Category: General

A former member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECWOAS) 4th Parliament representing Ghana, Clement Kofi Humado has advised governments within the West African sub-region to provide the needed support to research institutions to possible production of vaccines against the coronavirus.

Mr. Humado believes providing national diseases research centers with adequate funding would enable them go the long hall to produce vaccines to fight against COVID-19.

According to him in Ghana the Noguchi Memoria Research Center is one that could help produce vaccine to fight the pandemic, and further added that there are similar research centers in the sub-region like Senegal.

And in the case of Senegal, its research center is affiliated to similar centers in France, and pointed out in an interview that as a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, he supervised Kpong and Tamale Research Institutes produce new castle vaccine for birds and cattle.

“We have the capacity, all we need is the funding and technical assistance you can see from what has happened so far that the develop countries United States, Britain among others, they produce vaccines for their populations, they do not care about the third world so in such circumstances what do we do?”, he queried

And further added that as a sub-region, we should not fold our arms and wait until they are satisfied with their programme before they turn to us, “we would have perished, ECOWAS Parliament’s Committee on Health needs to be issuing communiques to remind the Authority of Heads of States, and also the Commission represented by West Africa Health Organisation to look at containment preparation for the future in other to safeguard the population of West Africa”.

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Ranking Member of the Public Account Committee (PAC) Kofi Okyere Agyekum has advised public officials from Ministries, Departments and Government Agencies who appear before the Committee that is currently holding public hearing to be truthful.

According to him the constitution of Ghana has impose on them a duty to ensure that the tax payers’ money is being utilised effectively for the good of Ghana as the committee is working to unravel the challenges in the system.

“If we ask a question and you do not have the answer just say so, you do not have the answer, do not try to dribble the Committee that would not work”, he admonished.

He made this remarks on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 when the following Ministries appeared before the PAC: Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Health, Transport and Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, the Auditor General’s report for the year end December 31st 2017.

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A private members  bill has been presented to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin for onward presentation to Parliament to be passed into law to criminalize activities of LGBTQ activities in the country.

Mr. Samuel Nartey George, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, and a member of the Coalition of MPs against LGBTQ+ which consists of some eight members of parliament presenting the Bill to the Speaker at a Speaker’s Prayer Breakfast Meeting on Tuesday, June 29,2021 is confident the bill against the activities of LGBTQ+ when passed into law will become a reference point for countries, and Parliaments across the world.

According to him, the bill is drafted to promote love, and not hate, but seeks to “criminalize not just the activities, but the promotion, advocacy, funding of LGBTQ+ activities and all of its forms.”

“It will therefore become criminal upon the successful passage of this bill into law for anybody to produce any promotional materials, or for any TV station to show content that supports it, anybody who wants to provide funding for LGBTQ activities, and those engaged in it”

This bill, he noted, also seeks to segment those who are engaged in it. “We’ve established clearly, homosexuality is not a human right, it is a lifestyle choice, and so we respect the human rights of homosexuality practitioners to get a free and fair trial, however, their sexual orientation and choices cannot be deemed to be a human right and this is in consonance with the 1992 Constitution”

According to Sam George, the bill actually protects practitioners from extra judicial treatments; “we believe that they must be put before a competent court to trial their case”, adding that it also provides for practitioners to have medical, psychological support for those who wants it.

“The bill is not looking to jail everybody, but it is actually a reformative tool in the hands of our courts to help people who wants to break from a lifestyle they have found themselves in”, he assured.

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Alban Sumana Bagbin, receiving the Bill commended the members of the Coalition of MPs against LGBTQ+ for their bold step to protect the sanctity of the Ghanaian society from what he described as a pandemic worse that coronavirus, in the midst of threats from various groups.

He assured all religious leaders who were heavily represented at the meeting that they would work assiduously to ensure parliament pass this Bill into law in this session or by close of this year.

He assured that the Bill is drawn in accordance with all provisions in the constitution, our laws, and international conventions, “it is a law that even those who are against it would find it difficult not to accept it.”

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Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has pledged the support of the legislature to 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHS) and has called on all citizens to participate in the national exercise.

The Speaker, who was among the first personalities to be counted in the exercise on Monday morning, said the exercise is necessary for planning, budgeting and coordination of state response to the challenges facing the development of the country.

“The population and housing census is so critical to survival – quality of life – and the development of the country. I therefore call on every body to stand up and be counted,” he said.

Speaker Bagbin said Members of Parliament (MPs) would be deployed to their various constituencies to actively participate, mobilise, educate and sensitise their constituents on the ongoing exercise.

He noted that five post-independent censuses were conducted in the country in 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010 with the last two consisting of both a population census and a housing census making the 2021 PHC the third Population and Housing Census to be conducted in the country.

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A delegation from the Ahmadiyya Mission has called on Speaker Bagbin at the Parliament House in Accra.

The delegation, led by its Amir and Overseer, had conversations with the Speaker and some MPs on maintaining peace in the face of religious diversity and growing youth unemployment.

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The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban. S. K Bagbin has expressed his support to calls for the creation of an institutional memory bank to help enhance the transfer of knowledge in the public service.

He said there is a pressing need for state institutions to create a common platform where present and retired public officials could share knowledge and transfer experiences.

The Speaker was addressing executives of the Ex-Parliamentary Service Staff Association of Ghana (EPSSAG) when they called on him in parliament  on  Friday.

The leadership of EPSSAG called on the Speaker to remind him of a commitment that was made by his predecessor, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye to allocate office accommodation that will serve as a secretariat for the Association.

Chairperson of the Association, Ms. Lillian Bruce-Lyle who spoke on behalf of the group appealed to Speaker Bagbin to assist them to address critical concerns bothering on welfare and health needs.

That, she said, will ease the burden that is mostly associated with old age.

Ms. Bruce-Lyle urged the Speaker to support the association’s effort at creating an income-generating venture that will cushion the work of the association and its members.

The Rt. Hon. Speaker for his part urged the group to ensure its members take advantage of the opportunity offered them to visit the Parliament’s Medical Centre for regular check-ups.

He said the centre can now boast of critical equipment to address some of their health challenges.

He assured them of his willingness to engage with the relevant departments to see to it that an office accommodation is made available to support their work.

He urged them to develop programmes and activities that will bring both retired and serving staff together to share ideas on the need to ensure harmony in their work as parliamentary service staff.

Speaker Bagbin used the occasion to advise serving staff particularly directors to endeavor to soften their hold on what he describes as undefined sources of power as the subordinate staffs they mishandle today may become the directors of tomorrow.

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The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sat on Friday, June 25, 2021 to consider the Auditor-General’s Reports of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the year ended 31st December 2017 which were referred to it for consideration.

Ministries of Communication, Lands and Natural Resources, and Works and Housing took turns to answer questions on what was described as poor accounting and weak control systems in these Ministries leading to loss of state funds.

When some institutions under these ministries appeared before the PAC to respond to queries in the Auditor-General’s Report of 2017, it was established that poor financial management and improper record-keeping remained a hurdle to be cleared to ensure the judicious use of public resources.

While some of these institutions failed to ensure best corporate practices to prevent waste, weak accounting systems in others paved the way for some officials to misappropriate funds.

The institutions that appeared before the PAC are the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Department of Urban Roads, and Department of Feeder Roads-Takoradi-in the Western Region.

The rests are Lands Commission-Wa (Upper West Region), Regional Lands Commission (Cape Coast) and the Public Works Department (PWD) Prestige and the Hydrological Services Department.

When the Ministry of Communication took its turn in the hot seat, it came to light that Internally Generated Funds (IGF) amounting to GHS 1,747,658.10 collected in 2016 was not lodged into the Public Funds Account.

It was also noted that the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT without authorisation disbursed GHS 1,344,171.29 out of the total amount of GHS 1,747,658.10 IGF collected within the period and although the Auditor-General’s Report asked the Centre to recover the misappropriated amount with interest, this has not been complied with.

Additionally, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) was also cited for withholding an amount of GHS 120,381.07 but failed to remit to Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) thereby denying the state the Amuch-needed revenue while 54 payment vouchers with a total face value of GHS 627,487.05 were not made available for review by the Auditor General.

The PAC therefore directed officials of the Ministry to provide all these 54 vouchers to the Committee by close of work Wednesday June 30, 2021 or face the necessary sanctions.

It was disclosed that Mr. Toxla Joshua, a former Technical Officer of the Lands Commission at Wa in the Upper West Region vacated post on the 13th October 2016 but continued to be paid salary until March 2017 which resulted to unearned salary of GHS 9,022.98.

The Auditor-General Report indicated that even though management advised the bank to pay the accumulated unearned salary back to Government chest, this was not done.

The officials explained that there was an arrangement between the management of the Commission and Mr. Toxla to refund the outstanding unearned salary for onward payment into the Consolidated Fund.

In another vein, the Audit Report revealed that taxes withheld from allowances paid to Committee members and temporary staff amounting to GHS 11,234.38 was not remitted to the Commissioner General of the Ghana revenue Authority (GRA).

The Report, therefore, recommended that management should remit the tax amount of GHS11,234.38 to the Commissioner-General of the GRA but this has not been complied with.

Similarly, according to the Report, examination of records disclosed that Zenith Bank charged fees totalling GHS 5,086.26 in breach of contractual obligation resulting in reduction of the non-taxable income that should have accrued to the state and recommended for a refund into NTR Account at Bank of Ghana which was also not carried out.

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The Committee therefore recommended that Mr. Isaac Yeboah Asiamah refund the said amount of GHS 6,317.10 and pay same to the Consolidated Fund failure of which he would be surcharged.

It was noted during the period under review that management failed to stop the salary of Mr Isaac Yeboah Asiamah, a former employee of the Hydrological Services Department when he vacated post resulting to unearned salary totaling GHS 6,317.10 over a five-month period from October 2015 to February 2016.

The Committee also urged management to stop the payment of unearned Salaries to two officers at the PWD Prestige totaling GHS 10,570.00 and ensure its recovery failure of which they would be surcharged.

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The Minority in parliament has filed a parliamentary motion for a bi-partisan probe into the procurement of the Sputnik V vaccine through an intermediary and processes leading to the award of contract to Frontiers Healthcare Services.

Government has come under heavy criticisms over attempts to procure the Sputnik V Vaccine at $19 and $26 through a third party.

At a press conference on Thursday, June 24, 2021 Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu served the last warning to government to drop the deal.

According to the Minority Leader the contract signed was not in the interest of Ghanaians and the report which would be produced by the bi-partisan probe would advise them on their next line of action.

He further pointed out that President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government is blaming COVID-19 anytime there are challenges in the country but it has benefited a lot from COVID related activities, and gave examples of the Act on presidential emergency powers, and contributions to support a fund to combat the novel coronal virus.

He lamented over why the Health Ministry should deal with a middle man to procure sputnik V vaccine at $19 instead of $10 that all countries are getting theirs. And since this is an international transaction the Minority would be waiting to hear the views of Attorney General and Minister for Justice on the matter.

“Failure to have a parliamentary approval in this transaction in itself is illegal and the Minister said he dealt with the deputy Russian Ambassador; there is not position like that, we are not convinced”.

Additionally, he pointed out that the World Health Organisation has cautioned countries against buying vaccine from middle men because of their potency and despite the cordial relation Ghana has with Russian their embassy in Ghana was not contacted to help procure the vaccine.

“Our Foreign Affairs Minister Shirly Ayorkor Botwe has let the country down and more worrying is President Nana Akufo-Addo who had occupied that same position before and under his watch we had such a thing go on, even we in the Minority have access to the Russian Embassy in Ghana”.

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The Public Account Committee of the 8^th Parliament has surcharged the Ministry of Works and Housing, Roads and Highways for failing to appear before it on Thursday, June 24, 2021 when it had its first public hearing.

According to the Chairman of the Committee Dr. James Klutse Avedzi the two Ministries would bear the cost that Parliament incurred for organising the meeting on Thursday, despite the fact that he does not know the cost, it could easily be ascertained from the accounts department of Parliament.

He further pointed out that the cost incurred by the national broadcaster Ghana Television (GTV) would be borne by the two Ministries, and directed that the two Ministries appear before them on Friday, June 25, 2021 at 2:00pm.

The Committee would sit today and the following Ministries have to appear before the Committee, Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service at 9:00am, Communication and Digitalisation midday and Lands and Natural Resources 1:00pm.

Chairman of the Committee was happy that members turn up in their numbers and believe they would do a good job in the interest of the country.

He cautioned Ministries that are supposed to appear before the Committee today that they are cloth with powers under Article 103 clause 6 of the 1992 Republican Constitution with the powers of a High Court.

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