The Judgement Debt Commission of Inquiry has invited Ambassador Chris Kpodo to appear at its sitting on Wednesday, December 4 over his alleged role in the controversial 2001 sale of a drill ship belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. Messrs Albert Kan-Dapaah and Kobina Tahir Hammond, Minister of Energy and Deputy Minister respectively at the time of the sale, have during their appearance at the commission’s siting, claimed the cheque for the balance of the transaction was handed to him. The transaction has been docked by controversy following denials by officials thought to have played specific roles in the sale that they were unaware of how the 24 million dollars raised from the sale to offset a judgement debt obtained by French multinational bank Société Générale, was disbursed. Also appearing before the commission on Wednesday are representatives of the Volta River Authority and one Seth Mensah Dumoga Esq. A statement by the commission said the parties have been invited to assist the Commission in its work. “However, they are also informed that they are at liberty to appear with their lawyers and also the Commission wishes to remind the general public that Public sittings would be held at 10.00 a.m. each day. “Members of the public who wish to testify or volunteer information are first to report at the Commission’s office to give their statements. The Commission will then schedule a date for them to give evidence. “All those who intend to testify or volunteer information to the Commission but are unable to be present in person are requested to submit memoranda to the Commission. All such memoranda will be treated confidentially.”  

  The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has criticised the Information Minister’s response to reports that the Presidency prevented Merchant Bank from retrieving a loan it gave to Engineers and Planners – a mining firmed owned by President John Mahama’s brother, Ibrahim Mahama. While denying Monday that the President prevented Merchant Bank from recovering its debt, the Information Minister, Mr Ayariga told Accra-based Joy FM that he was certain that Engineers and Planners would repay the loan. The remark did not go down well with Mr Pratt, who condemned the Minister for acting as a spokesman for Engineers and Planners. Speaking on Peace FM's morning show on Tuesday, Mr Pratt said the Information Minister's expression of confidence in the ability of Engineers and Planners to repay the loan created the impression that he was a communicator for the mining firm, and not the government.   He said such "petty mistakes" on the part of government communicators contribute to "the muddying of the waters”. Mr Pratt underscored the need for government communicators to distinguish between government business and private business, stressing that failure to do so would drag the government into “unnecessary controversy”. The Insight Editor also emphasised the need for Engineers and Planners to pay its debt to Merchant Bank. He said the debt represented 19.5 per cent of all debts owed the bank and wondered which organisations or individuals were responsible for the remaining 80.5 per cent. Mr Pratt said it is imperative that Merchant Bank retrieves all the monies owed it, if it is to remain viable and that, failure to retrieve those monies could lead to the collapse of the bank – a development he said would be catastrophic for Ghana’s banking sector. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) recently approved a deal for Fortiz Private Equity Fund to pay GH¢90 million for a 90 per cent stake in Merchant Bank. However, the deal is currently the subject of an ongoing court case initiated by Mr Andrew Awuni, the Executive Director of the Centre for Freedom and Accuracy (CFA).  

The Council for Technical and Vocational Education (COTVET) Project Support Unit on Monday signed a 2.5 million dollar agreement with five institutions to undertake demand driven research that would meet the needs of the private sector.   The five grantee institutions, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Council for Industrial Research, Kumasi Polytechnic, University of Ghana and Ghana Technology University College, would each receive 500,000 dollars to undertake research tailored to meet the needs of the private sector. The award was under the Ghana Skills and Technology Development Project (GSTDP) an initiative funded by the World Bank. Speaking at the occasion, Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, said the awards of the grant are in line with an objective to promote research that is tailored to the needs of Ghanaians and the private sector. He said the research was necessary to ensure the bridging of the gap between research findings in academic institutions and industry. He urged the institutions to work within the budget, time and yield quality results. Mr. Matthew Dally, the Project Coordinator and head of the COTVET Support Unit, said the component two of the GSTDP under which the grants were being awarded was to ensure the institutional strengthening of science and technology. He said this entailed the strengthening, the planning, the management, and the coordination of national science, technology and Innovation policies and programmes in order to make efficient use of resources and complement the national economic development plan. Mr Dally also pointed out that, the component being implemented by COTVET in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Science and technology innovation (MESTI), had a special focus in supporting Science and Technology institutions in order for them to emphasize on research that would lead to the development of innovative technologies. “This particular component of the GSTDP is a very good example of Inter-Ministerial collaboration between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and MESTI”, he noted. Mr Dally urged the grantees to document their good practices and lessons learnt in order for it to be disseminated for public consumption and utilisation. He finally commended the government for the initiative and the World Bank for their financial support.

Members of the African Faith Tabernacle could not believe their eyes when a GH¢2.00 note started burning in an offering bowl during church service at the weekend.      The money was given as offertory to God by an unknown church member. Commenting on the issue, Mr Ransford Kofi Benefo, the General Secretary of the church, said a similar scenario occurred last year “but it was a GH¢20.00 note which got burnt.” He said it happened during fundraising time which was led by Chief Pastor Larbi from the Koforidua Kwakyea branch of the Church. Surprisingly, the same Pastor Larbi led this year’s ‘appeal for funds’ when the similar incident occurred. According to Mr Benefo, the Church was yet to find the cause of the issue, adding that, “but in my view I think the money is bad money.” The African Faith Tabernacle held their 94th Annual convention at Anyinam in the Atiwa District, where they inaugurated a seven-unit school block.

The Government Anti-Pirated Textile Task Force yesterday reactivated its work at the 31st December Market in Accra and confiscated 1,035 pieces of pirated textiles. The textiles which were confiscated were made up of both fancy and wax prints and they would be destroyed by the task force to serve as a deterrent to others. The task force took the action following threats by workers in the textile industry to go on demonstration through some principal streets of Accra, to draw public and the government’s attention to the impact of pirated imported textiles on the industry and their jobs. The workers, who had written a letter informing the police about their planned demonstration today, had to call it off because of the assurance by the Minister of Trade and Industry that the task force would be activated. The task force was set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to clamp down on the activities of ‘pirates’ and tax evaders of textiles. The task force comprises representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ghana Revenue Authority, textile manufacturing companies and the police. Public education Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the exercise, Mr John Kwesi Amoah, a member of the task force, recalled that after the inauguration of the task force, the ministry advised that it would be prudent for the task force to educate and advise other players, especially importers and traders, about its activities before moving into action.  He said the task force invited the traders and some importers to a meeting but surprisingly only a few of them attended. After the meeting, Mr Amoah said, the task force was asked to move into action to ensure that pirated textiles were seized and destroyed. Mr Abraham Koomson, the General Secretary of the Federation of Labour, the umbrella body of workers in the textile industry, told the Daily Graphic that the current state of the textile industry was disturbing. Impact on jobs He said hitherto, the industry provided direct employment for about 30,000 workers, but due to the activities of the ‘pirates’ the labour force had been reduced to only 3000. He described as welcome news, the move by the task force and explained that Ghana could not develop by encouraging the imports of illegally copied and substandard goods. “Those financing, as well as supporting such illegal trade in any form, are providing employment for others in those countries,” he contended. In August, this year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) in collaboration with the Task Force on Pirated Textiles destroyed a total of 450 pieces of seized Ghanaian pirated textiles.

  At least 2,200 policemen are to be deployed by the Police Administration to beef up security in 11 police regions before, during and after the Christmas and New Year festivities. The police are also to organise confidence-building patrols in the form of route marches through some principal streets in all the regional capitals to assure the public of their readiness to fight crime and offer the needed security. The Director General in charge of Police Operations, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr John Kudalor, made this known when he launched the fifth edition of “Operation Father Christmas” in Accra yesterday. He said the Police Administration was committed to ensuring that Ghanaians celebrated the Yuletide in peace. In attendance were the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Mr Prosper Agblor; the Director General, Public Affairs Department, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Nenyi Ampa Benin, and the Director General of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr  Angwubutoge Awuni. The period before and during the Christmas and New Year celebrations is usually characterised by increased economic activities and heavy vehicular traffic. Such a  situation offers fertile grounds for criminals to operate and, therefore, poses a challenge to the security agencies. Aim of the operation Mr Kudalor said the aim of the operation was to assure the public that the police were poised and ready to provide the needed security in order to create the enabling environment for the celebration of the Christmas and the New Year. “It is, therefore, the ultimate responsibility of the police to make sure that the Yuletide is celebrated devoid of crime and any untoward occurrence before, during and after the celebrations by protecting lives and property, ensuring the free flow of vehicular and human traffic and arresting and prosecuting persons who will take advantage of the occasions to commit crime,” he said. The Director of Operations said the police would expand and intensify their visibility and accessibility patrol duties to all major towns throughout the country. Additionally, special jackets with individual police identification numbers embossed on them for easy identification would also be worn by the personnel, especially those of the MTTD and the Highway Patrol Unit.  

  The External Resource Mobilisation Officer of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kojo Awuah Peasah, yesterday presented to the Judgment Debt Commission in Accra copies of documents on payments made to some communities that were inundated by floods during the construction of the Akosombo Dam on the Volta Lake in the 1960s. He represented the Chief Director of the ministry, who had been subpoenaed earlier by the commission, to submit documents on the basis of compensation payments of about GH¢1,237,721 made to community members displaced by the floods which resulted from the construction of Ghana’s first hydro-electric dam. The specific documents requested by the commission were the fair valuation assessment reports from the Land Valuation Board (LVB) that constituted the basis for the payments. Mr Peasah, who was accompanied by Mr David Agbele, Legal Counsel at the Finance Ministry, however, told the commission, presided over by the Sole Commissioner, Mr Justice Yaw Apau, that those documents were not readily available and that attempts were being made to locate them. Documents presented Mr Peasah, however, tendered in documents, including a letter from the LVB written in 2004 and addressed to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, which in turn wrote to the Finance Ministry asking that the amount requested be paid to the flood victims and a list of the claimants. Explaining why the Finance ministry did not find it very important at the time to request documentation on the assessment done before payment was made, Mr Peasah said, “Once the claim was not in contention and once payment was going to be done through the LVB, we rather wrote to the Cabinet for directives, upon which the payments were made.”   According to the documents presented, communities that received payments included Pai, Makango, Krachi and Apaaso, all in the catchment area of the Volta Lake. Justice Apau said some of the payments had, in some cases, generated litigation among the recipients, with some claiming that those who had received the money were not those who should have received it. “There are some cases even in court over those who were paid some of the money,” he stated, and asked if the Ministry of Finance was aware of that. Lands Commission appears today The LVB, now the Lands Commission, which is scheduled to appear before the commission today, is expected to present the required documents. A second case involving the Registrar-General in the matter of Kojo Abban and Co., Chartered Surveyors, and Kojo Abban Enterprise, was adjourned to December 11 because representatives were not present. Writer’s email: [email protected]  

  The government is in the process of renegotiating a stability agreement with mining companies to increase the royalty that the country gets from the extractive sector. President John Dramani Mahama said the renegotiation of the stability agreement was crucial because the existing one between the government and the mining companies lasted for up to 20 years. As a result, he said, even if the prices of gold and other resources went up on the international market, the mining companies stuck to the same amount of royalty. President Mahama was speaking yesterday during a courtesy call on him by members of the Economic Commission for Africa High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. The nine-member delegation was led by a former South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki. The panel The High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa was formed, in collaboration with the African Union, in 2011, to engage with African leaders to find measures to deal with illicit financial transfers from Africa. Members are in the country for a consultation meeting on illicit financial inflows for 25 countries from West and Central Africa. The meeting is to raise awareness of the issue and come up with appropriate recommendations to deal with it. They had earlier held a consultation meeting in Tunisia for north African countries and another one in Zambia for south and east African countries. Africa has been losing $50 billion a year in the last 10 years from illicit financial inflows. The major culprits of illicit financial inflows are transnational companies. Stability agreement President Mahama noted that the competition among countries to attract investment in the extractive sector encouraged mining companies to sign the stability agreement with very low royalty for the countries. Fortunately, he said, many of the countries had now realised the harm. He said gold was a non-renewable resource, hence the need for the country to renegotiate the stability agreement to enable it to get a fair share from the resource. He said many of the companies had agreed on the renegotiation and indicated that the government was in the process of doing so. Tax break The President expressed worry that many foreign companies flouted the seven-year tax break that was given to them. For instance, he said, just before the seven years, the companies changed ownership, which meant that the country could not get any tax from them. President Mahama said the Financial Intelligence Centre which had been tracking the movement of money in the country had made some arrests, while investigations were ongoing. Besides, he said, the Bank of Ghana was monitoring illicit financial transfers. Pan African Parliament President Mahama said critical issues, such as illicit money transfers, could be best dealt with from a continental level, instead of dealing with them at the level of individual countries. He, therefore, advocated the empowering of the Pan African Parliament to pass laws that the member countries could domesticate in their respective parliaments. Thabo Mbeki In his remarks, Mr Mbeki said Africa lost a lot of capital through illicit money transfers. "If we can retain the money, it will help us address our development challenges," he said. The former South African President said it was necessary to have a close look at the issue of illicit movement of money and make recommendations on what should be done to address the issue in Africa. He underscored the need for civil society organisations to liaise with the government to deal with illicit money transfers.  

  The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, yesterday presented vocational and technical equipment worth more than GH¢850,000 to the Community Development Vocational and Technical Institute (CDVTI) in Accra. The equipment included tools for hairdressing, masonry, carpentry/joinery, catering, electricals, auto mechanics and dressmaking.  They form part of the ministry’s aim of equipping young ladies with male-dominated skills through the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project (GRSCDP). The GRSCDP, which is a four-year Government of Ghana and African Development Bank (AfDB) project, is being implemented in 59 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country. As part of the project which will elapse at the end of December 2013, 668 young girls from poor households have benefitted from skills training in masonry, plumbing, auto engineering and electricals, among others. The project is being implemented in 25 CDVTIs across the country. Mrs Oye Lithur, before presenting the items, said the GRSCDP was aimed at bridging the gender inequality gap in the area of job placements in the country.  She assured that her ministry was going to ensure that the project was extended so as to benefit more young girls from poor households. According to her, the ministry was focused on training young girls to acquire male dominated vocations so that they could take up jobs that would help improve their finances. She said her ministry was working at ensuring that it became more responsive to the needs of women, children and the vulnerable in society, adding that among some of the strategies that had been adopted included ensuring that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were more sensitive in the area of gender budgeting.  The acting Project Manager, Mrs Cathrine Bob-Milliar, in an address, said the project had chalked up a lot of successes in the delivery of its mandate. Some of the successes she said included the training of 25 staff of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in information and communication technology (ICT), as well as the provision of scholarships for eight staff of the MoGSCP, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP). The project, she said, had also provided a total of 125 computers to vocational and technical institutes in parts of the country. Mrs Bob-Milliar called on the management of the CDVTIs to ensure that they maintained the equipment well. Writer’s email: [email protected]  

  As  part of activities to mark this year’s celebration of 16-days of activism against gender-based violence, the Ark Foundation has organised a community durbar to sensitise people to the need to protect children in homes. Organised under its ‘Girl Power Project’,  the durbar was held in the East Akim municipality of the Eastern Region, under the theme, “Child Protection: The Role of the Community”, and it brought together chiefs and elders, schools, assembly members, unit committee members, churches, opinion leaders, community child protection team and members of the community to discuss issues of child protection. They also shared experiences on ways to promote and protect children at the community level. The durbar formed part of activities under the Girl Power Project (GPP), which was aimed at helping girls and young women who live in an environment where there is respect for their human rights and dignity, so they could fully participate in the social, political and economic development of society.   This year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, which is from November 25 to December 10 every year, is being celebrated on the theme, “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women.”  The theme, according to the foundation,  capitalises on the crucial importance of an all-encompassing approach to end violence against women stating that as gender-based violence happens at all levels of society, it takes a concerted effort of all members of society to end the systems that perpetuate the violence.  To ensure that the theme becomes a reality, the Ark has called on the government, communities and families to intensify actions that protect children to ensure their survival, development and active participation in society.   

  The Micro and Small Loans Scheme (MASLOC) has given out GH¢44,000 in loans to 45 queens in the Central Region to support their business ventures. The President of the Central Regional Queens Association, Nana Ama Amissah, who is the Queen of Mankessim, received the money and thanked the scheme for the support. Nana Amissah said considering the unique role queens played in society, they could not engage in menial jobs. It was based on that, she said, that they appealed to MASLOC to grant them loans that would enable them to engage in decent jobs and also enable others to expand their businesses. The Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC, Mrs Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, said the scheme needed to recover about GH¢65 million in loans owed by people to continue to sustain it.  She said although the scheme had helped to change the lives of many, there was the need to get the people to repay the loans. Mrs Attionu, who was in the Central Region for a day’s working visit, also called on the Central Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong, and held a meeting with officials of the regional office of MASLOC. She told Mr Sarpong that MASLOC would improve the supervision and monitoring of loan beneficiaries to ensure that the beneficiaries paid back the loans. Mr Sarpong promised to help ensure the effective monitoring of MASLOC-assisted projects in the region. Mrs Attionu later interacted with fishmongers at Moree and assured them that MASLOC would commit more resources to support many of them if they paid their loans promptly. The women called for the prompt disbursement of the loans to meet the fishing season to ensure that their use was maximised. The Central Regional Manager of MASLOC, Mr Peter Dadzie, assured the beneficiaries of the scheme’s support to ensure that they maximised profits.  

  Public transport  fares will not be increased, despite a three-per cent upward adjustment in fuel prices by  the government, the Greater Accra Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Mr Robert Sarbah, has said. The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) revised upwards the prices of petroleum products with effect from Sunday, December 1, 2013, but Mr Sarbah told the Daily Graphic that the recent increment did not allow the union to increase transportation fares due to a convention that transport associations had signed with the government. According to him, the convention allowed the unions to increase transport fares only when there was a fuel increase of five per cent or more. He, however, explained that if there was another fuel increase which added up to the five per cent with the present imcrease, then the union would be compelled to increase public transportation fares. The GPRTU and the Progressive Transport Owners Association  (PROTOA) are the two major road transport unions in the country. The two operate under the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council. An increase in the prices of fuel triggered an upward review of public transport fares in September this year. No increase in fares This time round, the situation is different, as commercial drivers say they have not been instructed by their leaders to increase fares.  Mr Micheal Koomson, a ‘trotro’ driver plying between the Tema Station and Kasoa and belonging to the GPTRU, indicated that he and his colleagues at the station had not been asked by their leaders to increase the fare.  He said they only complied with instructions from the leaders. He stated that the decision by the leaders for them not to increase the fare posed no financial burden on them, as the fuel increase was minimal. Mr Kassim of Tema-Station to Odorkor shared a similar view, stating that “once we have not had any directive from our leaders, we will not increase the fare”. The NPA also increased the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 11 per cent and that of kerosene by 10.99 per cent.  Gas oil, which sold at 222GP a litre, will now be 226Gp per litre.  Premix fuel, however, saw no change in price. It will still sell at 116Gp per litre.  

  The Merchant Bank may have been stopped from recovering huge debts owed it by Engineers and Planners. But in a rebuttal, the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Mahama Ayariga, said the President was not personally involved in the case nor tried to stop Merchant Bank from retrieving its debt. Engineers and Planners is owned by the President’s brother, Mr Ibrahim Mahama. “As the controversy over the sale of Merchant Bank to Fortis continues, it has emerged that the Presidency was petitioned to intervene in the matters surrounding the recovery of huge debts from Engineers and Planners, a company owned by Ibrahim Mahama,” a Joy news report has suggested. The report said lawyer for Engineers and Planners, Mr Tony Lithur, petitioned the President to intervene on the company’s behalf. Reacting to the report, Mr Ayariga stated that President Mahama’s intervention was triggered by the petition brought to government’s attention and that “President Mahama never directed the bank and its board as to what to do. He insisted that “President Mahama will not stand in the way of Merchant Bank to retrieve their money even if the person was his brother” and that his intervention was to give the parties hearing regarding the petition. Mr Ayariga explained that the firm was given the loan during Kufuor’s Administration and given five years but this was varied unilaterally to three and that the petitioners felt that it was politically motivated, hence their decision to appeal to the President.  The bank had attempted to recover a debt of $38 million from Engineers and Planners. According to the report, the bank’s board described the debt in a letter to the President, in response to Mr. Lithur’s petition as constituting 30 per cent of its 50 per cent non-performing loan portfolio. It said in that letter, the Merchant Bank Board referred to various meetings its chairperson had had with President John Mahama and his predecessor, President John Mills where they were asked on one occasion to explain to President Mahama why they refused to release funds to Engineers and Planners to meet their operational cost. After months of defaulting on its loan, Merchant Bank wrote a final letter to Mr Ibrahim Mahama on June 18, 2012 demanding repayment of a loan the company took from the bank but failed to pay on the due dates. It threatened to resort to legal action to retrieve the money if E&P failed to pay up. It said the threat probably triggered a petition to the President through the National Security Advisor by Mr. Lithur dated 4 July, 2012 and was received at the office of the President on 13 of July, 2012. Source: Joy FM