I Will Use “Sasso Spray” To Kill Mosquito On Saturday – Farrakhan

A General Secretary aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Abdul Ishaq Farrakhan believes he will definitely unseat the incumbent chief scribe, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, affectionately called General Mosquito. According to him, the only way to depose Mr. Asiedu Nketia is to use a well manufactured pesticide to kill the "mosquito". “I will use Sasso spray to kill the mosquito come Saturday. Trust me, I will be the next General Secretary of the NDC after the elections,” he said on Asempa FM. Abdul Ishaq Farrakhan further asserted that party delegates are fed up with Asiedu Nketia and his provocative style of leadership. General Mosquito, until recently, was seeking re-election unopposed in the upcoming NDC National Delegates Congress, until Farrakhan served notice of his intention to compete against him. The 44-year-old branch chairman of the party in the Obuasi Municipality in the Ashanti Region later made good his word by filing his nomination fee to challenge Mr. Asiedu Nketia. Even though Farrakhan is very optimistic of winning the opposition, he however acknowledged that Asiedu Nketia has made immense contributions to the development of the NDC “but it has come to a time that people like Farrakhan should be given the opportunity to energize the party. He [Asiedu Nketia] has done well, but the time has come for him to go.”

Source/Peacefmonline.com

Mahama commends Obama for lifting Cuba sanctions

The Government of Ghana has commended the United States of America (USA) and Cuba for their recent initiative to normalise relations between them.

Ghana's Minister of Communication, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah said the recent release of the ‘Cuban 5’ who had been held in American jails on charges of spying, and the release by Cuba of an American national held in Havana “is an important first step towards a thawing of the frozen relations between the two nations since the cold war.”

Government, the statement noted, is hoping that this positive development, including the loosening of restrictions on travel by US citizens to Cuba, will lead to a broader engagement that will eliminate the last relics of the cold war represented by the economic blockade of Cuba.

“President John Mahama commends highly, Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro for this initiative to normalize relations”, the statement added.




Source: Ghana/Flagstaff House Communications

Ghana needs an Independent Public Prosecutor – Former A-G

Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah, is advocating the creation of an Office of Independent Public Prosecutor.

This, he said is absolutely necessary if the country is to effectively fight corruption and stealing.

He said the current arrangement where the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice doubles as chief legal advisor to the president and also the chief prosecutor lends itself to inefficiency.

He was speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Friday on the back of the launch of his book on the politics of Ghana.

Corruption has been widely acknowledged as reaching historic high levels in the country with many government agencies and public sector institutions mired in the canker.

Media reports and public audits have unraveled audacious acts of plain stealing, rent seeking and reckless conduct leading to loss of huge sums of money to the state.

Government's actions on these reports have been described by anti-corruption campaigners as lagging at best and duplicitous at worse.  

Discussing the issue, Dr. Asamoah who served as Attorney-General under the Rawlings regime, said an Independent Prosecutor, "can go against elements of the government."

As things stand now, "the Attorney-General is a member of the government and so there is some limitation on what he can do in dealing with elements of the government who are corrupt."

He said Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution has to be amended. Article 88 says, "(1) There shall be an Attorney-General of Ghana who shall be a Minister of State and the principal legal adviser to the Government. (3) The Attorney-General shall be responsible for the initiation and conduct of all prosecutions of criminal offences. (4) All offences prosecuted in the name of the Republic of Ghana shall be at the suit of the Attorney-General or any other person authorised by him in accordance with any law."

These constitutional provisions, he said, make it impossible to establish an independent prosecutor's office without an amendment to the constitution.

Dr. Obed Asamoah's Deputy, who later became A-G, Martin Alamisi Amidu is reputed to be the nation's foremost campaigner against corruption using the legal process.

Mr. Amidu on his own has brought cases against individuals and organisations at the Supreme Court and secured favourable verdicts from the highest court of the land.

In the case of Waterville, Isofoton, and Woyome, the court agreed with the self-proclaimed citizen vigilante that millions of Euros and Ghana cedis paid by the to these companies and Woyome was done unlawfully and that all such monies be returned to the state.

Mr. Amidu left the A-G's department in dramatic circumstances after he publicly accused some ministers of frustrating his efforts to hold some individuals and companies accountable for fleecing the state.

After his successes at the Supreme Court, many argued an independent prosecutor who is not subject to the control of the executive is needed to champion the fight against corruption.

Dr Asamoah agrees, believing the current arrangment is unhelpful.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com 

Fix reasonable electricity tariffs – Mahama to PURC

President John Mahama

President John Mahama has charged the reconstituted board of the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) to fix reasonable electricity tariffs.

Speaking at the swearing in ceremony of the nine -member board of the PURC on Thursday, President Mahama said the board must also ensure power is affordable for business and residential consumers.

He said the move will ensure more private sector participation in power generation

“We are entering an era where we are seeing more private sector, interest and participation in the Energy and Power sector and the only way that the private sector will invest their money in energy and power generation is if they feel that the plain field is conducive, that it is level and reasonable and it guarantees them a fair return on the investment that they make and it is the PURC that can create that kind of environment for them,” President Mahama explained.

The PURC on September 30, 2014 announced an increment of electricity and water tariffs by 6.54 percent and 4.54 percent respectively.

The Commission explained that the increment was agreed on, after careful consideration of all factors which forms the basis of the Automatic Adjustment Formula and advised Ghanaians to conserve energy and water to reduce the challenges being faced with the unreliable supply of these two essential commodities.

Power supply to improve

The President also touched on challenges facing Ghana’s power generation systems.

According to him, the country is targeting to increase power generation to 5000 megawatts by 2015 to address inconsistent power supply in the country.

Ghana has been facing power challenges in recent times.

The challenge compelled President Mahama to create a power ministry and appoint the Chairman of Parliaments Energy Committee.

The Minister of Power, Kwabena Donkor was on Thursday approved by Parliament to oversee their operations.

Meanwhile the Chairman of the reconstituted board Engineer Emmanuel Annan has assured the President of the board’s commitment to addressing the challenges facing the power sector.

“This new board will continue to work equally hard…The members that we have put together are all willing to work very hard to ensure that this happens.”

By/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Parliament, not SC must be theatre for constitutional amendment – Gyandoh

Emeritus Prof S O Gyandoh Jnr., a Senior Partner of Gyandoh Asmah & Co has said Parliament, rather than the Supreme Court must be the stage for having a national conversation about the proposed amendment of the 1992 Constitution.

Speaking at a public forum organised by the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) on the “role of constitutional reforms in consolidating peace, stability and national cohesion,” Prof Gyandoh said: “Let Parliament, rather than the Court become the main theatre for the carrying out of national conversation on constitutional review.”

The Constitution amendment process is being led by the Constitution Review Implementation Committee (CRIC) set up by the Government following extensive work done by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) set up by President John Mills (late) in 2010.

CRIC, chaired by Prof. Emmanuel Victor Dankwah, was set up to make proposals and recommendations for the review of the constitution.

Forty-one of the provisions targeted for amendment are entrenched – meaning a national referendum will be needed in effecting such amendments.

Fifty-six other articles of the Constitution have also been targeted by the CRC as demanding amendment to help move the country from a political to a developmental constitutional regime.

To identify these 97 provisions, the Commission consulted with the people of Ghana on the operation of the 1992 Constitution and on any changes that need to be made to the Constitution.

However, a US-based Ghanaian Law Professor, Stephen Kwaku Asare, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify the constitution review process. Prof Asare is challenging the constitutionality of CRIC.

According to him, “Professor Dankwah and his so called Constitution Review Implementation Committee have no power under the laws of Ghana to schedule a referendum and/or to amend the Constitution of Ghana.”

Asare argued that: “Parliament is the sole body that can initiate, consider and propose amendments to the Constitution.”

In his view, neither the President, the CRC nor CRIC can usurp the powers of Parliament in effecting any constitutional amendments. He argued that the power of the Legislature in carrying out such exercise “is not only plenary and exclusive, but also cannot be delegated to, or usurped by the President, the so-called Constitution Review Commission or the Constitution Review Implementation Committee.”

Private legal practitioner, Samson Lardy Anyenini, has also had cause to raise similar concerns about the work of the CRC and CRIC.

Prof Gyandoh, however, said the IDEG forum that: “Irrespective of the outcome of the challenge of the constitutionality of the CRC or the CRIC or their work product, the fact of the matter is that such work product is an extremely useful compilation of how the great masses of the people, including all sections of the elite think and feel about our fundamental law. Such valuable pile of information and analysis cannot be allowed to go waste.”



Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com

Make history, work to end power crisis – MPs urge Kwabena Donkor

New Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor has been charged to work to bring to an end, the current energy crisis.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) demanded this of the Minister designate before his approval in Parliament yesterday.

Parliament approved the nomination of Dr. Kwabena Donkor as the Minister of Power on Thursday after he was vetted by the Appointments Committee last Monday December 15.

According to the MPs, the current knee jerk approach in resolving the crisis is not helping matters, calling for specific timelines to end the crisis.

MP for Manhyia South, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh tasked the incoming minister to be realistic in telling Ghanaians of when the ‘dumsor dumsor’ will come to an end.

He added there was the need for him to take politics out of his job and make use of his abundant experience to ‘for once end the ‘adum adum’ that prevents the President from staying in this country.’

The Manhyia South Legislator said he was very much convinced that the new minister can work to help end the crisis if he is given the necessary resources.

His colleague MP for Akyem Abuakwa South, Samuel Atakyea called for a serious investment into the power sector other than the continuous lip service paid to the crisis by the government.

“If we pay lip service to power generation, the energy situation would come away…,” he said.

He added that monies paid to SADA, GYEEDA and others could have been invested into the power generation sector to resource it and increase its capacity for maximum benefit.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alfred Kwame Agbesia also tasked the new minister to make history by reducing the dumsor by the end of his tenure.

Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho also reminded Dr. Donkor that “so much is expected” of him as the Power sector minister.

Source/myjoyonline

Gov’t To Pay Workers Via e-Zwich

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems, (GhIPSS), Archie Hesse has welcomed President John Mahama’s description of the e-Zwich card as the best medium for paying public sector workers. President Mahama, at the opening of a two-day high level conference on National Anti-corruption Action Plan in Accra recently, noted that the National Service Secretariat (NSS) would start paying allowances on the e-zwich and subsequently extend it to all government-subverted organisations. This decision, the President said, was part of efforts to fight corruption. Speaking in an interview, Mr Hesse commended President Mahama for taking such a decision. He said GhIPSS was ready to accomplish the task. The biometric features of the e-Zwich card make it impossible for multiple payment of salaries while people who do not exist cannot cash monies paid them since a live finger is required to access monies paid onto the e-Zwich card, he indicated. He said apart from fighting payroll fraud, paying public sector workers through the biometric payments system would significantly usher Ghana into an electronic payment regime. Mr Hesse explained that if public sector workers get part of their salaries on their e-zwich card, they would be greatly motivated to use the cards to shop. GhIPSS has rolled out more than 200 Point of Sales terminals (POS) in Accra alone and these terminals accept both e-Zwich and normal ATM cards, the GhIPSS CEO said. The moment shop owners and other service providers get to know that this huge number of people will have active e-Zwich cards, they will secure and make the POSes available in addition to introducing all kinds of schemes to attract customers. In advanced countries, the use of cards to shop has become the norm, and card issuers constantly come out with various discount schemes to encourage people to shop with them, Mr Hesse said.

Source: Daily Guide