Nana Konadu interrogate EC boss nationality

 

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings - former First Lady

Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings has questioned the nationality of the newly- appointed chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Charlotte Osei.

“I want people to do their homework well and really find out if positions for Ghanaians can be given to foreigners, Mrs. Rawlings asked.

Though the founder of the National Democratic Party (NDP) did not mention anybody’s name, it was obvious she was referring to the recent appointment of the new EC boss.

Her allegation comes on the backdrop of recent speculations that Mrs. Charlotte Osei is a Nigerian by birth.

The former first lady was reacting to the front page story of the Daily Graphic on July 1, 2015 with the banner headline; “I’LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN, NEW EC BOSS ASSURES GHANAIANS” on Africa Live Show which is broadcast live on Business Television Africa (BTA) and First Television (FTV) on Monday and Friday.

She could not understand why a state-owned newspaper like the Daily Graphic should have a story on its front page on the new EC when Ghana was marking her 55th Republic Day celebration.

The veteran politician who is known for her strong criticism of the ruling government, decried the lack of professionalism which was exhibited by the state-owned newspaper.

According to her, the newspaper did not take into consideration the importance of the day to the country.

And not mincing words, the former first lady said: “this is so wrong, it’s totally wrong for a national newspaper like Graphic to do that.”

Mrs. Rawlings, who is a Graphic designer by profession, said even though she is not a journalist, she however claimed, her little knowledge in Journalism would not permit that.

She consequently registered her disappointment in President John Dramani Mahama for appointing Mrs. Charlotte Osei as the new chairperson of the EC.

Trouble-makers in NPP won’t succeed - Karbo

A Former Youth Organizer of the opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP), Anthony Abayifaa Karbo says the Party’s recent internal squabbles are largely due to what he says is the misconduct of some unscrupulous leaders.

The youth, he said, are not to blame for the upheavals that sometimes occur in the party, adding that some of the troublemakers served in Kufuor’s administration.

“Leaders who have assumed exaggerated influence of themselves are the ones causing a stir in the party”, Karbo told host Kwaku Owusu Agyei on Si Me So.

“How can you be insensitive to the party you’re seeking to serve,” Karbo lamented.

Karbo who’s also the Deputy Communications Director of the NPP says anybody in the party with an ill-intention to cause disorder in the party won’t succeed.

Parliament wants RTI Bill to cover private firms

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Parliament has initiated moves that seek to widen the scope of access to information to cover private bodies that perform public functions with state funds.

A report of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on the Right to Information Bill, 2013, a copy of which is in the possession of Kasapafmonline.com, discusses that the bill in its current form is “too restrictive” and therefore, has proposed that coverage be extended to cover private bodies.

“The Committee has observed that the Bill is applicable to only information held by government agencies. The Committee sees it to be too restrictive and therefore the coverage must be widened to cover private bodies that perform public functions with public funds.”

“The Committee is of the view that the public should be able to have right of access to information in the custody of private bodies or agencies, especially, if the disclosure is in the public interest. It is a fact that in modern governance, non-state actors influence the destinies of millions of people and hence, the necessity to extend the coverage to private bodies.”

To ensure fairness, the Committee has proposed that the term “government body” running through the Bill be substituted with the words “public institution” as done in other jurisdictions.

“This is applicable to both South Africa and Liberia. In both jurisdictions, the right of access to information applies to private entities that receive public resources and benefits or engage in public functions or provides public services, particularly, in respect of information relating to the public resources, benefits or services,” Chairman of the Committee, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin argued in his report that was recently submitted to the plenary for consideration and adoption.

Ghana's electricity power problems 'not too bad after all' SethTerkper says

President Mahama with Finance Minister Seth Terkper

The Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has sought to clarify that even though Ghana is going through perhaps its worst power crisis, it is still a shining star in terms of access to electricity on the continent.

“Let us remember that even during the period that we coined ‘dumsor’ and all that, Ghana has a record, the country has 72% access to electricity,” he remarked.

Speaking at the Graphic Business-Fidelity Bank breakfast meeting in Accra on Thursday, the Minister was optimistic that the nation will find permanent solutions to the energy crisis soon.

He mentioned that when it comes to access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana is ranked second to South Africa “so we may not be too bad after all.”

For three years, Ghana has been forced to ration power to consumers due to power generation deficit and technical issues.

The situation degenerated and the effects on industry and the economy forced employers to lay off about 13,000 workers in various sectors.

Industry players have warned that if the power crisis is not resolved within the shortest possible time, more people will lose their jobs.

Presently, the government has signed contracts with some energy companies from countries including Turkey, Germany, USA, Russia, among others, to help with energy generation.

He added that when “we resolve our short-term and medium-term challenges, I believe the full benefits will be known.”

According to Mr. Terkper, “there are various power agreements and things that will go into this and the West African Gas Pipeline as well as our own gas processing plant has come on stream.”

In the face of the worsening economic challenges, Seth Terkper admonished Ghanaians not to focus only on the negatives, but also acknowledge the many successes the country has chalked.

“When we look at the economy, we should not look at it only on account of non-performance of Ghanaian managers including politicians,” he suggested.

“We should also look it at in the context of thee major shocks that the economy continues to go through in the last two years that we launched the recovery because often times, the conversation does not take account of these major shocks which in the past would have actually crippled the economy and therefore when we talk about decimal figures, even like a 3.5% growth or 4% growth, let us remember first that the base for the GDP itself has increased so a 3% is not the same as a 105 some years back.”

Mahama tasks Africans to portray their success

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President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called on Africans all over the world to be the front liners in telling their own success stories, since others are interested in the negative aspects.

"Insist on being experts in our experiences and success for others to know the positive side of the African continent," he said.

President Mahama who was delivering a keynote address at the 6th Annual Oxford Africa conference in the United Kingdom said because Africans over the years had reneged on their responsibility to portray their successes, others had waded in with negative aspects.

The President who is currently in the United Kingdom would hold bilateral meetings and address the United Kingdom Business Community as part of his itinerary there.

He said over the years other writers only succeeded in portraying Africa as the continent of war, conflict, hunger, deprivation and corruption.

"We must be our own historians, writers and story tellers of our success”.

President Mahama said Africa had over the years made tremendous strides in the socio-economic development of the continent, but the refusal of its people to prominently showcase the good platforms and prominence had left the erroneous beliefs in the minds of others.

The President said Africans by origin were one people with common socio-cultural uniqueness, but were divided in diversity with political colonialism which had distanced each other from their peers.

Ghana targets 242m barrels of oil in 2018

 

 

Ghana is hoping to produce about 242.3 million barrels of oil in 2018 from 39.1 million barrels this year, Finance Minister Seth Terkper has said.

Speaking at a public forum on Ghana’s debt stock, Terkper said the government is focusing on improving the energy sector in a bid to save the economy.

According to him, Ghana is aiming at producing 37 billion cubic feet of gas this year in a move to turn gas into power domestically.

He was optimistic that the ailing economy will resuscitate in the coming months due to policies and measures adopted by the John Mahama-led administration.
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"It is either we discipline ourselves or dissipate the opportunities that will arise when the economy shows any gain," Terpker said.