According to Amissah-Arthur, the government must learn to weigh various forms of assistance and intervention, and reject those that are “too small that we are able to do ourselves.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”ebjmt2GqnUN84kmDGZbFGm3VvOoj3AZD”]Speaking in a Citi News interview, the economist and former Bank of Ghana Governor indicated that the New Patriotic Party government’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda is ambiguous and fails to indicate what exactly it means for the country’s development.

“Ghana Beyond Aid, but we are accepting a Microsoft computer…. So when is aid not aid?” he quizzed.

33-year-old Richard Appiah Akoto, an ICT pupil teacher at Betenase M/A Junior High School at Sekyedomase in the Ashanti Region, went viral on social media last month after he posted photos of himself improvising by drawing the entire Microsoft Word window on a blackboard to enable his pupil to understand how the software functions.

His story got to the attention of Microsoft and they promised to equip Owura Kwadwo’s school with a device and offer him the opportunity to undertake a free professional development program.

While most people are applauding Microsoft for the move, the former Vice President believes that the support is not one beyond the government, and proposed that the government provides the school with four computers.

He said, “I saw last week that there is a very creative teacher who had drawn the window [of MS Word] and was showing how a computer looks like. I heard that Microsoft has offered to provide him with a computer and so on… So culturally what are we saying, we accept it. ‘Ghana Beyond Aid, but we are accepting a Microsoft computer. There are many ways we should be able to say that no, this one is too small, that we are able to do it ourselves.”

“We [can] give the school some four computers….One for the teacher and for the children to also learn… But we accept the thing from Microsoft, but we are also going through the period of Ghana Beyond Aid, so when is aid not aid?,” he added.

While calling on the government to come clean on ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ concept, Amissah-Arthur said the government must provide timelines for the achievement of the agenda to make it measurable.

“It is good to have a policy, but you must also have a time-frame. That after 10 years, even if someone offers to pay for AIDS medicine, because we don’t have money, we will reject it because we have to pay on our own,” he said.

Ghana Beyond Aid: ‘We won’t say no to gifts’

But a Deputy Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said that the concept of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is beyond any government program hence cannot be timed.

He described it as a paradigm and an approach the government seeks to have imbibed in Ghanaians, especially those holding public office, to ensure that they work primarily towards mobilizing local resources for the country’s development needs and not be expectant of foreign support.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post If you don’t want ‘Aid’, reject Microsoft’s donation – Amissah-Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A Deputy Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who made the statement on the Eyewitness News on Thursday said the government had outlined major policy pillars to drive the agenda by ensuring that enough resources were generated locally to enable the government carry out all its major developmental programs.

[contextly_sidebar id=”2UmFM9GffmT7Ch9dzooS6R8EoozqK3Jl”]He said the government among other things was working to ensure value for money in all its spending in order to save money that could be invested into its developmental projects.

He added that other investments such as human capital and revenue mobilization through taxes, were part of the pillars the government was using to drive the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.

“The first operational pillar is in the area of revenue where we focus on getting adequate domestic resources mobilized so that we are able to have a bigger resource envelope as a first step to being capable to manage our own affairs… we are trying to very quickly close the tax to GDP gap. For a benchmark that should be about 20 to 25%, is currently about 15%. So what are the compliance measures that we roll out to close that gap so that we will be able to have adequate domestic resource mobilized, then we don’t need to resort to aid to fund the major things that matter to us as a country,” he said.

“We say that we want to get to a Ghana Beyond Aid, we want to get to that point where were are able to fund what that teacher is doing with domestic resources of our own,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo since assuming office has reiterated his resolve to grow the country’s economy from one of dependence on foreign aid to independence and ensuring its development using local resources.

Nana Akufo-Addo, who has on various national and international platforms emphasized his belief that Ghana, like many other African countries, is endowed with enormous resources to guarantee its growth, recently caught global attention when he made a strong case for his position at an event which had French President Emmanuel Macron as a guest.

But a section of the population have expressed concern over the ambiguity of the agenda, calling on the government to provide public clarification on it.

A former Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, also described it as a mere rhetoric since the government had not provided adequate information about it.

In a Citi News interview, he said, “I’m comfortable if ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is saying we will only borrow for capital investment and not recurrent obligation. But the problem has not been defined for me to understand it. It is just the rhetoric. It sounds nice, but what goes into it? People will support it, if they understand what the objective is. As at now, everybody is left to define it how he understands it, and then to decide to support it or to oppose it.”

But Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said, the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda’ is an approach the government seeks to imbibe in its work and not a one-time program.

“It means that we will get to the point where the things that Ghana determines to do, it can fund out of its resources and not depend on other persons. That does not mean, if somebody on his own volition opted to gift something to Ghana, Ghana will say no,” he said.

The deputy minister however noted that the government does not seek to add a timeframe to the agenda but wants it to lead to shift of government and public mindset geared towards seeking primarily to fund local projects from internal sources rather than plan them with foreign donations in mind.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghana Beyond Aid: ‘We won’t say no to gifts’ – Oppong Nkrumah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the government is yet to provide adequate information about the mantra, and this raises uncertainty about what exactly it seeks to achieve.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IKs0yw2TyL76MbG4uuDC3p4CnrimXvwX”]Speaking to Citi News, the economist said the mantra “has not been defined” for the understanding of the public to enable them to support it.

“I’m comfortable if ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is saying we will only borrow for capital investment and not recurrent obligation. But the problem has not been defined for me to understand it. It is just the rhetoric. It sounds nice, but what goes into it? People will support it, if they understand what the objective is. As at now, everybody is left to define it how he understands it, and then to decide to support it or to oppose it,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo since assuming office has reiterated his resolve to grow the country’s economy from one of dependence on foreign aid to independence, and ensuring its development using local resources.

Nana Akufo-Addo, who has on various national and international platforms emphasized his belief that Ghana, like many other African countries, is endowed with enormous resources to guarantee its growth, recently caught global attention when he made a strong case for his position at an event which had French President Emmanuel Macron as a guest.

The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, who is the head of the country’s economic management team, has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring all key government projects aimed at making the concept of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ a reality, but his predecessor, believes the government has not done enough to show it is serious about the concept.

Amissah Arthur insists that the government must provide timelines for the achievement of the policy to make it measurable.

“It is good to have a policy, but you must also have a time-frame. That after 10 years, even if someone offers to pay for AIDS medicine, because we don’t have money, we will reject it because we have to pay on our own,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Akufo-Addo’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ mere rhetoric – Amissah Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amissah Arthur said he was disappointed the President failed to spell out plans of empowering law enforcement agencies who will deal with persons creating fear and panic in the name of politics.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FLC4lnakbJpDWyVDkfiasCoKZo5bugkW”]“He speaks very well but there was very little content. The worry of most people is insecurity. I thought he was going to empower law enforcement agencies to deal with political party youth who are creating fear and uncertainty but he did not.”

Although the President had indicated in his address that government was allocating some GHC 800 million to the Ghana Police Service to ensure an improvement in its operations, the Vice President said that was not enough.

Nana Addo also spoke about political vigilantism, and asked the police to carry out their duties effectively, by arresting culprits without fear or favour.

“Retooling them is not empowering them against political vigilantism. That is the fear most people have. The law enforcement agencies themselves are worried about the role that these people are playing in this country and I did not hear anything like that” Amissah-Arthur said.

Nana Addo delivered ‘State of promises’ – Haruna Iddrisu

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, also described the address as ‘State of Promises’.

On the back of the Minority Leader’s comment, Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, told Citi News the President’s address was more of a campaign speech, adding that all the president did was talk about what he is going to do instead of what his outfit had done so far.

“Virtually, he was just talking as if he was on a campaign trail, still making promises. Instead of him telling us exactly what he has been able to do in 2017. The President wasted all the time talking about what he was going to do,” he said.

Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu, in reaction to Muntaka’s claims however said once they are in opposition, the Minority will never be satisfied with government’s efforts at developing the country.

“It is typical that in opposition you have to rubbish everything that is right under your nose. Even he [Muntaka Mubarak] would have to admit that the improvements in the indices as indicated by the President are remarkable. You will marvel at it and so I am not surprised that he is saying he heard nothing,” she said.

She challenged some of the information put out by the Chief Whip, saying they were inaccurate.

“Unfortunately, all the facts that he claims he has put out are nonfactual and are bombs, and I challenge you to do a fact check,” she said.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo’s SOTN address had ‘little content’ – Amissah-Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the party in its current state is disorganized, and that they need a strong reorganization and not a battle for positions.

“We are not there yet, why are people so interested in candidacy and leadership? We are reorganizing the party to make it stronger, to make it a voice that reflects the mode of the people. So I don’t think that it is time for leadership yet because the leader will come from a reorganized party, not a leader imposed on a party that is disorganized.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”w2FmayTilA0LleeRicim33qtj303td6g”]He added that “a reorganized strong party at the branch level will elect the leader that represents the best interest of our country.”

The former Vice president made the remark after he and his wife, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, made some donations to Children on admission at the Ho Regional and Municipal hospitals in the Volta Region last Monday.

Mahama to face stiff opposition in NDC flagbearership slot

Mr. Amissah-Arthur, who was Vice President and then running mate to John Dramani Mahama were defeated in the December 2016 general elections.

Barely a year after the historic defeat, a number of high profile members of the NDC have announced their intentions of vying for the flagbearership position.

Former boss of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, former Trades and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon Nii Amasah Namoale, Member of Parliament for Nadoli Kaleo, Alban Bagbin and Stephen Atubiga, have all expressed their intentions in leading the NDC in the 2020 elections.

The new entrant to have joined the race is a former Deputy Finance Minister, and NDC Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South, Kwaku Rickets-Hagan, who said the decision was not “taken lightly.”

“It’s not a decision that I took yesterday or last week,” he said in a Citi News interview.

The former Central Regional Minister added that, despite the fact that a number of persons have already announced their intention to contest for the position, he had taken a number of things into consideration before making a decision.

I’ve no problem with those interested in 2020 – Mahama

Despite the number of NDC members wanting to lead the party, former President John Mahama appears unperturbed about the opposition he is likely to face in the party’s presidential primaries if he decides to contest.

He said he has no problem with the candidates who have so far declared their intentions of leading the party in the next presidential election.

“I have no problem with any of my colleagues who have expressed interest in leading this great party. Let us not attack anyone because whoever is elected to lead us to victory 2020, will need the support of each and everyone,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post NDC needs reorganization now, not flagbearer – Amissah-Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“I think that quite a number of people are disappointed as to where this country is being taken,” he said while speaking to a section of the media in Ho in the Volta Region last Monday.

The former Vice president made the remark after he together with his wife, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, made some donations to Children on admission at the Ho Regional and Municipal hospitals.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Bu2IUyyflfqGlDLoKVTELtqCeF6spGFJ”]Mr. Amissah-Arthur, who was Vice President and then running to John Dramani Mahama on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress [NDC], were defeated in the December 2016 general elections.

He has since then been quiet on the political events after he was on many occasions jabbed by then running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with some 170 questions on the economy during Mahama’s presidency.

Ranking the NPP government’s one year in office, Amissah-Arthur said “The [NPP] government could have done better, that is what we are hoping for in the coming years.”

He said the NDC party is currently analyzing why it lost to the NPP government, while strategizing for a massive comeback.

He said they are “analyzing what we could have done better looking at the national situation and deciding how we can move this nation forward. So that is what we are spending our time doing. Critically looking at policies, programmes that will move this country from where it is. I think that quite a number of people are disappointed as to where this country is being taken, and we are looking for an alternative that will provide better results. So that is what we are spending our time doing,” he added.

Free SHS implementation ‘very poor’ – Amissah-Arthur

The former Vice President also took a swipe at the Akufo-Addo government over what he described as the haphazard nature in which the free Senior High School policy was implemented.

According to him, the policy was not well thought through, and was rushed by the NPP government for political expediency.

“The way it’s being done, it’s a little haphazard in my view, and it doesn’t help because every parents want to provide the best education for their wards. So they should be less haphazard in a way,” he said.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Ghanaians are disappointed in NPP gov’t – Amissah-Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

His leave begins today, Friday, January 27, 2017.

A memo sighted by citifmonline.com, signed by the outgoing CEO, and copied to staff of the company, noted that the Director for Programmes and Engineering Department, Mr. Anthony Boye Osafo-Kissi, will be responsible for the running of Bui Power until a substantive CEO is named by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

“This is to inform all staff that I will be proceeding on my terminal leave from Friday 27th January 2017. While arranging to hand over to the President’s Representative as agreed with the Minister, the Director for Programmes and Engineering Department, Mr. Anthony Boye Osafo-Kissi, will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Authority,” the memo added.

Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, brother of former Vice President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has been the CEO of company since the era of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

So far, all the Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives, and heads of some government institutions have had their appointments terminated.

The head of COCOBOD and the National Petroleum Authority are among those that have been laid off.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Bui Power CEO on leave as his exit looms appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Amissah Arthur, who served with John Mahama from 2012 when the latter had to take up the Presidency post following the demise of President Evans Atta-Mills, euologized Mahama for his commitment to the transformation of Ghana.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, January 7, ahead of the swearing in of President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo, Mr. Amissah-Arthur  said, “it was brilliant working with him [Mahama].

Amissah-Arthur was until his service as Vice President, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

John Mahama and Kwesi Amissah Arthur were unanimously declared as the National Democratic Congress’ duo to contest for the December 2016 presidential elections.

They lost the elections to 3-time contestant and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumiah.

Mahama polled 44.4% of the valid votes cast, while Akufo-Addo polled 53.8% votes, representing a resounding victory for the NPP candidate, who set the record of being the first to unseat an incumbent President in a democratic election in Ghana’s history.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post I’m grateful to Mahama for opportunity to serve – Amissah Arthur appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This reflects about 43 percent increase from the amount previously paid to presidents. This was contained in the Presidential Emoluments Committee on the conditions of service of Article 71 office holders’ report available to citifmonline.com.

The Committee which is a creation of the 1992 Constitution was headed by Prof. Dora Francisca Edu- Buandoh of the University of Cape Coast with four other members.

The Prof. Dora Francisca Edu- Buandoh report was approved by Parliament after series of closed-door sessions before the house rose for the end of year holidays.

According to the report, the outgoing President, while on retirement will receive benefits such as state-provided staff not exceeding four (4) and a furnished and up-to-date office and communication equipment and staff support consisting of a cook, steward and gardener.

Mahama won’t get a house

Instead of going home with a fully furnished house in Accra and another location of his choice outside the capital, President Mahama will rather receive “40 percent of [his] salary to be paid monthly.”

This is a deviation from the Chinery-Hesse Committee Report (2001-2005) which said, former Presidents should receive “one fully furnished residence in the national capital and one out-of-capital residence at a location of the former President’s choice; all of which should not revert to the state in the event of the demise of the former President.” In the area of security, “the state will provide two security persons to be chosen by the former President from state security. Two vehicles for security.”

For transport, President Mahama will be given two vehicles, a chauffeur, maintained and comprehensively insured by the State and changed every four years for life.

For overseas official travel, the state will fully pay for all such trips with his spouse and two security persons.

The state will however, sponsor only two of such travels per year and those not exceeding two weeks in duration. President Mahama and his wife will also be entitled to free healthcare.

Other benefits include, the payment of utilities at his residence. The Chief Justice will also take home GH¢17,107 instead of the previous GH¢15,552 while the Speaker of Parliament, who receives GH¢16,174 will take home GH¢17,791.

Other Article 71 office holders including Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State, political appointees and some public servants will benefit from the 10% across board increase which takes retrospective effect from 2013.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The post Exclusive: Mahama’s retirement package appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The second family presented assorted items and gifts including bags of rice, cooking oil, beverages, drinks, fruits and biscuits to the children’s ward, female ward as well as the hospital staff.

The Second Lady, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur said the gesture was to show love to the children, the nursing mothers and the hospital staff for the care of the kids.

She commended the staff of the hospital for their attention and dedication to the patients at the children’s ward.

Dr Kennedy Brightson, the Medical Director of the Shai Osudoku District Hospital, expressed gratitude to Vice President Amissah-Arthur and wife, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur for coming to spend the Christmas with the patients.

Dr Brightson prayed for God’s blessing for the second family for the love that they showed to the patients of the hospital.

He also praised them for remembering the hospital and staff as well as helping to put smiles to the faces of the children at the Hospital.

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Source: GNA

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