Speaking at the launch of the 2017 mental health week at the International Press Centre in Accra, Dr. Osei called for more stringent measures to ensure that the rights of mental patients are protected.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eieNtamIhON6RoWwhBoXYfqspVZIhIa4″]“We want to take advantage of this day and say that our human rights abuses of the mentally ill should stop. In the law, Mental Health Act 20 (846) of 2012, it is clearly spelt out that if you by your act of commission or omission, you neglect or abuse the rights of the mentally ill, that is punishable,” he said.

“We can take you to court and the court will fine you not less than Ghc6,000, or put you in prison for two years or both.”

Referencing a study in 2009 which revealed that about 41% Ghanaians suffer from psychological distress, Dr. Osei called for more attention to be given to mental issues in the country.

Dr. Osei revealed that the impact mental health had on economic productivity of the country, adding that an economy could not grow without a stable mental workforce.

“Of the study that shows 41% of Ghanaians having physiological distress, researchers computed what that means in terms of productivity, and they realized that it meant 7% of our GDP lost by virtue of people’s distress or physiological illnesses for which they cannot go to work, and they absent themselves or they go to work but they can’t function properly.”

“You cannot build the economy without creating wealth, and you cannot create wealth without health, and you cannot have health without mental health, so mental health means total health.”

“And it’s only when you have your total health that you can be productive and grow your economy.” Dr Osei added.

The week-long celebration under the theme “mental health at the work place”, is meant to create awareness creation about mental health, and been supported by the Ministry of Health.

An acceptance speech from the chairperson, Kojo Addae Mensah, Group Chief Executive at Databank, lamented the deplorable state of mental health in Ghana, and urged the media to act as advocates to curb the trend.

“It’s important that the media take up mental health and advocate for it seriously. Already our general health system in the country is not the best, but I can assure if you go out and look at the state of the mental health in Ghana, it is in a deplorable state, if you ask me.’’ he stated.

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By: Ann-Shirley Ziwu/citifmonline.com/Ghana.

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According to the Deputy Director of Community Care at the Authority, Mrs. Priscilla Tawiah Elikplim, regular funding of mental health and recruitment of clinical psychologists and counselors is critical to ensuring that, the populace remains mentally healthy.

Speaking at Mental Health Services 2016 Annual Regional Performance Review in Bolgatanga, Mrs. Elikplim bemoaned the shortage of antipsychotic medicines at all public mental health facilities due to government’s inability to supply the drugs for close to three years, thus affecting mental health delivery.

“Government is supposed to fund mental health care, but the funding is not coming leading to no government sponsored free antipsychotic medicines like Risperidone, Olanzapine, injectables and other tablets  which are not coming for almost 3 years now. But we are currently relying on benevolent donors and philanthropists, sometimes they will donate near expiring medicines to us, with the lifespan of the medicine being just a month but is better than none.”

She appealed to the Minister of Health, Kwaku Aygemang-Manu, to adequately fund mental health care, especially regular supply of anti-psychotic medicines since they were left at the mercy of donor support.

Mrs. Elikplim also appealed to government to recruit Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists to improve mental health care, and educate the public on psycho-social disorders.

She appealed to Parliament to pass the Legislative Instrument (LI) on Mental Health to give legal backing to the Mental Health Authority to function effectively.

Mrs. Elikplim stressed that, the passage of the LI would not only make the state commit more resources to addressing issues relating to mental health, but would ensure that all stakeholders in support of the mentally ill live up to their tasks and responsibilities.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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At a press conference in Accra on Monday, the party said “the Senchi Consensus failed to address the issue of corruption as a bane of the country’’.

The NPP therefore outlined alternatives which they say will turn the economic fortunes of Ghana around.

Addressing the press conference, dubbed ‘’The true state of the economy and a government in a state of denial: The NPP’s response to the Senchi Consensus, and connected matters’’ Minority leader of the NPP, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said, ‘’assessment of the Ghanaian economy so far point to an economy with weak and deteriorating fundamentals.’’

He noted that the economy is saddled with increasing inflation, high interest rates, declining real GDP growth, massive increase in the public debt stock, huge and increasing central bank financing of government, etc.

The NPP further offered policy proposals which they advised the government to implement as soon as possible to deal with the current crisis facing the economy.

‘’The government has to admit that the economy is in crisis so that it can carry the country along and get public support for the tough remedial measures it may have to take. The treatment of an ailment is as good as its diagnosis. The denial must stop. The problem will not go away by refusing to acknowledge it,’’ the NPP noted.

Below is the full list of the NPP’s   proposals offered the NDC government.

1. The government has to admit that the economy is in crisis so that it can carry the country along and get public support for the tough remedial measures it may have to take. The treatment of an ailment is as good as its diagnosis. The denial must stop. The problem will not go away by refusing to acknowledge it.
2. There must be policy credibility to assure markets and investors that Ghana is a safe bet. In this regard, the President and government should refrain from making new promises and commitments of expenditure for new programs when it is unable to even meet statutory expenditures. Such promises do signal a lack of appreciation of the current situation and reinforce the loss of confidence in the economy.
3. 1. Government should restore fiscal discipline by ensuring that we cut our coat according to our size. Measures such as:
      1.  ensuring value for money in the award of government contracts, especially by conducting scrupulous due diligence before the award of contracts as well as allowing parliament space and resources to better delve into government contracts before approval is given.
      2. Reducing revenue leakages
      3.  Expansion of the tax net through the formalization of the economy. The issue of biometric National ID cards and the implementation of a working street address system are critical to the formalization of the economy.
      4. Dealing effectively with corruption in the management of public finances, especially by bringing to a halt the unbridled resort to restricted tendering and sole sourcing
      5. Undertaking a proper biometric-based payroll audit to eliminate ghost workers as well as implement biometric based payment system for all public sector workers to deal with fraud in government payroll.

    

   1. While the government must restore fiscal discipline as a matter of urgency,  that alone will not be enough going forward. Restoring the confidence of investors and financial markets requires a policy framework that would provide assurance that the fiscal excesses would not happen in the future. Successive governments have acquired the skill for restoring fiscal discipline for short periods only to engage in the fiscal indiscipline again, especially in election years. Ghana must therefore put in place an EFFECTIVE legal framework to make sure that politicians on all sides are discouraged from wreaking havoc on the poor people of Ghana for their own selfish interests. There must be a price to pay for such fiscal indiscipline. We need a legal framework to anchor fiscal discipline. The existing laws such as the Financial Administration Act are obviously not effective because they were unable to prevent the fiscal excesses of 2008 and 2012. The passage and enforcement of a strong and aggressive Fiscal Responsibility Act that has teeth will be important in this regard if it is supported by political will. A Fiscal Responsibility law will require government to declare and commit to a fiscal policy that can be monitored. It will include fiscal rules (including rules governing election year spending), provisions for transparency and sanctions (including sanctions on the Executive when it breaches the Appropriation Act as was done brazenly in 2012). An announcement to this effect along with actual follow through will boost the confidence of the markets and investors.

    

   1. In response to the economic difficulties, government has resorted to increasing taxes on virtually every good or service. These higher taxes have served to increase the cost of doing business in Ghana compared with neighboring countries and would reduce economic growth. The plain truth is that import duties in Ghana are too high and discourage production and investment.  In the globally competitive world that we find ourselves today, most countries that manufacture goods for export also import a significant proportion of its raw materials. These countries have come to understand that high import tariffs can increase their cost of production and make them uncompetitive globally and therefore to support higher production and exports, import tariffs are kept relatively low. The philosophy of taxing everything to raise revenue must be re-examined. It is possible for one to actually raise more revenue by reducing taxes to stimulate production.

    

   1. Government should as a matter of policy and urgency, significantly cut down on borrowing for now. The announced intention to borrow an additional $1billion from the capital market this year should be shelved because it would only be achieved at very high cost which would worsen the fiscal and current account situation and make Ghana’s debt unsustainable. With low net international reserves, a double digit fiscal deficit, double digit current account deficit, and double digit inflation, Ghana may have to pay a very high interest rate, possibly, a double digit interest rate, for any sovereign bond issued this year.

    

    

   1. To restore confidence in the banking system and a degree of certainty in the foreign exchange regime, the Bank of Ghana should reverse the new directives relating to the forced conversion into cedis of repatriated export earnings and forced conversion into cedis of withdrawals from Foreign Currency account (FCA) and Foreign Exchange Accounts (FEA). There is no problem with repatriation of export proceeds but there must not be forced conversion of those proceeds into cedis. During the years 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 the cedi was relatively stable even though exporters were allowed to retain their repatriated earnings in dollars and foreign account holders were allowed to withdraw their savings in dollars.  These actions, therefore, were not the commissions that were  responsible for the depreciation of the cedi. However, the new directives are based on the rather wrong view that dollarization is responsible for depreciation of the cedi. International experience shows that regulations such as those issued by the Bank of Ghana tend to be short-lived in effect as market participants find ways to circumvent them.

   Below is the full statement from the NPP

By: Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has hinted of its intentions to independently monitor the implementation of the various agreements reached at the National Economic Forum, which ended Thursday.

Source: Graphic Online

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He denied media reports that there was exorbitant spending at the forum.

According to Mr. Cudjoe, who is President of policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, his checks show that $200 was spent on each participant rather than the speculated $3,000.

There has been a raging debate about the cost of the National Economic Forum held last week to deliberate on ways and means to get the country’s economy back on track.

The participants included former Governors of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), former Finance Ministers, government officials, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), political parties excluding the New Patriotic Party (NPP), heads of institutions and some policy think-tanks.

Some have argued that government could have chosen a less costly venue for the forum considering the current economic challenges.

But speaking on Citi FM’s news and current affairs programme, The Big Issue, the IMANI Ghana boss said government must as a matter of urgency, come out with cost of the forum.

He noted that 81 participants were resident at Senchi “and the top line budget was about $200 per person including, food. And the food was great.”

Mr. Cudjoe revealed he has traveled to 47 countries and counting, “but this Senchi is excellent and I would have charged $400 per person instead of the $200 including food.”

He questioned why spokespersons of the government have as at now, not made public, the detailed information of the cost of the forum despite the widely speculated cost in the media.

The information, he said, if disclosed to the public will put to rest “some of the negative comments.”

A governance analyst, Dr. Jemima Agyare was however of the opinion that government could have chosen a different venue for the forum.

“In our current economic climate…I think that perhaps, the venue could have been a bit more sensitive as to the economic plight of the average Ghanaian.”

She mentioned that Ghanaians are now eagerly waiting to see the benefit of the deliberations at Senchi; bearing in mind that, the tax payers money was used in funding the forum.

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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He expressed his satisfaction with the participants saying, “I am satisfied with the outcome of this forum and I am impressed at the zeal and enthusiasm you have shown over these last three days.”

According to him, some of the proposed solutions proffered by the stakeholders are “far reaching” and his government will take the necessary steps to immediately implement the agreement.

He made these remarks at the closing ceremony of the National Economic Forum at Senchi in Akosombo.

The three-day forum organized by government brought together heads of institutions and organizations, former Governors of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), former Finance Ministers, government officials, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), political parties excluding the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and some policy think-tanks.

The participants were tasked to deliberate and prescribe effective ways through which government can improve and sustain the economy which will positively impact the lives of citizens.

Addressing the stakeholders, the President commended all participants and assured them that government “is committed to taking the next steps” but quickly pointed out that the solutions “are breathtaking and very far reaching.”

President Mahama said some of the issues raised are currently being dealt with by government “and this forum inspires us to quicken our steps in achieving these goals.”

He cited the issue of improving tax collection, the broadening of the tax net, dealing with the energy crisis and halting the free fall of the cedi “but there are others too, admittedly, we haven’t quite gotten round to implementing yet but have been flagged by the Forum as urgent.”

The President noted that even though the forum has ended, “what lies ahead of us in a beginning of a new day for Ghana; one that we are together shaping as a nation.”

He promised his government will carefully consider the consensus and will timely implement “all the viable solutions that you have proposed here in Senchi” adding that, “there will be no delays or distractions.”

The government’s economic management team, he said, has been re-invigorated and “we will use your sense of urgency and optimism to fuel our actions as we move in the direction of change.”

Click on attached file to read the Senchi Consensus

National Economic Forum 2014 – The Senchi Consensus 

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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