The Nation Ghana Now Have Enemies Within The Country

Ghana as a great nation been divined into political enemies among themselves, people living in the country Ghana have ricks lot of people's life    
In spite of the approval of the 2013 budget, the NHIA and other critical agencies will have to wait till May before being reimbursed as commonalities will not be completed before Parliament goes on recess. 

With the Parliamentary approval of the 2013 budget, sector ministries were due to reimburse agencies like the National Health Insurance Authority, (NHIA), the Ghana Education Trust Fund and contractors among others.

Unfortunately, all such entities would have to wait till May because the formula for the disbursement will not be placed on the floor of Parliament before the House rises for the Easter break by close of next week. 

 Parliamentary correspondent Elton Joy Brobbey, Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Dominic Azumah described the delay as unfortunate. 

According to him, the Appropriation Bill which will pave the way for disbursement of statutory funds to institutions like the National Health Insurance Authority, the Get FUND and others, has not been passed. 

The passage of the Appropriation Bill authorizes the withdrawal of monies from the Consolidated Fund and other public funds for the purposes of meeting government expenditure and running of the state during a financial year.

NHIA  has however allayed fears of the possibility of the NHIS collapsing due to the delay because there is the possibility of Parliament being recalled for business should the situation warrant any such emergency. 

The NHIA has recently come under serious criticisms for its failure to reimburse service providers to NHIS subscribers. The situation deteriorated when the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) withdrew its services to about 42% of the Nation’s NHIS subscribers.

Angered by the National Labour Commission’s late invitation to a crunch meeting involving the government and the two striking teacher bodies, the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) say they are also laying down their tools.

Joy News can confirm that the union met today and has formally decided to join the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) on a nationwide strike.

The National Labour Commission Wednesday directed the government represented by the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) to sit with GNAT and NAGRAT to resolve their grievances and report to the Commission in seven days. The teachers were supposed to go back to the classroom as negotiations continue.

But President of TEWU, Peter Lumor suggested that their members have been ignored, which he said is an indicative of the fact that the government does not take them serious.

“We have decided to ask TEWU members to join the ongoing strike, because the issue at stake does not affect only GNAT and NAGRAT members, it affects TEWU members also.”

He said their concerns have been raised several times and even when the Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur met organized labour on Friday, as well as the meeting with the Chief of Staff at the Flagstaff House on Sunday, their concerns were equally highlighted.

He therefore asked, “is it because we have not declared a strike people are not taking us serious? And you invite GNAT, NAGRAT to Labour Commission and you left out TEWU.”

Even though TEWU was invited to the Wednesday's meeting with NLC, Mr Lumor said they could not honour the invitation because it came in late at 9am when the meeting was also scheduled for the same day in the morning.

He explained “Our management committee was meeting and our members all over the country were calling [asking] what was happening and we have to meet, discuss and tell them something. So we could not postpone our management committee at 9am and go to that meeting.”

But Head of Communications at the FWSC, Earl Ankrah indicated that the Commission cannot be blamed for the late invitation, although regrettable.

Nevertheless, he said late invitation to emergency meetings such as the one held today was nothing unusual, describing TEWU’s absence as “unfortunate”.

He also wondered how TEWU’s decision to go on strike would pan out now that the NLC has directed GNAT and NAGRAT to resume work and go back to the negotiations table. He added that the call by TEWU “is a little disjointed” and called on them to allow negotiations to go on.

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has said that its members will return to the classroom only if they see measurable commitment to address their concerns from government. 

The association said this shortly before entering into a crunch meeting with the officials from the National Labour Commission (NLC), the Ghana Education Service (GES), Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and Ministry of Finance to discus the stand-off between the teachers and the education authorities.

NAGRAT President Christian Addai Opoku said the teachers' body had outlined three conditions that must be met before they return to the classroom.

He said the GES was supposed to write to the finance ministry for requesting for monies to pay the striking teachers their maintenance allowance. "We want to see the answer from Ministry of Finance directing that these monies have been directed to GES to pay the maintenance allowance through Controller and Accountants-General's Department.

"Second, we also want to see that there is a letter from the Ministry of Finance directing the payment of incremental credit. We also want to see a letter mandating FWSC and for that matter GES to start the re-negotiation of teacher retention premium".

These actions, he believes should be enough to end the strike which is in its third day. 

President John Mahama and 2012 CPP Vice-presidential candidate, Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong have called on the striking teachers to soften their stance and reconsider their decision to withdraw their services. 

But the NAGRAT President believes that they have been flexible enough over the years. 

He said, "We are not saying that pay the monies into our accounts immediately, we are saying we want to see commitment to do this". 

He lamented that "people (stakeholders within the education sector) are just not being teacher-friendly".
The nation need a lot of people to come together to build the nation as a whole from all the political parties to work a great nation, and leave the negative plans against   the Government and serve Ghana as one.

Mahama To Deliver Maiden State Of The Nation Address

President John Dramani Mahama will  deliver his maiden State of the Nation Address to a full house in Parliament after the Minority rescinded its decision to boycott the proceedings.
 In fulfillment of article 67 of the constitution, which requires  to make this address at the beginning of each Parliamentary session. 

President Mahama speaks: According to Article 67 of the constitution, the president is to deliver an address on the state of the nation to this house. It is my privilege to welcome him.
We’ll continue to decentralize government by decentralizing some departments and exploring others to decentralize, giving greater authority to assemblies. 

Effective governance starts with the presidency. I’ll make every effort to see the constitutional review committee’s recommendations observed. We’ll mainstream local economic development via employment programs. 

Strengthening parliament is crucial. We must let it play its oversight role effectively. Almost all MPs have decent offices, and they’ll get new laptops with full internet connectivity. We’ll commence a feasibility study to construct a new parliamentary chamber block at the state house and explore appropriate housing for MPs to guarantee their safety. 

Civil society will continue to have a role dictating our direction and we’ll continue to practice freedom of religion. The churches should regulate the excesses of their members. 

We’ll work with the judicial council to provide new modern courtrooms and we’ll equip judges to properly execute their duties. We’ll promote citizen based monitoring of government. 

Transparent and accountable governance: We just used a barometric voters register for the first time and our elections were deemed free, fair, and transparent. We’ll keep providing the EC with the resources needed for reforms. 

The Tema Oil Refinery must once again become the most efficient in West Africa through private-public partnership. The navy, air force, and army have been retooled to protect our gas interests. The completion of the vessel tracking and monitoring system being installed will allow us to monitor incoming vessels via radar. 

An enterprise development center with support from Jubilee partners will be established in the Western region to help entrepreneurs take advantage of the oil opportunities there. It will be a win win for us and our foreign partners. 

We’re installing solar panels in off grid communities. The private sector has shown interest in renewable energy investments. We’ll commence the distribution of over 20,000 solar lanterns to reduce kerosene lanterns and their attendant indoor pollution. 

The broadcasting bill has been on the drawing board for a long time, and it’s now time to establish standards for electronic media. We must ensure balance, fairness, and objectivity in the media. Access to community radio will be improved. 

A major issue will be the implementation of the recommendations of the constitutional review committee, so we’ve established a CRC implementation committee. 

We should revise to criminal offenses act to expand the definition of corruption. We should give impetus to the fight against corruption by sanctioning those we catch and making an example of them. We’ll push for critical reforms with the attorney general. Our commitment to this fight remains unshakable. 

We hope to see the current problems finished in April, but the system will still be fragile for some time. 

Two engineers died in an underwater accident when trying to clear the West African Gas Pipeline. We’ve lost 250 megawatts of our electricity supply. I’m adequately aware of the challenges and discomfort the situation presents our citizens and businesses. We expect an additional 500 megawatts in capacity this year, including 133 by the end of February. 

The erratic electricity supply is of concern to me and I've worked hard to address it. The unreliable water supply is also bad, and the current exercises do not represent our progress. A series of events have set us back significantly, but we’re working to dig our way out. 

We will see improvements in flood control and sanitation in Accra. The minister of lands and natural resources has been tasked to see that mining meets the need and expectations of the communities where it takes place, creates jobs and does not hurt the environment. There is an unacceptable collusion between Ghanaians and illegal foreign miners, and we’re working to better regulate the sector so that mining better benefits Ghanaians.

Last year, we had a national sanitation exercise. The task force experience is being reviewed to engage all stakeholders in a more sustained and concerted effort to do away with rubbish. We need to focus on waste management, recovery, and recycling and incentives to engage the private sector in pollution control.

Exorbitant rents violate our laws and suffocate Ghanaians, I’ll work to address this. We must improve the supply of clean drinking water to all, and some of our efforts have already yielded results. In the long term, we need to decentralize water management for cost and delivery efficiency.

I’m interested in urban renewal and guaranteeing all Ghana’s access to safe toilet facilities. We will combine projects for urban housing and sanitation provision and waste disposal in areas that are overcrowded and lack hygiene. We will construct low cost units for lower income groups.

We’re looking at developing a new seaport in the west. We are investigating unauthorized charges at airports and harbors that burned importers. 

We’ve commission the exploration of plans for a new international airport in Accra and the expansion of airports in other cities. We’ll begin a feasibility study on collaborating with the private sector to establish a national airline.

As we continue, there will be significant signs of improvement in our railway network in the next three years. The private sector has a role to play in the ongoing modernization of railways. We’ve seen a boom in aviation, with passenger traffic through our international airport more than quadrupling in the last three years and domestic traffic increasing 10 fold.

Cocoa board is funding the upgrading of gravel roads in cocoa producing regions. We will rehabilitate and expand the Accra-Tema motorway and we’ll commence work this year on a new interchange at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle. Government’s plan to revamp the railway sector is ongoing. There has been progress in this sector. 

As for roads, we have clear plans for the roads and transport sector. These include the introduction of public private partnerships on certain roads. This year, we will move many ongoing road projects very near to completion. 

We will add over 500 kilometers of fiber optic cable starting at Ho and reaching 70 communities. We need to shift from analogue to digital television transmission. 

Telephone subscription here is close to 20 million, nearly double the number from 4 years ago. We need to improve broadband infrastructure, which can help us improve healthcare, education, and more. 

Private sector investment is only possible if we have good infrastructure- roads, regular water and electricity and communications networks. 

Tourism must help us realize the full economic potential of our culture and creative arts. The national Commission on Culture is being restructured as the government’s leading advisory on these areas. These industries must remain integral parts of our private sector. 

Manufacturing: We will facilitate the emergence and growth of a manufacturing sector by reviewing tax codes to make it more business friendly, we’ll have an envelope for ailing manufacturers and set aside industrial areas in certain cities. Work is ongoing on a $1.2 billion ammonia urea fertilizer plant through a partnership with the Indian government.

At least 70% of the world market price for cocoa should go to farmers. We will use technology to increase yield per hectare. 

A more coherent focus on fisheries and aquaculture development has been initiated with the establishment of a ministry and the planned establishment of a college.

Total land irrigation will be increased nationwide. Under a new world bank loan on commercial agriculture, we’ll invest in such projects that will allow year round farming. 

We will award contracts where companies are competitive in quality and timeliness of service delivery. Through modernization techniques like productivity enhancement techniques, better seeds, and access to tractors like technology have improved productivity. 

Partnership with the private sector has brought about accelerated growth and economic development. We are now 62 on the world bank’s ease of doing business list by country, but we need to do more. Private sector initiatives will now be supervised by the presidency, and the Private Sector Development Strategy will cover all angles of Private sector development.

We need to curtail public servants’ reliance on the use of state vehicles and free fuel. We’ve also taken measures to control MDA spending beyond their budgetary allocation. We’ll raise tax and non-tax revenue by plugging leakages.

Many of the gang of four, (now six) oil projects are nearing completion. We need to realign distortions in the pricing of fuel products. We’ve been shelling out GH¢150 million per month to companies handling distribution and this created an illicit smuggling industry.

As we struggle to settle the wage bill, public workers continue to demand wage increases and threaten to strike. The meat is now down to the bones and we must think about revising wages to improve national progress. We demand better services from our public employees commensurate with the money we pay them.

We must ensure that it does not constitute too big a strain on our economy. The wages are squeezing out crucial investments, and if we don’t do something soon, we’ll lack money for basic infrastructure and development.

The personal emoluments have about tripled in the past three years. We spend 60.9% of public revenue to pay public workers, nearly double the global prudent level. We did this to enhance fairness, productivity, and motivation in the public sector. 

The banking sector has seen an improved NPL ratio since 2009. These improvements have made Ghana an attractive destination for direct foreign investments. The challenge facing us now is the misalignment of budget items, like emoluments, debt servicing, and so on. 

The cedi has enjoyed relative stability, boosted by strong foreign reserves that have nearly doubled in recent years. 

In 2011, we may have been the fastest growing economy in the world. We are still moving into the full middle income bracket. We’ve made progress in macroeconomic stability with inflation in single digits for 30 months. 

Growers have been registered to support the operations of these factories and they have supported farmers with inputs like fertilizers. Based on their example, I am overseeing the establishment of the Western Corridor Development Authority.

The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority has facilitated partnerships to establish 3 agro processing factories in the north.

We will continue with the National Youth Achievers Award. We will revamp the youth training institutes for nation building training.

The youth are today’s leaders, not the leaders of the future. We need to create sustainable job opportunities by developing youth centers to promote youth meetings, cultural events, conferences, and more.

I request the FA and management to go to the drawing board and come up with a formidable team to take us to the world cup. A lack of planning can prevent us from participating in the Olympics and other events. We need to incentive's assemblies to maintain an athletic facilities in each district. 

A few weeks ago, the Black Stars were eliminated from AFCON. Almost a year ago, president Mills urged our football authorities to take penalty kicks seriously as it often is our downfall. What seemed humorous turned out to be prophetic. 

We need a strong and resilient economy. We’ve had consistent growth for decades. 

Oye Lithur is capable and her skills will soon be apparent through her work. 

The ministry will establish a database of our poorest people and work to enhance their access to social benefits. We cannot advance as a nation half poor and half rich. 

We have shown commitment to this program by making Dr Danaa a minister of state.

The mandate of the ministry for Gender, Children, and Social Protection is not for the promotion of gay rights but to bring the fragmented schemes addressing marginalized people together. 

It is important to be mindful of members of our society marginalized for cultural, economic, or other reasons. We will have programs to address these people. 

We’ve made progress towards universal access to HIV prevention. There has been a 25% decline in new infections among youth. The ongoing 5-year strategic plan should eliminate mother to child transmission and cut infection rates in half. Over 625,000 expectant mothers will be tested, among other things.

We will establish an Eastern Region university geared towards environmental research. We need to improve psychiatric treatment and better integrate it into healthcare. We’ll scale up the training of midwives, nurses, and allied health workers.

Government will incentive's special educators to see that our special needs students benefit from technology. 

We will construct 200 new community based senior high schools. This aggressive expansion also means the need for more qualified and motivated teachers and administrative staff. We’ll design and implement a distance education program for teachers taking advantage of modern communications platforms so that students and staff at these colleges can connect remotely. 

We will progressively expand School Feeding (Programmed) to all basic public schools in rural communities and give out free uniforms, textbooks, and laptops. 

We need to integrate kindergarten education into basic school. We shall expand kindergarten teacher training so that children begin acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills early and have a stronger base to build on. 

I extend a hand to social and religious bodies and private sector education operators to engage in this national exercise to expand access to and quality of education. 

We must expand access to education at all levels. We will reward outstanding educators and work to improve gender parity in education as well as working towards affordability. 

A sick population cannot accelerate our economy, and the healthcare system is still understaffed. We will work towards improving access, service quality, working conditions, and we will hire more staff. We will start establishing regional hospitals in the Eastern and Upper East regions, upgrade the Central and Volta regional hospitals into teaching hospitals so that we enhance medical training. We’ll build a new Kumasi Hospital to diagnostic  KATH. There will be an additional 1600 CHIPS(?) compounds. We will build more polyclinics. 

We need to use technology and innovation as well as public-private partnership to deliver a prosperous nation. We will build an economy that rewards hard work, an economy where nepotism has no place.

Through private sector partnership we will expand infrastructure such as roads and bridges, electricity, clean water, adequate medical care, and more. 

We must be proud of these accomplishments, but real challenges remain, there is a lot of work to do before we reduce poverty and expand infrastructure. These problems are formidable but not insurmountable. 

We can achieve more by working together. We have experienced great development in the last two decades - roads, expanding health facilities, and more. 

We have held 6 elections since 1992 with the (Electoral Commission) EC earning a reputation as one of the best electoral institutions in Africa. 

I entered public service to improve the lives of our people, to see children grow into responsible adults, where workers are proud of their country, where women are safe from maternal mortality and we all share in the benefits. 

Our recent elections have been called by international observers as the most credible, free, and fair since 1992. Our journey has been marked by improvements. 

We must put the people first, have a strong and resilient economy and expand infrastructure.

People are our most treasured asset, so we need human resource development through education, healthcare, and protection of the vulnerable. We must work on increasing our productivity and protecting those who can protect themselves. Jobs are key to leading a meaningful life. Our policies will be geared towards sustainable employment generation followed by a focus on wages. 

I promised to work hard to place us on the right path and avoid development obstacles. Ghana is a different place than when we began our journey to democratic governance.

Crusader Cry Over Corruption

Ghana's anti-corruption crusader Paul Collins Appiah Ofori has hinted that President John Dramani Mahama tried to influence him by offering him ministerial and ambassadorial appointments, both of which he rejected.

According to the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, upon assuming office early this year and before appointing his first batch of ministers, President Mahama called him to his office at the Castle to make the offer.

Mr. Appiah Ofori said the president wanted him in to serve in government as a minister/ambassador to help fight corruption in his administration.

HE said when he was called to state his views on the anti-corruption warning the president issued to his appointees.

He told host Kwame Adjei Bohye that taking the ministerial/ambassadorial position would compromise his stand on corruption, so he refused to take it. 

Moreover, he explained, if he took the ministerial position, he would become a lone voice in government, which could lead to an early discharge from the Mahama administration.

When asked about the particular ministerial portfolio that the president wanted to give him, Mr. Appiah Ofori said the president did not mention it since he expressed no interest in taking any position in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government given that he is not a member of the party.

He claimed that when he rejected the ministerial post, President Mahama then offered to appoint him as an ambassador, a position he also declined.

According to Mr. Appiah Ofori, he rather promised the president that he would help the government by exposing corrupt practices among ministers and other government officials so that the president could take punitive action against the culprits.

He also reported asking the president not to let his calls to fight corruption be mere rhetoric as they were in the time of his predecessor, the late President Prof John Mills.

Mr. Appiah Ofori disclosed that he did some work for the late president uncovering certain corrupt deals but added that Mills failed to act upon the information, thereby institutionalizing corruption under his rule.

He said President Mahama’s demeanor clearly indicates his desire to fight corruption in government, affirming his own intention to help the president eradicate corruption in the country.

In his view, the fight against corruption should be led by the head of state since Article 35 (8) of the 1992 Constitution clearly states, "the State shall take steps to eradicate' corrupt practices and the abuse of power."

"If we get a head of state that faces the fight against corruption seriously, then Ghanaians shall find ourselves in paradise on earth," he said.

He noted, however, that a corrupt head of state would always cover up for his appointees when they engage in corrupt practices.

Mr. Appiah Ofori commended President Mahama for warning his ministers and appointees that he would hold them responsible if something goes wrong at their ministries.

"If you want to eradicate corruption, then the ministers should be held accountable and those found corrupt must be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others," he insisted.