Harruna Attah's Assasination - false Alarm
Budget statement offers realistic programmes
Well-wishers who called the editor's home to enquire were relieved when the editor himself answered the phone. But as the saying goes, "there's no smoke without fire."
A very close friend of Harruna Attah, a
businessman was shot by armed robbers last week. Luckily he survived the
attempt on his life and was hospitalized for a while at the
Secondly, an uncle of Attah who also bears
the family surname of Attah died from natural causes around the same time last
week and was buried at the
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 March 2003 – The Auditor-General (A-G) department, has bared its teeth at the two ex-general managers and the current manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) over a wide range of suspected financial and administrative malpractices.
Such malpractices occurred between January 1999 and December 2001. The high ranking officers are, Sam B. Quaicoo, who was general manager from 1 January 1999 to 10 February 2000; Sam Clegg-acting general manager, 10 February 2000 to 15 September 2000 and R. Kafui Johnson, the current general manager.
“I would be grateful if you would respond to observations pertaining to your period,” stated a covering letter on a “January 1999-December 2001 management report on payroll audit of GNA,” dated 20 February this year and signed by the A-G, which demanded that the aforementioned persons responded by 25 February.
This letter was meant for Sam B. Quaicoo and Sam Clegg because the Chronicle learnt that R. Kafui Johnson had already been communicated on the issue earlier. The A-G, not know that three persons held the position of general manager during the period in question, initially wrote to the current general manager in August, last year, and he had since responded to it.
“We are waiting for the responses of the rest of the two to enable us conclude,” said Dua Agyeman. As at last Friday 7 March the two had yet to respond to the best of Dua’s knowledge. The observations, five in all, were that “there had been incorrect payments of arrears of salaries, underpayments of salaries totalling 92,709,736.02 cedis to 192 officers while 120 were over paid by 12,262,343.18 cedis.”
The rest were that while the underpayment and overpayment went on, some officers were being paid wrong basic salaries and also a total of 78, 626,833.69 cedis being 17.5% Social Security and National Trust (SSNIT) contributions had not been paid. Also “five people had been retained unlawfully as temporary workers for indefinite periods,” stated in the report, a copy of which Chronicle has stumbled on.
The observations do not, per se, indict the three men, as their responses will determine the final report to be released by the government’s august auditing body. They could be exonerated from some or all of the suspected offences or their respective administrations could be held for the offences.
While the responses of the three gentlemen are awaited, the recommendations of the A-G are that management of the GNA should be held liable and be made to refund the 92,709,736.02 cedis salary arrears underpaid to the staff. “This is without prejudice to any legal action that may be taken against them.”
The overpayment of 33,823,878.93 cedis to some staff should be refunded by the staff and the correct basic salaries of the 74 officers listed in the A-G’s report should be restored to them forthwith. Management should recover an outstanding advance of 923,533.59 cedis from some 18 officers listed in the report. Management should also “ensure that the outstanding social security contributions are paid without further delay and offer permanent employment to five temporary workers.”
When reached on 5 March, Johnson confirmed having received a report from the A-G in August last year and said he responded to it in November the same year. Following persistent complaints from the GNA divisional union of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) that management allegedly paid incorrect salaries to some staff members, the general secretary of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) requested that the A-G undertake a special audit review into the payment of salary arrears to the GNA staff.
“The A-G in considering the request and acting in consonance with Article 187(2) of the 1992 Constitution, undertook a review of the six salary arrears authorised by the Controller and Accountant-General between 1998 and 2001 for payment to the GNA staff,” the report noted.
One Abraham Samuel Adjei, a chief technical superintendent of the news agency, who was also the branch chairman of the PSWU, was very instrumental in bringing to the attention of the authorities the suspected irregularities. He petitioned the sector minister in particular to look into the matter late 1999.
On 11 January 2002, Adjei was elbowed out of the GNA. All what Adjei’s dismissal letter, dated 12 January 2002, and signed by Mrs Georgina Baiden, chairman of the GNA board of directors said, by the way of explanation, was; “You are hereby informed your service are no longer required in the Ghana News Agency.” – The Ghanaian Chronicle
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Mpraeso (Eastern Region) 10 March 2003 – The Kwahu-South District Chief Social Welfare Officer, Mrs Debora Daisy Kwabia has stated that about 1.8m persons are physically disabled in the country. That means about one tenth of the 19m or so people in the country suffer from permanent illness or injuries that make it difficult for them to use part their body completely or easily.
Mrs Daisy said this at the launching of the Kwahu South District branch of the Ghana Physically Disabled Association Trust Fund held at Mpraeso recently. The fund is to assist members of the Association to enhance their activities. She urged the society to accord respect and assistance t disabled persons to enable them fit into society and contribute their quota towards nation building.
She said, disability is not inability so society should not neglect those in such situation. The District social welfare officer urged all disabled persons to register with the association to enable them to be recognised to attract any assistance. She further advised them not to take their situation as a disaster but work hard and excel in endeavour they may find themselves.
The Kwahu South district chairman of the association, Charles Dameptey, urged the authorities concerned to assist the authorities concerned t assist the association to put up a building for its secretariat. He also appealed to the government to consider appointing disabled persons into the district assemblies since they have a lot to offer to enhance the administration of the country.
Dameptey further urged the assemblies to give priority to disabled persons when giving Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) loans to the people to enable them enhance their various vocations. The Kwahu South District Chief Executive, Paymond Osafo Djan, said being physical creatures who are highly susceptible t disease, accidents and injury. Ghanaians like other people at one time or the other suffer a disability of one kind or the other hence the need to assist the disables. Anybody at all can be in their position at anytime, he warned.
He noted that being disabled does not
necessarily mean one is handicapped. He said in Ghana, there are several
disabled persons who are doctors, lawyers, teachers and others working in
various sectors who are performing better than the so-called normal persons.
Kwahu Tafohene, Nana Ameyaw Gensiamah III, who chaired the function, offered
the association a two-acre plot of land at Tafo to be developed as a disabled
center in Kwahu to offer skill training to the disables. – The Ghanaian
Chronicle
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 March 2003 – Over 100 children with heart related diseases can not get the required surgical operation at the National Cardio-Thoracic Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital due to financial constraints. Even though the patients are to pay a half of the required amount with the centre footing the remaining half, their relatives can still not raise that.
Dr Lawrence Serebour, a cardio-thoracic surgeon at the centre, disclosed these in Accra when pupils of the Nuaso Emmanuel International School in the Manya Krobo District and their counterparts from Dodowa in the Dangbe district of the Greater Accra Region donated a total of 700,000cedis to the centre. Dr Serebour thanked the children for the donation and urged other to emulate their example.
Saying that equipment and drugs for heart diseases were very expensive, Dr Serebour appealed to individuals, organisations and philanthropists. He expressed concern about the alarming rate of rheumatic heart diseases, which he said was the effect of sore throat infection. He blamed the prevalence of the disease on the apathetic approach of parents to sore throat and advised members of the public to have such infection scientifically treated as soon as they contract it.
Dr Serebour deplored the serious harm some advert were having on the health of people and appealed to the Food and Drugs Board to scrutinise and streamline the various advertisements, especially those that tended to promote the use of harmful items such as alcohol and cigarettes.
The proprietor of the schools, Israel Otu,
said that the children were inspired to donate the money to the centre by Prof
Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng’s patriotism to remain in Ghana and save lives instead
of seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Otu promised the centre more donations
in future and appealed to others to also contribute their widow’s mite to the
Heart Foundation Fund, which he said, “belongs to all Ghanaians.” – The
Ghanaian Times
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 March 2003 – As shadow characters behind the sordid Telenor deal use a section of the media to drum up misdeeds of certain internet operators as reason to justify the doling out of a minimum of $15,000 a month to Norwegian fat cats, evidence is emerging that apart from the annual expenditure of $1.8m, Ghana Telecom is expected to pay the seven Norwegians currently in the country, under the Service Contract Agreement, an extra amount of about $100,000 per month in wages. Annually it amounts to $1.2m.
“Public Agenda” has learned from various sources in Norway that the minimum of $150,000 per month specified in the contract only represents the cost of the management contract and that Ghana Telecom would soon dole out an amount of between $15,000 to $20,000 per month to each individual Norwegian working at Ghana Telecom.
The bad news for hard-up Ghanaians is that the Norwegians will pay no taxes. They are to enjoy free accommodation with swimming pool facilities in first class residential areas, free cars and unlimited supply of fuel.
At the moment there are seven officials in the country including Managing Director Oystein Bjorge and Director of Finance Oskar Seim. By conservative estimate, Ghana Telecom will dole out nearly $100,000 in wages in addition to the $150,000 per month contract fees.
Under Article 9.1.3 of the agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Telenor Management Partners AS, “seconded employees” wages and benefits support fee shall be payable by GT to TMP for specialists seconded by and or contract to TMP but working for Ghana Telecom, over and above the three Executive officers.”
Article 9.1.3.1 states: “TMP shall prepare and submit to GT a month invoice in respect of the seconded employees support fee by the 15th day of each month which invoice shall be paid by GT to TMP or any company nominated by TMP from time to time, without deduction for the value within 30 days from the respective invoice date.
Under the atmosphere of suspicion enveloping the service contract, officials at Ghana Telecom are cagey with their responses to questions from “Agenda”. But sources in Norway intimated that Telenor had already submitted its bills for the three officials who have been in the country for a month and that the preparation of invoices for the other three is also nearing completion.
At their first meeting with Ghanaian senior and middle management personnel at GT head office in Accra, Telenor officials intimated that more Norwegians would be arriving. Under Fees Payment reflected in Article 9.1, “Fees payable by GT under this Agreement shall be 9.1.1 “The Management Service Fee (pursuant to the provisions in Appendix 1.1 (not below $150,000 per month) shall be paid monthly in arrears payable, based on invoice giving 30 days notice from date of notice. GT shall within 10 days of the end of each quarter submit a reconciliation statement on the management Service Fees actually payable and any outstanding balance shall either be credited or debited in the following month’s statement.”
In addition to the Service Fees and wages of Norwegians employees, GT shall pay “an annual success fee (pursuant to the provisions in Appendix 1) shall be payable on annual basis at the end of each calendar year after Annual General Meetings of GT and an annual default payment to by TMP pursuant to the provision in Appendix 1. What this amounts to is that Ghana Telecom will dole out nearly $300,000 (about 3bn cedis) a month to foreigners who would not add any engineering expertise nor capital investment to a Ghanaian company.
Last Thursday morning, television cameras
and other audio equipment carried President Kufuor’s Independence Day messages
to Ghanaians in which the Head of State urged the new generation of Ghanaians
to be spurred on by sacrifices and hard work of the Big Six. But even as Kufuor
said: “This remembrance should spur the current generation to determine to
build upon what we inherited,” Ghana Telecom, under the prompting of the
Minister of Communication, was preparing to dole away the little that was
inherited from the obnoxious Telekom Malaysian contract which is yet to run to
its full course. – The Public Agenda
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Budget statement offers
realistic programmes
Accra (Greater Accra) 10 March 2003 - The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Emmanuel Asiedu-Mante, has said that the 2003 budget statement offers firm and realistic programmes that can turn the economy around in spite of the resurgence of inflation, increases in petroleum prices as well as wage adjustment.
To this end, he said, BoG will continue with the reformation of the financial sector so as to make it vibrant and supportive of the economic development of the country. “The elimination of financial repression and a move to market based interest rates and credit allocation are considered to be a more efficient way of managing resources of an economy”, the Deputy Governor said.
Asiedu-Mante made this known at the launching of the first Ghana Financial Directory in Accra. The directory was published by Infocus-PR, a Public Relations and Events Management company, with support from the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).
He said the financial sector has over the years, suffered from over-regulation, a situation that he said, has led to stifling of innovation and the flow of credit to new businesses and stunting the growth of even well established companies. “Financial institutions need to work in a regulatory framework that is adequate to deal with such systemic problems”, the Deputy Governor stressed.
On the performance of the economy during the 2002 financial year, Asiedu-Mante said that the year 2002 was a difficult one but the management of the economy was fairly good on account of broad objectives set out in the government policy framework. The General Manager of Infocus-PR, Ms Charity Acquah, said the directory is a one-stop shop for investors on addresses, profiles and products of financial institutions in the country.
Additionally, the directory has information on the national economy and will serve as a comprehensive and authoritative reference point for potential investors, Ms Acquah said. The President of the IFEJ, Lloyd Evans, said the institute is liaising with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Ghana to draw up a training programme for their members. He called on all financial journalists to take advantage of training programmes available to upgrade their skills in financial and economic reporting. – The Daily Graphic
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