NDC, NPP urge peaceful co-existence

The two main political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have urged Ghanaians to use the opportunity of the August 29 Supreme Court judgement to demonstrate to the entire world that they can co-exist peacefully in such trying times. 
 
They also advised the security agencies to up their game and assure Ghanaians and the international community that Ghana, which is considered as an oasis of peace, would be intact and nothing untoward would be allowed to occur, before, during and after the August 29 Supreme Court judgement.

The National Organiser of the ruling NDC, Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, and a Vice-Chairman of the NPP, Mr Fred Oware, made the call in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic in reaction to a caution from the US Embassy to its citizens in Ghana.

The US Embassy in Ghana last Monday advised US citizens of a potential increase in political tensions and the possibility of isolated violence associated with the anticipated August 29 announcement of the Supreme Court’s decision on the legal challenge to 2012 Presidential election results.

In the statement, the US urged its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance, take appropriate steps to increase their security/ safety awareness during this politically- sensitive period and avoid the offices of political parties, the Supreme Court, the buildings of other institutions associated with the elections, and all political rallies.

The Supreme Court of Ghana is expected to give its judgement on August 29, 2013 on the election petition filed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2012 NPP presidential candidate, his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, the NPP National Chairman.

The petitioners are challenging the results of the Electoral Commission (EC) which declared President John Dramani Mahama as the elected President in the 2012 election.

Mr Oware and Mr Gyan spoke separately to this reporter on phone. the two maintained that the call by the US Embassy to its citizens in Ghana was not out of place; however, Ghanaians must react in a mature manner to the verdict and add a feather to their cup.

According to Mr Gyan, a lot of countries across Africa could not pass similar hurdles when they were presented with issues of such nature, hence the decision by the US to warn its citizens to be cautious.

He noted that it could also be that the US was aware of some intelligence that Ghana’s security agencies had no idea about and suggested that Ghanaian security agencies must liaise with their US counterparts, share such intelligence and nip in the bud any elements that would taint the nation’s peaceful record.

He described the August 29 judgement as an opportunity for Ghanaians to market their peaceful nature and penchant for a stable nation to the international community especially, “for investors to come and invest in Ghana’s bourgeoning democracy.”

Mr Oware said Ghana would use the judgement as a launch pad to leap to greater heights among nations that had embraced democracy and rule of law and prove to the world that an African nation was capable of living peacefully after such verdict.

He also appealed to the security agencies to live above board and deal with any law breaker according to the dictates of the law irrespective of their political affiliations.
By Donald Ato Dapatem
Writer’s email: donald.dapatem@graphic.com.ghThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dunkonaa safe for estate houses - Ghana Atomic Energy Commission

Experts at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) have asked estate developers not to entertain fears in putting up houses in randon gas-prone areas in the country such as Dunkonaa.
 
According to the scientists, by instituting remedial measures to check the high levels of the gas, which is harmful to human health, building and living around such radon-prone regions could be safe.

They said by getting scientists to measure the extent of radon gas availability, they could advise developers on how best a building could be built to avoid the harmful effect of the gas.

In June this year, a Daily Graphic report quoted the National Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kofi Portuphy, as  cautioning that a seemingly harmless gas that emitted from the ground might be slowly and negatively affecting the health of people who live at Dunkonaa and its environs in the Ga-South municipality in the Greater Accra Region.

The fume, which is colourless, odourless and tasteless, is known to be a major cause of respiratory infections, blood poisoning and lung cancer in areas where it is highly concentrated.

In 2000, studies conducted by a team of scientists, including scientists from the GAEC, indicated that the gas coming out of the Dunkonaa area was highly concentrated.

Briefing the Daily Graphic at a GAEC laboratory where some studies had been conducted on radon gas in Ghana, the two Principal Scientific officers of the commission, Dr F. G. Offosu and Mr Osborne C. Oppong, stated that their department had conducted research at some radon gas-prone areas in Accra, including Dunkonaa and its environs.

Effect on Human Cells
With less concentration of the gas, the human cells are affected through breathing but the cells repair themselves without any harmful effect on the individual. However, where the gas is concentrated, destroyed cells cannot repair themselves, leading to serious illness. The effect of inhaling radon gas is cumulative, meaning it takes a longer period in harming humans.


Room levels and remedial actions
First Level: When the measured radon is 150 B per metre cube, remedial action could be taken to reduce the effect drastically and make the area conducive for human habitation. With this, one can stay in a house and take remedial measures which include allowing adequate ventilation in the room.

 Second Level: Where the level is 400 B per metre cube (m3). This level calls for immediate action. With this, people must leave in the area and buildings immediately to allow experts to advise them on the type of remedial actions to take.


About Dorkunaa
Mr Oppong said his outfit had been undertaking some work in the area and that with remedial steps such as the creation of adequate ventilation for the rooms and applying proper concrete casting on all floors, preferably with tiles, living in such areas would be safe.


Lack of logistics
Although GAEC is endowed with world renowned scientists, it lacks basic scientific apparatus and laboratories to undertake constant measurement of radon emissions, which are prevalent in some  parts of the country.

The commission does not have resources to purchase basic Alpha Tracks detectors which are used to collect samples from the fields to place under microscopes to determine the levels of radon emissions.
A roll of detector costs $1000.


National action
With the high prevalent rate of radon gas in most parts of the country, Ghana must have a map indicating areas that have radon gas, their levels and what prevails at every part of the country.



Creation
According to the GAEC scientists, radon gas emissions were discovered millions of years ago from decayed  uranium in the soils. During the decaying process, the decomposed uranium in the soil produces the radon gas. It is colourless, odourless and inert, that is it does not react with anything in the atmosphere.
“Ventilation is a crucial factor. Always cast floor concretes at a go and not in bits and pieces”, Mr Oppong stated.

It is dangerous to undertake casting of floors in bits and pieces because they tend to create holes in the floors.



Anecdotes
According to Mr Oppong, as part of the project work for some science students pursuing their Master’s programmes, they were asked to measure the radon gas in some new estates in the Greater Accra Region.

He said the students, with the permission of the wife of the owners of one of the estates, placed a radon measuring gadget in one of the rooms and one outside. He said when the owner of the house saw the machine, he accused the scientists of putting juju in his room to kill him.

He said not even the persistent explanation from the scientists and other members of the household could calm him down. He destroyed the machine that was placed indoors although the outdoor machine indicated no dangerous levels of radon gas.

The second story was that some students studying at the commission needed to use the radon machine for their practical work but due to lack of a means of transport, they decided to board the staff bus to town.

He said the group decided to place the radon gas measuring machine in a thatched house at Dome in Accra which had very little ventilation. Although the occupant of the thatched building died mysteriously, they could not attribute his death to the unacceptable high levels of radon gas measurement taken at the place.
By Donald Ato Dapatem/Daily Graphic/Ghana

GHANA'S OIL INDUSTRY TO YIELD $20 BILLION IN 5 YEARS

Ghana’s oil industry is expected to rake in $20 billion in investment in the next five years. The Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Armah-Buah, announced this at the launch of the GNPC Oil and Gas Learning Foundation in Accra yesterday.
 
He said it was imperative that the country put its house in order to be able to derive maximum benefit from both the development of oil wells and investments in the sector.


Mr Armah-Buah said in pursuance of this objective, the local content law had been placed before Parliament and would mature for implementation after 21 sitting days.

Once the instrument becomes operative, he said all contracts in the oil and gas sector would be guided by the new policy direction on local content.

“What this means is that starting from the next major project in Ghana’s oil and gas sector, I mean the TEN Field (Tweneboah-Enyera-Ntoumme), complex development and production, all contracts will be guided by this new policy direction. No contract will pass without local participation,” the minister added.

These notwithstanding, he pointed out that “the local content policy and regulations would be meaningless if the people and institutions who would be required to provide skills, services and supplies lack the capacity to do so”. Accordingly, Mr Armah-Buah said, the ministry had invested in building the capacities of people and institutions to be able to take advantage of these developments.

He mentioned the establishment of the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) to build the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as one such initiative.

Mr Armah-Buah also announced that the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill had undergone further stakeholder consultations to enrich it and was awaiting Cabinet’s approval, before it would be laid before Parliament.

AGREEMENT ON FUNDING FOR TAMALE AIRPORT WORKS SIGNED.

THE Ghana Airports Company Limited, managers of the nation’s airports, has signed a $100-million commercial agreement with Queiroz Galvao, a Brazilian construction company, for the upgrading and expansion of the Tamale Airport to enable it to reach international standards.

The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, signed for the company, while the Managing Director of Queiroz Galvao, Mr Marcos Alexandre Silva, initialled it for his outfit at a short ceremony in Accra.

The first phase of the renovation will involve the construction of structures and the rebuilding of the runway from the current 2,500 metres to 4,500 metres to accommodate any aircraft from any part of the world.

Already, Parliament has given its assent to the loan and the project is expected to be completed within 18 months.

Giving the background to the project, the Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said it was part of the government’s efforts at expanding opportunities in every part of the country and also ensure that Ghana positioned itself as the gateway to and hub of the West African sub-region.

She said apart from serving Ghanaians in the northern part of the country, the new Tamale International Airport would also provide services for other sub-Saharan regions, including Burkina Faso and Mali.

She said when the Brazilian company arrived in Ghana after a business tour of Brazil by President John Mahama, it expressed interest elsewhere but she “pleaded with the company to deal with Tamale for us first”.

Mrs Owusu-Fianko explained that because Ghana had only one international airport — the Kotoka International Airport — anytime there was a problem all flights had to be directed to either Nigeria or Cote d’Ivoire.

She added that the airport would serve those travelling to Mecca and also aid the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority in the export of perishable goods, especially fruits and vegetables, to Europe.

She said Tamale would also derive the benefits of being an aeropolis where skyscrapers would be built, coupled with other profits that came with the establishment of an international airport.

Mr Silva said 95 per cent of the workforce on the project would be Ghanaians.

ELECTION BODIES ADVISED TO COLLABORATE WITH MEDIA

Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in Africa have been advised to collaborate strongly with the media to ensure that electoral processes become sources of stability and launchpads for accelerated development on the continent.

The Special Advisor on EMBs for African Union Commission, Dr Kelechi Akubueze, who gave the advice, expressed worry that for the past three decades elections and democratic transition had been the major sources of instability, mayhem and displacement of people both at home and abroad, and that this situation, which had painted Africa as a dark continent, must be halted.

He was speaking at the opening of a week’s intensive training workshop for journalists and election managers from 25 countries at the plush Radisson Blu Hotel in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

The writer, Donald Ato Dapatem, addressing colleagues during the training in Addis Ababa

The training was organised by Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE), under the auspices of African Union (AU), International Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance, with funding from the Australian government.

BRIDGE is a modular professional development programme with a particular focus on electoral processes.

It represents a unique initiative where five leading organisations in the democracy and governance field have jointly committed to developing, implementing and maintaining the most comprehensive curriculum and workshop package available, designed to be used as a tool within a broader capacity development framework.

Dr Akubueze explained that Africa’s rich natural resources and excellent human wealth must be tapped for the development and progress of the majority of its innocent citizens, who were wallowing in abject poverty and that one of the ways to ensure these resources benefited the people was to hold free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections.

He noted that it was to forestall these unfortunate happenings in Africa that the AU, in collaboration with other stakeholders was building the capacity of EMBs and the media to adequately educate the populace to appreciate the urgent need to own the electoral process and guide them to a successful end.

In the past two years, AU and BRIDGE have trained over 40 election management staff who have been accredited full-time BRIDGE members in six countries. These BRIDGE accredited personnel are ambassadors in the various countries.

The Head of the International IDEA Office to the African Union, Dr Muna A. Abdallah, said the democratic process that was sweeping through the continent demanded that all the EMBs positioned themselves to deliver free, fair and transparent elections to ensure that the people enjoyed accelerated development.

She said it was incumbent on the media to ensure a level playing field for all shades of political parties to  share their aspirations with the people so that the electorate from an informed position would be able to select candidates of their choice and also be in a better position to demand accountability from their leaders.
By Donald Ato Dapatem/Daily Graphic/Ghana

Stakeholders reach consensus on tariff increase

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) will soon announce an upward adjustment in electricity tariffs.

 This follows the general consensus among stakeholders for the commission to grant tariff increases.
Currently, the commission is at the stage of ‘interrogation’ where it is considering proposals by the utilities and their reasons for the adjustment.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah made this known to the Daily Graphic in Accra today.

The electricity producers made up of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Volta River Authority (VRA) Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) are requesting for 166 per cent increase.

On the part of the Ghana Water Company, they are also requesting for 130 per cent, however since 30 per cent of the cost of the GWC is from electricity they had to wait for the electricity company to get their increases.

Under the interrogation stage, Nana Jantuah said the commission was considering the inputs of the utility service providers had been using and pledged to use in producing the electricity such as crude oil, equipment which were all procured in dollar denominations.

She said the 10 per cent annual demand for electricity which also a factor requiring expansion in the sector.

Create unit to check spending during elections -IEA says

THE Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), an independent  policy think tank, has called for the establishment of an independent, multi-partisan Parliamentary Budget Office to check what it calls “cyclical politically-driven” expenditure during election years by governments.

This, and the enforcement of the contingency and appropriations provision by parliament, it said, would save the country the unpleasant situation where after each election the economy was characterised by excessive expenditure which ballooned budget deficit to alarming levels.

A Senior Economist with the IEA, Dr J. K. Kwakye, made the call when he briefed journalists on ‘the true state of the economy,’ in the face of politically biased discourse on the issue by the main political parties.

“The economy was dealt a fatal blow in 2012 through the fiscal window. And we are currently suffering the fallouts of this cyclical, politically driven indiscretion. As a result of excessive expenditure, the budget deficit ballooned to 12 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, along with carry-over of substantial levels of arrears”, he said.

Dr Kwakye said “the economy is cash-strapped” and attributed the problem to the nation’s inability to collect enough revenue, lagging donor disbursement, arrears to contractors and non-payment of other statutory payments.


ECONOMY NOT BROKE
The IEA’s view runs contrary to that of the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, who had stated emphatically that Ghana was not broke.

Although the minister admitted during interaction with journalists at the Peduase Lodge at Aburi early this month that the economy was facing some challenges, he contended that the country could not be described as being broke because of the challenges.

To address the challenges, he had enumerated that the managers of the economy think out of the box and come up with ways of taxing large income earners who had eluded the system, take a second look at tax exceptions, while at the same time enforcing tax compliance and reducing tax corruption.

ECONOMIC STABILISATION TAX
On the recently introduced economic stabilisation tax, he was of the view that it “is not such a good idea because it will further increase the cost of Ghanaian businesses and render them uncompetitive. This will further undermine domestic industralisation”.

Dr Kwakye said Ghana’s current export pattern which was raw material-based, had reduced exports receipts as against high demand for exports leading to a dwindling domestic industrial base.

“In 2012, the current account deficit was nearly $5 billion (13 per cent of GDP). Meanwhile, international reserves stand at just about $5 billion, which is less than three months of import cover. Given the country’s vulnerability to commodity shocks, a cushion of four to six months of reserves is required”, he contended.


EUROBOND
He said the government’s decision to float some Eurobond to generate funds to stabilise the economy, particularly to stabilise the currency, might not be a good idea because it would only be a stop gap measure and suggested that a long term stability of the currency hinged on addressing the economy’s weak fundamentals on a durable basis.





FACT SHEET
After rebasing of the economy in 2010, Ghana’s per capita GDP rose within the bracket of middle income countries.
Currently, Ghana’s GDP is about #$40 billion (GHC80 billion).
The per capita GDP is $ 1,500.

Write laws devoid of ambiguities – Attorney General

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, has challenged legislative drafters to write laws devoid of ambiguities.
She said clarity of laws would reduce the areas of misunderstanding and in turn reduce the incidence of litigation that arose out of interpretation.
Mrs Appiah-Oppong, who made the call at the opening ceremony of the 8th Commonwealth Legislative Drafting Course for African member states in Accra yesterday, observed that a badly drafted law may lead to the violation of liberties and untoward circumstances not intended by the drafters.
The 12-week course, being attended by participants from 18 African countries, is under the auspices of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Ghana School of Law and the Government of Ghana.
The Minister explained that such laws, which were devoid of uncertainties were easily understood by a larger number of people most of whom would obey and this would lead to fewer violations and reduced cases for the law courts to deal with.
Mrs Appiah-Oppong said the drive to uphold the principle of rule of law, the tenets of good governance and democracy could not be separated from the work of the legislative drafters, adding that one of the critical poles of democratic governance was the creation of institutions with the necessary legislative backing.
She told the participants that legislative drafting was an important exercise and their ability to assimilate the lessons and put them to good practice would influence the course of history and destinies of people in their various jurisdictions.

Mrs Appiah-Oppong noted that legislative drafting demanded hours of concentrated intellectual labour and was extremely onerous, exacting and highly skilled task that was expressed by a unique kind of writing.
She asked legislative counsels that in translating policy into legislation, they had to foresee what the policy maker failed to see and make recommendations to address this to avert preparing legislation that could be the subject of several amendments in the near future.
The Director of Legal Education of the Ghana School of Law, Mr Kwesi Prempeh-Eck, announced that after years of organising the course, stakeholders had agreed that it would be made a permanent course at the Ghana School of Law.
He said the course had been enriched based on criticism, suggestions and feedback from participants and the experienced lectures.
A representative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mrs Job Oluwatoyin, described the work of legislative drafters as a silent job which had a great impact on the lives of most of the ordinary people in their various countries.

West Coast High speed rail project consultants meet beneficiary countries

Consultants working on the 1,178 kilometre West Coast High speed rail for the West Africa sub region yesterday presented technical details of the project to representatives of the beneficiary countries in Accra.
The work which has received the sanction of ECOWAS will start from Nigeria through Benin, Togo, Ghana and end up in Cote d I’viore.
The consultants of the project, HammcoBTB Engineering International Incorporated of Canada, met with the representatives of Ghana, Benin, Togo Cote I’dviore and Nigeria to brief them on the extent of work.
Ghana has already expressed interest but it is left with the commitment from the governments of Benin, Cote d’ Iviore and Nigeria for the commencement of work.
Mr Bimbo Siynbo of HammcoBTB said with a population of over 300 million people and a road network of 6.1 million kilometres, the sub region needed the rail line to ensure easy movement of its people and goods to accelerate sub regional development and integration.

He said most of the roads in the sub region were in a bad shape and bedevilled with blockages at the various international points, a situation that had hampered smooth intra trading among the people of  West Africa.
About the cost of the projects, he hinted that although it would be on the basis of public-private project, the consultants had received interest from the various private sector banks to provide the funding.
Mr Siynbo said his outfit was aware that the project was in the region of one per cent of the total gross domestic product of the entire West Africa, an amount which was even bigger than the entire national budget of some of the countries within the region.
For his part, the Head of Infrastructure for ECOWAS, Mr Kagnini Gogoua, stated that just as through private initiatives it was able to establish ECOBANK, Asky Airline and  ECOMARINE , it would provide the needed support for the realisation of the vision.
He said already heads of states of the region in their new vision of accelerated development through integration had started work on the  construction of a West African coastal road, and that they also had a vision for the rail line.
A Ghanaian representative of  MammcoBTB, Mr Divine Dzegbla, urged the technical people at the meeting to be well informed in order to get their governments approval at the yet to be organised grand summit of Transport Ministers in West Africa for the commencement of the project.
He commended Ghana’s Minister of Transportation for her singular role and support towards the realisation of the project.



FACET SHEET
The West Coast High Speed rail will cover 1,178 kilometres.
It will link Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana and Cote I’dviore.
West Africa has a total road network of 6.1 million kilometres