to boost the economic status of residents in those communities.

The project will to a large extent help improve on security as streetlights would also be installed as well as development projects to help the those communities to rock shoulders with other developed areas.

Hon. Effa-Baafi in making the information know to Ghanamps.gov.gh promised to initiate more of such projects to enable them to also have a fair share of the national cake.

Hon. Effa-Baafi recently completed a new Out-Patient-Department (OPD) for the Kintampo South District Hospital at Jema, the District Capital.

Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/Ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Sissala East Hon. Suleimana Aligata Gbentie has donated medical equipment to some Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds in her constituency.

The items which include weighing scales, Sugar testing machines, Blood pressure monitors and a 21inch Television set is worth about GHC 23,000 were presented to the health facilities in Ting, Nwanduomu, Wolombele, Wuru, Santijan and Bawiesebelle.

Speaking to Ghanamps.gov.gh, Hon. Alijata Gbetie stated that her decision to donate these items is born out of her commitment to improving the level of health care in the area.

She said her kind gesture came as a great relief for the health staff as the lacked these basic medical equipment which should be common to any health facility worth it sort.

Hon. Alijata Gbentie who is also the former District Chief Executive for the area noted that she was surprised to know that the absence of these equipment resulted in the situation where patients were either under prescribed with medication or over prescribed.

She noted that this unfortunate practice could negatively affect the health conditions of the constituents hence her donation to the facilities to improve the situation.

Hon. Alijata Gbentie emphasized her commitment to ensuring an improvement in the quality of health services rendered to the residents, adding that Sissala East cannot develop without a healthy people.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh