Category: General

As part of his Entrepreneurial and Job creation programme, Dr. Prince Hamid Armah Member of Parliament for Effia Kwesimintsim has started sponsoring over five hundred people representing twenty-five youth groups with training in cat fish farming.
The training program which was led by the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Agric Director, Mr. John Kwamena Gyimah saw the first batch of 7 youth groups successfully completing their training.
To ensure that these youth groups are successful in this venture, the MP has made available GHc 50,000 to assist the groups in the construction of their tarpaulin fish ponds, procuring of 5000 fingerlings and their feeding, among other operational expenses as they start their own cat fish farms after their training.
“Together with my ICT and Vocational training programmes previously organized where I supported 600 and 500 youth respectively in skills development, I hope this new programme will help create more jobs for the able and willing youth in my beloved constituency, and alleviate joblessness”, he said on his facebook post.
Ghanamps.com

The Community Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee is in Lome, the capital of the Republic of Togo to examine the budget of the parliament for next year 2023; they would look at personnel services, goods and materials.

The Secretary General, John Azumah who is the Administrative head of the Community, and his team would come out with a draft budget which the Ad Hoc Committee would look into line by line.

The meeting started, Wednesday, September 21, 2022 and would last until Sunday, September 25, 2022.

In a telephone interview with chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr. who is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee noted that as part of their work areas, if the Committee deems it fit to increase the budget, it would be done, and if it needs cutting down, it would be done.

“Before the process starts, the ECOWAS Commission puts forward a ceiling to us, so we have a budget circular that would tell you this year the parliament budget is say for example twenty-two million dollars, then we work within the stated amount”.

He further pointed out that, the Committee would decide on the priority areas of the stated amount, then the Committee reports that budget funding to the Extraordinary Session. “This session is referred to as the budget session of the parliament and that would be done at the upcoming session in this case in Togo, then the plenary would approve the budget.

He added that, that budget goes to the Commission and sent to the AFC, the Admin and Finance Committee, where the parliament is also represented; and that would be voted at the level of the AFC.

When it is done, it goes into the consolidate account budget of the Community, “where you now have all Community institutions budget coming together, and goes to the AFC. “When they are done with their budget then the budget in its totality comes back to the Parliament,  at that time the Parliament budget and  that of other ECOWAS Institutions like the West Africa Health organisation ( WAHO), the  Commission all of that comes back to the Parliament for the Parliament to run its opinion”.

The Parliament would invite the AFC different Commissioners to defend their budget, thereafter it goes to the Council of Ministers; when they pass, it goes to the Authority of Heads of States where the presidents meet, and when approved it becomes a working instrument for the community.

“So it is a long process, but the most significant with regards to the parliament is this Committee that formulates the budget for the ECOWAS Parliament and its operations as you may know there are three major elections next year, 2023 that of  Nigeria,  Liberia and Sierra Leone . In  my case, it has to do with Political Affairs Peace and Security,  so I am here to defend that component of the budget to ensure that the right programmes are put in place, the necessary security concerns are addressed to the budget for its implementation during 2023 programme”, he said in an interview.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

India’s High Commissioner to Ghana H. E. Ambassador Sugandh Rajaram has praised Ghana’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for his role at the just ended,  65^th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)  Conference in Canada which saw Hon Anurag Sharma, MP and member of the Lok Sabha at the Parliament of India being elected as Treasure of the Associations Executive Committee.

According to him he invited the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and his colleagues at India house mainly to celebrate the great partnership as part of the relationship between Ghana and India in the context that they voted together in the recent elections at CPA in Canada which saw Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, being elected as vice chair of the Executive Committee of CPA, “we are happy working together closely” , when he hosted the Minister to a dinner at his residence.

He further pointed in an interview on Friday, September 16, 2022 that in April this year, the Minister together with the Chief Director and the First Deputy Speaker and Minority Leader and some Members of Parliament visited India.

“It was a good opportunity for the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to be there on a study tour, to study the India Parliamentary system especially within the fact that there are few governments in the world that have democratic system of government, which has Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs”.

He added that, with the Legislature being part of the Executive where there is that kind of connection between the two arms of government, it was  a great opportunity for both sides to learn the best practices, and the experiences of each other.

The Minister and his delegation visited the Parliament of India and the Legislative Assembly of one of the Regions, and further noted that they are taking that dialogue forward, and they are discussing that with the Hon Minister and his colleagues to see how they can strengthen that dialogue more especially when they are out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Today was another occasion on how to carry that dialogue forward whiles celebrating the election of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs as vice chair and for the role he played to get our MP elected as treasure of CPA”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, on behalf of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has handed over beds and other hospital equipment to the Ga East Health Directorate for onward distribution to some selected health facilities in the Municipality.

The brief ceremony which took place in the morning was witnessed by some key officers of the Assembly and Health Directorate.

The items which included 32 beds (comprising critical beds, Std Bed Type 1 and 2 and delivery beds), 5 baby’s court, 22 bedside lockers, and 5 over bed tables, were donated by the MP, Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo.

The beneficiary health facilities are the newly opened Boi Clinic, Abokobi Health Centre, Taifa Polyclinic and Ga East Municipal Hospital.

Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, presenting the items, noted that the move formed part of the MP’s vision to help enhance quality healthcare delivery in the Municipality and Constituency.

She observed that the concerns of patrons of the various public health facilities in the Municipality have not gone unheeded to and that the Assembly, through Government, was collaboting with the Member of Parliament to ensure massive transformation in healthcare delivery services.

The Municipal Director of Health Service (MDHS), Dr. Selorm Kutsoati, receiving the items, expressed her profound gratitude to the Hon. MP and Hon. MCE for the gesture, noting that it would address one of the critical needs of the facilities as lack of beds and facilite improvement in healthcare service delivery.

Ghanamps.com

Staff of the North Gonja District Assembly on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 paid a working visit to Parliament to acquaint themselves with the workings of the House.
The group interacted with the 2nd Deputy Speaker, Hon. Andrew Asiamah and some staff from Parliament.

The Principal Assistant Clerk in charge of the Minority Secretariat, Camillo Pwamang, briefed the Assembly Members on the functions of Parliament.

The visit forms part of Parliament’s citizen engagement programme spearheaded by the Public Affairs Department.

Ghanamps.com

President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo has appointed four Justices to the Supreme Court pending parliamentary approval.

Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, made the disclosure from the Presidency when he read communications from the presidency to the House on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.

The list comprises three justices of the Court of Appeal and a Justice of the High Court.

The nominees are:

Justice Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu – Court of Appeal are,

Justice George Kingsley Koomson – Court of Appeal

Justice Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu – Court of Appeal

Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu – High Court.

Their appointments are subject to vetting and subsequent approval or rejection by Parliament.

Ghanamps.com

Less than a year since road toll collection was abolished in the country, users of the Accra-Tema motorway are to brace themselves to start paying road tolls once again after the completion of expansion works on the road. The Finance Minister Mr. Ken Ofori Atta disclosed this during the Mid-Year Budget Review in parliament on Monday, July 25, 2022. He said the decision to toll the road is to help recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors.

Mr ofori Atta speaking on Road Financing said the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MoRH) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme for road infrastructure, the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Maintain (DBFOM) Accra – Tema Motorway and Extension PPP Project (27.7km) is at the procurement stage. Site works are expected to commence in September 2022.
He said The Government of Ghana has made a strategic decision, in line with the Public Private Partnership Act, 2020 (Act 1039) to procure the Accra-Tema Motorway and Extensions Project through GIIF with a mandate to deliver a GIIF-led PPP financing solution, where maximum funds are raised from the market, but majority ownership of the project remains with GIIF on behalf of the Ghanaian Government.

“The draft Concession Agreement (CA) between GIIF and MoRH is currently under review by GIIF, MoRH, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Finance. When completed, the CA is expected to be approved by the PPP Committee, Cabinet and Parliament. The completed road will be tolled to recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors. The Government of Ghana shall provide funding through GIIF to take equity in the Special Purpose Vehicle to be created by GIIF for the project” he stated.

Road toll collection was abolished last year during the presentation of the 2022 Budget Statement with the minority accusing government of throwing good money away that could help in fiscal consolidation.

Ghanamps.com

The Mid-Year Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government and Supplementary Estimates for the 2022 Financial Year presentation to Parliament has been rescheduled to Monday, July 25, 2022 at 1:00pm.

Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, Deputy Finance Minister, speaking to the Parliamentary Press Corps, said the change in date for the presentation of the Mid-Year Budget Review from Wednesday, July 13, as earlier announced to Monday, 25th July, was necessitated by the ongoing engagement between the Government of Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Deputy Minister said the current mission of the IMF was data collection, just like doing an audit.

“So, clearly as humans as we are, we should all understand that in this data finding mission of the IMF, we need that space and time to address that and give them (the needed data), once we are done, July 25, we will come to Parliament and do the Mid-Year Budget Review,” she said.

She said per the Public Financial Management Law (Act 921), they have up to July 31 to present the mid-year review budget, so it was still within the law.

Ghanamps.com

The Ashanti caucus of Members of Parliament is to meet the President, Nana Akufo Addo to draw his attention to the number of stalled projects in the region for quick response to their completion. Flanked by his colleagues MPs from the region, Mr. Kwame Anyimedu addressing the press in parliament on Thursday, July 21, 2022 said some constituencies including Kwabre East, Bantama, Atwima Nwanbiegya North and South, Kwadaso, Asante Akim North among others are besieged with the concerns of poor road networks.
He said the poor state of the roads and other development challenges in the region is creating disaffection between the citizenry and the Members of Parliament in the region. This, he noted, found expression in the unfortunate violent reaction by the people of Suame towards their Member of Parliament and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu when he was hooted at, pelted with stones and sachet water during a visit to the area.

Though they acknoeledged that some significant works had been done in the region which they are grateful for, they said a lot needs to be done; stating that for most of the projects the contractors have not been on site and people are calling on them (MPs) to ensure the projects are completed. The Caucus highly condemned the act by the constituents, stating that it is not the case that resources were made available to Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu to use for the region and he failed to deliver.

Mr. Anyimedu assured that their discussion with the leadership of government would be centered around roads, IPEC projects, and all projects coming up under the Middle Belt Development Authority.
He expressed optimism that when these projects are completed their constituents would regain their confidence in the government. He said discussions have always been going on with respect to these projects, and it is just a matter of time for them to start seeing results.

According to him, it is not that they are looking on unconcerned, “it was just unfortunate that this Suame issue should be addressed in such a manner”. He added that the issue of the Suame interchange had been in parliament including other roads, “and yesterday parliament approved a loan to actually undertake these projects, inclusive of Konongo – Ejisu Road to be dualized”.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

The Minister for Sanitation and Waters Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 outlined measures her Ministry has taken to address water pollution in the Country.

According to her water bodies are being polluted mainly by ‘galamsey’ activities in mining areas of the country, while other non-point sources of pollution stem from improper disposal of both solid and liquid waste causing rapid growth of algae and aquatic weeds, which further affect water quality.

The Ministry’s efforts through the Water Resources Commission to address water pollution in the country include the Nationwide Water Quality Monitoring program being implemented towards data collection and information gathering to continually establish the quality status of all waters in the country and contribute to the national initiative for controlling the unregulated activities of small-scale miners (‘galamsey’).

Another measure according to the minister is the strengthening of the legislative regime relating to buffer protection and pollution control. The Buffer Zone Legislative Instrument is being drafted after completion of a nationwide consultation and the regulations should be ready by the end of the year, 2023. The development of a Water Resources Pollution Control and Effluent Discharge LI has also been initiated to regulate and improve on water quality.

The Minister emphasized that training, education and the active participation of relevant stakeholders are also complementing the enforcement. Training is targeted at relevant security personnel (especially investigators and prosecutors) on all relevant legislation; chiefs; the media; and civil society organisations, at the Regional and Basin levels on all aspects of managing water resources and the environment.

 A key intervention is the introduction of security posts in catchments that serve as water supply sources. Currently, the Weija Headworks has a permanent security post, the impacts are being monitored in order to replicate in other reservoirs.

Answering question posed by the Member of Parliament for Dormaa East Paul Apreku Twum-Barimah; she further noted that, water resources management is being implemented within a decentralised institutional framework by creating co-coordinating bodies at the River Basin level.

 So far, 6 River Basin Densu, White Volta, Ankobra, Pra, Tano Basins and the Black Volta have decentralised Secretariats and their Boards have also been set up. In addition, prioritised list of actions and measures are being implemented to address each Basin’s specific water management issues and improve the quantity and quality of the water resources. The Commission is also developing sub-Basin plans at the community level to assist in pollution control.

These notwithstanding, Mr Speaker, there is the realization to adopt and promote a Prevention Culture as the preferred option, she emphasised.

In essence, prevention of water pollution actions such as the institution of community mining by the government will help to sustain the ecological health of water bodies since water clean-up or treatment can be more complex and expensive in tackling water pollution from illegal mining in the country.

Ghanamps.com