I'M THE COACH - MAHAMA

President Mahama

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

President John Dramani Mahama has asked Ghanaians especially the media to allow him to take decisions that affect the nation.

In what can be described as likening himself to a football coach, President Mahama said “I am the coach. You can express your opinion but you have to allow the coach to do his work.”

Answering specific question on whether there was an impending reshuffle in his cabinet, the President said “As a coach, you can change a player in the 5^th minute, during halftime or even in the 90^th minute. That is a decision for a coach to take,” to the excitement of his numerous ministers who had gathered to listen his encounter with journalists at the Flagstaff House, Accra, to mark the 1^st Anniversary on his election.

Mediocre Ministers

The President in recent times has be criticized across board for appointing ministers some of whom are seen as ‘mediocre’ and part of the criticisms had come from  his own party, the National Democratic Congress.

The President said he had the mandate to appoint people he thought would help him deliver on his promise.

He denied that he was having strained relationship with his party’s executives saying “We may have our own criticisms but we are working together.”

“Some of our members have criticized me in recent times but I take the constructive criticisms and work with them.”

Victoria Hammah

On the sacking of Victoria Hamah, a deputy Minister of Communications whose secret recordings shook the foundations of the government, compelling the President to relive her of her position, Mr. Mahama said appeared to tell the people of Ghana that he did not owe anybody explanation for the decision taken.

He said he had given the youth and women opportunity to serve in his government adding “I have the privilege to appoint and fire so I have taken the responsibility for it.

Corruption Fight

In spite of numerous allegations of corruption going on in the country, President Mahama said “I am not afraid to crack the whip. If it is necessary to do so I would not hesitate.”

He said he prefers to tighten the administrative loopholes that allowed public officials to dip their hands into the national purse saying “I do not have any qualms when it comes to fighting corruption.”

He said corruption amounted to “mass murder” since it deprived the government of all the resources needed to improve the living conditions of the people.

He said there was no use turning corruption into a political battle and added that “I do not believe in that.”

President Mahama said the fact that culprits of alleged corruption were walking on the streets did not mean the government was not working and said  the Attorney-General and EOCO were busily pursuing GYEEDA and SADA issues and very soon Ghananains would “see action.”

Election Shock

He repeated that he was ‘surprised’ to see the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) head to court over the 2012 general election because “I thought it was the cleanest election we have had.”

“I thought it was a joke. I thought it was the usual grand standing but I later realized it was becoming aggressive (anibere asem).”

He repeated that the election petition delayed a lot of investments since every investor was waiting to see what would happen to Ghana after the declaration of the court’s verdict.

Campaign Promises

He said that those eager to see the performance of the government should wait till 2016 when his term of office was coming to an end.

“I do not know why I should be in a hurry. I have a 4-year mandate. In 2016, go around and see whether I have delivered or not.”

State of the nation address

He said justified his state-of-the-nation address he delivered from far-away Dubai where he was on holidays in spite of the fact that his vice Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was in the country.

“New Year message is a privilege reserved for the President. That one is normally not delegated.”

Meeting Political Figures

He said he did not fulfill his promise to bring all political figures together for national unity because, “the same people whom I was going to meet and have a cut of tea had taken me to court.”

MAHAMA PROMISES BETTER TIMES

Economic hardship abounds in Ghana

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

In spite of the economic hardship in Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama says “2014 will mark the new transformation of Ghana.”

Currently, the government, through the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has increased utility tariffs, which is negatively affecting the creation of jobs.

The Value Added Tax has been upped by 2.5 percent while other tax components have been increased but the President is ‘upbeat’ about prospects for 2014.

Addressing journalists at the Flagstaff House, Accra to mark the 1^st Anniversary of his inauguration as President, Mr Mahama said he had put in “solid” measures to ensure that 2014 becomes meaningful.

“For 2014, I’m very positive. I’m upbeat that it’s going to begin the transformation of our country. It’s going to mark the opening of new doors of opportunities for us...Governance is a difficult business. Difficult decisions need to be taken and the mark of leadership is to take difficult decisions when they need to be taken. And that’s what I’ve done."

Asked about the government’s plans to reduce the impact of the upward adjustment of tariffs and a possible freeze on wages of public sector workers on Ghanaians, President Mahama said that the decision was “not easy to take” but said it was in the best interest of the economy.

In trying to explain the upward adjustment in electricity tariffs, he said the government had to take some tough decisions because of the deficit in the energy sector.

“The government had to put in more energy generation but government does not have the investment to be able to do it and so we have to bring in the private sector to do it.”

Freebies

Urging the public to bit the bullet, the President said that “you cannot continue to subsidize. You cannot continue to give freebies when you don’t have the income to be able to support it. And so, that’s the challenge we’re faced with. 

We have a deficit. Our expenditure exceeds our income at the beginning of 2013 by 12%. We were spending more 12% of GDP every year than we earn. And so you need to balance out your expenditure and income…You must increase your income, and cut down expenditure.”

“If I could make energy cheap, I would do so. If I could give out free fuel to the general public, I would do so. Governance is a very difficult business but because we are taking good decisions, we are going to benefit in the long run.”

Energy Sector

The President said the government’s target of adding about 5,000 megawatts of energy to the national grid was attainable because of the abundant gas infrastructure, which would soon be completed.

“In the past there was no gas infrastructure and my predecessors had to rely on expensive crude oil to power the energy sector but once we have the infrastructure available, we have to make good use of it.”

Rail Transport

The President said, “It is my hope that this year we cut sod for the beginning of the reconstruction of the railways in this country.
 
He said due to the lack of infrastructure for railway transport, every cargo had to be transported via the roads and that affected the country’s limited road infrastructure.

“If you have to convey containers and there is a machine in the container that is heavier than the load limit, are you going to cut the machine in half and put half aside, you cannot do that…And so when these cargoes are carried on the roads they destroy the roads.
 
The President said government would focus on Western and Eastern corridor rail lines.

If the railways are reconstructed and the Boankra Inland Port in the Ashanti Region is activated, it would give importers from Burkina Faso and other areas easy access to pick their cargo instead of driving all the way to Tema.

He said the government had not abandoned its plans to create employment opportunities for the teaming youth, noting that the building of schools and roads and port expansion projects had been designed to provide employment for the people.

                                         

LET'S PRODUCE OWN ICT PRODUCTS

Dignitaries including the Education Minister after the opening ceremony

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Minister of Education Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang says she would be interested in learning how the country could reduce its status in the use of foreign ICT products.

“Some of us feel we have imported too many for teaching and learning and it is about time we moved beyond that. I will be interested in how we intend to reduce our status as consumers of products that we have had no hand in creating even as we push for the use of ICT.”

The minister was speaking on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama at the opening of the 65 Annual New Year School and Conference at the Great Hall University of Ghana in Accra yesterday.

The annual event which is held to find solutions to pressing national development issues was under the theme: “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - driven education for sustainable human development: Challenges and prospects.”

Prof. Opoku Agyemang said the Ghanaian public “is so interested in education that nearly everyone has an opinion on education,” adding “Most of the time these opinion are fully expressed in terms of which direction education should take.”

“Parents and guardians are so interested in education in Ghana that most go out of their way to make great investments in it and of course in expectation of outputs that they desire and this is how it should be.”

She said that “we have had so many intervention strategies that have worked,” and added that “What we need to do now is to move to making the management of education efficient, ensure adequate time on tasks, review and make curricular relevant, enhance teacher preparation and study, support community interests and enhance students commitment to learning.”

“Progress has been made at the basic level in terms of enrolment and retention, transition rates have improved. We need to expand access beyond this level, hence the determination to construct more schools.”

She said other initiative include a new public university, funding structures at the colleges of education, reviewing the existence and the status of the polytechnics.

The former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast said building of new schools has been carefully planned so that every district had a fair share of the distribution of state resources.

Prof. Jophus Anamoa-Mensah, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba who delivered the keynote address said education and skills development had become crucial in national development.

Giving statistics and copious quotations to explain the theme for the conference, he said currently, there was a what he called ‘silent academic revolution’ taking place and the transformation had been heightened by the deployment of ICT tools.

He went ahead to prescribe various solutions for the way forward for education, emphasizing the need for ICT to be the mainstay of national development agenda.

Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana said using ICT to harness human capital for accelerated development should not be underestimated.

He said Ghana needs a highly skilled workforce to promote development and added that through access to affordable and quality education, the country would be able to realize its dream.

He also said ICT has the potential to deal with a lot of the challenges associated with accelerated development.

Prof. Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, Director of Institute of Continuing and Distance Education of University of Ghana, hosts of the New Year School, said they have decided to review their programmes by working on broader topics that covers long periods.

He said this year’s focus would be on ICT and it is expected to run for the next five years, starting with the education sector.

Prof Justice S.K. Date-Bah, a recently retired Supreme Court judge who is also the Chairman of the University Council, chairing the programme said no society could afford to be left out of the ICT revolution at the moment.

Philip Sowah, Managing Director of Airtel, major sponsors of this year’s event said ICT is heavily influencing every aspect of human life and the company was taking advantage to support the government’s effort to make ICT the mainstay of development.

CHRISTIAN COUNCIL QUESTIONS MERCHANT BANK SALE

Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong - General Secretary of Christian Council

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, January 6, 2014

Hullabaloo surrounding the controversial circumstances of the sale of Merchant Bank Ghana Limited to Fortiz Equity Fund does not appear to end.

In what can be described as ‘an action too late’, the Christian Council of Ghana has asked the government to explain the reasons why the once vibrant financial institution was sold to Fortiz without providing adequate information to the public.

“The government / SSNIT should provide adequate information of what made selling a public asset like Merchant Bank a better deal for Ghanaians,” the council said in a communiqué it issued at the close of 2013.

The communiqué jointly signed by Rt. Rev. Francis Amenu and Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, Chairman and General Secretary respectively, specifically made the Merchant Bank issue a sub-topic for discussion apart from national issues such as road accidents, education, health, the environment, economy, corruption, electoral reforms, and the FDA versus Tobinco Pharmacy fracas.

According to the Christian Council, the government needs to explain what made Fortiz’ offer “better than that of the First Rand and others.”

“The government should explain to Ghanaians why it decided to go ahead to sell Merchant Bank to Fortiz Equity Fund despite the controversies surrounding the entire deal and the public outcry that came with it.”

The communiqué also urged political parties particularly the NDC and NPP to “stop the partisan manner in which they discuss the Merchant Bank sale in order to help the ordinary Ghanaian to appreciate the real issues about the sale.”

Electoral Reforms

The council also tasked the Electoral Commission (EC) to work closely with all stakeholders particularly political parties to “undertake to undertake electoral reforms, with inputs from the religious bodies among others.”

It said the EC should be able to prepare a voters register at the right time to enable the political parties to review and factor it into their election preparations.

The council also urged the EC to develop “a more structured and systematic recruitment and training of election officials and an appropriate regulations together with a code of conduct be developed  for all officials including the volunteers.”

It also asked the political parties to avoid the politicization of national effort towards reforming the electoral process and advised the media to make “deliberate efforts to reform its programmes and publications to avoid the polarization of the electoral system.

Tobinco vrs FDA

The council waded into the fracas between the regulator and the pharmaceutical giant, commending the Ministry of Health and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health for their efforts in intervening in the issue.

It however, said “the effort to resolve the issue should be hastened in order to restore the dwindling fortunes of Tobinco Pharmacy.”

The council also urged the FDA to use its offices to facilitate Tobinco and other related companies to become more viable to be able to compete with those in other parts of the world adding “we should take the necessary efforts to protect indigenous industries by helping them meet international quality standards.”

The council tasked Tobinco to ensure that it takes the necessary efforts to meet the required FDA regulations in the production and distribution of drugs and added that “the regulatory authorities should ensure that the necessary sanctions are applied objectively to any entity when they go contrary to applicable standards.”

Corruption

The communiqué asked the government to explain why it had not executed some of the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee and also investigate and prosecute officials involved in the misappropriation of over GH¢2billion by public officials as contained in the Auditor General’s Report.

It also asked the government to come clean on the status of its promise to retrieve monies wrongfully paid to Waterville and Isofoton as judgement debts and form contracts with SADA, GYEEDA and GRA.

It said the government’s decision to publish contracts above GH¢5million with recurring multiple budgets in the media was commendable and also commended the government for launching the Code of Ethics for Ministers of state and political appointees.

The communiqué urged the public to expose corrupt public officials and urged Christians to bring their Christian values to bear in their places of work.

Economy

The council said the current economic conditions is making it difficult for businesses to thrive and that had worsened the unemployment situation and poverty levels of the people.

“The Bank of Ghana, as matter of urgency, should take steps to reverse the depreciation of the cedi against the major trading currencies, such as the dollar.”

It tasked the government to strive to create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive through the provision of tax incentives and asking the banks to provide low interest loans.

Environment

The Christian Council again urged traditional leaders to partner the government to flush out miners whose activities continue to cause destruction to the environment.

It called for the streamlining of galamsey activites and tasked the assemblies to join the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement strategies to save the environment.

FRANKLIN CUDJOE QUITS SINGLE SPINE COMMITTEE

Franklin Cudjoe - IMANI Ghana

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Monday, December 23, 2013

Founding President & CEO of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has announced his resignation from the government’s committee on the sustainability of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP).

He cited “needless intervention” from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the committee’s work as his reason to quit.

In recent times, Mr. Cudjoe has been very vocal in his criticism of the government’s handling of the economy and other related government business especially the fight against corruption, a move that has ruffled the feathers of the government’s communication machinery who often respond to him in a likewise manner and tag him as an apologist of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr. Cudjoe, who has contributed significantly in shaping the country’s pension reforms, sent his resignation to the committee copied to its chairman Paul Victor Obeng, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations Nii Armah Ashittey and the CEO, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission George Smith-Graham.

The Decision
He said in the release: “I have taken this decision in the best interest of my personal convictions that whilst unfettered power is recipe for absolutism, all checks and balances within government must be orderly especially when professional jealousy, integrity and one’s ability to execute mandates are at stake.”

He said that he was invited by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to be a member of the 16-man committee following the successful National Forum on Single Spine Pay Policy held in Ho in August adding “I believe my invitation was due in part to the pre-implementation analysis of the predictable repercussions my think tank, IMANI did on the wholesale implementation of the pay policy.”

Mr. Cudjoe said that the terms of reference for the Post-Forum Implementation Committee on the SSP) were hinged on ‘’sustainability of the pay policy” and added that An important resolution reached at the National Forum on Single pine Pay Policy in Ho in August 2013, was that “Subvented agencies (of government) which can be on their own should be identified and weaned off government subvention without delay”

He said currently, there were over 130 of such agencies and counting and together with the CEO of the FWSC, the Lawyer for the Commission, two senior representatives of the Public Sector Reform, and a senior representative of the Ghana Employers Association, “we had began meeting the subvented agencies who were eager to discuss the modalities for a phased parting from government’s payroll.”

Subcommittee’s Work
He said the subcommittee had started meeting and engaging the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Forestry Commission, Food and Drugs Authority, Security and Exchange Commission, Vice-Chancellors, Polytechnics, Standards Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals among others.

Mr. Cudjoe said “unfortunately, the subcommittee has been asked by the Finance Ministry as communicated to the CEO of the FWSC that we stop our meetings until further directives are issued.”

“It may be possible that the Finance Ministry is concerned about compensation, possible retrenchment and unemployment that may result from the sub-committee’s work. However, we had our work cut out as we were guided by the Subvented Agencies Act, Act 706 and in particular by the urgency of reducing the wage bill.”

“I consider this intervention as needless; a usurpation of the authority of the Ministry of Employment Labour Relations, will crucially affect the successful completion of the sub-committee’s work and ultimately delay the much needed reforms to reduce the burden of the public workforce on the wage bill.”

He thanked P.V. Obeng, the Ministers of Employment and Labour Relations, Finance Ministry, the CEO and Staff of the FWSC and fellow Committee Members for their support and wished them success in the years ahead.

Recommendations
Nevertheless, Mr Cudjoe offered some tips to the government for a successful rationalization of wages and salaries to meet national productivity requirements that aligns with policy reforms that are urgently needed.

They include a total skills rationalization needed within the public service since he says the findings that 75% of all public sector workers are classified as semi-skilled and unskilled “is worrying.”

CLOGSAG CRIES OVER SABOTAGE

Isaac Bampoe-Addo, Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu
Monday, December 23, 2013

Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) has accused the government of allowing private companies to take over the functions of some state departments.

To add salt to injury, they said the private companies use facilities of the state as well as government workers to execute their contracts.

Isaac Bampoe-Addo, Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG made the complaint at the association’s Thanksgiving Day held in Accra on Friday to round off activities of the year.

“CLOGSAG has observed with dismay, the current practice of virtually allowing private companies to take over the legitimate functions of some state departments, while using their facilities and workers. This approach is really tantamount to giving a dog a bad name and hanging it.”

Mr. Bampoe-Addo also said that undue politicization of the service, intimidation of workers by political figures as well low key attention paid to the Public Sector Reforms Programme “are disturbing the structure of civil and local government services.”

He said for instance that the ‘proceed-on-leave’ situation without recourse to their conditions of service as well as the open declaration by some newly appointed politicians that they would not work with some members of the association was not helping matters.

Mr. Bampoe-Addo said some of their members had faced intimidation and had to endure extreme hardship.

He said the outsourcing of revenue collection to private companies without proper supervision and accountability had led to significant revenue losses.

“We believe in public-private partnership that enhances growth of public institutions but not the type that is collapsing public establishments, departments and agencies.”

CLOGSAG members praising God

CLOGSAG urged the government to take a sober reflection of the Public Sector Reform Programme and the benefits saying “if priority is given to the sector and the reforms are pursued it will serve as catalyst in the public private partnership being touted.”

Very Reverend Henry Ampaw-Asiedu, Superintendent Minister of the Kokomlemle Circuit of the Methodist Church of Ghana underscored the need for workers to “unlock” their potential for national development.

LGWU WANTS WORKERS ASSOCIATIONS CHECKED

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, December 23, 2013

The Local Government Workers Union (LGWU) has resolved to work patiently with the relevant institutions to conduct the labour survey as announced by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the 2014 budget to determine the right category of Ghanaian workers entitled to the market premium.

They therefore appealed to National Labour Commission, the Chief Labour Officer, to call to order, workers associations “which have changed their names as a ploy to lure members of the LGWU, to desist from that practice.”

A Christmas and New Year Message issued in Accra and signed by Godfred Nyarko Okyere, Deputy General Secretary of LGWU said “this is because that practices, if not checked, has the potential to create confrontation among labour organizations.”

According to, LGWU it had cause to bring to the attention of the relevant agencies certain action of Civil Servants Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG)   that created the impression that “it was the labour group mandated to organize employees of MMDAs and some departments.”

“The situation got to a stage where members of the LGWU were being forced to join strikes by CLOGSAG in the latter’s agitation to be paid the market premium.”

The LGWU commended the workers of the MMDAs for remaining resolute and focused in the wake of labour agitations in 2013, by some workers associations “including CLOGSAG which have tried to lure the union members to go on strikes to demand market premium.”

The union appealed to the government through the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, the Local Government Service Governing Council, the Civil Service Council, “to prevail on CLOGSAG to stay within its jurisdiction and organize workers who fall under the civil servant categorization.”

“The LGWU takes strong exception to the attempt by CLOGSAG to organize workers at the MMDAs as the association is fully aware that such category of workers come under the Local Government Service and therefore belong to the union. The LGWU says as a law abiding labour organization, it does not see itself going to organize employees of Ministries who are civil servants because it appreciates the fact that, that category of workers come under CLOGSAG.”

“The action by CLOGSAG has largely contributed to LGWU members having to suffer double deduction by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, which the leadership of the union has been working frantically to resolve. The union assures members that it has had fruitful deliberation with officials of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to tackle that problem once and for all hopefully in 2014.”

The LGWU also promised to ensure that its members at the MMDAs tasked with mobilizing revenue, take the necessary measures in 2014 to achieve the projected revenue target towards the execution of development projects and programmes.

“The leadership of the LGWU wishes to commend the patience and dedication to duty of Ghanaian workers, especially employees of the Metropolitan, Municipal, District Assemblies, MMDA’s for playing their respective roles in the national development agenda in 2013.”

In the view of the LGWU, the areas of revenue mobilization and improving sanitation are critical for the assemblies to continue to make qualitative impact on the lives of the people at the grass root level, adding “the LGWU notes that since the workers of MMDA’s are at the grass root level, any lapses on their part in discharging their duties can have dire consequences for development at the local level.”

JUDGEMENT DEBT BUILDING BURNT

Fire tenders in front of Old Parliament House

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, December 20, 2013

Old Parliament House, one of Ghana’s historical landmarks housing the Judgement Debt Commission has been completely destroyed by fire, rendering the place uninhabitable.

The building, located on the High Street Accra, also houses the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Economic and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO).

The huge fire is reported to have started inside the building at around 4am early hours of yesterday but what actually sparked the conflagration is still unknown even though the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) is on record to have arrived at the scene a few minutes after the outbreak.

The firefighters could not salvage any useful items from the inferno, at a time they are said to have been well resourced, as always trumpeted by the Fire Service Board Chairman, Amadu Sorogho.

Firemen had been helpless in recent fire outbreaks including market fires where little or nothing is salvaged.

The extent of damage has rendered the CHRAJ, some departments of EOCO and as well as the Judgement Debt Commission without offices.

This particular outbreak appeared to have ruffled the feathers of the security agencies as almost all heads of the various agencies were at the scene to lend moral support to the firefighters.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Matthew Quashie, Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Albert Brown Gaisie and Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Christian Tetteh Yohuno all trooped to the scene.

The chamber

Also visiting the scene were the Chief of Staff Prosper Douglas Kweku Bani, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, CHRAJ Commissioner Laureata Lamptey, Sole Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau and a host of other dignitaries.

Awaiting Disaster

Interestingly, even before the cause of the fire is made public, the warning signs had been there for a couple of years but nothing was done about them.

CHRAJ staff in particular have been complaining about faulty electrical gadgets and other obsolete equipment in the building without any official intervention.

For instance on two occasions including last Monday when the Sole Commissioner sat, smoke was detected in some of the offices within the building but it was hurriedly stopped to prevent a disaster.

GNFS Analysis

Mr. Gaisie said “we had a running call this morning at 4:01 from a security of this facility reporting that the Old Parliament House was on fire. We responded swiftly and realized that the fire was well alight so other reinforcement also came in from some stations.”

He said the GNFS brought nine appliances comprising four multi-purpose water tenders, two turn-table ladder tenders, three water tankers, and another tanker from the Human Security Office of the National Security headed by Gen Joseph Nunoo-Mensah as well as a tender from the Ghana Armed Forces.

“Operationally, our concern was to confine the fire and check it from spreading to the eastern and western periphery of the building. For now we are still conducting some salvaging to find out if some valuables are there.”

Mr. Gaisie said “we will not be able to tell you until we finish the full salvaging. Investigation is still ongoing together with the police and other relevant agencies. It will be premature now for us to tell you the exact cause of the fire.”

The chamber

Police View

Regional Commander CDOP Yohuno said “we got information about the fire outbreak at around 4am. Luckily for us we had most of our men on night patrols so they came in to cordon off the place.”

“Our intention was to provide security for the firefighters and also to prevent intruders from entering the scene.

He said they deployed more than 200 police officers together with Crime Scene officers to monitor the situation.

Military Concern

Chief of Defence Staff Vice Admiral Quashie said per the analysis of the GNFS “there are some cracks in the building so the building has to be assessed as to whether it is safe to go in so we are saying nobody should go in.”

He said “we are bringing the 48 Engineers to do proper assessment of the structural situation of the building before we issue our report.”

Attorney-General’s Promise

According to Mrs. Appiah-Oppong, the building houses three very important institutions: CHRAJ, EOCO and then Sole-Commissioner and they were going to make sure they resume work immediately.

“We are assuring the public that this is not going to affect the work of these three institutions. The Chief of Staff is here to make sure that whatever these institutions need to continue working almost immediately will be done,” she said.

Chief Of Staff

We have received briefings from the police, fire service, military and the AG. Investigations are ongoing. There is every confidence from the government that the anti-corruption drive will continue. The President and his vice have been briefed so I would ask that you continue with your media work and leave the investigations to the relevant authorities to a diligent work and at the appropriate time they will brief you.

Old Parliament House in ruins

Later, the Judgement Debt Commission issued a news release through its Public Relations Officer, George Dove saying the fire incident was ‘severe’; it was not going to affect the commission’s work.

He said the commission will relocate and the new location will be announced soon.

GROUP SUES US GROUP OF COMPANIES

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, September 20, 2013

About 21 clients of the US Group of Companies have filed a joint suit against the company at an Accra Fast Track High Court for allegedly failing to pay back money invested in the company.

The group, led by Alexander Obuobi, wants the court to recover a  sum of GH¢1,167,928.00 as the total indebtedness owed to the plaintiffs by the company.

The plaintiffs also want interest at the agreed default rate of 4 per cent per month, legal cost, damages and any  order that the court might deem it fit.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs said they were private individuals doing business with customers/clients of US Group of Companies.

According to the plaintiffs, the defendant has registered offices in the Volta, Eastern, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions and was engaged in tilapia farm projects, tilapia investments and money lending, among others.

The plaintiffs averred that the farming project of the defendant enabled it attract funds from clients who wished to invest in the Tilapia Project and the investment monies later invested or saved into an account of US Money Lending.

“On or about January 2012, the plaintiffs, acting on the strength of the defendant representatives and personal assurances of re-payment with exorbitant interests, invested money into the defendant’s group of companies and provided all the necessary documentations to the defendant personally to enable them profit from their various investments.”

They claimed that it was “expressly agreed or alternatively implied by the course of dealings between the parties that the defendant shall take steps to pay plaintiffs proceeds after the harvesting period, and also after the duration of the loan agreement either in bulk or individually.

According to the plaintiffs, the defendant had unfortunately made no efforts to settle its outstanding liability.

By the terms of the agreement, the plaintiff said cost of a full cage was GH¢6,000 and it covered the construction of the cage and stocking with 6000 fingerlings. It also provides that an investor who could not afford to purchase full cage could go for up to 1/25^th of the full cage and enjoy amazing profit margins.

The plaintiffs also claimed that the cost of feeding for the first 12 months was GH¢7,020.00 at the current feeding fee of GH¢780.00 per month and it added up to a total cost of GH¢13,020.00.

They said the above-mentioned amount “goes to cover maintenance and any other matters related to the cage and its content for the first years.”

According to the plaintiffs, after the first 12 months, harvesting will take place every six months implying that an investor will get double of the total amount they get in the first year.

The plaintiffs averred that by the terms of the investment contract with the defendant, it was agreed that plaintiffs should enjoy interests of between 96 and 120 per cent over six to 12 months period and a 4 per cent default interest per month on any amount outstanding.

They said that when payments were due, the company issued some of them cheques but they all bounced at the counter.

The plaintiffs averred that several attempts to get their money had proved futile and unless the court intervened, they might never get their money.

The defendant is yet to file their response to contest the case.