Accountant General ordered to rectify anomalies in salaries
Parties meet to resolve controversy over seed cotton movement to Bolga
NDC will not tolerate disregard for laid down procedures
Apply strict polices on poverty reduction- Participants
Accountant General ordered to rectify anomalies in salaries
Wenchi (Brong Ahafo) 18 Feb. 2000
The government has given the Controller and Accountant General's Department up to April, this year, to rectify all anomalies in workers' salaries arising out of the implementation of the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) or the Price Waterhouse Report.
Dr. Robert Dodoo, Head of the Civil Service, made this known at a workers' forum held at Wenchi on Wednesday when he launched the Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) for the Wenchi Methodist Hospital.
The programme, which was restricted to the Civil Service, is now being extended to the private sector to help raise productivity, efficiency and quality of services in the country.
According to him, Vice-President John Atta Mills gave the order when he met heads of departments and the Central Management Board to forestall unnecessary worker agitations and create an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country.
Dr. Dodoo, therefore, appealed to workers to be patient as every effort is being made to address problems associated with the conversion of the old salary structure to the new one under the GUSS.
He said the CSPIP was initiated to make the civil service more proactive in delivering timely and cost-effective services to help the country remain competitive in the global economy by reducing bureaucracy.
Dr. Dodoo said a code of conduct had also been drawn up under the programme for civil servants to guide them in their dealings with the public.
He later inaugurated a 13-member capacity development team headed by Mr Kwadwo Kyere, Supply Officer of the Hospital, to oversee the implementation of the programme.
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Return to top Parties meet to resolve controversy over seed cotton movement to Bolga
Tamale (Northern Region) 18 Feb. 2000
The Board and Management of the Ghana Cotton Company Limited (GCCL) met in Tamale on Wednesday with cotton farmers and other interest groups involved in a five-month old stalemate over transfer of seed cotton from the Northern Region for ginning at the company's new plant at Bolgatanga.
At the centre of the controversy are the Tamale Concerned Citizens Association and the local branch of the Association of Ghana Industries, which have opposed the citing of the new ginnery in the Upper East Region.
They have therefore prevented the GCCL from carting seed cotton from the Northern Region to the Bolgatanga ginnery, which has a mach bigger capacity than the 20-year-old Tamale one.
The two bodies said it is wrong for the company to cite the new ginnery in Upper East which does not produce cotton and described the action as ploy to move the company's headquarters from Tamale to Bolgatanga.
The four-hour meeting chaired by Alhaji Seidu Iddi, Regional Minister, reached a compromise to lift the ban on the carting of seed cotton to Bolgatanga pending consultations with other parties like chiefs and opinion leaders.
Alhaji Iddi explained the implications of the impasse and its adverse effect on the cotton industry, farmers and other stakeholders.
Alhaji Iddi said the large quantity of seed cotton piled up at the Tamale ginnery, are in danger of being destroyed by rain, fire or loss of quality by their exposure to unfavourable weather conditions.
He warned that if this is allowed to happen, it would spell the doom of the cotton company since already the world market price for the commodity is not favourable.
Alhaji Iddi said the Regional Co-ordinating Council is planing an investment forum in Tamale soon and it will be wrong for any one to tell potential investors how they should invest their money.
He however appealed to the board of the GCCL to investigate allegations of tribalism and nepotism levelled against the management of the company to ensure fairness and industrial harmony.
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Return to top NDC will not tolerate disregard for laid down procedures
Accra (Greater Accra) 18 Feb. 2000
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Thursday urged its branches to follow laid down procedures in expressing their views on developments within the party.
A statement in Accra in reaction to developments in its Tema East constituency branch where local executives told the press they would resist the imposition of candidates on them, said it would not tolerate undue rigidity and disregard for laid down procedures for conflict resolution within the party.
The statement said in order to facilitate the work of committees in the choice of parliamentary candidates, a set of guidelines, painstakingly worked out by the National Executive Committee, has been made available to all concerned.
"These guidelines are intended to cut down all acrimony to the barest minimum, and ensure cohesiveness so vital for the task ahead".
It said where difficulties arise, as in the case of Tema East Constituency the party expects such problems to be brought before a higher body.
The statement said what the party needs is a "winnable candidate, particularly in constituencies undeservedly encumbered by the opposition".
"This requires a esprit d' corps, flexibility, openness, the shedding of unwholesome divisive tendencies and a dogged determination to keep the party intact.
"The situation where party executives, at whatever level, choose the media to vent their spleen is unacceptable.
"Such acts are tantamount to gross indiscipline and will not be tolerated, not even in the name of democracy. There is a clearly defined chain of authority in the NDC. The press is not part of that chain.
"While the party will not countenance imposition of candidates as is being alleged in Tema East, it will not tolerate undue disregard for laid down procedures for conflict resolution within the party".
It therefore called on its Executive Committees at all levels to work towards the common goal of winning this year's general elections.
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Return to top Apply strict polices on poverty reduction- Participants
Accra (Greater Accra) 18 Feb. 2000
A workshop on how to reduce poverty in the country has called for a strict application of policies that would not only provide facilities but would also raise the living standards of the vast population.
The participants expressed regret that after more than three decades of experimenting with poverty reduction programmes, more than 70 per cent of Ghanaians are still below the poverty line.
The participants included economists, academics, researchers, directors of poverty reduction programmes, journalists, chief executives and representatives of non-governmental organisations.
In a presentation on "Reducing the Extent and Depth of Poverty in Ghana", Ms Abena D. Oduro, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Legon, said despite the numerous programmes on reducing poverty, the phenomenon still permeates a large section of the country.
She noted that protracted poverty, if not reduced considerably or eliminated to the barest minimum, will have dire long term effects that has the potential of breaking into serious social defects.
Ms Oduro said huge inequalities in poverty levels as well as between the rich and the poor have eroded any such gains that could be realised from the poverty alleviation programmes embarked on by the government over the years.
She urged the government to aim at creating a social assistance fund to be charged on either the consolidated fund or through some form of an existing tax as was proposed in the 2000 budget which is to provide funds for education through the Value Added Tax (VAT).
"Government must aim at prioritising its poverty reducing programmes while allocating resources judiciously for such programmes.
"Over dependence on foreign assistance to reduce poverty must be structured at making beneficiary communities contribute something towards repayment of the initial loan to the donors."
Ms Oduro said data on all areas of the government’s spending and "what will be for poverty must be spelt out clearly in the budget in order to ensure a complete supervision of such expenditures".
She also called for a re-focusing of agricultural practices, turning them into real industries as a way of eliminating glut and post harvest losses year to year.
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