The Vice President, who on Saturday joined President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his three-day official tour of the Northern Region, was compelled to leave for Accra when the news broke out.

[contextly_sidebar id=”P46l95RYBKZLlGSTQjelBVjmawcnfJxt”]The disaster coincided with the Vice President’s 54th birthday celebration which brought together President Nana Addo, family relations, friends and well wishers at the OIC spot in Tamale.

The breaking news truncated the birthday splash which could have lasted for several hours.

Saddened by the disaster, Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, who was to visit Salaga with President Nana Addo today [Sunday] left for Accra.

President Akufo-Addo left the event’s ground looking devastated as the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugine Arhin’s birthday was the same day.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo will climax his tour of the region visiting Salaga and the Avnash Rice Processing Factory at Nyankpala in the Tolon district.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is committed to enhancing accountability and dealing with corruption in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vYONwDtzOp2aKwKEapc0C6d11A0J6UIV”]According to him, among the issues the government will pursue are amendment of the criminal code to make corruption a felony, rather than a misdemeanor as the law states currently, to ensure stiffer punishment for persons found to be corrupt.

Speaking at a Transparency International Regional meeting in Accra earlier today [Thursday], Dr. Bawumia said government will ensure a special prosecutor’s office to prosecute persons found to be corrupt.

“Our government has already made it clear that we will be passing the Right to Information Act. We will make sure a special prosecutor’s office is set up to prosecute corruption and we will amend the criminal code to move the corruption from a misdemeanor to a felony. These are just some of the actions we intend to implement this year,” Dr Bawumia said.

The 6^th Parliament of the 4^th Republic, failed to pass the Right to Information Bill, even after former president, John Mahama, appealed to them to do so in his last state of the nation address.

The bill has been in parliament since 2013.

The Coalition on the Right to Information (RTI) Ghana, which has championed the crusade to get the Bill passed, has already tasked the new NPP government to as a matter of urgency facilitate its passage.

In a recent statement, the group congratulated the Attorney-General (AG) and Minister for Justice, Gloria Akuffo, and urged her to work with the President, Nana Akufo-Addo to ensure the Bill is passed

“It is our hope that the AG will give priority to the RTI Bill and that His Excellency, President Nana Akufo Addo will ensure that the Bill is referred to Parliament as soon as possible, hopefully in his first hundred days.

The Coalition said it remained committed to working with the AG and all stakeholders to ensure the speedy passage of the Right to Information legislation in Ghana,” the statement read.

About the RTI Bill

The right to information is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.

The bill will give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society”.

The bill was drafted in 1999 and reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was not presented to Parliament.

The first attempt at enacting the law on the right to information was made when the bill was presented to Parliament on February 5, 2010. The Attorney-General on June 25, 2015 moved the bill for the second reading awaiting passage in Parliament.

It will have to be reintroduced to the House for consideration.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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He said the Executive will support the House to renovate the roof of the chamber, which was ripped off during the storm.

He also hinted that, consideration will be given to a request by the leadership of Parliament for a new chamber.

“I had to rush here this Tuesday] morning to actually see it, and thankfully the damage has not been too much and some measures have been taken to contain the situation before a permanent roofing is put in place. I’m happy to know the consultants and contractors are still around, and they are going to repair the damage. The legislative body is key for this whole country, and it is very important that the duties of parliament are not interrupted,” he said.

“I will brief the President when he arrives about what has taken place, and I’m sure we’ll look at this whole issue of another chamber seriously; but it is very important that the work of parliament continues,” Bawumia added.

The Speaker of Parliament,  Prof. Mike Oquaye, who received Dr. Bawumia, reiterated the need for Parliament to be assisted to get a new Chamber.

He said, “having heard the problem here, the first thing this morning, he (Dr Bawumia) came to examine the situation. We are told that all relevant persons are in the process of [repairing] the damage and even applying some interim plastic sheets to make us work, and you can see our members from both sides are ready to work.”

“We need a new chamber, and we trust that at the appropriate time, we shall have the ears of the executives.”

The Chamber of Parliament was left at the mercy of the rain with some electronic gadgets installed in the chamber badly affected.

Meanwhile, the disruption that occurred as a result of the downpour in the chamber, may force the House to hold sittings at a different location, according to Majority leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu.

Mr. Mensah-Bonsu told Citi News’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Duke Opoku Mensah that, “if it may not be possible to hold business here, we can relocate to some other place.”

‘Parliament renovated’

The Chamber of Parliament was renovated in 2014 after MPs complained of congestion, resulting from an increase of parliamentary seats from to 230 to 275.

The house while on recess between July and October 2014, underwent infrastructural adjustment to ease congestion and change worn-out materials.

At the reconvening of the house in November 2014, the central air conditioning system of the Parliament had been changed with new chandeliers fixed.

Modern communication gadgets were also fixed to the table for each parliamentarian, with old furniture replaced with imported Chinese chairs that were subsequently replaced after agitation from some MPs.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He becomes the 6^th Ghanaian to occupy the high office since Ghana begun democratic governance in 1992, and he will serve alongside the newly sworn-in President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Clothed in an all-white overall apparel, popularly known as “Agbada”, he took the oath of allegiance and oath of office administered by the Chief Justice, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.

He subsequently signed the oath book to confirm his dedication to the service of the country for the next four years.

Dr. Bawumia, a banker, economist and a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, joined mainstream politics in 20o8 as the running mate to the New Patriotic Party flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo.

In spite of their loss to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, John Mahama that year, the two again contested in the 2016 Presidential elections, where they won convincingly against the incumbent NDC candidate.

They polled 53.85.% of the total valid votes cast, against the NDC’s 44.4%.

THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

I, Mahamudu Bawumia, do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic of Ghana as by law established; that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of Ghana; and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. (So help me God).

THE OATH OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT

“I, Mahamudu Bawumia, having been elected to the office of Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will be faithful and true to the Republic of Ghana; that I will at all times preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana; and I dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons.”

“I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office, I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it. (So help me God).”

‘About the New Vice President’

53-year-old Bawumiah is the son of Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, lawyer and politician, a Mamprugu Royal and Paramount Chief of the Kperiga Traditional Area who served as Chairman of the Council of State from 1992 to 2000.

Twelfth of his father’s 18 children, Bawumia attended the Sakasaka Primary school in Tamale, and gained admission to Tamale Secondary School in 1975.

After graduating from Tamale Secondary School, he went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB). He also obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987 and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and then a Ph.D. in Economics at the Simon Fraser University, Canada in 1995.

From 1988 to 1990, Bawumia worked as a lecturer in Monetary Economics, and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in England. He also served as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA.

Between 1996 and 2000, Bawumia served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA.

Bawumia returned to Ghana in 2000 to work as an economist at the Bank of Ghana. He rose from Senior Economist to Head of Department, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of the Bank in June 2006.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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He said his party’s government led by Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, would make sure that Ghana worked for everybody and not a privileged few.

He said the NPP would keep faith with the people, live up to expectation and will not disappoint.

He was speaking to students of the Assin-Fosu College of Education as part of his week-long campaign tour of the Central Region to win over more voters ahead of the December polls.

Dr. Bawumia mocked the Mahama administration for poor economic performance, which he said, had led to untold hardship and widespread suffering.

“The government has proven that it clearly lacks the ability to manage the resources of the nation efficiently to bring development and transform the lives of the people.”

He said the coming election was therefore an opportunity to vote out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for messing up things.

Dr. Bawumia, an economist and a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, indicated that, the prevailing harsh economic conditions were the result of the massive corruption, wastefulness and the ineptitude of the current managers of the economy.

He repeated the pledge to move quickly to restore teacher trainee allowances and bring back to life collapsing social intervention programmes introduced by the NPP under President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He had earlier toured a number of communities in the Assin North, Assin Central and Assin South constituencies, where he interacted with the people, to help them to appreciate why they should trust the NPP with their votes.

He was accompanied by the regional party officers and some NPP Members of Parliament (MPs) in the region.

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Source: GNA

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According to the Vice Presidential nominee of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP will budget for the full payment of allowances for all students in the various Nursing and Midwifery Training schools as well as teacher training colleges.

Speaking to nurses at the Pantang hospital in Accra during a campaign tour, Dr. Bawumiah accused government of scrapping the allowances of trainees due to its high indebtedness from excessive borrowing and the accompanying interest payments.

“They [NDC] have borrowed so much, just one year’s interest payment can pay teacher training and nurses training allowances for 42 years, and that is why Nana Akuffo Addo has given his word, when we come [into office] the very first budget before march 2017, we will restore and teacher training and nurses training allowance,” Bawumiah said.

‘Background’  

Government in 2014 scrapped teacher trainee allowance, but there have been several calls to compel government to reintroduce it. Recently, trainee nurses in the Upper East Region warned that the status of allowances would influence their vote in the in December polls.

Government said the decision allowed it to expand various health and educational infrastructure in the country as well as remove the restrictions on admission to the various training institutions.

‘Government partially restores allowance’

Earlier in July, government said it had restored allowances for trainee nurses after a technical committee set up by the President to review the allowances for nursing trainees, recommended payment of an abated allowance with a possibility to migrate them unto the Students Loan Scheme.

 ‘Allowance inadequate’

The Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees Association in a press conference, subsequently rejected government’s offer to pay them GHc 150 monthly as allowances.

According to them, the amount was woefully inadequate per the memorandum of understanding they signed with the Ministry of Health in 2014.

President John Mahama while on a tour in the Central Region recently, said his government would not backtrack on its decision to scrap the allowances, saying he would rather lose the elections than restore the allowances.

He tweeted; “On the matter of trainee teacher allowances, better to lose on principle than win using falsehood. We’ll not reverse the decision. #UCC Forum.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The platform allows various stakeholders, from agri-business, NGOs, development finance institutions, governments and mobile network operators to profile and provide specific content as well as survey farmers to better understand their needs.  The product enables farmers to receive market prices, offers, climate adaptation advice and agronomic tips that are expected to lead to improvements in yield and increased incomes.  It enables businesses to profile farmers, track field activities and transactions, and market their products and services.

“Promoting commercial linkages and introducing market transparency will transform African agriculture” says Mark Davies, CEO of Esoko, “We’re at the forefront of using technology to facilitate this great transformation in human wealth and productivity.”

This investment is intended to support the company’s expansion into East Africa as well as software and services development.

Godfrey Mwindaare, West Africa Director at Acumen, adds, “There are a tremendous amount of resources already focused on small-holder farmers.  We see in Esoko the potential to empower and transform the lives of rural farmers by providing one point of access to critical information and services, thereby closing the information asymmetry gap between commercial, well-endowed farmers and the rural, one-acre farmer.”

Anna Samaké, Portfolio Manager for West and Central Africa for the Lundin Foundation, commented, “One of the Lundin Foundation’s primary objectives in West Africa is to build and support the agri-business sector with an ecosystem of services that will allow sustainable and profitable SMEs to emerge and grow. Many of those services will be available through the Esoko platform.”

“We are thrilled and honored to partner with Acumen and the Lundin Foundation to bring our mobile platform to organizations and farmers across Africa,” said Davies.

Acumen has invested over $24 million in agricultural enterprises and has a deep knowledge of small-holder farmers’ needs and behaviors.  Acumen has invested nearly $8 million across West Africa since 2011, focusing on a wide range of sustainable, scalable businesses that use market-based approaches to deliver products and services to millions of rural and urban poor.  Acumen’s investments in the region include businesses providing agri-services and market access for small-holder rice farmers, anti-drug counterfeiting, and mobile banking.

From : Esoko

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