BOOST FOR SADA

Page 7: Daily Graphic, March 30, 2012. THE level of poverty and under-development in the three northern regions will continue to attract commentary until the gap between the north and the south is closed. The gap continues to expand because policies and programmes instituted to address this handicap either go unimplemented for lack of funds or are swept under the carpet and treated as business as usual. When the government announced the setting up of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), many Ghanaians saw it as one of the usual rhetorics. The Daily Graphic had cause to challenge officials of SADA to initiate activities with the start-up funds from the government. Fortunately, the government has announced the release of $100 million for SADA to kick-start its programmes, with a promise to release a further $100 million by the second quarter of this year. What better news can our compatriots in the three northern regions want to hear than this coming from the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama. The provision of this amount should resolve one of the jig-saws facing officials of SADA. With the release of this amount, we expect officials of SADA to demonstrate more passion and commitment in embarking on the national assignment of helping to bring development to the north and improving the lives of our people. Although the Vice-President gave indication that SADA had already made an impact, we believe that impact is yet to reflect on the lives of the people. The impact Ghanaians expect to see is an improvement in the living conditions of the people up north as a result of the activities of SADA. The Daily Graphic expects to see a huge reduction in, if not an end to, the movement of people from the north to the south to seek elusive opportunities and consequently become victims of abuse. We, therefore, urge officials of SADA to give meaning to the hope and joy the government has brought to the people through the establishment of SADA by taking concrete action that will begin to rub on the lives of the people. This is particularly so when a Stakeholder Co-ordination Committee (SCC), a body mandated to solicit inputs for various development aspects in the north into SADA’s plans and programmes, has also been inaugurated, in line with provisions of the SADA Law, Act 805. Some may argue that the destiny of the people of the north is now in their hands following the setting up of all the requisite structures and the release of money for SADA’s operations. We agree that the three northern regions boast some of the skilful personalities and resources needed for breaking the back of poverty and under-development but the people still need our support. The Daily Graphic, therefore, calls on all corporate institutions and the donor community to rally behind the government and SADA to accelerate development in the three northern regions and help bridge the poverty gap between the north and the south. For now, it is high time the officers tasked to supervise the activities of SADA went into immediate action to give hope to the people. Action, it is said, speaks louder than words.

LET THERE BE ORDER

Page 7: Daily Graphic, March 31, 2012. SINCE the commencement of the biometric voters registration exercise, there have been reported incidents of disturbance at some registration centres across the country. So far, what has become evident is the fact that most of the long queues and their attendant confusion are the result of people moving from other areas where the exercise is yet to be conducted to register. We believe this has come about because either the public education campaign by the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has not gone far enough or Ghanaians are just anxious to have their names on the electoral roll, hence the rush to register. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, on Thursday toured some of the centres and issued a stern warning to troublemakers who would want to disrupt the ongoing registration exercise. We find the IGP’s warning to troublemakers very encouraging and should serve to embolden policemen that their head is solidly behind them, for which reason they must act to deal with all acts of lawlessness and disruptions associated with the exercise. The police have already demonstrated this by putting some culprits before the law courts for disrupting the exercise in the Dome-Taifa area in Accra. Another instance of the demonstration of professionalism and fairness by the police was revealed by the registration officer at the Techfam SCC registration centre at New Weija, Richard Mintah Boateng, that it took the timely intervention of the police to restore order when some supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) allegedly stormed the centre last Sunday to cause confusion, compelling registration officials to temporarily suspend the exercise. Many a time, incumbent governments are accused of turning a blind eye on offences perpetrated by their party supporters while pursuing opponents of the government with alacrity. If that was the situation in the past, we believe these actions by the police in the ongoing exercise demonstrate that they have come of age. We tend to criticise the police too often without going into the merits and demerits of cases. Often, some of the supposed complainants refuse to even report the cases to the police and prefer to call into radio stations to accuse the police. Maintaining law and order is a shared responsibility and we believe we all have a duty to ensure the success of the biometric registration exercise. If others have lodged complaints and the cases are in court, then it is easy to monitor. We cannot refuse to report cases to the police and still expect them to prosecute non-existent cases. The Daily Graphic admonishes Ghanaians to avoid making wild allegations and rather report any incident to the police and be ready to substantiate it. We must acknowledge that the Ghana Police Service is handicapped in respect of human resource to be able to post personnel at all the registration centres. Also, it will be extremely difficult for a policeman or two of them to contain a marauding crowd, even when they are armed. Now that it appears most of the technical challenges associated with the registration have been resolved, we urge all political activists and Ghanaians in particular to remain calm and allow the exercise to go on smoothly. The IGP has given an assurance that the police will be resolute in dealing with miscreants. We need to co-operate with the police to ensure that all those who breach the rules are dealt with. The Daily Graphic will be monitoring events to see whether the police will back-track or be firm. But we believe they will be fair, firm and resolute.

Blackouts unacceptable

Page 7: Editorial, Daily Graphic, February 28, 2012. WE are barely two months into 2012 but already the country has experienced two major and disturbing power outages that raise serious concerns about the state of the nation’s energy supply. The second of the nation-wide blackouts this year which occurred last Sunday lasted for about three hours, causing a lot of anxiety and discomfort for many people across the country. Although the energy providers, on both occasions, attributed the blackout to system failure, the fact that the two incidents occurred in a space of about one month suggests that there is something seriously wrong with our national power supply system. The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) to take immediate steps to rectify the situation before it gets out of hand. This is in view of the significant role electricity plays in the country’s socio-economic development. We are happy that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission has summoned the VRA and GRIDCo to a meeting today to seek an explanation for the blackout and chart the way forward. A large number of industrial establishments, corporate institutions and small-scale businesses all require a regular and sustainable energy supply to operate. For that reason, any undesirable shocks in energy supply could be detrimental to their operations and derail national economic gains as a whole. With the huge development challenges facing the nation, the supply of sustainable and regular power is very crucial for the facilitation of industrial growth and expansion. At a time when the government is making strenuous efforts to woo foreign investors into the country, it is important not to give any false signal of unstable power supply to those investors. The VRA, the ECG and GRIDCo must, therefore, take a serious view of the recent challenges in power supply and their wider national implications. We know that these blackouts are technical challenges beyond human imagination but the need to fix them is also imperative, given the fact that the United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. The initiative, which was inspired by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, acknowledges the significant role energy plays in enhancing economic growth and reducing poverty. Currently, energy experts in Ghana are consulting for the formulation of a national action plan towards achieving the UN Sustainable Energy for All Accelerated Framework (SEAAF) by 2015. However, considering the extensive and seemingly rampant blackouts in recent times, there is great doubt as to whether Ghana could achieve the goals of sustainable energy for all as championed by the UN. The earlier we act on the energy problem, the better it would be for the country’s development drive. It is, however, heartwarming that the next Millenium Challenge Corporation compact for Ghana will focus on renewing the country’s energy supply needs. Looking at the precarious nature of the supply mix now, it is important for all government agencies to work hard towards the approval of the compact by the US government.

Cabinet approves Resident Diplomatic Mission in Turkey

Page 16: Daily Graphic, February 29, 2012. Story: Albert K. Salia THE Cabinet has approved the opening of a Resident Diplomatic Mission in Ankara, Turkey and a Consulate General in Guangzhou Province, China. Ghana’s mission in Serbia has also been closed down. These decisions were made following proposals by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration after rationalising, streamlining and generally aligning the ministry’s activities with the national interest. Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, who confirmed these in an interview yesterday, said the object of the rationalisation exercise was to achieve efficiency and effectiveness, value for money in service delivery and was taken in the best interest of the country. Throwing more light on the decisions, Alhaji Mumuni said Ghana-Turkey relations had witnessed remarkable developments since the first summit and the adoption of the Joint Implementation Plan. “Turkey for instance has shown great interest in Ghana, with the opening of a diplomatic mission in Accra in February, 2010 to enhance its relations with our country. Turkey has also established an Honorary Consulate in Kumasi to be in charge of the Northern half of Ghana, a move which has led to the strengthening and expansion of trade and investment relations that will inure to the benefit of our two countries and peoples,” he stated. According to him, the high point of Ghana-Turkish relations was the two-day official visit to Ghana in March, 2011 by the President of Turkey, Mr Abdullah Gul, during which period a number of agreements were signed including a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a Political Consultation Mechanism between the two foreign ministries; an agreement on bilateral air services, which resulted in Turkish Airlines flying four times a week from Accra to Istanbul, among others. “Undoubtedly, the search for markets and investments has also become so intense that Ghana had to strategically position itself in order to become competitive at the continental and global levels,” he added. He recalled that during the African Union Summit in January, 2008, Turkey was declared as a strategic partner of Africa. Turkey, he explained, followed up by organising the first Turkey-Africa Co-operation Summit in Istanbul, Turkey in August 2008 with the view to giving momentum to the development of Turkish-African relations, as well as expanding and enriching co-operation in various areas of interest and benefit. Alhaji Mumuni noted that during the August, 2008 Summit in which Ghana actively participated, the Istanbul Declaration on Africa-Turkey Partnership was announced with a resolve of the parties to co-operate at both continental and bilateral levels in various critical areas of development. Subsequently, he said, Africa and Turkey adopted the Joint Implementation Plan 2010-2014 in December, 2010, to further strengthen the comprehensive co-operative relations between African countries and Turkey in areas such as Inter-Governmental and Institutional Co-operation, trade and investments, agriculture and agro-business, health, peace and security, infrastructure, energy, transport and tourism, among others. On the decision to establish a Consulate-General in Guangzhou Province, the minister said the presence of a large Ghanaian community in that province was crucial in taking that decision. That, he explained, was because of the inability of the Ghana Mission in Beijing to effectively cover Guangzhou as a result of the distance between the two cities and the cost involved, saying that travelling between Beijing and Guangzhou by train required between 20 and 30 hours. Alhaji Mumuni said in view of the stringent immigration laws in China, Ghanaians in Guangzhou seeking consular services were challenged by cost and frustration resulting in some of them having to be jailed or deported. Besides that, he said, the consulate would also intervene in some of the language challenges Ghanaians faced in that part of China resulting in some of them being duped or spending 20 per cent of their capital on litigation. “It is interesting to note that almost all the Western countries have opened Consulates-General in Guangzhou, while seven African countries — Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Libya, Angola and South Africa — have also established Consulates-General there,” he added. On the closure of the mission in Serbia, Alhaji Mumuni said that decision was also taken after the ministry reviewed its operations in that country. He explained that a similar decision was taken to close Ghana’s mission in Ireland, while a Consulate-General was opened in Dubai. The minister said Ghana’s Ambassador to Serbia was already back home while the staff would be brought back home and put in the general stream for reposting. He said Ghana’s relations with Serbia had always been historical and indicated that nothing would spoil that relationship. As to whether Serbia had a mission in Ghana, Alhaji Mumuni answered in the negative and explained that in spite of that Ghana opened a mission in that country. He said the decision to close it down had nothing to do with bad relations but in line with the ministry’s periodic reviews of its operations across the globe.

Africa’s quest for democracy and economic management – ALL EYES ON GHANA: US Deputy Secretary of State

Front Page: January 27, 2012 Story: Albert K. Salia THE United States Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Williams J. Burns, says Ghana is the standard bearer in Africa in the areas of democracy and economic management. Therefore, he said, Ghanaians and the rest of the world looked forward to enjoying peaceful and transparent elections in the country in December 2012. Giving Ghana the thumps-up when he paid a courtesy call on President J. E. A. Mills at the Castle, Osu, yesterday, Mr Burns said President Obama’s visit to Ghana in July 2009 bore testimony to Ghana’s democratic credentials. He was accompanied to the Castle by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Teitelbaum. Mr Burns, who is on his way to the 18th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, scheduled for January 29 and 30, 2012, is also expected to visit Uganda and South Sudan. The meeting between the US Deputy Secretary of State and President Mills was to reinforce the commitment of the US to build strong ties with Ghana and also highlight that country’s continued support for presidential initiatives such as the Partnership for Growth and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Mr Burns said Ghana was also a standard bearer in peacekeeping across the world and indicated that the US government looked forward to strengthening the relationships and co-operation in all sectors, especially the MCC, food security and other areas. Responding, President Mills gave an assurance that the government would work hard to maintain, if not to surpass, Ghana’s successes in constitutional democracy and economic management for which Ghana now occupied a top place in Africa. He acknowledged that the choice of Ghana for a visit by President Obama in July 2009 was based on the democratic credentials of the country and pledged to work hard to maintain the standards, if not surpass them. President Mills noted that the partnership between Ghana and the US hinged on the true values of democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, saying that President Obama’s visit to Ghana lifted the relations to a higher level which the government would seek to maintain. He pledged to strengthen Ghana’s partnership with the US for the benefit of the two countries. He described the US as one of Ghana’s greatest benefactors in national life if one considered the various forms of support that country had given Ghanaians, the recent one being the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for which Ghana had been shortlisted for a second compact. President Mills said the duty of the government was to create an enabling investment climate to make it more active and conducive for investors. “We will co-operate and work together to see how we can move our countries forward,” he pledged.

Restoring fuel subsidy will not reduce fares – GPRTU

Front Page: January 23, 2012 Story: Albert K. Salia THE Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) says the restoration of fuel subsidies by the government will not necessarily lead to a reduction in lorry fares in the country. This is because fuel prices constitute the minutest aspect of the operational cost of the transport business. Reacting to concerns over the increases in lorry fares and agitation for the restoration of fuel subsidies, the National Vice-Chairman of the GPRTU, Alhaji Issah Tetteh, said whenever fuel subsidies were restored, fuel prices could or would be reduced. “However, I doubt how we can convince our members to reduce lorry fares when we know that fuel prices constitute a minutest aspect of the operational cost,” he said. “As I talk to you, the Internal Revenue Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority has reviewed transportation taxes by more than 400 per cent. And we (transport owners) have to pay it upfront. For instance, tax of GH¢6 has been increased to GH¢35,” he stated. Alhaji Tetteh, who is also the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the GPRTU, said the restoration of fuel subsidies might benefit those with cars but not the majority of persons using public transport. He said what the GPRTU could do was to maintain the current fares in the event of new increases in petroleum prices. Last year, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced new prices for petroleum products with effect from Thursday, December 29, 2011. The price increases ranged from 15 to 30 per cent. There was also a corresponding 10 per cent increases in transportation fares as a result. Since the introduction of the new fuel prices, workers have been mounting pressure on their leaders to organise demonstrations to compel the government to restore fuel subsidies.

Glo launches ‘Reserve your number” campaign

Page 24: January 24, 2012 Story: Albert K. Salia GLO Mobile Ghana Limited yesterday launched its “Reserve Your Number” campaign as part of activities to introduce its mobile network onto the local market. Although it is yet to start commercial operations, Glo Mobile says it has already deployed the latest broadband technology, next generation networks, more than 1,600 state-of-the-art base transceiver stations (BTS), four ultra-modern switches with capacity for up to 10 million lines with congestion-free service, 18 base switch centres, 800 3G Node Bs, among others, throughout the country to take off smoothly. The facilities will be complemented by the high-capacity Glo 1 submarine fibre-optic cable that connects Ghana directly to Europe, with an extension to the USA, and a 2,900-kilometre-long network of terrestrial fibre optic ring within Ghana. The Chief Operating Officer of Glo Mobile, Mr George Andah, addressing the press launch of the “Reserve Your Number” campaign, said, “With such a formidable foundation, we wish to assure the people of Ghana about the quality and reliability of our network.” On the question of when Glo would start commercial operations, he said the company would begin its operations soon, adding, “It could be today, tomorrow or next week.” He said the launch of commercial operations would be dramatic and take Ghanaians by storm. On the “Reserve your number” campaign, he said Ghanaians could from today reserve their preferred numbers beginning with 0233 on the Glo network by sending an SMS from any existing network to 0230010100. “The reservations will be limited to only one million requests and shall be conducted on a first-request-first-served basis. In accordance with National Communications Authority (NCA) guidelines on number registration, no single individual subscriber shall be permitted to reserve more than five Glo Mobile numbers and the numbers will be activated upon the commencement of commercial operations,” he added.