President's Whereabouts Revealed At Last!

Never went to Canada ...

Was in London to "tie up a few things" ...

NDC citing President for contempt of parliament

Members of parliament from Ghana's opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party are citing President John Kufuor for contempt of parliament for failing to explain to both parliament and to Ghanaians his whereabouts with his widely publicized, but aborted foreign trip.

The NDC claims came after a persistent refusal by the president's office to explain his whereabouts, especially as the country faces floods that threaten a loss of lives and property. The NDC concludes that President Kufuor has not only deceived parliament, but also imperiled the people of Ghana.
From the capital Accra opposition Member of Parliament Haruna Iddrisu tells reporter Peter Clottey that President Kufuor did not adhere to the country's constitution.

"Ghana is governed by the constitution, and article 59 of the constitution imposes an obligation on the president of Ghana. The president is mandated to notify the speaker of parliament in writing when he wants to leave the country. Under the standing orders of parliament, any misleading information is contemptible.

What we are aware off, the president never went to Canada, yet no official explanation has been given as to his whereabouts between the periods that he should have been in Canada, and to the extend that no official explanation have been given, and his whereabouts is unknown. We only can conclude strongly that he deceived parliament, and he deceived the people of Ghana, and that to me is contemptible," Iddrisu pointed out.

Iddrisu agreed that although there is a possibility of the president's plan suddenly changing, he is obligated by law to explain his whereabouts. "Yes, but he owes Ghanaians a duty and the standard of care in explaining his whereabouts. To the extend that he does not explain where he was, I think that one would want to cite him for contempt for giving misleading information to the speaker of parliament and to the people of Ghana," he said.

Iddrisu said the opposition party would know its next line of action to take when the president or his officials fail to respond to their request. "Our constitution is clear on it (going against the constitution), we are for now demanding an official explanation from him and from his spokes people. If he refuses, then we would know the next line of action. But we are clear in our minds that his conduct is in contempt, and a breach of the privilege of parliament," Iddrisu noted.

Meanwhile, the government has dismissed the opposition's claim as unfounded and misleading. From the capital Accra, Ghana's deputy minister for information Frank Agyekum tells reporter Peter Clottey the president's whereabouts are not clandestine. "It is true that the was an announcement that the president was supposed to go to Canada and then onwards to the UN. But what happened was that, at the last minute the trip to Canada was aborted because he was supposed to sign an agreement with the Alkan group of companies.

But the MOU (memorandum of understanding) to that wasn't finished before he set out for the trip. So when it came to his notice we thought it wasn't worth it having to do the trip anymore. The president then was in the UK in London and he took the opportunity then instead of coming back home to tie up a few things and then move on to the UN because he was supposed to address the UN," he said. Agyekum agreed that the presidency should have come out with a statement to explain the president's whereabouts, but he denies the president's whereabouts have been shrouded in secrecy.

"Yes, perhaps a statement should have been issued immediately to explain the circumstances and we regret that, that wasn't done. But that was not because the president was trying to hide anything or anything clandestine was taking place. It's just that well, in this world sometimes tings do not work the way you want them to, but that is the explanation,"" Agyekum noted.
Clottey Interview With Haruna Iddrissu
Listen to Clottey Interview With Haruna Iddrissu
Clottey Interview With Frank Agyekum
Listen to Clottey Interview With Frank Agyekum

NPP holds unity rally Today

Asamankese in the Eastern Region will on Sunday play host to the myriad of flagbearer aspirants of the ruling New Patriotic Party, where a rally has been scheduled.

Party executives, including leader President J.A. Kufuor, Chairman Peter Mac Manu, General Secretary Nana Ohene Ntow, National Organiser, Lord Commey and Regional Chairman, Yaw Gyekye Amoabeng are all expected to grace the rally under the theme, 'Moving forward in Unity', which seeks to offer a common platform for all the about 18 aspirants.

The party intends to officially outdoor the aspirants, each of who is allocated five minutes to propagate his presidential campaign message to the huge crowd expected to be at the Asamankese Methodist Park venue of the rally.The aspirants are Nana Akufo-Addo, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Dan Kwaku Botwe, Boakye Agyarko, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Alan Kyerematen, Kofi Konadu Apraku, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, Mike Oquaye, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, and Arthur Kennedy. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, Ghana’s Ambassador to Japan, is the latest to declare an interest in the race to lead the NPP to Elections 2008.

He has already picked nomination forms.The Eastern Region was also the host of a similar rally when in 1998, the party descended on Nkawkaw to introduce its then six aspirants, including President Kufuor.

I'm Not Dead,....... I'm Alive!

POOR RECORD keeping within Ghana's judiciary was made manifest yesterday when a Tarkwa-based magistrate was declared 'dead' by the President of the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG), Mr. Justice Joseph Bawah Akamba.

The incident took place at the 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AMJG in Accra.Justice Akamba mentioned the name of Mr. Kwame Gyamfi Osei, a magistrate at Tarkwa, who was present at the meeting, among members of the association who died in the course of the year.He therefore called for a minute's silence to be observed in their memory.Apparently shocked by the pronouncement, colleagues who were sitting by the virile and healthy-looking magistrate shouted, "He is here.

He is here", while he himself rose energetically declaring, "I am here, I am alive", amidst rib-bursting laughter from all present, including Chief Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodora Wood.After the spontaneous laughter, president of the association resumed his speech by apologizing profusely to Mr. Osei for declaring him dead when he is alive.Mr. Justice Akamba then deplored the poor record keeping within the judiciary which had made him commit that unusual blunder."Record keeping in the service is so appalling and I'm glad it has happened this way. This is a true reflection of the sentiments on the ground. I am very sorry."He narrated how difficult it was for him to get the right records from judges and magistrates to prepare his speech.The AMJG President, who used the occasion to congratulate the Chief Justice on her appointment, asked her to work with members of the association as she could not do the work alone.

To members of the association, he said, “All should be on board because when we share the same vision and direction, we get to our destination quicker.”According to Justice Akamba, the judiciary had performed creditably despite the numerous challenges it faced. Though the conditions of service of members had improved remarkably in recent times, he called for further improvement to meet the rising cost of living.He asked members to practise “true internal justice” within the judiciary “so that it doesn’t only seem that we only dispense justice and democracy but practise it as well”.

Justice Akamba advised his colleagues, saying, “Let’s do away with archaic procedures” which caused undue delays in justice delivery.For her part, Mrs. Wood promised the judges and magistrates that the reforms started by her predecessor, the late Justice George Kingsley Acquah, would continue despite the challenges faced by the service.She promised the judiciary that there would be frequent refresher courses for members to be conversant with modern trends, and warned that those who failed to attend the courses would be sanctioned appropriately.“Foreign trips and courses will not become the preserve of a select few including my own self,” she added.

The Chief Justice encouraged magistrates and judges to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods to clear the backlog of cases, adding that the system would enable them to deal expeditiously with criminal cases.She thanked her colleagues for their support and goodwill since she assumed office, and expressed the hope that they would work assiduously as they had always done.A Supreme Court judge, Mrs. Justice Sophia O.A. Adinyira, who chaired the meeting, called on her colleagues to ensure that all in society had access to justice.“We as the custodians and enforcers of the Constitution need to constantly remind ourselves that the achievement of the concept of access to justice depends heavily on the way and manner we administer justice.

“Despite the financial and infrastructural inadequacies that are facing the Judicial Service, we as judges and magistrates must continue to dedicate ourselves to building a truly independent, competent, efficient, and an effective judicial system.”Dr. Alfred Doku of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Cardiothoracic Centre took the justice dispensers through a series of prevalent diseases and ways to prevent them.Twelve retired members of the association were honoured.
Source:Daily Guide

Ata Mills @Asafutufiam festival...Pix Report

Ghana commends Germany for historic reunification

Ghana on Wednesday commended the Federal Republic of Germany for the historic reunification and pulling down of the dreaded Berlin Wall, which paved the way for the normalization of relationship between West and East Germany 17 years ago."Ghana shares in the joy of Germany for the achievement, which hitherto was never thought of. We are particularly gratified by the speed and consistency in the process for reunification," Nana Akomea, Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment, said in response to a toast at the 17th anniversary celebration of German reunification in Accra.

Nana Akomea, who headed a Government delegation to participate in the anniversary, which also attracted the German community in Ghana, the diplomatic corps, journalists and other West African nationals, called for greater cooperation between the two nations.German reunification took place on October 3, 1990, when the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).The start of the reunification process is commonly referred to as Die Wende (The Turning/The Change).

After East Germany's first free elections on March 18, 1990, negotiations between the two countries culminated in a Unification Treaty, whilst negotiations between them and the four occupying powers produced the so-called "Two Plus Four Treaty" granting full sovereignty to a unified German state, whose two halves had previously been bound by a number of limitations stemming from its post-World War II status as an occupied nation.Dr Marius Haas, German Ambassador, recounted the 50th anniversary of Ghanaian-German political relations as well as development cooperation.He said since 1957 the commitments made by Germany to Ghana exceeded one billion Euros."Just a few weeks ago a German delegation was here for negotiations on our bilateral development cooperation for the next two years. "Fifty-three million Euros, equivalent to approximately 69 million GHC, have been earmarked for direct budget support as well as for programmes in the fields of agriculture, private sector development, decentralization and law reform."

He said there was no other African country where the exchange of high and highest ranking political visits had been as intensive as in the case of Ghana in 2007.He recounted the visit of the German President Horst K=F6hler in January for an official visit and to participate in the Second Africa Forum.Dr Haas said President John Agyekum Kufuor had already agreed to attend the Third Africa Forum to be held in Germany early next month. During the visit President Kufuor would sign a partnership agreement between the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Republic of Ghana in Bonn.

"These demonstrate the quality of the Ghanaian-German relations and I am confident that these relations - characterized by friendship, harmony and confidence - will be maintained and even deepened in the years to come."
Source:GNA

Ghana Will Be Self Reliant Under My Rule

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, an aspiring Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party on Wednesday said he would empower and build the capacity of Ghanaians to make the country dependent on its own resources if elected as President. He backed this vision by demonstrating to newsmen and onlookers, the use of bio-diesel extracted from the "jetropha" plant, and also showed 25 gallons of the product, he personally manufactured from his "jetropha" plantation.Prof Frimpong-Boateng said he has been using the fuel for his vehicles during his campaign tours to canvass support to become the Party's flag bearer.

According to Professor Frimpong-Boateng, he produces 140 litres of bio-diesel daily from his small "jetropha" plantation and believed this could be replicated on a large scale at the national level to drastically cut the country's over dependence on crude oil imports.He said this during an interaction with newsmen at Kaleo after presenting assorted drugs and clinical equipment worth about GH=A212,000 (120 million cedis} to the Islamic Clinic at Wa and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Hospital at Kaleo in the Nadowli district.

He said the donation was his "widow's mite" in support of those who needed medical treatment as a result of the recent floods that caused severe human suffering in the three Northern Regions of the country. On his chances of winning the NPP primaries, he said his chances of being victorious was good, because the delegates were beginning to see the meaning of the elections and were looking up to somebody like him. "We should not just make people leaders because they know how to talk.

I am unique because I have sacrificed to serve the people at the Cardio Thoracic Centre, the Ghana Medical School and as Chief Executive of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital"."My yes is my yes and my no is my no. These are the kind of people who should lead the nation and not people who are good at talking".

Drs Hany Al Hawari and Mohammad Nasilullah Khan of the Islamic Clinic and the Ahmaddiya hospital respectively, thanked the Presidential Aspirant for the donation and promised to put them to good use and wished him success in his Presidential ambition.
Source:GNA

Nii Moi Thompson...Utility companies don’t deserve tariff hikes

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission is expected to announce tariff increase of between 35 and 40 percent for electricity and water following a proposal by the utility companies to have their tariffs adjusted upward to meet their increased cost of production. They also say it will enable them to improve on their service delivery. But in a paper titled “the case against higher utility tariffs”, an Economist Dr Nii Moi Thompson argues that various tariff increases in the past, in addition to loans contracted have made little impact on their service delivery. He told Joy News that the inefficiencies of the utility companies must first be addressed before asking the public to pay more.

Nii Moi-Thompson aregued that in the recent past the government, based on arguements for a tariff increase, guaranteed huge loans for the companies which unfortunaletly did not reflect in any service improvement."In the case of Ghana water company there was $110.7 million in internationally guaranteed loans and then Electricity Company of Ghana, $143.1 million ...without explaining to us what happened to thses huge sums of money."The PURC has told Joy News that it will provide final figures on the quantum of increase and effective date of implementation by close of Tuesday.

It however provided a conservative estimate of 35 percent. The decision comes closely on the heels of government announcement of an end to the year-long energy crisis which affected effective supply of electricity and water. Interest groups in the energy and water sector have been making a case for the increases citing the need for full cost recovery and the need to improve on the infrastructure to guarantee good service delivery.