GRi in Parliament 11 – 04 - 2003
The members said, even though,
the MP was not a member of the Committee, her counsel Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, who is the Ranking Member on Constitutional and
Legal Affairs and Member of the Committee, was to lead her to the Police to
answer to some utterances she allegedly made at the party's rally at Gomoa.
The First Deputy Speaker of
Parliament, Fredderick Worsemao
Blay said he was not aware of the case but if it were
true that the Police had invited a sitting MP, then he would also accompany
her.
Blay, however, after a meeting with
the Minority Members outside, came back to say that they had the right to consult
and negotiate on issues, adding that they had agreed to continue with the
vetting of the nominees for appointment as Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, Deputy Minister
of Local Government and Rural Development, however, said the House was not in
session and so there was no need for the members of the Committee to stall the
Committee's proceedings.
Alhaji Mumuni
said the immunities and privileges of an MP needed to be guarded and that they
were ready to continue with the Committee's business. Mrs Doe told the Press
that at a rally at Gomoa before the bye-election she
mounted a platform at a political rally and commented on national economic
issues.
She said she questioned the rationale
behind the buying of a bulletproof car for the
President at this time when most communities needed to be provided with basic
infrastructure. Why a vessel in which crude oil from the Saltpond Oilfields was
being stored could disappear from its mooring?
And why after all the assurance of the genuineness of the new currency
notes they were allegations of counterfeit 20,000 cedis notes in the system?
Mrs Doe said she received a
letter from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) signed by one Owusu Donkor dated 2 April inviting her to appear before the
Police. She said as an MP she felt it was her right to comment on national issues
and wondered why the Police was inviting her for comments she made at a
political rally.
The MP said she felt it was a
ploy to clamp down on people who have divergent opinion about the economy and
if it were so then it was undemocratic. Mrs Doe said she was reporting to the
Police under protest and that she would hold the government responsible for
anything that happened to her.
She alleged that a macho man threatened
her at Gomoa during the bye-election. She said he
accused her of being a witch and that she would be disciplined adding that she
believed the present state of affairs was the beginning of the threat.
The Committee after normalcy had
been restored vetted a Minister-designate and three Deputy Minister-designates.
They were: Alan Kyerematen for the Ministry of Trade,
Industry and President's Special Initiatives; Joseph Kojo
Akudibillah for Deputy Minister of Defence; Ignatius
Kofi Poku-Adusei for Deputy Minister of Women and
Children Affairs and Stephen Asamoah-Boateng for
Deputy Minister of Information.
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The Chairman of the Committee,
Freddie Worsemao Blay
commended the Press for their coverage of the proceeding of the Committee and
for the comportment of the public during the sittings.
The first to appear was Alan
Kwadwo Kyerematen,
Kyerematen, a Lawyer and Diplomat, when
asked of his position on the extension of the PSI to cover the whole country,
said the focus and primary thrust of the initiatives was to execute industrial
growth and development.
He said there was, therefore,
the need to enhance and increase export earning by identifying certain areas that
had potential advantages of production to be supported. The Minister-designate
said there was the urgent need for the mass of the rural people to be brought
into the mainstream of economic development so that the poverty level could be
improved.
Kyerematen said the PSI was not meant to
weaken the functions of the sector ministries but it was to lay emphasis and
give the production sector a high level of political support and implementation
strategy instead of the ad hoc measures that were often adopted.
On the controversy about the
allegations that the PSI was concentrated in the coastal areas, he said the PSI
was designed to be a national one but for operational reasons it had been zoned
into 10 parts and very soon the Bontanga Irrigation
Project would be used to assist farmers in the Northern Region under the PSI.
Kyerematen said the
He said the issue of packaging
and labelling needed to be looked at through technological advancement and funding
and the right calibre of entrepreneurs ready for the international markets.
The Minister-designate said the
establishment of a sub-regional market should be the launching pad for trade
that would enhance the competitiveness of African countries. He said since low
productivity was the bane of the Ghanaian economy, there was the need to train
the people to be productive, change their attitude and provide them with the
technological know-how.
"Theoretical knowledge at
the educational institutions needs to move towards value added training with
the needed equipment and technology infusion to ensure high productivity.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 April 2003-
The Deputy Minister-designate of Information, Stephen Asamoah-Boateng on Thursday said the state-owned media had a role
to play in the country's current position until such a time that it could be opened
to private participation.
He said, even though, control of
information by the government could be dangerous, it was necessary that at this
stage of the country's democratic dispensation there was the need for a controlled
body to handle critical national efforts.
Asamoah-Boateng
said this when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament
vetting him for the position of a Deputy Minister of Information. He said it
was important that democracy was sustained and made to work so that policies
and programmes of government could be implemented to the letter without any
military interference.
Asamoah-Boateng,
who was the Co-ordinator of the National Economic Dialogue, holds an MBA from
the Henley Management College U.K. and was the Business Advisor, Business Link,
Business Analyst of Pfizer Medical Technology Group,
The Deputy Minister-designate
discounted the suggestion that the position of a Deputy Minister of Information
was irrelevant since Special Assistants were better placed to do the job.
Asamoah-Boateng
said the Ministry was needed to disseminate government programme and relay
information to the people and from the people for national integration but
added that such overlap of roles needed to be addressed.
When asked whether he was aware
that there was too much spin doctoring by government functionaries and lack of
information flow, he said he believed in the follow up of policies, freedoms of
speech, the media, association and called for the
early implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Ignatius Kofi Poku-Adusei, Deputy Minister-designate for the Ministry of
Women and Children's Affairs, is the Member of Parliament for Bekwai Constituency.
He holds a degree in Social Sciences and was once a Supervisor of the Akuafo Cheque System.
The Committee members said most
Members of Parliament and the public had expressed concern about the activities
of the Ministry alleging that it only doled out moneys to women without helping
to re-shape their life and children's development.
Poku-Adusei said since it was a new
Ministry it needed to be given time to develop and with time its role would be
felt in all spheres of national development since when the woman was well
resourced she could bring about development.
As to what to do to reduce the
over 8,000 children engaged in labour and the youth in "Kayayee" activities, he said it was due to the
inability of the mothers to cater for their children that had led to the
phenomena child labour and Kayayee adding that if
they were assisted the situation would improve.
Poku-Adusei said discrimination and poverty
and subjugation of women as second rate citizens, wife battering and polygamy
were issues that needed to be looked at. Joseph Kojo Akudibillah, Independent Member of Parliament for Garu/Tempane, was vetted for appointment as Deputy Minister
of Defence.
He holds certificate in
Ophthalmology, Diploma in Nursing Services Administration and Diploma In Community Eye Health and member of the ECOWAS Parliament
and Co-ordinator of the National Trachoma Assessment of Ministry of Health.
Akudibillah said the specific role of the
Military was to defend the country but on several occasion they were made to
assist in the implementation of certain social programmes. He said the friction
between civilians and the Military had thawed through such programmes as the
Joint-Military-Civil Society approach to combat crime, reforestation programmes
in conjunction with civilians and engaging in disaster management activities.
Akudibillah said as an Independent Member
of Parliament it gave him a better leverage of taking decisions and as at now
had no regrets for taking decision with the Majority in Parliament.
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