Category: General

Chairman of the Community Parliament’s, Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr. has called for a long awaited crucial meeting at the ongoing third Extra Ordinary Session in Lome – Togo per a document sighted by Ghanamps.com to update and deal with some political situations ongoing in member states in the sub-region.

Other members of the Committee are Hon. Salifou ISSA, Hon Awaji-Inombek-Dagomie Abiante, Hon Johnson Kwaku Adu, Hon Rosa Lopes Rocha, Hon Abdoulaye Keita, Hon Ireti Heebah Kingibe and Hon Abdoulaye Vilane.

The Committee will meet delegations from four countries in Lome -Togo on Friday, September 27, 2024, later in the day.

The sub-regional countries to meet the Committee are;

• A delegation from Ghana to update the Committee on preparation of Ghana ahead of its December 7, 2024, presidential and Parliamentary elections.

• Senegal – As a result of the political situation in country; that is the dissolution of their National Assembly;
• Guinea Bissau also due to the dissolution of their National Assembly.

• An update on the roadmap to return to constitutional rule in Guinea and the ongoing mission of the ECOWAS Commission in the Member State.

High on the agenda of the Committee meeting will also be an update on the withdrawal of the three Sahel Member States (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic) and their Alliance des du Sahel (AES) confederation.

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A former Supreme Court judge of the Republic of Ghana, Justice Dotse is advocating for Ghana to have either the Presidential system of Government where the president appoints all Ministers outside Parliament or Parliamentary system where all the Ministers are from Parliament.

According to him the current hybrid where the President of the Republic of Ghana appoints majority of his Ministers from Parliament is not helping as majority of the MPs on the Majority side will do everything they can to catch the eye of the President for appointment.

He said this in an interview at a stakeholders’ consultation meeting on the validation of the Constitutional Review Commissions report of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, which is on the theme: “building consensus and promoting ownership for the review of the 1992 constitution”.

He believes that when all the Ministers are appointed outside Parliament, it will give the lawmakers the complete attention to focus on their oversight functions, like we have in America and Britain, adding that in the current hybrid system, Ministers are mostly absent when they are needed to answer questions on the floor of parliament.

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The Minority through its ranking member on Defence and Interior committee who doubles as MP for Builsa North, Mr James Agalga has condemned the deployment of the military to enforce compliance of ban on cereals at the various borders of the country.

He explained that, it is a core mandate for immigration and customs to secure our borders with respect to goods moving both inside and outside the country; therefore, it is a misplaced priority to use the military for such operations, more also where the minister failed to indicate that the enforcement task is beyond the immigration and customs.

Mr Agalga further added that, the decision of government to use the military at the various borders is a strategy to prevent Ghanaians living outside Ghana from coming to vote during December 7 elections.

He indicated that, it is a plan of the government to use the military to threaten people from coming to vote on December 7, more especially as the minister for food and agriculture, Mr Bryan Acheampong has said, the NPP won’t hand over power to the NDC.

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The Majority women caucus in Ghana’s eighth Parliament has thrown its support for Lydia Seyram Alhassan in her pursuit seeking justice as she seeks redress in a case when Mr. John Dumelo accused her of somehow involvement in the death of her late husband.

Mr Dumelo made the vile and groundless claim during a recent debate organize by TV3 in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.

At a press conference addressed by the chair of the Majority Women caucus,Patricia Appiagyei, she noted that, “this outrageous and contemptible statement is not only a vicious attack on the MP but also an insult to all women who work tirelessly to serve their communities and the nation in position of leadership”.

“We encourage her to take this matter to a court of competent jurisdiction where Mr. John Dumelo will be compelled to prove his baseless and malicious allegations, this legal action should serve as a powerful warning to anyone who attempts to slander or defame women for political gain”

“And for a public figure to so callously and recklessly malign a woman who has endured the profound loss of her spouse is both deplorable and unforgivable”.

“Does his comment also mean same for the NDC MP for Shai Osudoku, Hon Linda Obenawaa Akweley Ocloo who also became MP when her husband sadly died?”

We urge all political actors and members of the public to conduct their discourse with respect, truthfulness and decency, refraining from personal attacks that undermine our democratic process. And the progress of our democracy depends on the ability of all participants to engage in meaningful debate on ideas and policies without descending into the gutters of unfounded and disrespectful allegations, she stated.

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The Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed that a total of 1,125 houses are currently under construction for settlement of people who were displaced by the Akosombo dam spillage.

He explained that 115 houses are currently being constructed as another budget has also been approved for another 1,010 houses to get all affected people a permanent place to live.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Government Assurance Committee and MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa was not pleased with the responses from the minister since he believes, the victims of the spillage have not been treated fairly even though their issue was a national disaster.

All these comments came up when the Minister appeared before the committee to respond to questions about the spillage and what the government has done about it so far.

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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Hydrological Authority, Dr John Kissi has disclosed that the country needs five billion dollars ( $5 Billion Dollars) to address the flooding challenges in the country.

He explained that, an estimate conducted on the current flooding incidents in the country and the level of its impact, such an amount would be required to mitigate the challenge but only GHC 92 million cedis was allocated to the agency in addressing flooding for the entire country.

Also, the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said, Ghana is far behind about 15 to 20 years with respect to the kind of resilience infrastructure to contain flooding or climate change.

These comments came up when the ministry appeared before government assurance Committee to answer questions of flood in general as well as measures put in place to dredge Kpeshie Lagoon, Keta Lagoon and others.

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The Member of Parliament for North Tongu and Chairman of the Assurances Committee of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has expressed concern over lack of engagement and interface with the affected people of the Akosombo water spillage in his Constituency.

He made this statement when he appeared before the Ad- Hoc Committee set up by Parliament to Investigate the Akosombo Dam Water Spillage at its first public hearing at Justice DF Annan Auditorium in Parliament.

In furtherance, the North Tongu Legislator posits that, the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by Government to help deal with issues emanating from the spillage has not worked to his expectations, adding that, he is very disappointed in the thirteen Member Inter-Ministerial Committee; saying ‘’ we don’t know when the Committee is going to meet us, whether is still in force, they are still working, we don’t know when they are going to have their first meeting with us” he stressed.

He indicated that over twelve thousand people who lost their livelihoods due to the spillage without any compensation from government in his constituency will seek legal redress soon.

However, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Suleman Adamu Sanid, MP for Ahafo Ano North Constituency in the Ashanti Region pointed out that, he is impressed with the honest submissions from the various stakeholders who appeared before the Committee.

He said ” the witnesses have been very honest, very fair with the facts on the ground and I think we are in a position to submit a very good report to Parliament.

Mr. Suleman emphasized that the Committee is in a position to present a good report that will be acceptable to all.
The Chairman has directed that, all the water and electricity bills of the affected people living in the safe havens be paid by the District Assemblies.

The District Chief Executives have been charged to pay the bills. “These are initial recommendations that we have made, and we think that this shouldn’t wait for our report but should be acted upon as quickly as possible”
The Volta River Authority (VRA) and two more District Assemblies are also scheduled to appear before the Committee soon.

Ghanamps.com

The supervisor at the vehicle valuation unit of Customs headquarters in Accra, Mr Justice N. Magah has sounded caution to people who import vehicles into the country and refuse to use the legal means to register such vehicle to desist from such activities or else get 300 percent fine of the actual duty on the vehicle by Customs when caught up.

He explained that, anybody can bring vehicles from any county to Ghana but must take the vehicle through proper and legal means to register them at any of the customs offices within the country so as to have a peaceful mind in using vehicle.

Mr Magah refuted accusations by some vehicle importers that Custom officers usually over tax them when paying for vehicle duties. He said, most often people provide inaccurate information on their vehicles to customs especially when providing the actual date of manufacturing, people usually provide the date of first registration of the vehicle in the country of origin instead.

The supervisor, vehicle valuation unit of Customs, Mr Magah made these comments when the Ghana Revenue Authority ( GRA ) organized a workshop for the Parliamentary Press corps on the various activities of GRA and Customs and its importance to the state.

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Members of the Ghanaian Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) have been taken through a day’s workshop on Ghana’s tax system.

Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority Julie Essiam noted that the media plays a critical role in shaping public opinion and setting the agenda for public discourse, stating that organizations and individuals alike use the media as a tool in the dissemination of information.

According to her it’s on this premise that GRA is organizing this workshop for members of the parliamentary press corps to educate them on their mandate, processes and procedures to add to their body of knowledge and to help reporting devoid of distortions and misconceptions.

The challenging but engaging call to duty of reporting on the work of Parliament requires in-depth knowledge and understanding of Government and stakeholder business. Therefore, stakeholders such as the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are happy to leverage on your expertise to work effectively, he added.

Taxation, he noted, is a creature of statute, hence taxation is not based on common law or judicial decisions, rather on explicit legislative enactments. The mandate of GRA is therefore to administer various tax laws for effective revenue mobilization in order to support Government’s socio-economic development agenda.

“I want to use this opportunity to also encourage you to gain additional knowledge on how the Tax Laws operate so that you can report on tax cases from a standpoint of knowledge, clarity and confidence. Informed media reportage will put the GRA on its toes and live to its responsibilities, while the taxpayers and potential taxpayers are informed of their obligations and thereby comply with the Tax Laws”.

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The Importers & Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) has described calls from some players in the commercial shipping industry for President Nana Akufo-Addo to halt his assent of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority Law 2024 as unfounded.

According to the Association’s President, Sampson Asaki Awingobit, the law in its current form ensures that every stakeholder in the commercial shipping value chain acts responsibly and is held accountable in their operations.

For the IEAG, the law creates a more structured and regulated environment for trade, ensuring that the interests of both importers and exporters are safeguarded.

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) have expressed reservations about certain sections of the law and have asked the President to delay assenting to it until further dialogue has taken place.

However, the IEAG asserts that the new GSA law is a significant step towards enhancing transparency and efficiency within the shipping and logistics industry, and while further dialogue is needed, the assent should not be halted.
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The Association also emphasized the need for continuous engagement between the GSA and key stakeholders to ensure that the implementation of the law addresses the practical challenges faced by importers and exporters.

Furthermore, the IEAG has called for clear guidelines and support from the GSA to help businesses adapt to the new regulations, ensuring that the law does not become a barrier to trade but rather a facilitator of smoother and more efficient operations within Ghana’s trade sector.

Ghanamps.com