Court bars CHRAJ from hearing M&J bribery scandal

An Accra Human Rights Court has restrained the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) from continuing with its investigation into the Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal.

The court upheld arguments by lawyers of the six persons who were the subject of the investigations that comments by the Commissioner of CHRAJ on Metro TV on the matter were prejudicial.Justice Emile Short granted the television station an interview on the issue days after opening public hearings - bedeviled by persistent objections - into the allegations that the six persons received

bribes from the UK construction firm to influence the award of contracts to the company.Lawyers of the accused - Dr Sipa Yankey, Messrs Kwame Peprah, Alhaji Baba Kamara, Alhaji Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Alhaji Amadu Seidu, Brigadier-General Lord Attivor and Dr Ato Quarshie - went to court arguing that the CHRAJ Commissioner had made conclusive pronouncements that amounted to prejudging their clients.They contended Mr Short and the Commission had lost the moral authority to conduct the investigations as they could not be trusted to be fair and impartial in the matter.

The court agreed with the lawyers and ruled that the Commission should excuse itself of the case because the Commissioner’s comments put him in a prejudiced situation.It said other institutions can conduct investigations into the M&J bribery scandal.After the ruling, Nana Ato Dadzie, lawyer for Dr Ato Quarshie, told Joy News’ Sammy Darko that today “is a great day for the law.”

He said his clients’ belief that the Commission was unfair to them had been confirmed by the court in its ruling.Nana Ato Dadzie stated that his clients were willing to submit themselves to any other state agency that chose to conduct further investigations into the allegations.Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

GSE makes 'worldwide' record

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) recovery has reached a phenomenal point, once again recording the highest year-to-date returns worldwide; but it seems that many local fund managers that invest on the market are still holding a 'wait and see' attitude.

The GSE's negative 46.58% return last year made it the worst performer among the general poor showing of stock markets across the world - not sparing the many equity-based funds that make their profit on the market.

The gradual recovery of the GSE from the beginning of this year came to confirm analysts' forecast that the market would bounce back to positive returns, but last week Friday's 22.96% year-to-date posted by the GSE – the highest return recorded in the world so far – has beat even the most optimistic forecasts.

Contrary to the norm, not a single fund manager has been able to beat the GSE so far; available updates by Gold Coast Securities (GCS) Research show that the NTHC Horizon Fund, which came closest to the GSE, recorded a year-to-date return of 10.46% for the same period.

Other returns made on equity-based funds were SAS Fortune Fund 10.45%; the newest on the market - the Capital Growth Fund - returned 8.17%; Gold Fund 6.18%; and HFC Equity 5.21%. Anidaso Mutual Fund, the only fund currently managed outside of the capital city, recorded a year-to-date return of 4.96% while Epack, the oldest fund on the market, returned 4.64%.

Some Funds suffered a similar fate in 2008, the year the GSE came top of the world with a 58.05% year-to-date for the year. HFC Equity Fund posted a return of 38.89% that year and Gold Fund recorded 37.32% while the Epack, owing to the abysmal performance of the other African markets where it invests, returned a woeful negative 3.84%.

Historically, fund managers' active participation on the market in the years 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007 saw them reap huge capital gains for their small fund holders .

Collins Appiah, Head of Research at GCS, the owners of Gold Fund in an interview with B&FT said the passiveness of fund managers this time round could be stemming from the fact' that the" market has just recovered from a deep recession, "and' therefore it is worthwhile that fund managers watch the market for some time before remixing portfolios where necessary," he stated.

Collins, who was optimistic the trend would reverse by close of year, added that last year's recession triggered a wave of redemption by fund holders which continued into the first quarter of this year. "It is the main factor why we have not recorded an impressive performance so far," he said.

The unimpressive performance of the funds - which invest at least 75 percent of their assets on the capital market, stand in comparison to some stocks that have outperformed the GSE.

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), which lost 32.73% last year to fall to GH¢0.74, recovered this year to GH¢1.12, representing 1.1 2% year-to-date gain. Cal Bank (Cal) lost 40% last year to GH¢0.20 but has regained to GH¢0.28, to present 40% gain so far. SIC, the biggest insurance firm, also lost 46% last year to GH¢0.27 but has now risen to GH¢0.36, the equivalent of 29.63% year-to-date gain.

Derrick Mensah, also of GCS Research, noted that equity-dominated fund managers in Ghana put not less than 45% of their investments into financial stocks, which has helped to keep their heads above water since the financial stocks have been doing extra well.

"The downside therefore is as a result of the poor showing of the other category of stocks since the year began; such as the brewery, manufacturing and lCT stocks and some of the consumer goods, and distribution and trading stocks," he noted.

According to Collins, these stocks will soon pick up when short-term interest rates and yields on fixed income securities fall further, as expected.

According to him, the benchmark 91-day Treasury bill rate - now at 13.29% - should fall further to single digits by close of year. "If this forecast by the Bank of Ghana is anything to go by, then investors should be paying more attention to the stock market for higher gains and most of these stocks would be beneficiaries," he stated.

He therefore foresees that the current favourable showing of money market funds and balanced funds as compared to equity dominated funds will most likely change in favour of the latter.

Latest updates have quoted a year-to-date return .of 21.58% on the Mfund and 20.41 % on the HFC Unit Trust, both money market funds.

Bright Quaye, also a researcher at GCS, advised investors in mutual funds and unit trusts not to de-invest too quickly at this time because fund managers are experts who are able to take far more informed decisions on their investments than they can do on their own as small fund holders.

"Fund managers are able to diversify their investments on the capital market, which helps to reduce the risk on investments to the barest minimum. As small fund holders, they may not be able to invest in blue chip stocks that earn very high returns, but buying into a mutual fund is an avenue to do so," Bright cautioned.


Source: B&FT

Ghana is in search of banks with excellent records - Prez Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday invited banks with excellent track records and experience to assist in the development of Ghana's oil industry.

He welcomed investors with sound credentials and re-emphasized that government would get everybody on board in the development of the country's emerging oil industry.

President Mills gave the invitation when Mr Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive Officer of Stanchart Bank, who is in the country to assess the performance of the bank, paid a courtesy call on him at the Osu Castle in Accra.

President Mills stressed that government would ensure that the best practices would be followed in the oil industry.

He said government had also put in mechanisms to ensure that there was transparency and sound management of oil proceeds so that the benefits would be felt by all.

President Mills assured the banking and investor community of government's support so that together they would work to overcome the challenges of the industry for mutual benefit.

Mr Sands said Ghana was a very important country for Stanchart and applauded the Government of Ghana in its efforts towards the development of the economy.

He said such sound economic management was what informed Stanchart's choice of Ghana as one of the countries in West Africa to operate.

Mr Sands presented a book on the history on the operations Stanchart to President Mills.


Source: GNA

Ghana is 53-Years-Old Today

Ghana before Independence on March 6,1957 was called Gold Coast. The earliest Europeans to arrive here were the Portuguese in the 15th Century. On their arrival, they found so much gold between the River Ankobra and the Volta and subsequently named it “da Mina”, meaning The Mine. In 1482, the first castle was built in the Gold Coast by the Portuguese at Elmina. This was built to enhance their trading activities especially gold and slavery.

By 1598, the Dutch were in the Gold Coast to also trade. They built forts along the coastal areas notable among them being the Komenda fort. In 1637, they captured the Elmina castle from the Portuguese and that of Axim (Fort St. Anthony) in 1642.

Many other European traders came to the Gold Coast to trade. These included the British, Danes and Swedes. These European traders built several forts along our coastlines. In 1872, the Dutch lost interest in the coast and ceded their forts free to the British. Thus ended a period of Dutch occupation lasting 274 years. By 1874, the British were the only Europeans in the Gold Coast and thus made it a crown colony. This in effect gave them total control.

The British government established their headquarters at Cape Coast Castle. This had been their headquarters since 1662 and is one of the greatest historical sites in the country. It has numerous dungeons which were used to keep slaves before being transported to the Diaspora.

There had been many wars fought between the people of the Gold Coast and the British over governance. In 1874, an army under Sir Garnet Wolseley crossed the Pra River into the Asante territory. The Ghanaians referred to this War as the “Sagrenti War” because they could not pronounce Sir Garnet’s name correctly. The British force, this time proved too strong for the Asante who, after a long and brave fighting, agreed to sign a peace treaty at Fomena. At about the same time the British defeated the Anlo people in the Volta area. On the 12th of September, 1874, the whole of Southern Ghana including Anloland became a British colony. The Capital was removed from Cape Coast to Accra two years later.

After the Second World War (1939-1945), things began to change in the then Gold Coast. The discrimination against educated Ghanaians in the civil service was on the increase and high positions were reserved for whitemen while Ghanaians became hewers of wood and drawers of water. The European and Asian firms were also seriously exploiting the Africans. The Ex-servicemen (Ghanaian soldiers who fought in the World War), helped in another way to expose the weakness of the British. They realized that they performed better than the whites on the battlefield. These Ex-servicemen again saw the struggle for independence in India and Burma where most of them went to fight. They were therefore inspired to struggle against the same British in Ghana after the their return from the war.

The first political party was formed in August 1947 by Paa Grant, Dr. J.B Danquah and others. It was named the United Gold Coast Convention (U.G.C.C). Its slogan was “Self government within the shortest possible time”. The U.G.C.C. therefore invited Dr. Kwame Nkrumah home from his studies to become the full-time General Secretary of the Party. The U.G.C.C. had earlier on criticized the Burns Constitution of 1946 introduced by Sir Allan Burns who was governor by then.

In January 1948, Nii Kwabena Bonne III, a Ga Chief organized a general boycott of all European imports. A series of riots followed the boycott in early February, 1948. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the famous February 28, 1948 incident. A batch of unarmed Ex-servicemen marched to the Christiansborg Castle on that day to submit a petition to the Governor about their poor conditions. Superintendent Imray, a white police officer, ordered the policemen at the castle to shoot. When the police refused to do so, Imray himself opened fire on the unarmed soldiers at the Christiansborg crossroad. Three of the leaders namely; Sergeant Adjetey, Private Odartey Lamptey and Corporal Attipoe fell dead. Thereafter, riots broke out in Accra. European and Asian stores were looted by the angry mob. The rioters forced open the Central Prison and set free its inmates.

After the riots, the Nationalist leaders in Ghana sent a strong worded cable to the Secretary of State in London. They blamed the Governor, Sir Gerald Creasy, greatly. They called him “Crazy Creasy” because he had failed to handle the problems facing the country. The Secretary of State however blamed the Nationalist leaders for being responsible for the disturbances in the country. Consequently, six of the leading nationalist were arrested and detained. They were popularly referred to as the BIG SIX. These leaders were Dr. J.B Danquah, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Obetsebi Lamptey, Akuffo Addo, William Ofori Atta and Ako Adjei.

The U.G.C.C. which awakened fervent national consciousness in the Gold Coast was what might be described as a liberal group with its slogan of “Self-government in the shortest possible time.” This attitude did not please Nkrumah who wanted “Self-government Now”.

Following disagreement of ideologies, Kwame Nkrumah left the U.G.C.C. and formed a more radical and nationalist party – Convention People’s Party (C.P.P) on June 12th, 1949 with its motto “self-government now”. He was joined by Kojo Botsio, K.A Gbedemah and others.

On 9th January, 1950 the C.P.P organized a nation-wide boycott and strike for workers and the masses. The people refused to buy all British goods. Workers were warned not to cause any trouble. In the cause of the riots however, two policemen were shot dead. On January 21st 1950, Nkrumah and other leading C.P.P members including Kojo Botsio and K.A. Gbedemah were imprisoned at the James Fort Prison, Accra, on charges arising from pursuing what was termed as “Positive Action” against the Government. The imprisonment of Nkrumah made him a hero and martyr in the eyes of the people.

In 1951, the pace was set for general elections. Dr Kwame Nkrumah was in prison when the elections were conducted. He overwhelmingly won the elections and was released by the then Governor, Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clark to head the new government. This however became the British Colony’s first African government. In March 1952, Kwame Nkrumah was designated Prime Minister. He was to appoint a cabinet, which was not to be responsible to the Governor but the Assembly.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in June 1953 submitted proposals for a new constitution. It was upon those that the April 1954 constitution was introduced making the country virtually self-governing. This new constitution provided for an All-African cabinet from an enlarged legislature. A general election followed in June 1954 from which the C.P.P won 79 out of the 104 seats of the National Assembly.

In 1956, another election was held in response to a pledge by the British Secretary of State for the colonies that if the newly elected legislature, by a reasonable majority, passed a resolution calling for independence; a firm date for the changeover would be announced. C.P.P won 71 out of the 104 contested seats. The British Mandated Togoland also held a plebiscite to join the Gold Coast.

This action opened the way for Ghana’s Independence and on 6th March, 1957, the curtain was drawn on the old order. The country emerged as the first country in Africa, South of the Sahara to regain independence from colonial rule. A new chapter was opened in the history of Ghana. On the eve of Ghana’s independence, Dr Kwame Nkrumah (then Prime Minister) proclaimed at the old Polo Grounds in Accra: “ At long last, the battle has ended and Ghana, our beloved country is free forever.” The nation however became a republic on 1st July, 1960 with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah becoming the first President.