IDEG CELEBRATES

The Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) has commemorated its 15th anniversary with a call on Ghanaians to build their capacities in order to capture and dominate the character of political parties in the country. The proposition was made by a former Research Coordinator, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva, Switzerland, in his lecture to commemorate the anniversary in Accra. Speaking on the topic, “Overcoming inequalities and gaps in democratic governance: What role for political parties in Ghana,” the speaker, sought to impassion Ghanaians on attaining a democratic state that is development and growth oriented. Dr Bangura, who currently lectures in Sierra Leone, extensively drew parallels from other jurisdictions in the Nordic, African and European countries to prove that inequality in a democratic system was inimical to any initiatives for economic growth, cohesion and development. Unfulfilled aspirations Setting the tone for his lecture, he said, the euphoria of the upsurge in democracy in many countries in Africa of the 1990s had now waned, because the perception that democracy would enable citizens, open up for them opportunities in the political space and place power in the hands of people, had not been realised. Thus, the heart of democracy, which is equality, had eluded many of the countries that had come into democracy at the time. The results were the apparent growth of economic indicators, without the corresponding growth in the lives of the people. Gaps Dr Bangura identified three gaps in the democratic processes of these countries that had resulted in their current state of inequality and poor governance within democratic processes. He said the failure of citizens and leaders to consolidate the democratic rules of the game, the failure of the key branches of government to hold the executive accountable, and a bifurcated or split electorate that was not flexible and hence lost significance in sanctioning or rewarding wrong or right initiatives, respectively, in a democratic processes, were the three gaps. Embedded in the gaps were a failure by countries and citizens to reform political parties, key actors in the political space, Dr Bangura added. He said the focus had rather been on democratising inter-party competition rather than intra party competition, thus, the inequalities had grown, threatening social stability. He pointed out that countries with low levels of inequalities had a better chance at good outcomes within a democracy. “How do political parties become developmental and vehicles of growth?” Dr Bangura queried as he proposed alternatives to the status quo. For him, achieving growth and equality in democratic context was the challenge that had to be resolved. With examples from the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Dr Bangura showed how interest groups, like trade unions, were an integral pressure group in a democratic process that supported policies that were beneficial to all. He said such interest groups influenced political parties and changed the structure of incentives that pushed political parties to act appropriately for beneficial results. As a first step in ensuring equality in African countries, Dr Bangura proposed that the internal workings of political parties needed to be democratised to enable citizens influence their character. To achieve that, political parties needed to open up to public contestations that would prevent the rich from hijacking parties because they were key funders. The basic hallmark of democracy, that is, citizens having an ownership of the vote and a say in politics had to be resorted to, while revenue bargains had to be utilised to correct the disconnection between the state, the party and citizens. He explained revenue bargains as a responsible taxing system which locked the state and its citizens in a pact for development. Dr Bangura explained that because political parties in Africa were not dependent on citizens for funding, they were not accountable to them. The same applied to leaders who were more accountable to donor agencies than their citizens because of donor funds; and that had resulted in most public policy being donor driven. He said leaders took a safe recourse in rent from resources and aid, to absolve themselves from responsibility in accountable governance. He advocated strongly, therefore, for the state sponsorship of political parties, and for parties to be compelled to rely on the citizens for funding. He said that would transform political parties on the continent into reformation instruments at the grass roots. Grateful The chairperson of the IDEG Council of Trustees (COT), Prof Florence Dolphyne thanked all the sponsors of IDEG, particularly the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) for its $1.5 million in 2003 that set the institution on a course of excellence. A member of IDEG’s COT, Prof Akilagkpa Sawyer, said the lecture was timely to refocus the country on some of the gaps bedevilling the country since democratising more than two decades ago. The occasion was used to honour the Executive Director of the Gender and Human Rights Documentation Centre, Mrs Dorcas Coker Appiah, who had helped accommodate IDEG at its inception. The refurbished IDEG house was also formally opened and an office plaque unveiled by the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Rev Prof Emmanuel Asante. Writer’s email: caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh

INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS - PATRICK OTIEKU-BOADU

Books: Success is for Ab-Normal People and Walking into your Financial Freedom; Author: Patrick Otieku-Boadu; Pages: 80 and 109, respectively; Printed by Spearhead Consult, 2012; Reviewed by Caroline Boateng ........................................................................................................................ The twin books by Patrick Otieku-Boadu, continue to define him as an inspirational coach of modern times. While “Success is for Ab-normal People,” seeks to imbue readers with the verve to optimally express themselves in all their endeavours,“Walking into Your Financial Freedom,” complements, by refocusing readers on lessons of personal productivity. The author in the pages of “Success is for Ab-Normal People,” coaches, encourages and urges a life lived above average, that is,“abnormally.” Having well researched biblical characters who lived that ‘ab-normal' life, the author presents them as examples for readers. In bullet form, for easy assimilation, he lists the lessons and philosophies that have guided the lives and actions of great men and women. For instance, readers will get to learn about the ant philosophy, which teaches persistence in the face of obstacles; while in pages on the “Ten Laws of Differentiation,” the principle of the ‘cuboid melon,’ that is, maximising one’s diversity is discussed. “Walking in Your Financial Freedom,” ups the ante in an essential area of every individual’s life... money! Funding addictions, a culture of dissipation and not saving, borrowing, and indiscipline are some of the issues discussed as reasons for the financial constraints that some people face. The hands-on coach that he is, Patrick Otieku-Boadu recognises practical limitations that keep people in a poverty loop, that is, “a dead-end low paying job.” These include person’s mindset, ignorance and the inability to properly plan and budget on resources. He advances cogent reasons for wealth, some of which are, the opportunities to help societies, generations unborn and for causes of God’s Kingdom. Insights within “Walking in your Financial Freedom,” include the six ways in which people make money, and that, surprisingly, includes begging. However, that means of making money does not last, readers will learn. They will also learn the lasting methods of making money, the five wisdom baskets that teach how to apportion resources appropriately and how to be productive and create wealth. The completion of “Walking in Your Financial Freedom,” would undoubtedly leave a reader with the urge or an appetite for an income generating venture, instead of the income spending spree that most people with little money venture into. It provokes readers, be they salaried workers or self-employed, to be financially wise in order to appreciate any income or money that comes their way, turning the funds, however little, into wealth that can be used in the service of humanity. “Success is for Ab-Normal People,” and “Walking in your Financial Freedom,” is highly recommended, for all generational groups. For the impressionable youth, it will provide workable ideas for life. For adults and workers, some of whom are in ‘dead-end jobs,’ it would be the turning point to a fulfilled life. Even for the aged, the two books offer hope and principles that teach that no situation in life is unredeemable. Patrick Otieku-Boadu’s books are replete with biblical principles that offer hope for all. The books are available in all leading stores or can be directly obtained via the email address: potiekuboadu@gmail.com.

MOVES TO IMPROVE UPON PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

The Centre for Democratic Development, (CDD-Ghana), has provided information on key social services to improve upon public policy advocacy in the country. The data, in user friendly excel files and maps, presents information on the delivery and state of public goods and services like education, health and water. It is freely available on the Internet, and the objective is to furnish advocates, the media, researchers, and anyone engaging at the level of public policy, with facts and figures in their advocacy with those responsible for ensuring the provision of these services and improvement in their delivery. The data was from the 'IAMAWARE' project, launched by the CDD-Ghana in August 2012. The project was captioned, 'IAMAWARE,' that is a contraction of the phrase, 'I am aware," to empower citizens with information they can use to hold those in authority accountable for the delivery of public goods and services. It also provides the information by which public agencies can be assessed on their performance in the provision of these public goods and services. Key findings from the project, publicised at a dissemination workshop, included the fact that ordinary Ghanaians do not have access to duty bearers. There were also findings about the high level of interest in public affairs and issues relating to the management of the economy, and radio being the main source of information for most respondents surveyed. However, in spite of the public awareness on public issues, most respondents did not discuss them among their social groupings. The research also showed the dearth of civic consciousness among most respondents as they said they would not use any form of protest to press home their demands for better service and goods delivery. Presenting the findings, a Senior Research Fellow, Mr Robert Pwazaga, said a pre-election survey was undertaken on August 2012, as well as a post election survey in February 2013. The pre- election survey, provided the basis for discussions in the media on policy pledges by Members of Parliament and aspiring politicians at the local level in some of the 40 districts studied. Mr Pwazaga asked the media to use the information provided for their work and to endeavour to simplify their reporting on public issues, as some respondents said their inability to discuss these within their social groupings was because the issues were complicated For the future, he said, the CDD-Ghana would be expanding the research to monitor the delivery of other public services and goods, such as infrastructure and security. A Senior Fellow of the CDD-Ghana, Mr Francis Tsegah said with the nominations of District Chief Executives currently, the information could provide the constituents with information to get candidates to commit to certain benchmarks. He said some media partners, also used the information for issues-based reporting in some districts. A Deputy Director and Head of Research and Programmes, Dr Franklin Oduro said with programmes such as the 'IAMAWERE,' the CDD-Ghana intended to scale up its stakeholder base and its monitoring on wider public goods and services delivery. Published Daily Graphic, Monday, August 5, 2013

RULE

Book: Rule or be Ruled Author: Patrick Otieku-Boadu Pages: 101 Publishers: Spearhead Consult Reviewed by: Caroline Boateng Rule or be ruled, is a call to leadership. Leadership that is God ordained, required of every individual and necessary for effective living. In this ninth book, the author, Patrick Otieku-Boadu, gives useful guidelines on how to live maximally in all areas of life, be it family, career or education. He begins by setting out the chilling fact that a failure to rule would result in a person being subjected under the rule of others in life. In fact, there is no middle way and either you take control of your live in way that will bring about the change only dreamt about and craved for or bend to the rule of a co-equal or someone younger or less experienced, but who has learned the principles of bearing rule in this life. Using God’s prescription in the Bible for man to rule and have dominion over the earth, the author calls on readers to activate the authority for ruling, programmed into their DNA by God. Leadership begins with the individual, and Rule or be Ruled teaches how one can take charge of his or her life adequately enough to extend rule to others and areas of endeavour. The author calls for a new vision and new thoughts that enables challenges to be seen as possibilities to be seized for success in life. Contrary to popular thinking that ruling is about holding sway and commanding in the public sphere, Rule or be Ruled teaches that ruling begins with ideas, having them, writing them down, mastering them by thinking and rethinking, developing them by fully expressing the ideas into tangible usable services or things. It requires self introspection. “Your ideas are capable of transforming your life. To rule your world, you will need to place value on the ideas that flow through your mind, but many do not value their own thoughts,” the author tells readers. Leadership requires information, and in a chapter on that, Patrick Otieku-Boadu shows how information is the currency to dreams, success and fortune. But information that is priceless is relevant, is needed and applicable for the desired changes in life. Rule or be Ruled shows how this can be achieved. Leadership also requires bearing rule over money, one’s sex life, seizing opportunities, mastering technology and new developments in society. The author’s manner of writing is easy. He communicates simply and directly. The reader would sometimes feel he is being coached by a real life tutor instead although reading the words of the author. He uses several examples of real life situations and experiences of people to emphasise his ideas. Patrick Otieku-Boadu has once again shown his passion for youth development in his work Rule of be Ruled that will inspire the youth to dream, achieve and progress. It is recommended for the youth of Ghana, and anyone who would want to dream again, as life still offers opportunities. Rule or be Ruled can be obtained in all leading bookshops or by contacting the author by the Email address, potiekuboadu@gmail.com .

MUSINGS ON AN ELECTION

Caroline Boateng It does not take an awfully lot for an impassioned supporter of a cause to destroy property and, sometimes even lives, in protest against those not of the same passion. But it takes an awfully enormous amount of resources, human will and the grace of God, to sometimes redress or reverse the destructive effects of untamed political passions. I voted for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and unlike most Ghanaians, have no qualms about making my vote known. I did that because I believed in what they planned to do. I surmised that with the limited resources, it was about time that politicians focused on one sector that could, with all the capital injection and attention, have a cascading effect on the development of other sectors. And for me, education was that sector. Getting all our children, at that impressionable stage in life, senior high, to be in school, was for me a good start. These sympathies were previously with the NDC, when in 2008, I gave my vote to the NDC to kick out the NPP, who by the end of their eight year tenure, had become complacent and were offering a ‘one-size-fit-all,’ solution, that is, capitation grant, school feeding programme, etc., for all other economic challenges that Ghanaians were pointing out to them. I tend to sympathise with parties based on their offerings for the particular electioneering year. I also have a political philosophy, calcified in eight years of journalism and interaction with politicians of all shades that the African political elite cannot be entrusted with power for long periods of time. When they stay in power for long, they become despots, complacent, corrupt and disdainful of the people who lined up in the heat and with much inconvenience to vote for them. Somehow in 2008, I happened to have backed the winning team, unfortunately, this year that has not been so, despite my strong conviction that the NPP was going to win. Since the declaration of the results at 9: 45p.m on Sunday, I have repeated to myself the scripture, “Whatever the Lord does is good,” (I know it’s is from scripture but have forgotten where). I have bolstered up my spirits with that in the face of the rumblings-on of the NPP. Primarily, I believe it was a faux pas by the executives of the NPP to hold a rally at the Obra Spot, the same venue at which NDC held their celebration over their victory in the polls. Holding the rally there to tell supporters that there were misgivings over the results after their executive meeting on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, could have sounded like a plausible excuse for dealing with the mass of supporters impatiently waiting for some information from the leadership. But the result was the show of defiance by supporters who refused to leave the spot until Nana Akuffo Addo had been declared winner. Subsequently, that defiance was transferred to other areas with reports of the harassment of some supporters of the NDC. Some make the excuse that the NPP executives did not tell supporters to harass their opponents, or act in defiance at the Obra Spot. But as I began in my musings, no one needs to tell an impassioned political supporter to act in a certain manner. He or she acts with passion. But when those passions are ignited and burning, it will take more than “telling,” to douse the flames. It was comforting to hear the leadership of the leading political parties speaking out against violence, but I hope that will not be the end. Supporters are not lawyers, or people with the wherewithal to solve the electoral challenges of the NPP. Leadership of the part should keep calm and work diligently, better than the work they did with the monitoring of the election, and proceed to the courts. We must all remember our actions have far reaching consequences. I do not believe that at the international level, anyone can shake of liability when the country is in a conflagration, merely by the excuse that he or she did not tell anyone to act atrociously. The NPP leadership must show themselves as the statesmen and women I thought them to be. (PUBLISHED, DAILY GRAPHIC, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2012, pg 7)

KUMASI AFTERMATH

Story: Caroline Boateng The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey is challenging the Ghana Police Service to arrest and prosecute perpetrators of sporadic violence in the aftermath of the declaration of the 2012 election results on Sunday, December 9, 2012. He said that would be in keeping with the ideals of the Kumasi Declaration, the pledge to peace and the abhorrence of impunity, signed by all the leaders of all political parties on November 27, 2012, before the elections. In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Akwetey, who was one of the facilitators of the Declaration, was of the view that the police administration, who were also represented by their chief, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Paul Tawiah Quaye, at the signing, had been emboldened by the presence of their chief and also the Chief Justice of Ghana, Mrs Justice Theodora Wood, at the public show of commitment to peace by the all flag bearers in Kumasi, where the declaration was signed. Thus, the police also did not have to condone impunity because it was being perpetrated by a particular political party supporter. Dr Akwetey in an assessment of the security situation in the country, said Ghana was stable and had gone through the rough patch because despite intermitent violence perpetrated by some, reprisals had been limitted, while some political leaders, like the chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Jake obetsebi Lamptey hadspoken out to point out that a supporter would be criminally liable for violence. He attributed the stability in part to the moral pledge taken by political leadership in the Kumasi Declaration. On the demonstration held in Kumasi by NPP supporters to protest the results of the election, Dr Akwetey was of the view that it lay within the rights of supporters to demonstrate so long as they did that within the confines of the law. He was happy that the demonstration was not characterised by acts of violence. He admonished Ghanaians to believe in themselves and trust in their abilities to do the right thing, and described the future as an interesting phase as the NPP headed for the courts to challenge the election results. He added that all eyes would be on the judiciary then, and how they managed the process would further add to the reputation of the country as a place of democrac and the rule of law.

UG, NEW YEAR SCHOOL

Story: Caroline Boateng The relevance of the annual New Year School of the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education (ICDE) of the University of Ghana, Legon, has been recognised by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC). The NDPC last, year during the 63rd School on the theme, "One year of oil and gas production: emerging issues,", was represented by its Chairman, Mr P. V. Obeng, who highly recommended the school and charged his officials to forge meaningful ways of collaboration for better policy alternatives for Ghanaians. The 64th School, which begins on January 14 and ends on January 18, 2013, has already had the NDPC contributing to the selection of the theme, which is, "the key to the future health of our nation: improved water, sanitation and hygiene, organisers of the 64th School told journalists at a breakfast meeting in Accra today. The theme for the next school, seeks to target the behaviour and attitudes of the Ghanaian as cadinal in any development effort. In the interaction with journalists, the Director of the ICDE, Prof Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, highlighted the opportunities offered by the school, that is the dispassionate discussion on the issues of sanitation, hygiene and the attitudes of all in getting round the challenge bedevilling the country. He said while people might want to measure the immediate impact of the Schools, the value in education was imeasurable. But he added however, that submissions in the school had fed into the creation of the GETFund for the educational sector and the local content policy for the oil and gas sector. Prof Oheneba-Sakyi added that the keynote address would be given by the chief executive officer of ZOOMlion, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, while the Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing was expected to open the school. The Director of the 64th Annaul New Year School, Dr Micheal Tagoe, said the greatest impact of the school was the creation of a platform for the dispassionate discussion of issues. As an educational institution, he added, the annual new year schools offered the platform for the deliberation on issues by any Ghanaian. After the discussions and submissions, it then behoved on particular public institutions to pick up the relevant submissions and work with those. Dr Tagoe however promised that the school was going to track its impact soon, following up on participants and how institutions used information generated at the school. (Submitted: December 20, 2012. Unpublished. Daily Graphic)

CHRAJ REPORT ON ELECTION 2012

Daily Graphic Story: Caroline Boateng The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has rated the December 7, 2012 Election as "free, fair and reflecting the will of the electorate." It said although there were some irregularities and challenges during the polls, they were not significant enough to affect the outcome of the results. The verdict of CHRAJ, captured in it's preliminary report on its observation and monitoring of the elections, is in tandem with other observation reports from the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and the ECOWAS observer group, since the release of the results on Sunday, December 9, 2012. The eight page preliminary report of CHRAJ, signed by the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Ms Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, gives a brief on the the monitoring activities of the National Human Rights Commission, prior to and during the two day polling period. Principally, the Commission, set out to monitor the right of Ghanaians to vote. Significantly, the CHRAJ noted challenges in the enjoyment of the right as a result of the failure of verification machines in many parts of the country. "The situation was more serious in Greater Accra, Northern and Upper East regions, where the Commission's observers directly encountered eleven of such polling stations," the report stared. It said the challenges with the verification equipment, leading to the suspension of voting at certain polling station, created anxiety and frustration among voters. Additionally, it resulted in the devising of unscientific methods, like the buying of coca cola to wash the hands, to enable the verification equipment capture the fingerprints, observed by CHRAJ at the Inti-Suariya Primary School polling station. The report added that "at the Kanvilli R/C Polling Centre in Tamale, a hot coal pot was provided for voters to dry their hands after washing with soap and water before their fingers could be captured. Most of those affected by the problems of verification were elderly women, some young women who had dyed their hands and fingers with a local herb called 'lenle' were also affected." CHRAJ also pointed out other challenges that tended to undermine the right to vote. The late arrival of polling materials at some stations, partisan broadcasts by some media houses, incumbency abuse and influences by some opposition parties, the flouting by chiefs of the constitutional injunction not to engage in active partisan political activity, and the flouting of the Code of Conduct of Public Servants by public servants who were seen openly campaigning for votes, as well as the use of children in political campaigning, were some of the observations that CHRAJ said impinged on Ghanaians right to vote. The commission, deployed 335 monitors and observers and monitored about 2000 polling stations, including stations in some prisons. caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh Submitted: December 13, 2012

OSAM'S INUAGURAL

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof E. Kweku Osam, says Ghanaians must decide whether it is more prudent to satisfy their basic needs or follow some “high flowing development agenda,” most often set by influential economic structures of the North.
“The one laptop per child is good, but what if the child is hungry?” was his rhetoric question in his inaugural lecture titled “Of cocoa, cassava and chocolate: the dilemma of an African Linguist.”
While not condemning the “one laptop per child policy,” Prof Osam wanted to know how useful that laptop would be to a hungry, deprived and destitute child. He recounted how as a child, some boiled cassava, sprinkled only with salt, could satisfy a famished person and put a soul at ease for some time.
He was of the view that the policy would be better served in an environment where the fundamentals were right, that is, where the child had his or her basic needs satisfied.
The lecture was a first by all standards and that was attested to by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Ernest Aryeetey in his remarks.
It was the first interactive inaugural lecture that witnessed, Prof Kweku Osam, using interesting slide presentations and involving the audience in an exposition of the linguistic structure of the Akan language.
What was more intriguing was his ingenious inferences from the study of a local language to show policy weaknesses in the country’s development policies.
He mentioned that from the early 1960s to date for instance, the standard set in the study of language and the dominant linguistic theory was that of Chomsky.
In those days, he said, it was fashionable to base research work on local languages on these dominant frames.
The result of that was that the study of local languages suffered.
They were not amenable to the dominant frames proposed by Chomsky, and research work in local languages criticised as being too descriptive and not backed by the dominant theories.
Breaking from the mold, Prof Osam shared some of his research work which showed the use of an alternative paradigm, the Functional-Typological Syntax (FTS), which is a more utilitarian and practical approach to explain meaningfully some phenomenon of the Akan language.
In an example, he mentioned how work done had resulted in a systematic way of adjective sequencing in the language.
Prof Osam was of the view that the utilitarian approach to the study of language brought direct benefits to people.
It was contrary to modes of language study that served the needs of global empires, which made no impact on students studying their own language.
He proposed the learning and studying of Ghana’s local language in practical ways to bring benefit directly to the users.
He asked parents not to think it chic to speak English with their children, as children would pick up the wrong language in the streets if parents did not start with them in the use of the right language.
Such a situation, he added, would lead to what he called, linguistically engendered generation, that is children who neither spoke English right nor their local language.
He also asked the government to “keep the Bureau of Ghana Languages alive.”
The inaugural lecture was also a first in that it was used by Prof Osam to institute a scholarship in the name of his mother, Rachael Aggrey, who was murdered 20 years ago by assailants who inflicted cutlass wounds on her. The assailants were never found.
In an emotive tone, Prof Osam pledged, GH¢5000 for the Rachael Aggrey Memorial Prize for the best female student graduating in the Bachelor of Arts programme.
He expressed the intention to increase the seed money to GH¢30,000 in the next three years.
Prof Aryeetey in his remarks commended highly the lecture.
He said as an economist he was inclined to the utilitarian value in things, and endorsed the call for the practical study of language to benefit people.
He also endorsed the view of using language as a country to build peace and develop.
He appealed to all to be tolerant of each other’s language and also endeavour to learn each other’s for a peaceful future.

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