Let
the Ministry of Education stand alone-Minority
Local
Government Bill slated for consideration stage
Let the Ministry of Education stand alone-Minority
Kosi Kedem, Minority Spokesman on Education, told
a press conference at Parliament House that: "There appears to be a total
confusion and darkness at the new Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
"The
unprecedented huge number of six ministers appears confused and dazed by the
challenges that education has posed." He said just before the merger, the
Ministry of Youth and Sports was in a state of stupor, "poorly funded and
plagued with serious in-fighting, Education on the other hand has over the
years grown into an empire with a huge annual budget running into trillions of cedis."
The Ranking
Member said even in the past when there were fewer Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary schools and good administrators at the Youth and Sport Ministry, which
was well-funded, these two ministries could not be administered together for
long.
"At any
rate the conditions under which these two Ministries operated together in the past
have completely changed." He said by the year 2000, there were 2.3 million
pupils in 12031 primary schools, 771,568 pupils in 6,004 JSS and 465 schools
with a population of 266,033 in the second cycle.
He said the
Polytechnics had 12,212 students, while the Universities had a student
population of 31,171. The Member said the Ministry of Education had
jurisdiction over IPS, National Service Secretariat, Ghana Library Board, among
others.
"As if
that were not enough, the Ministry had to contend with powerful Unions like the
Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), University Teachers Association
of Ghana (UTAG) and others."
He criticised
the statement made by the Minister of State In-charge of Tertiary Education
that called for a debate on the full cost recovery of Tertiary Education.
Kedem asked Miss Elizabeth Ohene, to settle down,
"study the educational terrain reasonably well and assess the educational
aspirations of Ghanaians before venturing out into the minefield of
education."
He said
government's seemingly inaction on the report of the Presidential Commission on
Educational Reforms had led to poor public opinion on its intentions for the
development of education.
"The idea
of ministers going round schools just to shake hands with pupils and play 'ampe' with them is just a publicity stunt which will in no
way help solve the problems of Education."
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Local Government Bill slated for consideration stage
Kwadwo Adjei Darko, Minister of Local
Government and Rural Development, said, for realistic implementation of the
decentralisation concept and for meaningful progress to be made in local
governance, it is important for the Bill to be passed.
The bill would
create a loyal and dedicated public service devoted to the Local Government
System. He said: "For the Assemblies to effectively perform the role
assigned them by the constitution, that envisages genuine political devolution
with its attendant management of substantial financial resources, there is the
need to have a service which will control the human resources that manage all
resources at the local level."
He said few
civil servants willingly choose to work in deprived areas of the country
because of serious challenges they may face in such areas. "Worse still,
some of these civil servants who find themselves in such deprived areas find
themselves seriously disadvantaged in their career progression since they are
usually forgotten by the centre. The bill if passed will address that."
Adjei Darko said the bill when passed, would create
the environment for the fashioning out a of strong working relationship between
the Local Government Service and education and health sectors, the two major
areas which take much attention of the assemblies.
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Eugene Atta Agyepong, Vice Chairman of
the Appointments Committee, laid the 21 page report that said the nominee
during the one and half hearing convinced them that he was knowledgeable, firm
and fair and on top of the constraints facing the country's Judiciary.
The Committee
noted that Justice Acquah's deep involvement in the
administration of the Judicial Service has provided him with immense insights
into the constraints facing
The Report said
the nominee noted that the Constitution has adequate provisions on the
Judiciary; however, he expressed regret that it was too detailed as compared to
the American Constitution and this according to him stifled judicial initiative
at the Supreme Court.
The Committee
noted with satisfaction the nominee's avid and downright answers concerning the
report on perceived corruption in the Judiciary and accountability of Judges.
It said the
nominee told the Committee that he formally believed in easy access to the
Supreme Court irrespective of one's financial standing and was of the opinion
that the practice of awarding costs against applicants seeking interpretation
of various constitutional provisions would be discouraged during his
administration.
Justice Acquah was of the view that the position of Attorney -
General should be de-coupled from that of Ministry of Justice to ensure justice
delivery. He also proposed the establishment of Criminal Justice Council to
advise government and to superintend over the administration of criminal
justice in the country.
Alhaji Mohammad Mumuni, NDC-Kumbungu and ranking member, supported the approval of the
nominee and said judicial accountability would ensure that individual judges
and judicial officers were put on the alert.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, commended the President for nominating people of
high calibre since his assumption of office, which was a demonstration of the
government's preparedness to ensure democratic governance.
Alhaji Abubakari Sumani, NDC- Choggu/Tishigu, said
the President's choice of a Chief Justice was in the right direction but felt
if a woman were appointed to that position it would have been an historical
event. He said he was awarding zero points to the Ministry of Women's Affairs,
the Ministry of Girl Child Education as well as other women's groups for
failing to campaign for the nomination of a woman Chief Justice.
Papa Owusu Ankomah, Attorney - General
and Minister of Justice, said appointments to the Supreme Court often generated
heated debates especially among the civil society but was confident that the
President had made the right choice.
He said
"we are in a critical time in the judicial history of this country with
accusations but the capability of Justice Acquah was
not in doubt to bring sanity to the Judiciary".
Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader, said the discovery of Justice Acquah in 1989 by the previous administration was a good
choice and this was shown by whole-hearted support from both sides of the
House.
Felix Owusu-Agyepong, the Majority Leader and Minister of
Parliamentary Affairs, commended the Appointments Committee for its good work
in recommending the nominee and urged all to approve his appointment.
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