GRi Press Review 07 - 03 - 2003
The
Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo Maafo acknowldeged in
the 2003 Budget Statement that the general slack in global finance could affect
the country’s attempt to source funding for various projects.
He
did elaborate, but some financial experts have attributed the decision of the
government to put the water privatisation on hold until further notice to the
unwillingness of financial institutions to commit more cash to those sectors.
The
controversy that has dogged water privatisation, especially in
In
February, the Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat announced that the
government had deferred the implementation of the Private Sector Participation
in Water (PSP) scheme scheduled to start this month to a later date.
State
owned Daily Graphic quoted Captain Victor Ansah, an
official of the secretariat as saying that the decision to hold on was due to
bureaucratic procedures involving the preparation of bidding and the
transaction documents and a thorough study of the companies shortlisted for
implementation of the project. The companies vying for contract are Biwater/Aqua Mundo, Undeo, Sauz and General Suaz.
Additional
information reaching the Weekend Agenda says one of the intitial bidders, Bechtel, has pulled out of the
competition due to pressure by some NGOs in the
When
reached for his comments on the unfolding trend in the water sector, Rudolf-Amengo, Coordinator of the National Coalition Against Water Privatisation (NCAP) said NCAP had earlier
drawn the government’s attention to the fact that the companies shortlisted
have no good record in handling water efficiently. “If the government has now
seen the need to scrutinise the companies, the better for all of us,” says Amengo.
He
explained that in pushing the water privatisation agenda, the government made
Ghanaians to believe that the companies were going to bring all the money into
the country. He said the two companies that would win the bid were expected to
borrow $70m each from the operational fund of the World Bank at one per cent
interest rate.
According
to Amengo, the loan has now been slashed to $30m,
meaning the government would be compelled to look for the extra $40m each to
cushion the companies. “After telling Ghanaians that the companies will bring
in all the money, the government is now finding it difficult to tell the public
that it will have to borrow additional money for the companies to operate,” Amengo alleges.
He
suggested that the government should scrap the water restructuring programme
and open debate for the restructuring of the Ghana Water Company Limited
(GWCL). Part of the restructuring should aim at making GWCL a kind of public
trust company to deliver water to deprived areas as part of the government’s
social responsibility.
Urban
areas like
He
regretted the decision by the World Bank and the IMF to make the
commercialisation of water one of the conditions for more budgetary support to
the government, adding, “it is not in the national
interest. We should be given the freedom to debate the options.”
On
the way forward, Amengo suggested that part of the
solution to the water problem should start with making it compulsory for
developers to make provision for harvesting rainwater for domestic use. “There
has to be a use policy in the country to discuss how we can harvest rain water
for car washing and watering lawns and gardens, instead of using treated
water.”
He
said harvesting water should be part of the housing and planning policy, which
could be achieved by introducing a housing subsidy to enable the poor to build
houses to specification.
Meanwhile,
World Bank, the brain behind water privatisation endorsed a Water Resources
Strategy on 26 February. It is aimed at providing more effective assistance to
countries using water as a vehicle for increasing growth and reducing poverty.
The World Bank believes that by making efficient use of existing water resources,
the new strategy will contribute to the international development goal of
halving poverty by 2015.
The
Bank says the newly released strategy reflects the demand from poor countries
for a more balanced approach in investment in water infrastructure. The bank notes that a central water management challenge in most countries
is agriculture, which accounts for over 70 per cent of water use. – Public
Agenda
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The plaintiff is also
claiming recovery of House No. Plt. 10, Block 4 at
It was further agreed that
the defendant was to commence payment of rent from January 1998 but he ignored
moves by the plaintiff to enter into a fresh tenancy agreement. The plaintiff
stated that the parties finally agreed to a monthly rent of 2m cedis, effective
January 2001.
According to her the rent for
three year from January 1998 to December 2000 had been waived because several
attempts to get the defendant signed a tendency agreement prepared to commit
him pay rent therefrom had not succeeded. She said
because of persistent demands (orally and in writing) the defendant finally
made a total payment of 24m cedis in two instalments of 20m cedis and 4m cedis.
The plaintiff said the
defendant was further served with a notice of increase in rent from 2m cedis to
5m cedis with effect from January this year. The defendant has failed to pay
the arrears of rent from January 2001 to December 2002 (24m cedis) and that of
January and February (10m cedis) amounting to 34m cedis. Dr Anane is expected to
enter appearance within eight days. - The Ghanaian Chronicle
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Wulensi (Northern Region)
Party
officials told The Statesman the New Patriotic Party (NPP) “will not
betray the confidence reposed in it by the good people of
The
Wulensi by-election was won by the NPP candidate,
Kofi Karim Wumbei, with
8197 votes from the total vote cast of 16,798. His closest rival, Sadani Njigur of the NDC obtained
7,303 votes. Other candidates trailed far behind them. They are Daniel Okpanul Niwubni, PNC, 319, Dawuda Mumuni, DPP, 227 votes and
Inusah Natogmah, EGLE, 56.
The
two independent candidates also had a bad showing with Alhaji Ziblila Musa obtaining 75 votes
and Peter Maagan Oggah
securing 53.
The
party of the first President of Ghana, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) did
not field a candidate, citing lack of preparation. Yet, a CPP party chairman
recently called for snap general elections. The Nkrumahaist
party was last Wednesday described by Egbert Faibille of The Independent as an ‘NGO”.
The
NPP victory, according to some observers, is an indication of what the party’s
opponents should expect in the pending by-elections to be held at Navrongo Central and Gomoa East
constituencies.
Kwabena
Agyapong, Press Secretary to the President, said the
victory is a confirmation of the confidence expressed by Ghanaians as shown by
recent survey conducted by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development
(CDD-Ghana).
In
a nationwide survey by the civil society organisation, President Kufuor was
rated 74 per cent by the respondents who expressed their confidence in his
government while his NPP government was trusted with 51 per cent.
Agyepong said, “this is a clear manifestation of the confidence the people have
in President Kufuor’s leadership to reposition Ghana,
taking the necessary decisions to put the country to put the country on the
path of economic growth.” He said the people are using the election to send
strong signals to agents of misinformation and falsehood that the era of
deception was over.
“It
is a clear rejection of those who have deliberately gone on the rampage with
lies and the distortion of fact, with a view to causing disaffection for this
government. “This victory is a signal that the old era of negative politics is
over and we want to usher the country into a new era of healthy debate and
dialogue,” he stressed.
Agyepong noted that with the election coming on barely a week after the
presentation of the national budget, which was described by the NDC as a
“killer budget,” one would have expected a backlash for the government. Rather,
he said, the NPP’s win of the Wulensi
seat, which was held by the NDC, saw the people warming up to the NPP.
“It
is an affirmation of the new direction of this government as illustrated by the
budget which has a very human face and most of the spending is on productive
projects which will generate employment for the teeming population,” he
emphasised.
But
amidst the victory is an accusation and counter-accusation of vote buying and
vote rigging traded by the two main political parties- NPP and NDC. Apparently,
the NDC cannot stomach the defeat, choosing to blame their failure on the very
practices they were accused of when Rawlings was President.
The
party’s General Secretary, Josiah Aryeh appears very aggrieved by the provision
of electricity to the Wulensi community, describing
it as an electoral inducement to the electorate. “This is not the way the
country must move forward.” The NDC, he said, lost the election as a result of
vote rigging, vote stealing and vote buying.”
But
Dan Botwe, NPP General Secretary, dismissed the NDC
accusation, saying that the election was won purely by hard work. He said the
NDC rather induced the electorate with salt and used clothing. “The NDC should
know by now that Ghanaians are becoming very discerning. These things are no
longer going to help them. They better change their style,” he said.
Botwe expressed the optimism that the party will retain the pending Gomoa East and Navrongo Central
by-elections.
Lord
Commey, National Organiser of the NPP described the
elections as a “hard fought victory. The NDC played the ethnic card, putting
lies and deceit into the public sentiments in the Konkomba
community. They also employed strategy of bribery by attempting to entice the
villagers with bags of salt as gifts. It was our message and extra hard work
that won us the election,” he said.
He
said projects sited in the area were not to woo voters but rather as the
responsibility of the government to the people. “This government takes its
responsibility very seriously and I am not surprised at all that the people of Wulensi have responded by showing their appreciation and
gratitude for the improvement in their lifestyle.” – The Statesman
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