Probe alleged killings of albinos by politicians

ALBINOS in the country have called on the security agencies to investigate alleged cases of live burial of their kind for political purposes during the 2008 general election.
They also urged the security agencies to invite the former Imam of the Ghana Armed Forces, Sheikh Salawati Imam Rashid, who made the disclosure about “how some politicians in the country buried a number of albinos and children alive in their quest for political power”.
Mr Samuel Issaka, the spokesperson for the Society of Albinism in Ghana, and the Network of Journalists for the promotion of Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ghana stated this in Accra yesterday.
He was reacting to a story published by the Daily Guide newspaper in its May 20, 2009 edition, which said the former Ghana Armed Forces Imam alleged that some politicians in Ghana carried out such barbaric acts to win political power.
“According to the media report, the Imam stated openly that the spirits of those persons, who he said did not die naturally, will continue to haunt this country in the form of road accidents and other calamities unless a spiritual atonement is sought”, he said.
Mr Issaka said the organisation could not do anything apart from the call for investigations into the matter because it did not have any proof of the allegations by the Imam.
Mr Issaka said as mortals they could not doubt what the Imam, who is a man of God, had received as revelations, hence their call on the government, especially the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the National Security and other security agencies to investigate and tell Ghanaians who “those wicked politicians and political parties are”.
He added that it would not be difficult to trace the Imam who made the revelation because he stated in the story that he was based in Tamale, and was said to have been the first trained and commissioned Imam in the Ghana Armed Forces who had retired as a captain a decade ago.

Probe alleged killings of albinos by politicians

ALBINOS in the country have called on the security agencies to investigate alleged cases of live burial of their kind for political purposes during the 2008 general election.
They also urged the security agencies to invite the former Imam of the Ghana Armed Forces, Sheikh Salawati Imam Rashid, who made the disclosure about “how some politicians in the country buried a number of albinos and children alive in their quest for political power”.
Mr Samuel Issaka, the spokesperson for the Society of Albinism in Ghana, and the Network of Journalists for the promotion of Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ghana stated this in Accra yesterday.
He was reacting to a story published by the Daily Guide newspaper in its May 20, 2009 edition, which said the former Ghana Armed Forces Imam alleged that some politicians in Ghana carried out such barbaric acts to win political power.
“According to the media report, the Imam stated openly that the spirits of those persons, who he said did not die naturally, will continue to haunt this country in the form of road accidents and other calamities unless a spiritual atonement is sought”, he said.
Mr Issaka said the organisation could not do anything apart from the call for investigations into the matter because it did not have any proof of the allegations by the Imam.
Mr Issaka said as mortals they could not doubt what the Imam, who is a man of God, had received as revelations, hence their call on the government, especially the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the National Security and other security agencies to investigate and tell Ghanaians who “those wicked politicians and political parties are”.
He added that it would not be difficult to trace the Imam who made the revelation because he stated in the story that he was based in Tamale, and was said to have been the first trained and commissioned Imam in the Ghana Armed Forces who had retired as a captain a decade ago.

Akufo-Addo lashes at Mills Administration

THE presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Election 2008, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, yesterday broke his long period of silence and criticised the Mills administration for what he termed its “blame game” and “democratisation of violence”.
He also called on the government to find innovative ways to solve the problems facing the country, especially what he described as the deteriorating security situation in Dagbon and the rising cost of living.
“The NDC claims on a daily basis that this or that problem was left by the NPP administration. I say to President Mills today: If you say that the system is broke, fix it,” he noted.
Addressing hundreds of party faithful and some market women at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Hall at Osu in Accra, Nana Akufo-Addo pledged that if President Mills took concrete steps to fix the problems facing the people and refrained from divisive tendencies and harassment, “they can count on our principled support. Our party stands ready, as pledged in my January 3, 2008 statement, to work with the President to move the country forward”.
In the speech, dubbed: “Reviewing the current situation in Ghana“, the defeated presidential candidate said every government inherited assets and liabilities and noted that in 2001 the departing NDC left a few assets and many liabilities, including high inflation and interest rates, historic levels of debts and low external reserves, but instead of complaining, the Kufuor administration came out with bold decisions such as the HIPC initiative which brought many benefits to the nation.
Nana Akufo-Addo claimed that the NPP also left some unfinished businesses and many assets, including an increased GDP from $3.9 billion in 2001 to $17 billion in 2008, as well as posting a record GDP growth rate of 7.3 per cent last year, despite the world economic crunch.
In a mood reminiscent of the 2008 campaign, Nana Akufo-Addo, together with some party heavyweights, danced to NPP campaign tunes. Some of the leading members, former ministers of state, former and sitting MPs present were the National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac Manu; the General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow; the National Organiser, Mr Lord Commey; the MP for Kwabenya, who is also the Second Deputy Speaker, Prof Mike Oquaye, the MP for Suame and Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and the former envoy to Serbia, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe.
After enumerating many of what he said were the achievements of the NPP administration, Nana Akufo-Addo said the real challenges facing the people of the country today were poverty, unemployment, crime, the burden of ignorance, squalor and diseases.
He expressed worry that instead of taking concrete steps to address the real problems, fulfil what it promised the people within its 100-days in office and foster peace and unity, the Mills government had rather “found time for mischief”.
He also mentioned some of the alleged attacks on NPP supporters in the country, especially what took place in Tamale after the announcement that his car had been seized by National Security operatives.
That, he alleged, resulted in the burning of 27 properties and the brutalisation of NPP supporters, including Madam Sadia Seidu, a nursing officer.
Describing the act as the “democratisation of violence” which was rearing its ugly head, he again expressed worry that no attempt had been made by the state to assist the 800 innocent victims whose homes and belongings were destroyed.
Flanked by his wife, Nana Akufo-Addo said the creeping threats to the Dagbon peace process, which appeared to be with the “active connivance of the state machinery”, especially the alleged assistance given by state security to the Andanis to enter the Gbewaa Palace to perform certain rituals, were worrying.
He, therefore, urged President Mills, as the father of the nation, to exhibit the same even-handedness in the enforcement of the road map that former President Kufuor exhibited, even at the risk of jeopardising his party’s traditional support base in Dagbon.
He cautioned that the leadership of the NPP had worked hard to restrain its supporters from reacting, adding, however, that there was the tendency that “militants on our side, convinced that the state cannot or will not protect them, may take measures to protect their interests, themselves and their loved ones”, a move which could drive the process towards a point of no return.
Describing himself as an ardent believer of accountability, the rule of law and the fact that a person was innocent unless proven otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction, he said the announcement by the National Security Adviser, Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah (retd), that former government officials would be sent to court was a “prosecutorial decision made by political operatives with an axe to grind or scores to settle”.
He said pronouncements by leading members of the government and the NDC were dangerous for democracy and urged President Mills to condemn them and work to expand the frontiers of freedom and respect for the rule of law.
Nana Akufo-Addo was, however, quick to commend the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, for repudiating the position of the National Security Adviser.
He cautioned that the ethnic passions that were deliberately heightened during the 2008 elections, coupled with the closeness of the election results and the serious challenges facing the country “demanded that we make extra efforts to promote the unity of our nation”.
He alleged that unfortunately, upon assumption of office, the NDC had chosen to emphasise what divided the people and said there had even been references to certain ethnic groups as if they were second-class citizens.
On the international front, he said Ghana could not isolate itself if it wanted to be a modern and prosperous nation. He noted also that with the departure of President Kufuor, ECOWAS and the African Union still yearned for Ghana’s leadership and so President Mills must provide such leadership.
Nana Akufo-Addo explained that the historic levels of growth in the economy and the international stature attained during the Kufuor era needed to be maintained by President Mills through travelling because “there are places where surrogates will not do”.

Work to defuse political polarisation —Nii Dowuona urges chiefs

THE Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Dowuona VI, has called on chiefs to reposition themselves as fathers of all members of their communities irrespective of their political affiliation to reduce the increasing trend of political polarisation and its attendant devastation.
He said although multi-party democracy was good for the governance of the nation, the seriousness of the cracks it brought, especially during electioneering, demanded that chiefs should ensure that they were always ready to defuse tension.
He reminded members of their communities that although they belonged to different political parties, they were still one people.
Nii Dowuona, who was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, said it was not for nothing that the 1992 Constitution barred chiefs from actively participating in politics, because the constitution envisaged that multi-party democracy had the propensity for polarisation.
“The chieftaincy institution is a unifier, unlike politics in Ghana which rather divides people. This is the reason why chiefs are to refrain from active political party activism and be at hand to unify the people,” he added.
The Osu Mantse said for chiefs to be able to play their traditional roles as fathers of the entire communities effectively, they must put their house in order, reposition themselves, as well as laying down their vision for the communities to develop trust in them.
He said while politicians had specified terms of office, four years in most cases, the chiefs had no specific term of office, and that placed them in very strategic positions to ensure that they ameliorated the ravaging rate of political polarisation.
“Chiefs should take the bull by the horns, get to the root causes of chieftaincy disputes, settle them and instal real chiefs, strengthen and revitalise traditional councils and make them proactive as well as playing their expected roles devoid of political coloration,” Nii Dowuona added.
He said the chiefs must also be supported to enhance the cultural, moral practices and behaviours of the people as a way of fighting moral decadence which was affecting the entire society.
Nii Dowuona said misbehaviour and the increasing rate of crime among the youth could partly be attributed to the low moral standards, because “it’s like we, as a country, have lost focus of our existence and rather concentrate on monetary gains; this has made people resort to all forms of evil things to be rich”.
He said chiefs must uphold cultural practices, because people were identified by their culture and language, without which they could lose their identity.
Nii Dowuona also appealed to the government to support chieftaincy institutions to enable them play their roles effectively, explaining that maintaining the institution was very expensive.
He suggested that the government could come up with Chiefs Development Fund, which would be used by the traditional leaders to complement the efforts of the government in developing their traditional areas, adding “we must be made to account for such amounts”.

Scrap sale of state cars to public office holders ... Its useless, discriminatory and waste

A former Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Bede Ziedeng, has called for the scrapping of the policy where public office holders and senior public servants purchase their salon cars that are two years old when leaving office.
He said the policy was discriminatory, inequitable, a waste of national resources which had outlived its usefulness and purpose, and enabled the beneficiaries to dupe the state.
Mr Ziedeng, who is the General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), was speaking to the Daily Graphic about the recent furore about the sale of salon cars to former ministers and other functionaries.
“It is wasteful to the state because government is forced to use scarce state resources to purchase new salon cars that are two years older anytime there was a change of government or a senior civil or public servant retires,” he said.
He explained that the policy was introduced from the 1980s into the 1990s, particularly during the transition from military rule to the Fourth Republic.
At its introduction, he said, salaries were generally low and very few public and civil servants could afford to purchase such means of transport.
Secondly, Mr Ziedeng noted that during those periods, there were few vehicle companies and garages selling expensive cars which were beyond the reach of the senior public and civil servants.
“With this it was understandable to make the offer to top public and civil servants, first as a compensation package for serving the nation with dedication and commitment and yet they could not come by any form of transportation when leaving office as result of low salaries. This was a golden handshake offer,” he said.
When asked why he described the policy as discriminatory and inequitable, Mr Ziedeng said it benefited only those who were using salon cars at the time of leaving office.
“Even among the political elite, district chief executives are left out by virtue of the fact that they do not use salon cars. Also public and civil servants who may be of the same grade but are using cross country vehicles will not benefit when leaving office,” Mr Ziedeng said.
He said because the cars were normally eligible for sale only after two years of use, those public office holders who took delivery of such salon cars parked and preserved them and hardly used them for official purposes.
He said those who used the salon cars also used state resources to refit such cars when they were about to leave office so that the cars would be in good shape when they would be buying them at ridiculously low prices.
Mr Ziedeng argued that unlike in the 1990s,the current economic situation was better, salaries of public office holders had appreciated and it was now easier for them to arrange to purchase their own salon vehicles whether in office or when they were out.
“Credit facilities are now uncountable from almost all the commercial banks and vehicle companies as well as garages, therefore the government should rather arrange for such functionaries and public and civil servants to purchase salon vehicles of their choice just as Members of Parliament (MPs) do,” he suggested.
He also said this would ensure that the cars purchased by the government for official purposes to be used properly for a longer period and when they become old, then the government could auction them to the highest bidder.
Mr Ziedeng added that the policy had the propensity of breeding acrimony and discontent among public office holders who used salon cars and those who used only cross country vehicles.
He said another acrimonious situation arose when there was a change of government, where former ministers would be chased by the new administration for taking cars away, which in the long run undermined the self esteem of politicians.
He said if the policy was maintained it would undermine the integrity of politicians and erode the confidence the electorate have in them.
“The net effect is the destruction of the reputation of the political elite who will be regarded as self-seekers who make no sacrifices at all but are interested in looting the state coffers,” he stressed.
He concluded that this was the best time to abolish the policy because after all the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had enjoyed it for eight years and so had the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Scrap sale of state cars to public office holders ... Its useless, discriminatory and waste

A former Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Bede Ziedeng, has called for the scrapping of the policy where public office holders and senior public servants purchase their salon cars that are two years old when leaving office.
He said the policy was discriminatory, inequitable, a waste of national resources which had outlived its usefulness and purpose, and enabled the beneficiaries to dupe the state.
Mr Ziedeng, who is the General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), was speaking to the Daily Graphic about the recent furore about the sale of salon cars to former ministers and other functionaries.
“It is wasteful to the state because government is forced to use scarce state resources to purchase new salon cars that are two years older anytime there was a change of government or a senior civil or public servant retires,” he said.
He explained that the policy was introduced from the 1980s into the 1990s, particularly during the transition from military rule to the Fourth Republic.
At its introduction, he said, salaries were generally low and very few public and civil servants could afford to purchase such means of transport.
Secondly, Mr Ziedeng noted that during those periods, there were few vehicle companies and garages selling expensive cars which were beyond the reach of the senior public and civil servants.
“With this it was understandable to make the offer to top public and civil servants, first as a compensation package for serving the nation with dedication and commitment and yet they could not come by any form of transportation when leaving office as result of low salaries. This was a golden handshake offer,” he said.
When asked why he described the policy as discriminatory and inequitable, Mr Ziedeng said it benefited only those who were using salon cars at the time of leaving office.
“Even among the political elite, district chief executives are left out by virtue of the fact that they do not use salon cars. Also public and civil servants who may be of the same grade but are using cross country vehicles will not benefit when leaving office,” Mr Ziedeng said.
He said because the cars were normally eligible for sale only after two years of use, those public office holders who took delivery of such salon cars parked and preserved them and hardly used them for official purposes.
He said those who used the salon cars also used state resources to refit such cars when they were about to leave office so that the cars would be in good shape when they would be buying them at ridiculously low prices.
Mr Ziedeng argued that unlike in the 1990s,the current economic situation was better, salaries of public office holders had appreciated and it was now easier for them to arrange to purchase their own salon vehicles whether in office or when they were out.
“Credit facilities are now uncountable from almost all the commercial banks and vehicle companies as well as garages, therefore the government should rather arrange for such functionaries and public and civil servants to purchase salon vehicles of their choice just as Members of Parliament (MPs) do,” he suggested.
He also said this would ensure that the cars purchased by the government for official purposes to be used properly for a longer period and when they become old, then the government could auction them to the highest bidder.
Mr Ziedeng added that the policy had the propensity of breeding acrimony and discontent among public office holders who used salon cars and those who used only cross country vehicles.
He said another acrimonious situation arose when there was a change of government, where former ministers would be chased by the new administration for taking cars away, which in the long run undermined the self esteem of politicians.
He said if the policy was maintained it would undermine the integrity of politicians and erode the confidence the electorate have in them.
“The net effect is the destruction of the reputation of the political elite who will be regarded as self-seekers who make no sacrifices at all but are interested in looting the state coffers,” he stressed.
He concluded that this was the best time to abolish the policy because after all the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had enjoyed it for eight years and so had the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

NDC starts reorganisation in readiness for 2012

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has initiated moves to consolidate its gains in the 2008 elections in order to win the 2012 polls resoundingly.
Consequently, it has started reorganising its party structures, strengthening and expanding the party’s electoral college for the women and youth wings of the party.
Currently, the party’s national executive officers have travelled to all parts of the country to assess their performance in the 2008 elections, briefing party members about the government’s policies to explain the reasons behind all government appointments.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Deputy National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Yaw Boatemg-Gyan, said the national executive would also explain the time table for the election of ward, electoral area, constituency and regional executives, which will culminate in the national congress to elect national executive members to run the affairs of the party for the next four years.
He said the national executive would deal with some misunderstandings that came up during the selection of district chief executives, calm nerves and unite the people as part of the re-organisation exercise.
On the expansion of the electoral college for both the women and youth wings of the party, he said the practice whereby only regional organisers and deputies of the two wings met at national congresses to elect their executives would be a thing of the past.
He said to give real meaning to the party’s core practice of internal democracy and participatory democracy, all wards would elect their women and youth organisers who would in turn elect their constituency organisers.
This, Mr Boateng-Gyan said, would be replicated at the regional and national levels.
Asked why the party was showing keen interest in the youth and women’s wings, he said the two branches formed the foundation of the party, and that everything must be done to strengthen them.

Amend confirmation procedure to encourage women DCEs • Says Ofosu-Ampofo

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has called for deliberate and discriminatory measures to assist women to be easily approved as district chief executives.
“We need to put in discriminatory measures to aid women to be smoothly confirmed as DCEs as well as attain other political positions. This will enable them to realise their ambition of entering into mainstream politics and also whip up the interest of other women to enter public life”, he added.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo who was speaking to the Daily Graphic about the recent rejection of some women who were nominated for the position of DCEs, said “I am saddened by the action of the men-dominated assemblies to refuse to approve brilliant, articulate, hard working and time tested women.
He added that of all the 22 DCE nominees in his region it was only the woman who was rejected.
Recently some females nominated by the President for the position of district chief executive were rejected by their various district assemblies. These include Ms Emelia Arthur for Shama and Madam Ophelia Koomson for Birim Central Municipality.
According to Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, the two-third majority that was currently required for the confirmation of DCEs could be amended to one third in the case of women, this he said would make the process less cumbersome for them.
He said the change in the process would also encourage more women to get interested in politics at the grassroot.
He called on women,gender activists and people interested in affirmative action to support the call to ensure that more women got to higher positions, adding “these women who were rejected were capable women with qualification and experience and not just because they were women.”
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the decision by the various assemblies to reject the female nominees were an affront to the decision by the Mills Administration to ensure that at least 40 per cent of all appointees were women.
He said in fulfilment of this promise, President Mills after taking office urged the party leadership to ensure that more women were nominated as district chief executives, and with this in mind he,Ofosu-Ampofo, together with other party executive made a wholesale approach to a lot of women.
Citing the Eastern Region as example, he said an opportunity was given to many women, especially in the Fanteakwa District where more of them were prevailed upon to take up the positions, but most of them declined.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo was of the view that the President’s 40 per cent was not being realised because of some of the cumbersome procedures for confirmation in the male-dominated assemblies as well as the lack of interest by some of the women.
He said that notwithstanding, the NDC Administration would continue to whip up the interest of women and also create the opportunity for younger ones to be educated and equipped with the skills and knowledge to play active and effective roles in the decision-making process.

Strengthen laws on income, expenditure of political parties

Five members of the Electoral Commission (EC) including its Chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, have called for the strengthening of the laws on verifying the income and expenditure of political parties to empower the EC and other anti-corruption bodies to play their roles effectively.
Other members, Nana Ama Eyiaba, Mr Emmanuel Aggrey-Fynn, Mr Adanze Kanga and Mr Safo Kantanka were of the view that such enhanced laws with prescribed penalties would offer the bodies the power to delve into the income and expenditure of the political parties.
That, they said, would prevent the elections from being sold to the highest bidder, as well as prevent “money bags and drug barons” from taking over the nation’s democratic process.
They made the call in an interaction with the members of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition in Accra on Wednesday.
Dr Afari-Gyan who defined electoral corruption to include anything that would negatively affect the outcome of the electoral process and alter the will of the people, also said there were laws that specifically frowned on foreigners contributing to political parties but everyone was aware that these were being openly abused by the political parties.
He said although these laws were being flouted with impunity by political parties in Ghana, very little could be done to halt them and also prosecute such recalcitrant political parties and their executive because the laws were not deterrent enough.
Dr Afari-Gyan called for a legal framework that would require full disclosure of the donor and the receiver as well as stating what was donated.
This, he said, coupled with Freedom of Information Law would allow the media and other investigative bodies unimpeded access to all information regarding such donations and reveal the giver, receiver and amounts involved.
Dr Afari-Gyan said such laws would end the canker of underdeclaration of income and expenditure, refusal to disclose sources of funding for political parties and also secure the integrity of the electoral process.
He said another move that would minimise such corrupt practices was the introduction of the enhanced public support for political parties, because under such dispensation, political parties would be subjected to strict and proper accounting processes.
Mr Kanga, who is also the Deputy Chairmen of the EC in charge of Finance and Administration, said although the parties usually presented their audited income and expenditure accounts to the EC, very little was done by the EC about the statements.
He said that was so because at certain times it was evident that certain amounts, especially the incomes and expenditure disclosed by political parties in their statements had been reduced drastically and the commission was constrained because such accounts had been prepared by qualified chartered accountants and all figures justified.
He said, for instance, if a political party declared an amount as what it got from donations, the EC or the investigative body would not be able to verify that from the recipients of the amount as well as check from the party’s accounting books and its bankers because there was no law backing such moves.
Mr Aggrey-Fynn alleged that businessmen and contractors had always been paying huge sums of money to some political parties with the view that if any of them won the elections, they would be considered when it came to awarding contracts or giving other offers.
“People claim that millions of dollars come into the country during election periods. Some even allege that drug money had been used”, he alleged and stated that if the state security agencies were up to their task they would be able track the sources of such funds and prosecute the offenders.
He added that the issue of corruption in the electoral process could also be attributed to the fact that people were able to offer huge sums of money in sacks to political parties and these were always not accounted for because such monies could not traced.
Mr Aggrey-Fynn noted that another reason for people failing to disclose their names and amount involved was the fear that if the other parties won elections they might come after them for donating to their opponents.
Nana Ama Eyiaba wondered how monies and other items donated to traditional authorities could be categorised when political party leaders were in such localities to campaign or had been invited to participate in festivals.
She said that was a dicey situation because tradition demanded that people offer traditional leaders a token for libation and other things, but “should we have a ceiling on how much should be donated and also should the traditional authorities and the parties involved disclose such amounts?”
Mr Kantanka noted that the political parties have had a field’s day in exploiting the loopholes in the accounting procedure prescribed by the laws to underdeclare their incomes and expenditure.
He said to secure the electoral process the loopholes in the accounting process must be blocked.
The Chairman of the Coalition, Reverend Dr Fred Deegbe, said Ghanaians should not only be concerned about voting on election days alone but also interested in all the processes involved in the electoral system.
He said if the increasing infiltration of huge sums of money into the campaigns of the elections was not checked, political positions would be for the highest bidders and drug barons.
Dr Deegbe together with Mr Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association, and a member of the coalition called for the passage of Freedom of Information Law.

Political Parties in Ghana demand biometric voter register

ALL the political parties in the country have now concluded that any future election based on the current voters register can undermine the democratic process in the country.
They noted that although the 2008 elections passed without any major hitches, the integrity of any future election could not be so guaranteed if it was conducted with the current register, which they described as bloated.
They, therefore, called for a complete replacement of the register, preferably with a biometric one.
Representatives of the major political parties arrived at the conclusion after a three-day Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting at Akosombo on the theme, “Safeguarding the integrity of the ballot project”.
Parties represented at the meeting were the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the Ghana National Party (GNP).
The only independent presidential candidate in the 2008 elections, Mr Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, was also in attendance.
The view of the political parties tallied with a call made by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, before the 2008 elections.
In September last year, Dr Afari-Gyan described the figures on the current voters register as “statistically incorrect” and made an appeal to Ghanaians to help him and the EC to clean it up.
He explained that with the current national population of 22 million, having almost 13 million people on the register was statistically incorrect.
Explaining further, the political parties at the Akosombo meeting said “the call for a new register is necessary to deal authoritatively with practices of multiple voting and impersonation that undermine public confidence in declared results”.
They also appealed to the government to provide adequate resources in time for the EC to discharge its responsibility of replacing the register because failure could be a source of conflict during or after elections.
They also impressed upon the EC to prepare and submit its operational budget very early for the consideration of the Executive.
During the limited registration exercise just before the 2008 elections, the EC estimated that at most one million people would be registered, but the number soared to a staggering 1,835,417 which increased the voter number from 10,354,970 to 12,822,474.
The three-day meeting was organised by the EC, facilitated by the KAB Governance Consult and sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
It was the last in the series of nation-wide meetings to review the 2008 elections and in attendance were all the members of the EC, including their Chairman, Dr Afari-Gyan.
Another thorny issue that nearly marred the 2008 elections was the compilation of the transfer, proxy and special voting lists and the political parties at the IPAC meeting called for a comprehensive strategy from the election administrator to prevent the recurrence of that problem which caused “anxiety and confusion in the 2008 elections”.
The parties also called on the EC to insist on the strict application of rules and regulations and further provide political parties with copies of those lists before the next election.
The problem of security was also raised by the parties because, according to them, some security officials displayed open bias during the last elections and said strategies must be evolved to halt the dangerous acts.
On the issue of the use of ‘machomen’ during elections, the political parties who were the culprits agreed that they should play by the rules to ensure free and fair elections and further reduce tension.
Previous elections had produced instances of partisan and corrupt temporary EC officials. The parties, therefore, urged the EC to develop appropriate and transparent procedures for recruiting both permanent and temporary officials to secure the integrity of its personnel and the process as well.
They were of the firm opinion that all the lofty suggestions and the commitment to free and fair elections would come to naught if the EC did not plan its activities early enough and publicise same for the attention of the parties and other stakeholders.
According to the parties, that advice was to avoid the tight schedules that characterised the December 2008 elections, with the attendant anxiety and inconveniences.
The challenge of continuous electoral education for the electorate and the security agencies was identified as one of the challenges that faced the electoral process and the EC was, therefore, called upon to play the lead role, in which respect the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and faith-based and civil society organisations must lend a helping hand.

Ndebugre defects to NPP

The former People’s National Convention (PNC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla, John Akparibo Ndebugre, together with the executives of the party at the constituency have defected to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to Mr Ndebugre, the national executive of the PNC have failed to organise the party in conformity with the ideology of the founding fathers of the party as well as the constitutional requirement for the formation of political parties which demanded that each political party had to practice internal democracy.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, in his capacity as the party’s First National Vice Chairman in Zebilla, Mr Ndebugre said he was reading the statement on behalf of the executives of the 30 wards and 100 polling stations for the 2004 and 2008 elections.
He said it was for the practice of internal democracy, provision of information on party’s ideology and to sponsor candidates for elections that the late Dr Hilla Liman formed the PNC. However, these ideologies had been abandoned by people “who have imposed themselves as national executive on the people”.
He said the unconstitutional actions of the “so-called national executive” resulted in the abysmal results of the party during the last two elections.
Mr Ndebugre added that the national executive committee that was elected in May 2004 was unconstitutionally ousted in December 2007 by people who used illegal means to impose themselves as national executive on the party.
He said the illegal executive members failed to follow the laid down procedure for organising congress because they neglected the rule that demanded that parties held constituency and regional elections prior to the national congress.
He said the national delegates congress which elected the national executive and presidential candidates for the 2008 election did not have the mandate of the members of Zebilla as well as some other constituency executives in the country.
Mr Ndebugre said the members and executive of Zebilla still considered the national executive of the party who were elected in 2004 as the substantive officers and were the very people who advised him to contest the 2008 elections as an independent parliamentary candidate.
He said after considering the consistent illegal behaviour of the “so-called national executive”, the members and the executive of Zebilla decided that they had to part ways with the party.
He said because they could not stay aloof in the face of the socio-economic and political happenings in the country, they decided to join forces with the NPP.
Mr Ndebugre said the defecting members had had discussions with the executive of the NPP on how to contribute to strengthen the NPP at the constituency to recapture political power in 2012.
Reacting to the defection, a leading member of the PNC, Dr Sontim Tobiga, described the move as “their individual choice which must be respected, because they have the freedom to associate with any political party of their choice at any time.”
He said in recent times Mr Ndebugre had not acted in any way in the interest of the party, including contesting the 2008 elections as an independent candidate at Zebila where the PNC had a parliamentary candidate.
However, the National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac Manu, speaking via phone from Norway, where he is attending the national conference of the Conservative Party in Oslo, described the defection as good news and welcomed Mr Ndebugre to the NPP fold.
He said Mr Ndebugri being an experienced politician had come to realise the need to be part of the political party whose values and ideology bordered on respect for the rule of law, fundamental human rights, free speech and special respect for the poor and the vulnerable.

Disability Council to register members

THE National Council for People with Disability (NCPD) has started developing a register containing the names and other relevant information of all persons with disability in the country.
The move is to give the council a clear understanding of the number, sex, ages, educational needs and qualifications, as well as other needs of all people with disability, with a view to addressing any challenges.
In an interview in Accra, the Chairman of the board of the council, Mr Andrew Okaikoi, said “the board will work assiduously to ensure that people with disability enjoy equal rights and benefits to be able to contribute their quota to national development”.
He said for a start, the board would this week organise a workshop to set up committees, especially the finance committee, to mobilise funds to register all persons with disability, to make it easier to seek support for them.
He added that the board was also collaborating with Ministry of Transport to ensure that Metro Mass Transit buses were fitted with integrated disability facilities to allow free movement of people with disability on such buses.
“We will also discuss with the ministry to employ some of the people with disability on such buses,” he said.
The NCPD was inaugurated by Vice-President John Mahama on April 7, 2009 in fulfilment of the electoral promise of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to Mr Okaikoi, the financial burden in implementing the policies and programmes to make life better for people with disability was enormous and could not be borne by the state alone, hence the decision of the board to seek funding from other sources.
Expatiating on the census of people with disability, he said the board was consulting with the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Ghana Statistical Service for their assistance in the area of identifying and counting all persons with disability.
He said the board would also dialogue with other government ministries, agencies and departments for them to appreciate the need to incorporate facilities that enhanced the movement of people with disability in their building plans and development.
Mr Okaikoi said the dialogue had become imperative because the law that made it mandatory for all public buildings to have easy access for people with disability would come to effect in the next seven years, because the law was passed three years ago.
“The law, which was passed in 2006, will take effect after 10 years, but as it is we are only appealing to people to have people with disability in mind when putting up structures,” he said.
On the claim by sections of the media that the old board that was constituted by the previous administration had been dissolved under the Mills Administration, he explained that out of the 14-member board, only five people were replaced.
The five people replaced were Prof. Gyimah Buadi of CDD-Ghana, Mr Amponsah Bediako, a former Government Spokesperson, Ms Victoria Sackey, Mr Francis Selormey and Ms Ruth Addison.

Resource NCCE to play role in development

Three prominent Ghanaians have expressed concern about the deliberate failure of various governments, both past and present, to resource the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate citizens about their civic rights and responsibility, especially in the fight against corruption.
They said the NCCE must be resourced to enable it to play a critical role towards the national development effort.
The former National Security Coordinator, Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asikuma-Adoben-Brakwa, Mr P.C. Appiah Ofori, and Mr Laary Bimi, Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), were of the view that
if governments resourced the NCCE they could empower the citizens be abreast of the law as well as help them to demand accountability from public office holders.
The three raised these concerns at the opening of the 9th annual constitutional week organised by the NCCE in Accra.
Mr Bimi said over the years governments had treated the commission like “a Cinderella”.
“As we speak, myself and the staff of the NCCE have not been paid our salaries for the past two months. But we are still working. In the 2009 budget, each district office of the NCCE was given a service budget of (Fifty nine Ghana Cedis) Ghc 59.00 per month and this is what a whole district office will have to use to educate Ghanaians,” he lamented.
He said for the past 16 years the national headquarters of the NCCE had been perching at the offices of the Electoral Commission (EC) headquarters where “we are always threatened with ejection notice.”
Expatiating on his concern, Mr Bentum stated that he was at a loss at the increasing rate at which governments had refused to provide the NCCE with the needed resources to educate the people about their rights and responsibility.
He asked whether the politicians were afraid that if they resourced the commission, it would be able to educate Ghanaians about their rights and that citizens would be in good stead to challenge the politicians when their rights were being trampled upon or “it was out of sheer ignorance on the part of the politician to resource the commission”.
He gave the example of the sorry state of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and said politicians had over the years ensured that the SFO was made to sink so that it would not be able to uncover the bad deeds of the politicians.
Mr Appiah-Ofori said the NCCE had the responsibility to educate Ghanaians about the need for all Ghanaians to play an active role in the fight against all forms of corruption at all levels of the society.
He said the rate at which public office holders were “stealing state resources” was alarming and that the NCCE must take its educational programmes to the grassroots and equip the people with the right tools to fight the menace.
Mr Bimi said “it is true that if the politicians opened the eyes of the people they will see beyond what the politicians had been doing and detect their wrongful ways, and added that “when you are blind that is when the politicians can cheat you”.
He called for the re-introduction of civic education at basic schools to imbibe in the youth at an early age to be abreast with their civic responsibility and rights.
He expressed worry about the increasing trend of moral decadents among the entire society, saying that “We take salaries for working from 8 a.m. to 5p.m. but start work at 10 a.m. All these are corrupt practices.”
Responding, Ms Hannah Tetteh said the problem of meager funding was due to the fact that the nation had not been able to generate enough local resources to fund its own activities and had to rely on donors for support.
She said it was to arrest this situation that the government had stepped up its income generating activities, blocked sources of wastage in order to be able to provide such institutions with adequate resources.
She said as promised by the government, it would ensure that such independent governance institutions were well resourced within the first term of the Mills Administration to play their roles effectively.
Regarding corrupt politicians, Ms Tetteh said political appointees alone could not execute their corrupt agenda without the support of civil servants, and added that it was for this reason that not only politicians should be monitored but all Ghanaians in positions of authority.

President Mills address deficient of fresh ideas

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described President John Evans Atta Mills’ maiden State of the Nation Address as “deficient of fresh ideas and misleading” to Ghanaians.
It explained that the address which was titled a “rescue plan” turned out to be a recount of ongoing interventions, many of which had been made by the NPP administration.
Addressing a press conference by the party in reaction to the President’s maiden address to Parliament on March 19, 2009, Nana Ohene Ntow, the General Secretary of the NPP cited the promise by the President to revive the Aveyime Rice Project when Prairie Texas Company has started working on the project.
He said 81 acres of farmland had been cultivated with rice, and many other activities including 83 full-time staff and 50 workers who have been engaged by Prairie Texas company.
He said many of the promises made my President Mills under the “Health Infrastructure” were ongoing investment and added that “the promise to improve the working conditions of teachers was only supported by an assurance to pay teacher allowances promptly”.
Regarding President Mills pledge to managed the four stadia built by the NPP to reap maximum revenue, Ohene Ntow said the six other regions also deserved stadia as was envisaged by the NPP.
He also wondered how the Mills Administration would implement its promise to implement the onetime- premium payment for the National Health Insurance and asked “if it would be a huge unaffordable onetime-payment? Or would the existing funding arrangements be replaced by the imposition of high tax burdens on ordinary Ghanaians”.
He said the contradictory statements about the economy from the NDC to the effect that the economy was “broke” instead of appreciating the fact that even largest economies were experiencing economic challenges, culminating Ghana to experience temporary economic challenges.
According to Nana Ntow, President Mills’ assessment of the economic performance of the last administration started from close of 2007, when the global economic challenges begun to intensify during to the close of 2008.
In response, he said President Mills also pointed to a year-on-year inflation of 18.1 per cent at the close of 2008 but failed to add that the NPP inherited a corresponding figure of 40.5 per cent from the NDC at the end of 2000.
The cedi depreciated by 22.9 per cent in 2008; it depreciated by 50.2 per cent in 2000, the lending rates improved from an average of 47 per cent in December 2000 to an average of 27 per cent in December 2008.
Debt burden has improved from 189 per cent of GDP at the close of 2000 to 57 per cent of GDP at the close of 2008.
Commenting on the claim by the government that centred on a 2008 overall budget deficit of about 14 per cent, Nana Ntow explained that in 2008, Ghana was confronted with many unexpected needs to meet including importation of crude oil to power generators at a time when crude oil had reached $ 147 per barrel.
Explaining the debt of TOR and VRA, he alleged that the $ 2 billion combined debt for the two entities as stated by President Mills was misleading.
On TOR, he said a letter from TOR to the minister of finance, stated that the net exposure or the net debt was $ 167.53 million, this came from a total liability of $ 989.78 million and a total current assets of $ 822.25 million.
He also said that until November 1, 2008, fuel prices were not revised downwards in spite of the substantial decrease in crude oil price and the explanation from the National Petroleum Authority was that there was the need to defray some of the losses incurred in the preceding months.
He added that the $ 167.53 million was the losses in question and that if anything at all, the figure should have come down and added that the $ I billion TOR debt was therefore disingenuous.
Nana Ntow, therefore, cautioned that “this passion to paint a negative picture of Ghana’s economy for the purposes of achieving some non-existing short-sighted political advantage is unfortunate, and would undermine confidence in the economy and hurt us in the long run”.

EC to ensure improved election in 2012

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the 2012 becomes an improvement over Election 2008.
Consequently, it had started a review process of all its activities during last year’s elections with its majors stakeholders to find out what went wrong and concerns of political parties and observers with a view to collectively fashioning out how to nib in the bud any hitches that may occur in the next general elections.
Mr Albert K. Arhin, the Director of Elections of the EC, disclosed this at a special Regional Inter-Party Advisory Committee (RIPAC) in Accra over the weekend. The programme was under the theme “Safeguarding the integrity of the Ballot”.
It was a collaborative effort by the EC, the Canadian International Development Agency and KAB Governance Consult. Participants were from the various political parties, the security agencies, the media, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the EC.
“As soon as we finish one elections, it is proper that we start preparing toward the next elections” Mr Arhin said and added that, “the meeting is to allow you (participants) the opportunity to tell us where we went wrong, what was better, all in the spirit of shaping the future elections”.
He added that although the 2008 elections had very minimal problems, the EC could not be complacent and sit idle but must make the effort to straighten all rough edges.
He said the EC was not against any suggestion or contribution that was made in good faith for the well-being of the electoral process.
Addressing some of the concerns raised by the political party leaders, Mr Arhin said political party agents at polling station have no right under the law to intervene in an issue, all they could do was to report any issue of concern to the appropriate quarters for redress.
“Apart from the staff of the EC, no other person can intervene at the polling stations”, Mr Arhin said.
He also expressed surprise that with all the in-built checks in the electoral process, people still made much issue out of the ballot boxes after the ballot had been declared at the polling station.
He said once the ballot had been counted, and all the political party agents have received their copies of the result slips at the polling station, the ballot boxes and their contents were of little essence because the results could easily be obtained from the party agents anytime.
According to Mr Arhin, the Achilles Heels of the EC in the Election 2008 was the transfer of votes and special voting exercise and gave the assurance that the EC had taken steps to avoid such problems from reoccurring.
Mr Arhin attributed the cause of the issue to the overwhelming numbers of the transfers and the failure of the applicants to provide adequate personal information for the EC to effect the transfer appropriately.
Mr Hubert Akumiah, the Director of Information Technology Department of the EC, explained that the reason why the EC delayed in coming out with its final results long after other organisations had collated their provisional results was that the EC had to check, double check and verify every result before putting it in the public domain.
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the EC, Mr Muhammed Adoquaye, said before the 2008 Elections, the EC was able to educate party officials and candidates which he said helped in minimising the problems associated with elections, thereby minimising the problems associated with elections.
He said the meetings and workshops for the political parties also engendered the spirits of cooperation and unity among political parties during the elections.

Monitor, guide country’s democratic dispensation — CDD urges Ghanaians

The Executive Director of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Congress (CDD-Ghana), Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, has called on Ghanaians to keep a watchful eye, monitor and guide the country’s democratic dispensation so as to be beneficial to the entire society.
“We truly believe that building democracy, establishing democratic foundations for a well-governed society, institutionalising the rule of law, and entrenching a culture of democracy and good governance is a process. It is not an event,” he added.
Prof. Gyimah-Baadi said this at the launch of a book “Watching Democracy in Ghana” in Accra on Thursday. The 307 page book is a compilation of articles and other materials that were published by the Centre in its publication “Democracy Watch,” the mouth piece of the Centre over the last 10 years.
Prof. Gyimah-Boadi said no society was fully democratic and explained that all that had happened was that “some may have reached a more advanced stage than others, some may have just started the journey, and others have hardly started at all”.
He explained that democracy must be seen as a process that could grow and deepen, stagnate, suffer reversal, setbacks and backslide, but to derive the best and sustain it would require vigilance from all stakeholders.
He explained that it was in the light of monitoring the democratic process that the CDD-Ghana had over the last 10 years been coming out with its chief instrument with which it performs the task of monitoring, watch-dogging and keeping vigilance over the process of Ghanaian democratisation and good governance.
The CDD-Ghana executive director explained that the book provided an analysis and commentary on those events and developments, highlighting their implications for the development of democracy and fostering good governance in Ghana.
Additionally, he said, the documents also prescribed solutions to the various democracy and good governance challenges highlighted in the articles.
He admitted that not all readers might agree with the views expressed and positions taken in the document, however, the centre always ensured that the views, positions and prescriptions were based on reason and evidence.
Launching the book, the Majority Leader, Mr Alban Somani Bagbin, commended the centre for its contributions towards the advancement of democracy and its institutions in the country over the years.
He talked of how the centre’s documents and other literatures had helped him as a person and parliament in general.
He said for the current democratic process to be successful, it demanded that all players become tolerant of each other’s views and positions.
Mr Bagbin was not happy that Ghanaian media always focused on the very few disagreements between majority and the minority in parliament.
“But they fail to tell the world about the how the House had almost always arrived at decisions on consensus”, he said.
Reviewing the book, Mr Ben Ephson, the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch said going through the document, it was evident that Ghanaian politicians were the same irrespective of the side of the divide they belonged.
He said the only difference was that the opposition was trying to win power while those in government were always trying to entrench their position.
He gave some of the titles in the book which showed that nothing much had changed on the political landscape since 2001.
Those included the “Emerging NDC culture of complaint”, “A call for debate on the retirement package for Ghanaians leaders”, “How much do public officers make” among others.

Political Parties laud IEA’s initiatives

Political Parties with representation in Parliament have lauded the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy advocacy and a think-thank for its immense contribution to the growth and sustainability of the democratic process and institutions in the country.
They said the institute’s programmes and support for political parties as well as its initiatives including coming out with very crucial bills for the growth of the country’s fledgling democracy, had made it an outstanding institution.
The bills are Public Financing of Political Parties which include the creation of an Election Fund for political parties and guaranteed funding for the electoral commission, a new Political Parties Bill and A Presidential Transition Bill.
The chairmen and general secretaries of the political parties with representation in Parliament applauded the institute in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday after their first meeting following President J. E. A. Mills’s State of the Nation Address last week.
The President indicated his willingness to consider the draft bills and other issues initiated by the IEA for passage by Parliament.
In the President’s address, he stated that several areas of the country’s governance agenda required legislative intervention; Fortunately he said the IEA-sponsored “Ghana Political Parties Programme” which was made up of all the political parties with representation in Parliament had agreed on several draft Bills that would respond to this need.
The President, consequently, gave the assurance that his Government would consider the draft bills for possible Parliamentary enactment in order to fill the void.
Apart from providing financial support, capacity building and other assistance to the political parties, the IEA initiated bills such the Whistle Blowers Act and the Freedom of Information Bill.
Recently, the institute under its platform for political parties, which include caucus of national chairmen and the platform of general secretaries with the help of some experts, came out with documents on the Presidential Transition Bill, Public Financing of Political Parties Bill, the need for constitutional reforms, and the urgent need for guaranteed funding for the EC.
Commenting on the issue, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, described the activities of the IEA as phenomenal and very critical to the sustenance of the existence of the political parties and the current democratic dispensation.
He said the decision by the Mills Administration to see through the IEA initiated and sponsored constitutional interventions was a recognition of the critical role the institute had played.
Mr Afriyie-Ankrah who has been nominated as the deputy minister for Local Government said for instance the public funding for political parties would make the political parties more viable and less corrupt and also help to avoid situations where people who had resources would hijacked the parties for selfish reasons.
He explained that after being in office for eight years and in opposition for the same number of years, the NDC administration really appreciated all the issues brought out by the IEA and gave the assurance that the party in government would consider them expeditiously.
The NDC IEA-Policy Analyst, Mr S. Adamu said the programmes of the IEA “will go a long way to strengthen democracy in Ghana; The IEA has been doing a great job for the political parties and Ghana in general”.
On his part, the Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Peter Mac Manu was full of praise for the institute which he said had through its programmes helped to realise the regular meetings of Chairmen and General Secretaries in the country, saying “It was unheard of in the politics of the country for political leaders, especially, the national chairmen and general secretaries of rival political parties to share ideas on a common platform, collectively come out with policy statements and even wine and dine together.”
The NPP General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow after paying glowing tribute to the IEA said, because all the Bills initiated by the institute had major inputs from the political parties, getting the public and the parliamentary support would not be difficult.
He said having used the Constitution for 16 years, it was a general consensus by the political parties that the document must be looked at very carefully and the rough edges straightened to ensure that it guided the nation to able to deepen multi party democracy and its development agenda.
Alhaji Raman Ramadan, the National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC) said the IEA had shown how political parties could be assisted to play their roles effectively and maintain their structures as well as position themselves to come out with proposals to strengthen the democratic process.

Salia Dead

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Jirapa, Mr Edward Kojo Salia, is dead. He was 57.
The Deputy National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, who confirmed the death, however, did not give details but said “he had been sick for some time”.
Daily Graphic sources indicate that the MP died at his home at Ashaley Botwe in Accra in the afternoon of yesterday.
One of the longest-serving MPs in the Fourth Republic, Mr Salia was a Minister of State with portfolios in Communication and Roads and Transport in the Rawlings administration.
He was born to Mr Bajeluru Dorcie Salia, a farmer, and Madam Habiba Yiringsaa, a housewife, at Amasaman on June 20, 1952.
He was survived by four children and a wife.
A graduate from the University of Ghana in 1977, he advanced his education at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, The Netherlands, after which he attended Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
He also attended the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) from 2005 to 2007.
He has knowledge in administration, planning, analysis and business. Mr Salia also has skills in policy analysis and public speaking.
In 1977, he acquired professional training in project planning and management and in 1987-88 in public administration (Lester Peason Fellowship).
His hobbies were football, meeting people and making friends and engaging in debates and discussions.
He was a member of three parliamentary select committees — Finance, Lands and Forestry and Works, Water Resources and Housing.
The late Mr Salia was the Chairman of the Upper West Parliamentary Caucus of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

NPP not happy with transition process

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) side of the transition team has described the way the transition was handled as “inquisitorial in nature and one-sided, which is contrary to best practices of transition”.
The party claimed that at the subcommittee level the whole transition process ?????deteriorated????? and out of the nine subcommittees only two — Executive Assets and Economy — had meetings involving members of both the previous and current administrations.
Briefing the media yesterday, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the leader of the NPP team and Co-chairman of the Transition Team, said there was a clear attempt by the government side to paint the former government in a bad light to Ghanaians.
“A report that emanate from such efforts cannot and should not be presented as a joint report and as we have said, we cannot be expected to claim co-ownership of it,” he said.
The Transition Team was formed after the declaration of the 2008 presidential results to ensure smooth transfer of administration from the NPP to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
It is co-chaired by Mr Paul Victor Obeng for the NDC and Mr Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani for the outgoing government. The team had nine joint subcommittees all under joint chairmanship.
At a press conference attended by the party executive, former ministers of state and Members of Parliament, Mr Mpiani, who is the immediate former Chief of Staff in the Kufuor Administration, explained that the two sides held three joint meetings at the plenary level and the meetings fit the mould of a normal transition.
“After the third meeting it was agreed that the next meeting would be convened after the various joint subcommittees with co-chairs have completed their work and submitted their reports. It was further agreed that the transition process should end by January 31, 2009,” he added.
He said even with the only two subcommittees that had meetings, members representing the NDC decided to meet alone without notifying members of the previous administration.
“At the subcommittee on the Economy, our members were told that the meetings were being held under the auspices of the new administration and our members could only talk when asked to do so,” Mr Mpiani said.
He said at the Executive Assets Committee, which had only four meetings for all four members, they were able to symbolically transfer the Osu Castle, Peduase Lodge and the Golden Jubilee House to the new administration.
According to him, after the fourth meeting, the NDC members of the Executive Assets Committee also started behaving like the other subcommittees, meeting only members of the current administration and “transformed itself into some sort of inquisitorial committee, contrary to the norms of a proper and efficient transition”.
Mr Mpiani said after the members of the Transition Team had finished with their “one-sided” reports, which did not include views from members of the former government, Mr Obeng had written to the NPP side to invite them to a meeting “to agree on some loose ends taking into cognisance the principle of fair play”.
He said the NDC had by their own admission stated that they had written their reports based on meetings they held with bureaucrats and officials, therefore the gesture was coming too late in the day.
He, however, suggested that if the draft reports were given to them with adequate time to study, the NPP side would provide their input to address what the NDC termed “the loose ends” for the report to have credibility and balance.
Mr Mpiani described as “egregious” the manner the Auditor-General was invited to present a draft audit report on the only celebration in the full glare of the media, which is unethical about the accounting profession, the summoning and interrogation of vehicle suppliers to the Ghana@50 Secretariat, as well as the leaking of half-truths to the media.
He also condemned the way the government operatives went about seizing vehicles from officials of former government functionaries and ordinary Ghanaians in the name of retrieving state vehicles.

DFP to ensure party grows in stature — Gen Secretary

the General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Mr Bede Ziedeng, has said everything will be done to ensure that the DFP grows in stature till the next congress in 2011.
In that connection, the party had set in motion strategies to ascertain the causes of its poor showing in Election 2008 and find means to better its lot in the next elections, he said.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, Mr Ziedeng hinted that currently the party’s Functional Executive Committee was putting finishing touches to a programme for nation-wide visits by a combination of some national and regional executive members to the regions, constituencies and wards.
The visits were first to determine the reasons for the party’s poor showing, find the views of the members and determine how best to position the party to perform better in the next elections.
He said it was usual and necessary that just after a major election the party went back to the drawing board to diagnose the problems it faced and make efforts to fix them.
“Losing an election is not the end of a political party,” he said, and assured the members that the national executive would do all in its power to ensure the growth of the DFP.

Ama Busia reminds NPP of life in opposition

A Leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Madam Ama B. Busia, reminds members of the party to be mindful of life in opposition, prior to winning Election 2000, and urges them to use appropriate channels in seeking redress, now that they are in opposition again.
“Recent comments by some senior members of the party have urged me to remind the rank and file of the party to remember where we came from to win the 2000 and 2004 elections, and also our loss in 2008,” she added.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, in an interview concerning recent comments by some leading members of the party after the party’s defeat, she appealed to the rank and file of the party to remain focused and united.
She also advised party supporters and leading members to refrain from making unguarded statements in the media, but channel their grievances, suggestions and views on the party’s fortunes to the appropriate quarters within the party.
She said, in most cases, those who made such comments might not even have the proper facts or the correct historical background to the issues.
Madam Busia, who described herself as the mother of the party, said blame game, accusations and counter-accusations, as well as finger-pointing would not be in the best interest of either individuals or the collective good of the party.
She said most of the issues being discussed in the public domain could easily be addressed by the party in an in-door manner.
She reminded the members of the party that they should be focused and “have in mind that the obvious target of the party is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and not ourselves”.
She said the party was by far a very big family whose interest transcended that of any other group or individual in the party, and that was the interest that must be guarded.

PNC to play responsible role in opposition — Ramadan

The National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, has said the party will continue to play its role as a responsible opposition party to strengthen democratic governance in the country and hold the government accountable to the people of Ghana.
He said the ultimate aim of the PNC in opposition was not to bring the government down but to work assiduously to always let the government be on its toes and bring out the best in it for the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian.
The PNC Chairman, who was commenting on the recent nomination of one of its members to a ministerial position by the government in an interview in Accra, adding that “the PNC would not renege on its responsibility to ensure that the government fulfilled its promise to Ghanaians.
Recently, President J.E.A. Mills nominated Mr Alhassan Azong, PNC Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, for the position of Minister of State at the Presidency. During the presidential run-off, Mr Azong joined forces with the NDC party in his constituency and it to win the election.
On the nomination of Mr Azong and possible nomination of more of its members, the PNC Chairman said the party was not vexed at the move.
He explained that during the presidential run-off, the PNC decided to remain neutral and not to support any of the two parties, NDC and NPP.
He added, however, that some of its members on their own volition joined one of the two parties and some of those who joined forces with the NDC were promised some positions.
Alhaji Ramadan said that in this instance what the party had been doing was to advise such members who received such appointments but not to stop them.
Concerning the reorganisation of the party after the election, he explained that the PNC would at the end of this month hold a national standing committee meeting to finalise the party’s reorganisation strategy.
Giving details of the reorganisation, he said in the first instance the party had printed “very attractive and must-own features” which would be used to replace the old ones.
He said the new membership identity cards which have columns for payment of dues were intended to guarantee and strengthen the input of members in the affairs of the party.
Alhaji Ramadan said apart from the reorganisation, some of the national executive members of the party, in collaboration with regional and constituency executives, would hold regional meetings with the constituency executives and other members to thank them for their hard work and support for the party during the electioneering.

Let’s celebrate national occasions in unity — Nduom urges Ghanaians

Ghanaians have been urged to celebrate national occasions, especially the independence day, in a united manner, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) presidential candidate for Election 2008 has said.
He said the celebration should not be limited to those in government, security agencies and schoolchildren but to all Ghanaians irrespective of political affiliations.
Dr Nduom was speaking at a pre-independence cocktail held at his residence at Ridge in Accra on Thursday.
The occasion, the 12 to be organised by Dr Nduom, was attended by members of various political parties, members of the diplomatic corps and some members of the general public.
The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mr Jean-Pierre Gbikpi-Benissan, who is also the Togolese Ambassador, led a large number of members of the corps.
Mr Kwesi Amoafo Yeboah, the independent presidential candidate for Election 2008, and Mr Hackamn Owusu-Agyeman, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juabeng North.
“Each year all Ghanaians should celebrate the occasion, it should not be limited to those in political power, the schoolchildren and the security agencies. It should be for all”, Dr Nduom advised.
He said the independence of Ghana was won for all Ghanaians and not for only those who would be in political power alone.
He cited the example of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of a former Republican American President, Abraham Lincoln.
He said although he was a former president, he was a Republican. President Barrack Obama, a Democrat, was at the celebration and paid glowing tribute to him.
Dr Nduom urged Ghanaians to take a cue from the American example and appreciate the work of Dr Kwame Nkrumah for his immense contribution to the building of Ghana.
Dr Nduom commended all leading members of the independence struggle, from Paa Grant to Mr Kojo Botsio, and expressed the hope that Dr Nkrumah’s 100th birthday would be made a national holiday.
Mr Gbikpi-Benissanis who is also the Dean for the African Diplomatic Corps, was full of praise for Dr Nkrumah for laying the foundation for Africa’s to liberation from the shackles of imperialism.

Call on Mumuni to step aside is ploy — Group

A group calling itself ‘Concerned National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth’ has said the recent call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni to step aside and clear his name of allegation against him was a ploy to distract President J. E. A. Mills administration from implementing the promises made in its manifesto.
Consequently, they have called on the President to ignore what they term “diversionary antics of the New Patriotic Party and concentrate on the task of responding to the legitimate concerns of the people who offered him the mandate to rule”.
The spokesperson for the group, Mr Ridwan Abubakar said this at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday.
He described the call on the minister to resign as a sinister NPP agenda to unsettle the new NDC administration and a conspiracy against Alhaji Mumuni.
Explaining why the group believed that it was all a ploy, he alleged that less than 24 hours after Alhaji Mumuni had submitted a statement to the CID headquarters concerning the allegations in January 2004, a private newspaper told Alhaji Mumuni that they were aware of his invitation and that they had a copy of the statement he made to the CID.
He added that contrary to best auditing practices, the accounting firm contracted by the auditor general failed to invite Alhaji Mumuni regarding what the auditors’ claim to be unusual and questionable in the books of NVTI.
He said, although, the auditors claimed that they invited Alhaji Mumuni through the speaker, the speaker in a memorandum made it clear that his office had never received any letter inviting Alhaji Mumuni to answer any queries.
Mr Abubakar noted that at a press conference on May 19, 2004, Alhaji Mumuni debunked the auditors’ assertion and charges against him and informed the media about the existence of letters and documents which the auditors claimed never existed.
He said because Alhaji Mumuni told the press that such letters existed and that the then Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, Mr Yaw Barimah was the one who gave him copies, the office of Mr Barimah was burgled and the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the minister’s computer with backups were stolen.
“The coincidence of these events is indeed very unusual and the only rational conclusion we can arrive at is that this was part of the clumsy conspiracy to erase crucial evidence which would expose the sinister plans of the conspirators,” he alleged.
Mr Abubakar pledged the group’s full support for Alhaji Mumuni and to?? “ assure him that the rank and file members will ???stand by him in his legitimate quest to clear his name and maintain his integrity”.
He added that the group would commit itself to fight to defend the NDC against the machinations of the party’s opponents who “ harbour sinister intentions of making the country ungovernable and obstruct the efforts of the new NDC Administrations to settle down to the task of governing the country that has been mismanaged and looted for the past eight years”.

More room for improvement after 52 years — Parties

THE four main political parties in the country have observed that although the country has chalked up some successes in its 52 years of independence, there is more room for improvement.
They said that much as the country had over the years been the trailblazer in the area of multi party democracy in Africa, it could have done better in the domains of sufficiency in food production, internal security and socio economic development.
They were all of the view that multi-party democracy had become the best and acceptable way of managing the affairs of the country, and that everything must be done to nurture, protect and ensure that it was not tampered with by any undesirable characters.
The political leaders were expressing their views on the state of the nation and how far Ghana had come in its 52 years of independence.
They are Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Mr Ladi Nylander, National Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Unanimously, they all said that in the area of agriculture, especially food production, it was unacceptable for a sovereign nation to be importing a chunk of its food requirement from abroad while it had both human and material resources to be self-sufficient.
They called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to move the country from its hoe and cutlass, back-breaking and ancient method of cultivation to a modernised and non-reliance on rainfall for its food production.
This, the political party leaders said, would cut down drastically on the huge sums of foreign exchange that was spent in importing such food items,to create more jobs for the teeming youth who are idling in the streets.
Commenting on democracy, they said the country had acceptable multi-party democracy as the best way of governing but expressed the view that government must build the capacity of governance institutions to offer their best, and also urged Ghanaians to be more tolerant of the views of their opponents.
For his part, Mr Boateng-Gyan described as unacceptable a situation where workers had to squeeze water out of stone every two to three years to look for huge sums of money to pay for rent advances before they could have a place to lay their head.
He said it was high time the government took bold steps to build affordable houses to save the Ghanaian worker from the yearly ritual of going through ‘hell’ before having a place to lay their head.
On national unity, he said, the various flash points were a blot on the peace that the country was enjoying, and urged all involved to let sleeping dogs lie and also appealed to the security agencies to deal ruthlessly with any culprit to serve as deterrent to others.
The NPP General Secretary said since Ghana had become the reference point in African democracy, it was incumbent on its leaders with the support of the populace to work hard in removing major stumbling blocks to its forward match to socio-economic development.
He said the cultivation of the habit of self-discipline, hard work and patriotism and the rule of law in all spheres of national endeavour was a sure way of achieving the level of development that all Ghanaians yearned for.
He described the numerous ethnic and chieftaincy disputes as a threat to all the great achievement made so far and that more attention must be made to resolve all the protracted conflicts.
He also pleaded with the players in this conflict to smoke the peace pipe in their own interest and that of the entire nation.
Alhaji Ramadan was worried about the large number of the youth who have no decent jobs nor the possibility of seeking further education or learning any vocation.
He said although polarisation was a stock in trade of multi-party democracy, Ghanaians should not overstretch their differences in political ideas to the level of ugly experiences in war torn countries in Africa.
He said the government must do all within its power to restore the nation to its old era of being the safe haven in the sub-region by bringing to the barest minimum the cases of armed robbery and accidents on the country’s roads.
Mr Nylander said although the country was deficient in the area of employment creation, food production, security for the people, among others, it was not deficient in the ideas of how to solve these problems.
He said what was lacking was the political will and the determination of the people to assist the government in solving these problems.

Remove Atta Akyea

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Forum for Setting the Records Straight (FSRS) has called for the removal of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Abuakwa, Mr Atta Akyea, from the Parliamentary Appointments Committee.
“Mr Attah Akyea, per his deliberate peddling of despicable liars, on at least two occasions, has brought the august House into disrepute. We believe that Mr Attah Akyea’s removal will restore some modicum of respectability and credibility to this august house”, it alleged.
A spokesperson for the forum, Mr Mohammed Nuredeen Nashas, stated this at their first press conference after the 2008 elections, to express the forum’s displeasure about what it termed Mr Akyea’s “unceasing quest for by force-shakara apology from the NDC ministerial nominees”.
Explaining, Mr Nuredeen said Mr Attah Akyea started by levelling unfounded allegations and insults against the forum’s leader, Mr Fifi Kwetey, a deputy Minister of Finance-nominee, during his vetting.
He said Mr Akyea, during the vetting of Mr Kwetey, forced Mr Kwetey to apologise for asserting that Abu Mohamed, an NDC member, was crippled as a result of an attack by some thugs believed to be members of the the New Patriotic Party (NPP), leaving the committee to think that Mt Akyea had enough evidence to prove Mr Kwetey wrong on his allegations.
“Much to the dismay of the listeners of Joy fm’s Morning Show and Radio Gold’s Newspaper Review, the very day after the vetting, the said victim did confess that he was in fact unable to walk for three years and has resorted to the use of clutches”, he said.
The NPP, he said, meted the same harassment to Madam Ama Benyiwa Doe, Minister for Central Region, who was also coerced to render an apology for her “justifiable” pronouncements regarding the NPP and the cocaine saga, during the 2008 campaign season.
He said the NPP MP’s in the Parliamentary Appointment Committee, instead of contributing to a successful vetting exercise, were rather using the opportunity to score political points.
Mr Nuredeen called on the Parliamentary Appointments Committee to do its best to maintain the integrity of the vetting process in order to give tax payers their money’s worth.
He said the FSRS was aware of he misdeeds of the MP for Manhyia, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, during the 2008 elections in Kumasi, and would be “setting the record straight on him” in due course.

Use global crisis to build economy — Amoafo-Yeboah

The Independent Presidential candidate for Election 2008, Mr Kwesi Amoafo-Yeboah, has called on managers of the economy to use the challenges inherent in the global economic crisis to restructure the country’s economy.
He said efforts must be made to use the challenge as an opportunity to build a resilient economy against future external shocks.
Speaking with the Daily Graphic on Saturday, he advised Ghanaians to change their consumption habits, patronise made in Ghana products, especially local dishes, as a way of building the economic capacity of the country.
For a start, he suggested that just as the government introduced the Friday wears, which was successful, Ghanaians could be encouraged to cultivate the habits of eating a Ghanaian meal once a week.
“Eat a Ghanaian dish once or twice a week; We should eat food grown in Ghana and by so doing we would save scarce money for the nation,” he stated.
He said “This global economic crunch is our best opportunity to wean ourselves off the dependency syndrome that has engulfed our economy over the years.”
Mr Amoafo-Yeboah said once Ghanaians were able to patronise made in Ghana products, scarce resources saved would be used to support other important social interventions.
He explained that due to the credit crunch, donor partners would not be able to provide needed funds to support the country’s economy like they used to because already their economies were in danger.
Remittances from Ghanaians living abroad, he said, would also reduce drastically because most of them have lost their jobs while exports from Ghana to other developed countries would depreciate because such consumers had either lost jobs or were receiving reduced income.

NPP to work towards reliable democracy — Says Akufo-Addo

THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for Election 2008, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said the party will gear its activities towards the growth of the democratic process and the development of the country.
He said the NPP would contribute to make Ghana a safe and reliable democracy, as well as develop the nation’s economy, so that “we can bring prosperity to all our people”.
Nana Akufo-Addo, in the company of his wife, Rebecca, was addressing the press at the Kotoka International Airport on arrival from Europe and the USA on Sunday after a private visit there.
He expressed his excitement at the positive and strong spirit that still persisted among the rank and file of the party.
Asked about his reaction to the recent seizure of cars belonging to some leading members of the party, including himself and his running mate, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, and other developments, he said because he had been out of the country for a while, he would not want to make any comments now.
Nana Akufo-Addo said he would be consulting with his colleagues in the party to keep abreast of issues on the ground and how best to react to those developments, all within the spirit of helping to move the country forward.
He added that while he was away, he had been following political events taking place in the country and noted that it was not his style to “always react to everything”.
The former NPP presidential candidate was met on arrival by a large crowd of party supporters and officials clad in party T-shirts and other paraphernalia.
Loud speakers mounted on cars provided music for the teeming supporters who danced for hours before the arrival of Nana Akufo-Addo at 6.30 p.m. at the arrival hall.
Leading party members who met the NPP’s 2008 presidential candidate at the airport included Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and Sheikh I. C. Quaye.
It took Nana Akufo-Addo and his entourage well over two hours to get out of the airport onto the main road. The large crowd also caused a very heavy traffic jam on the 37 Hospital-Airport road..

Elect Akufo Addo, Alan Kyerematen for 2012 Election— Pleads 72 yr-old NPP supporter

A 72-year-old New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporter, Odeneho Kissinger from Accra has called on the party, especially the delegates to the next congress to re-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as the flag bearer and make Mr Alan Kyerematen his running mate.
He conceded that the suggestion would not be easy but argued that the move would be one of the best pairs of presidential ticket to win the 2012 elections.
Odeneho Kissinger who claimed to be a member of the United Party (UP) in the 1950s, was one of four NPP members who spoke to the Daily Graphic at separate interviews at the Kotoka International Airport after the arrival of Nana Akufo Addo from abroad on Sunday.
He said the popularity of the two was not in doubt and that it was high time the party took advantage of his suggestion.
He said the NPP led by Nana Akufo Addo lost the elections by a slim margin ever witnessed in the electoral history of the country.
This, he said, was an ample indication of how popular Nana Akufo Addo was among the electorate.
He said not withstanding the false accusations and lies against Nana Akufo Addo, he had placed himself in a better position to wrest power form the National Democratic congress (NDC).
Odeneho Kissinger added that “although he could not become the next President after J.A. Kufuor, he remained the most popular political figure now and with Alan as his running mate, the party would definitely win the polls”.
He said such a move if executed early would deter any uncertainty about who would lead the party and also allow the party ample time to campaign and win the election.
“We lost the 2008 elections by less than 50,000 votes and that with just a little hard work and united front coupled with good strategies, we will close this gap and form the next government to continue with the good policies and programmes initiated by President Kufuor,” he added.
Ms Mable Amponsa, a trader at the Kaneshie Market urged the party executive to ensure unity within the party.
He called on the leadership of the party to maintain Nana Akufo Addo as its presidential candidate for the 2012 elections.
She argued that although the party’s constitution demanded that a flag bearer was always elected by congress, the party must maintain Nana Akufo Addo because he had marketed himself and stood the better chance of winning the next election.
She pleaded with other leading members of the party who would also contest the flag bearership position to ensure that the process leading to the congress did not become acrimonious.
Ms Amponsah commended Nana Akufo Addo for exhibiting political maturity and patriotism by not contesting the results and instigating the party supporters to take to the streets.
“Currently we are being ruled by minority and this should not be allowed after the 2012 elections,” she added but when her attention was drawn to the fact that the NDC had majority in Parliament and also won the second round of the 2008 elections she said “it was because they stole the elections”.
On her part, Ms Amponsah said in the NPP, there were line of succession which started with Prof. Albert Adu Boahen, former President Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and this must be made to prevail.
“Irrespective of the fact that the party’s constitution required that after every general election, the party must hold a congress to elect a new flag bearer, but for the sake of winning the elections, the delegates must re-elect Nana Akufo Addo,” she pleaded.
She also urged the party executive to stand firm and defend the leading members of the party especially Nana Akufo Addo, his running mate, Dr M. Bawumia and former President Kufuor from the “subtle means by which the current administration was maligning and maltreating as if they had stolen state vehicles.”
Ms Amponsah again advised the party executive to constantly hold press conferences to point out to Ghanaians the shortfalls of the NDC administration.
Mr Robertson expressed shock that after a vigorous campaign the NPP lost the election by just a small margin and urged the top hierarchy of party to scientifically undertake a study to ascertain what made the party to lose the election and develop appropriate strategies to ensure that it did not suffer such a mishap again.
He suggested that to avoid the reoccurrence of acrimony that characterised the last congress that saw the election of the Nana Akufo Addo, the party executive must find a way of limiting the number of people who would contest for the position and said “despite this admonition, I still maintain that Nana Akufo must be given the nod again. This will limit the amount of work we have to do to market him”.
He said apart from what the national executive would be doing in the interim before the 2012 campaign commenced, the rank and file of the party must constantly be reminding Ghanaians, especially the electorate of the good work by the Kufuor Administration and the need to bring back the NPP.
Mr Agamabila said it was evident from the results of the elections that Nana Akufo Addo did his best for the party to win but circumstances beyond his control contributed to the slim loss.
He said he deserved to be given the next chance to lead the party and “by the grace of God he will win the elections.”

Draft bill on Right to Information ready

The Minster of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu has met major stakeholders on the Right to information Bill for their final input to make the draft bill more functional.
The draft bill spells out the qualifications and conditions under which one could access official information held by government and government agencies.
The bill which is all geared towards reducing corruption and enhancing open governance in Ghana, is expected to be laid before cabinet for onward submission to parliament for ratification.
Making the final submission to the bill, Mr Akoto Ampaw who spoke for the Coalition on the Right to Information Bill, said the body had identified some pitfalls in the draft bill which needed to be addressed.
These, he said include, the numerous and complex exemptions undermining the principles of maximum disclosure, and explained that although a sector like the security agencies could withhold certain information for national security reasons, not all information in their care affected national security.
On the expensive fee structure, he explained that this could be a disincentive to people seeking information and suggested that the charges should be limited to the printing of the document alone and not to include the time spent in searching for the information.
Mr Ampaw also recommended for an independent oversight body to implement the law and explained that if the attorney general, who was also the government chief legal advisor was made to oversee the implementation of the law, it would amount to conflict of interest because the public would be dealing with government agencies.
According to Mr Ampaw, other pitfalls were the long time frames which could go as far as 75 days before information would be given and requested that it should be looked at again to ensure that it was reduced to the bearest minimal, because that could potentially undermine access.
He expressed worry about limited scope of the bill that obliges only government agencies to disclose information and excludes private bodies that deal with very sensitive sector of the society like water, mining, oil and road construction.
He said these private sector as well as chieftaincy institutions have functions that have “serious impact on public rights and should therefore provide information on their activities to the public.”
Mr Ampaw explained that maintaining all these lapses would mean that, “the bill does not conform to best practice standards and cannot guarantee full enjoyment of the right to access information being part and parcel of inalienable democratic rights of the citizens of Ghana and as such, must be reviewed and amended”.
Briefing the press and the members of the coalition which included the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), the justice minister said, “the main trust of the bill, except the exceptions, were that a public officer will not be able to say to a member of the public that I cannot tell you what you have the right to know”.
She said the bill was intended to give substance to the constitutional requirements.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu added that the bill which had been in the offing since 2002 did not limit its application to the public sector alone because there were provisions for the attorney general to extend its application to the private sector.
She said the previous government held various meetings with several interested parties and with the assistance from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and CHRI and other bodies the draft bill was put in place and said, “our government’s quest to pass the bill is not in doubt”.
She added that numerous meetings and workshop had been held to solicit the views and aspirations to enrich and make it “a bill of the people for the people’’.