The MP, who had been called on Eyewitness News on Tuesday after a near-fight encounter with the Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs in Parliament, showed no remorse for his conduct, claiming that Okudzeto threw the first punch by tagging his government corrupt, following reports that some expatriates were made to pay between $25,000 and $100,000 to sit close to the President at an awards event.

The allegation was first made by Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak, who said it was inappropriate.

The Ministry later issued a statement explaining that, it was only a facilitator of the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards event, and that the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for organizing world class events, took the payments.

This was however disputed by the Minority in Parliament, who in a statement issued through Okudzeto Ablakwa, insisted that the Ministry’s own letter dated October 23, 2017, confirmed that it went beyond facilitation, to actually collect monies from the expatriates.

It said that letter also directed that interested expatriates were to direct their cheques to the accounts office of the Trade Ministry, although such monies were not accounted for by the Ministry

Mr. Ablakwa, who was addressing journalists at Parliament on the matter on Tuesday, was interrupted by the Deputy Trades Minister, who angrily rained insults on him, calling him a “liar” and a “thief” among others.

On Eyewitness News, Umaru Sanda first asked the Deputy Minister, if he did not find his choice of words and conduct dishonourable. He repeated his words, and said he stood by them.

He replied by saying“…Calling me corrupt and describing my person and my activity as corrupt. On the floor of parliament, it’s a different ball game. I will not allow anybody to denigrate myself or my ministry or my minister and just go scot-free. If you say that, I have to pay it back to you, especially when these people were in government, they just looking down upon everybody and calling our president names, this time we will not allow” he noted.

“A person like Okudzeto Ablakwa can never ever tag me as corrupt when he himself cannot account for some of his practices when he was in government. And I take serious exception to anybody trying to tag me in that manner. What was so unprintable of the language that I used? I did not say anything that was not true. He is a thief. He took money to go and do Campus Connect” he alleged.

When he was reminded that he could not call someone a thief publicly without evidence, he responded by saying “So calling somebody corrupt without having the basis to call him that is appropriate?”

When he was reminded that two wrongs don’t make a right and that he was not supposed to respond in that manner, the Deputy Minister said “I am not paying sin with sin, but it is high time we let these people understand that we are in power. They are not in power. When they were in power, they were doing anything that they wanted. Now at least we have to let them understand that no more, we will not take that thing from them anymore. Just understand me that anything that I said, I chose my words very carefully, and I think that I can stand by it.”

Asked whether it is his personal position or the position of the Majority side in Parliament to descend into the gutter with minority MPs, he said “I don’t think that’s what we want to do; we rather want to expose them where they are. We rather want to expose them in the gutter where they belong” he stated.

I didn’t insult him – Ablakwa insists

Also speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa said he never used any unprintable language on the MP to warrant the rather harsh reactions that came from him.

“We have put out a statement, and I haven’t said anything different from our statement we issued. I have been saying that, you cannot use the office of the President for profiteering; it is unethical and immoral. I have said as the position of the Minority that the fees and charges Act, has been breached. We have said that the sums that have been extorted should be refunded to the expatriates, and we have said that an apology is owed the people of Ghana, and if the President didn’t know about this scam, he deserves an apology because his name was used, where you pay 100,000 dollars to sit at his table. This is what I said today; and the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, a public official decides to descend on me”.

Carlos wanted to beat me – Ablakwa

According to him “He [Deputy Minister], was so furious and wanted to beat me. He was screaming and using very unprintable language. I mean for an honourable MP and a deputy Minister of state, this is how you think that you can present your side of the story if you think that the facts we are presenting are not right, is that how to go about it? To use insults to denigrate me when we have been engaged in a civil discourse on this matter? He’s seeking to claim provocation that he decided to descend into the gutter with me. Every Ghanaian has heard me, and I have been speaking on this matter, I was in no gutter. If he wants to create his gutter and swim in that gutter, he should do it” he opined.

Mr. Ablakwa expressed shock at the Deputy Minister’s reminder to him that, they [NPP] are in power, admonishing him to know that power is transient, and that he cannot abuse his office, when he is rather supposed to serve the citizenry.

“These are matters that we will leave it to the people of this country to judge. If you listened to him carefully, his mind-set is that, he must show us that they are now in power and we are in opposition. So it is just show of force and abuse of power. He should just remember that power is very transient; you will not be in power forever, so if you think that you are in power so you must denigrate, intimidate, insult and pour venom on your colleague who’s just doing his work as a Member of Parliament. Facts have come to our attention and we are putting it out”.

He reminded that the NPP of their days in opposition, and how critical they were of the then NDC government, saying “You did your work when you were in opposition. Remember when they had concerns about the Ford car scandal, what didn’t they say about Mahama? What didn’t they do? They summoned Parliament from recess, called Mahama incompetent, corrupt, declared the CHRAJ investigation bogus and all of that. Who insulted them? Who set out to beat them? Speak to the journalists in Parliament, he wanted to get physical, he wanted to beat me up. Does it have to come to that? He tried to beat me up, and I just had to walk away from him because of the respect I have for my constituents” he lamented.

God is my Judge – Ablakwa

Asked whether he may take up the matter further to seek redress, Ablakwa said “I am still thinking about it. I am normally someone who leaves matters into the hands of the Almighty. In my upbringing, I don’t believe that you should seek vengeance or try to pay people back or get people to account now. There are always ways by which the Almighty deals with these matters. So don’t be surprised if I don’t make much of it, and I will not also be intimidated” he noted.

I won’t apologize to Ablakwa – Carlos

Asked whether he would apologize to Okudzeto Ablakwa for his comments, Mr. Ahenkorah, who was still fuming after listening to Ablakwa on the other side of the telephone line on the show, insisted that “Ablakwa is a liar. I didn’t touch him. Of course, it’s the case that when I am arguing under pressure I have to shout. That doesn’t mean I am angry. Is he going to apologize to me? He is supposed to apologize to me for calling me corrupt. I was standing there when Okudzeto was raining insults calling us corrupt. If he apologizes to me, I will apologize to him. As I was saying, the Millennium Excellence Foundation has called him [Ablakwa], to tell him that they organized the programme, did the collection, raised the fund and everything, and yet he’s still going around peddling lies.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Dr Tom Catena, 53, a Catholic missionary from New York, received the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.

He has worked in Sudan for more than 10 years, during the ongoing war between the government and rebel fighters.

In his speech he urged the international community to help solve a dispute blocking humanitarian relief.

Dr Catena is the only permanent doctor in the Nuba Mountains, where fighting between President Omar al-Bashir’s government and rebels from the Sudanese

He has been praised for overcoming problems caused by outdated or missing medical equipment at the Mother of Mercy Catholic Hospital in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, all while dealing with victims of bombing.

“The Sudanese Government is embroiled in a disagreement with rebels over who delivers aid,” Dr Catena said.

“We have to inject a bit of common sense.”

Dr Catena told people attending the awards ceremony the state wants to control the passage of supplies.

“Opponents believe medicine delivered by the regime will sterilise their women and want goods from foreign donors conveyed from neighbouring South Sudan instead.”

He has been working in Sudan since 2007, treating shrapnel wounds, delivering babies and amputating limbs.

The doctor was handed his award by actor George Clooney, who said: “We all have a role in addressing these global challenges. We all have a responsibility, each of us individually.

“We have to be engaged.”

Other finalists for the award included a dentist who did his first operation on a victim of the Syria war by sending photos to more experienced doctors abroad, on social media.

Muhammad Darwish, 26, was one of only three medics left in Madaya, which was under siege.

“That conversation will stay with me forever,” he said.

“To be in a position where you have to let someone without proper training operate on your son, and for me to take up that responsibility of opening up a living, breathing man on the table, it just should not have to happen.”

The procedure was a success.

Fartuun Adan, a human rights worker based in Mogadishu, Somalia, was another finalist.

Her husband was killed in 1996 by warlords and since then she has worked to rehabilitate child soldiers.

She also established the first ever rape crisis centre in Mogadishu.

Finalist Jamila Afghani from Kabul has campaigned for religious leaders to engage on women’s rights.

She said: “When you educate a woman, you educate an entire family. Their learnings are shared.”

Meanwhile Dr Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has helped care for more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence in a country named the rape capital of the world.

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Source: BBC

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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Wednesday grilled officials of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and an auctioneer to the ministry for contravening the auction laws and auctioning 24 vehicles to staff of the ministry at ridiculously low prices.

The auctioneer, Alex Adjei, side-stepped all the laws governing the proper disposal of government vehicles and disposed off the vehicles, mostly double-cabin pickups, to the staff of the ministry and pocketed GHc33,203 as his 7% commission on the sale of the vehicles.

[contextly_sidebar id=”tXkXSeQsmZQczg69SCuJjNnHk6Jjp7Rl”]Some of the vehicles were auctioned for GHc1,000 each.

A Nissan Patrol S/W with registration number GV 1285 U was auctioned for GHc4,000.

A Nissan double cabin pick-up with registration number GV 1481 U, was also sold at GH¢2,000, while a Mitsubishi double cabin pick-up went for GH¢1,000.

A Galaxy motorcycle was sold at GH¢30.00, while FY motorcycle was also sold at GH¢50.00.

According to the performance audit report of the Auditor-General on the disposal of the unserviceable government vehicles, the auctioneer has been engaged with an appointment letter by the disposing entity, specifying the terms of reference which include publication of the auction in a newspaper of wide circulation, the period within which the auction should be carried out, the account into which the auction proceeds are to be paid, and the period of which the proceeds are to be paid.

“The auctioneer is given the list of vehicles and the prices at which they are to be sold. The auctioneer inspects the vehicles and advertises in a newspaper of wide circulation to get the general public informed on the sale of vehicles. On the date and time published in the newspapers for the auction, the auctioneer goes through the list of vehicles to be auctioned and informs the prospective buyers present on the vehicles available for sale.

“The auctioneer selects the vehicles one after the other and asks for bids from prospective buyers present and the vehicle is sold to the highest bidder,” the Auditor-General had said in the report.

According to the Auditor-General, all these things were not followed and above all, the vehicles were exclusively sold to employees at the ministry, which is contrary to Section 1.8 of the Guidelines for Disposal of Goods and Equipment.

It states that “In the interest of promoting fair dealing and openness, Procurement Entities must not sell assets to staff unless arising from a public competitive process.”

The Director of Agriculture Engineering Services Department of the ministry, George Brantuo and Alex Adjei, who were directly or indirectly involved in the sale of the vehicles, apologized profusely to the committee for not following the laid-down procedure in disposing of the said vehicles.

The auctioneer, whose demeanor and constant giggles to serious questions even angered most committee members, said that when he started the auctioning process, the vehicles had already been allocated to the staff of MoFA as well as the prices at which they were to be sold to them.

The auctioneer was also faulted for not paying the monies realized from the sale of the vehicles into government chest in time, and also for not paying withholding tax on the commission he got from the auction.

According to the committee, the auctioneer sold some of the vehicles in July 2013, and kept the money for more than one year before paying it into government chest.

There was an instance when the money was kept with him for more than 20 months.

The ranking member of the committee, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, suggested that since the auctioneer earned his commission without ‘working’ for it, he should be made to refund the money to the state while all the staff who bought the vehicles are made to pay interest on the money that should have been paid within a specified time to the government but reneged on it.

Mr Alex Adjei, however pleaded with the committee to have mercy on him and forgive him for the ‘mistake’ because he had learned his lesson and would not repeat such a mistake again in the discharge of his duties.

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Source: Daily Guide

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A statement released by the Controller and Accountant General, Seidu Kotomah, said “the Controller and Accountant General wishes to inform all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies that an amount of GHS 10,000.00 (ten thousand Ghana cedis) each has been transferred into the Sub Consolidated Fund (Sub CF) account of the assemblies.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”wa383oWRnkmMCGyhzdVtvc1HU4Oa6bGE”]It said the amount is to support the district assemblies to celebrate Ghana’s 60th Independence Anniversary.

The statement further asked management of the Assemblies to note that, the amount is “part of the outstanding disbursement of the District Assemblies Common Fund.”

“In view of the above, the District Assemblies’ Common Fund Administrator is being requested to deduct same amount from the outstanding payments of the Common Fund for each assembly before transferring the balance to them.”

The Ghanaian Business Community has started making some contributions for the upcoming event, which is to cost the country  some 20 million cedis, an amount lower than what had been used in previous celebrations.

The Government, which has promised a modest celebration says it is mindful of its promise to utilize the country’s funds judiciously, and will not allow wastage.

It has said that much of the funding for the celebration, part of which will be used  to construct some monumental projects as part of the anniversary, will come from corporate Ghana.

The Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) for instance, has donated 250,000 cedis to the Planning Committee of the event, a few days ago, whereas the Ghana Chamber of Mines has given two million cedis together with other contributions.

The contributions are geared towards supporting the activities of the committee for the celebrations.

GCNet explained that, the gesture was to demonstrate its patriotism and deepen its position as a leading public private partnership entity.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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This figure consists of registrations and membership renewals, undertaken by all NHIS district offices and registration centres across the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”5G5STKiMRECK97Bfe4uMPb6CEbYcbJ2U”]Deputy Director of Communications at the NHIA, Selorm Adonoo, who made this known said the NHIS has seen ample rise in its membership, and the public interest in the scheme keeps rising.

According to him, “an average of 40,000 people enroll onto the NHIS every day. 40,000 people coming through our offices every day, is quite a number. I think it is an indication of high public confidence in the NHIS. This explains why our registration centres and district offices are constantly packed with people, some of whom come very early in the morning so they can beat the high numbers,” Mr Adonoo mentioned.

According to Mr. Adonoo, the preoccupation of the NHIA is to ensure that, “the process of acquiring the NHIS card is more convenient than it is now.

“Ordinarily, it takes between 10 to 15 minutes to get a card when one sits behind the machine. However, due to the numbers, we are introducing innovations to make it more convenient. An example of what we are about to outdoor is the multiyear renewal, where NHIS members will have the option of enrolling for two to four years at a go, without having to come to the office yearly to renew their membership. This will be more cost effective, time saving and convenient for our members as they would save time and transportation cost to the office annually,” he assured.

Daily enrollment onto the NHIS in 2005, was just about 3,500, but Mr. Adonoo says comparing this to the 40,000 people a-day recorded currently, is evidence of the growing status of the scheme and its popularity.

Responding to issues about challenges facing the scheme, he said the NHIA like any institution, has its fair share of challenges.

He was however quick to add that, the existence of challenges rather strengthens the resolve of administrators of the scheme to keep finding solutions to issues that may arise in the implementation of programme.

The NHIS has been in full operation since 2005, and in September 2015, a comprehensive review of the scheme was commissioned by President John Mahama.

Industry players say this is the first time such a review has been instituted, and the process when completed, will among other things propose reforms that will re-position the scheme to better take on the challenges of the future.

Membership of the NHIS stood at 11.3 million in December 2015, from 1.3 million in 2005.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 40,000 people join NHIS daily – NHIA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.