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The Parliament of Ghana on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 approved a loan facility of One Hundred and Thirty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Ninety-Six Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighteen Euros and Thirty-Eight Cents (€135,396,518.38) for the design and construction of phase 1 of the Suame interchange and ancillary works project at Kumasi.

The House in accordance with article 181 of the 1992 Constitution approved by resolution, the

i. Buyer’s Credit Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Finance) and Deutsche Bank S.A.E. (as Arranger, Structuring Bank Mandated Lead Arranger and Agent) for an amount of One Hundred and Thirty-five Million, Three Hundred and Ninety-Six Thousand, Five Hundred and Eighteen Euros and Thirty-Eight Cents (C135,396 518.38) [supported by a CESCE Insurance Premium] to finance the Design and construction of Phase 1 of the Suame Interchange and Ancillary Works Project at Kumasi, Republic of Ghana.
ii.  Commercial Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Finance) and Deutsche Bank S.A.E. (as Arranger, Structuring Bank, Mandated Lead Arranger and Agent) for an amount of Twenty-One Million Euros (€21,000,000.00) to finance the Design and Construction of Phase 1 of the Suame Interchange and Ancillary Works Project at Kumasi.

SCOPE OF WORKS

The Suame Interchange is made up of a 4-Tier interchange with the following functional characteristics:
I.  First Tier – This is a roundabout at the ground level. It caters for left and U-turns movements.

II. Second Tier – This level is for through movement from Kejetia towards Offinso and also caters for movement from Kejetia to Mampong.

III. Third Tier – This tier, provides for movement for movement from PV Obeng Road towatds Western  by-pass and PV Obeng Road towards Offinso Road.

IV.  Fourth Tier – This level is for movement from Offinso Road to PV Obeng Road

V. The interchange shall be 4 composite of steel and concrete structure. The beams shall be steel box girders.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for the Suame Constituency described the traffic situation in the area as bad due to poor road network and expressed optimism that the construction of the interchange and the ancillary roads would bring relieve to the travelling public.

He called on the people living in the area to bear with the inconveniences that come with the project and cooperate with the contractor to do the work.

Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had the unpleasant experience of being pelted at with sachet water and chased out of the area because of the poor road network; as such the loan approval comes as good news to everybody.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin has cautioned that investments made by the President Nana Akufo-Addo government should not be allowed to be watered down.

According to him government would be beyond aid and is focused on the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy without which parents could not afford to pay for school fees of their children.

“I stand here as MP by luck and the grace of God that took me through secondary education; if 1995 and 1997 grace was not sufficient,  I will have dropped out in my final year. It took the bursary of Paa Kwesi Nduom  which I worn which got me to register for my final exam and we talk about the many Ghanaians then and now who were in my situation and did not get any help”.

Addressing the media on Monday, July 25, 2022, he noted that many Ghanaians are benefiting from the Free SHS, without which many Ghanaian students from the hinterland will not have gained admonition to first class schools.

“I believe we must sustain Free SHS and government says it is not giving up on it. Previously, we had many of our nurses graduating who have to stay home for four and five years, and I dare any NDC MP to say we have a nurse stay home for three years; all of them have been absorbed into the system”.

And further added that there has been recruitment of security personnel’s to the newly created districts as the sector Minister provided the figures and it is for the NDC MPs to challenge it. “Again we are not comparing ourselves to their colleagues in the NDC”.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin cautioned Ghanaians not to allow themselves to be lied to as a way of returning to power, stating that it is the same NDC appointees leading them for another quest for power, “what did they do when they had the power? They are not better than us”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin has set the record straight that the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta did not come to Parliament on Monday, July 25, 2022 to see parliamentary approval in the presentation of the 2022 Mid-Year Budget review.

According to him, he already has approval on every expenditure he is making within the threshold and the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu could not attack the Finance Minister on unconstitutional conduct because the Minister was well fortified by the provision of the constitution.

In a media engagement on Monday, July 25, 2022, he noted that the Finance Minister as part of his obligation to Parliament as provided in the constitution Article 148 came to the floor and he made it clear that he was not before, “us to move for a motion, but to make a statement under the appropriation Act. We provided a celling, so once the Minister is not going outside the celling, it is proper for him to update the House”.

Anyone who would attempt to say there was a requirement for a motion to be moved may be in error. This is what he said at paragraph 82, “We concede that times are hard and things are not what we desired, but believe in the overcoming spirit of the Ghanaian people, a spirit that does not cower in the face of challenges. It is this spirit that inspires us as a Government to provide the leadership that is required”.

According to him, the NPP government upon assumption of office took immediate steps to implement without delay every single intervention programme it promise while in opposition. In doing so government is not attempt to increase taxation, rather reviewed the taxation they inherited from the NDC government, some were reviewed downwards and some taken off completely.

E-Levy is the first major fiscal policy in terms of taxation that government introduced. “The first major, of cause someone may talk of the pollution levies; all those are minor levies but “I am saying a major levy that was introduced to address some challenges is the E-Levy”.

When the NDC was in power Ghanaians pleaded with them to reduce the electricity tariffs they could not do, and when NPP under Akufo-Addo took office electricity tariffs were reduced between 17 to 30 percent, household and cooperate institutions enjoyed rebate, bulk users enjoyed rebate, those are facts that anyone who does not like this government can attest to, he emphasised.

One macroeconomic indicator he noted that from 2017to 2019 this country was enjoying a steady growth even enjoying  a single digit inflation, then COVID-19 pandemic struck which took us all by surprise not only Ghana, the world all over,  so should NDC appointees and MP “come to you and tell you that the difficulties we are in is as a result of mismanagement it is one of the propaganda because the world over every government is complaining one way or the other”.

He said for NDC to go to IMF when there was no such crises to turn round and claim they are better managers of the economy because we  have to go to the IMF now for sustainability,  for them to support us to balance our payment means Ken Ofori Atta is incompetent is rich to say the least.

“I see the NDC posture as their usual politics as Mr. Speaker describes it is unfortunate and that we were all thinking the democracy has come this far, they will not want to reason with us by looking at the real issues. As a government we are focusing on reviving the economy that is why government is still putting in place incentive to support the economy”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Ranking Member on the Roads Committee of Parliament, Kwame Agbodza has lashed out at the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta for lying to Ghanaians when he presented different accounts to the people of Ghana with regard to the Accra-Tema Motorway Expansion project.

Mr. Agbodza at a press briefing on Monday after the presentation of the Mid-Year Budget Review said he felt very ashamed to listen to what the finance Minister had to say, stating that in 2021 the Minister said they have signed an agreement for the construction of the Accra-Tema Motorway PPP project, 31.7 kilometers. In 2022, he said they have completed the financing agreement. “Today, this finance minister is saying that they are now going through procurement; you can see the story already”, he said.

The Ranking Member did not also take it kindly with the Finance Minister when he announced the reintroduction of road tolls on the Accra-Tema Motorway after the completion of the expansion works with the view of using that to “recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors”.

“The finance minister told us that one of the reasons he cancelled the road tolls was that road toll collections ends up creating pollution in the environment. When the Speaker of Parliament told them by law they need to come to Parliament before they can cancel the tolls, they told the Speaker to go and collect the toll himself. In front of the Speaker today, he is telling us that he is bringing the tolls back”.

He asserts that “this Finance Minister is not fit for purpose. He is a disgrace. He should go and tender in his resignation. He has totally lost control of the economy and he cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything. And that is why I feel that this should be the last time he comes to Parliament”.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament is demanding that President Nana Akufo-Addo and his associate Koku Anyidoho take of their names beneath the bust erected in memory of the late President John Evan Atta Mills. According to the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, rather the name of the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills should be beneath his bust at Asomdwee Park.

“We demand that the president and his associate Koku Anyidoho do what is right and appropriate; the office of the former president is an institutional office, it goes beyond his person as far as our democracy is concerned and stays so, we will produce former presidents”.

At a press conference on Monday, July 25, 2022 the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu pointed out that Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s name is beneath his bust, same is the situation in the United States of America, late President Lincoln has his name below is bust so that anyone who visits knows that is the final resting place of Lincoln. Former President John Evans Atta Mills the third president of the fourth Republic who passed on in public service serving Ghana as its president, there is no need to have the name of the current president and his associate there, he asserts.

According to him, but for the peaceful nature of President John Mills, they will just walk in there to the park to change the name themselves, but it will not be in honour of the late president, he preached peace and he learnt peace from him otherwise. “ we will just walk there and pull the inscription currently there and put what is appropriate there, persons who visit the park must know it is the final resting place of JEA Mills, I never saw President Mills in that brown dress, we are hurt of the attempt to sow a seed of conflict and disrespect in a grieving family”.

And further noted that Sunday, July 24, 2022 marked the ten (10) years passing away of the former President, who is someone who is modest and exhibited humility and his integrity is not questionable. A dedicated public servant, he served the country well and responsibly, “we urge Ghanaians and persons in public life to learn from the Mills example; his punctuality and austerity of protecting the public purse today, we run a convoy of thirty vehicles wastage in the name of the republic”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr. Casel Ato Forson Baah  has revealed that the Government through the Bank of Ghana printed over GHC22billion between January to June 2022, without parliamentary approval. Dr. Ato Forson in a press briefing in Parliament on Monday July 25, 2022, in reaction to a statement presented by the Minister for Finance in his Mid-Year Budget Review said “the Minister for Finance and the Government had gone to the Bank of Ghana and they have encouraged the Bank of Ghana to print money worth 22billion Ghana Cedis without the knowledge of Parliament”

He said he is saddened by the revelation adding that “no wonder inflation is galloping and our reserve position is dwindling, because when you create new money out of the thin air what happens is that inflation would go up, again because it’s a new money, you would end up losing your reserves because there would be new consumptions”.

The Ranking who is also the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency expressed dismay that the finance minister failed to announce such an important factor in the financial management of the government in his statement only for him to find it in the Mid-Year Review document that 22billion and 48million Ghana cedis was printed and no one was informed about it, not even parliament.

He described the development as illegal and it is against the Bank of Ghana Act; and urged the Governor of the Bank of Ghana that he has engaged in gross illegality. He thus advised him that “in future if he is asked to print money, he should first come to parliament first before he acts. According to him, the omission by the Finance Minister to disclose the printing of the 22billion and 48million Ghana cedis renders the statement a “nullity; he should come back again and deliver a new Mid-Year Review because this is material; it is in fact pervasive for a minister to omit the fact that they have taken GHC22billion from the Central Bank is pervasive, i cannot accept it”.

According to him, the move is scandalous, and “he should have at least as part of his statement mention to us, apparently it is hidden in the appendices”, he stated. He warned that if the trend of money printing continues, he would not be surprised that we would end the year with inflation of 50%, and we would end up depleting the entire foreign reserves of our country to the extent that a time would come we may not end up getting money to take care of our major imports such as petroleum products and medicine”.

He said monetary financing is not the way to go at the time the investor community has lost hope in the economy, adding that one thing the NDC successfully removed in the year 2016 was the fact that we removed what we call fiscal dominance. “Today fiscal dominance is back in style, is back with jacket, it is back in a way that is not acceptable”.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

Minority Chief Whip Mohamed Muntaka Mubarak has lamented the practice in Ghana’s Parliament where lawmakers come to the House and they do not enter the chamber to register their names but will sit at the coffee shop.

According to him he does not want to mention names because such MPs do not even go for Committee meetings yet they will go and say they came to Parliament, “you know we have those challenges”.

“Let us have the biometric system where, when you enter through the entrance your bio is taken and the time you are leaving it is also taken and is able to record. My colleague Nitiwul was a deputy leader, when we said Committees should not sit before parliament itself sites they should wait for us to start sitting, so that they will come into the chamber when we start sitting before they go for their committee meetings, or if they start early and see the chamber has started they suspend let members come and register and go back and work to avoid “I was in a committee and mark absent”.

 And a lot of MPs want to take undue advantage of saying, ‘I have come, I am in my office, why should I be marked absent’; “come into the chamber, our standing orders says when we start and we do not have the numbers we have to close the House it is humiliating when we do not have the numbers to do business but the following day we have more than the numbers we required to do business”.

Mr. Muntaka further pointed out to the former deputy majority leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bimbilla that subsequent Speakers have ruled on the matter and there is no need going back to the same issue, because if you are not in the chamber you are marked absent.

And gave an example that he was at a Committee meeting and noticed there was work going on in the chamber, but it became necessary for him to be at the Committee meeting so he had to fill a form of absent in order not be marked absent.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament (MP) for Bimbilla Bingab Aduna Dominic Nitiwul is advocating for lawmakers who attend Committee meetings for which reason they could not attend to proceedings in the chamber to be captured as being present in votes and proceedings of the House.

According to him MPs are being chastised by their constituents for being absent in the chamber whiles in fact they were present in the House attending to business of the House which equally is parliamentary duty, but when the votes and proceedings are presented they are marked as absent.

“Does it mean that until you enter this chamber you have not come to Parliament, if I am a member of the Finance Committee and they start their work at 9:00am and I come to work and for some reason Parliament sit for thirty minutes and I am unable to come to the plenary to register?”

The former deputy majority leader, pointed out on Friday July 22, 2022 queried that “when a  lawmaker is within the premises of Parliament working, are we saying that person did not come to Parliament for that day and has not done his work for his constituent to have a problem with him?”

Mr. Dominic Nitiwul emphasised on the need to take a second look at the issue since it is becoming a problem as Ghana’s Parliament takes its tradition from the British Parliament and sometimes when one observes their parliament on television only 6 MPs are working.

And he believes there are good reasons that those who attend Committee meetings their names are captured in the votes and proceedings as present, “why can’t we allow such people to be marked present as well?”

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

The Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe said government would have to make a quick intervention to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) to enable the council conduct these year’s WASSCE.

The Ranking at a press briefing in parliament on Friday, July 22, 2022 disclosed that WAEC is cash trapped as government is yet to release money to it. He stated that as at July 1 this year, the Ministry of Education and for that matter the government of Ghana owed WAEC a total of 23million Ghana Cedis, comprising arrears of GHC7,221,755 for the conduct of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2021, as well as 15, GHC790,072 as areas for WASSE for the same year.

For this year, government is to release GHc96, 694,432.40 to WAEC for the conduct of WASSCE which starts from August 1 to September 27, 2022. But the government is yet to release any money to WAEC.
He said per their information, if WAEC is not provided at least 6million Ghana cedis before the first of August to start the practical and orals, they would be forced to postpone the examination.

Regrettably, he said the other four countries that constitute WAEC including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia have all conducted their Examination for 2022 already and what we are going to write is ‘Ghana WASSCE’. He asserts that any situation that leads to the postponement of the examination has dire consequences on the candidates.

He also expressed worry of how the invigilators, script checkers and supervisors would bring themselves to working again since they have not been paid for last year’s job done. The Minority side of the Committee therefore called on government to as a matter of urgency release money to the council to conduct the examinations.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com

The Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) foreign reserves has declined from $9.7 billion to about $7.63 billion at the close of June 2022 and not to $3bilion as contained in the Finance Committees report on the $750million Loan Facility Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as approved by parliament. The Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Kwaku Kwarteng disclosed this on the floor of the House on Friday, July 22, 2022 when he sort to correct the error as contained in the Finance Committee’s Report for the Approval of the $750million AfreximBank loan.

The Chairman in a statement said “we reported that the international reserves of the Bank of Ghana had declined from US$9billion to US$3billion. Mr. Speaker, this was an error, it was an unfortunate oversight. According to the Bank of Ghana, the Gross International Reserves of the country was US$9.70 billion at the close of December 2021.

This declined to US7.68billion at the close of June 2022”.
In terms of net international reserves, he said “the country closed December 2021 with $6.08 billion. This position declined to $3.58 billion at the close of June 2022”. “Mr. Speaker, the error is regretted and I request the Clerk at Table to ensure that all the records are accordingly corrected,” he told the House, and apologized for the blunder.

The Minority however, raised strong objections at the decision of Mr Kwarteng to apologise and correct the earlier figures contained in the Finance Committee’s report. The Minority questioned the integrity of the entire House as it had approved the $750 million loan based on the alarming figures of the Central Bank’s reserves and the urgent need to support the 2022 budget.

Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee said he was not privy to the procedure where a statement could amend a committee’s report after the committee’s report had been adopted and subsequently approved. He said the $3 billion decline reserves that the Finance Committee’s report captured did not just surface, as it was contained in a statement from the Finance Minister during a meeting with the Committee.

“Mr Speaker, I was in that meeting and it was the Minister of Finance who made that statement and our Clerks of Parliament have responsibility to capture exactly what the minister said and the report was signed by the Chairman of the committee. I do not think it is the chairman who has to amend this figure; if for any reason the information we have on record is different from what the central bank has it is for the BoG to issue a statement to correct same if it is not same,” he stated.

Consequently, the House agreed to stand the correction down until Monday, July 25, 2022 when the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, is to appear before Parliament to present the Mid-Year Budget Statement and also confirm the data and figures as Mr. Kwarteng sought to correct.

Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com