The Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security, Nana Amoosi VII, has cautioned the government against using GOIL to influence the market amid further increases in the price of fuel.
While he said some fuel stations were starting to sell petrol at over GH¢17, he said GOIL was not increasing prices.
The analyst expressed concern that this would distort the market.
“Strangely, we find that GOIL is selling something far below what these other marketing companies are putting out, and we are not surprised.”
“You can’t use a state institution or quasi-state institution to manipulate the market. It is a deregulated market. The least you can do is to manage your forex exposure well,” Nana Amoosi VII said on Eyewitness News.
According to Nana Amoasi VII, the government owes GOIL over GH¢80 million.
He warned further that this debt could affect the Bulk Oil Storage Transportation Company.
“BOST owns close to 20 percent of GOIL’s shares, so any losses that GOIL will create, will come back to you and I to pay in the name of BOST.”
Nana Amoasi VII said he expects the challenges with fuel prices to continue because “there is no clarity on how the managers of the economy are seeking to bring down the fast-depreciating cedi, so we may be heading for rougher times.”
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has admitted that Ghana’s foreign exchange systems appear to be loose.
This he believes has contributed to the current economic challenges confronting the country.
He maintains that government and key stakeholders have to look at tightening the foreign exchange regime by reconsidering innovative ways of production.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered digital banking Innovation & Fintech Festival in Accra, the Vice President said government will present details of addressing this shortfall of the exchange rate in the coming days.
“It is very clear that our foreign exchange regime is quite loose, and that is why we are going to see how we can tighten our foreign exchange regime. In broad terms, you cannot address the current economic situation without addressing the fiscal and debt sustainability, production and foreign exchange regime.”
Dr. Bawumia underscored the importance of major policy changes in the wake of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Once those [negotiations with the IMF] are concluded, it will be clear that it will not be, and it should not be business as usual because we have to adjust to the new global and domestic realities,” the Vice President said.
For one, he said the nature of production needs to change because Ghana has more trade surpluses and current count deficits, “which means that a lot of the foreign exchange that we are earning from our trade doesn’t stay in Ghana.”
Vice President Bawumia also said Ghana would be working to reduce import dependency to address Ghana’s forex problems.
Ghana’s global-worst depreciating currency has been noted as one of the main causes of inflation amid the current economic crisis.
Vice President Bawumia said the President would address the nation in the near future, where the government’s plan “will be fleshed out in specifics.”
“More importantly, if we are going to address this, this economy must be digitalized,” the Vice President added.
A political science lecturer, Dr. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku, has urged the Minority in Parliament to engage the Majority MPs opposed to the Finance Minister to ensure their support in having him removed.
Speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV, Dr. Ateku said he did not expect the President to heed the calls of 80 disgruntled Majority MPs for him to remove Ken Ofori-Atta as Finance Minister.
They also want the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, removed.
“The Minority needs to engage with the other people from the other side since they all have the same objective of getting the Finance Minister out.”
“Leaving it for the President, the President will not remove the Finance Minister,” Dr. Ateku said.
The Minority has filed a motion for a vote of censure on the Finance Minister and made calls for support from the Majority MPs.
But the Majority MPs have indicated that they will not back the Minority.
Previous calls for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta have been rebuffed by President Akufo-Addo, who said he would continue to back Mr. Ofori-Atta.
Responding to the recent demands by the group of Majority MPs, the President appealed to them to hold on until Ghana concludes negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
The President noted that terminating the appointment of Mr. Ofori-Atta will disrupt the programme.
Renowned economist and statesman Kwame Pianim has insisted that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, must, one way or the other, leave office now.
His call comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged Members of Parliament of his party, the NPP, to hold on with their demand for Ofori-Atta to be sacked over the economic difficulties in the country till the International Monetary Fund bailout negotiation he is leading is completed.
But according to Kwame Pianim, replacing Ofori-Atta is very critical to turning around the economy to get Ghanaians out of the current difficulties.
The senior statesman, who made these remarks in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb , outlined the following reasons as the justification for Ofori-Atta to leave office now.
Success of the IMF negotiation:
According to Kwame Pianim, the government’s current negotiation with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout is not going well because the Fund does not see any seriousness on the side of the government.
“What the IMF is waiting for is a bold, credible pronouncement from the president as he did over the COVID-19 (pandemic). And then you need a credible messenger. Ken Ofori-Atta is not a credible messenger.
“Somebody who didn’t want you taking this route, how can you say he should lead it?” he questioned
Save Ghanaians from additional misery
The economist intimated that Ofori-Atta’s mismanagement of Ghana’s economy is the cause of the hardship in the country and, therefore, he should step down.
“The hardship on Ghanaians is unprecedented. So, he Ofori-Atta should save Ghanaians additional misery by stepping down.”
Save the reputation of the NPP
Again, Kwame Pianim said that Ofori-Atta had to go to save the New Patriotic Party’s reputation as good managers of Ghana’s economy.
“NPP has a reasonably good reputation as a good manager of the Ghanaian Economy. And it is time that (the current economic meltdown) is stopped so that irreparable damage is not done to the reputation of the NPP as good managers of the economy,” he said.
Save the legacy of Akufo-Addo
Also, the statesman intimated that Ofori-Atta staying in office would make it very difficult to restore Ghana’s economy and also risks destroying the legacies of President Akufo-Addo.
“If he (Ofori-Atta) does not go and the president doesn’t let him go, we risk irreversibly dragging the president’s legacy and his presidency into the gutters,” he said.
The Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has attributed Ghana’s current economic woes partly due to overspending on capital projects amid political and campaign promises.
This is according to the 2021 and 2022 Economic Outlook Report released by the Institute.
Presenting the findings of the report in Accra, Director of Research at ISSER, Professor Peter Quartey, said the research revealed that government had overspent its budget prior to the 2020 general election.
He however said should government cut its overspending on capital projects, especially during election periods, the country will begin to witness significant changes in its finances.
“When you look at our expenditure during political periods, I think election can also be blamed for where we are at the current economic situation. We overspent on so many projects, we cut sod for a lot of projects that we have to borrow to fund them,” he is quoted by Joy Business.
“…So, in the end, we use three years to clear the mess. Every election year we enter into such situations then two years after election, there are fiscal challenges,” Prof. Quartey said.
In addition to this, ISSER has admonished President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reduce the size of the current government as part of efforts to cut down spending and boost investor confidence in the economy.
“I can’t put a number to how many ministers the government should have but the President must look at merging some of the ministries and get the work done. There shouldn’t be duplication in any role,” he said.
Touching on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy, the ISSER Director called for a downward review of the 1.5 percent rate imposed on transactions.
Meanwhile, a review of the economic performance of Ghana in the third quarter of 2022 noted government must begin to critically address significant loopholes in the tax system, among others.
Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Kwame Andy Appiah-Kubi said on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 just after adjournment whiles on his way to the Majority caucus meeting that he is not under pressure after addressing the media calling for the sacking of the Finance Minister and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.
“Do I look like someone under pressure? I have been in court this morning representing my client and back to Parliament to participate in business of the House”.
As to what they would be discussing when they have their caucus meeting later in the day, he noted that as at the time of granting the interview there was nothing on the table he knew of up for discussion.
He further pointed out that when it comes to the general caucus, he does not speak for it but only speaks for the group within the Majority caucus that took the action to call for the sacking of the Finance Minister and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.
Again, let me give this correction, “we are more than eighty percent of our number 137, he said in an interview with a section of the Parliamentary Press Corps.
He condemned this approach and further described it as ‘irritating’.
He explained in an interview with TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare on Wednesday October 26 that the decision came at a time Ghanaians were going through untold hardships.
He said “cut expenditure, not planting GRA officers in shops, people are suffering, when people are suffering that is not when you irritate them.
“Things are not going well and we are looking for the President to come up the way he did during Covid, we need a credible message from him that ‘I am going to cut expenditure to stabilize the economy’.”
The GRA recently positioned its officers at shops, restaurants, and other businesses in some parts of the country including the Ashanti region.
The officers were tasked to take details of sales for tax purposes.
This infuriated the shop owners leading to the shut down to protest against the GRA’s action.
This attracted flak from some quarters including a Deputy Communications of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ernest Owusu Bempah.
Mr Owusu Bempah called for the sacking of the GRA boss for what he believed was a poor approach to collecting taxes.
“What is his motivation for doing this in the Ashanti Region which is the stronghold of the NPP? Who is behind him?
“You don’t put system in place, no consultation done before you roll out this, the man should be sacked,” he said in a statement.
Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, has suggested that it is untenable that Ken Ofori-Atta’s dismissal as Finance Minister will derail Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
His comments come on the back of reports that President Akufo-Addo has asked the over eighty (80) NPP MPs demanding the sack of Ofori-Atta to allow him complete the IMF negotiations.
In a Facebook post, the award-winning journalist wondered if the negotiations with the Bretton Woods institution will grind to a halt if Ofori-Atta fell ill or passed away.
He wrote: “God forbid, but if Ken Ofori-Atta falls sick or dies, will the IMF negotiations cease? The excuse that his removal will derail the IMF negotiations is what we call in Gurune “nagenbeto”.
Background
On Tuesday, October 25, a group of NPP MPs held a press conference to demand that want Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen be sacked from their respective roles.
According to them, new faces in their stead will inject confidence in the economy which is on slope of decline.
Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, the Member of Parliament for the Asante-Akim North Constituency, who spoke on behalf of the over 80 MPs said they will boycott the 2023 budget reading and debate if President Akufo-Addo fails to dismiss his appointees.
Following this, the president has held meetings with the MPs where it is reported that he has appealed to them to allow Ken Ofori-Atta in particular complete the IMF negotiations.
Meanwhile, the majority caucus in Parliament have said in a statement that there is a consensus to dismiss Ofori-Atta however it should be deferred to after the IMF negotiations.
On October 26, 2022, Alban Bagbin gave a ruling on absentee MPs who were referred to the privileges committee.
He ruled that the report from the committee set up to look into the cases of the MP and two others who had absented themselves for some sittings should be presented before the plenary to be debated.
He, therefore, dismissed the objection of the Majority Leader to the admissibility of the committee report for the consideration of the House.
“As I have noted in this ruling, the decision (sic) on not to admit a motion is the exclusive preserve of the Speaker. In view of the foregoing, the House is well within its right to receive and consider reports of the committee and make a determination arising out of the consideration.
“In the circumstances, it is my ruling that the motion was rightfully admitted, and the report of the committee is subject to the consideration of the House. It goes without saying that the (sic) objection of the Majority Leader today (sic) is hereby dismissed…” he concluded his verdict.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth Wing has made a strong-worded call on President Akufo-Addo to not only sack Ken Ofori-Atta but for him to also resign as Head of State.
Issued under the hand of the National Youth Organiser of the party, George Opare Addo, the group said that Ghanaians have had enough of the performance of this administration that has plunged the country into a lot of hardships.
The statement added that many Ghanaians have lost their investments and livelihoods because of the kind of government the president has run in the last six years.
“Over the past six years, you, your cousin the Finance Minister, your Economic Management Team headed by your incompetent Vice President, as well as your entire Government have pursued economic and fiscal policies that have wreaked havoc on our nation’s economy and resulted in untold hardships for the Ghanaian people.
“Today, because of your reckless governance, Ghanaian families are unable to put food on the table. People’s entire life savings are going down the drain, and our currency, the cedi, is depreciating at a rate never seen in the history of our nation in the past four decades. Yours has been a failure of historic proportions; one that has plunged our nation into its most acute economic downturn in an entire generation,” the statement said.
The NDC Youth Wing, therefore, called for an immediate resignation from the president else they would embark on an unprecedented resistance to his government.
“Enough is enough! Ghanaians did not give you the mandate to put us through this level of suffering that has spared no family nor business. The Ghanaian people cannot continue to suffocate under your repressive and destructive misrule. It has become apparent that you lack the fortitude to properly govern this country. We demand that you sack your finance minister and resign now, to stem the suffering that has engulfed our nation and save our country from further collapse and international ignominy!
“If you remain headstrong and refuse to sack the finance minister and resign from office as President, we will confront you with a level of resistance never experienced by any President in the history of our country,” it added.
The group further called on the youth of the country to be on standby to picket against the government.
“We are by this medium calling on all young people of this country to picket at Government offices and protest across the country whenever they are called upon by the Leadership of the Youth Wing to do so,” the statement said.
Already, there has been a call by 80 Members of Parliament from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sack the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, as a way of restoring public confidence in the economy.
The president has since met with the MPs and urged them to give the minister some time to complete some pertinent government business, including the completion of an IMF negotiation.
Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has stated that President Akufo-Addo’s engagement with identifiable economic groups and institutions in the country has been fruitful and smooth and the deliberations has largely focused on the need to restore economic stability.
He said this when he addressed the press at the Jubilee House on 26 October 2022, at the end of two days of broad consultations between the President and multiple groups and stakeholders in the country’s economic space.
Amongst the groups the President held meetings with are; Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ghana Association of Bankers, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and Transport Operators.
The rest are Forex Bureau Association of Ghana, Forex Bureau, Market Women, Ghana Employers Association, Private Enterprise Federation, and the leaders of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
In his interaction with the identifiable bodies, President Akufo-Addo, according to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, briefed them on the state of negotiations between his government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the implications of a possible programme with the fund on the country’s economy in the coming weeks and in the long term.
“Cost of living has been big on the agenda, the currency is being big on the agenda but item number one has been stability, restoring economic stability and then on the back of that, looking to how we can bring back so growth and expansion on the Ghana economy. These discussions have gone very smoothly” Oppong Nkrumah said.
“Our expectation is that all of these will form a part of what the President and cabinet will be considering over the weekend prior to making some decision and then on Sunday, he [President Akufo-Addo] will have the opportunity to address the nation and we take the steps from there” he added.
President Akufo-Addo’s engagement with economic groupings in the country and the upcoming Cabinet retreat follows the challenging state of the country’s economy as a result of the hit it has suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the geo-political war ongoing between Russia and Ukraine.
The entire global economy according to financial expects is slipping into recession as the World Bank warns that it will take all the countries of the world several decades to pay off the debts they have accumulated over COVID-19 spending in the last two years alone.
The Majority Caucus in Parliament on Wednesday issued a tempered statement following a surprise announcement on Tuesday by some of its members who had called for the removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State for Finance Charles Adu Boahene.
Wednesday’s press statement by the Majority Caucus, signed by Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, MP, Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, confirmed a much anticipated, but quick, meeting between President Nana Akufo-Addo and his party’s MPs about the surprise announcement, with Members of Parliament (MPs) of the governing National Patriotic Party (NPP) pledging to back the President.
Sources at Jubilee House had earlier indicated that the call for the removal of the Ministers for Finance had caught the Presidency by surprise.
According to the statement, the President has requested that the matter be delayed and “acted upon” after “the conclusion of the round of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)” as well as the next presentation of the budget statement and economic policy”. This is to be followed by the passage of the Appropriation Bill, which is also a few weeks away.
The Majority Caucus, in their press statement, said that after internal discussions among their rank and file on Wednesday, they had “agreed to accede to the President’s appeal”.
In the meantime, analysts have pondered over the timing of Tuesday’s surprise announcement with looming fears over the uncertainty of the state of the country’s economic health should the Finance Ministers step aside, especially at a watershed moment. The two are currently leading negotiations on Ghana’s 17th return to the IMF. They are also in the middle of a yet-to-be finalised debt restructuring programme.
Ghana has been recognised as the only country in Africa to achieve 100% access to financial inclusion on the continent.
The honour was contained in this year’s State of Inclusive Instant Payment in Africa Report put together by AfricaNenda and launched at the ongoing Mobile World Congress Africa 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.
This feat was achieved through the successful implementation of the Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) system, which integrates all payments platforms across banks, fintechs and telcos, allowing every Ghanaian to make and receive instant payments.
Commenting on the monumental achievement at the ongoing Standard Chartered Bank Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech Festival in Accra on Wednesday (26 October 2022), Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia expressed delight that the government’s digitisation agenda, began in 2017 and touching almost every aspect of national life, is beginning to yield the desired results.
“In fact, because of mobile money interoperability, where fintechs, banks and telcos have essentially payment platforms that enable every Ghanaian to access and receive payments, Ghana was the only country to score 100% on financial inclusion in Africa at the ongoing Mobile World Congress Africa 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda. And it just makes you proud in this context that yes, we are doing what is actually quite right.
“You’ve seen mobile money interoperability; you’ve seen the national ID card; you’ve seen digital addresses, you’ve seen the paperless ports, universal QR code, Ghana pay, and so on. All of this is laying a particular foundation in this country that will allow us to fully participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“It is also comforting to note that even the credit reference agencies are leveraging on these infrastructure, the digital infrastructure that we have put in place, digital addresses, national ID and so on. We are expecting that individual credit scoring by the credit reference agencies will start taking place by the first quarter of next year, which will allow and underpin the development of a real credit system in Ghana which is very, very critical in terms of the development of this country,” Bawumia said.
Digital technology has changed the way Africa’s financial service industry offers products and services to consumers, Dr Bawumia pointed out, noting that new financial service business models based on digital technologies are enabling inclusive access to financial services across diverse product types for consumers.
“As a government, we realized it was imperative to adopt digital innovation to transform the economy. It is not a venture without opposition, and there are huge costs associated to get to our destination. However we are unwavering as we are convinced the benefits will outweigh the costs, and these benefits are already beginning to show.
“Thus far, we have introduced some interventions such as mobile money interoperability, digital renewal of National Health Insurance, implementation of the digital address system, the national ID card, paperless port system, QR-Code, among others.
“We are already seeing the impact of these digitisation initiatives including efficient public service delivery by all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on the Ghana.gov portal, combating corruption by removing the middle man, and also ghost names in many transactions, bringing more Ghanaians into the formal sector and driving domestic revenue mobilization, amongst others.”
To achieve greater success and faster growth, Bawumia called for more collaboration between all players in the fintech ecosystem – banks, fintechs, telecom companies, governments, regulators and consumers – in order to position Africa as a fintech innovation hub.
“A strong regulatory framework is also necessary across the sub region to drive innovation. Central banks need to be ahead of the market and put in place regulations that are innovation friendly bearing in mind all associated risks.”
Award
The State of Inclusive Instant Payment in Africa Report examines all instant pay rollouts across the continent to identify the areas of commonality with the view to driving adoption to boost financial inclusion on the continent.
This year, the report focused on inclusive instant payment systems in 12 African countries and Ghana was the only country that scored 100% on access to financial inclusion.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS), Archie Hesse, who was present at the launch of the report in Kigali, said from a humble beginning of integrating three instant payment platforms into what he called the ‘financial inclusion triangle’, GhIPSS has since improved the services by adding other services like Proxy Pay, Internet Gateway Payment, Request to Pay and the Universal QR Code dubbed GHQR, which can be linked to both bank accounts and digital wallets, with affordability as the key driving force.
GhIPSS, in collaboration with the banks, have also come up with a bank-wide wallet called GhanaPay to ensure that the banks also play a role in the mobile money space with the view to bridging the financial inclusion gap, he added.
The minority in parliament have been wearing black to parliament since they reconvened on October 25.
According to the minority, their reason for wearing black is to communicate their dissatisfaction with the country’s current economic situation, including the cedi depreciation.
On Wednesday, October 26, almost all the MPs who showed up in parliament were dressed in black attires.
The Minority and Majority Members of Parliament seem to be on the same page following the call to remove the finance minister from office.
While the Minority in Parliament has filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta sacked, the Majority also threatened to boycott the 2023 budget presentation if the finance minister is not relieved of his post.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor management of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
While addressing the parliamentary press corps, the minority urged the majority to not relent on calling the finance minister out.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, noted “as representatives of the people and as duty bearers, we must move a motion to call for the end of the Finance Minister.
“Our brothers in the Majority believe in this. What they should do is to support the call of the Minority Leader and the motion for the Minority Leader for the dismissal of the Finance Minister.”
Barely a month after the massive dam spillage from the Weija Dam that caused flooding in many homes in the area, some gates of the dam have been reopened.
A statement from the office of the Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe, Tina Gifty Mensah, indicated that, as of Thursday morning, some 5 gates with levels totaling 47.9ft have been opened to spill water out of the dam.
The notice further cautioned residents in the area and its environs to be on the look-out and to vacate all their residences, shops, and the like to avoid any casualties.
“The levels will soar higher in the course of the day,” it further added.
Below is the full statement:
COMMUNIQUE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR WEIJA-GBAWE CONSTITUENCY ON THE DAM SPILLAGE
The Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe Constituency, Hon. Tina Gifty Naa Ayeley Mensah and the Municipal Chief Executive for Weija-Gbawe Municipality, Hon. P.K.B. Kumor inform all residents that 5 gates with levels totaling 47.9ft of the Weija dam has been opened to spill water out of the dam.
Residents are, however, advised to be on the watch-out and also vacate from all residential apartments, shops, and offices situated in the spillage ways to avoid casualties.
A Ghanaian American-based preacher, Bishop Adonteng Boateng, has called on all stakeholders, including members of the clergy, to adopt a concerted approach in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Reacting to a recent viral video where members of the clergy, during a fact-finding mission, were seen praying at the bank of a river polluted by galamsey, Bishop Adonteng Boateng called for pragmatic efforts instead of fasting and prayers in battling galamsey.
“Prayers cannot stop galamsey and no amount of fasting can stop galamsey. My prayer is that the leadership of the country will rather make a concerted effort to help the people because at the end it is only a few people who benefit from galamsey at the expense of the larger population,” he told Oman Channel in an interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
He emphasised that while the pastors may have had a clear motive in praying at the river bank, there is however the need for practicality to be used in curbing the galamsey menace.
“I don’t know the motive with which the pastors went to pray at the river bank. It was probably to bring attention to the effects of galamsey and so I wouldn’t want to criticise them. Most of them are my fathers whom I hold in high regard,” he stated.
Several of Ghana’s water and river bodies are currently under threat from the effects of illegal mining activities. This has led to various public calls on the government to take drastic measures in fighting the menace.
Meanwhile, the Christian Council has declared Monday, October 24, 2022, to Sunday, October 30, 2022, as ‘National Week of Fasting and Prayers Against Galamsey’.
In a release dated Monday, October 17, 2022, the council said “For many years now, our sovereign country Ghana has been witnessing under our very naked eyes, the saddest “environmental coup d’éta” ever unleashed upon our nation, heralding a programmed and complete “ecological disaster” or destruction.
“We are calling for a week of fasting and prayers to pray for change of heart and for God’s mercy upon our nation for the destruction we have caused the environment 2. We call for the IMMEDIATE BAN of all small-scale mining,” it added.
An Executive Member of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council, Dominic Dadzie, has alleged that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) are giving premix allocation, a situation he laments contributes to the scarcity of the product at landing beaches.
According to him, this arrangement has become a great source of worry to fishermen as they end up buying the product from agents of these MMDCEs at exorbitant prices.
“I can tell you that DCEs have been given premix allocation and it is sad. These people do not have boats. Some don’t even know how fishing is done and yet they get considerable amount of premix. Now, they end up selling the product back to the fishermen at unbearable prices. This is sad.”
He mentioned that, “apart from this arrangement is the biting issue of shortage. As I speak some landing beaches have been without premix for months”.
Mr. Dadzie revealed that the current premix shortage “is also because there is a huge debt that government must clear. So there is a huge premix debt”.
Speaking at the dialogue series organised by Media General’s Takoradi-based radio station Connect FM on the theme ‘Premix, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated IUU Fishing Practices’ at the Sekondi Landing Beach, Mr. Dadzie expressed worry that the current formula used in distributing premix to the fishermen have been overly politicised.
“Just look at the current make of the premix committee. It is made up of representatives of the party of the day. It is only the Chief Fisherman that we can conveniently say is not political.
“So other fishermen said to be of the other divide struggle to get premix. So, imagine what will happen when another party comes to power. It’s a bad precedent we are setting. So if these arrangements don’t change, we will always struggle with the product getting to the right people”.
Western Region Director of the Fisheries Commission Joseph Yeboah, on his part, stated that the Ministry of Fisheries is concerned about the supply of premix and is working tirelessly to resolve it.
“As I speak, we are looking at digitalising the supply of premix. What it means is that without a card, one will not be able to buy the product. Unfortunately, the fishermen are not coming forward to embrace this innovation. We brought 500 cards and only 200 have so far been collected. So we are indeed concerned and working to resolve the premix issues.”
According to him, the growing number of fishermen has also affected the supply of premix.
He, therefore, entreated fishermen to be judicious in the use of the little allocation that they get.
As part of measures put in place by the Ga traditional leaders for the funeral of the late Tema chief, Osonnaa Nii Adjei Kraku II, there will be a total blackout from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am to honour the dead chief on, Wednesday, October 26.
The directive has received mixed reactions from the general public with a section of Ghanaians and residents of Tema calling for a reversal of the directive due to the inconveniences.
However, Dr Evans Ago Tetteh, the husband of renowned Ghanaian broadcaster Bridget Otoo, has jabbed persons who seem to have an issue with the directive.
In a tweet dated October 26, he called out persons who termed the Ga tradition as archaic. He instructed naysayers to pack out of Ghana’s capital if they so deem.
“The final funeral rites of the late Tema Mantse, Nii Agyei Krakue II begins today with the first Faa Foo (River crossing). Just stay home between 7pm-12am. If you think our culture is archaic, pack your things and go back to your hometown,” read the tweet sighted by GhanaWeb.
The dealers, who blamed the depreciating cedi on the Finance Minister, are calling for his removal from office.
According to them, if the President fails to sack his Finance Minister, they will hit the streets to press home their demand.
Speaking at the Launch of Transport Forum, held in Accra Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the President of the Automobile Dealers Union, Kwaku Boateng, bemoaned the effects of the depreciation of the cedi against the dollar on their business.
“The increase in the dollar is affecting us, we have spoken to the President, and we’ve written several letters about the Finance Ministry. We’ve realised that the President has made up his mind not to mind anyone to remedy the situation.
“We have also realised that our brother Ken Ofori-Atta is the problem when it comes to the rising dollar. So we will hold a press conference next two weeks; when we’re done, we’ll continue with a demonstration on November 19.”
Mr Boateng stressed that: “We [union] will be demonstrating against President Nana Addo over his refusal to sack Ken Ofori-Atta because he’s the President, he appointed him, so if he’ll sit down for Ken Ofori-Atta to destroy Ghanaian businesses then we will demonstrate.”
The automobile dealers have also called on the Freight Forwarders to join in the demonstration to compel the President to remove the Finance Minister from office as both work together.
President Akufo-Addo reportedly met with the top hierarchy of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the demands by some of the party’s Members of Parliament for the dismissal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to a report by Asempa FM, the president met with the Chairman of the NPP, Stephen Ayensu Ntim; the General Secretary of the party, Justin Frimpong Koduah, the National Organiser, Henry Nana Boakye and other national executives of the party.
Also, present at the meeting were at least three regional chairmen of the party, whose members are allegedly pushing for the sack of Ofori-Atta, including the Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, a.k.a. Chairman Wontumi; the Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, a.k.a. Abronye DC; and the Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Divine Otoo Agorhom.
The report indicated that the officials met the president on the fourth floor of the Flag Staff House in the late afternoon on Tuesday, October 25.
Officials of the government, privy to the details of the meeting, who spoke to Asempa FM on the condition of anonymity, told their presidential correspondent, Elton John Brobbey, that the president could not make a decision because there was no petition before him.
Elton Brobbey said that the officials indicated that news of the demand of the NPP MPs came as a surprise to the presidency.
He added that the officials had told him that the president was only going to make a decision on the matter if the petition signed by the NPPs who are calling for the sack of Ofori-Atta is presented to him.
“One issue that run out through all the conversations I had with the officials was that there was no petition before the president communicating the decision of the 80 MPs for the president to sack Ofori-Atta,” he said in Twi
He reiterated that even though there has been meeting and press conferences, no official petition has been sent to President Akufo-Addo.
The Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin, has berated the minority caucus over its handling of a motion filed to get Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta impeached.
According to him, the minority is creating the impression the House (Parliament) has accepted the motion and it has the support of the majority caucus which is false.
Speaking to the press at Parliament on Wednesday, October 26, Afenyo Markin intimated that the majority are against the idea of forcing Ken Ofori-Atta to resign.
“Admissibility of questions, motions or any process is the sole mandate of Mr. Speaker. So, until your motion or any application is admitted by the speaker you cannot assume that you have the motion properly before the House.
“So, I will like to say that, simply put, they are just throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians. We are all aware that the whole world is in a crisis. We are all aware that government has taken steps to address this economic crisis that we face as a nation.
“As we speak, we have an ongoing negotiation with the IMF. Midway into the negotiation government cannot come and make an announcement,” he said.
Afenyo Markin, who is the Member of Parliament (MP)
for Effutu, urged Ghanaians to stop politicizing the current challenges in the country and treat it as a national issue.
The minority caucus of Parliament filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State (in charge of Finance), Charles Adu-Boahen sacked.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor mismanagement of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
The Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, noted “as representatives of the people and as duty bearers, we must move a motion to call for the end of the finance minister.
“Our brothers in the majority believe in this. What they should do is to support the call of the Minority Leader and the motion for the Minority Leader for the dismissal of the finance minister.”
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, has said the ongoing SIM Card registration exercise seeks to ensure the centralization of KYC data to boost the delivery of financial services devoid of fraud.
According to him, the exercise has become necessary to curtail theft, opportunities for money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Speaking at the 2022 Digital Banking, Innovation and Fintech festival organised by Standard Chartered Bank, Dr. Opoku-Afari said, “the consumer should be at the centre of our collective efforts. As such, the Bank will not relent on its effort to protect them.”
“It is in this vain that the Bank of Ghana has developed an artificial intelligence-powered automated customer complaint system, I believe this community refers to it as a chatbot; dubbed ‘Akushika’,” he disclosed.
He explained that this customer experience solution is being deployed as an additional mechanism, to manage consumer complaints and promote consumer protection.
“The chatbot is currently in its pilot phase and I would like to use this opportunity to encourage you all to interact with it to ensure that it becomes fit for its purpose,” the Deputy BoG Governor added.
Touching on the introduction of the central bank digital currency known as the eCedi, Dr. Opoku Afari said the comprehensive pilot testing process has been completed.
He noted that the pilot process saw the testing of online and offline versions of the eCedi in Accra, Tarkwa and Sefwi Asafo.
“The pilot has unearthed useful insights on the impact of the initiative of the Bank which will prove instrumental in the event of a full-scale deployment of the eCedi.”
The deputy central bank governor in his conclusion said as part of the effort to build stronger collaboration and cooperation with industry, the regulator has embarked on an engagement drive through the FinTech and Innovation Office.
He further said the central bank remains resolute in its commitment toward a cash-lite agenda in Ghana.
A former finance minister, Seth Terkper, has stated that no government has secured GH¢1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to him, the highest the country has received from the Fund is GH¢3 billion when the country was declared as HIPC.
Speaking at the 11th Ghana Economic Forum on October 25, 2022, he said “the highest we have had by way of intervention and that was HIPC was 3 billion. No government ever got 1 billion to do a correction. The highest was GH¢950 million which we did and that came after 2017 to the current administration.”
He also stated that the notion that Ghana was doing well before 2020 needs to be re-examined.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Dr. John Kwakye, has stated that Ghana’s revenue targets have not been ambitious enough to rake in the expected revenue needed for development.
According to him, every country thrives on good policies and the ability to take advantage of resources, but, in Ghana’s case, both have been defective.
“As a country, we need both resources and policies to advance our development. For Ghana, we have lacked adequate resources, and our policies have also been defective in so many areas,” he said.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader in Parliament, has appealed to the Majority Caucus to halt discussions on the sacking of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta until negotiations with the IMF have concluded.
Some members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament are mounting pressure on President Akufo-Addo to sack Ofori-Atta, and the minister of state at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen, to restore public confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
Speaking on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (26 October), he said, “My advise after hearing them was that, if they were talking about this matter two or three months ago, that would have been different.”
According to the Suame MP, “even the first phase [of negotiation with the IMF] has not been concluded. Those conclusions will be factored into the budget.”
“They [IMF team] have come here on two occasions, the minister has led a team to Washington to follow up for the discussions, they are coming here again next week. And soon after, the conclusions we will derive will be captured into the budget that we are expecting not later than 15 November.
“We are pleading with them that looking at where we are, I am not too sure this is the appropriate time to be talking about this. So, I was pleading to let their feet pause the accelerator pedal for a while, maybe after the budget we could resurrect it. Now is not the best time,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
The International Monetary Fund is already in talks with Ghana over a US$3 billion deal for budgetary support, aimed at reviving the economy and restoring investor confidence.
Demands of the MPs
Addressing the media in Parliament on Tuesday (25 October 2022), the spokesman for the caucus and MP for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, said the move will help save the economy from further collapse.
“We have had occasion to defend allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence and trust against leadership of our Finance Ministry. The recent developments within our economy are of great concern to the greater majority of members of our caucus and our constituents,” Appiah-Kubi said.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president change the Minister [for] Finance and the minister of state in the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope into the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of our economy.
“The summary of our concern leads to the plea that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the minister of state at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, should be removed from office.
“Meanwhile, we want to serve notice that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the president or by any other minister. If our request is not responded to positively, we’ll not be present for the Budget hearing, neither would we participate in the debate,” Appiah-Kubi told the media.
The International Monetary Fund has launched talks with Ghana over a US$3 billion deal for budgetary support, aimed at reviving the economy and restoring investor confidence.
Netflix gained 2.4 million new paid subscribers in the third quarter of this year, the company said in an earnings report Tuesday, a reversal for the streamer after reporting losses for the first time in 10 years over the last two consecutive quarters.
Netflix reported 223.09 million subscribers, up from the 220.67 million it reported in July and 213.56 million in the third quarter of last year.
The streaming service beat its own forecast of 221.67 subscribers.
Netflix predicted it will continue to grow its subscriber base and add 4.5 million paid users by the end of the fourth quarter.
The company generated $1.4 billion in net income in the third quarter, down nearly 4% from a year ago, and revenue grew 5.9% to $7.9 billion, both of which beat the company’s forecasts.
Much of the growth came from the Asia-Pacific region, where 1.4 million paid memberships were added in the third quarter.
Netflix’s share price jumped more than 12% in after-hours trading Tuesday and stood at $275.40 as of 8 p.m., after closing at $240.86.
Unauthorized small-scale mining, also known as galamsey, has claimed the life of a young person in Ghana.
In a viral video, some miners were seen carrying a young man’s lifeless body from a galamsey pit in Enchi, a town in the Western Region’s Aowin-Suaman area.
The young man, who was probably in his mid-twenties, was seen being dragged out of the water in the pit by three men.
However, it is unclear whether he drowned or died from another cause.
As he was being dragged out of the pit, the mining equipment the miners were using could be heard working.
A man can also be heard in the video telling those handling the corpse to be cautious.
After he was drugged out, the men standing outside the pit took his body away.
The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has taken a swipe at members of the majority caucus of Parliament after more than two-thirds of them reportedly demanded that President Akufo-Addo sacks his finance minister over the hardship in the country.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) have time and again argued that the current hardship Ghanaians are facing is a result of external factors, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic and not poor economic management.
He, therefore, questioned why the NPP MPs are now calling for the sack of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, whom they have continuously exonerated from being the cause of the hardship in the country.
“We have a situation where now; the so-called majority caucus has come to the realisation that… the economy is not doing well. That the economy is not doing well, at least partly as a result of the incompetence of the managers of the economy.
“Now pitch that against the singsong all this time that the real cause of the problem is the Russia-Ukraine war. I sitting here, and I am wondering how Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen are responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war.
“If the Russia-Ukraine war is the main reason that we are here, why call for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu-Boahen, who have nothing to do with the Russia-Ukraine war,” he said.
According to the MP for Team West, Carlos Ahenkrorah, the NPP MPs came to the decision to demand Ofori-Atta’s sack after feedback from their constituents during their recess disclosed that most Ghanaians were unhappy with the government because the finance minister was still at post.
He said that most of the majority caucus MPs spoke about how their constituents were suffering due to the economic challenges in the country.
Speaking in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Ahenkrorah intimated that they had to inform the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the difficulties of their constituents so that it does not affect the NPP’s fortunes in the future.
“There is a lot of pressure on us. If you go to your constituency office and you listen to the concerns of your constituents, it is very disheartening. Just yesterday, three women visited my office, and they were crying while narrating how they had lost their businesses because the price of a gallon of oil they used to purchase for GH¢60[600] is now selling for GH¢1000,” he said in Twi.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, will not declare the seat of the three absentee Members of Parliament (MPs) vacant yet.
On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, Mr Bagbin indicated he would not declare the seats vacant without a formal debate on the report submitted by the Privileges Committee.
Delivering his ruling, the Speaker noted: “The preliminary objection for the admissibility of the report is hereby dismissed in limine.”
A former Member of Parliament for the Kumbumgu Constituency, Mr Ras Mubarak, petitioned the Speaker to enforce Article 97(1)c of the 1992 Constitution by referring some four MPs, including Ms Safo, to the Privileges Committee for absenting themselves for more than 15 days without permission.
According to the ex-lawmaker, the Standing Orders of Parliament are not clear as to who can or should raise the matter of absenteeism on the floor of the House for a debate and, or referral by Mr Speaker to the Committee on Privileges but it is incidences like this, if unattended to, that threatens Ghana’s democracy.
Quoting Afrobarometer data, Mr Mubarak said trust in Parliament has fallen by 12 per cent between 2002 and 2019.
The report, he said, ranked Parliament as the third corrupt institution in the country – just behind the police and judges.
“I humbly submit that democracy can only work if Parliament puts the common good ahead of the party and personal interest. At a time of seeming collapse of trust in politics and Parliament as an institution, it is my fervent prayer that the House would rise to the occasion and be united on this matter so as to uphold our constitution and also win back waned public confidence,” the petition stated.
The Speaker of Parliament referred the matter to the committee.
MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, Ayawaso West MP, Henry Quartey and MP for Dome Kwabenya Sarah Adwoa Safo.
Despite several invitations, Ms Safo has yet to appear before the committee.
The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Ghana, Amer Al Alawi, has refuted reports that Ghana and 19 other African Countries have been barred by his government from entering Dubai.
According to him, reports of the ban are mere rumours because his office has not received any official communication on it yet.
“There is nothing official regarding the rumours in the news. There is no official statement from my government or the other governments.
“So, our daily work routine is the same, it hasn’t changed. Until we find or receive an announcement or an official statement, we can’t talk about it.
“There is nothing. Maybe there is something under process but I can’t assure you,” Amer Al Alawi told the media on the side-lines of a tree planting event to symbolise 50 years of diplomatic ties between the UAE and Ghana.
The ambassador added that the UAE has rather made the process for applying for visas more flexible to make Dubai and other parts of the UAE easily accessible to Ghanaians and other nationals.
His comments come after reports indicated that the UAE had banned nationals of Ghana and 19 other African countries from entering its capital city, Dubai, effective Monday, October 24, 2022.
“The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a visa ban on nationalities from 20 African countries seeking to visit Dubai.
“Countries affected include Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, and Comoros. The ban takes immediate effect,” parts of a Facebook post shared by DW Africa on Monday read.
DW Africa stated that one of the reasons for the ban was that most nationals from the 20 countries always fail to leave Dubai after their visas have expired.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has contested Speaker’s decision to allow the plenary to debate the fate of Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament (MP), Sarah Adwoa Safo and two other legislators over absenteeism.
According to him, the majority is set to challenge the substantive motion if it is brought before the house.
“I totally disagree with the ruling. It doesn’t sit with the constitution and I must express my discomfort with this unfortunate ruling that has been made because it is very inconsistent. We will come back with a substantive motion to challenge the ruling”, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said on the floor of the House right after the ruling.
Alban Bagbin on October 26, 2022, gave a ruling that the report of the committee set up to look into the case of the MP and two others who absented themselves for a number of sittings should be presented before the whole house to be debated.
He, therefore, dismissed the objection of the Majority Leader to the admissibility of the committee report for the consideration of the house.
“As I have noted in this ruling, the decision (sic) on not to admit a motion is the exclusive preserve of the Speaker. In view of the foregoing, the House is well within its right to receive and consider reports of the committee and make a determine arising out of the consideration.
“In the circumstances, it is my ruling that the motion was rightfully admitted and the report of the committee is subject to the consideration of the house. It goes without saying that the (sic) objection of the Majority Leader today (sic) is hereby dismissed…” he concluded his verdict.
It will be recalled that on July 29, 2022, a day after parliament adjourned its first decision to determine the fate of the Dome Kwabenya MP, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo sacked her as the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
In a statement, the president said the revocation of the MP’s appointment as minister was to take immediate effect.
“In accordance with article 81(a) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has revoked the appointment of Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, with immediate effect.
“The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, will continue to act as caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, until such a time that President Akufo-Addo appoints a substantive Minister,” the statement from the Presidency concluded.
Sarah Adwoa Safo has been in the United States of America since 2021.
President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in an emergency meeting with leadership and members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) majority caucus in Parliament Tuesday, expressed regret on the approach taking by some 80 of them in their call for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, as Minister of Finance and Minister of State in charge of Finance, respectively.
In a meeting that was cordial but tense, both sides, sources say, ended the meeting with deeper understanding of each other’s standpoint, with the common belief that the interest of the government, party and nation are paramount and need not be in conflict.
The President, in a passionate, eloquent but sober manner, told the NPP MPs that he would have expected those among them calling for removal of the two men to have first come to him directly on the matter.
There he could have also put his viewpoint and if they were not satisfied with his response then they would have been perfectly understood to advise themselves otherwise.
He told them, the nation was going through economic difficulties and the Presidency was open to ideas from an important arm of the ruling party, such as MPs, on the best way forward. But, the approach may matter as much as the message itself.
Majority Presser
In a press conference held at the foyer in Parliament Tuesday, Andy Appiah Kubi, MP for Asante-Akim North, the spokesperson for the group, demanded the resignation of Ken Ofori-Atta, and Charles Adu-Boahen over the management of the economy.
According to the group of MPs, they will not participate in any government business that involves the Ministry of Finance or have any dealings with the Finance Minister or the minister of state for finance, until both men leave the government.
“We have had occasion to defend allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence and trust against leadership of our Finance Ministry. The recent developments within our economy are of great concern to the greater majority of members of our caucus and our constituents.
“The summary of our concern leads to the plea that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the minister of state at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, should be removed from office.
“Meanwhile, we want to serve notice that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of government by or for the president or by any other minister” Appiah-Kubi said when he addressed the press.
“If our request is not responded to positively, we’ll not be present for the Budget hearing, neither would we participate in the debate,” Appiah-Kubi added.
Wrong approach
The President made it clear to his MPs and the party delegation led by National Chairman Stephen Ntim, that his office has no record of any petition or request for a meeting by the MPs themselves, through the party leadership or the leadership of the majority side in Parliament on the subject matter.
Yes, he has been aware of murmurings, but the approach adopted took him by surprise and that was not the best. An Asaase News source who attended the meeting held also on Tuesday 25 October 2022, at the Jubilee House, says the President also described the timing of the resignation call as ill.
There have been growing calls for the removal of the Finance Minister due to the high levels of anxiety as a result of the persisting economic challenges exacerbated by the steep cedi depreciation.
The timing for the dismissal call, President Akufo-Addo, stressed, was not optimal due to the following reasons:
His government has 20 days more to present the 2023 Budget, which is intrinsically linked to the IMF negotiations. So there is a the need to appropriately reflect the priorities of the IMF negotiations in this critical budget. He called on his MPs to not lose sight of the importance of maintaining focus.
Both Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen have been leading Bilateral/ Multilateral Negotiations to secure additional funding to support the budget and Ghana’s development programme in line with the manifesto promise of the party.
The President was also clear that the ruling party could not afford any delay in either in concluding the debt sustainability agenda of the country or in securing the IMF programme itself.
He was in doubt over the duo’s determination to conclude the IMF negotiations, secure additional funding and finalise the 2023 budget and appropriation to bring relief to Ghanaians. “You do not change a captain who is steering the ship out of a storm”, he stressed.
There are also concerns over likely negative reaction of the market to new leadership who may not be privy to earlier discussions.
Inspite of all the challenges With the wealth of network and experiences built over the years and on the job, he asked for the two be allowed to finish with the budget and IMF negotiations, and if at the end the vast number of them are still not happy, he has no problem with listening to their concerns and taking the appropriate steps to address them.
For the President, given the exigencies of recent challenges, while he understands the anxieties this is also the time for calm heads.
Consultation
Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, according to the source, welcomed the sentiments expressed by the President and told him that the leadership of the majority caucus of Parliament will meet with the MPs demanding the resignation of the Finance Minister and they will consult the “old lady” and revert to him.
NPP MPs are meeting Wednesday afternoon on the matter. Asaase News is gathering that some of the ringleaders are still adamant that the duo must go.
However a large number of the backbenchers who were also for the removal are now shifting to the side of the argument that the two must be allowed to first prepare the budget and conclude the IMF negotiations.
Asaase News further learns that some are even planning another press conference to say the position stays and there are moves to organise a demonstration against the duo.
Party position
The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Stephen Ayensu Ntim, who was present at the meeting, said the party was fully behind both the Government and the Majority Caucus.
However, he added that the party will await the outcome of the proposed consultation between leadership and the MPs to determine the way forward.
A private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has said he was pleasantly surprised by the press conference held by some Members of Parliament on the side of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) who called on President Akufo-Addo to sack his Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry Charles Adu Boahen.
He said this is an indication that the lawmakers are listening to concerns being raised by Ghanaians.
Mr Kpebu who earlier called for the impeachment of the President following the economic challenges, while speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday October 23, told Eric Mawuena Egbeta on the Mid day news on 3FM Tuesday October 25 that, “I was pleasantly surprised, that also means that they are listening.
“You see how on Saturday we spoke truth to power on Key Points and it resounded with Ghanaians, of course other people had made this call over and over, it means the Parliamentarians are listening , God bless them. That is the honour we were referring to on the Key Points.”
The Majority caucus in Parliament have threatened to boycott the presentation and debate on the 2023 budget statement if President Akufo-Addo does not remove Mr Ofori-Atta and Adu Boahen.
The NPP MPs believe that the prevailing economic situation in the country does not make it right for the two gentlemen to remain in office hence the President must ask them to go.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, October 25, a lawmaker for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah Kubi said “We are unhappy with the developments in the country, we consulted our constituents who also expressed same sentients.
“We want the President to remove Ken Ofori and Chares Adu Boahen.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the President changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry without further delay.
“We want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons as aforementioned are made to resign or removed from office, we members of the Majority Caucus here in Parliament will not participate in any business of Government by or, for the president by any other Minster.
“We hope that those of us in the back bench and members of the Majority caucus will abide by this prayer.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing neither will we participate in the debate.
Paramount Chief of the Buipe Traditional Area Buipewura Abdulai Jinapor II has been chosen by the Northern Region executives of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) to chair the 2021 edition of the Association’s regional awards.
According to the executives, the decision to settle on him was necessitated by his recognition of the media as a tool for development.
“Jira, we have monitored your countless engagement with the media over the years and as a partner in development, we couldn’t have settled on a better person than you to chair our awards this year,” regional Chairman of the Association Yakubu Abdul Majeed told him.
Mr Abdul Majeed eulogized the chief for his commitment to peace not only in the Savannah Region, where he is based, but throughout the three regions of the north.
“Jira, your commitment to peace which is a panacea for development is overwhelming,” he added.
For his part, Buipewura Jinapor II accepted to chair the occasion.
He promised to secure funds for the awards and also made some personal pledge of a bull, rice and an undisclosed amount of money.
“There are a lot of prominent people in the northern enclave and so settling on me is a privilege which I need to honor.
“I love the media and what they do because without the media we can’t develop and so any development-oriented ruler will have to by all means work with the media.”
He admonished the media in the north to use their work and space to project the regions.
“We are lagging behind in everything and we can only catch up with the south if you concentrate on stories that will project the regions of the north in a positive light to attract investors.
“We have the human and natural resources but we are unable to turn them around because of the perception people have about us. You can change that to positivity.”
The 2021 Northern GJA awards is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 in Tamale.
Many Ghanaians, including Members of Parliament on the Majority side, have been left disappointed after the highly-expected ruling by the Speaker of Parliament on the fate of their colleague ended in the balance.
The Majority MPs, led by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, had called for the seat of Sarah Adwoa Safo, MP for Dome Kwabenya, to be declared vacant after she failed to appear in parliament for sittings.
Although the Speaker of Parliament was initially expected to deliver his verdict on the matter in the last meeting of parliament in July 2022, he adjourned it, announcing later that he would give his ruling on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
However, when Alban Bagbin did, he gave a ruling that the report of the committee set up to look into the case of the MP and two others who absented themselves for a number of sittings should be presented before the whole house to be debated.
He, therefore, dismissed the objection of the Majority Leader to the admissibility of the committee report for the consideration of the house.
“As I have noted in this ruling, the decision (sic) on not to admit a motion is the exclusive preserve of the Speaker. In view of the foregoing, the House is well within its right to receive and consider reports of the committee and make a determine arising out of the consideration.
“In the circumstances, it is my ruling that the motion was rightfully admitted and the report of the committee is subject to the consideration of the house. It goes without saying that the (sic) objection of the Majority Leader today (sic) is hereby dismissed…” he concluded his verdict.
It will be recalled that on July 29, 2022, a day after parliament adjourned its first decision to determine the fate of the Dome Kwabenya MP, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo sacked her as the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
In a statement, the president said the revocation of the MP’s appointment as minister was to take immediate effect.
“In accordance with article 81(a) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has revoked the appointment of Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, with immediate effect.
“The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, will continue to act as caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, until such a time that President Akufo-Addo appoints a substantive Minister,” the statement from the Presidency concluded.
Sarah Adwoa Safo has been in the United States of America since 2021.
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin is happy with events in Parliament where 80 Members of Parliament, MPs, from his party demanded the removal of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta from office.
The demand was made through an October 25 press conference addressed by Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, MP for Asante Akim North, at the precincts of Parliament.
In a follow-up presser, after the breakaway MPs had made their demands known, Afenyo Markin flanked by four other colleagues told the media that the move was a plus for Ghana’s democracy.
He, however, stressed that it was important that the majority and minority caucuses unite and “build consensus on key issues to support the government, to me that is our main agenda but not the usual NPP, NDC partisan attacks.
“Regarding views expressed by the majority on some issues of national importance, I think that is the beauty of democracy, people having the opportunity to express their views,” he added.
He said it was important that where Ghana has gotten to in its democratic exercise, people should be voicing out instead of keeping their thoughts and viewpoints within them for fear of being gagged.
“So, we take all of that in good faith and continue to soldier on and work together for the betterment of our people,” he added.
Breakaway NPP MPs call for Ofori-Atta’s head
The group said it will not do business with the government nor support the 2023 Budget if the president fails to heed their call to remove Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
According to them, the move follows previous concerns sent to the government that have not yielded any positive results.
“We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of confidence, and trust against the leadership of the Finance Ministry.
“The recent development within the economy is of major concern to our caucus and our constituents. We have made our grave concern to our president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without and positive response,” Andy Appiah Kubi said.
The MPs believe the move will change the current economic situation in the country.
“We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope to the finance sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy,” he added.
Ghanaian statesman and politician, Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has revealed that, but for the intervention of the NPP MPs, Ghana would have been on the verge of experiencing a military intervention.
According to him, the call for the dismissal of the finance minister whipped away the plot.
He advised the president to learn from this development as the actions of the NPP MPs are unprecedented.
“Those who made this intervention have saved the 4th republic. We were getting close to military intervention but the MPs actions yesterday totally wiped it off and I think the country should learn from that as well. Akufo-Addo, as I know, will definitely make attempts to change their minds, if they instead allow that, then they will be most hated people in this country or on the political landscape,” he said in an interview with TV3’s Big Issue show.
Speaking on the call for the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta, Nyaho-Tamakloe indicated that it did not come to him as a surprise even though it was long overdue.
He added that what the NPP MPs did shows clearly that our democracy can be on course if we want.NPP MPs saved the country from an upcoming coup d’état – Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe
Ghanaian statesman and politician, Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has revealed that but for the intervention of the NPP MPs, Ghana is on the verge of experiencing a military intervention.
According to him, the call for the dismissal of the finance minister whipped away the plot.
He advised the president to learn from this development as the actions of the NPP MPs are unprecedented.
“Those who made this intervention have saved the 4th republic. We were getting close to military intervention but the MPs actions yesterday totally wiped it off and I think the country should learn from that as well. Akufo-Addo, as I know, will definitely make attempts to change their minds, if they instead allow that then they will be most hated people in this country or on the political landscape,” he said in an interview with TV3’s Big Issue show.
Speaking on the call for the dismissal of Ken Ofori-Atta, Nyaho-Tamakloe indicated that it did not come to him as a surprise even though it was long overdue.
He added that what the NPP MPs did shows clearly that our democracy can be on course if we want.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has cautioned his colleague parliamentarians over their push for the sack of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, October 26, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said that sacking the Offori-Atta now might have a devastating impact on the economy.
He intimated that sacking the finance minister while he is leading Ghana’s bailout negotiation with the International Monetary Fund might have disastrous consequences.
“My own personal thinking is whether or not could be done midstream into the negotiations with the IMF and again midstream in the crafting of a budget.
“What will be the effects of this (the sack) in the negotiation and even its impact on the performance of the currency as we see now? And so Mr. Speaker these are matters that we should interrogate,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the leader of the majority caucus, said.
The Minority and Majority Members of Parliament seem to be on the same page following the call to remove the finance minister from office.
While the Minority in Parliament has filed a motion to have Ken Ofori-Atta sacked, the Majority also threatened to boycott the 2023 budget presentation if the finance minister is not relieved of his post.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor management of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
Four worker unions in the public universities of Ghana have said their ongoing sit-down strike which began on Monday, October 17, 2022, to demand better conditions of service, will still not be called off.
The unions disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, co-signed by the National President of UTAG Prof Solomon Nunoo, GAUA National President Dr Beth Ofei-Awuku, National Chairman of SSA-UoG Mr Isaac Donkor and National Chairman TEWU-Gh Mr Sulemana Abdul-Rahman.
According to the statement, the National Leaders of UTAG, GAUA, SSA-UoG, TEWU-GH, and FUSSAG “attended a meeting with the Employer on Wednesday, 19th October 2022, following an invitation by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
“Unfortunately, the outcome of the meeting was not favourable as the Employer was adamant to restore the Vehicle Maintenance and Off Campus Allowances to the adjusted ex-pump rate of GHS10.99.”
It revealed that: “Later that afternoon, the National Leaders attended a hearing at the National Labour Commission (NLC) where the Commission further entreated the parties to continue engaging as per the directive captured in its letter dated 20th October 2022.
“However, considering the facts and evidence before it, the national leaders are of the considered opinion that the Commission should have had no difficulty in making a definite order against the Employer to pay amounts on figures agreed and established by convention.”
It added: “Thus, the National Executive Committees/Councils of the Labour Unions, at their individual meetings, resolved to continue with the ongoing strike action until further notice.”
There has been a surge in reported cases of breast and prostate cancer in Obuasi and its surrounding areas.
According to Dr. Kwadwo Anim, the Executive Director of AGA Health Foundation, the most widely cited reason for the increase in these cases is “westernization”.
Speaking at a Grand Durbar and mini-clinic organised by AngloGold Ashanti to mark this year’s breast and prostate cancer awareness month at Akrokerri in the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region, Dr Anim said life styles like smoking, alcohol and some eating habits are leading factors according for the rise in these cases.
Breast cancer is a critical medical condition that has stared humanity in the face for several decades, particularly females.
Even though there is no scientifically proven cure for cancer, the condition can be managed if detected early enough.
In 2020, breast cancer was the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide and accounted for 29.5% of cancer incidence and 22.1% of cancer deaths in Africa. In Ghana, breast cancer accounted for 31.8% of cancer incidence.
Prostate cancer, on the other hand, is a cancer that occurs in the prostate. Prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland in males that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.
Prostate cancer is reported to be the second leading cause of male cancer deaths in Ghana and in Korle bu Teaching Hospital alone, 20 men were diagnosed with the disease every week.
Dr. Anim also mentioned that people’s quest to seek for herbal and spiritual assistance without going to the hospital to be properly screened has also resulted in some fatalities.
“October every year has been set aside to create awareness about early detection of breast cancer in particular but it seems people are not heeding to the call. In breast cancer, the prerequisite is early detection. Once you report it at the early stage, you can be cured,” Dr Kwadwo Anim ended.
The Stakeholders Engagement Superintendent of Anglogold Ashanti, Edmond Oduro Agyei, on his part, said Anglogold Ashanti has made commitments to improve the living conditions of its communities.
In view of this, the company through its 10-year Socio-Economic Development Plan lined up plethora of health intervention programs targeted at improving quality health care of the people.
“As we have always mentioned, we don’t want to leave our communities the same way we met them so included in our 10-year SEDP which we launched in July was a comprehensive health related programs targeted at providing solutions to the health care needs of the people and this program is one of them”
Anglogold Ashanti as part of its health intervention program has also started capacity building workshops for health workers in Obuasi on infection prevention and other diseases.
Mr. Oduro Agyei said AGA has partnered AGA Health Foundation, GIZ and Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation to screen the people of Akrokerri on breast and prostate cancer as well as other diseases.
The Chief Executive for the Adansi North District, Eric Kwaku Kusi, on his part, underscored the importance of Stakeholders involvement in the fight against breast and prostate cancer.
“You will agree with me that Government cannot fight these diseases alone hence I applaud AGA and its partners for coming together to collectively fight breast and prostate cancer.”
Akrokerri hemaa Nana Serwaa Buruwaa II advised men and women to take the education on breast and prostate cancer seriously.
She added her voice to the call for early detection and treatment.
Eni has definitively ended the procurement of palm oil for use at the Venice and Gela biorefineries for the production of hydrogenated biofuels.
The last shipments arrived in the last few weeks, ahead of the declared goal of becoming ‘palm oil-free’ by the end of 2022.
Eni’s biorefineries in Venice and Gela are already fuelled with ‘waste & residue’ raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fats, for more than 85% of their processes, as well as other biomasses regulated by current national and European regulations.
In November, the first load of vegetable oil produced in the Makueni agri-hub in Kenya will arrive at the Gela biorefinery, where castor, croton and cotton seeds are pressed.
These agri-feedstocks, produced by Eni, do not compete with the food chain.
They are grown in degraded areas, harvested from wild trees or are derived from the enhancement of agricultural by-products.
In addition to the country’s agri-feedstocks, whose production will reach 2,500 tonnes of oil by the end of 2022 and 20,000 tonnes by 2023, there is also the collection of waste and residues, including used vegetable oil, collected in Kenya.
The first shipments are on their way to Italy and up to 5,000 tonnes are expected to have arrived by 2023.
In 2014, the biorefinery in Porto Marghera, Venice became the first example in the world of converting an oil refinery into a biorefinery, and today Eni is the first energy major to build a vertical integration model for the supply of its plants, enabling it to promote more sustainable local development in Africa.
Eni’s biorefineries produce hydrogenated HVO biofuels which are destined, either purely or in blended form, for diesel engines, biodiesel for the chemical supply chain, biogpl and biojet for air transport.
Although he has not clearly stated it, President Akufo-Addo has, however, given a roadmap on the possibility of taking action on a demand made on him by some Members of Parliament.
The call by the 80 New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, was for the president to sack the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
As surprising as the news has been, particularly since the minister is a member of their party and this is the first time any such thing has happened in the country, it has already brought up suggestions on who could take over as the country’s finance minister.
In an earlier GhanaWeb story, three names have come up for the job: Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah, Professor Gyan Baffour, and Kwame Pianim.
GhanaWeb further places the spotlight on these individuals to understand what they bring to the job, in the instance that they get it.
Below is a profile of Professor Gyan Baffour:
Prof George Yaw Gyan Baffour is currently the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission and Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Finance.
He is a former Member of Parliament who represented the Wenchi Constituency from 2005 to 2021. He was a professor at Howard University in Washington DC from 1993 to 2021.
He is an economist, a banker and an insurer.
Being an economist, Professor George Gyan Baffour has mainly sat on parliamentary committees that relate to his field, which include the Special Budget Committee, the Education Committee, and the Poverty Reduction Committee, and he was once the Acting Chair of the Special Budget Committee.
The ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor appointed Prof George Gyan Baffour as the Director General of the National Development Planning Commission in 2002. It was during his time that he established the first system for overseeing and assessing the rate of national development.
He oversaw the development of the coordinated program for the Economic and Social Development of Ghana.
Prof George Gyan Baffour is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Ghana. He was a member of various boards, including the Bank of Ghana (2005-2008), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) from 2003 to 2005.
He has a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a post-Doctorate Diploma from Harvard University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Bsc (Hons) in Economics from the University.
Prof George Gyan Baffour is currently a Senior Policy Advisor to the Finance Minister, focusing mainly on Sustainable Development Goals and climate change mitigation financing.
He is the UN Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data Ambassador in the UN’s SUN movement focal person for Ghana and Executive Committee Excom Member representing Central and Eastern Africa.
He was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana in March 2005. As a Minister For Planning, he was the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on SDGs.
President Akufo-Addo has pleaded with some MPs of his party, who are demanding Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta‘s exit, to give his cousin some respite so he concludes the ongoing bailout talks with the IMF.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has pleaded with some MPs of his party, who are demanding Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s exit, to give his cousin some respite so he concludes the ongoing bailout talks with the IMF, which are likely to be concluded in about a month.
Reports trickling in from the presidency say that the president tabled the plea when he met the angry MPs over their demand at the Jubilee House on Tuesday evening.
Ghana is seeking a $3-billion extended credit facility from the Brettom Woods institution to restore her ailing eceonomy to good fortunes.
The majority caucus gave the president an ultimatum to dismiss Mr Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, or they will boycott the 2023 budget hearing and other government businesses on the floor of parliament.
The caucus, led by spokesperson Andy Appiah Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North, issued the ultimatum within the precincts of parliament on Tuesday, 25 October 2022 when the house resumed sitting after a long recess.
He told the parliamentary press corps: “We are members of the majority caucus of the parliament of Ghana and we, here so, present; represent a greater number of the said caucus.”
“My name is Andy Appiah Kubi and I am only here as the spokesperson for the majority group – without more”, he caveated.
Mr Appiah-Kubi continued: “We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflict of interest, lack of confidence [and] trust against the leadership of our finance ministry”, however, “the recent developments within our economy are of great concern to the greater majority of the members of our caucus and our constituents.”
“We have made our grave concerns [known] to the president through the parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response,” he revealed.
“We are, by this medium, communicating our strong desire that the president change the minister of finance and the minister of state at the finance ministry, without further delay, to restore hope to the financial sector and reverse the downward trend in the growth of the economy”, the group demanded.
“The summary of our concerns lead to a plea that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, be removed from office. We pray that this prayer would be carried to the presidency.”
The caucus then threatened: “Meanwhile, we want to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that until such persons, as aforementioned, are made to resign or removed from office, we, members of the majority caucus here in parliament, will not participate in any business of the government by or for the president by any other minister.”
“We hope that those of us at the backbench and members of the majority caucus will abide by this prayer,” the group added.
“We are saying that if our request is not responded to positively, we will not be present for the budget hearing nor will we participate in the debate”, Mr Appiah-Kubi stressed.
Also, the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has demanded that President Akufo-Addo reassign Mr Ofori-Atta and Mr Adu-Boahen if he cannot dismiss them.
The pro-government pressure group said in a press statement that the two ministers are to blame for the poor performance of the Ghana cedi in relation to other international trade currencies.
“The Minister of Finance and the Minister of State at the Ministry, Ken Ofori Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, must be reassigned,” the group demanded.
AFAG’s demand comes a few days after media personality and comic Kwaku Sintim-Misa, alias KSM, asked Mr Ofori-Atta to resign.
He said this in a tweet where he claimed to be giving advice to Mr Ofori-Atta.
Again in the tweet, the award-winning comic posited that President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is cousins with Ken Ofori-Atta, has no desire to sack him from his office for a more competent person to assume it, even though it is the best for Ghana’s ailing economy.
“Advice to Ken Ofori-Atta. Bra [brother] Ken, it is obvious the President cannot and will not fire you,” Mr Sintim-Misa began. “Please do him and Ghana a favour and respectfully resign for a competent financial manager to take charge,” he advised.
According to the TV show host, the resignation of the Finance Minister will be followed by restored confidence in Ghana’s economic recovery.
“I am sure that the financial markets will react positively to the news,” is how he put it.
Also, another entertainment personality, Lydia Forson, recently said: “It makes absolutely no sense that Ken Ofori-Atta is still the finance minister,” and queried: “How?” “He’s lost the confidence of the people!” she argued.
The clamour for Mr Ofori-Atta’s head come on the back of the cedi’s very poor performance against the US dollar.
Bloomberg has named the Ghana cedi as the worst-performing currency in the world.
At the time of KSM and Lydia Forson’s tweets, one needed more than 15 cedis to obtain a dollarin Accra, the capital of Ghana. Recently, the United Kingdom’s Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked and subsequently their Prime Minister, Liz Truss, also resigned.
A section of the Ghanaian public have asked why this is not common in Ghana.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, last week, said Mr Ofori-Atta has
been an excellent handler of the Ghanaian economy and, thus, sees no reason to sack him as being clamoured for by his critics.
Speaking to OTEC FM in the Ashanti Region on the first day of his four-day official working tour of that part of Ghana, Mr Akufo-Addo parried criticisms that his cousin is to blame for Ghana’s return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help since he mismanaged the economy. The president said he takes full responsibility for Ghana’s return to the IMF since he took the decision as the head of state.
He argued that the same Ofori-Atta was able to manage an IMF-programmed economy that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) inherited in 2017 to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with an average annual growth rate of 7%.
The president, thus, wondered, how he could cut ties with Mr Ofori-Atta as finance minister.
The president said he has a lot of difficulty understanding the clamour for Mr Ofori-Atta’s exit, since, he noted, even the IMF confirmed that the causes of the current economic situation in Ghana are global in nature rather than a result of internal mismanagement. “It is very easy for people to say we went back to the IMF due to mismanagement of the economy. I do not accept that criticism because the reasons why we got into the situation we find ourselves has very little to do with us. In fact, the IMF confirmed it.”
Actor, politician and farmer John Dumelo has called for value addition in Ghana’s agric sector.
In his view, that is the way to go in order to make the local farmer competitive.
Speaking during the 3business agribusiness dialogue on Wednesday, October 26, he said “We have to look at adding value to our produce and also post-harvest losses.
“Most cocoa farmers haven’t tasted chocolate before yet we are the net exporter of cocoa.”
During the event, the 2018 National Best Farmer, James Boateng said Ghana needs to scale up its agricultural production.
He said there was a need to apply technology to scale up production.
He said “we are not even applying the little technology that we have.
“I don’t know why we can’t grow tomatoes and onions in Ghana to the extent that we buy from Burkina Faso. We have issues with logistics.”
He added “We need to look at our inputs. Ghana 2019 did quite well in terms of the provision of inputs and in turn, our maize production increased.”
For its part, former Managing Director of the Stanbic Bank, Naa Alhassan Andani observed that the agric sector of the Ghanaian economy and other parts of Africa has been exposed by global happenings.
He indicated that Ghanaians consume more than they produce locally. This means a lot more foreign exchange earnings is required to bring in additional food supplies to feed the people.
When the exchange rate is affected, he said, it means food supply is heavily affected thereby creating difficulties for Ghanaians.
“This event could not be happening at a better time and I hope our panellist will elevate the conversation to the level of state and to the level of global coordination.
“Agriculture is probably one gifted industry to Ghana, to Africa, not all of Africa, Ghana, . When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you.
“On this one in agriculture the fundamentals are that everything we consume in this country, we consume more of our agricultural product in this country than we produce. Therefore for the surplus that you consume you have to bring from outside.
“What do you need? You need foreign exchange and when the foreign exchange is not there the fundamentals will expose you. So I think today’s Ghana and the world economy has exposed us in terms of the way we are organized in our agricultural sector.”
Former Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Naa Alhassan Andani has called for the consumption of locally produced foods.
He further explained to be able to produce sufficient foods locally, the government needs to put in place the right infrastructure in the agric sector.
The infrastructure he said, should include storage facilities and water systems to ensure year-long farming
“solid infrastructure, storage system, water system, all of it have to be there. when I talk about infrastructure, I am not just talking about physical but scientific and market infrastructure,” he said.
He further indicated that “let us consume what we produce, that is number defender.”
He further observed that the agric sector of the Ghanaian economy and other parts of Africa has been exposed by global happenings.
He indicated that Ghanaians consume more than they produce locally. This means a lot more foreign exchange earnings are required to bring in additional food supplies to feed the people.
When the exchange rate is affected, he said, it means food supply is heavily affected thereby creating difficulties for Ghanaians.
“This event could not be happening at a better time and I hope our panelists will elevate the conversation to the level of state and to the level of global coordination.
“Agriculture is probably one gifted industry to Ghana, to Africa, not all of Africa, Ghana, When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you.
“On this one in agriculture the fundamentals are that everything we consume in this country, we consume more of our agricultural product in this country than we produce. Therefore for the surplus that you consume you have to bring from outside.
“What do you need? You need foreign exchange and when the foreign exchange is not there the fundamentals will expose you. So I think today’s Ghana and the world economy has exposed us in terms of the way we are organized in our agricultural sector.”
38-year-old sex worker, Ama Serwaa, has disclosed that out of 24 friends who travelled to Accra to work, only three are still alive.
In a chat on Ghetto Life Story on SVTV Africa, Ama Serwaa mentioned that she came to the capital 22 years ago as a 16-year-old but only engaged in sex work two years ago.
She revealed that 23 other females who came from her hometown to work in Accra are now deceased. Speaking on the dangers of working as a prostitute, Ama Serwaa disclosed that life in the ghetto itself is a risk.
“Some offer Ghs500 to Ghs1000 and you would go because you need the money but it may be dirty money. I won’t go because 21 of us have died.
“Twenty-four of us came to work here and only three of us are left. Some were prostitutes; they had infections and died. Some were thieves, and others smoked and died from hunger,” she said.
The 38-year-old mother of one added that she left her uncle’s house due to mistreatment and has been on the streets for the past 17 years. According to Serwaa, she was knocked down by a car while selling in traffic for a few years.
“I sold pure water and worked as a bus conductor until I started sex work two years ago. My boss sacked me. I was jobless for three years until a friend introduced me to it, but I want to stop because it’s not helping,” she told DJ Nyaami.
Ama advised the youth to be cautious of friends because they can be their downfall or their salvation.
Former Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has advised President Akufo-Addo to listen to the call by some NPP members of parliament to dismiss Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to him, if the concerns of these people are ignored, it could affect the democratic stability of the country.
Speaking on Ade Akye Abia on Okay FM, he said he must consider the call of the NPP MPs as this has never happened in the history of Ghana politics.
“Mr president, we have learnt history; we know history. But, Mr President, in the supreme interest of our tradition, multiparty democracy, please listen to the MPs. You are in a country you don’t take chances when issues of politics are popping up.
“We are in a continent where a small issue can escalate. This is not NPP and NDC issue. This is a national issue which goes down to the stability of western democracy. This has never happened in the country’s history,” he said.
Some Members of Parliament in the majority have threatened to boycott the 2023 budget presentation and debate if the finance minister is not relieved of his post.
The MPs explained that their position follows several concerns over the poor management of the economy, which has forced the government to seek IMF assistance.
“We have had occasions to defend allegations of conflicts of interest, lack of confidence, and trust against the leadership of the Finance ministry. The recent development within our economy is of great concern to the greater majority of members of our caucus and our constituents.
“We have made our great concern to the president through our parliamentary leadership and the leadership of the party without any positive response. We are by this medium communicating our strong desire that the president changes the Minister of Finance and the Minister of state in the Finance Ministry without further delay in order to restore hope in our financial sector and reverse the downwards trend in the growth of the economy,” Andy Appiah Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North, who spoke on behalf of the MPs said at a press conference.
Going into the finals of the 2022 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ), all finalists have each had a taste of the victory they all once again seek.
Whether in many years past, or very recently, each of these three boys schools have another opportunity to prove to the rest of the country why they deserve the bragging rights they so yearn for.
And already, there are those who are seeking to further upset their contenders, or, for others, get another feather in their caps through this victory and make a statement that they are not in this to play.
Besides, this competition is one that, far beyond the schools, is a bragging right for three major regions of the country: the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Central Regions.
PRESEC Legon
Currently the school to have won the NSMQ the most times since it started in 1994, PRESEC looks to win the competition for the 7th time.
The last time it won the competition was in 2020.
All the other times it has won the competition have been in 1995, 2003 2006, 2008, and 2009.
Prempeh College
The next closest contender in tally is the Prempeh College.
This school was the first winner of the NSMQ in 1994 and are currently the reigning champions.
The Kumasi-based school looks to retain its position as the current title-holders.
Should they win, it would bring the number of times they have won to 5, matching up the number of their closest contenders, PRESEC-Legon.
All the other times the school has won the NSMQ have been in 1996, 2015, and 2017.
Adisadel College
The least victorious school in the 2022 finals of the National Science and Maths Quiz the Cape Coast-based all boys school, Adisadel College.
Having won the competition only once in 2016, the school hopes to have another bragging right from winning this contest.
Regardless of that, the school has been at the finals five times in the history of the competition.
Beating both PRESEC and Prempeh College would be a slaying statement for the school should this happen.
Below is the full list of all the winners of the NSMQ since 1994:
1994 – Prempeh College
1995 – PRESEC–Legon
1996 – Prempeh College
1997 – Opoku Ware Senior High School
1998 – Achimota School
1999 – Mfantsipim School
2000 – St Peter’s Senior High School
2001 – Pope John Senior High School
2002 – Opoku Ware Senior High School
2003 – PRESEC–Legon
2004 – Achimota School
2005 – St Peter’s Senior High School
2006 – PRESEC–Legon
2007 – St Augustine’s College
2008 – PRESEC–Legon
2009 – PRESEC–Legon
2010 no competition was held
2011 no competition was held
2012 – Ghana Secondary Technical School
2013 – St Thomas Aquinas
2014 – Mfantsipim School
2015 – Prempeh College
2016 – Adisadel College
2017 – Prempeh College
2018 – St Peter’s Senior High School
2019 – St. Augustine’s College
2020 – PRESEC–Legon
2021 – Prempeh College
An economist, Dr Sam Ankrah, has said the markets will respond favourably towards the economy if the President heeds calls to remove the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta. According to him, the economy was in dire strait and needed one who will inspire confidence and command the respect of the international community to restore the economy to its former glory.
Dr Ankrah was reacting to calls by some members of Parliament of the ruling New patriotic Party (NPP) who held a news conference a few hours ago to demand the removal of the Finance Minister from office.
The latest development comes amidst growing pressure from all sources for Mr Ofori-Atta to either step aside or face a sack from the President.
Dr Ankrah said the current developments in the economy and the reactions of the markets demonstrates a lack of confidence in the Finance Minister and noted that, if the President responds to the call, his action will restore confidence and the aftermath will be in the interest of the country.
“Let us remember that we play a key role in the international markets and therefore, any move that gives confidence will result in an action. That is what the markets are waiting to see,” he said.
Economy in Q3
The local currency, the cedi, suffered a steep decline in value against the world’s major currencies in the third quarter of the year.
It depreciated against the US dollar, the British pound, and the Euro by 37.5 per cent, 24.1 per cent, and 27.5 per cent respectively on a year-to-date (YTD) basis as of September.
Headline inflation rate accelerated to 37.2 per cent at the end of September 2022 compared to 29.8 per cent at the end of June 2022.
Food and non-food inflation for the end of September 2022 were 37.8 per cent and 36.8 per cent respectively, as compared to that of June 2022 which were 30.7 per cent and 29.1 per cent respectively.
These developments have created unbearable hardship for business leading to retrenchments due to high cost of operations. On the individual side, the developments have heavily eroded their disposable income making life unbearable.
Meanwhile, the country and the international community awaits what the President’s response will be after meeting various interest groups in an attempt to find solutions to the disturbing economic phenomenon.
As the country’s economy continues to struggle and the cedi rapidly depreciates now might be the time to consider active local participation in the country’s extractive sector.
The Ghana mine workers union believes this is critical to checking the repatriation of funds from the country abroad which have contributed to the dire state of the country.
General secretary of the Ghana mine workers union, Abdul-Moomin Gbana stressed that increasing indigenous investment in the mining sector is critical to salvaging Ghana’s economy.
“If you look at the small-scale mining sector, you have about 80 per cent retention of receipts from mining, 20 to 25 per cent can go out for capital expenditure and other expenses and so clearly, if you look at the two algorithms then clearly, the small-scale mining is more beneficial”
“And so it means that if we increase our stake or if we are able to raise indigenous Ghanaians to participate actively in mining or the state increases its stake in these mining companies, what it does is the receipts that we generate will definitely come back into the Ghanaian shores and that we will be able to shore up our position as a country.” He added
The Ghana cedi for instance is facing tough times as it at some point last week traded at GHS15 to the dollar.
The local has depreciated significantly in recent months and at the beginning of the week, the cedi was noted as the world’s worst-performing currency.
That took its losses this year to more than 45 per cent.
The Ghana Union of Traders Associations GUTA for instance believes the challenge with the currency can partly be blamed on the repatriation of funds by multinationals in the country and has called for the regulation of their activities.
Mr Agbana spoke to Citi Business News on the sidelines of a workshop on the gold mining sector organized by Public Services International.
The two-day regional workshop on the gold mining sector was to identify tax incentive regimes in the sector and estimate the loss to domestic resource mobilization and, while learning from other experiences, provide information on the implication for resource sovereignty, public service development, jobs, and sustainable development.
The four destroyed chairs and other properties belonging to the Nana Abu Bonsra Primary School, which was the venue for the elections while the ballot was being counted.
Four persons who were arrested in connection with the disturbances that occurred during the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Constituency elections in Adansi North, have been convicted.
The four, Adjei Evans, Kingord Anku, Francis Amoah and Akwesi Aquah, were also fined GHS 6000 each, by the Bekwai Circuit court, or in default serve three months imprisonment when they appeared before the court, Tuesday, 25 October 2022.
The four destroyed chairs and other properties belonging to the Nana Abu Bonsra Primary School, which was the venue for the elections while the ballot was being counted.
