Wednesday, July 1, 2009

BRITISH COUNCIL LAUNCHES 'THE CHALLENGE'

The second season of “The Challenge,” a British Council Education initiative promoting the UK as a destination for personal development was launched in Accra today with the choice of 12 contestants who would vie for prizes in scholarship and other personal development programmes worth more than £100,000.
“The Challenge” is a reality educational television programme where contestants who are young university graduates are taken through a combination of aptitude and mental tests, demonstrations of academic excellence, leadership competencies as well as character and creativity exercises.
A selection is then made to select the best three who will win prizes that include postgraduate studies at prestigious universities in the UK, and opportunities for employment in organisations in the UK and Ghana.
For the second season of the reality show, three thousand applications were received and out of the number one thousand young university graduates underwent aptitude tests, interviews and group debates for the selection of 24 semi-finalists.
The 12 finalists selected from the 24 comprised of seven females and five males and they will be adjudged by a 3-member scholarship committee, called “The Board” made up of renowned business leaders.
The 12 finalists are Akosua Gyan, Anastacia Arko, Araba Abakah-Turkson, Sandra Barimah, Samia Dane-Selby, Maliha Abubakari, Dorinda Quarshie, Joseph Opuku, Micheal Quaye, Emmanual Sackey, Enock Quaye and William Offei.
The Board, based on set criteria will nominate three contestants to be evicted over a twelve week period and five top contestants will contest in a grand finale to determine the winner of the grand prize of a full board postgraduate scholarship from the University of Westminster with a total value of £40,000, fully paid accommodation at an international students’ hostel, a monthly allowance and a return air ticket to the UK valid for a year as well as a new laptop computer.
On completion of the post-graduate course, the ultimate winner will return to Ghana to pick up a pre-arranged lucrative job placement and a car.
The two runner ups will receive a one-year post graduate scholarships and accommodation from London Metropolitan and Thames Valley Universities while a third runner up will revive scholarships from PMC to study for post-graduate ICT related programme administered jointly by IPC and the Greenwich University.
The Challenge will begin airing on GTV from March 1, 2009 and will be a weekly reality programme where the progress of the contestants will be tracked on life TV as they contest in several tasks.
At the launch, several eminent personalities commended the British Council, its partners and sponsors of the show, including the Westminster, London Metropolitan and Thames Valley universities of London, TiGO, Stratcom Africa, United Bank of Africa Ghana Limited (UBA), IPMC and several others.
The new minister for Youth and Sports, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, highly commended the link that The Challenge sought to make between education and employment and asked other corporate organisations to follow the example and by that help government’s efforts at youth employment, while the British High Commissioner, Mr Nicholas Wescot, encouraged the finalists to endeavour to become the best even as a team of contestants.
“The best of the best are often those who work best with others,” he told them.
The Director of British Council, Mr Moses Anibaba, said The Challenge had won the British Council’s most innovative and creative programme award, while it had been aired on DSTV.

DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2009, PG 24

GROUPS EXPRESS DISPLEASURE WITH VETTING PROCESS

Some pressure groups have expressed their displeasure over the vetting process of some ministerial nominees.
They said they were particularly displeased with the way the nominee for the Ministry of Interior, Mr Muhammed Mumuni, was vetted and, therefore, asked the Appointments Committee of Parliament to further investigate him and other nominees, before coming out with its report.
The Coalition for Democratic Forces prior to the vetting, released a press statement that raised concerns about the eligibility of Mr Mumuni for the position of Minister of Interior because of some alleged arbitrary decisions he took while temporarily in charge of the Ministry of Interior allegations. They cited the extension of the Bawku curfew for instance.
Another organisation, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) also held a press conference to raise concerns about the Mr Mumuni, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Ms Hannah Tetteh and Ms Sherri Ayitey, nominees for the Interior, Communication, Trade and Industry as well as Science and Environment ministries respectively.
Mr Kwabena Bonfe of the AFAG as well as Ms Frances Assiam and Mr Micheal Wadea of the Coalition for Democratic Forces, in separate interviews were also displeased with the arbitrary conduct of the Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Mr Doe Ajaho for disallowing the admission of an Auditor Generals report on Mr Mumuni during his tenure at the ______.
For Mr Bonfe, if the AG’s report, which was a statutory body, was inadmissible, then the same argument had to be made for all other reports submitted by groups like his to the committee.
He said the Auditor General‘s report was also a of more clout than a report emanating from any Commission of enquiry. In addition the AG was in fulfilment of its mandate always instituting enquiries into government business; its report could therefore not be disregarded by the Chairman of the Committee.
Ms Assima and Mr Wadie also expressed similar sentiments.
They however gave thumps up to nominees like Mr Mike Hammah, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, Ms Sena Dansua and several others who they said had performed creditably before the Appointments committee.
Meanwhile, another pressure group, the Coalition fot he Protection of Individual Liberties and Constitutional Rights (COPCOR), is contemplating a defamation suit against the AFAG and the Coalition for what they call impugning the character of some nomines.
The Secretary, Mr Abraham Ferguson, said although they were not against any concerns of the two organisations, they had an issue with the way and manner in which the two had resorted to the media rather than raising those concerns only before the Appointments Committee.
He said COPCOR had also had some concerns about some nominees and had submitted to the Committe those concerns but had not raised them in the public through the media.
In response, however, Mr Bonfe has asked them to proceed as a legal right as AFAG was only engaged in letting the public know the real issues on the eligibility of the nominees.
He said if they would be taken to the courts then the appointments committer should also be taken to teh courts as they were holding the vetting in public and raising those allegations in public.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009, PG 17

AQUA VITENS HAS BEEN BENEFICAIL-SAKYI-ADDO

Officials of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited say that calls for the abrogation of a management contract between itself and the government are not defensible since the company has shown success in three years of its operations in the country.
The General Manager Communications, Mr Sakyi-Addo, said such calls were sometimes due to a misconception of the management contract under which AVRL operated and a deliberate refusal by some to acknowledge the gains made by the company so far.
In an interview, Mr Sakyi-Addo, as well as the Communications Manager, Mr Stanley Martey, said AVRL, in three years of its operations in the country had posted increasing profits each year.
In 2005, when the company signed a management contract to operate water systems and ensure the efficient and effective production and distribution of water, billing and revenue collection on behalf of the state owned Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), AVRL recorded a profit of GHC1.9 million.
This increased to GHC13.4 million in 2007 and GHC20 million in 2008, making it a 121 percentage increase in operating surplus over the past two years.
“We’ve got figures that speak for themselves,” Mr Sakyi Addo stated.
The two however emphasised the fact that the profits made were given back to GWCL to invest in capital investments in the water sector, such as, the expansion of treatment plants and the laying of new pipes.
They said in three years of operations in the country, the company had successful delivered on all its key mandates.
For instance, apart from the surpluses posted, the company had been able to efficiently improve on its production and distribution of water.
Operational figures on non-revenue water, that is, water produced and distributed but not paid for had improved by about 49.6 per cent over the years.
They explained that in most instances non-revenue as not water that had gone waste but was used up by people.
However, illegal connections, the siphoning of water by some, among others, accounted for most non-revenue water, something AVRL was working at to redress.
Other successes, they mentioned, were the efficient use of power and chemicals that had ensured quality water and net operational surpluses for investment by GWCL.
On claims that the AVRL had imported used water meters from Holland, Messrs Sakyi-Addo and Martey, said the meters were free donations by subsidiaries of the company to Ghana.
They also refuted claims that calibrating the meters for Ghana’s specific needs might rather make customers pay more for water consumed.
“All new meters are calibrated to ensure that customers pay the right amount for the right volumes of water,” they said.

DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009, PG 44

SERVICE PERSONS NOT PAID FOR JANUARY

Some National Service Personnel have appealed to the government and the National Service Secretariat to pay allowances due them for the month of January.
They said their allowances were to be paid by January 26, this year, however, they did not receive anything in their accounts and that had put them in difficult circumstances as they have no money for their food and to pay their rent at their various service posts.
They said they had also had no communication from the Secretariat as to the reasons for the delays in the payment of their allowances.
While the service personnel suggested that the directive by the President for all payments to be suspended might be due to the delays in their allowances, some also contended that payment of service allowances were statutory and was not affected by the President’s directive.
Others close to the National Service Secretariat said a legal judgement against the government to pay Rockshell International Limited an amount of more than GHC700, 000 had resulted in the use of the allowances of service personnel to offset part of the judgement debt.
However, officials of the Bank of Ghana, who did not want to be mentioned, said the suggestion was not plausible as the debt was paid out of a contingency operational account.
Officials at the National Service Secretariat, on the other had while confirming that due to some challenges allowances could not be paid at the end of last month, would not say what these challenges were.
They added however that the challenges had been overcome and cheques had been signed to be lodged at the various banks for payments.
DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY, FEBRAURY 18, 2009, BACK PAGE

MPS UP IN ARMS, DECISION TO SLASH EX-GRATIA WRONG, THEY TELL PRESIDENT

Ex-Parliamentarians say they are considering all options, including legal against President J. E. A. Mills for varying their end of service benefits.
Mr Abraham Osei Aidoo, an ex-parliamentarian in an interview with the Daily Graphic said President J. E. A. Mills by revising the end of service benefits of Parliamentarians had engaged in an unconstitutional act.
He said the determination of the end of service benefits of particular parliamentarians and a particular president was constitutionally set within a period of time where the tenure of the two run together or was coterminous.
Thus, the salaries of parliamentarians who served from 2001 to 2004 and 2004 to 2008, by the constitution had to be determined by the President who served within the same period, that is, President Kufuor and the salaries of President Kufour also had to be determined by the parliamentarians of the same period.
He said constitutionally, President J.E. A. Mills had no right determining or revising any allowances or payments due ex-parliamentarians whose tenure was not coterminous with his.

MORE....
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009, PG I

IMPLEMENT HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL'S RECOMMENDATIONS-SAYS EMILE SHORT

Mr Emile Short, the Human Rights Commissioner, has asked the government of President John Atta Mills to examine and implement recommendations of the Working Group of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.
He has also asked the government to, as a matter of urgency, address issues relating to the rights of prisoners and corruption.
Mr Short who is the Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), said acting on the recommendations would be one of the first steps by the government to integrate human rights in all its activities during its tenure.
In an interview, Mr Short who in the country temporarily from his duty post at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said the recommendations given by the Council’s Working Group in May 2008, after a review of Ghana’s human rights record made 30 recommendations, of which 22 were accepted by Ghana.
These included reinforcing the campaign against discriminatory practices and violence against women and children, taking measures to eliminate harmful traditional practices, such as, trokosi and female genital mutilation (FGM) and the strengthening of judicial structures.
He said other recommendations were for the adoption of measures against corruption in the judiciary, more training and education for the police, courts and social services, while increased funding and better resourcing was recommended for CHRAJ, among others.
Mr Short spoke about the deplorable conditions of the country’s police cells and prisons that CHRAJ had for some time now called attention to.
He described the overcrowding, the incarceration of minors in prisons instead of juvenile institutions, the remand of prisoners who have been in custody for very long periods such as 14 years and the lack of proper medical facilities for inmates, as “troubling.”
He said these issues that had been frequently highlighted by CHRAJ again came up for discussion recently when the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Tsatsu Tsikata gave a personal account after he was pardoned and released from prison.
Although he said there had been some improvement over the years, much more needed to be done.
Mr Short reminded the government and Ghanaians that that the call for prisoners’ rights was based on the principle that while persons in detention were deprived of their personal liberty, their right to all other basic rights remained intact.
Particularly, they are entitled to basic human rights, such as, the right to human dignity, right to food, adequate shelter and access to medical facilities.
He said the view held by some segments of society that it was not worth spending scarce resources on improving the conditions of persons in detention was one that was misplaced and unacceptable in any civilized society.
Mr Short said what was required to address the problem of prisoners’ rights was a concerted strategy involving the government, the Attorney General’s Office, the Police and the Prisons service.
“Considerable improvement can be achieved in a relative short time if the will to do so exists,” he added.
On corruption, Mr Short said the government’s promise to strengthen the anti-corruption bodies was welcome.
He added, however, that the promise as important as it was only a step in the fight against the complex phenomenon of corruption.
What was needed in his view was a multi-pronged strategy involving all the stakeholders, namely the government, Parliament, the anti-corruption bodies, civil society and the business sector.
He said if the government wishes to confront the canker of corruption, it had to consider, as a first step, an examination of an Action Plan developed by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition in 2000 with a view to finalizing it into a national anti-corruption policy.
The action plan identified and prioritized six strategic objectives with immediately executory actions under some objectives.
The strategic objectives were to ensure full expression of the political will of government and stakeholders (private and civil society), to streamline key public institutions, improve public financial management systems, strengthen institutional and operational capacities of key oversight bodies, restore public confidence in institutions of law and order and involve civil society in anti-corruption strategies, institutional and economic governance.
DAILY GRAPHIC, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009, PG 17

'ABROGATE CONTRACT WITH AQUA VITENS RAND'

05.02.09
Essential (SOCIAL)

Story: Caroline Boateng and Cara Fanning
Essential Services Platform (Platform) today reminded President John Evans Atta Mills of his promise to abrogate the contract of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) and asked him to fulfil that promise.
They said during one of the presidential debates prior to the December 7, 2008 election, President Mills categorically stated that he did not believe in the private sector providing water.
His sentiments, it said, was later reiterated by Ms Hannah Tetteh during an open forum held with the political parties.
Essential Services Platform brings together coalitions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in water, sanitation, health, and education.
At a press conference key leaders of the Platform said the demand to abrogate the contract was because AVRL had not achieved targets set by the management contract under which they operated.
From a technical audit report of AVRL, an October 2008 report by AVRL and a World Bank Sixth Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) report of May 2008, the platform listed several challenges of the water sector.
Key was the fact that AVRL lacked the capacity to test for pesticides, lead, mercury and arsenic in water supply.
The Platform said delays in replacing old pipelines were a major source of the contamination of the water supplies in La which affected mostly the poor or disconnected, who were forced to use the contaminated water, as AVRL’s own report indicated.
It also argued that what clean water was provided was not enough as “only three pumps are available” at the Kpong pumping station, and the three pumps subject to extra routine maintenance because of problems with their electric motors.
Conditions at Weija station were worse, it said quoting the AVRL report which admitted to faulty technology at both the Kpong and Weija pumping stations.
Importantly, it also highlighted the fact that AVRL was using second hand water meters from Holland, which had to be repaired and set to the Ghanaian specifications and that so far only 5,417 of the 40,000 water meters were currently being worked on.
The Platform also criticises the disbursement of only $38.22 million of the $103 million provided by the World Bank for the Urban Water Project.
It was particularly concerned as the indicators for investment in water facilities in the rural water supply have shown a decline recently, according to the World Bank, and the intention of this money was to replace old pipelines and machinery in order to improve water production.
The “rapid accumulation of solid waste” in drains, alleyways, and road sides was also labelled a “health hazard” and a possible contributor to the cholera outbreak which has infected 1,034 people between August 2008 and January 2009 and taken the lives of 8 people.
It also brought to light the severe lack of improved toilet facilities and the connecting of toilets to drains.
The platform highlighted transportation of patients during referrals from one health facility to another and said that ambulance services had to be made a key service under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
On education, it said raging debate on the number of years for senior high school students was misguided.
What was important was the provision of extra teachers and building their capacity to take care of pupils regardless of the number of years spent in schools.
That would involve motivating teachers posted to towns and villages outside major cities in the country.
Other demands made were for the government to increase its investments in the essential services, such as, education, health, water and sanitation and for the NHIS to bear the cost of anti-retroviral drugs in fulfilment of pledges in the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) manifesto.

DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009, 9G 18

THE AGBOGBLOSHIE CONFLICT, NDC, NPP MUST ACT

A security analyst, Dr Kwesi Aning, has said the clashes that happened in Agblobloshe on Tuesday in which 30 houses were razed to the ground was the result of an overflow of the negative sentiments of residents there aroused during the elections by politicians.
The clashes had other underlying factors, such as, youth unemployment and ethnic identities.
In an interview, Dr Aning said the campaigns for the 2008 election released “mega forces that encouraged people to use violence.”
“Unfortunately, political party leadership after the election have not been able to tell their people to pull back from the brink of violence, and the result is what is currently being witnessed.
Dr Aning who heads the Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), said all the major political parties had in their behaviour, rhetoric and in their mobilisation of people, appealed not to the higher instincts of Ghanaians, but the base.
Once the political parties opened up the Pandora’s Box and let out a culture of violence, it then became impossible to reign in their people.
Dr Aning said it was very easy in appealing to the base instincts of supporters of political parties when the parties were campaigning for power.
Moreover, in the campaigns, political violence had been excused and people had rationalised of violent acts in so far as it was for political ends.
Dr Aning said it was time for politics to be delinked from violence and people to be impressed upon not to use violence as a solution to grievances.
He called on the government and the political parties to start a process of “honest, transparent and respectful dialogue” to allow parties in the Agboblohie conflicts to let out their grievances for resolution.
“What both parties are not accepting is the responsibility that they brought out of Ghanaians these base instincts during the election,” he added.
With the election over, there was the need for a holistic approach in resolving the conflict, having in mind the fact that the conflict had its basis in conflicts translated by some from certain parts of the country like the North to the area.
Dr Aning was of the view that the intensive peace initiatives embarked on by civil society organisations, governmental agencies and individuals prior to and during the election because of the heightened concern and awareness of conflicts in such areas prevented the eruption of clashes as people became conscious and did not want to be seen indulging in acts that disturbed the peace.
A research conducted by the CPMRD prior to the December 2008 election, identified Agbobloshie as one of the flash points with the potential for clashes, tension, violence and disruptive acts prior to, during and after the elections.

DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009, PG 1

MORAL UPRIGHTNESS MUST BE KEY IN VETTING - PROF AYEE

The Dean of the Faculty of Social Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof R. A. Ayee, has suggested that moral and ethical uprightness must feature in the standards for the vetting of ministerial appointees of the government.
Expertise, qualification and experience, he added, were other key standards that were needed in judging the nominees for their designated positions.
In an interview, Prof Ayee, was of the view that the ministerial position, apart from its functions of running the business of government, was also a position that mirrored the government and the naion as a whole.
It was therefore important for the moral and ethical lives of the nominees to be questioned to ensure that only those who could pass the test was approved to take up their post.
Prof Ayee added that for a country with a huge youth population, there was the need for ministers to be appropriate role models and hence morally and ethically upright.
In his view, all the nominees of the President, were on the face value “quite strong,” however, the onus was on Parliament to undertake due diligence and scrutinize them to ensure that Ghanaians benefited from only the best.
He said on standards of expertise, qualification and experience, a minister could be lacking in one but that should not be enough to disapprove of his or her nomination.
He said if a minister was lacking in experience, he or she could make up for that as there were experience administrators in the ministry.
Prof Ayee said although he was not expecting any deviation from past vetting exercises, where nominees were approved en masse despite questions on the qualification or expertise of some nominees, the vetting this time would be more rigorous because of the slim majority of the ruling National Democratic Congress Party (NDC) .
He explained that vetting exercises since the fourth republic had been undertaken without the due diligence and scrutiny expected by the people because all the four parliaments had had a majority membership from the ruling government.
It had resulted in the appointement committees approving of nominees that had questionable credentials.
He said the vetiing of ministers was in line with the responsibility of parliament in having an oversight role over the executive and suggested a thorough exercise this time.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the IMANI Center for Policy & Education , Mr Franklin Cudjoe, has also suggested the extension of the time for the public to provide information on nominees for the vetting exercise
He however added that the proceedings of the Appointments committee life on TV were important as it provided the public some disclosure of information on the nominees.
He said politicians tended to back themselves when they were in the wrong, judging from past vetting proceedings where questions had been raised on a nominee’s candidature, but but that nominee had been approved despite the questions raised.
He said it was therefore right for proceedings to be held life for all to be in the know on how their ministers were approved.

DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2009 PG 3

WEATHER EXPERTS PREDICT ACUTE WATER SHORTAGE AND WARN AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES

A Remote Sensing Expert, Dr Emmanuel Amamoo-Otchere, says the current intense weather conditions being experienced in the country is an opportunity for the adoption of environmentally friendly practices that would be to the benefit of all Ghanaians.
He said although the current intense harmattan conditions could either be due to ordinary changes in climatic conditions, or a part of the processes of climate change, Ghanaians had to plan on the assumption of both scenarios and adopt practices to lessen the adverse impact of any of the two.
For instance, Dr Amamoo-Otchere, said areas of low rainfall like the Winneba Plains, Gomoa Ekumfi and some areas along the coast, all experienced acute water shortages during the harmattan season.
That resulted in residents resorting to muddy and unclean water and that also brought about the incidence of the guinea worm disease.
Initiatives, he said, were needed to ensure that such areas did not experience such acute shortages of water in such seasons.
He proposed tree planting as one of such initiatives in very dry areas in the country.
Dr Amamoo Otchere deplored an emerging trend in the country were houses were constructed with glass, limiting free ventilation and compelling those who lived in them to resort to artificial ventilation like air conditioning.
He said generally, Ghana was a warm country, thus that practice of building houses with glass, only increased the country’s bill on electricity.
He said the opportunity of creating a low carbon economy, that is, the efficient use of energy that eliminates carbon emission into the atmosphere, could be achieved if education was undertaken particularly during times of intense weather conditions, on behaviour change.
Education on the right use of land and the right agricultural practices, among others, were important to make Ghana a low carbon economy.
He said there was a World Bank grant to help countries change their patterns of land use and become low carbon economies and Ghana could take advantage of that.
Meanwhile, a meteorologist of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA), Mr Amos Narh has said the current intense harmattan conditions could persist for a month or two, with the possibility of a relaxation in the intensity over the weeks.
Despite the fact that some Ghanaians find the weather conditions intense, he said the current weather conditions were normal.
Mr Narh said the harmattan was evident in December, but it got intense just in the third week of January.
Sometimes the onset of the harmattan was outright, he explained, at other times, it came in strong, then there is a relaxation of the conditions, and this pattern could be repeated three times during the harmattan period.
With the current conditions, he said there could be periods of relaxation where some areas could have clouds and rains, but all that depended on the atmospheric pressure over the country.
Mr Narh said precautionary measures, had to be exercised by all particularly care in lighting fires in the bush as bush fires could easily result because the grass and foliage was dry and its aftermath devastating.
Drivers driving at dawn had to be cautious as visibility was poor, while fog lights needed to be used, he added.
Mr Narh explained that South West winds across the Sahara dessert, collected the desert sands from high pressure areas like North Africa to low pressure areas like Ghana and other West African countries, such as, Senegal, Nigeria, Burkina Fasso, and Niger.
That accounted for the haze in the atmosphere and the dusty conditions all around.
He said those prone to health challenges from dust, had to also take precaution when outdoors. Some simple measures that could be taken was the covering of the nosed to avoid excessive inhalation of dust.
He also suggested warm baths instead of cold and for all to keep was as harmattan conditions were times when there was an increase in coughs and colds.

DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2009, BACK PAGE

'NIA HAS NOT SUSPENDED ITS OPERATIONS'

The National Identification Authority (NIA) says it has not suspended the mass registration exercise as reported in the Saturday, January 16, 2008 issue of the Daily Graphic.
The Executive Secretary, Prof Kenneth Attafuah and the Head of Public Relations, Ms Bertha Dzeble responding to the article said the mass registration exercise was not on hold but merely delayed to enable the NIA undertake the necessary logistical mobilisation for the next exercise which will start in the Volta Region.
They said all officials recruited for the registration exercise and the mobile registration work station (MRWs) operators were currently on stand-by to get into the field.
The NIA is yet to set the date for the exercise in the Volta Region, pending the release of funds for the exercise from the government, Prof Attafuah added.
They expressed displeasure at the article, as it created the erroneous impression that the NIA had taken the decision to suspend the exercise when that was not so.
They also said the commencement of the exercise was in no way tied to the transition period, but merely delayed due to the fact that the compilation of the necessary information on the previous exercise undertaken in the Eastern Region to effect payment of allowances had delayed.
That had to be effected and money released for the next exercise in the Volta Region.
We will just be delayed by days, and we will make up for it on the field, Prof Attafuah said.
DAILY GRAPHIC, TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2009, PG 31

FIXED TERMS FOR EC, OTHERS WILL UNDERMINE INDEPENDENCE-PROF QUASHIGAH

THE Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Prof Kofi Quashigah, says retaining the independence of critical constitutional institutions with key functions in democracy, was the principal objective why the constitutional assembly decided on permanent tenure for such heads.
Putting term limits on the tenure of the heads of such institutions such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Judicial Service, in his opinion, could affect the independence of the head as well as the institution.
In an Interview, Prof Quashigah said for instance, “a six year two term arrangement, overlapping Parliament’s” for the Chairman of the EC as suggested by ex-President J. A. Kufuor in his farewell Speech to Parliament on January 5, 2009, could pose challenges
A Chairman of the Commission knowing his tenure was going to expire could bow to inducement of a lucrative retirement from the executive in the exercise of his or her functions.
On the extension of the tenure of the President to a five year term renewable once, Prof Quashigah said it was time for the country in its quest to entrench democracy, to focus on building strong institutions and systems rather than focusing on the heads of such institutions.
He said President Kufuors suggestion assumed that the implementation of good policies depended solely on one person.
The suggestion did not make room for the continuity in good policies in the country which was provided for in the 1992 constitution by the establishment of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
“We must all begin to strengthen institutions based on democratic principles so that when we are not there things will move on,” he said.
He said article 86 of the Constitution which established the NDPC made it a duty on all political parties; to make their specific political agenda, on which they campaigned on, conform to the national aspirations of Ghanaians.
On indications of Ghana becoming a two party state from the last general elections, in which the two dominant parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had the most parliamentary seats and later had to contend in a presidential run-off, Prof Quashigah said although the Constitution clearly intended the country to have multi party system, in practice, Ghana could in the future become a two party state.
He said if in practice the country ended up with a strong party and other smaller ones that would not detract from the constitution.
The fundamental principle was the ability for people to choose, as a single party clearly indicated dictatorship, something the constitution clearly prohibited.
On political party financing, he proposed a system of financing that would support the intention of a multi party system of the constitution.
He suggested a funding plan that would incorporated the size of parties as well as their ability to mobilise resources and funds as some of the yardsticks for the distribution of resources.
Such a funding plan, he said, would also make the political parties accountable.
Prof Quashigah proposed changes to the balloting system in the country’s electoral process.
He asked for the country to critically speed up the National Identification System or devise a method of balloting like the E-zwich application that could deal decisively with the challenges of balloting fraud, as that issue had been the cause of tense moments in the country in the past election.
DAILY GRAPHIC, MONDAY JANUARY 19, 2009, PG 31

Friday, February 6, 2009

NIA SUSPENDS MASS REGISTRATION EXERCISE

THE National Identification Authority (NIA) has temporarily suspended its activities till after the transition period.
By its schedule of activities at the start of the mass registration exercise for a national register of Ghanaians and legally resident citizens in the country, as well as identification cards, the exercise started in July 2008 and was expected to end in May 2009.
However, the Head of Public Affairs of the NIA, Ms Bertha Dzeble, said the NIA had put the exercise on hold until the transition period was over, as its activities were tied to the smooth functioning of the government bureaucratic system.
In an interview, she also said the authority would endeavour, under the current transitional period, to rectify delays in the payment of allowances owed some 6,200 people recruited for the mass registration exercise in the Eastern Region since November 2008.
By its schedule for deployment for the mass registration exercise, the NIA began the exercise in July 2008 in the Central Region.
Subsequently, the exercise was undertaken in the Western and Eastern regions, with a break in December for the general election.
However, the protracted nature of the elections that witnessed a presidential run-off on December 28, 2008 and in the Tain Constituency of the Brong Ahafo Region on January 2, 2009 has seen a disruption in the schedule.
The mass registration exercise should have resumed on December 15, 2008 and ended in May 2009 to cover the Volta, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions.
With the directive from the new government to all ministries, departments and state institutions to hold on and not take any major decisions before the appointment of heads for the ministries and departments, the work of the NIA and its mass registration activities are on hold.
This is particularly so because the mass registration exercise involves the deployment of about 6,200 people, logistics and materials.
Ms Dzeble gave the assurance that as soon as the NIA, which is under the Presidency, was given the go ahead, new schedules would be announced.
She added that grievances on allowances by those who had been recruited for the registration exercise in the Eastern Region would soon be sorted out.
District officers of the NIA compile a list of those recruited who have actually worked for the period.
The list is then sent to the NIA, checked and sent to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning through the Castle treasury system.
It is then sent to the Bank of Ghana (BOG) after the necessary checks and then to the Apex Bank, which credits the various commercial banks in the districts with what is due each person recruited for the exercise.
She pointed out that those checks and processes were necessary but could not be completed in November 2008 because of the general election.
DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY JANUARY17, 2009, PG 32

PICK THEM BASED ON COMPETENCE, PROF ADEI ADVISES PRESIDENT MILLS

THE immediate past Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has advised President John Atta Mills to be guided by managerial competence and leadership in choosing his ministers.
He said although he partly agreed with President Mills that Ghana had the requisite human resource to fill cabinet positions, the challenge was how to harness the human resources across all divides and deploy them into the key ministries for the proper functioning of governance.
He said President Mills’s success in harnessing that skilled core of people in various professions across the various political and ethnic barriers would define his place in the country’s history.
That, he said, was a simple but difficult political decision.
He explained that the criteria of competence for a minister did not consist in a chain of degrees of higher qualifications, though that was necessary, but consisted of managerial and leadership qualities.
By managerial competence, he said, the person had to be able to organise people, while leadership qualities included the ability to provide vision, strategies and what he termed “people skills,” that is, the ability to impassion people to own the vision and implement it.
All other variables such as political expediency factors, regional balance and party affiliation were important but incidental to his managerial and leadership competence, he said.
“It is a short-sighted strategy to put people who are incompetent into positions because they have contributed to your campaign fund or said ‘choo boi’. There are certain jobs you can preserve for them and always there must be jobs you use for your I.O.U.s”.
He said the financial, agricultural, educational, health and transportation sectors were fundamental to national development, and these were the institutions to attract the best and most competent people.
On how the President would achieve this, Prof. Adei said a good survey would bring out about 250 people who could be oriented into ministerial and other public sector positions and a skills audit will bring out that core group of people for particular positions, starting with their areas of expertise and competencies needed.
He said good leadership would mean prior preparation in selecting competent people or shadow teams with two or three probable candidates for the task ahead, before one assumed the presidency.
“It is not easy to just find them and put them into positions; It is a very difficult challenge. If six months to the election you did not have a team or shadow ministers already built and you are now just responding to the pressures from your party, from the big men who financed you, from the people, from certain families who have now become kingmakers, then it is a great challenge,” he said.
Prof. Adei proposed GIMPA as the institution which could make a difference in helping to fill public sectors with competent people, and where those appointed could orient themselves, learn and become results-oriented in their various political and public sector positions.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY JANUARY 16, 2009, PG 34

CALL FOR POLICY ON LIFELONG LEARNING

Participants in the 60th Annual New Year School have called for a policy on life-long learning to provide a comprehensive, nationally consistent but flexible structure for all levels of education and training in the country.
They said the development of such a policy should be consultative and involve all in the country.
They also proposed the integration of peace and civic education into the curriculum of schools from the basic level through to the tertiary level.
In an 18-point communiqué issued at the end to this year’s New Year School, organised by the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) of the University of Ghana, Legon, participants also called for a collaboration among the Ministry of Education Science and Sports (MOESS), Open University and other relevant educational institutions to develop a comparable certification system for all life-long, adult education and informal learning processes, based on content, teaching and learning with other assessment criteria.
They proposed continuing education relevant to all functionaries of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and community members while as a matter of urgency, functionaries of MMDAs should be adequately resourced and structures strengthened to make the local government system more effective and efficient for life-long learning.
Among recommendations made on the media, participants asked for support for the National Media Commission (NMC) in order to bring to ensure that advertising agencies did gender-sensitive advertisements.
They said regulation had to be put in place to ensure that all media houses, both print and electronic, allocated space and airtime for public education of civic rights and responsibilities on a regular basis as part of their corporate responsibility.
They also proposed a fund for media development for the transformation of the industry.
Other recommendations related to pension reform, health promotion programmes in workplaces, homes, schools and communities, and financing of life-long learning through public private partnerships for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
DAILY GRAPHIC, MONDAY JANUARY 12, 2009, PG 31

ADULT LITERACY BLAMED FOR REJECTED BALLOTS

THE 60th New Year School of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE), University of Ghana, Legon, has opened, with the quest to use life-long learning as the most crucial factor for accelerated national development in the country.
This year’s school is being organised on the theme, “Life-long Learning for Accelerated National Development”.
Despite the fact that the formal opening took place at a time of tense anticipation of the announcement of a President-elect for the country, the enthusiasm characteristic of participants was evident.
In a keynote address to formally open the school, a Professor and South African Research Chair in Development Education of the University of South Africa, Pretoria, Prof Catherine A. Odora Hoppers, proposed a new way by which Africa could become politically and innately free to take on the challenge of leadership in shaping the future of humanity.
She said for Africa to attain its rightful position globally, what mattered most was “the way we think about issues”, and “not so much the hype around a knowledge-based economy or information society and some mad rush into it”.
Prof Hoppers said central to her proposition was the realisation by all that knowledge primarily rested in people, rather than in ICT, databases or services.
She said through the centuries, populations like those found in Africa and elsewhere and their way of life and their environment had been decimated and treated as irrelevant in the normal scheme of things.
“One of the consequences of colonialism and apartheid for the knowledge debate was the fundamental erasure that was effected over the rich knowledge heritage of non-Western People,” she said.
She added that the cultural and intellectual contributions of non-Western knowledge systems had been systematically erased through a strategy of “conquest by naturalisation”, based on assumptions of the uselessness of some seeds and medicinal plants in Africa through World Trade Organisation (WTO) protocols.
To redress all that, Prof Hoppers called for the rethinking of future knowledge, innovation, social justice and human urgency within a new conception of a knowledge-based economy and information society.
For instance, she challenged the notion that literacy was just about reading and writing.
Welcoming participants, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof C. N. B. Tagoe, described the New Year School as a “source of pride to the university, providing the platform for solutions for the country and a barometer for gauging public opinion for the promotion of good governance”.
He said through the New Year School, the university had kept faith with the nation in fulfilling one of its main objectives of knowledge dissemination through extension activities.
He encouraged participants to continually learn, as the current times called for that.
The Director of the IAE, Prof Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, said with the concept of life-long learning gaining prominence, and in line with the UG’s Corporate Strategic Plan, it had been proposed to change the name of the institute to the “Institute of Continuing and Distance Education”.
The change of name, he added, would also raise the profile of the UG’s distance education programmes which were currently benefiting from major grants and loans from the Republic of China to the tune of $8.2 million.
On new academic programmes, he said a bachelor’s degree in Adult Education had been approved to be offered in the first semester of the 2009/2010 academic year, while an MA in HIV/AIDS Management had been proposed for consideration by the university’s Academic Board.
DAILY GRAPHIC, SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2009

UNPUBLISHED, O3.01.09

THE 60th New Year School of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE), University of Ghana, Legon, has opened, with the quest to use life-long learning as the most crucial factor for accelerated national development in the country.
This year’s school is being organised on the theme, “Life-long Learning for Accelerated National Development”.
Despite the fact that the formal opening took place at a time of tense anticipation of the announcement of a President-elect for the country, the enthusiasm characteristic of participants was evident.
In a keynote address to formally open the school, a Professor and South African Research Chair in Development Education of the University of South Africa, Pretoria, Prof Catherine A. Odora Hoppers, proposed a new way by which Africa could become politically and innately free to take on the challenge of leadership in shaping the future of humanity.
She said for Africa to attain its rightful position globally, what mattered most was “the way we think about issues”, and “not so much the hype around a knowledge-based economy or information society and some mad rush into it”.
Prof Hoppers said central to her proposition was the realisation by all that knowledge primarily rested in people, rather than in ICT, databases or services.
She said through the centuries, populations like those found in Africa and elsewhere and their way of life and their environment had been decimated and treated as irrelevant in the normal scheme of things.
“One of the consequences of colonialism and apartheid for the knowledge debate was the fundamental erasure that was effected over the rich knowledge heritage of non-Western People,” she said.
She added that the cultural and intellectual contributions of non-Western knowledge systems had been systematically erased through a strategy of “conquest by naturalisation”, based on assumptions of the uselessness of some seeds and medicinal plants in Africa through World Trade Organisation (WTO) protocols.
To redress all that, Prof Hoppers called for the rethinking of future knowledge, innovation, social justice and human urgency within a new conception of a knowledge-based economy and information society.
For instance, she challenged the notion that literacy was just about reading and writing.
Welcoming participants, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof C. N. B. Tagoe, described the New Year School as a “source of pride to the university, providing the platform for solutions for the country and a barometer for gauging public opinion for the promotion of good governance”.
He said through the New Year School, the university had kept faith with the nation in fulfilling one of its main objectives of knowledge dissemination through extension activities.
He encouraged participants to continually learn, as the current times called for that.
The Director of the IAE, Prof Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, said with the concept of life-long learning gaining prominence, and in line with the UG’s Corporate Strategic Plan, it had been proposed to change the name of the institute to the “Institute of Continuing and Distance Education”.
The change of name, he added, would also raise the profile of the UG’s distance education programmes which were currently benefiting from major grants and loans from the Republic of China to the tune of $8.2 million.
On new academic programmes, he said a bachelor’s degree in Adult Education had been approved to be offered in the first semester of the 2009/2010 academic year, while an MA in HIV/AIDS Management had been proposed for consideration by the university’s Academic Board.

ADULT EDUCATION MUST PROVIDE RELEVANT SKILLS

ADULT education must provide men and women with the relevant skills to improve their livelihoods, a former Director of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Miranda Greenstreet, has stated.
She said adult education could no longer be divorced from poverty reduction, adding, “In the Ghanaian context, it seems generally accepted that the mission of the Institute is to carry the University’s presence, its standards, and its discipline from Legon into the market places, town and villages all over the country”.
There is, therefore, the need for the IAE to embrace change and the innovations in the field, as well as become better suited to a global situation in which the rapid rate of change brought with it new and more accessible knowledge.
In a lecture delivered at the 60th Annual New Year School of the IAE, Prof Greenstreet proposed, among other things, the re-examination of courses provided by the institute, the type of students produced and the programmes delivered to the public.
Prof Greenstreet observed that every discipline was developed and promoted by those who taught the subject, thus becoming the responsibility of the lecturers in the field to develop the discipline by their awareness of global and national trends with respect to the discipline.
“This calls for training and re-training of adult education professionals,” she added.
Tracing the beginnings of adult education, nationally and internationally, she reiterated the position of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on adult education as a field with the potential of creating an “informed and tolerant citizenry, economic and social development, the promotion of literacy, the alleviation of poverty and the preservation of the environment”.
She described the formative years of adult education internationally and particularly in Ghana, as well as its period of stability under Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s tenure as Prime Minister that “witnessed massive infrastructure development,” and the provision of logistics on a “scale unmatched by any government ever since”.
She said the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah resulted in changes that saw the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level courses as constituting the main programmes of the institute, and the introduction of a Diploma course in adult education in the early 1970s.
The former Director of the IAE said the 1980s and the 1990s saw the diversification of non-formal programmes offered by the institute on various campuses with the community education programmes being organised by the Accra and the Sekondi/Takoradi Workers Colleges and the Population and Environment Programme in the Upper East Region.
There was also the introduction of certificate courses, Master of Arts/Master of Philosophy and PhD programmes.
“This period also witnessed the establishment and strengthening of new partnerships with local and international partners and adult education networks,” she added.
On programmes to be offered, she called for the inclusion of continuous professional development in the context of adult learning and education and in the wider context of life-long learning.
Prof Greenstreet noted that perceiving adult education as a life-long beneficial venture, was fundamental to bringing about a more democratic system, as well as social institutions in which the principles and ideals of social inclusiveness, justice and equity were present, practised and promoted and where the economy was strong, adaptable ad competitive, among other benefits.
She said it had the potential and responsibility of providing the missing link that had eluded Ghanaians and advocated funding, attitudinal change in the national body politic, the development of a life-long learning policy framework for the country, the reintroduction of industrial training programmes and an expanded provision of non-formal education as some of the measures to institute.
DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7, 2009, PG 17

INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK ADVOCATED.

TWO experts in education have advocated a comprehensive and integrated education and curriculum framework for the country that will guide the entire teaching and learning processes of Ghanaians.
The Dean of the School of Creative Arts of the University of Education, Winneba, Mr James Flolu, and a Senior Education Specialist, World Bank Country Office, Accra, Ms Eunice Dapaah, emphasised the need particularly for life-long learning processes to be recognised, made certifiable and funded.
They defined life-long processes as education designed to last through a person’s lifetime,
In papers presented at the 60th New Year School organised by the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) of the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, on the topic, “Life-long learning and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”, the two underscored the fact that education was key in achieving the goals.
Mr Flolu, in his paper, proposed, among other things, a national policy on life-long learning that would include the vision, principles, areas of learning, certification and financing.
He said the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education, the IAE, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), as well as teacher education institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), had to collaborate to re-define their roles and ensure proper co-ordination.
Mr Flolu said in recognising and using life-long learning in attaining the MDGs, a three-dimensional educational structure was needed for guidance and listed compulsory basic and general education, professional and career development education and education for a fulfilling life and living.
Under compulsory basic and general education, he stressed the need to focus on the development of the individual, which involved intellectual and psychological development, not merely the memorisation of facts.
In her presentation, Ms Dapaah expressed the view that life-long education was the future of learning.
Concentrating on the MDGs on education and gender equality, that is, Goal 2 and Goal 3, she indicated that at the current rate of growth the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) and completion rates might be achieved in the next seven years if targeted interventions were employed to address regional and district disparities.
The Northern Region had the lowest NER in 2006 of 52.4 per cent, which increased to 67.5 per cent in 2007, she said, adding that the region had a longer way to go than the other regions.
Primary Gender Parity stagnated, improved and then seemed to stagnate again between 2007 and 2008, she said.
According to her, that target should have been achieved by 2005 for the primary level. However, it currently stood at 0.92.
Ms Dapaah argued that with education as the “common denominator” for all the other MDGs, there was the need for a change in the thinking about life-long learning in the country.
She said although formal learning in Ghana had been funded principally by the government and reinforced by the 1992 Constitution, it was also known that most learning over one’s lifetime did not occur during formal education or training.
Ms Dapaah said while the country continued to forge forward on the formal education front, it also had to create an environment for lif-elong and continuing education.
“Life-long education is not just an alternative but critical to creating the literate society required for our nation’s development,” she stated.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY JANUARY 9, 2009 PG 17

CIVIC EDUCATION MUST START AT KINDERGARTEN

THE inculcation of core values that unite Ghanaians must begin immediately from the kindergarten level through all levels of education.
This will help to foster togetherness and a common purpose among the people in the country, a Renowned Educationist, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, has stated.
He said the Report of the President’s Committee on the Review of Education Reforms in Ghana (2002) highlighted a system of education that sought to make all Ghanaians united even in their differences.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Prof. Anamuah-Mensah, who was also the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Review of Education Reforms in Ghana, agreed with former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s suggestion that the educational system should be used to unite Ghanaians.
Addressing Parliament in his last State of the Nation Address on January 6, 2009, former President Kufuor said, “Mr Speaker, further to eliminate factionalism within society, part of the school curriculum should be devoted to studying and strengthening the factors that unite us so that our politics will not be driven by ethnicity, but rather merit.”
Prof. Anamuah-Mensah said the committee had taken cognisance of this and highlighted this issue in its report.
What was now needed was the full implementation of recommendations that would foster a united country by the Curriculum and Research Development Division of the Ministry of Education Science and Sports (MOESS).
He was of the view that the tension, divisions and acrimony that characterised the election campaigns of the past year would not be repeated with an educational system that built up individuals to appreciate each other’s differences while remaining united.
“If we all remain united we can achieve this, starting with kids from the kindergarten. If we do not, they will imitate us and we will not be able to bridge the breaches we started. We must start and introduce the core values into our children,” he said.
In her view, another member of the Presidential Committee on the Review of Education Reforms, Dr Mrs Sylvia Boye, said the system of education, where some children from all over the country lived together in a boarding system in the past, helped to foster unity.
Children were then able to learn about the differences in ethnic, tribal and religious backgrounds, while living and learning together.
She said the boarding system currently did not achieve this as children were from the same region in which the schools were situated.
Dr Boye noted that a properly developed curriculum, under which core values of respect for each other’s differences and the essence of unity were inculcated in all, would help the country to maintain its cohesion.
DAILY GRAPHIC, FRIDAY JANUARY 9, 2009

LET'S DO AWAY WITH 'WINNER TAKES ALL' SYSTEM

Some civil society organisations and individuals have called for the removal of an aspect of the country’s political system which they describe as “first past the post” or “winner takes all”.
They reiterated the urgency for the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to introduce specific legal and administrative measures that would change the system.
The political system practised in the country, they said, resulted in the party which emerged winner in an election having all the say in resource mobilisation and deployment, as well as all other developmental initiatives.
That, they said, resulted in partisanship, alienation of some Ghanaians and, in some cases, as was witnessed in the last elections, tension and rancour in the political environment.
In separate interviews, a media consultant and advocate for electoral reform, Mr Kwesi Gyan-Apenteng; the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, and the Executive Director of the West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP), Mr Emmanuel Bombande, offered a diversity of opinions on how the political system of the country could be improved.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng said although the Constitution did not oblige any government to do so, the inclusion of other skilled and experienced Ghanaians who might not be members of the governing party in the government was the morally and politically correct thing to do.
That was particularly so when the results of the elections showed that Ghanaians had not given a massive and clear win to the NDC or a total rejection of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he added.
He further proposed a deliberate effort by the government to unite the country and make sure “Ghana keeps and pulls together” through thick and thin, especially after the presidential run-off on December 28, 2008 and the presidential run-off in the Tain Constituency on January 3, 2009 that saw the country almost at the brink of violence.
He said the new government had the opportunity and responsibility to ensure a united country.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng’s final proposal was for an electoral reform that would ensure that Ghanaians were properly and justifiably represented.
He suggested a system of representation that was proportional and the subsequent election of the President by the MPs elected through that means for a broader and better representation of the people.
Dr Akwetey, for his part, said changing the political character of the country to foster better developmental outcomes was needed but said suggestions should be made after the new government had had a firm grasp of its work.
He was also of the view that the new government would have its own plans on how to achieve the challenge of a better political character and rather preferred to monitor how it would go about it for suggestions to be given to make its efforts better and make it accountable.
Dr Akwetey lauded the comments made so far by the new government on its willingness to consult with others who did not belong to the NDC to foster the unity of the country.
However, while its comments were right and conciliatory, it was the practice of its intention that would bring about the inclusive political system and that called for all to monitor to find out how these intentions would be implemented, he noted.
Mr Bombande said an agenda for national reconciliation to deal with the country’s multi-ethnic background should be made the bedrock of actions by the new government, saying that the results of that would be the human resource store of all Ghanaians for development.
His proposals were, among others, the election of district chief executives (DCEs) to complete the decentralisation process and ensuring that diverse groups of Ghanaians contributed to the governance of the country, both at the local and national levels.
On the election of DCEs, he said the patronage system of governance, part of the “winner-takes-all” political system, would be no more.
DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7, 2009, PG 23

EC SECURES FIRST TRANCHE OF GH¢5m

THE Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) has released an initial tranche of GH¢5 million to the Electoral Commission (EC) for the printing of ballot papers and other expenses for the December 28 presidential run-off.
The Director of Budget at MOFEP, Mr Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, who made this known, said the EC’s proposal for the run-off was submitted last week with the request for the immediate release of part of the amount for the acquisition of indelible ink, the printing of ballot papers and other operational costs.
In all, about GH¢11.5 million had been set aside for the exercise.
The second tranche of about GH¢6.5 million would be used for the payment of allowances of election staff during the run-off, and that was also ready and would be released when the EC was set, Mr Adjei-Mensah added.
The Director of Finance at the EC, Mr Isaac Kwame Boateng, when contacted, confirmed the release and said the EC was in the process of clearing the money for use.
Meanwhile, contract has been awarded for the supply of logistics that would be needed by the EC for the exercise.
Mr Boateng said despite the fact that the time was short, arrangements had been made with suppliers to fast-track the supply of materials.
The challenge, however, was the fact that the December 28 re-run was at a time of congestion due to backlog of air and port freight, resulting in high costs.
He gave the assurance that the EC could always have the resources it needed for a successful election.
17.12.08
DAILY GRAPHIC, THURSDAY DECEMBER 18, 2008 PG 2

IGNORE RESULTS FROM UNAUTHORISED GROUPS

THE Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has urged the general public to ignore any person or group that purports to announce the final results of the 2008 presidential election.
"The EC wishes to remind all Ghanaians that it is the only body in the country authorised by law to conduct public elections and declare their results," a statement signed by Dr Afari-Gyan and issued in Accra on Tuesday stated.
It said the EC would announce the time and place for the declaration of the 2008 presidential results when it was ready to do so.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has asked the EC to comply with its 72-hour period for announcing the results of the presidential election, reports Caroline Boateng.
It said from reports of vote counting from a random sample of some 1,070 polling stations, it was in the position to project the likely outcome of the presidential race and would share those observations if the EC, after 72 hours, did not declare the results or give clear reasons why the results could not be given.
This was made known in a preliminary observation by CODEO on the conduct of the elections.
A member of the advisory board of CODEO, Rev Dr Fred Deegbe, when contacted and asked whether its action would not raise tension in the country, said CODEO would collaborate as much as possible with the EC.
However, it would share its observations on the presidential results if the EC was not forthcoming by its stipulated period of declaring the results, he added.
He said that action was to preserve the integrity and credibility of CODEO, as members did not want to be seen as conniving with anyone in not ensuring that the right things were done.
The observations, contained in a statement jointly signed by Prof Miranda Greenstreet and Mr Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, co-chairpersons of CODEO, however, said the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections had been conducted in accordance with the electoral laws of Ghana and met international standards.
“The pre-election environment was relatively transparent, even and competitive, in spite of several challenges recorded,” said.
It said polling had been conducted in a credible, open and peaceful manner, while Ghanaians responded to the elections in “an enthusiastic and responsible way that demonstrated their commitment to work towards the sustenance of our democratic governance”.
Generally, CODEO said, the opening of polls and the setting up of polling stations had encountered few problems, with a third of the polling stations not setting up on time and some having some missing election materials during set up.
The voting process, it said, had been orderly and officials of the EC, to a large extent, enforced voting rules and regulations.
It said although no major problems were encountered, CODEO observers, however, reported seven cases of the suspension of voting in some polling stations in the Western, Eastern and Northern regions.
For instance, in the Akwatia Constituency, voting was suspended due to a clash between supporters of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, resulting in the snatching of seven ballot boxes.
It said checks at the EC indicated that six of the boxes had been retrieved.
CODEO said its observers recorded 40 cases of missing electoral materials as of the time of set-up, six cases of disorder at poling stations, five cases of the violation of voting procedure, three cases of electoral officials turning away eligible voters and three cases of ineligible cases being allowed to vote.
It said in the vast majority of polling stations, that is, 92 per cent, political party agents did not challenge the results, while 95 per cent of the political party agents signed the declared results at the polling stations.
09.12.08
DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10, 2008

'50 PER CENT PLUS ONE IS MISREPRESENTATION

THE Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng, has said it is a misrepresentation to say that the person to be elected president must have “50 per cent plus one” of the votes cast.
He said the statement “50 per cent plus one” was not correct and also not found anywhere in the Constitution.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, Daasebre Oti Boateng was unhappy that people who were expected to know better were going about repeating the phrase.
He said “50 per cent plus one” was impossible and was what could be termed “non-additive entities”.
Quoting from Article 63 Clause Three of the Constitution, he emphasised the clarity of the Constitution on the basis for the election of the president.
“A person shall not be elected as President of Ghana unless at the presidential election the number of votes cast in his favour is more than 50 per cent of the total number of valid votes cast at the election,” he quoted.
“The operative words here are ‘More than 50 per cent of the total number of valid votes cast’,” he said.
“In stating “more than 50 per cent”, the Constitution had taken into account all the votes and transmuted them into percentages. Therefore, there is no single number left anymore.
“You cannot, therefore, render what the Constitution says in percentages and numbers at the same time; that is incorrect. It is like trying to add water and petrol. Once you are in the realm of percentages, you cannot also be talking about numbers. It is statistically and mathematically incorrect and a false basis on which to base the election of the president,” he added.
09.12.08
DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008, PG 3